With the reopening of the Safari West tent camp, the Safari West Conservation Speaker Series is back in full swing. Just in the last month, our dinner guests have been invited to sit in on the presentations of three phenomenal conservation advocates. These talks are occasional events that take place after the dinner service at the Savannah Café. With bellies full and curiosities aroused, guests filter into the Elephant Room to learn from some of the world’s most active and engaged conservation agencies.

In the last month, we’ve been honored to host Patrick Freeman of Save the Elephants, Rocio Palacios representing the Andean Cat Alliance, and Norman Gershenz from SaveNature.org.

Patrick Freeman is a Stanford graduate currently working with Save the Elephants, a UK based conservation agency with a research station in Samburu, Kenya. Their work includes behavioral research and studies on elephant ecology. Thanks to the dedication of Save the Elephants, the elephants of Samburu are among the most well-studied in the world. Patrick relayed stories of his own experiences in the bush with these massive and still mysterious creatures. His talk was insightful and informative and left us all with a feeling of awe for these intelligent pachyderms.

The Andean Cat Alliance is at the very forefront in Andean cat conservation and research. The Andean cat is among the rarest and least well understood cat species on the planet. They make their homes high in the Andes and across the Patagonia steppe. The species is so reclusive that there have been only 10 confirmed sightings of wild Andean cats in the last 25 years. The Andean cat alliance is the first organization to capture and collar a wild specimen, leading to a huge increase in data about the species. Rocio Palacios enlightened an avid group of listeners about the plight of the Andean cat and the diligent work being done to learn more about and protect the species.

Norman Gershenz is the CEO and co-founder of SaveNature.org, a San Francisco based non-profit dedicated to conservation education and the preservation of threatened habitats worldwide. Their operations include programs like “adopt an acre” and “adopt a reef,” which raise funds to preserve areas under threat. Mr. Gershenz’s visits to Safari West are always crowd pleasers as he never fails to bring along a collection of weird and wild live bugs! These creepy crawlers are a huge hit with our younger guests and offer a great opportunity to introduce young minds to the wider world of wildlife conservation.

The lineup of guest speakers appearing later this year continues to grow and grow. In the next few weeks alone we’ll be hosting Leigh Moyer from the Center for Biological Diversity, Peter Blinston from Painted Dog Conservation, and Michael Starkey of Save the Frogs. If you’d like to come experience one of the immersive talks for yourself, please consult our calendar for the latest.