Fifty years ago there were close to half-a-million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000. To make matters worse, lions, unlike elephants, which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords. This is the jumping-off point for a disturbing, well-researched and beautifully made cri de coeur from husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence at National Geographic for more than four years. Pointing to poaching as a primary threat while noting the lion's pride of place on the list for eco-tourists-an industry that brings in 200 billion dollars per year worldwide-the Jouberts build a solid case for both the moral duty we have to protect lions (as well as other threatened "big cats," tigers among them) and the economic sense such protection would make. And when one takes into account the fact that big cats are at the very top of the food chain-and that their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them, causing a complete ecosystem collapse-the need takes on a supreme urgency.

Fifty years ago there were close to half-a-million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000. To make matters worse, lions, unlike elephants, which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords. This is the jumping-off point for a disturbing, well-researched and beautifully made cri de coeur from husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence at National Geographic for more than four years. Pointing to poaching as a primary threat while noting the lion's pride of place on the list for eco-tourists-an industry that brings in 200 billion dollars per year worldwide-the Jouberts build a solid case for both the moral duty we have to protect lions (as well as other threatened "big cats," tigers among them) and the economic sense such protection would make. And when one takes into account the fact that big cats are at the very top of the food chain-and that their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them, causing a complete ecosystem collapse-the need takes on a supreme urgency.

21 EPS from shutterstok | 2 MB

Injuries sustained by two Army ranger behind enemy lines in Afghanistan set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor.

If you like character modeling for games, don't miss this tutorial. You will learn all the steps needed to make an organic game character from start to finish. We will begin our project in the modeling section by setting up image planes of the front and side views. You'll learn how to use these to create the basic shapes and proportions using both nurbs and polygons. We will then manipulate the character to create a clean and efficient model that has under 3500 polygons.

 

 

Solar Bellydance, created by New York-based star of tribal bellydance Sera Solstice develops and extends the East Coast Tribal bellydance style with an intense and challenging repertoire of movement infused with the solar energy of grace, confidence, and self-acceptance. Sera's program is designed to enrich your bellydance practice by adding extension and full-body movement to balance the traditional focus on isolations in bellydance instruction and technique drills. Solar movement promotes a high level of dance technique, balance control, precision in transitions, and stamina.