Explorers Against Extinction

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Explorers Against Extinction

UK based environmental conservation organisation working to safeguard the wild through responsible wildlife travel, art & photography

02/09/2026

September in the mountains of Bhutan 🍂

With autumn on the way, Himalayan black bears are busy across Bhutan’s forested mountain landscape, searching for energy-rich foods like acorns, nuts, fruits and roots that will help carry them through the colder months ahead.

At this time of year, bears enter a period of intense feeding known as 'hyperphagia', building fat reserves that they will rely on through the winter months.

Camera traps give us a window into this otherwise hidden world, revealing not only how bears use Bhutan’s Paro–Thimphu landscape, but also the presence and movements of other threatened species, including tigers and snow leopards.

Over the next three years, the Monitoring Mountain Mammalian Diversity (M3D) project will establish a landscape-scale network of around 150 camera-trap stations across some 1,500 km², helping researchers understand how wildlife responds to elevation, habitat and a changing climate.

Find out more about the project we’re supporting via the link in our bio, or visit our website and head to Projects.

📷 Himalayan black bear in the September forests of western Bhutan.
Camera trap image courtesy of The Bhutan Ecological Society and the School for Field Studies

27/08/2026

Continuing our celebration of the Sketch for Survival 10th Anniversary Collection, this time we journey to the frozen landscapes of Antarctica.

🎨Safe by Johanna Excel .by.johannaexcell
Watercolour
Emperor penguins

"Safe portrays the quiet bond between an emperor penguin parent and its chick, capturing a fleeting moment of warmth and protection in one of Earth's harshest environments. The abstract background, with its icy textures and cool blue hues, reflects the vast Antarctic landscape while allowing the relationship between the two birds to remain the emotional focus of the painting. Emperor penguins depend on stable sea ice to breed and raise their young, making them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Through this artwork, I hope to highlight both the tenderness of parental care and the importance of protecting the fragile ecosystems these remarkable birds call home." - Johanna Excel

The anniversary collection will be exhibited alongside the Sketch for Survival 100 and the Junior collection this October and November. All artworks will be included in our online fundraising auction which concludes 22 November 2026.

24/08/2026

Having grown up in Dorset, I’m no stranger to an ammonite. Seeing them more than 4km above sea level, in the Himalayas, was unexpected.

Millions of years ago, Langza in India’s Spiti Valley lay beneath the Tethys Sea. Today, marine fossils are still found in the fields of peas and barley around the village.

A reminder of just how much our planet has changed.

21/08/2026

Water is the lifeblood of every ecosystem. It transforms landscapes, replenishes rivers and wetlands, and sustains the extraordinary web of life that depends on them.

Here’s to the rain.

📷 side-striped jackal in the rain
Kanana Okavango Delta, Botswana

20/08/2026

This autumn, we’ll be celebrating 10 years of Sketch for Survival with a special Anniversary Collection.

The collection brings together work by some of the artists who have supported Sketch for Survival over the past decade, including previous winners and shortlisted artists. Their work will be exhibited alongside this year’s competition finalists in Norwich and London.

All works in the exhibitions will be included in our fundraising auction, which concludes on 22 November.

Exhibitions
1–3 October | Crypt Gallery, Norwich .space
18–22 November | OXO Gallery, London, Oxo Tower Wharf

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Rachel Toll Watercolours by Rachel
Watercolour, African Wild Dog
Sketch for Survival - Special Anniversary Collection

"It is a privilege to be able to use my art in some small way to help endangered animals wherever they may be."
- Rachel Toll

12/08/2026

Elephants have always held a special place at Explorers Against Extinction. They feature in our logo, inspired the launch of Sketch for Survival ten years ago and continue to shape the conservation projects we support today.

This year's World Elephant Day theme is Community and Coexistence.

From our recent partnership with Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya, where Samburu "milk mamas" provide goats' milk for orphaned elephant calves, to our support for Space for Giants in Gabon, helping communities coexist with Critically Endangered forest elephants, we're proud to back projects that place people at the heart of conservation. You can explore our project partnerships at our website - see link in bio.

Happy World Elephant Day, and thank you for being part of the journey 🐘

📷Milk to Market - Thige Njuguna

11/08/2026

Extinction: Renewal
Art of a Living Planet
Eden Project, Cornwall

We’re delighted to officially announce Extinction: Renewal, Art of a Living Planet, opening at the Eden Project on 18 September 2026.

Created by Explorers Against Extinction, this major new visual arts exhibition brings together some of the world’s most celebrated artists, from Turner Prize winners to indigenous voices across four continents, in an urgent reflection on humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

Through Extinction, Climate, Community and Renewal, the exhibition takes visitors on a journey from deep time towards a more hopeful future.

📷 David Nash OBE RA, Faraway Trees, 2024
800,000-year-old pinecones recovered from the sediments of Happisburgh beach, mounted on an oak base.

10/08/2026

World Lion Day

Lions have disappeared from more than 90% of their historic range, largely as a result of human expansion and agriculture.

Today, an estimated 20,000–25,000 remain in the wild, squeezed into a fraction of their former range, often in fragmented populations. They face habitat loss, persecution, conflict with people and declining prey.

But decline is not inevitable.

In Rwanda’s Akagera National Park, lions had been wiped out by the early 2000s.

In 2015, seven lions were reintroduced. A decade of strong protection, law enforcement and ensuring local communities benefit from lion conservation has seen the population more than triple.

This is what space, protection and partnership can achieve.

🎥 Seven lions (and a black-backed jackal) – River Pride, Mara North Conservancy, Kenya

07/08/2026

Your parcels have been arriving ready for the second stage of judging in this year's hotly contested Sketch for Survival - our 10th annual exhibition and auction.

Just 100 finalists will be selected for the public exhibition at in London this November. Every piece depicts a threatened species or tells an important conservation story.

⏰If you have been longlisted, the deadline for sending your artwork to us is 12 August.

🎨 Elegance on the Edge by Annie Hong
Red-crowned crane
Gouache and pencil on paper
Sketch for Survival 2026 Longlisted

"Living in Japan, I have seen how cranes appear often in traditional imagery as symbols of grace, longevity, and good fortune. In this artwork, I wanted to connect that cultural beauty with the reality that the red-crowned crane is still vulnerable due to habitat loss and population decline. I portrayed the crane among reeds, pine branches, blossoms, and flowing water patterns to show both its natural environment and its symbolic elegance. Even as the species faces threats, cranes continue to carry themselves with a quiet dignity, which I wanted to capture through the crane's pose and delicate pencil detail. The brighter gouache background adds movement and life around the bird, while also emphasizing how important its habitat is to its survival. Through this piece, I hope to show that protecting threatened species also means protecting the cultural and natural beauty they represent." - Annie Hong

06/08/2026

Lose yourself in the wilderness.

Sleeping under canvas in the wilds of Africa is a magical experience. In Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, elephants are never far away - more than 40,000 roam this landscape of teak and mopane woodland, open savannah and vleis.

📍 Somalisa Expedition Camp, Hwange, Zimbabwe

Explore tailor-made safaris via the link in our bio or see our website. Every booking supports Explorers Against Extinction.

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