Born Free Usa

Our vision is a co-existent future where humans no longer exploit wild animals. We work tirelessly to ensure that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect and are able to live their lives according to their needs. As a leading wildlife charity, we oppose the exploitation of wild animals in captivity and campaign to keep them where they belong – in the wild. We promote Compassionate Conservation to enhance the survival of threatened species in the wild and protect natural habitats while respecting the needs and safeguarding the welfare of individual animals. We seek to have a positive impact on animals in the wild and protect their ecosystems in perpetuity, for their intrinsic value and for the critical roles they play.

Born Free USA raised public awareness of the dangers and cruelty of keeping wild animals as pets; use in entertainment venues such as zoos and theme parks; the commercial trade in live animals, their parts and products made from them; and the trapping and fur industry. The organization used social media, mainstream media, and educational outreach materials to advance its charitable purposes. Additionally, it maintains an interactive database of deadly and dangerous captive wild animal incidents to shed light on the magnitude of the issue of captive exotic animals, along with a database of trap-related injuries and deaths to make the public aware of the dangers of traps of wildlife, pets, and humans on public and private lands. It also addressed the supply and demand of fur for fashion by urging retailers and fashion houses to pledge to be fur free. Born Free USA worked to end cruelty to furbearing animals by advocating for policy changes related to the barbaric body-gripping traps and snares in the National Wildlife Refuge System. It continued its Fur for the Animals program in which donated used fur apparel was distributed to wildlife rehabilitation centers around the country to comfort injured and orphaned wildlife. The organization worked to educate citizens about elephant and rhino poaching, trophy hunting, and the illegal commercial wildlife trade. It also campaigned to secure protections for endangered and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In Canada, Born Free USA stopped or delayed deer culls in nearly all of British Columbia. It also advocated for a bill in Parliament to end the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity and campaigned to have the midland painted turtle identified as a species of special concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Born Free USA conducted a series of trainings in coastal West African countries that focused on the identification of shark and ray species. These trainings enhanced the ability of the countries law enforcement officers to identify trafficked species and enforce CITES regulations. The organization produced identification guides of CITES-listed species for West and Central African countries in response to the need for low-tech resources to help law enforcement officials identify species and their parts at border crossings and better enforce CITES regulations and protect highly vulnerable species. It led fact-finding missions in collaboration with the governments of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Togo to evaluate the impact of wildlife crime on biodiversity and develop recommendations to tackle wildlife crime in the region.