World Elephant Day – History and Celebration

Why is World Elephant Day Celebrated?

World Elephant Day was established to bring people from all around the world together to help elephants. It’s a day to appreciate elephants, raise awareness about the problems they face, and encourage people to support constructive solutions that will help them survive. The Elephant Reintroduction Foundation and Patricia Sims, the Founding President of the World Elephant Society, collaborated to create World Elephant Day. Patricia Sims is in charge of the World Elephant Day promotion. This day raises awareness about the importance of improved protection for wild animals, such as elephants, as well as improving illegal ivory poaching and trading, as well as better treatment of captive elephants.

Elephants are large mammals that are very intelligent. They remember a lot of things. They are capable of a wide spectrum of emotions, ranging from intense anguish to delight bordering on exhilaration, as well as empathy and breathtaking self-awareness. Elephants are admired by all because they exhibit what we assume to be the best human characteristics, but the way we treat them exemplifies the worst of human behaviour.

History of  World Elephant Day

World Elephant Day was first observed on August 12, 2012, by two Canadian filmmakers Patricia Sims and Thailand’s Elephant Reintroduction Foundation. Film celebrity and Star Trek legend William Shatner lent his support to the cause by narrating the documentary Return to the Forest, a fascinating 30-minute film about the reintroduction of captive Asian elephants to the wild.

William Shatner, actor, and Star Trek veteran lent his support to the World Elephant Day inaugural event. The documentary “Return to the Forest” was narrated by him. It was a 30-minute documentary about the release of Asian elephants from captivity into the wild. As a result, we’ve been devoting the 12th of August to elephants since 2012.

The goal of the first World Elephant Day was to raise awareness of the predicament of these magnificent creatures among people and cultures all around the world. The world’s largest land animals are adored all around the world for their pleasant and intelligent demeanour. Unfortunately, the survival of these exquisite creatures is jeopardised by a number of factors.

The ivory trade is a big issue. China currently has the highest demand for ivory, with the price of ivory often exceeding the price of gold, making elephants more vulnerable than ever. Here, the economics are stacked against the elephant because of Africa’s extreme poverty, people can often make a month’s salaries or more selling the ivory of a single animal.

Furthermore, ivory-demanding regions of the world, such as China, are becoming wealthier, allowing them to pay more for tusks. Elephant poaching has become one of the most lucrative enterprises on the planet as a result of these two variables merging.

Habitat degradation also poses a threat to the world’s elephant population, as it deprives elephants of the hundreds of pounds of food they require each day, making it more difficult for them to procreate and easier for poachers to locate them. Unfortunately, studies believe that habitat loss is the leading cause of elephant extinction in the wild. They numbered in the thousands a century ago.

Today, that number could be as low as 400,000, with poachers killing as many as 20,000 people each year. According to data, elephants’ geographic range shrank by roughly 30% between 2002 and 2011, owing to a similar loss of savannah for them to wander. The establishment of vast parks across Africa has helped to stabilize habitat degradation, but illegal poaching remains a serious danger.

World Elephant Day is a chance for everyone to come together to identify methods to eliminate human-elephant conflict. A combination of tactics is most likely the answer. Land development that avoids habitat degradation, electric fences to keep elephants away from crops, and shifts in local attitudes are all the available possibilities.

World Elephant Day organizers also offer a number of suggestions for aiding these amazing creatures in the wild.

What can we do to protect Elephants?

Signing the World Elephant Day pledge is the first step. This document enables you to join forces with millions of others around the world to persuade governments to change their policies. The greatest way to commemorate this day is to learn more about these amazing creatures and share what you’ve learned with others. As is always the case, simply spreading the word about the threats these gorgeous beasts face through social media can have a significant impact.

Finally, you can invest in projects that aim to provide people who live near elephants with sustainable and rewarding livelihoods. These projects improve economic conditions so that residents are less likely to resort to poaching to make ends meet.

Whatever way works best for you, make sure you spend this day helping elephants all around the world so that we can continue to marvel at them and their amazing way of life. You can make a tremendous difference by doing your part.

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