Earth Day Hangout on Polar Bears and Cheetahs: Learn how climate change is affecting both species and what we can do to help

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Contact:
CCF CONTACT: Teresa Delaney (503) 515 6061 email: teresa@cheetah.org
PBI CONTACT: Barbara Nielsen (225) 928 9798 email: bnielsen@pbears.org

Earth Day Hangout on Polar Bears and Cheetahs: Learn how climate change is affecting both species and what we can do to help

April 14, 2014 – Polar Bears International (PBI) and Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) are teaming up on Earth Day, April 22, for a live Google+ Hangout on polar bears and cheetahs. “Polar Bears and Cheetahs: Hope for Two Iconic Species,“ will air at 2 p.m. ET and is open to the general public.

“The Hangout is the launch event for a new dialogue on the global impacts of climate change between our two organizations,” says Krista Wright, executive director of PBI. “I can’t think of a better way of celebrating the 44th Earth Day than to highlight this worldwide issue and focus on the actions we can take.”

Participants will have the chance to hang out on air with two celebrated scientists—Dr. Laurie Marker of Cheetah Conservation Fund and Dr. Steven Amstrup of Polar Bears International—and ask questions. They will learn about two very different animals, cheetahs and polar bears, and explore the impacts of climate warming on their polar opposite habitats—the African savannah and Arctic sea ice.
“These species serve as an example of the fragility of our planet and forecast the threat to our own species,” says Marker. “Despite these threats, our message is one of hope. Our goal is to inspire action and create momentum, not only to save cheetahs and polar bears, but to preserve life as we know it on Earth.”

The Hangout will include a No Idling Challenge to participants, part of PBI’s Save Our Sea Ice Campaign. Every year, idling vehicles burn over 1.4 billion gallons of fuel in the U.S. alone. This pumps an additional 58 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, with no transportation benefit. The No Idling Challenge focuses on ending this wasteful habit and making more sustainable driving habits the norm.
To join the Hangout, register and watch it on Google+. Watch it on their Polar Bear TV at http://polarbearsinternational.org/get-involved/save-our-sea-ice-campaign/.

About Cheetah Conservation Fund
Founded in Namibia in 1990, Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is the global leader in research and conservation of cheetahs. CCF is dedicated to saving the cheetah in the wild. CCF’s Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Laurie Marker, an American biologist, is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on cheetah biology, ecology and conservation and has developed CCF’s conservation strategy, which has contributed to increasing the wild cheetah population in Namibia by 50%. CCF’s long-term studies analyze and monitor the factors affecting the cheetah’s survival in the wild and the results are used to develop conservation policies and education programmes that have reached over 300,000 people. CCF is a registered non-profit in Namibia, the UK, Canada and the US. Dr. Marker has received numerous awards for her conservation work, including the 2008 Intel Environmental Prize of the 2008 Tech Awards and 2010 Tyler Prize for the Environment – the premier award for environmental science, environmental health and energy conferring great benefit upon mankind. People can learn more about CCF or make a donation to the organization by visiting www.cheetah.org.

About Polar Bears International
Polar Bears International is the world’s leading polar bear conservation group, dedicated saving polar bears by saving their sea ice habitat. PBI’s goal is to keep polar bears in the Arctic, always—and this means greatly reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the planet to warm and the sea ice to melt. PBI focuses its efforts on three main areas: research, education, and action. Dr. Steven Amstrup, PBI’s chief scientist, is world-renowned for his work with polar bears. Prior to joining PBI, he led polar bear ecology research in Alaska for 30 years. In 2007, he led the U.S.G.S. research team whose reports became the basis for the 2008 U.S. decision to list polar bears as a threatened species. After retiring from his government position in 2010, Amstrup joined PBI to speak up about the need to save polar bears. He has been tireless and passionate in his outreach. In 2012, Amstrup was selected as the recipient of the Indianapolis Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for animal conservation. To learn more about PBI or make a donation to support PBI’s work, visit www.polarbearsinternational.org.