Elephants Are In Danger

The African elephant weighs up to eight tons and are characterized by their huge bodies, large ears and trunks. Asian elephants are much smaller, have straight ears and some Asian male elephants have tusks. Female elephants and calves often stick together while male elephants live in isolation.

Both African and Asian elephants need an abundance of lance to survive. "Roaming in herds and consuming hundreds of pounds of plant matter in a single day, both species of elephant require extensive amounts of food, water and space."

Elephants are often hunted for their ivory. "Rampant ivory poaching has reduced the elephant population in Tanzania's oldest and largest protected area by 90 percent in fewer than 40 years."

Elephants are important to our environment. They help maintain "forest and savanna ecosystems for other species."

The World Wild Fund for Nature "advocates an end to commercial elephant ivory sales in the U.S. and other major markets like China, Thailand and Hong Kong as the most effective and efficient solution to end this illegal ivory trade."

The WWF trains and teaches wildlife managers and different communities to use modern methods to diminish human-elephant conflict. The WWF's long term goal is "to put in place proper land use planning that gives elephants space for seasonal movements, combined with fences to protect crops and infrastructure. The WWF has also created a "flying squad" that has been taught to drive elephants back into forests and away from farms.

"In Mozambique, WWF helped the government establish Quirimbas National Park to conserve more than 2,300 square miles of miombo woodland and its resident elephants."

WWF has also partnered with TRAFFIC, an international wildlife trade monitoring network "to reduce the major threat that illegal and illicit domestic ivory markets pose to wild elephants."

WWF also works with elephant range state governments and non-governmental partners. WWF supports conservation landscapes like KAZA, "the largest transboundary conservation area in the world. Home to almost 250,000 elephants, we work to maintain this space to provide elephants freedom to roam."

The elephant population has dramatically decreased because of ivory poaching. The WWF is working hard to save the elephant population and create a life for this species that is filled with much more freedom.

WWF: http://www.worldwildlife.org/

WWF elephants: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/elephant

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