On this day in vegan history · August 12, 2012
World Elephant Day Puts One Date on the Calendar for Elephants
A Canadian filmmaker and a Thai reintroduction foundation picked a single day to make the world look at poaching, ivory, and captivity all at once, and more than a hundred wildlife groups have shown up every year since.
The facts
- Launched
- August 12, 2012
- Founders
- Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation
- Debut film
- "Return to the Forest," narrated by William Shatner, premiered on the inaugural day
- Reach today
- Recognized by over 100 wildlife organizations worldwide
On August 12, 2012, filmmaker Patricia Sims and Thailand's Elephant Reintroduction Foundation launched World Elephant Day, an annual event dedicated to elephant preservation and protection. The inaugural day coincided with the premiere of "Return to the Forest," a documentary about reintroducing captive Asian elephants to the wild, narrated by William Shatner. The idea was simple: give the scattered fights over poaching, the ivory trade, habitat loss, and the treatment of captive elephants one shared date, instead of letting each cause compete for attention on its own. Sims has continued to lead the day since its founding, and it has grown well past a single country's campaign.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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The goal of World Elephant Day is to create awareness of the urgent plight of African and Asian elephants, and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better care and management of captive and wild elephants.
World Elephant Day, as described on its Wikipedia entry
Source: Wikipedia -
Elephants cannot be manufactured. Once they're gone, they cannot be replaced.
Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, quoted on the World Elephant Day website
Source: World Elephant Day
Why it still matters
A day doesn't stop a poacher, but it gives every group fighting for elephants, from anti-ivory campaigns to reintroduction projects, one calendar date to pool attention around, and it has stuck for over a decade rather than fading after year one.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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