Cats, Conservation and Khaki

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HeWhoWalksWithTigers
October 10, 2009

A long time ago, I saw a man on television who taught me about wildlife and conservation. This man's name was Steve Irwin. As a result of his passion for wildlife, I've dedicated my life to conservation and have been struggling to help save the tiger in particular. I even rejected a letter of acceptance from one of the world's best art schools and stopped pursuing a career in photography to go to university so I could study environmental sciences and use that to get a career in tiger conservation.

Ever since I starting khaki'ing it, it's been a dream of mine to visit the place the Irwin's call home: the world famous Australia Zoo. Part of the reason has been to experience and learn from what the Irwin's have built, but also to be able to thank the Irwin's myself for helping to imbuing me with a passion for wanting to make a difference - they really have changed my life. It's been a dream I've accepted as being very unlikely due to travel expenses.

I posted this video as part of a contest, which shows how I "khaki it". Ive never had the money to make huge donations or establish my own animal rescues and I've never had a job in conservation, or environment related disciplines. Ive compensated for this by doing as much work as possible, whether it has been volunteering, involving people in conservation advocacy or inspiring people to do their own work. All the work I've done has been on my own time outside of school and work.

*These are not the only things that I do and the activities mentioned in the video are relatively recent, occurring only in the past 4 years! Other items of note include:

*Educating people regarding endangered species and exotic pets at the zoo and online. This includes the 100,000+ members of an online advocacy forum I run and the 200,000+ people who have viewed my conservation photography.

*Providing enrichment for zoo animals and teaching visitors about it.

*Buying green and organic, and devoting most waste to recycling and compost

*Volunteering for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup to reduce litter along beaches and waterways

*Volunteering for the prestigious International Tiger Coalition

*Risking personal safety to provide undercover video evidence for authorities to use against individuals selling authentic tiger teeth

*Conducting an undercover investigation of a zoo suspected of being involved in the illegal wildlife trade

*Talking with members of a small community in conflict with local wildlife, learning how they perceive conflict and discussing with them how solutions can be made.

*Currently helping a project through research to establish DNA technology for tiger conservation in Nepal

As much as I talk about what I've done in the video I don't want the video to be about me and I'm the last person to have an ego trip as I've been humbled by MANY failures. I want the video to be about YOU... I want to show you that no matter what your age, no matter where you live, and no matter what your goals are, YOU can succeed in making a difference. You just have to be passionate and enthusiastic. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to do and I've never had that much money, but Steve's inspiration has been the only thing I've ever needed. Please consider taking up a cause, even if its not wildlife...try to leave the world in a better place than the one you were born into. You can do much better than me.

Thank you to all the nice folks I met at school, my mom (great camera work!), Moo (the rescued cat on my arm), and Dan O'Connor (gave me permission to use his music)...and thank you to the Australia Zoo for providing me with this opportunity, as well as the staff who helped me.

Don't forget to celebrate Steve Irwin Day on November 15th!

Category: Pets & Animals

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