2022 ‘Year of the Lion’: Horsham-based world wildlife charity in bid to save Big Cats

The charity - whose headquarters are in Horsham - is dedicating 2022 as the ‘Year of the Lion.’

And it’s all in memory of Born Free Foundation founder and ‘lion of a man’ Bill Travers on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Bill, who starred in the classic Born Free movie, died suddenly in 1994 but his fearless energy, compassion and strength live on in the charity’s work.

The Foundation, run by eldest son Will Travers with Bill’s wife - co-star and charity co-founder Virginia McKenna - is fighting against the exploitation of captive lions and for the future of the species in the wild.

Virginia said: “The plight of wild animals in captivity was, for Bill, at the heart of almost everything he did and thought about, for the rest of his life.”

The Foundation is calling on the public to help halt the devastating decline in numbers and help lions exploited in zoos, circuses and as ‘pets’.

Born Free says its Year of the Lion will focus on four key objectives: Achieving co-existence for 2,000 people, 200 lions and 20 communities: Providing safe and appropriate homes and care for 30 rescued lions: Doubling the charity’s UK school outreach: and persuading countries to follow the UK’s lead in banning hunting trophy imports.

A Forever Lions Fund, set up in memory of Bill, will raise funds and awareness throughout the year to address the plight of lions.

The public will also be invited to join the Born Free Pride - an opportunity to receive exclusive updates and content throughout the year, plus the chance to virtually meet Virginia and Will for coffee in August 2022 on World Lion Day.

Virginia McKenna said the words ‘It’s not that I am more interested in animals than humans, I’m just interested in life’ were written on Bill’s gravestone.

“The words say it all,” she said. “His childhood, his service with the 9th Gurkhas in Burma during the war; our family life together; our family home in which I still live; our children and now, my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“And then, our shared life-changing experience making the film ‘Born Free’ in 1964. This, unknowingly, took us along the path which, eventually, led us to found our little charity, Zoo Check, in 1984.

“The plight of wild animals in captivity was, for Bill, at the heart of almost everything he did and thought about, for the rest of his life.

“The last two years he spent travelling around European zoos, filming and recording the lives of these innocent animals – confined, bereft of choice and no longer able to express their natural behaviours and individual feelings.

“Without doubt, I know he would be deeply proud of how the charity (now the Born Free Foundation) has developed, and grateful for the way it has evolved under the tireless leadership of Will and the determined efforts, over nearly four decades, of the Born Free team. I add my voice to his.”

Will Travers added: “My Dad was a special person. His integrity and honesty touched everyone he met. He always seemed to have time for anyone who needed his help.

“He was a relentless fighter for justice. Of course, he brought millions of people pleasure as an actor and a documentary filmmaker, but he was so much more than that.

“He was a Lion – courageous, protective, strong, and fearless. Along with Virginia, he was and remains my, and our, inspiration.”

On Year of the Lion, Will added, “Can you imagine a world without wild lions? I can’t. But that could be what the future holds – unless we change the future. “In captivity, lions are exploited in circuses, and zoos – even kept as exotic ‘pets’.

“In the wild, lions are hunted, traded, and trapped. Their wild lands are converted for human use.

“Their natural wild prey is decreasing, and they are relentlessly persecuted when they resort to killing livestock. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

“Captive exploitation can end. Engaged communities and lions can co-exist. Trophy hunting can be consigned to the history books. Canned hunting can be stopped. “Given a chance, given the support of compassionate people all around the world, lions can recover, wild places can be protected, communities can be empowered, and the bleak vision of a planet without wild lions can recede.

“But only if we take action now.”