Summer Newsletter - Wildlife Conservation Network

© FRANS LANTING
Summer 2014
News
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Grants
$1 Million to Elephant Crisis Fund
n a beautiful Malibu evening on a hill high above
the ocean, more than $2 million was raised to
save elephants from the current poaching crisis.
The occasion was a gala held in honor of Dr. Iain
Douglas-Hamilton and for the Elephant Crisis Fund,
which was created last year by Save the Elephants
and Wildlife Conservation Network to fund on-theground projects addressing poaching, ivory trafficking and demand for ivory. The highlight of the
evening came when the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation announced a $1 million grant to the fund. Other
supporters quickly matched the $1 million gift. The
star-studded gala was put together by Erica Beeney,
Rupert Wyatt,
Lyndie Benson,
and Justin Winters along with
an exceptional
host committee
and was generously sponsored
by neuro drinks.
O
“Elephant
poaching is a
brutal crisis,
with more than 30,000 elephants killed last year
alone,” said Leonardo DiCaprio. “The decimation of
these animals is something we have the power to
stop, and the Elephant Crisis Fund is a crucial part
of the solution. I am honored to support them.”
The fund has an
initial target of $5 million over three years.
Already 17 projects have been supported. They include an airplane that flies over Tsavo National Park
in Kenya to detect poachers and an assessment of
the ability of sniffer dogs to find ivory that is being
trafficked through ports. The ECF has also funded
public service announcements in China, the world’s
largest ivory market, that feature celebrities asking
consumers not to purchase ivory products.
“The only future for elephants is for governments,
organizations, and individuals to join together in
their support. What we have seen in Los Angeles has
given us greater hope than ever, as the generous
donation by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
was matched by this astonishing community,” said
Iain Douglas-Hamilton.
The Sundown Gala raised $2 million for elephants
and honored Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, above,
pictured with his daughter Saba and son-in-law
Frank Pope.
100% of
donations to global anti-poaching, anti-trafficking and
ivory demand reduction actions on the ground. The
The Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) directs
poaching crisis is now too big for any one organization or government to solve, and so the fund supports a coalition of organizations that are tackling
the issue from many angles.
1
2014 Scholarship Winners
T
he WCN Scholarship Program invests in the next generation of conservation leaders by providing grants for graduate
education to students who are committed to working on wildlife conservation in their home countries. With this year’s
13 new scholars, WCN has now awarded a total of 61 scholarships to students in 23 countries.
We were thrilled and honored this year to receive a $100,000 grant from the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund to create
the Disney Scholarship for Wildlife Conservation. With this tremendous gift we were able to support seven exceptional
students dedicated to protecting lions, tigers, rhinos, great apes, African elephants and tamarins. The DWCF is generously
supported by guest contribution opportunities at locations such as Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
2
Kgotla Phale Phale
Country: Botswana
Species: Cheetah
M.Phil. in Natural Resource Management
at Okavango Research Institute
Rodrigo Villalobos Aguirre
Country: Chile
Species: Andean cat, cougar, colocolo wildcat
Ph.D. in Conservation Biology at University
of Minnesota
Liang Song Horng
Country: Malaysia
Species: Tiger
M.Sc. in Biological Science at National
University of Singapore
SIDNEY BYERS SCHOLARSHIP
SIDNEY BYERS SCHOLARSHIP
DISNEY SCHOLARSHIP
Roger Patrick Boundja
Country: Republic of Congo
Species: African forest elephant
Ph.D. in Environmental Conservation at
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Ranjini Murali
Country: India
Species: Snow leopard
Ph.D. at The Nature Conservation Foundation
and Manipal University, India
Festus Wanderi Ihwagi
Country: Kenya
Species: African elephant
Ph.D. in Natural Resources Management at
University of Twente, Netherlands
PAT J. MILLER SCHOLARSHIP
SIDNEY BYERS SCHOLARSHIP
DISNEY SCHOLARSHIP
Dina Farfan Flores
Country: Peru
Species: Andean cat
M.Sc. at the Centro de Zoología Aplicada at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad
de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales
Carla Mere
Country: Peru
Species: Woolly monkey
M.Sc. in Environmental Science and Policy
at George Mason University
Simbarashe Chiseva
Country: Zimbabwe
Species: Black & white rhinos
M.Sc. in Developmental Studies at Women’s
University in Africa, Harare
SIDNEY BYERS SCHOLARSHIP
DISNEY SCHOLARSHIP
HANDSEL SCHOLARSHIP
Ewaso Lions’ Shivani Bhalla
Honored with Whitley
and NatGeo Awards
Thandiwe Mweetwa
Country: Zambia
Species: African lion
M.Sc. in Wildlife Conservation and
Management at University of Arizona
n a single, phenomenal week, Ewaso
Lions Founder Shivani Bhalla received two major recognitions for her
work conserving Kenya’s lion population.
DISNEY SCHOLARSHIP
First, Shivani was recognized as a winner of the prestigious Whitley Award. The
Whitley Fund for Nature provides awards and
grants to the world’s most dynamic conservation leaders, supporting projects that are founded on good science, community involvement and pragmatism. The
Award is given to passionate individuals who can create long-lasting
conservation impacts on the ground.
Germain A. Mavah
Country: Republic of Congo
Species: African elephant, gorilla, chimpanzee
Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology at University
of Florida
DISNEY SCHOLARSHIP
I
Quickly following the Whitley announcement came the exciting news
that Shivani had been named one of fourteen National Geographic
Emerging Explorers. The Emerging Explorers are recognized as
tomorrow’s visionaries who are making discoveries, making a difference, and inspiring people to care about the planet.
Shivani, unsurprisingly, dedicated these awards to her Samburu team,
whom she described as “a group of special warriors who risk their
lives to save lions” and “the real wildlife heroes.”
Shivani Bhalla with members of
her Samburu team.
Papy Shamavu
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Species: Mountain gorilla, African elephant, hippo
M.Sc. in Conservation Leadership at University
of Cambridge
DISNEY SCHOLARSHIP
Gabriela Cabral Rezende
Country: Brazil
Species: Black lion tamarin
MBA at Escola Superior de Conservação
Ambiental e Sustentabilidade
DISNEY SCHOLARSHIP
3
Meet WCN’s Guest Speakers
for the 2014 Wildlife Conservation Expo
DR. GAY EDWARDS REINARTZ
Zoological Society of Milwaukee’s
Bonobo & Congo Biodiversity Initiative
Dr. Reinartz is an internationally recognized
conservation biologist with more than 25 years of
experience in developing and directing conservation and research programs for the bonobo, an
endangered great ape found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She presently serves
as the Zoological Society of Milwaukee’s (ZSM)
Conservation Coordinator and Program Director
of the ZSM’s Bonobo and Congo Biodiversity
Initiative. She spends six months a year in Congo
conducting field research and working in cooperation with Congolese wildlife officials to protect
endangered bonobos and forest elephants in the
Salonga National Park, a park four times the size
of Yellowstone.
DR. STEVEN C. AMSTRUP
Polar Bears International
Dr. Amstrup is chief scientist for
Polar Bears International and the
2012 winner of the Indianapolis Prize.
He led a research team to produce
reports that were instrumental in
convincing the U.S. Secretary of
Interiors that polar bears should be
declared endangered under the U.S.
Endangered Species Act as well as
an effort showing that polar bears
are not unavoidably doomed. He is
interested in how science can help to
reconcile the ever-enlarging human
footprint on the environment and the
needs of other species for that same
environment.
JOANNA ALFARO SHIGUETO
Prodelphinus (Sea Turtle)
As the co-founder and Executive Director of Peru-based Prodelphinus and the President-Elect
of the International Sea Turtle Society, Joanna Alfaro Shigueto is an important voice for the development of sustainable fisheries and protection of marine fauna in Peru and the southeastern
Pacific Ocean. Her work supports sustainable fisheries that help in the recovery of many threatened and endangered species and the marine ecosystems upon which they depend. Joanna
appreciates both the ecological and social aspects of this work and has dedicated her career to
conducting long-term research, working with communities, and finding innovative solutions for
fisheries that support livelihoods and minimize environmental impacts.
4
JIM THOMAS
Tenkile Conservation Alliance
(Tree Kangaroo)
Jim is a zoologist and conservationist
who is devoted to saving the Tenkile
and Weimang tree kangaroos of Papua
New Guinea in his position as the Director of the Tenkile Conservation Alliance.
TCA has conducted many education
programs and provides essential
services to the 50 villages that have
agreed not to hunt tree kangaroos. TCA
also conducts scientific research that
shows an increase in the Tenkile tree
kangaroo population from only 100 animals to over 300. Jim was chosen along
with his wife Jean as a 2014 Australian
Geographic Conservationist of the Year.
STO R IES F R OM THE FI E LD
A Death-Defying
Swim for Cheetah
Research
T
he usually dry and dusty landscape of the Kalahari in Botswana
is a hard place to survive but an ideal place to conduct
research on cheetahs. Cheetah Conservation Botswana studies the
region’s big cats by attaching cameras to trees frequented by cheetahs, known as cheetah-marking trees. The cameras capture photos
of the cheetahs that help CCB understand their behavior and prey.
(apart from
mosquitoes
of course) –
killing more
people each
year than big cats, buffalos or snakes.
When a long drought in the region broke and the Kalahari flooded,
the trees containing cameras became isolated in the middle of
flooded waterholes. As the only staff member who could swim, CCB
Researcher Jane Horgan was sent out to save the expensive
cameras. It was while undertaking this rescue mission that Jane
found herself in need of rescue...
I turned quickly and started swimming to the shore, but it was
40 yards away and the hippo was right on my tail. Knowing that
I wasn’t going to make the shore in one piece, I scrambled up
the nearby tree to safety. Although I was stuck up a tree and
stranded far from the shoreline, at least I was alive. The water
was too deep to rescue me with a car, and the hippo, which had
now made a home at the base of the tree, would not move no
matter what we tried.
— By Jane Horgan,
Cheetah Conservation Botswana
Three hours and countless failed plans resulted in no progress
whatsoever. I sat trembling in the tree, contemplating my
life and desperately needing a toilet. Eventually, my team
of rescuers surrounded the shoreline, yelling and splashing
the water while vehicles reversed into the water to distract
the hippo. As they did this, I quietly sank into the water on the
opposite side of the tree from the hippo (so he couldn’t see me)
and waded very quietly and slowly through the deep water back
to shore.
As the Kalahari flooded, I swam
out to each of our trees to rescue
our threatened cameras (many of
which were generously donated by WCN supporters). Thankfully,
there were not any crocodiles or hippos residing in the area and
the only things I had to worry about were snakes, bullfrogs and
thorn bushes. Or so I thought.
While visiting two trees on a game farm in Ghanzi, I remembered
that the farm had purchased three hippos that lived at an artificial
waterhole near the lodge. I was assured that they stayed far on
the other side of the farm and would not have moved from their
usual spot.
I was swimming deep in the middle of one waterhole, searching
for a submerged camera under the waterline, when I looked up
to come face to face with one of the farm’s hippos. He was lying
in the water just fifteen feet in front of me. I froze and after a few
seconds he dipped under the waterline and out of sight. Instantaneously I knew I was in serious trouble and I remem-
bered that hippos were Africa’s most deadly animal
The hippo stayed under the water most of the time, so we couldn’t
be certain where he was as I made the slow swim back to shore.
I fought panic the whole time, imagining he was right behind me
about to charge and bite me in half. Thankfully he stayed by the
tree and I made it to shore with only some minor cuts on my feet
and a sore bottom from sitting in the tree for so long.
Those three hours were the most stressful of my life and the
swim was the longest of my existence. Word spread quickly in
the small town where CCB’s research team was based and overnight I went from being known as the “cheetah girl” to being
called the “hippo girl.” I will never forget the people who helped
me that day, or the cheetah-marking tree that, in a strange twist
of fate, saved my life.
5
Smartphones and
Tablets Needed
Do you have a tablet
or smartphone that
you no longer use?
You can donate it for
conservation. WCN’s
Partners are in need
of gently used electronics for their work. Tablets
and phones should be working,
include a charging cable and have
been purchased within the past three years.
Contact WCN’s Director of Technology
Dave Cortright at dave@wildnet.org or
415-202-6394 to donate.
Invest In Wildlife Conservation
We greatly appreciate your dedication to protecting
wildlife. Your kind support is vital to our Partners’
heroic and enduring work in conservation.
WAYS TO GIVE
Donate by mail, phone, fax or online
Become a monthly donor
Make a donation as a holiday gift to a friend*
Give a tribute gift to express sympathy, celebrate
a birthday, wedding, or other special occasion*
Include WCN in your estate plans
Donate stock or other securities
* WCN will send a personalized wildlife email or note card
to the honorees(s) to notify them of your thoughtfulness.
The amount of the gift will be kept confidential.
About WCN
Dr. Greg
Rasmussen
Founds
Painted Dog Research
Trust
6
Greg Rasmussen, previously the Research
Director at Painted Dog Conservation, has left
PDC to set up the new Painted Dog Research
Trust.
PDRT
will be
focused
on researching
painted
dog populations
across a
wide region and
on training young
Zimbabwean graduate
students. Painted Dog
Conservation will maintain
its groundbreaking community-based conservation and
education programs while
continuing to undertake research on painted dogs that
supports its conservation
objectives.
The Wildlife Conservation Network is dedicated to
protecting endangered species and preserving their
natural habitats. We partner with independent conservationists around the world who live and work
with local communities and are exploring new ways
to promote peaceful coexistence between people
and wildlife.
Andean Cat Alliance LILIAN VILLALBA
Cheetah Conservation Botswana REBECCA KLEIN
Cheetah Conservation Fund DR. LAURIE MARKER
Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program DR. CLAUDIO SILLERO
Ewaso Lions SHIVANI BHALLA
Grevy’s Zebra Trust BELINDA MACKEY
Niassa Lion Project DR. COLLEEN AND KEITH BEGG
Okapi Conservation Project JOHN LUKAS
Painted Dog Conservation PETER BLINSTON
Proyecto Tití ROSAMIRA GUILLÉN
Saiga Conservation Alliance ELENA BYKOVA
Save the Elephants DR. IAIN DOUGLAS-HAMILTON
Small Cat Conservation Alliance DR. JAMES SANDERSON
Snow Leopard Conservancy DR. RODNEY JACKSON
209 Mississippi St., San Francisco, CA 94107
Tel (415) 202-6380 | Fax (415) 202-6381
info@wildnet.org | www.wildnet.org
EIN # 30-0108469
CFC # 63038
with Dr. Jane Goodall
Celebr ating 80
WCN Executive Director Charles Knowles and Dave Matthews wish Jane a happy birthday on stage.
Guests Mark and Becci Crowe celebrate winning a trip to join Jane in Tchimpounga
during the auction. Jane stopped at tables throughout the evening to greet guests, including
WCN Co-Founder Akiko Yamazaki. Dave Matthews performed several songs.
W
hen Dr. Jane Goodall called WCN’s Executive Director Charles Knowles and asked him to
host a party on her upcoming big 80th birthday, he
didn’t hesitate before saying yes. Jane has been a
friend to WCN since its beginnings and has spoken at six Wildlife Conservation Expos. Her talks
have inspired crowds of wildlife lovers and helped
WCN to grow and reach new audiences. WCN was
honored to host her eightieth birthday party and
to help Dr. Jane raise more than $1.3 million in one
evening for the chimpanzees of Tchimpounga in
the Congo.
Jane’s initial vision for her party was a casual event
thrown in Charlie’s backyard with vegetarian food
served by volunteers. However, she also had a
birthday wish to move 100 chimpanzees from the
overcrowded Tchimpounga Rehabilitation Center
in the Congo to three pristine, forested islands
where the chimps will be able to live virtually wild
while still receiving any necessary care. In order
to make Jane’s wish come true, WCN knew that
a more lavish, grander birthday bash than Jane’s
original plan needed to take place.
On April 3, WCN hosted Jane’s party at the Julia
Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. Jane’s close
friend Dave Matthews was on hand to serenade
Jane with several songs. He also drew his version
of Jane’s chimps in black marker on a guitar to
be auctioned off. The guitar sold for $22,000.
Jane traveled through the crowd during dinner,
attempting to make a stop at every table to say
hello to guests.
The night was a magical one for Jane, WCN, all of
the passionate wildlife supporters in attendance,
and the chimps of Tchimpounga.
7
© FRANS LANTING
Summer 2014
News
IN THIS ISSUE
$2 Million Raised to Save Elephants
Dr. Jane Goodall’s 80th Birthday
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