Herding Big Cats

​Join us on May 6th at UTC 14:00 for a talk on  “Herding Big Cats” where ANDREY KUSHLIN gives a sneak peek at new book about Big Cat protectors around the globe.

​About Spotlight: On June 1, 2026, India will host the first-ever global big cat summit, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by heads of government and other senior officials from more than 90 countries where big cats live in the wild. One of the publications launching at the summit is “Herding Big Cats,” an unusual collection of more than 50 personal stories about saving wild tigers and other big cats. Andrey Kushlin, the project’s creator and lead author, assembled nearly 60 storytellers from six continents, including several members of the EarthTeam Alliance. The book features informal, real-life accounts from people who care passionately about the future of big cats, showing how they translate that care into concrete action—both simple and extraordinary. It demonstrates how committed individuals, united around a common goal, can achieve the seemingly impossible. Andrey Kushlin will offer a sneak preview of the book and its key messages to the world.

​About the Speaker: Andrey Kushlin is an international development professional with more than 20 years of leadership experience in forestry and biodiversity at the World Bank and the FAO. From 2008 to 2015, he played a central role in launching the Global Tiger Initiative and the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program. He is an honorary member of the Global Tiger Forum and a co‑founder of EndPandemics (now EarthTeam). Since 2025, he has served as a pro bono senior adviser to the International Big Cat Alliance (https://ibca.world). Andrey holds a PhD in Geography from Lomonosov Moscow State University and studied forestry at Yale.