Wild elephants are disappearing right before eyes. Every single day, poachers kill 96 elephants and steal their tusks worth thousands as part of the $10 billion wildlife trafficking industry that goes into the pockets of some of the most violent terrorist militias in Africa.This translates to an elephant dying every 15 minutes. At this rate, none will be left roaming in 2025.
You'd assume that the United States Congress would do everything in its power to stop the elephant slaughter, stop the illegal wildlife trafficking and stop financing violent terrorist militias, right? Wrong!
According to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Congress is considering a dangerous policy rider that will hurt elephants in two main ways: 1) "Section 120 of the FY16 House Interior Appropriations Bill contains a harmful rider that would prevent the FWS from taking any further action" on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's proposal to close loopholes in the existing ban on commercial ivory sales, and 2) make funding cuts to anti-poaching programs and wildlife conservation.
Saving our wildlife is already a race against time -- wild elephants only have until 2025 -- we can't afford to slow down conservation efforts due to dangerous policy riders and funding cuts. Sign and share this petition demanding that Congress does everything in its power to protect our disappearing wildlife from poaching and trafficking. We don't accept provisions that condone the slaughter of our last wild elephants and our government shouldn't either.
