10 Years of Remembering Wildlife launch - live and virtual!

As part of the launch of the much-anticipated 10 Years of Remembering Wildlife fundraising picture book (the tenth in the Remembering Wildlife series), we are holding a special evening live at the Royal Geographical Society in London about pangolin conservation and wildlife photography. As well as a live event in London, we will also be broadcasting the evening virtually, so online tickets are available for those unable to join us in person.

10 Years of Remembering Wildlife, cover image by Tristan Dicks

10 Years of Remembering Wildlife is this year’s 10-year anthology book and we turn our attention to the most trafficked mammal in the world, the pangolin and also include the nine previous species covered in the Remembering Wildlife series: elephants (including African and Asian), rhinos, great apes, leopards, lions, cheetahs, African wild dogs, bears and tigers. The book will include contributions from Jonathan & Angela Scott (who are writing the foreword), Dr Wendy Panaino and Lisa Hywood, and there will be images generously donated by many of the world's top wildlife photographers including Jonathan and Angela Scott, Art Wolfe, Greg du Toit and many others. Over 280 photographers have now contributed to this series which has raised more than £1.2 million GBP / $1.55 million USD for conservation so far. All profits generated by Remembering Wildlife are donated to conservation.

The evening will include a presentation of images from the book and a talk on 10 years of the groundbreaking Remembering Wildlife by series founder Margot Raggett MBE (pictured above at the launch of Remembering Bears), CEO & Founder of the Tikki Hywood Foundation Lisa Hywood and British wildlife photographer, author and founder of Camtraptions Ltd Will Burrard-Lucas.

Lisa Hywood is a third generation born Zimbabwean, second child and only daughter of Richard 'Tikki' Hywood and Veronica Hywood. Lisa has been active in the conservation area for 33 years and in 1994, the now globally recognised Tikki Hywood Foundation was established, with Lisa as the consistent and driving force as CEO & Founder.

Lisa gained a reputation for championing lesser-known, enigmatic but no less endangered species and in doing so, she prophetically received her first live pangolin recovered from trade in 1994. At the time, there was little to no information about the species in its wild state, much less from a rehabilitation point of view. Through handwritten letters exchanged with Professor Van Ee at the Bloemfontein Zoo, South Africa, Lisa managed to formulate a diet for compromised pangolins, and this was the underpinning of the now expanded and globally accepted Temminck's Ground Pangolin rehabilitation method.

Lisa says: "The Foundation is more than my family. It is the reason that I wake up everyday and strive to make a difference, either to wildlife in my homeland or abroad. For me it is about knowing that one more animal has been saved, rescued from torture and torment and offered a second chance at life."

Will Burrard-Lucas is a British wildlife photographer, author, and founder of Camtraptions Ltd, a company that produces high-quality camera trap equipment used by photographers and filmmakers worldwide.

Will dedicates much of his time to long-term book projects focused on Africa’s iconic wildlife. His most recent book, The Black Leopard, chronicles his remarkable quest to photograph a rare melanistic leopard in Kenya. Previously, his book Land of Giants documented the last of Africa’s great tusker elephants in collaboration with the Tsavo Trust.

Will aims to inspire a deeper connection to the natural world through innovative and evocative wildlife photography, while supporting conservation efforts to protect species and their habitats. willbl.com / @willbl

Margot Raggett MBE is a wildlife photographer and founder of Remembering Wildlife. She founded the book series after seeing a poached elephant in 2014 and wanting to take action. Remembering Wildlife has since gone on to raise more than £1.2million GBP / $1.55 million USD for conservation projects and in 2023, Margot was awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list for services to international wildlife conservation.

RGS VIP ticket holders will be invited to attend a drinks reception (Remembering Leopards VIP reception pictured above) where they can mingle with some of the photographers and speakers. The VIP ticket also includes front of auditorium seating plus a *10 Years of Remembering Wildlife tote bag. In lieu of the drinks reception, virtual VIP tickets will receive an elephant print by Tom Way from the book.

VIP ticket holders (live and virtual) will also be treated this year to a live, online pangolin experience on a date TBC. Hosted by Emma De Jager, Co-owner and Rehabilitation Manager of Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre https://umoyakhululawildlife.org/centre-and-staff/ and filmed and broadcast by Painted Dog TV. As you would understand, it is unpredictable when the team at Umoya will have a rescued pangolin in their care, but when they do, a daily routine of treatment and walking (in order for the pangolin to feed) takes place. Our live, online experience will offer the unique chance to follow this routine at an undisclosed location and allow you to see behind the scenes work with pangolins. Emma will be on hand to answer any questions too. As we cannot predict the date currently, we promise to give ticket holders at least 48 hours notice before the live broadcast and it will also be recorded for playback for the following month. Given the security aspects involved, no location will be revealed and we’d also ask ticket holders not to share the link with anyone.

The VIP Drinks Reception at the RGS will run from 18.15-19.15.

Main event starts 19.15 with one interval for a book signing.

*This year's tote bags will initially only be available as part of the VIP tickets (both live and virtual) and sold at the event. If we have any left, they might be added to our website in future for online purchase but this will be subject to availability.

Extra content for virtual ticket holders!

Virtual tickets (both general admission and VIP) will also include access to some exclusive content. While the audience in London are in the interval, we'll be showing exclusively for virtual ticket holders a pre-recorded chat between pangolin conservationists, contributing photographers and Margot. The fascinating chat will be about pangolins and other Remembering Wildlife species. Expect the chat to range from the stories behind images in the books to the conservation of these incredible animals.

*Please note that we will not be offering refunds on tickets purchased for this event. If any purchaser of a live event ticket no longer is able, or wishes, to attend in person, we will happily transfer their ticket to a virtual one instead. Equally, if someone purchases a virtual ticket and nearer the time wishes to attend in person after all, then subject to ticket availability, we will transfer a virtual ticket into a live one. If due to any changes in government guidance we are no longer able to hold a live public gathering, all tickets will be converted to virtual ones for an event which will be held that evening.

Banner image credit : Tristan Dicks