Francesco Nardelli

Who is Francesco Nardelli?

Francesco Romano Nardelli was born on 5 September 1953 in Rome, Italy, where he currently lives. He is an Italian naturalist who has dedicated his life to the protection and conservation of endangered species. He’s also the founder of the Sumatran Rhino Project, one of the most important coordinated efforts to save a critically endangered species.

In 1972, Nardelli established a private Wild Felids Breeding Center near Rome, where he successfully bred in captivity several threatened species including the Red-shanked Douc langur, the Snow leopard, the Clouded leopard all first ever bred in Italy.

In 1980 he moved to England, where he became Curator of Howletts and Port Lympne Zoo, John Aspinall’s Zoos in Kent. There he was responsible for the setting up of new exhibits and directed with success several breeding programs including African elephant, Western lowland Gorilla, Siamang, Red-shanked Douc langur Surili langurs Clouded leopard, Snow leopard.

In 1982 he conceived and directed the Sumatran Rhino Project, the first international program for the conservation of the Sumatran Rhino. That scheme was, and it still is, a collaborative effort involving – for the first time – national governments, local agencies, European and Asian conservation centers and international zoological institutions, to save this species from extinction.