Charities are having to move online for a lot of fundraising now, and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) is no exception.

The Foundation fights wildlife crime, protects species and engages local communities in conservation in Africa and Asia. 

It works with conservation partners and you can see a list of them here.

They have just held a Virtual Wildlife Ball and wow, was it a success!

Their aim was to raise £50,000 – but supporters really rallied, dug deep and showed their true support for the Foundation.  The event raised a staggering £80,000!

People tuned in from all over the world and the event lasted an hour.  It raised nearly £50,000 before it even started!

Elephants, tigers, rhinos, pangolins, chimpanzees, lions, painted dogs and snow leopards.

Amongst the stars involved in the event, is an inspirational 9 year old raising money for pangolin, to a soprano and there’s also a visit to the Elephant Orphanage.  

There’s nothing like going to bed knowing you have done something really good today and made a difference.

The event was held to celebrate wildlife and to raise funds to support conservation across Africa and Asia. 

The bit about with the elephant orphanage starts at 28 minutes
if you're short of time.

It's not enough to care - we need to ACT

Climate change and the biodiversity crises has been forgotten in the times of the coronavirus and charities are suffering particularly badly.  The more we can all do to help, the better off our wildlife will be.

The key things for us all to do are to spread the word that there are good things happening and that we can all make a difference to wildlife.

We can turn this around if we all pull together and help nature.

Visit the DSWF's website here

Donate to the DSWF here

You can also adopt an animal here as a gift and buy wildlife art as a gift here.

And of course you can spread the word on social media! 

@dswfwildlife on Twitter

@DSWFWildlife on Facebook

Don't miss Tuesday and Wednesday 5 and 6 January 2021 at 9pm on BBC2:  Cheetah Family and Me with Gordon Buchanan 

It's back!  There's a repeat of Snow Cats and Me on BBC2 at 8pm on Friday 13 November 2020!

Here's my post from the previous showing:

I'm watching a lynx catching the first rays of sun on her fur ever, in Russia.  This lynx is one of two who have been rescued from a chap who kept two lynx to breed from and this amazing rescuer has got the owner to hand them over.

The rescuer is big cat expert Dr Victor Lukarevsky who is trying for the first time ever to rescue lynx and rehabilitat them so that they can go back into the wild. This is in complete contrast to their previous life when they were living in cages in a garage.

Lynx are wanted for the pet trade and fur trade in Russia. 

Anyway, do watch Gordon Buchanan's Snow Cats and Me.  There are 2 episodes and you can find out more about the programme here.

UPDATE:

Do I tell you or not, if you haven't seen the programme?  Well, I'm bursting so I have to!   The two lynx Dasher and Briansk (not sure if I've spelt their names correctly) were released in the stunning Khakassia State Reserve, Siberia, deep in the Siberian wilderness, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one to have tears falling down my face at the sight of Briansk gingerly stepping into unknown territories and taking uncertain looks around him before heading off away from his rescuers.  The park is patrolled by rangers and it's a very remote area indeed - you don't see any signs of people at all. 

The footage of the lynx kittens was gorgeous, with their beautiful faces and inquisitive natures.   If you haven't seen the programme, please take a look! 

The 8^th to 14^th November 2020 is Orangutan Caring Week.

That gives me a great reason to tell you about a very special appeal which is being run by the Orangutan Foundation and the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme.

The Orangutan Foundation celebrated their 30^th Anniversary in October 2020 so it would be wonderful to see this appeal completed in the same year!

They are looking to raise £300,000 for conservation work that’s really vital.

In doing so, they want to save three species of orangutan:  The Bornean, Sumatran and  Tapanuli orangutans.  They are all critically endangered and are all suffering from a severe loss of tropical forest habitat.   As a result, their population numbers have plummeted by an incredible 90%. 

What will the £300,000 be used for?

In Borneo, it will be used for the following (and I’m kind of quoting):

• Protecting habitat in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve and the Tanjung Puting National Park
• Protection the operation of 8 guard posts in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve and two in the Tanjung Puting National Park
• Monitoring the health and behaviour of orangutans who have been released
• Supporting the veterinary and monitoring operations at 5 release camps
• Restoring degraded lands in the reserve
• Supporting the reforestation programme to increase the extent of habitat that’s suitable for the orangutans
• Conserving orangutans in landscapes outside conservation areas
• Collaborating with stakeholders across 2.5 million acres of prime forest habitat
  
  

In Sumatra,

The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme needs funds urgently to:

• Manage peatlands in the Leuser Ecosytem
• Protect carbon-rich peatlands with the highest orangutan densities
• Protect the Tapanuli orangutans in the Batang Toru Ecosystem
• Increase protected status of their habitat and connecting fragmented forests 
• Build up newly established wild populations in Jantho and Bukit Tigapuluh
• Support SOCP’s reintroduction of rehabilitated ex-captive orangutans.
• Transfer ‘unreleasable’ orangutans to the new Orangutan Haven
• Care for disabled or sick orangutans that cannot be released back to the wild.

So you can see that the £300,000 will be very well spent and really help make a difference to orangutans (and a lot of other species living in the area who also call the forests home).

Both organisations have done a great deal of work in the time they have been looking after orangutans and now they need to do more to help them.  The Tapanuli species of orangutan was only found in 2017.

If we could get 60,000 people to donate £5 or its equivalent, that would hit the target!

Visit the Orangutan Foundation’s website to find out more and donate.

I’m very excited by news from Spectacled Bear Conservation who work in Peru.

A camera trap has confirmed bear presence in an area known as Pan de Azucar, which means Sugar Loaf in English.

Spectacled Bear Conservation has monitored spectacled bears in the dry forest area of northern Peru for 12 years.  They were amazed to see the photo of a bear, because the area is very dry indeed.   The camera was on an arid mountain ridge where water sources are limited and it had been thought that it was too dry for animals to exist there.

Image ©Spectacled Bear Conservation

After finding the photo, five more camera traps were put up.   Sapote and overo trees were discovered – they are key food sources – and bear scat was also found, which suggests that more than one bear had used the area.

This shows the mountain to be a likely place for bears to find food fruits in the summer and possibly even the winter season. 

The more signs of bears being in the area the better – it means Spectacled Bear Conservation have more reason to protect the land.

What’s more, finding bears in the Sugar Loaf gives the chance to create one big habitat range for them.  This includes two national protected areas, Bosque de Pomac and the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge.

This find comes with better news:  the national park authorities are keen on the idea of linking the park with habitat outside protected areas.   Bears need big areas to roam.  They won’t stop at the park boundary.   And the parks are giving Spectacled Bear Conservation camera traps to put up so that it can monitor bears in Pan de Azucar.

Spectacled Bear Conservation is also working with the Peruvian national forestry authority, SERFOR.   The aim is to designate the area as “Habitat Critico” so that key habitats are protected for endangered species – including the spectacled bear!

And to think – it all started with a photo!

It just shows how important camera traps and long term monitoring are in protecting a species. 

Visit Spectacled Bear Conservation’s website

Donate to Spectacled Bear Conservation