Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos Launch $200 Million Project to Save Endangered Species

The foundations of Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos have launched the Phoenix Species Project, committing $200 million to recover 100 of the most endangered species on Earth, including lemurs, salamanders, pangolins, pigs, and echidnas at risk of extinction. DiCaprio and the Bezos Earth Fund are leading this initiative, considered the largest single fund dedicated to the recovery of critically endangered species. DiCaprio has worked for years on a coordinated effort to help species threatened by climate change. In 2021, DiCaprio and Wes Sechrest, co-founder of Re:wild, met with Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, to discuss how to reverse the decline of vulnerable species. Among the animals the project aims to protect are the golden-crowned sifaka, the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander, the Visayan warty pig, the Cozumel harvest mouse, the pink land iguana, the Malayan pangolin, the pancake tortoise of Tanzania, and the starry night harlequin toad. The project also aims to support smaller efforts that have been successful but are ephemeral.