The Botswana Predator Conservation Trust and Coaching for Conservation®

 WHO WE ARE:

BPCT is a small, African not-for-profit, conservation organization with a mission to conserve Africa’s large carnivores- African wild dog, cheetah, leopard, lion and spotted hyena - and the associated habitats through applied conservation research and education.

Coaching for Conservation started as the primary social program of BPCT. It now delivers programs in South Africa and Botswana using sport and a unique Learning from Wildlife model to engage kids and inspire them to become Kids who Care. 

BPCT was founded as the Botswana Wild Dog Research Project in1989 - now one of the most respected wildlife conservation research projects in Africa.

By combining rigorous scientific inquiry, pure research science and 25 years of collected data, BPCT assists with societal and wildlife
management decision making that affects the conservation and environmental challenges facing sustainable human development in rural Botswana.

CORE PROJECTS:
BioBoundary – An innovative research project aimed at deciphering the complex chemistry of natural scent marks used by free ranging wild dogs and apply this chemistry to the management of the species by being able to talk to them in a language they understand.  Ultimately to prevent human wildlife conflict.

Coaching for Conservation® (C4C) – Education and core value mentoring with a mission to conserve natural resources by using sport to engender self respect and inspire a generation of "Kids who Care".

Field Research – managing and maintaining behavioural ecology data on the whole large carnivore guild to ensure we are able to effectively address and respond to their social, political and environmental challenges.

Livestock Insurance Initiative – Environmentally friendly animal husbandry paired with an innovative insurance scheme to make predator friendly farming desirable and affordable.

WHY WE NEED YOU:
97% of all funds raised for BPCT in the USA and the UK since 1990 have been used to fund the field research and core organizational operations, vehicle and aircraft purchase and operations, education programs targeting Botswana’s youth, and community outreach.

HOW MANY PEOPLE WORK FOR BPCT:
BPCT has a small and effective staff of 19 employees, all but three of whom are citizens of Botswana. Operations staff are based in the village of Maun, Botswana while others are employed in the field either in farming areas or the research camp located a few kilometres outside the world famous Moremi Game Reserve.  

WHERE YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED

$100 - Send one primary school learner to the 6 week C4C after-school program.

$150 - Will provide an hour of aviation fuel for the project Cessna plane - for aerial radio tracking and monitoring movements of study populations. 120hr required annually.

$300 - Will compensate a farmer for a cow killed by lions (or by any other large predator species).

$500- Offer a day field trip to a wildlife reserve for a Grade 5 (age 10/11) class of learners -often providing their first wildlife experience

$800 - Buys a GPS/Satellite radio collar with an expected battery life of 14 months. Ten are proposed for 2016 to monitor the movement of predators in wildlife areas bordering livestock grazing areas.

$1500 - Will pay for construction of a predator resistant corral to reduce the livestock losses from predators at night, with the guidance of the BCPT team.  Unlimited number needed in Northern Botswana.

$ 5000 - Pays for Botswana Citizen Graduate Student training and support for 1 year

FOR MORE INFO CONTACT US AT:
J.W. Tico McNutt, PhD
Co-Founder/Director
Botswana Predator Conservation Trust
Private Bag 13 Maun, Botswana
www.bpctrust.org
Tel: +267 686 2363
info@bpctrust.org

Social media sites:
http://www.bpctrust.org
Twitter: C4C_Africa
Facebook:  CoachingforConservation

Donation Page:  http://www.bpctrust.org/support-us.asp

BIOGRAPHIES:  

J. Weldon “Tico” McNutt PhD, Founder and Director, BPCT

 J.Weldon “Tico” McNutt PhD is the Founder and Director of the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (www.bpctrust.org). He began his pioneering conservation work on African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus) in the Okavango Delta.  In 1989 while earning a doctorate in Animal Behavior from the University of California, Davis. For 25 years, working continuously in Botswana with graduate students, local staff and trainees, Tico supervises the growing team of researchers and students from around the world to fulfil BPCT’s mission of focusing attention on the conservation of all African large carnivore species. Along with an impressive publication list, Tico has been honoured with several awards including: the Emil Mark Distinguished Alumni Award for International Service in 2011 from the University of California Davis, Cal Aggie Alumni Association; the 2011 Tusk Conservation Award at the American Express Conservation Lecture Series at the Royal Geographic Society, London, UK; the 2015 Barrows Conservation Award at the Cincinnati Zoo in Cincinnati, OH. USA; and the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award,
at Lakeside School, Seattle, WA. USA.

Lesley McNutt MA Co-founder and Director, BPCT

Lesley, originally from Ontario, Canada completed a Masters in Development Anthropology at McGill University in Montreal. She and Dr
JW “Tico” McNutt met in Botswana and started what is now the BPCT in 1990. BPCT is dedicated to the preservation of wildlife and wildlife spaces through research and applied conservation initiatives.  Lesley’s own research focuses on human-wildlife conflict and the relationships between people and protected areas.  In 2003, she spearheaded
Coaching for Conservation® (C4C), an initiative launched under BPCT’s program umbrella, whose primary mission is to inspire Kids to Care through their unique Learning from Wildlife model. C4C now runs a year round conservation education program for hundreds of primary school children in Northern Botswana and in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

Tico and Lesley are Founders and Directors of the U.S. registered non-profit (501(c)3), Wild Entrust International