News & Updates

Born Free Foundation and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust call for ban on controversial use of the ankus in UK zoos. Two of the world’s leading animal protection charities, the Born Free Foundation and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, have joined forces to call for an urgent review of the use of bullhooks (sticks with curved, pointed tips, often known as ‘ankuses’) in elephant handling and ask that standard management practice include the use of protective barriers to ensure the welfare and safety of both keepers and elephants across all UK zoos.

Leading animal welfare and wildlife conservation charity the Born Free Foundation has launched a unique new animal adoption to help protect the world’s most illegally-traded mammal, the pangolin. Pangolin populations are declining rapidly, with one million believed to have been taken from the wild in a recent 10 year period.

This year Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, located on Ngamba Island within Lake Victoria, has been tackling the effects of a significant water level rise which has been washing away jetties and threatening infrastructure.

Chunsam is one of five indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins taken from the wild between 2009 and 2010 and sold to aquariums in South Korea. In 2013 the Korean Supreme Court ruled to release them back into the wild, an operation that was undertaken by Ric O’ Barry’s Dolphin Project and saw Chunsam and the other dolphins released into the wild.

In 2012, Born Free’s EU Zoo Inquiry 2011, concluded that the substandard conditions for animals in European zoos, were due to a combination of poor law enforcement and limited knowledge by the competent authorities. These included veterinarians and enforcement agencies that are required to inspect zoos and safeguard the welfare of animals.

Concerning reports indicate that a woman has been killed and another attacked after getting out of their car while driving through the tiger enclosure at Badaling Wildlife World in Beijing, China. It is unclear why exactly the visitors left the vehicle, but dramatic video footage shows a woman being pounced upon by a large tiger and dragged away. It appears that this visitor miraculously survived. Sadly, we understand a second woman, believed to be a relative of the first, went to her aid and was fatally mauled.

With the aim of promoting sustainable practices Born Free’s Global Friends Programme is helping to enhance environmental education. These 15 school and community projects are linked with Born Free’s conservation projects in communities facing significant environmental challenges, many of these challenges also impact wildlife such as lions, elephants, chimpanzees, sea turtles and more.

One year since the death of Cecil the Lion, Virginia McKenna appeared on ITV’s This Morning, on Friday 1st July, to condemn trophy hunting and reflect on his legacy. In the same week that Channel 4 screened controversial documentary ‘The Women Who Kill Lions’, Virginia debated via satellite, with prolific trophy hunter and self-styled ‘conservationist’, Olivia Opre, who claims being killed by a hunter is the most humane way for an animal to die.

It has been reported that Arturo, the 30 year old polar bear at Mendoza Zoo in Argentina, has died. Arturo’s sad situation was first brought to international attention back in 2013, when distressing photographs and reports of his situation were circulated around the world. It is thought that Arturo endured substandard conditions in a completely unsuitable and unnatural climate for over 20 years.

On the Anniversary of Cecil's death, Born Free calls for an international moratorium on trophy hunting. On 1st July 2015, Cecil was brutally killed in Zimbabwe by American dentist and trophy hunter Walter Palmer. Cecil had been radio-tracked and studied by a University of Oxford team since 2008 as part of a long-term wild lion research project. But he was lured away from the protection of Hwange National Park, shot by a bow and arrow and died 40 hours later. News of his death went viral and rocked the world, prompting an unprecedented outpouring of grief for the 13-year-old lion.