C
urrently, one African elephant is poached
for its tusks in the wild every 26 minutes.
In addition, all five species of rhino re-
main endangered. 40% of lion have been
lost in the last 20 years while only 4,000
tigers are left in the Indian sub-continent
– down from 40,000 a half century ago.
To highlight these shocking statistics, the Explor-
ers Against Extinction asked professional artists and
high-profile individuals to spend at least 26 minutes
on a sketch or other original artwork of an endangered
species. Sketch for Survival was the idea of UK based
conservation charity, the Real World Conservation Trust
(Explorers Against Extinction). On average one African
elephant is poached for its tusks in the wild every 26
minutes. That's more than 55 a day. The trust asked lead-
ing professional wildlife artists and celebrity supporters
to spend at least 26 minutes on a sketch or other artwork
to help them raise awareness about species extinction.
The artwork will be displayed as part of a touring ex-
hibition as well as on the Explorers Against Extinction
website. Profit from the auction of artwork is donated
to nominated conservation projects pivotal in the battle
against wildlife crime.
This year’s headline project is focused on elephant
conservation in Africa. Explorers against Extinction
will assist non-profit African Parks establish a new an-
ti-poaching canine unit in World Heritage Garamba Na-
tional Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. A second
project, in Asia, will be announced on World Rhino Day.
Garamba, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been
hard hit by poaching. The most iconic residents of this
ancient park, the elephants, have suffered and a canine
unit will better equip Garamba’s teams to effectively ad-
dress threats. The park's elephants are currently being
poached at an alarming rate and the park is experienc-
ing negative population growth. In the 1970s there were
as many as 22,000 elephants in Garamba but today only
around 1200 remain. The new anti-poaching unit will
also help to protect the rare Kordofan Giraffe. There are
just 47 left in DRC.
Specialist dog units have proved hugely effective in
the prevention of wildlife crime in Africa and RWCT has
successfully funded four rhino protection dogs to date as
well as assisting other key wildlife conservation projects
including the pioneering David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
in Kenya who they donated over $20,000 US to last year.
This year’s Sketch for Survival collection is unprece-
dented, comprising over 400 artworks donated by lead-
ing professional wildlife artists and celebrity supporters.
More than 60 rare species, some on the brink of extinc-
tion are represented including the critically endangered
Amur Leopard, Mountain Gorilla, Vaquita, Hawksbill
Turtle, Black Rhino, Orangutan and Saiga.
Trustee of RWCT Sara White says, “We are very excit-
ed about this year’s collection and the ability it has to
raise awareness about the threats faced by many iconic
species worldwide, from habitat loss to illegal wildlife
crime. The quality and variety of artwork is fantastic.
For wildlife lovers the exhibition is an absolute must-vis-
it and a fantastic opportunity to help safeguard a future
for elephants and other species."
Artists in more than 30 different countries have par-
ticipated including those from Iran, Pakistan, Australia,
the US, India, Botswana and across Europe. Many of the
participating artists are award-winning.
The collection also includes artworks by a group of
talented students from Zimbabwe based art-charity, Arts
for Africa, an initiative run by US artist A.E London.
Among the celebrity cohort there are three Oscar
winners (Nick Park, Dame Judi Dench and Dame Helen
Mirren), a best-selling international author (Frederick
Forsyth), the world’s most famous living explorer (Sir
Ranulph Fiennes) a well-known British comedian, writ-
TRAVERSE 82