World Elephant Day

World Elephant Day, celebrated on August 12th, was co-founded in 2012 by Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand. The day seeks to raise global awareness about the urgent need to protect elephants from threats like poaching, habitat destruction, and human-elephant conflict. It encourages people to unite in support of elephant conservation efforts worldwide.

The day marks the beginning of a global movement, with over 100 conservation organizations joining forces to protect elephants. World Elephant Day not only advocates for the preservation of wild elephants but also promotes the protection of domestic elephants, offering sanctuaries and alternative habitats. It highlights the importance of working together across borders to ensure elephants’ survival for future generations.

World Elephant Day serves as a platform for individuals and organizations to rally behind elephant protection initiatives, such as stopping illegal ivory trade and preserving habitats. The day is a call for collective action to ensure elephants have a safe and sustainable future.

If you are interested in helping elephants, the following organizations work for elephant conservation:

• Save the Elephants focuses on elephant research, protection, and habitat preservation.
• Elephant Crisis Fund supports projects that combat poaching, trafficking, and demand for ivory.
• The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust renowned for its orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program.
• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) works globally to protect elephants and their habitats.
• International Elephant Foundation funds elephant conservation and research projects worldwide.

When is World Elephant Day?

This table shows when World Elephant Day is celebrated up to the year 2030 (including the weekday):

Elephant Facts

• Elephants have remarkable memory and cognitive abilities. They are known to remember water sources and migration routes over many years​​.

• Elephants live in close-knit family groups led by a matriarch. They exhibit complex social behaviors and show empathy towards other elephants​ ​.

• Elephants communicate through a variety of sounds, including rumbles that can travel several kilometers. They also use body language and touch​​.

• Elephants are herbivores and spend up to 16 hours a day eating plants, including grasses, fruits, leaves, and bark.

• An elephant’s trunk, a fusion of its nose and upper lip, contains over 40,000 muscles. It is used for breathing, smelling, touching, grasping, and producing sounds​​.

• Elephants have the longest pregnancy of any land animal, lasting about 22 months. Newborns can weigh up to 260 pounds at birth​.

• Elephants can live up to 60-70 years in the wild, with some living even longer in captivity under proper care

Before You Go:

We have many more national days lists for you to explore.

• Food-related national days: complete list of national food days, pasta & noodles days, vegan & vegetarian days, ice-cream days, pizza days, coffee days, chocolate days, wine days, alcohol & drinking days.
• Non-food national days: National Days Calendars 2024-2025 (check out the printable calendars in my Etsy shop), National Days for Teachers, and a wide array of special lists such as cat days, dog days, animal days, book days, music days, family & relationships days, national days for women, stationery days and even Harry Potter days.
• Country-specific national days: Australian national days, more coming soon.

📝 This article was originally published on July 18th, 2024. It has been thoroughly updated, and the publishing date has been changed to reflect the new version.