Photo: Amit Rane.The undertaking, unprecedented in its scale and scope, guarantees a 10-year commitment to wild cat conservation and will immediately fund the most effective solutions for conserving big cats.
The founding members of this new global alliance are H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Jho Low, CEO of Jynwel Capital and Director of Jynwel Charitable Foundation Limited, Hong Kong, Hemendra Kothari, Chairman, DSP Blackrock India and the Wildlife Conservation Trust and Dr. Thomas Kaplan and Daphne Recanati Kaplan, Panthera's founders.
“The Wildlife Conservation Trust is truly delighted to join in Panthera's Global Alliance, an unprecedented example of environmental collaboration. Having led by example in tiger conservation in the Indian landscape, it is heartening for the Wildlife Conservation Trust to be part of a truly unique international coalition that shares both our passion and commitment to the big cats along with the determination to save them," said Kothari.
The funding will catalyse Panthera's inclusive plan to help conserve all 38 species of wild cats, with a core focus on tigers, lions, jaguars, snow leopards, cheetahs, clouded leopards, cougars and leopards. Solutions that will be funded as a result of this commitment include:
1. Protecting and stabilising more than half of the world's most important Asian tiger and African lion populations.
2. Securing the largest carnivore corridor in the world for jaguars across 18 countries in Latin America.
3. Creating community-based conservation projects in nearly all countries with snow leopard populations.
4. Reducing killing and poaching in more than half of cheetah and leopard range countries.
5. Designing and implementing a range-wide conservation strategy for cougars, inclusive of creating corridors and recovery landscapes across North America.
"We are thrilled to welcome these impressive individuals to our team. With this new and broad support, Panthera's vision of regional and institutional partnerships has only just begun. Our alliance is open to all, and we're calling on people from every corner of the world to join our coalition at a time when it is still possible to ensure the long-term future of these animals and their ecosystems for generations to come," said Panthera Chief Executive Officer Alan Rabinowitz.
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