Global March for Elephants, Rhino & Lions
On Saturday, September 24, hundreds of wildlife advocates will be gathering at Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens at 11am to march in support of elephants, rhino and lions, along with thousands of people around the world.
Melbourne’s Global March, hosted by Australian wildlife groups, My Green World and For the Love of Wildlife (FLOW), will be part of a global movement, where over 160 cities worldwide will demonstrate their commitment to wildlife by marching through the streets.
DATE: September 24 – Southbank (Starting at Alexandria Gardens and marching toward Southbank's Red Stair Amphitheatre)
Gathering at Alexandra Gardens and marching along Southbank toward the Red Stair Amphitheatre, the event will host a range of wildlife conservationists, celebrities and activists who are demanding an end to the trade in elephant, rhino and lion parts that are putting these species on the brink of extinction.
Every year, upwards of 35,000 elephants and 1,200 rhinos are brutally killed by poachers. Their tusks and horns are hacked from their faces and illegally trafficked around the world, mainly to countries in Asia where demand is highest. Heavily armed, well-organized gangs carry out the killing, and in some areas, terrorist groups run the poaching and transport networks for ivory. If the slaughter continues at current levels, elephants, rhinos and lions face extinction in the wild within a generation.
The March will send a message to Delegates of the CITES CoP17 conference in Johannesburg to move all populations of elephants and rhino species to Appendix I status, which will impose a global ban on trade in their body parts, and to reject proposals for trade in ivory or horn.
This year’s hosts, Donalea Patman of For the Animals and Natalie Kyriacou of My Green World, say that they hope the March will put pressure on world leaders to take action to ban the ivory and rhino horn trade, and take action to save these magnificent species from extinction in the wild.“The CITES conference in September, where critical decisions affecting the future of these species will be made, may be the last chance to take bold, principled steps that will give elephants, rhinos and lions a final lifeline to survival,” they said.
The Melbourne March encourages attendees to don an animal onesie and take to the streets in a show of solidarity.