Can the Cecil moment become the Cecil movement? One year on from the illegal killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe (2 July 2015), this is the question being asked by David Macdonald, Director of WildCRU, and his team of wildlife conservationists at Oxford University.

Cecil the lion. Photo by Brent Stapelkamp, WildCRU

Their hope is to harness the colossal global interest in this single study lion as a force for the conservation of all lions across Africa, extending to the conservation of wildlife worldwide.

Working towards this goal, WildCRU (Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit) are currently preparing for the Cecil Summit, a landmark series of meetings that will bring together world leaders in lion conservation. The first will take place in Oxford in early September.

'With our partners Panthera we are hosting a high level think tank to address all of the issues surrounding lions, from development to economics, international relations, regulation, and policy,' explains Professor Macdonald. 'We hope to expose and explore new and radical thinking that can be brought to bear on lion conservation.'

Astonishing generosity

Cecil's killing generated unprecedented social and editorial media attention, and by 25 September 2015 – just three months on from his death – WildCRU had received $1.06million from 13,335 donors across the world.

Thanks to this astonishing generosity, WildCRU have been able to:

  • more than double the number of lions they are monitoring;
  • more than double the number of communities they are working with; and
  • more than double the number of Long Shields (community lion guardians) they are training and employing to safeguard lions that stray into unprotected areas.

In addition, WildCRU have been able to continue their support of young Zimbabwean students in Oxford. The money raised has so far enabled them to:

  • fund two DPhil students, Moreangels Mbizah and Lovemore Sibanda; and
  • fund one scholar, Liombe-Junior Mathe, who is undertaking WildCRU’s Recanati-Kaplan Centre Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice.

Cecil's dynasty

There is also good news from Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park: six out of seven of Cecil's pride cubs are growing strong under the watchful eye of the remaining coalition male, Jericho, and excitingly, Cecil's son Xanda has recently produced his own cubs.

But while recent news of Cecil's flourishing dynasty provides renewed hope, it is only thanks to the continued protection of Hwange National Park – and the diligent work conducted by WildCRU's field team – that their future can truly be safeguarded.

Find out more about the conservation of lions in Africa.