Jungle Cats in Danger

Big cats are in trouble, from lions in Kenya to snow leopards in the Himalayas. In response to the crisis, the National Geographic Society has launched the Big Cats Initiative, led by Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert. Having lived and worked in some of Africa’s most remote areas for more than 25 years as authors and filmmakers, the Jouberts have embraced the cause of wildlife conservation, especially for big cats.

Here, a male African lion stands in the sunrise mist. Duba Plains, Okavango Delta, Botswana.

More information on how to help save the big cats is available here.

Beverly Joubert

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The initiative led by the Jouberts, shown here, is a comprehensive program that supports on-the-ground conservation projects, education and economic incentive efforts, and a global public-awareness campaign. The program will first target lions, whose populations are dying off rapidly across Africa, the goal being to halt lion population declines by the year 2015 and to restore populations to sustainable levels by 2020.

Beverly Joubert