Beilenson gets funds to help save elephants

At the behest of Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles), Congress approved $6 million in the federal budget passed last weekend to help save the endangered African elephant from

extinction. In the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, $5 million will be used for elephant protection activities of the Agency for International Development and $1 million will go to the African

Elephant Conservation Trust Fund. The fund, established under a 1988 law sponsored by Beilenson, provides assistance for anti-poaching and conservation activities in Africa. A decade ago,

there were 1.3 million elephants living in the wilds of Africa; today, there are no more than 650,000. MORE TO READ