Earth Day and Elephant Videos

This is a rather popular commercial at the moment:

http://youtu.be/-xEYYdvcQjo

This clip showed me just how iconic the elephant is to the average consumer. When we think Africa, we think elephants. When we think adventure, we envision being out in the bush, exploring the unknown. And when we envision ourselves in this clip, we presume this idealistic picture is just waiting for us to arrive.

But what this clip didn’t show is that every 15 minutes, an elephant is killed brutally for it’s ivory tusks. That every 15 minutes, ivory is funneled into the illegal wildlife trade funding terrorist organizations across Africa and threatening the stability of local governmental agencies. That every 15 minutes a keystone species, which many other forms of life depend on for their very survival, is one step closer to extinction.

And for what, greed? As Seneca, a Roman philosopher, once said,

For greed, all nature is too little.

Indeed, greed will not stop until every elephant on the African continent is killed, which at the current rate will be by 2025. Are we content to sit idly by and allow this to happen? To look at the above commercial in ten years as something of dreams past when elephants used to roam the African continent?

I, for one, am not. This earth day, please share this with a friend - in a conversation, on a facebook page, in a tweet, whatever the form. Most people do not know the dire situation of the elephant at the hands of the ivory trade at hand…nor do most people realize they have a real chance to change the fate of the African elephant at their fingertips. The elephants do not need to disappear. Be their voice.

TWO PRACTICAL WAYS:
1) If you haven’t already, JOIN THE HERD with Elephantopia. We are raising funds for Kavala, an elephant orphaned because of the ivory trade. Every dollar raised is being donated directly to GRI Elephant Orphanage Project in Zambia to care for Kavala and to support the keepers who dedicate their lives 24/7 to protecting her. Please note - this campaign is open to anyone from around the world. The need? A global herd of elephant ambassadors to make a difference in the lives of those left behind from the ivory trade!

2) SIGN FOR ELEPHANTS - if you are an American citizen, starting May 1-May 30, there will be a campaign to end the ivory trade in the United States. A petition has been created and needs to receive 100,000 signatures within the month. The petition urges the United States president to enact a new executive order to TOTALLY BAN the ivory trade, with only very narrow noncommercial carve-outs for museums and other cultural institutions. This immediate and historic measure for another species is required to save the elephants from extinction. Learn more about this by visiting this Facebook page

Elephantopia is an organization supporting the Sign for Elephants campaign