Feeling wild? I've created a personality quiz to help spread the word about some other cats in danger— "Which Rare Wildcat is Your Secret Twin?" Test it out and leave a comment with which cat was your match!
It's time for our favorite part of the month – directing $281.66 in FUZZ Funds to a worthy conservation cause that you get to choose!
Since launching in January, we've already helped expand the Manul Working Group's camera trap network across Mongolia's frozen steppe. Now, it's time to decide where our collective impact goes next.
Your vote matters more than ever. Each of our nominees represents an innovative solution to critical wildlife challenges we've explored this month — from beehive fences protecting both elephants and farmers, to supporting rangers saving the last 2,500 pygmy hippos on Earth, to continuing our support for Mongolia's ancient cat with new protective shelters.
🚨 And don't forget: Upgrade to paid before voting closes and I'll personally add $25 more to this month's conservation pool. That's on top of your subscription amount, which already goes 100% to wildlife protection with zero overhead or administrative costs. (Annual subscriptions are spread evenly across each month to ensure steady support all year long.)
Ready to turn your wildlife passion into real-world impact? Let's do this!
And here are the two new nominees for this month —
Elephants and Bees Project
The Elephants and Bees Project has pioneered an elegant solution to human-elephant conflict using beehive fences. Based on elephants' natural fear of African honeybees, these fences have successfully deterred up to 86% of approaching elephants during peak crop seasons across Kenya and other regions.
What makes this approach remarkable is its multiple benefits: farmers gain protection for their crops while earning additional income from "Elephant-Friendly Honey" sales; elephants remain unharmed and can maintain their natural movement patterns; and local ecosystems benefit from increased pollination.
With over 14,000 hives now installed across 97 sites in Africa and Asia, your support would help expand this award-winning program led by Dr. Lucy King to more communities living alongside elephant populations, providing training, materials, and monitoring support where these innovative fences are needed most.
Fauna & Flora: Saving Pygmy Hippos
If there's one thing I've learned from FUZZ so far it’s that just because an animal goes viral doesn't mean there's money for its conservation. That was the hard lesson learned by pygmy hippo researchers, who were hoping to benefit from the viral success of Moo Deng but didn't receive the influx of funds that they staked their hopes on. And that's heartbreaking, because these tiny hippos are incredibly endangered in the wild.
With fewer than 2,500 pygmy hippos remaining (that's just one pygmy hippo for every 3.5 million humans), these secretive forest-dwelling creatures face mounting threats from habitat destruction and hunting. As logging and mining fragment their forest homes in West Africa, these normally shy animals are forced into dangerous proximity with humans.
Fauna & Flora has been using innovative techniques like eDNA surveys and camera traps to locate the last remaining strongholds of this endangered species in Liberia. Your support would help train and equip community wardens to protect these elusive animals, purchase essential equipment like GPS units and camera traps, and implement proven conservation strategies that have already successfully saved other endangered species like mountain gorillas from the brink of extinction.
Double-down with the Manul Working Group
We know consistent funding is tough to come by for any small conservation organization. So I want to give our paying subscribers a chance to double-down their impact with another month of funding to the Manul Working Group. Having spent the past few weeks in some of the, uh, thriftiest accommodations in the world, I know how far they stretch every bit of funding they get. (I did a big AMA on Reddit this week if you want to read more.)
And they have big plans and a broader focus than just Mongolia, too. We saw how few manuls were on the camera traps this trip, which makes building artificial shelters to save the survivors from dogs and wolves this summer that much more important. There are also populations in other countries across Central Asia that need studies and surveys of their own.
My rule with FUZZ Funds is each group can only have a three-month max run — if you love manuls, Pazi's Pallas is there to provide more dedicated coverage and support. But I want to give you a chance to send another month's support their way if my coverage of Vadim and the steppe made you sympathetic to these small, slow and apparently impossible to see cats.
All three of these organizations are deserving. Who’s it going to be? If you’re a paying subscriber, you’ll see the poll down below. And if you’re not? What better time to join and make your voice heard, while also unlocking bonus funds from me!
Have a great weekend and get your votes in before Monday morning.
Up to you, buddy. You have been there; I haven't. I only know anything about these places b/c you write about them, which I appreciate. So my vote is proxy-ed to you. Keep up the great work and I vote that YOU send the money where you think it is best used and most important.