Last week ROAR AFRICA had the privilege of attending "An Evening with WildAid", hosted by Peter Knights and Rand Rosenberg, for a presentation on WildAid’s unique approach to stop the illegal trade in endangered species including elephants, rhinos, sharks & tigers.

A privilege it truly was.  It was both heartening and humbling to witness the positive effect and reach of a few people at WildAid.  The genius here is leveraging the fan-base of celebrities such as Yao Ming, David Beckham, and The Duke of Cambridge to to tackle the demand side of the equation.  180 celebrities and counting are reaching millions and millions of fans.

We need to protect wildlife itself (the supply side), but every USD/CNY/EUR spent on reducing demand seems to go so much further towards solving the crisis. Generous donations of peoples' time, pro-bono media support, and the right message has reportedly curbed the demand for shark fin soup by 50-70%.  That's phenomenal!  This is simplified, but if 73 million sharks are finned per year then this campaign could have already saved 36 to 51 million sharks in one year.

WildAid showed us some drafts of new video campaigns targeting Rhino horn consumption.  With enough support perhaps we can see rhino horn consumption drop 70% next year.

ROAR AFRICA intends to get more involved with WildAid and we encourage you too as well.

"When the Buying Stops the Killing can Too"
http://www.wildaid.org/