Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme

EWCP was founded in 1995 by Claudio Sillero and Karen Laurenson, building on research undertaken on the previous decade and a realisation that these animals were so rare and threatened that they required a special programme to secure their persistence. Today EWCP is recognised as a world leader in the field of carnivore conservation. The Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP) is a partnership between the University of Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and the Born Free Foundation, which provides an ideal platform from which to address wildlife conservation. The EWCP operates under the auspices of the IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group, and additionally collaborates with the University of Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar, Debre Zeit, Gonder, and Wondo Genet in Ethiopia, and Universities of Glasgow, Leiden, South Bohemia and the Zoological Society of London, among others. EWCP operates in Ethiopia under Memoranda of Understanding agreements between the WildCRU and the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA) at a federal level, and the Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise (OFWE) and Amhara Culture, Tourism and Parks Development Bureau at a regional level. In addition, EWCP works closely with the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and the Born Free Foundation Ethiopia (BFFE). EWCP has long established and excellent working relationships with all these organisations. In addition, the Programme seeks the support and cooperation of local authorities for all field activities in all areas. EWCP has been chiefly funded by the Born Free Foundation since its inception in 1995, with generous donations from the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN) since 2002.