Pratik Patel,
AWT Founder
While you probably care about elephants being poached for their ivory, you might not fully realise how the ongoing slaughter of tens of thousands of elephants annually may be impacting your life.
Ivory is extremely valuable and like diamonds, it is not only funding civil and tribal wars within Africa’s boundaries, but also terrorist organisations.
Thirty thousand. That is the number of African elephants that were killed in 2012 for their tusks.
The annual value of illegally harvested and sold ivory and rhino horn is estimated at $8 billion. The problem however goes beyond the thousands of bloodied, lifeless carcasses of majestic African giants… Continue reading
What Is AWT?
Born in Africa to Protect Africa
The African Wildlife Trust (AWT) was developed in Africa out of concern for the poaching of elephant populations of Tanzania. This concern grew to an awareness campaign, the establishment of a specialized anti-poaching unit and a team of conservation consultants to focus on proactive, effective wildlife law enforcement.
AWT was founded by Pratik Patel, a third generation Tanzanian whose family has a successful and long-standing photo safari business, bringing to light the phrase “Born in Africa to Protect Africa”. Pratik’s “on-the-ground”, day to day presence sets AWT apart from most. Since first witnessing what is happening to elephants at a rate that can only lead to extinction, Pratik has spent a great deal of his own money in the fight to protect these majestic creatures. With the growing challenge that poaching Africa’s endangered wildlife was presenting, Pratik recognized Continue reading
Recent News
Tanzania to Deploy Army, Drones in Anti-Poaching Campaign
By Deodatus Balile, Source: Sabahi
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania is taking steps to combat the rise in elephant and rhinoceros poaching by deploying army personnel and camera-equipped drones to engage in anti-poaching operations.
According to the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, poaching has drastically reduced the elephant population to fewer than 70,000 in 2012 from about 109,000 in 2009.
Amid outcries from lawmakers about the increase in poaching, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Khamis Sued Kagasheki told parliament on Thursday (May 2nd) that President Jakaya Kikwete has authorised the deployment of army units for anti-poaching operations. Continue reading
Click to learn how artist Robert Louis Caldwell's "Thirty-Three Project" is helping to raise funds and awareness to stop the killing of 33 African Elephants in Tanzania each day for their ivory.
