Born free’s preview of 2019
2019 PREVIEW
As 2018 draws to a close, we’re looking forward to a new year that is already proving to be bigger and better than 2018. So what can you expect from Born Free in 2019?
Happy birthday to us!
We will celebrate 35 years since our Co-Founders Virginia McKenna OBE, Bill Travers MBE and Will Travers OBE started our charity in 1984. We’ve got some special celebrations planned – and hope you will join in too!
Living with Tigers
Are you missing BBC1’s Dynasties as much as us? Fear not, in the next few days we will be launching a new campaign to protect wild tigers. We’ll be focusing on our work in India and demonstrating how living with tigers is possible if solutions are considerate and compassionate.
Wildlife trade
In May, delegates from around the world will meet in Sri Lanka to make crucial decisions concerning the trade in wildlife. Born Free will be at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna’s Conference of the Parties, and will continue to lobby on a variety of wildlife issues and much needed policy changes.
New look
We’ve been busy refurbishing and updating our rescue centres in South Africa and India, as well as building the country’s first wildlife vet centre at Ensessa Kotteh, in Ethiopia. We expect these to be fully finished in 2019 so that we can rescue, rehabilitate and, where possible, release wild animals who need our help.
Integrated Wildlife Protection
When we launched our Enter the Dragon appeal a few months ago, we introduced our innovative Integrated Wildlife Protection approach, which aims to build partnerships and coalitions to ensure the long-term sustainability of protected areas and wildlife habitats. Expect to hear much more about this in 2019, with new initiatives and campaigns planned.
UK ivory trade ban
We’ve been calling for a global ban in the trade in ivory for 30 years, so we were delighted when the UK Ivory Bill received Royal Assent. We’ll continue to advise the UK government to ensure that other ivory-bearing species, such as walrus, narwhal and hippo, are included within the scope of the law.
