When is the world elephant day?

World Elephant Day is on August 12

World Elephant Day asks you to help conserve and protect elephants from the numerous threats they face.

Pending extinction of African elephants is a global crisis that needs to be solved today. Driven by the illegal trade, 30 percent of the continent’s elephants have been slaughtered in seven years. On current trends, when today’s children reach adulthood, African elephants will be extinct in the wild. The elephant poaching crisis exists because there is insufficient funding for implementation of effective, professional and organized law enforcement in the majority of African elephant range states. Wildlife Alliance is a global leader in Direct Protection of Forests and Wildlife and has a successful track-record of focused interventions halting species extinctions. Our solution focuses on tackling corruption and implementing direct on-the-ground law enforcement by motivated and well-managed rangers across six countries at the forefront of the poaching crisis. We will demonstrate success in halting elephant poaching, allowing conservation to leverage funding for continent-wide implementation, thus securing the future of Africa’s elephants.

Elephants Poaching

The demand for ivory, which is highest in China, leads to the illegal poaching of both African and Asian elephants. For example, one of the world’s largest elephants, Satao, was recently killed for his iconic tusks. Another iconic Kenyan elephant, Mountain Bull, was also killed by poachers, and with the street value for ivory now exceeding that of gold, African elephants face a poaching epidemic. Elephants are also poached for meat, leather, and body parts, with the illegal wildlife trade putting elephants increasingly in danger because it is perceived to be a low risk and high-profit endeavor.

Elephants Habitat loss

The loss of habitat due to deforestation increases in mining and agricultural activities have become problematic, especially for Asian elephants. The fragmentation of habitat also creates isolation – this makes breeding more difficult and allows poachers to find the elephants and set traps more easily.

Human-elephant conflict

Human-elephant conflict is a significant concern, as human populations increase and forest cover decreases, forcing elephants into close proximity with human settlements. Incidents include crop damage and economic losses, as well as both elephant and human casualties.

Elephants Mistreatment in captivity

A lack of legislation regarding the care and treatment of elephants in zoos, circuses, and tourism often leads to their mistreatment. Captivity can be a serious threat to elephants, and Asian elephants are often illegally captured in the wild and trafficked into the lucrative tourism industry.