By Cat Lazaroff

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 14, 2002 (ENS) - A unique conservation fundraising initiative has the potential to provide big payouts for wildlife - and for the people who support them. WildlifeWins, a new international company that links environmental awareness and Las Vegas style games, is helping to raise money for mountain gorillas, elephants, golden lion tamarins and Sumatran tigers by appealing to the public's gambling spirit.

This female mountain gorilla is one of about 650 that stand to benefit from WildlifeWins' innovative model of conservation fundraising. (All photos by Chad Henning, courtesy International WildlifeWins Foundation)

WildlifeWins, a for profit company based in South Africa, takes conservation fundraising into the commercial arena for the benefit of endangered species. To accomplish this, the company offers high paying lotteries and contests that attract a variety of customers - including many who might not normally choose to support conservation causes.

Up to 30 percent of the "drop" - the money left over after prizes are paid out to players - is donated directly to a handful of carefully selected conservation projects. Projects supported by WildlifeWins are chosen by a panel that includes representatives from the world's leading conservation organizations, including the United Kingdom's Fauna & Flora International.

Visitors to the website can play a variety of games, choosing each time which of several conservation projects they wish their funds to support. The WildlifeWins website also allows direct donations to the projects, with the full amount, less the transaction cost charged by the collecting bank and the cost of administering and distributing the donations - no more than 10 percent - paid to the conservation project selected by the donor.

Right now, a US$20 million lottery jackpot, guaranteed by venerable insurer Lloyds of London, is being offered as the ultimate incentive for people to get involved in saving the last 650 mountain gorillas on the planet.

XMas, a three year old member of the Nkuringo mountain gorilla family. The Nkuringos have been habituated to human contact in preparation for ecotourism - a practice some feel may be the only way to ensure the future of these rare primates.

"We are talking about an animal that shares 97 percent of our DNA and whose tragic demise is entirely preventable," said Steve Quantrill, CEO of WildlifeWins.

"Hearing news such as that coming out of Rwanda is incredibly sad because it is too late for us to do anything to save the two mothers and their children from such a rotten fate," added Quantrill. "There are fantastic efforts underway to help the mountain gorillas still surviving, however, and people around the world need to know that even the smallest contribution is a wonderful gift towards building a more secure future for this animal."

Proceeds from the WildlifeWins lottery that are earmarked for the gorillas will support Ugandan efforts to protect a gorilla family, known as the Nkuringos, living in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to one half of the mountain gorilla population.

The Nkuringos live right along the edge of the park and just on the other side of the border is an irresistible temptation - banana crops planted by subsistence farmers. Each time the Nkuringos leave the safe confines of Bwindi in search of the bananas, they may be are exposed to poachers and to human borne diseases against which they have no immunity.

Nkuringo, the silverback male who heads the Nkuringo family group, heads out of the protected borders of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Ugandan wildlife authorities have told WildlifeWins that they have secured agreements from everyone living within the planned buffer to sell their land to the park.

"Twenty years ago, they probably didn't know these gorillas existed," said Ross. "Where it's always been the humans encroaching on the gorillas, now the situation is being reversed," with the gorillas regularly crossing the park border to munch on bananas.

Local residents seem excited about the potential the gorillas hold for bringing ecotourism dollars to the region, Ross noted, but "the area can't be opened to tourism until buffer zone is built."

Last year, the Nkuringos picked up skin diseases including mange and scabies while roaming outside the park, and lost most of their fur. The gorillas have now been vaccinated against these diseases, Ross said, but they are still at risk from poachers.

Once outside the park, the gorillas often decimate banana trees planted by subsistence farmers, like these two standing over their ruined crop. WildlifeWins is supporting a plan to purchase land for a buffer between the park and such farms.

"After 38 years of working in conservation I have witnessed many changes in the conservation fundraising world," Robinson said. "I applaud WildlifeWins in creating a new, fun way of both raising funds and educating the public about conservation."

Other projects supported by WildlifeWins include a $100,000 plan to plant trees between Brazil's Poço das Andas Reserve and the Rio Vermelho farm to connect 14 forest islands for the golden lion tamarin, a tiny primate. A $210,000 project in Africa would help link the Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa with the Maputo Special Elephant Reserve and the Futi Corridor in Mozambique.

WildlifeWins newest project would support anti-poaching task force units to detect and pursue those responsible for illegal hunting of the Sumatran tiger in the Kerinci Seblat National Park.

Besides attracting casual visitors to play casino and lottery style games, WildlifeWins is gathering members who want a more long term relationship with the environmental causes their dollars support.

Faheda, a member of the Nkuringo family, may be contemplating a brighter future thanks to support from WildlifeWins.

"We keep members updated so they can form personal connections," said Ross. Last month, when the youngest member of the Nkuringo family, a newborn gorilla, died of pneumonia, "we got 10 times the normal response to the gorilla newsletter," Ross added.

Right now, the fledgling company is not turning a profit, largely because WildlifeWins is currently giving its sponsored conservation projects more money than the games are bringing in. Ross says the goal is to show casual game players that WildlifeWins' games are "competitive with anything else they'll find" in terms of payouts, while also persuading devoted environmentalists that WildlifeWins is a valuable place to spend their conservation dollars.

WildlifeWins CEO Quantrill says the huge amount spent around the world each year on lotteries and other games of chance makes him optimistic that the company will soon be profitable for stockholders and conservation groups.

"In 2000, global lottery sales exceeded US$130 billion," Quantrill said. "A mere 0.05 percent of that - $65 million - would make a significant difference to conservation and we are looking forward to seeing how people respond to this opportunity to potentially strike it rich while helping to preserve the natural richness of our planet." For more information visit: http://www.wildlifewins.com