Pledge Not to Buy Wildlife Souvenirs
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw_united_kingdom/join_campaigns/fight_illegal_wildlife_trade/think_twice_-_dont_buy_wildlife_souvenirs/take_action_how_to_be_a_responsible_tourist/shortcut_of_pledge_not_to_buy_wildlife_souvenirs.php?msource=DR070703007&tr=y&auid=2837259#x

If only elephants could forget.

Armed with assault rifles, poachers greedy for ivory pump magazines of armor-piercing bullets into an innocent herd of elephants.

Elephants are highly intelligent social creatures that create lifelong relationships. They cry, play, have incredible memories, and even laugh!

But when an elephant walks by the ivory-stripped remains of a murdered loved one, they stop still; pausing sorrowfully to roar and mourn. Elephants can stand vigil over dead herd members for days, even covering the bones with branches and dirt.

Take action now to help save elephants from poaching.

Illegal wildlife products such as ivory products are distributed online at tremendous speeds that go completely unchecked: a trade so large it is now estimated to be second only to illegal trafficking in drugs and weapons.

Ivory poachers illegally kill 4,000 elephants in Africa each year; an average of eleven elephants per day. Every time a new elephant is killed, the risk of extinction increases — raising the market value of ivory and the likelihood of further poaching.

Wildlife rangers are losing their lives protecting elephants from ruthless gangs of heavily armed poachers that operate freely across national African borders, but the rangers are greatly under-staffed and under-equipped. Without our help, they will lose the fight.

IFAW is working with enforcement agencies like Interpol to apply crime-fighting techniques such as DNA testing to catch poachers. From Africa to China, we're working with local leaders to rebuild wildlife parks and create new sanctuaries, rescue individual elephants, and train and equip rangers to combat poaching.

Certain regions of Asia and Africa may be completely emptied of their elephants if we don’t act now. I simply can’t stand by and do nothing while this goes on, and I know you can’t either.

Elephants never forget, and neither should we.

Sincerely,

Fred O’Regan
President and CEO

P.S. Many people are not aware of the vast scale of the illegal ivory trade and how it is wiping out our elephants. Please forward this email to ten of your friends right now.