An Elephant EMERGENCY!! .... CONTINUED

I know I've written about the elephant crisis before, but these amazing animals hold a special place in my heart and I never tire of confessing my love for them. Besides, their situation is dire and deserves some more attention and awareness. I mean, look at these pics!! How can you not fall in love?

It is with a heavy heart that I recently read the following horrifying statistic about the elephant poaching crisis.

*EVERY 15 MINUTES AN ELEPHANT IS KILLED FOR IT'S IVORY TUSKS. AT THIS RATE, ELEPHANTS WILL BE EXTINCT WITHIN THE NEXT DECADE*

Heartbreaking. And for what? So that Asian countries can make jewelry and trinkets? I honestly believe that if this headline was run in the media and brought to the attention of the masses as much as Miley Cyrus twerking at the MTV VMA's everyone would be outraged. (About the elephants, not Miley grinding on a married man. )

Fortunately for elephants and those of us who love them, there are some celebrities using their star power to bring attention the this crisis. So lets follow the example of these righteous public figures and get involved in the fight against poaching.

Kristin Davis, who played Charlotte, my favorite character on Sex In The City, put away her Manolo's to travel to Kenya to help rescue a baby elephant whose mother had been poached. She has been working closely with the David Sheldrick Trust and brought the baby to Dame Daphne Sheldrick's elephant orphanage. Baby elephants are extremely dependent on their mothers for the first few years and their chances of survival are slim if left to fend for themselves. Help Kristin and Dame Daphne and donate funds to this cause or foster your own orphaned elephant.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has vowed to use her political connections to help fight the poaching crisis which unfortunately has many political implications due to corrupt governments. Since the demand for ivory from Asian countries has skyrocketed to $1,000 a pound, major crime syndicates and warlords (like Joseph Kony) will risk the fairly light punishment if caught and use the sales of ivory to fund other  war crimes such as murder, human and drug trafficking. Because of such a strong supply and demand chain, elephant poaching has reached crisis levels that have not been seen in decades. World Wildlife Fund estimates that 30,000 African elephants were illegally killed in 2012, the highest number in 20 years. Click here to find out how you can help make a difference in the fight against wildlife crime.
             
                 

And then there is Tom Hardy. As if it were possible to love this dreamy and talented actor even more, he now helps fight wildlife crime on his new docu-style series, Poaching Wars. My dream man. Tom traveled to South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana to uncover the hard truths about why poaching has reached such crisis levels. Tom meets some of the people affected by this war, such as the farmers who lose cattle in the cross fire and the wildlife rangers who put their lives at risk fighting poachers who are military trained and likened to "navy seal assassins."

While the African elephants are critically endangered, their Asian cousins aren't fairing too well either. Asian elephants suffer from a different kind of evil and exploitation. Years ago when governments in countries such as Thailand called for the end of logging in their northern forests, many elephant handlers (mahouts) were left with few options to care for their families and feed their elephants. Today, most elephants are used in the tourist trade or for illegal logging. Both of which subject these incredibly sentient beings to torture beyond imagination. Baby elephants are ripped away from their mothers to be tied up, beaten and tortured for days in order to "crush their spirit" and make them compliant. It is a practice called "phajaan." These are some very hard truths that most tourists to the East are not aware of. Elephants are used to beg in the streets or sent to tourist camps to give rides with enormous metal seats on their backs used to carry as many people as possible. Both of these practices subject the elephants to mental, emotional and physical torture, and usually drugging so that their appetites are curbed and they increase their work time. No elephant is born domestic. Elephants in the wild naturally roam free with their families and the babies stay with their mothers for years. Anytime you see an elephant giving rides, playing soccer, painting a picture, or doing any type of trick, know that it was tortured and beaten into a life of servitude for tourist entertainment. It breaks my heart to see pictures of baby elephants tortured and abused within an inch of their life. See for yourself. Is this kind of torture worth your elephant ride or having your picture taken with a poor defenseless baby elephants?

                                     

Fortunately for these beautiful and sensitive animals, they have a hero in Katherine Connor, founder of Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand. Katherine has dedicated her life to saving these abused and tortured animals and gives them a life of love, peace and freedom at her sanctuary. I am ecstatic to be able to visit this elephant wonderland in the fall. Katherine's sanctuary is unique in that it's not about elephant rides or tricks. The elephants at BLES are free to roam together and are given love and care they have not known until they were brought to the sanctuary. BLES is a non-profit sanctuary that is entirely dependent on funds generated by visitors to the sanctuary, private donations, and other organizations. Please help Katherine and these soulful animals by adopting your own elephant and donating some funds so that she may continue her work as an elephant superhero.

When travelling to places where elephants are indigenous, please remember the following so that we do not support these evil practices and increase the demand for elephants being abused and killed.

• DO NOT BUY IVORY PRODUCTS
• DO NOT TAKE ANY ELEPHANT RIDES
• DO NOT PAY TO FEED OR HAVE YOUR PICTURE TAKEN WITH AN ELEPHANT
• DO NOT PAY TO SEE AN ELEPHANT DO ANY TRICKS

 

So my friends, while it is heartbreaking to learn that elephants are being murdered by the thousands for their ivory and beaten and tortured as babies for tourist entertainment, it is in our power to stop it. If we all stop supporting these practices through consumerism, there will be no reason for these beautiful creatures to suffer anymore. The fate of these magnificent animals is in our hands. Please do your part to help them. 

Much love,
Sue