Born Free Foundation
The Born Free Foundation: keep wildlife in the wild
Kuoni UK is delighted to support the Born Free Foundation, a dynamic and high profile international wildlife charity, dedicated to preventing animal suffering, the protection of threatened species and working with local communities.
Kuoni have supported a number of projects since our partnership with The Born Free Foundation began in 2003. These include a recent donation of £5000 towards the building of a new enclosure at the Big Cat Rescue Centre in Alicedale South Africa. We also support a Youth for Conservation project in Kenya and donate £2000 a year to this project. We are pleased to announce that our brand new project is to completely rebuild a school in Kenya. A project that we have committed to support over the next three to five years. Our first donation of £4000 build two brick built classrooms and revive the school's plant nursery. Find out more about Kuoni's involvement...
Read the recent account of the rescue of the three lions from a circus in France...
As you may remember we recently donated £5000 towards a new enclosure at the Big Cat Rescue Centre in Alicedale South Africa. Well it looks like we may have some one to live in that enclose very soon!
How Born Free Began
Close contact with lions: In 1964, Bill Travers nd Virginia McKenna starred in the film ‘Born Free’, which told the true story of George and Joy Adamson as they returned Elsa the lioness to the wild. The Adamsons devoted their lives to the protection of lions and other species and their amazing story was an inspiration, changing the world’s attitude to wildlife for ever.
Crucial milestone: Making the film profoundly affected Bill and Virginia, it was a key influence in their lives. The close contact with the lions touched something deep inside them and created a lifelong commitment to wildlife. They realised wild animals belong in the wild and should be protected there, not imprisoned in captivity.
Zoo Check begins: The couple starred in several more films about animals and produced wildlife and anti-zoo documentaries for television. In 1984, together with four others including their son Will, they launched Zoo Check. This was in response to the untimely death of Pole Pole, a young captive elephant. Snatched from her wild family as a gift from the Kenyan government to London Zoo, Pole Pole’s life was short and lonely, but her tragic death was not in vain.
Campaigning against captivity: Since its launch, Zoo Check has achieved enormous success, exposing the deprived lives of captive animals to the public. Zoo Check alleviates suffering, tackles the abuse of animals in the name of ‘entertainment’ and aims to phase out traditional zoos.
Elefriends impact: In 1989 in response to the brutal slaughter of elephants for the ivory trade, Elefriends was formed. Their huge ‘Ivory Out’ petition collected 1.6 million signatures and was submitted to CITES by Will Travers the charity's director, helping to ban the international ivory trade. The world-famous Elefriends continues to campaign for elephant protection.
Born Free Foundation is formed: 1990 was a busy year. ‘Operation Wolf’ helped save the endangered Iberian wolf and ‘Into the Blue’ returned three captive dolphins to the wild. The Born Free Foundation was officially established in 1991 bringing all the projects under one dynamic banner.
An inspiration to us all: Bill Travers died in 1994, but his powerful legacy lives on. Today the Born Free Foundation is a renowned and active organisation that gets results, developing effective campaigns to prevent animal persecution and keep wildlife in the wild. Virginia McKenna continues to campaign as BFF’s voluntary ambassador, highlighting the misery of captive animals around the world.
Born Free impact: BFF’s continued achievements for animals have only been possible because of Born Free Members. Your supports helps us to get results. Thank you. Working together, we can achieve so much more for animals.
Born Free believes wildlife belongs in the wild and that the confinement of wild animals for human entertainment should be a thing of the past. Born Free is dedicated to the protection of threatened species in their natural habitat and works with local communities around the world to help people and wildlife live together without conflict. Born Free has eight major international campaigns devoted to animal welfare and conservation: Zoo Check, Elefriends, Big Cat Campaign, Marine Campaign, Bear Campaign, Primate Campaign, Wolf Campaign and Education Campaign.
If you think you can help Born Free Foundation by raising valuable funds then please click here to find out more about several Born Free Charity Challenges:
Kilimanjaro Climb, China Trek, Sri Lanka Trek & Borneo Trek.
To find out more please contact:
Born Free Foundation
3 Grove House
Foundry Lane
Horsham
RH13 5PL
UK
tel: 01403 240170
fax: 01403 327838
e-mail: wildlife@bornfree.org.uk
web: http://www.bornfree.org.uk
