Elephants are among the world’s most intelligent, sensitive and social animals, possessing both empathy and family values. They live in close family groups that over the years have been torn apart by an epidemic of poaching across Africa that is fuelled by a growing demand for ivory. Tens of thousands of African elephants continue to be killed each year for their tusks.
Save the Elephants (STE), founded by renowned elephant expert Dr. Iain Douglas‐Hamilton more than 25 years ago, serves as a long‐term protector of elephants and as their voice and advocate on an international stage. Since the poaching crisis took hold, STE has led the charge to save Africa’s elephants both in Kenya—where their headquarters are based—and across the world.
STE conducts research into the ecology and behavior of wild elephants, providing deep insights into the challenges they face and forging science-based solutions for a harmonious future between elephants and humans. The organization’s research closely follows the wild elephants in STE’s northern Kenya study area in intimate detail, and through tracking elephants in various sites across Africa provides crucial details on the land elephants need in order to thrive. Save the Elephants is working for peaceful coexistence between humans and elephants and provides outreach around the world to help secure a better future for elephants.
Elephant Crisis Fund
Save the Elephants partnered with WCN to launch the Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The elephant poaching crisis is now too large for any one organization or government to solve and requires a coalition that can tackle poaching, ivory trafficking, and ivory demand. The role of the ECF is to quickly fund the most innovative and effective projects in these three areas across the coalition. The Elephant Crisis Fund identifies and supports the most critical initiatives that can save elephants.
Our research which records the births and deaths of Samburu's elephants is a particularly sensitive barometer and alerted the world to what is happening with poaching. We reached a tipping point in 2009 where deaths outnumbered births.Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton
Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton’s groundbreaking study of elephant behavior in Tanzania in the 1960’s paved the way for elephant research and conservation today. Intrigued by their intelligence, protection became Iain’s passion. In chronicling the sharp decline of elephant populations in the 1980’s, he was the first to alert the world to the poaching crisis and helped bring about the world ivory trade ban.
Iain is respected as one of the world’s principal authorities on the African elephant. He and his wife Oria have co-authored two award-winning books, Among the Elephants and Battle for the Elephants, and have made numerous films to make the world aware of elephants’ intelligence. Iain himself is an award winner, having received the Indianapolis Prize, one of conservation’s highest lifetime honors, the Order of the Golden Ark conservation award from the Netherlands, and the Commander of the British Empire.
Save the Elephants closely studies elephants in order to understand their complex behavior and protect them, and keeps a continuous watch on the status of elephant populations Africa-wide. Information about elephant behavior is used in education and conservation messaging and to guide infrastructure development to incorporate wildlife needs and continued connectivity across Africa. STE pioneered GPS tracking collars of elephants and facilitates the tracking of elephants in protected areas across the continent. This information is used to guide efficient patrolling as well as to define key habitats and corridors.
The Elephant Crisis Fund, co-founded by STE and WCN, is designed to fuel the alliance of organizations across the continent and the world working to end the crisis caused by the ivory trade. At home, Save the Elephants works closely with Kenya Wildlife Service and other conservation organizations, partners and communities to protect elephants in Samburu, STE’s core northern Kenya area of operations. They work with government and partners to maintain Kenya’s extensive database of elephant mortality that measures success in protecting elephants. Increasingly STE’s protection efforts are focused on defining connectivity that must be defended for the long-term survival of elephants.
Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton and his team have become a voice for elephants internationally. Douglas-Hamilton has personally testified in front of the US Congress about poaching. Save the Elephants worked to reduce demand for ivory in China and helped bring about the recent ban by working with WildAid to create outreach campaigns with high-profile Chinese stars such as basketball player Yao Ming and actress Li Bingbing, as well as through investments made through the Elephant Crisis Fund. STE is also a key contributor to international conferences that determine global policy on the ivory trade and poaching.
$1,000 can keep one of STE’s bush planes in the air for nearly 3 hours conducting aerial patrols to check up on collared elephants and responding to alerts generated by STE’s elephant tracking system.
$3,000 will purchase an elephant monitoring collar, allowing STE to remotely monitor and protect individual elephants across Kenya.
A donation of any amount can build the capacity of STE’s Mobile Education Unit, which cultivates positive attitudes and behaviors amongst students toward wildlife.
