Safari Park Sends Elephants to Liverpool

Wildlife experts from Knowsley Safari Park herded four elephants into Liverpool One yesterday.

The life-size models will remain at the shopping centre until 10 June, before touring the rest of Merseyside and the North West.

The display is designed to draw attention to the danger posed to elephants in Africa. The safari park is working in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, aka DEFRA, as part of a nationwide campaign, If They’re Gone.

Poaching levels are at their highest ever, with an estimated 17,000 illegal elephant kills in Africa in 2011. Parts of elephants and other endangered species are used in traditional and alternative medicine, despite no scientific evidence that they work, while the ivory is made into ornaments that sell at high prices.

Bid to Save Elephants from Poachers

At the campaign launch yesterday, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said it was important to ensure that “this iconic and majestic animal” is preserved for future generations. “It’s totally unacceptable that elephants are being poached at such an alarming rate, fed by a high demand for traditional Asian medicine,” he added. “We are calling on people never to buy ivory or products that contain it, as if we buy, elephants die.”

Broadcaster and writer Ben Fogle also threw his weight behind If They’re Gone, saying ivory poaching was a “devastating crime,” and urging people to “act now before it’s too late.”

How You Can Help Save the Elephant

The campaign offers advice that all supporters can follow to play a part in eliminating the crime of elephant poaching: 

• Don’t buy ivory. If you buy, elephants die;
• Think before you buy anything that could be made from or contain body parts of endangered species such as certain alternative traditional medicines;
• Ask where products have come from and if they have been produced sustainably;
• Get involved and support wildlife conservation programmes;
• Spread the word – tell your friends and family about elephants and how important it is to help protect them;
• Report any suspicious activity concerning the buying and selling of wildlife products to your local police.

Find out More

If They’re Gone focuses on the increasing threat to four endangered species; rhinos, elephants, orangutans and tigers. Find out more at the official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/IfTheyreGone.

Primary school children across the UK have been invited to take part in a poster design competition to support the campaign. Teachers and parents can download more information here (PDF).

Click here for Knowsley Safari Park visitor information, including location, prices and opening times.

Below: Guests started yesterday’s campaign launch at Knowsley Safari Park before heading into Liverpool city centre with a quartet of elephants. Left to right: Charlie Mayhew of Tusk Trust; Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, MP; Earl of Derby; actor and ITG supporter John Challis, best known for playing “Boycie” in the long-running BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses and its sequel, The Green Green Grass.

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