Highlights from WCN’s Wildlife Conservation Expo

We just wrapped up this fall’s Wildlife Conservation Expo, an incredible weekend of exciting events and informative presentations on our Network’s efforts to protect some of our planet’s most endangered wildlife. Expo is the best time of the year—when we get to reunite with our stellar community and bring the conservationists that they support all the way to San Francisco from across the globe, so they can tell you firsthand how your generous donations have created a lasting impact for wildlife.

Our community helped make this fall’s Expo unlike any other before it. If you weren’t able to join us, or if you want to relive some of your favorite moments, then you’re in the right place!

Every year, Expo gives a stage to so many conservationists from around the world.

• We welcomed nearly 500 people to Expo’s Wild Night Out, our opening night event. Located at City View at the Metreon, our community kicked off this year’s festivities with a night of emotional presentations from Global Penguin Society, Ewaso Lions, Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, and Save the Elephants. So many people showed up that we had to roll out extra chairs! After the main show, attendees and conservationists mingled over drinks and under the stars on a terrace overlooking the colorful lights of downtown San Francisco. It was a magical evening filled with some of our favorite moments from the weekend.

Conservationists taking questions during our Wild Night Out.

• In keeping with Expo tradition, we welcomed some wonderful guest speakers to join our Conservation Partners on the stage—Seratu Aatai gave a presentation about how they protect elephants in Borneo and preserve their landscapes, and Proyecto Washu shared their work in Ecuador protecting brown-headed spider monkeys and their habitats. Hirola Conservation Program talked about their giraffe conservation program in Kenya, and Small Mammal Conservation Organization taught us how they protect bats in Nigeria. Each of these presentations took us into the world of some interesting new species outside of our core Network.

• Our friends at Dazzle Africa, &Beyond, Wilderness, Globus, and Conservation Travel Foundation helped transport us to the field during our Wild Night Out’s virtual safari. This adventure allowed Expo attendees to see what it’s like to be a scout in South Africa’s Ngala Private Game Reserve and Phinda Private Game Reserve, exploring a variety of wildlife in their daily lives across the savanna. In this virtual safari, we glimpsed prides of lions, herds of elephants with their calves, a leopard in a standoff with a hyena, and many other beautiful species and landscapes.

• This fall’s Expo featured some fascinating panel discussions, where a number of conservationists from different groups shared the stage to talk about the major strategies and challenges that they share, regardless of location or species. We heard from the leaders of the Elephant Crisis Fund, Lion Recovery Fund, Rhino Recovery Fund, and Pangolin Crisis Fund as they discussed how WCN’s Wildlife Fund model helps protect these four species across their entire range. Conservationists from Painted Dog Conservation, Spectacled Bear Conservation, and Conservation Through Public Health discussed the human footprint that communities create on wild landscapes. Conservationists from Grevy’s Zebra Trust, Andean Cat Alliance, Ewaso Lions, and Seratu Aatai discussed how important it is to empower rising local leaders in conservation programs. And conservationists from Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, Okapi Conservation Project, and Macaw Recovery Network talked about how their programs help restore forest habitats for wildlife.

As you can see, Expo is a truly special time of year packed with amazing moments, but none of it would be nearly as memorable without YOU. Your passion for wildlife, your genuine camaraderie, and your continued support of our mission are what make everything that WCN does possible. Expo isn’t just a time to recognize all that we’ve achieved together for wildlife, it’s a time for us to acknowledge that without the generosity and spirit of supporters like you, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. Thank you for continuing to care so much about wildlife, and for spending your weekend with us in the heart of San Francisco to make more memories together.

If you couldn’t attend Expo, missed any presentations, or want to rewatch some of your favorites, all of this fall’s Expo presentations will be posted here soon.