PANGOLINS
Highly sought after for their scales, leather, and purported medicinal uses, pangolins face immense pressure from poachers and illegal wildlife trade. To keep this elusive and understudied species safe in the wild, WWF partnered with Pangolin Conservation & Research Foundation to advance the science of pangolin conservation in southern Africa. Over the past year, we established new areas for long-term monitoring of pangolins in parts of Angola, Botswana, and Namibia. Through camera trapping, GPS tracking, and observation, these locally-led projects will collect vital baseline data that could ultimately increase the survival of wild and rescued pangolins. In Namibia’s Nyae Nyae Conservancy, WWF helped Pangolin Conservation & Research Foundation open a solar-powered research base camp.
Community engagement is also essential to protecting pangolins where they live. In Nyae Nyae Conservancy, the Foundation employs upwards of 10 conservancy members as pangolin rangers; this year, the group tagged nine wild pangolins and played a key role in rescuing six more. At the national level, our partnership trained more than 100 conservation officers in Namibia on best practices related to pangolin rescue and rehabilitation.
BIG CATS
From South America to the Himalayas, WWF is creating the conditions for big cats to thrive in a changing world. WWF’s unique ability to bridge community-based action with landscape-scale strategy is critical for these broad-ranging predators.
In Bhutan, WWF works with the government to protect one of the least studied big cats: the elusive snow leopard. This year, Bhutan announced that its population of snow leopards has increased by nearly 40% since 2016, according to the country’s second National Snow Leopard Survey.
In the Americas, WWF partnered with governments, local organizations, and communities to secure strongholds and safe passage for jaguars across the species’ broad geographic range. Only about 65,000 jaguars remain in the wild, scattered throughout fragmented pockets of habitat. Focusing on key landscapes spanning parts of Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru, WWF is mapping and restoring connectivity between areas of jaguar habitat and engaging communities to reduce jaguar killings related to livestock predation and illegal trade.
BISON
Building on more than a decade of work with Native Nations to bring back bison to Tribal lands in America's Great Plains, WWF and partners stepped up to catalyze bison restoration on an unprecedented scale. In June 2024, WWF signed on to a transformational Tribal Buffalo Lifeways Collaboration (TBLC) as one of four founding parties.
This new, historic alliance was created to stabilize, establish, and expand Tribal-led buffalo (bison) restoration, and foster cultural, spiritual, ecological, and economic revitalization within Native communities. TBLC partner organizations have committed to working with stakeholders in philanthropy, government, and the private and non-profit sectors to build on the momentum created by Native Nations to bring lasting structural change and return bison to Tribal lands.
THANK YOU!
