Our Story
Africanimals started in the middle of 2017 when our Instagram launched. The page was initially set up to show the world the beauty of African wildlife. Through our Instagram page we wanted to influence people to do good things by showing them how amazing Africanimals are. We believe that we’ve to be precious with all the beautiful animals that are still living in this world. In the meantime, Africanimals has grown over 1.000.000 followers and is getting more influence every day. On 22 august 2018 we officially became a foundation! Since 2019, Africanimals has also got the PBO-status (Public Benefit Organisation) on behalf of the Dutch Tax Authorities, which means the Foundation is under supervision of the Dutch government. Africanimals Foundation has established an official partnership with the Victoria Falls Wildlife Foundation. Visit the projects page for more information about the work we do together with the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust.
If you want more information about Africanimals or want a partnership, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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Boardmembers:
Three days after graduating his master degree in Criminology (2015), Mark got in a plane to discover Africa. Together with Derek, they were going to discover Southern Africa for over two months. This trip was a childhood dream for Mark and Derek, because they wanted to do volunteer work with monkeys since they were 6 years old (their love for animals goes back even further). Fortunately they were able to make the trip about 20 years later and volunteered on a project in South Africa. What he didn’t know yet, was that this trip would totally change his view on the world. Africanimals Foundation is one of the results of this amazing trip to Africa! Another consequence is that this was the first of many trips to this amazing continent. After five years of planning and preparation, Mark and Linde are finally travelling around Africa in search of new conservation projects.
Derek’s favourite childhood movie was of course The Lion King. And it still is! From the beginning of his life, it was already crystal clear that Derek’s love for animals was deeply embedded in his heart. That’s why Mark (other boardmember) and Derek, when they were ± 6 years old, said to each other that they would go see all the animals in the world. So immediately after Derek graduated for his masters degree in Economics, he took the plane to Africa together with Mark. And he didn’t get disappointed when he arrived in Africa! Sometimes you can look forward to something so much that reality can never live up to your expectations, but in any case this did not apply when he saw Africa and its beautiful wildlife for the first time. After this life changing trip, Derek couldn’t live with the idea that the Africanimal kingdom is slowly being destroyed. So he decided that the rest of the world should see the beauty he has seen. Because the more people would see it, the more likely it is that it will last forever and this is still the main goal of Africanimals Foundation.
Born in 1993, Linde is a true millennial. After graduating her Bachelor of Social Work in 2016, Linde traveled extensively around the world. Once she got back home, she was set on making the world a little bit better. Linde volunteered on a project for children with special needs in the Philippines, became a vegetarian and took a job at the Child Protection Services. Her extreme love for animals made her join the Africanimals Foundation in August 2018. In 2019, Linde went on her first trip to Africa and was blown away by the beauty of this continent. She fell in love with the kindness of the people, its nature and the African wildlife. This experience made it even more clear for Linde that she wants to inspire other people to take care of our beautiful planet. This is the ultimate goal of our @Africanimals instagram. Currently, Linde is travelling around Africa together with Mark to take the Africanimals Foundation to the next level.
Talitha is the newest and youngest boardmember of Africanimals and has Indonesian roots from her mother. Her love for animals only really started when she was 20 years old. She has always liked animals, but she was never able to fully express this due to allergies. But since these allergies have subsided, she finally can experience the real love of animals. And since then, her love for them is unstoppable. At the moment, she wants nothing more than to ensure that animals can live a happy life without being endangered by humans. After a few years of planning and dreaming, Talitha is finally on the footstep of her first trip to this amazing continent. As a freelancer she managed the social media for different companies and really enjoys to post on Africanimals. She likes to make other people aware of how beautiful African nature is and its animals.