I believe unequivocally that wildlife is what is most magical in this world. My name is Erika Yost Kumar. With a diverse professional background including corporate communications, nonprofit management, international development and socially responsible investment analysis, I have been fortunate to do work with a social mission. I studied French at Vassar College and Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management at the SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont. I am increasingly passionate about the intersection of social media, sustainability and wildlife preservation.
Growing up in a home where biology and botany were the dinner conversation topics and Wild Kingdom was on TV, I have had a deep fascination with wildlife for as long as I can remember. In recent years I have been unable to ignore the multiple requests from animal welfare groups filling my inbox and arriving by mail. Not able to contribute to every request, I consoled myself with sending what I could to the Jane Goodall Institute. But what about belugas, wolves, gorillas, elephants, lemurs, penguins...the long list is overwhelming.
In early 2012 I was visiting my former home, New York City. Normally it would have been a fun weekend, but the massive elephant slaughter in Cameroon had just happened and I was consumed with thinking about it. Every moment, every street corner, the horror of hundreds of elephants being slaughtered and their babies being orphaned played in my mind and made me sick. Somewhere on the walk between China Town and Little Italy, the idea for Animal Mama came to me.
I thought of how I felt maternal instincts looking at baby orangutans and of how protective mothers are in the wild and I knew that I was far from alone among women who feel these same instincts to keep all kinds of creatures safe from harm at the hands of other humans.
And here we are. Thank you so much for reading!
Growing up in a home where biology and botany were the dinner conversation topics and Wild Kingdom was on TV, I have had a deep fascination with wildlife for as long as I can remember. In recent years I have been unable to ignore the multiple requests from animal welfare groups filling my inbox and arriving by mail. Not able to contribute to every request, I consoled myself with sending what I could to the Jane Goodall Institute. But what about belugas, wolves, gorillas, elephants, lemurs, penguins...the long list is overwhelming.
In early 2012 I was visiting my former home, New York City. Normally it would have been a fun weekend, but the massive elephant slaughter in Cameroon had just happened and I was consumed with thinking about it. Every moment, every street corner, the horror of hundreds of elephants being slaughtered and their babies being orphaned played in my mind and made me sick. Somewhere on the walk between China Town and Little Italy, the idea for Animal Mama came to me.
I thought of how I felt maternal instincts looking at baby orangutans and of how protective mothers are in the wild and I knew that I was far from alone among women who feel these same instincts to keep all kinds of creatures safe from harm at the hands of other humans.
And here we are. Thank you so much for reading!