World Elephant Day

World Elephant Day is an international annual event celebrated on August 12, dedicated to the preservation and protection of the world's elephants. Per Wikipedia - The goal of World Elephant Day is to create awareness of the urgent plight of African and Asian elephants and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better care and management of captive and wild elephants. African elephants are listed as "Vulnerable" and Asian elephants as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. One conservationist stated that African and Asian elephants face extinction within twelve years. The current population estimates are about 400,000 African elephants and 40,000 Asian elephants, although it has been argued that these numbers are much too high.

When I was young, my favorite books were a collection of “Babar the Elephant.” I fell in love with these huge, sensitive, kind, smart, intelligent creatures through the stories in these books. They take care of each other in such an incredible way. The elephant has one of the most closely-knit societies of any living species. Elephant families can only be separated by death or capture.

There is so much to learn about these incredible mammals, and so much we can learn from them.

It is so sad that they may not be on this earth one day. To me they are so graceful. They have such a story to tell. Their power and size don’t even begin to compete with their huge hearts. They are often mistreated in awful ways; in circuses, poaching, habitat loss, and now pending extinction. It simply breaks my heart. 

I am so glad as a small child I was introduced to the beautiful watercolors which told the story of Babar and how he survived after his mother was shot. And how important his curious nature was to his survival and his adventures. It’s probably part of the reason why elephants hold a special place in my heart. I was delighted to find these glass elephants from Murano, Italy. They are beautifully crafted and come in five different colors.  Check out the online gift shop.