Conscious Choice: Animal Advocate Groups

August 2000

Animal Advocate Groups

The Nature Conservancy
International Headquarters, 4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Box 1299, Arlington, VA 22203-1606; 888-2joinTNC; www.tnc.org. Conservationists estimate that 85 percent of species loss or endangerment is due to habitat loss. TNC, therefore, concentrates on purchasing and managing land for wildlife. One of their programs, Wings of the Americas, aims to protect bird habitat through research, partnerships with local conservationists, and land management plans that include rewarding local communities for cooperating.

Defenders of Wildlife
1101 14th Street NW, Suite 1400, Washington, DC 20005-5606; 800-915-6789; www.defenders.org. This group focuses on endangered species, especially wolves and other large predators, and on preserving the large areas of wilderness they require. The group also defends Pacific salmon and marine animals, bears, buffalo, and wild birds. Staff members use advocacy, lawsuits, and political action. They do research, and they reimburse ranchers when wolves kill their animals.

Endangered Species Coalition
1101 14th Street NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005; 202-682-9400; www.stopextinction.org. The "coalition" is a group of 400 member scientific, business, and religious organizations. Calling themselves "the guardian of the Endangered Species Act," these groups work to strengthen and protect the law itself. The coalition encourages the government to implement the act properly, provides scientific information to decision-makers and financial incentives to friendly landowners, educates people, and fends off attacks by special interests.

Wildlife Conservation Society
Bronx Zoo, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460; 718-220-5111; www.wcs.org. International in scope, the society oversees conservation projects and works with other conservationists to preserve and manage habitat. Members advocate sustainable forestry, and some of the animals they work to protect are grizzly bears, moose, bison, elk, whales, ocean fish, southern elephant seals, wandering albatross, Magellan penguin, Tibetan antelope, tigers, jaguars, gorillas, and mandrills. They operate public wildlife facilities in New York and one in Georgia (with 1,000 species total) for education and captive breeding.

National Wildlife Federation
8925 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22184; 703-790-4000. www.nwf.org. Through lawsuits and legal advocacy, publicity, and other educational tools and programs, federation members seek to protect animals such as wolves, grizzly bears, frogs, birds, and other creatures and their habitats.

Humane Society of the U.S.
2100 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20037; www.hsus.org. The Humane Society advocates the humane treatment of domestic and captive animals and works globally to protect a wide range of animals such as wolves, urban Canada geese, elephants and other African animals, marine mammals, fur-bearing animals, sea turtles, wild horses, wild United States cats, bears, wild birds, and United States wild urban animals. The HSUS operates through lawsuits and legislative action and by education and raising public awareness.

Int’l Fund for Animal Welfare
P.O. Box 193, 411 Main Street, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675; 508-744-2000; www.ifaw.org. Focused on trade in wildlife, the IFAW joins the Humane Society in attacking "sustainable use" of animals. The IFAW exposes violations of CITES, educates potential consumers of wildlife products, works with the International Whaling Commission, and keeps an eye on the World Trade Organization in an effort to protect seals, whales, sea turtles and elephants, and other commercially harvested animals. Like HSUS, the IFAW rescues animals from disasters, advocates for humane animal treatment, and tries to protect habitat.

Sea Shepherd Cons. Society
P.O. Box 2616, Friday Harbor, WA 98250; 360-370-5500; www.seashepherd.org. Under the authority of The World Charter for Nature, this society enforces international laws and treaties that protect marine animals and their habitats. Small boats and crews (all committed to non-violence) target illegal whaling, sealing, and fishing; drift-net use; and ocean habitat destruction.

Caribbean Cons. Corporation
4424 NW 13th Street, Suite A1, Gainesville, FL 32609; 800-678-7853; cccturtle.org. This group and its permanent program, the Sea Turtle Survival League, work to protect sea turtles and other marine and coastal animals throughout Florida, Central America, and the Caribbean. Members use satellite tracking of sea turtles and perform research, public education, and advocacy; provide support to local sea turtle conservation groups; and work on habitat protection.

Bird Conservation Network
5225 Old Orchard Road, Suite 37, Skokie, IL 60077; 847-965-1150; www.iit.edu/•cos/BCN/. This coalition of bird organizations is devoted to preserving Chicago-area birds (migrant and resident) by studying their habitat needs and advocating for the preservation of suitable habitat. They do extensive bird monitoring and census counts, and they offer fields trips.

Bat Conservation International
P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716; 512-327-9721; www.batcon.org. Activities include research, studying Indiana bat roosts, replacing bat misinformation with fact, protecting habitat, encouraging use of old mines and the undersides of bridges as roosting grounds. Be sure to visit their impressive Web site before buying a bat house.

International Crane Foundation
P.O. Box 447, Baraboo, WI 53913-0447; 608-356-9462; savingcranes.org. This foundation works to save cranes and their wetland and grassland habitat, mainly by maintaining a captive breeding and reintroduction facility, which is open to the public for education and research purposes. The group also educates people on the importance of preserving crane habitat. — Janine Kostecki

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