Other projects

Reintroductions

In addition to the 9 gorillas who were born at the wild animal parks in Kent and returned to the wild into The Aspinall Foundation gorilla protection project in Gabon, the charity works to continue reintroducing animals back to their wild habitat, and there have been a number of successful projects to date.

In 1998, Torgamba, a Sumatran rhino who was at Port Lympne for thirteen years, was returned to a captive breeding centre in Sumatra. Ten Przewalski horses, previously extinct in the wild, were sent to China for reintroduction into the Gansu Nature Reserve. Two were sent to Mongolia as part of a consortium.

Black Rhino

In 1997 as part of an exchange programme in co-operation with the South African National Parks to reintroduce some of our herd of critically endangered black rhinos, a male was returned who has since sired at least three calves. In 2004 females Kivu and Tana were transferred from Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in the UK to a private reserve. In 2005, Kivu gave birth to a bull ‘Samson' and in 2006 Tana gave birth to a bull ‘Embu'.

Then in 2007 a male and female from Port Lympne Wild Animal Park were transferred to the Tanzanian Serengeti. The move was a part of a pioneering partnership in which The Aspinall Foundation worked with the Tanzanian Government and a private reserve based within the Serengeti National Park to return the animals, which are the first ever captive-born rhinos to be reintroduced into the area.

Contributions

In addition to the projects being managed and funded by The Aspinall Foundation, there are also other external conservation projects to which TAF financially contribute:

Ministry of Forestry - Indonesia

As part of our commitment to conservation, The Aspinall Foundation (TAF) has long recognized the importance of not only protecting individual species and promoting education about the threats facing our natural habitats, but also in taking concrete steps towards preserving those wild areas in which they live. As part of our expanding conservation efforts and ‘Cry of the Wild' program for conservation in Java, TAF has been building collaborative working partnerships with Indonesian government departments and NGOs in a bid to preserve Indonesia's natural resources for future generations.

In early 2010, The Aspinall donated 100 camera trap units to the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry to be used throughout one of the country's foremost national park areas: Ujung Kulon. This national park was Indonesia's first and in 1991 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its high biodiversity value - containing the largest remaining lowland forest area in Java. This forested landscape is also home to one of only two populations of Critically Endangered Javan Rhinoceros. Ujung Kulon is known to hold between 50-60 individuals, representing around 90% of the world's total wild population.

Camera traps are an effective and unobtrusive method for conservationists to measure wild animal populations and track the frequency and distribution of their movements through a landscape. The latest batch of footage that The Aspinall Foundation has received from the field shows some of the most exciting images we have received to date; including banteng, muntjac deer, wild boar, dhole, Javan leopards, mouse deer, and several heart-warming images of a Javan rhino mother with her infant. Footage such as this reinforces the importance of not only protecting these vital habitat areas, but also looking for way to extend this protection beyond the limits of national parks and giving our planets threatened species the room they need to recover and thrive once again.

Check out our YouTube Channel for more incredible footage from these camera traps
 

The Scottish Wildcat Project

Port Lympne Wild Animal Park has been appointed as the studbook holder for the Scottish Wildcat captive breeding programme. This species is Britain's most endangered carnivore and there are just an estimated 500 left in the wild, under threat mainly due to cross breeding with feral domestic cats. The breeding programme is in its infancy but with a track record of success and commitment to such long-term programmes, initial work is already planned in conjunction with Prof David MacDonald of the Wildlife Conservation Unit (WildCru) at the University of Oxford. We currently have eight Scottish wildcats at Port Lympne. However before the breeding program is underway, necessary modifications and facilities will need to be established.

The Huro Program - India

This independent program to save local populations of the Western Hoolock Gibbon is being run by a small team of French expats in an extremely remote region of northeastern India, on the border of Bangladesh. The goal of the project is the rescue, rehabilitatation and release of the Western Hoolock Gibbon, as well as other primates endemic to the region such as macaques. Additional activities being co-ordinated by the project include local education campaigns and reinforcing protection of local protected areas. Find out more about The Huro Programme for Hoolock Gibbons

Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre - Cambodia

Cambodia's only government-run wildlife rescue centre the PTWRC provides care and rehabilitation for a number of endemic species. The Aspinall Foundation have a long working relationship with the centre's technical advisor Mr Nick Marx, and the funds provided by The Aspinall Foundation assist in supplementing the very low income paid to the centre's animal keeping staff and provides a crucial incentive for them to remain at this job and take good care of the animals in their charge. Other expenses that are covered include food, running costs, transport and veterinary fees.  Find out more about Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Cambodia