1000 Flowers for the Planet - #301 Support an Elephant Sanctuary

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #301 Support an Elephant Sanctuary

In Africa an elephant is killed every 15 minutes! At this rate there will be NO elephants living in the wild by 2025. At this rate there will be NO elephants living in the wild by 2025. Yes, I did think that was worth repeating.

I’ve already talked about banning the ivory trade (Flower #253). Today I want to talk about providing elephants in the wild with sanctuaries – places where they can live and breed without any intervention by humans; places where they are safe – just to exist, as is their right.

There are many elephant sanctuaries throughout the world where ‘retired’ (e.g. elephants from circuses) or rescued elephants are homed. In order to be economically viable these particular sanctuaries encourage people to come and interact with the elephants, have a ride, feed them, pet them, watch them paint pictures as though they were human, etc. This doesn’t sound particularly like ‘retirement’ to me but it is better than nothing, if not ideal. The thing is, they shouldn’t need these places to exist anyway – elephants should be in the wild, free to roam and behave as nature intended.

The word ‘sanctuary’ means refuge or safety from pursuit, persecution, or other danger. Having humans swarming all over you may actually be a form of persecution, so think twice before participating in such a sanctuary. Let’s get this right. Let’s work as best we can to save these magnificent creatures and allow them their piece of the planet.

Do some research on the Internet to find a sanctuary, perhaps one in your own country, and support them in some way. Or I’ll make it easier for you and point you in the right direction: The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has been working hard since 1977 to stop poaching, rescue animals and provide sanctuary for them before releasing them back in to the wild. For more information go to http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org and support them in their endeavours. And if you really want to put your efforts into this cause go to www.iworry.org and utilise the resources there.