Ivory Trade

Elephant remains in Cameroon, where more than 300 were killed by poachers, armed with grenades and AK-47s.

http://magblog.audubon.org/booming-ivory-trade-spurs-elephant-poaching-frenzy

Throughout my life I have had a fascination for wildlife.  I have had a passion to be around and learn about all types of animals since the day I was born. 

"What do I want to be when I grow up? Well, a photographer for National Geographic of course! I want to be around animals all the time.  I will hopefully be best friends with an elephant!" 

  My senior year of high school I received this letter written by myself.  My second grade teacher had kept this letter that I wrote to myself for ten years and sent it to me on my graduation day.  Of course befriending an elephant made me laugh, but at the same time made me sad that I never did anything to actually attain that dream of helping animals in need.  For years after, I would read that letter promising myself that I would go to Africa some day and hopefully make some sort of contribution to the elephants.  One day while working at the Aquarium in Boston, teaching children about conservation, I stumbled across a film called "Born to be Wild".  This film is about orphaned baby elephants whose mothers had been killed in the ivory trade.  That film caused me to start saving and plan my trip to Kenya.  Since then, I have been to Africa to adopt an orphaned elephant, and donate to the Daphne Sheldrick Orphanage.  I really wish there was more I could do to stop the illegal ivory trade.  Seeing a photo like the one above is extremely powerful to me and evokes an emotion that can’t be explained in words.    

2012 was the worst year in recorded history for elephant poaching.  

25,000 Elephants were killed. 

- Cassie Steen