UK native wildlife
Hedgehog numbers have dropped by over 50% in rural areas in the past 20 years. If we don’t take urgent action, the hedgehog could be lost forever.
Help us save UK hedgehogs by donating to our crowdfunder – each donation will be matched by Aviva Community Fund, so your money will work twice as hard!
Learn MoreAnimals need our help
¹As classified by the IUCN, accurate as of July 2024.
Donate NowOur mission
1 in 1M
Baseline extinction rate
(species per year)
100x
Increase since pre-human times
1 in 10,000
Current extinction rate
(species per year)
From fossil records, the baseline extinction rate is estimated to be around one in every one million species per year. Since pre-human times, this has increased to at least 100 times higher.
Preventing further extinction will require the combination of habitat protection and restoration, preventing further exploitation of wildlife, controlling invasive species, mitigating the effects of climate change, protecting the health of global wildlife populations, and maintaining genetic diversity in animal populations.
Species spotlight
We have preserved over 200 different species so far in our efforts to Save Animals From Extinction.
All Species
Preserved January 2024
Preserved March 2022
Preserved January 2023
Preserved June 2022
Preserved January 2024
Preserved September 2022
Preserved June 2022
Preserved December 2021
Preserved July 2022
Preserved July 2022
Preserved June 2023
Preserved May 2022
Preserved January 2022
Preserved February 2023
Preserved June 2022
Preserved August 2022
Preserved January 2024
Preserved April 2022
Preserved July 2022
Preserved April 2022
Preserved April 2022
Preserved August 2022
At least 50 distinct genetic lines are needed to save each species.
On average, it takes £100 to preserve cell and tissue sample from one animal. That’s at least £5,000 to preserve an entire species.
Make a monthly donation to safeguard the future of our natural world.
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Get StartedHow it works
We work with conservation organisations across the UK to protect threatened wildlife.
We work with leading zoos and wildlife parks to collect biological samples from endangered animals.
After an animal passes, or during routine veterinary procedures such as castration, we work alongside veterinarians to secure cells and cell tissues to store in our biobank.
Using advanced scientific techniques, we are able to keep cells frozen in a viable living state, so that they can be thawed and used practically in endangered species breeding programmes.
As a charity, we provide sample storage free of charge at our state-of-the-art facilities. Each conservation partner maintains ownership of all samples they have stored in our biobank.
Years into the future, samples stored in our biobank can be thawed and used to viable establish pregnancies advanced assisted reproductive technologies (aARTs), restoring genetic diversity in endangered animal species.
To keep our techniques in top shape, we use some samples from lesser threatened species to conduct innovative research to ensure live cells of each tissue type can be safely thawed and cultured.
HOW IT WORKS
Our techniques have been developed by reproductive scientists from world-leading institutions.
We use state-of-the-art techniques to preserve cells in a way that maintains viability, allowing them to be thawed years into the future in a living state. These samples can then be used to establish pregnancies through advanced assisted reproductive technologies (aARTs), restoring genetic diversity to endangered animal species which would have otherwise been lost.
Our scientists have already demonstrated proof-of-concept for our cryopreservation technologies. For example, in 2021 we stored tissue cells from a cheetah. In 2022, we thawed those cells and cultured them, proving that they had successfully been preserved in a living state.
Learn MoreMeet our partners
Zoos, wildlife parks and wildlife rescue centres entrusting Nature’s SAFE to further their conservation goals.
Spix’s night monkey
Total Population: Unknown
Bush dog
Total Population: Unknown
Black tree monitor
Total Population: Unknown
African penguin
Total Population: Less than 40,000 in the wild
Senegal galago
Total Population: Unknown
Little egret
Total Population: 660,000 to 3,150,000 in the wild
Nile Lechwe
Total Population: 30,000 - 40,000 in the wild
Orange-headed thrush
Total Population: Unknown
Smew
Total Population: Around 80,000 in the wild
Clouded Leopard
Total Population: Less than 10,000 in the wild
Arctic wolf
Total Population: Around 200,000 in the wild
Okapi
Total Population: Less than 25,000 in the wild
Patagonian Sea Lion
Total Population: 222,500 to 265,000 in the wild
Wolverine
Total Population: Around 13,000 in the wild
South American fur seal
Total Population: Around 200,000 in the wild
Mandrill
Total Population: Unknown
Sloth bear
Total Population: Less than 20,000 in the wild
