TULSA – A local nonprofit group is working to keep some of the world’s most gentle giants safe from harm.

The founder and chairman of ElephantRescue.net held a fundraiser Saturday at Whole Foods on 91st and Yale.

He says elephants are amazing animals and that they deserve to be protected.

“The nature of elephants is such that they can’t bear the thought of being away from each other. A female elephant, when she has a baby, a cow has a calf, they never part. They are together for the rest of their lives, every minute.”

Because of this connection, generations of elephants stick together.

One of the main reasons elephant numbers are dwindling has been because of poachers. Thousands of elephants are killed annually for ivory.

Phillip Hathaway, the founder of Elephant Rescue, will be featured in the February edition of Tulsa People Magazine. So be sure to look for that issue!

Elephants are many times closer to their families than humans. Some who are kidnapped from their families miss them so terribly that they literally die of a broken heart. Sometimes the babies witness their mothers and fathers being killed by the kidnappers and the trauma is too profound, also causing to loss of the will to live.

“Culling” or killing elephants for so-called “sport,” which might be more accurately described as joy killing, is not a intelligent option. Vaccines have been successfully used that prevent cows from becoming pregnant, thus easily controlling the population.

Read Executive Briefing: African Elephants