Twycross Zoo's Conservation Welfare Fund provides funding for conservation and animal welfare projects around the world.
Five Primate Vision
The aim of the Five Primate Vision is to help secure the future in the wild of five species of primate. These projects are ongoing commitments by Twycross Zoo to this programme. Two of the projects, Awely Greencaps and the FFI Cao Vit Gibbon Conservation Project , have this year received additional funding from the EAZA Ape Campaign [include link]. The third project within this programme is Lola Ya Bonobo, the subject of our Bonobo! programme, which was launched in 2008.
Small Grants
2011 has seen the following projects funded:-
Orangutan Land Trust / Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, Nyaru Menteng
Species : Bornean Orang Utan Pongo pygmaeus : Endangered
Place : Borneo
This project funds the repair of existing cages at the BOS Foundation orang-utan reintroduction centre at Nyaru-Menteng to prevent orangutans escaping or injuring themselves, whilst also maintaining quarantine protocols. We are also providing these funds to help in the improvement of the clinic facilities, which will tie in with a more stringent management system and the creation of an isolation unit, all developments that have been caused by an emerging TB health issue among wild and rehabilitated orang-utans.
People Resources Conservation Foundation
Species : Francois' Langur Trachypithecus francoisi : Endangered
Place : Vietnam
This project funds a participatory forest land use planning session at the critical forest habitat of Francois' Langurs in the Na Phong area of Thuong Lam Commune. This will involve group-based ground-truthing and 3D mapping of the area. This project complements activities implemented under a small CEPF-funded project, the objectives of which include: PLUP ground-truthing in Nhoi, Chuot and Chu valleys and users of the Nghiu Lai Forest area (Khuon Ha Commune); will define and enter into Francois' Langur conservation agreements with local inhabitants / restaurants; and conduct awareness-raising activities with local secondary schools / Commune Youth Unions to support the species' conservation.
Wildlife Vets International
Species : Leopard, specifically the Amur Leopard Panthera pardus orientalis : Critically Endangered
Place : Far Eastern Russia
This project funds John Lewis' continued veterinary consultancy in the Russian Far East, which surveys diseases in a wide range of species, including Amur leopard, Amur tiger, their prey species, domestic livestock, feral and domestic cats and dogs in Autumn 2011. Any Amur leopards (or Amur tigers) that are caught for radio-collaring during the current trapping season (September - November 2011) have had detailed clinical assessments carried out on them, and have had some samples taken for genetic diversity assessment. In addition, JL has been working with the only veterinary faculty in the Russian Far East to develop their wildlife disease surveillance capacity and their wildlife disease course. Ongoing elements of the project which are part of this general package, but not specific to it include the continuation of providing veterinary advice to the reintroduction programme for the Amur leopard and inclusion of all data collected in the field in the ever-expanding veterinary database designed specifically for this big cat.
2011 saw the continuation of the following small grant projects:-
Snow Leopard Trust
Species : Snow leopard Panthera uncia : Endangered
Place : Mongolia
Radio-collaring and camera-trapping of leopards to understand the extent of their home ranges, their travel paths over successive days and aspects of their behaviour. Given the impressive camouflage of this species and its nocturnal habits, it would otherwise be very difficult to study this big cat and understand its relationship with other animals and the human inhabitants of the region.
German Primate Centre / Siberut Conservation Programme
Species : Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Monkey Simias concolor : Critically Endangered
Place : Siberut (Mentawai Islands, Indonesia)
Funding was assigned to the creation of a conservation-relevant biological database for the pig-tailed snub-nosed monkey, which enabled the identification of individuals in the troops being studied, as part of a longer term study on the animals' behaviour, movements and conservation needs.