iWorry. Do you?

iWorry is elephant-protecting campaign through The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.  You can go to their website here.  

Over the past 34 years the African Elephant population has declined to heartbreakingly low figures, primarily due to the ivory trade. There are said to be around 470,000 African Elephants left in the wild, a painfully sharp contrast to the 1,300,000 which roamed the wilderness in 1979.

In 1989, a worldwide ban on ivory trade was approved by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). Levels of poaching fell dramatically, and black market prices of ivory slumped, it seemed CITES had saved the African Elephant…

However, in 1997 CITES down-listed the elephant species into a ‘less endangered’ status due to the decrease in ivory demand. Just a year later a Taiwanese port seized tusks and ivory totalling a weight of 1.45 tonnes. In 2002, it was agreed that Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe could export 60 tonnes of ivory, subject to condition, which resulted in 108 tonnes to Japan and China, this finally took place in 2008.

Many predicted the sale might fuel an increasing appetite for ivory among the growing Chinese middle class and as poaching rates are now the highest they’ve been since 1989; this prediction was sadly very accurate. It was official; the levels of poaching and illegal trade had rocketed once again and were spiraling out of control.

The links between the ivory trade and the illegal killing of elephants are clear to see and unless action is taken based on informative evidence, African Elephants will be gone within our lifetimes.

View the ivory trade timeline and how you can help.

iWorry is a campaign by The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT).

The DSWT is a front-line organisation working every day in the field to protect Africa’s wildlife and habitats. We are not traditionally a campaigning organisation, but the severity of the danger caused by the escalating ivory trade will only be countered if we all stand up for elephants together.

At the DSWT we love elephants and we can’t imagine a world without them, but if we don’t all come together to stand up for elephants and add our voice to those fighting against the ivory trade, the African Elephant species could be lost forever.

As long as there is a market for ivory, elephants will be cruelly killed for their tusks. We want everyone who loves elephants to Say NO to ivory and stand up for elephants.

The DSWT iWorry campaign aims to raise awareness of the urgent need to stop all trade in ivory internationally, in order to protect the future of elephants.

~iWorry Website

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