News & Updates

One year since the death of Cecil the Lion, Virginia McKenna appeared on ITV’s This Morning, on Friday 1st July, to condemn trophy hunting and reflect on his legacy. In the same week that Channel 4 screened controversial documentary ‘The Women Who Kill Lions’, Virginia debated via satellite, with prolific trophy hunter and self-styled ‘conservationist’, Olivia Opre, who claims being killed by a hunter is the most humane way for an animal to die.

It has been reported that Arturo, the 30 year old polar bear at Mendoza Zoo in Argentina, has died. Arturo’s sad situation was first brought to international attention back in 2013, when distressing photographs and reports of his situation were circulated around the world. It is thought that Arturo endured substandard conditions in a completely unsuitable and unnatural climate for over 20 years.

On the Anniversary of Cecil's death, Born Free calls for an international moratorium on trophy hunting. On 1st July 2015, Cecil was brutally killed in Zimbabwe by American dentist and trophy hunter Walter Palmer. Cecil had been radio-tracked and studied by a University of Oxford team since 2008 as part of a long-term wild lion research project. But he was lured away from the protection of Hwange National Park, shot by a bow and arrow and died 40 hours later. News of his death went viral and rocked the world, prompting an unprecedented outpouring of grief for the 13-year-old lion.

The Born Free Foundation has joined with our friends at the Humane Society International, Animals Asia Foundation and partners in China to promote a petition in support of closing the zoo in Grandview Shopping Mall, Guangzhou, China.

The Born Free Foundation is shocked by the news from Cincinnati Zoo, which indicates that a child climbed or fell into the gorilla enclosure, and zoo authorities subsequently shot dead a male gorilla named Harambe.

Most people know about the terrible declines in many of Africa's animals, particularly elephants. What many people don't realise is that Lions, arguably the most iconic of Africa's predators, are also in real trouble.

The Born Free Foundation has been welcomed as a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) - the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation. The IUCN includes 1,351 government and NGO members, and more than 15,000 volunteer experts working in 185 countries.

Representatives from 16 leading European animal protection groups, including the Born Free Foundation, Eurogroup for Animals and Animal Advocacy and Protection (AAP), recently concluded meetings in Brussels, Belgium to launch a Europe-wide collaboration to end to the use of wild animals in performance. The coalition is advocating an end to the use of animals such as elephants, big cats and primates in entertainment including circuses and other live performances, television and film.

Delegates are attending the 3rd Asia ministerial conference on tiger conservation in Delhi, with over 23 NGOs and bodies wanting a commitment for zero demand for tiger parts in order to achieve zero poaching. The Asia ministerial conference, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took place on Tuesday. More than 700 tiger experts, scientists, managers, donors and other stakeholders gathered to discuss issues related to tiger conservation. Ministers and government officials from all tiger range countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Thailand, Vietnam, besides Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan also participated in the meeting.

Today we honour Nilesh Gawande, an individual who has worked tirelessly and unrelentingly for a future with tigers in central India. Composed of 25,000km² of protected areas and surrounding corridors of forest, the Satpuda highlands represent the largest block of tiger habitat in India, and are now home to approximately 300 Bengal tigers. In 2005 the Born Free Foundation, in conjunction with the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, established a network of organisations and individuals working for tiger conservation in the area under the umbrella of the Satpuda Landscape Tiger Programme (SLTP).