Riding on the back of an elephant

I received a greeting card last year from my daughter-in-law's parents; the photo on the card showed Florence and Shelly sitting comfortably on the back of an elephant during one of their many trips abroad. We can only hope that our children's children will be able to enjoy a similar experience in the years to come. This email from Jamie Rappaport Clark, President, Defenders of Wildlife, is a warning:

Elephants on the Brink We owe it to future generations to leave behind a world as rich and wondrous with wildlife as the one we inherited. Your urgent donation will help us fight wildlife trafficking and protect imperiled wildlife. Dear Virginia, Picture it. At current rates of poaching, the last African elephant in the wild will die sometime before January 1, 2030. Every 15 minutes, an elephant falls to a poacher’s bullet. Babies are left orphaned and eventually starve. Driving this crisis is the global demand for ivory. And it might surprise you to know that the United States is one of the world’s largest ivory consumers. Help us stem the global trade in endangered wildlife with an urgent gift to Defenders of Wildlife. The good news is President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping made an historic promise in September to enact nearly complete bans on ivory import and export and end the domestic commercial ivory trade within the U.S. and China once and for all. The bad news is the anti-conservation extremists and their cronies in Congress have introduced bills to make it easier to import and sell ivory. Totally reprehensible. With your help, we’re fighting for wildlife by: Fighting the anti-conservation extremists and others who would hasten the extinction of elephants and other species threatened by wildlife trafficking; Mobilizing against Congressional efforts to weaken proposed restrictions on the domestic ivory trade; Advocating for laws to put wildlife trafficking in the same law enforcement category as racketeering and money laundering, with similar consequences; Organizing grassroots pressure for state-level bans on animal parts from elephants, sharks, sea turtles, lions and other wildlife; and Working to stop the importation of imperiled big game "trophies." It’s not too late. If we can end demand for elephant ivory and other wildlife products, the poaching will stop. We owe it to future generations to leave behind a world as rich and wondrous with wildlife as the one we inherited. Won’t you help with a generous donation today? For the wild ones, Jamie Rappaport Clark President, Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife leads the pack when it comes to protecting wild animals and plants in their natural communities

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