Awesime

09/09/2024

Here's to 300 truly AweSIMe followers on FB! 💜

Thank you, everyone, for your support! We feel incredibly privileged that you are all here with us, helping us at the start of this journey towards our big dreams.

Of course, you can help us shape the direction AweSIMe are going to by voting for our first generation of your favourite animals that will be featured in future artwork, t-shirt prints, videos, etc.
You can revisit our previous posts to find out more.

Additionally, please consider inviting other animal enthusiasts that you know to follow our page and help us grow. - Thank you! 🐧🦋🦁🦎🐙

07/09/2024

🦅 International Vulture Awareness Day 🦅

On the first Saturday of September of every year, the world commemorates International Vulture Awareness Day, a global event aimed at raising awareness about the crucial role of these unique birds and the unfair challenges they face.

Vulture populations worldwide are experiencing catastrophic declines (70% of species are at great risk) due to various threats, including direct and indirect poisoning (especially by poachers so the circling vultures don't give away their location), illegal killing, and electrocutions or collisions with power lines.

These remarkable birds provide critically important ecosystem services by efficiently cleaning up carcasses and other organic waste in the environment, thus stopping the spread of disease and allowing matter in the ecosystem to circulate.

🎨 My first attempt of illustrating a king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) for Awesime.

05/09/2024

3 down, 9 to go! 🐕

It has been amazing receiving so many different species suggestions across our platforms since the announcement.
Not surprisingly, mammals have been leading the way in representation. 🦁

⚜️ Wonderful supporters, here's your opportunity to help us bring attention to other groups too. Birds, amphibians, invertebrates, ..., who else should we feature? 🦉🐸🦈🦀🐌

01/09/2024

HELP US CHOOSE 🐅🐘🦎🐬🦀🦕🦋🐧🦘🐖🦇🐙🐝🦚🐒🐏🐢

AweSIMe are proud to be moving forward with establishing our presence on different platforms, and now it's also time to involve our wonderful supporters in helping us choose the first generation of AweSIMe animals!

Q: What are AweSIMe animals?
A: These are the dozen animal species we will give extra time in the spotlight over the upcoming months, whether through videos, posts, t-shirt designs, etc.

Q: Once the species are chosen, does this mean no other animals will be featured in AweSIMe's work?
A: Absolutely not, it just means we will make sure we bring up these dozen and we will intertwine this with fun and educational posts about many other animals we share our planet with.

Q: Can I only suggest one species?
A: There are no limitations. Let us know about ALL your favourites! 🥰

Q: How will you choose the winners?
A: We will be collecting suggestions in the comments under this post, on every platform we have, until the midday on the 18th of September.
After, we will compile the list with out winners based on these factors:
🐾 How many times was the species suggested.
🐾 How unique the species is (appearance, behaviour, adaptations, etc.).
🐾 The conservation message potential around it.
🐾 And any other reasons our supporters might include in their suggestion to justify their favourites.

So go ahead! Here at AweSIMe we have choosen the first three species (African painted dog, leopard gecko, and polar bear) we would love to feature, and now we need YOUR suggestions to help us choose our first generation of AweSIMe animals.

We look forward to reading all your comments! 🐠🐩🦑🐆🦢🐇🐛

27/08/2024

AweSIMe are proud to welcome our second Ambassador: Finn Holmes-Kellett!

He is joining the team in a voluntary role, to offer support and information about all things ectotherms and extinct fauna. Working with Finn in the past, we have been in awe of Finn’s enthusiastic efforts to educate the public about reptiles, amphibians, and dinosaurs – to name a few – and to promote sustainability and the positive impact individuals can have on our planet.

Finn’s role will include:

🐍 Researching animal information for the website and video scripts.
🐢 Writing blogs.
🐸 Filming videos and presentations.
🦖 Supporting other aspects of conservation education.

We look forward to our future collaboration with Finn, and we are proud to be building a team of animal professionals and enthusiasts that will give the voice to the ‘forgotten, ugly, slimy’, but definitely fasssscinating and misunderstood!

Welcome to the team, Finn!

26/08/2024

🐕 World Painted Dog Day 🐕

Happy celebrations to my favourite animal. With their intelligence, hunting skills, complex vocalisation, and caring social structure, they burrowed their way into my heart many years ago and never left!

I have been collaborating with conservation organisations on a mission to protect this incredible predator for years, especially through my artwork that has been donated to be used in thier campaigns and newsletters, on cards, and even on stamps.

Attached is my latest illustration of a African Painted Dog, designed in Procreate, and without a doubt one of my absolute favourites!

💜 "Thank you, dogs, for being a big part of my life, including representing AweSIMe on every platform. We will do our absolute best to help protect you!"

17/08/2024

Next AweSIMe step! 💜

Despite my 15 years of experience in public presentations, which included recording different series, it feels very surreal to be standing in front of my first ever green screen. 😁

But here we are, testing and planning, ready to educate, bring joy, support animal conservation and welfare, and have fun along the way!

Please help support our growth by following us on different platforms (with even more options to come in the future):

❤️ IG - AweSIMe_IG
🖤 TT - AweSIMe_tiktok
💙 LI - AweSIMe / Asim Krdzalic

13/08/2024

🐺 International Wolf Day 🐺

This absolutely fenomenal animal group definitely deserves a celebration day.

They play a massive role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem, keeping herds of large herbivores in check, thus minimising the risk of mass disease transferring between them. Additionally, their presence in the area has a positive impact on the regeneration of local vegetation.

It is then with great sadness to see how many governments around the world blatantly vilify wolves. From public conferences that push the misguided "Will our children ever be safe?" message, to ordering senseless culling of wolves that goes against everything we today know about wolves' sociable structure, migration, and the beneficial role in their habitat.

"We fear what we do not understand." So let's today look at wolves with an open mind and try to learn about them as much as possible. Not from fairytales, but from mountains of published research on this topic.

⭐️ Wolves really are amazing animals: whether it's them being impressive team players, caring relatives and babysitters, or custodians of a healthy ecosystem, wolves can do it all.
All that whilst wanting to be as far away from humans as possible.

12/08/2024

🐘 World Elephant Day 🐘

One of my earliest 'animal enthusiast' memories is that of me reading about elephants. I still remember how absolutely fascinated I was by their big brains, emotional intelligence, and strong family bonds.

Learning about elephant matriarch has helped me better understand roles of individuals in a functioning group, and the crucial role more experienced members of the herd play in the survival of the unit.

Years later, when researching, it came as no surprise that illegally hunting the big tuskers - and removing their guidance and physical strength - had such a massive impact on the survivability of the herd.

Additionally, it has been observed that us humans have drastically affected the evolution of elephants in the last century alone, after millions of years of evolution making them adapted to survive in their often harsh environments.
By illegally hunting the elephants with larger tusks, humans have taken their genes out of the genetic pool, resulting in more and more new elephants being born with smaller (or none at all) tusks.

Tusks have developed to aid elephants in defence against predators, when feeding (breaking down smaller trees, peeling off bark and salt-rich termite mounds/cave walls), and when males are fighting for the mating rights, resulting in healthier offspring being sired by stronger males.

Without tusk, elephants can be at a disadvantage. But even here, elephants show us once again how caring they are, with tusked individuals being observed helping those without tusks get the food and salt.

Indeed, truly remarkable creatures that can teach us so much!

10/08/2024

🦁 World Lion Day 🦁

King of the jungle?
Not really, but a pride of lions will preside over the grassland, savanna, dense scrub, and open woodland. Their massive size, strength, speed, and family bonds make them into skilled hunters that greatly affect the wildlife in their territory.

World Lion Day is extremely important because it serves as a call to action to safeguard these iconic species and the fragile ecosystems they inhabit.

With lion populations drastically declining in recent years, it is critical to educate the global world about the problems wild lions face, such as habitat destruction, human-animal conflicts, and illicit wildlife trading.

08/08/2024

🦁 International Cat Day 🐱

Did you know that out of the 41 cat species, 34 are “small cats”, many of which are threatened and lacking in knowledge and conservation action?

Cats are a part of the Felidae (feline) family. Domestic cats represent their own species, with more than 70 different recognised breeds.

🐯 Which of the cat species is your favourite?

04/08/2024

Meet our first AweSIMe Ambassador Marko!

Marko is joining the team in a voluntary role as our new Lead IT Consultant. He is a solution-oriented professional, whose enthusiasm and skillset will aid us in building our AweSIMe vision.

Marko's role will include:

💻 Procurement of equipment and licences.
🌐 Web development and domain registration.
⚙️ Building of infrastructure.
🎬 Setting up filming studio.
🎥 Audio and video recording and editing.
🎶 Composing music.
📡 Setting up and moderating online events.

We look forward to our future collaboration. Welcome to the team, Marko!

30/07/2024

Wonderful people, we are happy to say we are expanding onto other platforms too! After FB and Instagram, you can now also find AweSIMe on TikTok.

Link:
https://www.tiktok.com/?_t=8oR8lJi8khU&_r=1

Come follow us for all the short and cute / funny / informative animal videos. 🦁🐧🐝🐬🦎

0 Followers, 1 Following, 3 Likes - Watch awesome short videos created by AweSIMe

27/07/2024

Let us introduce you to our idea of AweSIMe Ambassadors!

In nature, everything is connected and dependent on others. To reach our BIG goals of wanting to promote conservation of nature, upskilling of animal and education experts, and inspiring the general public of different backgrounds and abilities, we have been thinking A LOT about this and will be enlisting - with no deadline - different experts and enthusiasts to join us in a voluntary role called AweSIMe Ambassador!

Our first meetings have already started happening with the candidates we know first-hand from the animal and education industry, and we couldn't be prouder that many others have already reached out to us over the last few weeks to express your interest in joining our mission.

⭐️ AweSIMe Ambassadors will play a vital role in helping us build our brand and what it stands for, by using their unique specialties and interest: from presenting and photography skills, website development, to knowledge about specific taxa, and lived experiences of working with animals in-situ and/or ex-situ.

⭐️ As always, I will also enthusiastically listen to and support students and young professionals in animal-related fields, helping the chosen ones get involved and gain experience and skills.

We plan to start sharing with you all our first cohort of AweSIMe Ambassador volunteers in the upcoming weeks, to help you better envision our direction and see if you or someone you know could be a part of it.

As its Founder, I will be actively leading this informal interview process, and I cannot wait to engage with knowledgeable and enthusiastic individuals who have been or plan to be involved in all aspects of a vast topic that are animals, adding their special piece to the bigger puzzle!

Stay tuned for our first Ambassador announcements!

26/07/2024

🦍 National Zookeeper Week 🦋

It has been wonderful to see so many posts - created by hardworking animal professionals and their zoo organisations - acknowledging and celebrating zookeepers around the world!

So much has already been rightfully said about their devotion, working in all weather conditions, enduring physically demanding tasks, and needing to be masters of so many skills. 🌿🛠🛖

In this post, I wish to talk about a very specific part of this role: zookeeper's love.

💚 Love for the animals, often since childhood, that navigated them through years of balancing correct educational path with practical work experiences, countless CPDs, and volunteering.

💚 Love that pushes them to continue working on upskilling themselves even when already in the role, to help them give the animals the highest level of care the industry is recommending. From chainsaw CPD to DMZAA and everything in between, the growth never stops.

💚 Love that helps them endure sad times inevitably linked to their calling, with animals dying (especially when it's the really young ones; that really shakes you up), or animals being poorly for a long time, or even seeing them move on to other collections - as part of the breeding recommendation. You are glad and sad at the same time.

Indeed, in this role you often feel like a parent with many children, going through different celebrations and struggles with each of them, all at different stages, all at once. 🐅🐃🦚🐫🦑🐘🐢

I will always cherish my years of being a zookeeper, and all those that followed when I was in other roles but gladly stepped in to help - during lockdowns, staff illnesses, etc. - because that LOVE for the animals never stops.

Those right individuals for this role are always here for our animal ambassadors, and the impact these professionals make on national and global level for these species speaks volumes. They just need to be reminded more, especially on days when everything seems to go pear-shaped! ⭐️

Thank you, wonderful zookeeper colleagues, for being a crucial part of animal care, conservation and research, and when educating and inspiring the general public to join the good fight for animals' survival. - Your work is changing and saving so many lives, and celebrating it will always be a big part of AweSIMe!

24/07/2024

Zoo friends' trip or an AweSIMe business meeting?

Why not both! It was wonderful to get together with Finn and Dan today, by visiting Banham Zoo in Suffolk, UK.

Thank you both so much for travelling across the country not only for an animal-packed trip, but also to discuss all things AweSIMe with me! 🐆

Your immense support and belief in the ideas I presented were heartwarming, and I am so glad to have such passionate and enthusiastic young animal professionals in my corner.

With many things (currently still) happening behind the scenes, I look forward to collaborating with you both soon, to help change lives of people and animals!

Here's to next AweSIMe steps! 🦊🐠🐻‍❄️🦀🦎

23/07/2024

🐋 World Whale and Dolphin Day 🐬

Happy World Whale and Dolphin Day, celebrated every year on the 23rd July!
It was declared in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), to globally celebrates these amazing ocean mammals.

Did you know?

🐬 Killer whales or orcas are actually the largest species in the dolphin family.

🐋 The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet, weighing as much as 200 tons (approximately 33 elephants).

🐬 Chatty dolphins have some of the most elaborate acoustic abilities in the animal kingdom! They make a variety of sounds including whistles, clicks, squawks, squeaks, and barks.

🐋 Concerningly, over 85% of North Atlantic right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once during their lifetime. They often get caught many times in their lives, highlighting the seriousness of the problem of ocean pollution and fishing nets' bycatching.

🎨 This has been my first attempt at drawing a humpback whale, that is now being added to AweSIMe's collection.