Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor
When it comes to wildlife conservation, numbers tell a powerful story:
We’re not done yet—keep signing and sharing the pledge, and keep growing the herd. The more voices we add, the more pressure we add.
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| Photo by Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society. |
When it comes to wildlife conservation, numbers tell a powerful story:
- The international ivory trade fuels the killing of 35,000 African elephants a year.
- That’s 96 elephants killed each day, 1 every 15 minutes.
- The U.S. is among the largest ivory markets in the world, and we can’t put a complete end to it until we declare a moratorium on ivory sales in all 50 states.
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| Photo by Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society. |
But we have some numbers of our own to tally:
Since July, we sought to secure 960 signatures from Washingtonians pledging never to buy, sell or trade ivory and to support a moratorium on ivory sales in the state.
On the very first day of our campaign, you beat our goal! Then the signatures kept rolling in and adding up. You signed, you shared, and now we deliver.
Today we send all 3,540+ signatures to more than 30 state, county and city officials to let them know our herd is big and growing. Our friends at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma are also gathering signatures and we’ll work together to influence our state leaders to take action. Together we say end the ivory trade in Washington state.
The action continues on the other side of the globe with numbers coming in from our conservation partner on the ground in Africa. The Tarangire Elephant Project supports a network of 33 village game scouts in 7 villages who serve as anti-poaching patrol. In the last year, 55 poachers were arrested, 12 weapons confiscated, and 3 vehicles seized.
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| Park rangers with new Tarangire anti-poaching vehicle that will be used to protect elephants in the ecosystem. Photo by Charles Foley/Tarangire Elephant Project. |
All together, we have 1 vision:
We will not be the generation that lets elephants disappear.
On the occasion of this World Elephant Day, a very special signature was added to the 96 Elephants campaign: that of Bamboo, one of Woodland Park Zoo’s Asian elephants and ambassador for imperiled wild populations. Bamboo grabbed a brush and left her mark.
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| Bamboo adds her signature with a paint brush. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. |
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| Bamboo's signature. |
We’re not done yet—keep signing and sharing the pledge, and keep growing the herd. The more voices we add, the more pressure we add.
Thank you!
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