Zoo preps for 'Prize' announcement

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The award considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for animal conservation will soon be unveiled by the Indianapolis Zoo. On Thursday, 24-Hour News 8’s Daybreak will be the first to announce the winner of the $100,000 Indianapolis Prize.

The prize is given every other year to someone who makes extraordinary contributions to the conservation of a single species or multiple species. The first three winners of the $100,000 award were selected from a slate of internationally recognized conservationists and announced at extraordinary celebrations called the Indianapolis Prize Gala.

"You actually have to have saved something from extinction if you're going to win the Indianapolis Prize,” says Indianapolis Zoo President and CEO Mike Crowther. “We found that there were a whole bunch of scientists doing wonderful work, but their challenge was letting people know about it.”

The process to become a finalist for the Indianapolis Prize is rigorous. Conservationists submit packets of their work, complete with recommendation letters to the nominating committee. The committee then narrows down the field to six finalists. The names and accolades of the finalists are then handed over to a jury who reviews the candidates and names the winner. The names and causes of the six finalists are below:

Finalists

• Steven Amstrup was the lead researcher on a project that resulted in polar bears listed as a threatened species.
• Marcus Borner spearheaded the world's largest reintroduction project of rhinos back into their native habitat of the Serengeti.
• Rodney Jackson is the world's foremost expert on the snow leopard and was the first person to radio collar the animals to track their movements.
• Carl Jones is credited with saving a dozen species from extinction, including the Mauritius kestrels, pink pigeons and echo parakeets.
• Russell Mittermeier has not only discovered new primate species, but has worked tirelessly to conserve them.
• Patricia Wright discovered a new species of lemurs -- which transformed Madagascar's park system and conservation efforts.

“It’s probably tougher to get chosen as a finalist now because everybody who is a professional conservationist wants to be in that group,” said Crowther.

The $100,000 in prize money can go toward whatever the winner desires.

“Many of these people have been living in huts in the wilderness for most of their professional careers. One of the finalists one year lived on $7,000 a year. He supported a wife and a child on that money. So, winning a prize of this magnitude would allow them to put their child through college, if they wished,” said Crowther.

The winner of the Indianapolis Prize also wins a Lilly Medal with an inscription of a quote from John Muir that reads, “When one tugs on a thing in nature, he finds that it is connected to every other thing.”

You can watch the announcement of the winner of the Indianapolis Prize live on Daybreak, Thursday at 6 a.m. hour.