Herd of African bush elephants
© Bea Binka

Adopt An Elephant 

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African and Asian elephants are under threat; around 55 African elephants are killed a day for their tusks.

Key populations are in decline due to poaching and a shrinking habitat. In Asia, elephants have disappeared from approximately 85% of their historic range. Demand for ivory in Asia means poaching is an ever-present threat for African elephants.

Your adoptions will help protect elephant habitats and reduce poaching, and will help fund our vital work around the world. When you choose an animal adoption, you are supporting both your chosen animals as well as wider work to help bring our world back to life.

Ele-fences: Managing Conflict in Kenya

African elephants can pose a great threat to the livelihoods of many communities in east Africa – in the search of water and food, they can cause damage to infrastructure such as water tanks and crops. Conflict between people and elephants can be dangerous for both parties, as elephants are sometimes harmed in retaliation for causing damage, and people can get hurt too.

In 2022, elephant adopters supported initiatives to reduce conflict between people and elephants. This included around 2km of bee-fences around crops, which are safe and effective deterrents as the bees can sting the elephants who then leave the area. The bee-fences for elephants also provide farmers with additional income through harvesting honey and wax. Solar powered, electric elephant-proof fencing has been constructed around 450 acres of crops, protecting the livelihoods of 300 households in the Mara region.

Your Adoption Really Helps

Animal adoptions like yours give a huge boost to our work. They help fund our work to protect elephant habitat, reduce poaching and address human-elephant conflict. They also help fund other vital work around the world.

Adopt an elephant and receive

Cuddly Toy

An optional soft toy to love forever. Toy may vary from image shown.

Welcome Pack

Choose between our standard welcome pack or a pack created for children under 12.

Regular Updates

We'll keep you updated on how you're supporting our vital work including sending your adoption updates three times a year.

Certificate and background

Get a personalised adoption certificate and a lovely elephant video call background.


Elephants play an important role in maintaining their habitat. They’re grazers and browsers, eating large amounts of vegetation every day – which helps shape the landscapes they live in.

 
Map graphic detailing elephant habitat ranges

Threats that elephants face

"There has been a 50% decline in Asian elephant populations over three generations"

Human-elephant conflict

Crop-raiding elephants can cause loss of income, food and even lives. Farmers sometimes kill elephants to protect their family or income.

Silhouette of elephant walking to the right

Habitat loss

As the human population grows, more and more wildlife habitat is lost or fragmented.

Silhouette of a man standing

Poaching

Around 20,000 African elephants are poached every year. Across their range, elephants are killed for their tusks, meat and skin.

"90% of African elephant population has been lost in the last century"

Illegal wildlife trade

The last 10 years have seen a surge in illegal trade in elephant ivory and trafficking levels remain high.


How We Can Help

We’re helping protect habitats and improve connections between fragmented areas where elephants live. We're working with governments and local communities to reduce conflict between people and elephants. And we’re influencing policy and legislation to benefit elephant conservation.

We're working with TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, to help train law enforcement agencies and lobby governments to improve laws on wildlife crime, including the illegal elephant trade.

Your adoption and support will help us:

  • protect habitats and restore degraded biological corridors
  • train and equip anti-poaching patrols
  • work with local communities to monitor elephant movement and reduce human-elephant conflict
  • fund our other essential work around the world

African elephant family with calves

Female elephants live in close family groups, led by the matriarch.


Last minute gift?

Letter thanking supporter for adopting an elephant with WWF
Adopt an elephant as a last minute gift! You can print or email a personalised gift certificate online to give on the day.

Free delivery

We offer free delivery but ask you to consider helping to cover postage with an optional £3 donation taken at checkout. This means more of your gift can go towards supporting your adoption animal and our wider work.

Your pack will be sent within 2-3 working days - but allow up to 5 working days for it to arrive. 

Elephant adoption FAQs

Yes, you can adopt an elephant with WWF. Donations from elephant adoptions go both directly to support elephants, as well as to fund our wider work to protect nature and our planet. Adoptions are symbolic for donating and supporting our conservation work with different species. By adopting an elephant, you will be supporting a whole group of elephants, rather than one individual.

You can adopt an elephant with WWF from just £3 a month via Direct Debit or a £36 one-off payment. To adopt an elephant, select your donation amount on the widget, click 'Adopt Now' and then complete your donation via our secure online checkout. 

You can adopt an elephant with WWF from just £3 a month via Direct Debit or a £36 one-off payment. Your money goes further by Direct Debit as this supports our long-term planning and helps keep our administration costs down.

When you adopt an elephant with WWF, 50% of your donation will fund programs of work that directly support elephants while the remaining 50% will fund other projects that need it most. After adopting an elephant you'll receive a welcome pack including an optional toy and note from the WWF team welcoming you on board. We'll keep you updated on how you're supporting our vital work by sending you three adoption updates a year. 

Elephant adoptions help us; work with wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC; lobby governments to improve laws on wildlife crime & the illegal elephant trade; train and equip anti-poaching patrols.

Sadly both Asian and African elephants are both critically endangered. Around 55 African elephants are killed every day for their ivory. Elephant poaching combined with habitat loss means that in Asia, elephants have disappeared from around 85% of their historic range, and African elephant populations have shrunk by 90% in the last century.