The Living Desert - Flights of Fancy

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2008 Tracks in the
Sand Award for Conservation
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Mark Owens M.Ed., B.S and Delia Owens, Ph.D., B.S.,

The Living Desert is honored to present the 2008 Tracks in the Sand conservation award to Mark and Delia Owens. Mark Owens M.Ed., B.S. and , Delia Owens, Ph.D., B.S. are Chief Executive Officers and co-Founders of The Owens Foundation for Wildlife Conservation. Mark and Delia have conducted research and conservation projects on endangered species in Africa for 23 years. Beginning in 1974, Delia and Mark worked for seven years in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve of Botswana studying brown hyenas and black maned lions where they made landmark discoveries regarding both species. Cry of the Kalahari, their best-selling book, is a gripping and vivid account of their research and adventures in "the Great Thirst."
From 1985 through 1997 the Owenses worked to rehabilitate a 5,000 square mile area in north Zambia by eliminating elephant and meat poaching for the benefit of the people and the wildlife living there. In 1997, Delia and Mark returned to the US and began assisting grizzly bear conservation in Northern Idaho, which is one of the five remnant grizzly bear populations in the lower 48 states.
Today, Delia and Mark continue their support for the people and wildlife of Zambia as well as working for grizzly bear conservation in the northwestern US.

Honors and Awards received by Mark and Delia Owens

1994 Ridder of the Golden Ark presented by H.R.H. Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.
1993 University of California "Outstanding Alumnus" Award
1981 Rolex Award for Enterprise for Kalahari Research Project