Every fifteen minutes an elephant is killed in Africa

Save the Elephant

At the beginning of the 1900s there were around 10 million elephants in Africa, today there are only around 400,000 elephants left. Increased demand for ivory and illegal trade has led to African elephants being poached massively. Experts estimate that as many as 35,000 elephants are killed every year in Africa. If poaching continues at this rate, the African elephant could become extinct within a generation.

Asian elephants are threatened by human overpopulation. There are only around 40,000 Asian elephants left in the wild. One of the largest threats to Asian elephant is habitat loss, the human-elephant conflict in overpopulated areas of Asia creates clashes and most often Asian elephants are killed by local farmers protecting their crops. Another threat to Asian elephants is the growing market for what are known as blood beads – dried elephant skin, cut into cubes, sanded and polished into beads, and used in jewellery. In this cruel hunt, elephants are skinned as soon as they fall to the ground while the blood is still flowing through their veins, as it’s said to give the beads a deeper red colour, and higher value at the black market. Asian elephants are also used as working animals and tourist attractions. Elephant calves are separated from their mothers long before they can survive on their own. and then beaten into submission and treated cruelly while ‘working’.

What we do

If extinction continues at the current rate, there will soon be no elephants left. The Perfect World Foundation is working with awareness initiatives to spread knowledge about the elephants’ situation. We are involved in and support projects and activities, such as:

  • Anti-poaching teams
  • Construction of elephant corridors to avoid human-elephants conflicts
  • Undercover work to map and end ivory smuggling in Asia
  • Wildlife conservation organizations, among many the Elephant Family
  • Organized the fundraising gala, ‘The Elephant Ball’ in 2016, in aid of organizations and projects in Africa and Asia who work to protect elephants from poaching, and to train and involve local community.
  • Participated in the world’s largest ivory burning in Nairobi, Kenya in 2016, when seized ivory from thousands of elephants was burnt in a protest against the ivory trade. As a ripple effect from the protest, ivory trade in China was banned in July 2016, which is the greatest success so far in the war to save the last elephants.
  • Arranged for children from Kenya’s poor neighbourhoods, like Nairobi’s slums, to visit national parks, to see and meet wild animals for the first time, to give the children the opportunity to experience and learn about wildlife. It’s difficult to motivate Africa’s future generations to save elephants if they have never had the chance to see and experience wildlife.

Our work will continue until the day when our remaining elephants’ future is secured for generations to come.

Support our work

What you can do

Find out and learn as much as you can about the elephants’ acute situation, and then share it with friends and family, in conversations, on social media – create awareness. Knowledge is power. When on holiday never go on elephant rides, and do no t purchase items and souvenirs made of ivory or elephant parts.

Buy a Save the Elephant t-shirt to support our campaign. With us you can also Volunteer Travel and get the chance to encounter elephants up close, and experience wildlife conservation projects around the world. Donations and sponsoring partnerships are crucial for us to continue our work to save and preserve our majestic elephants.

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