Cecil's legacy: could the death of one lion start a conservation movement?

Inspired by Cecil the lion, activists have begun an uphill struggle to convince Unesco to do for wildlife what it already does for places - and create World Heritage Species

On July 2nd of last year, Cecil the Lion - a 13-year-old, black-maned, pride-leader - was killed by trophy hunter Walter Palmer in Zimbabwe. The surprising thing about Cecil is not how he died - around 600 lions die every year at the hands of trophy hunters - but at the reaction to this particular killing. As details of Cecil's grisly - and possibly illegal - death leaked out, the news blew up on social media and in the press, surprising conservationists who see this kind of thing with depressing regularity.

Cecil the Lion became more famous in death than he ever was in life. Yet while many expressed outrage and condemnation, Daniela Relja - an educator and advocate from Barrie, Canada - was not content to leave it at that. She turned her anger and sadness over the killing of Cecil into an initiative to make lions the first ever UNESCO World Heritage Species.