A Dollar for Your Tweets

Mubwindi, a gorilla infant available for sponsorship

Ever heard of tweeting gorillas?

I just read about a new fundraising initiative for the endangered gorillas of Africa. Uganda's Wildlife Authority is using social networking media to help fund preservation efforts for the gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

It is estimated that only about 720 of these majestic gorillas are left in the wild.
For a minimum donation of $1 per year, you can choose and sponsor one of the animals. The gorilla then becomes your "friend" through Twitter or Facebook. You will receive regular updates that track the animal's movements, and be able to view videos and photos of your furry "friend".

You can get information about the effort and find a gorilla to sponsor at the nonprofit's website, Friend A Gorilla.

It appears that people are fascinated with the concept of helping endangered animals while getting up close and personal (in a virtual way, of course) with their chosen gorilla.

This is a clever use of the ever growing popular social websites, and I can see other organizations launching a similar effort. Makes me feel sort of inadequate, though. Gorillas can tweet and I can't? That certainly underscores my technical inadequacies.

Anyway, I'm considering signing up.

Because who wouldn't want to have a gorilla for a friend?

Endangered Species Advocate

The WWF logo features the Giant Panda.

The World Wildlife Fund has a multi-faceted mission which, in essence, is to conserve nature. One WWF goal that is very dear to me is that of protecting endangered species. Among these are such creatures as the Giant Panda, tigers, and certain endangered dolphins.

WWF is serious when they use the word "world" in their name. Areas of concern to them are truly global, and they operate throughout virtually every continent. If you'd like to learn more about WWF, check out their website.

Today, many species are threatened or endangered.

And once an animal disappears, it's gone for good.