Explorers Against Extinction

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

13/10/2026

Reforestation in action in Borneo 🌱

This year’s prolonged dry season brought devastating forest fires across parts of Borneo, including the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, where July’s fires reached forest restoration areas.

Many of the trees being raised and planted out through reforestation programmes, including the 12,500 seedlings we funded through our partnership with Orangutan Foundation, are native ubar trees from the Syzygium genus.

These fast-growing trees have fire-resistant qualities. This has proved crucial.

Monitoring has found ubar trees in fire-damaged areas already producing new shoots from their lower trunks - an encouraging sign of recovery.

Forest fires remain a major challenge, but this is a powerful example of how thoughtful, science-led reforestation can help these restoration sites be more resilient to a changing climate.

09/10/2026

Friday Focus

🎨Last Rays
by Heather Irvine
Mixed media
African Painted Dog
🏅Sketch for Survival 2026 - Shortlisted

“Completely from imagination, this started as a red colour study, playing with texture on my Gelli Plate. With extra collaged papers from my own gel prints, a few magazine cuttings and acrylic paint, it gradually became a hot, dry, Botswana-like landscape - perfect for my favourite subject, the African wild dog.
I hope it evokes that atmospheric warmth at the end of the day, at sundowner time, while also serving as a reminder that we need to do all we can to support this fabulous species.” - Heather Irvine

07/10/2026

Meet Dzuwa.

She was one of 21 pangolins rescued by Lilongwe Wildlife Trust between June 2025 and June 2026, most confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade.

Twelve pangolins, including Dzuwa, were successfully rehabilitated and released back into the wild thanks to the care and expertise of the LWT team. Sadly, seven did not survive. Two remain in care.

After rehabilitation, Dzuwa was released close to the Malawi–Zambia border and closely monitored. She gave the team a challenge, crossing into Zambia and proving exceptionally difficult to locate for her post-release health checks.

Satellite data and a drone eventually helped the team find her foraging in open grassland. Once they had confirmed she was healthy and doing well, her tracking tags were removed and Dzuwa was left to continue life in the wild.

This work was supported by Explorers Against Extinction through Sketch for Survival funding in 2025.

A small but important conservation success, made possible by collaboration, expert on-the-ground care and your support.

If you're visiting before September 2027, be sure to go and see Scales of Injustice artwork, part of our Extinction: Renewal - Art of a Living Planet exhibition. You'll find information about this project partnership with LWT.

📷Dzuwa@lilongwewildlife

05/10/2026

The oldest female of the Pom Pom pride pausing in the rain at Kanana in Botswana.

A lion’s life is shaped by the bonds of the pride, but on this afternoon her soft contact calls went unanswered…

01/10/2026

We’re delighted to announce the Sketch for Survival 100 Artist of the Year and Sketch for Survival Junior Artist of the Year shortlists.

Congratulations to all of this year’s shortlisted artists - what a beautiful collection of work.

🎨Eyes on the Future
by Louise Reilly
Mixed media
Red Ruffed Lemur

“The main part of the piece is the line work, as this stage takes the longest. I use fine liner pens of varying tip size to create the form of the animal, using a controlled scribble, before adding watercolour to bring it to life.

I find lemurs fascinating, and Red Ruffed Lemurs in particular. They are one of the largest living lemurs and, interestingly, the largest pollinators in the world. As they feed, pollen sticks to the fur around their faces and is transported from tree to tree.

Red Ruffed Lemurs are known for their loud vocal calls, but in this piece I wanted to show their quieter side.” - Louise Reilly

👉See link in bio, or visit our website to explore the shortlists

30/09/2026

Conservation in Action: Kibber, Spiti Valley

During our project visit with the Nature Conservation Foundation in Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India, we joined a community meeting in Kibber to hear first-hand about the realities of living alongside wildlife in this high-altitude landscape.

The village chief explained how conservation success can create new challenges.

As blue sheep numbers increase, snow leopards have more natural prey available, helping to reduce pressure on livestock. But the growing blue sheep population has brought another problem: crop damage.

It was a clear reminder that conservation is rarely about one species in isolation. Wildlife and local livelihoods are all connected, and lasting success depends on finding solutions that work for people as well as wildlife.

29/09/2026

Southern Tanzania

Nyerere National Park is shaped by the Rufiji River, creating a network of channels and beautiful oxbow lakes.

With abundant birdlife, large herds of buffalo and eland, and good chances of seeing hyena and lion, you can explore by 4x4, boat or on foot. Fly-camping at Lake Tagalala is a highlight.

Nyerere combines brilliantly with Ruaha National Park, where the focus is more on big game and classic safari encounters. Together, they offer a wonderful contrast - Ruaha for the wildlife intensity, Nyerere for the waterways, scenery and variety of experiences.

Attracting far fewer visitors than Tanzania’s northern parks, southern Tanzania is a destination where the word ‘wilderness’ still feels meaningful.

👉Explore responsible willdife travel at our website, or see link in bio

25/09/2026

Friday Focus

🎨 Feeling The Heat by Aniruddha Gupte
Forest Owlet
Watercolour on paper
IUCN Red List status: Endangered
🏅 Sketch for Survival 100 – 2026 Finalist

"The Forest Owlet is a small diurnal owl, endemic to Central India. They are found in only a handful of states, including my home state of Maharashtra. This bird was considered extinct for over a hundred years before being ‘rediscovered’ in 1997.

It has been a particularly long summer for us this year. As I painted this piece, I wanted it to feel ‘summery’. Not just in terms of warmth, but also hinting at the colours of the Palash and Gulmohar trees that were in bloom across the deciduous forest our Forest Owlet calls home.

My approach for this piece was a standard one for watercolour. I went from big shapes to small, from light to dark. I used handmade paper which I do not tape down to a drawing board. This lets me manipulate the flow of paint by lifting my paper off my desk and moving it around. This method is especially significant in the early stages as it lets me create big, unified shapes with variegated colour and fun, playful edges." - Aniruddha Gupte

You can see this artwork, along with other finalists’ work, at the Crypt Gallery, Norwich, 1-3 October and the Oxo Gallery, London, 18-22 November.

The online fundraising auction will open next month and close on 22 November.

24/09/2026

World Gorilla Day

Today is a chance to celebrate gorillas and to recognise the people working to protect the forests and communities on which their future depends.

On 15 October, Jillian Miller, Executive Director of The Gorilla Organization, will be speaking in Norwich at a Royal Geographical Society event:

🎫Guardians of the Forest: Protecting Gorillas in a Changing Africa
Thursday 15 October 2026, 7.30pm
Blake Studio
Tickets are free for RGS members and students, and £8 for non-members.

Drawing on more than three decades of experience, Jillian will explore the pressures facing gorillas, from habitat loss and pressure on rainforest resources to the realities of conservation in remote landscapes. She’ll also look at the importance of community-led conservation, sustainable livelihoods, and long-term local partnerships.

Book via the Royal Geographical Society website:
https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/protecting-gorillas-in-changing-africa

The Gorilla Organization

22/09/2026

Ten years ago, I visited Sudan - the last male northern white rhino - at in Kenya. Sudan passed away in 2018 leaving only 2 of his species.

During that same visit, I also spent time at Lewa/Borana with the anti-poaching dog squad, learning more about the work being done to protect rhino across Laikipia.

These encounters stay with you...

Through Explorers Against Extinction we’ve supported Ol Pejeta's work with rhino by funding anti-poaching dog Drum in 2017, and later raising funds to support the wider K9 unit during the pandemic in 2021.

We also partnered with Save the Rhino to support its vital work across Lewa/Borana, and with Rhino Conservation Botswana.

But the scourge of poaching remains. Three of the world’s five rhino species are Critically Endangered.

White rhino numbers* have fallen to around 15,752, while black rhinos have increased to approximately 6,788. In Asia, there are now estimated to be just 50 Javan rhinos, 34–47 Sumatran rhinos, and around 4,075 Greater One-Horned rhinos.

On , it’s a reminder of how much has been achieved through determined conservation work, but also how much there is still to do.

*Population figures based on 2025 data from the IUCN SSC African and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups.

📷 EAE
Sudan; Tipper and the K9 unit at Lewa; EAE fundraising event at the Royal Geographical Society in aid of Save the Rhino in 2016; anti-poaching dog Drum at Ol Pejeta; anti poaching dog Savas with Rhino Conservation Botswana

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