Marwell gets £4,000 boost to efforts to protect endangered species in Africa (From Romsey Advertiser)
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Marwell gets £4,000 boost to efforts to protect endangered species in Africa
4:30pm Friday 23rd March 2012 in Winchester
Drusillas Park managing director, Christine Smith with Shelly Parkes from Marwell Wildlife
A WILDLIFE park has received a boost to its efforts to ensure the future of endangered species in Africa.
Marwell Wildlife has received £4,000 from Drusillas Park as part of the Drusillas in Africa Scheme, which finances Kenyan students to carrying out research work into endangered species, such as Grevy’s zebras.
Each year one student gets sponsorship – this year the money will help 25-year-old Kenyan student Lizbeth Njeri Mate study for a Masters Degree at Nairobi University and assist conservation projects in the region. This funding works as part of wider conservation projects that Marwell runs in the region.
Marwell Wildlife has been working to conserve the Grevy’s zebra for the past 15 years, focusing upon effective monitoring, habitat management and training students.
They work closely with the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy which manages the land that holds 20 per cent of the world’s remaining free-ranging Grevy’s zebra. For the past 18 months Lizbeth has been working for the Grevy’s Zebra Trust, identifying each animal from their unique pattern of stripes and recording how far they travel to help focus habitat protection and conservation efforts. The bursary will fund her through a Masters Degree in Project Planning and Management, helping her ensure projects are efficient and effective.
Drusillas, a zoo in East Sussex, has supported education and conservation programmes in Kenya since 1996, raising more than £50,000 to establish community and wildlife sanctuary initiatives.
