Habitat loss

At ASI, we are committed to helping mitigate the effects of habitat destruction and fragmentation.

Emergency wildfires, USA 

In January 2025, wildfires in the Palisades and Eaton areas of Los Angeles caused widespread destruction, burning nearly 60,000 acres (24,000 hectares),destroying neighborhoods, and severely impacting wildlife. Many animals lost their habitats, and the ecosystem is expected to take years, if not decades, to recover. 

ASI helped fund rescue and rehabilitation efforts led by our partner, the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center (WWCC), a registered non-profit dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing injured and orphaned native wildlife. This support proved crucial because so many animals were injured.

Greece 

The effects of climate change, rampant habitat loss, pesticides and an increasing human population have left hedgehogs in Attica, Greece, with few safe spaces to live. Helpless baby hedgehogs and pregnant mothers are trapped in fences, poisoned by pesticides, and killed by mange. Our partner on the ground, ANIMA, is dedicated to giving these poor creatures the care they need, and thanks to our supporters, we have been able to provide a little extra help for these tiny animals.

Kenya 

In wildlife areas, farmers illegally chop down forest trees and burn them for charcoal, leaving behind a destroyed habitat and leading to hunger and death for wild animals. The effect on elephants is particularly disturbing. Once the forests are gone, and their food with it, the elephants move closer to human settlements. This results in increased human-wildlife conflict and raises the possibility of poaching for the illegal ivory trade.

An effective long-term solution is “Operation Seedballs,” a reforestation project in partnership with Nairobi’s Tamfeeds. Seedballs are made using modified charcoal dust to create a protective layer around a seed. The seedballs are then dropped from helicopters in deforested areas, mimicking the way seeds are naturally distributed by birds. When the annual rains come, the dust dissolves and the seed has a chance to grow into a tree. This project is a big success, and with your ongoing support, we will continue to seed a better future for countless threatened and endangered animals.

Seychelles 

In the Seychelles, hunters string nets and hooks in trees to catch fragile flying foxes – fruit bats weighing no more than 1,4 to 2,4lb (0,65 to 1,1kg). They then butcher them and use them in a stomach-churning island ‘delicacy’ – bat curry. Our partner, Protect Seychelles Paradise (PPS), rescues bats caught in nets, as well as infants who fall from their ensnared mothers’ bodies to the ground. Powerline collisions, disorientation due to street lights, and an expanding human population which consumes the flying foxes’ fruit supply are some of the many other threats threatening the species on this seemingly idyllic island.

One of PPS’ greatest challenges is identifying injuries without an X-ray machine – without this vital piece of equipment, the team is unable to identify possible fractures and treat them appropriately. X-ray machines are exorbitantly expensive, but with our donors’ support, we are slowly raising the funds PPS needs to purchase this crucial, life-saving tool.

South Africa 

Habitat destruction is one of the greatest threats to wildlife today. Wherever possible, ASI works with partners to relocate wild animals whose habitats have been destroyed or become unsuitable due to human activity.

Since 2021, we have conducted several large and small-scale wildlife relocations.

In the Eastern Cape, we relocated giraffes, zebras and 50 wildebeest when their sanctuary was turned into a commercial farming concern. Trophy hunters had been given permission to kill them – so with our supporters’ help, we stepped in and saved their lives. The large-scale translocation was a success, and saw the animals transferred to a lush, sprawling nature reserve in the Western Cape.

Also in the Eastern Cape, we relocated a giraffe calf born on a completely unsuitable piece of land taken over by farmers, and have funded vital tracking collars for cheetahs in the same region, helping to protect them in the face of rising human threats.

We have supported the rehabilitation of barn owl chicks found alone and starving in a nest in South Africa’s St Helena Bay. Barn owls do not desert their young so the breeding pair most likely met their demise as a direct or indirect result of human encroachment.
We continue to work to find suitable habitats for wild animals being edged out by rampant population and industrial expansion.

Bambelela Wildlife Sanctuary, Bela Bela

Bambelela Wildlife Sanctuary rescues and rehabilitates a variety of indigenous wild animals, such as zebras, monkeys, giraffes, warthogs and antelope, in Bela Bela, South Africa. 

In late 2024, the sanctuary experienced a devastating wildfire that damaged over 40 hectares – 80% – of its land, and wiped out food sources for 300 animals, the majority of whom are orphaned, injured or sick and in rehabilitation. The fire also damaged enclosures which needed urgent repair..

ASI provided emergency funding for Bambelela to supplement its food supplies while its land recovered from the effects of the fire. With our donation, Bambela purchased over two tons of feed for its 300 residents. We also helped Bambelela fund essential repairs and replacements of lost or damaged facilities after the fire.

Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development (HERD)

Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development (HERD) is an elephant orphanage that provides critical care to rescued elephant calves orphaned through poaching and snaring in South Africa. Once rehabilitated, the calves are reintegrated into HERD’s Jabulani Herd, a group of 16 elephants rescued from South Africa and Zimbabwe who live at the Kapama Private Game Reserve. 

Over the past year, Limpopo grappled with semi-drought conditions, causing many of the waterholes that the herd relies on for their daily drinking and wallowing to run dry. In January 2025, we helped fund the drilling of a borehole and the installation of a solar-powered pump at a vital waterhole near the sanctuary, bringing a steady supply of water for the elephants and sustaining them through the dry season and well into the future.

Globally

Over and above our efforts on the ground, we work to defend and expand existing habitats to help wildlife populations. Through sound information, fundraising and networking, we raise awareness about habitat destruction around the world so that we can instill change before it’s too late.

Changing the way we live on the planet is the only way we can stop destroying natural habitats and start preserving wildlife.

This means putting pressure on the authorities to pass and enforce environmental legislation; reclaiming habitat areas and returning them to the wild so that biodiversity can thrive; safeguarding the existing wild areas; and making conscious choices about what we eat and consume.