The Chief Scientist of the Jersey-based Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Carl Jones, has won the 2016 Indianapolis Prize, a prestigious global award for animal conservation.
He will receive a cash prize of $250,000 and the Lilly Medal at an awards ceremony held today at the Natural History Museum in London.
Jones has been employed by Durrell’s since 1985 and is also Scientific Director of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation.
Spanning almost 40 years of work in Mauritius, Jones has brought back at least nine species from the brink of extinction — including the Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon, echo parakeet, Rodrigues warbler and Rodrigues fody – and has worked to restore the populations of many more species.
"I know of no other conservationist who has directly saved so many species from extinction," said Dr Simon Stuart, Chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission, who nominated Jones for the award.
Pictured: Professor Carl Jones holding an echo parakeet