News

Tusk’s conceptual garden at this year’s Hampton Court Flower Show was finally unveiled to the public yesterday, and has already been attracting a great deal of attention.

The 18th Safaricom Marathon, hosted by Tusk and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, took place on Saturday 24th June and once again attracted approximately 1,400 runners, of which almost 100 completed the full marathon.

Announcing the shortlist for the fifth Tusk Awards for Conservation in Africa, Charlie Mayhew, CEO said “Thanks to the extraordinary achievements of all this year’s entrants, choosing just three finalists was an almost impossible task.  And for the first time, the judges have chosen two finalists for the frontline Wildlife Ranger Award.”

‘Do More for Africa’ is an initiative between Avios and Tusk offering the opportunity for three lucky Britons to win a two-week volunteer stay at one of three projects in Southern Africa, focusing on conservation, community support and education.

Good news from Tusk’s partner The Big Life Foundation as they announce a decline in poaching in the first quarter of 2017 – their hard work alongside that of the KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) is beginning to pay off! The combined efforts have also made progress in addressing the rise in human-elephant conflict, but there is still a long way to go…

There was disappointment in the Houses of Parliament yesterday, when the Environment Minister Therese Coffey failed to set a timeline for the Government’s consultation on the closure of the UK’s domestic ivory markets.

Along with other NGO’s, Tusk welcomes an important debate on the UK's ivory market, which is taking place in the Houses of Parliament later today.

Last night Prince William celebrated the extraordinary lives of five men and women dedicated to the survival of Africa’s endangered wildlife. 

The continued growth of the mountain gorilla population in central Africa is a rare conservation success story, and having devoted much of her life to their protection, Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka has been a major contributor to this.

Tusk is among almost 100 wildlife conservationists, biologists, wildlife trade experts, MPs and others that have sent an open letter calling on the British Government to implement a total ban on the ivory trade within the UK, and to continue taking a strong lead in the battle to stop the illegal wildlife trade.

Having addressed Tusk’s Time for Change event on the eve of the CITES conference, now that the conference is over CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon has hailed it as “a game changer that will be remembered as a point in history when the tide turned in favor of ensuring the survival of our most vulnerable wildlife”. Fifty-one of the proposals discussed over the fortnight were accepted, five were rejected and six were withdrawn. Governments agreed to take stronger actions in combating illegal wildlife trade, higher protection for entire groups of species, targeted demand reduction strategies for illegally traded wildlife, and agreement on closer engagement with rural communities.

In an impassioned speech broadcast live from The View from The Shard London, Prince William today urged an audience of millions worldwide to join him now in the fight to save the elephant and rhino from certain death at the hands of ruthless criminal gangs profiting from the £20 billion a year illegal wildlife trade.