Taking advantage of the ongoing political instability in Central African Republic, poachers massacre dozens of elephants.

The animal kingdom is flush with moms that take the time to teach their babies how to find food and protect themselves against the elements.

Elephants, found in both Africa and Asia, are vital to maintaining the rich biodiversity of the ecosystems that they share with other species. Here's a snapshot of what you should know about the species.

This month in Bangkok, where 178 nations have convened to discuss global wildlife trade, many of the country delegates are publicly expressing urgency and seriousness of the crisis. As poaching rates for African elephants and rhinos soar to catastrophic heights, member nations of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) took action.

Last week, that rare moment happened with 1.5 million voices from 227 countries and territories coming together in a call to end the ivory trade in Thailand, home to one of the biggest unregulated ivory markets in the world. Their shared vision: to save the world's elephants.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pledged to start a legislative process to end ivory trade in Thailand, seizing a key opportunity to stem global wildlife trafficking at the opening of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Bangkok.

WWF handed over a global petition with more than half a million initial signatures from around the world demanding an end to Thailand's ivory trade. The petition was delivered personally to Prime Minister Shinawatra today in Bangkok.

WWF has launched a global petition asking Thai Prime Minister to ban all ivory trade in Thailand in order to curb the illegal killing of African elephants. Thailand is the biggest unregulated ivory market in the world and a top driver of poaching and illegal trade.

A major ivory seizure in Hong Kong uncovered roughly four tons of ivory products—estimated to be valued at over $3.4 million and potentially equivalent to 500 elephants.

The maize harvest is a crucial source of food for the Kakwenga family in but erratic rains and raids by elephants make a good harvest problematic. Farmers can’t guard their crops twenty-four hours a day so they have started using chili bombs—a mixture of ingredients which give off a spicy, pungent smell that offends elephants’ sensitive trunks and drives them away from crops.

On September 21, 2012, WWF and The Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) announced a first-ever partnership with faith leaders from across Africa to unite against the killing of endangered species caused by illegal wildlife trade.