World Elephant Day: Elephants are quite large animals. They have four legs which resemble large pillars. They have two ears which are like big fans. Elephants have a special body part which is their trunk. In addition, they have a short tail. The male elephant has two teeth which are quite long and are referred to as tusks. Elephants are herbivorous and feed on leaves, plants, grains, fruits and more. They are mostly found in Africa and Asia. Most of the elephants are grey in color, however, in Thailand, they have white elephants.
World Elephant Day
On August 12, 2012, the inaugural World Elephant Day was launched to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. The elephant is loved, revered and respected by people and cultures around the world, yet we balance on the brink of seeing the last of this magnificent creature.
World Elephant Day is an international annual event on August 12, dedicated to the preservation and protection of the world’s elephants.
We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self-awareness, and social intelligence. But the way we treat them puts on display the very worst of human behavior.
The escalation of poaching, habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and mistreatment in captivity are just some of the threats to both African and Asian elephants. Working towards better protection for wild elephants, improving enforcement policies to prevent the illegal poaching and trade of ivory, conserving elephant habitats, better treatment for captive elephants and, when appropriate, reintroducing captive elephants into natural, protected sanctuaries are the goals that numerous elephant conservation organizations are focusing on around the world.
World Elephant Day asks you to experience elephants in non-exploitive and sustainable environments where elephants can thrive under care and protection.
The goal of World Elephant Day on 12th August is to create awareness of the urgent plight of African and Asian elephants, and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better care and management of captive and wild elephants.
Elephants are one of the longest-lived animals with an average lifespan of around 5-70 years. But, the oldest elephant to ever live passed away at the age of 86 years.
Furthermore, they mostly inhabit jungles but humans have forced them to work in zoos and circuses. Elephants are considered to be one of the most intelligent animals.
Similarly, they are quite obedient too. Usually, the female elephants live in groups but the male ones prefer solitary living. Additionally, this wild animal has great learning capacity. Humans use them for transport and entertainment purposes. Elephants are of great importance to the earth and mankind. Thus, we must protect them to not create an imbalance in nature’s cycle.
Elephants have found their way on the list of endangered species. Selfish human activities have caused this endangerment. One of the biggest reasons for their endangerment is the illegal killing of elephants. As their body parts are very profitable, humans kill them off for their skin, bones, tusks, and more.
Moreover, humans are wiping out the natural habitat of elephants i.e. the forests. This results in a lack of food, area to live, and resources to survive. Similarly, hunting and poaching just for the thrill of it also cause the death of elephants.
Therefore, we see how humans are the main reason behind their endangerment. In other words, we must educate the public about the importance of elephants. Conservation efforts must be taken aggressively to protect them. In addition, poachers must be arrested to stop killing of the endangered species.
World Elephant Day was co-founded on August 12, 2012, by Canadian Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand, an initiative of HM Queen Sirikit of Thailand. Since that time, Patricia Sims has continued to lead World Elephant Day. Since its inception of global awareness building, it has partnerships with 100 elephant conservation organizations worldwide and reaches countless individuals across the globe. Millions of participants worldwide have shown their concern about the plight of elephants through acknowledgement of World Elephant Day, proving that people love elephants and want to do whatever they can to help.
The motivation for the first World Elephant Day was to draw attention to the plight of these majestic creatures to populations and cultures all over the world. Due to their pleasant and intelligent nature, the world’s largest land animals are loved worldwide. But, unfortunately, these magnificent creatures face multiple threats to their survival.
One major issue is the ivory trade. Currently, the demand for ivory is the biggest in China, with the price of ivory often exceeding the price of gold, something that makes elephants bigger targets than ever. The economics here work firmly against the humble elephant. Extreme levels of poverty in Africa mean that people can often make a month’s wages or more from the ivory of a single animal, selling it on the international market.
Furthermore, the parts of the world that demand ivory, such as China, are becoming increasingly wealthy, meaning that they can pay more for tusks. These dual factors are combining to make elephant poaching one of the most lucrative activities on the plant.
Habitation loss is also a danger to the world’s elephant population as it deprives elephants of the hundreds of pounds of food they need every day, making it more difficult for them to breed and making it easier for poachers to track them down. Unfortunately, researchers believe that loss of habitat is the primary driver for the loss of elephants in the wild. A century ago, they numbered more than 12 million in the wild. Today, that figure may be as low as 400,000, with as many as 20,000 per year killed by poachers.
African elephants are listed as “Vulnerable” and Asian elephants as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
Major Threats to Elephants
Below are some of the major threats to elephants now a days.
Poaching: The demand for ivory, which is highest in China, leads to the illegal poaching of both African and Asian elephants. For example, one of the world’s largest elephants, Satao, was recently killed for his iconic tusks. Another iconic Kenyan elephant, Mountain Bull, was also killed by poachers, and with the street value for ivory now exceeding that of gold, African elephants face a poaching epidemic.
Elephants are also poached for meat, leather, and body parts, with the illegal wildlife trade putting elephants increasingly in danger, because it is perceived to be a low risk and high profit endeavor. Poachers are often considered trained for this activity due to the amount of tools needed to be transported as well as the large size of these animals.
Habitat Loss: The loss of habitat due to deforestation, increases in mining, and agricultural activities has become problematic, especially for Asian elephants. The fragmentation of habitat also creates isolation – this makes breeding more difficult, and allows poachers to find the elephants and set traps more easily. Asian elephants have lost nearly 30-40% of their habitat, making it incredibly difficult to maintain their offspring and themselves.
Human Elephant conflict: Human-elephant conflict is a significant concern, as human populations increase and forest cover decreases, forcing elephants into close proximity with human settlements. Incidents include crop damage and economic losses, as well as both elephant and human casualties.
Mistreatment in captivity: A lack of legislation regarding the care and treatment of elephants in zoos, circuses, and tourism often leads to their mistreatment. Captivity can be a serious threat to elephants, and Asian elephants are often illegally captured in the wild and trafficked into the lucrative tourism industry.
What is Ivory?
Ivory is a hard, white material from the elephant tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. Ivory has been valued since ancient times in art or manufacturing for making a range of items from ivory carvings to false teeth, piano keys, fans, and dominoes. Elephant ivory is the most important source, but ivory from mammoth, walrus, hippopotamus, sperm whale, orca, narwhal and warthog are used as well.
The national and international trade in natural ivory of threatened species such as African and Asian elephants is illegal.
Ivory, variety of dentin of which the elephant tusks is composed and which is prized for its beauty, durability, and suitability for carving. The elephant tusks is the upper incisor and continues to grow throughout the lifetime of male and female African elephants and of the male Indian elephant; the female Indian elephant has no tusks or small ones. The teeth of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, sperm whale, and some types of wild boar and warthog are recognized as ivory but have little commercial value, because of their small size.
Elephant tusks from Africa average about 6 feet (2 metres) in length and weigh about 50 pounds (23 kg) each; tusks from Asian elephants are somewhat smaller. The elephant tusks grows in layers, the inside layer being the last produced. About a third of the tusk is embedded in the bone sockets of the animal’s skull. The head end of the tusk has a hollow cavity that runs for some distance along its interior, but the tusk gradually becomes entirely solid, with only a narrow nerve channel running through its centre to the tip of the tusk.
Present Statistics of Elephants in the world on this World Elephant Day
The elephant is the largest existing land mammal on Earth, weighing anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 pounds. There are three species of elephants: the African bush elephant (also known as the African savanna elephant), the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant.
In 1930, approximately 10 million wild elephants were in Africa, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Since then, elephant populations have dwindled due to various threats, including habitat loss and illegal poaching.
Today, these declines continue. Here’s what to know about elephants to protect their populations. According to the WWF, there are approximately 415,000 African elephants left in the world. There are around 40,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants left.
As previously stated, the ivory trade, habitat loss, poaching and elephant-human conflict pose threats to elephant populations.
Since 1979, the habitat of African elephants has been reduced by over 50%, while Asian elephants only have about 15% of their original range. Habitat loss is due to human expansion, infrastructure and agriculture development on elephants’ regions. Additionally, illegal poaching for the ivory trade has dramatically impacted elephant populations. In 1989, the international commercial trade of elephant ivory was banned. Even though poaching did decrease following this, it started back up around 2010.
African bush elephants can be found in all of sub-Saharan Africa except for central Africa’s dense tropical forests, according to the WWF. The dense tropical forests are home to the African forest elephant.
African bush elephants live in 23 countries with the majority located in southern and eastern African countries, such as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa.
As for the African forest elephant, its largest populations are in Gabon and the Republic of Congo, while smaller populations remain in other countries, such as Cameroon, Liberia and Ghana.
The Asian elephant’s primary habitats are dry to wet forests and grasslands. They can be found in 13 countries in south and southeast Asia.
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