Annual Report 2012

I am very pleased to present you with the 2012 Annual Report of the Frankfurt Zoological Society of 1858 e.V. and our supporting Hilfe für die bedrohte Tierwelt Foundation. We hope it will provide you with an overview of our continuously expanding global conservation efforts. The determination to make a real contribution to the preservation of biological diversity is what motivates everyone associated with the FZS.

As you will see in this Annual Report, the financial foundation for this mission is solid. The financial statements of the Society and Foundation were, as in years previous, approved without qualification by the auditor selected by the member’s assembly and were scrutinised by the Society’s Board of Directors and the Trustees of the Foundation.

At the beginning of this year, we were surprised by the wonderful news that the FZS had been recognised by the KfW Foundation with its very first KfW Bernhard Grzimek Prize. The award was conferred on 10 April 2013 in festive surroundings at the Palm Garden in Frankfurt. The German Federal Minister of Development Dirk Niebel presented the prize. The prize is underwritten by a division of KfW Bankgruppe, our partner in a number of projects in Africa, Asia and South America that receive third-party funding. We are extremely honoured, and this distinction will spur us on in our conservation efforts! And let’s not forget the prize money. It will be invested in Serengeti National Park and flow directly into the protection of rhinos and elephants, which are under increasing pressure due to illegal hunting. We can’t afford to wait for a change in mentality among wealthy Asian buyers – this is why we have joined together with the Tanzanian national park authority, TANAPA, in anti-poaching measures. Concerted efforts – and a lot of money – are needed to effectively combat poachers. We must do everything we can to make sure that future generations will be able to experience these charismatic animals in the wild and not just in zoos.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all those institutions and individuals who followed and actively supported our work last year. I can assure all of our partners in Germany and abroad that the FZS is carrying out its work at a very high level of scientific professionalism and economic efficiency. We have the kind of long-term commitment that nature conservation requires, and your commitment and support are what motivates us to stay the course.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Foundation Trustees, I would like to extend my thanks to our many members, donors, sponsor, and friends, as well as the FZS team in Frankfurt and in our many projects, where the challenges of conservation work must be confronted every day.

Gerhard Kittscher
President of the Frankfurt Zoological Society