Species on the brink
Sir Trevor McDonald, a host of celebrities and a million television viewers helped raise £775,000 in a single week for WWF's global conservation work.
Close cooperation between WWF and ITV led to Extinct, a week of prime-time programmes that highlighted the plight of some of the most endangered animal species on Earth. Among the celebrities filming for WWF were Pauline Collins, Michael Portillo, Miranda Richardson (a WWF ambassador) and David Suchet.
More than a million people voted for the species they most wanted to help. Of the £775,000 raised, over £347,000 was generated through viewers' confirmed and verified votes.
The Bengal tiger, championed by Pauline Collins, was the overall winner, and WWF's projects in its support are directly benefiting by just over £173,000. A further £296,000 is being divided equally between the seven runners-up – the polar bear, hyacinth macaw, mountain gorilla, Asian elephant, orang-utan, giant panda and Pacific leatherback turtle. The remaining £306,000 is going to our broader conservation, communications and education work.
"Extinct gave us an outstanding opportunity to reach a huge audience," said Winnie De'Ath, WWF Director of Communications. "The programmes enabled us not only to highlight the threats faced by endangered species – for example, climate change and natural resource loss – but also to show our work with local communities on solutions. And the response was fantastic."
Read more about the species featured on Extinct.