100 elephants killed daily by poachers!

SaveAnimalsFacingExtinction.org states:  "Every day, 100 elephants are killed by poachers desperate to profit off their ivory...Much of the illegal elephant ivory ends up coming into the American market. We must take urgent action to stop the worldwide massacre of elephants -- before it’s too late."

However, in addition to the American poachers cited above, Tim Gettleman at the NY Times reported in 2012 that the ascending Chinese middle class is the primary culprit fueling the demand for ivory. 

Gettleman quoted a U.S. State Department official regarding the matter: 

“China is the epicenter of demand,” said Robert Hormats, a senior State Department official. “Without the demand from China, this would all but dry up.”

He said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who condemned conflict minerals from Congo a few years ago, was pushing the ivory issue with the Chinese “at the highest levels” and that she was “going to spend a considerable amount of time and effort to address this, in a very bold way.”

In the past, there were many practical uses for ivory; today, as pointed out by Rebecca J. Rosen at the Atlantic, plastic has superseded ivory in many cases, including piano keys. Unfortunately, Rosen explains, "ivory's usefulness, combined with its warm luster and its receptivity to engravings, meant that it gained stature as a luxury good from the get-go." 

In other words, Rosen suggests, ivory ranks up there with diamonds as a cultural symbol.

SaveAnimalsFacingExtinction.org reminds us:

At the end of July, President Obama, with support of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, announced new measures to stem the ivory trade, including a ban on the interstate sale of most ivory in the U.S. and new restriction on when ivory can be exported.

These measures help to send the message that the US will NOT tolerate the senseless slaughter of elephants and other animals.

We need to make sure important legislation like this has the support it needs to be put into full effect. We need to take action and make sure these regulations fully protect our precious elephants.
 

SIGN the petition listed above!

Thanks for your support, SaveAnimalsFacingExtinction.org

Five things that make elephants special

Courtesy of Defenders of Wildlife.

I'm grateful this morning to Don Barry of Defenders of Wildlife for providing this fascinating information about elephants - awe-inspiring animals with characteristics that remind us of our kinship with this species and inspire us as well to learn more about other members of the ecological web of relationships to which we human beings belong.

In this morning's email, Barry writes:

Dear Virginia,

Elephants capture our imagination, and for good reason!

The largest living land animals, elephants live complex social lives which we are only beginning to understand. Here are just five of the things that make elephants special.

1. A male Asian elephant named Koshik – can imitate human speech – matching Korean speech format frequencies in such detail that Korean native speakers can readily understand and transcribe the imitations.
2. Elephants are the only non-human species known to mourn their dead. Researchers have documented many instances of death rituals at which elephants will somberly visit the bones of other dead elephants.
3. You know that old saying about how an elephant never forgets? Well, it’s amazing what they can remember. Research has shown than an elephant matriarch can keep track of up to 30 herd-mates at a time. Researcher Richard Byrne concludes that elephant memories are "far in advance of anything other animals have been shown to have."
4. Elephants are capable of expressing complex thoughts such as warning others of danger, reconciling differences and communicating needs and desires using a system of visual and acoustic signals. Amazingly, recent discoveries show that most vocal calls are at a frequency that humans can’t even hear!
5. Overhunting by humans is believed to be a factor in both mastodon and mammoth extinctions. Stopping poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking in elephant ivory will be essential in order to stop Asian and African elephants from suffering the same fate.

Elephants are truly incredible creatures! That’s why it’s so important that we do everything we can to protect them from illegal wildlife trafficking, which includes stopping the demand for Ivory right here in the U.S.

Sincerely,

Don Barry Senior Vice President, Conservation Programs Defenders of Wildlife