September 22, 2021
During our Elephant Week, we are supporting the wonderful conservation organization International Elephant Foundation (IEF) which is dedicated to the conservation of African and Asian elephants worldwide. There are multiple projects occurring within this organization that our zoo is a part of! The first is The Mounted Horse Patrol Team (MHPT) in Mount Kenya. We have been supporting this project since 2015. Having a patrol team on horses allows the team to travel faster and further into the park. They are responsible for protecting approximately 54,800 hectares of habitat that is home to around 13,000 elephants. This team has and continues to catch and arrest poachers, remove snares placed by poachers, and provide educational opportunities to students and community members.The second project that we support is one that is focused on sustaining local support for elephant conservation near Ruaha, Tanzania. They focus on supporting the local community and educating them on how to positively coexist with their local wildlife through creating conservation curriculums, creating opportunities for the communities to see their local wildlife in a positive setting, and more!
The last project that we support is enabling human-elephant coexistence through applied research and stakeholder engagement in Botswana. They created “Living with Elephants” workshops and presented them in 4 communities and 8 cattle posts. These workshops teach community members human-elephant coexistence strategies and allows researchers to learn from those members as they report their experiences.
IEF is doing really great work for elephants. That’s why we want to continue to support them! Please donate what you can and every $5 donated earns you a chance to win a painting done by one of our elephant friends here at the zoo!
– Zoo Keeper Hanna KaiserDonate
* Banner photo by Zoo Keeper Kat Kleinschmidt
