Elephant Family
Protecting Asian elephants & their habitat
Elephant Family is the UK's biggest funder for the endangered Asian elephant.
Massive habitat loss has caused their numbers to plummet by 90% in the past 100 years, earning them an unwanted place on the IUCN red list.
Elephant Family exists to save this iconic animal from extinction in the wild, along with tigers, orangutans and all the other animals who share their habitat. Working with local people and partner NGOs, we currently fund 12 projects across Asia and invest where we are needed most: to protect habitat, prevent conflict and reconnect the forest homes of the endangered Asian elephant.
Our projects are urgent, and your support is vital.
What we do
At Elephant Family, we believe our world is worth sharing. And in Asia, that means protecting endangered elephants and preserving their natural habitat.
Since our launch in 2002, we’ve been busy. We’ve invested £4 million in securing and restoring vital corridors of land. We’ve supported local communities to reduce incidents of human-elephant conflict and improve the welfare of captive elephants. And we’ve worked hard to highlight the plight of the Asian elephant back home too, with UK-wide education programmes and .
Elephants on parade, London 2010
Asian elephants are amongst the world’s most magnificent and threatened species. But sadly the future for this iconic animal is under threat.
Today, human settlements, farming, mining and railways are carving up the forest homes of the Asian elephant, marooning wildlife in pockets of forest too small to support them. Deprived of their habitat, starving and stressed herds raid crops and trample villages – causing deaths on both sides.
This year the human population is expected to exceed seven billion. As human activity spreads, natural habitat will shrink and the competition between people and animals for living space and food is expected to intensify.
What’s more, ivory is still a valuable prize. Poaching tusked male elephants dramatically affects the adult sex ratio and breeding rates.
The Problem
With habitat increasingly under threat, humans and elephants jostle for space, with their chances of living side by side in harmony becoming ever slimmer. As elephants are squeezed into smaller and smaller fragments of their habitat, they’re forced to intrude on man’s activity. They raid vegetable patches. They trample crops. And sadly, all too frequently they’re killed as human-elephant conflict flares up.
The long-term survival of the Asian elephant depends on diffusing such conflict and securing their corridors; ancient migratory routes that link one forest fragment to another. It’s an almighty challenge – but one we’re determined to meet.
Contact us:
Visit the Elephant Family website at: www.elephantfamily.org
Sponsored categories
| Category | Prize | ||
|---|---|---|---|
HD Video category |
 |
Travel Shorts |
£1000 cash prize plus an opportunity to short a short video for Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky and the Elephant Family charity |
The Prize In Detail
New HD Video category - Travel Shorts
For the first time ever, Travel Photographer of the Year will include a category for HD video in the awards. To reflect the increasing ability of digital stills cameras, TPOTY are inviting entries for this new category for short films, shot only on a still camera, of up to one minute in length.
The winner of the HD Video Category, Travel Shorts, will receive £1,000, and the chance to shoot a short promotional video for Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky and Elephant Family.
Elephant Family in 2011
Last year's winner of the Elephant Family prize, Stuart Dunn, has recently returned from his prize commission to photograph one of the charity's conservation projects in Southern India. Stuart had an amazing time and you can see some of his images in this year's exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society in London from 22nd June to 19h August.
