Our Strategies
To ensure people and wildlife can coexist and thrive, WCN employs three core strategies—supporting the most effective Conservation Partners with the funding and resources they need to protect wildlife, creating Wildlife Funds that provide flexible grants to a wide range of organizations that protect a specific species across its entire range, and investing in the education and career growth of Rising Wildlife Leaders.Conservation Partners
We find the best entrepreneurial organizations and invite them to receive in-depth, ongoing support by joining our Network of Conservation Partners. We provide our Partners with the financial resources, tools, and services they need to effectively protect wildlife. Conservationists in our Network work within local communities to find solutions that address the needs of both wildlife and people.
Learn MoreWildlife Funds
We establish Wildlife Funds when we see a need and an opportunity to protect threatened wildlife across a larger landscape. By providing specific, short-term funding to projects from institutions big and small, we harness the power of multiple organizations working to save a species throughout its entire habitat. 100% of donations to WCN'S Wildlife Funds go directly to the field, with zero overhead.
Learn MoreRising Wildlife Leaders
Conservation thrives when local conservationists have the support they need to protect wildlife. We invest in these brave women and men to strengthen their skills, build their organizations, and advance their careers in conservation. Through scholarships and grants, we provide support to the local people who are shaping conservation in their home countries, ensuring we have a greater and more sustainable impact for wildlife.
Learn MoreOur Strategies
To ensure people and wildlife can coexist and thrive, WCN employs three core strategies—supporting the most effective Conservation Partners with the funding and resources they need to protect wildlife, creating Wildlife Funds that provide flexible grants to a wide range of organizations that protect a specific species across its entire range, and investing in the education and career growth of Rising Wildlife Leaders.Conservation Partners
We find the best entrepreneurial organizations and invite them to receive in-depth, ongoing support by joining our Network of Conservation Partners. We provide our Partners with the financial resources, tools, and services they need to effectively protect wildlife. Conservationists in our Network work within local communities to find solutions that address the needs of both wildlife and people.
Wildlife Funds
We establish Wildlife Funds when we see a need and an opportunity to protect threatened wildlife across a larger landscape. By providing specific, short-term funding to projects from institutions big and small, we harness the power of multiple organizations working to save a species throughout its entire habitat. 100% of donations to WCN'S Wildlife Funds go directly to the field, with zero overhead.
Rising Wildlife Leaders
Conservation thrives when local conservationists have the support they need to protect wildlife. We invest in these brave women and men to strengthen their skills, build their organizations, and advance their careers in conservation. Through scholarships and grants, we provide support to the local people who are shaping conservation in their home countries, ensuring we have a greater and more sustainable impact for wildlife.
Cheetah—Namibia
Cheetahs are famous for their speed and agility but are also one of Africa’s most endangered big cats.
Lion—Niassa
Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique is one of the last great wild places on Earth and one of the important remaining strongholds for the African lion.
Ethiopian Wolf
The Ethiopian wolf is the rarest and most endangered canid in the world.
Rhinos
Today, fewer than 26,000 rhinos remain in Africa and Asia. Poaching for their horns and habitat loss continuously threaten the future of these distinctive giants.
Andean Cats
The Andean cat is one of the rarest and least known cats in the world; fewer than 1,400 exist in the mountains of South America.
Grevy’s Zebra
Less than 2,500 Grevy’s zebra exist today; these special animals are distinguishable from other zebras by their larger size and round “Mickey Mouse” ears.
Painted Dogs
Painted dogs have highly social and complex packs and approximately 100,000 dogs existed in the 1900’s, but now only 7,000 dogs are thought to remain.
Cheetah—Botswana
Botswana provides a home for approximately 30% of the earth’s remaining 7,100 cheetahs, it is the only country where their population remains stable.
Spectacled Bear
Spectacled bears, also known as Andean bears, are the only bear species in all of South America.
Grey Crowned Cranes
Grey Crowned Cranes are a symbol of longevity, but unfortunately are threatened by habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade.
Pangolins
Pangolins have the unfortunate distinction of being the most illegally trafficked wild mammal in the world. All eight species of pangolins are threatened with extinction.
Gorillas
Gorillas are strong and social beings, yet they face threats from habitat degradation and disease transmission.
Snow Leopard
The strikingly beautiful but endangered snow leopard remains one of the world’s most mysterious and rarely seen cats.
Macaws
Macaws are renowned for their beauty, intelligence, and charisma, yet due to their slow reproductive rate very few remain in the wild.
Elephant
Elephants are among the world’s most intelligent, sensitive and social animals, possessing both empathy and family values.
Sharks and Rays
Sharks and rays are essential for healthy oceans, but are vulnerable to human threats like pollution, climate change, and overfishing.
Okapi
The gentle, mysterious okapi live only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and though they appear to be half-zebra they are actually the closest relative of the giraffe.
Orangutan
Orangutans play a critical role in keeping forests healthy, but are Critically Endangered due to habitat loss and their low reproductive rate.
Dolphins and Dugongs
Marine mammals play important ecological roles as both predator and prey, but unfortunately, marine mammals in Malaysia are threatened by over-fishing, by-catch, boat traffic, plastic pollution, and noise pollution.
Lion—Ewaso
Kenya is home to less than 2000 lions. In Northern Kenya, outside protected areas, lions and people are learning to coexist.
Small Wild Cats
Most people are familiar with big cats, but few could name the 33 species of small wild cats living all around the world.
Penguins
There are 18 different penguin species living throughout the Southern Hemisphere, 55% of which are listed as threatened.
Cotton-Top Tamarin
The tiny cotton-top, which weighs less than a pound, are found only in northwestern Colombia and are one of the most endangered primates in the world.
Saiga Antelope
The saiga antelope has been around since the Ice Age and once numbered in the millions; today only 40,000 survive.
Cheetah—Namibia
Lion—Niassa
Ethiopian Wolf
Rhinos
Andean Cats
Grevy’s Zebra
Painted Dogs
Cheetah—Botswana
Spectacled Bear
Grey Crowned Cranes
Pangolins
Gorillas
Snow Leopard
Macaws
Elephant
Sharks and Rays
Okapi
Orangutan
Dolphins and Dugongs
Lion—Ewaso
Small Wild Cats
Penguins
Cotton-Top Tamarin
Saiga Antelope
Cheetah—Namibia
Cheetahs are famous for their speed and agility but are also one of Africa’s most endangered big cats.
Lion—Niassa
Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique is one of the last great wild places on Earth and one of the important remaining strongholds for the African lion.
Ethiopian Wolf
The Ethiopian wolf is the rarest and most endangered canid in the world.
Rhinos
Today, fewer than 26,000 rhinos remain in Africa and Asia. Poaching for their horns and habitat loss continuously threaten the future of these distinctive giants.
Andean Cats
The Andean cat is one of the rarest and least known cats in the world; fewer than 1,400 exist in the mountains of South America.
Grevy’s Zebra
Less than 2,500 Grevy’s zebra exist today; these special animals are distinguishable from other zebras by their larger size and round “Mickey Mouse” ears.
Painted Dogs
Painted dogs have highly social and complex packs and approximately 100,000 dogs existed in the 1900’s, but now only 7,000 dogs are thought to remain.
Cheetah—Botswana
Botswana provides a home for approximately 30% of the earth’s remaining 7,100 cheetahs, it is the only country where their population remains stable.
Spectacled Bear
Spectacled bears, also known as Andean bears, are the only bear species in all of South America.
Grey Crowned Cranes
Grey Crowned Cranes are a symbol of longevity, but unfortunately are threatened by habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade.
Pangolins
Pangolins have the unfortunate distinction of being the most illegally trafficked wild mammal in the world. All eight species of pangolins are threatened with extinction.
Gorillas
Gorillas are strong and social beings, yet they face threats from habitat degradation and disease transmission.
Snow Leopard
The strikingly beautiful but endangered snow leopard remains one of the world’s most mysterious and rarely seen cats.
Macaws
Macaws are renowned for their beauty, intelligence, and charisma, yet due to their slow reproductive rate very few remain in the wild.
Elephant
Elephants are among the world’s most intelligent, sensitive and social animals, possessing both empathy and family values.
Sharks and Rays
Sharks and rays are essential for healthy oceans, but are vulnerable to human threats like pollution, climate change, and overfishing.
Okapi
The gentle, mysterious okapi live only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and though they appear to be half-zebra they are actually the closest relative of the giraffe.
Orangutan
Orangutans play a critical role in keeping forests healthy, but are Critically Endangered due to habitat loss and their low reproductive rate.
Dolphins and Dugongs
Marine mammals play important ecological roles as both predator and prey, but unfortunately, marine mammals in Malaysia are threatened by over-fishing, by-catch, boat traffic, plastic pollution, and noise pollution.
Lion—Ewaso
Kenya is home to less than 2000 lions. In Northern Kenya, outside protected areas, lions and people are learning to coexist.
Small Wild Cats
Most people are familiar with big cats, but few could name the 33 species of small wild cats living all around the world.
Penguins
There are 18 different penguin species living throughout the Southern Hemisphere, 55% of which are listed as threatened.
Cotton-Top Tamarin
The tiny cotton-top, which weighs less than a pound, are found only in northwestern Colombia and are one of the most endangered primates in the world.
Saiga Antelope
The saiga antelope has been around since the Ice Age and once numbered in the millions; today only 40,000 survive.
Your Support in Action
Pulling Kenya's Giant Pangolins Back From the Brink
Although long thought to be extinct in Kenya, The Pangolin Project, a grantee of WCN's Pangolin Crisis Fund (PCF), has located and is working to protect the small number of giant pangolins left in the country. They were rediscovered in 2018 through several scattered sightings, and since then, The Pangolin Project and Kenya Wildlife Service have been carefully monitoring their fragile population of 30-80 individuals.
1,060 Grey Crowned Cranes Recorded
RWANDA WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION (RWCA) sixth annual census involved extensive aerial and ground surveys across all of Rwanda. Census results showed an increase in crane numbers—the first time the population has risen above 1,000 and more than double the amount of cranes present in Rwanda since RWCA first began their work.
5,000 People Participating in Community Camera Trap Program
NIASSA LION PROJECT’S (NLP) community camera trap program engaged people from eight villages across Mozambique’s Niassa Special Reserve. Every photo of wildlife they collected was converted into income awarded to the villagers by NLP. This program helps NLP assess wildlife distribution across the Reserve and offers local communities a tangible incentive to participate in wildlife conservation. So far, over $25,000 has been earned by these communities for the collection of wildlife images.
44 New Painted Dog Pups Were Recorded
PAINTED DOG CONSERVATION (PDC) counted 44 new pups last year during their monitoring of 10 packs in Zimbabwe—the largest number of packs they have ever tracked at once. PDC also studied the Mpindothela pack, which is composed of painted dogs previously cared for in PDC’s rehabilitation facility. Their continued survival emphasizes the importance of PDC’s integrated approach and direct intervention through rehabilitation.
Raising and Rewilding Leopard Sharks
Kyra Bestari leaned over the tank rim while clutching the sea snail. Dipping her hand beneath the water’s surface, she...
Read MoreGuiding Bornean Elephant Traffic
The sun sank beneath the tree line as a trio barely in their twenties stood outside the low-voltage electric fence...
Read MoreA Historic Spider Monkey Birth
The staff looked up with growing concern at Arawi, who was perched on a narrow tree branch high in the...
Read MoreOne Wolf’s Lasting Legacy
Among the rugged landscape of Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains, the old wolf emerged from the den, six fuzzy pups weaving between...
Read MoreProtecting Elephants in Harm’s Way
Beyond grasslands and dense forests teeming with wildlife, verdant wetlands are found in the north of Upemba National Park. These...
Read MoreThe Groundbreaking Adaptability of Orangutans
The bed of dry leaves and ferns were carefully arranged on a framework of broken branches, clear hallmarks of an...
Read MoreThe Andean Cats Next Door
From his apartment window, Bernardo Segura can see the high slopes of the Andes Mountains just outside of Santiago, Chile....
Read MoreWCN Discusses Coexistence with Wildlife at Bioneers
Recently, WCN was honored to be invited to speak at Bioneers, an annual conference designed to highlight breakthrough solutions to...
Read MoreUnder Crane 039’s Wing
Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA) has rescued many grey crowned cranes from captivity, but none as animated as Crane 039....
Read MoreCounting Sharks, Rebuilding Ecosystems
As the sun began crawling over the horizon, Clara Sabal and an eager group of local fishers left the shoreline,...
Read More