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Time of India
a day ago
- Science
- Time of India
World Elephant Day 2025: Date, theme, history, significance and all you need to know
Representative Image(Source: Canva) Every year on August 12, people around the world stop for a moment to think about elephants. World Elephant Day is not just another date on the calendar, it's a global call to protect one of the most extraordinary animals we share the planet with. The day began in 2012. Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims, along with Thailand's Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, launched it after the release of Return to the Forest, a short film narrated by William Shatner. The film followed the reintroduction of captive Asian elephants back into the wild. From that spark, over 100 conservation groups and countless individuals joined in. Now, the movement spans continents. The three living species of elephants Representative Image(Source: Canva) There are only three living species of elephants : African savanna (bush) elephant ( Loxodonta africana ): The largest land animal alive today, found across sub-Saharan Africa. African forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis ): Smaller, quieter, living deep in the forests of West and Central Africa. Critically endangered. Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ): Ranges across South and Southeast Asia. Endangered. Includes subspecies like the Indian, Sri Lankan, and Sumatran elephants. African elephants have larger ears shaped like the African continent. Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears. Not all Asian elephants have tusks; in some, only males do. Forest elephants have straighter tusks and more rounded ears than their savanna cousins. Why elephants matter to ecosystems Representative Image(Source: Canva) Elephants are more than just big. They are keystone species —take them away, and entire ecosystems change. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo They knock down trees, clear paths, and dig water holes. Other animals follow. Seeds travel in elephant dung, sprouting into new forests and grasslands. The open spaces they create become homes for birds, insects, and smaller mammals. In many countries, elephants are sacred symbols. In others, they drive tourism, which funds conservation. The threats they face Poaching remains the biggest killer. The illegal ivory trade continues despite bans. In Africa, tens of thousands of elephants are lost each year to criminal networks. Demand for ivory still exists, especially in parts of Asia. Even with China's ban and the closure of 172 ivory-processing factories, the trade persists through neighboring countries. There is also trophy hunting. In Tanzania, elephants known as 'super-tuskers' have been targeted. These bulls carry enormous tusks and vital genetic traits. Conservationists argue they are worth far more alive, socially, genetically, and economically, than as a hunting prize. Habitat loss adds another blow. Expanding farms, roads, and settlements shrink elephant ranges, bringing them into conflict with people. Why does World Elephant Day matter? This day is about more than awareness. It is about shifting behavior, supporting anti-poaching work, choosing ethical tourism, and protecting the habitats elephants depend on. The 2025 theme, 'Matriarchs & Memories,' focuses on the leadership of elephant matriarchs and the women working to protect these animals. Elephants remember. They shape the land. They carry seeds and stories through generations. World Elephant Day is about making sure those stories do not end.
NDTV
a day ago
- General
- NDTV
World Elephant Day 2025: Date, History, Significance And All You Need To Know
World Elephant Day 2025: The World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12 to celebrate one of the most intelligent animals, capable of demonstrating human traits like empathy, self-awareness and social intelligence. The day is intended to remind humanity to protect the gentle giants, their shrinking habitats, and their populations. History Of World Elephant Day The first World Elephant Day was observed on August 12, 2012, to highlight the plight of Asian and African elephants. Poaching, habitat loss, conflict with humans and being mistreated in captivity are just some of the threats to African and Asian elephants. Thailand-based Elephant Reintroduction Foundation teamed up with Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims to launch the day. Ever since then, Ms Sims has been leading World Elephant Day, which has turned into a movement. "World Elephant Day is a rallying call for people to support organisations that are working to stop the illegal poaching and trade of elephant ivory and other wildlife products, protect wild elephant habitat, and provide sanctuaries and alternative habitats for domestic elephants to live freely," said Ms Sims. Significance Of World Elephant Day Working towards better protection for wild elephants and improving enforcement policies is one of the main reasons to observe World Elephant Day every year. Organisations and individuals working for elephant welfare can come together and speak about the issues threatening elephants. As per the official World Elephant Day website, the day is aimed at people to express their concern, share their knowledge and "support solutions for the better care of captive and wild elephants alike". "The elephant is loved, revered and respected by people and cultures around the world, yet we balance on the brink of seeing the last of this magnificent creature." Elephant population in India India accounts for 60 per cent of the global wild elephant population, with 33 Elephant Reserves and 150 identified Elephant Corridors as per the 2023 Report on Elephant Corridors in India. Elephants are accorded the status of National Heritage Animal and are deeply embedded in the country's traditions and culture.
The Sun
2 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Remembering our gentle giants
IT happened just after dawn. On May 11, as the mist hung low over the East–West Highway in Gerik, a five-year-old elephant calf stepped out from the forest beside his mother. To him, the road was not a threat; it was simply another clearing between trees, a quiet path between safety and river, between yesterday and tomorrow. But he never made it to tomorrow. Moments later, the calf – still innocent in his gait, tethered to his mother's shadow – was struck by a 10-tonne lorry. The massive truck crushed his small body. Shrouded in the dim dawn, he had emerged at the only crossing he knew. He did not survive. But it was what happened next that left the nation weeping – a tragedy that pierced the hearts of Malaysians. His mother, wholly undone by grief, refused to abandon her child. She stood vigil beside the wreckage, her trunk curling around the lorry's chassis. She screamed an anguished, guttural cry no one who heard it will ever forget. For over five hours, she remained – nudging him, mourning him and loving him. In that moment, the image of her maternal agony shattered whatever barriers may have existed between our species and theirs. The grief was universal and the love unmistakable. It was also, tragically, not the first time. The day the world listens World Elephant Day, observed every Aug 12, was not founded as a celebration but as a warning. It emerged in 2012 from a global realisation that without an urgent, coordinated action, we will lose one of Earth's most intelligent and emotionally complex creatures. Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims, in partnership with Thailand's Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, launched the day to draw the world's gaze towards the plight of African and Asian elephants, whose populations have been devastated by habitat loss, poaching, human conflict and neglect. Since then, World Elephant Day has become a rallying point for governments, conservationists, educators and ordinary citizens – uniting them in efforts to raise awareness, foster empathy and inspire tangible solutions to ensure these gentle giants not only survive but thrive. However, in Malaysia, the call is far more urgent. It is no longer simply about awareness; it is also about reckoning. We are not merely witnesses to the elephants' decline; we are complicit in it. With every road we carve through their habitat, every forest we clear in the name of progress and every silence we keep in the face of their suffering, we edge closer to a world without them. That is not a world we should accept. When elephants fall Since 2020, at least eight elephants have been killed on Malaysian roads. In just the first six months of this year alone, three more have fallen, each one a tragic emblem of our fractured landscapes and the forests we continue to erase. Highways, like the Gerik-Jeli stretch, now slice through what were once ancient migratory paths, passed down through generations of matriarchs, routes as old as the forest itself. What were once safe, silent trails for mothers and calves have become battlegrounds of survival. The jungle no longer shelters and the roads are unforgiving. Our elephants, the gentle architects of the wild, are being driven to the brink. Their homes are shrinking, their ancient corridors erased and their young are left broken beneath tyres and steel. Every time one dies, a mother mourns, a herd slows and a memory is scorched into the soil because elephants do not forget and neither should we. We often speak of elephants in hushed reverence, and rightfully so. They are among the most intelligent creatures on earth, capable of abstract thought, empathy, tool use and grief. They mourn their dead, they recognise themselves in mirrors, they console distressed family members and never ever forget cruelty or kindness. Their hearts beat with compassion and their minds map memories that span landscapes and lifetimes. When a calf dies, a herd grieves. When a matriarch falls, generations lose a teacher. To watch an elephant mourn is to witness a soul in sorrow. More than just majestic Elephants are not just sentient beings; they are keystone species. Without them, forests wither. Their migration patterns aerate soil, propagate seeds and shape entire ecosystems. Their dung nourishes beetles, fungi and flora. Their trunks clear paths through thickets, allowing light to reach the forest floor and new life to bloom. Remove elephants from the equation and the forest begins to falter. Biodiversity diminishes, rivers lose their rhythm and the delicate balance of nature starts to unravel. Their extinction would not merely be a loss of majesty; it would be a collapse of function, systems and life as we know it. We are not without hope but hope must be made a policy. In the wake of the Gerik tragedy, voices rose, civil society demanded action and conservationists called for wildlife crossings, overpasses and underpasses. Experts urged the implementation of speed limits and sensor-triggered signage in high-risk zones. There are efforts underway by NGOs, wildlife departments and international partners but they are not enough unless every highway, plantation, township and policymaker commit to coexistence. The mother in Gerik stood her ground for her son. Will we stand ours? Final plea As we mark World Elephant Day today, let us do more than share pictures or quote statistics. Let us remember that somewhere, deep within the Belum-Temengor rainforest, a mother elephant still roams, her calf buried in her memory. Let us recall that elephants are not icons; they are individuals – beings of thought, sorrow and joy. Let us finally understand that every time we lose an elephant, we lose a part of ourselves – our compassion, ecology and heritage. The next time a calf steps onto a road, let him not meet a lorry but a bridge built by empathy. Comments: letters@
