Story
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Many of you will know of, or will have known and/or worked with the widely-respected zoo and wildlife vet, John Lewis, who sadly and unexpectedly died on November 21st.
John was passionate about animal conservation - wild tigers, in particular,. During his life he worked in the Russian Far East, Indonesia, India and Nepal to educate, train and support vets and biologists in the tiger range states. He was much-loved and his knowledge and expertise, which he was always so willing to share, will be much missed in conservation work across the world.
In the last year or so, John had been developing an on-line resource for vets and biologists working with wild tigers. The Wild Tiger Health Centre (WTHC) is a web-site that John created to be a living text book and a network of support that could be accessed - free of charge, and with ease, by anyone interested in wild tiger health. Outside of his regular zoo and wildlife work, John devoted much of his time, to keeping the information on the website updated, expanding content and enlisting the support and experience from the most respected and experienced vets and biologists in the field.
John had intended to visit Malaysia, as soon as it was safe to do so, to raise awareness of the website, provide teaching workshops and establish working relationships. He had hoped to include contributions from the vets and biologists working with tigers in Malaysia, in the content of the website, thereby increasing the network of support and experience. He also had plans to extend his work to Bhutan, Vietnam and Thailand.
John had been in the final stages of applying for charitable status for the WTHC just before he died. Once the Charity is confirmed,, ZSH will transfer 100% of all donations made in his name to WTHC. ZSH has been one of a number of organisations who have provided invaluable support for the development of WTHC so far, without which progress on the website would have been greatly limited.
The Wild Tiger Health Centre was John’s priority for the future and his legacy - the best way he knew to ensure the knowledge, skills and experience he had gained throughout his life, could be shared and progressed across the world, both now and in the future. There is much work still to be done.
Thank you so much for your interest and support.
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