The Rise in Online Animal Conservation

Most people have heard of some of the great animal conservationists like Jane Goodall and Steve Irwin, but currently there is someone taking the internet by storm, and her name is Maya Higa. Her mission so far is public conservation outreach through online platforms like Twitch and Youtube, and day by day she works to spread these important conservational messages right onto the platforms where people are already at through her own non-profit called Alveus Sanctuary. 

        As a child, one of my favorite memories was waking up before the sun even got a chance to rise so I could keep up to date with the newest episodes of my favorite shows from National Geographic and Animal Planet, and fairly recently I got to experience that same joy again because of Maya. She recently streamed an event live from Alaska, in conjunction with fellow Twitch streamer and Youtuber Adapt (Alexander Hamilton Prynkiewicz), where the proceeds went to Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The name of this recent event, “Not Geo: Alaska,” is a play off the origin of this event, a series in which Maya would teach both viewers and Adapt more about animals and their conservation by watching videos from places like National Geographic relating more complex and technical terms to common gaming slang and callouts. The educational nature of this and the high interest of the viewers caused what was originally intended to be one collaboration stream, into multiple streams, further turning into multiple fundraising trips for different causes. 

        Maya and Adapt prove to be quite the strange pair and, despite them being polar opposites, they work amazingly together. Maya is the voice of reason, the intelligent tour guide, while Adapt quite literally knows nothing beforehand, and this is no mistake. Adapt acts with a certain kind of cluelessness in these tours that is the definition of how a parent says you will act if you don't stop looking at the screen all the time, regularly asking any and all questions that come to mind, without the hesitation of whether or not something should be common sense beforehand. It creates a comical yet safe environment in which not only are all questions welcomed, but encouraged and answered. Adapt really takes to his namesake through his lack of hesitation in trying anything new just for the purpose of learning a bit more, and even went into the “Not Geo:Alaska” event purposefully blinded to any knowledge of what was to come so he could experience on the same level as the viewers that they were hoping to teach. 

A favorite moment of mine was a relatively more mundane moment caught in between the flashier events like ice climbing and wildlife spotting that included close encounters with bears. On day 4 of the event, Maya and their boat guides were teaching Adapt and viewers about how they could contribute to the conservation efforts via cleaning up natural areas, such as a beach that they were setting up cameras on to record all of the litter that had been washed up from the ocean and their cleanup efforts, when Maya made the error of saying something that would catch Adapt’s attention on a totally different topic. “These as skipping rocks are all kinda peak,” which instantly Adapt latched onto it and went to try to skip a rock as far as possible, and in the process his chat phone (A common practice of larger Twitch streamers in which may they have a dedicated phone used for the purpose of viewing and responding to the comments of live viewers.) launched off his wristband farther and in a completely different direction to the rock he was trying to skip. It was a hilarious and relatable moment in between the unbelievable views and terrifying moments of nature that something that trivial like that had to happen. Of all the absurd things, not even the bears getting uncomfortably close or the phone falling down a glacier cliff had caused any damage to it, but instead a crack from the phone being the skipped rock rather than the rock itself. Adapt’s disbelief and repeated no’s at the spot where the phone fell and Maya’s mirth at his reaction as she retrieved the phone was something that only fueled my amusement for the situation, because of course that would be the straw that broke the camel’s back for their luck.

Maya and Adapt make each installment of the event as funny as it is educational, and through Maya’s regular streams on the Alveus Sanctuary page she continues with her mission of meeting Youtubers, streamers, and viewers where they are at and collaborating with people to teach them about conservation. I really recommend watching Maya Higa via the Alveus Sanctuary streams, especially her “Not Geo: Alaska” event as there is something for every level of knowledge, and very likely at least one of your favorite YouTubers or Twitch streamers have been on there and are waiting to meet you right where you are.