As today is World Elephant Day it’s time to acknowledge all of the wonders of the beautiful creature that is the elephant.
World Elephant Day was set up on August 12th 2012 to bring attention the the urgent predicament of Asian and African elephants. These majestic and intelligent creatures praised by people worldwide are still in danger of being hunted, captured and killed.
It’s also a day to focus on raising awareness for the elephants worldwide stricken by lack of habitat, working in captivity (circus) and not just ones being hunted by trophy hunters.
Many organizations are doing their part to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future safe for nature and humans to live in harmony. The WWF, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and ELEPHANTVOICES are but a few of the charities working in areas of Africa and Asia. From research, education to conservation and advocacy, many are working to protect elephants through programs that aim to diminish human-elephant conflict and reduce the tragic ivory trade and poaching.
However, even though there are so many people devoted and passionate out the future of our elephants, there are still huge concerns.
It is estimated that 25,000 elephants are born and 30,000 thousand are killed each year.
With their round brown eyes and their plump fuzzy offspring who would want to kill these beautiful animals and why?
According to Trophy Hunters, bagging an elephant is the ultimate win. While the hunter gains an ivory from the elephant’s tusks, the elephant population suffers. Each elephant killed is a senseless move on the hunters behalf, and it only brings us one step closer to not having these beautiful animals as part of our wild in the future.
In the past elephants were not known to be killed for meat, in fact they were regarded as a fantastic animal and rarely needed to be killed. Yet, not all elephants are hunted to be killed and hung on the wall of a poacher.
Some elephants are hunted to be captured, and then trained to work. Elephants are highly intelligent animals which makes training them all the easier, so there really is no need to put them through beatings in the process.
These beautiful, mellow animals who are far too often confused for mournful are in danger, not only from hunters but from lack of habitat too. The African habitat has declined by over 50% since 1979, while Asian elephants are now closed into just 15 % of their original space.
These problems that are unfortunately a reality for some elephants yet can be solved by us. Start today, through donations to elephant research and preservation organizations. We can save our elephants for generations to come.
To find out how you can help, click visit the World Elephant Day website here.
