At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Richard Bonham and I, in our capacity as trustees of Ol Donyo Wuas Trust (ODWT), were confronted with a crisis of unthinkable proportion: the extinction of the lion (Panthera leo) in the very cradle of its African homeland, the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem. The threat of extinction, based on the evidence, was a virtual certainty and the time remaining was very short, probably less than a year, on the 300,000 acres of Amboseli-Tsavo known as Mbirikani Group Ranch, where ODWT does its conservation work in close collaboration with the local Maasai community.

The Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem of southeastern Kenya, bordered on its south by Mt. Kilimanjaro, is one of the world’s most recognized and cherished places – the paradigm of Africa’s natural beauty, home to one of the planet’s last remaining and most biodiverse populations of large wild mammals, and the site for nearly a century of groundbreaking achievements in conservation science. Yet, today, the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem – and, most urgently, its world famous lions -- are highly threatened and in need of your assistance.

Our appeal to you -- Lions Live Free -- is to assist us in saving the lions of Amboseli-Tsavo. Before it is too late!

Our great news is that a program we began in 2003 called the Predator Compensation Fund has experienced unprecedented success in stopping the killing of lions in this area. The Mbirikani Maasai community we work with closely to operate this program has not only stopped killing lions and cheetahs and leopards – but has also chosen conservation over conflict as the way forward in their daily lives, believing now that the way of life that will produce the best result is one that not only takes good care of their beloved cattle but also, at the same time, protects wildlife and promotes conservation and tourism.

The chief of Mbirikani’s warriors and a select number of his conservation-minded fellow warriors have spent the summer of 2007 at the San Diego Wild Animal Park celebrating their culture and telling the American people and media why they and their elders have chosen to "lay down their spears." Great things are underway in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem but time is not on our side. There are less than 25,000 lions left in all of Africa! We must expand the Predator Compensation Fund to the whole Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem before the lion here becomes extinct; something that is nearly inconceivable yet close at hand.

Please contribute and help us to save the most feared, revered, sculpted, painted, and commercialized -- in short, the most "lionized" -- animal in human history. A world without lions roaming free . . . a world in which humans can no longer afford to live with lions . . . is a world unacceptable.

If you are an artist, a painter, sculptor, musician, singer, dancer, actor, filmmaker, theatrical or television producer, please contribute an original work of art, your talent, or your production to the Lions Live Free arts auction to be held at ____ PM, November 14, 2007, at the National Arts Club, Gramercy Park, New York City. Or, if you are interested in acquiring a work of art or, say, an evening of music in your home to support our efforts, please contact David Sugar or Aldon James, President, at the National Arts Club, (add contact details).

Thanking you in advance,

Tom Hill, Trustee

Ol Donyo Wuas Trust

Mbirikani Group Ranch, Kenya