Fund-raiser to benefit African Conservancy

By:JENNIFER KABBANY - Staff Writer | Monday, September 15, 2003 11:09 PM PDT ∞

VISTA ---- Many experts believe that within three decades almost all apes living in the African Congo will end up as dinner for the natives. One Vista-based nonprofit is fighting to prevent that from happening.

In the midst of drum beats, cocktails and dancing, the Vista-based African Conservancy, a 2-year-old nonprofit group working to preserve African wildlife and traditional cultures, will discuss the plight of the ape during its annual gala and fund-raiser Saturday night.

The event aims to raise money not only for the organization, but also to help convert poachers into preservationists, said Tony Rose, the night's keynote speaker and director of the Biosynergy Institute/Bushmeat Project.

"My focus is to work with hunters and find ways for them to use their skills in the forest to protect wildlife," Rose said. "Once you hire them, you get them to learn to appreciate and understand the forest in the long run, and have some empathy for the animals."

Rose will present a photo essay Saturday evening based on his years of gorilla-poaching research.

"I'll be showing select pages from a (new coffee table) book in my talk, which basically takes you right through the story from beautiful animals and how they once were to the invasion of loggers and the slaughter of the animals and the orphaning of apes," Rose said. "Bushmeat ... is a $4 billion annual business in the Congo basin. There are probably 100,000 gorillas and 150,000 chimps ... people don't have an exact count."

The primates are being killed at a rate of about 10,000 per year, Rose contends, adding that in 30 years they will be extinct.

"All the great apes will have been consumed, eaten for gourmet meat ... that's what's happening," Rose said.

Corinne Waldenmayer, president of the conservancy, encourages those who care about the planet's overall environment to take part in Saturday's event.

"People in North County should care that the most unique environment on the planet will not be available to their children," said Waldenmayer, who was born in Algiers and spent her childhood on the African island nation of Madagascar. "They take their children to the Wild Animal Park and zoo, and that's a nice way to expose kids to certain animals, but the reality is you don't know what its like until you see them (in the wild)."

The event also includes a silent auction, which will feature a variety of adventure, leisure, cultural, entertainment and art-related items. Proceeds will benefit the African Conservancy.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (760) 631-6622 or jkabbany@nctimes.com.

What: African Conservancy's annual gala, fund-raiser

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: 2590 San Clemente Ave., Vista, CA, 92084

Cost: $75 per person

RSVP: Accepted until Friday; walk-ins will be billed

Call for ticket: (760) 945-7571

Further information: www.africanconservancy.org