The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s Wildlife Ball honoured its founder at The Dorchester in November 2025 and raised more than £170,000 for wildlife in Africa and Asia.
The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation held its annual Wildlife Ball at The Dorchester in Mayfair on Friday 7 November 2025. The evening honoured the painter whose pictures founded the charity.
David Shepherd spent more than fifty years painting elephants, tigers and other endangered animals, and used the paintings to pay for their protection. Tiger Fire was one of his first major fund-raising successes, raising £127,000 for Indira Gandhi’s Operation Tiger in 1973.
In 1984 he set up his own foundation, and he remained its president until his death in 2017. It funds conservation partners across Africa and Asia instead of running its own field teams. The money reaches wildlife law enforcement, investigations into the illegal trade, rangers, and the communities who share their land with the animals.
Dame Judi Dench opened the evening with a message, and the chief executive, Georgina Lamb, hosted with the singer Laura Wright. Emily Lamb, Shepherd’s granddaughter and the foundation’s art ambassador, painted elephants live in the ballroom. Her canvas went into the live auction that Charlie Ross led, and the night raised more than £170,000.
Wilton Nsimango of Painted Dog Conservation travelled from Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe to speak.