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Lessons From The Elephants!
#Hands Off Our Elephants Did you know that the African elephant weighs about 7000 kilograms? Did you know that the elephants use their tusks to fight, uproot trees in the forests and grasslands, fight so as to protect themselves? Today, I will share the stories of two elephants. A happy story and a sad story. The qualities of these elephants will go a long way to describe how interesting and admirable the elephant is. The first story is about an elephant called Sadie. In the story, there is a mention of Amboseli. Amboseli is the name of a National Park in Kenya. The name Amboseli is a Masai term meaning "Salty Dust". Sadie was born in 1964, and has been the matriarch of the Amboseli SB family since 1985. She is a wonderfully calm female and has been a very successful leader. When she became matriarch, the family was tiny, with only 5 family members. Under Sadie's leadership, there have been 24 births and a high survivorship. The family currently has 20 members, plus 4 independent males. They range across the south western part of the Amboseli ecosystem, along the Tanzanian border. The SB family use the Amboseli National Reserve as a secure refuge and Sadie keeps them in the park during periods of high risk. Special thanks goes to the Amboseli Trust for Elephants who take good care of the elephants in this area.Can you identify the positive points about this elephant? The second story is about an elephant called Winston. Winston lived between 1980 and 2010. Winston was born in January 1980 to Willa of the WA family. At that time, poaching was just slowing down in the Amboseli ecosystem but there had been many losses in the 1970's and so his family was cautious. Nevertheless his years with the family were relatively peaceful. He struck out on his own at 13 years old and eventually chose the western part of the ecosystem as his bull area. In August 2010, Winston was just reaching social maturity and was starting to compete with other males to father calves. Tragically, poachers struck him down before he could fulfill his goal. He was shot in Tanzania and managed to get back into Kenya to die.Again, special thanks go the Amboseli Trust for Elephants for keeping the records for these elephants. After reading the above stories, don't you agree that these elephants are marvelous and have qualities we can learn from? Next week, we will delve into deeper information about the elephants.
Hands Off Our Elephants Campaign!
How many of you have had an opportunity to see an elephant in the wild? If you have, you will agree with me that this animal is a beauty to marvel at. If you haven't, then I will tell you about this wonderful creature.Did you know that although elephants have very big ears, they also have the ability to use their feet to hear? Do you know that elephants mourn for their dead ones? Do you know that if you had an opportunity to meet an elephant, and even went on to create a bond with this elephant, it would still remember you after several years of separation? Did you know that elephants rely on the leadership of the matriarch? Do you know that an elephant has the capacity to live close to 70 years? Do you know that very many elephants in Africa are been killed so that people can use the ivory they get from them to make ornaments?There are very many interesting facts about the elephants that we will discuss in this blog. For today, the few that I have mentioned above can help us have a brief understanding of the elephant. In Kenya, a campaign dubbed "Hands Off Our Elephants" recently kicked off. One of the goals of the campaign is to create awareness about the situation elephants are currently in. Every year, very many elephants are killed in Africa. The reason these elephants are killed is many people the world over are interested in ivory products. What does this statement mean? It means that many people want to have a bracelet made of ivory, necklace made of ivory, key holders made of ivory, guns with some parts made of ivory, combs made of ivory among other things.Another goal of the campaign is to educate people on why the elephants are very important. In Africa, many countries rely on income made from tourism. Among the animals that tourists like seeing the most is the elephant. People are amazed about how majestic these animals are. Countries that have high elephant populations receive more visitors than those that do not have many elephants. This is because elephants are very important in the ecosystem and they support many other animals directly and indirectly.The message that is carried by the campaign is directed towards people who buy ivory products. Laws are been worked on to ensure that these marvelous animals are been taken care of. Recently, several governments said that they were willing to work closely with Kenyan authorities to ensure that elephants are protected. This way, the economic future of the country can be taken care of.Are you interested in taking part in activities to protect these elephants? There are many avenues that can be used. You can take it upon yourself to blog about the elephants, help other people understand the elephants in a more deeper sense. I intend to use this platform to share with friends more about the elephants, help people have an understanding of this wonderful animal. I would also like to request you all to feel free to ask any questions about the elephants which I am prepared to answer.The logo been used for the campaign "Hands Off Our Elephants"Young elephants orphaned as a result of poaching, playing at an orphanage as visitors watch
