Juniper Group Program Night

Wildlife Conservation in East Africa

Protecting East Africa’s wildlife and wild lands, including one of the greatest populations of elephants left in East Africa, Big Life Foundation employs hundreds of Maasai anti-poaching rangers using tracker dogs and aerial surveillance to protect nearly 2 million acres of wilderness in the Amboseli-Tsavo-Kilimanjaro ecosystem.  Since 2008 a dramatic escalation in poaching has been fed by a surge in demand for ivory and other animal parts from China and other parts of Asia.  Chillingly, at the rate of current poaching there will be no elephants or lions left in the African wild within 15 years.  Big Life sounds the alarm for an urgent need to halt this destruction.

Big Life’s philosophy is that sustainable conservation can only be achieved through community collaborations for the benefit of all, and has established a successful ecosystem model that can be replicated across the continent.  Protected iconic fauna include elephants as well as Eastern black rhinos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, hippo, zebra and many more.

Sierra Club member and Big Life’s Associate Director Amy Baird will provide an update on the conservation work happening in Africa and share some of her firsthand experiences with Big Life’s work.  Learn more about Big Life’s programs, including video material at biglife.org.  At the Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas, Bend, 6:30 social gathering/networking, 6:50 action item and program.  Free.  Donations at the door will be gifted to Big Life Foundation.