Mission
Last updated
Last updated
It was one of the most beautiful animals in the world: majestic, superb and moving like a master... Reminiscent of Ethiopia's iconic Abyssinian lion, it was - among other things - the sumptuous black mane of the Cecil lion, the number one attraction in the great Hwange National Park, that made it famous.
Cecil was the darling of the 50,000 tourists who visit Hwange every year. The 13-year-old male lion was the father of a dozen cubs, all born like him in the park, the country's largest animal reserve. ‘He was the most confident lion you could find, he knew he was the biggest,’ one of his supporters told the British daily Telegraph.
Cecil, the icon of Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, was shamelessly killed in 2015 for the simple act of killing. Most of the lions in Zimbabwe, including one of Cecil's sons, were hunted for their trophies. This finding is confirmed by a study by a researcher at Oxford University published in the Journal of Applied Ecology: 88% of male lions and 67% of females found dead between 1999 and 2012 in Hwange National Park (western Zimbabwe) were victims of human activity.
The death of the famous Cecil lion, shot by an American dentist outside Hwange national park, caused worldwide controversy, prompting Zimbabwe to tighten restrictions on big game hunting. However, although this death raised awareness, it had far too limited an impact on the new hunting rules. The inclusion of lions on the list of endangered species and the adoption of restrictions in certain states are positive steps forward, but trophy hunting remains legal in many countries, which now more than ever requires constant efforts to protect wildlife.
Inspired by this tragic story, Gian Bochsler took the first “digital step” in 2019 toward what would later become , , and . Now, after six years, CECIL DAO is finally launching. Today, joined by a team of passionate individuals, this initiative is driven by a purpose beyond profit—to protect what is most precious to humanity: children, animals, and our planet, this “pale blue dot,” as beautifully.
