Kids' Effort to Help Elephants!

The ports of Hong Kong are where much of the illegal ivory arrives for distribution in Asia. The world's largest ivory destruction is set for May 15th, an amazing 30 tons of ivory. That's equal to  about 11,000 elephant killed for their tusks! The ivory stockpile being destroyed is largely due to school children who sent a petition(letter) to the government asking that this be done. A number of school children in Hong Kong have been writing letters to create awareness on just where ivory comes from and the damaging effect the illegal ivory trade is having on the remaining elephant population. One of these kids is Nellie Shute, 12, of Australia, who attends the Hong Kong International School. Her message, "no to ivory". She was able to convince her school to remove ivory carvings from a display case. Nellie then made gift cards which helped to raise $250 which was given to pay for the care of an orphaned elephant at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in the African country of Kenya. The students haven't stopped yet. Now, the students are spreading the word in hopes that  Hong Kong stores remove ivory products from their shelves.

Photograph of Nellie from adelaidenow.com/au

Fun Facts about Elephants:
•An elephant molar is about the size of a brick.
• An elephant can reach speeds of 24 miles per hour.
• An elephant's tusk can weigh 200 pounds and grow to 10 feet!
• When upset an elephant will blow dirt into the air or twirl its trunk.
• September 22 is Elephant Appreciation Day!
• Elephants have poor eyesight and poor hearing.
• An elephant can eat 495 pounds of food each and every day.
• The trunk of an elephant has 40,000 muscles(and no bones).
• Although the Indian elephant can be trained, the African elephant has yet to be domesticated.
• An elephant is one of the only mammals  unable to jump.
• Male elephants can weigh about that of a school bus!
• Elephants can be right or left tusked.
• Elephants have the largest brain of the animal world.


You might be interested in my webquest on elephants: Check it out here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/ElephantsOn-SafariA-Webquest-610125