Royals doing conservation work with endangered animals

April 03, 2020

By Heather Cichowski

The Royal Family has a long history of championing animal conservation, the protection of biodiversity and encouraging people to be good stewards of the environment. The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry have long shown their support for helping endangered species.
Harry and Duchess Meghan have worked with Elephants Without Borders (EWB) and the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund. In 2017 prior to their engagement, the Sussexes took a trip to Botswana to get involved in elephant conservation. In 2020, the former actress is doing a voiceover for a Disney documentary on elephants.

Similarly, William penned a passionate plea for elephants in the 2019 book The Last Elephants after previously meeting with United for Wildlife and Tusk Trust.

The Duke of Edinburgh was the first president of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) UK, from 1961 to 1982. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales's love and respect for the planet and nature has long been a point of pride for him and he's advocated for the Earth for decades through his patronages, causes and work with Highgrove House and The Prince's Trust.

Scroll through the gallery (or click through if you're on desktop) to see the times royals got involved with animal conservation.

Photo: © Chris Jackson/Getty Images

<h2>Prince William and Duchess Kate</h2>
<p>The <a href=/tags/0/prince-william-and-kate><strong>Duke and Duchess of Cambridge</strong></a> fed baby elephants at Kaziranga National Park during a visit to Kanchanjuri, India in 2016. The trip to the protected area was part of their week-long tour of India and Bhutan and it was for the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation at Kaziranga.
<p>Photo: © Samir Hussein/WireImage

<h2>Prince Harry</h2>
<p>The Duke of Sussex helped a baby turtle to the sea when he visited the Nevis Turtle Conservation project on the fourth day of his royal tour of the Caribbean on Nov. 23, 2016. He then watched as the reptile and its siblings made it to the water!
<p>Photo: © Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage

<h2>The Queen and Prince Philip</h2>
<p>On April 11, 2017, Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh fed an elephant named Donna at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.
<p>They officially opened the zoo's new Centre for Elephant Care. The royals got the chance to see the Head Elephant Keeper and the elephant team carrying out daily care tasks including nail filing and mouth care!
<p>Photo: © Chris Radburn/PA Images via Getty Images

<h2>Prince William</h2>
<p>William, who is Royal Patron of Tusk Trust and President of United For Wildlife, assisted rangers in Kenya to move a tranquilized bull elephant named Matt, so a wildlife vet could fit a new satellite tracking collar to monitor the majestic creature and protect him from poachers.
<p>On the March 24, 2016 engagement, the talented Duke of Cambridge also co-piloted an aircraft during a darting exercise while on a private visit to see some of the conservation work supported by Tusk.
<p>Photo: © Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Wiliam

Eat up, little fella! The prince lovingly fed a five-year-old black rhino named Zawadi as he visited Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 6, 2012 in England.

During the engagement, he met with meet staff and rhinos involved in a translocation project. Multiple organizations, including the Aspinall Foundation, Tusk Trust and the George Adamson Trust, came together to stage a rare translocation of three captive-born black rhinos to Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania in order to rejuvenate numbers of the species in the area.

The three animals were being airlifted in a dedicated DHL Boeing 757 from Manston Airport in Kent direct to Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania.

William, who had previously spoken out against the illegal trade of ivory and who works with Tusk Trust, visited the rhinos before their translocation.

<h2>Prince William and Prince Charles</h2>
<p>In a rare joint engagement, Charles and his son met Jae Jae, a Sumatran tiger, while they attended a United for Wildlife meeting at the Zoological Society of London on Nov. 26, 2013.
<p>William was there in regards to his role as the President of United for Wildlife, a collaboration of seven of the largest global conservation organizations.
<p>Photo: © Eddie Mulholland-WPA Pool/Getty Images

<h2>Prince Philip</h2>
<p>As part of his role as the President of the London Zoological Society, the Duke of Edinburgh met a seven-month-old elephant named Kumara while visiting Whipsnade Zoo on July 16, 1967. He was joined by Conservative politician <strong>Christopher Soames</strong> (far left) and the society's secretary <strong>Lord Solly Zuckerman</strong> (second from left).
<p>The Zoological Society of London was founded in 1826 as an international charity to conserve animals and their habitats. The duke served as president from 1960 to 1977.
<p>Photo: © William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

<h2>Prince William</h2>
<p>Hi there! The animal lover met with a rescued elephant called Ran Ran at the Xishuangbanna Elephant Sanctuary on March 4, 2015 during his four-day tour of China.
<p>Photo: © Chris Jackson/Getty Images

<h2>Prince Charles</h2>
<p>The Prince of Wales posed with an Ecuadorian stream tree frog, an endangered species discovered in the rain forests of Ecuador. He was joined by a group of masked students during a WWF-UK Green Ambassadors Summit at Highgrove House on July 5, 2012 in Doughton England.
<p>At the event, the group learned about the sustainability features of the Highgrove estate and took part in workshops.
<p>In his role as President of WWF-UK, Prince Charles showed his support for the WWF-UK and BT Green Ambassadors scheme, which aims to encourage a new generation of sustainability champions.
<p>Photo: © Arthur Edwards - WPA Pool/Getty Images