Mary Ashley’s Conservation Trip

My name is Mary Ashley Reeves and I'm an Environmental Science Major at the University of South Carolina. Ever since I was a child it was evident that I had a passion for working with animals. Once in college, I realized majoring in Environmental Science would allow me to focus on endangered animals, as well as work towards something greater than myself by giving back to our beautiful planet. After months of researching different wildlife conservation projects, I finally found the one for me. My goal is to raise $5000 which would cover the costs of a plane ticket and three week volunteer trip to Antelope Park, Zimbabwe.

The population of lions on the continent of Africa has declined 80-90% in the past 30 years. The private camp I will be staying at conducts research to understand lion behavior and aims towards breeding and rehabilitating lions in order to release them back into the wild so that they're population can no longer decrease exponentially, but begin to increase to natural levels. While there, I will be involved in the hands on care of the animals located on the park, as well as the reintroduction of rehabilitated lions into the wild. This camp also homes elephants who were saved from certain death during a drought that occured in Zimbabwe in 1991. Below I have provided a link to the project that I will be attending, feel free to browse the full details. This is an amazing opportunity that I am beyond ecstatic to be apart of. To those who are able to donate, I cannot thank you enough for helping to provide me with such an incredible experience. This is a chance of a lifetime and I cannot wait to finally be able to pursue my dreams of working with endangered animals across the world. http://www.goeco.org/area/volunteer-in-africa/zimbabwe/lions-and-orphaned-elephants#profile