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Elephanatics May 2025 Newsletter

Published on May 2, 2025 by elephanatic

A Gentle Rumble from Elephanatics

Greetings Elephant Enthusiasts!

In Vancouver, the days are getting longer, bursting with spring green, and across the globe magnificent elephants continue their ancient journeys. Elephanatics works hard to encourage education about these amazing creatures within schools, the community, and online. We believe that understanding these incredible creatures is the first step towards protecting them. Join us as we explore the fascinating world of elephants!

This Month’s Focus: The Power of Memory

Elephants are renowned for their incredible memories, and it’s more than just folklore! Their complex social structures and survival depend heavily on their ability to remember vital information.

Watering Holes and Migration Routes: Elephants can recall the locations of distant watering holes and traditional migration paths, knowledge passed down through generations. This is crucial for navigating vast landscapes and surviving in challenging environments.
Social Bonds: They recognize family members and other individuals within their social groups, even after long separations. This memory underpins their intricate social lives and cooperative behaviours.
Threat Recognition: Elephants can remember specific threats, such as the scent or appearance of predators or past encounters with humans, allowing them to react appropriately and protect themselves and their young.
Learning and Adaptation: Young elephants learn essential survival skills by observing and remembering the actions of their elders, highlighting the importance of matriarchal knowledge.

Did You Know? Studies have shown that elephants can even differentiate between the voices and scents of different human groups, potentially remembering those who pose a threat versus those who are harmless.

Conservation Corner: Understanding Habitat Loss

One of the biggest threats facing elephants today is the loss and fragmentation of their natural habitats. This month, we want to shed light on why this is so critical:

Shrinking Spaces: As human populations grow and land is converted for agriculture, infrastructure, and development, the areas available for elephants to roam freely are shrinking.
Increased Conflict: Habitat loss often leads to increased encounters between elephants and humans, resulting in conflict over resources and safety for both.
Disrupted Migration: When traditional migration routes are blocked, elephants can be cut off from vital resources like water and food, impacting their survival.
Ecosystem Impact: The loss of elephant habitat also has a ripple effect on entire ecosystems, as elephants play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity. They are a keystone species.

Upcoming Events:

Our African Elephant Specialist, Dr Rene Beyers, will be giving an online presentation May 23, with Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants, VP of Education, Jesse Hildebrand. Don’t miss this exciting educational broadcast on Rewilding and its global importance in saving wildlife and ecosystems!

Wildlife Conservation Conferences / Symposiums coming up in May and July:

Canadian Environmental Crime Symposium (CECRN) (May 8^th and 9^th – 9am-5:30EDT) Launch of the first CECRN. Presented online or in person. Topics include transnational environmental crime, organized crime and environmental crime convergences, poaching, trafficking, crime journalism and more. Registration is free. https://lnkd.in/ere2pB2S
Global Conference on Environmental and Biological Science (GCEBS) (May 16-18, 2025): Taking place in Vancouver, Canada. This conference covers a broad range of topics, including conservation biology and biodiversity conservation. To be held at The University of British Columbia, located at 800 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 3B7, Canada, in Room C215.
Annual International Conference of the Wildlife Disease Association (July 27 – August 1, 2025): This conference focuses on wildlife health and its connection to conservation. Held at 720 Douglas St, Victoria BC, V8W 3M7, Canada.

What Can You Do? Supporting organizations like Elephanatics helps fund initiatives that work to protect and restore elephant habitats through anti-poaching efforts, community engagement, and advocating for conservation policies such as rewilding.

Get Involved!

Share the Knowledge: Help us spread awareness by sharing this newsletter and facts about elephants with your friends and family.
Follow Us on Social Media: Stay up-to-date with our latest news, photos, and educational content on Facebook / Instagram / Threads / X and our website elephanatics.org
Join our community of dedicated elephant advocates! We need volunteers of all kinds! Contact us @ elephanatics.org/volunteer
Consider a Donation: Your contribution, no matter the size, directly supports our educational programs and conservation efforts. Visit elephanatics.org/donate
OR donate to the Fran Duthie African Elephant Scholarship. The goal of this scholarship is to provide financial support to Kenyan nationals acquiring a technical certificate, undergraduate or postgraduate (Masters or PhD) degree in an area related to conservation and the protection of wildlife. Donations go to maraelephantproject.org/donate

Thank you for continuing to be a vital part of Elephanatics community. Together, we can ensure a future where elephants thrive.

Until next time, enjoy the longer days and sunshine!

The Team at Elephanatics
elephanaticsinfo@gmail.com

Elephanatics Foundation - Free elephant conservation lesson plans, toolkits for teachers, and persuasive essay resources.

A Triumphant Recognition! A huge Congratulations!

Published on April 7, 2025April 7, 2025 by elephanatic

It is with great pride and excitement to announce that Dr. Jake Wall, co-founder of Elephanatics and EarthRanger, has been awarded the Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographic Society Prize for 2025 – an honour recognizing outstanding individual achievement in the pursuit and application of geographical research, with a particular emphasis on wildlife conservation and environmental research studies.

“Dr Wall has been at the forefront of leveraging technology to create freely available geospatial tools for the benefit of wildlife conservation in Africa and beyond for the last 20 years. Jake’s dedication and passion for wildlife is matched only by his tireless efforts to provide conservationists with the tools and methods they need to better protect the natural world.His approach has been methodical and detailed focusing on the benefits, not only to the natural landscape, but the communities that live along side these majestic animals.

As Director of Research and Conservation for the Mara Elephant Project (MEP), Jake established a long-term elephant monitoring programme and developed an application to easily map landscapes, especially fences, which have become a major threat to wildlife movements in the Mara ecosystem. Prior to working with MEP, Jake worked as the Geospatial Scientific Advisor to Save the Elephants for 15 years where he developed a real-time tracking system to visualise GPS data from collared African elephants across the continent. Algorithms scanned the data and, among other things, sent alerts when elephants had moved unusually fast, suggesting panic, or had stopped moving which might indicate a poaching event. In partnership with Save the Elephants and the Allen Institute for AI, this system was expanded into EarthRanger, now used by over 600 sites across 74 countries and growing rapidly.

To complement EarthRanger, Jake is now leading the development of Ecoscope, which provides users with access to ready-made analytics from sources of publicly available remote sensing data. It allows researchers and conservationists to easily engage with the data and generate meaningful outputs, thereby turning conservation data into information to improve decision making, insight and the protection of ecosystems.”

Congratulations Jake! You are very deserving of such a prestigious acknowledgement. Team Elephanatics is extremely proud of all your hard work and devotion to protecting the greatest animal ever created!

The elephants trumpet! 🐘

EarthRanger EcoScope

Happy News for the First Month of 2025!

Published on January 20, 2025January 20, 2025 by elephanatic

Elephanatics is very pleased to share the most recent updates from the four recipients of the Fran Duthie Scholarship administered by our partner organization, Mara Elephant Project, in Kenya.

Learn about the exciting work these students are undertaking in conservation related fields. By securing an education for the next generation in wildlife conservation, we are helping to secure a healthy future for our planet as well. We wish them continued success with their programs!

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can support the scholarship fund in 2025, please email us or make a donation today.

#maraelephantproject

An Update from the Four Recipients of the Fran Duthie Scholarship

COP16 CBD – Additional Protocol to UNTOC – Illegal Wildlife Trade – Canada

Published on September 20, 2024January 6, 2026 by elephanatic

Dear Subscriber,

The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is taking place in Cali in Columbia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024. Canada’s Kunming-Montreal Declaration aims to set ambitious goals to halt the loss of biodiversity, promote sustainable development, and enhance global environment efforts by 2030. Elephanatics has written letters and sent emails to the Ministers of Environment and Climate Change and MP’s across Canada asking that they support the merits of a global agreement in the form of an additional protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime (UNTOC) to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle illegal wildlife trade. Because the illegal wildlife trade is so interconnected with biodiversity loss, a global agreement is the next logical step to take.

We hope you consider writing your MP to support our ask. Find a pre-written letter here (featured Item)
Find your MP here

See our communication below:

……………………..

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P.,
Minister of Environment and Climate Change,
House of Commons, Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
via email: Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca

cc:
Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca
Hon. Arif Virani, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada arif.virani@parl.gc.ca

September 18, 2024

Dear Minister Guilbeault,

Please see attached letter sent to you March 7, 2024, in reference to strengthening the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade by considering the merits of a global agreement in the form of an additional protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime (UNTOC). Despite the scale and impact of IWT – one of the largest illegal markets in the world – a global agreement covering this topic still does not exist.

The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is taking place in Cali in Columbia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024. Canada’s Kunming-Montreal Declaration aims to set ambitious goals to halt the loss of biodiversity, promote sustainable development, and enhance global environment efforts by 2030. Because the illegal wildlife trade is a direct threat to biodiversity the inclusion of a new protocol under UNTOC in the form of a global agreement needs to be considered seriously as part of the Kunming-Montreal framework to curb biodiversity loss. A protocol under UNTOC would show a strong commitment in working with partners to help curb the illegal wildlife trade and would also help bring other countries up to Canadian standards for wildlife trade.

The Biodiversity Plan states – https://www.cbd.int/gbf/targets/4

TARGET 4: Halt Species Extinction, Protect Genetic Diversity, and Manage Human-Wildlife Conflicts

“Ensure urgent management actions to halt human induced extinction of known threatened species and for the recovery and conservation of species, in particular threatened species, to significantly reduce extinction risk, as well as to maintain and restore the genetic diversity within and between populations of native, wild and domesticated species to maintain their adaptive potential, including through in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable management practices, and effectively manage human-wildlife interactions to minimize human-wildlife conflict for coexistence.”

Actions to reach Target 4 should take into account all of the considerations for implementation identified in section C of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

https://www.cbd.int/gbf/introduction

Cooperation and synergies

(q) “Enhanced collaboration, cooperation and synergies between the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, other biodiversity-related conventions, other relevant multilateral agreements and international organizations and processes, in line with their respective mandates, including at the global, regional, subregional and national levels, would contribute to and promote the implementation of the Framework in a more efficient and effective manner;”

The illegal wildlife trade imperils biodiversity, contributes to climate change, creates economic instability in communities and is responsible for global pandemics. The way forward is to unify and collaborate with similar organizations and partners to thwart biodiversity loss.

Once again, we ask that you consider a new protocol under the UNTOC in the form of a global agreement to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Fran Duthie

Fellow in The Royal Canadian Geographic Society

President / Co-Founder Elephanatics

https://linktr.ee/elephanatics

………………………………………

Letter to Minister Guilbeault – March 7, 2024

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P.,
Minister of Environment and Climate Change,
House of Commons, Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
via email: Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca

cc:
Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca
Hon. Arif Virani, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada arif.virani@parl.gc.ca

March 7, 2024

Dear Minister Guibeault,

A coalition of organizations co-signed a letter written by the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, addressing the need to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), and was sent to you on 7 September 2023, asking for ways to better understand Canada’s views on how best to tackle wildlife trafficking at the international level. I am following up and have added more points to the initial letter sent by Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime and coalition to further support our request.

Despite the scale and impact of IWT – one of the largest illegal markets in the world – a global agreement covering this topic still does not exist. We are writing to ask you to support this initiative by considering the merits of a global agreement, taking the form of an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). As stated in the letter:

“The size and scale of wildlife trafficking is truly a global challenge and one that demands urgent action. The value of illegal trade has been estimated at between $7 and $23 billion per year.” A report by FINTRAC acknowledges, “illegal wildlife trade not only affects Canada, but poses a serious threat internationally”. Canada has signaled that this is a priority issue to address, both at home and abroad, and we were pleased to see that the mandate letter released by the Prime Minister on 16 December 2021, included a commitment for Canada to “work with partners to curb illegal wildlife trade”.

In the same mandate letter, the Canadian Government mandated an end to the elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn trade in Canada. We were very pleased to see these regulations enacted 20 November 2023. It is now time to deliver on the third item in this part of the mandate letter : new actions to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

Additionally, in December 2023, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released an updated report containing the views of 73 States and the European Union on the potential of an additional Protocol to the UNTOC covering wildlife trafficking. UNODC did not produce an analysis of the report, but the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime – at the request of Angola – did and concluded that around 78% of the responding States are either in favour of a Protocol or open to discussing it: PRESS-RELEASE-07-DEC-UN-report-shows-clear-majority-of-States-now-favour-a-new-global-agreement-against-wildlife-trafficking-.pdf (endwildlifecrime.org)

February marked the 10th anniversary of a declaration signed by Canada and 41 other countries at the first London conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, 2014, to implement actions to:

(1) improve law enforcement,
(2) improve legal frameworks against IWT
(3) reduce demand for illegal wildlife and
(4) support alternative livelihoods.

https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/news/sundry/2014/london-wildlife-conference-declaration-140213.pdf

Beyond Canada’s commitment of a $2 million donation in emergency funding to combat illegal wildlife trade activities in East and Central Africa, and the recent ban of elephant ivory and rhino horn along with the import of hunting trophies containing these parts, have there been further measures Canada has put into place to support the declaration signed at the London Conference?

https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/london-declarations-role-fight-against-wildlife-trade

Canada is putting together its action plan for the Global Biodiversity Framework to show action on Kunming-Montréal convention prior to CoP 16 in the fall. Because the illegal wildlife trade is a direct threat to biodiversity the inclusion of a new protocol under UNTOC would be proactive to add to its strategy on how best to curb biodiversity loss.

A protocol under UNTOC would also help bring other countries up to Canadian standards for wildlife trade.

As Minister of Environment and Climate Change, you have an important role to play in the future of our planet and the wildlife that we are intrinsically tied to for our own survival. The illegal wildlife trade undermines governance, corrupts and weakens security within a country as well as threatens its economies and biodiversity. It is imperative we end wildlife trafficking to cease the destruction of global biodiversity, help mitigate climate change, avoid future pandemics, and protect communities and economies that are reliant on the use of sustainable natural resources.

Supporting a global agreement in the form of an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) would show a strong commitment in working with partners to help curb the illegal wildlife trade.Thank you for your attention to this request.

Yours sincerely,

Fran Duthie
President, Elephanatics

Elephanatics Newsletter – August

Published on August 7, 2024 by elephanatic

Greetings fellow elephant lovers! We hope you are enjoying summer and finding time to get outside and explore the many wonders of nature. We have some good news for elephants this report and many ways you can participate to join us in helping them. Thank you for continuing to support elephants!

Celebrating the 13th Annual World Elephant Day |August 12th, 2024

Photo cr. Patricia Sims

Join us in celebrating the 13th annual World Elephant Day (WED), founded by Canadian conservationist and filmmaker, Patricia Sims. WED is globally recognized for elephant conservation organizations to bring awareness to their conservation programs that protect elephants and their habitats – a very important day to fundraise to support respective elephant conservation initiatives.

This year Elephanatics and long-term partners, Mara Elephant Project and World Elephant Day, are joining forces to make WED a mutually beneficial and positive collaboration for elephants. Patricia Sims will be visiting MEP, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Reteti Elephant Sanctuary and Save the Elephants to learn first-hand issues facing elephants and how to collaborate to ensure their long-term survival.

Patricia’s trip will help to further develop the relationships WED has with these organizations and continue to build upon the growing importance of the annual World Elephant Day campaign to bring global attention to the critical issues that threaten the future survival of elephants by educating the public about the solutions that these organizations are undertaking to help mitigate these threats – and how people can help.

Stay tuned for more information on Patricia’s planned activities in Kenya by following World Elephant Day here.

Meet the New Class of Fran Duthie Scholarship Participants 2024

Inaugurated in 2022, the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship has supported Janeth Jepkemboi, the inaugural recipient, who is now completing her MSC in Environmental Studies. This year four more eager students are recipients of the award helping to ensure that Kenyan youth are leading conservation efforts in their country. Read more about the recipients and join us in celebrating World Elephant Day by donating to the Fran Duthie Scholarship here.

Elephanatics Continues Its Advocacy Efforts

The recent killing of five big tuskers along the Kenyan Tanzanian border, breaking a 30-year moratorium, has roused global concern. With as few as 50 big tuskers alive in Africa these elephants are critically important for stability in elephant societies, their habitats, and ecosystems. Elephanatics has sent a letter to Minister Stephen Guilbeault asking to use Canada’s international influence, and powers of collaboration to protect these few remaining tuskers. Read letter here.

A coalition of organizations co-signed a letter written by the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, September 2023, addressing the need to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). Elephanatics has since written letters to Members of Parliament across Canada and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Stephen Guilbeault, to follow up on our ask and to encourage MPs to speak with Minister Guilbeault and other members of Parliament to address this issue as a matter of urgency. A global agreement taking the form of an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) is urgently required to provide an international legal framework that will address the multi-billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade. Read letter here.

NEW EDUCATION RESOURCE!
Bring a Wildlife Ranger or Researcher into Your Classroom

Elephanatics and Mara Elephant Project are offering educators a unique opportunity to invite via Zoom a Mara Elephant Project ranger or researcher into your classroom. Students will have the chance to interact with a Kenyan conservationist and learn more about the work they are doing to protect elephants and their habitats in the Greater Mara Ecosystem. This is a completely free opportunity to global educators – Book your session here.

Letter to Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault: Hunting of Amboseli Big Tuskers Tanzania/Kenya

Published on July 12, 2024 by elephanatic

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P.,
Minister of Environment and Climate Change,
House of Commons, Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
via email: Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca

cc:

Hon. Mary NG, P.C., M.P., Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development – mary.ng@parl.gc.ca
Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs – melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca
Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C. M.P., Minister of Energy and natural Resources – jonathan.wilkinson@parl.gc.ca
Christopher Thornley, High Commissioner for Canada to the Republic of Kenya – nairobi@international.gc.ca

July 12th, 2024

Dear Minister Guilbeault,

Elephanatics, a Vancouver based elephant advocacy organization and co-leader of the Ivory-Free-Canada campaign, thanks you and your team, again, for implementing regulations to end the trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn in Canada.

As you know, elephants are a highly endangered keystone species that are not only emotionally intelligent but central to maintaining vibrant local biodiversity and ecosystems. While the Canadian ivory ban is essential to their protection, the threats facing elephants are multiple and, unfortunately, ongoing.

Recently, a thirty-year moratorium protecting elephants along the Kenyan and Tanzanian border has ended with the killing of 5 large male tuskers. Elephants along this border travel historic migratory routes which are now endangering them.

These elephants, also known as “Super Tuskers”, are male elephants with at least one tusk weighing 100 pounds (45kg). It is believed that there are as few as 50 left in Africa. They are critically important for stability in elephant societies and their habitats and ecosystems.

Dr Joyce Poole, co-founder and Scientific Director of ElephantVoices, says, “Fifty years of research on Amboseli’s known individuals has shown that males between 35 and 55 years of age are the primary breeders. Hunters who claim that older males are “dead wood” are just plain ignorant of the science. Males who are given the chance to live to an old age produce a disproportionate number of offspring, passing their genes to the next generation. By killing large tusked males hunters are damaging elephant society, negatively impacting Amboseli’s rare gene pool for large tusks and taking a toll on its future tourism potential.”

Canada has played a leading role in the protection of wildlife and biodiversity and at COP15 participants agreed to the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, a historic global framework to safeguard nature and halt and reverse biodiversity loss, putting nature on a path to recovery by 2050.

COP15 focused on protecting nature and halting biodiversity loss around the world. The Government of Canada’s priority was to ensure the COP15 was a success for nature.

We are asking that Canada use its international influence, powers of collaboration and voice to advocate for the following:

Review and amend current wildlife hunting regulations to protect critically important elephants by restricting hunts in areas where these tusker elephants roam.
Implement a formal buffer zone near the Kenya- Tanzania border safeguarding the transboundary elephant population, recognizing their significant ecological economic and symbolic value.
Enhance conservation efforts and promote ecotourism as sustainable alternatives that can support community development without sacrificing invaluable wildlife.

Elephant Voices, Big Life Foundation and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, released a statement appealing for “an end to elephant trophy hunting in the Enduimet Area of Tanzania”. We add our voice to the growing alarm over the hunting of these few remaining tuskers.

As we enter another summer of record breaking heat , storms, and wildfires, the global commitment to preserving our planet’s magnificent and indispensable ecosystems is more urgent than ever.

As elephants are a highly endangered species, we ask that you act with urgency to address this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Fran Duthie
President Elephanatics

Meet the New Class of Fran Duthie Scholarship Recipients 2024!

Published on May 24, 2024October 4, 2025 by elephanatic

cr. Larry Lavery photo

📣 Congratulations 📣 to the four new recipients chosen for the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship! 🎓

If you wish to support the next generation of wildlife conservationists in Kenya visit the Mara Elephant Project donate page and leave a note that it is for the scholarship.

Our future lies in their hands!

………………………………

The Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship overseen by Mara Elephant Project launched in 2022 provides financial assistance to Kenyans pursuing conservation or related fields through a technical certificate, undergraduate or postgraduate degree. The inaugural recipient Janeth Jepkemboi is completing her MSc in Environmental Studies after spending time at MEP HQ in the first quarter, and now a new group of students is eager to follow her lead as the next recipients of the scholarship. After a thorough selection process, we are pleased to introduce the four new students receiving the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship.

https://buff.ly/3UULV8s

Elephanatics December Newsletter

Published on December 1, 2023 by elephanatic

Dreams can come true!

Good News to Celebrate this Holiday Season!

On November 20^{th , 2023}the Canadian Government passed the ban on domestic trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn, as well as the import of hunting trophies containing these parts. The landmark measures fulfill a 2021 Ministerial mandate and are a critical step in protecting these iconic species. Canada now joins the UK, France, China, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Belgium, Luxembourg, the EU, and nearly every state in the United States who has closed or has severe restrictions on their ivory markets.

Elephanatics created the Ivory-Free Canada campaign then joined by Humane Society International Canada, Rhino and Elephant Defenders, World Elephant Day and the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, to form the Ivory Free Canada coalition. Together, we were relentless in our mission to get this ban passed!

Fran Duthie, Elephanatics founder and President says “The team at Elephanatics is thrilled that regulations to ban the elephant ivory and rhino horn trade, along with the import of trophy hunts and their parts, are to be enacted by the Canadian Government. We would like to thank all our supporters, our coalition partners, conservationists, scientists, politicians, volunteers, journalists, and people who worked tirelessly to make this happen. From the petition created by the Ivory Free Canada coalition that reached over 700,000 signatures, showing overwhelming support to save elephants and rhinos, to endless advocacy, to the collaboration of like minds working together to save a species, our mission has come to fruition. It is a time to be grateful and to celebrate this grand achievement. We did it!” Read more here.

This holiday season, please consider making a donation to the Fran Duthie African Elephant scholarship, distributed by Mara Elephant Project, to create more opportunities for Kenyan students pursuing a career in conservation. To learn more, click here. To donate, click here.

The #HolidaysAreComing! Get your 20% discount on ALL our merchandise until Dec 25^th. Whether it’s for the holiday season or another celebration, we have a gift for you. Your purchase goes towards the conservation of saving elephants and wildlife in Africa.

Thanks again for your support. Together we have made a vital difference for elephants and rhinos and together we can continue to ensure that they have a bright future ahead.

Wishing you and yours all the very best for a happy, healthy, prosperous, holiday season and New Year ahead.

The Elephanatics Team

BREAKING NEWS: Canada enacts historic ban on elephant ivory and rhino horn trade

Published on November 20, 2023May 24, 2025 by elephanatic

Elephanatics is Ecstatic to Announce:

After 8 long years of advocating for a ban on elephant ivory and rhino horn in Canada, regulations have been enacted by the Canadian Government to ban the elephant ivory and rhino horn trade, along with the import of hunting trophies containing these parts. We couldn’t be happier to deliver this news to all our followers and supporters who have been our backbone and inspiration to carry on and get this job done! It took a lot of courage, but – We did it!

Firstly – A HUGE shout out to us – ‘Team Elephanatics’ – who created the #IvoryFreeCanada campaign and were joined by Humane Society International Canada, Rhino and Elephant Defenders, World Elephant Day and the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, to form the Ivory Free Canada coalition. Together, we have been relentless in our mission to get this ban passed!

And secondly, an even bigger thanks to all the scientists, NGOs, politicians, the Ivory Free Canada coalition, volunteers, friends, family, educators, journalists, and people who worked tirelessly to make this happen. From the petition, started by the Ivory Free Canada coalition, that reached over 700,000 signatures that showed overwhelming support by citizens to save elephants and rhinos; to endless advocacy; to the collaboration of like minds working together to save a species, the end result has been a success. It took a village and a community dedicated to the cause of making the world a better place for elephants to get this done and we should all be stupendously proud of our efforts!

Who would have ever guessed that a small group of committed and disciplined people, who advocated for the betterment of elephants, could evoke such integrity and inspiration from like-minded partners, and see their dream come to fruition. We are humbled and grateful.

With deepest respect, thanks, and love, to everyone who was part of this enormous endeavour.

Fran Duthie
President Elephanatics

“With courage, you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”

Mark Twain

Read Full Press Release – Humane Society International Canada

https://www.hsi.org/news-resources/canada-enacts-historic-ban-on-elephant-ivory-and-rhino-horn-trade/