Sex and the City Star Awarded for Being a Friend to Elephants

by Annie Hartnett · 2011-02-07 08:00:00 UTC
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Award Season is in full-swing, and we already know that Sex and the City 2 won't walk away with any great honors. But one of the SATC ladies won't be leaving Award Season empty-handed: The Humane Society of the United States is honoring Kristin Davis with the Wyler Award this year.

The Wyler Award is given during the annual  Genesis Awards, a ceremony honoring celebrities who are making a difference in animal welfare. Previous Wyler Award honorees include Sir Paul McCartney, Hayden Panettiere, and Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi.

The HSUS explains why they're favoring Ms. Charlotte York Goldenblatt this year: "The Wyler Award will be given to Kristin Davis in recognition of the attention she has brought to the plight of orphaned African elephants impacted by the increase in elephant poaching for their ivory tusks."

It's definitely one for the mantel, and Kristin Davis has already expressed her enthusiasm over the award: “I am so excited to receive the Wyler Award from the Humane Society of the United States, as it gives me the opportunity to keep talking about an issue that’s a profound labor of love for me. Elephants are truly amazing animals and they need our protection, and what people in this country may not realize is that they can help by not buying ivory items.”

Kristin Davis's passion for protecting elephants began on a wildlife safari to Africa two years ago, when she rescued an abandoned baby elephant named Chaimu. Davis arranged for Chaimu to be taken to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a rehabilitation program for orphaned elephants and rhinos. The Sheldrick orphanage cares for these animals until they can be re-released into the wild.

Since that safari, Kristin Davis has become a voice for elephants, fighting against the sale of ivory jewelry in the U.S. Despite a 20-year-old ban on ivory imports, the U.S. is the second largest consumer of ivory. Loopholes in the current law allow for the sale of “antique” ivory jewelry, which is often not antique at all, and is instead the product of elephant poaching.

The U.S. continues to contribute to the slaughter of African elephants by allowing ivory jewelry to be sold at all. In the last thirty years, the number of wild elephants in Africa has dropped from 1.2 million to approximately 420,000.

Some retailers, such as eBay, have chosen to ban the sale of ivory products completely. But Etsy, eBay's competitor, continues to allow the sale of legal ivory. There's no way to know for certain whether the ivory is actually antique, so many Etsy users may be unknowingly contributing to the poaching of elephants.

Sign our petition asking Etsy to help stop elephant poaching by banning all ivory products from the site.

Photo Credit: Alexdecarvalho

Annie Hartnett is a writer and animal advocate who has worked for several wildlife rehabilitation centers and environmental programs.

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