WildCRU and Panthera ‘Cecil Summit’ Dinner Held at Pembroke

On 7th September 2016, the Oxford University Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and Panthera held a workshop with the aim of exploring future approaches to conserving the African Lion.

The workshop, called the Cecil Summit, was established in response to the global outcry following the 2015 death of Cecil the Lion and the ever-dwindling lion population figures, which WildCRU estimates to have fallen from 200,000 to around 20,000 over the last century.

Generously funded by natural resources investor and Pembroke alumnus Thomas Kaplan (1982), the Cecil Summit culminated with an open session at the Blavatnik School of Government, followed by a dinner hosted at Pembroke College.

The open session – available to watch here - featured a range of speakers from leading lion experts to specialists in economics, development, international relations and ethics. It was introduced by Professor David Macdonald (Director of WildCRU).

In his closing speech, Thomas Kaplan stressed an optimistic message about the potential impact of conservation work: ‘The fact that Cecil wasn’t killed years ago is a function of the work that WildCRU and Panthera have been doing. They’ve shown it can be done… If you plan proactively in development, the reality is that the cats will find a way to survive.’

Pembroke’s Kaplan Senior Research Fellow, Dr Amy Dickman, is a WildCRU Research Fellow who first joined the organisation in 1997. Find out more about Dr Dickman’s work with WildCRU here.

Image by Daughter#3 on Creative Commons.