Prince William conservation organization announces honorees for Tusk Wildlife Gala 2017

Prince William conservation organization announces honorees for Tusk Wildlife Gala 2017. Source: Tusk USA, New York NY.
Prince William conservation organization announces honorees for Tusk Wildlife Gala 2017. Source: Tusk USA, New York NY.

By Ellen C. O’Connell, Tusk USA

The African wildlife conservation organization, Tusk USA, whose Royal Patron is HRH The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William announced plans for the 2017 Tusk Wildlife Gala yesterday. The Gala will be held on April 6, 2017, at Guastavino’s in New York City.

Tusk, whose mission is to work with local communities to protect African wildlife, will honor renowned paleoanthropologist, conservationist and Kenyan politician, Richard Leakey with the 2017 Tusk Legacy Award. Leakey initially gained fame for the discovery of the 1.6-million- year-old skeleton of a homo erectus youth. As the first Chairman of Kenya Wildlife Service, he reorganized Kenya’s national park systems and dramatically reduced poaching levels. Leakey continues to tirelessly campaign against the slaughter of African wildlife.

This year’s Game Changer Award will be given to Richard Ladkani and Kief Davidson in recognition of their Oscar shortlisted Netflix film The Ivory Game.  From executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio, The Ivory Game is an epic documentary that goes undercover into the dark and sinister world of ivory trafficking. The directors filmed for 16 months in China, Vietnam, the UK and Africa to infiltrate the corrupt global network of ivory trafficking. The film, which premiered at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals in September and globally launched on Netflix in early November, makes a compelling case that the only way to save Africa’s elephants is to completely ban the ivory trade in China.  In fact, Jane Goodall congratulated the directors for their courageous work and said she believed the film “may have influenced the timing” of China’s recent announcement that they would shut down their legal commercial ivory trade by the end of 2017.

David Yarrow, Europe’s best selling wildlife photographer, and long-term partner of Tusk, will join the dinner as a featured guest. Yarrow has built an unrivalled reputation for capturing the beauty of the planet’s remote landscapes, cultures and endangered animals. His most recent book ‘Wild Encounters’, was named ‘2016 art book of the year’ by Amazon.

Tusk USA is a 501(c)(3) registered charity whose headquarters are at at 525 East 89th Street, New York NY. For more information, visit:

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Kay Whatley serves as Editor and Reporter with The Grey Area News. Kay is a published author with over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. Kay Whatley is wife to Frank Whatley, founder of The Grey Area™ newspaper and The Grey Area News online news website.