Save the African elephant

Tide For Tusks was established to raise awareness for poaching of African elephants and promote a deeper understanding of the trafficking of endangered wildlife.  
Our primary goals are to fund the efforts for elephant conservation in partnership with the African Wildlife Trust and support scholarly research for undergraduate, graduate, and post graduate studies at The University of Alabama.

Working with the African Wildlife Trust and Ivory Orphans in Tanzania is extremely important and makes Tide for Tusks unique among other mascot conservation programs. Integrating scholarly research and service learning projects that best communicate and bring about awareness and conservation for the African elephant it at the heart of Tide for Tusks. Through research and hands on activities students will have the opportunity to engage in field assessments that will result in more and higher quality learning opportunities all focused on saving the African elephant. Join us and help save this gentle giant! Care. Share. Give!
Order a pair of The Elephant Pants from the Roll Tide Collection and up to $2 will be donated to Tide for Tusks!

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Elephant facts

  • African elephants are the largest land mammals on the planet.
  • Their brains have more complex folds than all animals except whales, which is thought to be a major factor in making them some of the most intelligent animals on Earth.
  • The elephant’s trunk is able to sense the size, shape, and temperature of an object.
  • Elephants commonly show grief, humor, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, tool use, playfulness, and excellent learning abilities.
  • There are many reports of elephants showing altruism toward other species, such as rescuing trapped dogs at considerable cost to themselves.
  • Elephants demonstrate concern for members of their families and take care of weak or injured members of the herd.
  • Elephants grieve for their dead. There are reported cases of elephants burying dead humans.

Stop the demand

  • Over 20,000 African elephants were poached in 2013
  • Ivory-seeking poachers have killed 100,000 African elephants in just three years
  • Central Africa has lost 64% of its elephants in a decade
  • In China and Asia, ivory is viewed as a sign of wealth
  • The demand for ivory among middle class populations in China has driven the black market price up to around $2,500 per pound
  • More than 1,000 rangers and scouts have died protecting these animals in the past decade – that’s an average of about 2 people per week

We can do something!  We can use our university mascot, combined with our considerable intellectual and social capital, to raise awareness about poaching and to support worldwide conservation efforts for the African elephant.  

Care. Share. Give.

We cannot allow the animal that our beloved mascot represents to disappear from the plains of Africa. Like us on Facebook and share your "Tuskie" to show your support for saving the elephants! Your gift will help provide conservation and scholarly research to help save the African elephant.