The Global March For Elephants And Rhinos Celebrated In Nairobi

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On the 4th October 2014, thousands of people gathered across 136 cities around the globe for the largest march in raising their voices to call for an end to the killing and a ban on ivory and rhino horn. The march is held annually and this was its second anniversary that saw hundreds of thousands of people marching for elephants and rhinos. The march aimed at calling on world governments to make the illicit ivory trade and wildlife crime a priority issue, to make a financial commitment to security enforcement and to impose a complete ban on all ivory sales.

In Nairobi the march against extinction saw citizens cover 10km starting from The National Museums through Uhuru highway up to Uhuru gardens. The Stand up Shout out team together with Wildlife Direct and their hands off our elephants campaign were among the major organizers of the march. Many organizations came together to make the grand march a successful event.

Over the decades, Kenya has seen the populations of elephants decline from over 100,000 in the 1970s to less than 30,000 at present. Rhinos are at a population 3100 in Africa. This is due to the ever-rising demand of ivory in the Asian ivory markets that carve trinkets out of them. China holds the largest market that has been fueling this demand. The country has made massive efforts in trying to deal with the crisis among them being the passing of the Wildlife Bill that was signed into law in December 2013 and was enacted in February 2014. It seeks stiffer penalties for wildlife crime offenders that include fines  of up to Kshs. 20 million or an imprisonment of not less than 7 years. With these new laws in place, there is more hope for Kenya’s few remaining elephants. Many organizations are helping raise their voices on the plight of elephants in Africa and the situation as it is on the ground