HOUSTON, TX – February 18, 2026 — The Houston Safari Club Foundation (HSCF) announces that Tanner Tripp, founder of Wild Giants Conservation Fund and Wild Giants Caucasus, is the featured guest on an upcoming episode of HSCF’s Hunting Matters podcast.
Tripp joins Hunting Matters to discuss a bold, integrated approach to modern conservation—one that combines keystone species restoration, breeding and rewilding programs, eco-tourism development, and regulated hunting models to create financially sustainable conservation systems.
As the founder of Wild Giants, Tripp is focused on restoring keystone wildlife species and rebuilding functional ecosystems while ensuring that conservation efforts generate long-term economic value for local communities. His work spans projects in the United States and internationally, with a major focus in the Republic of Georgia and the Caucasus region.
On the episode, Tripp explains the ecological significance of keystone species and how their reintroduction can catalyze ecosystem recovery at scale. He details the science and operational structure behind Wild Giants’ breeding and rewilding programs, as well as the financial architecture designed to move beyond perpetual fundraising toward self-sustaining conservation enterprises.
Before launching Wild Giants, Tripp spent six years in Amsterdam working in the adventure travel and tourism industry. That experience shaped his perspective on sustainable tourism, cultural engagement, and the importance of connecting international travelers with wild landscapes in meaningful, responsible ways. He discusses how tourism, often viewed as competing with conservation, can instead serve as a complementary economic engine when structured properly.
A central theme of the episode is accountability. Tripp addresses how regulated hunting can function as a science-based conservation tool when implemented with strict safeguards, measurable biological data, and local community buy-in. He also outlines the mechanisms Wild Giants employs to ensure tourism and hunting remain conservation-driven rather than extractive.
The conversation further explores the importance of job creation in remote communities, and the risks conservation faces when local populations see no tangible economic value in wildlife. Tripp shares examples of how community participation in the Caucasus region is integral to project success, reinforcing the principle that long-term conservation depends on local ownership.
Listeners will also gain insight into the scalability of the Wild Giants model, the cultural and logistical challenges of launching conservation programs internationally, and what long-term success could look like over the next decade and beyond.
An avid outdoorsman, Tripp closes the episode by reflecting on his personal connection to wild places and his mission to “make wild places wild again”, not only ecologically, but socially and economically.
About Hunting Matters
Hunting Matters is the official, award-winning podcast of the Houston Safari Club Foundation. Featuring hunters, conservationists, outdoor professionals, and thought leaders, each episode dives deep into the stories that shape the future of wildlife and hunting heritage. Hunting Matters is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major podcast platforms, as well as at https://hscfdn.org/hunting-matters-podcast/.
About Houston Safari Club Foundation
HSCF is a Houston-based nonprofit dedicated to preserving the sport of hunting through education, conservation, and the promotion of our hunting heritage. Learn more at wehuntwegive.org.
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