Great news for elephants!

I'm thrilled to share this incredible news: Governor Jerry Brown has signed AB 96, the bill to ban the ivory trade and protect African elephants! Thanks to many thousands of activists, including more than 27,000 CLCV supporters, state lawmakers stood up to powerful opponents like the National Rifle Association and ivory dealers and closed a critical loophole in California law with AB 96. By shutting down the second-largest illegal market for ivory in the nation, AB 96 deals a significant blow to global poachers.

California's leadership on stopping the illegal ivory trade is incredibly important, but right now we need to keep the momentum going, because federal regulations are lagging behind California's newest law. To his credit, President Barack Obama has proposed new rules to stop the flow of ivory into the United States, but his proposal could be even stronger. Please urge the President to strengthen federal ivory rules by closing the antiques loophole: Take action now at http://ecovote.org/SaveTheElephants.

Ninety-six elephants are killed every day for their ivory — that's 35,000 of these majestic animals killed each year. Because African elephants are now being poached at a higher rate than they are being born, they are heading toward extinction unless we can stop the demand for ivory.

You may recall the story we shared about a baby elephant named Losoito, who lived for only a few days after his family was killed by poachers for their tusks. Losoito’s tragic story motivated thousands of our members to take action — an incredible 27,000 sent emails and called their lawmakers, and many donated what they could afford to help us get this bill to the governor’s desk and signed into law.

I am proud that, when Californians saw an unspeakable tragedy taking place all the way across the world, we said “NO” to our state being one of the nation’s biggest markets for illegal ivory stolen from majestic African elephants.

Again, thanks to our members for standing together with me and with thousands of other Californians to protect elephants. Our state has taken action to stop our role in the elephant slaughter with AB 96. Now, let's close the loophole in proposed federal rules: Urge President Obama to strengthen new ivory rules by closing the antiques loophole at the federal level.

Thank you for everything you do to protect the world’s precious wildlife.