My name is Dyllan and I am the creator & founder of Wildlife Sidekicks. The reason is simple - I want to help protect and conserve the natural beauty and wonders of our world.

Growing up in South Africa, I developed a great love for wildlife. I ventured on countless safaris, following herds of various animals such as Elephants and Giraffe, as well as witnessing incredible predators hunting in the African bushveld. Sadly I also learnt and witnessed firsthand the destruction of habitat and the exploitation of some of our world’s most majestic species.

Fast forward a few years into 2008 when I moved to Australia, I was captivated by its strange and unique wildlife. I discovered that the majority of Australia’s native species are found nowhere else on the planet. The statistics show that 87% of our mammals, 93% of our reptiles, 94% of our frogs, and 45% of our bird species are only found on this continent. With such a rare and endemic abundance of animal species, their protection is incredibly important and it is something that I want to protect for our future generations.

I was shocked and heartbroken to learn that Australia is also struggling in the fight for wildlife conservation. We have the fourth-highest level of animal species extinction in the world, and we also have the worst mammal extinction rate in the world. To date there are 30 native mammals that have become extinct since European settlement. According to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, “to put this in a global context, 1 out of 3 mammal extinctions in the last 400 years have occurred in Australia.”

Today there are more than 1,700 animal and plant species in Australia that are at risk of extinction. This includes more than 30% of our surviving mammal species.

At Wildlife Sidekicks we are trying to achieve a behavioural change in the way we interact and coexist with our wildlife and our natural environments. Our first step towards this goal involves the development of inspirational in-class conservation programs. We believe that through native animal interactions combined with productive learning activities, we can better influence our future generations.

Growing up, my hero was Steve Irwin, the original “Wildlife Warrior”.  He was able to captivate us with not only his relationships and interactions with animals, but also his whole persona. Steve and his team were able to achieve ground breaking conservation feats, and to this day his family continues to fight for what he believed in.

Steve Irwin was able to achieve something no one else has done before and that was to create a unique connection between people and wildlife, through an understanding and appreciation of our natural world. It is imperative that we work together and follow in Steve’s footsteps to conserve and create a more beautiful and sustainable world.

The backbone of what we do at Wildlife Sidekicks is to continue the work that our conservation heroes have done before and continue to do today, because “If we can teach people about wildlife, then they will be touched… because humans want to save the things that they love!” - Steve Irwin.