Jumbo Dreams (via The Hindu)

Chennai-based wildlife biologist C. Arivazhagan, who has been tracking elephants for 15 years, talks about his close encounters with these gentle giants. 
Read more here.

In the Fight Against Elephant Poaching, the U.S. Can Lead (via The Huffington Post) (African Elephant news)

By John Calvelli, Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Wildlife Conservation Society

Key decision makers in the U.S. government and Congress are slowly coming to grasp the severity and magnitude of the current forest elephant poaching crisis in central Africa.

A turning point may have been the reported slaughter in May of dozens of elephants at the Central African Republic's Dzanga Bai, an historic sanctuary for forest elephants at which WCS has been monitoring and protecting wildlife for 20 years. The killings received widespread media coverage and attention. 

Read more here.

Celebrities campaign for elephants

Paul McCartney campaigns for Philippines elephant (via Gulf News)

Lily Tomlin speaks up for elephants in documentary (via The Reporter)

Poaching Wars with Tom Hardy (via itv)

Viola Davis fights for elephants (via The Boston Globe)

Kristin Davis wants to help elephants! (via ShowBiz Spy)

HK seizes ivory, rhino horns worth $US5m (via The Australian)

Hong Kong customs have seized an illegal shipment of ivory tusks, rhino horns and leopard skins worth more than $US5 million ($A5.59 million), officials say.

The haul - which included more than 1000 elephant tusks - was the second seizure of endangered species parts in a month in the Asian financial hub, home to one of the busiest ports in the world.

Read more here.

'White Gold' on the Black Market: Elephants Slaughtered for Illegal Ivory Trade (via Yahoo! News)

"It takes a global investigation -- from the gleaming ivory markets of China to a $12 million pile of tusks and trinkets in Denver to the smugglers’ shops of West Africa -– to understand the grim laws of supply and demand in the world’s illegal ivory trade."

Read more here.

Urgent action needed in support of Asian elephants

Last year, I volunteered at Elephant Nature Park in Thailand and had the time of my life. Now, the park is undergoing a series of raids from the government. What was the government looking for? A ton of wild elephants. What did they find? The 35 formerly domesticated and working elephants that are recovering at ENP in peace. The raids are a response to ENP's fight for reforms when it comes to the treatment of elephants in Thailand and the killing/poaching of elephants in Thai wildlife parks. They are unnecessary and unfounded.

Having met the founder of ENP, Lek, I know that these raids are not only unnecessary but an attempt by the government to avoid the issue of elephant abuse and pain. Lek is an amazing person and the park does not deserve this treatment. If anything, it deserves more support.

Though Thailand may seem worlds away from where you sit, you can still do something.

For one, sign the petition. Apparently, the support of the public is one of the reasons why no elephants at ENP have been used as pawns in a political game just yet. They're getting close to the goal of 50,000 signatures, so every name counts!

You can also follow the madness via social media, on Facebook and Twitter.

Tourists funding pain

Check out an article from The Nation about how tourist dollars are killing Asian elephants here.