Founded 1999 | Headquarters Azle, Texas, US | |
Type Elephant Conservation Charity Key people Deborah Olson, Executive Director Website elephantconservation.org internationalelephantfoundation.org | ||
The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. Formed by individuals and institutions, IEF is dedicated to the conservation of African and Asian elephants worldwide.
Contents
In 1998, Executive Director of Fort Worth Zoo Michael Fouraker envisioned an elephant foundation to provide funds and expertise to elephant related projects. Michael was a board member of International Rhino Foundation (IRF), and used the organizational structure and business plan of IRF as a template for multiple elephant holding facilities with diverse missions to come together for a shared common goal of contributing to the long-term preservation of elephants.
In November 1998, Michael invited nine representatives from zoos, private elephant facilities, circuses and a university to Fort Worth, Texas to discuss how a foundation could significantly enhance current conservation efforts. From this first organizational meeting the International Elephant Foundation was born. The IEF was incorporated in 1999.
Mission
The mission of the IEF is to support and operate elephant conservation and education programs both in managed facilities and in the wild, with an emphasis on management, protection and scientific research. Our organization is recognized by, among others, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Morris Animal Foundation and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as a bona fide conservation organization. Since 1999, IEF has provided support to over 80 elephant conservation projects worldwide and over $3 million in direct financial assistance.
Projects
The International Elephant Foundation provides funding for a number of conservation projects every year both in Africa and Asia. Below are examples of projects that have been or are being funded.
Africa
The Tsavo ecosystem consisting of the Tsavo East and West and Chyulu Hills National Parks, South Kitui National Reserve, Taita and Galana Ranches (Kenya) and Mukomazi National Park (Tanzania) has about 12,573 elephants and has suffered from poaching. This project will increase the presence of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) security personnel through enhanced ground and aerial surveillance and enhanced intelligence information collection, identify sites that require new patrol bases and construct simple housing units at these bases.
Human-elephant conflict has escalated in this region and communities have become increasingly disgruntled, which may directly relate to poaching of elephants. To develop new tools to alleviate human-elephant conflict, this project trials experimental fences that use flashing lights to deter elephants from maize crops and investigates options for new cash-crops that elephants find unpalatable.
The ongoing and increasing threat of elephant poaching in the Laikipia-Isiolo-Samburu ecosystem (with the second largest population of elephants in Kenya) is the primary conservation need addressed by this project. The increased effectiveness of the joint anti-poaching team supported by this project has led to significant declines in elephant poaching throughout NRT and reversed the trend which had been steadily increasing throughout 2012. The presence of the joint anti-poaching team has also helped improve the civil and government security response to the theft of livestock and highway banditry as the same people are frequently in all three activities.
Fifty years ago Murchison Falls had the most elephants per square kilometer in Africa. Today after decades of uncontrolled poaching, a mere 500 elephants remain plus thousands of snares and gin traps, and large gangs of armed poachers. This project will build the Bulya Ranger Post to create a permanent hub of anti-poaching rangers in the core area of Bulya. The rangers will be trained and equipped with Geolocation cameras to manage patrols and provide evidence for the prosecution of poachers. In addition, a small research team will join the rangers to find elephants in the area, obtain aerial photography via a drone to collect key demographic data.
Poaching and destroying wildlife natural habitats by setting bush fires, cutting down trees for timber, firewood and charcoal has triggered critical human-elephant conflict involving over 30,000 people living in 16 villages that border the Serengeti National Park. This project addresses the root causes of the conflict - poverty and lack of conservation education - through village meetings about conservation and habitat utilization, strategies for repelling the elephants from the village crops, and the acquisition of a grain grinding machine.
Asia
Based on IEF’s successful Sumatran elephant Conservation Response Unit project, IEF is developing a long-term relationship with Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) to assist in developing a Conservation Center and Conservation Response Units that would use out-of-work elephants for eco-education and conservation patrols. This center will also be a base for mahout training and an elephant hospital.
Human-elephant conflict is a problem in many villages in Assam. In addition to food crops, forests are being logged for their timber, fuel or cleared to make space for cash crop plantations such as rubber. As elephant habitat diminishes, elephants leave the forest and enter human communities in search of food. This project, proposed by affected villagers, will revive the degraded habitat of wild elephants by planting elephant food plants in the existing elephant habitat, and planting natural barriers of thorny plants - Assam lemon and thorny bamboo - between the forest and fields to protect the cultivated areas.
Habitat loss and degradation is a significant issue for Asian elephant in Cambodia and there has been few targeted conservation efforts. The short-term goals of this project are to collect critical information to enable a monitoring program to be established, to improve human-Asian elephant coexistence and to inform the development of a comprehensive Asian elephant national action plan for Cambodia. The long-term is to develop a monitoring program for Asian elephants in the southern Cardamom Mountains.
Human- elephant conflict is a growing problem in Sri Lanka as elephants are forced to leave the forest looking for food and water. These conflicts lead to human and elephant deaths and damage to crops and property. The Schools Awareness Program has presented curriculum at 1,500 schools in the last 10 years and addresses the value of elephants, the causes of conflict, how to minimize the conflicts and stresses the need for conservation.
This project will seek strategies for reopening elephant corridors in the northwestern wildlife region, identify the locations of existing elephant corridors and isolated elephant habitats, and identify suitable areas for development that will not block the natural migration routes and does not harm the natural food sources of the elephants.
Ex Situ
The three most common and useful techniques for studying viruses are not applicable for Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV). By using PCR amplification and DNA sequencing directly from clinical samples this project will study the genetic make-up of each virus and the genes and pathways they utilize. The ultimate goal is to identify viral immediate-early genes, latency genes and immune evasion genes that will provide insights into the mechanisms of viral pathogenesis, and will also help for generating engineered attenuated vaccine strains or new targets and approaches for better antiviral drugs.
Controversy
IEF has board members from all areas of elephant work and management and expertise. This includes zoo directors, veterinarians, private owners, and circuses. In recent years animal rights organizations have tried to target IEF because of their affiliation with those who manage captive elephants. Animal rights organizations have targeted IEF board members, making claims of animal mistreatment in their own businesses, but no court has accepted their claims and attempts at legal action have been dismissed.
In 2011, a lawsuit brought by animal rights organizations against Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus (whose Vice President for Government Relations Tom Albert is a Past President of IEF) was dismissed in federal court with presiding Judge Sullivan saying Tim Rider, the key witness for the animal rights organizations, was "essentially a paid plaintiff."
Feld Entertainment, Ringling's parent company, has since filed suit against the collection of animal rights organizations under federal racketeering and conspiracy (RICO) statutes.
In December 2012 the ASPCA settled their part of the RICO lawsuit out of court, agreeing to pay Feld Entertainment $9.3 Million. In May 2014 the remaining animal rights groups being pursued for RICO violations agreed to settle out of court and pay Feld Entertainment $15.7 Million. These groups included HSUS, Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, Born Free Foundation USA (formerly the Animal Protection Institute), the Wildlife Advocacy Project, the law firm of Meyer, Glitzenstein & Crystal, and several current and former attorneys of that firm.