Maya Higa founded Alveus in February 2021, with a 21-hour-long live stream to raise initial capital to fund the sanctuary. The live stream raised over $500,000, with donations over $100 receiving a metal leaf that would be displayed at Alveus.[6][7] An auction was also held during the stream that included a pair of loafers from T-Pain and an hour with streamer Shroud, which was won by Ludwig Ahgren with a $53,000 donation.[8][9]
Alveus continues to use the live streams on Twitch as their main way to educate their audience on conservation and to raise funds to continue operating. Alongside accepting donations at any time on the stream, they also host many dedicated fundraising events, such as their 2022 Art Auction which sold off paintings created by the ambassadors at the sanctuary for donations, raising over $40,000 during the single event.[10]
Other content creators also help to raise funds for Alveus, either through collaboration streams at Alveus or through dedicated fundraising events for Alveus. At DreamHack Atlanta 2022, Ludwig raised $315,000 during his 50-hour-long glass box stream, with 50% of that being donated to Alveus.[11][12] Fellow streamers Britt and Malena held a fundraising live stream for Alveus in November 2022 and raised over $20,000 for the sanctuary, during a period of time where Higa had stepped away from streaming.[13]
In April 2023, the new CEO of Twitch, Dan Clancy, visited Alveus to meet the staff and ambassadors.[14][15] Clancy also donated his first month of earnings from his personal Twitch stream to Alveus.[16]
In September 2024, during the opening ceremony of the semi-annual TwitchCon event, Twitch announced a donation of $100,000 to Alveus Sanctuary.[17][18][19]
Conservation and education efforts
Alveus takes in animals for a variety of reasons, some of them being non-releasable due to injuries or confiscations from the pet trade, and so on, with 32 animals at the sanctuary currently. These animals act as ambassadors for their species, all with different stories and conservation missions.[20][21] These animal ambassadors are used in Alveus' educational content to allow viewers to build a connection to the specific animal and then learn to care for the species as a whole. "I learned that model of people falling in love with an individual animal and then caring about their species and planet," Higa told KXAN. "If they knew, they would care, because they love these animals, and so my job is to be that bridge and teach people."[21]
Alveus collaboration stream with Twitch streamer EsfandTV
The sanctuary is based on 15 acres of land in Austin, Texas,[22] but is not open to the public due to safety concerns. Education at Alveus all happens online in a few different forms, from the 24/7 live cams of the ambassadors at the sanctuary, to collaborations with different content creators to spread the conservation messaging to a wider audience, and other produced content.[23] Higa hosts Animal Quest, a live series where each episode introduces viewers to an ambassador at the sanctuary, teaches them about their story, their species' importance to the environment, and what they can do to help.[21][24]
On April 4, 2023, Higa and Alveus teamed up with Twitch to host a weekly show called Nerve Center presented by Ally, a sponsored education show based around the animals at Alveus. The guests for this show featured a roster of online creators, including Daily Dose of Internet, Lacari, Dareon, and Caroline Kwan.[25][26][27]
