The Peregrine Fund (named after the bird of prey of the same name the peregrine falcon) is a non-profit organization founded in 1970 that conserves threatened and endangered birds of prey worldwide. The successful recovery of the peregrine falcon in the United States, which was removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1999, enabled the organization to expand its mission to include other endangered raptors around the world. The Peregrine Fund is headquartered at its World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, on a campus with breeding and research facilities, an administrative office, interpretive center, research library, and archives.
Mission
The Peregrine Fund's mission is to restore rare species through captive breeding and release, improve capacity for local conservation, conduct scientific research and environmental education, and conserve habitat. It currently is involved in recovery of the California condor and Aplomado Falcon, and research on American Kestrels and Gyrfalcons in the United States and a variety of raptors in Central America, South America, West Indies, Madagascar, Asia, East Africa, Australia, and the Philippines. Conservation efforts have been extended to more than 100 species in 70 countries.
Approach
The Peregrine Fund is a non-political, science-based, project-driven conservation organization. It works in partnership with local conservation groups and local, state and national governments on its recovery projects. It also partners with students by supporting their education in raptor biology and other scientific fields and has trained, mentored, and supported over 100 students to increase local capacity for conservation science. The organization receives funds from foundation and government grants, memberships and individual donations for bird recovery programs. An endowment fund pays administrative and development costs. As a result, 96 percent of donations go directly to programs. The organization has 33-member, multi-national board of directors representing business, science and conservation.
History
At the first Peregrine Conference in 1965, biologists concluded that the peregrine falcon was in serious decline around the world. Concerned enthusiasts in the sport of falconry believed that breeding falcons in captivity would be a way to keep the species alive if the wild birds became extinct. After a second meeting at Cornell University in 1969, the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico were asked to protect the remaining populations of peregrine falcons. The U.S. Department of Interior listed the falcon as endangered in 1970. The pesticide DDT, which caused the birds' eggshells to become thin and break, was banned for domestic use in the United States in 1972. The falcon remained on the list of endangered species when the Endangered Species Act was adopted by Congress in 1973.
Ornithology professor Tom Cade founded The Peregrine Fund at Cornell University in 1970 to breed the falcons in captivity and release them to the wild. In 1974 a second breeding operation was begun in Fort Collins, Colorado, managed by Bill Burnham, who went on to become president of The Peregrine Fund for 23 years. Both operations relocated to Boise, Idaho after the World Center for Birds of Prey was established in 1984. The Peregrine Fund bred and released more than 4,000 falcons from 1974 to 1997. In 1985, The Peregrine Fund held an international conference on the 20th anniversary of the first Peregrine Conference to celebrate the survival and growing recovery of the falcon population and to assess its global status.
Since 1970, The Peregrine Fund has hatched and raised 20 species of rare birds and pioneered propagation and releasing techniques for numerous species. Species systematically released to the wild to develop techniques or restore wild populations include the Aplomado falcon, bald eagle, bat falcon, California condor, harpy eagle, Madagascar fish eagle, Mauritius kestrel, orange-breasted falcon, and prairie falcon. Overall, the organization has monitored, surveyed and worked with more than 100 raptor species in the wild around the world.