August 12th, 2014 will mark the third annual World Elephant Day, and people across the planet are creating different action plans to observe the occasion. Launched in 2012 by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation and Canadian documentary filmmaker Patricia Sims, the purpose of world Elephant Day is for people to come together to honour elephants and to spread awareness about the critical threats they are facing. The end goal is to support positive solutions that will help ensure their survival because within our lifetimes, elephants may face global extinction in the wild. Here are five ways you can help, not just on World Elephant day, but any day: 1. Learn about indigenous cultures that have traditionally lived in harmony with elephants. 2. Support orphaned elephants by fostering one whose parents have been killed by poachers. 3. Be an elephant-aware consumer. Never buy ivory or other wildlife products. 4. When travelling, if you wish to experience elephants in their natural habitat, choose eco-tourism operators who support local elephant conservation projects and who treat elephants with respect and dignity. 5. Support organizations that are working to: stop the illegal poaching and trade of elephant ivory and other wildlife products; protect wild elephant habitat; and provide sanctuaries and alternative habitats for domesticated elephants to live freely. What else? You can get involved via social media! - Follow World Elephant Day on Twitter - Follow World Elephant Day on Instagram - Share a World Elephant Day banner on your Facebook page - Tweet your support of elephants with tailored tweets leading up to and on World Elephant Day - Check out the World Elephant Day site for social media tools and more ideas - Use #WorldElephantDay hashtags: #worldelephantday #gogrey Watch this baby elephant take her first steps, just five hours after her birth. Cuteness overload! [HTML1]