WA conservationist murdered
A Perth conservationist who was working with endangered animals in Zimbabwe was murdered outside his cottage on Tuesday night.
WA’s conservation community is mourning the loss of Greg Gibbard, a 62-year-old Balga man who dedicated much of his life to protecting African painted dogs, also known as African wild dogs.
It is understood Mr Gibbard was found dead on Tuesday night with two serious head wounds, possibly caused by an axe.
For the past five years he had lived in a cottage near the Hwange National Park and worked side-by-side with dozens of locals as an administrator for the Zimbabwe-based Painted Dog Conservation group.
Mr Gibbard was the founding chairman of Perth’s Painted Dog Conservation Inc, a not-for-profit organisation established in 2003.
He had worked as an accountant for the Federal Government, Silver Chain and Edith Cowan University in Perth after serving as a sapper in the army reserves in his earlier years.
Fellow PDC founding member and current chairman John Lemon, 43, first met Mr Gibbard when they were volunteering in Zimbabwe about 15 years ago.
He lived with Mr Gibbard for about six months while they started the charity which is going from strength to strength 12 years later.
Mr Lemon, the operations curator at Perth Zoo, is liaising with Zimbabwean authorities to monitor the murder investigation and organise the repatriation of Mr Gibbard’s body.
Greg Gibbard and John Lemon at a Painted Dog Conservation Inc fundraiser in Perth in 2008. Picture: Supplied
He said Mr Gibbard was a passionate conservationist and a gentle soul, who did not have a “bark, let alone a bite”.
“Painted dogs have a social structure and caring nature that has touched us all and Greg was very passionate about what he did,” he said.
“He wasn’t one to do a lot of work on the ground but he loved being in the bush.
“You have your scientists and researchers but there’s another side to making these things work and Greg was very good at that.
“That group will be struggling without him. They’re reeling.”
Mr Lemon said he received an email on Monday from Mr Gibbard, who had seen a story in a local Perth newspaper and wanted to congratulate him on how well he was doing.
He said Mr Gibbard had planned to return to Perth and continue his conservation work into his latter years.
Nicholas Duncan, the founder of the Perth-based SAVE African Rhino Foundation, said he was shocked that something so violent could happen to such a peaceful man.
“He was diligent, keen, dedicated, quiet and polite,” he said. “It’s the last thing that deserves to happen to anyone, let alone someone who’s given their last 15 years to the betterment of wildlife.”
