ELEPHANT CONSERVATION

Elephant Health Camp, Nepal

• In 2023, RWPZ elephant zookeeper Brett Haskins was invited by the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund to share his expertise in elephant foot care with the wildlife community in Nepal. He and other expert leaders provided specialized care for nearly 100 endangered Asian elephants.

Wildlife Conservation Society’s “96 Elephants Campaign”

• RWPZ partners with the 96 Elephants Campaign to raise public awareness of the elephant poaching-crisis in Africa. Poachers kill about 96 elephants each day for their ivory. Poachers carve the ivory into intricate designs and sell to unknowing consumers throughout the world. You might be surprised to hear that the United States is the second largest illegal ivory market in the world, next to China as number one.

International Elephant Foundation

• RWPZ annually supports the International Elephant Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides financial support for a variety of elephant conservation and related scientific and educational projects worldwide.

Tanzania Conservation Research Program (TCRP)

• TCRP, formerly known as the The Tarangire Elephant Project, was initiated by Dr. Charles Foley in 1993 as part of his study of the effects of poaching on African elephants. Collecting demographic data on the northern subpopulation of elephants since 1993, Dr. Foley and his staff know more than 800 elephants individually. This is the second largest elephant database in Africa – second only to that of Amboseli National Park. Research focuses on the impact of poaching on elephant social systems. It is also the first project to carry out hormonal studies of female elephants in the wild. RWPZ funds a permanent in-country employment position to foster a positive human-to-elephant relationship, and teach villagers how to coexist peacefully and safely with elephants. To date the Zoo has donated more than $100,000 to this project.

AZA Elephant Welfare Initiative - Using Science to Understand Zoo Elephant Welfare

• Goals: Using science-based welfare benchmarks to improve elephant management in human care. When completed, this project will provide detailed, science-based welfare outcomes that can be used by managers to optimize care and promote positive well-being of zoo elephants. The primary goal of this study is to produce scientific data that will aid decision-making regarding best practices in elephant management. The RWPZ contributed all the requested information and samples required from our three African elephants for this AZA endorsed study.