Situation with Africa’s elephants

 

The giants on the very edge.

It is needless. Sickeningly needless.

African elephants are incredible - deeply intelligent with a raw power that’s barely matched by any creature on the planet. But in a grim juxtaposition they’ve found themselves in a completely desperate situation facing an unrelenting human onslaught that’s spanned decades.

They’ve had their habitat destroyed by the acre to make way for endless growth of industry. They’ve suffered traps and bullets so their bodies can be carved up as bushmeat. They’ve been slaughtered en-masse so their tusks can be paraded around as ivory trinkets and status symbols.

Now, after weathering this assault for longer than any species could cope with, they are in truly dire straits. If things get much worse, there’s a very real chance they won’t be a living part of the planet much longer.

Perhaps the most despondent part of this story is that it’s just got so much harder. Eco-tourism funded rangers and gave potential poachers other options. That’s now gone - pretty much entirely.

The funding gap it’s left behind is nothing short of perilous and it’s still not clear how long it’s all going to last for.

What is clear is that if elephants are put in a situation where the number of poachers surges while the number of rangers plummets, the cost - in lives - will be unbearable.

We musn’t let that happen.

We musn’t lose elephants.

And that’s in our power. Just. This is no-doubt a tipping point, but with enough resources we still have the time left to bridge the funding gap and prove that humans are past the point of exterminating entire species for the sake of ivory piano keys.

So, through your donations, we’re carrying out one of the most robust protection operations the conservation world has ever seen. We're enabling local communities to act as protectors while sending rangers into the field to defend elephants and tackling the illegal wildlife trade crisis that’s monetising their slaughter.

If, through your support, we can scale that up to meet the extent of the crisis left by covid, we can end this needless extinction - we can save these wonderful creatures.

TWO ELEPHANTS' WEST AFRICAN JOURNEY

 

Please help save them. If we're going to stand a chance then we need rangers - desperately - and if everyone reading this donates just £3 - you could help fund their vital training and equipment. Thank you.