InSitu 2020

2020 Conservation Work

This page is updated throughout the year as we fund new projects.  Big Cat Rescue donates more than $100,000 each year to save cats in the wild where they belong.

SNARES TO WARES INITIATIVE

Big Cat Rescue donated $1,000 to the Snares to Wares Initiative. Snares to Wares is a 501(c)(3) community-based conservation initiative within Michigan State University, dedicated to improving human livelihood and protecting wildlife in and around the village of Pakwach, Uganda. The initiative simultaneously transforms human lives and addresses the problem of wildlife poaching by empowering local artisans to repurpose wire snares into sculptures of the wildlife that would otherwise fall victim to snaring, such as elephants and Lions.

Abject poverty and lack of opportunity have given rise to rapidly-expanding subsistence poaching via wire snaring in the human communities bordering national parks in Uganda. While antelopes are the intended targets, the wire snares are indiscriminate and often catch a host of other animals. Snares to Wares is focused on not only removing wire snares from national parks, but is offering employment opportunities for the communities directly affected by these issues. By providing local people with an alternative source of income, potential poachers become entrepreneurial artisans whose work benefits wildlife conservation across Uganda. Proceeds from the sale of the sculptures made by locals flow directly into the community to sustain these transformations. In addition many of the proceeds from Snares to Wares offer education opportunities for students from Uganda to study conservation, by creating a sponsorship program. The program allows Ugandan students to have direct involvement in the conversation surrounding wildlife conservation in their own countries. Read more about the initiative here: https://snarestowares.org/

URBAN FISHING CAT PROJECT

Big Cat Rescue donated $8,000 to researcher Anya Ratnayaka and the Urban Fishing Cat Project. The Urban Fishing Cat project works on the conservation of Fishing Cats in the urban wetland habitats of Columbo, Sri Lanka, through awareness, education and research. After witnessing rapid wetland clearing in 2013, Anya and her team made it their mission to understand how fishing cats were able to adapt to this habitat threat and what was needed for their survival.

Fishing Cats are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list and Endangered in Sri Lanka, they are one of four wild cats native to the country. Through Camera Trap Tracking and GPS collaring of cats, the Urban Fishing Cat project was able to collect information on the cats relating to population numbers, habitat usage, home ranges and threats. Aside from habitat loss, Road Mortalities are another threat to Fishing Cats and in January 2020 Anya and her team were contacted by the Road Development Authority to provide information on roads that have high rates of fishing cat-vehicular collisions, so that new mitigation methods such as under/over passes, sign boards and speed bumps could be installed to ensure that wildlife could safely cross.

From the beginning the Urban Fishing Cat project has worked closely with the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation. By sharing the information gathered with relevant government stakeholders, the Fishing Cat became a flagship species for Wetland Conservation in Colombo. The donation made by Big Cat Rescue was to help the Urban Fishing Cat Project replace camera traps and purchase waterproof housing, after their equipment was lost in Monsoon storms in 2019. Read more about the Urban Fishing Cat Project here: https://fishingcats.lk/

JOMOLHARI SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION PROGRAM

The global Snow Leopard population stands at an estimated 5,000-7,000 individuals spread over 2 million square kilometers of habitat. To date they have been killed from 15% of their historic range. Their range varies from the Himalayas to Central Asia and spans 12 countries, including Bhutan, where the cats can be found among much of the northern alpine regions along the Tibetan Border. The Jomolhari mountain region has some of the highest snow leopard activity in Bhutan. Numerous camera trap photos, signs and DNA sampling from the region has established it as not only one of the best snow leopard habitats but a prime location for its prey, Blue Sheep.

The residents of this region are primarily Yak herders and while yak is prevalent in the area, the herders have generally been tolerant of some predation from Snow Leopards, but public attitudes and perception towards the cats is fast changing. The Jomolhari Snow Leopard Conservation project is an integrated approach to conserve an important snow leopard region and bring benefits from conservation to local communities.

Their aim is to encourage resident communities to actively participate in snow leopard conservation, which in turn can only succeed with their support. Yak-herding communities will benefit from improved health care, livestock husbandry, and education services and income generation from tourism and related initiatives, whilst snow leopards will benefit from protection by the local communities. Read more about the Jomolhari Snow Leopard Conservation project here: https://bhutanfound.org/projects/snow-leopard-conservation-program/

Pallas Cats – Steppe Wildlife Conservation & Research

Steppe Wildlife Conservation & Research is a Non-Government Organization, established in 2018, dedicated to the conservation of local wildlife, especially Pallas’s Cats in Eastern Mongolia. Their focus is on building local awareness and knowledge through community based tourism, education and Research.

The Pallas’s cat is listed as ‘Near Threatened’ on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is thought to be at risk from habitat fragmentation, a declining prey base, and consumptive hunting. Current status of Pallas’s cat highlights its need for protection but Its ecology remains poorly understood, impairing the development of conservation strategies. Most recorded sightings are in mountainous areas, steppes and rocky outcrops, suggesting these are the preferred habitats. Pallas’s Cats are distributed throughout Southern Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Balochistan, Ladakh, Western & Central China, Mongolia and Siberia, however the scarcity of records suggest the species is rare and has very patchy distribution.

The Eastern Steppe is one of the world’s last great grassland wildernesses,  providing a vast ecosystem and acting as a stronghold for the elusive Pallas Cat, with large numbers of individuals noted here. Approximately 12% of the species’ range in Mongolia occurs within protected areas. But the steppe zone in which most of their distribution is, is out of protection of the species. The cats primarily depend on rock and earth dens dug by other mammals ; marmot dens are preferred by Pallas Cats, as they are underground and most likely provide insulation and thermoregulation, however massive marmot declines in Eastern Mongolia have resulted in reduced burrow availability and problems for Pallas Cats.  Thank you to B. Otgonbayar for this fascinating look into the lives of wild Pallas Cats and Pallas Cat kittens!

Steppe Wildlife is working to better understand the region and biological needs of the Pallas Cat to successfully develop future conservation management programs.

You can read more about their work here: https://www.steppewildlife.org/

Freedom for Animal Actors (FAA)

The circus industry in China continues to cause immense suffering for many thousands of tigers, lions, bears, macaques and other wild animals. The Small Chinese NGO Freedom for Animal Actors (FAA) has been working since 2015 to expose this practice via a nationwide campaign, raising awareness of this immense cruelty and directly opposing the activities of the circus operators. FAA activities have led to some severe disruption to circus operators in China and to many facilities ending their association with circuses that use animals altogether. Whilst they do not underestimate the task ahead they are hopeful that through this direct action and public dissemination campaign, public opinion will continue to change within China with less support for the use of animals in entertainment.

Through their work Freedom for Animal Actors aims to raise awareness of the welfare issues associated with not only the use of animals in circuses but the transport, traveling, housing, training and wild capture of these animals for circuses and zoo exhibits. To date FAA activities have achieved several successes:

1. The closure of many traveling circuses by local government departments due to their inability to meet the legal requirements to operate a circus with animals.

2. An overall reduction in the number of animal performances in zoos and safari parks across China. A 2018 survey demonstrates that 32.54% zoos and safari parks in China have animal performances, a decrease from 38.52% in 2016 and 42.77% in 2014

3. High profile TV networks and shows including the ‘wonderful friends tv show’ adapting their formats to end the exploitation of wild animals for entertainment.

4. Widespread public support for an end to the use of wild animals in circuses

FAA public opposition campaigns have led national and provincial governing authorities to regulate the activities of captive wild animal facilities.

The FAA is only a small organization, facing a large industry, so the more awareness and support their work receives, the more ability they will have to help the thousands of animals affected daily by this cruel exploitation.

FAUNA & FLORA INTERNATIONAL: SAVING TIGERS IN SUMATRA

To date there are an estimated 400-500 Sumatran Tigers remaining in the wild. Approximately 150 are found in and around the 13,800 ㎢ Kerinci Seblat National Park, that spans the Indonesian provinces of West Sumatra, Jambu, Bengkulu and South Sumatra. Kerinci Seblat National Park is the second largest national park in Southeast Asia, is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its rich biodiversity and is a global priority for the long-term survival of wild tigers.

One of the main threats to Sumatran Tigers is poaching. Hunters trap or shoot them for their skin, bones and canines, which are in high demand as status symbols, primarily overseas, and for use in East Asian traditional medicine. Snare traps are also abundant in the park and pose a threat to the tigers as well as domestic trade and human-tiger conflict with forest-edge communities.

Since 2000, Fauna & FIora International has been working with the park authorities and local communities to strengthen tiger protection through forest patrols, undercover investigations and law enforcement operations to combat illegal trafficking of tigers and tiger parts. The work of the tiger protection units has led to the successful prosecution of dozens of poachers and traders. The team also conducts human-wildlife conflict mitigation, responds to wildlife emergencies and works to secure key tiger habitat in and around the park. More than 500 dedicated national park and community forest rangers who conduct anti-poaching forest patrols, remove snares and deter would-be poachers, have been trained.

Following years of unprecedented pressure from organized illegal wildlife trade syndicates, there is growing evidence that the poaching threat is reducing, while tiger populations are stable in the project’s focus areas. FFI is also helping the park authorities and a specialist team to monitor sumatran tigers and their prey, and mentoring park staff to build their biodiversity monitoring skills. Sadly, in 2013-2015 a major spike in poaching threat was recorded, driven by organized illegal wildlife trade syndicates. This threat has not dramatically reduced following, targeted, intelligence-led law enforcement, paving the way for recovery.  Read more about their work here:

https://www.fauna-flora.org/projects/conserving-sumatran-tigers-kerinci-seblat-national-park  (Photo credit to Fauna & Flora International)

ANDEAN CAT CONSERVATION

The Andean Cat Alliance (Alianza Gato Andino or AGA) is a multifunctional and interdisciplinary network, formed in 1999 by conservation professionals from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru, to develop coordinated actions for the conservation of the species and habitat throughout its range.

The Andean cat is a small feline found in the high Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru and in the northern portion of the Patagonian steppe in Argentina. It is one of the least known cats in the world and is considered the most threatened feline in America, being among the five most endangered cats in the world. AGA contributes to the knowledge and conservation of the Andean Cat and its habitat through research, conservation strategies, education, awareness, community participation and support in the management of wild areas.

The environments where Andean cats live are arid and feature extreme temperatures, scarce vegetation, and rocky landscapes. Steep cliffs transition into predominantly flat terrain, providing shelter not only to the Andean cat but many other animals. Because these rocky patches are not continuous and have dry conditions, the Andean cat and its prey live in a highly fragile ecosystem. This means even minor environmental modifications can have great impacts on native species.

Over the years AGA has identified the most important direct and indirect threats to Andean Cat Populations, and as a result, currently have a number of ongoing conservation programs aimed at reducing those threats. The main threats include human-animal conflict, hunting, transfer of diseases from domestic animals, habitat degradation and habitat loss. In northern Patagonia, hunting is so intense that more than half of Andean cat´s presence records obtained correspond to animals that have been hunted.  Read more about their work here: https://gatoandino.org/en/home/  (Photo credit to Andean Cat Alliance)

CAMBODIAN FISHING CAT PROJECT

The Cambodian Fishing Cat Project formed in 2016, following the first photo of a Fishing Cat in Cambodia for over a decade, found during a Center for Biodiversity Conservation survey in 2015. This photo showed proof of a population of Fishing Cats in the mangroves of the southwest. The mangroves are essential as coastal protection from rising tides, storm surges and are a lifeline for the human communities who fish its waters.

Fishing Cats are a little understood wild cat, with studies on their species only beginning in 2009. They are currently listed on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable, and evidence points to a dramatic drop in numbers. In Southeast Asia they may be approaching extinction. In Khmer, the cambodian language, Fishing Cats are known as “Kla Trey” meaning literally “Fish Tiger” and unfortunately this association with the tiger instills fear and awe in some people, posing a threat to the cats. The interest in them also exposes fishing cats to poaching and human-fishing cat conflict.

The Cambodian Fishing Cat Project is working to estimate population abundance and status of the Fishing Cats in Cambodia, in particular in Paem Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary, in addition to assessing threats, raising awareness and working with relevant stakeholders to develop conservation measures to protect this newly found population.

PKWS is situated near the border with Thailand and comprises some of the largest and densest mangroves in Southeast Asia. PKWS covers an area of just under 26,000 hectares and has a population of around 10,000 people. The population is heavily dependent on fishing, crabbing, harvesting seafood and seafood processing for their livelihood. Overexploitation of wildlife, non-timber forest products, land clearance for agriculture, illegal hunting and sand dredging of waterways are all major threats for the ecosystem.  Read more about their work here: https://www.fishingcatcambodia.org/ (Photo credit to Cambodian Fishing Cat Project)

ONCILLA CONSERVATION COSTA RICA

The Coats Rica Wildlife Foundation is a Non-Government Organization working on research, communication, education and action taking, in an effort to improve coexistence between humans and wildlife.

The Oncilla is the smallest wild cat in all of Mesoamerica, in size it is comparable to a domestic cat, with the particularity of having a beautiful spotted coat similar to that of a jaguar, its largest cousin. As it has been affirmed by experts, this species is rare in all its distribution and is easily confused with other species like Ocelots. The Oncilla is distributed from Central Brazil and the Amazon Basin to Costa Rica and Panama.

The Costa Rica Wildlife Foundation started the Oncilla project to answer a number of questions about the species. The project is located in the Talamanca Mountain Range, the largest forested area in the country, ranging over more than 400,000 hectares. One aspect of the project will be to determine conservation sites for Oncilla and assess current conservation status of the subspecies. The information generated in the project will be disseminated through information campaigns, talks and workshops to ensure the persistence of this species and to make it known to Costa Rican society as a unique species. In addition the project is looking to identify threats to the Oncilla so they are able to mitigate them and monitor the populations to guarantee their persistence and that of their habitat over time. Threats to Oncilla are thought to include habitat loss and hunting, primarily for their fur.

The Oncilla project aims to establish itself as a long-term small cat conservation project in Costa Rica using the Oncilla as a flagship species.  Read more about their work here: https://costaricawildlife.org/  (Photo Credit to Costa Rica Wildlife Foundation)

WILDLIFE POISONING PREVENTION & CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Wildlife Poisoning Prevention & Conflict Resolution is a Non-Profit organization that originated from a need to address the history of human-animal conflict, in particular the use of poisons for poaching and retaliatory killings. The organization works in Southern and East Africa, including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, Kenya and Botswana.

Every year hundreds of animals, including African Lions and Leopards, are subjected to gruesome deaths as a direct result of feeding on poisoned carcasses. The carcasses are typically poached African Rhinos or African Elephants, but more recently have included the Lions themselves. The use of Poisons in Africa and Intentional Poison Abuse is increasing, whether for the parts and skins of the animals,  or revenge poisoning against predators who cause livestock losses, and it is increasingly falling on Rangers in the field to address and investigate the crimes.

The cornerstone project of the organization is Wildlife Poisoning prevention and they intend to do this through the training of rangers and enforcement officers, to effectively and safely collect data samples to identify poisons and to provide evidence for poacher prosecution. By training and equipping anti-poaching rangers and conservation management to gather better quality forensic evidence at crime scenes, it will lead to more effective prosecution of poachers. This will ultimately send a message to communities that this practice is harmful and unacceptable and has consequences for the perpetrator. In addition the organization aims to draft more efficient wildlife management plans and support to land-managers and enforcement agencies. The goal is to mentor close to 500 rangers by 2020 and to identify poaching hotspots, allowing them to station rangers accordingly, while establishing a better relationship between wildlife and the humans they co-reside with.  Read more about their work here: https://wildlifepoisoningprevention.co.za/

CANINE LAW ENFORCEMENT & ANTI-POACHING PROGRAM

Working Dogs for Conservation is the world’s leading conservation detection dog organization. They are pioneers in using dogs’ extraordinary sense of smell to further conservation and aid in the fight against wildlife trafficking. To save wildlife, they first start by saving dogs, as many of their conservation detection dogs are rescued from shelters. For most of their history, WD4C have used dogs’ exceptional abilities to find where and how cryptic, rare, or threatened species live. They are now putting the dogs to work finding and eliminating threats to these species. The dogs have been trained to find snares, guns, gunpowder and ammunition in addition to animal parts. Their success is helping wildlife authorities find wildlife products, confiscate weapons and arrest poachers which in turn has a significant impact on keeping protected areas for wildlife safe.

The Serengeti Plain is home to more than 3 million animals, including elephants, rhinos and a host of animals that are vulnerable to poacher’s snares, including lion, leopard, buffalo, hyena, zebra, wildebeest, and giraffe. Every year 200,000 animals are poached in the Serengeti. In partnership with the Singita Grumeti Fund (SGF), WD4C has created a canine law enforcement unit in the western portion of the Serengeti ecosystem. The canine unit will complement SGF’s existing scout patrol camps and twenty-four hour observation posts by searching for contraband and tracking poachers. The dogs will also have a powerful deterrent effect as poachers learn the animals will increase their chances of being found and arrested. The target scents for the dogs include Ivory, Rhino Horn, Bushmeat, Animal Skins, Ammunition, Gunpowder & Guns. The three dogs stationed are all rescues and are working tirelessly to protect the Serengeti Wildlife.  Read more about their work here: https://wd4c.org/

HUMAN-TIGER CONFLICT INTERIM RELIEF SCHEME

With 2967 wild tigers, India tops the list of tiger range countries and holds around 75% of the world’s wild tiger population. India’s 50 tiger reserves occupy around 72,000 sq km, occupying just over 2% of the country’s geographical area. However, research has shown that 35% of tigers live outside the purview and enhanced protection of these Protected Areas (PA) in heavily populated human dominated landscapes.The Corbett Foundation is a charitable, non-profit and non-governmental organization solely committed to the conservation of wildlife.

They work towards a harmonious coexistence between human beings and wildlife across some of the most important wildlife habitats in India, namely Corbett Tiger Reserve, Kanha and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves, Kaziranga Tiger Reserve and around the Greater Rann of Kutch. TCF has been providing ex-gratia interim compensation to the livestock depredation by tigers and leopards, in Corbett Tiger Reserve in northern India. This programme began in 1997, to prevent retaliatory killings of these large cats by local communities due to the delays in receiving compensation from the government for their losses.

TCF intervenes within 48 hours of a livestock kill and provides interim ex-gratia compensation, to prevent retribution by the affected villagers. This quick action has helped in prevention of antipathy towards tigers and leopards, thereby helping in their long-term conservation. This is one of the most successful tiger conservation projects being implemented by any NGO in India and has been in place for more than 22 years!  Read more about their work here: https://www.corbett foundation.org

NORTHERN JAGUAR PROJECT

The Northern Jaguar Project is a bi-national non-profit organization initiated by conservationists from Arizona and Mexico, with the aim of preserving core Jaguar populations and essential Jaguar habitat through the establishment, care and expansion of protected areas in the Northern Sonoran Desert in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Their aspiration is to restore habitat suitable for Jaguars and other threatened and endangered species, support wildlife research and educational programs, and to reduce conflicts between carnivores and humans. Habitat loss, hunting, federal anti-predator programs, and conflicts with livestock have precipitated rapid declines of the world’s jaguar populations, and the species is today considered endangered throughout its entire range. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands where, within the last 100 years, the jaguar has been virtually eliminated. While individual jaguars continue to be documented in the mountains of southern Arizona and New Mexico, recent field investigations have determined that the nearest breeding population of 80 to 120 jaguars exists in Sonora, Mexico, approximately 125 miles south of the border.

The NJP has acquired land, through donation and purchase, to not only protect jaguar habitat but to preserve migratory routes. The Northern Jaguar Reserve now covers 70 square miles of consistently rough, steep terrain, sculpted by hundreds of canyons and cliffs – ideal for jaguars, bobcats and mountain lions. The lands surrounding the Northern Jaguar Reserve form one of the largest unbroken expanses of wildlife habitat in northern Mexico. NJP is working to identify safe-passage corridors to return Jaguars to former U.S habitat along the international border, and the NJP Reserve is the major source for cats moving north, it not only provides a crucial safe zone but is the link between protected areas in Arizona, New Mexico and Sonora. On the U.S side of the border, jaguars are protected on more than 800,000 acres of national forests, wildlife refuges, and private ranches with conservation agreements that prevent their killing. As NJP continues to seek land to provide connectivity for the Jaguar to travel northward, it appears their efforts are working, with male Jaguars being photographed on both sides of the U.S-Mexico border in recent years.

In addition to land purchase the NJP has established a group known as Jaguar Guardians, who are employed to reside on the Reserve, to provide protection for Jaguars and other wildlife by maintaining a consistent physical presence detering encroachment, poaching and theft. They are also the ones regularly retrieving data from the field, which includes managing a series of motion-triggered cameras to determine jaguar, deer, and javelina densities, monitoring felid tracks, collecting scat, recording wildlife sightings, and determining the cause of death of any carcasses that are discovered.  Read more about their work here: https://www.northernjaguarproject.org

FISHING AND RUSTY SPOTTED CAT CONSERVATION IN INDIA

The Eastern Ghats Wildlife Society is a non-profit conservation organization, aiming to protect lesser-known and neglected wildlife species, in the Eastern Ghats region of South India. The organization promotes community-based wildlife conservation through education, conservation-oriented research, public participation and sustainable development.

For one of their projects, focusing on small wild cats, EGWS is developing a comprehensive understanding of the biogeographical distribution of Fishing Cats, and the implications of various human-induced activities on their survival. In order to understand and address immediate threats to the species, they are working to train local people and front-line wildlife staff to monitor Fishing Cats by using in-field tracking and camera trapping. They are also generating a GIS-based habitat map for Fishing Cats, to show the status of current habitat and possible future habitats, to help policymakers make informed decisions to minimize impacts of developmental activities and promoting awareness of fishing cat conservation and the significance of wetlands to local youth, children and villagers in and around Fishing Cat Habitats. With this information and input they plan to devise and implement appropriate site-specific actions and conservation measures to address the direct threats from human-induced activity, to the Fishing Cats.

Another Small cat species that shares the Eastern Ghats landscape is the Rusty Spotted Cat, categorized on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened. Similar to their work with the Fishing Cat, EGWS is undertaking a project focusing on the Rusty Spotted Cat, aiming to understand the distribution of the cats and assessing various sources of threat in their proposed project site.

In addition to their direct work with small cat species, EGWS also has a focus on threats to urban ecosystems due to rapid urbanization. It is a common misconception that wildlife only exists in forested areas, but even the densest of cities have wildlife amongst them. Industrialisation, construction of buildings, quarrying of hills, increased pollution, deforestation, lack of awareness, unchecked poaching and invasive/domestic species have all taken a toll in India. EGWS is working to identify, monitor and provide solutions to some of these threats to improve the human-wildfire relationships in the area and protect species, many of which have population numbers in decline.  Read more about their work here: https://eghats.org/

COMBATTING WILD ANIMAL TRAFFICKING IN BRAZIL

National Network to Combat Trafficking in Wild Animals (RENCTAS) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 1999, that fights for the conservation of biodiversity, and since then has won international awards and acclaim for its innovative approach to tracking and combating the global illegal wildlife trade.

The group’s pioneering strategy is to use social media to track the sale and movement of animals out of Brazil, and turn over the data to law enforcement. In 1999, it identified nearly 6,000 ads featuring the illegal sale of animals on e-commerce platforms. By 2019, it reported 3.5 million advertisements for the illegal trade on social networks. Sales of animals online has been tracked to 200+ illegal trafficking organizations and tragically an approximate 38 million animals are removed from Brazil every year. It is estimated that of the millions of Brazilian animals captured, sold, resold and transported, only 1 in 10 of the animals trafficked makes it to the consumers alive. The Amazon and Cerrado are the preferred biomes for Brazil’s traffickers, with primates, reptiles, amphibians, felines and insects among the most targeted groups.RENCTAS was the first environmental organization in Brazil to use the internet in a major way as a tool to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

Over time, RENCTAS has come to be recognized for its efforts in not only tracking the activities of traffickers on social networks such as Facebook and WhatsApp, but also for helping communities in regions where poaching is a serious issue to develop alternative income streams such as ecotourism, and for promoting awareness among local leaders of the damaging effects that trafficking can have on biodiversity. In the 20+ years since it launched, its team has trained more than 7,000 public officials involved in environmental inspections.

Today, RENCTAS operates with a team of just six permanent, full-time employees, with its main headquarters in the capital, Brasilia. It receives no funding from the Brazilian government, but continues to work across key biomes including the vast Amazon rainforest along with the Cerrado savanna, which covers more than a fifth of Brazil’s territory.  Read more about their work here: https://www.renctas.org.br

AFRICAN PARKS ANTI-POACHING

African Parks is a non-profit conservation organization that takes on direct responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks and protected areas in partnership with governments and local communities. They currently manage ten parks in seven countries: Chad, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia – covering an expansive six million hectares. African Parks focuses on effective law enforcement measures, conflict mitigation schemes, and community engagement in order to protect Threatened species such as lions, leopards and cheetahs, along with providing them with the habitat and security of core areas the animals need in order to breed and thrive. Wildlife across Africa are under siege, whether elephants for their ivory, rhinos for their horns, or bushmeat for local consumption.

African Parks wildlife conservation approach combines habitat management, wildlife reintroductions and translocations, monitoring programmes, as well as relevant research to inform conservation actions. Often the parks require total rehabilitation including the reintroduction of wildlife that has become locally extinct for a variety of reasons.They undertake wildlife monitoring, monitoring individual animals, through collaring or fitting tracking devices, to gather critical information on ecology and behavior,  survivorship or mortality, and advance knowledge on the ecosystem as a whole, as well as how to better manage the wildlife within them. Through monitoring efforts, they can establish the ways in which they focus resources.

Research is a vital part of monitoring the health of the ecosystem and also an important way to track the management progress of the park. Regular censuses provide essential information on wildlife trends, which even with the best monitoring can take several years to determine, but ultimately dictate whether interventions are working.

Finally African Parks has the largest counter-poaching force in Africa with over 600 rangers on staff. Proper and frequent training is given to the rangers to create an able and well-disciplined team who on foot, horseback, boats, vehicles and aerial, conduct year round patrols providing security for the wildlife against poachers and other illegal activities.  Read more about their work here:  https://www.africanparks.org/

See More InSitu Work Funded by Big Cat Rescue

See the current year of InSitu work here:  https://bigcatrescue.org/insitu/

See InSitu work from 2020 here:  https://bigcatrescue.org/insitu2020/

See InSitu work from 2019 here:  https://bigcatrescue.org/insitu2019/

See InSitu work from 2018 here:  https://bigcatrescue.org/insitu2018/

See InSitu work from 2017 here:  https://bigcatrescue.org/insitu2017/

See InSitu work from 2016 and before here:  https://bigcatrescue.org/insitu2016/