News & Updates

Earlier this week, at the world-renowned Tusk Conservation Awards, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, HRH The Duke of Cambridge presented John Kahekwa, founder of the Pole Pole Foundation International (POPOF), with the highly-prestigious Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa. This lifetime achievement award recognises outstanding dedication and exceptional contribution to conservation in Africa.

It has emerged today that Asian elephant Tonzi at Twycross zoo has been put to sleep after suffering from severe arthritis. Tonzi was only 32 years old. The news comes four years after she was filmed on CCTV being beaten by her keepers at the zoo.

Horrifying footage has emerged of a male lion attacking a trainer at a live circus event in Egypt. It is reported that the lion attacked the trainer and bit his neck during a performance in Alexandria.

It is saddening news to report that four dolphins have arrived in Lanzarote, Canary Islands (Spain) over the weekend; seemingly to be displayed at the newly built dolphinarium in Rancho Texas zoo. The Born Free Foundation has been supporting the #StopDelfinarioLanzarote campaign, created by the Spanish NGO, FAADA, to stop the construction of a captive dolphin facility on Lanzarote and inevitable import of dolphins.

News from our partners at the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust: Wildlife crime history was set in Malawi this week with not one but two unprecedented court rulings - the first ever conviction of an individual dealing in rhino horn and, in a separate case, the first ever policemen to be convicted for wildlife trafficking.

The Pole Pole Foundation (POPOF) team in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been hard at work, supporting the Global Friends Environment Club at Anga Primary School. As a result of the work of the students and the POPOF team in engaging with the local community they have a new member, the community leader himself! Pictured here (right) with the Environment Club, he has thanked them for their invaluable initiatives to educate younger pupils about keeping wildlife in the wild.

“I never thought I would be so lucky! Travelling with mum, revisiting some of the places that hold such special memories for her. Hearing the remarkable Born Free stories that live in her heart, was an extraordinary privilege. I was deeply moved and I believe this film will profoundly touch everyone who sees it.” Will Travers

It is disappointing to see London Zoo downplay a potentially very serious incident. If reports are accurate, Kumbuka made his way through two unlocked doors and entered a keeper area to come face-to-face with one of the keepers. While it is good that some of the more sensationalist media reports have been corrected, the fact remains that this incident was significant and could have ended very differently.

With less than 4,000 tigers remaining globally, facing a myriad of threats in their forest homes, wild tigers need no added pressure. Sadly they face a little known but formidable threat, one which may yet spell their end in the wild: their captive breeding in large commercial enterprises in the infamous tiger ‘farms’ of China and Southeast Asia.

Scientific investigations have concluded that whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans) do not fare well in captivity, where the lack of space and complexity causes these intelligent animals to develop anxieties, abnormal behaviours and early mortality. These facts have recently been supported by 21 eminent marine biologists, who have signed a statement stating that science no longer justifies the use of cetaceans for entertainment purposes.