Our Mission:

Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities. We focus our programs on what scientists consider two of the most serious environmental threats to the planet: the accelerating rate of extinction of species and the associated loss of biological diversity, and habitat alteration and destruction. Long known for our leadership on endangered species issues, Defenders of Wildlife also advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that will help keep species from becoming endangered. Our programs encourage protection of entire ecosystems and interconnected habitats while protecting predators that serve as indicator species for ecosystem health.

The Logo Symbolizing Our Mission:

The Defenders of Wildlife wolf logo symbolizes not only our long-standing leadership in predator protection but also our broader biodiversity mission.

Some of the nation's most prominent biologists have estimated that protecting habitat for wide-ranging predators such as wolves will conserve 90 percent or more of overall biological diversity. Because wolves can require home ranges of several hundred square miles, their conservation can help preserve a host of other species making use of the same habitat. The wolf also is a symbol of wild nature. Defenders is leading efforts to restore wolves to selected former habitats in the lower 48 states and to prevent the extirpation of wolves in areas where they still exist.