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Maya Higa

Maya Elaine Higa is an American conservationist, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber. She is the founder of Alveus Sanctuary, a non-profit exotic animal sanctuary and virtual education center based in Austin, Texas.

Early life
, San Luis Obispo, where Higa studied agricultural education and communication|210x210px Maya Elaine Higa was born to a Japanese-Okinawan father and an American mother in Northern California on May 24, 1998, She attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, graduating with a bachelor's degree in agricultural education and communication in June 2020. During her time at college, she worked for Zoo to You Conservation Ambassadors, Charles Paddock Zoo, and Free Flight Exotic Bird Sanctuary as an intern, doing outreach education and exotic animal husbandry. She was also a 4-H county All Star ambassador in June 2016. == Career ==
Career
2019–2020: Early career and initial popularity Higa began streaming on Twitch in February 2019, after her streamer friends encouraged her to do so after they saw a clip of her singing on her Instagram. As her fame grew, her streams evolved to encompass a wider range of activities other than music, such as falconry, along with spreading conservation awareness. The first episode of the podcast raised US$3,000 for the American Eagle Foundation. The podcast has also featured speakers from organizations such as Save the Rhino, the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Conservation Cast has raised more than US$92,000 with 63 episodes for wildlife protection organizations around the globe. In October 2020, Higa became a part of the board of directors for a wildlife rehabilitation center in Central Texas. Her role focuses on raptor rehabilitation and husbandry. 2021: Founding of Alveus Sanctuary On February 10, 2021, Higa held a 21-hour charity stream for her newly founded non-profit exotic animal sanctuary and virtual education center known as Alveus Sanctuary. The stream was highlighted by an auction that sold off items such as a golden shovel owned by Sodapoppin, Gucci loafers owned by T-Pain, and a signed jersey from xQc. The most expensive item auctioned off was a 1-hour gaming session with streamer and former professional CS:GO player Shroud, purchased by fellow streamer Ludwig Ahgren for US$53,000. Shortly after reaching her goal of US$500,000, Higa shaved her head, fulfilling a promise she made a few weeks prior. All together, she raised US$573,000. On March 12, 2022, Higa co-hosted the first Streamer Awards show with QTCinderella at The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, California. On March 30, 2022, Higa started Conservation Uncharted, a travel series of livestreams focused on different aspects of wildlife conservation, with a whale-watching trip joined by Whale and Dolphin Conservation, raising over US$4,000 in under two hours. On June 5, 2022, Higa participated in a Beyblade tournament hosted by QTCinderella, featuring 32 other streamers in a double-elimination bracket. On September 5, 2022, she participated in QTCinderella's Shitcamp 2022 event. On September 19, 2022, Higa and Mizkif were accused by fellow Twitch streamer Trainwreckstv of downplaying and covering up an incident where fellow streamer CrazySlick allegedly sexually assaulted female streamer AdrianahLee. Higa released a public statement on Twitter via twitlonger apologizing for her involvement and stating that she did not cover up sexual assault and would take leave from streaming. After a two-month hiatus, Higa returned to streaming in November 2022. Higa stated her intentions to stream less on her main channel and reorient efforts into producing educational conservation content for Alveus Sanctuary. 2023: Collaborations As of January 2023, Higa has raised over US$1,000,000 collectively from viewer donations using Twitch. On April 4, 2023, Higa collaborated with Twitch and hosted Nerve Center presented by Ally, a sponsored education show based around Alveus Sanctuary with several online creators, including Daily Dose of Internet, Lacari, Dareon, and Caroline Kwan. On October 1, 2023, Higa co-hosted The Gala for Good charity auction stream with QTCinderella. Over US$250,000 was raised for rainforest conservation at the event, with donations going to five non-profit environmental organizations, including Rainforest Alliance, World Wildlife Fund, Rainforest Foundation US, and Rainforest Trust. 2024–present: Continued growth According to Stream Hatchet, a data intelligence company focusing on live streaming analytics, Higa was the 10th most-watched female streamer across all platforms for the month of April 2024, with an average minute viewership (AMA) of 7000. She later appeared again as the fifth most-watched female streamer across all platforms for the month of May 2024, with an AMA of 8000. On January 22, 2025, Higa reached one million subscribers on YouTube. In March 2025, she was a speaker at South by Southwest (SXSW), where she discussed wildlife conservation and the role of digital media on environmental education. In October 2025, Higa announced a massive expansion of her sanctuary called the Alveus Research & Recovery Institute (ARRI). She raised over $500,000 in a single day to fund the project, which aims to breed and release endangered North American species, starting with wolf species. In April 2026, Higa became the first Twitch streamer to deliver a TED Talk at TED2026 in Vancouver, where she spoke about the role of content creators in wildlife education. == Other ventures ==
Other ventures
at a TwitchCon panel for Wine About It in 2023|right Wine About It Podcast In November 2021, Higa began to co-host the Wine About It podcast alongside her friend and fellow Twitch streamer, QTCinderella. Wine About It went on hiatus in September 2022 after Higa announced her "indefinite" break from online content creation, a decision which stemmed from the backlash she received for her alleged involvement in covering up a sexual assault scandal. On March 11, 2023, the duo announced the return of the podcast alongside the launch of the Wine About It Patreon. On July 2, 2025, it was announced that Higa would leave the Wine About It podcast to further focus on her conservation work at Alveus Sanctuary. QTCinderella went on to announce the decision to continue the podcast with Valkyrae as her new co-host. ==Personal life==
Personal life
Higa previously lived in California before moving to Cedar Park, Texas, in May 2020. She currently lives in a custom-built 390-square-foot tiny house on site at Alveus Sanctuary. Between 2019 and 2021, Higa was in a relationship with fellow Twitch streamer Mizkif. On September 14, 2021, Mizkif announced on Twitter that he and Higa had ended their relationship. Since 2022, Higa has been in a relationship with someone outside of the online entertainment industry. In April 2023, Higa uploaded a video on YouTube titled "meet my pets" showcasing her collection of animals. At that time, Higa had 12 pets, including a Kiger mustang horse named Acero, a Weimaraner dog named Bella, and a Chihuahua-pit bull mix dog named Maverick. == Awards and nominations ==
Discography
Singles As a featured artist == Notes ==
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