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Herd of elephants migrating
to Liverpool to march against extinction
A herd of elephants is migrating
towards Liverpool to join the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos, on Saturday,
3 October 2015.
As the countdown begins to the 3rd annual march, supporters from across the
Country are packing their trunks and travelling to the City to show solidarity
with the endangered species and to urge world leaders to listen before it is too
late.
Marches are taking place across the world from Africa to Australia and from
Mexico to the Middle East. In the UK, Liverpool joins Edinburgh, Exeter and
London to show solidarity, and save the species.
Famous supporters of the cause include Ricky Gervais, Rula Lenska, Joanna
Lumley, Chris Packham, Christie Brinkley, Michaela Strachan and Kristin Davies
from Sex and the City.
An elephant is killed for its ivory every 15
minutes, and if the decline is not reversed the species could be extinct in a
few years. Over 35,000 elephants and 1,000 rhinos die annually at the hands of
poachers, fuelled by the illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn. Their only hope
for survival lies in an immediate end to the ivory and rhino horn trade and the
chance to recover from decades of mass slaughter.
As well as supporters from across Merseyside, elephant activists such as Dawn
Scholes from Wakefield and Moira McFarlane from the Trossachs in Scotland (both
pictured) are donning costumes and heading for the City to join hundreds of
like-minded people to demand a ban on commercial trade of ivory and rhino horn,
and a clampdown on illegal wildlife trafficking.
Supporters will meet at the top of Bold Street, at 2.00pm, on Saturday, 3 October
2015 and march throughout the City to a rally point at Derby Square, where speakers
will include key figures in the conservation world including Angie Goody of Kariega Game Reserve in South Africa, who recently appeared in ITV's Animal
Mums, and Viv Burns who set up Pennies for Eles, a not for profit organisation
which raises funds to support anti-poaching initiatives.
March organiser Hazel Jones, 55, is a pharmacy
technician at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, but her spare time is spent saving
elephants. The Liverpool grandmother of two has visited elephant sanctuaries
overseas and regularly fundraises for them as well as being politically active
in lobbying governments to take a stance against poaching and to support a total
ban on ivory.
Hazel says:-, "I would love everyone in Liverpool and across the North
West to come to the march on October 3, and am delighted that we have supporters
travelling to join us. Last year we had over 200 supporters and we hope to have
even more this year. The march isn't long or difficult, so is suitable for
everybody and families are welcome.
A couple of years ago I had never attended a march or done any campaigning, and
I am not a professional activist, but I am not prepared to stand back and let
elephants and rhinos die out. I want my grandchildren to grow up in a world
where they are still thriving, and if we don't act now to stop the slaughter
they will be gone in 15 years."
Dawn Scholes, en route to Liverpool in her
elephant costume, adds;- "I am marching to help raise public awareness of
the poaching crisis affecting elephants and rhinos, and to pressure governments
to close down all ivory markets. People must be educated to say NO to ivory and
rhino products, because when you buy them, elephants and rhinos die.
I march because I empathise with the incredible suffering these amazing animals
have to endure, and because I do not want them to be wiped off the face of the
earth. I want them to be here for current and future generations to see and
marvel at.
I will be in Liverpool on 3 October 2015 to say 'We love them, we cherish them, we
must stop poaching'."
Moira McFarlane, on the way from Scotland
says:- "I will be travelling down from the Trossachs to march in Liverpool
because I have friends and family in the Merseyside area.
I have been involved with advocating for both Asian and African elephants for a
number of years. Since 2007 I have visited and supported sanctuaries in Thailand
who are working to end the exploitation of elephants in the tourist industry.
Last year I was extremely fortunate to pay a visit to the David Sheldrick
Wildlife Trust's nursery in Nairobi, where I met my foster elephant Barsilinga.
I will be marching to raise awareness of the extent to which Africa's wildlife
is being decimated. Between 2010 and 2013 an estimated 100,000 elephants were
slaughtered for their tusks. This amounts to around 10% of the total remaining
population being killed every year. Without urgent action many areas will see
populations unable to support future breeding within just a few short years."
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