“If we do not act, we will have to shamefully admit to our children that we stood by as elephants were driven out of existence.” Samantha Strindberg Wildlife Conservation Society
World Elephant Day is August 12 and we want to implement a viral program to support the Wildlife Conservation Society’s 96 Elephants campaign. This initiative focuses on protecting forest elephants from extinction through awareness and legislation. More than 35,000 elephants are killed by poachers each year for their ivory and the goal of the campaign is to stop the killing, demand and trafficking of elephant ivory.
The 96 Elephants campaign, named for the number of elephants currently gunned down each day by poachers, focuses on: securing effective U.S. moratorium laws; bolstering elephant protection with additional funding; and educating the public about the link between ivory consumption and the elephant poaching crisis. You can learn more about 96 Elephants at the official site, www.96elephants.org.
Here’s how you can help:
· Let the kids get creative and color in their own elephant, using a special template; take a picture of their masterpiece and share on social media using the hashtag #elphie
· Print out elephant masks for the entire family and take pictures of yourselves wearing the masks, then upload them to social media using the hashtag #elphie. Here’s a link to print the mask: http://bit.ly/1s1IZTr
· On August 12, World Elephant Day, change your social profile picture to be one of you in the elephant mask and include the caption “join the herd” along with a link to the 96 Elephants information page: http://pages.96elephants.org/wed/
· Go to 96elephants.org and sign-up and encourage your readers to take the pledge to not buy ivory and support the US ban (and state bans) against ivory sales.
· Donate a tweet or Facebook post to the cause via Thunderclap and help spread the word together, all at once, on World Elephant Day. Tell your family and friends to do the same. thndr.it/1kqIbYo
· Visit the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, or other WCS parks on World Elephant Day or anytime during the week of August 12-17 and show your support by wearing grey and participating in elephant themed educational activities.
· Download the 96 Elephants advocacy tool kit and take part in all you can!
· Follow 96 Elephants on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.
