SHANI VAN STRAATEN, FOUNDATION MANAGER
• CROSS-SECTOR
OUR MISSION
The Kevin Richardson Foundation is committed to the preservation of Africa’s lions and the habitat on which their existence depends. If we continue along the current trajectory of diminishing wildlife habitats in Africa, it is predicted that wild lions may be extinct by as early as the year 2050. When predator species dwindle, it is a certainty that all other species are at risk too. Ensuring the protection of lions secures the future of entire ecosystems, from giraffes and antelopes to insects and birds.
Ever-increasingly, the link between human behavior and the well-being of the natural world has been made clear – never more so than in 2020. In order to sustainably protect wild species, it is essential to create opportunities and advantages for the disadvantaged communities that live on the fringes of these protected areas. The Foundation is thus committed to engaging with practical interventions that decrease human-wildlife conflict and create opportunities for local communities to benefit from the protection of wildlife in meaningful ways.
The Foundation hopes to see an end to the abhorrent practice of canned hunting in South Africa, as well as the exploitative tourist trade that includes captive breeding, cub petting, and walking with lions. Once it becomes more apparent that the end of canned hunting and captive breeding of lions is indeed a reality, the Foundation will continue to adjust our efforts and strategy to facilitate this transition wherever possible.
By fostering a culture of creative collaboration with like-minded individuals and organizations, the Foundation seeks to enter a new age of conservation that makes use of science and research, crosssector collaborations, civilian actors, the youth, celebrities, and the power of multi-platform media and the internet to bring about change.
A TIME OF RECKONING AND OF HOPE
BY KEVIN RICHARDSON, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR
The year 2020 doesn’t need an introduction. For perhaps the first time in modern history, every person on this planet feels a deep resonance when recalling this extraordinary year. Beyond the tragedy and upheaval caused by the loss of life, economic devastation, and irrevocable changes to our daily routines, 2020 was a year of planetary reckoning. Unlike the slow, insidious creep of climate change, the pandemic starkly demonstrated in real time how our treatment of wildlife can profoundly impact our world. It also revealed that when human activity slows, nature has an astonishing capacity for rapid restoration and renewal.
The irony of 2020 being labeled a “super year” for biodiversity is stark, as humanity’s destruction of nature retaliated through a novel virus. Regardless of its origins, Covid-19 reminded us of our vulnerability to nature’s whims. This virus felt like a dress rehearsal for future pandemics if we ignore nature’s warnings. Our response revealed both our deep divisions and our immense potential when united.
The pandemic pause showed the planet’s resilience and capacity for quick recovery. However, it also exposed our ideological rifts, often expressed without empathy. The question remains if we can unite to reverse the damage we’ve caused. Encouragingly, glimpses of human potential emerged during our Foundation’s work over the past two years.
Our #dowhatyoucan campaign launched in March 2020 to address the food crisis in South Africa. We were blown away and very proud of our donors - who quickly shifted from supporting lions to aiding people impacted by tourism closures. Within weeks, we raised enough funds to provide over a million meals to children who relied on school for their only food.
Our neighbours at the Dinokeng Big 5 Game Reserve received support to cover staff salaries, ensuring no one lost their jobs during that critical time. We helped ensure that anti-poaching units remained on the ground protecting our wildlife as subsistence poaching incidents surged. This campaign exemplifies true conservation, showing how wildlife preservation can benefit humans in need.
In September 2020, we finally completed our #landforlions campaign and completed the acquisition of 1,200 hectares of wildlife habitat to protect in perpetuity. This land, upon which the sanctuary resides, is now part of the greater Dinokeng Big 5 Game Reserve, a reserve we hope to help expand so that greater populations of wildlife can roam safely and flourish. This game reserve is uniquely the only Big 5 game reserve within an hour of a metropole, and its success will be a beacon of hope that humans and developed urban spaces can co-exist with healthy wildlife populations.
In 2021, we adapted our Foundation strategy to be more realistic, responsive, and collaborative, continuing to support local communities, schools, and job creation. Our donors understand that conservation without human well-being is unsustainable, and they have embraced this broader vision.
As we move forward, we believe in “Ubuntu” – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We aim to tackle challenges with humility and creativity, working with diverse perspectives to achieve systemic change. We will remind ourselves that if we want to bring about a whole system change, we may need to work with those we disagree with and cooperate with those who hold differing beliefs. And that’s okay.
I look forward to taking the lessons of 2020 and 2021 forward into the new decade. May we never forget what we experienced. May we learn to listen to the quiet lessons nature is begging us to hear.
KEVIN RICHARDSON
*Photo courtesy of Jackie Badenhorst
A SNAPSHOT OF 2020
BY SHANI VAN STRAATEN, FOUNDATION MANAGER
The Covid-19 crisis put so many of our 2020 plans on hold and in many ways, we are glad it did. This very unordinary year showed us things we did not know about our organisation, and crystallised our priorities in ways we would have otherwise not realised.
Firstly, our ability to withstand the economic impact of the tourism shutdown and the worldwide demand for donations, proved how lightweight our organization is and how deeply committed our supporters are. With international travel bans in place, the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary, typically sustained by a paying volunteer program, faced a financial drought. Caring for lions is a costly endeavour, and we feared for the sanctuary’s future. Yet, thanks to a dedicated group of individuals contributing monthly, we not only survived but thrived—maintaining high standards of care and even making improvements during this quiet period. Remarkably, no additional fundraising was needed, underscoring the value of our streamlined operational costs.
Even though some of our intended programs were postponed due to circumstances such as school closures and COVID precautionary regulations, we managed to maintain our core outgoing funds and redirect others.
We continued supporting the Namibian Lion Trust’s “Protect the Pride” program, which collars wild lions in Namibia and mitigates human-wildlife conflicts. Our commitment to scientific research into predator species remained steadfast, and we collaborated on numerous smaller projects with other organisations.
Our #dowhatyoucan campaign raised over R3 million during the lockdown to feed children aged 0-5 years. We also supported staff and anti-poaching units at Dinokeng Big 5 Game Reserve during national park closures, ensuring steady funding for their anti-poaching efforts since then.
In 2021 we launched the incredible Big 5 Schools Program, which provides wildlife education and nature sensitisation to over 400 children, through interactive activities such as storytelling, puppets, sounds, theater, and workbooks, all in their home language and led by community members.
Thank you to our supporters—the backbone of our work! We look forward to making you proud in 2022.
– SHANI –
* Photo courtesy of Rodney Nombekana
FOUNDATION HIGHLIGHTS
1. WILDLIFE PROTECTION AND ANTI-POACHING
PROTECTING THE WILD LIONS OF NAMIBIA
Since our founding year, we have supported the wonderful work of the Namibian Lion Trust (NLT). NLT aims at protecting the roaming wild lions of northern Namibia that are affected by their proximity to rural farmers and where human-wildlife conflict threatens their numbers in the wild. Through the “Protect the Pride” program, the Foundation supports the employment of “lion guards”, who monitor collared lion pride and provide early warning systems to farmers whose livestock are at threat from predation. These systems allow farmers to place their livestock in provided kraals (bomas) and prevent incidents of predation by lions, thus reducing preventative or retaliatory killings of lions. The program also provides solar-powered “lion lights” which help deter lions from livestock bomas at night. In 2020, as part of the 67 minutes of service for Mandela Day, the Foundation supported an additional collaring of a lioness in the Hobatere Concession, an extension of the Etosha National Park.
NLT conducted the collaring within 67 minutes and this act provided ongoing protection of this pride. In 2021 the Foundation was able to extend their support to employ four more lion guards, as well as support training for an additional 8 lion guards and provide gear, first aid knowledge, and food parcels to enhance the program.
DINOKENG BIG 5 GAME RESERVE ANTI-POACHING
Since the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, the Foundation has increased its assistance with anti-poaching efforts in our neighbouring game reserve. When lockdown was instated, travel was banned and income for tourist-reliant businesses dried up. This led to a lack of funding for anti-poaching efforts, amplified by the spike in poaching cases during lockdown. The Foundation stepped in to cover anti-poaching unit salaries and provide them with new equipment to combat these challenging times.
These efforts remained a priority following the poaching of a cheetah mother in 2021 and the introduction of “the Miracle 8” campaign. Excess funds raised by this program went towards furthering the anti-poaching abilities in Dinokeng, in an attempt to reduce similar cases. These funds have been used for a range of anti-poaching tools, from salaries to specialised motorcycles for the rangers to get to a poaching alarm as quickly as possible.
Poaching is a relentless battle we continue to face but it is only with these anti-poaching efforts that we can keep cases to a minimum and conserve wildlife for future generations.
UGANDA ANTI-POACHING
The pandemic hit some of our wildlife neighbours harder than others. With Uganda being home to close to 40% of Africa’s mammals, most notably the mountain gorilla, Ugandan wildlife parks were hit hardest by the closure of borders. Tourism makes up around 7% of Uganda’s GDP and some parks were functioning on just 10% of capacity. With the escalating poaching crisis, the Foundation partnered up with Care for Rangers – a non-profit supporting the rangers of Queen Victoria Park. We donated USD$ 18,000 to help: train and equip community ranger scouts in poaching hotspots to support park ranger works, community sensitisation on human-wildlife conflicts and how to address them as well as conduct engagements for community leaders at the two key Sub-counties to include antipoaching campaigns in their security campaigns.
2. WILDLIFE RESCUE AND REHABILITATION
CHEETAH CUB RESCUE, REHABILITATION, REWILDING AND RELEASE
In 2021 we received a call from our neighbours and partners – Dinokeng Game Reserve (DGR). Five tiny cheetah cubs had been rescued after anti-poaching units found their mother poached and skinned for the traditional medicine trade.
The Foundation has been readying itself to move into wildlife rescue and rehabilitation for some time, and our team responded quickly and thoroughly, taking advantage of the incredible facilities of the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary. We launched a fundraising campaign to cover the enormous costs of caring for cheetah cubs over the period of two years, and these cubs quickly became fondly known as “the Miracle 5”. It was indeed a miracle they had all survived after going for a long time without food, water and their mother’s care. Not long after the Miracle 5 arrived, they were joined by another three cubs whose mother had been killed by a lion and together they formed “the Miracle 8”. The support we received for these cheetah was unprecedented as all of our followers banded together to support these cubs on their journey.
Over the course of their time at the sanctuary, the cubs have grown from strength to strength, despite the odd obstacle and illness. Monthly updates have been sent to donors and all funds raised over and above the cost of their care have gone back into anti-poaching to help prevent this from happening to other wildlife. Their release is planned for late 2022 and we are excited about the prospect of taking on more projects like these. This success story has proven to us and others that the Foundation has the potential for offering a solid rehabilitation facility in future.
*This project was supported by Ashia Cheetah Sanctuary and Nature Conservation
3. EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT
BIG 5 SCHOOLS PROGRAM
Education has always been a key focus for the Foundation, and in 2021 we were finally able to expand on our existing work by kickstarting our very own education program. The program followed on from our feeding scheme which provided nutritious meals for children through the pandemic lockdowns. In a country where more than 6 million children receive their only meal from school, this emergency response amidst a crisis opened the door to a more meaningful and sustainable intervention.
Known as the Big 5 Schools Program, this initiative focuses on Kekana Gardens – the local community surrounding the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary and the Dinokeng Big 5 Game Reserve. The program includes wildlife sensitisation and learning about the Big 5 through classroom-based activities including puppets, story-telling, games, and worksheets. The program helps around 400 children between the ages of 3 and 6 years old learn about the value that nature holds and the wholesome opportunities it can present to them.
We hope to help encourage children to look after our wildlife with this fledgling program and grow the program into more real-life experiences in the wild.
The Foundation also carries out activities in Kekana Gardens that include caring for the elderly by supplying winter blankets and food parcels. We hope to expand these activities to help adults of Kekana Gardens gain more access to the reserve by providing wildlife safaris.
JUNIOR YOUTH AMBASSADORS
The Foundation firmly views the youth as the leaders of tomorrow and affirms that through teaching them about conservation from a young age, they can be the change in the future. We believe that no one is too young to become a conservationist.
Our youth program supports this notion as it empowers schoolchildren to educate their peers about the status and challenges facing lions today. Following on from the work of Finn and Elliot (our first youth ambassadors), the Foundation created an opportunity for other passionate young individuals to follow in their footsteps.
In June 2020, we released a full classroom presentation package in collaboration with Finn and Elliot, for students interested in raising awareness about the plight of lions. The presentation includes slides and notecards as well as thorough instructions for completing the presentation, making it as easy as possible to give this presentation. The presentation includes slides and notecards as well as thorough instructions for completing the presentation, making it as easy as possible to give this presentation.
Charismatic participants have been featured in our newsletter and we love hearing from them. We hope to grow the number of youth ambassadors for lions and create a network of young voices speaking up against the injustices wildlife face today.
* Elliot Brent and Finn Boering
4. COLLABORATION AND CROSS-SECTOR SUPPORT
The Foundation believes in order to protect lions from extinction in the wild, support, and collaboration must span across various sectors, welcoming all individuals and organisations to cooperate. The Foundation therefore supports academic research, non-profits, artists, and individuals that share the view that conservation requires mass cooperation and working alongside various actors from all walks of life.
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
The Foundation continues to support the work of researchers and academics that contribute to improving outcomes for predator cats, whether captive or wild and other interventions for wildlife in Africa. In 2020 and 2021, we provided finishing funds for research led by Professor Leith Meyer from the University of Pretoria into improved drug combinations for the immobilisation of lions, in hopes that lions in captivity and the wild can have better outcomes during translocations or interventions. Further completion funds were provided to researchers at the University of Pretoria to cover post-mortems of wild carnivores and support the publishing of the academic article regarding disorders of sexual differentiation in lions. The Foundation also supported researcher Ronja Harding in investigating the effectiveness of using lion skat as a mitigation tool for wild dog movements. The sanctuary lions participated in a trial to test the efficacy of using oxytocin to lower levels of stress during the translocation of wild lions.
* Researcher Jessica Burkhart and Kevin administering oxytocin, “the love drug” to lions.
5. COVID-19 RELIEF
When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, the Foundation swiftly shifted its focus to support the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary and the surrounding community. Previously funded by Kevin Richardson’s YouTube channel and a volunteer program, the sanctuary faced a dire situation with the travel bans. The Foundation became a vital lifeline, addressing veterinary needs, staff salaries, and the nutrition of lions, leopards, and hyenas. Remarkably, we maintained high care standards through 2020 and 2021.
Meanwhile, the Dinokeng Big 5 Game Reserve, adjacent to Hammanskraal, saw its community’s informal work opportunities vanish. The Foundation identified 25 early childhood centers and primary schools, launching the “Do What You Can” campaign. With school closures, hunger surged for over 6 million children in South Africa. Our donors responded rapidly, enabling us to distribute 1 million meals within a month.
The Covid-19 pandemic revealed the need to build organisational resilience, and also illuminated the inextricable and interwoven web of human needs, opportunities, wildlife, and knowledge, where the idea of “wildlife conservation” so heavily rests.
DIRECTORS:
Edwina Thring, Caroline Edmonds, Kevin Richardson, Etienne Toerien, Rodney Nombekana
AUDIT PREPARED BY: Mzansi Accountants & Associates
Independent auditors: C&S Chartered Accountants
Chartered Accountants (SA) Registered Auditor
The Kevin Richardson Foundation NPC (Registration number: 2004/015375/08)
Photography Courtesy of:
Photography courtesy of: Rodney Nombekana, Jackie Badenhorst, Franceso Ungaro, Namibian Lion Trust, Jessica Burkhart, Reward Shadung, University of Pretoria Faculty of Veterinary Science, Dinokeng Big 5 Game Reserve
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