World Elephant Day 2020: From Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe to Periyar National Park in India, 5 Places to See Elephants Across the World

World Elephant Day is an international annual event held on August 12. The day promotes preservation and protection of the world’s elephants. African elephants are listed as “Vulnerable” and Asian elephants as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Asian elephant numbers have dropped by at least 50% over the last three generations, and they're still in decline today. With only 40,000-50,000 left in the wild, the species is classified as endangered. On World Elephant Day 2020, we take a look at some of the places you will find elephants. From South Africa to India, here is a list of elephant conservation places where you can see the jumbos right next to you. World Elephant Day 2020 Date And Significance: Know The History of the Day That Celebrates the Magnificent Creatures.

World Elephant Day was conceived in 2011 by Canadian filmmakers Patricia Sims and Michael Clark of Canazwest Pictures, and Sivaporn Dardarananda, Secretary-General of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation in Thailand. The day was officially founded, supported and launched by Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation on August 12, 2012. Take a look at elephant centres around the world. When Elephants Saved Humans! These Moving Instances of Jumbos’ Bravery Rescuing People From Tragic Situations Will Inspire You to Become Better Person! (Watch Videos)

1. Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home, Sri Lanka

The Elephant Transit Home sponsored by the Born Free Foundation is home to baby elephants that are injured or orphaned in the wild. Once they are strong to be released in the wild, they are radio-collared and released into Udawalawe National Park in groups. You can approximately find 300 elephants between August to September around the Minneriya reservoir.

2. Chobe National Park, Botswana

Botswana's famous Chobe National Park has the largest population of elephants in Africa. There are around 120,000-130,000 in the country. Best sightings are in the months between June to November, when the elephants come for grazing.

3. Periyar National Park, India

The Periyar National Park in Kerala, India is a tiger reserve and is also known for its elephants. With rich biodiversity, plenty of other animals can also be found in the national park.

4. Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Hwange National Park in Africa has 45,000 elephants. You can see them particularly between the months of July to October.

5. Elephant Nature Park, Thailand 

This is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation centre where the jumbos with terrible past experiences are taken care and nurtured. They promote sustainable elephant-friendly tourism.

Elephants are beautiful magnificent creatures that are a blessing to the Earth. But due to human intervention including poaching, man-animal-conflict, habitat loss, these jumbos have lost their homes in the process. Let's pledge to make the Earth a better place for jumbos!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 12, 2020 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).