Futsum Hagos is director of wildlife conservation and development for the nation of Eritrea, a position that he has held since 2013. Prior to this, he received his bachelor of science from the University of Asmara and began work as coordinator of national protected areas, which included planning, coordinating, supervising and monitoring wildlife activities. Soon after graduating from the College of African Wildlife Management in 1996 in Tanzania, Futsum was assigned the role of forestry and wildlife expert. The following year he was assigned to work in the Northern Red Sea region, where his main duties included coordinating forestry and wildlife conservation activities with a focus on population dynamics of wildlife in general and the African Wild Ass in particular.