Remembering Sudan: A New Award-Winning Film

I am honored to launch my newest award-winning film Remembering Sudan, which documents the heartbreaking crisis facing the northern white rhinos.

The film highlights the important relationship between keepers like Zacharia Mutai at Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the creatures they have committed their lives to protecting. It also highlights the important work by the BioRescue Project to save the species from extinction.

Many of you have been following this story of the northern white rhino with me since I began it over 14 years ago. I hope that you will take time to watch the film and support the important conservation work of Ol Pejeta Conservancy. All ticket sales go to supporting Ol Pejeta, which cares for Najin and Fatu, the last two northern white rhinos on the planet.

Visit rememberingsudan.org or to watch today.

Thank you for joining me on this journey and for believing that we can fundamentally change the course we are currently on. These creatures remind us that the world is so beautiful in spite of all that breaks our hearts.

Thank you to Zacharia Mutai, Ol Pejeta, MediaStorm and Dane Henry for your beautiful collaboration.

The National Geographic Photo of the Decade

There are no words to adequately describe the profound feelings of hope and melancholy inspired by Joseph Wachira’s final goodbye to Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino. This image has been chosen as the best photo of the decade by the people who voted yesterday on National Geographic’s Instagram account. I will never forget what it felt like to witness what I believed to be the end of a species. Yet, in a beautiful twist of fate, this image – an image documenting extinction – is the beginning of something powerful, something hopeful.
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Our world faces so many challenges. Humans are ushering in a new era of mass extinction. While that thought keeps me up at night, the profound care that Joseph showed for Sudan inspires hope and drives me to work even harder. Those who feel the urgency of this moment in history, are coming together around this image. As I write this, embryos created by Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Avantea, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya Wildlife Service and Safari Park Dvur Kralove wait to be transferred into a surrogate mother. This would not have been possible without your support. Please keep supporting the Biorescue Project. This matters.
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The coming decades will not be easy, but I believe we are making a real difference. You are my hope for a future that includes rhinos and other endangered species. The key thing is to not fall into the trap of thinking that these issues are too big to deal with or that someone else is taking care of the problems. It is up to all of us. It’s up to you. And to me. Be the VOICE for this planet. Don’t sit this one out. Without rhinos and elephants and other wildlife we suffer more than loss of ecosystem health. We suffer a loss of imagination, a loss of wonder, a loss of beautiful possibilities. Saving nature is really about saving ourselves. Sudan taught me that.