About the Born Free Foundation
How It All BeganSpurred by the horrible treatment of an elephant at the London Zoo, Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, along with their son Will Travers, estalished the United Kingdom’s Born Free Foundation to provide a voice for animals. Founded in 1984 as Zoo Check, the organization changed its name to the Born Free Foundation in 1991, and an American branch of the organization was founded in 2002. Visit Born Free’s Web site to learn more about the organization’s history.
What People Are SayingDescribed by The Times as “big enough to make a difference, but small enough to care,” the Born Free Foundation has grown into a global force for wildlife. The group works to prevent animal suffering, protects threatened species and strives to keep wildlife in the wild. The organization is lucky to have the support of many celebrities, including Joanna Lumley, Martin Clunes, Bryan Adams, Rachel Hunter, Helen Worth, Jenny Seagrove, Sandi Toksvig and Martin Shaw.
Every Animal CountsAbove all, Born Free never forgets the individual. Every animal counts. Their emergency teams rescue vulnerable animals from appalling lives of misery in tiny cages and give them lifetime care at spacious sanctuaries. Born Free saves orphaned big cats, great apes and elephants, providing their food and care.
Besides Rescue, How Else Is Born Free Helping Wildlife?As human populations expand, wildlife becomes increasingly threated. Acknowledging this, Born Free works with local communities around the world to find compassionate solutions so people and wildlife can live together. The organization offers educational activities to promote awareness about endangered wildlife around the world.
The group also serves to provide a voice for animals through high-profile campaigns, hoping to capture the public’s imagination, change attitudes, inform and persuade decision-makers, and get results. The group is currently conducting campaigns to fight the ivory trade and sport hunting, prevent the killing of wild animals for bushmeat and challenge the exploitation of wild animals in zoos and circuses.
Their major international projects are devoted to animal welfare; conservation and education; and protecting lions, elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, tigers, polar bears, wolves, dolphins, turtles, sharks and many more. Through their Global Initiatives project, they respond to emergency situations worldwide, participate in international coalitions such as the Species Survival Network and run the People & Wildlife project with Oxford University’s WildCRU department.