It has been exactly a year since I posted, and yet, I am not too perturbed, because this post, is for the same cause as the last year. The elephant, much revered in prose and poetry, alas, is facing several threats and acts of cruelty from us. Pachyderms are highly intelligent and need our support and nurture, not our worst. I will copy and paste, verbatim, some text from my previous blog post on how you can help.
Before that, I want to point you to an article from Lady Freethinker, about PETA India, and their efforts to try and help riding elephants in India. Please, never, ever ride an elephant, anywhere on the planet. It is absolutely cruel and inexcusable. The article is here:
My previous blog post excerpt on how we can all chip in to help elephants:
- NEVER, ever, buy IVORY. Do you have anything made of ivory? No excuses. Just destroy it. Do not accept any gifts with ivory under any circumstances. Do not help or promote events or people who believe ivory ought to be traded.
- Be responsible in how you buy and consume things in general. Do not support organizations that openly or deceptively destroy ecosystems to make products. This is not just for elephants.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle. Again, this is not specific to elephants, and generally a good way to help wildlife of all manner.
- Elephants are extremely intelligent species that only belong in the wild. Not in temples or zoos. Do not support temples or zoos that host elephants, under any circumstances. A zoo that may house an elephant that cannot survive in the wild is acceptable, but this is very rare. Zoos are the carnivals of the 21st century, essentially, agents of cruelty.
- Go on a safari. Visit elephants in the wild, safely and only through ethical tourist agents. The more you support local economies through tourism, the safer the pachyderms and others in their environment will be!
- Make children aware of the importance of conservation from as early an age as possible. This is very important.
Please spend a few minutes resolving to help elephants, and the millions of species that we share this planet with, that are suffering and passing into oblivion.