As some of you may know I work to raise awareness of the issues facing the world’s remaining Asian and African elephants. I am part of a group based in Vancouver called Elephanatics. We are a conservation group that does educational outreach, action and advocacy in Canada on behalf of elephants.
For the last two years we have organized a event in Vancouver that is part of a global, grassroots initiative called The Global March for Elephants and Rhinos. Last year over 140 cities organized worldwide. This year we hope to have even more cities participate. Our goal is put continued pressure on governments and policy makers worldwide to end the ivory and rhino horn trade and to save many of Africa’s endangered species by moving them to Appendix 1 under the convention of the international trade in endangered wildlife and fauna known as CITES.
We are encouraging people in cities around the world to organize events large and small (last year two elderly women organized an event on their street corner which was completely inspiring!)
Without global action elephants and rhinos will be extinction with 10 to 25 years.
On September 24th events will be held worldwide for the opening day of CoP17 in Johannesburg.
Vital decisions on elephants, rhinos and lions are to be made at CoP17 by 181 members of CITES. Our objectives are to halt all trade and to get governments (who are CITES members) to change laws, have political will to stop the trade.
Last year over 50,000 people marched to raise awareness and to demand an end to the poaching crisis that is pushing them rapidly towards extinction.
The poaching of elephants and rhinos has reached unprecedented heights in recent years as the demand for ivory and rhino horn has soared in China and other mainly Asian markets.
An elephant is brutally killed every 15 minutes – 35,000 every year.
A rhino is poached every 11 hours with an estimated 24,000 left in the world. Over 1,000 rhinos were poached last year alone, compared to 13 in 2007.
Speakers at Vancouver’s events this year are:
Patricia Sims – Co-Founder of the annual World Elephant Day, a global awareness campaign that brings attention to the critical threats facing elephants. The campaign reaches millions of individuals across the globe through events, traditional media, and social media outreach.
She produced, directed and wrote the documentary When Elephants Were Young, narrated by William Shatner which won best documentary awards in both the Whistler Film Festival and Palm Springs FF..
Paul Blackthorneis an English Actor for film, television, and radio. He is currently a lead actor in the series “Arrow” which is filmed in Vancouver BC. Over the past three years he has collaborated with different conservation organizations to help raise awareness about the poaching crisis facing the African elephant and the rhino. He has run two successful t-shirt campaigns: One in Vietnam for the rhino with the slogan “Keep Rhinos Horny” and another for the elephant “Poach Eggs Not Elephants”.He is a committed social activist for wildlife conservation and has implemented a range of activities calling for joint global efforts to save wild animals, especially the elephant and rhino.
Mike Farnworth is the current NDP MLA for Port Coquitlam.
He serves as Opposition Spokesperson for Justice (Public Safety and Solicitor General).
Mike has been adamant in trying to fight a loophole in Canadian law that allows rhino horn to be sold if it can be proven to be obtained before 1975. Illegal horn is easily mixed with legal horn and thus forms a loophole. He recently tabled a private members bill at the legislature to outlaw the sale of ivory and rhino horn.
Join us on Twitter: @condofire @elephanaticsBC
Vancity_GlobalMarchElephants Instagram
Here is a toolkit to help you get the word out! Posters, petitions, umbrellas and t-shirts are soon to come!
Vancouver March:
October 3rd – 12:00 to 2:00 pm
Vancouver Public Library – North Plaza – 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver
Speakers: Dr. Jake Wall – Save the Elephants (African Elephant)
Dr. Hedy Fry – MP Vancouver Centre
Rosemary Conder – BC SPCA – Elephants in Tourism (Asia)
For those of you attending the Vancouver march and who are interested in helping us get the word out here are a few tools:
Global March and Elephant Rhino crisis presented as a private members bill in the BC legislature by Mike Farnworth NDP MLA for Port Coquitlam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-eqW8Algms
12:00 to 12:40 – music, face painting, t-shirt and umbrella sales, sign the petition
12:40 to 12: 45 Opening Remarks
Speeches
12: 45 to 12:55 pm Dr. Hedy Fry
12:55 to 1:10 pm Dr. Jake Wall (Save the Elephants)
1:10 pm to 1:20 pm Rosemary Conder (BC SPCA)
1:20 to 1:40 march
1:40 photo, closing remarks, next steps
ABOUT THE MARCH
This year Vancouver joins 10 other Canadian cities on the weekend of October 3 & 4th. Over 120 cities around the world will also be marching to draw attention to the crisis facing these species (and others) and to call for an end to the ivory and rhino horn trade that is pushing these (and many other species) towards extinction.Our march also aims to raise awareness of the issues facing the Asian elephant. It is estimated that there are less than 30,000 remaining with many living difficult (abusive) lives in the tourist trekking and illegal logging industries. Wherever you are find a march near you.
Please help spread the word and join the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos march. Last year 137 cities marched (50,000 people). This year already over 100 cities around the world are organizing to end the poaching war against elephants and rhinos. Find your city here.Learn more about the Global March here.
Oct 3rd – Vancouver Public Library – 350 West Georgia – North Plaza
Dr. Jake Wall (Save the Elephants)
Dr. Hedy Fry – MP Vancouver Centre
Rosemary Conder – BC SPCA
Vancouver will once again be taking part in the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos to draw attention to the crisis facing these two species and to call for an end to the ivory and rhino horn trade that is pushing them rapidly towards extinction.
The poaching of elephants and rhinos has reached unprecedented heights in recent years as the demand for ivory and rhino horn has soared in China and other mainly Asian markets. The ivory trade is also fueling terrorist groups, transnational criminal gangs, and armed militias that are destabilizing African countries as well as posing serious threats to international security.
An elephant is brutally killed every 15 minutes – that’s around 100 every day, and at least 35,000 every year. With so few numbers left (some estimates put the figure as low as 250,000 for the entire continent), and with such a slow reproductive cycle, the outlook is looking tragically bleak for elephants. If we don’t take action now to stop this massacre, it will be too late to save them. They will vanish forever – in about 10 years.
A rhino is poached every 11 hours with an estimated 24,000 left in the world. Over 1,000 rhinos were poached last year alone, compared to 13 in 2007. If the rate of killing continues to rise, rhinos too face extinction within the decade.
In the wake of the last few Chinese horror stories including the big Chinese buying trip to Tanzania and the abduction of 35 baby elephants (one of whom has already died) the grassroots advocacy movement “Global March for Elephants and Rhinos” is asking cities to organize protests all over the world at Chinese Consulates on January 24th OR if you can’t participate or organize a protest – to join in a mail campaign. Please follow the details of these campaigns here and join the mail campaign here.
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CTION! You MARCHED with #GMFER October 4th, JOIN US in early 2015 as we organize peaceful PROTESTS at Chinese embassies and consulates from January – June, and join our MAIL STORM to write to stop the poaching and ivory trade! You’re needed to give the elephants and rhinos your presence and your voice!
Tell China to BAN its ivory trade and shut down its carving factories! Our London organizers have kicked off our protests with their January 24th demo at China’s London embassy here: http://goo.gl/dSA69K
More protests coming, including San Francisco and Washington, DC!
Want to ORGANIZE a protest? PM or email us at: march4elesandrhinos@gmail.com.
If you cannot attend or organize a peaceful protest at a Chinese embassy or consulate in your city, please WRITE! Our mail storm event page is here, with thanks to our Chris Sarjeant for creating this ~ for the price of a stamp you can urge China to BAN all domestic ivory trade: http://goo.gl/iiGF3A
China must ban all domestic ivory trade if the elephant is to survive ~ help make it happen in 2015!
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
I am proud to have been a part of this amazing, grassroots event that took place October 4th in 136 cities around the world where people all marched to end the ivory and rhino horn trades that threaten these species. Here are a few pictures from the Vancouver event:
On October 4th 2014 Vancouver will take part in the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos. 130 cities around the world are marching in the biggest demonstration ever to create awareness of the plight of these two species and to demand that governments end the blood ivory and rhino horn trade. This presentation will be shown at the demonstration. Every person who becomes aware and knows about the struggle for survival these species face takes us one step closer to winning the war against extinction. If you can share this with one person you will have helped. Thank you.
Title: Global March for Elephants and Rhinos in Vancouver on Oct 4th, 2014
The ‘Global Mach for Elephants and Rhinos’ (GMFER) is taking place in downtown Vancouver for the first time on October 4th (1:00 – 3:00 p.m.) on the north side of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Vancouver is joining 127 other cities worldwide including Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Victoria, Montreal, Ottawa and Sudbury in Canada.
The GMFER hopes to raise awareness about the current unsustainable killing of elephants and rhino for their valuable tusks and horns. The GMFER was initiated in 2013 by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.
The illegal wildlife trade is a global problem estimated at USD $20 Billion per annum. Poaching of elephant tusks and rhino horn has been linked to regional instability, organized crime and terrorist networks in Africa.
Elephant tusks are mainly being purchased in China for carvings while rhino horn has been linked to medicinal use in some Asian countries.
A recent study has shown that 100,000 elephants were killed between 2010-2012 and remaining populations are now under threat of extinction.
HRH Duke of Cambridge has said about rhinos: “There are two thousand critically endangered species on the verge of being lost forever. It’s time to choose a side – between the endangered animals and the criminals who kill them for money. I am calling on people all around the world to tell us: whose side are you on?”
The GMFER event will call on governments to publicly destroy their stockpiles of illegal wildlife products, to show “zero tolerance for illegal trading”.
Dr. Jane Goodall has endorsed the GMFER: “We must join forces everywhere to stop the slaughter of elephants and rhinos. They feel pain, they know suffering. We must stop people from buying ivory.”
“Individuals, and society as a whole, can choose to shun ivory, rhino horn, lion and tiger bones as commodities,” say event organizers, “but we need governments to play their part as well, by increasing penalties for bribery, corruption and trafficking offenses.”
In support of the GMFER event, Joanna Lumley, OBE and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, says: “If we stand by and watch the brutal extinction of rhino and elephant, the stain of shame on our human consciousness will never be forgiven or forgotten.”
“Endangered leads to Extinction. We must stop the demand for Ivory and Rhino tusks.
Check the products you buy and read your labels carefully, especially Chinese herbal products.
It’s our responsibility to stop what mankind has started,” says Paul Rodgers, well-known singer-songwriter and owner of Willows Animal Sanctuary in Aberdeenshire, who is also in support of the GMFER event.
Invited speakers at this year’s Vancouver event are:
Jake Wall, is a PhD student in the University of British Columbia’s geography department, works for the conservation group Save the Elephants, where he has helped outfit almost 100 of the mammals with GPS satellite-tracking collars. Read more here.
Rosemary Conder, Chief Development Officer for the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA).
Rosemary went to Asia in 2011 as a volunteer to help rescued elephants who endured lifetimes of abuse. The experience showed her the horror these gentle giants face and the impact tourism is having on them. Elephants have become her friends and teachers. The trip in 2011 to one elephant rescue project became the first of six. Find out more here.
For full details on the Vancouver march click here.
Please help spread the word and join the march on Oct 4th 2014.#March4ElesandRhinos
On October 4, 2014 Vancouver will be taking part in the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos to draw attention to the crisis facing these two species and to call for an end to the ivory and rhino horn trade that is pushing them rapidly towards extinction.
To date, 127 cities across the globe will be marching on that day – this will be the biggest international event ever held to save our planet’s vanishing wildlife, with the focus on elephants and rhinos.
The poaching of elephants and rhinos has reached unprecedented heights in recent years as the demand for ivory and rhino horn has soared in China and other mainly Asian markets. The ivory trade is also fueling terrorist groups, transnational criminal gangs, and armed militias that are destabilizing African countries as well as posing serious threats to international security.
An elephant is brutally killed every 15 minutes – that’s around 100 every day, and at least 35,000 every year. With so few numbers left (some estimates put the figure as low as 250,000 for the entire continent), and with such a slow reproductive cycle, the outlook is looking tragically bleak for elephants. If we don’t take action now to stop this massacre, it will be too late to save them. They will vanish forever – in about 10 years.
A rhino is poached every 11 hours with an estimated 24,000 left in the world. Over 1,000 rhinos were poached last year alone, compared to 13 in 2007. If the rate of killing continues to rise, rhinos too face extinction within the decade.
1:00 to 1:30
Opening events
We have drummers, face painters, photographers, a fun quiz, and items for sale! We need volunteers the most during this time (beginning at 12:45) to help people register, take photos and sign our petition. There will be charitable items for sale by donation during this time (cash only).
1:30 to 1:35
Introductions by organizers
1:35 to 1:50
Speaker Jake Wall
Jake wall is a PhD student at UBC and an African elephant researcher with Save the Elephants.
1:50 to 2:05
Speaker Rosemary Conder
Rosemary is the Chief Development Officer of the BCSPCA and an elephant advocate, with a particular interest in ethical tourism.
2:05 to 2:35
March!
March Route: Georgia to Granville Station, Granville Station to Waterfront Station, Waterfront Station to Burrard Station, to Robson Street and Hornby back to the Gallery
2:35 -3:00
Closing remarks, learn “What You Can Do”, and more pictures!
While we will have some signs to hand out we encourage you to make one at home and bring it along. For ours we used:
paint stir sticks as handles
foam core to mount the poster on both sides
glue – to glue it all together
Here is some artwork you can use or you can make your own! More to come!
Face painting – We’re super lucky to have someone volunteer to face paint. Here are some fantastic designs to choose from. Elephant Face Paint Designs
Marchers in Israel and London!
Capturing attention and having fun at the same time is important. Here are some examples of other marchers:
Protest against Canned Lion Hunting in Israel.
Getting the Word Out
Please help us get the word out. The more people who realize the issues facing these animals, the more of an impact we are able to make on October 4th, the more signatures and MP’s we contact the better the outcome for elephants and rhinos. Let’s make NOISE.
If you have local media, please send them this release:
Please use this poster to publicize the march. Send it to friends and family, post it at your local library coffee shops.
Finalposter – please print or email to your networks.
These smaller promo pieces can be used to hand out to your networks.
Petitions are the life blood of the march. This is how we really make noise. Getting signatures is important. If you can print a copy of this and get signatures and bring it to the march to hand in to organizers that would be amazing and we’ll love you forever.
Tell people about what you know. (See media below and share)
Take what you know and let your government rep know.
Support people working the front lines.You can do this by “liking” these groups on facebook and social media, sharing stories and news, supporting them by supporting their fundraisers – buy t-shirts, adopt orphans as gifts, or fundraise for them. Do NOT support animals in tourism. Elephant rides and treks are all a part of a system of terrible animal abuse. Tell people. Excellent organizations to support are:
“”As the dominant species on this planet it is our moral duty to protect and preserve all forms of life. For species such as Elephants and Rhinos to be fighting for their existence due to human exploitation and interference is unacceptable and we must do everything within our power to turn this dire situation around. We are responsible for the problem and we must be held responsible for the solution. It will indeed be a very sad indictment on our species if Rhinos and Elephants are no more, and that day will come sooner than we think if we do not take action.”
Canada AM – August 2014 Greg Gubitz – Big Life Foundation – Why Elephant Poaching Is On the Rise – “We don’t stand a chance unless we drive down demand”
Don’t let anyone discourage you from social action. Protest, pushing government and organizations to change works but we need to work together, have fun while getting some serious things done. If we don’t do this, these animals can’t save themselves.
The Global March for Elephants and Rhinos October 4th, 2014 has the support of the following NGO’s
ElephantVoices, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Elephants Without Borders, Performing Animal Welfare Society – PAWS, the Jane Goodall Institute, Born Free Foundation, Born Free USA, Animal Defenders International, In Defense of Animals, David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, The Rhino Orphanage, United for Wildlife, IAPF – International Anti Poaching Foundation – www.iapf.org
Mrs Helen Clark, head of United Nations Development Program for your support and inspiration in a call to action for support of the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos!!!!
Hello Vancouver Marchers! Let’s spread the word far and wide about the upcoming Global March for Elephants and Rhinos in Vancouver! Below are PDF’s of a poster and postcards that you can use to email friends, family, vets, local pet stores, SPCA’s , humane societies, schools, MLA’s, MP’s etc…to get the word out. You can also print the pdf’s and post them at cafe’s, libraries, vet offices etc… They should be printed on 11 x 17 paper.
There are also postcard size files available as well. These can be printed double-sided on 8.5 x 11 paper and cut into postcard sizes – easy to carry with you and hand out.
There are 117 marches to date in cities all over the world. Find one near you and add your voice to help elephants and rhinos at this critical time.
As some of you may know I work to raise awareness of the issues facing the world’s remaining Asian and African elephants. I am part of a group based in Vancouver called Elephanatics. We are a conservation group that does educational outreach, action and advocacy in Canada on behalf of elephants.
Condofire 