Day 408- Stampede the Phone Lines!

Read below for information about how YOU can help the elephants!

Donald Trump Junior holding a severed elephant tail as a trophy

In 2014, President Obama banned the import of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.  On November 16, Donald Trump decided to overturn this ruling, to allow elephant remains in the United States. The announcement was met with outrage by animal lovers everywhere.  Two days later, in response to national protest, Trump appeared to change his mind, suggesting he won’t overturn Obama’s ban.  The elephant world waits.  Jane Goodall (our fav!) posted this on her Facebook page:

"On the Ivory Ban Being Lifted: 

In a sudden decision President Trump has called a temporary halt to the importation of ivory from two African countries while he and his newly appointed Secretary Zinke re-evaluate the status of the elephant populations there. First of all, one of the reasons that was given for reversing the ban on importation of ivory was that the thousands of dollars paid by wealthy American hunters would help to protect the elephants as the money would be used for conservation of the species. And that it would provide countless jobs for the local people.

On both counts this is misleading information. Conservationists on the ground maintain that very little money is actually used for conservation, and that the safari companies organising these murders have their own staff so that typically the local communities receive very little compensation.

To kill endangered animals is not a good idea, and we must remember that each elephant is a highly intelligent social individual whose life matters. Now, probably as a result of the outrage expressed from around the world, Trump has announced a suspension of the ruling. But we must remember that this administration has steadily stripped long-standing protections for animals and the environnent and that the president has left the door open for Secretary Zinke to remove the ban. 

We must remember the words of T. S. Elliot (in The Love Song of Alfred J Prufrock) : “ In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse". We cannot claim this moment as a victory. Rather, we must see it as a call to action to use our voices to call for strengthened protections for animals, for one another and for the planet we all call home."

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YOU CAN HELP! 

Call the White House (202-456-1111) from 9am-4pm EST.  

WHAT TO SAY: 

Hello, my name is _____ from _____, and I am calling to strongly urge the President to not overturn the ban on elephant trophies.  An elephant is slaughtered every 15 minutes due to the illegal poaching crisis.  At this rate, elephants will be extinct in less than a decade.  Elephants are a keystone species, and their environments would deteriorate without them.  Thank you for passing along this message to the President.

Go make a difference! (Call the White House!)