TellUs: World Elephant Day!

World Elephant Day! August 12^th

Did you know that today is World Elephant Day?! World Elephant Day occurs on August 12^th and is an international annual event, dedicated to the preservation and protection of these gentle giants. So in honour of these wonderful creatures and this amazing event, todays blog will be giving you some (hopefully) unknown facts about elephants and this event! This information will be mostly based off of the World Elephant Day website (as this is their event).

World Elephant Day began on August 12^th 2012. Its aim was to bring to light the threats African and Asian elephants face. As well as it being to spread vital awareness, it is also to commemorate these wonderful animals and teach us why we need to care about them and their wellbeing. The main threats against elephants are poaching, habitat loss, human conflict and mistreatment in captivity. Therefore the World Elephant Days organisation aims to obtain protection for wild elephants. This involves enforcing policies that prevent illegal poaching and the ivory trade, conserving habitats, providing better care for elephants that are for whatever reason in captivity (usually in sanctuaries) and reintroducing these captive animals into nature, when they are fit and well to do so. What I really like about this organisation also is how they reinforce the idea to experience elephants in non-exploitive and sustainable environments. To me this means qualified sanctuaries and eco-friendly safari tours where you visit elephants in their natural habitat, giving them plenty of space and not interfering in their daily tasks. Simply seeing them in the wild from afar. Not in zoos or circuses. 

Now we understand what this day means, lets learn more about these beautiful creatures!

• There are two species of elephants, the African and Asian. Although they are similar in physiology they are actually too biologically different to interbreed.
• Recent scientific evidence suggests that the forest-dwelling African elephant is actually genetically distinct from the only two elephant species. This would make it a potential third species!
• The Asian elephant is officially endangered. There are less that 40,000 remaining worldwide.
• The African elephant (forest and savannah) is threatened. Less than 400,000 remain worldwide.
• Asian elephants span over 13 countries. In the past 50 years this range has shrunk by 70%.
• In Asia there are approximately 70,000 people to 1 Asian elephant.
• In Thailand, at the beginning of last century, there were 100,000 Asian elephants. Today there are less than 4,000.
• Research suggests that captive elephants suffer long-term depression over the trauma of being held captive. This drastically reduces their life-span. 
• The average African, adult elephant weighs 22,000 pounds and is the largest land animal on the planet. 
• Asian elephants weigh approximately 10,000 pounds and are the second largest land animal on the planet.
• Elephants the ability to see as well in dim light as they can in the light of day.
• Female elephants have the longest pregnancy of any mammal, a lengthy 22 months!
• Elephants make sounds that we can’t hear. Some of their calls are so low, they are below the range of human hearing. Elephants can recognise over 100 different friends from their calls alone!
• To stop themselves getting sunburnt in the intense heat, elephants roll in the mud which protects their skin.
• Visit Elephants in countries where they live in the wild. Eco-tourism benefits the economy, provides jobs, deters poachers and abuse.

I hope this little blog was informative but also interesting! Hopefully now you know more about World Elephant Day, I certainly do after researching it and enjoyed doing so. We really must protect these amazing animals and their habitats. I’d recommend heading over to the official World Elephant Day website, in which much of this information came from and also they highlight ways you can get involved with this cause too! I hope this blog resonated with you. See you in the next one and subscribe to be notified when I upload! 

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Check out my previous blog: https://www.tellusabouttheenvironment.com/2019/08/tellus-your-vegan-food-guide-to-london.html