Our first trip after the rains, April to May 2026
This trip, Kalina and I were ready. The roads had been recently graded, we’d made new music playlists for the two-day drive (car karaoke is non-negotiable) and knowing there had been significant summer rain over the months since our last visit, we were quietly, almost desperately, hopeful about what we might find.
We arrived at dusk, set up our swags on the verandah and let the city fall away.
The very first morning, a cacophony of birds announced our return at dawn. Crows, mudlarks, pink and grey galahs and three new arrivals, hawks, perched in the large dead tree beside our house that serves as their viewing platform into our sleeping habits. Then came the rain. Big, heavy drops soaked the ground as we watched from the verandah, grinning.
We dug the pits then the rain came - just like magic.
We spent the first couple of days cleaning the house, the red dust coating everything as it always does, unpacking our tubs and slowly shaking off the city frequency. You can’t rush it. You have to let the desert slow you down before it reveals anything to you.
What we didn’t yet fully appreciate was what had happened while we were away. After five years without meaningful rain, significant rainfall had finally fallen across the Ngaanyatjarra Lands over the summer months. The first meaningful rain in five years and it had fallen into thousands of freshly dug micropits.
When we finally got out to the trial sites, we were not prepared for what we found.
What we went back to find.
When we created over 1,000 micropits across eight hectares of highly degraded land on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in 2025, we were making an act of faith. Small, angled holes in the hardened crust of the earth, designed to do what the lost burrowing marsupials once did: break the surface, let the water in, give seeds a place to land.
The Ngaanyatjarra Lands had not had meaningful rainfall in five years. We dug the pits and we waited. Then the rains came.
We returned to Kanpa for the first time since those rains. What we found across the four trial sites was more than we had hoped for.
The science team is ready
Earlier this year, Professor Raphael Viscarra Rossel and I appointed our Curtin University soil scientist, Dr Karla Cautivo-Reyes, to lead our formal research partnership with Curtin’s Soil and Landscape Science Faculty. Karla’s role is critical. She will establish the formal baseline measurements that allow us to prove, with academic rigour, what the micropitting is doing to the soil over time.
Our first trip to Kanpa with Karla is planned for late June and will establish the formal scientific baseline program. All of the work through 2025, marking out trial sites, collecting exploratory soil samples and observational data, has helped evolve our project methodology so that the formal program with Curtin University can now begin. With Karla’s visit will come further training for our Aboriginal Field Technicians, a larger soil sampling program and a deep listening to the lands to understand what healthy habitats and landscapes can teach us about the heavily degraded arid environments we are working to heal.
What we found after the rains
Kanpa 1
The spinifex is green and so high that we nearly lost Kalina in it. Blossoming desert wildflowers have established themselves in the micropits and, excitingly, there are additional diggings in one of the blocks. Animals have been there, doing what wildlife does when they find soft, aerated ground. We spent time replacing posts and markers, some disturbed by the heat of summer and the wild desert winds and documented everything we could see. This trial site is very different to the others and it is close to the township.
Kangaroo point
This site has been our most challenging. Some of the ground is so compacted it would require a jackhammer! A number of micropits have filled in and camels appear to have removed almost all of the marker posts, knowing they don’t belong in their favourite resting place. Scat, natural diggings in the surrounding shrub and hawk feathers found across the trial site are an honest reminder that while this heavily degraded site remains our most stubborn, nature follows its own timeline.
The Breakaway
This majestic site always takes our breath away. Positioned between two massive breakaways, the sacredness of this place is visceral. The ground was disturbed by heavy machinery more than fifty years ago during Hunt Oil seismic surveys that scarred land in and around Kanpa and in some places, nothing grew back. Standing here, knowing that history, and seeing grasses returned and succulents quietly settling into the micropits, is a profoundly hopeful thing. A beautiful patch of wildflowers marks the centre of the trial site, anchoring our Western science efforts to the mystery and magic of this place.
Just near The Breakaway is the area where we have previously documented bilby activity on camera. This visit, after setting up four cameras with Matt and Jeremiah, we captured the arrival of a skink, more birds than we had recorded at this site and then, a tiny dunnart. If you have never seen a dunnart on a trail camera, please allow us this moment of pure joy.
Camel Graveyard
This was the moment. When Preston, Matt and Jeremiah got out of the vehicle and looked across the site, their first response was silence and then surprise. Matt said, simply, “this is magic.” And it was. Grasses across the trial site, succulents settled into the micropits, insects and butterflies moving through what had been, not long ago, a dust bowl with no life at all. Several dead camels still decomposing in the sun and around them, life returning. The pits have largely filled from rain and wind, but growth is pushing through them.
Whilst Western science will take time to formally prove what these changes mean for the soil, what we all witnessed with our own eyes was remarkable. At one end of the trial sites here, we came across an active, joyous butterfly garden.
Matt Thomas is the Custodian who has returned to his Country after decades away. “This is magic” is not nothing.
What this means.
Project PanGaia’s micropitting methodology was designed around a specific climate reality. According to the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (2022), Central Australia faces a future of extreme rainfall events interspersed with longer droughts. Our micropits are designed for this: breaking the hydrophobic soil crust to bank these intense rains before they evaporate. After five years without rain, the first good soaking fell into freshly prepared soil. And the land responded.
The formal science will take time. Dr Karla Cautivo-Reyes and Professor Raphael Viscarra Rossel will establish the baseline measurements on our next trip that will allow us to track and document these changes rigorously over time. But what we saw with our own eyes in April and May 2026 was the land doing exactly what we hoped it would.
The pits held the water. The seeds found the soil. The insects found the flowers. And the Custodians of this Country stood in a field that was silent not long ago and said: this is magic.
For the Love of Wildlife 2025 Annual Report
For the Love of Wildlife has experienced a profound shift – from addressing extinction through the lens of trade to standing on Country, hands in the earth, with Project PanGaia.
This journey has asked every one of us to dig deep: to unlearn and relearn, to confront our own white bias and Western perspectives and to let go of our dependence on tidy timelines and predictable outcomes. Co-designing a rewilding project with Pira-Kata, our Aboriginal partners in the Central Desert, guided by an earth-centred approach, has stretched us in ways we never could have imagined.
Thank you, from my heart, to all of you who believe in what we do – such generous-spirited, lion-hearted friends. And to our small team who have broken their backs and sweated into the soils of Kanpa – thank you.
Please take a few moments to read the 2025 Annual Report and witness the incredible work being done in the heart centre of Australia.
Traversing the field of the “in-between”
Life on the lands where we are working at Kanpa is a tapestry of hard work and simple joys. The sheer distance we travel to the site takes us about 6-7 hours to get to Kalgoorlie, a mining town that is full of men and women in highlighter gear with signs on the doors of pubs saying “No steel cap boots after 9 pm”. Then, after a night in Kalgoorlie, a 10-12 hour drive, mostly on gravel, to Kanpa, 1.5 hours west of Warburton. This gravel road has been a mixture of almost impossible conditions to being recently graded, depending on whether there’s someone to drive the grader from Laverton.
This year hasn’t been easy and we certainly didn’t expect it to be. There’s been incredible learning, adaptation and shedding of what we thought this project was going to be. Working in Aboriginal time and space while having strict timelines and parameters from funders has been one of the most challenging factors – we are the bridge that has been navigating the field of “in-between”. How do we fully honour the skills and sovereignty of First Nations Peoples when, as a Western society, we can barely drop our white privilege or bias and truly understand the challenges the peoples of the Central Desert face? Life in the red centre is raw and this place and its peoples gets under your skin, peeling back the layers that, if you’re willing, will reveal the heart that requires the healing, the heart that called you to this place with the trust that we might be able to make a difference.
Working with Elder Preston Thomas, his son and Custodian of Kanpa, Matt Thomas and the broader community is an enormous privilege. To be able to walk and feel into these lands with a vision to heal/rewild, not only the lands so that wildlife can once again thrive, but the journey that this work initiates us all into. The vision and passion to rewild inner Australia are not only deeply personal, but also there’s a bigger vision for all of us to rewild our own hearts and souls. In a world that is about domesticating everything, including wildlife and wild places, we must turn inwards to reconnect our hearts and minds to the earth. It all starts with her.
Our journey through winter into spring.
It takes us a few days to get ourselves sorted. We pack up the small house in the community into tubs so that we’re not inviting wildlife in whilst we’re not there. It also helps keep the red dust off everything too. That red dust gets into everything!!! Up noses, into ears, thickens our hair and into our pores.
It also takes us a while to get out of the frenetic pace of city life. The work of getting supplies, collecting the vehicle, sorting out equipment and packing the back of the ute for the journey isn’t easy and then the two-day drive to get there.
On our August trip, around the fifth day, it started to rain. First, your eyes have to adjust because it could be real, given so many clouds pass right over, always promising the wet stuff to miss Kanpa completely. And the smell…the gorgeous, sweet smell of rain on a dry, parched land.
Nothing to worry about this time though, as we’ve heard that when it really pours (now a rare event) you can’t leave the house as the roads become a boggy mess and you have to wait until it dries again. We make sure that we’re prepared that any one of our trips we could get rained in and not be able to leave for weeks!
This rain kept us inside for a time, but it was a welcome gift, using this time to complete online workshops. Now hopeful that this rain was enough to kick-start wildflower season.
A sign from the stars.
We like to feed the community when we’re in Kanpa, an opportunity to connect and share stories – it can be a few people or as many as 16. Meal time can be burgers, nachos, curries, stews or a simple barbecue. We love the dinners at night around a fire, although the crew in Kanpa find the winter nights a bit chilly, so we’re usually crammed into the little house, eating off our laps.
When we’re not feeding the team, we like to get out to the abandoned airstrip which is just outside the township, with our necks craned towards the heavens, mesmerised by the sheer brilliance of the stars. The night sky is so clear that the cosmos feels within reach, and then we see a series of lights, moving silently and purposefully across the velvet night sky in random directions. Not a satellite, not a plane – they move with an intelligence and grace that defies easy explanation. Apparently, this is not an uncommon occurrence; we’ve heard some fascinating stories from the crew.
These lights in the night sky feel like they are a reminder that we still have access to magic and mystery, if we are open to the possibility. We like to think that these lights are a cosmic blessing, fuelling Project PanGaia’s spirit, strengthening our connection to the land we serve.
The power of community: the hands and hearts of our August visit.
Every trip to Kanpa is a powerful reminder that regeneration is a collective effort, built by a community of dedicated hearts and skilled hands. In August and September, we were joined by incredible people, volunteering their time and talent and paying their own way to get to Perth.
Acclaimed photographer Eric Algra travelled from Melbourne to again capture the spirit of the work and gather images of our progress. Eric came out last year with our inaugural crew of 12 and his photography has been instrumental in all our marketing material and grant applications. Travelling with him was Kalina’s partner, Matt Wilson, a skilled electrician who immediately put his trade to good use as the infrastructure in Kanpa is aging and requires a lot of maintenance. So nice to have working lights!
Eric’s captured not just our work, but the laughter, the collaboration, and the soul of the project. His lens tells the story of our journey in a way words can’t.
From the skies above, the drone provided a breathtaking perspective, with Eric collecting fabulous photographic evidence of the sheer magnitude of the work completed. The neat lines demonstrate Western science’s approach to the trial sites, with trial sites broken into quadrants to cover Western science, nature’s approach, rover’s impact on soil, etc. The hundreds of micro-pits, a testament to the foundations we are laying for the land’s recovery.
Then we were privileged to have Tracey van den Brand join us from the UK with Beth Duncan, who has recently moved to Australia from the US. Both these women have extraordinary experience working with First Nation’s Peoples, wildlife and wild places. Beth has recently returned from the Kalahari, working with the Bushmen and their communities.
Tracey was also on the trip last September, which included Eric, Kalina, Donalea and eight other adventurous souls who helped vision Project PanGaia into being. It’s hard to believe it was only twelve months ago when Preston, Deidre and Matt hosted us for the very first time.
Sharing knowledge, building futures.
A core goal of this project has always been the sharing of knowledge. One of the highlights was seeing the crew gather for a workshop on the autonomous rover. As the rover develops, there’s always much to share in how the rover works, assembly and disassembly, charging batteries and connecting the solar panel. Training and knowledge sharing with the Aboriginal youth on this project, for the future, inspiring the next generation of caretakers, landholders and innovators.
And, as always, extra hands to help with the ever-growing, ever-curious puppies were a joy for everyone involved! Keeping a keen watch as they’re at the terrible stage of chewing everything!!! With this work being so remote, there’s no quick trip to Bunnings, Jaycar, Altronics or even a supermarket locally.
The land begins to respond.
The most fulfilling moments come when we stop, watch and listen.
Preston and Matt have taken us to some incredible and ancient sites, one of the most interesting to us is the caves which are in the numerous breakaways, to scout for wildlife – discovering evidence of scat and seeing markings on the ground that roos and other mammals inhabit here. High above the cliff edges, we have spotted kites, a falcon and a pair of goshawks who carved circles in the blue of the sky, their sharp eyes scanning the land below for a feed.
These field trips are always made sweeter by the legendary scones from Donalea’s kitchen, which have become a ritual on these excursions – the perfect accompaniment to a tea break. Preston currently rates them a cheeky 8/10, but we all know it’s just his way of ensuring she keeps baking!
Guided by Preston’s deep knowledge of the land, we carefully placed wildlife cameras at cave openings, thoroughfares and other places where we found evidence in the soil or fresh scat. There are times when the cameras reveal nothing, even after being left in place for a week or more. But other times, the results are breathtaking. The cameras have captured images of bats, a possible false antechinus (a thrilling and rare discovery!) and, perhaps most moving of all, the image of an ancient kangaroo – pay special attention to the ears! These caves in the breakaways seem to be providing a vital haven for the remaining wildlife. We’ve also seen signs of healthy micro-pitting left by some curious bilbies near the Breakaway trial site. And sometimes, we’re delighted by the chatter of zebra finches, who take flight from the bushes in joyful, chaotic clouds.
Kanpa is transforming.
While the project continues to hum along, the Pira-Kata team has been busy transforming the township itself. With the return of the community, significant changes have occurred since our visit in September 2024.
This year, a Telstra tower was installed, which allows us to stay connected to the world and gives us greater flexibility with our work. There’s still a focus to secure funding for solar power as Diesel is not only costly, but it also leaves the community reliant on supply. In a place blessed with abundant sunshine, it really is a “no brainer”!
There’s also an urgent need to upgrade the water tower, as the fibreglass is deteriorating and contaminating the water supply.
The community’s efforts continue to transform the township, instilling a powerful sense of pride and renewal. It’s a reminder that, while For the Love of Wildlife’s Project PanGaia is focused on curbing extinction through a combination of technology, Indigenous wisdom, and a different approach to conservation, the impacts our small team is having can’t always be measured by the traditional metrics we’ve been taught to use.
What we are truly demonstrating is that a few passionate souls, with a dedicated vision, can transform far more than just our minds and hearts.
If you feel moved or called to join the work we’re doing, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Our desert crew.
We acknowledge that many of the photographs within this blog are and remain the Intellectual and Cultural Property of Pira-Kata Group and must not be used or copied without prior written consent.
May 2025 project site visit
Elder Preston Thomas joined us on the road this time – both a privilege and a car karaoke marathon! Despite the long, corrugated gravel roads between Laverton and Kanpa, a 22-hour offline playlist and towing a large trailer loaded with mattresses, equipment, food and fuel, we made it safely to Kanpa. The crew warmly welcomed us and, of course, the growing puppies we met in March. (March visit blog click here).
Ready to hit the road
A big trip wouldn’t be complete without a few wobbles. Preston’s brother fell unwell, delaying our departure by a week. Matt’s wife Atheleen, and their children Jaiden and Nicolie were called to Esperance for an emergency, and with them, the Perth-bound trailer ended up for days in the wrong direction! Thankfully, it was rerouted via roadtrain and arrived in Perth the night before we left, meaning we packed well into the night. Never a dull moment!
The generosity of those supporting this project continues to surprise us with the impact on this Community beyond words.
Bedshed in Osborne Park kindly donated four mattresses, which have been a lifesaver for this community. We all appreciate a good night’s sleep and the community has been in dire need of good mattresses!
We also received a donation from Bunnings which included metal posts that are required to mark out trial sites and last for years, but they didn’t arrive in time to make this trip. As an interim, we needed to gather makeshift material from the sheds and around the township – old fencing posts, pipes, tent pegs, anything that we could tie a marker to until the posts arrive in Kanpa. The posts have since been freighted to Kanpa, a reminder that logistics are half the battle out here.
Trip number two
Most of the equipment is now purchased, donated, or borrowed: snake gaiters, gloves, power tools, a sledgehammer and so much more. This allows the Field Technicians to continue marking the one-hectare trial sites – eight in total as part of the scientific research and baseline studies.
Our objectives: finalise site marking, collect soil samples for analysis, continue micro-pitting and record observations. Flat tyres and car trouble remain real challenges, especially when moving gear and visiting the remote trial sites.
So excited to see a healthy Bilby and at the same location, a dingo curiously nuzzled the camera.
Collecting soil samples, with them labelled and stored, the team also spent time setting several trail cameras. Jeremiah, the youngest of Matt’s sons is a whiz with the cameras, reviewing footage and checking details, making the collective team’s most treasured discovery – a very healthy bilby!
Some of the SIM cards purchased for the cameras and one or two of the trail cameras were faulty, meaning we thought we’d missed out on seeing some important animal activity at night – Matt finding some areas with lots of digging, and surprised that images had been taken of these critically important marsupials. Everyone is excited to know there are healthy bilby populations.
We learned that snake gaiters protect not only from snakes but also the brutally prickly spinifex. Extracting compacted, hydrophobic soil from a dig stick feels like Michelangelo chiselling marble—equal parts strength, focus and finesse. Knee pads are essential, and tarps (which tear more often than we’d like) are non-negotiable, serving as ground cover and trailer dust guards.
Holding the project vision
Project PanGaia’s vision is to help nature restore herself, to rehabilitate degraded land until it can sustain life independently. More than 50 years have passed since Hunt Oil carried out seismic surveys in Kanpa and much of that compacted, hydrophobic soil still hasn’t recovered. It needs our help.
With the government continuing geosurveys and encouraging mining expansion, time is of the essence. We must demonstrate the project’s value to both the land and the Community.
Relationships
Our visits are about relationships: with ourselves, our team, our partners—but above all, with the land and wildlife. As Preston often reminds us, “Wildlife knows the answers, you just have to listen.”
On this trip, we were gifted sightings of camels, stunning birdlife and dingos. We also deepened our relationship with the stars. With no city lights to dim the view, the night sky becomes a guide. Under a new moon, ancient constellations whispered their wisdom, continuing to guide us through Project PanGaia.
The Seasons
The Seven Sisters, visible in the sky during the May visit have been used to predict seasonal changes for time immemorial. In Kanpa, they mark the passage of seasons and are used to track animal behaviour. The Seven Sisters were used to determine the dingo breeding season.
Our trip coincided with the May Flower Full Moon, associated with fertility, growth, and potential. A perfect match, as the foundation work began in March and this trip marked the completion of the trial site setup.
With weekly updates coming in and our weekly Zoom calls with the Kanpa crew, the notes, photographs, WhatsApp messages, make us eager to see the transformation ourselves. The feeling of potential fuels us. We’re already seeing changes: leaf litter gathering in pits, tiny critters making burrows in the pits, scat at trial sites and technicians noticing all sorts of detail. Even the town is changing with Uncle Bobby’s landscaping efforts, bringing new life to Kanpa. The land is responding. The township has a heartbeat again.
We know the micropits are doing what they’re meant to. We discovered a nearby area teeming with small digging animals, nature’s own bioturbation crew. It reaffirmed what we’ve felt all along: this works. Witnessing nature thrive is a gift. We can’t wait to return in August for a desert winter.
March 2025 project site visit
When we put our energies and intention into an offering (despatcho), we are asking the powers to guide and support the work we do, in service to the planet.
Before we venture out, it is important to do a ceremony, to honour those that support us, both seen and unseen, the powers that work with us and to give thanks, that we are privileged to have this opportunity to be of service to the planet and to the beings that call her home. We focus on shifting our approach to “do no harm” rather than the extractive and exploitative business that is all too common in Western Australia – a state that is incredibly wealthy due to the resource and mining sector.
Our March trip is the first step for Project PanGaia, working with Dr Romy Zyngier and the community to prepare and set up the trial sites. Four sites have been selected and will be approximately a hectare in size. We are truly blessed to have this opportunity, to be on land that is ancient and wise and yet carries the scars from seismic testing carried out around 50 years ago by Hunt Oil. You can see an aerial view here: https://explorer.land/x/project/pangaia
The erosion and degradation caused by bulldozing paths across the landscape is difficult to comprehend and even more painful to hear the community expecting that the land will eventually heal itself, with time. Large swathes of land carrying evidence that without intervention, the healing might not ever happen, the land never able to fully recover. So why has this company been allowed to walk away and leave the scarring? The community sharing stories that after Hunt Oil finished doing the seismic testing, they dug an enormous hole and pushed all their equipment and vehicles into it, covering it up. How wasteful when the community in and around this area would have welcomed a donation.
This trip to the desert was the first for our team and whilst we feel we’ve had great success in laying the base line for the trials, it certainly wasn’t without its challenges.
Due to some “bush telegraph” miscommunication, our arrival was received as a bit of a surprise which meant we spent the first couple of nights in one of the massive sheds, generator whirring noisily. Kanpa (pronounced gum ba) used to be a thriving community with a shop, playground, central community meeting place, basketball courts, several houses, five or six accommodation units, shower and toilet blocks, community centre and massive workshop. But over the past decades it has been nothing more than a ghost town. Preston and his wife and family had for years hosted juveniles that were, without intervention, on a trajectory to prison. The courts are ordering these kids to be with Elders on Country and Preston will tell you, if he has the good fortune to cross paths with these kids, they usually are incredibly grateful to Preston for saving their lives. Yet this successful program was ended as government funding ceased.
For our first trip, we made sure we had enough food for the whole community – with eleven adults (six in their twenties) and then our crew of four, it was fabulous to meet every night for a meal around the fire. Since our visit in September last year, a Telstra tower has been installed for the township and most fell under the spell of being on screens! There was something really magical about the September trip as nobody had connectivity and the digital detox was a refreshing reprieve!
Whilst our arrival was a little rocky, Dr Romy had us sorted and we soon had three or four areas to initiate the baseline studies for the trial. Project PanGaia is about demonstrating that mimicking the missing marsupials by using technology, in the form of an autonomous, solar powered rover to dig micropits, that we can aerate and hydrate the soil as a first step in regenerating soil. Incredibly exciting to see many of the younger community turn up for the trials as you’ll see in the photos.
Carrying out soil sampling on the trial sites in and around Kanpa
Four trial sites have been chosen, the site parameters and markings are in progress, diggings have begun and soil samples sent off to the lab for analysis. We were watched by three goshawks whilst visiting the trial sites – one of them coming into the township to check us out. The butcher birds, magpies, mudlarks and pink and greys that are township regulars not too happy with the visitor who was quickly ushered away. We also watched small numbers of zebra finches and budgies coming into the recently filled small water hole, just on the periphery of the township.
And despite seeing some diggings on the edges of more healthy landscapes, yet to see kangaroos, wallabies, bilbies, dunnarts, etc. We did hear dingos and were told that a white dingo comes into the township and has been seen sitting on the basketball court. And of course, camels, many camels spotted on the roads, mostly on the way to Warburton.
We have been allocated a house in the township which is now base camp and FLOW office, the township has been cleaned up thanks to Uncle Bobby and his bobcat, fridges and washing machines delivered.
Kanpa was once a thriving community with a shop and community centre.
The township at the beginning of our project in March. It is now in transformation as Preston, Uncle Bobby and the community start the clean up as people start returning to the lands.
Given our funding didn’t include 4WD buggies, Preston has sourced an old ute for us to venture out to site in. This saves the hire car from being scratched up as the old roads are overgrown and eroded.
After our return to Perth and our first catch up Zoom call with the community, we were thrilled to hear that spinifex is collecting in the holes and an animal had burrowed into the soil in one of the pits. Nobody keen to see exactly what it could be (snake?) with camera traps now installed to see who’s made a home.
Thanks to Elder Preston Thomas, Matt, Athie, Jaiden, Nicolie, Jerimiah, Elder Bobby, young Bobby, Enrique and Aunty Lynn. We came into Kanpa like a whirlwind and so appreciate your patience as we got ourselves sorted. One of our lessons is for us to slow down and land before we “get to work”. To have a project that is earth centred, deeply listening to all life, whilst fulfilling our funding obligations and project “outcomes”. Such a tricky dynamic whilst trying to shift the mindset of consumptive, exploitative, time sensitive, western thinking to one that is truly in service to the earth, in partnership with this remarkable community.
We had goshawks watch us when we were visiting the trial sites. One came into the township but was quickly ushered out by the butcher birds, pink and grey gallahs, magpies and other town residents
Wildlife around the FLOWildlife house in the township
This project is proudly supported by Lotterywest, our partners in rewilding inner Australia and we’re incredibly grateful for their support. We are seeking additional partners, whether that be funding or corporate, and happy to explore opportunities to rewild the heart centre of Australia.
Our next trip is May to complete the trial micropits, take additional soil samples and finish marking out the sites.
For the love of Wildlife 2024 Annual Report
Whilst the future does seem perilous, I feel optimistic about the relationships and partnerships that have been forged and the groundswell of brilliance that is emerging, refusing to allow “business as usual”, pressure on those blocking the necessary and urgent changes.
I feel incredibly proud of the team that is coming together who wish to play their part in making a better future for all. This past year has been gruelling, let’s not sugar coat it! Seeking funding partners and investment in rewilding in Australia has and continues to be challenging.
It’s very humbling to know that despite our small size, we continue to attract partners that are leaders, ground-breakers and pioneers in reshaping the world we inhabit. I truly believe that the focus of rewilding inner Australia will have a profound impact, starting with the central heart, not only for the natural world but for the disenfranchised and forgotten communities of this extraordinary land we call Australia.
Please take a few moments to read the For the love of Wildlife 2024 Annual Report.
Breeding lions for their bones is brutal and horrific
I’ve been back from Africa for weeks now. I find myself stalling, not finding it easy to write this update and my apologies to you as I know you are keen to know the progress of our work.
I’ve visited places and met people who I’d prefer never to have crossed paths with.
The trip to Africa in February and March this year was made possible by NSW MP Mark Pearson, who had been given a grant for a research tour/fact-finding trip, thanks to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association of Australia.
With the knowledge and experience I’ve gained over the years with steering For the Love of Wildlife, with our focus on the industrial-scale farming of lions, canned hunting, lion bone trade and the farming of endangered species, I was asked to help put together a fact-finding trip for South Africa. Mark has been in the NSW Upper House for the past 8 years and attended the screening of Blood Lions in Sydney some years before.
As many of you know, For the Love of Wildlife’s work resulted in Australia taking a solid and firm stand in 2015 when former. Environment Minister Greg Hunt banned the importation of lion trophies and body parts, the first country to do so, followed by France and the Netherlands, with the US implementing strict import laws.
I was invited to accompany Mark on this trip, introducing him to stakeholders on both sides of the lion/predator, wildlife/endangered species farming, associated businesses such as taxidermy and outfitters, professional hunters and those in the conservation space, sanctuaries, and government.
The South African Government has committed to closing down lion farming, after years of community, conservation and industry consultation and brilliant campaigning by Blood Lions and many others.
Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous individuals who are undermining the progress, ensuring this will be slow and drawn out.
Arriving in Johannesburg (J’burg) in mid-February, Mark and I intended to meet with the government at the beginning of the trip. Despite best efforts, it was obvious they weren’t keen to meet with us and we used this first week to meet with lion breeders and hunting groups, keen to understand what drives them in keeping their industry alive despite global outrage and the impact their industry has on South Africa’s brand.
The meeting began nervously, sitting opposite khaki-clad men with large logos of the organisations they represented….WRSA (Wildlife Ranching South Africa), SUCO (Sustainable Use Coalition South Africa), CHASA (Confederation of Hunting Associations of South Africa), SAPA (South African Predator Association), and others. It felt like we were sitting with Formula One drivers given the branding littering their epaulettes and pockets.
Our first meeting was with the newly appointed head of SAPA (South African Predator Association) Hans Wessels. A two-hour drive from J’burg to meet on his property. I was driving and missed the entrance and had to stop further up the road, looking in the rear vision mirror I watched several large SUV’s driving into the same driveway…. Both Mark and I knew that we weren’t meeting Hans alone! I didn’t use my name in the meeting and was introduced as Mark’s assistant, knowing that it was very risky for me to be there as I was the woman who had started the downturn in their profitable business.
After two hours of discussion, most of it contradictory, we were then driven in an open safari vehicle to look at Wessels animals. Everyone came for the long drive, which again made us incredibly nervous…would anyone find us if we disappeared?!!! Wessel’s property consists of thousands of camping and caravan sites, lodges, campgrounds, and accommodations including rondavels through to enormous houses, the property was over hundreds and hundreds of acres.
Hans proudly walked us through his “sanctuary” where he has many big cats and of course, the narrative is that they are all rescues. Tigers from a recent Bollywood movie, others saved from snares, many with cubs despite Wessels telling us he was sterilising his big cats as he wasn’t sure of the future given the government’s commitment in closing down lion farming. He wasn’t keen to show us the lion breeding facility. These animals were obviously tame as he only had to call their names and they’d be up against the fence.
We made our exit after four hours with them, very keen to get back to J’burg. The parting words to Mark were “any decision made by Australia, however small, can have a dire impact on the industry so think very carefully and consider the implications before acting”. A warning?
Some of what we were told:
- International hunters are essential to ensure profitability – South African hunters only interested in animals they can eat and can’t afford the big bucks international trophy hunters pay
- 9 provinces (in Australia we’d refer to States and Territories) have their own regulations within South Africa in regard to lion farming and hunting
- Promoting whole ecosystems approach yet a farm will ask a professional hunter to kill everything on the property and restock with an animal that is more lucrative/higher value
- Animal welfare isn’t considered in regards to wildlife, not falling under any current legislation – agriculture or environment?
- “If an animal is stressed it won’t reproduce” is the guiding principle of a successful farm and how animal welfare is determined
- The media has focused on one or two unscrupulous operators who aren’t SAPA members
- Farmers will only farm what is valuable
- SAPA has 360 lion farmers as members
- A representative from the government must attend every lion hunt
- Outfitters/professional hunters must keep a register – a record of the value trail and what the hunter takes home
- Meat from hunting is used at the source and given to local communities
- eCITES being implemented for App II listed species 1 April 2023
- Part of a research trial as to whether captive lions can be released/rewilded has been carried out with captive lions taking 14 days before bringing down a kill
- Believe in the 3 P’s – people, planet, profit
- 2016 CITES CoP was an onslaught against captive lion breeders despite the demand for hunting lions ever increasing
- 600-800 lions hunted annually – urged Minister at CITES CoP to save the industry and set a quota, thereby overturning the global outcry to shut them down
- Bone farming developed because of the USA ban and is necessary to keep the industry alive
- Large NGO told hunters not to worry about hunting rhinos as China will be farming their own wildlife soon
Other revenue for farmers include:
- photographic tourism
- curios
- tourism
- game drives
- meat production
On the following days in J’burg, we visited a lion farm that had a tourist component where they also offered cub petting – we had to see for ourselves. I’ve personally never been to one of these places, having seen horrific pics and sad stories from volunteers and friends of mine.
We ventured out to Boskoppies, another two-hour drive in the other direction to Wessel’s property and found the place deserted. We had to call and call to have someone meet us despite calling to make sure they were open. What we witnessed will haunt me for a long time.
Lions and tigers are kept together, with cross-breeding making for larger and heavier bones, which means more $ for the breeders.
Lions and tigers of varying ages, are kept in large numbers in small enclosures. Lion and tiger cubs in filthy, unattractive, hot enclosures are available for the public to handle and play with. All of the babies had sores on them, were in such poor condition and were huddled together for comfort. One little white tiger wasn’t having a bar of us and bit me on the calf and bit Mark on his …..!
Another tiny little cub kept in what looked like an aviary, fresh cuts on its face and hissing and spitting like the cornered wild animal that it is. So terrified and alone – my heart breaking to witness such cruelty.
We were shown around the farm, hundreds of lions and tigers fighting over the last remains of cow or horse carcasses. One lioness in the corner of an enclosure, on high alert, as she had been expelled from the pack and was waiting her fate. All of the cats were under high stress given the environments they were living in.
We walked past a killing shed, told it was for cow and horse carcasses to feed lions and tigers, but I felt something far more sinister…is this where they processed lions and tigers for their bones? The guide was certainly nervous about the pics I was taking. The carcasses that are fed to the lions and tigers are whole.
Then back to the entrance where we saw three tiger cubs covered in mange. Filthy, thick green sludge their drinking water and again, how not to break down and rage at the perpetrators of such negligence and cruelty. Shaking, we drove back to J’burg.
I reported what we’d seen to the authorities, knowing this is one of the hundreds that operate like this.
We left J’burg and headed to Hoedspruit and then to Kruger, essential to show Mark what a complete, healthy ecosystem looks like in South Africa.
Driving hours to get to the Kruger Gate, at the tail end of the recent cyclone with roads closed and lodges impacted by the rains. To see rivers at full capacity and running wild was quite something.
Lions, leopards, leopards, leopards and so many others…heaven!
After a couple of days in Kruger we made sure to visit Stella Horgan’s incredible project in Acornhoek. Stella is a Director of For the Love of Wildlife and has created Permaculture Explorers and a Centre for Women’s Independence, where some of you have generously contributed to building the purpose-built centre for self-defence. Women in this area face incredible hardship with water and food security an ongoing issue and violence an everyday threat.
Women who lacked a voice or any capacity to stand up for themselves are now changing the community in very real ways. Self-defence to fight off attacks and say “enough is enough” which is the name of the work being done “Sekwanele”.
These projects are incredibly difficult, in places where the municipality cut off water for up to 3 months and yet the spirit of community and the strength of Stella’s commitment shines through. If you feel inspired to contribute, you can donate here: https://zingelaulwazi.org.za
We then flew to the coast into Port Elizabeth where we were met by Ian Michler who drove us to Addo to visit the elephants and update us on his work. Ian was the first to blow open the lion breeding industry decades ago when the Cooke Report exposed predator breeders, canned hunting and the selling of lion bones. His work covers decades and with the launch of the Blood Lions campaign, thanks to the courageous work of Pippa Hankinson, he continues to consult large NGOs and conservation groups, training rangers across the globe. Ian has always generously informed our work, educating me in the conservation space and coming to Australia to assist with the Australian Government.
In Addo, we had extraordinary encounters with elephants, seeing hundreds of them wallowing in mud, babies walking close to our vehicle with black back jackals, eland, and other beauties making appearances. A beautiful time to reconnect and be informed by wildlife.
Next stop Plettenberg Bay where we met with Joan Berning and her daughter to hear about the work of Eden to Addo. Joan is committed to making sure the last Knysna (an area along the Garden Route) elephant can find her way to Addo elephant reserve by getting land owners to put aside land for wildlife, creating corridors for safe passage for not only elephants but leopards and a raft of other wildlife that have lost connection due to development and agriculture. Joan shared that the last elephant will not cross any of the new paths that are created for walking or bike riding so her area is becoming smaller and smaller (they monitor her with hidden cameras).
A day in Plettenberg Bay and onto Hermanus to meet with Dr Louise de Waal and Pippa Hankinson of Blood Lions. Pippa and I met back in 2012 and have been very close since we met as we both committed to doing more for Africa’s lions. Pippa’s documentary and campaign have gone from being ignored by the government to Blood Lions now being the lead consultants in this arena, consulting with the government on ways to transition and eradicate this vile industry. Pippa has been relentless, putting herself at great risk – personally and financially and full credit to her for turning the government into committing to closing down this industry. With Louise, the two of them are formidable and will ensure this industry collapses.
Louise took us to see the wonderful work of Panthera Africa, a true sanctuary where they house rescued big cats from the breeding mills. When you’re visiting places in South Africa, know that a true sanctuary will never let the public engage with the animals – no feeding, petting, walking or riding them. Don’t be fooled by the con artists and unscrupulous operators who willingly take money from tourists and volunteers to participate in the cycle of supply.
To complete the fact-finding trip, we finish in Cape Town where we finally get to meet with representatives from the government.
Mark and I met with members of the South African government who were meeting us on behalf of the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy. It wasn’t one of the easiest meetings I’ve attended but we were able to discuss some of the issues with closing down the lion farming. As a member of the Commonwealth, they seemed uncomfortable that Mark was wanting information to report back to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and did ask a few times if they could see the report before it is published.
They confirmed that hunting groups and breeders are influencing and advising members of the government, especially those in the scientific body.
We shared that in our meetings with the breeders that they had bragged about being able to export lions to the US as they’d found a loophole. The government’s response was they must be exporting live animals! What? How? Why?
The South African government hasn’t set a quota for lion exports since 2016 and therefore no lion body parts could or should be exported. Ummmm…then why are these farms still breeding? We asked if they could please explain where all the lions/tigers go. No response but a wide-eyed look like deer in headlights!
The government continues to work with all stakeholders (hunters and breeders are their friends!) as they wish to alleviate being sued (good luck with that!). It does seem that the government will not be ending lion farming anytime soon, dragging its heels (probably hoping that the next Environment Minister will be more sympathetic to the industry).
We discussed animal welfare as Mark is well versed in this space, and were told that the Dept of Environment doesn’t address animal welfare – it is not considered, but is now including animal wellbeing. When asked what that means, they couldn’t answer!
Some of what we learnt:
- Hunting rhino is allowed in the range states – export of rhinos for exhibition purposes only (live species to zoos)
- Only an animal that is 7 years old or older can be hunted
- Anyone farming wildlife must keep stud books with the department examining records, and export of any animal must include a DNA profile paid for and carried out by the owner
- The government issues 21,000 permits a year covering 200 species (mostly crocs and parrots).
- Launched CIPS (electronic permitting system) on 1 April 2023
- The wildlife forum is held quarterly with hunting groups (closed meetings)
- A member of the department must attend a lion hunt (hunting season March – July and they employ extra personnel for that period)
- Robust and solid regulations
- Many locations where stockpiles of rhino horn are kept
In regards to lion farming:
- The industry began organically with people rescuing lions and saw the opportunity to make a profit
- The sector grew from this with lion breeding, captive hunting, cub petting
- Criminals became involved and created canned hunting – despite the terrible media, nobody has been able to provide the government with evidence to convict those criminals so they cannot prosecute
- No lion quota has been set for the past 4 years – no lion parts or derivatives can be exported
- Newborn cubs must be registered with the department
- Each province knows how many facilities and how many lions there are
- Tigers aren’t included in closing the industry as they are exotics
Approximately 400 lion facilities which include:
- Petting zoos
- Sanctuaries
- Farms
- Tourism facilities
- Private concessions
The government wants to repurpose the industry to make sure employees are looked after, the lions are considered and a range of options are on the table.
What is certain (credit Don Pinnock):
- There is no conservation benefit to captive breeding of lions or the lion bone trade;
- The captive lion industry is damaging to South Africa’s image as a conservation leader and poses a substantial risk to our tourism industry;
- The use of lion bones and body parts and derivatives for traditional medicine is one of the major threats to wild lions and serves as a cover for illegally wild-sourced lion and other big cat parts;
- There’s a general abhorrence of the industry across multiple sectors including animal welfare, animal rights, conservation and hunting organisations which echo the South African public sentiment.
Read more here: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-01-17-captive-lions-in-south-africa-this-is-what-their-fate-depends-on/
The government expects international help to transition the industry (why can’t the sector who have profited for decades pay?). They seek funding to pay for euthanising, retiring and sterilising 10,000 or more lions.
The following day we met with Shadow Environment Minister David Bryant who invited us to Parliament and on the tour, shocked to see a large part of Parliament had been burnt down. A homeless person managed to enter and light a fire to keep himself warm, taking out one of the historic buildings and apparently, the enormous wine collection kept under the building.
David is in full support of closing down predator breeding and works closely with Minister Barbara Creecy but does expect it will take another three years. We shared our findings and what we were told by the industry especially that members of the government and Scientific Authority were in bed with the hunting industry.
The biggest issue for the government he believes, is the poaching crisis with nowhere near enough rangers to assist with the porous borders of Kruger, including corrupt officials in SANParks who manage Kruger. Abalone theft and succulents are also of grave concern – abalone dried and shipped to China. In regards to lion farmers, he said they are challenging the newly introduced term “well-being”. And we haven’t even discussed zoonotic diseases!
Mark and I then met with Anthony Mitchell, Chief of Staff to Narend Singh of the Inkatha Freedom Party who fully supports the closure of this dirty industry and were part of the very first protests against “canned hunting”. We again shared what we’d learnt from stakeholders we’d met, hoping it assists in fast-tracking the process. He shared innovation and technology to deal with crime and trafficking with the issue of training people in being able to use it.
To finish our trip, we met with Dr Ross Harvey of Good Governance Africa who is a wildlife economist with a PhD in economics. He told us there is no wild lion hunting in South Africa, it is all done on private reserves, that private conservation is not working, and corruption seeping into the hunting business model.
We learnt from Ross a great deal in regards to elephants like there’s no such thing as a surplus bull (or no longer reproductive male) which is the tale told by hunters. Breeding amongst elephants is very balanced and an old bull keeps the young males in line, teaching them how to behave and suppressing the musth in younger elephants. If there’s an old bull younger males will not crop raid, for example, and they keep the matriarchal herds intact. 40-55-year-olds are the best breeding years for elephants. Creating corridors for wildlife will help alleviate the human/animal conflict. Hunting also does not reduce the human/animal conflict – removing males from the system is problematic.
He knows of hunters baiting animals out of wildlife reserves such as Kruger (we all know the story of Walter Palmer who lured Cecil out of Hwange National Park) with a young lion recently lured out of Kruger and shot.
He challenges the “fair chase” rhetoric as key stock is removed by hunting (no hunter wants an old scraggy animal). This is not conservation as taking out keystone animals impacts the genetics. There are fewer big tuskers as they’ve almost all been shot.
Ross states that the government does not have good processes in place – with little data or detailed information available. You can read more here.
In regards to job creation (again, a tale told by hunters), there are approximately 1200 jobs with employees being subjected to dangerous conditions. It’s all about making money under false pretences with volunteers paying to work – it’s misleading and dishonest
A lion carcass for the bone trade is around $1500 a skeleton. Whilst this industry continues, wild lions will continue to be poached.
He makes a very strong point that demand reduction campaigns cannot work if the stockpiles in South Africa continue to grow (ie ivory, rhino horn, lion/tiger bones) sending a clear message that “South Africa is open for business”. Ross is clear that South Africa must stop stockpiling and cease breeding which tells the East that South Africa is no longer open for business.
We discovered during our travels that lion cake is another product that is exported with a recent investigation finding lion bone, opium, macaque monkey, turtle shell and mountain goat antler.
Whilst in South Africa, great news from the UK who have committed to banning hunting trophy imports. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/17/bill-banning-import-of-hunting-trophies-into-uk-passed-by-mps
Reflecting on this trip, lion farming is just one species. When you consider just how enormous the legal trade in endangered species is, one of the most lucrative trades in the world, how many animals must be suffering. How vulnerable are humans to zoonotic diseases? The trade mechanism to monitor and regulate this vast trade hasn’t been modernised since the 70s and needs a massive overhaul – if this is of interest to you, please look into the work of Nature Needs More.
I’ve been profoundly impacted by this trip. One, because I’d vowed never to step foot on a lion farm and two, I hoped I would never have to meet hunters who shoot lions. Despite this, I’ve learnt an enormous amount from this trip but the depths to which this industry will go to protect their profiteering and abusive practices is mind-blowing.
I’m grateful to Mark for the opportunity to be in South Africa with him and trust he can use this knowledge to make significant changes. He’s witnessed animal exploitation, cruelty and abhorrent abuse of wildlife, heard the lies and seen the corruption.
We must put an end to this cruel and barbaric industry, and end the trade in endangered species. We are in an extinction crisis, and biodiversity loss is an enormous threat to us all.
I stayed on in South Africa to spend time with Stella Horgan so we could map and plan our work for the coming months and years.
Support the work we do and please give generously so we can finish the job!
Global Rewilding Day 2022
The world is changing dramatically. Shocking to witness the war in Ukraine and the catastrophic storms and flooding on the east coast of Australia whilst covid and other viruses continue to challenge us daily.
It's a difficult time and the past two years challenging, especially here in Victoria where we've had continual lockdowns to deal with Covid.
Biodiversity loss is a crisis around the world and yet there's very little attention by governments in Australia, preferring to prop up industries that continue the annihilation, seemingly ignoring the reports from the World Economic Forum and the IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report ranks two nature risks - biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse - as among the top five economic risks for this decade. $44 trillion, more than half of the world’s total gross domestic product, is moderately or highly dependent on nature.
Today is Global Rewilding Day. Unfortunately, not a day to celebrate. For the Love of Wildlife has always and will continue to champion wildlife and wilderness, proud partners of The Rewilding Global Alliance in our mission to give space back to wildlife and returning wildlife back to the land and seas. The mass recovery of ecosystems and the life-supporting functions they provide, allowing natural processes to shape whole ecosystems so that they work in all their colourful complexity to give life to the land and the seas.
“To restore stability to our planet, we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing that we’ve removed. It’s the only way out of this crisis we’ve created - we must rewild the world.”
Sir David Attenborough
Helping nature heal itself is how we heal ourselves. Human health is inextricably linked to ecological health, rewilding strengthens the web of life, stabilising the climate emergency. It’s all about ecological justice and respectful relationship with nature.
We’re excited to be part of The Quenda project with our partners in Western Australia.
The Quenda is a small, native Australian mammal that digs small pits whilst looking for food. It’s also the name of an Australian remote, autonomous, ‘Mars’ rover style vehicle that mimics the Quenda by digging micro pits, sampling the soil and surveying the environment in one action.
As partners of the Global Rewilding Alliance, we're looking forward to putting Australia on the map in regenerating degraded landscapes. For more information, click the logo.
Catastrophic storms hit Mt Dandenong - impacts wildlife
Australia has suffered extreme weather events and we are still recovering from the horrific bushfires which saw over 3 billion animals killed. Just over a month ago, Victoria (and other parts of Australia) were hit with unprecedented storms. So many houses and cars totalled by falling trees and incredible that nobody lost their lives. Massive losses to habitat and wildlife with so many trees down - it looked like a war zone for days after.
What was incredulous was the time it took for anyone to really understand the gravity of the situation and the delays in getting help. What emerged was something quite stunning, a community united with deep connections formed and a display of generous, open-heartedness; remarkable people stepping up and filling the void. It leaves you feeling extraordinarily proud and humbled to be part of this beautiful mountain community.
Watch news report and video here on 9 News Melbourne
With the enormous loss of critical habitat, wildlife is requiring our help and why we chose to take action for frontline carers. Despite the millions raised after the bushfires, what is evident is that carers at the coal face have been forgotten and left to deal with the increasing number of animals requiring care. Whilst For the Love of Wildlife predominantly works at a policy level, we couldn't let these small shelters go without help.
Thanks to YOU, our friends and supporters, we set up a GoFundMe page and at the time of posting this blog, we have raised a whopping $3,200! This money will go to new enclosures, feed and vet bills as the ever increasing number of animals requiring help continues. We'd also like to thank our friends at Humane Society International Australia who have also helped with funding.
The generosity of this community has been overwhelming and there's a heap of gorgeous souls we need to thank including:
FLOWildlife member Jennifer Fernandes who met with Barry and Helen McIlwaine, Knox School Falcon Philanthropy Group about the need for a quad bike which resulted in this bike being gifted to Nell Pedzik of Wild Paws Wildlife Shelter in Monbulk, Victoria.
Corinne Sukroo from Bell Real Estate in Olinda was contacted about the women desperately needing a generator so that humidicribs weren't without power and water supply was not interrupted (they are on a pump) to be able to keep the infants warm and heat their bottles. Despite all the help she's given to the local community, Corinne didn't hesitate for a second to supply a brand new generator as well as other necessary items. Thanks to Trevor Bell for collecting old quad and dropping off for sale.
Louise Black, Bayside Community Emergency Relief made a special trip to drop off much need pouches which Nicola Rain of Amaroo Wildlife Shelter is putting to good use for all the babies she's caring for. 
Long time supporter and FLOWildlife member Stephen Powell who will fix a couple of the aviaries which house sugar gliders and possums.
Another FLOWildlife member Dr Anne Small who donated teff and hay for the wombats that had their burrows flooded during the storms (and still being flooded!). Dr Anne also donated fuel containers, power cords and other items to storm impacted residents.
Andrew Fillip-Gautier of The Philanthropic Collective - Free Food Program is also generously assisting with ongoing food supplies for both carers and wombies!
Both of these shelters are currently caring for sugar gliders, all varieties of possums, wombats and so many more. Wombats are usually in care for up to two years before they can be released to the wild and they have ten in care to date.
We're so pleased to have helped with getting their story out into the world and thrilled they appeared in Ranges Trader Star Mail and also Sunday Age with them appearing on the cover (and that was the same day Ash Barty won the tennis - wildlife wins!).
THANK YOU dear friends for all your loving support - the generosity has been overwhelming and so gratefully received. If we've missed anyone, so sorry but know that your kindness has made a very real different.
GoFundMe campaign is still open so please share with friends as wildlife needs all the help it can get.
Our work has been featured
Very exciting to have our work featured in a couple of prominent publications.
Our Founding Director, Donalea Patman OAM, gave a talk to the members of the Order of Australia Association over zoom during the pandemic (and the same week she had her foot operated on!), with the Chair of the association inviting her to write an article for the Victorian newsletter and also the national magazine.
National Magazine article follows:
Endangered species don’t have the luxury of time
We are in what scientists are calling a 6th mass extinction and one of the key drivers is the legal trade in endangered species. It is one of the most lucrative trades in the world yet the mechanism that monitors this trade, worth more than US$320 billion a year, hasn’t been updated since the 70’s, is mostly paper-based and doesn’t integrate with customs.
For the Love of Wildlife (FLOW), successfully worked with the Australian government to ban the importation of lion trophies and body parts in 2015, as a direct response to the brutal and horrific industry of breeding lions for the bullet – this is a legal trade. Hunters who pay to kill only get the head and skin whilst breeders keep the bones which can be worth an additional $5,000 a carcass, used to supplement the Asian tiger bone industry as it is difficult to tell the difference between tiger and lion bones.
Then after finding ivory for sale on Chapel Street in Melbourne in 2016, FLOW went on to address the rampant unregulated, legal, domestic trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn in Australia. Three years later, Australia announced at CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Flora and Fauna) CoP in Geneva that we would join other countries in closing the domestic trade so that we’re no longer complicit in the current poaching crisis. The States and Territories are to date yet to adopt the trade ban.
Through these campaigns FLOW exposed just how flawed the current global trade system is and that CITES is severely under resourced and unable to keep up with the ever-increasing species listed for trade restrictions which is currently around 38,000 species, with the recent IPBES reporting that number soon to be a million. It’s also worth noting that a listing can take an average of 11 years for implementation and some species, even if they’re listed on the IUCN Red List (critically endangered), can take up to 24 years. We are clearly in an extinction crisis but the processes are glacially slow.
Why the lumbering inertia with modernising CITES and specifically in implementing a global digitised permit system? Representatives in Geneva from US Homeland Security stated that electronic permitting will decisively close the illegal trade and yet so much of the large conservation space is focused on illegal trade without the required urgency or focus in fixing the basics (ie the legal trade)?
An electronic permit system has been created by UNCTAD with CITES and the Swiss and Sri Lankan Governments and is now operational in Sri Lanka. For the cost of around US$30 million (about US$150,000 per country) all 183 signatory countries could have this installed closing the loopholes. It would also raise a red flag to a possible zoonotic outbreak resulting from comprehensive tracking and traceability.
Victorian Order of Australia Magazine article follows:
The thunderous roar of a lion raises the hair on your neck and to see lions in the wild is unforgettable. My first sighting certainly had me draw in breath, awestruck by their magnificence, their presence, their power.
A few hours later this was shattered as I was told lions are facing extinction. Less than 15,000 lions roam all of Africa, only 10% of which are pride males, exploited by an industry that is as cruel and barbaric as one can imagine; one that is threatening their very survival.
It was heartbreaking to hear how wild lion prides are chased down, the cubs stolen to reinvigorate captive breeding stock. It all starts with cub petting and pay and play experiences with cubs taken off their mothers a few days after birth, tourist attractions that are highly lucrative pseudo-CONservation programs. Australian volunteers paying more than a $1,000 a week, duped into believing they are hand raising “orphaned” cubs that will one day be returned to the wild. The reality is this is the first step in a highly lucrative “value chain”. When too old to be bottle fed and played with, juveniles are moved to “walking with lions” tourist experiences. From there they return to the death camps, waiting to be purchased online for a quick, cost effective and guaranteed kill. Habituated to humans, these lions are an easy kill, bred for the bullet and shot behind fences. This is the horrific industry of “canned hunting”.
Learning about canned hunting, on the same day I saw lions in the wild for the very first time, rocked me to my core and ignited a rage I never knew I had. I was literally shaking with anger when the friend I was travelling with said “why don’t you go into the world and do something about it”. I couldn’t possibly envisage the path that I was propelled to set upon.
In 2013, leading up to a Federal election, I started writing to the candidates whose marketing material was landing in my letterbox. My letters described the critical demise of lions, canned hunting and how Australia was complicit. Jason Wood MP responded to my concerns, and working tirelessly together on this issue, eighteen months later Australia banned the importation of lion trophies and body parts. A global first. Australia’s ban followed by France, the Netherlands with the US implementing strict import laws, the key client of this brutal trade.
Even before the ban was announced, I knew my 25 years in corporate business was over, founding the charity For the Love of Wildlife Ltd in early 2014. The Australian ban came before the global outrage at the death of Cecil, the lion lured outside the border of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, and killed by US dentist Walter Palmer.
But this story isn’t only about the commodification of lions, so much of the world’s wildlife is being exploited for trade. The legal trade in endangered species was valued at US$320 billion annually as long ago as 2009 yet the system that facilitates this global trade hasn’t been modernised since the 1970s, is mostly paper-based and doesn’t integrate with customs.
And let’s not forget the pandemic, crippling the world, is zoonotic in origin, triggered by the trade in exotic species which rely on captive breeding facilities to supply the “raw material” used in the fashion, food, beauty and medicine industries.
Modernising CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is the critical next step (having engaged more than 30 signatory countries to date).
Jeanette Pritchard's book A Language of Hope has featured Donalea in Chapter 9, Shaping society - ripples of hope
You can purchase Jeanette's book by clicking on the picture below. 