My favorite scene in the live-action Jungle Book is the one where Bagheera and Mowgli are walking through the jungle and a herd of elephants come through, and Bagheera tells Mowgli to show them respect. Mowgli asks why, and Bagheera says, “The elephants created this jungle. Where they made furrows with their tusks the rivers ran. Where they blew their trunks the leaves fell. They made all that belongs – the mountains, the trees, the birds in the trees”.

Yeah, I know this is just a fantastical scene from a fantastical story, but what if I told you it's sort of true? Rachel Nuwer's article “Here’s What Might Happen to Local Ecosytems If All the Rhinos Disappear,” says that elephants, rhinos and several other species are known as keystone animals. Literally, everything they do helps creates ecosystems - everything from what they eat, to what they knock down, to where they go creates ecosytems. Without them, the ecosystems can’t survive. Elephants and rhinos really do create their worlds. But, with the fact that elephants are endangered and rhinos critically so, they may not do so for long.

The African Wildlife Foundation’s page on poaching says that elephants, rhinos, lions, gorillas and zebras are all going extinct. When they do go extinct, we don’t just lose animals. It wreaks havoc on Africa’s ecosystems and economy, and thus the lives of the people and animals who live there.

I know that donating to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) doesn’t seem like something people living in Boone, North Carolina really have to care about, but you should. This isn’t just the lives of a bunch of amazing animals at risk – it’s an entire continent.

So, why donate?

Donating will actually help prevent extinction. It is possible. In fact, Giant Pandas were recently announced to be no longer classified as endangered. National Geographic posted an article on September 4^th announcing that they are now classified as vulnerable due to a “a marked decrease in poaching … and a huge expansion of the animals' habitat.” So, we can prevent extinction. Unfortunately, according to Dereck Joubert’s National Geographic article “Imagine a World Without Lions," “We are losing one rhino every 8.5 hours, five elephants every hour, and five lions a day to poaching, conflict, hunting, and human encroachment.” All are critically endangered. What’s worse is that when a mother is killed, her young die too because they cannot survive on their own. So how does your money help?

1. Elephant Conservation Areas:

Elephants need space to roam but often trample crops and anger farmers and communities. Community members are trained to watch elephants and prevent them from destroying crops, but even better is a conservation space for them. These spaces give them room to roam without destroying the livelihoods of the people around them.

2.The Rhino Sanctuaries:

AWF also uses your money to build rhino sanctuaries and conservation areas. The Black Rhino population is down 97.6% since 1960, so they are desperately in need of our help.

3. Wildlife Scouts and Rangers:

AWF trains wildlife scouts to notice suspicious activity and apprehend poachers and hunters. These scouts and rangers know the land, the communities, and the wildlife well.

Those are just three of the multitude of ways AWF uses your donations to help Africa. However, you should also know that when you donate you're not just helping African Wildlife. You are also helping the ecosystems and economies in Africa.

If you go to soselephants.org you will find all sorts of information about elephants. What I find particularly amazing is how elephants as a keystone species work. It's incredible. It also goes for rhinos too, as they are also classified as keystones species. I know I mentioned this before, but, basically, as keystone species, everything they do and do not do, everywhere they do and do not go, everything they do and do not eat and what is or is not in their dung is vitally important to their ecosystems. Without elephants and rhinos, ecosystems in Africa will fall apart.

Lions are not a keystone species, but they are also very important to Africa as a whole. According to Joubert, "Without lions to prey on them, for example, the buffalo, hyenas, and other mid-range predators on the plains where I live would have soaring populations. Buffalo would become dominant and, absent the lion threat, would be content to stay in one place, making them more vulnerable to existence-threatening parasites. Predators keep prey vital."

Not only are ecosystems hurt, but economies in Africa are hurt just as much when these animals go extinct. However, your money can help. Joubert says in his article that not many people would come to Africa to go on safaris if they were not able to see lions, and I would add elephants, rhinos, gorillas and zebras to that list as well. The huge problem with this, according to Joubert, is that without this money from safaris, local communities become poorer and sicker, and don’t have the will to preserve wildlife.

So, by donating, you are not only helping to preserve these animals, you are also providing jobs for people who previously had none. On AWF’s Community Empowerment page you will see that AWF trains people to be scouts and rangers, teaching them to be conservationists and providing them with a livelihood.

This also helps with education in Africa, as AWF partners with countries to build schools in return for a conservation area, which is what happened in Zambia. In order to build the elephant conservation area, AWF partnered with Zambia to rebuild the Lupani School. Now not only do the elephants have land, but the people have a place to receive an education where they previously had none.

These animals are endangered, and they could go extinct, but it’s not impossible to save them. With the efforts of the AWF, it is possible that, like the Giant Pandas, elephants, rhinos, lions, zebras and gorillas could all be saved.

The wildlife of Africa are not just animals – they are crucial to the environment, the people, the economy and each other. They should not have to fight to survive.

Believe me, I know how hard it is to spend money when it doesn’t seem to directly benefit the spender, especially as broke college students. But $25? That’s not going to make or break you. But it will make a difference to Africa – to its land, to its wildlife, to its people. To learn more and to donate, click this link right here: http://www.awf.org/donate

They'll even send you a free calendar.