In the past 100 years, humans have killed over 4.65 million elephants (5). This is why it is crucial that we help them. It is no secret that elephants are likely to go extinct, as well as many other animals like rhinos or lions (5). There are so many ways you can help beyond donating to an organization (6). I’ve created a list of ways to help the elephants.
- Decrease the purchase of ivory products. (6). Unfortunately, ivory is a very common material (7). Ivory is made from the tusks and teeth of elephants, which means they kill elephants for that reason (7). It is used in carvings/sculptures, jewelry, and musical instruments (7). So, eliminating or decreasing your purchases of ivory products can help (6).
This is an example of ivory jewelry:
- Do not go to any elephant washing, riding, shows, or feeding the elephants tourist activities (8). Although these activities may seem fun and interactive, they usually involve abuse (8). In these activities elephants are chained day and night, most of the chains being less than 3 meters long. They are also fed poor diets and given limited to no veterinary care whatsoever (8). It is shown that elephant riding can cause severe back pain to the animals, and over time it can even restructure the elephants’ spines (9). Elephants are not meant to be approached by humans; they’re meant to live in the wild (9).
Example of a bad show:
- Doing your part to end climate change (10). Climate change has a major effect on the elephants’ habitats (10). Global warming can make it as though there is less water and food (10). You can help by changing your transportation habits (11). Whether it is taking public transport, cycling, walking, or investing in an electric car, each helps contribute to ending climate change and restoring our environment (11). Consuming fewer animal products can minimize greenhouse gas emissions (11). You can also reduce your energy consumption (11). Switching to an LED lightbulb or adding solar panels to your house can make a huge difference (11).
- Finally, if you want to help the elephants another way, you can do so by donating to organizations such as African Parks (2), Big life.org (3), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (4), or the National Park Rescue (5). The organizations above do a fantastic job of protecting our wildlife from dangerous situations (1). I have all these organizations linked below if you are interested in donating or learning more about the cause.
One of my favorite organizations I read about (but they’re all doing great things) :
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you learned a little more about how to protect our wildlife.
- https://www.actionforelephantsuk.org/
- https://www.africanparks.org/about-us/our-story
- https://biglife.org/
- https://www.ifaw.org/ca-en
- https://www.nationalparkrescue.org/
- https://worldelephantday.org/how-to-help-elephants/
- https://realitypathing.com/what-to-know-before-buying-ivory-products/
- https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/latest/press-releases/thousands-elephants-exploited-tourism-held-cruel-conditions/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40501667
- https://phanganelephantsanctuary.org/endangered-elephants/
- https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/climate-change/solutions-climate-change/
Hi Hailey, I was reading your post and I absolutely loved it!! It was very informative and educational. I really enjoyed reading about the elephants and ways to protect them from going extinct. I especially liked how you listed ways to protect them. I think posts like these are super important in order to educate people on endangered animals. The post was very visually pleasing with all of the pictures you added. I don’t have any suggestions I think this was great! I am looking forward to reading your next post.
Hi Hailey, I absolutely love your blog post, it is very educational and informative. I appreciate how you used multiple different sources, expanding your research and understanding. One thing that really stood out to me is how you used a photo example of what one of these “elephant shows” might look like, and go into specifics about the kind of abuse that they undergo. Doing a project about this is a great way to spread awareness of something so important yet overlooked, while including simple and low cost ways to help them in your every day life. This is such an amazing project, good job!!!!