When Zhuo Qiang announced to his family that he was quitting his cushy job at a government department and was relocating to Kenya without any employment offer in hand, they thought he had gone mad.

"Since graduating from university in 1996, I had been working in a government department in [southwest China’s] Chongqing Municipality. It was a stable job and allowed me to go abroad several times on official business," the 43-year-old explained. Such jobs are called the "iron rice bowl" in China, known for their reliability as a means of livelihood. And yet there he was, ready to throw away all that security and career prospect on the basis of just one trip in 2005 which left him smitten.

That fateful year, Zhuo traveled on official business to Kenya, his first trip to Africa. His destination was the Maasai Mara National Reserve and the first glimpse remains indelibly etched in his memory. "The grassy plain stretched on boundlessly and the sky was a pure blue dotted with white clouds," he described the first encounter. "And at night, it turned starry with a radiant moon. I could hear lions roaring in the distance. I also caught glimpses of other animals such as elephants, rhinos, leopards and cheetahs prowling in the savanna."

It touched a chord in his heart that had been there since his childhood - a fascination with lions. "As a child, I had watched an animated film called Kimba the White Lion," Zhuo said. "Besides lions, it familiarized me with the African prairie." From that time, he began to like lions and yearned to go to Africa and meet the majestic animals there.

Dream realized

In 2011, finally, he decided to take the bull by the horns and resigned from his job despite objections from his family. Then he was off to Kenya, all agog for a new way of life.

However, things did not go the way he had imagined. When Zhuo arrived in Nairobi and began to approach wildlife protection organizations for a job, no one was ready to hire him. He found it hard to be accepted by the European and American wildlife protection organizations active in Kenya. "They had this stereotyped concept of Chinese as people who were mercenary and ready to kill wild animals," he said. They didn’t believe Zhuo had come to Africa with the aim of protecting wildlife. Someone even accused him of spying for a poaching group.

Though frustrated, Zhuo did not give up. He decided to go it alone. With his limited funds, he set up a tent in the wilderness and began living there, right next to the wild animals he wanted to protect. He first made friends with the local tribe and convinced them of his sincerity. Then he also began to earn the trust of the local government with his vigils to deter poachers. Within a year of his arrival in Kenya, he had founded his own wildlife NGO, the Mara Conservation Fund, and established his own patrol. The team began working with Kenyan government staff in Maasai Mara to protect lions and other wildlife from poachers.

The Mara Conservation Fund, the first non-governmental public welfare organization initiated by a Chinese in Kenya, is mainly staffed by locals and relies on Zhuo’s personal savings as well as donations. The fund also donates equipment to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, including vehicles and tents.

Currently, it has established partnerships with the Kenya Wildlife Service, East African Wildlife Society and some organizations working to protect the elephant.

Today, Zhuo has a new name in Kenya. He is affectionately called Simba by the locals. Simba means "lion" in the Swahili language.

"Wildlife protection is my mission," Zhuo said. "Since China has the largest population in the world, we have the responsibility to contribute more to protect this world. Also, Africa is the cradle of human beings. So it is the responsibility of all human beings to protect the environment and wildlife in Africa."

Future champions

Besides the unpaid, daily patrols, Zhuo has another mission - to educate the increasing number of Chinese tourists to Africa as well as the Chinese back home. He organizes Chinese volunteers to come to Kenya and work on conservation projects each year. When they go back, they share their experiences with other Chinese and that’s how wildlife and environmental awareness grows.

Zhuo likes to concentrate on schoolchildren because he says the school-age generation is the future wildlife protector. Also, they have influence over their parents’ generation, which has the financial ability and inclination to buy ivory or rhino horn products.

"Young Chinese people are much better educated nowadays and understand the urgency of protecting wildlife, regardless of where they are," Zhuo said. "But they lack the means of gaining relevant knowledge."

To address that, in July 2015, the Mara Conservation Fund, in cooperation with Kids Bang, a Chinese educational platform to foster global civic awareness in children, started Lion Defenders, a program to make Chinese children experience outdoor life in Africa. The participants experience the daily work and life in a wildlife conservation park in Africa.

"Children should learn how to survive in the wilderness. They should also be educated to become global citizens who have civic awareness and a sense of responsibility to protect the global eco-system and endangered wild animals," Zhuo said.

Huang Guoguo, a nine-year-old, is from the first batch of Lion Defenders. She lived on the Maasai Mara Reserve for nine days. "I want to tell all the animals in Maasai Mara that I will always stay concerned about you," she said. "I have painted a lot of postcards with my friends for a rummage sale. All the money from the sale will be donated to protect animals in Africa."

China Chips In

• In recent years, the Chinese Government has beefed up support for wildlife conservation in Africa.
• In 2014, China provided $515,000 to launch an initiative in Kenya for conserving wildlife. When Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Africa in 2014, he pledged $10 million for wildlife preservation. Li also promoted joint research to fight desertification and modernize agriculture.
• In July 2015, China supplied equipment worth $1.7 million to Botswana for wildlife protection.
• The Johannesburg Action Plan (2016-18) issued at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in 2015 takes cooperation in wildlife protection further. It says China and Africa will jointly fight illegal trade in wild fauna and flora products.