We have exciting news! Shivani recently won the innagural Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation. Below is the news from the press release. Congratulations, Shivani!
Shivani Bhalla, Executive Director of the Ewaso Lions Project, was awarded the Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation by the Born Free Foundation for her work to conserve lions and other large carnivores in northern Kenya.
Bhalla is the inaugural recipient of the Virginia McKenna Award, to be given annually by the Born Free Foundation in consultation with the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and the Compassionate Conservation Network. It is intended to provide support and recognition for researchers, practitioners, organisations and projects that promote and develop the consideration of animal welfare in conservation practice.
“I could not be happier that Shivani and the Ewaso Lions Project are the first recipients of this award,” said Virginia McKenna OBE, co-founder and trustee of the Born Free Foundation. “She and her team face many challenges, but they are true champions of lions and their survival in Kenya. I send my warmest congratulations and feel sure they will be an inspiration to many.”
Bhalla, who founded the Ewaso Lions Project in 2007 to address lion decline and human-wildlife conflict in northern Kenya, works with local communities to reduce conflict and help them understand the importance of lions and other wildlife.
“I am honoured to be the first recipient of the Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation and for Ewaso Lions to be recognised as an effective conservation project which is working to secure the future for lions in northern Kenya,” said Bhalla.
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About Born Free Foundation
The Born Free Foundation is a dynamic international wildlife charity, devoted to compassionate conservation and animal welfare. Born Free takes action worldwide to protect threatened species and stop individual animal suffering.
www.bornfree.org.uk
About Ewaso Lions
The Ewaso Lions Project was formed to ensure a future for lions and other large carnivores in northern Kenya. Ewaso Lions uses scientific research and community-based outreach programmes to promote coexistence between lions and people, and is the only project in northern Kenya to focus on lions in and out of protected areas.
www.ewasolions.org