What they have in common is a love of animals and a fierce fight for years to protect them.
First, there is Charles Emogor, a 29-year-old Nigerian scientist who has been fascinated by pangolins since childhood. Now a doctoral student at Cambridge, he works to change people’s behavior in order to protect this most trafficked mammal in the world and which is on the verge of extinction.
Animal Action Awards: three Africans rewarded for their love of animals
Then, Bantu Lukambo, 51, was rewarded for his three-decade fight to save the gorillas, chimpanzees, okapis and hundreds of bird species in Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. An area weakened by armed conflict, poaching and oil interests. He then found himself in dangerous situations, such as the day he was buried alive for saving a baby gorilla from traffickers.
Eco-volunteering in Kenya in the heart of nature reserves
The third laureate was awarded posthumously. He is Rudi Van Aarde, who died in 2021 at the age of 71 and who spent much of his life understanding the movements of elephant populations in southern Africa. He was a pioneer in his approach that was both scientific and regional to guide conservation decisions. A legacy that continues today.
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