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The Indianapolis Prize is given every other year to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to conservation efforts involving a single animal species or multiple species. The Prize includes an unrestricted cash award of $250,000 beginning with the 2014 presentation of the Prize, plus the Lilly Medal. Formerly, the winner received $100,000. Also beginning in 2014, the other five non-winning finalists for the Prize will receive awards of $10,000 each.

The nominees for the biennial Prize, the world's leading award for animal conservation, are reviewed by two international committees – a nine-person nominating committee that narrows the field down to six finalists, and a jury that then selects the winner. The nominating committee and jury include new members for each two-year Prize cycle, and they include some of the leading people in the conservation field.

Once the six finalists have been selected, an original video is produced on location for each finalist that focuses on their lives and work. These professionally produced videos are shot in high definition, and they are made available at no charge to the finalists and their organizations to assist them in promoting their work to donors and other audiences. 

The most impressive aspect, however, involves their presentation at the Indianapolis Prize Gala, presented by Cummins, Inc., which in 2012 was held on September 29 at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis. The finalists were featured before an influential audience of 1,000 and in a variety of other outreach and communication activities designed to tell their stories.  To view the video presentations on the six finalists, click here.

The first three winners of the $100,000 award were selected from a slate of internationally recognized conservationists and announced at extraordinary celebrations in Indianapolis, the first on September 30, 2006, and the second on September 27, 2008, and the third on September 25, 2010.

The first two Indianapolis Prize Galas were presented by AES Corporation, the parent corporation of Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL), while the 2010 and 2012 Galas were presented by Cummins Inc.  They highlighted not only the finalists and winners, but also the vitality and commitment of the Indianapolis community. The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation provides funding for the Indianapolis Prize.  In addition to the $100,000 unrestricted cash award, the winner receives the prestigious Lilly Medal.

This Gala celebration draws international attention to conservation issues and receives extensive media coverage.  It is not designed to be a quiet, academic, scientist-focused event, but instead an energetic and spectacular celebration of conservation victories.  The goal is to inspire the general public to start caring about conservation, and to place heroes, who live in tents in danger of both wild beasts and poachers, on the pedestal that we usually reserve for sports and entertainment stars.

It was first awarded in 2006 to Dr. George Archibald, the co-founder of the International Crane Foundation and one of the world's great field biologists.  In 2008, the Indianapolis Prize went to Dr. George Schaller, the world's pre-eminent field biologist and vice president of science and exploration for the Wildlife Conservation Society.  The 2010 winner was Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder and president of Save the Elephants and the world's pre-eminent elephant researcher.

The Indianapolis Prize is a significant component of the internationally recognized conservation efforts being undertaken by the Indianapolis Zoo.

Special thanks to Dennis Hansen for permission to use his beautiful photo of the echo parakeet in flight in Mauritius on the home page of this website.