Today, 12 of August, is the World Elephant Day. The lives of those huge, fascinating animals are threatened by poaching and habitat loss.

Present in Africa and in Asia, the population of elephants has drastically dropped since the 19^th century and several species are now on the list of endangered species.

In Africa, there are now around 415 000 elephants against 3 to 5 million at the beginning of the 20^th century. Some 20 000 are killed each year, which represents a frightening figure of 55 elephants killed per day, mostly for the illegal ivory trade. If nothing is done to stop these killings, African elephants will probably disappear in the next decade.

In May 2016, the Brazzaville Foundation entered into a partnership with one of the leading elephant conservation groups, Stop Ivory, in support of the Elephant Protection Initiative, which aims at protecting elephants and stopping ivory trade. The Foundation helped secure the agreement of the Republic of Congo to the initiative. 

The Brazzaville Foundation reiterates its support for the work of the Elephant Protection Initiative.

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash