IDEXX Laboratories Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ayers and his wife, Helaine, have established a foundation that will support conservation of the estimated 40 species of wild cats around the world.
The Ayers Wild Cat Conservation Trust is endowed by a gift of IDEXX stock from the Ayers family. The foundation will focus on supporting the funding of global wild cat species conservation initiatives and organizations.
“We lionize cats such as jaguars, leopards, and cheetahs in popular culture — and yet felid species in the wild are threatened with declining populations and, in time, extinction,” Ayers said in a news release. “We need to do more to preserve their populations in their natural habitat. Helaine and I believe in the importance of dedicated species conservation efforts, and we hope that our foundation will help to support the vitality of wild cats, their natural habitats, and the professionals dedicated to them in a meaningful way for years to come.”
While the foundation’s purpose is to support conservation initiatives for all species of wild cats, a specific focus will be on the 33 species of small cats, which currently receive only a small fraction of all wild cat conservation funding. Many of these wild cat species are endangered or vulnerable with declining populations, and include the clouded leopard, the black-footed cat, the sand cat, and the fishing cat.
The foundation will fund initiatives such as the Panthera Small Cats Program, which the Ayers family has helped to establish. Panthera is devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s 40 wild cat species and their ecosystems. The first foundation grants are expected to be made this year.
Panthera utilizes the expertise of the world’s premier cat biologists to develop and implement global strategies for the most imperiled large cats: tigers, lions, jaguars, snow leopards, cheetahs, pumas and leopards. Representing the most comprehensive effort of its kind, Panthera partners with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, local communities, governments around the globe, and citizens who want to help ensure a future for wild cats.
The foundation’s initial endowment has been established using IDEXX stock that Ayers purchased on the open market in 2002 and 2003. The foundation has no formal affiliation with IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX), a global leader in veterinary diagnostics and software.
