World Elephant Day

What Is World Elephant Day?

August 12 is "World Elephant Day," an international observance launched in 2012 (it is not an official UN international day). It aims to raise awareness of the current situation facing elephants, whose populations are declining due to poaching and habitat destruction, and to draw attention to conservation efforts.

The Origins and Background of World Elephant Day

World Elephant Day was launched on August 12, 2012, by Canadian filmmaker and elephant advocate Patricia Sims together with the Thailand-based Elephant Reintroduction Foundation. Both African and Asian elephants face declining populations due to poaching for ivory and habitat loss caused by agricultural development, making their protection a pressing international issue.

• Year established: 2012
• Purpose: To raise awareness of elephant conservation and habitat protection
• Species covered: African elephants and Asian elephants
• The decline of African elephants: there are thought to have been about 20 million African elephants before European colonization; the number is said to have fallen to around 1 million by about 1970. Poaching continued, and the Great Elephant Census published in 2016 counted about 350,000 (352,271) savanna elephants in the 18 countries it surveyed, reporting a decline of roughly 30% over about seven years in most of the countries surveyed

Fun Facts About Elephants

• Differences between African and Asian elephants: African elephants have larger ears and both males and females have tusks, while Asian elephants have smaller ears, and typically only males have tusks.
• Remarkable intelligence: Elephants are known for their high social intelligence, including behaviors such as appearing to mourn the deaths of fellow elephants.
• Connections to Japan: Asian elephants are kept in zoos across Japan, where breeding programs are also underway. Japan also has its own "Elephant Day" on April 28th, marking the day (the 28th day of the 4th month of the old calendar, 1729) when an elephant brought from Cochinchina (in present-day Vietnam) was presented to Emperor Nakamikado. The oldest record of an elephant arriving in Japan is much earlier, in 1408, aboard a ship from Southeast Asia that reached Obama in Wakasa Province.

Ways to Enjoy World Elephant Day

Why not visit a zoo to observe elephants, or check out a picture book or documentary about them? Learning more about elephants and how they live is a great way to start thinking about the importance of protecting wildlife and the natural environment.