Lion Beanie Baby to raise funds in memory of Cecil the Lion
Howard Lake | 5 August 2015 | News
The killing of Cecil the Lion by a tourist hunter in Zimbabwe at the beginning of this month caused outrage, but sales of a new soft toy will raise funds for wildlife conservation in memory of the animal.
Cecil™ the Lion Beanie Baby® will help future conservation work.
Ty Warner, founder and chairman of plush toys manufacturer Ty Inc, has created Cecil the Lion Beanie Baby, and promised that 100% of profits from its sale will be donated to wildlife charity WildCRU, the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford.
It was WildCRU that was monitoring Cecil as part of its mission to achieve practical solutions to conservation problems through original scientific research.
Warner said:
“Hopefully, this special Beanie Baby will raise awareness for animal conservation and give comfort to all saddened by the loss of Cecil.”
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WildCRU’s Cecil the Lion appeal raises $500,000
A separate fundraising appeal in memory of Cecil the Lion has raised over $500,000 following a $100,000 matching pledge from Tom and Daphne Kaplan. An Everydayhero fundraising page has raised over £113,000 of this total.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.