Live Your Music - Margaux Joy and Guest Chris Austria 08/26/15

Chris Austria works for the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda. This haven is home to 48 orphaned chimpanzees that have been rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. They live on 95 acres of forest habitat. The sanctuary was founded in 1998 by Dr. Jane Goodall and a group of founding trustees.

Originally from San Francisco, California, Chris has worked with tigers, lions, leopards, birds of prey, and a variety of animals for many years at Marine World Africa U.S.A., Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California and the San Francisco Zoo.

Chris grew up in a music family. His father was a violinist in the San Francisco Symphony for 35 years, and his mother was a flamenco guitarist. In addition to his work with animals, Chris was the director of music licensing for Independent Distribution Collective in San Francisco and managed the music licensing catalogue and placed music in TV, Film, and video games.

Chris has been a tiger analyst for the ABC TV Network and worked with the World Wildlife Fund’s Bay Area regional office in prospect research and fundraising events.

A few years ago, Chris moved to Ethiopia to work for a wildlife conservation organization, focusing on protecting the wildlife in eastern Ethiopia. He recently moved to Rwanda to work on conservation and eco-tourism projects there.

To connect with Chris Austria online, please visit his website: www.chrisaustria.com