On Sunday, Royal Oak will join more than 100 other cities around the world as part of the Global March for Elephants, Rhinos, and Lions, a day of action protesting poaching and the illegal ivory trade.
In Michigan, organizers are calling for the end the commercial sale of ivory in the state. The march will feature speakers like Rep. Henry Yanez of Sterling Heights, who recently introduced HB 4509, a bill that would prohibit the sale, purchase, barter, or possession with intent to sell of ivory or rhinoceros horn. Jill Fritz, the Michigan senior state director of the Humane Society, will also speak.
The march begins at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 at Citizen Yoga (500 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak) and ends Royal Oak City Hall, where the keynote speakers will address the crowd.
According to organizers, if current rates of poaching continues, elephants could be extinct within a decade.
Read more at the Global March for Elephants official site, and watch a video about crisis below:
This article appears in Sep 23-29, 2015.
