Elephants are mammals of the family Elephantidae and the largest land animals currently exist in the world. They are intelligent and family-oriented animal species having a great memory. So, these giants heavily interact with the various types of cultures around the world. Thus they are loved, respected, and revered by people. Currently, only three species have been identified in the world: African bush elephant, African forest elephant, and Asian elephant.
World Elephant Day is the perfect time to learn more about these amazing animals and what we can do to protect and preserve them from going the way of the mammoths. At first, World Elephant Day was created in 2011 by Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation in Thailand and was first celebrated on 12 August 2012 to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. The initiative was greatly supported by the movie star and Star Trek legend William Shatner who narrated the documentary film Return to the Forest and it was a 30-minute film about bringing Asian elephants back into the wild.
The motivation for the first World Elephant Day was to focus on the miserable condition of these glorious creatures on populations and cultures around the world because of their pleasant and intelligent nature. Unfortunately, these amazing creatures face various threats to their survival, and day by day uncountable number of elephants are killed every year due to human-elephant conflicts, poaching for ivory trade & habitat loss. Not only that but also, circus and tourism industry are also serious problems for elephants well-being. A century ago they numbered more than 12 million in the forest. But, today that number could be as low as 400,000, and nearly 20,000 are killed each year by poachers.
The World Elephant Day is an opportunity for everyone to come together to find ways to reduce conflicts between humans and elephants. This may include land development that minimizes habitat destruction, electric fences to keep away from elephant farms, and changes in local attitudes. In this day educate yourself about these amazing mammals, share your knowledge with others, and support solutions for better care of captive and wild elephants.
