Adopt an Elephant!? - Julie Gross

Adopt and Elephant?!

by Julie Gross

There are many different animals you can adopt. You have your standard cats and dogs and then your more unique pets like ferrets or flying squirrels. However, did you know you can adopt an alligator or beluga whale? Technically yes, but they aren’t going to be in your living room. You can “adopt” all sorts of animals through a site called secure.defenders.org.

Defenders of Wildlife is a conservation group that’s mission is to protect native animals. It was founded in 1947 and is still going strong. They focus their efforts mostly on endangered species or on animals that are close to being endangered. There are 85 different animals you can adopt on the Defenders of Wildlife website. There are elephants, wolves, whales, arctic foxes, pandas, or any exotic animal you want! People might  doubt that adopting an animal or donating to the organization would help, but it does. All the money goes towards protecting animals and their habitats.

Now, actually adopting the animal is the fun part. Go to secure.defenders.org. Hover over the “Wild Places and Wildlife” heading and then click on animals. Scroll through the 85 unique animals and pick your favorite. On the sidebar there will be  something that says, “Adopt a …” and click on that. Some of the animals you can’t adopt, but you can still donate money to organizations that help them. After you click on the adopt an animal sidebar the best page pops up, the place where you can actually adopt the animal! There are several different package levels you can choose from, ranging from $15 to $90. The basic package comes with a fact sheet, a picture of the animal, and a certificate of adoption. The next package up includes all of those and a stuffed animal!! As the package price increases so does the amount of cool things you get too, and the money all goes towards saving your favorite animal! Personally I would adopt a desert tortoise, an orca, a sea turtle, or a shark. I can’t choose! I bet you won’t be able to either. There are so many unique animals to save. I mean who else in Kansas could say, “I own an elephant”? A penguin or sea otter would make a great gift too! Most people would love to own a wild animal, and Defenders of Wildlife gets you pretty close. Please help support these animals by adopting or donating. By doing so you won’t have to go to zoos to see these animals but get to see them be happy in their natural habitats.