Duke of Cambridge attends Tusk Awards without Kate to honour achievements in African conservation

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hosted a tea this afternoon for finalists of the 2019 Tusk Awards. This event preceded the official awards ceremony that The Duke of Cambridge attended by himself this evening, due to a last minute cancellation by The Duchess of Cambridge.

Prince William and Kate hosted Tusk Award winners at Kensington Palace for tea earlier today (KP)

The Tusk Awards is an annual event that honours the nominated finalists and winners for their incredible and inspiring achievements in the world of conservation. This year’s ceremony was held at the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square, London, and gave attendees the opportunity to screen the stunning films of this year’s finalists.

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Established in 1990, the Tusk Trust began as an effort to combat the horrific slaughter of elephants and rhinos in Africa. Over 10,000 elephants were inhumanely executed each year during the 1980’s and the number of black rhino were pushed to the edge of extinction, due to the butchery wrought upon them by abhorrent poachers.

Since their inception, the Tusk Trust has waged a massive war against poaching and through their efforts have become a major force in decreasing the number of poaching incidents throughout Africa. They are now one of the most highly efficient forces in African wildlife conservation. Due to the high level of support and activism that the organisation receives from their Royal Patron,The Duke of Cambridge as well as numerous other influential people, the charity has been able to provide well-targetted intervention towards the unbridled illegal wildlife trade, loss of habitat, and human-wildlife conflict with astonishing results.

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By partnering with Africa’s leading conservationists, the Tusk Trust works tirelessly to find sustainable solutions to preserve habitats that are critical for wildlife’s survival, reducing human-wildlife conflict and most importantly, to protect the high number of endangered species caused by a high global demand for illegal wildlife products.

Through the means of community support and education, Tusk is performing a vital job in helping reconnect the people of Africa with the abundance of glorious nature and wildlife that abounds in their areas and helps to instil in them the need to protect it for generations to come.

The Duke of Cambridge gives a speech at the Tusk Awards, celebrating conservation in Africa (Kensington Palace)

Alongside Kate Silverton, who hosted this evening’s ceremony, The Duke of Cambridge helped to pass out the individual awards to the worthy winners. In his role as patron of Tusk Trust, Prince William spoke at the ceremony, stating: “If we put our collective minds, energy and resources to it, we can reset the planet… change is truly possible.”

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All of the finalists and winners are truly inspirational for their unrelenting crusade against poaching and the destruction of Africa’s natural habitat. Each one is truly deserving of the awards received this evening.

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1 comment

Yumiko Kokuryu Fri 22 November, 2019 - 2:31 am

I am very impressed with commitments of Prince William to preserving wildlife in Africa as Patron of Tusk Organization.

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