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07/10/2026

30 beluga whales were moved from Canada’s closed Marineland to aquariums in the United States and Spain. 4 of those whales and 1 dolphin have since died after arrival, while the survivors still face a future confined by the boundaries of captivity.

Behind the announcements of rescue lies a history of mounting welfare concerns, threatened euthanasia and the failure to secure a suitable retirement before the situation became an emergency. The carers now working to keep these animals alive deserve recognition, but the whales deserve a future whose ambition extends beyond survival in another tank.

Our latest opinion piece examines what happened to Marineland’s whales, the seaside sanctuary proposal and why their safe arrival could never be the end of our joined responsibility.

Read the full article: https://freethewild.org/updates/marineland-has-closed-but-captivity-continues

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FTW

05/10/2026

India’s remarkable recovery of tigers, Asiatic lions and one-horned rhinos proves that determined conservation can change the future of threatened wildlife.

Yet alongside these achievements, elephants revered as sacred continue to endure chains, confinement and forced service in temples and ceremonies. No garland cancels a chain, and reverence means little if it fails to protect the living animal.

Free The Wild congratulates India on its extraordinary conservation progress, while urging the same resolve for elephants still suffering in captivity. Protecting wildlife is only half the battle, after all.

Please read our latest article to explore the achievements and the urgent work that remains:
https://freethewild.org/updates/indias-wildlife-recovery-a-triumph-with-unfinished-business

Thank you and please look forward to more amazing news and insights coming your way over the next few months!

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FTW

02/10/2026

Some people dedicate their lives to studying wildlife, others use what they learn to change the future of the animals they study. Dr Asha de Vos has done both.

A pioneering marine biologist from Sri Lanka, Asha has spent her career transforming our understanding of the remarkable blue whales that live in the northern Indian Ocean. Her research helped reveal that Sri Lanka’s blue whales behave very differently from many other populations around the world, remaining in warm tropical waters throughout the year and challenging long-held assumptions about how these extraordinary animals live, feed and migrate.
But Asha’s work has never stopped at discovery.

She has spent years drawing attention to the dangers these whales face from one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, advocating for science-led measures that could reduce the risk of fatal ship strikes and give these animals a safer future.
Through the organisation she founded, Oceanswell, Asha has also worked tirelessly to nurture the next generation of marine conservationists, particularly within Sri Lanka and the wider Global South. Her belief that conservation should empower the people who live closest to the wildlife being protected is helping to reshape not only marine science, but the way conservation itself is approached.

Her career is a remarkable example of what happens when curiosity becomes knowledge, knowledge becomes action, and action is shared with others.

For her pioneering research, her commitment to protecting Sri Lanka’s marine wildlife, and her determination to create opportunities for future conservationists, Free The Wild is proud to recognise Dr Asha de Vos as our Wildlife Guardian of the Month for September 2026. Read her full story here: https://freethewild.org/guardians/dr-asha-de-vos-september-2026

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FTW

30/09/2026

We began with a simple belief: wild animals should not be condemned to suffering in captivity for human amusement.

That belief has not changed, but over time, our understanding of what it means to truly keep wildlife WILD has developed.

The more closely we have worked with conservationists, sanctuaries, reserve managers and those protecting wildlife on the ground, the clearer it has become that rescuing individual animals is only part of the picture.

Wildlife cannot survive without healthy habitats. Species cannot thrive where ecosystems are collapsing. And in many parts of the world, animals are increasingly restricted not by cages, but by shrinking forests, fragmented landscapes, roads, fences and human expansion.

So Free The Wild is broadening its mission.

We will continue to rescue and support wild animals suffering in captivity, but we will also place greater focus on protecting threatened species, restoring habitats, supporting conservation programmes and helping the people and organisations working to preserve the natural world itself.

With that comes a new focus: Protect. Rescue. Restore.

We have written more about why our mission is changing, what we have learned, and where Free The Wild goes from here. Read the full article here: https://freethewild.org/updates/keeping-wildlife-wild

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FTW

28/09/2026

Lions should not look like this…

These lions are not wild animals fighting to survive in nature. They are captive animals, entirely dependent on human beings for their food, their care and their welfare and yet the images coming from Karachi Zoo show animals whose bodies appear to be failing them.

Their condition is impossible to ignore but outrage alone will not save them.

There is a possible way forward. Free The Wild is exploring how we can work alongside trusted organisations on the ground to help create a purpose-built sanctuary where animals like these could receive the space, nutrition, veterinary care and dignity they so desperately need.

But rescue takes more than compassion; It takes land, construction, veterinary care, food, people and money.

Every donation to Free The Wild strengthens our ability to intervene when animals are suffering in captivity like this. Not only in Karachi, but in zoos, circuses and captive facilities around the world.

These lions cannot choose where they live. They cannot ask for help and they cannot walk away.

But we can all choose not to look away.

Please donate to Free The Wild and help us build a future in which animals like these are given something captivity has denied them for far too long: A life worth living.

https://www.freethewild.org/donate

Thank you

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FTW

04/09/2026

This month, Free The Wild is proud to recognise Dr Bool Smuts, founder of the Landmark Foundation, as our Honorary Guardian of the Month 🐆

For more than two decades, Dr Smuts has worked to protect Southern Africa’s leopards by combining hands-on conservation, scientific research, farmer engagement, education and practical solutions to human-wildlife conflict.

From pioneering leopard research and rescue work to Landmark’s recent Leopard Genome Project, his work is helping people throughout Southern Africa to better understand how these remarkable animals survive and remain connected across increasingly fragmented landscapes.

Free The Wild is also proud to have supported Landmark’s efforts to remove dangerous gin traps, encourage more wildlife-friendly approaches among local farmers, educate local communities and school children as well as help rescue and relocate leopards caught in conflict with people.

Dr Smuts’ work is a powerful reminder that protecting predators is not only about saving individual animals. It is about protecting the future of entire ecosystems.

Read more about Dr Bool Smuts and his extraordinary commitment to leopard conservation: https://freethewild.org/guardians/dr-bool-smuts-august-2026

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FTW

03/08/2026

Honorary Guardian of the Month | Sinjira Apaitan

For more than 40 years, Sinjira has dedicated her life to speaking up for wildlife in Thailand, becoming one of the strongest voices for Bua Noi, Thailand's only gorilla and advocating for better welfare standards for animals living in captivity. She has never sought recognition. Sinjira simply believes every animal deserves dignity and the opportunity to live according to its natural needs.

We're proud to recognise Sinjira as the very first recipient of Free The Wild's Honorary Guardian of the Month title.

Read her story and discover why her lifelong dedication continues to inspire all of us here at Free The Wild:
https://www.freethewild.org/guardians/sinjira-apaitan-july-2026

Thank you, Sinjira for all you do.

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FTW

13/07/2026

This is how bears strengthen their bonds, and after everything Yogi and Bubba have endured together, it’s wonderful to see them finally behaving like bears.

Once victims of the illegal wildlife trade, these two young moon bears spent years confined to tiny cages and were cruelly exploited as so-called “dancing bears”. Today, thanks to the incredible support of our donors, they are safe at in Karachi, where they will spend the rest of their lives surrounded by expert care, enrichment and freedom.

Watching them wrestle, play, explore their enclosure and discover new foods isn’t aggression. It’s two lifelong companions learning that the world is no longer something to fear.

Had local authorities not intervened, and had Free The Wild not worked alongside our trusted partners to secure them a permanent sanctuary, Yogi and Bubba would almost certainly have remained imprisoned and exploited for the rest of their lives.

To everyone who donated and supported this rescue, thank you. You have given these remarkable bears the future they always deserved.

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FTW

26/06/2026

Two young moon bears should be growing up in the forests of Asia. Instead, they were stolen from the wild, exploited for human entertainment and forced to endure unimaginable cruelty.

Thanks to the swift action of local authorities and our trusted conservation partners, they have a second chance. These beautiful bears, a Vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List, need your help to reach the sanctuary where they can begin to heal and spend the rest of their lives in safety.

Our goal is simple: we need to raise just $2,300 USD to fund their relocation, veterinary treatment, health checks and professional care. It's a small amount that will make an extraordinary difference to two souls that would otherwise have endured a lifetime of cruelty.

Please donate today, and read the full story of these remarkable young bears here:
https://freethewild.org/projects/a-new-beginning-for-two-young-moon-bears

Together, we can help turn a story of outdated brutality into one of hope and kindness.

Thank you very much.

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FTW

10/06/2026

Canada’s plan to move Marineland’s remaining belugas to Spain and large aquariums in the United States is being celebrated as a rescue. But is it really a rescue if the whales are simply transferred from one tank to another, travelling vast distances under stress only to spend the rest of their lives in new captive displays rather than the ocean they belong to?

In our latest piece, we explore why this is closer to a prison transfer than a true rescue; why a well‑funded seaside sanctuary in Nova Scotia was (and still is) a viable alternative and what the remarkable success of reintroducing captive‑bred Przewalski’s horses tells us about the resilience and adaptability of animals who have known only captivity.

These belugas have done their time. The question now is whether we will allow them another concrete wall, or a horizon of open water.

Read the full article and add your voice: https://freethewild.org/updates/marineland-belugas-rescued-or-not

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FTW

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