February 12, 2013 Wildlife Protection Groups File Suit to Restore Federal Protection for Great Lakes Wolves, including The Humane Society of the United States, Born Free USA, Help Our Wolves Live and Friends of Animals and Their Environment, filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its decision to remove the protections of the Endangered Species Act from gray wolves living in the western Great Lakes region.
These groups won this suit and the happy news broke on December 19, 2014 that the Great Lakes wolves ordered back to endangered list.
The Great Lakes wolf owes their continued protection to these organizations. In the next couple of blog posts I would like to highlight each organization mentioned above. I’ve already posted on the wonderful work that Humane Society of the U.S. had done on behalf of the Great Lakes wolf.
In this blog I would like to highlight the work of Born Free USA.
Born Free USA is a national nonprofit animal advocacy organization working to conserve and protect wildlife in the US and globally.
Born Free USA was one of the organization that filed suit to return the Great Lakes wolf back to the ESA, read on:
Victory for Wolves in the Great Lakes Region. In December, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court in D.C. ruled that the Department of the Interior’s decision to remove federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection for gray wolves in the Great Lakes region was arbitrary and capricious. We have successfully restored ESA protection to gray wolves in the Great Lakes region: a huge win for endangered species conservation! Born Free USA proudly joined our colleagues at The Humane Society of the United States, Help Our Wolves Live, and Friends of Animals and Their Environment as plaintiffs in this case. You can read the entire ruling here.
Born Free USA’s History
The Born Free Foundation was initiated in England in 1984 by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, the stars of the legendary film Born Free, along with their son Will. Having been deeply influenced by their time spent in Kenya, Bill and Virginia were inspired to act after the tragic and untimely death of Pole Pole, an elephant featured in the film An Elephant Called Slowly, who was sent to the London Zoo from the Government of Kenya after the making of the film.
In the subsequent two decades, Born Free has become an international force in wildlife conservation and animal protection, campaigning to save elephants, big cats, wolves, dolphins, bears, primates, and numerous other species. Born Free upholds a dynamic presence in international animal rescues, saving animals from miserable conditions, rehabilitating them, and either providing for their lifetime care in a sanctuary or, whenever possible, rehoming them to the wild.
A companion organization was established in the United States in 2002, Born Free USA, to carry on the work of the organization, involving the American public in our compassionate conservation campaigns. Born Free USA launched with a national office in Washington, DC.
Born Free is committed to spreading its brand of compassionate conservation across America and, indeed, across the globe. Our shared institutional mission is to alleviate animal suffering, protect threatened and endangered species in the wild, and encourage everyone to treat wildlife everywhere with respect and compassion.
The combination of Animal Protection Institute and Born Free USA would not have been possible without the dedicated pro bono legal assistance of the attorneys at Bingham McCutchen
Read more on the work Born Free USA has done for Wolves in the following:
Groups Petition to Reclassify Gray Wolves to Threatened Status under Endangered Species Act
Feel free to thank them in the comment section of this blog for all the outstanding work they have done for wolves and animals.
You can also thank them through Twitter @BornFreeUSA
Or thank them on Born Free USA Facebook
For more information, how you can help Born Free USA website Introduction to Advocacy
Born Free USA has my continued support and gratitude for all they’ve accomplished for wolves and animals.
~Rachel
Photograph: From left to right: Virginia McKenna, George Adamson, Bill Travers, and Joy Adamson. Virginia and Bill played George & Joy in the hit film Born Free and became wildlife conservationists and founders of The Born Free Foundation
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