Listening to the Voice of Nature: Why Love Requires Law

When you look into the eyes of a wild elephant, you get an overwhelming sense of your own humility. During a trip to Kenya’s Maasai Mara, a matriarch charged our jeep, stopping just three feet away. In that heart-stopping moment, our eyes met—a stark reminder that we are in their world, and the only way to truly protect nature and wildlife is to listen to it.

Today, that protection is failing on a global scale. Transnational crime syndicates generate $199 billion annually through illegal wildlife trafficking—often operating through the same organized networks that smuggle weapons, illicit drugs, and human beings, taking advantage of weak laws and low penalties.

Elephanatics and World Elephant Day are rallying Canadians right now to demand our government support a binding Wildlife Crime Protocol under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).

With World Elephant Day on August 12th, your local Member of Parliament needs to hear from you today.

 🚨 TAKE 30 SECONDS TO EMAIL YOUR MP NOW 🚨 

  • Click Here to Send the English Letter
  • Cliquez ici pour envoyer la lettre en français

(Your letter is automatically formatted and sent directly to your local Member of Parliament based on your postal code.)

Why We Need Action Before August 12th

Today, transnational wildlife trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise. Poachers and organized syndicates exploit legal loopholes across borders, pushing vulnerable species toward extinction worldwide because international law continues to treat wildlife crime as a minor offense.

After an eight-year campaign, Elephanatics successfully helped push through strict new regulations to end Canada’s trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn in 2024. Now, we must finish the job on the global stage.

A legally binding UNTOC Protocol will:

  • Close Legal Loopholes: Harmonize global laws so traffickers cannot hide behind weak borders.
  • Target Syndicates: Give law enforcement cross-border intelligence tools to freeze cartel assets.
  • Impose Severe Penalties: Treat wildlife crime with the exact same legal severity as human, arms, and drug trafficking.

Stand With Us This World Elephant Day

I will never forget the moment nature challenged me to respect its voice. Now, decision-makers in Ottawa need to hear yours. We need Canada to commit before the decisive UN voting assembly this fall.  

👉 Click Here to Email Your MP in English

👉 Cliquez ici pour envoyer la lettre en français

Thank you for taking action today. Every single letter brings us one step closer to real justice.

Fran Duthie

President, Elephanatics Foundation

 

Canada last again….

It’s  WorldWildlifeDay 

Canadian organizations are calling on Canada this World Wildlife Day to fulfill its obligations from CITES routine decisions made in 2022 that protect over 500 endangered species.

After two years since the last Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Canada is the only country out of 185 parties that has not updated its control list of endangered species making Canada an open conduit for trafficking in these species.

Canada needs to do better!

Please read letter to Ministers below:

Canada last – again – to protect more than 500 species 3 March 2025

 

*****  UPDATE April 2nd, 2025 Government amended regulations