Successful Launch of CLAWS: On-line Campaign and Trivia Night

The CLAWS Conservancy launched its inaugural fundraising campaign with our first annual Show Your CLAWS Trivia Night and Fundraiser on May 7th. The trivia night was a huge success featuring a talk from our President and Founder Dr. Andrew Stein on our current efforts to conserve lions, leopards and wolves through innovative approaches to community engagements and research.

The meal was prepared by award winning chef Neftali Duran that highlighted locally grown veggies in the roasted asparagus soup, and green salad punctuated by shrimp pasta and his signature pulled pork tacos.

The trivia was hosted by Ian Goldsten, a long-time friend of Andrew, featuring questions about our study species in literature, music, movies and sports. Though team CLAWStrophobia won the trivia, there were many teams in the running for best name including LION CHEETAHS, Apocalypse MEOW, Roaring BattaLIONS, CAT/MAN/DUO and others.

Lastly, our raffle was competitive for the big prizes of the night- Box Seats to the Boston Red Sox sponsored by Bernie and Lois Edinberg, Whalewatch/ Dinner Combo on Cape Cod Sponsored by the Center for Coastal Studies and Land Ho! Restaurant, Yoga by Meredyth Klotz, Tango Lessons with Corin Lee Girard, Pole Dancing Lessons from Barre and Pole Northampton, a Night of in the ESP Clay Studio, Wildlife Photos from Andrew Stein and Lion Sponsorship from CLAWS Conservancy.

The winner of 10 day visit to our Botswana Lion Projects was Dan Beringer, who made the largest donation during the Seeing Spots Campaign! Thank you Dan and we look forward to seeing you in the field!

Including on-line contributions and the Seeing Spots Campaign, CLAWS raised $5,500!

Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped with set up, registration, raffle donations, bar service, clean up and especially Chef Neftali Duran and Ian Goldstein for making this such a special Inaugural Event! Photos provided by Patricia Squitiero and Elena Shih

CLAWS Founder quoted in New York Times article on Leopard Status

This morning the New York Times published a story entitled "Leopards Are More Vulnerable Than Previously Believed, Study Finds" in anticipation of the release of a new study.  Dr. Andrew Stein, the CLAWS founder, is quoted in the article saying, "Partly on the basis of the findings, the cat specialist group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature has recommended that the leopard (Panthera pardus) be reclassified on its Red List of threatened species as “vulnerable,” indicating that stronger conservation efforts are needed"

Read the full article by clicking HERE!

"Into the Lions Den" our newest blog post is up on National Geographic's Cat Watch!

Conservationists often put in long hours tracking animals, meeting with communities and writing reports.  It is rare to have a day where you can honestly say you have worked closely with members of the community to address their concerns and make a direct impact on the species you are working hard to protect.  Eric LeFlore is a PhD student working for Pride in Our Prides in Northern Botswana and in this blog post he recounts a day last month where tensions were running high and the hunting party was getting set to retaliate for a recent string of lion conflict events.

Mayenga ("Decorated by the Gods") sporting her satellite tracking collar as she walks among her cubs

Researchers and conservationists must take the needs of the community into account if wildlife is to persist outside of fenced reserves. The Pride in Our Prides Program is already making progress in engaging communities for the benefit of people and lions.

Click HERE to read the full blogpost! Thank you for your interest and support!