As Graham has just shared, we have come to a point where we cannot keep the safariLIVE broadcasts going any longer. We have, therefore, had to make the painful decision to retrench most of our staff, including our guides, camera operators, directors, tech support and others in Djuma, Illovo and Cape Town. This is not a decision we’ve taken lightly but after some expected contracts fell through recently, it was the only responsible course of action open to us. If nothing changes, the final safariLIVE broadcast will be on October 31st, after which we would go off-air to give us time to pack and store all our equipment safely.
The prospect of having to say goodbye to the wonderful group of people, who’ve given their all to bring you your twice-daily dose of LIVE wildlife from Djuma and the Mara, as well as to you as our audience who’ve been with us for often many, many years is something we’ve had to do before, but had hoped to never have to do again. If there is a silver lining, it is that we did manage to come back bigger and better then, and we promise to keep fighting hard to do so again this time.
However, with your help, there could still be a way for WildEarth to keep broadcasting LIVE wildlife into people’s homes, schools, and hospitals! We are, therefore, calling on all those who have been and are supporting us to help us continue to ‘connect people with nature’. Our experience during the past 10+ years has been that when the chips were down we could always count on you, our viewers, to support us in whatever way you could. We are hoping that you will do so again.
Oftentimes you have asked us how you can help us pay our bills, and now you can! We have launched a crowdfunding campaign that, if successful, will allow us to keep working hard on finding a new solution as well as to keep broadcasting until Christmas. However, we are not just asking you to provide financial support, but rather are also looking for some of you to take up an opportunity to become part of a core group of viewers who will help shape the future of WildEarth; the ‘WildEarth Club’. For more details on how you can help, please check out our crowdfunding campaign at indiegogo.crm-api-integ-220516.mystagingwebsite.com.
We would love nothing more than to be able to show you Thandi’s cub(s) when she is ready to show them and to follow the ongoing adventures of the nine Nkuhuma cubs. We calculated that if we could raise about $100,000, this would allow us to do so. That probably seems like a high amount, but just $1 from each of our 100,000 Facebook followers, or 170,000 YouTube subscribers would get us there…
We don’t have much time though, we will need to raise this money by the end of the month. This, so we can plan ahead, provide more clarity to everyone and work with those who would be working on these broadcasts. So, please, do check out our campaign at indiegogo.crm-api-integ-220516.mystagingwebsite.com and help us in any way you can; whether through a financial contribution, or through spreading the word to others.
At this time, we want to thank all current and previous staff members for their hard work and dedication as well as you, our audience, for watching and your ongoing support. We will keep fighting the good fight and know we can count on you to help us where you can.
Thank you!!!
Indiegogo needs to explain where it is based, where contributions are sent. My bank fraud detection people called to let me know about THREE suspicious actions on my debit card.. What showed up was “Indiegogo Computer Software Store” in The Netherlands. ??? The bank person asked if I had made those actions. I said Indiegogo, yes, but “the Computer Software Store in The Netherlands”? No! And THREE times? No! The bank thought this was skeevy, and so did I. So not only did we cancel the transactions, but I had to get a new debit card… Is Indiegogo based at The Computer Software Store in the Netherlands? If so, YOU NEED TO INDICATE THAT.
As a result, WildEarth, an organization I dearly want to support, has missed out on my contribution. It’s too bad they felt Indiegogo was the way to go-go to raise money. I wish I could just send a check or international money order directly rather than go through some weird third-party money filter. Any way to do that?
Hi Caterwaul, I do not know the exact payment route for IndieGogo, but it might be because the campaign is run in Euros so it runs through the Netherlands,which is part of the Euro zone. If you struggle to contribute through IndieGogo, you could do so through PayPal as well, using indiegogo@wildearth.tv (this is a WildEarth email address, not an IndieGogo one. We are not set up for checks, but can accept SWIFT or IBAN bank transfers. If that is the route you would like to take, please write to the same email (indiegogo@wildearth.tv), so we can share bank details.
I have watched safariLIVE at least once a day for about five years. I’m one of the silent watchers. I supported diveLIVE and now you, and the support will be ongoing. I have a marketing and advertising background and have cringed at times at what I’ve heard from a couple of the presenters on drive. I’m sure the wrath of the guide gods will crush me, but considering everyone is trying to save this broadcast, my silence is ending. This is about the animals and the education of human beings, how we’re all connected, and how we can conserve species. I want to learn something new everyday when I’m watching. I don’t want someone to talk down to me or be sarcastic to their fellow presenters. They can do that at the dinner table or around the campfire at night, but not on drive. And the guides need to remember that there are new viewers every day, especially now with the big push for funding and sponsorship. Don’t assume everyone knows what an impala is or any other animal, or how to use the hashtag to communicate. When you have no questions to answer, teach. Don’t talk nonsense or worse yet, fill up your sentences with the letter ‘a’ before and after each word you say just to fill the time. Teach instead. I have learned so much from Stef, Byron, Ralph, Noelle, David, Tristan, Steve, Brent, Trishala, Lauren (besides being a marine biologist, also has a degree in zoology), Pat (compassion saves lives), and Sydney. If I could be on the back of anyone’s safari vehicle, it would be Sydney’s. I learned something new from him every single time he appeared. Maybe you should monitor the drives of your senior guides, especially during this critical funding period. It’s good to be loyal, but sometimes I think you need some better champions who aren’t focused on themselves. This is about the wildlife.
Response to what Samantha said. I am not in marketing or advertising, nor am I the most diplomatic person on earth. But two points;
– for new viewers, it’s true, they may not know what an impala is or perhaps even a hashtag. But I see newbies getting lots of basic things explained in no time flat by the chatters when the guide says something that goes past them. If all the guides had to speak as if they were talking to total newbies all the time, they would probably die of boredom and so would many of the regular viewers. I think it’s fine if newbies don’t understand everything the first time they watch – they can ask and they will be educated by everyone else watching very quickly. I have been watching for two years, and frankly I am watching less than I used to because I find it’s the same things over and over – I’m always waiting for the rather rare moments when we’re dealing with more complex issues than whether leopards share their kills or why it’s not dangerous in the car or the difference between a pride and a coalition. I’d like to hear more about conservation biology, wildlife management, the politics and trade-offs on different approaches to managing the reserves and the park (including sport hunting and other controversial topics), and so on. The learning curve is steep at first and levels off pretty quickly – let’s not run the drives only for those at the steep end of the curve.
– Samantha clearly doesn’t like James’ style, but from what I’ve seen on chat, everyone else LOVES James and his humor, people really enjoy the banter and teasing among the guides and camera operators, we’re a nosy lot and will happily glean any scraps we can about their personal lives (not that there are many such scraps), we all love hearing tales about guiding in addition to getting information about the environment (and not just about “the animals,” either, about ecosystems and conservation and interactions among species of all kingdoms). It’s very hard for the guides to keep up spontaneous running chatter into a camera with no feedback, and I don’t think anyone should criticize what they come up with to talk about when no one asks questions.
Perhaps the funding world works differently from the chat world, and they would be critical of the styles of the guides where we find them delightful, but if everything had to be serious and people couldn’t be themselves, I think you’d lose a lot of your viewers. Especially the 2200 who have just given you more than three times as much money as you just asked for.
Samantha i honestly couldn’t disagree more with so much of your criticisms. I love the presenters and their humour and funny interactions. I love the human aspect and the often hilarious camaraderie between the guides that you seem to interpret as inappropriate in some form, or somehow taking away from the educational aspect. I remember last week when tristan and james broke down, and the hilarious chaos that ensued made me laugh more that i had laughed in a long time, as was the case for so many others in the chat. It sounds like what you are saying is that kind of thing should be frowned upon because its unprofessional or lacking educational value?
For me personally, i think that learning should be fun, and when it is fun it is so much more effective. This is exactly the reason why i love SL so much… because the guides and their humour is fun, and it is what drew me into being a regular viewer in the first place.
Samantha, I embrace much of what you shared. I too am not a fan of biting sarcasm. I care not if I am in the minority opinion re anything, lol. I love nonsense and good fun, always, but no, not a fan of cutting sarcasm, hence agree it ought not be a part of our drives.
And to another commenter here – I always take issue with anyone using “we,” or even “most” re attempting to speak for all who watch. No one speaks for “we” or “most”. We are individuals who speak only for ourselves.
It is rather normal for ea person to either like/enjoy every guide OR to have fave guides OR even to dislike a guide or two. We are not all the same nor need we be. We DO know SL is adored overall by so very many of us. I embrace learning along with laughter and good fun. I also learn from and enjoy countless wonderful moments experienced from each and every guide whether I like that guide or not. I am grateful for them ALL. They each bring something different to the table with different personalities, experiences, education, wisdom, humor
It’s the same with our online community of chatters aka Safarians – we will not ALL like each other nor will we ALWAYS agree w/each other but we ARE a part of the SL family and this is a beautiful thing!! We need every piece of the pie to make the whole.
Let us please agree to disagree at times, allowing and accepting that we are all different. Let us not pounce upon or denounce anyone their thoughts and feelings.
Finally, re another comment here having to do with new viewers at every drive. I for one, never, EVER tire of hearing some facts shared over and over. The best way to truly digest a thing is to take many bites or ruminate it, if you will, lol. I remember being new, hence I welcome the new viewers and the same questions being asked. I enjoy SO many parts of each and every drive and never fail to learn something new. I embrace the provocation of all my emotions and thoughts as I experience the wonders during SL.
There are, and always will be, things I adore and things I may not like. Normal. Bottom line, were SL to end – I would then mourn and feel a HUGE void in my life. Again, like so many, it is my dream to go to Africa some future day. In the interim, SL graces us with a FREE journey there twice daily. What a fantastic, valuable gift indeed! My gratitude will never end and both memories and things learned will stay with me forever. The Kids’ Drives are fantastic as well.
To increase knowledge and compassion for ALL wildlife is more precious than all the money in the world. These are the important facets of WE’s SL. This is what I treasure and support. Hence, bickering and bantering about over what we disagree on re guides, etc. seems rather mundane and irrelevant. I hope we will rise above such, remembering always that we humans are just as varied as the many diff kinds of antelope that we’ve learned about!
Each of us bring something different to our SL family, each of us matter. Let us please accept our differences with kindness of heart and mutual respect. Let us keep the focus on helping WE to keep SL aLIVE. Every single viewer can do something to help. Thank you.
DLionheart, good point – we all talk about the guides we like. With very few exceptions, we don’t mention if there’s someone we don’t like. So my impression of how people feel about James is of course skewed.
👍TY. And I think it’s in gd taste to not mention in SL chat if we dislike a guide and/or their ways. IMO of course, that is best vented about elsewhere, with our personal friends, etc.. I don’t believe it belongs in chat out of respect for WE, SL and for the fact that – like them all or not – they each add incredible value to every drive.
Agree with you also re “…learning should be fun …” – Amen!! And SL rocks it! 👍😁💕
Yup, I totally agree about not mentioning those whom we don’t care for so much. And on the rare occasions when someone does, the mods (and other chatters) usually make that clear as well.
As one who was at the receiving end of James Hendry’s humour, I couldn’t disagree more.
Was laughing so hard, I was crying and struggling to breath. No one likes all the guide but why try to remove something you don’t like when, clearly, many do ?
May I suggest you do as I do, mute when you don’t like what you hear. There were/are guide I don’t appreciate at all but you’ll never hear/read me say that they should go,/change.
What you describe as what the show should be would be boring to many people.
Let’s keep the fun in our drives.
I have added to the indiegogo fund. Have you considered using patreon website for regular money from public. I also notice that there is a way to get subs through YouTube That viewers choose to donate, not sure how you activate that, but all these things can help get regular income from fans to support the channel on an ongoing basis.
Upon discovering this show several years ago, I found myself addicted. I love that I can see the reruns on Youtube. Work interferes with most of the live shows. I often have the show on in the background while cooking, cleaning, painting, etc. I cannot imagine life without Safari Live, particularly without James and Jamie. I agree with DLionheart, a steady offering of Wild Earth t-shirts, sweatshirts, bumper stickers, would enable us to help grow the Wild Earth viewing public, increase membership & help you add to your kitty. The older shirts I purchased are about worn out. I tell my animal loving friends & hopeful Safari travelers about WE. I have learned so much from the show. I simply love it. I have had the immense pleasure of experiencing a couple safaris and hope to be able to visit again. In the meantime….your shows help me feel connected while missing bush time so much. Happy to help in my small way to keep WE going. What a talented group of special people you have. Thank you for doing what you do so exceptionally well!
Somewhere I saw mention of Paypal. Some of my friends use only Paypal. Could you elaborate on how to use that on Indiegogo?
Here is the info: “We have received requests from some of you who are struggling to contribute through IndieGoGo. If you would like to contribute, you can also use PayPal. Please send your contribution to indiegogo@wildearth.tv and in the description list which reward it is for and any other details you might want to add. Should this also not work, please contact us on indiegogo@wildearth.tv and we will try to find another way together with you.”
Howdy all. Congrats on exceeding your monetary goal so very rapidly!! “Can you feel the love tonight?!” Lol. Anyhoo, I donated and an thrilled to help support this valuable venture. I, like so many, adore SafariLIVE, have learned TONS and have felt every feeling possible during the drives. My question is this, bec it truly baffles me, why is there not already in place a HUGE marketing inventory for we viewers to purchase from? Are you restricted/prohibited from such? I mean if not, the possibilities are endless! The current t-shirts, etc. are minimal and not too exciting. Why not countless other, quality products with WildEarth and SafariLive logos? Sweatshirts, t-shirts, cof cups, bumper stickers, hats, binoculars, stuffed animals and on and on? Sponsorship of diff creatures that we see every day? Photographs, framed and not, mousepads, phone covers, etc.? This would generate steady income, avail the viewers aka Safarians as I call us, the joy in one, helping support WE and SL and two, enjoying the products, and three help to spread the word re the existence of WE/SL. I have a mouse pad with the eagles that I follow for example and it makes me feel great to look upon it as well as knowing my money went to help with cam owners’ expenses. So yes, I don’t understand why WE has not made use of the endless possibilities therein re such products and other offerings. TYSVM for WE/SL!
I’m happy to say I’m a club member! Maybe WildEarth can do a monthly paid programming thing. If you don’t pay you would have commercial interruptions but if you do pay you wouldn’t have the commercial interruptions. Just a thought
Please do everything you can to at least keep Djuma SafariLive on air. I have been watching the sunrise safari for over a year and have learned so much about the animals, trees and plants. I love the staff. I have laughed out loud so many times late at night here in USA I cannot count. SafariLive sunrise takes away the worries of the day for me and something I very much look forward too every night. Hugs to all the staff for a job well done and that it continues.
Am I right in thinking that if you cannot afford to become a member of the Wildearth Club then there will be no further public broadcasting of Safari Live after 31st October 2019? My heart goes out to all the staff, they do a fantastic job and the uncertainty they face in the future must be very hard. Wild Earth has been a part of my life for 3 years and I will greatly miss the drives, having said that it has crossed my mind that a lot has happened in a short space of time, setting up in the Mara, Dive Live, a lot of staff being recruited to cover these projects, final control being relocated to Jo’Burg and hire of expensive equipment etc. Perhaps it will be possible to reorganise and stay in Djuma so that we can all enjoy the drives once again. Graham please do another fireside chat to update everyone now that you have managed to raise so much money, it would be very much appreciated.
I just did my contribution on Indiegogo and realized they didn’t ask for an address, how will i get my perks?
Maybe through your e-mail
They’ll email you.
I am a loyal fan of the show and this news has brought me to tears. I will donate and continue to donate in order to help you buy more time while you find a more sustainable, long-term solution. You are an exceptionally gifted group of individuals who pull on our heartstrings every single day you let us into your world. I am a silent viewer as in I am not interactive with the guides during the show or the other viewers but I am watching every single day nonetheless. Wild Earth/SafariLIVE cast and crew, you have unknowingly helped me through the toughest times in my life, and on the worst of days you’ve brought me great joy. For so many reasons, I am grateful to you and I am honored to contribute.
Hold your heads high – you got this! ;)
– Marissa
As it stands I think you are going in the right direction in that asking for help but I would like to make a suggestion try and do like our pbs stations here in the USA. They do fund raisers and drives a couple of times a year. one done with membership drives and another with an auction where they get donations from busnisess and other things like that to sell over the phone but is also shown as on their broadcasts. not sure how to explain it better maybe one of the other viewers can help me in the explaination.
I love this idea. A PBS-like fundraiser that involves the guides and crew would be successful I think. Certainly not a 24 hour fundraiser, but a few hours would help out, especially if they advertised it in advance. I hope they know how important SL is and that we are behind them 100%.
For those that cannot open the link, it can be opened via the wildearth.tv website.
Done.
Assuming that the goal of $100,000 covers the drives until December 31st, and you’ve raised more than double that, does this mean you can extend the drives even longer?
Glad I can help.
Lev.
I have been a loyal viewer since the original broadcasts. I’m so happy to be able to be a part of keeping Safari Live in operation in whatever way I can.
finding a new solution as well as to keep broadcasting until Christmas.?? Why would we donate if your only broadcasting until Christmas? Would love contuied broadcasting, not just till Christmas. Am I missing somthing??
@Deanna The funding will help keep things moving until Christmas. I don’t mean to speak for others but there is a huge cost and undertaking with this kind of operation; its more than just a camera on the back of a vehicle. What the donation does is help them buy them some more time to figure out how to grow and find the resources they need to make Safari Live more permanent and self-sufficient.
Yes.
They need time to find a long term solution.
If it didn’t work, Oct 31st would have been the last drive.
The amount they ask for mean we keep getting drive while they work at the problem.
They’re now at over 200% so be hopeful.
I believe the mention of Christmas was based on their initial goal of $100,000.00. I would think since it tripled they can go later than December.
Link not working, unreachable. Will try again later.
Link not working.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-us-reshape-wildearth#/
This is the link that should be in the blog post.
Thanks you so much WildEarth for all you do,
and we GREATLY appreciate the chance to finally get to help out.
And especially for offering the WildEarth Club so that we can show potential sponsors that we are here and we support this whole team with all our hearts.
Good luck to you all, and thank you to the whole team.
I am heartbroken for all those that are affected.
Your passion can be felt in all you do and there are so many of us that have fallen completely in love with all of you.
Looking forward to seeing how strongly our whole SafariLIVE family is going to show up to help!
Both links aren’t working.
Done. Good luck to you. And I hope some in this group can be more generous than what you are asking – even more I hope some in this group have serious fund-raising connections that can provide the real money you need to stay alive for more than just a few more months.
It says the site can’t be reached….