Elephant Crisis Fund

An elephant-sized THANK YOU to LOEWE and Knot On My Planet for their generous support of the Elephant Crisis Fund. Now in its third year, this amazing collaboration brings you a limited edition of Elephant bags crafted in traditional Shuka fabric. They also feature a tasselled strap hand-woven by the talented women from Kenya’s Samburu Trust. Find out more on loewe.com #LOEWEkomp #KnotOnMyPlanet #ElephantCrisisFund #LOEWE

Thanks for the shout out Elephants Alive! We're proud to support your work in Mozambique and delighted to see the positive impact our funding is having on the lives of both elephants and people.

The recent extradition of Mansur Mohamed Surur is a great example of how collaboration between governments and agencies is key in disrupting wildlife trafficking networks. We hope this approach will lead to further prosecutions of traffickers in the upstream and downstream networks in Africa and Asia says Dr. Chris Thouless, Director of the Elephant Crisis Fund and STE’s Head of Research. Mansur is currently facing charges for his alleged involvement in a multi-million dollar operation to traffic rhino horn and elephant ivory. Read more: http://bit.ly/3pQkeMN #collaboration #justice #trafficking #wildlife Africa Defense Forum ADF Magazine Save the Elephants

The Elephant Crisis Fund is proud to have supported WildlifeDirect’s ‘Eyes in the Courtroom’ monitoring program since 2014. This latest report, covering 2018 and 2019, provides a comprehensive overview of the legal response to wildlife, forestry and fishery crime across Kenya. The report flags the extreme duration of trials of ivory cases, and that none of the cases involving large seizures brought to trial over the last ten years have resulted in a conviction.

Did you know that there are fewer than 150,000 forest elephants left? These elephant populations continue to face high poaching pressure, especially in Gabon and Congo, and increasing human-elephant conflict. The ECF has supported partners working to protect forest elephants in 25 forest sites across Central and West Africa. #WWD2021 #WorldWildlifeDay #WWD #Wildlife #Forests #Biodiversity #Nature #elephants #forestelephants #loxodontacyclotis. Photo: Chris Thouless/Elephant Crisis Fund

The seizure of 8.8 metric tons of elephant ivory, pangolin scales and rare wildlife bones at a Nigerian port in January could indicate the renewed movement of significant consignments of pangolin and ivory between Africa and Asia following a year of diminished activity. The huge haul of 162 sacks of pangolin scales and 57 sacks of ivory is the first big seizure since covid lockdowns began in March/April last year. Campaigners from the Environmental Investigation Agency say the seizure also highlights the fact that Nigeria is now the epicentre for pangolin scale and ivory trafficking to Asia. Read more: http://bit.ly/3e096u9 #nigeria #wildlifetrafficking #pangolin #ivory #africa #asia #environmentalinvestigationagency

Climate change is disrupting the yield of fruit trees in central Gabon with forest elephants potentially facing famine as a result. Director of the ECF and Save the Elephants' Head of Research, Chris Thouless, says the fruit scarcity could also have far-reaching consequences for conservation. In an interview with Mongabay.com, Dr Thouless warned that the seasonal fruiting period could be critical for elephant reproduction, especially as forest elephants have such a low birth rate. If they are unable to put on enough weight during the fruiting season, they may not be able to come into estrus and thus lose the opportunity to become pregnant, he said. Read more below. #climatechange #fruittrees #centralgabon #forestelephants #conservation

Ivory sellers appear to be dropping their guard due to the depressed illegal market caused by global lockdowns. Recently Odzala-Kokoua National Park’s intelligence department were able to arrest a high level poacher after his less than cautious attempts to sell ivory brought him to the attention of authorities. As well as the arrest, the intelligence unit seized 135.9 kilograms of ivory sadly representing 22 tusks. While the arrest is a win for elephant conservation and our partner, African Parks and the Congolese Government, elephant and bushmeat poaching remains a significant threat for Odzala and nearby Nouabale Ndoki National Park in Congo. Photo by Frank af Petersens #africanparks #congo #poaching #poacherarrest #ivorytrafficking #congolesegovernment #odzalakokouanationalpark

Changing hearts and minds about the intrinsic value of elephants is half the battle in protecting them. Near the Chinko Conservation Area, an expansive wild landscape of over 24,000 km2 in the Central African Republic managed by African Parks and the CAR Government via a Public-Private Partnership, a group of local people recently helped a small herd of six elephants after they wandered through their community. Community members called the Chinko Ranger team to come and prote...ct the herd, given they were outside of the conservation area. Chinko responded with four rangers, who stayed in the vicinity for an entire week to ensure that the herd was not targeted by ivory poachers. Elephants had nearly been hunted out from the region over the last few decades due to the high costs of their ivory and their meat, but today, thanks to the overall protection of Chinko, elephants and other wildlife are starting to make a comeback. And importantly, communities are benefiting from the security, health and educational benefits, and employment Chinko provides. Thanks to the collaboration of the community, Government and Chinko team, this particular herd was provided the security it needed, and is an important sign of growing critical support for the conservation area and local wildlife. The ECF has supported African Parks since 2018 to safeguard Chinko’s small but growing elephant population. #chinko #community #Africanparks #CentralAfrica #ChinkoConservationArea Photo by Brent Stirton See more

Two forest elephants, orphaned by poachers and now guarded 24/7 by rangers, have inadvertently increased awareness of the plight of forest elephants by crossing from Guinea to Liberia in West Africa. Elephant populations in West Africa are increasingly challenged by habitat loss and fragmentation as forests are converted to farmland and other land use, and this story has gained attention from people who seldom see these elusive elephants living amongst them. Read more: https://bit.ly/37Px6wW Photos by: CFZ Guinea and FDA Liberia. #faunaandflorainternational #wildlifeconservation #westafrica #forestelephants #liberia #guinea #elephantprotection #ELERCO

THANK YOU for joining us at the virtual #WCNExpo yesterday! It was an amazing hour of elephant conversation with our teams from the Elephant Crisis Fund and Save the Elephants. Just in case you missed it or want to watch the presentation again, here’s the link to our talk. Please share far and wide! https://youtu.be/zIXedRKQMzs #elephants #elephantcrisisfund #savetheelephants #conservation

How can elephants and humans live in harmony when Africa’s population continues to rise and vital wilderness areas are being carved up? In Nigeria, Tunde Morakinyo - Executive Director of Africa Nature Investors (ANI), and his colleagues are helping to tackle this problem. For the last two years ANI has been part of a partnership protecting the shy and elusive forest elephants (pictured) of the Omo Forest Reserve that are under extreme threat from rapid deforestation, habita...t destruction and human elephant conflict. The ECF is funding Wild Planet Trust, working with Nigerian Conservation Fund and ANI to address these problems and help secure a long term future for this small but important elephant population. Join Tunde and ECF’s illegal wildlife trade expert, Dudu Douglas-Hamilton, tomorrow (October 17) for a unique presentation at the WCN Wildlife Virtual Expo. Register now. https://www.wcnexpo.org/ #WCNexpo #savetheelephants #forestelephants #conservation #Omoforestreserve #Nigeria. Photos: Omo-Shasha-Oluwa Forest Elephant Initiative See more

Chinese customs have successfully dismantled two major ivory trafficking gangs in China’s Fujian Province. Nineteen suspects including leaders of both gangs were arrested by a team from the Bureau of Fuzhou Customs. The gangs were allegedly responsible for smuggling 8.2 tonnes of ivory and selling it to local carving workshops and craft shops. The arrests are a positive step forward as China strengthens its efforts to enforce its ivory ban. The ECF supports a number of NGO partners working closely with Asian law enforcement agencies to tackle wildlife crime. Photo: R.J. Turner/Save the Elephants #ivory #ivoryban #china #ivorytraffickers #Fujianprovince #chinaivoryban #wildlifecrime

The Botswana government has ruled out human involvement in the death of more than 300 elephants earlier this year. Test results on samples collected from the carcasses have instead pointed to a naturally occurring toxin produced by cyanobacteria in stagnant waterholes. Read more below. #elephants #Botswana

The ECF is proud to be supporting African Parks and its incredible work in Zakouma National Park. We are encouraged to see the positive impact conservation is having on surrounding communities.

In an unprecedented and encouraging move, a criminal court in the Congo has sentenced an elephant poacher and wildlife trafficker to 30 years in prison. The poacher, known as Guyvanho, is believed to have killed hundreds of elephants in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. Having escaped from prison in 2018, he was re-captured after attempting to murder park rangers last year. Guyvanho is the first wildlife trafficker convicted in Congo’s Criminal Court. Previously all environmental crimes were tried in the civil courts with a five year maximum penalty. The Elephant Crisis Fund helped partner, Wildlife Conservation Society, support the three-year investigation. Read more: https://bit.ly/3aVO7oW #poacher #guyvanho #WCS #republicofocongo #nouabalendoki #ivory #elephants

A positive step from Singapore where the National Parks Board has crushed $18 million worth of illegal ivory. This was the largest haul destroyed globally since 9.5 tonnes of ivory was crushed in Malaysia in 2016. The Singapore ivory, destroyed last week, came from various sources and was seized over many years. The haul included 8.8 tonnes confiscated en route to Vietnam from the Democratic Republic of Congo in July last year. Singapore continues to play a key role as a transit country for organised large-scale ivory trafficking. Conservationists hope last week’s ivory crush signals the country's intention to take a tougher stance against ivory being smuggled through its borders. Read more: https://www.straitstimes.com//18-million-worth-of-ivory-to

Huge gratitude to Tiffany & Co. for its unwavering support of the Elephant Crisis Fund. Happy World Elephant Day!