{"id":1229,"date":"2013-06-06T11:24:48","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T01:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=1229"},"modified":"2013-06-25T12:53:07","modified_gmt":"2013-06-25T02:53:07","slug":"making-a-difference-murray-munro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=1229","title":{"rendered":"Making a difference: Murray Munro"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Muzz&Pasa\"<\/a>Murray Munro is an ambassador for the voiceless species of our planet. He is a passionate conservationist with a strong sense of social justice, a global adventurer of the earth\u2019s wild places. Murray Munro is a man on a mission. The founder of an unconventional conservation organisation, Earth Warrior, he is a one-man rapid response team ready at a moment\u2019s notice to rescue wildlife in danger or distress anywhere in the world. A man with a clearly defined sense of purpose, Munro sums up his commitment to the animal kingdom, \u201cI have a voice and I can make a difference.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nHis dream is for Earth Warrior to be represented by a child from each nation on the globe, all focused on working together in love and peace to promote conservation, sustainability and the environment. \u201cIt would send a message of inspiration and hope to everyone on the planet.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cMany people have lost touch with nature,\u201d he continues. \u201cWe have to get back on track. It\u2019s an amazing world; be thankful and have respect for the animal kingdom. Getting in touch with nature is valuable for the planet and for us, as a species.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nAs a boy he was passionate about animals and knew his life would revolve around wildlife but it wasn\u2019t until he was much older, while sitting with mountain gorillas in the jungles of Uganda, that he realised his destiny – to make a difference. \u201cWith only 300 left in the wild, mountain gorillas are one of the most endangered species in the world.\u201d He says the moment was sobering and poignant. \u201cI wanted the next generation to have the chance to experience what I was experiencing.\u201d <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMunro\u2019s idealism is backed with the pragmatic skills to make his dream a reality. Having travelled extensively around the world, he has developed the ability to adapt and interact easily with people from different cultures, traditions and environments. With a background in zoo-keeping, marketing and fund-raising, and as a former appeals manager for Wildlife Warriors at Australia Zoo, Munro is a well-qualified spokesman for the endangered, the orphaned, the lost and the voiceless members of the animal kingdom.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nHis current project, Save Bona, is focused on saving the life of an orphaned baby elephant in Sumatra. When former Australia Zoo colleagues, Amanda French and Bruce Levick, first brought the plight of the sickly, malnourished orphan to his attention, Munro saw an animal in obvious need. \u201cI was given an opportunity to make a difference.\u201d It was a chance to walk the talk. The three friends pledged to save Bona, and the campaign was launched in April 2012. To date they have raised over $20,000. Bona has gained 150kg in weight and is now a mischievous, playful two year old. She lives at the Elephant Conservation Centre in Sumatra and, when older, will be trained as a conservation patrol elephant. <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nTeam Bona – Munro, French and Levick – undoubtedly saved Bona\u2019s life. Their compassion is heart-warming but their dedication is astounding. They have committed the next three years of their lives to ensuring Bona receives the proper care and nutrition a growing elephant needs. Not only must they raise $2000 per month to cover Bona\u2019s food costs but they will also ensure that at least one of them is with Bona in Sumatra at all times during the next three years. <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMunro sees Bona as an ambassador for her species. \u201cKeeping Bona\u2019s plight in the spotlight focuses attention on elephants worldwide.\u201d In developing countries, elephants are often regarded as pests, competing with humans for land and resources. In Sumatra, conflict arises when elephants forage on palm oil plantations, destroying trees and crops and threatening a farmer\u2019s livelihood. Bona\u2019s mother, and other family members, were poisoned by farmers protecting their interests. When survival is at stake, conservation becomes an unrealistic ideal. Munro is set on changing this mind-set by \u201cpromoting the idea that conservation can equate to profits for the local community.\u201d This shared vision of wildlife preservation and economic development is not a new concept and has been successfully implemented in many developing countries \u2013 from safari tours to new product manufacture through to ecotourism. <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThe Sumatran jungle is wild and beautiful and, in Munro\u2019s opinion, perfect for an ecotourism venture. \u201cEncouraging the local community to explore other avenues of living that embodies conservation – and realising the potential income from conservation tourism -not only leads to protection of the environment but also to the offending species because that animal is suddenly recognised as valuable.\u201d <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMunro and his colleagues have written a children\u2019s booklet about elephants. Giving talks at village schools, spreading the message of conservation to the next generation, is an important part of the Save Bona project. Engaging children is also a core element of the Earth Warrior organisation. How to get the message across? \u201cMake conservation fun,\u201d he says. Indonesian village children have shown overwhelming interest and curiosity in Team Bona. And with the intense media coverage the team has received both nationally and internationally, it seems they are getting the message across. <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nAs an Earth Warrior, Munro is passionate about all wildlife but has a soft spot for chimpanzees, orangutans, tigers, elephants, and marine turtles. His role models include Nelson Mandela and renowned conservationists David Attenborough, Steve Irwin, and \u2018Leakey\u2019s angels\u2019 (primatologists Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas). He admires Attenborough\u2019s unobtrusive observations of the natural world, the late Irwin\u2019s infectious enthusiasm, and the adventurous spirit and courage of \u2018Leakey\u2019s angels\u2019 \u2013 the dedicated women who braved an isolated jungle existence to study and research primates. <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMunro has worked on various conservation projects around the world and has extensive dealings with injured, oppressed and orphaned creatures yet, even after so many years, seeing an animal in distress easily moves him to tears. \u201cIf you feel,\u201d he says, \u201cIt becomes more important that you try to make a difference. The world is ready for someone new in conservation. Someone like Attenborough or Irwin, who can engage people and can make an impact.\u201d Munro believes he is that person. So do his followers. There is no doubt this man\u2019s passion and determination will ensure his is a voice to be heard.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nFor more information, to volunteer, or to donate to the Save Bona campaign: <\/span><\/span>www.savebona.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nOLIVIA POZZAN<\/b><\/span><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Murray Munro is an ambassador for the voiceless species of our planet. He is a passionate conservationist with a strong sense of social justice, a global adventurer of the earth\u2019s wild places. Murray Munro is a man on a mission. The founder of an unconventional conservation organisation, Earth Warrior, he is a one-man rapid response […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1067,1064,806,1063,1068,1069,1065,1066],"class_list":["post-1229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-australia-zoo","tag-earth-warrior","tag-environment","tag-murray-munro","tag-save-bona","tag-sumatra","tag-sustainability","tag-wildlife-warriors"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":67,"name":"Features","slug":"features","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":68,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":63,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":67,"category_count":63,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Features","category_nicename":"features","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"Murray Munro is an ambassador for the voiceless species of our planet. He is a passionate conservationist with a strong sense of social justice, a global adventurer of the earth\u2019s wild places. Murray Munro is a man on a mission. The founder of an unconventional conservation organisation, Earth Warrior, he is a one-man rapid response team ready at a moment\u2019s..","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"67":{"name":"Features","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=67"}},"tags_names":{"1067":{"name":"Australia Zoo","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=australia-zoo"},"1064":{"name":"Earth Warrior","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=earth-warrior"},"806":{"name":"environment","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=environment"},"1063":{"name":"Murray Munro","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=murray-munro"},"1068":{"name":"Save Bona","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=save-bona"},"1069":{"name":"Sumatra","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=sumatra"},"1065":{"name":"sustainability","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=sustainability"},"1066":{"name":"Wildlife Warriors","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=wildlife-warriors"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1229"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1358,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229\/revisions\/1358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}