About Pachyderm Power!
Kristal Parks, MA is a passionate speaker, biologist, elephant conservationist, author, environmentalist, children’s entertainer and visionary.
When I was 7 years old, my family moved to Mexico City, where I learned about the suffering and injustice of poverty. As an adult, I lived as a semi-hermit for 2 years in the intimate embrace of a forest. What I learned from these 2 formative experiences guides my vision and actions. I have volunteered in refugee camps, helped end apartheid in South Africa and was jailed for non-violent activism against nuclear weapons. I have also advocated alongside Indigenous groups to protect the Amazon, supported the disabled community and aided immigrants and refugees held in detention. I embrace Creation Spirituality, asserting that collaboration with animals, plants and Indigenous wisdom is key to saving the planet.
Ever since I first glimpsed a family of elephants roaming wild and free, I have been committed to elephant conservation. Watching baby elephants frolic in the mud under the gentle guard of female adults fills me with awe. Seeing a bull elephant in all his majestic power stirs my spirit. I am compelled to act, to do everything in my capability to safeguard these magnificent creatures for generations to come. That passion led me to devote myself to elephant protection efforts across the US, Asia, South Africa, and Kenya beginning in 2003. I strive to ensure a future where elephants can thrive, undiminished.
In 2005, I founded Pachyderm Power!, which has worked to stop elephant poaching in Kenya. My efforts created a national club of over 1,000 students passionate about elephant conservation. In the US, my activism helped end the use of elephants in the Ringling Brothers Circus.
