“It was the mark of a barbarian to destroy something one could not understand.” ― Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey
It is estimated that the count of elephants worldwide has slashed by 62% over the past decade, and the figure indicates the animals face an imminent extinction by the end of the next 10 years.
Between the years 2014 and 2017, as many as 100,000 African elephants were illegally hunted primarily for their ivory that goes into making traditional medicines and ornate pieces of jewelry. Poaching or illegal hunting of elephants in favor of the notorious wide-ranging ivory trade puts the environment at the risk of losing its ecological balance. Therefore, it became an immediate necessity to protect the animals at all costs.
Caring for the environment and promoting sustainability is far more than recycling or climate change. The environment is a very complex system for which the only simple answers are those at the individual level. Complex systems don’t react well to big changes. For the environment, an answer is education and awareness at the world level, action at the local; my opinion.
“Elephants are so wise and so funny and so endangered and so intelligent. I just think there is a lot to learn from them.” – Gloria Steinem