Captive wildlife for entertainment

In this powerful piece, Azzedine T. Downes, President & CEO, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), shares his thoughts about the urgent need to protect biodiversity.

Will Travers is an internationally-renowned wildlife expert who has dedicated his life to wildlife issues, since he lived in Kenya while his parents, Virginia McKenna and the late Bill Travers, made the film Born Free (1966).

Do we really need to introduce Dr Galdikas, one of the “trimates”? Scientist, conservationist, educator, for over five decades Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas has studied and worked closely with the orangutans of Indonesian Borneo in their natural habitat.

David Barritt is the Executive Director of Network for Animals and of Animal Survival International.

Aaron Gekoski is an acclaimed environmental photojournalist and film-maker, specialising in human-animal conflict.

Grace Yoxon is Director at the International Otter Survival Fund which she co-founded in 1993 with her husband Paul.

Dr Panchali Panapitiya, Founder Rally For Animal Rights (R.A.R.E.) Sri Lanka.