World Elephant Day - 7 Ways to Help Elephants
- Sarah Kirkpatrick - Guest Blogger
- Aug 12, 2015
- 2 min read
I wanted to write a post about something that was extremely near and dear to my heart.
Elephants have always been my favourite animal. I love their ability to be so powerful and, yet, have the ability to be so gentle. They grieve their friends and family for 7 days and even burry their dead with twigs and branches (see a great story about mourning here – Elephants > human). They are so much more than their tusks and also so much more than a tourist piggy back ride. These majestic and wonderful creates are most certainly one of those creatures whose extinction would rattle the world, whose presence would be missed, and whose value would only later be appreciated. But that does not have to happen if we all take a pledge to do what we can to protect them. Once you do so you will receive some badges to share at will (and will you shall) to spread the word and raise awareness. But until then, you can use mine.
7 ways to help elephants:
1) Sign petitions to save their lives (change.org has many)
2) Boycott organizations who use elephants for profit (circus’, wildlife parks, zoos). Instead visit sanctuaries and places where they are treated fairly and are free to roam and live their lives.
3) Use social meda. Keep your eyes out for elephant organizations that need support or stories that need awareness and do your part in sharing the story. #worldelephantday #every15minutes #savetheelephants
4) Do not by anything with ivory. Whether it is new or old, the purchasing of ivory effects everyone negatively. New ivory enables poaching directly, and old ivory shows that you support the trade (like furs) and encourages the ‘fad’.
5) Buy elephant friendly goods. Coffee and wood can be extremely damaging to elephant habitats. Do your research and purchase goods that do not directly effect these wonderful landscapes and creatures.
6) Donate. Support conservation efforts in any way you are able to. There are a bunch of worthy causes out there that are doing their part to help elephants directly.
7) Adopt an elephant. Every year for Christmas I ask that a donation be made to the WWF to adopt an elephant. In return I get an adorable stuffy and some stickers (though I also wish that they would save those and put the money towards the animals).
And some good news to end this article: President Obama Announces New Restrictions on the US Ivory Trade. It all helps!
Learn more at http://worldelephantday.org/
Sarah Kirkpatrick
@jesocialmedia http://www.travelphotolenses.com/
Post Originally Published at: http://www.travelphotolenses.com/world-elephant-day-7-ways-to-help-elephants/
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