WildlifeDirect
| Founded | 1 June 2006 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Dr Richard Leakey |
| Focus | Conservation |
| Location |
|
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
| Method | Awareness, Fund raising, blogging |
|
Key people
|
Dr Richard Leakey Harold Wackman Dr Paula Kahumbu |
| Slogan | Saving Endangered Animals |
| Website | WildlifeDirect |
WildlifeDirect is a Kenya and US registered charitable organisation founded and chaired by African conservationist Richard Leakey, who is credited with putting an end to the elephant slaughter in Kenya in the 1980s. Its main office is located in Nairobi, Kenya.
WildlifeDirect was established in 2006 to provide support to conservationists in Africa directly on the ground via the use of blogs, which enables anybody, anywhere to play a direct and interactive role in the survival of some of the world's most precious species.
WildlifeDirect takes no administration fee for the funds that are transferred through their website so that the financial support can go to where it was intended in its entirety. Their core costs are provided for separately through grants, primarily from the European Union [1].
In January 2007, Congo Rangers in charge of gorilla protection from Virunga National Park reported through their blogs with WildlifeDirect that one solitary male, silverback mountain gorilla had been killed and butchered. A week later WildlifeDirect reported the death of another male mountain gorilla, later identified as Karema, in the same area. His remains, principally his head, had been dumped in a pit latrine.
WildlifeDirect's intervention in the gorillas deaths led to a deal between Congo Rangers and the rebels on the Democratic Republic of Congo side of Virunga National Park, where, despite ceasefire agreements, areas are still controlled by rebel fighters loyal to renegade Congolese army general Laurent Nkunda.
After worldwide publicity about the deaths was generated by WildlifeDirect and the Frankfurt Zoological Society, which works with the charity in the area, the rebel movement even went so far as to issue a press release denying any involvement.
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Wikipedia