- Don Lichterman
- Dec 22, 2020
- 5 min read
Elephants slaughtered for their livers
Our offices in East Africa are reporting that 12 elephants were slaughtered in Tanzania not just for their ivory but for their livers. To increase their profits, poachers are now touting the use of elephant livers as cures for liver cancer, cervical cancer, and ulcers.
This new wave of poaching is happening at exactly the same time wildlife protection budgets are being cut back due to COVID-19. We must stop this emerging threat immediately!
I am sure that you can understand why we're so concerned that your name is not yet on our double match donor list. We urgently need your help to protect elephants who are in greater danger than ever.
More about being killed for Elephant Livers:
It's with a heavy heart that I share this shocking and disturbing news: twelve elephants were slaughtered in Tanzania, and their livers were hacked out. Poachers are now claiming that elephant livers can cure liver cancer, cervical cancer, and ulcers.
This is alarming in the extreme and we need your immediate help. Your support has been critical in making significant headway against the ivory trade – but now, wildlife traffickers have pivoted. They're creating a market to preserve their profits in elephant killing.
This deadly black-market tactic is just emerging, according to Tanzania's park authority.
Wildlife traffickers have plenty of practice in pitching animal parts as "traditional medicine." Claims that rhino horn and pangolin scales can cure everything from cancer to arthritis have decimated rhino populations and turned pangolins into the world's most trafficked mammal. It's no surprise they're planning the same fate for elephants.
Thankfully, we still have a double matching gift opportunity to inject urgent resources into our lifesaving programs – as well as first responders like you who know the value of Africa's beloved wildlife. But with only two days left to double your gift, we may not be able to respond fast enough. Please, without delay, help save elephants.
I know this news is difficult to read in a year with so many other emergencies going on. But this rising threat is amplified by the fact that COVID-19 has slashed wildlife protection budgets. Our resources, too, are strained – in fact, we're facing budget shortfalls.
The cruel weapons once used to control Jai...A bullhook and brutal spiked chains (be prepared, I gagged and almost yacked 5 times this AM when posting these gross pictures)
Because of your kind support, the spiked chains on Jai's legs have been permanently removed. The source of his constant piercing pain is gone and now his healing can begin. We have a dedicated veterinary team spending hours with him every day, devoted to healing his wounds, reducing his agony and slowly earning his trust. Daily laser therapy, topical medicines and a specialized diet are being used to hasten the healing of his abscesses and wounds. Already there are visible improvements. However, many of these sores are deep and chronic and will need months of persistent treatment to finally close. CHECK OUT JAI'S ELEPHANT RESCUE AND CARE Although Jai’s pain levels can be difficult to gauge, we know from the many crippling pathologies we’ve been able to diagnose that it must be excruciating. He is being given strong pain relievers and pleasurable experiences, like high-pressure showers to combat his discomfort. Earning his trust will be the most challenging part. How do you convince an elephant who has only known cruelty, that there is such a thing as kindness? How do we make reparations for his past? These are difficult questions to answer, but hopefully, our everyday actions will show him that we care and are devoted to him. ELEPHANT RESCUE AND CARE
Jai is settling in and becoming more comfortable in his new home.
When our rescue team first met Jai, he was bound in spiked chains.
Initial treatment at the scene was challenging and critical.
His wounds were severe and infected, requiring extensive ongoing treatment.
Jai's wounds have improved significantly after just a week of loving treatment from our professional caregiver staff. X-rays show broken, partially fused bones in his swollen foot. ELEPHANT RESCUE AND CARE
Held captive in tiny enclosures, elephants suffer immensely at for-profit zoos, living out their entire lives trapped behind bars just for people's amusement. These gentle giants deserve freedom. And now there is hope for elephants in Canada with a new bill -- backed by the renowned Jane Goodall -- that would ban abusive captivity throughout the country, if passed. Sign the petition now urging the Canadian Senate to pass this trailblazing bill.
When allowed out of their prison-like cages, Canada's captive elephants are forced to perform for spectators and give exhausting rides to tourists, carrying heavy metal and wooden platforms on their backs all day long. These horrible conditions lead to increased cases of zoochosis -- or, profuse rocking, swaying, weaving, or pacing back and forth. Elephants are intelligent, social, gentle giants. And they deserve freedom and happiness. Sign the petition to end for-profit elephant captivity in Canada once and for all.
In Pictures is a monthly feature highlighting our favorite photos.
We hope these images give you a moment to catch your breath and enjoy some beautiful wildlife!
The 62-year-old Erika the elephant shown above has been in the Wildlife SOS family since 2013. She was a begging elephant who would walk the city by day earning money for her owner, and be chained on a street corner by night. Today she lives a happy life at the lush Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Haryana. New this month, we also have mobile phone-optimized wallpaper! DOWNLOAD COMPUTER WALLPAPER OF ERIKA
Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.
The Sustainable Action Network (SAN), A Don Lichterman non-profit organization dedicated to building a global community raising awareness of corruption, injustice and the need for action across a full range of issues impacting people and animal/wildlife welfare around the world, such as conservation, climate change, campaign law, lobbying, government action and rescue work. SAN’s vision is to create safer world, free from political, environmental, and social oppression, where all the inhabitants of Earth can live in harmony within their own natural environments. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.
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