Elephant news lately has not been hopeful. Daily reports document a devastating crisis claiming roughly 35,000 of these highly social and intelligent animals a year. Killed for their tusks to satisfy today's nearly insatiable ivory demand, elephants are disappearing at an alarming rate from countries where they were once abundant.

Against the backdrop of declines in east and central Africa (where a catastrophic 65 percent of the forest elephant population has been killed since 2002), as well as in Asia, it is essential to celebrate conservation efforts that are working to protect these magnificent animals so that these efforts can be supported, expanded, and replicated.

One bright spot has been the successful protection of elephants in three national parks in the Republic of Congo. In each park — Nouabale-Ndoki, Odzala-Kokoua, and Conkouati-Douli — elephant numbers have remained steady for almost a decade as poaching has been prevented and elephants from surrounding logging concessions have sought refuge in these places of safety.