What a heart-breaking subject to talk about. Poaching. But we need to so we can do something. Together my friends.
Hear me out. 24,000 elephants poached in three years in East Africa alone. Around 8,000 in a year. 83,000 elephants combined in Central and Southern Africa in three years. Total this up and we are talking around 100,000 elephant souls. 100,000! Terrifying numbers. That is like saying the whole University of Texas Austin campus is wiped out. Forever. [National Geographic].
They say elephants will be extinct in 11 years. Extinct! Extinction is forever.
Can you imagine going on a Safari and not seeing elephants. These wonderous, intelligent, maternal, emotional, sensitive elephants and much more. We can not fathom that.
So let us do something about it!
What can we do as wildlife lovers and preservers? Let us start with four things.
Completely ban ivory.
Countries that continue to sell ivory legally should stop this harmful trade. Asia countries like China and Vietnam are heavy users of ivory. Their new-found wealth is fueling the demand.
Wildlife supporters within the Asian nations are working hard to raising awareness. Houston Rocket super star and Chinese citizen Yao Ming has been to Kenya many times to see the atrocities first hand. Action hero Jackie Chan has joined the fight. They are spreading awareness to their countrymen. Look at this amazing WildAid film by Chinese film star Li Bingbing. Oh so powerful.
“When the buying stops, the killing can too.”
Educate the buyer.
How can we let the end-user, the ‘unaware’ trinket wearer, the collector of fine ivory carvings or the person who is thinking about using ivory to show wealth what really happens. [LA Times Article].
It is not just one trinket or just one elephant. Elephants are not just beautiful to watch, they are vital to the eco-system. Their footprints collect watch for the small animals, their dung spreads seeds, the branches they break for food makes compost on the ground. They have excellent memory and other animals depend on elephants to remember water source during droughts. Elephants are part of a bigger picture.
They need to see what is happening to the elephant when it’s tusks are butchered away. The horrible death the elephant suffers when their tusks are hacked, the orphan[s] that is left behind, the terror to the whole elephant community and the generational deterioration of elephant wisdom.
That buying ivory is actually funding terrorism. Watch The last days of ivory by director Kathryn Bigelow. Terror groups are using ivory to buy weapons so they can hurt and terrorize us.
Fund the fight.
Security for our elephants. We really hate that this is what it has come down to so we can ensure the safety of our elephants. Funding ground rangers, ground vehicles, flying planes, drones, night vision, etc. Unbelievable but it is what it is.
There are many organizations that do good work and when you stay in some of our lodges, you money goes into elephant conservation.
Some of the hard-working organizations are – David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Big Life Foundation, WildAid, Save the Elephants. Our friends at Elephantopia take care of Kavala at Game Rangers International.
Help spread the word.
Please. Time is running out. Our elephants need us for their survival. But, we can do it. Together.
- Stop buying ivory.
- Educate those who think just one elephant
- Help fund the fight.
“Extinction is forever”.
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