While we are still receiving reports from the 28 projects IEF supported in 2023, the updates are incredibly impressive so we couldn’t wait to tell you! In 2023, IEF projects…

protected over 34,923 elephants across Asia and Africa;

provided at least 424 educational opportunities, reaching 41,231 kids, students and youth, and 27,969 adults;

supported over 1432 wildlife rangers, eco-guards, and patrolmen;

removed 2535+ snares and traps in Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Cameroon, Indonesia, & Nepal;

in addition to the snares and leg-hold traps removed from Uganda as shown in Snare Mountain;

and caught over 590 suspected poachers!

None of this work is possible without you! Thank you for your continued engagement and commitment to elephants.

IEF focuses on preserving and protecting every species of elephant from the African savannah elephant to the African forest elephant to Asian elephants and their subspecies like the critically endangered Sumatran elephant. This year, our projects reflect that commitment to elephants.

For forest elephants we are protecting the Ziama biosphere in Guinea, targeting illegal wildlife crime in Gabon, and working with communities to promote safe coexistence and conservation in Ghana and Cameroon.

Security is a jumbo concern for savannah elephants where IEF is supporting aerial surveillance in Kenya, sustaining the community scouts programme in Uganda, supporting K9 Units in Zambia, and Mounted Horse Patrols and anti-poaching patrols in Kenya. Community action is just as important, so we are promoting peaceful coexistence in Namibia, Tanzania, and Kenya, and working on conflict mitigation in the KAZA Transfrontier Conservation Area (Zambia, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, and Zimbabwe).

Asian elephants face many of the same problems, therefore IEF is supporting habitat protection and patrols in Sumatra (Indonesia) and Nepal, turning conflict into coexistence in Nepal, Indonesia, and Cambodia, and building a community investment in conservation to stop demand for illegal ivory in Cambodia.

In addition to our location-specific support, IEF is continuing our commitment to research that will benefit all elephants everywhere. We are dedicated to multiple projects that investigate Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV), including investigating EEHV genomics and pathogenesis, developing new ways to detect EEHV, and developing a vaccine. We are also supporting work that studies immune responses in African elephants.

IEF’s commitment to global elephant populations is only matched by your passion and commitment! These projects will help secure a sustainable future for elephants and are only possible because of you!

The International Elephant Foundation recently sat down with the ZooLogic Podcast for a conversation about all things elephants and the great work we are supporting to build a sustainable future where elephants thrive!

Check it out on Apple Podcasts today.

Did you know that once a month IEF holds a free event where you can connect directly to project leaders from the field? It’s a dynamic hour of first-hand accounts of the conservation challenges and actions taken with time set aside to ask questions. Our February Conservation Chat featured Mr. Laxmi Raj Joshi discussing his project, “Community Support for Elephant Conservation in Far Western Nepal.” Watch the replay Mr. Joshi sharing different methods of turning human-elephant conflict into coexistence here.

Don’t forget to register for our next chat scheduled for March 13th at 9am PST with our guest Dr. Tabitha Hoornweg discussing her work addressing the deadly Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV).