#SaveEles can exist thanks to many other organizations working on the elephant crisis. It is important to be armed with knowledge. Here's a quickfact guide with links for you to learn more.
FACT: Last year over 20,000 elephants were killed illegally and poaching levels remained 'alarmingly high' (CITES)
FACT: Photos of dead elephants with freshly cut tusks are "beneficial" as proof of origin in blood ivory marketplaces (Daily Beast)
FACT: Now instead of using guns which draw attention, poachers are using tranquilizer darts to get ivory from rhinos, which means these animals have to wake up after their faces are cut off (NPR)
FACT: Ivory funds criminals, terrorists and organized crime syndicates "Some of Africa's most notorious armed groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Shabab and Darfur’s janjaweed, are hunting down elephants and using the tusks to buy weapons and sustain their mayhem. Organized crime syndicates are linking up with them to move the ivory around the world" (NY Times)
FACT: In the past 10 years alone over 800 park rangers have been killed by commercial poachers and armed militia groups. (Thin Green Line)
FACT: The Chinese delegation brought back ivory from Africa in diplomatic bags on the Presidential plane (Daily Show)
FACT: During the 1970s, half of the elephant population was killed off, with Kenya's elephant population plummeting from 120,000 to 15,000 (Vanity Fair)
FACT: A worldwide ban on ivory trading in 1989 helped but it was not enough to curb demand. Because no inventory of existing ivory stock was taken, "pre ban" is an ongoing, giant loophole exploited in East Asia (National Geographic)
FACT: The number of elephants in the wild is not well known and estimated between 450,000-500,000. In 2015 the great elephant census will release more reliable data (Great Elephant Census)
FACT: Elephants are critical to the habitats they live in, including being the only dispersal for up to 30 tree species in Central Africa (WWF)
Watch these fantastic PSAs from Wildlife Conservation Society's 96 Elephants Campaign:
FACT: Last year over 20,000 elephants were killed illegally and poaching levels remained 'alarmingly high' (CITES)
FACT: Photos of dead elephants with freshly cut tusks are "beneficial" as proof of origin in blood ivory marketplaces (Daily Beast)
FACT: Now instead of using guns which draw attention, poachers are using tranquilizer darts to get ivory from rhinos, which means these animals have to wake up after their faces are cut off (NPR)
FACT: Ivory funds criminals, terrorists and organized crime syndicates "Some of Africa's most notorious armed groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Shabab and Darfur’s janjaweed, are hunting down elephants and using the tusks to buy weapons and sustain their mayhem. Organized crime syndicates are linking up with them to move the ivory around the world" (NY Times)
FACT: In the past 10 years alone over 800 park rangers have been killed by commercial poachers and armed militia groups. (Thin Green Line)
FACT: The Chinese delegation brought back ivory from Africa in diplomatic bags on the Presidential plane (Daily Show)
FACT: During the 1970s, half of the elephant population was killed off, with Kenya's elephant population plummeting from 120,000 to 15,000 (Vanity Fair)
FACT: A worldwide ban on ivory trading in 1989 helped but it was not enough to curb demand. Because no inventory of existing ivory stock was taken, "pre ban" is an ongoing, giant loophole exploited in East Asia (National Geographic)
FACT: The number of elephants in the wild is not well known and estimated between 450,000-500,000. In 2015 the great elephant census will release more reliable data (Great Elephant Census)
FACT: Elephants are critical to the habitats they live in, including being the only dispersal for up to 30 tree species in Central Africa (WWF)
Watch these fantastic PSAs from Wildlife Conservation Society's 96 Elephants Campaign:
