Save elephants

WORLD Elephant Day takes place tomorrow and the international Born Free Foundation issued a release this week saying that globally, an elephant is killed every 25 minutes for its tusks.

“Elephants are in crisis. A century ago there were an estimated 5 million elephants in Africa.

“Today, there are less than half a million. Since 2012, it is estimated that 201 288 elephants have been poached. Now, experts have predicted that unless poaching can be effectively addressed, elephants could all but disappear from many of Africa’s wild places in the coming decades,” read the statement.

Will Travers OBE, the president of The Born Free Foundation, said: “A world without elephants is simply unimaginable. We simply cannot… let that happen.

“Our extensive experience means we have witnessed first-hand the brutal aftermath of poaching and the pressure that the species is under because of the demand for ivory. That’s why we have been campaigning for a bond with the other female elephants and they work together as a team with the teen and baby elephants,” said Geyser.

“If there’s danger, she will global ban on the trade in ivory since 1989. Steps are finally being taken in the right direction. China officially closed its domestic ivory market in 2017, the US has taken resolute action, the majority of Africa countries are calling for the trade to end, and the UK government plans to end almost all domestic ivory trade by October. However, there is still a great deal more to be done,” he said.

“Just two years ago I stood on the edge of Nairobi National Park, in Kenya, and watched 105 tons of ivory burn. Eleven towering pyres of tusks from an estimated 10 000 elephants were ceremoniously torched to send a defiant message to the world that, as far as Kenya was concerned, elephants are worth more alive.

“While there is still a demand, poachers, and the criminal networks that support them, will continue to destroy a symbol of all that is wild and free.

“There is much we still have to do to end the slaughter and secure a safe, long-term future for these iconic animals,” he said. send out a rumble and all the females will put the babies into the middle of the herd. She will also guide the young moms and will often step in to help. Elephants are very empathetic, they are protective and very family oriented. They support each other and always stand together. I think, we as women can learn from that, they really are a sisterhood,” she said.

Male elephants will follow the herd when the females are in season, which is when males will be seen with the herd. The young bulls stay with their mother until they are old enough to survive and then they leave the herd.

Geyser said the four main pillars of the expedition included:

Human and wildlife co-existence.

Youth conservation awareness. Women empowerment. Fund-raising to assist anti-poaching and conservation efforts.

Examples of co-existence include mitigation projects such as one rural community which keeps beehives around its crops, which keeps the elephants from trampling its crops. The community produces “elephant friendly” honey, as well as now having the skills as farmers and bee keepers and getting a better yield on their crops.

Another example is the building of chilli bricks by female farmers in Botswana. They grow chillies, which are mixed with elephant dung and they are then burned. The elephants dislike the smell.

“These type of projects are… sustainable and we want to support them,” said Geyser.