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

🐘 Elephanatics December Newsletter 🎁

Published on December 2, 2025January 6, 2026 by elephanatic

Tis the Season!🎄

“Let us strive to learn from the past
Dare to live in the present
And have the courage to plan for the future!”

As we venture into the Christmas Season we have some good news we want to share with you!

📢 Victory for Responsible Conservation: Rewilding Guidelines Published!

We are thrilled to celebrate a massive achievement led by our Director, René Beyers, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. After dedicated work and advocacy, the crucial Rewilding Guidelines have been officially published! These guidelines are vital for ensuring that conservation and reintroduction efforts are ethical, responsible, and effective, setting a high standard for global biodiversity initiatives. René’s hard work has cemented Elephanatics’ leadership in science-based conservation policy.

📝 A Voice for Elephants at CITES-CoP20

Some great news coming out of the CITES-CoP20 being held in Uzbekistan right now! CITES-CoP20 delivered a crucial victory for wildlife! Elephanatics, with our coalition partners, successfully urged the Canadian delegation to oppose Proposals 13 and 14, which sought to re-open commercial ivory trade. Critically, the strong international stance was maintained, blocking all attempts, including Namibia’s proposal 13, to reopen the international ivory and rhino horn trade. This is great news for elephants! 🐘:)

✨ Good News: Amboseli’s Elephants are Thriving!

We were delighted by the recent reports confirming a significant increase in the elephant population in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park! This positive trend is a beacon of hope and a testament to the hard work of conservation partners, rangers, and local communities who protect this vital ecosystem. Every successful breeding season and every protected herd reinforces the mission we all share.

📚 New Lesson Plan for Educators!

We are excited to announce the launch of a new educational resource for teachers and educators: “Giants and Guardians: A Global Conservation Comparison.” This lesson plan is designed for Grades 6-8 and compares elephant conservation challenges in Africa with parallel issues facing iconic wildlife in Canada and the United States. We encourage all educators to review this resource and bring global conservation awareness into the classroom! Find all our lesson plans at elephanatics.org/education

🎁 Shop & Save an Elephant This Season!

As you begin your holiday shopping, remember that you can support Elephanatics without spending an extra dime!

Visit our Teespring line today and purchase apparel, mugs, and more. 100% of every sale goes directly back to our conservation, education, and action initiatives, helping us fund the critical work you read about above.

Thank you for your continued support and passion for elephants. Wishing you all a safe start to December filled with laughter and joy for the festive season, and may the New Year bring continued success and prosperity for you all!

“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.” Charles Dickens

The Elephanatics Team 🎁🎄

Elephanatics Foundation - Fighting elephant poaching and transnational wildlife crime through the UNTOC Protocol

🐘 Elephanatics | November 2025 Newsletter

Published on November 4, 2025March 3, 2026 by elephanatic

November: The Global Battle for Elephants is On!

Support Through Giving Tuesday December 2nd

Photo credit – Francine Lebel-Carruthers

Greetings from the herd at Elephanatics!

For over a decade, we at Elephanatics Foundation have been powering bold elephant advocacy across Canada and Africa. Our mission is clear and drives everything we do: educate, conserve, and take action for elephants and the ecosystems they inhabit.

Why Elephants Matter

How We Take Action: From Savanna to Policy Table

Frontline Conservation: Our sustained partnership with the Mara Elephant Project (MEP) in Kenya connects your support to life-saving work, including funding anti-poaching patrols, utilizing GPS collars for real-time tracking, and implementing human-elephant conflict mitigation strategies.
Historic Policy Win: We lead influential policy campaigns — for example, the Ivory-Free Canada coalition that successfully implemented a historic ban on the elephant ivory trade in Canada in November 2023. Read more here
Public Awareness: We provide educational resources and raise public awareness, making elephant protection a cause people can engage with, not just observe. Find resources here
Fundraising & Amplification: We actively fundraise for specific, high-impact conservation needs (like our World elephant Day support for MEP’s Loita Forest project). Critically, for Giving Tuesday on December 2nd, we will amplify MEP’s urgent field work across our channels, encouraging our supporters to donate directly here to their frontline efforts.

What’s Coming Up: CITES CoP20

From November 24 to December 5, 2025, representatives from 185 countries will gather in Samarkand, Uzbekistan for the 20th meeting of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Elephanatics Foundation has submitted a position letter to Canada’s Scientific Management Authority outlining opposition arguments to Proposals by African countries wanting to reopen the ivory trade. The cost to elephants for any renewed trade would be catastrophic, as a legal market would inevitably provide cover for illegal poaching, creating a devastating surge in demand that would once again drive elephant populations toward extinction.

Ongoing Policy Work

We continue to work in collaboration with other global NGOs, sending letters to MPs and Federal Ministers regarding the urgent need for an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.The 13th session of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) is scheduled to take place in October 2026 in Vienna, Austria. We will continue to advocate on this critical topic more aggressively.

A Final Call to Action

Elephanatics Foundation is turning the tide for elephants — from classrooms in Canada and the US to the savannas of Africa — by merging education with on-the-ground conservation and policy power. With the global spotlight shifting to the critical negotiations at CITES CoP20 this November, the time to support organizations working against the reopening of the ivory trade is critical. This makes Giving Tuesday (December 2nd) an excellent time to provide the vital funds these organizations need to continue their advocacy work and protect the future of the species. Donate directly to MEP’s frontline efforts here.

Thank You

We thank you for being a committed Elephanatics follower. Whether through sharing our posts or donating on Giving Tuesday, December 2nd, you are a vital partner in our fight to secure a future free of the ivory trade. We are deeply grateful for your continued advocacy and support.

🐘 The Elephanatics Team

Don’t forget to follow us on our other social media platforms: https://linktr.ee/elephanatics

Help Support Elephants

Published on July 31, 2022August 1, 2022 by elephanatic

It’s #WorldElephantDay August 12th!

DONATE TODAY * Donations to Elephanatics will be sent to SEEDBALLS Kenya to purchase seedballs for @MaraElephantProject in the Maasai Mara, Kenya.

We Are Excited!

Elephanatics has recently partnered with SEEDBALLS Kenya!

SEEDBALLS Kenya is an African based organization that has pioneered a method of mass producing seedballs for low cost and efficient reintroduction of trees and grass species into degraded areas in Africa.

What is a seedball? A Seedball is simply that – a seed inside of a ball of charcoal dust mixed with some nutritious binders. SEEDBALLS Kenya focuses on helping reduce the cost of planting various useful indigenous plant species (mostly trees and grass) in Kenya. The biochar coating of the ball helps protect the seed within from predators such as birds, rodents and insects and extremes of temperature until the rains arrive! Once soaked, the seedball helps retain and prolong a moist environment around the seed to encourage germination. Seedballs are a nature-based solution to biodiversity and ecosystem loss.

Human activity is degrading ecosystems and driving biodiversity loss faster than ever before. The speed at which species are disappearing is at least 100 times higher than the natural rate of extinction. If we don’t stop this, at the current rate it will take millions of years for diversity to be restored to pre industrial levels. Africa is suffering from an unprecedented decline in biodiversity due to extensive agricultural practices, population growth, illicit wildlife trafficking, development, and more. In the last forty years, elephant habitat has decreased by nearly two thirds largely due to human activities.

We are happy to promote the outstanding work SEEDBALLS Kenya does in assisting with restoring and reforesting areas of Africa hardest hit by habitat destruction.

Please join us this World Elephant Day and Donate to Propagate!

For more information on SEEDBALLS Kenya go to: https://www.seedballskenya.com/seedballs

DONATE TODAY * Donations to Elephanatics will be sent to SEEDBALLS Kenya to purchase seedballs for @MaraElephantProject in the Maasai Mara, Kenya.