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SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund Awards 19 Grants Totaling $225,000
Researchers and Conservation Groups Worldwide Benefit From Non-Profit Foundation's First Series of Donations
St. Louis, Mo., March 24, 2004 - The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, a private, non-profit charitable foundation dedicated to supporting wildlife preservation, research, education and animal rescue, today announced 19 grants totaling nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
Sixty-seven formal grant applications have been submitted since the charity was launched 10 months ago, said fund President Virginia M. Busch. The foundation's goals include supporting conservation through habitat protection, species research, conservation education and rescue and rehabilitation. The fund was created to allow visitors to the nine Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks, as well as members of the general public to supplement the more than $2.5 million currently earmarked for conservation by the company.
"We are delighted by the response to the Fund so far," said Busch. "It is encouraging to see the breadth of work being done by conservation groups and researchers worldwide. We hope that these grants contribute in some small way to preserving threatened species or ecosystems."
The grants:
Marine Life Research and Conservation
- Research and Conservation Tools for Hawaiian Monk Seals: Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, San Diego, Calif.
- Seabird Restoration and Education on the Maine Coast: National Audubon Society
- Integrating Science and Local Conservation to protect the Meso-American Reef: The Nature Conservancy
- Loggerhead Turtle Tracking: U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Land Animal Research and Conservation
- Freshwater Turtle in India: Wildlife Society of (eastern Indian state of) Orissa
- Frogwatch USA: National Wildlife Federation
- Research and Conservation of the African Wild Ass and Grevy's Zebra: Wildlife Trust
- Black Lion Tamarin Conservation: Wildlife Trust
- Support of Tiger Anti-Poaching Protocols: World Wildlife Fund
- Conservation and Management of Black Rhinos in Etosha National Park, Namibia, Southwest Africa: World Wildlife Fund
- Mbeli Bai Study, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa: Wildlife Conservation Society
Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation
- Juvenile Raptor Restoration Project: The Wildlife Center
- Care for Confiscated Wildlife: WildAid
- Raptor Rescue and Rehabilitation: Audubon Center for Birds of Prey
- Continued Care of Wildlife: Noah's Ark Wildlife Rescue
- Protecting Threatened Species in South West Cambodia: Conservation International
Habitat Protection
- California Native Grasslands Restoration Project in San Diego: San Diego State University
- Evaluation Human-Elephant Conflict in Amboseli, Kenya, East Central Africa: University of Florida
Conservation Education
- Youth Education Program, Masai Mara, Kenya: Friends of Conservation
The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund is a registered non-profit foundation. Its mission is to work with purpose and passion on behalf of wildlife and habitats worldwide, encouraging sustainable solutions through support of species research, animal rescue and rehabilitation and conservation education.
Busch Entertainment Corp., the family entertainment subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., operates nine U.S. theme parks: SeaWorld parks in Orlando, Fla., San Diego, Calif. and San Antonio, Texas; Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla. and Williamsburg, Va.; Discovery Cove in Orlando; Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa.; Adventure Island in Tampa and Water Country USA in Williamsburg.
For more information, contact Fred Jacobs at 314/613-6077.
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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay welcomes the birth of baby Geri into the park's black rhino population. Busch Gardens' veterinarians conduct blood studies on the black rhino both in the park and out in the wild to better understand the health of the endangered species.
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