Bella's Elephants

Who        Bella Kohrs, 7 (Bixby, OK)
What      Raise awareness and US funds to help save
               elephants in Africa
When      Beginning April 2007 - 1,000,000 signatures
Where    Zakouma National Park, Chad, Africa
Why        Save the elephants
How        Sign this petition / letter to President Bush

              Email to: bellaselephants@hotmail.com

            Or send to: Bella Kohrs, 6819 E. 116th St., Bixby, OK   74008

Bella, a seven year old second grader at Undercroft Montessori in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is working on collecting 1,000,000 signatures on her petition to President Bush to help save the elephants. Once collected, she will request that the U.S. government send $1 for every signature to help save the elephants in Zakouma National Park. This would match the one million dollars given each year by the European Union to the Zakouma National Park.

Bella’s story begins with J. Michael Fay’s article in National Geographic in March 2007. It described poachers’ decimation of the elephant population protected by the Zakouma National Park. Bella wanted to help, so she sat down and wrote a letter to the President, asking him to help too. Then she began her own long trek. She took the petition to her school Undercroft Montessori in Tulsa and started collecting signatures. She’s taken it to the Writer’s Conference at OSU-Tulsa, All Souls Unitarian Church, Jenks High School, OU-Schusterman, and St. Francis Hospital. She has contacted the Mayor’s office, Brady Theater and the Tulsa Zoo to ask them to help. The Brady will post the petition at their sight for its staff to sign. The Tulsa Zoo has invited her out to collect signatures during Earth Day, April 21, from 12 – 2.

Bella’s not stopping there. She is engaging children around the United States to become involved. She’s sent petitions to friends in Ohio, Kansas, Illinois, California, New York and Texas. In her words, “I want there to be elephants left when I’m grown up. I want my children to be able to see them.”

Come out to the Tulsa Zoo on Saturday, April 21, and sign. Or, download the petition and take it around your school, office, church, wherever people meet. Your signature means one more dollar that will go toward saving these majestic creatures.



National Geographic
IVORY WARS  Last Stand in Zakouma     
By J. Michael Fay

Poachers in Chad are gunning down some of Africa's last great elephant herds whenever they leave Zakouma National Park.

What comes next for Zakouma? The situation in southeastern Chad is eerily reminiscent of the Central African Republic during the 1980s. We were in an all-out war against hundreds of armed men from Sudan, rampaging on horses and camels—the kind of men now known as janjaweed. Despite our efforts, we watched the black rhino driven to extinction over a large area and elephants reduced to 5 percent of their original populations.

There is a direct connection between depletion of natural resources, including wildlife, and human conflict. The sanctuary of Zakouma is not only a critical last stand for elephants in central Africa but also a force for peace and stability in the region. But if poaching outside Zakouma by villagers living on its periphery, or by nomadic herders, is to be stopped, management must be extended throughout the entire range of the elephants. A wider peace for elephants—and humans.

Note to Readers
Because its staff has stood firm in the face of adversity, Zakouma remains the best protected park in central Africa. But the fight to save Zakouma's elephants is urgent. The Chadian authorities have pledged to safeguard the herds when they leave the park during the wet season. Information networks must be strengthened, and collaboration with Chad's military reinforced. In addition, an airplane is needed for daily surveillance. For more information, go to  http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0703/feature1