During their 1987 trip to East Africa, Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg were deeply affected by their first encounter with elephants. While visiting Amboseli National Park, they were introduced to David Western, familiarly known as Jonah, then director of Wildlife Conservation Society's East Africa program. Jonah's description of elephant behavior, of the deep familial bonds within elephant clans and of the devastating impact of the ivory trade sparked a lasting commitment to elephant conservation. The Foundation has worked closely with Jonah ever since:
- Funding the decisive study of the ivory trade that led to the total trade ban in 1989;
- Purchasing a vital elephant corridor between Tarangiere and Lake Manyara National Parks in Tanzania in 1990;
- Funding pivotal studies of elephant human conflict during Jonah's tenure as director of the Kenya Wildlife Service from 1994 to 1996;
- Continuing to support his life-long efforts to conserve elephant populations in the Amboseli ecosystem and across the borderlands of Kenya and Tanzania.
More recently, in response to the resurgence of the illegal ivory trade, the Foundation has begun supporting efforts to protect important elephant population elsewhere in Africa:
- Expanding the ecoguard force in the Nouabale-Ndoki ecosystem in northeastern Republic of Congo;
- Providing training and equipment for anti-poaching teams in important national parks in Gabon and upgrading security in surrounding forest concessions;
- Supporting the efforts of TRAFFIC to control the escalating ivory trade in the border region of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania.
From the beginning, elephants have been the touchstone of the Foundation's dedication to conserving wild animals in the wild.