Bronx Zoo Wages Paper War Vs. Elephant Poaching

By LISA FLAUGH

 The Bronx Zoo celebrated breaking a Guinness World Record on Thursday earning the title for “Largest Display of Origami Elephants.”

 The display included 78,564 folded paper elephants, a colorful and elaborate display that combined elephants folded from all 50 states and 40 countries around the world.  The display was part of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s “96 Elephants” campaign to raise awareness of the 96 elephants poached every day for their ivory in Africa.

 “Stop the killing, stop the trafficking, stop the demand,” said John Calvelli, Wildlife Conservation Society Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Director of 96 Elephants Campaign. He added that the campaign was designed for “making sure that you realize every time you buy that ivory, what you’re doing is helping destabilize Africa and kill elephants. The campaign brings several organizations together with the simple message, ‘We need to work together and we need to change the way we do business.’”

In September the Manhattan DA’s office and the state Department of Environmental Conservation seized $4.5 million worth of ivory from the Metropolitan Fine Arts and Antiques Co. at 10 West 57^th Street in  Manhattan. “I will tell you that this isn’t a problem somewhere in Asia or somewhere in other parts of the world, it’s a problem right here in New York,” continued Calvelli.  “In so many ways New York sets the stage, followed by California, and next comes Hawaii. Those three are the largest ivory markets in the United States. I was happy to participate in the largest seizure of ivory in New York History.”

 The record setting display will not be open to the public due to its large size, but many of the origami elephants will be incorporated into the holiday exhibit in the Zoo Center for public viewing through the month of December. The exhibit will symbolize the global support generated by the 96 elephants campaign and will display the origami art sent in from countries like Israel, Iran, Italy, Egypt, Columbia and Kazakhstan.

“Fundamentally, these are countries that may not talk to each other very much,” said Calvelli. “But the people themselves realize that there are many things that bring us together and saving elephants and saving our natural world is one of them.”