R.O.A.R. Fund - Reach.Out.Act.Respond.

Dear R.O.A.R. Supporters,

Let us begin by expressing gratitude for your tremendous generosity and your continued support of the R.O.A.R. Fund.  The projects benefiting from the Fund have been doing incredible work to make the world a better place for animals and we wanted to provide you updates from some of our partners. 

We are also excited to inform you that in the months of September and October (2012) Animal Planet is generously offering up to $120,000 of matching funds to the R.O.A.R. Fund and its partner projects on GlobalGiving. We hope you will visit: http://www.globalgiving.org/ROAR/ to learn more about these R.O.A.R. partners and their projects beginning on September 1^st.

Updates from the R.O.A.R. Fund partners:

• In response to the record number of devastating natural disasters in the past year that put both people and animals in harm’s way, the American Humane Association’s Red Star Animal Emergency Services team deployed immediately to rescue, shelter, and protect thousands of animals from harm.  The American Humane Association cared for animals following the tornado in Joplin, Missouri; the storms in the South; the Souris River flooding in Minot, North Dakota; Hurricane Irene in North Carolina; and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. 
• The Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors treated over 7,500 animals in the past year, allowing the innocent victims to have the best possible chance at life.  Out of all the animals, 833 were koalas.  The organization is gearing up for another busy trauma season for its koala patients, since koalas typically breed in between June and December.  During this time, koalas cover a lot more ground and have a greater risk of getting hit by a car or being attacked by a dog. 
• The Jane Goodall Institute’s Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center is continuing to provide traumatized orphan chimps with the care needed to have a second chance at life.  Lemba is a particularly amazing chimpanzee.  Her legs don’t work anymore due to the effects of polio, but even with her physical limitations, Lemba performs exercises daily that were designed to restore her agility and arm strength.  Lemba is also being trained to be a future surrogate mother for infant chimps at the Center.
• In continuing its efforts to give wildlife the opportunity to roam and thrive in their native habitat, the National Wildlife Federation reached an important milestone this past year by surpassing the 600,000 mark for the number of “conflict” areas retired.  The Adopt-An-Acre project has provided bears with tens of thousands of acres of secure habitat and has created a safe space for bison to roam during harsh winters. 
• Earthwatch Institute researchers and volunteers have been working at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy to bring rhinoceros back from the brink of extinction.  The rhino population at Ol Pejeta has been growing at an annual average of 8%, which is above the 6% Kenyan national target, and the current total number of rhinos is 87, making it the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa.  So far this year, there have been three recorded rhino births, indicating signs of improved rangeland conditions. 

Again, thank you for supporting the R.O.A.R. Fund and showing compassion to animals in your communities and in the wild. 

Best wishes,
The GlobalGiving Team

Dear R.O.A.R. Supporters,

The R.O.A.R. Fund is off to a great start. Each R.O.A.R. beneficiary received its initial $5,000 grant from Animal Planet, and the organizations are gearing up for a matching campaign that is set to start this September. Matching funds, as well as prizes for various categories to be announced closer to September, will be generously provided by Animal Planet to the R.O.A.R. Fund and its beneficiary projects on GlobalGiving.org. 

In the meantime, we wanted to let you know what some of the R.O.A.R. beneficiaries have been up to lately with some updates from the field:

• Within weeks of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year, the American Humane Association had wired $10,000 in cash and shipped a load of critical animal sheltering supplies to support local animal relief efforts in Japan such as those of the Japan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA) and the Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS).
• For the last 6 months, the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors have been taking care of female joey koala named Frodo, who was found near Kenilworth. Frodo has overcome a fractured skull and significant damage to her stomach and intestines as a result of being shot with what appeared to be the spray of a shot gun, and she is now almost ready to return to the wild.
• The Jane Goodall Institute has been monitoring the activities of two chimp sisters, Golden and Glitter, at Gombe Stream Research Center in Tanzania. In a recent blog post, Dr. Deus Mjungu, GSRC Director of Chimpanzee Research, hinted that with a distended belly and more tired than normal, Glitter might be pregnant.
• In its efforts to give wildlife the opportunity to roam and thrive in their native habitat, the National Wildlife Federation’s Adopt-A-Wildlife-Acre Program has recently retired the 2,000-acre Bull and Bay Pasture on Montana’s Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, the 10,000-acre Wapiti allotment in Montana’s Gallatin National Forest, and 45,000 acres on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Montana.
• The Petfinder.com Foundation was recently in Kentucky with students from Rescue U renovating the Rowan County and Menifee County Animal Shelters. In total, 65 dogs were transported out of the Kentucky shelters to other shelters and rescue groups where they await their forever homes.
• South Shore Natural Science Center has been teaching students about the migration of Barn Swallows and Baltimore Orioles via its newly-updated Migration Exhibits and Naturepedia interactive monitors. 

We will continue to update you on their progress throughout the year, and don’t forget to look for the upcoming matching funds that will be available this September!

Thanks for your support,
The GlobalGiving and Animal Planet R.O.A.R. teams