I am packing for my annual visitation to elephant country. Thirty years have passed since my first visit to Africa. . .to Kenya, a place so filled with wildlife and beauty that […]
Mourning in Kenya
Ivory’s Curse
“An abundant endowment of high-value wildlife can be a resource curse that ultimately leaves human societies worse off. The damage being done to African elephants from poaching is very real, but so […]
Join the Elephant Lobby
On February 11, 2014, President Obama announced he would take administrative action to ban the commercial trade of elephant ivory in the United States. In addition, he outlined a national strategy to […]
Remover of Obstacles
I have just returned from three weeks in India, exploring and photographing the country’s two holiest cities — Varanasi and Vrindavan. While shrines to the pantheon of Hindu deities are abundant throughout […]
Olympians
If elephants had their own Olympic games, I imagine them being staged in Amboseli (Kenya) under their Mt. Olympus, Kilimanjaro. I had the privilege of attending the first week of the 2014 […]
The Fate of the Forest Elephant
I wrote about the forest elephant in September upon my return from the Republic of Congo. The thrill of seeing these secretive creatures notwithstanding, our visit was overshadowed in spirit by descriptions […]
Elemental Ivory
It is elemental that ivory belongs on elephants, not our shelves. The real world of course always makes things more complicated. Recent, high profile destruction of ivory stockpiles (China, U.S., Philippines) have […]
Elephant Numerology
On New Year’s Eve, in his address to the nation, President Kikwete of Tanzania renewed his pledge to fight poaching, citing shocking new survey numbers: the elephant population in the huge Selous Game […]
Happy Holidays
I’m celebrating the holidays with carpal tunnel surgery tomorrow so this will be the last posting for this year! Meanwhile, check out the four programs listed below for great programs you may […]
The Intelligent Gift of Knowledge
Elephants are among the most intelligent creatures in the “animal world.” Some of their most remarkable acts of intelligence include empathy; highly complex social structures; the ability to recognize themselves in a […]
