“What I’ve seen in all the years that I have been dealing with animals is that they have got just the same fear of death that we have. When it comes to dying, I have seen a lot of people dying in the last world war and I have seen a lot of animals dying. Let me tell you, dying is dying.”
“Every animal under the sun is totally at the mercy of people and if you don’t have compassion for an animal, they are lost.”
http://www.primatecare.org.za      

Born Free works with compassion to prevent cruelty, alleviate suffering and encourage everyone to treat all individual animals with respect. The charity believes wildlife belongs in the wild and is dedicated to the conservation of rare species in their natural habitat, and the phasing out of traditional zoos.
“We rescue animals from lives of misery in tiny cages and give them lifetime care and freedom.”
http://www.bornfree.org.uk       http://www.shamwari.com

Daphne has also successfully raised and rehabilitated over a dozen Black Rhino orphans from newborn and has tirelessly campaigned at an International level against the abuse of captive animals. Daphne Sheldrick is recognized internationally as probably the world authority on both the African Elephant and the Black Rhinoceros, and through four books, numerous articles, lectures and television appearances, she has promoted wildlife conservation worldwide.
“ … because they were born wild, they must be given the opportunity to live wild again, for this was their destiny and purpose in life, and their birthright.”
http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org       http://www.elephantorphans.com/daphne.html

Working and living in the rainforest for more than 30 years, Galdikas made many invaluable contributions to the scientific understanding of Indonesia's biodiversity and the rainforest as a whole, while also bringing the orangutan to the attention of the rest of the world.

“The saddest thing about my career is that orangutans are going extinct,” says Galdikas, but through her foundations and environmental activism she definitely has made a difference."
"I’ve always wanted to study the one primate who never left the Garden of Eden. I want to know what we left behind."
http://www.orangutan.org       http://www.orangutan.org.uk

Dr Fossey obtained her Ph.D. at Cambridge University in 1976 and in 1980 accepted a position at Cornell University that enabled her to finish writing Gorillas in the Mist which remains the best-selling book about gorillas of all time.
On Jan. 1, 1978, an assistant found the corpse of Fossey's beloved Digit, a young silverback. His head, heart and hands and feet had been removed. The seminal event prompted Fossey to change the focus of her work. She essentially abandoned academic research in favor of gorilla advocacy, what she came to call "active conservation." Dr. Fossey establish the Digit Fund (renamed the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in 1992) to pay for her work and dedicate the rest of her life to the protection of the gorillas.

Dian Fossey believed that all beings had the same rights and that they needed to be treated with the same respect as humans. She was buried in the gorilla graveyard next to Digit and near many gorillas killed by poachers. Dr. Fossey was murdered in her cabin at Karisoke on December 26, 1985. Her death is a mystery yet unsolved.
The last entry in her diary reads:
"When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate on the preservation of the future."
http://www.gorillafund.org       http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/fossey.htm      http://www.crimelibrary.com

George and Joy separated in 1970, but continued to spend Christmases together. In 1980, Joy was murdered. Sadly on August 20, 1989 George Adamson was also murdered in Kenya, East Africa by Somalian bandits when he went to the rescue of his assistant and a young European tourist in the Kora National Park. He is buried in the Kora National Park near to his brother Terrance, Super Cub and his beloved lion friend Boy.
He lived in harmony with nature and he shared a truly beautiful and almost unbelievable friendship with his beloved lion friends. He was truly a unique and wonderful gentleman who devoted his life to helping wildlife and to protecting the unique environment in which they lived. He was a Hero to the end .... giving his life to save another!

Francois Hugo, an inspiring and driven man and the founder of Seal Alert SA, was the first to acknowledge the suffering of the Cape Fur Seals in the 90’s of the last century.
Francois started, complete on his own and in his own way, rescuing this totally forgotten group of sea mammals.

He focuses on rescuing seal pups. His aim is that these wild animals should stay wild and have to take care of themselves in their, sometimes harsh natural environment, after a short or longer stay at his rescue raft, situated in Houtbaai, Cape Town. The intention is that these seals are able to take care of themselves, foraging for food, and become healthy and happy seals. These seals have the RIGHT TO LIFE and we must save them from slaughter!
“The decision of what to do, is therefore in our hands …”
http://www.sealalert.org/ 

J. Michael Fay has worked as an ecologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society since 1990 and as an Explorer-in-Residence for National Geographic. Driven by an unyielding drive to document and preserve one of the last pristine places on Earth, large swaths of Africa, Fay has risked everything to convince us of its value. Using his life's work as an example, Fay inspires us to dream beyond our current titles or roles to consider what we might achieve if we were willing to see ourselves as powerful.
“At least 60 percent of the wildlife in Africa has disappeared in the last 30 years. Humans have to change their ecological strategy to one that is adapted to reality. Humans have to recognize that we really are the ones that determine the fate of this planet.”
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/speakers/profile_fay.html                                                                      REALITY