5 Elephant Updates on Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo! This May 5th, Elephantopia has 5 exciting new updates to share with you:

1. JOIN THE HERD campaign is going great! We exceeded our original stretch goal of $4500. Now we are hoping to raise up to $12000 by the end of May. If this goal is met, ALL of Kavala’s expenses will be covered by the Elephantopia “herd” (that includes YOU!) for an entire year. If you haven’t yet, we encourage you to Join the Herd with us. For a breakdown in costs, Kavala’s food, shelter along with her caretakers’ (who live with her 24/7) food and shelter cost $1000 USD a month. The GRI Elephant orphanage currently has six orphans they look after. Your support is critical for the future of these beautiful ellies. Africa Geographic recently wrote a blog on what a day with the herd in Zambia looks like. Here’s a snippet from “Looking After Orphans” (all photographs shared from the article):

During this twenty-four hour period of care and support ninety-six litres of milk will be drunk, three bandages, twelve swabs, three litres of foot soak, three syringes, one metre of tape and three hundred millilitres of iodine will have been used, oh and approximately six kilometres will have been walked by the elephants and their keepers. 

2. SIGN FOR ELEPHANTS: Elephantopia is a supporter of the Petition to Ban Ivory in the United States created by Elephants DC. Please take a moment to do three easy steps.

1) Click HERE to access the petition.

2) You will be asked to create an account with the White House.

3) Click the button “sign this petition” and then SHARE it with all your friends. 

3. WEBSITE and LOGO: we have purchased our new logo (see below) and this month will begin renovating our website, thanks to YOUR SUPPORT. Some facts behind the logo: it’s green, a color of life and nature. The elephant has an ivory tusk - we believe strongly that ivory belongs to the elephants! The circle around the elephant represents the community we are building of elephant advocates committed to saving the elephant. 

4.  MARCH FOR ELEPHANTS: Elephantopia is participating in this year’s March for Elephants in Houston. This worldwide event is a great way to educate others about the ivory trade. Want to get involved in your hometown? Click HERE to find out if there’s one going on near you. If not, consider leading an event. As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

5. A TRIP TO AFRICA: In June, our founder and director Elizabeth Chitwood will be in Kenya for twenty days. The Kenyan government seeks to eradicate curable blindness by 2020, so these eye-glass clinics are a central piece of the overall development puzzle. Knowing that there are only 60 ophthalmologists for Kenya’s 42 million people Dr. Steven Nguku, an ophthalmologist in Nairobi, said these teams “are helping the poor who cannot afford to see a doctor or buy glasses.”. Once the clinics are over, she will be camping through Amboseli & Tsavo, visiting with The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Throughout this trip, our Facebook page will post once a day with updates to keep you informed and allow you to “travel” with us as we seek to save elephants and build community.