Mission Wildlife: Wild Celebration!
On Sunday, October 3, 2021, I attended a fundraising event in San Diego for a non-profit organization called Mission Wildlife – an organization founded to support conservation organizations in Africa. This year, funds raised were donated to Save Pangolins and Painted Dog Conservation.
Mission Wildlife was founded by three women who went on an African safari together in 2013. While there, they were inspired to create a way to support the conservation efforts they witnessed in Africa. That’s when Mission Wildlife was born.
I had personally never heard of Mission Wildlife until I read an interview in a local San Diego newspaper with Julie Scardina – one of the founders. The Wild Celebration turned out to be unlike anything I have ever experienced. From holding a fennec fox, to seeing otters go for a dip in a swimming pool, to watching a hawk land on a guest’s hat, it was a truly memorable experience. I highly recommend checking out Mission Wildlife and attending the next Wild Celebration!
In this post, I share some of my favorite photos from that day, which includes LOTS of animal encounters!
Several organizations brought animal ambassadors to the event, including Conservation Ambassadors, Critter Encounters, SeaWorld San Diego, and The Raptor Institute. There were so many photo opportunities, as well as chances to learn the stories of how these animals became ambassadors for their species.
Maya the spider monkey, pictured above, was rescued after being found in a dumpster in Los Angeles. Now she serves an ambassador for her species, teaching people that monkeys do not make good pets. Spike the American alligator, also pictured above, was found in a bathtub. He also now serves as an ambassador for alligators everywhere.
Perhaps my favorite part of the event was getting to hold Finley the fennec fox. This was completely unexpected – actually, all the animal encounters were unexpected! I had NO idea I would get to hold a fennec fox that day. I mean, how many people can say they’ve done that?! It’s also not everyday that a raven sits on your arm or you see otters taking a dip in a swimming pool!
Morocco (aka Momo) the African crested porcupine stopped for a picture while munching on some corn, and a black and white ruffed lemur (who I don’t know the name of) let me hold and pet him/her for a few seconds! Can you tell from my face that it was a happy moment? 🙂
It was a sunny, warm, and overall beautiful day in San Diego with animals literally everywhere you looked – it doesn’t get much better than that! Enjoy some more pictures of cute animals!
In addition to animal encounters, there were guest speakers, an animal presentation, an art performance, and a live auction. Speakers from Painted Dog Conservation and Save Pangolins spoke about their organizations, and Stephen Fishwick painted a beautiful cheetah painting live!
Mission Wildlife’s Wild Celebration was truly a wonderful and inspiring experience, and I plan to continue showing my support for this organization by raising awareness and attending more fundraising events in the future. Thank you, Mission Wildlife, Painted Dog Conservation, and Save Pangolins, for what you do to support animal conservation!
