A Littleport businessman will travel to Kenya next month to help an anti-poaching organisation in their fight to protect endangered animals.
Dean Faulkner, who runs Silver Birch Pets - which arranges for pets to travel between countries - will assist Gyrocopters Kenya working alongside Wild Life Works.
The mission will be to help protect elephants, Grevy’s Zebra and other endangered wild life.
Mr Faulkner runs a standard cattery and kennels alongside his pet travel business and with his family have made care and protection of animals’ part of their way of life.
Dean’s Kenya adventure will begin on November 3 where he will spend 10 days as a co-pilot flying over the Tsavo East Africa Eco-System.
Gyrocopters Kenya fly daily anti poaching patrols over Tsavo, Kenya, looking for poachers, injured elephants and illegal charcoal harvesting. They patrol an area of 500,000 acres and were recently featured on BBC2 with Gordon Buchanan.
Dean said: “I have an immense love for nature, hence my chosen career path working with animals.
“I find it deeply upsetting to see that the amazing wildlife is still being hunted and poached.”
Dean got to know about The Gyrocopter Kenya programme through his flying school.
He said: “The opportunity to fly and actually be a part of a programme saving elephants and other endangered wildlife was an opportunity of a life time.
“Not only will I personally be assisting as a co-pilot, but the money I pay to fly for the week actually helps to keep the Gyro flying long after I have left Kenya.
“There are only 12 co-pilots chosen for the programme every year so it’s a real privilege to be able to help stop the destruction being caused by poachers.”
The work Dean will be doing includes two daily flights, one at day break and one before sun set.
He will be staying at a “very basic” base camp in the middle of the Tsavo Game Reserve.
Dean, the Wild Life Works team and pilot Keith Hellyer will be searching for elephant herds.
“We are the eyes in the sky providing vital support to the ground rangers from Wild Life Works,” he said.
“We are also able to locate illegal charcoal burning and report on the location of any poachers to the rangers.”
Silver Birch Pets won the judges’ award at the Ely Standard East Cambridgeshire Business Awards last month.
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