If John Lewis’s Moz the Monster or Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot have failed to bring a tear to your eye this festive season, the WWF’s Christmas advert is here to thaw your icy heart. Created as part of their ‘Just Like Us’ campaign, the video shows an elephant crying as it watches poachers gun down one of its herd for its tusks.
According to the video - and also most science, elephants are “complex beings” with feelings just like us. Despite the organisation’s best efforts to end the illegal trade, more elephants are being killed for their tusks than are being born - around 55 elephants every day. These are then used to make trinkets and ornaments that are then sold for huge sums of money on the illegal black market.
Tanya Steele, WWF chief executive, hopes the advert will inspire people to get behind ending the illegal wildlife trade which is threatening to undo decades of conservation work. “Like all of us, elephants vary in many characteristics, emotions and personalities”, she says. “The impact of poaching not only threatens the future of elephants, but it is strongly felt among them and leaves a lasting impression. Time and time again we see elephants grieve for those tragically killed.”
The message in the clip is hugely different from that sent out by the UK government’s vote yesterday which saw MPs vote for the notion that “animals cannot feel pain or emotions”, a move strongly criticized by animal rights activists.
To find out more about the #JustLikeUs campaign or get involved, head to the WWF website and, in the meantime, brace yourselves for some very sad elephants.
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