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Indianapolis Zoo announces 2018 Indianapolis Prize winner

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The Indianapolis Zoo has announced the winner for the 2018 Indianapolis Prize, a prestigious award given to those who have made significant contributions to animal conservation.

Russell Mittermeier will receive the Lilly Medal and an unrestricted cash award of $250,000, which he is expected to use to further his conservation efforts. He is the seventh recipient for this award.

He has spent the last four decades dedicated to saving and protecting animals in different parts of the world. Accomplishments include protecting hundreds of species and millions of acres of critical habitat in different parts of the world. 

He has also been involved in the description of more than 20 species new to science and has eight named after him by colleagues. Those include three frogs, one lizard, two lemurs, a saki monkey and an ant.

The Indianapolis Prize was created in 2006 by the Indianapolis Zoological Society to empower people to continue the cause of animal conservation.

Mittermeier is currently the chief conservation officer for Global Wildlife Conservation. He along with the five other finalists for the Indianapolis Prize will be honored at the Indianapolis Prize Gala in September.