Thandiwe Mweetwa recalls the life-changing experience when she first heard the powerful noise of a lion and emphasises the importance of local involvement in wildlife in order to survive side by side. Let’s save big cats together.

Thandiwe Mweetwa is a Zambian wildlife biologist and conservation educator working to protect large carnivores in her home country with the nonprofit organization Zambian Carnivore Programme. Her passion for working with lions stems from their symbols of strength that never fail to capture people's attention and imagination. Her work to protect big cats in Zambia through research, capacity building, and conservation education has been featured in several BBC documentaries and National Geographic videos. Mweetwa is a National Geographic Big Cats Initiative grantee and a 2016 National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

The National Geographic Society is a global non-profit organisation that uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. In 2009, the National Geographic Society founded the Big Cats Initiative as an effort to halt the decline of big cats in the wild. The Society partners with some of the world’s leading big cat experts, funding on-the-ground research and innovative conservation projects to safeguard big cats and their critical habitats, while leading efforts to bring awareness on the challenges these species face.

Learn more at natgeo.org/bigcats

Big Cat Week on National Geographic Wild UK 📺
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