You made sure we were able to advance our mission of protecting wildlife in 2021 as the world continued to contend with a global pandemic. Your gift to Born Free USA has a huge impact on animals in the U.S. and around the world:
You protect North American animals like wolves, foxes, and coyotes from culls, traps, and killing contests. You keep elephants, pangolins, lions, parrots, and sharks out of the hands of traffickers and poachers. You protect wild animals from abuse and exploitation in captivity. You provide a lifelong home for rescued monkeys at our primate sanctuary.Stand with Wildlife. Make a Year-End Donation to Born Free USA.
You helped achieve so much for animals in 2021. Let’s keep up the momentum and achieve more victories in the coming year. Will you help sustain our victories for animals with a year-end donation to help us unlock a $10,000 matching gift? The animals need your help!
Please stand up for animals around the world with a year-end gift to Born Free USA.
Our 2021 Wins for Wildlife
Wildlife Trade
Protected Endangered Species. Rangers are on the front lines of the fight against wildlife crime. Often ill-equipped and poorly trained, they risk their lives in the course of their duties. The pilot counter-poaching and counter-trafficking training, called “PROTECT-DETECT,” focused on building the capacity of rangers. An initial training was delivered online to eight local trainers from Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Then, authorities who attended the workshop held further trainings in the field in their respective countries for 36 participants.
Stopped wildlife traffickers in their tracks. Customs officers who were trained by Born Free USA successfully identified and prevented the smuggling of protected animals and their parts over international borders in West Africa. Officers in multiple countries seized thousands of pounds of elephant ivory, pangolin scales, shark fins, and twenty live parrots. Stopping these instances of trafficking and the people responsible will protect animals living in the wild from falling victim to illegal wildlife trade.
Developed a strategy to end wildlife trafficking in West Africa. Born Free USA published two ground-breaking reports, the West Africa Regional Wildlife Trafficking Report and Understanding threats to West African biodiversity and linkages to wildlife trafficking from Threat Assessments we carried out in 13 West African countries. These reports expose regional trafficking patterns, including species targeted by illegal trade, and routes and methods most used by traffickers. These reports provide guidance on regional and national wildlife crime interventions and recommend ways to improve the efficacy of wildlife enforcement.
Trapping
Assisted companion animals maimed by traps. This year we offered financial assistance to two dogs through our Trapping Victims’ Fund. First we helped Addie, a black lab/collie mix who needed multiple surgeries after spending days trapped in a snare. Second was Sadie, a black lab mix puppy who lost her leg after getting it caught in a snare trap. We helped fund the veterinary treatment of these two poor animals.
Advancing in our fight to end body-gripping trapping. Our trailblazing trapping report – Crushing Cruelty – was released in April of this year, providing the most up-to-date analysis of the U.S. trapping industry and its regulation. The report’s findings present a sobering insight into trapping in the U.S. It reveals the need for a ban on trap sales, and calls for plans to be implemented to move towards generalized prohibition of trapping across the nation.
Co-existing with Wildlife
Sounded the alarm to protect ten North American species. Designed to foster both empathy and action, the Big Five, Little Five campaign shone a spotlight on iconic mammal species from North America who are in need of vital conservation efforts. Bringing together five large-bodied mammals, including wolves and polar bears, and showcasing the threats they face alongside five smaller, more maligned species, such as raccoons and beavers, the campaign offers guidance about the critical steps we must take to protect our native species.
Saved Canada geese from death. The town of Vernon in British Columbia announced a planned lethal “cull” of 150 Canada Geese along the waterfront of the community. The town falsely claimed that the geese were not native, and neglected to demonstrate the geese presented a problem. We were able to successfully refute the town’s arguments in favor of the cull, and the federal permit the town needed to carry it out was denied.
Animals in Captivity
Called for an end to big cat exploitation. The Big Cat Public Safety Act was reintroduced into both chambers of Congress this year. The bill would ban the private possession of lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars, or any hybrid of these species. The bill also forbids contact between members of the public and big cats. The bill is receiving attention and support from both sides of the aisle, and we are optimistic about its chances of passing later in the session.
Supported the end of the primate pet Trade. Our report, Public Danger, Private Pain, was released in October 2021. Drawing together voices on experts from around the world, the report makes a compelling case for a ban on the cruel trade of monkeys and apes as pets for both animal welfare and public safety reasons. This report was released in support of the Captive Primate Safety Act, which was introduced in Congress in May 2021. The bill would ban the private keeping of primates as pets and most public interaction with primates and provides much stronger regulation than previous versions of the bill.
Primate Sanctuary
Rescued monkeys in need. We currently have four beautiful new monkeys at our sanctuary who arrived in the past year: Kiki, Gambit, Willis, and Picassa. Kiki and Willis, vervet monkeys, and Gambit, a rhesus macaque, spent their first years of life as pets in private homes without the opportunity to meet other monkeys. Picassa was used in laboratory testing most of her life before moving to a now-defunct sanctuary. Kiki, Gambit, Willis, and Picassa are all thriving in their new homes and are in the process of becoming integrated into our existing social groups.
Kept our monkeys safe through the winter storm. Texas was ravaged by an extraordinary winter storm in February. Our team prepared for the freezing weather, ensuring all the monkeys had proper shelter and heat. And, when our water pump broke down and the pipes froze, our dedicated staff swung into action with ice picks to ensure all the monkeys had access to clean drinking water throughout the freeze. We were able to keep all our monkeys safe and warm.