Ed Stewart, co-founder, president and CEO of the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)—which blazed a trail in animal rescue, welfare, education, and legislation, and this year, marks its 40th anniversary—recalls what she and co-founder Pat Derby were doing in...
Mark E. Hauber—professor, ornithologist, and author of “Bird Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Avian Lives”—recalls becoming seriously interested in birds at age four or five. This was in his native Hungary, where, as that little boy, he dragged his mother to view...
Dr. Justin Perrault--vice president of research at Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC), a nonprofit sea turtle research, rehabilitation, education, and conservation operation in Juno Beach, FL—recalls the early, pioneering work on sea turtles performed by Juno...
Ann Paul--an organizer of the Florida Birding and Nature Festival, a multifaceted, multi-day extravaganza, scheduled to take place Oct. 12-15, in and around Apollo Beach, Florida—revisits, at my request, the story of her first real foray into birding, and how...
Donna Kalil--a python removal contractor (aka “python hunter”)—recalls growing up in Venezuela, with close proximity to the jungle helping cultivate a lifelong passion for snakes and other wildlife. In 1969, Kalil explains, the family moved to Florida, landing...
Susan Tellem--executive director of American Tortoise Rescue (ATR), a nonprofit established in 1990 for the protection of all species of turtles and tortoises—recalls that she began helping animals in cat rescue. Some years later, she recounts, she and her husband...
John Di Leonardo--president of Humane Long Island, an animal advocacy organization there, where he also oversees its international Duck Defenders project—recalls growing up without family pets, but deeply fascinated by all types of insects. Di Leonardo explains...
Miyoko Chu-- senior director of communications at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology—recalls an outing at age 10 or so with her father, to San Francisco’s Chinatown, where they performed a spontaneous rescue of two pigeons, a transformative experience that was pivotal...
Alene Anello--founder and president of Legal Impact for Chickens (LIC), a nonprofit dedicated to bringing lawsuits that benefit chickens—recalls growing up in a family with plenty of animals, mostly dogs. However, when at age 11, she asked for her very own animal,...
Amy P. Kight, executive director of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, discusses the Sanctuary, its imminent relocation, some resident animals, the recent fatal gator attack in Fort Pierce, and more.
