What is National Elephant Appreciation Day?

September 22nd was National Elephant Appreciation Day. We know there’s a day for everything these days and maybe that’s annoying, but we can’t not mention it, since we are named after elephants.

But what is National Elephant Appreciation Day? And why are elephants so amazing? In this article, we’ll show you why we chose to name our business after these majestic creatures.

Some facts about elephants

First, we need to start by telling you why elephants are so incredible. Since their population is declining because of poachers and the environmental impacts of our existence, many people appreciate these animals from afar, but do not understand just what an epic loss it would be if we were to drive them to extinction.

To help you understand just how incredible they are, here are our favourite facts about elephants.

• The African Elephant is the world’s largest land mammal. It can grow as large as three metres high and weigh up to six tonnes. At birth, babies weigh somewhere around 19 stone.
• There are two species of elephant – African and Asian – and you can tell them apart by their ears. They also have different trunks. African elephants have two fingers at the end of their trunk, whereas Asian elephants have none.
• Their trunks are incredible. They have 150,000 muscles within it and this gives them an epic amount of control. They can use it to pick up a nut, shell it, blow it out, then eat the nut.
• Their tusks are teeth. They appear when they are two years old and then grow for the rest of their lives. Elephants use them to take bark from trees and dig up roots. They also use them in defense when they are fighting. Tusks are made from ivory and are highly sought after by poachers. Their existence puts elephants in direct danger, and is part of the reason they are going extinct.
• Their skin is 2.5cm thick.
• They need 150kg of food each day and so are constantly eating.
• Some of their communication trumpets are so low that humans cannot hear them. They also talk to each other through body language, touch, scent, and vibrations they send through the ground.
• Calves stand up right away. They’re on their feet within twenty minutes.
• Their temporal lobes are huge, which means they have a super memory. That’s why we say ‘an elephant never forgets’.
• 90% of African elephants are gone. They’ve been wiped out through a variety of factors in the last one hundred years. Organisations like WWF – where we got this amazing elephant information – are doing their best to protect and assist elephants, but it takes effort from everyone if we want to make sure our children and grandchildren can see elephants in real life and not only in picture format.

What is the point of National Elephant Appreciation Day?

National Elephant Appreciation Day was started in 1996 to raise awareness of the plight of elephants and the actions we need to take to protect them.

We’ve missed it this year, but if you want to observe elephants next year, we recommend you visit them in your local zoo.

You should also take some time to learn about the conservation of elephants and how you can help eliminate poaching.

There are some incredible books you can read about elephants, including ‘The Elephant Whisperer’ by Lawrence Anthony or Love, Live and Elephants: An African Love Story by Daphne Sheldrick. Both books will help you better understand how magnificent elephants are and how much danger they are in.

You can also post your support and appreciation for elephants on the hashtag #ElephantAppreciationDay.

Ways to help elephants

The best way to help elephants is to learn about their plight and to talk about it, whether that is in person with people or online.

Elephants are in a lot of danger. We’ve wiped out millions of them in just a few short decades.

If you have the means to, you can also adopt an elephant through a charity like WWF. They say that forty-seven elephants a day are killed for their tusks and shrinking habitat is a major threat to both species.

If you adopt an elephant, you’ll get a cuddly toy, a welcome pack, regular updates about WWF and their work with elephants, a certificate, and a background for your computer.

WWF protects habitats and restore damaged biological corridors, train and equip anti-poaching patrols, and work with local communities to monitor movement and reduce human-elephant conflict.

Ely for Elephants

We like to think we’re doing a little bit extra for elephants when we make our mattresses environmentally friendly. Ely mattresses are made from recyclable materials, which means they won’t spend years rotting in a landfill, and because our materials are all natural, there’s no huge industrial process involved with making them.

You can buy cheaper, more environmentally damaging mattresses online, though we know it is unlikely you do this by choice. To help you swallow the cost, we offer 0% interest free credit on mattresses, so if you’re concerned about paying a little more to protect the planet, there is no need.

It’s really important that we all take steps towards a greener future, for the sake of elephants and other animals like them. We hope you will join us u=on this journey.