Protecting Wildlife - Wildlife Conservation Network

The presence of wildlife in our world is a treasure, one that cannot be reclaimed if it disappears.

Without wildlife our forests and grasslands, mountains and oceans are empty. Without wildlife, economies suffer and poverty in local communities persists. We need wildlife to sustain a healthy and beautiful planet. A future without wildlife is no future at all.

This is why our seventeen Conservation Partners and the grantees of our Crisis and Recovery Funds devote their lives to protecting wildlife on the frontlines.

A Network of World Class Conservation Partners

Never underestimate what a few committed individuals can do for a threatened species.

Saving wildlife requires a collaborative spirit, long term commitment to work in remote places, and the courage to pioneer new approaches. We believe that investing in the individuals who are willing to take on these challenges is the best hope for wildlife. At WCN we find the best of these “conservation entrepreneurs” and, after a rigorous vetting process, invite a select few to receive in-depth, ongoing support by joining our Network of Conservation Partners.

Please learn more about these incredible conservationists and their efforts to save wildlife.

100% of designated donations to the programs below go directly to the field with no overhead.

Andean Cat

Cheetah—Botswana

Cheetah—Namibia

Cotton-Top Tamarin

Elephants

Ethiopian Wolf

Grevy's Zebra

Lion—Ewaso

Lion—Niassa

Okapi

Painted Dog

Penguins

Saiga Antelope

Sharks and Rays

Small Wild Cats

Snow Leopard

Spectacled Bear

How We Select Our Partners

Conservation is as Much About People as it is About Wildlife

WCN and our Partners believe that conservation is as much about helping people as it is about helping wildlife. Though they protect different kinds of species across different landscapes, our Conservation Partners all believe that local people who live among wildlife will determine the future of these animals and are at the heart of wildlife conservation solutions. Our Partners work with communities to understand their needs and jointly develop solutions to allow people and endangered animals to coexist together and thrive.

Crisis and Recovery Funds

Crisis and Recovery Funds invest in a wide breadth of projects aimed at protecting a threatened species beyond a singular country and across its entire habitat. The Funds focus on collaboration and encourage everyone—from nonprofits, to conservationists, to philanthropists—to work together to save wildlife. Crisis and Recovery Funds identify and vet the best ideas from any institution, regardless of their size or stature, that are designed to stop a crisis and recover wildlife populations.

100% of donations to our Crisis Fund and Recovery Funds go directly to the field, with zero overhead.

Elephant Crisis Fund

Africa’s elephants could disappear from much of the wild within a generation.

A devastating poaching epidemic is threatening these iconic creatures. Driving the killing is a complex, international ivory trade that thrives on poverty, corruption, and greed.

Scientists, conservation organizations, and governments have united behind a common strategy to end this crisis. We must:

Stop the Killing of Elephants
Stop the Trafficking of Ivory
Stop Ivory Demand

The Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) was created by Save the Elephants and WCN to fuel this coalition—supporting the best ideas to end the ivory crisis. The ECF fosters collaboration, and delivers rapid impact on the ground. Since its inception, the ECF has raised $22.8 million and has funded over 246 projects across 36 countries to stop elephant poaching and the trafficking and demand for ivory.

The Elephant Crisis Fund has but one goal: to end the ivory crisis.

Support the ECF Visit the Website

Lion Recovery Fund

Lions are in crisis. In just 25 years, lion populations have declined by half.

But, lions can return.

WCN launched the Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) in 2017 in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. This innovative Fund serves as an additional and separate WCN investment vehicle for range-wide lion conservation, alongside the courageous, impactful lion conservation work of our Network Partners Ewaso Lions and Niassa Lion Project who work tirelessly on-the-ground with communities to reduce human-lion conflict, and to protect and manage lion landscapes.

The Lion Recovery Fund invests in the most effective projects aimed at recovering lions across Africa—backing several key tactics such as supporting the parks and reserves that serve as lion strongholds and promoting co-existence so that people can live alongside and benefit from lions.

The LRF is moving swiftly to convene conservationists and other institutions to address the threats to lions and ensure the King of Beasts can thrive across Africa.

Lion recovery is within our grasp.

Support the LRF Visit the Website

Pangolin Crisis Fund

There is no animal on Earth like the pangolin, yet most people have never even heard of them. Despite their relative obscurity, pangolins have the unfortunate distinction of being the most illegally trafficked wild mammal in the world.

Pangolins are hunted to supply a rampant illegal global trade in their scales, meat, and parts. Because of demand—mostly in Asia, where pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and their scales are believed to have medicinal qualities—all eight species of pangolins are threatened with extinction.

But it’s not too late to save pangolins.

The Pangolin Crisis Fund (PCF) was created by Save Pangolins and WCN to eliminate the demand, trafficking, and poaching crisis that puts all eight species of pangolins at risk of extinction.

Support the PCF Visit the Website