Alveus Sanctuary, a non-profit exotic animal sanctuary in the Texas Hill Country, has expanded its operations to become what it calls a “virtual education center facility.”
The nonprofit uses the live streaming service Twitch to connect with viewers worldwide, showing off the animals at the sanctuary and educating viewers on the dangers facing the animals.
“I learned that model of people falling in love with an individual animal and then caring about their species and planet,” Alveus’ founder, Maya Higa, told KXAN.
Higa graduated from California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo in 2020 with a degree in Agricultural Education and Communication. She then joined the board of directors for a wildlife rehabilitation center in central Texas, focusing on raptors, shortly before she founded Alveus Sanctuary in February 2021.
Though most of Alveus’ viewership comes from the U.S., there are people watching from at least nine other countries, including Germany, South Korea, Russia, France, Canada, Brazil, the UK, Taiwan, and Sweden.
The nonprofit has been able to raise $1 million in donations through Twitch.
Higa has dubbed the animals “ambassadors” for environmental conservation causes. Some of these ambassadors include an emu, a macaw, a fox, a carpet python, a donkey, a chinchilla, a marmoset, and many more.
“Conservation is a global fight. The more people we have fighting it, the better our planet is going to be. And the more people that we have that care about species, the more people are going to worry about the decisions they make,” said Higa, per KXAN.
Alveus also has a section of its website called “Show and Tell” that lets the audience share some of their own conservation efforts or wildlife activities.
In addition to raising funds via social media, the sanctuary sells merchandise such as hoodies with the nonprofit’s logo and plush stuffed animals named after some of the more popular animals at Alveus, like “Georgie” the African bullfrog and “Stompy” the emu. You can visit the merch site here or donate here.
In addition to Twitch, Alveus Sanctuary can also be found on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter.