Our mission is to secure a future for elephants and to sustain the beauty and ecological integrity of the places where they live; to promote man’s delight in their intelligence and the diversity of their world, and to develop a tolerant relationship between the two species.

The charity was founded in 1993 by Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, President & Chief Executive Officer, STE, who made a pioneering study of elephant behaviour in the late '60s in Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania, and has worked on elephant status Africa-wide since. Explorers, conservationists and elephant scientists serve as fellow trustees or advisors to the board.