Join Me, And Take The Pledge

Because I love elephants, I decided to take the pledge to ban the ivory trade in Thailand.  Happily, I found out through WWF that 500,000 signatures have been presented to Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra!  She has said that she is considering banning the ivory trade throughout Thailand!  Yay!

Do you love elephants too?  If you do, join me in taking the pledge to save this amazing species!  Click here to take the pledge!

Click here to see some pictures of Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from a previous post!

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Movie Night!

Get the popcorn ready!  Check your local listings or go to pbs.org to watch these movies on demand!  You can stream the full movie!  Click here for information about the Nature episode "Echo: An Elephant To Remember."  An amazing movie about a caring matriarch, and her family of closely knit elephants.

Click here for information about "Battle for the Elephants," which premiered tonight, February 27.  Go Brian Christy! 

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Letter FROM the Pope!

Today in the mail I received an exciting note and the below pictures from the Pope, regarding the letter I sent him in December (you can read it here).

The note

The Pope

His signature

My hope for the soon-to-be elected NEW Pope is that the papacy will strongly encourage the artists and collectors of religious icons to substitute other materials for ivory.   

National Geographic Magazine, "Blood Ivory"

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Picture of the Day

In this breathtaking picture taken by Marina Cano, an elephant is captured in front of Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Amboseli National Park, Kenya.

For more information about Amboseli National Park, click here to see a previous post.

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Letter to Secretary of State John Kerry

February 24, 2013

Dear Secretary of State Kerry,

My name is Ella Warburg.  I am a 7^th grade student at Valley Christian Academy in Dublin, California, just outside of San Francisco.  I am writing to congratulate you on your recent appointment.  Also, I am writing to offer my help in the subject of illegal elephant poaching.

The day before former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton made an address at the State Department on Wildlife Trafficking and Conservation on November 8, 2012, I started a blog on this subject, titled “e is for elephants” (www.eis4elephants@blogspot.com).  I am only 13 years old, so this is my first time blogging.  However, after reading news reports about the dramatic increase in elephant slaughter, I knew I had to act.

I would love to be on your team to help the State Department to combat the illegal trade of wildlife and promote conservation.

Thank you so much,

Ella Warburg

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A Webcam From Africa

Even though Africa is far away for most eis4elephants readers, you can experience it here live!  This is a WWF Africa Webcam (or as they call it, an Africam) that is located in Southern Africa.  The webcams are placed near popular watering holes to see elephants, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, and other unique species!

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Just a Reminder!

As WWF has nearly 490,000 signatures on their pledge to ban the ivory trade in Thailand, I just wanted to remind all of my eis4elephants readers to take the pledge and share with friends!  Also, you can take it more than once!  Let's try to get to 1,000,000 pledges!

Click here for my "One Million to Make A Difference" post from January!

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Picture of the Day

“When I hear of the destruction of a species I feel just as if all the works of some great writer had perished."

~Theodore Roosevelt 

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Let's Think About It

According to National Geographic's March 2013 issue, elephants have a longer gestation period, suggesting they have more complex brain development than most other mammals.

The gestation periods of some animals:

Elephant: 21-23 months

Human: 9 months

Opossum: 2 weeks

Giant Panda: 3-5 months

Lion: 4 months

Gorilla: 8-10 months

Bottlenose dolphin: 12-14 months

Giraffe: 15 months

White Rhinoceros: 16 months

"The more we learn of the true nature of non-human animals, especially those with complex brains and corresponding complex social behavior, the more ethical concerns are raised regarding their use in the service of man -- whether this be in entertainment, as "pets," for food, in research laboratories, or any of the other uses to which we subject them."

~Jane Goodall

Click my past posts here or here for more information about elephants and their babies!

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Endangered Species

Over the long (birthday) weekend, my family and I visited the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.  While I didn't see any elephant exhibits, I did spot the Endangered Species prints by Andy Warhol!  A huge eis4elephants high five to Pat and Bill Wilson for donating these amazing prints!

African Elephant

Siberian Tiger

Orangutan

Black Rhino

San Francisco Silverspot Butterfly

Giant Panda

Bighorn Ram

Pine Barrens Tree Frog

Grevy's Zebra

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Coffee Anyone? 2.0

To read a previous post about coffee produced by elephants, click here!

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A Trip To The Elephants

This past summer, my ballet teacher, Miss Mei-Ling went on a trip to Thailand.  While traveling, she got to help out at an elephant sanctuary, called Elephant Nature Park.  This nature park is in northern Thailand, about an hour away from Chiang Mai (See map below).  While at the sanctuary, Miss Mei-Ling got to feed and bathe the 35 rescued elephants.  

The Elephant Nature Park was founded in 1996 by Lek Chailert with the vision of providing a safe place for elephants to roam free in Thailand.  Every so often, elephants in Thailand are domesticated to create profits for their owners (such as rides for tourists).  Sometimes the elephants are even neglected or tortured!  Luckily, Ms. Lek Chailert is willing to buy and rescue these poor elephants from their owners, so she can humanly take care of them.

Thank you, Miss Mei-Ling for sharing your travel adventures with me, and thank you Ms. Lek for your generosity on behalf of the elephants! 

You can click here to visit the Elephant Nature Park website.

The elephants

Miss Mei-Ling petting an elephant

Ms. Lek Chailert

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There Is Hope

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

~Martin Luther King, Jr. 

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."

~Albert Einstein 

"I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe."

~Dalai Lama 

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Inside Wildlife Crime

Less than five minutes, a great informative video.

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Opening Your Heart

Our foster puppy, Molly

As you probably know, caring for animals is hard work.  Right now, my family and I are fostering a 10-month old black lab puppy, who was left at a shelter.  Her name is Molly, and she really is a sweetheart!  However, as she is a rescue, she has some puppy behaviors and some bad habits.  For example, she barks at nearly everyone she doesn't know.  And she has a very intimidating bark!  One of the hardest things about rescuing an animal is not knowing their history and background. 

This is why I want to tip my hat to all those who foster elephants.  Because, if you think about it, elephants are much bigger than a 10-month old puppy, with a more complex social structure.  And they eat a lot more!  Luckily, dogs and elephants are highly intelligent and trainable animals.  I'm sure fostering elephants is just as rewarding as my experience has been with this adorable orphaned puppy.  Please, if you know anyone who is a foster parent, be encouraging to them, because it's hard work.

  

To read about a great wildlife trust where you can help foster elephants, click here.

P.S. Happy 100th eis4elephants post! 

Molly on Mt. Diablo

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Fill Your Heart With Love!

"Faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love."

~ 1 Corinthians 13:13

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Why They Matter

Why elephants matter? 

Elephants help maintain forest and savanna ecosystems for other species, and are integrally tied to rich biodiversity.

~WWF

Why WWF matters?  

WWF protects natural areas and wild populations of plants and animals, including endangered species. 

WWF promotes sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources.

WWF embraces more efficient use of resources and energy and the maximum reduction of pollution.

And what could matter more than this?  

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Our Thick Skinned Friends!

Did you know that pachyderm means "thick skin"?  There are other animal species that are pachyderms, not only elephants.  An elephant's skin can be up to one inch thick!  However, just because it's thick doesn't mean that it's not sensitive!  Elephants can still get sunburned!  Below are all of the still living animals that are pachyderms!

Wild Boar

Aardvark

Hippo

Hog

Rhino

Pig

Warthog

Tapir

My favorite, the elephant!

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