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"Working with SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove brings value to all sides of the partnership." |
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This tiger was rescued from illegal poachers and now resides in a rehabilitation center operated by WildAid. |
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Who:
WildAid
Where:
San Francisco, Calif.
Mission:
To provide direct protection for wildlife in danger.
Partner Since:
2004
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Partnership activities: The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund supports several WildAid projects, focusing on areas and issues of concern throughout Asia. In Cambodia, the Fund helps WildAid care for confiscated wildlife rescued from poachers and wildlife traders. Animals such as elephants, tiger cubs and gibbons are rescued by WildAid’s Wilderness Protection Unit, which works in conjunction with Cambodia’s Department of Forestry and Wildlife. The unit travels to locations where illegal wildlife traders are known to operate and apprehends the criminals and rescues the animals. More than 20,000 animals have been confiscated. When the animals are in good health they are released into the wild; however, some are in need of medical attention and ongoing care and are taken to a rehabilitation center. With support from the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, the rescue center also serves as a resource for public education on conservation, and encourages alternative income sources for communities that currently rely on poaching.
Throughout Asia, WildAid also combats the practice of shark fi nning and other practices that harm shark populations. Since 2000, WildAid’s “Shark Conservation Program” has successfully elevated the international profi le of the importance of conserving sharks and has resulted in improved laws to protect sharks, as well as a decrease in consumption of shark fi ns in key Asian countries. The SWBGCF grant is helping WildAid take the campaign to China, the world’s largest consumer, and to Central and South America to pursue tighter laws and the United Nations fi nning ban.
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Partner perspective: “The support from the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has been vital to help us educate the public about the plight of sharks, helping to reduce consumption of shark fi n soup by up to 30 percent in parts of Asia,” said Peter Knights, WildAid's executive director. “The Fund also has helped provide fi rst-class accommodation for some of the tragic victims of the illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia. WildAid's support for wildlife law enforcement there has reduced the availability of wildlife in restaurants by 90 percent, but some of the animals seized from traders cannot be reintroduced to the wild, and the Fund has helped to ensure that these animals receive care and long-term accommodation in the best of conditions.”
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