Spotlight News

Earlier this summer we asked Born Free USA supporters and friends to participate in our first photography contest, and we received scores of quality entries. Our staff members have selected their 12 favorites. Now it's time for you to pick the winners! We'll be collecting your votes through Aug. 26, 2011. Winners will be announced Labor Day weekend, with a photo printer at stake in the Backyard category and binoculars going to the Worldwide winner.

Five metric tons of elephant ivory
await the flame Wednesday in Kenya.
See more Kenya ivory burn photos.

A few decades ago there were 1.3 million elephants in Africa. The bloody, corrupt and merciless ivory trade that precipitated the killing of 600,000 African elephants during the 1970s and 1980s is sadly booming across Africa again. Reports of elephant poaching (possibly 35,000 animals a year!) and ivory seizures are becoming an almost daily occurrence. Something dramatic needs to be done to protect these magnificent, increasingly imperiled animals — to remind the world to say, no, to scream: "NO BLOODY IVORY!" On July 20, a dramatic message was indeed sent …

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Click on this image of Dolo
to watch the video.

Born Free rescued Dolo the lion – chained by his neck at a restaurant in Ethiopia – and brought him to Ensessakotteh, our Ethiopian Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Center, where he can have the space and privacy he deserves as well as grass under his paws for the first time. George Logan, multi-award-winning photographer and Born Free friend, took some fantastic photos capturing the whole trip.

The Captive Primate Safety act, introduced by U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., David Vitter, R-La., and Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, aims to eliminate the interstate sale of monkeys, apes and other non-human primates in the exotic pet trade.

“The captive primate trade involves enormous suffering and threats to human safety,” said Adam Roberts, executive vice president of Born Free USA. “These innocent animals are often confined in small cages and have their teeth extracted. We can’t allow animals to be mutilated in the name of companionship. There is simply no excuse for keeping nonhuman primates as pets. Wildlife belongs in the wild.”

Link: Canton (Conn.) Patch

Born Free was instrumental in helping coordinate Vanity Fair reporter, Alex Shoumatoff's global trip around the globe for his in-depth report into the devastating African Ivory Trade. VF Daily spoke to our CEO Will Travers about his life in compassionate conservation and specifically Born Free's work with elephants.

Link: Vanity Fair

Have you taken any great wildlife pictures? If so, we'd like to see them! In fact, we want to collect as many as we can, and offer prizes for the best submissions, in our Keep Wildlife in the Wild Photo Contest. Please enter your favorite photo, or photos (no more than two total per person, please), by the end of the day on Saturday, July 9, 2011. Our contest has two categories: worldwide wildlife and backyard wildlife. Once we've whittled down our favorites to six photographs per category, we will ask our Action Alert team members to vote and decide the two winners. So, what are you waiting for? Snap to it!

The Keep Wildlife In The Wild Auction is now open. The auction will run through Friday (June 24), with proceeds going to Born Free USA in order to support our work to save the lives of animals. Auction items range from exotic vacation getaways to donated items guaranteed to delight and surprise. So, tell your friends, family, community. Let the bidding begin!

Virginia McKenna, the heart and soul of the worldwide Born Free movement, turned 80 this week. Talk about having a meaningful life! At the height of a stunningly successful acting career, during which she won a British Academy Award and left an indelible mark on modern culture with her portrayal of Joy Adamson in "Born Free," Virginia and her husband, Bill Travers, co-founded the Born Free Foundation in England. They were joined by son Will, who today serves as chief executive officer for that organization and for its companion, Born Free USA. But it was Will's "mum" who made it all possible. We salute a legendary star, a visionary activist and an inspiration to millions. Happy birthday, Virginia! And many, many more.