World Elephant Day August 12 | Awareness and Advocacy
Animal Awareness Days
World Elephant Day is observed on the 12th of August. Despite their size, popularity and status, elephants desperately need protection. Find out more.
Elephants
Welcome to our Elephant hub — your go-to location for all World Animal Protection elephant facts and news.
Elephants are the largest living land mammals on the planet. As ecosystem engineers, they play a critical role in maintaining a healthy environment and ensuring the survival of many other animal and plant species.
But elephants are under threat. Elephant habitat destruction, climate change, and poaching mean elephant populations in Africa and Asia are decreasing.
Here, you can discover our elephant protection campaigns and what you can do to help. You can also find ethical tourism venues and read our latest elephant facts and reports.
Elephant facts and information
Did you know that there are three different species of elephant? Or that African elephants have more wrinkles than Asian elephants? Or that a baby elephant weighs a whopping 100kg?
If you want to learn more about elephants, take a look at our latest resources:
Can elephants feel emotions and empathy?
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Learn about the surprising emotional lives of elephants and how understanding their feelings is crucial.
Elephants are being abused for tourist rides at Amber Fort, India
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Tourists ride elephants suffering abuse, beatings, and a life of pain. Learn the dark side of elephant tourism and how you can help end their suffering.
Captive elephants still suffering in Thailand, but new report finds some hope
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New research shows two thirds of captive elephants in Thailand’s tourism industry still live in poor conditions, despite some welfare improvements.
The Best Ways to See Elephants Without Harming Them
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Discover how you can see elephants in a humane way without supporting harmful tourism practices.
Thailand, Elephants and Tourism
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Asian elephants are native to Thailand, but far too many of them are trapped in captivity. Here’s what World Animal Protection Thailand want you to know.
Elephant tourism: Ethical guidelines 2026
Elephants across the world are exploited for profit. They’re cruelly taken from the wild and bred in captivity to perform for tourists. Some centres even pose as sanctuaries while keeping elephants in cruel conditions.
This is why ethical elephant tourism is so important. If fewer people visit elephant tourist attractions — and boycott the tour companies that support them — more elephants will be saved from this sad fate.
To help travellers find ethical alternatives to these elephant experiences, we put together an annual Elephant-Friendly Tourist Guide. Here, we share elephant-friendly tourist destinations and tour companies, so you can get up close to these magnificent mammals without contributing to cruel practices.
Going on holiday this year? Read our guide before you book!
Elephant-related campaigns
World Animal Protection runs a number of campaigns in support of elephants. We’re protecting elephants from exploitation, encouraging governments to create stronger wildlife protection laws, and fighting to safeguard elephant habitats.
Learn more about our work below.
Ending commercial exploitation
Thousands of elephants around the world are suffering in the name of tourism. But it doesn’t have to be this way. See how we’re championing their right to a wild life.
Protecting elephants through innovation
We are dedicated to disrupting industries that exploit elephants in the wild and work tirelessly to create innovative solutions to help safeguard elephants from cruelty.
Seeking a new deal for wildlife through legislation
We believe that elephants should have the right to a wild life. We’re lobbying governments, working with local communities, and raising awareness to ensure better protections for elephants in the wild.
Protecting elephant habitats
Habitat loss is leaving elephants without the space, food, and water they need to thrive. By raising awareness of habitat destruction and lobbying governments to pass environmental protections, we’re defending elephant habitats from human destruction.
Elephant news
Get up-to-speed on the latest news about elephants and elephant conservation.
Indonesia bans elephant riding in landmark welfare move
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Indonesia announces an end to elephant rides, a major win for animal welfare and encourages ethical wildlife tourism.
Bali Zoo stops elephant rides in big win for animal welfare
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Bali Zoo has ended elephant riding, marking major progress for elephant welfare and responsible wildlife tourism in Indonesia.
Chitwan Elephant Festival: Undermining Nepal’s Tourism Goals
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The Chitwan Elephant Festival, amidst ongoing elephant cruelty and exploitation, is likely to undermine the very tourism Nepal aims to attract.
Help protect elephants
Elephants are a keystone species, meaning they shape their environment in important ways. They clear vegetation, spread seeds, and dig for water, creating habitats and resources that other animals depend on. When elephants thrive, the plants and animals in their ecosystems thrive too.
But elephants are endangered, and their numbers are decreasing. So it’s up to us — and you — to protect them and their wider ecosystems.
Help us save the elephants by:
- Raising awareness of elephant threats and conservation programs
- Lobbying governments for better animal protection and stronger laws around wildlife trade
- Supporting ethical elephant sanctuaries and boycotting unethical tour companies
You can also support the work we do here at World Animal Protection by donating today. Your donation allows us to continue elephant conservation and protection campaigns across the world.