2008-12-30 - Los Angeles, United States. Brenda Scott Royce
My last post here, about the efforts by animal activists to halt construction of the Los Angeles Zoo's new elephant habitat, sparked more debate than anything I've previously written. As I've followed the firestorm of comments here and in other media outlets, I've been increasingly struck by what has become the rallying cry of Los Angeles's anti-zoo crowd: "Free Billy." It's cute and catchy, but utterly disingenuous.
2008-12-30 - Washington, United States. Brendan Borrell
In November, Brendan Borrell wrote about eBay's coming ban on the sale of ivory products and why it may not be such a great idea. The ban goes into effect Thursday. If, like me, you have always wanted to get a carved, elephant-ivory snuff box for that special someone, this holiday season may well be your last opportunity. The online auction site eBay announced on Oct. 20 that it would ban nearly all ivory sales on its auction sites effective Jan. 1. Last month, the company was embarrassed by the...
2008-12-24 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
have a vacancy for a Deputy Section Head to join our team of a Section Head and 3 Keepers caring for our Asian elephants - a group of 4 females with the youngest born here at Twycross. Another of the herd has been artificially inseminated and the calf is expected in summer 2009. We have a close contact approach to elephant management and train them to obey commands, enabling healthcare maintenance to be carried out. Our training regime is calm and consistent and the right keeper will demonstrate...
2008-12-21 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Can you imagine an orphanage that's a happy place? 60 Minutes couldn't, but then we found one. The kids don't arrive here smiling. Like orphans all over the world, they've been abandoned. They're hungry, sad and desperate. But after a few years, they're healthy, well-fed and happy. As correspondent Bob Simon reports, this orphanage is for elephants, located outside Nairobi, Kenya. They've been orphaned because their parents - their mothers mainly - have died, or more likely, been killed in the b...
2008-12-18 - Buttala, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Tree Tops Jungle Lodge has been honoured with the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Award 2008 at an award ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tree Tops is a basic mud- and tree-hut ecolodge entirely run and managed by staff recruited in a remote community where hunter-gathering is the traditional lifestyle combined with slash-burn farming. Situated in lowland Uva, 10 km from Buttala, the lodge is located in dryzone Weliara bush jungle in Southeastern Sri Lanka, a wilderness and slash and...
2008-12-18 - Victoria Falls, United States. Quentin Jones
Representatives of Wild Horizons have confirmed that earlier this week Gavin Best, an experienced and well respected handler of captive elephants used in their tourist elephant-back safari rides, was killed in a horrific and tragic incident by one of the elephants in his care. They have suspended their elephant tourism interactions whilst the incident is investigated. Wild Horizons recently established the ‘Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust’ to support their commercial elephant-back tours and e...
2008-12-18 - Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Nora Schultz
Are elephants the bullies of the national parks? Should they be culled to give other creatures a look-in at the water hole? These are questions that were asked recently when figures showed that, as some elephant populations have increased due to reduced poaching and creation of artificial water holes, other herbivore species have declined. But when Marion Valeix, then at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Beauvoir-sur-Niort, France, set out to discover if the elephants of Hwange Nati...
2008-12-18 - Portland, United States. press release courtesy of the Oregon Zoo
Samudra, the Oregon Zoo's celebrated Asian elephant calf, got his first taste of snow -- literally. Keepers say the newest addition to the elephant herd romped in the snow for nearly a half hour playing with it, rolling in it and, yes, eating it. After closing for a day and canceling two nights of its popular ZooLights festival, the zoo has resumed regular operations and visitors were rewarded with a rare glimpse of animals enjoying a winter wonderland. "Our visitors rarely get to watch the anim...
2008-12-17 - Los Angeles, United States.
Today, Connie Morgan, President of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn., issued the following statement: "We are grateful to the Los Angeles Zoo Commission members for overwhelmingly voting today to support the completion of Billy's new home in the Pachyderm Forest after they had an opportunity to review all of the facts. Our forest will provide one of the largest and safest elephant habitats in the country, one that will be enjoyed for years to come by the schoolchildren and working families of Lo...
2008-12-16 - Polk City, United States. Eloisa Ruano Gonzalez
Ringling opened the Asian elephant conservation center in the Green Swamp in 1995 to retire and breed its circus performers. Officials say they've been successful breeding the endangered animal to ensure it survives, although animal-rights groups criticize the program. The center is experimenting with artificial insemination. Semen is collected from the male elephants and sent to various zoos and research centers across the United States to breed more elephants.
2008-12-16 - Dubare elephant camp, India. Jeevan Chinnappa
A five-day hunt to capture a wild elephant ended dramatically in the Maldare forest area in Kodagu on Tuesday with the capture of the animal by the Forest Department officials. This came as a relief to the people of Maldare. The operation to track and capture four elephants began with a puja here on December 10. The elephant caught on Tuesday is said to have killed five persons in and around Maldare recently. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) granted permission to capture four el...
2008-12-15 - Colorado Springs, United States. KKTV
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo welcomed a new friend Saturday. The zoo has announced that America’s mountain zoo is the new home to a 22-year-old African elephant. The new female elephant, Malaika, was welcomed on Saturday, December 13 after her owner chose for her elephant’s new home. The zoo has been searching for an additional elephant to join their other two elephants. The addition of Malaika is an important step in the zoo’s plans for redesign and expansion of its elephant exhibit area. Malaik...
2008-12-15 - , Nigeria.
Yankari has one of the most important populations of the elephant species in West Africa. The NCF added, “If the current poaching trend continues, Yankari may lose more than half of its population of elephants over the next six months. In the last few weeks alone there are reports of at least five elephants being killed and many more were killed earlier in the year. “Every day it is possible to find meat from elephants, roan, waterbuck and buffalo in the surrounding markets and this is all e...
2008-12-14 - Berlin, Germany. Peter Stolk and Rob Belterman, Netherlands
Yesterday Kewa, at Tierpark Berlin, delivered her fourth calf. Father of this 14th elephantcalf at Tierpark Berlin is Ankhor. And .... it's a female calf!
2008-12-12 - Rangoon, Myanmar.
Myanmar is at the centre of an illegal trade in elephants and ivory, with more than 250 live animals smuggled out of the country in the past decade, a report said Wednesday. Most of the elephants were destined for use in the tourist trekking industry in neighbouring Thailand, said the report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. Smuggling of live elephants and ivory is in "blatant contravention" of national laws and of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Specie...
2008-12-11 - New York, United States. CORNELIA DEAN
Living in a zoo drastically shortens the lives of Asian and African elephants, possibly because of the effects of stress and obesity, researchers are reporting. But their work provoked a sharp response from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Paul Boyle, the senior vice president for conservation and education at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, based in Silver Spring, Md., called the work “terribly flawed” and said it reflected an antizoo agenda. He said he could not recall “the ...
2008-12-10 - Patna, India.
Though the capture, sale and purchase of elephants are banned in India, according to the media reports, they were still sold in the Sonepur Cattle Fair, which concluded recently. This is possible because those engaged in the business have devised a unique method to circumvent the law. Temples in the southern states buy pachyderms at the annual Sonepur cattle fair. But what is more significant is that their trade has much to do with the rise of Bahujan Samaj Party in neighbouring UP as elephant i...
2008-12-10 - Pittsburgh, United States. Tacy Gray
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is roaring: You could be the 1,000,000th visitor! The Zoo’s current annual attendance is at 989 (Monday, December 8 2008) and counting. As a way to encourage everyone to visit the Zoo within the next couple of weeks and reach our goal, the 1,000,000th visitor to walk through the gates will receive a lifetime Zoo Membership, a $500 shopping spree at the Zoo’s gift shops, and a behind-the-scenes tour for ten people. The 1,000,000th visitor also will receive re...
2008-12-10 - Pennsylvania, United States.
Scientists have mapped out most of the genetic code of the wooly mammoth, marking the first time an extinct animal’s DNA has been decoded and raising the possibility that the creature could be cloned and return to life. Wooly mammoths, which roamed the planet 10,000 years ago, are relatives of the modern African Elephant, but were covered with thick hair, had larger tusks and smaller ears.
2008-12-09 - Los Angeles, United States. HECTOR TOBAR
Stand behind the curtain of bamboo just outside the paddock of the last, lone elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo and you'll hear the daylong drumbeat of running feet. Boys and girls yell "elefante!" and cry out "grandotote," which is Spanish for "huge." They ooh and ah, and ask questions of their parents in English, Korean, Tagalog and many languages more. Visiting the zoo is a Los Angeles rite of passage. I started coming in the late 1960s. For my Guatemalan immigrant parents, it was one more libe...
2008-12-09 - Perris, United States. James Montgomery
On Monday, People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued a press release condemning Britney Spears for featuring "cruelly trained lions and elephants" in her just-released "Circus" video and demanded that the pop star "stop using exotic animals in her videos and concerts once and for all."
2008-12-09 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ethiopia began inviting tourists to visit its dwindling elephant herd on Monday as part of efforts to boost income from tourism. The Babile wildlife sanctuary near Harar, 560 km (350 miles) east of Addis Ababa, is the first in Ethiopia to offer visits specifically aimed at seeing elephants, whose numbers have been ravaged by poaching and decades of neglect. There are around 300 in Babile, which is also home to a national symbol: the rare black-mane lion, depicted on Ethiopia's currency.
2008-12-09 - Arkansas, United States. Fred Petrucelli
Solomon is dead; long live Solomon. The 24-year-old pachyderm, the star of the Riddle Elephant Preserve near Quitman, passed peacefully and quietly in his sleep. The end for Solomon was difficult for his owner Scott Riddle who considered the huge elephant a member of the family. "Solomon died earlier this year from the affects of an infection and we could not do anything about it," he said. Large four-footed creatures elephants and horses are susceptible to the kind of infection that doomed Solo...
2008-12-08 - Guruvayoor, India.
In a moving spectacle, elephants of the Sree Krishna temple here paid floral tributes in memory of their legendary peer Guruvayoor Kesavan on the 32nd death anniversary of the majestic tusker, around whom are woven many a tale. In a solemn procession, 33 elephants marched through the temple town to the Sreevalsom compound close to the shrine, where they showered petals at the feet of Kesavan's statue.
2008-12-08 - New Delhi, India. Sankar Ray
India’s elephants, as much as tigers the country’s symbol, are dying in ever-greater numbers as industrialization, deforestation, the pressure of human settlement and shrinking food resources cut into their numbers. Although the world's concern has risen over the fate of India's tigers, the descending numbers of India's elephants have not caused alarm. They are not listed as endangered species. The Federal Ministry of Environment and Forests estimated the population of wild elephants at 26,4...
2008-12-07 - OI Pejeta, Kenya. Rachel Sutcliffe
Elephants of the OI Pejeta conservancy have been fitted with SIM cards on their necks which, when they reach the perimeter of local villages, automatically sends the rangers text messages. A virtual fence was implemented after an almost extinct breed, the Bull Elephant, raided crops during harvest, costing the locals as much as six months work and pay. This resulted in the Kenyan Wildlife Service reluctantly having to shoot five particularly persistent animals.
2008-12-07 - Los Angeles, United States.
The Los Angeles City Council last week halted construction on the new $42 million pachyderm exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo under fire from animal activists who say it's cruel to keep the large animals in zoos. They will be considering killing the project altogether. In these economic times, it makes sense. But the council has yet to decide what to do with L.A.'s sole elephant, Billy. What's your take? Should L.A. set Billy free and use his pen for something else?
2008-12-06 - Berhampur, India.
Three elephants, who fell into a well at Mahurapalli village in Ganjam district, were rescued on Saturday, official sources said here. The elephants had slipped into an open well located in a farm land last night when they came to the human habitation in search of food in Buguda forest range, B N Mohanty, Divisional Forest Officer (Ghumusar south) said. On being informed about the incident, forest personnel rushed to the spot this morning to pull out the pachyderms from the well.
2008-12-05 - Meghauli, Nepal.
The world may be lurching into recession, but in the jungles of southern Nepal, it’s business as usual for the eclectic bunch of jetsetters gathered for their annual festival of Pimm’s and elephant polo. An idea thought up in a bar nearly 30 years ago in the Swiss resort of St Moritz by Nepalese tourism pioneer AV Jim Edwards and polo enthusiast James Manclark, has blossomed into a series of tournaments held in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Nepal.
2008-12-05 - Sofia, Bulgaria.
The fossilized jawbone of an 18-million-year-old ancestor of the elephant has gone on display in a Bulgarian museum. The rare fossil at the Black Sea city of Varna's Natural Science Museum belongs to what experts call the 8.2-foot-tall (2.5-meter-tall) prodeinotherium bavaricum. Museum curator Stoyan Vergiev says the jawbone was found in 2005 at a construction site in northeastern Bulgaria, but never shown to the public until now.
2008-12-05 - Houston, United States. MARY FLOOD
A Houston man was among six people arrested on federal charges of smuggling black market ivory disguised to look like wood sculptures or musical instruments into the United States. A Houston federal magistrate on Friday ordered Mamadi Doumbouya, 39, be kept in custody and moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., to stand trial. He and his alleged co-conspirators, arrested in other states, are accused of bringing the forbidden elephant tusks from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Uganda into this country through JFK...
2008-12-05 - Tsavo, Kenya.
The census was supported by Kenya Wildlife Service, Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Saint Louis Zoo Field Conservation Program, Oregon Zoo Foundation, Phoenix Zoo, Zuercher Tierschutz, Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), Marwell Conservation and Grevy's Zebra Trust
2008-12-03 - Melbourn, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo's first elephant, Ranee, arrived at the Parkville campus to much fanfare in March 1883. Within a week the Asian elephant, fresh from Calcutta, was being saddled up in the summer heat for visitors to sit atop as she plodded her way along a meandering, purpose-built route
2008-12-03 - New Delhi, India.
At least 10 tigers and 57 elephants have been poached in India during last three years, the environment and forests ministry said Wednesday but said the government was doing its best to protect wildlife. While poachers in Rajasthan killed four tigers, two tigers each in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Kerala fell victims to wildlife criminals, according to a ministry report. Of the 57 jumbos killed, 22 were poached in Orissa alone. While eight elephants were killed each in Karnataka, Assam and Ke...
2008-12-02 - Negara, Malaysia.
IN line with its Corporate Social Respon-sibility (CSR) commitment, Carlsberg Malaysia continues its annual sponsorship of RM15,000 to the Malaysian Zoological Society (Zoo Negara), for the upkeep of the two Malaysian elephants. A group of 50 orphans from the Sinthamani Divine Life Ashram was also invited to join the fun-filled “Children’s Day at Zoo by Carlsberg Malaysia” and brought home with them many prizes and most importantly, big smiles on their faces.
2008-12-01 - London, United Kingdom. British Museum
This delightful giftbook celebrates the enduring fascination with this majestic animal through a wide variety of British Museum objects representing or inspired by elephants. The Bamileke in Cameroon donned spectacular trunked masks for theirelephant masquerade. Sixteenth-century European artists, when learning the art of drawing animals, practised images of elephants, whether or not they had seen one in real life. Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god, is depicted in many wonderful sculptures.
2008-12-01 - Norwich, United Kingdom. SAM EMANUEL
CLIC Sargent, the children's cancer charity which is the focus of this year's Evening News Christmas campaign, and The Born Free Foundation, a wildlife charity working to prevent animal cruelty and suffering, were presented with cheques totaling £136,000 as the money raised at the Go Elephants! auction was given to the good causes. Children and animals in need will soon be benefitting to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds which was raised at the most talked about charity auction of the...
2008-12-01 - Washington, United States.
Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants serves as a comprehensive text on elephant medicine and surgery. Based on the expertise of 36 scientists and clinical veterinarians, this volume covers biology, husbandry, veterinary medicine and surgery of the elephant as known today. This is the only definitive text on these species and should be available at every institution that may be involved, even peripherally, with elephants
2008-12-01 - Los Angeles, United States.
The fate of a new elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo will be debated Monday afternoon by a city council committee. At issue is a $42 million elephant exhibit, which critics say is too small and ill-suited for the elephants. The city council committee will provide new information about the financial consequences of scrapping construction on the project, which has already cost $12 million since being approved by the council in 2006.
2008-12-01 - Oklahoma City, United States. CARRIE COPPERNOLL
The capstone of the Asia exhibit will be the elephants. It will transform the Oklahoma City elephant program from a pair of sisters cramped onto a quarter acre of concrete to a family herd roaming up to 6 acres of lush grassland. Zoo design, especially for elephants, has changed dramatically since Torre began his career more than 30 years ago.
2008-12-01 - Los Angeles, United States. Zach Behrens
Brenda Scott Royce, director of publications for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, sounded off this weekend at Huffington Post about all the elephant talk going on these days. Animal activists and Councilman Tony Cardenas want the exhibit currently under construction to halt work and have a search a large expansive elephant sanctuary. Royce, along with others, believe the exhibit is just fine. Their point of view has not gotten as much press, so here's some of it.
2008-12-01 - Dimapur, India.
Rogue elephants have killed another man in Wokha, this time in Yanmhon. One Belka Orang, an Adivasi, was killed on November 29, when elephants went on a spree destroying paddy fields, fishery ponds and plantations and even government and private houses in and around Yanmhon. A laborer, one Borli Orang was killed by an elephant on November 18 earlier. It is also reported that the Asian Oilfields Survey Service Limited is unable to carry out survey works for seismic activities in Yanmhon areas due...
2008-11-30 - Jamshedpur, India. KUMUD JENAMANI
For the first time, tuskers from Dalma have found the perfect shelter. Their new home has been built by the forest department on the same corridor that is frequently ravaged by them. For thousands of villagers in Ghatshila sub-division in East Singhbhum district, this harvest season has also been relatively incident-free as at least 12 elephants, including a calf, are huddled in Charchakka forest for the past fortnight. In a first-of-its-kind project in this part of the country, the Dhalbhum div...
2008-11-28 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Brigitte Larsson, Kolmarden
Kolmarden is looking for an experienced elephant keeper to join the staff in our pachyderm section, currently housing three female Asian elephants managed in free contact and four white rhinos. We are seeking an ambitious, team oriented, and outgoing person. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of elephant training, husbandry and management and is fluent in a Scandinavian language and/or English.
2008-11-27 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
Local residents of Cot Pangee village have urged authorities in Aceh Jaya District to deal with elephants which have run amok and killed one villager. "I notice that despite a casualty and damages in hectares of crops, there is no effort to solve the elephant problem in Cot Pangee village," Saudi M Daud, an inhabitant of Aceh Jaya, told ANTARA here on Thursday. Since November 25, 2008, a herd of elephants have run amok in Cot Pangee village, around 130 km west of Banda Aceh. The herd killed a lo...
2008-11-26 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
SAFETY barriers on the elephant enclosure have been improved at Paignton Zoo after an inspection found unsupervised small children could climb in. The zoo increased the three bar visitor fence to five bars to comply with an independent inspection report as a condition of the zoo licence. The report said parts of the railings 'were insufficient as barriers' in places where dense bamboo had been cut back 'and had not yet grown sufficiently, such that unsupervised small children might gain access t...
2008-11-26 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
A herd of wild elephants went on a rampage in Indonesia's north-westernmost province of Aceh, killing one person and destroying property, state-run media reported Wednesday. A herd estimated at 13 pachyderms entered Cot Pengee village in Aceh Jaya district during the past several days, forcing residents to flee their homes for safety. Antara news agency quoted local community leader Iskandar Musa saying residents tried to drive the wild animals away with traditional methods, such as making loud ...
2008-11-26 - New York, United States.
They are the world's unlikeliest contenders heading to Nepal for the world's unlikeliest sport. Meet the New York Blue, America's elephant polo team. Now elephants are hard to come by in New York. Large motor vehicles are not. So before flying this week to the World Elephant Polo tournament, the New York Blue's seven adventurers practiced swinging at small white balls from the roofs of two SUVs in an empty beachside car park.
2008-11-26 - Hamburg, Germany.
Four-day-old Russelchen - which means 'little trunk' in German - had great fun exploring the elephant house, and is set to be a massive hit with the public. But can he really be the new Knut, the cute polar bear who won the hearts of people around the world with his antics at Berlin Zoo? Russelchen bravely tried out everything his bigger friends were doing – blowing his trunk, having a hearty drink and going for a splash around. But his first swimming attempt was cut short by his cautio...
2008-11-26 - Memphis, United States.
The Memphis Zoo has another big reason to be thankful this year. This morning, “Gina,” a 25-year-old African elephant, became the third resident in a growing herd of African elephants at the Memphis Zoo. The Memphis Zoo acquired Gina from a private owner. She joins the Zoo’s two other African elephant cows - “Tyranza,” age 44, and “Asali,” age 23. Asali is currently pregnant, and due in July 2009.
2008-11-26 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Elephant menace has grown alarmingly in Jalpaiguri district this year and the forest department has clearly failed to contain the leviathans in the forests. It admits so too. Speaking on the subject, the chief conservator of forest, North Bengal Dr Sylvan Patel admitted the point and said that developing communication with the villagers is essential for handling elephant raids. “We have only four elephant squads at the Malbazaar, Ramsai, Khunia and Binnaguri ranges respectively under the Wild ...
2008-11-25 - Kampala, Uganda.
It may not be quite as bad as the Three Bears returning home to find Goldilocks sleeping in one of their beds, but Ugandan villagers returning to the villages they abandoned during the East African nation's civil war are being met with a rather large surprise. "Elephants are moving into the villages," says Sam Mwandha, operations director for the state-owned Uganda Wildlife Authority. Much of Uganda's northern region lies in the so-called elephant corridor, a vast tropical flat terrain that adjo...
2008-11-25 - Melbourne, Australia. Bridie Smith
A TEAM of researchers working at Melbourne Zoo believes new techniques for freezing elephant sperm will prove the breakthrough the endangered species needs. And the zoo's super-stud Bong Su — a 34-year-old bull regarded as one of the world's most fertile Asian elephants because of his high sperm count — will play a key part, with the frozen sperm to be made available to overseas zoos.
2008-11-25 - London, United Kingdom.
Britney Spears fans can expect a treat next Saturday when the Womanizer singer takes to the X Factor stage. Her friend Brian Friedman told the official X Factor website: "She is going to be doing a massive performance. "You know her album is called Circus, so we're going to be seeing a circus vibe coming in". He added: "I wouldn't be surprised if there were elephants because this is The X Factor - and we go big here"! Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis and Take That might have performed on the hit show i...
2008-11-24 - Pattaya, Thailand. Dr. Harald M. Schwammer
The International Elephant Foundation and Mahidol University are pleased to announce the International Elephant Research Symposium November 24-26, 2008 (New Date) at the Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens, Pattaya, Thailand, to match with the Surin Elephant Round-Up. This will make the Surin Elephant Round-Up the pre-tour to the 2008 International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium. This important symposium will concentrate on the research and conservation needs of captive and wild pop...
2008-11-24 - Colne, United Kingdom.
This week takes us back to 1890 and a wonderful Victorian scene showing a troupe of elephants perambulating along Keighley Road, Colne. The circus in town was Lord John Sangers, which toured Great Britain for more than 150 years and this premier travelling circus, as well as Indian and African elephants, had lions, tigers, black panthers, giraffes, brown bears, polar bears, zebras, camels, Appaloosa horses and not forgetting the acrobats, high wire artistes, clowns and the ring master himself, i...
2008-11-23 - Mysore, India.
Forty-two year old Belliyappa often spoke of sending his son to a big city college for higher education because he wanted his son to explore the world. But, too soon, his dreams were trampled by an elephant on Friday. Belliyappa, a small farmer in Napoklu in Kodagu district, was found dead near his farm here on Friday. He bore all the marks of having been crushed under the mighty feet of an elephant.
2008-11-23 - Hamburg, Germany.
A newly born elephant baby plays with its mother Yashoda at the Hagenbeck Tierpark (animal park) in the northern German city of Hamburg. The 90 centimetre in height and 95 kilo in weight baby Asian elephant was born on November 21.
2008-11-22 - Surin, Thailand.
Surin, the northeastern province known as ''the Land of Elephants'', has been holding the annual Elephant Round-up for nearly half a century. This year, the exciting spectacle is scheduled to take place November 22-23 in the compound of the Elephant Study Centre. Surin natives are naturally skilled in rounding up wild elephants as well as taming them. This upcoming 48th edition will boast seven eye-catching performances with no less than 200 trained elephants showcasing their extraordinary talen...
2008-11-22 - Pennsylvania, United States.
Scientists are a decade or two away from recreating the extinct woolly mammoth, according to a Pennsylvania State University researcher. The Colombian mammoth, the southern cousin of the woolly mammoth, roamed the eastern New Mexico plains up to 10,000 years ago. Matt Hillsman, the curator of Eastern New Mexico University’s Blackwater Draw Museum, said remains of the Colombian mammoth were found at the Black Water Draw dig site.
2008-11-22 - Surin, Thailand. Veronica Matheson
FOUR old men with weather-beaten faces stand by their ancestral spirit house in the small village of Ban Ta Klang in northeastern Thailand to make offerings to protect the village elephants, who are off to the annual elephant festival in the nearby city of Surin. Offerings -- including a bottle of beer, some home-brewed whisky and a pig's head -- sit on a table as one of the old men chants incantations while another lights incense sticks, and another plays droning music on a horn that looks like...
2008-11-21 - Bewdley, United Kingdom.
Elephants at West Midlands Safari Park have been played rock and roll music to help them relax.
2008-11-21 - Sonepur, India.
Elephant dung is selling like hot cake at the famous annual cattle fair here for use as a mosquito repellent and also as fuel. Over 70 elephants are at the fair this year. They are brought here for show, as their sale at the fair is banned under wildlife protection laws, said another forest department official, CP Khanduja. Elephants are big attractions at the fair, especially for tourists. But there are unofficial reports that elephants are bought and sold at the fair in the garb of gifting the...
2008-11-21 - Kolkata, India.
A six-month-old elephant that strayed from the herd and fell into a ring-well at Pedothorang in Bagmundi block of West Bengal’s Purulia district was rescued after about 10 hours on Thursday. The staff of the local forest division and villagers had to first placate the mother elephant to reach the spot. Paddy stacks and mud were thrown into the 15-feet-deep well after initial efforts to draw out the baby elephant with ropes failed, K Balamurugan, local divisional forest officer told The Hindu o...
2008-11-20 - Pennsylvania, United States. Miller W, Drautz DI, Ratan A, Pusey B, Qi J, Lesk AM, Tomsho LP, Packard MD, Zhao F, Sher A, Tikhonov A, Raney B, Patterson N, Lindblad-Toh K, Lander ES, Knight JR, Irzyk GP, Fredrikson KM, Harkins TT, Sheridan S, Pringle T, Schuster SC., Pennsylvania State University, Center for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics
In 1994, two independent groups extracted DNA from several Pleistocene epoch mammoths and noted differences among individual specimens. Subsequently, DNA sequences have been published for a number of extinct species. However, such ancient DNA is often fragmented and damaged, and studies to date have typically focused on short mitochondrial sequences, never yielding more than a fraction of a per cent of any nuclear genome. Here we describe 4.17 billion bases (Gb) of sequence from several mammoth ...
2008-11-20 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
A Thai elephant has become pregnant after IVF treatment, boosting hopes in the species' fight against extinction. Vets confirmed that Phang Sao, a 26-year-old elephant, responded well to the procedure which involved injecting her with frozen sperm. An elephant is pregnant for a 22-month period and Phang Sao is expected to deliver her artificially-bred calf between August and September next year. She is being given special care by the vets in Mae Sa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai to avoid a miscarri...
2008-11-19 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Zoo elephants Kashin and Burma could become the last elephants in a New Zealand zoo as a result of Auckland City Council budget cuts. The zoo wants to build a herd of elephants as part of a succession plan for Kashin, who turned 40 on Sunday. But the council has not set aside the $5 million cost in its 10-year budget. The future of the popular female elephants was raised at a council meeting yesterday, where Mayor John Banks and his Citizens & Ratepayers allies were looking to cut hundr...
2008-11-19 - Bangalore, India. Preethi Nagaraj
The rogue elephant 'Kyata' which crushed his mahout Bora to death recently, has been sent to kraal – a place where wild and restless elephants are tamed – in Moorkal, within Nagarhole forest range. The nine year old Kyata after killing his mahout, had stood guard of the body for nearly 12 hours without food and water. It was only after many attempts that Bora's body was lifted and cremated.
2008-11-19 - San Andreas, United States. Mike Taylor
Exactly how a five-ton animal communicates with its friends and family came into focus as an expert visited San Andreas. Dr. Joyce Poole-who has lived with elephants in Africa's savannah for more than 27 years-described her experiences to more than 100 people Saturday at ARK 2000, the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary. She recounted her time spent working on the Amboseli Elephant Research Project at Amboseli National Park in Kenya, a 57-square-mile park near Mount Kilimanjaro.
2008-11-18 - Vienna, United States. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation press release
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation proudly announces the birth of a healthy female Asian elephant – marking the twenty-first birth in what is already the most successful Asian elephant breeding program in the Western Hemisphere. The calf named Sundara, which means “beautiful” in Hindi, was born on Nov. 9, 7:15 p.m. at 310 pounds, and is an offspring of 39-year-old Sally and 35-year-old Charlie. Sally has given birth before as part of the Ringling Bros. ...
2008-11-18 - Dehra Dun, India.
An elephant was found dead in the Jim Corbett National Park, taking the number of pachyderm deaths in the sanctuary this year to eight. The 40-year-old tuskless elephant died on Monday apparently after being attacked by a herd of tuskers in the park, forest officials said on Tuesday. The officials said deep wounds on its body and footprints of several elephants were found in the area. The pachyderm was buried after a post-mortem, they said.
2008-11-18 - Marshalls Creek, United States. Beth Brelje
With shelves of bones everywhere, the Phil Fraley Productions studio could be a dog's dream come true. The prehistoric bones there are not for gnawing, however, but for rebuilding history. The Marshalls Creek mastodon is one of the Pittsburgh company's latest projects. The nearly complete mastodon skeleton was discovered in a peat bog in Marshalls Creek, just behind Wendy's restaurant, in 1968. While excavating peat, John Leap and Paul Strauser of Lakeside Peat Humus Co. pulled a mastodon skull ...
2008-11-18 - Accra, Ghana. Anita Nyarko
artefact sellers were at the weekend arrested at the Arts Centre in Accra for allegedly possessing ivory in the country. The suspects, who are currently on police enquiry bail, are Tahiru Haruna, 29, Mohammed Kabiru, 29, Rose Mensah, 25, Atta Issah, 30, and Razak Tahiru 18. The others are Yakubu Benjamin, 45, Garba Ibrahim, 55, Musa Ali, 40, Jibril Alhassan 27, Yakubu Osman, 28, and Samaila Alahassan. They are being charged under the Wildlife Conservation Regulation LI 685 of 1971 which makes it...
2008-11-18 - Bangalore, India. Vidya TN, Sukumar R, Melnick DJ., Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science
Recent phylogeographic studies of the endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) reveal two highly divergent mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages, an elucidation of which is central to understanding the species's evolution. Previous explanations for the divergent clades include introgression of mtDNA haplotypes between ancestral species, allopatric divergence of the clades between Sri Lanka or the Sunda region and the mainland, historical trade of elephants, and retention of divergent lineages du...
2008-11-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A tonne of ivory items and 57 suspects were netted in a four-month operation billed Africa's largest-ever crackdown on wildlife crime, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said Monday. The crackdown -- code-named Operation Baba -- also seized cheetah, leopard, serval cat and python skins as well as hippo teeth at several markets, airports and border crossings in Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. "All the participating countries simultaneously struck at the illegal domestic markets ...
2008-11-16 - Bangalore, India.
The High Court of Karnataka on Friday directed the state and Central governments to submit by December 9, 2008 a comprehensive report on the spate of elephant deaths in the Nagarahole-Bandipur belt, especially the alleged killing of four pachyderms in Nanjangud taluk of Chamarajanagar district on November 5 last. Hearing a suo motu public interest litigation, a division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakran and Justice V G Sabahit said: "It is most unfortunate and inhuman. We should be ash...
2008-11-15 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo family came together Saturday to remember the 2-year-old elephant known as Mac. Mac, the largest Asian elephant born in captivity at 384 pounds, died last Sunday after contracting elephant herpesvirus. Staff and supporters of the zoo gathered at the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat to remember the loss. In a press release, the zoo's spokesman thanked the public for their outreach during the difficult time.
2008-11-14 - Kurunegala correspondent, Sri Lanka. S. M. Wijayaratne
According to the recent survey conducted by the Department of Wildlife Conservation, it has been revealed that during the past nine months of 2008, 60 wild elephants have died and 24 human beings have died following attacks by wild elephants in the North Western zone of the wildlife conservation. In the year 2007, 33 humans and 73 wild elephants have died of this ongoing conflict.
2008-11-14 - Bangalore, India.
Even as the government confirmed "cyanide poison in ragi balls" as a cause for the elephants' death, the Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the Forest Department to find out the culprits behind the episode in Kappasoge village near Nanjangud and submit a report before December 9. After registering a suo motu case on the elephants’ death, the division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice V G Sabhahit said “It is an inhumane act, we call them animals, we should be asha...
2008-11-14 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Alex Morales
South Africa may start its first elephant culls since 1994 next year to protect other species harmed by their destruction of habitats. South Africa's elephant population has swelled to 17,000 from 200 in 1900 when hunting had slashed their numbers, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, South Africa's environment minister, said Nov. 12 in an interview in London. That's leading to overgrazing that threatens animal species including rhinos and antelopes, he said.
2008-11-14 - Cleveland, United States.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is seeking an experienced Animal Keeper to work with its three African elephants which are temporarily located at the Columbus Zoo until the Zoo’s new African Elephant Crossing exhibit is completed in 2010. Qualifications: Must have a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences or related field plus 6 months of elephant experience. This position requires excellent husbandry skills and knowledge, specifically related to the care of elephants at an AZA-accredited institution....
2008-11-12 - Raipur, India.
Elephants too are an election issue in the tribal state Chhattisgarh going to assembly poll later this month. With the jumbo menace affecting northern part of the state comprising of districts like Surguja, Koria, Jashpur, Korba and Raigarh, ruling BJP has in its election manifesto promised a new scheme for development of a corridor for movement of elephants so that they do not stray into human habitations.
2008-11-12 - San Andreas, United States.
On Saturday, November 8, Ned, a severely underweight 21-year-old captive born, male Asian elephant, was confiscated by the USDA. PAWS has agreed to provide a permanent home for Ned as soon as he is strong enough to make the trip to California. An expansion of the existing bull elephant barn and habitat at ARK 2000 will begin immediately. Ned will occupy the Galt sanctuary’s bull elephant area until construction is complete in San Andreas.
2008-11-12 - Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa.
Two elephants from the Brian Boswell Circus are to strike their own gold coins as part of the 2008 Natura coin range. South African Mint Company deputy general manager Natanya van Niekerk said the elephants had been chosen because the company had been inspired by circus owner Brian Boswell's saving of 10 elephant calves from being culled in 1983. Two of the calves grew up as part of the Boswell circus family.
2008-11-12 - Melbourne, Australia.
EMILY Robins was excited when invited to audition for the lead role in a new Australian children's series in which she would both act and sing. "I'd been singing all my life in musical theatre and competitions and stuff like that," says the 19-year-old from New Zealand, who plays a 16-year-old who discovers she is a princess from an exotic, mystical kingdom, in The Elephant Princess. "The fact that they were looking for a singer and an actor was perfect for me."
2008-11-10 - Houston, United States.
Mac, an Asian elephant whose birth was a cause for celebration at the Houston Zoo scarcely more than two years ago, died Sunday night after a brief battle with the elephant herpes virus, zoo officials said this morning. "The entire zoo staff is absolutely devastated," said zoo spokesman Brian Hill. "It's difficult to put into words and describe the attachment that has developed over the past two years. "This is a terrible loss, especially for the elephant keepers and veterinary medical staff who...
2008-11-10 - Eastern Cape, South Africa.
THIS baa-my pair are inseparable after they struck up an unlikely friendship. Orphaned baby elephant Themba was unable to feed himself and faced certain death until Albert the sheep provided some much needed company. The pair now spend every hour together at their home in the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
2008-11-10 - Cologne, Germany.
The Elephant House at Cologne Zoo, built in 1863 in the Moorish style, and originally intended to be temperorary only, turned out to be very long lasting. Finally a new Elephant Park was opened on 19.09.2004. This new project took into consideration the latest knowledge about the way of life of Asian elephants and the best way to look after them in zoos.
2008-11-09 - Hohenwald, United States.
An elephant confiscated by the USDA is on his way to the mid-state. Ned, a 21-year-old male elephant, has been placed in the care of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald. Ned was taken from his Florida-based circus trainer for what police say was failure to comply with the Animal Welfare Act. The elephant is expected to arrive at the sanctuary tomorrow. Officials at the sanctuary say they will help the elephant recover and find a permanent home.
2008-11-09 - Los Angeles , United States.
A City Council committee has rejected a move to stop work on a $40 million elephant enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo. The panel's decision came Thursday despite pleas from celebrities such as Lily Tomlin and Bob Barker to instead fund a 60-acre elephant sanctuary in the San Fernando Valley. The council committee declined to take a vote that would have sent the proposal to the full council for consideration. Celebrities who want to remove the elephants from the zoo say living there can harm their...
2008-11-09 - Jalpaiguri , India.
A four-year-old child was tossed to death by a wild elephant at Mantagara in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday sparking protest by villagers who gheraoed forest officials. Forest officials said the baby girl was tossed to the ground by the tusker which strayed into the area and barged into the hut of a tribal family. While the girl's parents scampered to safety mistaking the girl to be away in a neighbour's house, the toddler fell before the jumbo. As a forest team went to the area, they were gherao...
2008-11-09 - Jaipur, India.
The increased influx of tourists may have given a chance to mint money to those from the tourism industry, but the elephants at Amber are having a tough time. One can witness utter chaos during the peak hours for elephant rides with tourists thronging the Amber Fort. Despite the fact that the tourism department has restricted the maximum load for elephants (two tourists per elephant) and just one ride for each animal per day, the 95 elephants at here are having a hard time as mahouts have been f...
2008-11-08 - Tucson, United States.
The opening of the Conservation Learning Center put the Reid Park Zoo one step closer to completing its $12.5 million master plan, which includes a 7-acre expansion and new elephant exhibit. The City Council is funding half of the expansion, provided the Tucson Zoological Society raises the other half of the funds, said Diana Whitman, director of development at the Tucson Zoological Society, the fundraising arm of the zoo.
2008-11-08 - Geneva, Switzerland.
A controversial series of legal ivory auctions in southern Africa should undercut poachers who have been charging exorbitant prices in key Asian markets, United Nations conservationists said Friday. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates international trade in endangered species, allowed four African countries South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe to hold one-off sales to buyers from China and Japan.
2008-11-07 - Melbourne, Australia. Nathanael Cooper
There is no shortage of big stars who hail from the Sunshine Coast, but none of them are quite as big as our latest celebrity. In fact, she's so big that while most stars have their own trailer on set, this one has a whole truck to herself.Siam, an Asian elephant that weighs more than 500kg, resides at Australia Zoo and has recently finished filming a role in Network Ten's upcoming children's drama, The Elephant Princess. Shot in Melbourne, The Elephant Princess is about a young girl who discove...
2008-11-07 - Bangalore, India. Deepa Balakrishnan
The Karnataka High Court has ordered an inquiry into the increasing number of unnatural elephant deaths in Mysore. On Wednesday four elephants were badly wounded after getting electrocuted near the Kabini canal. Soon some villagers noticed that all the four were dead and the carcasses were floating in the canal. "We come by this canal everyday and suddenly saw these carcasses floating in the canal. We called the police to see what can be done," a villager Siddaraju said.
2008-11-07 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Lisa Schlein
Conservationists say ivory auctions in four Southern African countries this week have raised more than $15 million for conservation efforts. The ivory sale was organized by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The organization says the money will go for African elephant conservation and to support local communities. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe sold more than 100 tons of ivory to Chinese and Japanese accredited tra...
2008-11-07 - Thimpu, Bhutan. Steve Herman
Although the young king told his Buddhist subjects he is wanting for nothing and has no material desires, in accordance with tradition, he was presented with a number of gifts. Among them: several satchels of coins, nine bags of cereals, five bales of textiles and a number of animals, including three elephants, several sheep, a pair of yaks, two horses and a mule.
2008-11-07 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa landed in a controversy for gifting a elephant to a temple in Kerala with animal rights activists alleging violation of wildlife rules including that the person donating a pachyderm should be declared "pauper" by law. Kerala Chief Wildlife Warden J K Tewari has asked the Divisional Forest officer in Kannur to look into the matter and submit a report following a complaint by animal rights campaigners,
2008-11-06 - Chicago, United States. Bob Cline
Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) didn’t get what she wanted tonight when she half heartedly agreed to an elephant protection bill that was no where near what she wanted to see in Chicago. Her original request would have eliminated the use of an elephant management tool called an ankus that is used by every elephant Professional throughout the world including Zoos and the Circuses that visit Chicago.
2008-11-05 - London, United Kingdom. Steve Connor
Scientists in Japan have refined a cloning technique that has enabled researchers to clone apparently healthy mice from the frozen corpse of a mouse that had been kept in a freezer for 16 years at a temperature of -20C. The scientists believe the study shows that it might be possible in the future to use the same techniques to clone creatures from the frozen tissue of animals found buried in permafrost regions, for example, the frozen corpses of mammoths.
2008-11-05 - Mysore, India.
Nine elephants in seven days. This is the tragic tally of poor jumbos which have met their gory end owing to the "shocking" means the villagers adopt to keep the creature at bay in Mysore district alone. What led to the 'massacre' of elephants is the electrified fencing with which the farmers protect their fields. While the government has made it mandatory to use only solar powered barbed wires, farmers often tap electricity illegally and allow high voltage to pass through the wires.
2008-11-05 - Atlanta, United States.
Officials at Zoo Atlanta say a pregnant African elephant that died suddenly last month had pneumonia. Officials announced the finding Wednesday after receiving preliminary necropsy results for 26-year-old Dottie. Still, zoo officials have not yet said whether the disease is what killed the elephant Oct. 28. “We are saddened by the sudden loss of Dottie. I know our veterinary and animal management team worked diligently to ensure she received the best care and treatment possible. This is especi...
2008-11-05 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Samrit Jeamjaruanpornkul, Wannapa Phetdee
Severe flooding yesterday forced the evacuation of more than 80 elephants from a sanctuary in Ayutthaya's Suanprik tambon. The pachyderms are being given temporary shelter at Si Suriyothai Park and other nonflooded areas in Suanprik. Meanwhile, the elephant camp's owner, Laitongrian Meepan, who has about 100 of the beasts under his care, is threatening to bring the entire herd to Bangkok and demand that the Royal Irrigation Department compensate him for the damages the floods have done to his fi...
2008-11-05 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Leakey
I am deeply concerned about the ongoing one-off ivory auction that started on 28 October in Namibia and ended on Wednesday, 6 November 2008 in South Africa. I have spent many years looking at issues of elephant conservation and ivory trade and played a major role in successfully eliminating the massive ivory poaching that characterized what is considered the darkest period for African elephants in Kenya in the late 1980s, I believe that auctioning the ivory stockpiles would cause poaching to inc...
2008-11-05 - Brooklyn, United States.
Coney Island is home to several iconic landmarks of American recreation. The Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump come to mind. But it’s also aM graveyard of amusements—so many ostentatious attractions have come and gone, such as the Elephant Hotel. Situated on Surf Avenue and West 5th Street, this enormous elephant made of pine and tin—often referred to as the Coney Island Elephant—burnt down in 1896. The five people inside at the time of the blaze were safely guided to safe...
2008-11-05 - Miami, United States.
Miami Metro Zoo is accepting applications for 1 open elephant keeper position. The zoo currently houses both Asian and African elephants in a protected contact program and is in the initial phases of expanding our program and conservation efforts. We are seeking an energetic, team oriented, and outgoing person to join our staff as we move the program forward. The ideal candidate will possess a 2 year degree in a science related field, at least 2 years of elephant handling experience, and a stron...
2008-11-04 - Portland, United States. Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian
A $125 million bond measure that would provide more space and more natural surroundings for the Oregon Zoo's elephants, polar bears, chimps and other animals won handily Tuesday. Zoo supporters acknowledged the difficulty of passing a multimillion-dollar bond measure just as the state and national economies are flagging, but said a long list of improvements is necessary to improve conditions at the zoo. Metro area voters, including supporters who have contributed to record attendance at the zoo,...
2008-11-03 - Calgary, Canada.
The Calgary Zoo is learning more about the death of Malti the baby elephant. The little pachyderm died this weekend, less than a week after being diagnosed with elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV). The disease kills by attacking the cells that line an elephant's blood vessels in the heart, liver and other organs. The virus hits suddenly and causes internal bleeding and heart failure, killing the animal within a few days. The virus seems to lie dormant in adult elephants and is spread t...
2008-11-03 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A wildlife sanctuary in Thailand has come up with an innovative way of keeping elephants away from farmer's crops – unwanted CDs. The Elephant Conservation Network (ECN), working alongside the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), is the first to use the CDs as light reflectors to deter the elephants from destroying Thailand's crops. Ecologists in the country claim that "crop-raiding" commonly occurs on traditional elephant forest routes with the large animals devouring crops and destroying tree...
2008-11-02 - Auckland, New Zealand.
KASHIN THE elephant's snot is clear and gritty. "Blow into her trunk," instructs the zookeeper. "She wants to smell your breath." Looking up an elephant's nose is like peering into twin surgical wounds. Pink and glistening tunnels, 1.6m long, containing more than 40,000 muscles, useful for pushing over logs, snuffling in the dirt and getting to know human visitors.
2008-11-02 - Washington, United States. Amy Hotz
During the 1950s and 1960s American readers clamored for the sporting adventure books and magazine articles of Wilmington native Robert Ruark. With Hemingway-esque flare, Ruark described real and fictional hunting trips from his grandfather’s backyard to the wilds of Africa. At 10 a.m. Monday, a relic of one of those adventures, and other personal items that once belonged to the author, will be auctioned at Doyle New York in New York City. The first item in the lot is a pair of elephant tusks ...
2008-11-01 - Bronx, New York, United States. Stephen Blake, Sharon L. Deem, Samantha Strindberg, Fiona Maisels, Ludovic Momont, Inogwabini-Bila Isia, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, William B. Karesh, Michael D. Kock
A dramatic expansion of road building is underway in the Congo Basin fuelled by private enterprise, international aid, and government aspirations. Among the great wilderness areas on earth, the Congo Basin is outstanding for its high biodiversity, particularly mobile megafauna including forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis). The abundance of many mammal species in the Basin increases with distance from roads due to hunting pressure, but the impacts of road proliferation on the movements...
2008-11-01 - Calgary, Canada. DAWN WALTON
The baby elephant that has been drawing huge crowds at the Calgary Zoo is gravely ill with a virus that is almost always fatal and has been responsible for killing dozens of pachyderms in captivity and in the wild. Officials said Friday afternoon that blood tests have confirmed that Malti, an almost 15-month-old female Asian elephant, has elephant herpes virus, a condition that attacks the circulatory system. Zoo veterinarians are working around the clock and administer anti-viral medication to ...
2008-11-01 - Calgary, Canada.
The Calgary Zoo's baby elephant has died, despite round-the-clock efforts to save her. Malti was diagnosed with a rare, but deadly disease called elephant herpesvirus on Friday. The disease attacks the lining of the blood vessels. It's suspected she got it from one of the adult elephants which can carry the virus without ever becoming ill themselves. The Elephant Crossing area of the zoo was closed to the public Saturday. All of the elephants were kept outside while staff worked feverishly to ke...
2008-10-31 - Portland, United States. NATHALIE WEINSTEIN
When the Oregon Zoo opened in 1959 in Washington Park, the exhibits were designed at a time when naturalistic exhibits were not a concept, and instead focused on modern design, asymmetrical structures and bright colors. Over the years, the facilities have become outdated and detrimental to the health of the animals that inhabit them, zoo officials say. That’s why the Metro Council, Oregon Zoo Foundation, zoo staff and community leaders have been working to develop a bond measure for the past f...
2008-10-31 - Calcutta, India. CHANDAN SARMAH
It has been 30 years since Tapan Sinha gave us Safed Hathi — the heartwarming tale of two orphaned children and their protector, a white elephant. Thirty years and the dynamics between this large animal and rural India have changed enough to prompt an Assamese filmmaker to name his documentary on elephant movement A Friend Turned Foe. Selected for the non-feature section of the Indian Panorama for the forthcoming International Film Festival of India, 2008, A Friend Turned Foe, by Gautam Saikia...
2008-10-28 - Atlanta, United States. LEON STAFFORD, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The elephant, which had recently gone into the third trimester of her 24-month pregnancy, was 26. Zoo Atlanta’s veterinary team, along with the Department of Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia, will perform a necropsy. “We are saddened by the sudden loss of Dottie,” Zoo Atlanta President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Kelly said in a prepared statement. “I know our veterinary and animal management team worked diligently to ensure she received...
2008-10-27 - Knysna, South Africa.
In 1876, the Knysna elephants, that freely ranged the forest and fynbos areas in the southern cape, numbered about 500 individuals. The numbers declined rapidly as increasing numbers of woodcutters and hunters settled in the area. By 1908 the population status was estimated at 20 individuals, dwindling further to an estimated 11 by 1970. By 1980 a mere 3 individuals were believed to still roam the area.
2008-10-27 - Cape Town, South Africa.
An elephant ivory auction totaling over 19,800 lb (9,000 kg) will begin tomorrow in Namibia. This is the first time in nearly 10 years that international trade in elephant ivory has been sanctioned by the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The sales will continue over the next two weeks in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, with a grand total of 119 tons (108 tonnes) of ivory up for bidding. This accounts for an estimated 10,000+ dead elephants.
2008-10-27 - Syracuse, United States. Lorrell Walter
Calling all pumpkin producers! The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is looking for someone to donate a giant gourd for the annual “Squishing of the Squash,” on Saturday, November 8. Each year, the zoo’s elephants and many of the other animals enjoy a post-Halloween pumpkin feast. While pumpkins have been secured for the zoo’s smaller pumpkin fans, the zoo has been unable to secure a pumpkin of pachyderm proportion.
2008-10-27 - Washington, United States.
This position is located in the Animal Programs, Large Mammal & Elephant Unit of the National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. This animal keeper position works with elephants and other wild/exotic large mammals and performs a variety of duties that ensure the proper care, feeding, exhibition, and propagation of the animals, many of which are rare and endangered.
2008-10-26 - Beijing, China. Dinah Gardner
There are fewer than 300 wild elephants left in China, so when Jeremy McGill, an American tourist, stumbled across a group of adults earlier this year in a nature reserve in Yunnan province, near the border with Laos, he whipped out his camera and started taking pictures. It almost cost him his life.´"I was alone when I came across the four elephants," he said. "One scooped me up into his mouth and bit me. My body was folded in half, my head between my knees, and then the elephant spat me out a...
2008-10-26 - Portland, United States. Brooks Burford
Samudra, now 2 months old, joins the Oregon Zoo's herd to "squish the squash" on Friday. Every year the zoo's Asian elephants are presented with pumpkins which they proceed to play with and tromp into squishy blobs of goo. "Sam" turned 2 months of age on Thursday. That morning he weighed 473 pounds "and he's growing 2 to 3 pounds every day, just on mother's milk." Elephant keeper Bob Lee says Samudra is now teething, chomping and chewing on leaves and branches.
2008-10-26 - New Delhi, India. Neha Sinha
In a first-of-its-kind move, Project Elephant has released funds for setting up rescue and rehabilitation centres across the country to accommodate ill or ageing working elephants. There are an estimated 3,500-3,600 privately-owned captive elephants in the country and most of them are made to work. Approximately Rs 90 lakh has been released for a 400-acre elephant rescue centre to be run in Haryana, officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forests said. Funds have also been released for el...
2008-10-25 - New Orleans, United States.
Im right in the middle of running an elephant. Can you call back in like half an hour?" Michael Rowe pocketed his cell phone and returned full attention to clicking off Jean's paces. It was after hours at the Audubon Zoo _ one of four zoos where Rowe is studying how elephants, which can't sweat or pant to bring their temperatures down when they get too hot, deal with heat and cold. Regulation of body heat hasn't been studied much in very large animals, Rowe said. His doctoral research may have i...
2008-10-25 - Guwahati, India.
Noted wildlife filmmaker Gautam Saikia’s documentary A Friend turned Foe has been selected for the 39th Indian Panorama scheduled to be held in Goa from November 23. The 15-minute documentary that highlights the intensifying man-elephant conflict in Assam has been chosen for the non-feature category of the Panorama. “The documentary depicts the worsening man-elephant conflict, and has primarily been shot in Golaghat district, which is one of the worst-affected areas of the conflict,” Saiki...
2008-10-25 - Fairfax, Australia. CLAIRE MCENTEE
Trade Me is under pressure to follow online auction giant eBay's lead and ban the sale of ivory products. The United States-based site banned ivory products after the International Fund for Animal Welfare found more than 4000 illegal elephant ivory listings. IFAW Asia Pacific director Erica Martin said online trading sites, including Trade Me, should follow eBay's lead. "They should put immediate bans on ivory sales in place".
2008-10-25 - Bengkulu, Indonesia.
A group of wild elephants in the Seblat Elephant Training Center (PLG) broke loose and damaged 1,256 oil palm trees of PT Agricinal in Putri Hijau subdistrict, North Bengkulu regency, and a security post near the plantation. PLG Seblat coordinator Aswin Bangun said on Monday that the rampant illegal loggings and damage on the elephent training center had disturbed the elephants and eventually broke loose seeking for food.
2008-10-24 - Amuru, Uganda.
Marauding elephants in northern Uganda have added to the challenges faced by civilians trying to rebuild their lives in the wake of 20 years of civil war, destroying their crops and prompting some to return to displaced people’s (IDP) camps they had only recently left. "The villagers are scared of the elephants; some of them have sought refuge in huts they had left in the [IDP] camps," John Bosco Okullo, a local leader in Amuru District told IRIN.
2008-10-24 - London, United Kingdom.
Following the announcement that more than 108 tonnes of stockpiled elephant ivory in Southern Africa will be auctioned between 28th October and 6th November 2008, fear is mounting that the most vulnerable elephant populations across Africa and Asia will be unable to withstand the increased levels of poaching that are predicted to occur as a result of these sales. The ivory auction, taking place in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, was approved by members of the Convention on Internat...
2008-10-23 - Odessa, Ukraine.
On following site you can see some pictures of Taruns tusk-operation!
2008-10-23 - Praia da Rocha, Portugal.
USING ANIMALS as part of a circus act is a controversial subject that both animal activists and those who keep the animals are passionate about. Following reports of animal abuse as featured in The Resident October 3, The Resident’s DAISY SAMPSON visited the Victor Hugo Cardinali circus while it was in Praia da Rocha to investigate the conditions of the animals being kept at the circus.
2008-10-23 - Providence, United States.
The African exhibit at the Roger Williams Park Zoo officially opened it's new elephant yard today, along with the recently renovated Elephant and Giraffe Pavilion. The 'Girls,' as the elephants are affectionately referred to by zoo staff, tried out their new yard for the first time last week. Elephant Keeper Brett Haskins, explains, "The first day, they just kind of crept out and looked around. But, the second day, they went berzerk, trumpeting and running around like 'this is our new home!'" Al...
2008-10-23 - Chennai, India.
An elephant owned by actor Jayaram recently received the coveted Gajarajapattam award in Kerala. The elephant, known as Thiruvanikkavu Kannan, is no ordinary elephant. He is very soft-natured and is like a member of my family,” says a proud Jayaram. An ardent elephant lover, Jayaram says that he has been crazy about elephants since his childhood and recalls that he used to go to all temple festivals just to have a glimpse of the gorgeous creatures. Jayaram bought Kannan when his son Kalidas wa...
2008-10-23 - Edmonton, Canada. VICTORIA HANDYSIDES
Lucy the elephant is healthy, but too sick to survive a move, staff at the Valley Zoo insist, responding to calls for her be sent to a sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. “Aside from her tooth problem and her arthritis, she’s a very healthy elephant,” said the zoo’s veterinarian, Milton Ness. “Under stress, we’re worried her capacity to breathe could be diminished.”
2008-10-23 - Vienna, United States. Feld Entertainment, Inc.
Feld Entertainment is conducting a vigorous defense in the lawsuit, ASPCA, et al. v. Feld Entertainment, Inc. which is scheduled to go to trial on October 27, 2008 in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. The case, which began more than eight years ago, is being pursued by four animal special interest groups against Feld Entertainment, Inc., the parent company of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey(R) Circus. "Animal special interest groups are distorting the facts by making false allegation...
2008-10-22 - San Antonio, United States.
Peggy MacDonald was famous with her husband, Mack MacDonald, for the training and presentation of the Polack Brothers’ Shrine Circus elephant act, known as the Besalou elephants, in the US. She was born in a tent at Glenwood, Minnesota, in 1923, during the Saturday night performance of the Henderson Comedy Company. In 1945 the Henderson family was engaged with the Bailey Brothers’ Circus in America. In 1946 its owner, Bob Stevens, took on a young man to train his new elephant group. Mack Mac...
2008-10-21 - New York, United States. FELICITY BARRINGER, New York Times
In response to growing pressure from international law enforcement agencies and conservation groups, eBay, the online auction giant, announced Monday that it would ban all commerce in ivory, including most heirlooms, to avoid providing a market that will encourage the slaughter of endangered elephants. EBay says it will no longer allow advertisements like this one, for elephant tusks. The ban also extends to most heirlooms. The announcement, made to the company’s merchants and customers, came ...
2008-10-21 - Los Angeles , United States.
Bob Barker, Alicia Silverstone and other celebrities have joined a city councilman's efforts to remove elephants from the Los Angeles Zoo and into a massive sanctuary where they can roam free—or at least close to it. Councilman Tony Cardenas, accompanied by several celebrities at a press conference Tuesday, announced his desire to halt construction of the zoo's elephant habitat and use the money to build a 60-acre sanctuary operated by the zoo.
2008-10-21 - Bangor, Ireland.
A circus has been reported to Northern Ireland's Parades Commission for leading elephants through a street in Bangor, County Down. Alexander Scholl from the Sydney Circus said the elephants were being exercised last week when the police arrived and told him to put them back in a trailer.
2008-10-20 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
An environmental group focusing on Arakanese wildlife is preparing to record wild elephants in Arakan State with video cameras as the elephant population has declined in recent years, said one environmental worker from Sittwe. The group will be carrying out the plan in the near future in Arakan Roma and the Mayu Range, where wild elephants range. The elephants will be counted by the group via the video cameras.
2008-10-20 - Odessa, Ukraine.
Yesterday, on October 19th, Indian elephant Tarun died in Odessa zoo, IA “Context-Prichernomorie†correspondent reports. This was reported to the agency correspondent today, on October 20th, during the telephone talk by the director of UE “Odessa zoological park†Yury Kucherenko. Yury Kucherenko reminded that in 2000 Odessa zoo refused from performing operation on removal of sore tusks, for performing of which a team of specialists from England came. During this period th...
2008-10-20 - Rourkela, India.
The recent death of an elephant due to electrocution near Sanchebahal jungle some 10 kilometres away from Bamra also displayed a rare glimpse of the solidarity by pachyderms. The elephant which was electrocuted when its trunk touched a high tension wire hanging about 7 feet above the ground was surrounded by a herd of elephants soon after its death. Even though forest officials rushed to the spot upon getting information about the elephant’s death they were surprised to see as many as 18 eleph...
2008-10-19 - Tiruchi, India. R. Rajaram
The Central Zoo Authority has approved a detailed layout of the zoological park to be established by the State Forest Department inside the sprawling Reserve Forest at M.R. Palayam, near here. The officials said animals including deer, sloth bear, Indian gaur, elephant, wild dog, hyena and hippopotamus besides peacock, monkey, salt and fresh water crocodiles, swamp birds and different types of snakes, would be housed in the zoo. The zoo will spread over 300 acres inside the M.R. Palayam reserve ...
2008-10-19 - Kunming, China.
An Asian elephant who was cured of heroin addiction in southwest China has been declared unfit for the wild, local zoo keepers said on Sunday. Four-year-old male Xiguang and five other elephants became the targets of illegal traders at the China-Myanmar border in March 2005. Among the beasts, Xiguang, was fed with bananas smeared with heroin by the smugglers who intended to snare the animal. The elephants were captured by police two months later. Four of them, including Xiguang, were later sent ...
2008-10-19 - Thrissur, India.
Another festival season is coming up in Kerala and elephants are definitely a part of the show. But this time, the state government hopes to bring in more stringent rules to bring down the instances of elephants going berserk and attacking humans. The government realises that it’s not just the noise and heat which makes the elephants go crazy, but also the ill-treatment of elephants by mahouts. Several reports have shown gory pictures of violent abuse of the giants, therefore this year th...
2008-10-18 - Ranchi, India.
He will no longer stop people in their tracks, rummage trucks or invade roadside stalls for food. RTO, the friendly tusker who would roam the forests of West Singhbhum and often venture out into human habitation for food in Noamundi, was found dead deep inside the forest late on Wednesday night. Even though foresters said the elephant had died a natural death, a post-mortem has been done and the animal's viscera preserved for a forensic test.
2008-10-18 - Dallas, United States. DIANA HEIDGERD
An elephant expert whose beach house on the Texas Gulf Coast was destroyed by Hurricane Ike is putting his collection back together — one tooth at a time. Roy Davis evacuated his Bolivar Peninsula home on Sept. 11, two days before Ike slammed the Texas coast. Davis, 57, said Thursday that among the items scattered from his one-bedroom house were prized animal keepsakes from years of working at zoos. "I probably had 30 pieces of modern-day elephants, they shed their teeth, they wear them d...
2008-10-18 - Bandarlampung, Indonesia.
A Lampung resident identified as Hasyim (30) was seriously injured after being trampled on by a herd of wild elephants at the Way Kambas National Park (TNKW) in East Lampung District, Lampung Province, on Friday. TNKW Director MZ Hudiyono here on Saturday confirmed that Hasyim, a resident of Rajabasa Lama village, East Lampung District, suffered serious injuries and was rushed to Bandarlampung General Hospital for intensive medical care after he was trampled down by wild elephants inside the 1,3...
2008-10-18 - Denver, United States.
Zoo elephants Mimi and Dolly have a new place to go when it's time for lunch. Two new feeders where the elephants get their meals are serving up a side of practicality with a design that blends with the natural environment of these several-ton creatures. The feeders, which are roughly six feet tall and weigh 8,000 pounds, provide a number of uses. They resemble tree trunks with various nooks and holes to place food for the elephants to find. This along with scent spots and branches give the elep...
2008-10-18 - Berlin, Germany.
Sara of the Alpha-Omega British School in Spain asks the scientists: Sara: Do elephants have good memories? The answer comes from elephant ecologist Stephen Blake, at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology. He works to conserve habitat for elephants in Central Africa. Stephen Blake: Elephants do have fantastic memories. If you imagine an elephant that lives in a tropical rainforest, one of the most complicated systems on Earth, that elephant has to know where fruit trees are, where good forage...
2008-10-18 - Windhoek, Namibia. Wezi Tjaronda
Some community members of the Malengalenga area in the Caprivi Region have abandoned their maize fields for fear of being attacked by elephants roaming around the area. Malengalenga village is one of the areas where elephants roam freely because it borders the Mamili National Park. During this time, some people leave their homes to go and tend to their maize fields. But due to the havoc the jumbos are causing, some people especially, widows have abandoned their fields. James Lizazi, chairperson ...
2008-10-17 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
An Asian elephant has become the first of its species in the UK to become pregnant by artificial insemination, a zoo said today. Keepers of Noorjahan at Twycross Zoo, in Leicestershire, said the procedure had been 'incredibly successful' and the baby is expected in August next year. The zoo chose artificial insemination because it had no male elephants in its collection. The father is a bull elephant called Emmet, from Whipsnade Zoo.
2008-10-17 - Guwahati, India.
An adult, partially blind elephant was critically injured when it got hit by a goods train near Deepor Beel last night. The female elephant was crossing the track around 9pm when the train, travelling from Azara to Guwahati, hurtled towards it. It hit the elephant at Chakradeo in Deepor Beel, an international wetland. “The elephant, aged between 35 and 40 years, was standing on the track when the train hit her,†a forest official said. Though the train blew its whistle, the elephant ...
2008-10-17 - Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka.
The elephant-human conflict has claimed a high number of deaths from both species. While authorities attempt to protect the elephants, cultivators often lay traps or shoot at the animals who invade their plantations. Several transit homes have been set up to care for the offspring of killed elephants and to send them back to the wild successfully.
2008-10-17 - Pretoria, South Africa.
South Africa will sell 51 tons of stockpiled ivory on November 6 in a once-off sale to China and Japan, the Department of Environmental Affairs said on Wednesday. Chief executive of South African National Parks (SANParks) David Mabunda said the stockpile consisted of ivory that was verified by the secretariat of the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) as being of legal origin with data to back the origins. “The ivory emanates from SANParks, Mpumalanga ...
2008-10-17 - Mount Kenya, Kenya. Mark Smith
A teenage soldier training for Afghanistan has already survived one harrowing battle – with a rampaging elephant. Private Stuart Edgar, 18, is lucky to be alive after the enraged wild jumbo attacked him while he was on exercise in Africa. The massive bull elephant kicked him around like a football, battered him with its trunk and tore at him with its deadly tusks. He and his Black Watch comrades had been taking photographs of a herd in the Kenyan bush when the male charged them. Stuart, w...
2008-10-17 - Hunan, China. Sharon Lee
An elephant with a blocked intestinal tract was rescued and relieved after more than seven hours of treatment at Changsha Zoo in Hunan province on Sunday. After honey helped reduce swelling in the Asian elephant's stomach, the 3.2-m-tall specimen finally passed a stool weighing 7 kg with a length of 40 cm and a diameter of 20 cm. The 17-year-old elephant, Pa Mai, had fallen to the ground in pain several times on Sunday afternoon before 20 zoo staff moved it indoors for treatment. Changsha Zoo im...
2008-10-16 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
More than 100 tonnes of ivory will go on auction in four southern African countries in two weeks, in the first sale of stockpiled elephant ivory in nearly a decade, wildlife groups said Wednesday. The sales were approved in July by the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and auctions have now been scheduled in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, wildlife officials said. China and Japan are expected to be among the biggest buyers, after CITES agre...
2008-10-16 - Thimphu, Bhutan. Tandin Wangchuk
A temporary home for the three elephants at Serbithang has become a mini zoo with hundreds of people flocking every day to catch a glimpse of the gigantic pachyderm. Caretakers at the temporary home said that they could have easily collected more than Nu 100,000 had they charged visitors since the elephants were brought to Thimphu on October 9 for the Coronation next month. Many Thimphu residents, who’ve never seen elephants in the flesh, drove to Serbithang during the tsechu holidays last we...
2008-10-15 - Auckland, New Zealand.
A travelling circus has come under fire from animal rights campaigners for continuing to use an elephant in its performances. 'Jumbo' is the only circus elephant left in the country, and protesters are comparing her living conditions to solitary confinement. But circus operators and the SPCA say the circus is the best place for her. "We don't believe that circuses are a place for any animals, let alone large exotic animals like this elephant, because most of their days are spent in solitary conf...
2008-10-15 - Medan, Indonesia. Rudianto Sembiring
On 5 october 2008 2 tourist from french come to medan zoo and when they walked arround medan zoo suddenly met with me .so i suprise that one of them is an elephant keeper in french zoo. His name Olivier. We sharing about animal husbandry. and i say thank's so much to them about change experience about animal welfare.
2008-10-14 - Singapore, Singapore. Dhany Osman
Nature lovers looking for more to do will be excited to know that the Singapore Zoo has just introduced boat rides. Since the start of this month, adult visitors can pay $4 for a single trip ticket ($2 for children) for a 20-minute guided ride along the Upper Seletar Reservoir to learn about the area's wildlife. The rides are offered daily. Each of the four boats is named after one of the zoo's animal stars: Pedro the otter, Omar the white tiger, Komali the elephant, and Ah Meng, the zoo's world...
2008-10-14 - St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Metabolic rate and body mass do not have any consistent relationship, according to a new study. Anastassia Makarieva, a researcher from Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, says that most groups of organismsbe it a tiny bacterium, a growing tree, or a gigantic mammalfavour the same optimum metabolic rate. While it has been found in past studies that smaller species within many groups of organisms generally produce more energy within each cell than their larger counterp...
2008-10-13 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
FIVE years ago Walter Gwarada was stuck in the office every day, but chance and an impatient American turned him into the “elephant whisperer†of Addo. Gwarada, who came to South Africa in 2003 after working in information technology at a Zimbabwean cellphone operator in Harare, was hired as a manager for a fledgling private game reserve in Addo, where there was an American brought in to train three tame elephants from Knysna to do safaris. But after four weeks the American had deser...
2008-10-12 - Victoria falls, Zimbabwe. Elephant Experience
Our Sophie gave birth to huge bouncing baby bull, last Thurday 9th October. He is strong healthy and Sophie has plenty of milk. As this is her third calf in semi-captivity. The Bull that mated with her was a wild bull, which had everyone running for two weeks, so its a wild and new bloodline. The trainers have named him JUMBO after the late sweet Sondelani Jumbo.
2008-10-12 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.
A growing number of elephants in the State are ending up injured or dead due to human-animal conflicts and this is worrying the Wildlife Department. Its Director, Laurentius Ambu, said a young elephant was found dead from unknown causes in early September. "But we have a bigger issue of elephants getting injured mostly due to man-made snares, then dying from their injuries," he said, in a statement. These traps are usually set by oil palm plantation workers who struggle for additional income by ...
2008-10-12 - Sabah, Indonesia.
Wildlife rangers are finding increasing numbers of Borneo Pygmy elephants injured or killed by snares set by poorly paid oil palm plantation workers, reports Malaysia's Sabah Wildlife Department. "We have a bigger issue of elephants getting injured mostly due to man-made snare traps then dying from their injuries," said Laurentius Ambu, Sabah Wildlife Department Director. "Besides being a cruel and inhumane way to kill wildlife it is also illegal and it leads to injuries and eventual death of no...
2008-10-11 - Washington, United States.
Come quittin’ time I was already running late for a casual dinner with close friends so I speed-walked out of the office and across the street towards the Metro station. I caught a glimmer out of the corner of my eye—something gold and high off the ground. A crowd of people blocked the sidewalk and I groaned as I tried to push through towards my destination. And then I looked up. The glimmer had grown larger as I approached and I finally focused my eyes away from my beeline to...
2008-10-11 - Sabah, United States.
It is increasingly concerned over the rise in the number of injured and dead elephants in the state. In one instance, a 25-year veteran wildlife guide and lecturer was reduced to tears when he saw a calf (young elephant) in excruciating pain after falling prey to a man-made trap in Kinabatangan. SWD director Laurentius Ambu noted that the bigger issue facing the department involved elephants getting injured or maimed, mostly due to man-made traps and subsequently succumbing to the injuries. He s...
2008-10-11 - Ol Pejeta, Kenya. KATHARINE HOURELD
The text message from the elephant flashed across Richard Lesowapir's screen: Kimani was heading for neighboring farms. The huge bull elephant had a long history of raiding villagers' crops during the harvest, sometimes wiping out six months of income at a time. But this time a mobile phone card inserted in his collar sent rangers a text message. Lesowapir, an armed guard and a driver arrived in a jeep bristling with spotlights to frighten Kimani back into the Ol Pejeta conservancy. Kenya is the...
2008-10-11 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Nimal Wijesinghe
The Wildlife Conservation Authorities have planned to set up a number of 'holding grounds' to detain wild jumbos who frequently invade the hamlets. Manjula Amararatne, Assistant Director-in-Charge of North Western Wildlife Conservation Zone told the Sunday Observer that steps are being taken to start two wild elephants detention grounds at Ritigala along the Banks of Yanoya in Mihintale and at Lunugamwehera in the South. The Ritigala holding ground will consist 1,000 hectares with a electrified ...
2008-10-11 - Mysore, India.
The 13 Dasara elephants were accorded a traditional farewell at a function organized at the Mysore palace premises here today October 11, 2008. Deputy Commissioner P Manivannan offered puja to all the 13 pachyderms which were fed jaggery, sugarcane and banana. The elephants still bore the colorful designs on their trunks boarded the trucks to begin their journey back to the jungles. Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wild Life) Yatish speaking on the occasion said that Balarama who has been carrying...
2008-10-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife Conservation Department has planned to form 'Elephant Protection Societies' in the North Western wildlife preservation zone for minimising the elephant-human conflict. Assistant Director in charge of the North Western Zone Manjula Amararatne which consist of five districts such as Mannar, Puttalam, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Kurunegala, said that villagers who live in areas where elephant invasions are rampant will be trained in strategical methodologies that could be practised in d...
2008-10-10 - Mosman, Australia.
This is an exceptional career opportunity for a committed and experienced Keeper to join our Life Science and Environmental Education Division within our Elephant Unit. Embracing all aspects of the Life Sciences division, this dynamic role exists during an exciting time for the Elephant Unit due to its redevelopment master plan and its focus on the regional Elephant Conservation Breeding program within the context of both free and protected contact. This position is located at Taronga Zoo, Mosma...
2008-10-09 - London, United Kingdom.
One Planet presents Animal Migration in a climate of Change, a series of programmes exploring the way that animal migration has been affected by environmental changes. In Part Three, The Elephant's Journey, Brett Westwood looks at African elephant migration. Mac, the African elephant, travels each year between Kruger National Park in South Africa and the private nature reserves which have been created to preserve animals and habitats there. Until relatively recently, reserves have been fenced, a...
2008-10-09 - Maine, United States.
The first human inhabitants are referred to as Paleo-Indians. They shared the land with woolly mammoths and likely hunted them for food. In 1959, when radiocarbon dating technology was in its infancy, a tusk more than four feet long was pulled out of the mud in Scarborough. After the initial excitement subsided it was concluded that the tusk probably belonged to "Old Bet" a traveling circus elephant that had been euthanized there in 1816. In the early 1990s the tusk was acquired by the Maine Sta...
2008-10-09 - Knoxville, United States. Jamie Satterfield
Thomas D. "Zoo Man" Huskey appeared in Criminal Court for a new sentencing hearing that Judge Richard Baumgartner said was necessary because of a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision rendering Tennessee's sentencing law as unconstitutional. What is at issue is a 22-year sentence Huskey received for the rape and kidnapping of a prostitute at the Knoxville Zoo, where he worked as an elephant keeper. That rape occurred before the bodies of four women were found in 1992 that Huskey admitted killing. He ...
2008-10-09 - Happisburgh, United Kingdom. NATASHA VICTOR
She thought she had stumbled upon a piece of fascinating flotsam to use in a sculpture. But when artist Belinda Opie had a chance meeting in her local with a fossil expert, she found out there was more to this humble-looking bit of beach debris than met the eye. For it is actually a 500,000-year-old mammoth tooth. And its sudden reappearance near the cliffs at Happisburgh after half a million years has raised fears that creeping coastal erosion is washing many of the UK's pre-historic fossils in...
2008-10-09 - Knoxville, United States. The Clausens
We recently visited the Shriner Circus where you were given the opportunity to ride an elephant. I graciously volunteered Mitch to take Tanner for a ride. As you can see from the photos, the elephant trainer was much to worried about his phone call than the 2 ton animal carrying small children! It was a highlight for Tanner, my little animal fanatic.
2008-10-09 - Kampala, Uganda. Edmund Kagire
Most rare and precious African fauna and flora species are on the verge of extinction, today more than in the past years following increased illegal trade in the past decade as global demand for these increases on daily basis. Data from the Lusaka Agreement reveals that over 20.000 elephants are killed in Africa annually and the ivory worth over $20m is exported to China, USA and Japan where it has a lucrative ready market. There is also a ready market for rhino horns, hippo teeth, primates like...
2008-10-09 - Tavira, Portugal. ELOISE WALTON
CIRCUSES ARE free to set up in Portugal without any inspections by municipal veterinarians before, during or after the shows, provided they have a licence from the local Câmara. The surprising situation was uncovered by The Resident following last week’s article about the collapse of an elephant at the Victor Hugo Cardinali circus in Tavira.
2008-10-09 - Montgomery, United States.
The Montgomery Zoo’s African Elephant Exhibit is in need of a Zookeeper I (Elephants)! Here is your chance to work with a TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED African Elephant Exhibit. Minimum Qualifications: High school diploma or G.E.D. and 1,000 hours or 6 months of professional experience working with elephants within the last five years, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Preference will be given to those applicants who have obtained their experience in a zoo or circus set...
2008-10-08 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Baby elephants follow a keeper enroute to their watering place at a wildlife trust in Kenyan capital Nairobi Oct. 2, 2008. Visitors are allowed only about an hour each day at the trust, an elephant orphanage founded in the 1970s to take in baby elephants orphaned by ivory poachers.
2008-10-08 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Jenni Marsh
A BABY elephant and a sheep named Albert may not appear to have much in common, but at the Shamwari Game Reserve these two animals have become the best of pals. Eight-month-old orphan Themba, whose name means “hope†in Xhosa, struck up a friendship with wooly Albert after arriving at the reserve‘s animal hospital when he was just six months old. Thembas mum had fallen off a cliff and died at the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in the Western Cape, where both elephants lived. Shamwaris...
2008-10-08 - Washington, United States. Ken Banks
According to Fauna & Flora International (FFI, "In Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy, FFI and its local partners have fitted elephants with radio collars that transmit their location in 'real time.' This technology is not only useful to researchers who are able to track the elephants with far greater precision, but can also be used on problem animals -- elephants that habitually break fences, for example. The collars can be remotely programmed to send SMS messages at user-defined intervals or when a...
2008-10-08 - Salt Lake City, United States.
The keeper is responsible for the daily care of the assigned animals, observation and enrichment, training, as well as assisting in veterinary practices, educational presentations, public relations and support aspects of the Zoo's operations. Also required to be trained and work in other animal areas of the Zoo as needed which may include birds, other mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.
2008-10-07 - Caplen, United States.
A homeowner whose beachfront property in Texas was destroyed during Hurricane Ike has found a football-size fossil tooth in the debris. Dorothy Sisk and her colleague, Lamar University paleontologist Jim Westgate, visited her Bolivar Peninsula home after Ike hit. Together they found something unusual in Sisk's front yard: a 6-pound fossil tooth. Westgate believes the fossil is from a Columbian mammoth common in North America until around 10,000 years ago. The tooth, which looks like a series of ...
2008-10-06 - Dallas, United States.
If you're following the trials and tribulations of Jenny, the Dallas Zoo's last elephant, or the trials and tribulations of those who care about her future, we may have found the book for you. Diane Hammond, onetime press secretary to the killer whale who starred in Free Willy, has written a book about an Asian elephant. The book, Hannah's Dream, seems to revolve around the struggle, both political and personal, of transferring an elephant from a zoo to a sanctuary.
2008-10-06 - Minneriya, Sri Lanka.
According to Sri Lanka's wildlife department, 193 elephants died in 2007 and 171 died in 2006. Most of them were either shot, poisoned or electrocuted. The population has now shrunk to 4,500 from 12,000 a century ago. "You can't completely stop the human against elephant conflict," said Jayawardene, who worked for 30 years at the government's wildlife department. "But, with education and money coming into local hands through elephant safaris, we can minimise the damage. Locals will treat the ele...
2008-10-06 - Paris, France.
Yesterday, I had a slice of Pollux for dinner. Pollux and his brother Castor are two elephants, which have been killed. It was tough, coarse, and oily, and I do not recommend English families to eat elephant as long as they can get beef or mutton. Castor and Pollux's trunks sold for 45fr. a lb.; the other parts of the interesting twins fetched about 10fr. a lb.
2008-10-06 - Jaigaon, India.
Their tin hut surrounded by marauding elephants on three sides, a 65-year-old woman dug a tunnel with the help of her two grandsons to escape through the rear this morning. Around 2am, Maneshwari Burman was awakened by trumpeting in her kitchen, a few yards from where she slept with Pradip, 14, and Arjun, 10. “We knew that to talk would be to die and so looked at each other. Along with us was Bindu, a neighbour who had come to sleep at my home last night,†said Maneshwari. The family...
2008-10-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Despite the conflict between the two species Sri Lankans have managed to rescue the lives of five wild elephants fallen into agriculture wells in Kekirawa of the North Central Province during the last 3 days. According to Wildlife Department, during a rescue operation that took place on October 3rd to remove two elephant calves and a female elephant, an onlooker was attacked by the female elephant and later succumbed to his injuries. However, another female elephant died before being rescued on ...
2008-10-05 - Barcelona, Spain.
More than 8,000 of the world’s leading decision makers in sustainable development: from governments, NGOs, business, the UN and academia. Together in one place for 10 days: to debate, share, network, learn, commit, vote and decide. The objective: ideas, action and solutions for a diverse and sustainable world. 1’500 participants in the World Conservation Congress will build their skills for conservation action by participating in one of 50 (4-8 hours) practical and experiential workshops. Ma...
2008-10-05 - , Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Among the many elephant deaths we hear of, this was particularly shocking. Not only because it was a majestic tusker being monitored through a satellite collar, but also because it was killed inside a national park. Ravana died on August 25 in a muddy water hole inside Lunugamvehera National Park, from infected gunshot wounds. The post-mortem revealed that the jumbo– named after the powerful king of ancient Sri Lanka – was starving at the time of death - the wound on its cheek preventing it ...
2008-10-05 - Siliguri, India.
An elephant was killed by a goods train near Rajabhat Khawo area of the Bauxa Tiger Reserve Forest of Cooch Bihar District of West-Bengal on early Sunday morning. According to the forest officials, while crossing the railway track, the elephant collided with the speeding train. The animal was crossing the forest from 21, basti area of the forestland to the other part of the forest. It died soon after colliding with the train. As a result of the accident, two coaches of the train were also derail...
2008-10-05 - Alipurduar, India.
An elephant’s violent death on tracks yesterday has proved the railways are not following the speed rules they are supposed to, the state’s chief wildlife warden said today. “We had discussed the problem at a seminar in Calcutta last month in the presence of Project Elephant representatives. But yesterday’s incident proves the railways are not abiding by the speed rules. I will inform Project Elephant about the incident,†said S.S. Bist. A.P. Singh, deputy field ...
2008-10-05 - Bangalore, India.
After a long and tedious hunt, Venkat, one of Karnataka’s ‘most wanted’ poachers, was arrested on Saturday morning while selling tiger nai ls at Taraka village near Nagarahole National Park. According to Sunil Panwar, assistant conservator of forests of Nagarahole National Park, Venkat was involved in various poaching and smuggling activities including ivory theft cases.
2008-10-03 - Kissimee, Orlando, Florida, United States.
October 3-7 at Radisson Worldgate in Kissimee Florida. An official notice has not been sent out yet, but this is the probable date and location. Deadline for Abstracts has been moved to August 1
2008-10-03 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH
The Dallas Zoo broke its attendance record this past year, welcoming 670,084 visitors in the 2007-08 fiscal year, which ended Tuesday. That's nearly 24,000 more visitors than the previous record of 646,169 set in 1979. It was big year in other ways, too. The zoo lost several prominent old friends and became the center of a national elephant debate. Year of loss: Boris the lion, KeKe the elephant, Hercules the gorilla and Jenny, the world's oldest captive gorilla, all died in the past year. Anima...
2008-10-03 - Mysore, India.
The cynosure of all eyes, the Naada Habba (State Festival) or People's Dasara festival is incomplete without the presence of 12 elephants. And what is more, each one of the elephants has a characteristic feature that is remarkable and evokes admiration. Twelve elephants come to Mysore annually from the Jungle Camps to acclimatise themselves to the ambience of the concrete jungle and lend sheen to the Dasara festivities. Their presence in the famous Mysore Palace premises would be another attract...
2008-10-01 - Doha, Qatar. Peter Townson
DOHA Zoo was bustling with visitors yesterday as many of the citys residents opted to spend the first day of their Eid holiday looking at the various animals and birds homed there. Although usually reserved for ladies only, this Tuesday was kept open for bachelors, many of whose companies had arranged for them to be transported to the zoo. The queue in the car park was an indication of the large numbers of visitors, with a huge variety of nationalities and ages gathered at the park’s entrance.
2008-10-01 - Luangwa, Zambia.
It's not everyday that you see a wild elephant standing next to you at the reception of a hotel. But in the Mfuwe Lodge in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, the sight of one or even ten elephants strolling around the lobby is a regular occurrence. Unwittingly built on the elephant's traditional path in 1998, the Mfuwe Lodge stands directly en-route to this elephant herd's favourite food - wild mangoes. Andy Hogg, 44, Director at the Bushcamp Company that runs the Mfuwe Lodge, has lived ...
2008-10-01 - Ndola, Zambia. Nebert Mulenga
FROM what started as a mere campaign to scare away elephants from crop fields, chilli growing has now become a viable commercial farming activity for several Mfuwe residents in Eastern Province. Peasant farmer Boniface Mbao, 63, first planted the hot spice crop in 2006. By the end of the last season, he had managed to raise enough to buy iron sheets, household goods, and even built a standard house on his farm. "I have bought a big radio cassette, 10 iron sheets, and even this house I have built...
2008-09-30 - Paris, France.
At least 750 elephants are killed every year at the Zakouma National Park, in Chad, President of Association for the Protection and Preserva tion of Fauna and Flora (APROCOFF), Hamdan Annadif, disclosed here. "In 2004, Zakouma Park had 4,351 elephants; now there are only 1,000 left. On average, 750 elephants are savagely killed every year in the park. There are more carcasses of elephants than the living species," he told NAN. Annadif said that since 2002, the number of elephants in the park had...
2008-09-30 - Knysna, South Africa.
Although SANParks believes there is 'no reliable evidence' that more than one elephant is living in the indigenous Knysna forests, it has begun a DNA study of dung to determine the size of the herd.
2008-09-30 - Raipur, India.
About 850 residents of a Chhattisgarh village have not slept for the past one week as a group of 14 wild tuskers, having a record of killing people, have settled in the village and destroyed standing paddy crops. ‘About 850 persons of Raigarh districts Bhaisgarhi village have been spending sleepless nights since last Tuesday Sep 23 as a group of 14 wild elephants are roaming in the area,’ officials at the forest department here told IANS. They said the tuskers have sneaked into the ...
2008-09-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankas Ministry of Public Recreation and Sports has allocated 80 million rupees to upgrade the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala, about 90 km north of the capital Colombo, the government said. In a measure to attract more tourists to the world famous elephant sanctuary the Ministry has allocated funds build a ‘open zoo’ in an eco-friendly environment. The Ministry plans to lay an internal road network, erect a parapet wall around the zoo, construct an overhead bridge and build a w...
2008-09-30 - Udhagamandalam, India.
A 52-year old man was trampled to death by a herd of elephants, including one calf, at Manjakombai near Coonoor in Nilgiris district. According to forest department sources, four persons, who were returning home after their work last night, were chased by a group of five wild elephants. Though three of them managed to escape, one Selvaraj was trampled by the elephants to death, they said. Meanwhile, the same herd of elephants waylaid a van at the nearby Thalakombai this morning. As the four occu...
2008-09-29 - San Andreas, United States. Mike Taylor
Preliminary results from a necropsy performed Sept. 21 indicate that 71, a poster elephant for the Performing Animal Welfare Society, died from pancreatitis. The pachyderm had lived at two PAWS facilities since 1986 and suffered from frequent bouts with colic. 71 died Sept. 19 at the ARK 2000 sanctuary in San Andreas. “Colic is fairly common in African elephants,†PAWS co-director Ed Stewart said. He said from her first days with he and co-director Pat Derby, 71 was battling one illn...
2008-09-29 - Bowmanville, Canada.
The Bowmanville Zoo is seeking a candidate to fill an elephant manager position in the Elephant Department. Individuals must have extensive knowledge in elephant training and husbandry. Duties include, but are not limited to, cleaning animal enclosures, preparing diets, performing daily animal presentations, presenting on site and off site programs, training husbandry and show behaviors, and providing enrichment for the collection. Candidates must be capable of managing both onsite activities as...
2008-09-28 - Gainesville , United States. Siegal-Willott J, Isaza R, Johnson R, Blaik M., University of Florida
Eleven juvenile Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were evaluated radiographically to determine the relative times of growth plate closure and phalangeal ossification in the bones of the distal forelimb. Specifically, the first, second, and third phalanges of the third digit (D3) were evaluated, as well as the third phalanx of digits 1, 2, 4, and 5. All elephants were healthy at the time of examination. A retrospective evaluation of radiographs from six of the 11 juvenile elephants was also compl...
2008-09-28 - Karachi, Pakistan. SYED INTIKHAB ALI
Competent authorities in the CDGK have approved the purchasing of two Elephants in two to three months time for Karachi Zoo and Safari park as tender has been given to an international firm on lowest bid, The Nation has learnt on Saturday. Sources in the Community Development Department (CDD) said that city nazim Mustafa Kamal and DCO Karachi Javed Hanif had approved the summary for purchasing two elephants last month. It may be mentioned here that since the death of Anarkali (a female elephant ...
2008-09-27 - Bangalore , India. Nirmala Ravindran
In a study that revealed alarming statistics, it has been discovered that one in four temple elephants in south India suffered from tuberculosis. The study was spread across the four southern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and covered 387 captive elephants and looked at over 45 parameters. The recently-concluded study was led by principal investigator Jacob Cheeran, an expert on elephant studies and commissioned by Asian Nature and Conservation Foundation. It is understood that lack ...
2008-09-27 - El Paso, United States.
Festival is the word – as the El Paso Zoo highlights our city’s favorite pachyderms Savannah and Juno in a celebration of elephants worldwide. You’ll have BIG fun while you support conservation of the world’s largest land mammal. You’ll touch neat bio-facts from elephants, kids can play elephant-themed games, or buy a ticket for the opportunity to actually walk into the elephant exhibit area and hide produce to feed Conservation Ambassadors; Savannah and Juno, the El Paso Zoo’s Asian...
2008-09-26 - Maputo, Mozambique.
An unspecified number of elephants which escaped from South Africa's Kruger Park are creating panic and destroying crops in Mozambique's poor districts of Moamba and Magude, reported the daily Noticias on Friday. The paper said on its online edition that the elephants were invading the local farmers' gardens, destroying winter crops. Xavier Mendonca, Moamba district director for economic activities, was quoted by the paper as saying officers from the wildlife and forestry services had been instr...
2008-09-26 - Calderdale, United Kingdom. Joe Shute
HOW many elephants can you get in a Calderdale flat? Mum-of-three Kathy Dawson has managed to squeeze more than 1,600 into her home. The 61-year-old of Oldham Road, Ripponden, has been collecting "all things elephant" for 21 years after first buying a wooden model from a Gambian market stall. Now with every corner of her home occupied by elephant models, vases, clocks, soft toys, candlestick holders and even a watering can, she certainly got more than she bargained for.
2008-09-26 - SIRAHA, Nepal.
Two persons died when wild elephants attacked villages in Siraha district for the past few days. According to the Area Police Office Dhangadi, Rima Bishwakarma, 12, of Jamdaha VDC-6, died Friday morning, and Padam Tamang, 27, of Bishnupurkatti VDC-4, died Thursday night. Tamang was attacked by wild elephant last night while he had gone to irrigate his paddy field. Six persons have been killed and around 5o families have been displaced for three weeks after wild elephants went berserk in the dist...
2008-09-26 - Mexico City, Mexico.
Mexico has seized 12 animals from a circus a day after one of its elephants wandered onto a highway and was struck and killed by a bus. Mexico's Environmental Protection office said the two Asian elephants and 10 Siberian tigers were not properly contained and were at risk of escaping. The office said Wednesday in a statement that inspectors found the elephants tied to the tire of a trailer. Doors on several of the trailers also lacked proper locks. On Tuesday, a 5-ton elephant named Indr...
2008-09-26 - Yangon, Myanmar.
Wildlife keepers in Myanmar have warned against tendency of move of sanctuary of wild elephants from deep mountain range in western Rakhine state to agricultural field as elephant feed is running short there this year, the local Biweekly Eleven News reported Friday. Such wild elephants are being found shifting from the May Yu mountain range bordering Bangladesh to agricultural farms with crop plantations of local farmers and destroying the plantations for the sake of feed, the report said, calli...
2008-09-26 - Indianapolis Prize, United States. John Stehr
Hes taken on an incredible job, a commitment to save a species. That commitment to elephants has landed Iain Douglas-Hamilton as a nominee for the Indianapolis Prize. "I think I always wanted to fly," Douglas-Hamilton said. "I wanted to see how far the elephants went and from the air it's just a revelation." No one has revealed to the world more about African Elephants than Douglas-Hamilton. He was the first to put collars on key members of herds to track their movement and habits.
2008-09-26 - Martinsville, United States. MICKEY POWELL
The Virginia Museum of Natural History’s newest temporary exhibit helps visitors learn about large elephant-like animals that roamed North America during the Ice Age. Tusks! Ice Age Mammoths and Mastodons” will open Saturday. The exhibit features 80 fossil specimens, artifacts and replicas of extinct animals. Most of the specimens are real, but do not feel cheated that a few are not. “The casts were made so accurately that they can be used for scientific research,” said Ryan Barber, the ...
2008-09-25 - Guwahati, India.
The carcass of a male elephant calf was found floating in a water tank inside Narengi army cantonment here this morning. The calf, aged between two and two-and-a-half years, seems to have been part of a herd which strayed into the army cantonment from the adjoining Amchang wildlife sanctuary last night. “Army personnel and residents around the cantonment told us that they had seen a herd of about 14 elephants moving in the area for the past two days,†a police officer said.
2008-09-25 - Temerloh, Indonesia. B.Suresh Ram
The elephant management unit of the Wildlife and National Parks Department is facing a problem of mammoth proportions. There is a shortage of tame decoy elephants to help in the transfer of wild elephants to wildlife preserves. The unit only has three tame elephants -- Loky Mala, Myan Thon Pyan and Mek Bunga. Unit chief Nasharuddin Othman said it would be difficult to move wild elephants without the help of decoy elephants.
2008-09-24 - Mexico City, Mexico.
A five-ton elephant escaped from Gran Circo Union and wandered onto a busy highway, where it was hit by a bus. Both the driver and pachyderm were killed early Tuesday. Bus driver Tomas Lopez, 49, was killed and at least four passengers were hospitalized after the pre-dawn collision in Ecatepec, just north of Mexico City. State police spokesman Juan Sanchez said the elephant escaped from its cage at the Circo Union, but he declined to give any other details. He said officials were investigating. ...
2008-09-24 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
The Indonesian chapter of WWF (World Wildlife Fund) is asking Indonesian authorities to investigate the death of two Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in Southeast Aceh district, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province, a spokesman said. "This is important. To prevent a negative interpretation of what happened, the authorities should investigate the death of the two Sumatran elephants so that the cause of their death is clearly established," WWF Indonesia Deputy Team Leader Dede Su...
2008-09-24 - Omaha, United States. TIM JOHNSON
Henry Doorly Zoo's director, Dr. Lee Simmons envisions an arctic environment, elephant center and other specialized areas, he told chamber members at a luncheon Tuesday at the Mid-America Center. "Right now, we've got room for three adult and a bull stall," he said. "But once a year, the bull goes into lust; and when a bull goes into lust, nobody wants to be around it, except a female elephant," he said. "Our plan right now, we would be able to hold 10, 12, 14 elephants. We would become a player...
2008-09-24 - Dudhwa, India. Kamna Mathur
Not many may know that Dudhwa National Park holds a unique position for according pension and other emoluments to its elephants for rendering service to tourists and patrolling. These elephants belong to the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department at the Dudhwa National Park located in Lakhimpuri Kheri region of the State. And, after retirement from their official duties, these jumbos avail free medical treatment, pension and an attendant.
2008-09-24 - San Jose, United States. Lisa M. Krieger
After three years of undergoing scientific scrutiny at the University of California-Berkeley, the juvenile mammoth fossil nicknamed "Lupe,'' found near San Jose's Guadalupe River, is returning to San Jose. It will be the centerpiece of a new permanent display at the Children's Discovery Museum, officials told the Mercury News on Wednesday.
2008-09-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
Constructive measures have been put in place to solve the human - elephant conflict. Minister of natural resources and environment Pathali Champika Ranawaka quoting a recent survey said that the number of elephants living in Sri Lanka has considerably increased. According to a detail survey it is reported that there were 673 elephants in 1993. But it has increased four times more than its original figure as of this date. There are more than 2420 elephants found in Mahaweli zone. But unfortunatel...
2008-09-23 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
Myanmar [Burma] has taken measures for wildlife conservation by restricting the catching of elephant in the country's Bago Yoma mountain range where most of the animal take sanctuary, the local Weekly Eleven journal reported Tuesday. In order to prevent elephant from extinction in the country, the Myanmar forestry authorities allowed catching of the wild elephants in the mountain range's Hlegu area only once in three years, prescribing the ratio of the elephants caught to be handed over to the a...
2008-09-23 - Kansas City, United States. Max Evans
A coalition of Zoos, including the Kansas City Zoo, received high honors last week at the 84th Annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Conference in Milwaukee for their work in elephant conservation. The AZA’s Significant Achievement Award for International Conservation was given to the zoos for their work as part of the Tarangire Elephant Project. The project is led by the Wildlife Conservation Society with support from a cadre of Zoos including the Kansas City Zoo, which provides...
2008-09-23 - San Andreas, United States. Jennifer K. Morita
A 26-year-old African elephant at the Performing Animal Welfare Society's San Andreas sanctuary died from chronic pancreatitis, according to preliminary necropsy results. Pathologists from the University of California at Davis laboratory in San Bernardino told PAWS officials that the female elephant, who died Friday, had an inflamed pancreas that was likely a result of early medical problems. The elephant was named "71" for the tag number she was assigned when captured as a baby in Africa.
2008-09-23 - Dhodhana, Nepal.
Dev Narayan Chaudhary, 42, of Dhodhana VDC-8, Lahan succumbed to injuries he suffered in an attack by a wild elephant Sunday night. Reports quoted locals as saying that the wild elephant attacked him at around 7 pm while he was in his cowshed. He was immediately rushed to hospital where he died while undergoing treatment. People in VDC's close to the jungle in Siraha and Saptari districts live in constant terror of attacks by wild animals. In the past three weeks wild elephants alone have claime...
2008-09-22 - THRISSUR, India.
A Programme to give practical training to mahouts and issue licence to the trained mahouts is under the consideration of the Kerala Elephant owners Federation, said Federation president K B Ganeshkumar, MLA. Filmstar Jayaram inaugurated the meet which commenced with a gajapooja. At the function, the Gajamithra Puraskaram and Nitish Memorial Endowment of Rs 5,001 was presented to Guruvayur Devaswom mahout P Radhakr i shnan. the ‘Palakapya puraskaram’ instituted by the Federation for ...
2008-09-21 - Akkaraipattu, Sri Lanka. Rathindra Kuruwita
Wild elephants killed two people in the Damana Police area yesterday. According to Damana Police, this is the second instance where humans have been attacked by elephants in the area recently. “The elephants have attacked and killed two individuals in the early hours, in a place called Rahman town and the bodies have been sent to Akkaraipattu for magisterial inquiries,†a senior Police officer there said adding that the attacks on humans by elephants have risen in the area dramatical...
2008-09-21 - copenhagen, Denmark.
This might seem odd, but elephants are being used to help with the gardening at a nature reserve in Denmark. Apparently they're great at pulling out unwanted trees and bushes, without leaving big holes. It's part of an experiment to see if the animals could work as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to machinery like tractors and diggers. If it's a success, elephants will be called in help to maintain the Danish countryside for three months each year.
2008-09-21 - Pittsburgh, United States. Kellie B. Gormly
Guests at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Sunday can help zookeepers pamper and honor the zoo's eight elephants, especially the two baby females born in July, in a party just for the pachyderms. Macy's Elephant Day, an event in its eighth year, brings a special excitement this year, because with the two new calves -- Angeline and Zuri -- it's like a belated birthday party, with an added cuteness factor, zoo officials say. Guests will watch the keepers feed a special carrot or banana nut cak...
2008-09-21 - San Andreas, United States. Jennifer Morita
A 26-year-old African elephant that once had been slated to be sold to a circus died Friday at the Performing Animal Welfare Society's sanctuary in San Andreas. Named 71 for the tag number she was assigned when captured as a baby, the elephant was shipped to the United States where she was purchased by a Florida man and later taken in by PAWS founders Pat Derby and Ed Stewart. When she arrived at PAWS in 1986, 71 was malnourished and chronically sick. Handlers had to sleep with her and bottle fe...
2008-09-21 - Houston, United States.
In Houston, residents are having a hard time removing debris from their yards, after Hurricane Ike. So, some animals from the Houston Zoo are giving them a hand...a trunk, rather. The 2,600 pound elephant, named ‘Tucker,’ is moving tree limbs. The three-year-old elephant can lift four times its body weight. Zookeepers say it’s good exercise for Tucker.
2008-09-20 - Mahaweli, Sri Lanka. Kelum Bandara
Despite the worsening of human-elephant conflict which has claimed the lives of both species, the elephant population has drastically increased from 673 in 1993 to 2423 this year in the Mahaweli areas of the country. Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka made this observation yesterday while referring to a report of the census conducted covering the Mahaweli areas of Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa, Matale, Badulla and Ampara. Addressing a ceremony held to mark the launch ...
2008-09-20 - KOTA KINABALU, United States. Jaswinder Kaur
The death of a male Borneo Pygmy elephant near a jungle resort in the Kinabatangan district early this month has sparked an investigation by the Sabah Wildlife Department. The department is probing the cause of death of the elephant, estimated to be about two years old. Its carcass showed no visible injuries. The department's officer-in-charge in Kota Kinabatangan, Roland Nuin, received information about the dead elephant on Sept 2 and sent a team to the scene.
2008-09-20 - RANCHI, India.
Two people were trampled to death and one was injured as elephants entered a village in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district on Friday and went on the rampage, attacking people and damaging property, police said. A herd of elephants entered villages that come under the Kuju police station of Ramgargh, around 70 km from here, in the morning. They then went on the rampage in Ratwe village and trampled Khirodhar Mahto and Gulab Mahto to death. The elephants also wounded another villager, a police official ...
2008-09-19 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Leakey
I am incredulous that the Centre of International Forestry Research (CIFOR) would suggest bushmeat hunting be legalized, giving the local people the task of policing themselves. This position shows remarkable naïveté and totally fails to understand the realities on the ground. A hungry population is never going to practice conservation of food, especially where it can be had free from the forest.
2008-09-17 - Palakkad, United States.
The problems faced by elephants could be mitigated to a certain extent by imparting scientific training to the mahouts, said Deputy Speaker Jose Baby. He was speaking after inaugurating the five-day training camp organised by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) near the Pariyanampatta temple in Mangalamkunnu on Tuesday. The camp was being organised with the co-operation of the Departments of Forest, Animal Husbandry and elephant owners.
2008-09-17 - Eltham, New Zealand.
AN ELEPHANT Race on Bridge Street, Eltham, April 28, 1965, was held in aid of funds for the Eventide Home. The elephants were borrowed from the Coles Circus. This event took place for several years, starting first in 1965 through to about 1971, when the circus was in town. One of the jockeys is Fred Taylor, mayor of Eltham at the time, who the others are would be an interest to know. Paul Connell and his trustee camera was there to record the event. He and later, his wife Shelia, have left behin...
2008-09-17 - Vacaville, United States. Danny Bernardini
In a scene straight from the movies, Isa the elephant could be seen Monday morning helping set up poles under the big top in anticipation for the opening night of the Carson and Barnes Circus. He said the elephants can sense the tension in the big top and will stop before tearing the tarp, unlike someone on a tractor doing the same job.
2008-09-17 - Durban, South Africa. Woolley LA, Millspaugh JJ, Woods RJ, van Rensburg SJ, Mackey RL, Page B, Slotow R. University of KwaZulu-Natal
In predator-free large herbivore populations, where density-dependent feedbacks occur at the limit where forage resources can no longer support the population, environmental catastrophes may play a significant role in population regulation. The potential role of fire as a stochastic mass-mortality event limiting these populations is poorly understood, so too the behavioural and physiological responses of the affected animals to this type of large disturbance event. During September 2005, a wildf...
2008-09-16 - Antwerp Zoo, Belgium.
The 25th EAZA Annual Conference will be hosted by Antwerp Zoo, Belgium from 16 to 20 September 2008. The conference will take place at the Flanders Congress & Concert Centre in the heart of Antwerp, conveniently located in the Zoo and next to Antwerp Central Station. For the majority of the participants, the conference will officially start with an ice-breaker in the evening of Tuesday 16 September 2008. The TAG chairs and the EEP coordinators, however, will already have their first meetings ear...
2008-09-16 - Lampang, Thailand. PICHAYA SVASTI
At the Elephant Hospital in Lampang, 31-month-old Mo Cha, who stepped on a landmine in Burma and lost her front right leg two years ago, walks and plays in a pool of sand after being fitted with the world's first artificial leg for pachyderms. She lifts and curls her trunk as if to thank Dr Therdchai.
2008-09-16 - Yaounde, Cameroon. Tansa Musa
Elegant waitresses offer patrons a menu of mainly common game -- pangolin, antelope, bush pig, monkey, cane rat and viper -- at prices of 5,000-10,000 CFA francs a dish. But in a fridge outside, a Reuters reporter saw two arms of what appeared to be a gorilla or a chimpanzee, thick black fur and hands still attached -- together with a piece of what a restaurant employee said was elephant meat. "If you want to eat meat of big animals like chimpanzee, gorilla and even the elephant, you make a spec...
2008-09-15 - Mount Kenya, Kenya. Dan Vergano
The call came last week from Kenyan Wildlife Services. Mountain Bull had to die. The adult elephant living near Mount Kenya had absconded from his reserve home to pillage villagers' crops with a posse of other male tuskers. Outraged by the elephants eating their livelihood, a regular occurrence in the last two years, impoverished locals wanted the elephants tracked down and killed. "Hold on, hold on, we asked them, don't shoot that one," says biologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants...
2008-09-15 - Montgomery, United States. John Shryock
The Montgomery Zoo says the calf born to Mary, an elephant who died last month at the zoo, has also died. The male African elephant calf died Sunday after officials said it became unresponsive and veterinary and animal care staff were unable to revive it. Marcia Woodard, Deputy Director of the Montgomery Zoo, tells WSFA 12 News she wasn't aware of a single case in North America where an elephant calf survived while being bottlefed, but that the zoo put great effort into the cause, taking care of...
2008-09-14 - KINABATANGAN, Indonesia.
There is much about the Bornean Elephant that is unknown, according to a conservationist in Sabah. “We do not yet understand their actual family structures and how group dynamics are,” said Nurzhafarina Othman, the conservation biologist at the Danau Girang Field Centre, who heads a new study which is the first on the social structure of the Bornean Elephant. Danau Girang is a field study centre located within the Kinabatangan. It is a collaborative project between the Sabah Wildlife Departm...
2008-09-14 - Tesso Nilo, Indonesia.
The government of Indonesia has declared its commitment to enlarging the most suitable block of forest for Sumatran elephants, expanding the vital Tesso Nilo National Park on Sumatra island to 86,000 hectares. "This is an important milestone toward securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger," said Dr. Mubariq Ahmad, WWF-Indonesia's Chief Executive. “To ensure that the commitment is effectively implemented, we must redouble our efforts on the ground to eliminate poaching and ille...
2008-09-13 - Siraha, Nepal.
At least five people were killed when wild elephants turned rampage in Saptari and Siraha district on Saturday. 10-year old Nilam Kumari Ram, Bhukiyadevi Ram and Pritandevi Yadav were killed on the spot when three wild elephants from Chure forest attacked the villagers at Madhupatti in Saptari. Meanwhile, Bantu Ram who has been seriously injured is undergoing treatment at Lahan Hospital after the elephants pounced on him. They also destroyed 10 houses in the village. Similarly, Ramdev Sathi and ...
2008-09-13 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
Elephant attacks have been occurring with increasing frequency in Pantee Purba/Ligan , Sampiniet sub district, Aceh Jaya District, during the past one month, local sources said. "Since they entered this region last August, the herds of wild elephants have destroyed crops on hectares of farm land," Abdul Hakim, a local farmer, told ANTARA on Saturday. Some 13 Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) were currently in the outskirts of Ie Jeureungeh village and in a forest bordering the SP-V...
2008-09-12 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephants housed in the premises of Palace are being given royal treatment. On the other hand, Palace elephants which are supposed to get similar treatment, are suffering. There are seven elephants under the charge of Palace Administration. Out of them, five are suffering from one disease or the other. The personnel who are supposed to take care of their health, are showing negligence. Elephant Raji has developed big tumours near both the eyes. Jamini has a tumour with infection on the ri...
2008-09-12 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon, The Oregonian
The votes are in, and the Oregon Zoo's new baby elephant is named Samudra, or Sam for short. The calf loves his baths, so the name, which means "lord of the ocean," is fitting. More than 17,000 people voted among five names, and Samudra took 35 percent. Hugo-Tu was second. The contenders: Amul: Hindi for priceless or of inestimable worth. Bao: Chinese for precious treasure. Duc (rhymes with hook): Vietnamese for good, moral, desire. Plus, the zoo notes, it makes up a fraction of Kevin Duc...
2008-09-12 - Warsaw, United States. Jennifer Peryam
Performing elephants, lions, tigers and horses will entertain those who attend Baron von Uhl's Wild Animal Circus in Warsaw next weekend. Elephant rides will be available for $5, and pony rides will be $4. The circus will feature two performing elephants it adopted from Africa, Tiny, 15, and Twiggy, 20. There will be photo opportunities with the basketball-playing elephant. Tom Liebling, who is an elephant trainer with the circus, has been with the circus for 50 years. The circus is based out of...
2008-09-12 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
THIS delightful snap shows best friends, Kito and Jambo, messing around at Colchester Zoo - and will provide happy memories for those who remember the young elephants before leaving East Anglia for warmer climes. The moment was captured by reader James Meadows, whose wildlife photos are often featured on the pages of the Star. Mr Meadows, 58, of Gloucester Road, Ipswich, took the snap during February half term when the country was enjoying slightly more favourable weather. The keen photographer ...
2008-09-12 - Milwaukee County Zoo, United States.
The 2008 AZA Annual Conference will be hosted by the Milwaukee County Zoo, WI, USA. For more information, please visit www.aza.org
2008-09-11 - Salt Lake City, United States. Lynn Arave
Misha, a 27-year-old African elephant, died at Hogle Zoo Tuesday afternoon after being euthanized because of declining health. For the last few weeks, Misha's physical health had been mysteriously deteriorating and early on, animal care staff was aware — through changes in her behavior — that she was not feeling well, according to Holly Braithwaite, Hogle Zoo spokeswoman.
2008-09-11 - Polpithigama, Sri Lanka. M. A. R. MANUKULASOORIYA
Nearly 1,000 villagers from Gomadiyagala in the Polpithigama police area launched an agitation campaign against Wildlife Officers on Tuesday after a 25-year-old man was killed by a wild elephant near the Hakwatuna oya reservoir in the Polpithigama Divisional Secretariat division. The Divisional Secretary promised that he would take every possible action on this matter. The villagers forcibly opened the gate of the Divisional Secretary's office and entered the premises and made a complaint regard...
2008-09-11 - Havelock islands, India. PATANJALI V. PARIMI
Rajan is unique. He flies in the waters of the Bay of Bengal with the ease of a pelican in the air. He may be a majestic giant on land, but in the water he seems to transform into a weightless creature specially designed to fly in the sea. If you ever imagined flying with an elephant in a surreal world, you sure can realise your dream with the help of a male tusker called Rajan in the Andaman Islands. For a country that has an estimated 25,000 wild elephants and 3,500 domesticated elephants, the...
2008-09-11 - Berkshire, United Kingdom. Giles Whittell
The late spring of 1941. A circus in Horley has two elephants for sale. Chief Supply Officer Captain F. Ellam, of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), is on the phone, trying to buy elephants. Capt Ellam agrees terms and the Ministry of Aircraft Production approves funds for what would be the world's first four-legged airfield tractors. The circus offers an Indian mahout to go with the elephants, and the ATA measures him up for a uniform of fine navy worsted. The plan falls through, but only becau...
2008-09-11 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
THE death of a Woody Cape farm worker who was “grabbed” through an electric fence and trampled to death by an elephant last week, has been described as a freak accident. Zimbabwean-born Vanhuvmnwe Chinangama was killed instantly on the farm Request, while walking alongside a re-enforced electric fence separating a herd of nine elephants at the Elephants of Eden sanctuary from the rest of the farm. The farm spokesperson Stanford Slabbert yesterday said the elephant had inexplicably grabbed Ch...
2008-09-11 - Hollywood, United States. Elisabeth Rappe
The bidding war is over, and Fox 2000 has emerged triumphant, clutching the rights to Sara Gruen's bestseller Water for Elephants, which they are promptly putting on the fast track. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Francis Lawrence is attached to direct, and Richard LaGravenese is adapting it for the big screen.
2008-09-11 - San Andreas, United States. MEGAN HOLLAND
A year into her new life roaming a California sanctuary with other elephants, Alaska's favorite expat shows every sign of enjoying it. She trumpets, knocks down trees and calls for her companions when they wander too far, say her new keepers. "She's the comedian of the crowd," said Pat Derby, president of the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary. "She's Ms. Personality." The facility, 50 miles southeast of Sacramento, offers Maggie three companions and 75 acres to roam. It's a stark contr...
2008-09-10 - San Diego, United States.
Deep in the bush of South Africa, Dr. Dean Hendrickson finally has his surgical routine down: Hoist up the elephant, make a 4-inch incision, make a couple snips, and suture the elephant back up. Hendrickson, the interim director of the CSU vet hospital, is the surgeon on a four-person team from Disney’s Animal Kingdom in San Diego that ventures into the reserves of South Africa to perform vasectomies male elephants.
2008-09-10 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The first exhaustive study of captive elephants in southern India has found that 15.25 per cent of them suffer from tuberculosis. Principal investigator of the two-year-long study Jacob Cheeran said that the study was done on 387 captive elephants in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; 59 of the elephants had TB. "The study on the health of captive elephants with special attention on TB was conducted by the Bangalore-based NGO Asian Nature and Conservation Foundati...
2008-09-10 - Toledo, United States.
The Toledo Zoo and its Elephant Management Program has the ability to offer a unique opportunity to individuals that would like to make captive elephant management a career. The zoo has a structured internship program that encompasses many different opportunities throughout the zoo campus. A participant in the Elephant Keeper Internship Program would work directly with the zoo’s elephants and staff under the direction of the elephant manager. The intern will assist in the daily cleaning of the...
2008-09-09 - Mysore, India.
During the Dasara procession it is the ambari elephant that attracts a lot of attention. And, choosing the ambari elephant is no mean task. Shyam Sundar Vattam delves deep into historical records to trace the process of their selection. The world famous Mysore Dasara is synonymous with elephants. Dasara procession without elephants is unthinkable. It is, therefore, no wonder that these gentle giants which are brought from the neighbouring national parks for Dasara enjoy a protocol which is norma...
2008-09-09 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Wildlife for Sustainable Development (WSD) announced it is undertaking various activities to protect increasingly diminishing Ethiopian elephants and reverse the trend. A national elephant conservation program is launched to protect and increase the number of Ethiopian elephants whose number is diminishing from time to time, WSD Director General Dr Yirmed Demeke told WIC. The program envisages to care for the elephants by protecting them from poaching, disease prevention, habitat protection so a...
2008-09-09 - Windhoek, Namibia. Garth Owen-Smith, Co-director of IRDNC Namibia
OVER the past few weeks I have watched in amazement the escalating media frenzy, sensational headlines and misinformation over the Ministry of Environment and Tourism's issuing of trophy-hunting permits for six elephants to conservancies in Namibia's northwest. Having worked as an agricultural official in the then Kaokoveld (1968-70), I was in charge of the Endangered Wildlife Trust's field operations in Kaokoland and Damaraland (1982-1990), and since then been co-director with Dr Margaret Jacob...
2008-09-08 - Babille, Ethiopia.
It is with great sadness that I report the death of another great conservationist at work. Zahoor Kashmiri was darting elephants in Babille in Ethiopia where a little understood population of elephants was being studied. The work was a collaboration with Yirmed from Ethiopian Elephants blog. I spoke to Yirmed who told me that a well know aggressive single tusked bull attacked and killed my good friend who simply didn’t have a chance. For me this is one of the saddest days in the year. Some of...
2008-09-08 - New Delhi, India. Pressrelease, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India
Carving of ivory is a traditional cottage industry in South India. the spurt in prices of ivory has been mainly responsible for killing of elephants in India. It is alleged that poachers do not hesitate to shoot even young elephants down to 5 years of age, which carry tusks of about 2.5 kg. a piece only. This type of systematic and sustained poaching of tuskers appeared to affect even the genetic potential and sex ration of the species.
2008-09-07 - London, United Kingdom.
A camel never forgets The Ancient Greeks claimed that the camel "never forgets an injury". By the early 20th century, this had evolved into "women and elephants never forget an injury", before becoming simply "elephants never forget" in the 1930s. According to research by the Wildlife Conservation Society, this might be true for older females. During times of drought, a matriarch that has survived a previous dry spell is able to guide the herd to distant water sources.
2008-09-07 - Dublin, Ireland.
I am asked to recreate a John Hinde picture postcard of my late father, an elephant keeper in Dublin Zoo, which was taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I dress in the uniform and cap and get the elephant to salute with her trunk. For my dad it was Sarah, for me it is Yasmin. The result will be seen on TG4 in a few weeks’ time on a programme called Cartai Poist. It turns out to be an afternoon full of memories because, in my childhood, Dublin Zoo was virtually a second home.
2008-09-06 - Toronto, Canada. Anthony Reinhart, Eric Cole, Toronto Zoo
Sure as the sun rose each morning, Tequila the African elephant could be found lumbering about her enclosure, eager to fortify her imposing bulk with a bale of hay for breakfast. Such had been her routine since the summer of 1974, when the young orphan from Mozambique took up residence with the rest of the elephants at the newly opened Toronto Zoo. When the zoo's elephant keepers reported for work on Tuesday, they expected no different. But there was nothing routine about what they found in the ...
2008-09-05 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
Four people were killed in elephant rampage in southern Nepali districts, local newspaper The Kathmandu Post reported on Friday. In Dhanusa district, some 125 km south of the Nepali capital, six-year old Nisha Pokherel was killed on her way with her family at the Jalar river in the morning. Similarly Ram Ashis Mahatto, 65, was also killed by the wild elephant while 20-year-old Mira Pokherel was injured and is undergoing treatment at a local hospital. Wild elephants have increasingly been on the ...
2008-09-05 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Environment Ministry will soon formulate a national level action plan with new regulations with regard to tamed elephants to ensure their well-being, Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said. The regulations will comply with international conditions as well, the Minister told a ceremony at the Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya on Thursday. The Minister opened the sacred relic exhibition at the conclusion of the temple’s 108th annual perahera.
2008-09-05 - Corbett Tiger Reserve, India.
The environment ministry has sought a report from the Uttarakhand government on increasing cases of elephant mortality at the famous Corbett Tiger Reserve in recent months. "There have been reports of higher cases of jumbo mortality from the region in the last few months when compared to the last few years. It is definitely a matter of concern though it would be too early to comment whether it is due to the negligence of the park's staff or due to some other reasons," A N Prasad, director of Pro...
2008-09-04 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Chester Zoo will be hosting an Elephant & Rhino evening on Thursday 4th September. Join us for an evening with a difference at Oakfield Manor followed by a personal Zoo tour with our keepers. Pre booking is essential, to make a booking please call our Events Office on 01244 650 209 or email events@chesterzoo.org
2008-09-04 - Kunming, China. Sun Yunlong
An Asian elephant who became addicted to drugs after eating a banana smeared with heroin is headed back to Kunming after a three-year detoxification program in China's southernmost Hainan Province. The 4-year-old male elephant, Xiguang, became addicted in March2005. He was among six elephants lured by animal smugglers along the Sino-Myanmar border. They used the bananas as bait for the animals, which were being brought into China's Dehong Autonomous Prefecture of Dai and Jingpo nationalities. Po...
2008-09-04 - Emmen, Netherlands. Martijn Fabrie
A male calf has been born this morning at 11.30 AM in Emmen Zoo. His mother is Mingalar Oo and his father is Radza (father to seven babies, grandfather of 2 babies in Japan). It's the first time in the zoo's history that a birth took place in the outside enclosure.
2008-09-03 - Dar es salaam, Tanzania. Guardian Reporter
By The speed at which the African elephant has been slaughtered is reported to have been rising alarmingly since an international ban on ivory trade took effect in 1989. The public outcry that resulted in the ban has strangely died off, with University of Washington conservation biologist Samuel Wasser contending that it is because public awareness on the plight of the giant mammal has also faded. Recent studies show that poaching, which is endemic in Africa, accounts for an 8 per cent annual de...
2008-09-03 - Dallas, United States.
The Dallas Zoo announced moments ago that it has received the largest gift in its 120-year history, a $5 million donation from the Harold Simmons Foundation. Zoo officials plan the use the funds to help build a new $40 million African Savanna exhibit that will house large animals from elephants to giraffes and zebras. Plans for the Savanna's elephant exhibit were recently fasttracked after the zoo decided to keep its lone remaining elephant, Jenny, in Dallas. Zoo officials hope to have a new 4-a...
2008-09-03 - Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Darren Tom
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's three African elephants arrived safely yesterday at the Columbus Zoo, and they're adapting very well to their new surroundings. Elephants Moshi, Jo and Martika will be staying in Columbus during construction of the new African Elephant Crossing habitat at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The elephants are scheduled to return to Cleveland before their expanded exhibit opens to the public in 2011. The elephants were transported to Columbus in a specially equipped trailer and a...
2008-09-03 - Toronto, Canada. Danielle Wong
The surprise death of a Toronto Zoo elephant yesterday offered a fresh challenge for veterinarian staff who have learned that elephants, like humans, mourn the death of their loved ones. When Thika found her mother, a 38-year-old African elephant named Tequila, dead early at the zoo’s outdoor elephant exhibit, she stayed beside the body for four hours. Thika even started digging at the ground and throwing dirt on her mother’s body, as if hoping to get any response at all. It wasn’t until T...
2008-09-02 - Mahavilachchiya, Sri Lanka. Senaka de Silva
Wild elephants are known to go on the rampage, but drunken elephants can be a handful or is it a mouthful as both villagers and wildlife officials in Mahavilachchiya came to experience. Wild Life officials said a roaming herd of wild elephants walked into a kasippu den after sniffing the aromatic smell of fruits used in distilling the brew and had more than a mouthful of the booze and in their drunken state ran amok destroying crops and houses in the village. The men at the illegal brewery showe...
2008-09-02 - Katima Mulilo , Namibia. Reagan Malumo
A mysterious disease believed to be anthrax is exerting a grim toll on Caprivi’s elephant herd, wiping out large numbers of these majestic wild animals particularly in the area of Nakabolelwa, about 90 kilometres east of Katima Mulilo. A village headman at Nakabolelwa told New Era that last month at least four elephants succumbed to the mysterious disease in that area. He said several other cases were also confirmed at a nearby settlement in Botswana and that it is suspected that the elep...
2008-09-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
At least two people and an elephant have died in the human-elephant conflict prevalent in SriLanka's rural north central and eastern areas, police said Tuesday. Police said that a 45-year-old man was killed as a result of being attacked by a wild elephant at Sigiriya, about 165 km from here in North Central Province. The ill-fated man was attacked at around 8 p.m. local time Monday while returning home. In the nearby Digampathaha area, another man was attacked by a wild elephant earlier on Monda...
2008-09-02 - Auvergne, France.
Researchers recently uncovered a fossilized skull of a steppe mammoth in the Auvergne region of France, shedding light on the evolution of such beasts. The find is notably rare because while a handful of mammoth skeletons have been discovered, the skull is rarely intact. Paleontologists Frederic Lacombat and Dick Mol report that the skull belongs to a male steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii) that stood about 12ft tall and lived about 400,000 years ago, during Middle Pleistocene times. The st...
2008-09-02 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Dan Koehl
After two years of intensive work the database now include 4000 elephants (including 380 breeding cows and 154 breeding bulls), 1732 dead elephants and 2268 living, from 1121 location facilities in 92 countries, ranging from year 802 until now.
2008-09-02 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Antoinette van de Water
The end of the rainy season is coming near and after a couple of weeks of non-stop tree planting, Trees for Elephants 2008 has also accomplished her final goal! The idea to plant 100,000 trees for Thai elephants was born in august 2007. Yesterday, exactly one year later, the 100,000th tree has been planted. The planting of this tree was an unforgettable moment! Of course I wanted to experience this moment in the Elephant Nature Park, together with Douk Ngern, Sri Nuan and Faa Sai. We planted a p...
2008-09-01 - Chennai, India.
Forests minister N Selvaraj said on Sunday that the first installment of Rs 125 crore of a total of the Rs 256 crore was released for setting up night safaris in Vandalur zoo. The state government also plans to set up a zoo in Tiruchi, he added. At the Vandalur zoo, 60 deer can be seen during the safari, while for the jumbo rides, the services of two elephants from Pollachi will be used to thrill visitors. The jumbo rides would be offered between 9.30 am and 11.30 am, and 4 pm to 5.30 pm, except...
2008-09-01 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen
In Sri Lanka nearly 120 elephants are killed by humans and in return about 65 people die after being attacked by elephants every year. The number of cases of elephants being killed or run over by trains could be reduced if the train staff take precautions by giving the elephants enough warning in advance when they spot the elephants close to the rail tracks, Managing Trustee of the Bio Diversity and Elephant Conservation Trust and leading expert on Asian elephants and former planter Jayantha Jay...
2008-09-01 - Windhoek, Namibia. Chis Haslam
Africas few remaining desert elephants are facing extinction after the Namibian government issued permits for six breeding bulls to shot by trophy hunters. The government claims the herds can sustain the slaughter but Johannes Haasbroek, operations director of Elephant-Human Relations Aid, says the issue of the $40,000 dollar permits to big game hunters will be catastrophic. Three of the licences have been issued in the south Kunene region, where Hassbroek says there are just three breeding bull...
2008-09-01 - Mysore, India.
Elephants play a major role in Dasara procession. The six elephants which are camping for the past few days in the premises of Mysore Palace are being taken for walking daily in the morning and evening in the path of 'Jumboo Savari' to enable them to get acquainted with the route. The elephants Balarama, Arjuna, Gajendra, Abhimanyu, Sarala, Vijaya in the first batch started their exercise a few days ago to get acquainted with the city environment, people and vehicular traffic. Balarama has been ...
2008-09-01 - New York, United States. Melody Ng, ©The Moodie Report
US. Leathergoods specialist Hunting World is introducing a new bag made from organic material to help save wild elephants in Borneo. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the Borneo Bag will go to support the Trust's campaign to unify fragmented forests of Borneo and to help connect important elephant migration routes. Hunting World wants to raise awareness of what is happening to these animals in Borneo and to help save them for future generations.
2008-09-01 - Laikipia, Kenya. KNA
An elderly man has been killed by a stray elephant in Laikipia North district. Laikipia OCS James Kithuka said Pipitano Ole Rosoyo, 70 was crossing the Mpala ranch when he was attacked by the rogue elephant on Sunday. Kithuka said the elderly man was trampled on before being thrown into a dam. It is suspected the elderly man chanced upon the elephant as it was drinking water from the dam. The body was taken to Nanyuki hospital district mortuary. Kithuka appealed to Wananchi in the three district...
2008-09-01 - Washington, United States. Joe DeCapua
An animal conservation group warns that Namibia's desert elephants face a severe blow because the government has issued permits to kill some breeding bulls. Permits to kill six of the bulls have been awarded for trophy hunting. The government says the elephant herds can handle the loss. Johannes Haasbroek is the operations director for the group Elephant-Human Relations Aid. From Swakopmund, Namibia, he spoke to VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua about the permits to kill the br...
2008-08-31 - BISMARCK, United States.
Rare prehistoric artifacts are on display in North Dakota's state museum. The "Clovis" artifacts are unfinished tools that are about 13,000 years old. The people who made them hunted woolly mammoth and mastodon. They're the oldest artifacts in the State Historical Society's collection. The artifacts were donated by some western North Dakota residents who unearthed them in Golden Valley County. Some of them are now on exhibit in the Recent Acquisitions case at the North Dakota Heritage Center in ...
2008-08-31 - Nairobi, Kenya. Daniel Stiles
The "to be or not to be" question of selling ivory has been the subject of a heated debate for 20 years now. Kenya has been leading the charge in the debate with its resounding "Not to be" answer. Kenya banned the domestic use and sale of ivory and other wildlife products in 1978, and it was instrumental in promoting the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) ban on international ivory sales voted in 1989. Everyone remembers the huge bonfire of elephant tusks in the Nair...
2008-08-31 - Dac Lac, Vietnam. Thu Huong
To ethnic minority groups living in the central highland province of Dac Lac, a ring made of hair taken from an elephant’s tail is far more than an ordinary ornament. Because most people consider it to be an amulet that is expected to bring them luck in love, local couples often use elephant hair as a pawn in the game of love. Although no one has ever been able to prove the reliability of such a rumor, rings plaited with elephant hairs are now appearing in many souvenir shops. But the con...
2008-08-30 - Kiev, Ukraine.
The Kyiv zoo will celebrate the Elephant Day on August 30. According to the press-service of the Kyiv City State Administration, the holiday will begin at noon with presenting a “Summer Bouquet” to zoo’s elephant Boy. Specialists will tell interesting information about his life. Boy’s favorite delicacies – apples, oranges, carrots, and cabbage, will be hidden in his open-air cage. Those willing will be allowed to make photos with the elephant. Boy the elephant has been living in the Ky...
2008-08-30 - Washington, United States.
Almost 10 per cent of elephants have been killed in Congos troubled Virunga National Park by armed groups, soldiers, and poachers, allegedly driven by rising Chinese demand for ivory. Surveys carried out in the 1960s found 2,889 elephants in the park. By 2006 that number had dropped to 400. Just two years later, its estimated there are as few as half that number. According to a report in National Geographic News, the announcement raises fears that elephants could disappear forever from Africas o...
2008-08-30 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Hilary Smith
After an eye-opening, palette-pleasing trip through Vietnam, three couples — Barry and Pat Brown of Mendon, Jim Kurtz and Jan Kellner of Webster and Paul and Sue Wilkens of Ontario — journeyed through Chiang Mai, Thailand, to reach a pachyderm sanctuary known simply as the Elephant Nature Park. It is home to about 30 elephants, all of whom were rescued from circuses or logging camps or injured by poachers, land mines, trucks or other human causes. Created through the efforts of one Thai woma...
2008-08-30 - Puttlalam, Sri Lanka. Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe
Puttlalam district farmers who have been severely affected by rampaging elephants say they may even have to give up farming, in the face of little or no state compensation or measures to minimise the human-elephant conflict. “Elephants have destroyed our crops that cost us many months of hard labour. This is in addition to being in debt over the capital to plant these crops,” lamented T. D. Ranbanda a farmer from the village of Mahauswewa in Anamaduwa.
2008-08-30 - Portland, United States.
The newest addition to the Oregon Zoo is ready to meet his adoring fans. The public will be able to see the 286-pound elephant calf born last weekend to Asian elephant Rose-Tu for the first time on Saturday. Zookeepers have been working to "baby proof" the elephant exhibit at the Oregon Zoo for the past few days. Meanwhile, the calf has been exploring his surroundings, picking up sticks and even playing in the bath with his mother. The baby has also been lying down Zoo officials say the calf con...
2008-08-30 - Nairobi, Kenya.
For close to a decade now, Kenya has been in the forefront in crusading against the push by a few countries seeking to have a worldwide ban on trade in ivory lifted. As a country, Kenya has had a chilling experience with poaching which justifies this trepidation. In 1973, our elephant population stood at 135,000. The next decade saw wanton poaching almost wipe out the entire elephant population. By the time an international ban on the trade in ivory was in place and the jumbos brought under the ...
2008-08-29 - , United States.
Many scientists believe that the ancient pachyderms became extinct about 10,000 years ago because of climactic changes that drastically reduced their food sources. Although only about a hundred mammoth specimens have been found throughout the world over the years, it is believed that as many as ten million mammoths may be buried in permanently frozen Russian soil. Previously, scientists believed that woolly mammoths were one large homogeneous group, but the mitochondrial DNA extracted from froze...
2008-08-29 - Denver, United States. Kathleen St. John
Sometimes, when you find yourself at a particularly boisterous bar, it seems like you're surrounded by wild animals. "For these guys, particularly Mimi and Dolly, the elephants, it's kind of business as usual for them," says Bowie. "They know it's evening, so that's different, but their keepers are still around. I think they think it's weird, but it's fine." The elephants probably remember plenty of past Brews — the annual beer bust is in its 11th year. With Mimi and Dolly looking on, visitors...
2008-08-29 - Kampala, Kenya. Patson Baraire
Over 200 families from Kinyabutongo and Kameme villages in Kihiihi Sub-county, Kanungu District have fled their homes and camped at the sub-county headquarters after elephants from the Queen Elizabeth National Park invaded their area. Last weekend, the elephants killed two people and injured several others. The Kihiihi LC3 chairperson, Mr Nelson Natukunda, named the victims as Ms Beatrice Musabyimaana, 39, and her two-year-old son Brian Abemaana, who were killed as she tended to her garden.
2008-08-29 - Bamako, Mali.
Implementers of an international project to help endangered elephants in Mali want to prove that by doing so, they can also help local communities adapt to climate change in the Sahel. The Malian government lists elephants in Gourma in the country's far desert north as highly endangered. A drought in the 1970’s killed most of the country's elephants leading the population to dwindle from several thousand down to 350. Often seen near Lake Banzena, about 400 kilometres south of Gao, these elepha...
2008-08-29 - Negara, Malaysia.
ZOO Negara received a RM10,000 contribution collected from 1 Utama’s Go Green campaigns “Feed-The Fish” and “Recycle-A-Bottle”. The amount will go towards renewing the adoption of Teriang, a 28-year-old Malaysian elephant for the third consecutive year. The cheque was handed over by 1 Utama Shopping Centre advertising and promotion manager Patrick So and Wespack Waste Management business development director Sherwyn Chin to Zoo Negara chairman Datuk Ismail Hutson and director Dr Mohama...
2008-08-28 - Karachi, Pakistan. Jan Khaskheli
Families which went to the local Zoo, in a bid to catch a glimpse of the new elephant had to leave without having their wish come true. Though some inquired from the gardeners about the arrival of the new elephant, the only response they got was “the officers may know better when the elephant will arrive.†A gardener busy pruning bushes told The News that when he joined the Karachi Zoo 35 years ago there were two elephants. Anarkali was the only animal that attracted children as it p...
2008-08-28 - Melbourne, Australia.
No baby elephant has ever been born in Australia - but now three elephants are pregnant at zoos in Sydney and Melbourne. Zoo authorities have announced a third elephant, Pontipp, is in the maternity wing, as a result of artificial insemination (AI) at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. She joins Thong Dee, impregnated naturally by mate Gong at Taronga last year and Dokkoon which was impregnated by artificial insemination at Melbourne Zoo also last year. The two AI infants were sired by Melbourne's Bong Su - ...
2008-08-28 - Geneva, Switzerland. Richard Williams
Sumatra's endangered elephants and tigers should get a boost from an Indonesian government move to expand one of their last havens, a four-year-old national park on the island, conservation body WWF said on Thursday. But WWF warned that increased efforts would be vital to ensure that poaching and other illegal activities -- like unsanctioned logging and settlement -- did not continue in the park, Tesso Nilo in Sumatra's Riau Province. "This is an important milestone towards securing a future for...
2008-08-28 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. Ashraf Padanna
Kerala’s old captive elephants can now retire and spend their twilight years in dignity at their new home outside the state capital here. The Elephant Rehabilitation Centre, India’s first old-age home for the pachyderm, was opened yesterday at the serene Agasthyavanam Biological Park, a major attraction for the eco-tourists in Kerala. We’ll convert this into a pilgrimage centre for animal lovers all over the world,†Forest Minister Binoy Vishwam said as he opened the c...
2008-08-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
You don't always get thanked for your good deeds - certainly not these villagers anyway, as they found out after rescuing this Sri Lanka elephant after it fell into a local well. It seemed rather more angry than happy, giving the local cameraman who was filming a run for his money as well as the villagers who helped him. The baby elephant in question had fallen into a cultivation well in one of the farming areas in North Central Sri Lankan Province, it's an increasing sight as many of the elepha...
2008-08-28 - Vienna, United States. Lloyd Grove
What we´re doing with the Asian elephant is the best work in the world. We have the only sustainable herd of Asian elephants in the Western Hemisphere. It´s only through our Center for Elephant Conservation—that´s only about reproduction, research, and retirement of Asian elephants—that the zoos or anyone else can really hopefully propagate this species in the wild—that there are only 30,000 of.
2008-08-28 - Windhoek, Namibia. Wezi Tjaronda
Director of Parks and Wildlife Management, Ben Beytell, says some rivers should be closed for normal tourism access as a way of reducing the elephant-human conflict. Beytell said it was his opinion that this should be the ministry’s next proposal to Cabinet. He said there was an enormous elephant-human conflict problem caused mainly because of irresponsible and uncontrolled tourism activities in such areas. Although this is happening near all rivers where elephants live, the problem along Ugab...
2008-08-28 - Washington, United States. Gobush KS, Mutayoba BM, Wasser SK. niversity of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle
Widespread poaching prior to the 1989 ivory ban greatly altered the demographic structure of matrilineal African elephant (Loxodonta africana) family groups in many populations by decreasing the number of old, adult females. We assessed the long-term impacts of poaching by investigating genetic, physiological, and reproductive correlates of a disturbed social structure resulting from heavy poaching of an African elephant population in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, prior to 1989. We examined fe...
2008-08-27 - Evansville, United States. Rich Davis
Karl Kae Knecht, a photographer and The Evansville Courier's front-page editorial cartoonist from 1906 until 1960, was a lifelong circus fan. Courtesy Willard Library A parade down Riverside Drive on June 14, 1929, celebrates Kay the elephant's arrival in Evansville from Germany. A young Kay is shown in the Washington Avenue backyard of zoo superintendent Clem Kevekordes. She stayed there until the Knecht Building was finished in 1931. Courtesy Willard Library Wesiba the chimpanzee helps christe...
2008-08-27 - Portland, United States.
The new baby elephant that arrived last weekend at the Oregon Zoo gave it a tremendous gift a 281.6-pound boost. But the baby's arrival is well-timed for another reason, too. In November, the region's voters will decide whether to support a $125 million bond measure that includes $30 million to expand the zoo's cramped elephant quarters. (In a memorable phrase in June, The Oregonian's Susan Nielsen described the current indoor viewing area and 1.5-acre yard shared by six, now seven, elephants as...
2008-08-27 - Windhoek, Namibia. Wezi Tjaronda
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism says Namibia has more elephants now than at any other time in the last 100 years. Growing at a rate of 3.3 percent per year, the country’s elephant population is more than 20 000, up from 16 000 in 2004. Minister of Environment and Tourism, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, said on Monday the entire population especially that of the Kunene Region was healthy and growing, with the levels of consumptive off takes being very conservative and being below the sustainab...
2008-08-27 - New Ziana, Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said on Sunday it has not yet started implementing any of the 2005 recommendations of the Sadc Taskforce on strategies to control the population of elephants in the region. Director-General Dr Morris Mutsambiwa said the Government had not yet taken a position on any of the four methods that Sadc countries were given the greenlight to adopt in 2005. "Although culling is a recognised method of controlling populations, we have not started impleme...
2008-08-27 - Dallas, United States. Carol Cavazos
The controversy over the Dallas Zoo elephant named Jenny has taken a musical turn. One songwriter is hoping her effort will help give Jenny a new home. "There's nothing that really tells about an issue more than a song… more than music," explained singer Beverly Perry. 'Jenny's Song' was recorded in a professional studio Tuesday night. The music and lyrics were birthed out of concern for the aging elephant. One verse of the song expresses the concern for the animal saying, "Your troubled life ...
2008-08-27 - Jamshedpur, India. ANKUSH SINGH
Numbers suggest the tuskers are fast disappearing. The conflict between man and animal has taken a toll on the elephant population at the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, around 10km from the city. According to the census report of 2008, the elephant count stands at 80, 16 less than the last census prepared in 2003. Officials said in villages of Jharkhand and Bengal, elephants mostly die due to conflict with humans. They explained that two elephants were electrocuted by an overhead wire near the Dimna ...
2008-08-27 - Philadelphia, United States. Bonnie L. Cook
Petal, the Philadelphia Zoo's beloved African elephant, died of acute heart and lung failure after she fell on her side while sleeping, zoo officials said yesterday. What's more, the 52-year-old pachyderm, the oldest of her kind in an American zoo, suffered from an underlying condition related to aging - heart disease, according to autopsy results released yesterday. "Like some elderly people, older animals are often able to compensate for chronic health problems up to a point, but when somethin...
2008-08-26 - Idukki, India.
A mahout died on Sunday after he fell with his elephant from a moving truck near Kerala’s Idukki. Maitheen, 64, was crushed under the weight of the pachyderm.
2008-08-26 - Bangkok, Thailand. APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Researchers from Chiang Mai University (CMU) have a new means of fighting phobias and depression _ elephants. CMU had previously studied the effects of ''elephant therapy'' on autistic children and, having noted promising results, are now proposing a similar programme for people suffering from depression or phobias. Audomsark Haesungcharern, dean of CMU's associated medical sciences faculty, believes the animals' voice may have therapeutic qualities.
2008-08-26 - Afiaso, Ghana. Alister Doyle
Rising elephant numbers in a protected forest park in Ghana are angering farmers whose crops are being raided in an unwanted side-effect of a plan to slow deforestation. Locals in Afiaso, a village of 620 people in southern Ghana with no electricity nor running water, grumble that they are seeing limited benefits from agreeing to cooperate in protecting Kakum National Park forest, which starts 2 km (1 mile) away. "We used to cut down a lot of trees to plant cocoa. Cutting down trees used to be n...
2008-08-26 - Auckland, New Zealand. HEATHER McCRACKEN
Officials are facing the prospect of Auckland Zoo without elephants. Plans are being developed for the future of young Asian elephant Burma, who couldn’t remain on her own if Kashin died. There are no immediate concerns about the older elephant, who turns 40 this year. But zoo director Jonathan Wilcken says decisions need to be made in advance on whether to bring more elephants to New Zealand or send Burma away. "Kashin’s approaching 40 and for some time now she’s been treat...
2008-08-26 - Sulthan Bathery, India.
An elephant patrol will roam the deep forests of Kerala in a bid to check poaching. The anti-poaching patrol in Wayanad district consists of three elephants, mahouts and forest officials.‘We started the patrol Monday. The team has around 15 members. We arranged this patrol following information from Tamil Nadu authorities that poachers could become active along Kerala-Tamil Nadu border this season,’ K. Radhakrishna Lal, assistant wildlife warden at Muthanga in Wayanad, told IANS.
2008-08-26 - Virunga, Congo.
The director of one of central Africa's most important wildlife reserves has warned that rebels and soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo are increasingly targeting elephants in the area to supply ivory to china. In an interview with the Bloomberg news agency, Virunga National Park's director, Emmanuel de Merode, warned that as many as ten per cent of the area's elephant population has been killed by poachers in recent years. Specifically, Mr de Merode said that seven elephants have bee...
2008-08-26 - SOMERSET COUNTY, United States.
In a couple weeks, the first African elephant will be moving to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium's International Conservation Center near Fairhope, Somerset County. The center's primary focus will be breeding programs, something the Pittsburgh Zoo has renowned success in, thanks in part to its elephant bull named Jackson. Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium President Dr. Barbara Baker said "Jackson has eight babies on the ground and two more are due to be born shortly." The electric fencing is in pla...
2008-08-26 - Bankura, India.
A herd of 60 elephants entered Bankura district last night. According to senior forest officials, on Tuesday morning the herd was sighted at the Bankadaha range in the jungles under the Panchet Soil Conservation division in Bishnupur. The herd, comprising four tuskers, is the first herd to enter Bankura this monsoon. At Asthasole, the herd entered agricultural land and destroyed a significant amount of standing crop. The forest division, however, doesn’t have any plan to drive the elephants ou...
2008-08-26 - Philadelphia, United States. Bonnie L. Cook
Petal, the Philadelphia Zoo's beloved African elephant, died of acute heart and lung failure after she fell on her side while sleeping, zoo officials said yesterday. What's more, the 52-year-old pachyderm, the oldest of her kind in an American zoo, suffered from an underlying condition related to aging - heart disease, according to autopsy results released Tuesday. At autopsy, pathologists found latent traces of a bacteria that can cause tuberculosis in Petal's lung tissue, according to prelimin...
2008-08-25 - Portland, United States. Jeff Thompson
Rose-Tu and her newborn calf at the Oregon Zoo are continuing the reintroduction process after some scary moments Saturday afternoon. When the 280-pound calf was born, keepers say Rose-Tu was confused, having never witnessed an elephant birth before. She started kicking the baby and keepers had to intervene and separate the two. The calf has since been monitored and seems to be okay. Mike Keele, zoo asssistant director, says keepers and vets are carefully continuing the re-introduction process s...
2008-08-25 - Ruskin, United States. Eric Beheim, Buckles WebLog
"Toug-Toulog" the sacred white elephant was imported to the Barnum & London Show in 1884 and thus began the famous White Elephant War between Barnum and his rival Adam Forepaugh who simply painted an elephant white. Since Albino elephants are actually somewhat gray in color, Barnum's elephant was something of a disappointment whereas Forepaugh's (John) was as white as the driven snow, leading to charges and counter charges of fakery. Three years later "Toug-Toulog" and three other ...
2008-08-25 - Dallas, United States.
Africam Safari in Puebla, Mexico was very nearly the new home of the Dallas zoo's last elephant, the troubled and famous Jenny (don't those always go hand in hand). But after weeks of protests and a bit of bad press, the Dallas Zoo decided that it was best, for Jenny's health, that she stay right here. Tomorrow, the owners of Africam will be at City Hall to tell their side of the story and defend their institution from claims of protesters that their facility is nothing more than a "drive throug...
2008-08-25 - Portland, United States. ANTONIA GIEDWOYN
Happy news for a baby elephant born at the Oregon Zoo over the weekend – elephant mother Rose-Tu has begun nursing her calf and appears to have accepted her newborn. The calf began walking up to his mother and successfully nursing on both sides, according to zoo spokeswoman Linda D'Ae-Smith. When Rose-Tu gets tired, staff supplements the nursing with a bottle.
2008-08-25 - Kinshasa, Congo. Franz Wild
Rebels and soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed more than a 10th of the elephants in one of Africa's oldest national parks as demand for ivory in China grows, said Emmanuel de Merode, director of the Virunga National Park. Members of a Rwandan militia in the country's eastern North Kivu province killed seven elephants in the last two weeks, taking this year's total to 24, de Merode said today in an interview from the park's headquarters in Rumangabo.
2008-08-25 - Mmadinare, Botswana. Jeremiah Sejabosigo
Mmadinare Development Trust sold its quota of 14 elephants from the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism at the main kgotla of the village last week, where all the elephants were bought by the highest bidders. Mr Graeme Phillips of Auctioneers Botswana conducted the sale on behalf of the trust. Hunting of the auctioned elephants will be done in the CT27 hunting area, which falls in the range between Letsibogo, Mmadinare and Mathathane areas.
2008-08-25 - Portland, United States.
watch photographers pictures from Rose-Tu´s ultrasound until the baby is being dried by the keepers
2008-08-25 - Rombo, Tanzania. AMINA JUMA
Rombo District Council in Kilimanjaro Region has incurred a loss of 718m/- due to destruction done by elephants which wandered into the villages from Tsavo National Park in neighbouring Kenya and ruined food crop farms. Rombo District has been facing the problem for more than fifteen years now whereby elephants cause havoc in the villages, destroying farms and other property. Speaking with 'Daily News' at the weekend, the District Director, Mr Naijaijaya Koira, said up to June this year the dist...
Rose-Tu and her calf have been together since 5 p.m. last night, supervised by keepers. She's letting him nurse and gently tucks him underneath her when he does so. She's so relaxed during nursing, it sometimes looks like she's sleeping. The baby continues to get stronger and is sucking heartily. When Rose-Tu appears too tired to nurse, keepers supplement his diet with elephant formula, delivered via a 12-ounce bottle with a large, specially crafted nipple. The baby elephant is taking in about 1...
2008-08-25 - Little Rock, United States.
Temporary Part-time employment available for Elephant & Lg. Hoofstock Keeper. Position is 36-40 hours/week. Pay rate of $8.00 to $10.50/hour is available depending on experience. This position will work with Asian Elephants as well as Black and White Rhinos, Giraffe, and Zebra. Experience in working free contact with elephants is helpful but not necessary. Our institution is willing to train a hard-working, motivated, enthusiastic individual with a specific interest in elephants. This position h...
2008-08-24 - Portland, United States.
Rose-Tu has given birth to her first baby, the 28th elephant born in the history of the Oregon Zoo. The 14-year-old Asian elephant delivered the 286-pound male calf Saturday afternoon and immediately kicked it, a common way mother elephants encourage infants to stand. Zookeepers, however, rushed in when the kicking became too violent. Mike Keele, the zoo's deputy director, believes that because Rose-Tu had never seen a birth before, she became confused when the baby was born. "Our veterinarians ...
2008-08-24 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Risidra Mendis
Can you imagine a perahera without an elephant? This is a thought that constantly crosses our minds especially with the fast dwindling elephant population in the country. The main attraction at the annual Kandy Esela Perahera is the majestic tusker, draped in a colourful costume decorated with beads and sequins, carrying the tooth relic. The tuskers and elephants are at times in musth but are forced by their mahouts to take part in the perahera, resulting in cases where elephants run amok and i...
2008-08-24 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. S. M. Jiffrey ABDEEN- Kandy South Group Corr
Elephants live in herds are led by the oldest female elephant in the herd. The male elephant is driven away from the herd to prevent breeding. These are the strange ways of elephants said the Managing Trustee of Bio Diversity and Elephant Conservation Trust and leading expert on Asian elephants and former planter Jayantha Jayawardena. Jayawardena said that the elephants in Sri Lanka are highly threatened in spite of what anyone may say to the contrary. Explaining the reasons for the Human - Elep...
2008-08-24 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
The baby abduction from Kalubowila led to the discovery of a baby smuggling racket that shocked the nation. At present, Sri Lanka’s Wildlife Department officers are investigating trails of baby elephants allegedly being abducted from the wild. The recovery of a baby elephant illegally held without a proper permit in an estate close to Colombo is probably only the tip of this iceberg, they feel. The elephant is now in the Uda Walawe Elephant Transit Home.
2008-08-24 - Kinshasa, Congo. Wildlife extra
Two elephants have been killed by FDLR rebels near Rwindi, in the central sector of Virunga National Park. The FDLR are comprised of Hutu militia who were involved in the Rwandan genocide. A group of Congo Rangers had gone on patrol on the Rwindi plain encountered a group of FDLR poachers. A gunfight ensued and the Rangers were able to push the rebels back. No-one was injured on either side and the rebels escaped. The Rangers then discovered the bodies of two elephants that the rebels had killed...
2008-08-24 - London, United Kingdom. Kathryn Phillips, Journal of Experimental Biology 211, i (2008)
Throughout history, elephants have been thought of as `different'. Shakespeare, and even Aristotle, described them as walking on inflexible column-like legs. And this myth persists even today. Which made John Hutchinson from The Royal Veterinary College, London, want to find out more about elephants and the way they move. Are they really that different from other, more fleet-footed species? Are their legs as rigid and `columnar' as people had thought? Travelling to Thailand and several UK zoos, ...
2008-08-23 - Washington, United States.
This free event will feature demonstrations on how our keepers and vets care for elephants, and what a day in the life of a Zoo elephant is like. You can also sneak a peek at the construction of our Elephant Trails exhibit. Watch the elephants as they are bathed, weighed, and trained to hold still for physical exams, weighing, and x-rays. Our female elephant, Ambika, turns 60 this year so stop by the yards at 1 p.m. to watch her enjoy her birthday “cake,†specially prepared by the Zo...
2008-08-23 - Goa, India. PANKAJ SEKHSARIA
Wild elephant migration from Karnataka to Goa and Maharashtra is termed ‘unnatural’ and Goa seeks Maharashtra’s help to drive the animals back. When Goa starts the operation it finds that its efforts to drive back the elephants have been hampered by trenches dug on the Maharashtra side to prevent the animals from entering that state. Goan authorities are asking Project Elephant authorities to intervene and ask Maharashtra to behave. Elephants that had ‘strayed’ from Orissa into Andhra ...
2008-08-22 - Kinshasa, Congo. Joe Bavier
Poachers in Congo have killed a fifth of the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year as China buys more ivory, the park's director said on Friday. Rwandan rebels have killed seven Savannah elephants in the past 10 days alone in the Virunga National Park, along Congo's eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, Emmanuel de Merode told Reuters. "We've definitely lost 20 percent of the population this year and probably more," he said. "We have rangers with them, and we're trying to reinfor...
2008-08-22 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon
Anxiety simmers at the Oregon Zoo, and it's no wonder. For the first time in 14 years, just as the zoo faces key decisions about its future, one of its Asian elephants --the institution's flagship species --is about to give birth. If all goes well, an adorably wobbly, floppy eared calf could draw tens of thousands of extra visitors and prompt a wave of positive publicity at an opportune time: Metro, which owns the zoo, will ask voters in November to approve a $117 million bond measure to upgrade...
Poachers in Congo have killed a fifthof the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year asChina buys more ivory, the park's director said on Friday. Rwandan rebels have killed seven Savannah elephants in thepast 10 days alone in the Virunga National Park, along Congo'seastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, Emmanuel de Merode toldReuters. "We've definitely lost 20 percent of the population thisyear and probably more," he said. "We have rangers with them,and we're trying to reinforce them...
2008-08-22 - AGARTALA, India.
Border Security Force (BSF) troopers gunned down a Bangladeshi national in Tripura and captured two elephants he and his associates were allegedly trying to smuggle into India, officials said on Friday. The incident occurred in Kailashahar in north Tripura, some 175 km from the state capital Agartala. The BSF troopers shot dead a Bangladeshi national who was trying to smuggle elephants into India. His two companions managed to escape.
2008-08-22 - Phoenix, United States.
The Phoenix Zoo is accepting applications for a part-time regular Keeper working in our Elephant Sanctuary. Essential duties involve interaction with both the animals and visiting public. Keepers will observe assigned animals on a daily basis, reporting any abnormalities; perform routine husbandry and environmental maintenance; feed prescribed diets; perform assigned and approved animal enrichment activities and trainings; assist in the restraint and treatment of animals; participate in non-rout...
2008-08-21 - Greenbrier, United States. Bill Bonucci, Elephant Manager, Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary
Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary has an open position working with African and Asian elephants. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing elephant care, maintaining and cleaning animal areas, preparing feed, and grounds upkeep. The position requires a high school diploma or equivalent; one-year experience working with elephants is preferred; good communication/organizational skills and ability to work well as a team; and a class “C” driver license with an acceptable ...
2008-08-20 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. R.A.Ratwatte, Basnayake Nilame – Lankatilleke Sri Vishnu Devalaya- Handessa
There seems to be a belief among the general populace that a perahera is judged by the number of elephants therein. One of the first questions that is asked when one says one has viewed a perahera is: "How many elephants?" A large number is greeted with an appropriate response and a small number is invariably greeted with derision and an insinuation that one has wasted one’s time at that perahera! Contrary to popular belief and the belief of certain uneducated custodians of temples and organis...
2008-08-20 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Namibia will impose a ban on all trade with 'worked ivory' from next month in a bid to assert its control and abide by international regulations on endangered species, an official said on Wednesday. "We have to strengthen control measures in ivory trade to abide by provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which requires specific legislation," Kalumbi Shangula told reporters. Windhoek jeweller Horst Knop welcomed the move but said jewellers and goldsmiths...
2008-08-20 - Dallas, United States. JASON WHITELY
The Dallas Zoo has decided to keep Jenny, 32, its lone African elephant, after weeks of controversy over whether she should be sent to a zoo in Mexico. The Dallas Zoo originally planned to close its elephant exhibit and send Jenny away while it built a much larger exhibit here. But the zoo's idea to loan Jenny to the Africam Safari Park in Puebla, Mexico generated thousands of e-mails and phone calls in protest to city leaders. Opponents wanted Jenny to instead be retired to The Elephant Sanctua...
2008-08-20 - Tokyo, Japan. Ewen Callaway, NewScientist.com news service
Add elephants to the growing menagerie of animals that can count. An Asian elephant named Ashya beat this reporter at a devilishly simple addition problem. When a trainer dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples in the first and five more in the second, the pacaderm recognised that three plus four is greater than one plus five, and snacked on the seven apples. (In my defence, I watched the video in a noisy and crowded auditorium.)
2008-08-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shakuntala Perera
No other animal in Sri Lanka has suffered the wrath of human interference like the elephant. Every year records a number of elephant deaths that the country can ill afford. If there are no ill planned elephant drives killing them, there are the gun shots. The latest in the series of causes for concern was the finding of a calf in chains at a location in Athurugiriya. The owner of the calf could not produce a proper license. The Flying Squad of the Wild Life Department found the three year old ma...
2008-08-20 - Windhoek, Namibia. Johannes Haasbroek
Six elephant trophy permits were issued recently for the Kunene region conservancies and to date five out of the six elephants have been shot. As we firmly believe the population cannot sustain this take off we have decided to issue a press release to clarify our position on this matter. Elephant-Human Relations Aid is a Namibian based Non-Governmental Organization, established in 2003 in the Southern Kunene Region, helping communal farmers in the region to deal with elephant-human conflict issu...
2008-08-20 - Tokyo, Japan. Irie-Sugimoto N, Kobayashi T, Sato T, Hasegawa T. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo
This study investigated whether Asian elephants can make relative quantity judgment (RQJ), a dichotomous judgment of unequal quantities ordered in magnitude. In Experiment 1, elephants were simultaneously shown two baskets with differing quantities of bait (up to 6 items). In Experiment 2, elephants were sequentially presented with baits, which could not be seen by elephants in their total quantities. The task of elephants was to choose the larger quantity in both experiments. Results showed tha...
2008-08-20 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is seeking experienced elephant keepers that would be interested in joining a progressive elephant management team, utilizing both free and protected contact. The successful candidates primary job assignment will be at the zoo’s International Conservation Center just outside of Berlin, PA about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh. We will also require a moderate amount of time spent at the zoo’s facility in Pittsburgh to facilitate the development of a ve...
2008-08-19 - MontÂgomery, United States. Teri Greene
A male African elephant calf born early Thursday morning at the MontÂgomery Zoo was the second elephant calf born at the zoo within the past year. But the joyous occasion was soon marred by sorrow. After giving birth, the elephant calf's 23-year-old mother became ill. She died Saturday, reported Sarah McKemey of the Montgomery Zoo. Preliminary necropsy results inÂdicate that Mary, one of the zoo's perÂmanent elephant herd, died from complications due to colic with intesÂtinal rupture...
2008-08-19 - Washington, United States.
On a seemingly ordinary day in November, 2001, something amazing happens at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C. aby Kandula is born. His birth marks a rare success and huge scientific milestone for the zoological community: The 320-pound newborn is only the second Asian elephant to be born through artificial insemination. Watch as this playful, rambunctious youngster grows up right before your eyes taking his first steps, learning to feed and figuring out how to manipulate object...
2008-08-19 - Cleveland, United States. Michael Sangiacomo
Viktor Schreckengost's massive wall sculptures of mastodons and mammoths, on display at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo since 1956, are coming down. But the popular sculptures by the man called "Cleveland's Da Vinci" will not be gone for long. After cleaning and repairing, they will become part of a new zoo entrance in 2010. "After all those years at the pachyderm building, the sculptures will be in an area of even greater prominence and open to more people than ever," said Elizabeth Fowler of the ...
2008-08-19 - Stetten ob Lontal, Germany. Silke Jeklic
It was a cool afternoon. A small gathering of people assembled at the Swabian village Stetten ob Lontal, in Germany. They waited for a guided trip to Vogelherd Cave. It cannot be called a real cave, like one that allows you to descend deeply into the earth and that might feature artfully dripping stalactite and stalagmite sculptures, perhaps like the Charlotte Cave and other natural caves found in the Swabian Alps. Excursion leader Brigitta Roeck led the group in stages up a soft, rain-soaked fo...
2008-08-19 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo has confirmed that 15 year old Dokkoon, one of three Asian Elephants that arrived in November 2006, is pregnant. The pregnancy is the result of artificial insemination carried out in March by the Melbourne Zoo and visiting fertility specialists from the Berlin Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research. Bong Su, Melbourne Zoo’s bull elephant is the father. The pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasound in early June. The ultrasound showed a black sack of amniotic fluid containing a tiny ...
2008-08-19 - Montgomery, United States. Markeshia Ricks
State Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks said the department's diagnostic lab in Auburn was able to assist the Montgomery Zoo with diagnostic services this past weekend for an elephant that died at the zoo. Lab staff examined the 23 year-old animal and determined that it died from intussusception, a rare intestinal disorder. “The unfortunate loss of such a grand animal is a reminder of how important diagnostic ability is to veterinary health,” Sparks said. “Knowledge is ess...
2008-08-18 - Udhagamandalam, India. D. Radhakrishnan
The kumki (working) elephants of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve near here which have over the decades played a significant role in spreading the name of the sanctuary far and wide have of late been entrusted with the additional responsibility of keeping poachers at bay. Long considered the pride of Mudumalai, the kumkis have now become an integral part of the anti-poaching operations. Pointing out that for the past few weeks the kumkis have been a source of strength to the anti-poaching staff, the ...
2008-08-18 - Pittsburgh, United States. Patricia Sheridan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Willie Theison, renowned elephant manager at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, oversaw the birth of two baby elephants (Angelina and Zuri) within weeks of each other in July. He was involved with a recent National Geographic special looking at elephants in India and the conflict between them and the human population.
2008-08-18 - Way Kambas, Indonesia.
Today we visited a National Park here in Southern Sumatra. ‘Way Kambas’ hosts five endangered mammals - elephants, Sumatran Tigers, Sun Bears, tapirs and the Sumatran rhino. The facilities for the elephants are not so flash. The idea behind the creation of the Elephant Training Centre was to remove wild elephants that were threatening local villages and to train them to work in logging and tourism. Kids go for rides on a few of these beautful creatures, while those not working graze nearby.
2008-08-18 - Hunsur, India.
Preparations for this year's Dasara festivities were set into motion today when District in-charge Minister Shobha Karandlaje flagged off the journey of elephants (Gajapayana) towards Mysore. The Minister inaugurated the journey of the first batch of the caparisoned elephants at Veera-nahosahalli gate in Nagarahole forests, about 28 kms from here in the morning. She lit the traditional lamp at the gate and broke a ash gourd. The journey began as the Minister showered flower petals on the elephan...
2008-08-18 - Surin, Thailand. Gillian Murdoch
Trudging the city streets with a hungry four-tonne elephant at your heels is not a job for everyone. But add a cute baby, and tourists flock to pet and feed the grey-brown giants, making the plodding pachyderms more of an investment than a curse for modern mahouts working in Thailand, one of Asia's top holiday destinations. With logging banned in 1989, more babies are hitting streets and trekking camps to meet tourism-driven demand for docile, good-looking animals, said the director of the Thai ...
2008-08-18 - Little Rock, United States. L. LAMOR WILLIAMS
The elephants almost seemed to be eavesdropping. They’d seen Little Rock Zoo’s new curator for hoof stock and birds, Joseph Darcangelo, passing their enclosure. He was explaining renovations of the elephant house, expected to double in size by spring 2009. As if they knew he was talking about them and their home — the renovation also includes a new pool, kitchen and corral area to keep the elephants from moving around during examinations — the two female Asian elephants, named Ellen and ...
2008-08-18 - Amboseli, Kenya. Hcroze, Amboseli Trust for Elephants
The Amboseli Trust for Elephants field team has been forced to open a new eastern front in the continuing war to conserve elephants and the ecosystem. Already over the past two months our Maasai Elephant Scouts have reported that possibly six large breeding bulls have been killed in the Kimana-Kuku area. One was speared in early July. Another found dead with four spear wounds and the tusks already taken. Another, as the Scouts could reconstruct from tracks, retreated into dense push and managed ...
2008-08-18 - Samburu, United States. David Quammen, Michael Nichols, National Geographic
The biologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton is walking up on an elephant, a sizable young female, nubile and shy. Her name, as she's known to him and his colleagues, is Anne. She stands half-concealed within a cluster of trees on the knob of a hill in remote northern Kenya, browsing tranquilly with several members of her family. Around her neck hangs a stout leather collar along which, at the crest of her shoulders, like a tiny porkpie hat, sits an electronic transmitter. That transmitter has allowed Do...
2008-08-18 - MONTGOMERY, United States. John Shryock
The Montgomery Zoo lost a star in one of its main attractions over the weekend. Mary, an elephant in the zoo's collection, died Saturday just days after giving birth to a male African elephant calf. She was 23-years-old. Zoo officials say a preliminary necropsy showed that the elephant died of complications due to colic with intestinal rupture. Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks says the Department of Agriculture and Industries' Diagonstic Lab in Auburn helped with the necropsy. "The unfortunat...
2008-08-18 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon, The Oregonian
Anxiety simmers at the Oregon Zoo, and it's no wonder. For the first time in 14 years, just as the zoo faces key decisions about its future, one of its Asian elephants the institution's flagship species is about to give birth. If all goes well, an adorably wobbly, floppy-eared calf could draw tens of thousands of extra visitors and prompt a wave of positive publicity at an opportune time: Metro, which owns the zoo, will ask voters in November to approve a $117 million bond measure to upgrade exh...
2008-08-18 - San Antonio, United States. AZA
The San Antonio Zoo currently has a need for a Zoo Keeper in our Elephant Department. Duties include daily cleaning, feeding, and maintenance of animal exhibits. Zoo Keepers observe, evaluate, and report animal behavior and condition to their supervisor on a daily basis. They assist in treating Zoo animals in accordance with instructions from their supervisor or veterinarian. Minimum qualifications include ability to work weekends, holidays, and occasional after-hours assignments; valid driver...
2008-08-18 - Beijing, China. Dominique Patton
In a cosy workshop filled with the smell of fresh wood chip, neatly arranged tables and well-worn carving tools, Fang Fu Zhai reminisces about his days working with ivory. “Only the best people were picked to carve ivory. If you were chosen, you had to move out of the main workshop to an area where they kept an eye on the piece. They were afraid of it being stolen.†Mr Fang seldom gets his carver’s hands on ivory nowadays. Since the ban on the global ivory trade almost 20 year...
2008-08-18 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Violet Gonda
Zimbabwe’s once thriving wildlife and tourism industry is under serious threat as authorities continue to kill elephants and other animals at an alarming rate. Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman for the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management has embarked on what they are calling an "Elephant Population Management Programme". But the authorities are deliberately targeting elephants with the largest tusks, which has nothing to do with pop...
2008-08-18 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service officers in collaboration with the Kenya Airport Authority have arrested three Chinese Nationals with 2.2 kilograms of processed ivory at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi. The three Chinese, who were travelling to Harare, Zimbabwe, were arrested and taken to the JKIA police station when they failed to produce any valid CITES permits allowing them to travel with the carved trophies.
2008-08-18 - Thrissur, India.
Indian elephants are now walking a fashion ramp with a difference, providing their footprints to be printed on textile carry bags of New York-based fashion designer Barbara Gerard, who is here getting her models to perform. Gerard is at this cultural capital of Kerala to also introduce a new concept for children called "Elephant House". She said her concept was an innovative exploration of the Asian elephant involving the six senses as seen through the lens of video, film, painting, photography,...
2008-08-17 - Waco, United States. Kelsie Hahn
Like footprints in the sand, the Glen Rose dinosaur tracks and the Waco mammoth bones have run parallel journeys through modern history. Separated by millions of years in their creation and decades in their discovery, both have gone from surprising find to national sensation to community cause, and the Waco Mammoth Site’s unveiling as a full-fledged park is only a step away, projected for late 2009. Both cities, however, say these sites are only a piece of the attractions that make for success...
2008-08-17 - Portland, United States. KATY MULDOON
Anxiety simmers at the Oregon Zoo, and it's no wonder. For the first time in 14 years, just as the zoo faces key decisions about its future, one of its Asian elephants -- the institution's flagship species -- is about to give birth. If all goes well, an adorably wobbly, floppy eared calf could draw tens of thousands of extra visitors and prompt a wave of positive publicity at an opportune time: Metro, which owns the zoo, will ask voters in November to approve a $117 million bond measure to upgra...
2008-08-17 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. P. Karunakharan
Nearly 100 caparisoned elephants, dancers and torchbearers walked down the streets of this central city decorated with colourful lights and flags as the annual Buddhist festival of Kandy Perahera (pageant) was celebrated with great enthusiasm. The colourful parade began Saturday night from the sacred Buddhist shrine of Dalada Maligawa, showcasing the temple custodians known as Nilames, who were dressed up like ancient kings. The festivities also included traditional Kandyan dancers, fire-jugglin...
2008-08-17 - Mysore, India.
The first batch of elephants participating in the Dasara procession will begin their journey (Gaja payana) towards the city from tomorrow. The District In-charge Minister Shobha Karandlaje will flag off the journey at Veeranahosahalli in Nagarahole forests at 9.30 am tomorrow with a special puja. The first batch of six elephants including Balaram, which has successfully carried the 'Golden Howdah' (Ambari) eight times in a row, will be heading towards the city. The batch includes Balarama, Bhara...
2008-08-16 - Burnet Park, United States.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park will host Asian Elephant Extravaganza, presented by Total Care Incorporated, on Saturday, August 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The annual event celebrates Asian culture and honors the Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s Asian elephant herd, which includes Indy, Siri, Romani and Kirina. The many activities planned for the event include elephant demonstrations, cultural performances, games, puppet shows and more!
2008-08-16 - John Mariani, United States.
Pass the word it's OK to pet the elephants again at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park. The state Department of Environmental Conservation told zoo officials Friday that it would amend the zoo's endangered/threatened species license to allow contact between the zoo's elephants and their human visitors. The move came just in time for the zoo's Asian Elephant Extravaganza, an annual celebration of its pachyderm herd and Asian culture taking place 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today.
2008-08-14 - Matale, Sri Lanka. Nimal S.Bogahawatta
A man was trampled to death by a tamed elephant near the Karandagolla bridge in Matale on Tuesday. The victim K.I.B.Jayasuriya of Karandagolla died on the spot. The Matale police are conducting further inquiries.
2008-08-14 - Chester, United Kingdom.
It’s all change in the animal division with new team leaders for both the giraffe and elephant sections. There is also a new face at the elephants where Evelyn De Wolf takes over as team leader. Evelyn joins the zoo from Bellewaerde Park in Belgium where she was the animal curator. Kevin Buley, Chester Zoo’s Head of Zoo Programmes, said: “As the zoo continues to successfully grow and expand, new opportunities arise for our dedicated staff.
2008-08-13 - Dehradun, India.
In A unique move, the authorities at Rajaji National Park have undertaken a project to build an overpass above a stretch of railway tracks and a motorable road for the movement of elephants. Once completed, this 1.5-km stretch between Motichur railway crossing to Raiwala in Haridwar district will be the first overpass of its kind in the world. It is being constructed at the directions of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court, in order to protect the corridor through which el...
2008-08-13 - Mangochi, Malawi. Emelyn Nyoni
A 70-year-old Mangochi man died on the spot after five marauding elephants trampled upon him last week. Officer-in-Charge of Lake Malawi National Park Samuel Nyanyale confirmed the development saying the old man met his fate as he fetched firewood along the Phirilongwe Forest Reserve in the district. The deceased, Lester Kamacho from Thera Village, Traditional Authority Mponda in the district, was all by himself in the forest when he encountered the elephants around 5.00pm on Friday.
2008-08-13 - Dallas, United States. BRAD HAWKINS
There has been more debate in and outside Dallas City Hall today on the future of Jenny, the Dallas Zoo's lone elephant. Activists say they are going to keep coming to Dallas City Hall until there is an "acceptable" solution to the problem of what to do with Jenny. There may be other options other than the Africam Safari Park in Puebla, Mexico and the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Today, there was a new voice among those who say Jenny should not be sent to Mexico. "We recommend tha...
2008-08-12 - Kunene, Namibia. JOHN GROBLER
A storm of public protest has erupted over Namibian authorities' decision to allow six Kunene region elephant bulls to be shot as trophies -- three of them true desert-adapted elephants -- in what critics are charging is a "quick-buck mentality" that could damage Namibia's reputation as a pristine tourism destination. Like that of its fellow black rhino denizens, the elephant population in the arid Kunene region was decimated in the era of uncontrolled hunting in the Eighties, during which apart...
2008-08-12 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Dan Koehl
This website, www.elephant-news.com was created in october 2001. Today, some seven years later, the database reached 4000 articles, which are all indexed in the database, searchable, and therefore becoming a recource also for research and statistics. (Some of the original articles already deleted at the origial website) which you can search through from the searchfield in the upper left corner. You can even search the database from YOUR website
2008-08-12 - Bucharest, Romania.
Miners in Romania have unearthed the skeleton of a 2.5 million-year-old mastodon, believed to be one of the best preserved in Europe, a local official said Friday. They stumbled on the remains of the mammoth-like animal during excavations in June at a coal mine in the village of Racosul de Sus, around 100 miles (170 kilometers) northwest of Bucharest, according to Laszlo Demeter, a historian and local councilor. "This is one of the most spectacular finds in Europe," paleontologist Vlad Codrea, w...
2008-08-12 - Boras, Sweden. Marcus Svedin
An african bull elephant was born tonight at 23.44, without knowledge or presence of staff in Boras Zoo. This is Boras third birth, and the first son to Kibo, who was born in Hannover Zoo 1977. The birth was a little bit early, but all is well.
2008-08-12 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Jens Laurson and George Pieler
AFTER nearly 20 years, ivory trade is legal again. This is good news for callous lovers of exotic trinkets or traditionalists among pianists, but hardly a reason for elephants to celebrate, you might think. Somehow it’s not more comforting to know that China, quickly becoming the premier neocolonial force in Africa, is a key reason why the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) has allowed the export of 110 tons of ivory. The other reason is Jap...
2008-08-11 - London, United Kingdom.
Elephants really do have a memory like, well, an elephant. Elephant matriarchs seem to retain memories of distant, life-sustaining sources of food and water, a new study suggests. These memories could be key to the survival of their family groups during lean times. "Understanding how elephants and other animal populations react to droughts will be a central component of wildlife management and conservation," said lead author of the study, Charles Foley, of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)...
2008-08-11 - Mysore, India. Muralidhara Khajane
As the countdown for “Gajapayana”, scheduled to be held on August 18, has began, the tribal people living in the Nagarahole forest and mahouts and kavadis (helpers) of caparisoned elephants have threatened to boycott the Dasara festivities if the State Government “fails” to concede their long-pending demands. This has put the authorities in a piquant situation. “Gajapayana” is the ceremonial event in which the elephants participating in the “Jamboo Savari” march to Mysore Palace ...
2008-08-11 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. K. Venkateshwarlu
For keepers and mahouts alike, it was always a messy problem that defied solution. We are talking about the roughly 180 kg of waste an adult pachyderm generates a day. And imagine the pile if it were from a herd of 60 staying and sauntering about in one place. That is simply a problem of elephantine proportions at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage here in Sri Lanka, especially for the poor keepers. But it need not be anymore. For, the orphanage, counted among the best in the world for elephants, ...
2008-08-11 - Akron, United States.
An art dealer who operated import and export businesses in Canada and Cameroon that were fronts for smuggling raw elephant ivory has been sentenced to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine for smuggling ivory from Cameroon into the United States. Canadian citizen and former Montreal resident Tania Julie Siyam, 32, was sentenced in Akron, Ohio Thursday after pleading guilty in March to four felonies. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge John Adams, is the result of a multi-y...
2008-08-11 - Honolulu, United States. Leanne Ta
An ongoing change is the expansion of the Indian elephant exhibit. Zookeepers are preparing to move elephants Mari and Vai Gai from their current 3,600-square-foot enclosure to a 30,000-square-foot space. Local landscapers will be contracted for the project, which will take about a year to build, Luscomb said. The zoo is searching for two more elephants — a cow and a bull — to add to the larger exhibit. About $6.8 million will go toward the project this year.
2008-08-10 - Raipur, India.
Chhattisgarh Sunday issued an advisory to forested people, mainly of Jashpur district facing repeated attacks by wild tuskers, to stay indoors at night. The forest department has advised Jashpur residents to remain in their houses after sunset till sunrise as a herd of rogue elephants is roaming in nearby araes. ‘If it is urgent to come out of houses between sunset and sunrise, then do only in a group and not alone, and also with sufficient light arrangements, to avoid elephants deadly attacks...
2008-08-10 - Thrissur, India. N V Davies
It is height of cruelty. It is alarming. And it is simply beyond belief. But it is a naked truth. Nearly 15 percent of the domesticated tuskers carrying Gods and Goddesses and entertaining public in festivals and celebrations in this God’s Own Country is partially or totally blind. Believe it or not, majority of these animals lost their eye-sight due to beating by their mahouts. Paradoxically, in this group of blind tuskers are some of the elegant ones most sought after by the organisers of fe...
2008-08-10 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo Inc. is seeking an enthusiastic professional to join our Elephant Team. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of an evolving and maturing elephant program. With a new exhibit and barn and continued elephant breeding, the Houston zoo elephant program is well on its way to becoming a state of the art program and facility. This is a full time, year-round position and includes responsibility for the care, husbandry, and training of the zoos 2.2 resident Asian elephants. In the...
2008-08-10 - Chhattisgarh, India.
Chhattisgarh Sunday issued an advisory to forested people, mainly of Jashpur district facing repeated attacks by wild tuskers, to stay indoors at night. The forest department has advised Jashpur residents to remain in their houses after sunset till sunrise as a herd of rogue elephants is roaming in nearby araes. 'If it is urgent to come out of houses between sunset and sunrise, then do only in a group and not alone, and also with sufficient light arrangements, to avoid elephants deadly attacks,'...
2008-08-09 - Thrissur, India.
US-based Grande Gesture director Barbara Gerard is in love with elephants. Talking to this website's newspaper, Barbara, who is engaged in a project on conservation of the Asian Elephants, said, "When I look at an elephant a lot of compassion is visible in its eyes and this is never told to our children.”It is important therefore to introduce the children to the gentle side of the elephant, she added. In an attempt to do this, she invented the idea of ‘Elephant House’, which is portable.
2008-08-08 - Seattle, United States.
The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle says an elephant that had been artificially inseminated has miscarried. The zoo says it's monitoring the 29-year-old Asian elephant Chai around the clock after Thursday's miscarriage, but she's eating and behaving normally. One of three elephants at the zoo, Chai had been inseminated in January with semen from an elephant named Sneezy at the zoo in Tulsa, Okla.
2008-08-08 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Mats Elting
Cute butt. The elephants at Kolmården is a gift from the King of Thailand to the King of Sweden
2008-08-08 - Izmir, Turkey.
Six-year-old Asian elephant Winner, bought by the Ýzmir Metropolitan Municipality from Israel after the death of the city's well-known elephant Bahadýr, has easily adapted to his new home. Winner is also happy with the hospitality of young female landlord elephant Begümcan. At the first meeting of Winner and Begümcan without barriers, the new couple seemed happy.
2008-08-06 - Knoxville, United States.
The Knoxville Zoo is seeking a qualified person to fill an opening in the elephant department. The Knoxville Zoo currently houses 1.2 African Elephants. The females are managed in free contact and the male is managed in protected contact. We need a dependable, trustworthy, and very team oriented individual who will be able to work in a fast paced, progressive program. Elephant experience not required but it is preferred. A high school diploma or equivalent is required, a college degree in a rela...
2008-08-05 - Syracuse, United States.
An Asian elephant on loan from an upstate New York zoo has given birth in Canada to the first third-generation calf born in North America, zoo officials said Tuesday. The 235-pound male was born July 15 at the African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Ontario, home to North America's most successful Asian elephant breeding program, with more second-generation captive births than any other North American institution. The calf is the twelfth elephant born at African Lion Safari since 1991.
2008-08-05 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Indonesian villagers threatened on Tuesday to poison rare wild elephants that are destroying their palm oil plantations in search of food. "The residents are so angry and have said they will put poison around the plantation areas to kill the elephants unless officials take quick action," said Jambo Dalem village chief Teungku Baili. He said he had warned officials in Trumon Timur district of Sumatra's Aceh province, but nothing had been done to protect the plantations. A herd of eight elephants ...
2008-08-04 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Seven members of Y Ngo’s family in the central province of Dak Lak depend on one hectare of farmland. But their farm is all but destroyed, damaged by severe drought and wild elephants. “The area they trample destroys 10 times more than what they eat and there is no way rice can survive being stepped on by elephants,” said Ngo, a farmer in Ba Na Village of Ia J’loi Commune in the province’s Ea Sup District.
2008-08-04 - Dublin, Ireland.
AN UNPRECEDENTED baby boom at Dublin Zoo is set to draw a record one million visitors this year for the first time in the zoo's 177-year history. A total of 905,000 people entered the Phoenix Park attraction in 2007, but the patter of heavy feet has boosted interest among families and schools so far in 2008. The past year has seen the arrival of two young giraffes, a white rhino baby and a Californian sea lion calf. In coming weeks the veritable animal creche is expected to see the arrival of a ...
2008-08-03 - Raipur, India.
A seven-year-old girl was trampled to death by a wild tusker in a forested stretch in Chhattisgarh, taking to eight the number of people killed by rogue elephants since June. Villagers have held demonstrations to demand that the wild elephants be hunted down. The latest casualty was reported late Saturday in Korba districts Karatala block when the girl along with her parents was gathering wood in the jungle. She was killed by a tusker.
2008-08-03 - Birmingham, United States. Mark Hughes
It's easy to sometimes forget, even if we believe we think green, that we share the planet with those who really live in the green. You can't forget at the Birmingham Zoo. And yes, there will be elephants, a bachelor herd of four to six pachyderms. 'A majority of the spread will be for the elephants,' said Jamie Adcock, the zoo's marketing manager. The zoo's long-lived elephant inhabitants, Susie and Mona, died in recent years. The incoming bull elephants will be a different experience from the ...
2008-08-03 - Washington, United States. Michael E. Ruane
The Asian elephants at the National Zoo have it nice. Every morning they get bathed and scrubbed. They often get pedicures, and step up on the scale to have their weight checked. Then they go outside to the oohs and ahhs of the adoring public. Now life is about to get even better. In March, the zoo began work on a $60 million renovation of its elephant complex, announced two years ago, that will transform it into a state-of-the-art sanctuary called Elephant Trails.
2008-08-02 - Lake Geneva, United States.
A half-hour from Milwaukee, the 135-foot-deep Lake Geneva ranks as the second-deepest lake in Wisconsin. During the late 1800s, the Barnum & Bailey Circus wintered in the area, and when one of the performing elephants died, practicality ruled. A hole was cut in the ice of nearby Delavan Lake, and the elephant was buried below.
2008-08-02 - Dallas, United States. Ana Ley
Jenny the elephant lazily poked her trunk into a bucket of fruit as her keepers at the Dallas Zoo hosed her during her morning bath, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she could soon be shipped far from her home of 22 years. She's also certainly unaware of the debate her possible departure has stirred. Zoo officials plan to send Jenny, who became the zoo's lone elephant when her companion died in May, to a drive-through wildlife park in Mexico because African elephants become unhappy when left...
2008-08-02 - Vallejo, United States.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is seeking qualified applicants for a full time Elephant Trainer. These elephants are managed in a free contact system. Trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to participation in animal training programs, daily care and feeding of the elephants in the collection, maintenance of the elephant exhibit and night house, behavioral observations, record keeping, animals enrichment and training, public presentations, elephant rides and operation of farm equipmen...
2008-08-01 - Houston, United States. Brad Woodard
On one occasion, our cameras spotted elephants being housed in a metal trailer on a sweltering summer afternoon. The trailer appeared to have an air conditioner, but it was unclear whether it was running. Then on a second visit, 11 News spotted the elephants outside and under an awning. The heat index was in the triple digits and the elephants appeared to be restrained by their legs. The circus manager said the elephant’s trainer is Will Davenport, but he was not available to talk to 11 News. ...
2008-08-01 - Knoxville, United States. LaSaundra Brown
A little pre-game pep talk still may not ease the nerves of the big orange players, who are getting ready to play one of their toughest games ever. "I've never been around somebody who was bigger than me," offensive tackle William Brimfield says. He's referring to elephants Edie and Jana, who together weigh more than 17,000 pounds. "They make an awesome offensive line," Knoxville Zoo Elephant Curator Jim Naelitz says. The elephants have been preparing for their match up against the star Vol play...
2008-08-01 - Topeka, United States.
It's easy for everyone to get in on recycling, even elephants. With a toss of a phone book, Mayor Bill Bunten kicked off a recycling event at the Topeka Zoo today. It's called "Even an Elephant Doesn't Forget to Recycle Old Phone Books." The elephants recycled phone books by creating works of art on them. Children and their families came out to enjoy the show and all helped recycle old AT&T phone books. Some of the works of art will be auctioned off at an event tonight. You can see the elephants...
2008-08-01 - Lake Buena Vista, United States. Dewayne Bevil
Today's Calendar column revolves around the elephants of Disney's Animal Kingdom. You'll recall that the herd expanded in June with the birth of Tsavo, who weighed in at a whopping 327 pounds, the largest of the DAK baby elephants. When interviewing John Lehnhardt, who oversees animal care at Animal Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I asked him if he -- or anyone, for that matter -- can tell when an elephant is happy. "If they're acting like elephants -- getting along with others, eating nor...
When African elephant Tsavo was born this summer at Disney's Animal Kingdom, two pachyderm families were already in place to welcome the 327-pound calf. Five years ago, his mother, Moyo, gave birth to Tufani, a built-in brother for Tsavo, who shares his name with a region of Kenya. He'll have playmates from other breeding groups, which is how the animals divide themselves in the wild -- and at Animal Kingdom. "They live very highly socialized existences," says John Lehnhardt, animal operations d...
2008-08-01 - JERUSALEM, Israel.
Israeli officials say a 17-year-old girl who sneaked into a zoo near Tel Aviv with a friend was attacked by an elephant and hospitalized. An employee of Safari nature park says the couple entered the park before dawn Friday by climbing over a wall and then entering the elephants' enclosure. Mori Hertzenstein told Army Radio the girl then approached the pen of 1 of the male elephants, who grabbed her with his trunk. Hertzenstein said "the elephant, which is a giant animal, hurt her." Israeli resc...
2008-08-01 - Washington, United States.
African elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory at a pace unseen since an international ban on the ivory trade took effect in 1989. But the public outcry that resulted in that ban is absent today, and a University of Washington conservation biologist contends it is because the public seems to be unaware of the giant mammals' plight.
2008-08-01 - Bangalore, India. Kamala Balachandran, Deccan Herald
It is said that in his lifetime Veerappan killed hundreds of elephants and made enormous profit from the tusks. So now that he is gone, are the elephants in the Nilgiris Mountains safe? No, because, in the place of Veerappan there are perhaps, many more, equally audacious, poachers on the prowl. And if there is one thing that anyone can say for sure, it is that there will never be a day when we can say that the last of the poachers is dead. That is because there will never be a day when people w...
2008-07-31 - Windhoek, Namibia. JOHN GROBLER
SERIOUS alarm has been raised over official plans to shoot three of Namibia's rare desert-adapted elephant bulls in the Kunene Region as trophies for big-game hunters, which conservationists fear could cause a collapse in their dwindling numbers. The permits for shooting what could be three of only five breeding-age elephant bulls left were issued in spite of warnings that this was unsustainable in a population that already showed alarming signs of high natural mortality and genetic problems due...
2008-07-31 - North Bengal, India.
For the fourth time in a week a man was trampled to death by an elephant near the Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal.65-year-old Edward Lakra was returning home late on Sunday night (July 28). As he walked alone through the forest adjoining Kartick Tea Estate he was attacked and killed. Over the last eight days, three other tea workers have been killed in three separate incidents. On July 24, Bhab Younus Toppo (45) of Rydak Tea Estate, on July 23, Rabin Sangma (28) of Garam Basti and on July 21,...
2008-07-31 - Hatipota, India.
In the Hatipota forest of Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal, a female elephant was killed by a tusker on Monday. It occurred when a fight took place among some male elephants and in the meanwhile, a tusker gored a female elephant to death. IN A RARE attack of passion, a female elephant was killed by a tusker on Monday night (July 28) in the Hatipota forest of Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal. Two male elephants from the herd of wild elephants seen in the neighbourhood had been pursuing the fe...
2008-07-31 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium announced the name of its second baby elephant today. The baby, born on July 25th, has been named Zuri. "We saw our visitors coming in to the barn and they would say, 'Oh, she's beautiful,' or 'Oh, she's pretty,' or 'Oh, she's gorgeous,' and she is actually a little bit of a pink coloration," said the zoo's Dr. Barbara Baker, "and so the staff went into books and looked up what was Swahili or African for 'pretty' and 'beautiful' and came up with the name Zuri."
2008-07-31 - LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States. Andrea Finger, Walt Disney World
Disney’s Animal Programs is leading an international coalition of veterinarians, conservation groups, zoos, universities and private industry to conduct a series of procedures to effectively sterilize male elephants and help reduce the elephant birth rates in areas of South Africa. The team expects to perform laparoscopic vasectomies on eight bull elephants at the Pongola Game Reserve in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Elephant overpopulation in wildlife parks and reserves in southern Africa is ...
2008-07-31 - Seattle, United States. Lisa Stiffler
The number of poached elephants is on the rise and could lead to the extinction of large populations of African elephants in a scant 12 years, according to new research from the University of Washington. Said Sam Wasser, a UW biology professor, in a press release: "If the trend continues, there won't be any elephants except in fenced areas with a lot of enforcement to protect them."Wasser is a master of DNA extraction from difficult sources such as ivory and various animal scat. Through his rese...
2008-07-31 - Mangalore, India.
Pilikula Nisargadhama, located at Vamanjoor in the outskirts of the city, will be getting two elephants soon. This initiative has been taken to attract more tourists to Pilikula. Rajendra and Kapile, who are at Sakrebail elephant camp which is located in Shimoga district, will be brought here soon. Earlier, Rajendra was staying in the premises of Kollur temple. But his mischievous activities proved to be a headache for the temple management there. Later he was sent to Sakrebail camp. Rajendra di...
2008-07-31 - Washington, United States. Kristen Everett, Press Releases, The Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States and its international arm Humane Society International has a list of do's and don'ts for those traveling to China, where tourist souvenirs and some meals involve cruelty to animals. Teresa Telecky, Ph.D., policy director for Humane Society International, offers the following tips to help those wishing to make animal-friendly decisions while in China: Don't buy ivory. During a recent trip to China, Telecky saw ivory for sale widely, even in hotel gift shops...
2008-07-31 - Orlando, United States.
Maintain the care, well-being, management, behavioral conditioning and enrichment of the elephant collection. Ensure the daily routines of cleaning, animal observation, diet preparation and reporting medical needs and abnormal conditions to zoological managers. The keeper is also responsible for maintaining daily records, collecting and logging information and insuring this information is communicated to management and the central record keeping system of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
2008-07-30 - Lansing, United States.
Potter Park Zoo will host guest speaker Dr. Susan Mikota, co-editor of Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants and co-founder and Director of Veterinary Programs and Research of Elephant Care International at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 in the zoo’s Safari Room. The presentation is free and open to the public.
2008-07-30 - Mumbai, India.
The state government has mooted a plan to put up a fence with electric current at the Maharashtra, Goa-Karnataka border to overcome the increasing menace of elephants in the state. At a meeting held in Mantralaya on Tuesday, revenue minister Narayan Rane suggested a fence that will work on solar energy to stop elephants from entering the Konkan region. The meeting was attended by the state finance minister Jayant Patil and forest minister Babanrao Pachpute as well as other officials from the for...
2008-07-30 - Dac Lac, Vietnam.
A herd of 40 elephants over the past few days destroyed over 30 hectares of crops in Ea R’loi and Ea Lop Village in the Central Highlands province of Dac Lac. According to Ea R’Loi’s People’s Committee, the animals have been showing up in the area since 2005. They usually roam around, destroying crops in the process, for a few days before leaving. No casualities were reported.
2008-07-30 - Chennai, United States. D Madhavan
Started barely a fortnight ago with much fanfare, the jumbo safari at the Arignar Anna Zoological park, Vandalur, has come to a halt. The two elephants used for the rides were injured in the foot a few days ago. Compounding the problem, 24-year-old Ashwini and 26-year-old Pari who were brought from the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary are suffering from diarrhoea. Zoo director Ananthaswamy told The Times of India that the over-growth of nails on the toes and infection between them that was aggravate...
2008-07-29 - Maryland, United States. Chelsea Haddaway
"I honestly never expected to work with elephants, and I never gave them a whole lot of thought. I have a bachelor's in biology, and when I was studying I put a lot of my focus on animal behavior and physiology. I worked in a small state park-run zoo in North Carolina the whole time I was in college. After school I came up to Baltimore and worked in the animal department. There was an opportunity in elephants and I found out that it was something that suited my personality and just stuck with it...
2008-07-29 - Nairobi, Kenya. Isaac Ongiri
The decision by a global arbiter on endangered species to allow China to import backlog stock of ivory from Africa may be the death knell for Kenyan elephants. The lives of the country’s more than 40,000 elephants spread across national parks is now on the line. Sitting in Geneva, Switzerland, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) ruled that China and Japan would buy 108 tonnes of ivory stocks in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Namibia.
2008-07-29 - Trivandrum, India. T. K. Devasia
After the gruelling festival season, its time for complete rest, feasts and rejuvenation for captive elephants in Kerala. Elephant owners, especially temples, have begun the annual sukhachikitsa (ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy) for their elephants that were paraded from temple to temple from March without rest. The sukhachikitsa for elephants attached to temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) commenced in the state capital Trivandrum yesterday. Forty elephants under various temples in...
2008-07-29 - Raipur, India.
A rogue elephant that has killed eight people and caused widespread damage in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district is to be hunted - with tranquiliser gun - the state government announced after affected villagers started a road blockade. "We are forced to order that the rogue elephant be hunted as it has killed eight people and caused widespread damage to property in the past one year," O.P. Yadav, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Jashpur, said on Tuesday.
2008-07-29 - Cheraw, United States. Bob Cline
The Gentry Bros. began their operation in 1887 as Professor Gentry's Canine Paradox. In a couple years the show had grown to two seperate units called Professor Gentry's Famous Dog & Pony Show. They bought their first elephant in 1890 which broke it's leg being unloaded and was euthanized immediately. 8 years later they bought a baby elephant again and named it Pinto. Same thing happened again. In 1899 they again bought another Indian female elephant and named her Pinto again. This was the first...
2008-07-29 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH and ANGELA KOCHERGA
Plans to move the Dallas Zoo's lone elephant to the Africam Safari Park by the end of the year are still on track, director Gregg Hudson said Tuesday after a tour of the facility in Puebla, Mexico. But Jenny's future is apparently not yet certain. Mr. Hudson met with the director of the driving zoo, Amy Camacho, and a team of elephant specialists who would take care of Jenny, a Dallas Zoo fixture for 22 years. "I've been impressed with the facilities that we've seen and the expansion that they'r...
2008-07-28 - NONG NUCH , Thailand.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Sattahip district and Nong Nuch Village organized a "Larb Cooking" competition in Northern and Northeastern style. Two intelligent female elephants, "Pang Morakot" and "Pang Christmas", also joined in to show how to do Larb Cooking. On July 27th, 2008, Mr. Kampol Tansatja, Director of Nong Nuch Village, Na-Jomtien, assigned Mr.Manit Narinrak, Deputy General Manager, to organize a competition of Larb Cooking to promote traditional foods and tourism.
2008-07-28 - Kampala, Uganda. Patience Aber
The Police and army have launched a joint operation to drive back 35 stary elephants from Amuru District to Murchison Falls National Park. "We have embarked on an operation to drive elephants straying in Kochgoma and Alero sub-counties in Amuru district back to their conservation area in Murchison Falls National Park," UPDF northern region spokesperson Capt Ronald Kakurungu said last Tuesday in a statement. The elephants recently crossed over into the new district. Capt. Kakurungu said they are ...
2008-07-26 - Mendon, United States. Tanya Girgenrath
It's not uncommon for a groom to include his sister in his wedding party. The story becomes significantly more unique when you find out his "sister" is an elephant. Joshua Schacht, 22, and Ashley Glass, 18, were married last night at Mendon's Southwick Zoo in a wildly entertaining ceremony. Dondi, a female Asian elephant, served as the flower girl in the couple's wedding, but that wasn't her only job. The ceremony began, amidst whispers of amazement from the crowd, when the couple mounted the el...
2008-07-26 - Kerala, India.
elephants are now walking a fashion ramp with a difference, providing their footprints to be printed on textile carry bags of New York-based fashion designer Barbara Gerard, who is here getting her models to perform. Gerard is at this cultural capital of Kerala to also introduce a new concept for children called “Elephant House”. She said her concept was an innovative exploration of the Asian elephant involving the six senses as seen through the lens of video, film, painting, photography, mu...
2008-07-25 - RANCHI, India.
The Jharkhand forest department will constitute mobile squads to chase away wild elephants who create havoc in villages around the forests in the state, said an official on Thursday. "As per plan, we will constitute 15 mobile squads equipped with weapons and cell phones to chase the elephant herds," a forest official said. Each squad, expected to be constituted by the year end, is likely to have 10 to 15 members including villagers and forest officials. The squads are likely to start functioning...
2008-07-25 - Dallas, United States. Andy Hogue
A pachyderm in the public eye in Dallas could possibly be joining the elephant Gainesville never forgot, that is, if animal rights advocates have their way. Jenny the Elephant, a resident of the Dallas Zoo, has been the subject of many news stories following the death of her partner, KeKe, in May. Animal rights groups are concerned that Jenny, age 32 (and near the elephant's life expectancy in captivity of 33), would not be healthy in a zoo, and that she should be transferred to a wilderness pre...
2008-07-25 - Pittsburgh , United States.
A baby elephant was born at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium at 5:30 this morning. The baby and its 25-yer-old mother, Moja, are healthy and bonding well, zoo officials said. It’s the second successful birth of an elephant at the zoo this month. On July 9, Savannah, another 25-year-old African elephant, gave birth to a female. The zoo has not named that elephant, which weighed more than 200 pounds at birth.
2008-07-25 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham
Buki is taking full advantage of new privileges accorded the queen of the Buffalo Zoo’s remodeled Elephant House. Last week, during one of her first nights back after two months at the Columbus Zoo, the 50-year-old Asian elephant poked through the bars and snatched a bale of hay keepers believed was beyond her grasp. “I thought there was no way she could reach that far,” said Kelly Amrhein, Elephant House manager.
2008-07-25 - New Delhi, India. Anand Sankar
It is a lonely and forlorn trudge for Bhola, Gangaram, Gulabu and their comrades —Delhi’s captive elephants — as they daily haul themselves from under the ITO Bridge at dawn, on the banks of the Yamuna cesspool. They plod through a city that does not bat an eyelid for them, to carry a groom at his wedding, or offer joyrides to tourists at a star hotel, all for Rs 2,000. Their day begins before the bedlam of the city’s roads and ends well after it, thanks to the traffic police. And the ma...
2008-07-24 - Buffalo, United States. Jane Kwiatkowski
Long time no see, Buki! You, too, Surapa and Jothi! From 10 a. m. to 3:30 p. m. Saturday and Sunday, party with the elephants at The Buffalo Zoo. Practice elephant art, ask a trainer the million-dollar question, and scarf down some Perry’s ice cream. All activities included with admission at the grand house of animals, 300 Parkside Ave.
2008-07-24 - Hamburg, Germany.
Can I get a bucket of coffee with that? Just what the elephants at the Hamburg Zoo need -- pasteries.
2008-07-24 - Guwahati, India. Kumar Sarkar
Pachyderms in North Bengal are increasingly under threat with some being poisoned to death, others shot by troops of the Nepalese Army while others are being run over by trains passing forest areas. It is time the Ministry of Environment sat up..
2008-07-24 - Tshwane, South Africa.
The South African Government has donated 160 elephants to Lusenga Plains National Park in Zambia's Kawambwa Disrict. Luapula Province Acting Permanent Secretary Clement Siame said the elephants would arrive next week for Lusenga Plains National Park as part of an on going restocking program. Speaking at a preparatory meeting for Destination Luapula Tour on Wednesday, Mr Siame said the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) had given the Park 100 Zebras, 100 Wildebeests and 280 Impalas, as well, to inc...
2008-07-24 - Cleveland, United States. Darren Toms
A $20 million construction contract has been awarded for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s African Elephant Crossing project. On Thursday, the Cleveland Metroparks’ Board of Park Commissioners approved a $20,795,000 contract with Marous Brothers Construction of Willoughby, Ohio, for construction of the state-of-the-art elephant habitat and conservation center. Construction of African Elephant Crossing is expected to start in the fall.
2008-07-24 - WORCESTER, United States. Jacqueline Reis
Somewhere, an elephant herd is one foot short of a full stampede. Or perhaps someone finally had enough of an elephant foot umbrella holder and tossed it. Wherever it started, a grotesque, hollowed-out elephant foot that appeared to be somewhere between recent kill and finished object ended up on the fifth floor of the CitySquare parking garage at the corner of Commercial and Foster streets. Police bagged it and brought it to the station early this evening.
2008-07-24 - Washington, United States. KIMBERLY LAUNIER
Watch the story Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET. There is something startling about an elephant's eyes. Their fiery amber color seems to blaze against the surrounding skin's burlap creases. An ancient face, lined with history, but it is the eyes that convey the generational knowledge of the species. They offer a glimpse into what researchers now say is a surprising level of consciousness. It is one of many reasons why the place elephants hold in our imaginations is both epic, and wondrous.
2008-07-23 - Ranchi, India. ANEETA SHARMA
The forest department has proposed a Rs 77.62 crore scheme to the Centre to tackle recurring man-tusker conflicts in Jharkhand. The chief wildlife warden of the state, A.K. Singh, said the forest department has proposed forming 15 well-equipped mobile squads to maintain vigil on elephants and chase away wild pachyderms when they come near human habitations. The mobile squads would have cellphones to talk to co-ordinators in the villages concerned and keep them abreast of pachyderms’ movement.
2008-07-18 - Portland, United States. KATY MULDOON
Mamas-to-be, you know what the doctor says: Stay fit. Eat right. Don't gain too much weight. Same holds true if you're a 7,660-pound pregnant Asian elephant, which explains why the Oregon Zoo's Rose-Tu was cross training early Thursday: a little jogging, strength training, water aerobics, sit-ups, leg-lifts, stretching and -- wait -- was that a Pilates move? Might have been. Girl's gotta work her core if she's to have a trouble-free labor and delivery, which is what zookeepers hope for Rose-Tu s...
2008-07-18 - SANDAKAN, Indonesia.
Three Borneo pygmy elephants in Kinabatangan were fitted with satellite collars last week, marking the start of an inaugural study on the social structure of the elephants. Danau Girang Field Centre conservation biologist Nurzhafarina Othman said that studies on the genetic aspects of the elephant had been carried out but their social structure was virtually unknown. “The collaring of the elephants will ease our access to them. The bulk of the study will be done through fieldwork with the Elep...
2008-07-18 - Salem, United States. Kristin Adams
Elephant Encounter, this year’s exotic animal act at the Salem Fair in Salem, Va., was sponsored by Salem Delegate Morgan Griffith. The show featured Shannon, a 27-year-old African elephant, and Cora, a 48-year-old Asian elephant. Owners Bill and Cindy Morris gave educational shows. They showed the differences between Asian elephants and African elephants. African females have tusks while Asian females do not. Africans are also the smaller of the two. Bill Morris also pointed out that both Asi...
2008-07-17 - Louisville, United States. Kara Bussabarger
Scotty, the Louisville Zoo’s 1-year-old baby African elephant, hit a big milestone today when he went swimming in the elephant yard pool. After he slowly eased down the pool steps behind his mom Mikki, Scotty cut loose, diving down into the deep 6-foot pool and using his trunk as a snorkel. “He really liked it,” Elephant Area Supervisor Dave Campbell smiled. “Scotty is very buoyant and floats like a cork.”
2008-07-17 - BEIJING, China.
China defended its ivory policy on Thursday after conservationists criticized a U.N. panel's decision to allow the country to import elephant ivory from African government stockpiles. The vote this week by the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, qualifies China for a one-time auction because it has dramatically improved its enforcement of ivory rules. But some environmental groups disagreed, saying that China had over a dozen years lost track of 121 tons of iv...
2008-07-17 - Pretoria, South Africa. Michael Appel
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) standing committee on Wednesday authorised a decision taken last year for a once-off sale of ivory. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has welcomed the decision. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are now authorised to make a once off sale of a total of 108 tons of government-owned ivory, the department said in a statement on Wednesday. The following quantities of raw ivory have been approved for sale:...
2008-07-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Alphonce Shiundu And John Ngirachu
Three Chinese nationals were on Wednesday arrested in possession of 2.2 kilogrammes of ivory at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The three were arrested on the same day that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) relaxed the ban on ivory trade, to allow China import stocks from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The measure has alarmed conservation groups, which believe the huge Chinese demand for ivory will result in an increase in poaching of the...
2008-07-17 - Buffalo, United States.
The pachyderms are back from Columbus, Ohio two weeks earlier than expected, and the fans were there to greet them. Buki, Jothi, and Surapa are one of the most popular exhibits at the Buffalo Zoo. Starting Thursday you can see them outside their new home. "They really have the sense of recognition, and they're already using all four of the holding spaces. We only had two before. They're sleeping and eating normally so we think they've just come back home." says Buffalo Zoo President Donna Fernan...
2008-07-17 - Toronto, Canada. Ben Kaplan
This year the Pirelli Calendar has 52 pages of what you might call the elephant metaphor. The entire ecology of the elephant is more similar to us [and our fate] than any other animal – adapting to the damage we both cause eating sand cookies, while elephants eat wood. It seems we are next. This feeling is portrayed in Africa, in the Okavanga Swamp area, with African elephants of circus background and dangerous-looking humorous sittings, with lots of beauty thanks to the outstanding top ten mo...
2008-07-17 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
China's approval for the first time as a bona fide buyer of ivory has drawn flak from some conservationists, who blame the country for stoking the illegal ivory trade. One of the world's biggest consumers of elephant ivory, China was given the go-ahead on Tuesday to participate as a licensed buyer in an upcoming auction of 108 tons of ivory from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. "This sale has literally given the green light to international poaching syndicates and organised crime, a...
2008-07-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan authorities have detained three Chinese nationals at the country's main airport on suspicion of smuggling ivory, an official said. "The three Chinese nationals - two women and a man - were arrested at the airport in Nairobi while in possession of 2.2 kilograms of ivory," Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesman Gichuki Kabukuru said. "Since they did not have a permit, we take it as smuggling of ivory." The trio, who had stayed in Kenya for four days, were en route to the Zimbabwean capital ...
2008-07-16 - NAIROBI, Kenya.
Kenya's wildlife service says two Chinese women are being questioned at Nairobi's international airport after being found with 36 pieces of ivory. The women were stopped at the airport Wednesday morning, said Kentice Tikomo, a spokesman for the Kenyan Wildlife Service. They were booked on a flight to China. Kenya's elephant population has grown from 16,000 to 27,000 since the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species banned the ivory trade in 1989. But that is far fewer than t...
2008-07-10 - Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Lamine Sebogo
What is the best way of mitigating human-elephants conflicts in South-Western Burkina Faso? According to an IUCN expert, a good solution would be to establish a special Human-Elephant Committee in the region. Mr. Lamine Sebogo, a programme Officer for the African Elephant Specialist Group in West Africa, said that he has come to that conclusion together with local community leaders, during his fact-finding mission in the area.
2008-07-09 - Birmingham, United States.
The successful candidate should have the skills needed to lead a professional team of keepers through the daily operation, husbandry, and management that oversees a collection consisting of bull African elephants, white and black rhino, hippo, giraffe and a variety of African hoof stock, all managed in multi mixed species exhibits. This individual should have a proven work history with bull elephants and the ability to develop animal programs that will build on the daily operations within this e...
2008-07-08 - Memphis, United States.
Memphis Zoo officials are making plans for the first birth of an elephant in the zoo's century-old history. African elephant Asali has been pregnant 10 months, but won't deliver for another year. The 21-year-old elephant was impregnated with semen from bulls from zoos in Pittsburgh and Jacksonville, Fla. Memphis Zoo curator Matt Thompson said tests will be done after the calf is born to determine which is the father. Asali lives with a 44-year-old female, who zoo officials expect to act as an au...
2008-07-01 - LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States.
An elephant was born at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom this weekend. African elephant Moyo, 26, gave birth to a 327-pound male elephant on June 28. "African elephants are considered endangered and are challenging to breed," Jackie Ogden, vice president of Disney's Animal Programs, said in a news release. "This elephant birth is significant, not only for the herd and species, but also for the team of dedicated team of professionals who have been working with Moyo attentively for the past two ...
2008-06-29 - Mombasa, Kenya. JOHN MBARIA
AS THE LARGEST LAND-Based animal, the elephant has the ability to excite strong emotions — emotions that now pit different African countries against each other over whether the beast has more value alive or dead. The jumbo dispute was once again played out recently in Mombasa’s Whitesands Hotel, where representatives of 19 African countries met to cement their unity and sharpen their campaign against the resumption of the ivory trade. Meeting under the auspices of the African Elephant Coalit...
2008-06-28 - Denver, United States.
The Denver Zoo says it will spend $50 million on an Asian Tropics area to house elephants and other endangered species. Construction is to start next year, the Rocky Mountain News reported. When completed, the exhibit will have five habitat areas and room for 12 elephants. The zoo, like others in the United States, is under pressure to improve the living conditions of its elephants or move them elsewhere. Some critics, such as Marc Bekoff, a former biology professor at the University of Colorado...
2008-06-26 - Syracuse, United States.
Will zoo-goers be able to touch the elephants again? That’s a question reps from the Rosamond Gifford Zoo were hoping to get answered during a meeting with DEC officials this week. For decades, people coming to the zoo have been about to touch the Asian elephants, but the DEC recently began enforcing a law prohibiting contact with the public. Representatives from the four New York State zoos that house elephants met with DEC officials. They hope to reach a compromise in the near future.
2008-06-23 - Norwich, United Kingdom. VICTORIA LEGGETT
They are usually more at home in Africa but these baby elephants have been welcomed to Norwich with open arms. The 53 fibre-glass animals, which are dotted around the city, went on view for the first time today and brought smiles to the faces of their many admirers. They are here as part of a public art event called Go Elephants, which is jointly run by Wild in Art and the Forum Trust, to showcase Norwich's creativity and will be on show until August 31.
2008-06-23 - St. Louis , United States.
The St. Louis Zoo serves Anheuser-Busch products, but it's the elephants, penguins and hippopotamuses that really define the relationship between the city's two institutions. The elephant program began in 1955 when the Busch family donated eight of the animals. A $3 million gift in 1996 became the Zoo's Hippo Harbor. The dapper birds at the popular Penguin and Puffin Coast came from Sea World, owned by Anheuser-Busch. The Zoo, like perhaps no other institution, demonstrates the entrenched relati...
2008-06-23 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Belgium has asked two female elephants from Indonesia to be bred at Parc Paradisio sanctuary park, in Belgium. Parc Paradisio`s management has developed an international-standard elephant cage to accommodate Indonesia`s elephants, a press statement of the Indonesian forestry ministry said here on Monday. Parc Paradisio also invited an Indonesian delegation to visit the zoo accommodating various endangered animals. Indonesia, in return, has asked the assistance of Parc Paradisio in managing sever...
2008-06-23 - Jinan, United States. Xinhua News
An elephant gets a cold shower at the Jinan Zoo in Jinan, Shandong Province on Sunday, June 22, 2008. The zoo tried to keep its animals cool as the temperature hit 37.2 degrees Celsius (98.9 degrees Fahrenheit).
2008-06-23 - Ghatshila, India.
Tribals in Jharkhand have started living on tree tops to escape from the increasing menace of elephants ravaging their houses. They said that the elephants have been plundering their poorly built thatched houses as they could not afford concrete structures. The tribals said that elephants have in recent months destroyed dozens of houses and trampled many people to death. We don't have houses and these elephants trouble us a lot. So, we have built our houses on tree tops, said Sundari Sabat, a tr...
2008-06-23 - Siliguri, India.
Yet another Indian wild elephant was killed in Nepal. This time, it's a 40-year old female pachyderm that has succumbed to bullet injuries allegedly inflicted by the Nepal police in the eastern district of Jhapa adjacent to the Siliguri sub-division. According to Ms Sumita Ghatak, the divisional forest officer, Mahananda Wildlife Division - I in Siliguri, a herd of nearly 80 Indian elephants had strayed into Nepal from the Kalabari forests near Naxalbari in Siliguri last night but were brought b...
2008-06-22 - Oregon, United States. Susan Nielsen
About 284 African and Asian elephants live in about 80 accredited zoos in the United States. These zoos are trending in two directions, after decades of treating elephants as a must-have accessory and ignoring their needs for space, kinship and stimulation. Zoos are either phasing out their elephant exhibits, for ethical and financial reasons, or they're improving them and investing in off-site sanctuaries. The Oregon Zoo wants to join the latter group.
2008-06-22 - Chaibasa, India.
No truck driver plying on the Haatgamria-Baraiburu road in Jharkhand can escape without giving him his due. He is no toll collector, but a tusker, who has got separated from a herd. He stands for hours each day on the road waiting for food-laden trucks to give him his daily quota of food. “We don’t mind giving him a bunch of fruits, rice or other eatables. This is his toll,” says a trucker plying on the route. Fondly called ‘Ramu Haathi,’ he is not always friendly. If he cannot spot a ...
2008-06-22 - Hangchatr, Thailand.
Mosha was only seven months old when she trod on a landmine in Thailand in 2006. The explosion severed her right foreleg, which later had to be amputated. Now the two-year-old has been fitted with a prosthetic leg at the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital in Hangchatr, northern Thailand.
2008-06-21 - RYAN STRONG , United States.
The Tulsa Zoo's 35-year-old Asian elephant provides the majority of semen samples to zoos across the country to help increase the captive elephant population. "Sneezy is the most sought-after male elephant in North America," said Michael Connolly, a zoologist at the Tulsa Zoo. Two factors make Sneezy a sought-after daddy — the lack of inbreeding in his family history and the diversity of his genes. Once semen samples are obtained for artificial insemination, an ultrasound determines the viabil...
2008-06-21 - Nagaon, India.
Two elephants, a mother and its calf, died after they fell into a pond in the foothills of Kondoli, 35km from Nagaon, last night. The incident took place when the pair was proceeding towards the hill in a herd comprising 40-45 animals. The calf was the first to fall into the pond as soon as they had crossed Titajuri Basti. The mother jumped into the pond to rescue the calf. The villagers moved the Kothiatoli forest range office this morning to inform the authorities about the herd of elephants,...
2008-06-21 - New Delhi, India. Christian Cotroneo
As India reshapes its landscape on the way to becoming an industrial and urban giant, conservationists are warning of an increase in deadly clashes between humans and elephants. While the government claims the elephant population has enjoyed a modest increase in recent years, development is robbing the herds of their natural habitat. "I think that human-animal conflict, generally, is going to be the biggest challenge of the next 10 years," said Belinda Wright, the founder the Wildlife Protection...
2008-06-20 - Seattle, United States.
An elephant at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle may be pregnant. The zoo says it won't know for sure until an ultrasound scheduled this fall. The elephant, named Chai (chy) was artificially inseminated in January. The father is an elephant named Sneezy at the zoo in Tulsa, Okla. It all goes as planned the baby would be born by Thanksgiving of 2009. Some animal rights activists are worried about the health risks. The group Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants says it's unethical to breed Chai b...
2008-06-19 - Kolkata, India. Raktima Bose
An elephant with rifle shots on its left hind leg was tracked down by wildlife officials on Tuesday near north Bengal’s border with Nepal, while an elephant calf died after coming in contact with the electrified border fence within the Nepal boundary. The injured tusker was part of a herd that entered the region from Nepal through the Mechi river corridor. It was tranquillised and treated by the wildlife department. Forest officials are certain that it was shot “either by the security force ...
2008-06-19 - Philadelphia, United States. GLORIA CAMPISI
Kutenga, a female African elephant, was only 27 when she collapsed in her stall at the Philadelphia Zoo in 1991 and died despite heroic efforts to get her to her feet, including trying to lift her with the hook from a tow truck. Peggy, 52, a female Asian elephant, fell to the concrete floor of the zoo's elephant quarters in 1994 and was euthanized shortly afterward because of debilitating arthritis and dental disease, which made eating difficult.
2008-06-19 - Daniel's Harbour, Canada.
The owner of three circus animals stranded in Daniel's Harbour, Nfld., when the truck carrying them overturned wants to say thanks to the community for its help. Mike Hackenberger has donated $4,000 toward the cost of a new playground in the name of Limba, the elephant. The huge pachyderm was in the back of the truck along with two camels when the vehicle overturned on Sunday morning. There were no serious injuries and the animals were put up in an abandoned garage equipped with wood shavings an...
2008-06-19 - Ahmedabad, India.
The Ahmedabd Municipal Corporation (AMC) has already begun frantic search for land for the new zoo in the city, to be spread over 100 acres. At present, the areas — near the Science City in Sola, Pirana and Hathijan — are high on the priority list. On the shopping list, apart from orangutans and pandas, are lions from Gir, the African elephant and the Himalayan Yak. “There is a proposal for a zoological park of international standards. We are looking for land which will be easily accessibl...
2008-06-19 - Oklahoma City, United States. Carrie Coppernoll
Zoo trustees Wednesday approved spending $23 million on the upcoming Asia exhibit — $7 million more than originally expected. The original budget of $16 million was set during the 2001-02 fiscal year, said Brian Aucone, interim executive director. Building and project costs have increased since then, he said. Project funds will largely be spent on an elephant barn and exhibit area. The Asia exhibit will be the largest in zoo history. It's scheduled to open in spring 2011.
2008-06-19 - Knoxville, United States. Amy McRary
Battle lines were drawn Tuesday in the hard-packed red clay of the Knoxville Zoo elephant yard. The pachyderm Edie was challenged to tug-of-war by eight determined if unrealistic humans. Five zoo marketing staff workers, two elephant keepers and one News Sentinel reporter grabbed a 15-foot rope and planted tennis shoes or work boots in the dirt. Edie waited feet away. All 8,700 pounds of her. Edie's back was turned to her competition. She wore a harness fastened to a yoke to which keepers hooked...
2008-06-19 - Rajaji, India.
Recommendations of a Wildlife Trust of India-International Fund for Animal Welfare study done in 2001 have ensured zero elephant deaths in train accidents on a railway track that crosses the forests of the Rajaji National Park in the northern Indian Uttarakhand state. The railway line, which joins the holy city of Haridwar on the foothills of the Himalayas to the busy capital of the Uttarakhand state, Dehradun, had seen 20 elephant deaths, including those of tuskers and pregnant females, between...
2008-06-18 - Bolton, United Kingdom.
AN MP has called for action on the illegal trade in ivory to protect endangered elephants. Brian Iddon, Bolton south east MP, backed a new campaign by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The ivory trade was banned in 1989 but approximately 20,000 elephants are killed every year to supply the black market. Dr Iddon said China was `the single major destination' for traded ivory. The IFAW is campaigning to ensure China is not allowed to import stockpiled ivory.
2008-06-18 - Indianapolis, United States.
Elephant Awareness Week — Indianapolis Zoo. Elephant Awareness Week begins today. 11:30 a.m., elephant bath; 1:30 and 3 p.m., elephant show.
2008-06-18 - Kanpur, India.
A female elephant from Assam is caught in an ownership battle between the administration of the famous Manki temple here and the forest department. While the temple claims Lakhi was presented to its head priest by a devotee, the forest department holds it is a government property. Faraway from the controversy, the elephant is enjoying its stay at Kanpur Zoo. Trouble began when someone registered a complaint against the temple administration that the tusker was not being looked after well and was...
2008-06-17 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Elephant owners, mahouts and veterinarians are getting together to frame guidelines for the management of captive elephants in Kerala to ensure the animals are not overworked and ill-treated. The Elephant Welfare Association of the state will hold a meeting June 29 in Thrissur, about 300 km from here, to draw up a set of rules for the owners and handlers of captive elephants.
2008-06-16 - DANIELS HARBOUR, Canada.
Two camels and an elephant made an unexpected stop in a village on Newfoundland's northern peninsula on Sunday morning. Local firefighters had to use the jaws of life to extricate the animals after the truck they were travelling in crashed near Daniels Harbour, N.L. The animals were touring the province as part of a travelling circus. A veterinarian and provincial wildlife officials were called to the scene to treat the animals, who received only minor injuries. The driver was treated for non-li...
2008-06-16 - Baraboo, United States. Brian D. Bridgeford
The audience clapped and cheered Sunday as circus performers swung high above the ring or juggled large barrels with their feet in Circus World Museum's first day open after flooding threatened the museum grounds. With a few exceptions, most of the museum escaped the flooding without being damaged, he said. Museum staff members put up a barrier of sandbags to protect the historic elephant building, and its drains were able to handled any leakage that got in.
2008-06-16 - St. Lucie County , United States.
There soon might come a time when western St. Lucie County looks an awful lot like Kenya. Representatives from the National Elephant Center, a coalition of zoos from around the country, had preliminary talks last month with the county about its planned facility in western St. Lucie County. The organization's board of directors will meet this week to discuss the center's progress. The center was announced in February, and it will be on 300 acres owned by Waste Management, which will lease the sit...
2008-06-16 - Kumamoto, Japan.
Children were delighted to get the chance over the weekend to make postcards using recycled elephant dung at Kumamoto Zoo. The 10 elementary school pupils made the environmentally friendly postcards as part of a program that started in 2006 and will be held again next month. "It was great fun," said Hayato Yonemura, a 7-year-old first grader who has taken part in the postcard program since his kindergarten days. Hayato's mom lauded the program "It's great if it helps the kids develop an understa...
2008-06-16 - Jaipur, India.
Elephants in Rajasthan are almost synonymous with the pomp and show associated with the regal times of yore. One would find them in weddings, ceremonial processions, trade shows and on just about every occasion that needs a flavour of the august times. But little thought is spared to them after they age beyond 60, their official retirement age fixed by the forest department. Most of these elephants live in conditions detrimental to their being or are abandoned by the owners who adopt indifferenc...
2008-06-16 - Hamburg, Germany. Ursula Spuler-Stegemann, University of Marburg
Various sources relate that Charlemagne established diplomatic relations with this Abbasid ruler Caliph Harun al-Rashid in the year 797 or 801. Both sides reportedly guaranteed freedom of belief for members of the other religion in their respective empires. It is in any case an established historic fact that the elephant Abul Abbas died in 810. This magnificent animal had been sent by the caliph to Charlemagne in Aachen as a token of his friendship.
2008-06-16 - Denver, United States.
A special scale was at the Denver Zoo today to weigh elephants Mimi and Dolly. Mimi weighed in at 10,800 pounds and Dolly at 8,200, good weights for such animals, the zoo said. The Colorado Department of Revenue, port of entry, loaned the scales for the weigh-in. A zoo spokeswoman alluded to the zoo's fund-raising event coming up Thursday in a news release about the weigh-in. "Everyone wants to look their best for this event. However, when you attend in your birthday suit, it's exceptionally im...
2008-06-16 - Heath, United States. L.B. WHYDE
A discovery made on a cold, wintery day in December 1989 changed a few men's lives, as well as history as it was known at the time. Dec. 12, 1989, was the fateful day the most complete skeleton of a mastodon was discovered on the property of the Burning Tree Golf Course, Heath, owned by Sherman Byers. While excavating for a pond on the back nine of the course, the drag-line operator caught hold of the skull. After two days, the mastodon had been recovered from three separate piles of bones about...
2008-06-16 - Ontario, Canada.
A small reminder of the huge animals that roamed the earth 10,000 years ago has surfaced near Barrie. An ivory tusk from either a mastodon or mammoth has been donated to the Simcoe County museum after it was discovered in Springwater Township last month. There have been approximately 120 known mastodon and mammoth remains found in Ontario. But Kevin Seymour, assistant curator at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, says this tusk is particularly rare because most mastodon or mammoth remains in O...
2008-06-13 - Chipata, Zambia.
The High court in Chipata, Eastern Province has sentenced a 34 years old Mozambican national to five years imprisonment with hard labour for unlawful possession of prescribed trophy. Amon Mpinga of Marara village in chief Kachembe¢s area in Tete district, was convicted by Judge Eddie Sikazwe after he was found in possession of five elephant tusks which he brought from Malavia district. He wanted to sell the items without certificate of ownership. Facts are that on 28th December 2006, Mpinga was...
2008-06-12 - New Delhi, India. Rahul Bedi
India’s captive elephants will soon be able to live out their twilight years at a retirement home in the southern state of Kerala where there will be an abundance of good food, the company of other tuskers and professional veterinary care. When it opens, possibly in the next few months, the facility at Kottoor, 70km from the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, will be the first in India to cater to ageing pachyderms. “We have already set up five enclosures at the facility,” said VS Varghe...
2008-06-12 - Saratoga, United States. Lee Coleman
There will be no elephant rides at the Saratoga County Fair this summer, nor at any fairs or circuses held in the Capital Region. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is enforcing a clause in its endangered and threatened species licenses that forbids the public from riding or touching African or Asian elephants. Most of the elephants exhibited at amusement parks and fairs in the state are Asian elephants. Richard Rowland, general manager of the Saratoga County Fair, said the new D...
2008-06-12 - Dak Lak , Vietnam.
The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak is the sole location in Vietnam where there remains the tradition of maintaining herds of tame elephants in its districts of Buon Don, Lac, Ea Sup, and Krong Nang. However, the population of tame elephants is sharply falling. In the past nearly two decades, many tame elephants have died of old age while there is no source of replacement. This fact has threatened the existence of the tame elephant herd in Dak Lak.
2008-06-12 - Oklahoma City, United States. Carrie Coppernoll
The two Asian elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo were transported to Tulsa on Thursday morning, marking the beginning of a breeding plan that could yield an elephant herd in Oklahoma City. Elephants Asha and Chandra were loaded onto a specialized trailer after several hours of maneuvering Thursday morning, said Tara Henson, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City Zoo. The process went smoothly, she said. The 6,000-pound elephants left Oklahoma City shortly after 10 a.m.
2008-06-12 - Pretoria, South Africa.
Elephant culling at the Kruger National Park is unnecessary and not a last option, the Earth organisation said on Wednesday. Founder of the group, Lawrence Anthony, said the assertion that culling was only a last option was a method cleverly designed to try to sell the slaughter to an unwilling public. "The decision to cull is based on emotion. Credible science demonstrates that the cull is unnecessary. "The public is being asked to accept an unpopular decision which has no support among respect...
2008-06-11 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
The new Elephant House at Copenhagen Zoo opened today following an official ceremony attended by His Royal Highness the Prince Consort of Denmark and his grandson, Prince Christian. This new Elephant House provides these magnificent animals with a stimulating environment, including easily accessible spaces for the public to enjoy them, and restores the visual relationship between the zoo and the park. The project has been driven by research into the behavioural patterns of elephants. The tendenc...
Holding on tight to the hand of his grandfather Prince Henrik and with an elephant soft toy clutched in the other, little Christian of Denmark headed off to Copenhagen Zoo on Tuesday to help inaugurate its new elephant house. Once there, the two-year-old son of Crown Prince Frederik and his Australia-born wife Mary stuck close to his animal-loving grandpa - Henrik is honorary president of the Danish Dachshund Club - as they made their way to two glass-domed enclosures which house the pachyderms.
2008-06-10 - Pennsylvania, United States.
A large genetic study of the extinct woolly mammoth has revealed that the species was not one large homogenous group, as scientists previously had assumed, and that it did not have much genetic diversity. "The population was split into two groups, then one of the groups died out 45,000 years ago, long before the first humans began to appear in the region," said Stephan C. Schuster, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State and a leader of the research team. "This di...
2008-06-10 - Philadelphia, United States.
A 52-year old female African elephant at the Philadelphia Zoo died Monday morning, the zoo said. Called Petal, the elephant was one of three African elephants scheduled to be moved to a new preserve outside Pittsburgh. The death will not affect the transfer of the two remaining elephants to the Pittsburgh Zoo's International Conservation Center, which should take place by late summer or early fall, a Philadelphia Zoo spokeswoman said. The zoo said it expects testing to determine Petal's cause of...
2008-06-10 - Brinsop, United Kingdom. Wildlife Extra
For the first time in nearly a decade, the international sale of ivory from endangered African elephants has been authorized by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat. An estimated 119 tons of ivory, put up for sale from four southern African nations, which was in part conditionally approved in 2002, has been audited and verified by the CITES Secretariat. This sum represents the deaths of over 10,000 African elephants. Significant amounts of ivory in thes...
2008-06-10 - Pittsburgh, United States. Allison M. Heinrichs
The oldest African elephant in a U.S. zoo won't be coming to Western Pennsylvania for her retirement. Petal, 52, died at the Philadelphia Zoo Monday morning. She was scheduled to come to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium's International Conservation Center in Somerset County with two other elephants at the end of the summer. "They called and let us know right away," said Pittsburgh Zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray. "It doesn't change anything on our end. The plan to relocate the other two elephants is...
2008-06-10 - Salt Lake City, United States. Matthew D. LaPlante
A 48th birthday celebration for Hydari, an African elephant at the Hogle Zoo, will take on added significance this Saturday, following the Monday morning death of The Philadelphia Zoo's Petal. With Petal's passing at 52, Hydari - known affectionately as "Dari" by her keepers - is now the oldest African elephant in a U.S. zoo. Hogle spokeswoman Holly Braithwaite expressed condolences over Petal's death, and praised the example set by the Philadelphia Zoo's staff in keeping her healthy for so long...
2008-06-08 - Wakeeney, United States. Tim Unruh
Two spooked elephants on the loose capped a day of severe weather here Thursday and led to the cancellation of a circus, said Trego County Sheriff Richard Schneider. The pachyderms were preparing to perform with the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus at the Trego County Fairgrounds when tornado sirens sounded. The sirens are believed to have caused the elephants to bolt from their tethers, Schneider said.
2008-06-08 - Oklahoma City , United States. Carrie Coppernoll
The Asian elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo are moving to Tulsa in the coming days, and zookeepers are busy preparing them for the trip. Elephants Asha and Chandra will breed with the male Sneezy at the Tulsa Zoo. “It’s something that’s very hard as a keeper — to see your animals leave,” said Toni Sibilla, one of the elephant keepers. But, she said, it’s an exciting time. The sister elephants could both become pregnant and give birth in Oklahoma City.
2008-06-08 - St. Louis , United States.
A few years ago, Mahlon B. Wallace III of Ladue, a retired pencil company executive, rancher, wildlife art collector and philanthropist, purchased a small bronze statue by the noted wildlife sculptor Kent Ullberg. "Reaching Elephant," it was called, an African bull elephant browsing in an acacia tree.
2008-06-08 - St. Louis, United States. Daniel Durchholz
Circus Flora is named after Flora the elephant, who formerly performed but is now retired at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennesee. The show still features animal acts. This edition includes a group of large horses used for bareback riding stunts and well as miniature horses trained by Lisa Dufresne. There's also a herd of goats that perform a humorous turn led by trainer Carlos Svenson.
2008-06-08 - Seattle, United States.
Wind, rain and bitter cold could not keep five determined women from sending their message to Woodland Park Zoo: An elephant never forgets. Bruce Bohmke, the deputy director of the zoo, disagreed. "They are not aware of the facts, or not using the facts accurately," he said. "About a month and a half ago, we met with these women and told them all about herpes, and that you can't pass herpes through artificial insemination, but that's not what they're saying today."Instead, Bohmke said that depri...
2008-06-07 - Stavropol, Russian Federation.
Russian archeologists want to submit unique bones of mammoth’s ancestor to Guinness Record Book as “most credible exhibit in the world”. Last autumn employees of Stavropol state local history museum found a skeleton of a fossil mammoth’s ancestor (“southern elephant”) Archidiskodon meridionalis Nesti, which lived about 1-1.8 million years ago. Lucky researchers found about 80% of animal’s body in well state of preservation. To that moment world museums boasted only 4 skeletons of s...
2008-06-07 - Fairhope, United States. KECIA BA
Pittsburgh Zoo administrators are taking advantage of construction-friendly weather to work toward finishing a barn for bull elephants to be brought to a new breeding center in Somerset County this year. “It’s moving along very well,” zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray said. “Construction is underway.” By August, the center should be complete at a 724-acre former game preserve that the zoo is turning into an International Conservation Center. African elephants are the first on a list of endang...
2008-06-06 - Jackson, United States.
The Jackson Zoological Park is seeking qualified applicants for keeper positions in our African area of the zoo. This area includes hoof stock, rhinos, primates and elephants. Keepers are responsible for the daily husbandry, exhibit upkeep, environmental enrichment and on going conditioning of animals in the area. Requirements: 1 year of elephant experience in a hands on elephant program. Prefer individual with experience in operant conditioning and a degree in related field.
2008-06-05 - Lampang, Thailand. Mohit Joshi
"Hey, little one, come to mama," chirps Soraida Salwala. The "little one" is a female elephant calf named Mosha, and she knows that Soraida never visits her empty-handed. She approaches Soraida to find a treat of bananas. Soraida has cared for the calf for the past 18 months after Mosha tripped on a landmine in the jungle near Thailand's border with Myanmar. The explosion almost severed her right foreleg, and she was brought to Soraida's elephant clinic when she was 7 months old.
2008-06-05 - Pittsburgh, United States. Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Willie Theison, elephant manager at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, shows some affection to Nan, one of two pregnant elephants at the zoo.Two new elephants will soon be born at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, one maybe this weekend and probably within the next week, and the second also possible at any time. The pachyderm bundles of joy -- each expected to tip the baby scales at more than 200 pounds -- will be born to two 25-year-old females, Moja and Savannah, also known as Nan, impregnate...
2008-06-05 - Segamat, Malaysia.
THEY thought their job was almost done. Shoot the rogue elephant with a tranquiliser dart and wait for it to drop. But Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) team suffered a momentary scare when one of two wild elephants pulled out the dart with its trunk. Sent to Segamat, Johor to capture the two beasts, Perhilitan's elephant capture unit started searching for the pair of wild male elephants on 21 May, reported China Press. And just a week later, they found them, runn...
2008-06-05 - Beijing, China.
Paintings by elephants? Yes! And the huge mammals with their powerful trunks and floppy ears have even had a showing of their own, in Beijing. The elephant's trunks are applied as distinctive brushes. It takes a long time to train an elephant in the refinements of high art. Many pachyderms sought inspiration for their works from the upcoming 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The show is organized by the Thailand-China Friendship Association. The elephant is to Thailand, what the panda is to China, a...
2008-06-05 - Jharkhand, India. Nityanand Shukla
Elephants are in danger in their natural habitat — Jharkhand. The death of three elephants in two separate places within a week is the latest example of the confrontation of mammoths with human beings. There was a time when elephants and human beings lived in harmony, but the goliaths started venturing into human habitats after the forests were encroached and their corridors were destroyed. The surge in Maoist activities also forced elephants to come out of jungles, as gunshots and explosive b...
2008-06-05 - Bhubaneswar, India.
At least 250 people die on an average every year in the country's eastern states in the man-elephant conflict. "Conflict with wild-elephants claims 250 lives in the east every year," A N Prasad, Inspector-General of Forests and Director of Project Elephant told a workshop on 'Man-Elephant Interface for the Eastern Region" on Wednesday. The workshop was informed that Jharkhand reported the highest human casualty of 67 deaths in the region in 2006-07 while the death toll was 91 in 2005-06. Jharkha...
2008-06-05 - Wichita, United States.
Two elephants that broke loose from a traveling circus are back in custody in Kansas. The elephants were apparently spooked by severe weather that moved across the state today and got out of their enclosures. They wandered into the town of WaKeeney. One ended up in a resident's backyard less than a mile from the Trego County Fairgrounds. It was blocked off by fire trucks until its trainers could coax it onto a truck. The second elephant was tranquilized in another resident's backyard, coaxed int...
2008-06-05 - New York, United States. Larry Greenemeier
An animal welfare group charges that eBay sales of ivory are brisker than ever a year after the online marketplace promised to restrict the sale of products made from animal teeth and tusks—many of which come from endangered species. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), based in Washington, D.C., is urging eBay to ban—not simply restrict—all such sales on its Web market.
2008-06-05 - Miami, United States.
This position is responsible for the management of animals and staff assigned to the Asian section of the zoo as well as African and Asian elephants. Staff consists of 3 Sr. Zookeepers and approximately 12 Zookeepers. Duties include scheduling, payroll, coordination of procedures with veterinary and maintenance staff, and development and review of animal husbandry procedures including diets and enrichment. The animal collection is primarily mammals (elephant, rhino, hoofstock and large carnivore...
2008-06-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
On the eve of World Environment Day, senior wildlife officials from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bengal today came together to work out an inter-state co-ordination strategy and to resolve the long standing issue of man-elephant conflict. Organised by the wildlife wing of the forest department, the workshop titled “Man-Elephant interface for the eastern regional states of India” aimed to focus on conflicts arising due to spatial and food-related problems.
2008-06-04 - Labis, Malaysia.
Two wild elephants, caught after they went on a rampage at a farm in Kampung Tenang, have been transferred to Taman Negara. Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) officers carried out the transfer yesterday. The elephants, aged 10 and 15, will be released into the wild. Lancang Pahang Elephant Operation commander Nasaruddin Othman said the elephants were caught between May 26 and May 27 after two villages in Kota Tinggi were destroyed by several elephants two months ago.
2008-06-04 - Windhoek, Namibia. Oswald Shivute
RESIDENTS at Onanke village in the Oshikoto Region are complaining about a herd of elephants that have destroyed their crops. One of the villagers, Moses Thomas, told The Namibian that the elephants arrived at the village early last month, trampling mahangu fields, fences and homesteads. "My whole mahangu field has been emptied by these elephants. We have no more mahangu in the fields and are going to have no harvest this year, because of these elephants," Thomas said. He said the village also h...
2008-06-03 - Melbourne, Australia. MIKI PERKINS
BONG Su, the 34-year-old bull elephant at the Melbourne Zoo, has smashed an Australian and a world record, and all it took was a little gentle persuasion. Not only did he help companion Dokkoon become the first elephant in Australia to get pregnant through artificial insemination, but he has broken the world record for elephant sperm concentration — 2.2 billion sperm per millilitre, compared with the average of 600 million a millilitre.
2008-06-03 - Anuradhapura , Sri Lanka. Roland Buerk
The renewed civil war between Sri Lanka's government and the separatist Tamil Tigers is claiming many victims, among them increasing numbers of the island's wild elephants. Of the 74 elephants which died in the north and north-west region last year, 44 were killed by gunfire. The others fell victim to poison, were deliberately electrocuted by farmers who connected wire fences to the mains, or fell down wells. Just four died of natural causes.
2008-06-02 - Tallin, Estonia.
On 28 May, the Management Board of Enterprise Estonia approved support for renewal of the elephant house at Tallinn Zoo, renovation of the Bastion tunnels and Kiek in die Kök, and installation of the exposition. Support was also granted to the project of the Kihnu Rural Municipality, as a result of which the Kihnu museum building will be fully renovated and furnished with a richer exposition.
2008-06-02 - Jamshedpur, India.
The carcass of two elephants, a mother elephant and its baby, which died due to electrocution, was found this morning in Kewar village of Jharkhand. According to reports as the baby elephant crossed the Dlama forest and entered the adjoining Kewar village, it got an electric shock from an exposed electric wire and died on the spot. The mother elephant in its effort to save its offspring got electrocuted in the same way and died soon after.
2008-06-02 - Melbourne, Australia.
An ultra-sound has confirmed one of the Melbourne Zoo's elephants is pregnant. The zoo is celebrating the pregnancy of a 15 year old endangered Asian elephant, named "Dokkoon". It is the first elephant pregnancy at the Melbourne Zoo. It is also the first artificial insemination pregnancy at any Australian zoo. The elephant's pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasound examination carried out on Saturday by fertility experts from Berlin working with the zoo's veterinarians.
2008-05-31 - Raleigh, United States. Martha Quillin
The N.C. Zoological Park enjoyed record attendance over Memorial Day weekend, and state tourism officials think the milestone portends a good year for the travel industry. Zoo spokesman Rod Hackney said 32,732 people came to see the elephants, chimpanzees and their neighbors over the three-day Memorial Day weekend. That tops the previous Memorial Day weekend record of 25,806 in 2005. Hackney attributed the turnout to good weather, wide publicity of the zoo's improved elephant and rhino habitat, ...
2008-05-31 - Patna, India.
An elephant named "Osama bin Laden" that has killed more than 11 people and injured dozens over the past few months was shot dead in Jharkhand, officials said on Saturday. The wild male elephant, had been terrorising villagers in two states, destroying their crops and homes. Forest officials and a police team tracked down the rogue jumbo in Jharkhand late on Friday, where it was shot dead, Ravi Ranjan, a senior government official said. "Yes, Osama has finally been killed and it took us 20 bulle...
2008-05-31 - Vallejo, United States.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is seeking qualified applicants for a full time elephant trainer. These elephants are managed in a free contact system. Trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to participation in animal training programs, daily care and feeding of the elephants in the collection, maintenence of the elephant exhibit and night house, behavioral observations, record keeping, animals enrichment and training, public presentations, elephant rides and operation of farm equipmen...
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is seeking qualified applicants for a full time Senior Level Elephant Trainer. These elephants are managed in a free contact system. Senior Level Elephant Trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to participation in elephant training programs, daily care and feeding of elephants in the collection, maintenence of elephant exhibit and night house, public presentations, elephant rides, assisting veterinary staff, good working knowledge of tools and farm equip...
2008-05-30 - Majete Wildlife Reserve , Malawi.
Are you the kind of tourist whose choice of holiday destination is affected by the size of your carbon footprint? If so then step into the largest footprints you'll find on earth and help the elephant translocation project in Malawi this June. In a new twist on eco-tourism, visitors are being offered the chance to help capture and move 70 elephants from Malawi's Liwonde National Park and Mangochi district and help re-stock the Majete Wildlife Reserve in southern Malawi.
2008-05-30 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Forest Minister Benoy Viswom said that captive elephants without an embedded microchip will not be allowed to be paraded during festivals and other social gatherings from June 1. "We have already held discussions with the elephant owners and they have agreed. Revenue, Forest and Tourism Department officials also have been intimated," the Minister told reporters at a press conference here on Thursday to highlight the achievements of his ministry during the past two years. The new cut-off date on ...
2008-05-30 - Woburn, United Kingdom.
David Bellamy was at Woburn Safari Park to open the new elephant house.Checking out the new elephant house at Woburn Safari Park. Chandrika, Damini and bull Raja moved in on Tuesday after the new Elephant House's official opening by TV conservationist David Bellamy and the Duke of Bedford. The sandy floor is easy on the toes and great for dust baths while the residents can wander off into side rooms for some peace and quiet. Dr Bellamy was pleased to see that the facility – one of the f...
2008-05-30 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
An elephant regarded as the biggest in the Central Highlands’ Dak Lak Province, the land of elephants in Viet Nam, suffered a sudden death on Tuesday evening after reportedly eating grass from a field that had been sprayed with insecticide. The 68-year-old elephant, Y Trut, had won many prizes at local races and strength competitions. Y Trut, 7.4 tonnes in weight and 3.4m in height, was buried according to the customs of Tay Nguyen highlanders.
2008-05-30 - Wichita, United States.
The Sedgwick County Zoo has unveiled its plans for the future, which should mean new animals and a lot of changes at the popular attraction. If the zoo has its way, there could be a multi-million dollar walk-through elephant exhibit, a new events center that could seat 2,000 people and an aquatic complex.
2008-05-29 - Jerantut, Malaysia.
A wild elephant which had been destroying plantations in three villages near Felda Padang Piol here, has been captured. The male elephant, believed to have been separated from its herd in the Padang Piol Forest Reserve two months ago, had been giving villagers of Kampung Lada, Kampung Paya Garut and Kampung Beletir the jitters. It had wandered alone and damaged the villagers' fruit orchards. Last week, about 20 Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) officers were despatched to trap ...
2008-05-29 - Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Rosli Zakaria
After nearly 30 years of uncertainty, Tasik Kenyir is set for comprehensive development. Ten islands will be transformed into dedicated parks for exotic birds, snakes, deers and wild orchids as well as for interactive games and recreational areas. "It is only known as an angler's paradise and there is little else for others to see," said Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said. He pointed out that a new attraction had been added to Tasik Kenyir recently - the elephant sanctuary at Sungai Ketiar. Ahmad sa...
2008-05-29 - Cairo, Egypt. Abeer Allam
In most world zoos, employees feed and care for the animals. At Egypt's Giza Zoo, workers turn them into dinner or sell them as pets. The zoo is a living example of the mess our country has become, said Ahmed El-Sherbiny, chairman of the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends. It is a combination of corruption, the death of work ethic, mismanagement and apathy. The sole elephant is leashed to a 50-centimeter (20-inch) chain, treatment that left a previous pachyderm disabled for lack of exercise, he ...
2008-05-28 - Laikipia, Kenya. Rebecca Wanjiku
For the farmers living around Mount Kenya Forest, every day is a struggle, wondering whether the 5,000 elephants from the forest will "visit" and leave a trail of destruction and even death. But the days of living in fear may be over, thanks to new technology that will enhance communication between local communities and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). In the past, when rogue elephants broke from the forest, they destroyed farm land and the only thing farmers could do was scream and report the ...
2008-05-28 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Caroline Duffield
South Africa has lifted its ban on the culling of elephants, as numbers have more than doubled since its introduction 1994.
2008-05-27 - Mereuch, Cambodia. Stefan Lovgren
For years wildlife poacher Lean Kha had prowled the war-ravaged forests of Mondulkiri Province in eastern Cambodia looking for meat. A former teenage soldier for the Khmer Rouge political party, he estimates that he killed a thousand animals, including ten tigers, after the fall of the brutal Pol Pot regime in 1979. Now, with Cambodia finally at peace, small but growing populations of animals—including Indochinese tigers, Asian elephants, and critically endangered species such as the giant ibi...
2008-05-27 - Anchorage, United States. Sean Doogan
Alaskans keep asking for updates on Maggie the elephant -- folks just can't seem to get enough. Maggie has joined the herd of four other African elephants at the Performing Animal Welfare Society, or P.A.W.S., Sanctuary in California. Maggie has made friends with a pachyderm named Lulu Bell. But Pat Derby, P.A.W.S. co-founder, says Maggie is fitting in well with all of the elephants and is now a full-fledged member of the herd. "She loves this big habitat, she's learned how to knock down ...
2008-05-26 - Cooch Behar, India.
A pregnant elephant was found dead in a maize field near the National Highway in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal and it is suspected that she suffered a heart attack during labour. The carcass of the pachyderm was found by villagers in the area this morning following which senior forest officials including Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife north) L C Bahuguna rushed to the spot, officials said. They said a veterinary surgeon of the forest department Pralay Mandal and others examined the ...
2008-05-23 - Bloomfield Hills, Ethiopia. Sandra Shoshani
On Tuesday evening, May 20, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Hezy Shoshani was one of the victims of a bomb attack on a public minibus taxi as he was returning to his home from Addis Ababa University. He was taken to hospital and operated on but he had massive trauma and he died on Wednesday morning. Arrangements are being made for a funeral service in Israel, as soon as his body is released. Memorial services may be held in Addis Ababa, where he had been teaching for 1.5 years and doi...
2008-05-22 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is seeking experienced elephant keepers that would be interested in joining a progressive elephant management team, utilizing both free and protected contact. The successful candidates primary job assignment will be at the zoo’s International Conservation Center just outside of Berlin, PA about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh. We will also require a moderate amount of time spent at the zoo’s facility in Pittsburgh to facilitate the development of a versatile an...
2008-05-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. Solomon Mburu
Modern technology may soon come to the aid of farmers living under the constant threat of elephants from Mount Kenya forest. Tests on a new GSM technology that seeks to enhance communication between local communities and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) are at an advanced stage. Dubbed ‘Push to Talk on Cellular’ (PoC), the technology has brought together Safaricom Ltd as the lead organization, Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association (GSMA) Development Fund, Wireless Zeta Telecomunicaciones (Wire...
2008-05-20 - Calgary, Canada.
The injury of an animal keeper at the Calgary Zoo on Sunday, gave known animal activists PETA, a chance to attack their elephant management techniques. But Graham Newton, the Director of Corporate Services at the zoo tells 660News, PETA's accusations are unfounded. He says their information is filled with inaccuracies and shoddy research, because they already do use protected contact method with one of their elephants, and for others the free contact method is what they're used to, and is a safe...
2008-05-20 - Lusaka, Zambia.
AN EMERGENCY appeal launched by a Cranleigh-based wildlife charity has ensured the future of a group of orphaned elephants in Africa. Following the floods that devastated much of Zambia earlier this year and with their home washed away, the elephants – tragic victims of ivory poaching - were facing an uncertain future. But the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) launched an emergency appeal and local supporters responded "magnificently", said a spokesman for the charity, "funding the bui...
2008-05-20 - Polk City, United States. Keith Baker
Firefighters in Polk County scrambled to keep a herd of elephants safe from flames this afternoon. It was just after 2:30 when a wildfire flared up about a quarter-mile east of the Barnum & Bailey Circus Elephant Farm, off Old Grade Road. Fire crews positioned themselves at the elephant farm to protect the animals, while a separate crew fought flames in a nearby wooded area with backhoes and other earth-moving equipment.
2008-05-19 - Beaverton, United States.
The white-haired man rises from morning coffee, pushing hard on his cane, summoning his 90-year-old legs to stand. The time has come to explain his life -- beyond Packy, the beloved elephant he delivered 46 years ago at today's Oregon Zoo. Matthew Maberry has never been much of a talker. A smart farm boy reared in a small Washington town, the Beaverton man would rather be lost in books or outside among animals
2008-05-19 - Bucharest, Romania.
From parading an elephant through the streets to wrapping a condom on a finger or posing as Jesus, Romanian politicians are finding new ways to woo voters ahead of municipal elections on June 1. In the Black Sea port of Constanta, a bulky candidate for mayor, nicknamed "the elephant", publicised his campaign by walking the animal through the town centre. "It eats peas," the candidate Victor Manea said, poking fun at the current mayor of Constanta, whose last name, Mazare, means peas in Romanian.
2008-05-18 - Washington, United States.
A new WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) study of conflict between humans and wild elephants in Africa and Asia has suggested that governments could save human lives and millions of dollars in crop and income losses for the rural poor through better consideration of the needs of wildlife. According to a report in ENN (Environmental News Network), the study found the most serious conflict and harm to both human communities and elephants resulted from unplanned and unregulated development.
2008-05-18 - Chiang Rai, Thailand. Lisa Young
A HEAVY morning mist lingers over the mighty Mekong river and spills on to the lush jungle foothills of Thailand and Laos. I am at the confluence of the great Ruak and Mae Nam Khong (Mekong) rivers, home to the Anantara Resort and Elephant Camp in northern Thailand's Golden Triangle. My day begins in luxury at this exclusive rural hideaway overlooking the rugged hillsides, but I pull on my old clothes. They may be inviting, but I have no intention of visiting the spa or the infinity pool.
2008-05-18 - Lucknow, India.
A former legislator of the Uttar Pradesh assembly was booked for illegally keeping two elephants in his farmhouse, forest department officials said on Sunday. Jitendra Jaiswal, who represented Gorakhpur assembly constituency, was served a show cause notice after he was found not having a license to keep elephants. The detection was made during a raid on his farmhouse.
2008-05-18 - Calgary, Canada.
Senior elephant keeper Brent Vanhooft, 48, was taken to hospital Sunday afternoon after an incident in the Tropical Eurasia building at the Calgary Zoo. Around 1:30 p.m., a crowd of people in the Elephant Crossing facility looked on in disbelief as one of the animals; a 33-year old elephant named Swarna, became agitated, and knocked the zoo keeper down. Swarna was in a pen with two other elephants, a mother, Maharani, and her 9-month old calf, Malti. Maharani is Swarna's sister. Zoo officials be...
2008-05-18 - Siliguri, India.
The decomposed body of an adult elephant was today found at Ponorogharia area near Oodlabari in the Dooars. The spot is in Lethi-I forest of Noam range in the Kalimpong forest division. According to the Kalimpong divisional forest manager, Mr Ompraksah, a forest patrolling party from the Noam range discovered the carcass of a female elephant early this morning. The eight feet long pachyderm was found lying on the track inside the Lethi forest and the body was partially decomposed.
2008-05-17 - Jamshedpur, India. SASWATI MUKHERJEE
Summer months bring with them an increase in the number of guests to Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, though the tourism department cannot claim credit for these visitors. During this season, a drastic increase in the number of elephants is witnessed. The number of elephants in the sanctuary now stands at 80, which would go down to 15 after summer. The figures are based on a rough census carried out during Sendra or Bishu Shikaar — traditional tribal hunting festival — on May 12.
2008-05-17 - Lampang, Thailand. Supat Sutti
Nau Oon is very cute baby elephant of greatest mother Singha Khon as she has very high possibility of pregnancy as told by the mahout.. Nau Oon was born at Thai Elephant Conservation Center on 12 of June 2004, its about 4 years ago in the forest. I remember that Singha Khon she gave birth of her second baby by her own self and the day before she still worked in our mahout training course and we brought the elephant into the forest with the tourists and next day the Mahout Berm he just knocked my...
2008-05-17 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
As time passes by, Nepal’s endangered wildlife population is decreasing thanks to unabated poaching even inside the national parks and wildlife centres. The officials at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) also accepted that the domestic and international poachers targeted the endangered wildlife with the threats of total disappearance of several species in the not too distant future in absence of effective measures to preserve them.
2008-05-16 - Nairobi, Kenya. TOM ODULA
Police charged a Chinese man and woman with illegally possessing about 240 pounds of ivory and trying to fly it out of Kenya, an officer said Thursday. Shubo Liang and Tao Gu pleaded not guilty after the charges were read in a magistrate's court, said Joseph Mumira, chief investigator at Kenya's main international airport where the pair were arrested. A routine screen of the suspects' luggage Wednesday showed they contained elephant tusks, cut into pieces, Mumira said, adding that the origin of ...
2008-05-16 - Houma, United States. Mark Bahm
In this book, Adrienne Mayor, a classicist specializing in ancient folklore, contends that the Greeks and Romans had a much more-extensive knowledge of the fossil remains of extinct animals than is usually admitted by modern writers. Though extinct except in Africa by historical times, elephants had once been fairly common in the Mediterranean basin. The ancients are known to have found their remains, and these remains have a couple of peculiarities that may well have given rise to the Cyclops m...
2008-05-16 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is beginning to resemble a maternity ward. Days after the birth of a baby tiger, the zoo is just weeks away from the arrival of not one but two baby elephants. This is the first time that two of the zoo's elephants will deliver within a month of each other. The first one could come as early as May 28. After 22 months gestation, it has been a long wait, zoo officials said.
2008-05-16 - Imperial, United States.
When the standard summer day trips all seem run of the mill, why not do a little time traveling and jump back, oh, 10,000 or 15,000 years? The Mastodon State Historic Site at Imperial boasts one of the most extensive Pleistocene Ice Age deposits in the nation. Known as the Kimmswick bone bed, this important archaeological site was discovered in the early 1800s. It contains bones of mastodons and other now-extinct animals that once roamed the area now known as Jefferson County.
2008-05-15 - Little Rock, United States.
Wild Week continues here at Today's THV. Thursday at 10:00 we're taking you on a safari without ever leaving Arkansas. Scott and Heidi Riddle opened Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in 1990. Now eight elephants call 367 acres home. The goal Scott says is to provide a safe haven for these animals and so much more. The non-profit sanctuary also gives the public a unique opportunity for an "up-close and personal" elephant experience. People from across the U.S. come here for a wild weekend....
2008-05-15 - Tunica Hills , Angola. JAMES MINTON
Recently, high water flushed a bear out of the woods, and now Angola has another significant discovery: a mastodon tooth found by Lt. Col. Joe Norwood on family property in the Tunica Hills near the penitentiary. LSU paleontologist Judith A. Schiebout identified the fossil through e-mailed pictures, and LSU now wants to look at the site, with the landowner’s permission, prison spokeswoman Cathy Fontenot reports. The tooth appears to be about 8 inches long, judging from the pictures.
2008-05-15 - San Francisco, United States.
No doubt, Ruby--with her fabled elephant's memory--has not forgotten that this is her first anniversary at PAWS sanctuary in San Andreas. One year ago today, the Los Angeles Zoo's female African elephant, Ruby, left behind her solitary off-exhibit barn, and controversy over her fate, for retirement at the bucolic northern California sanctuary. From all reports, the move was a success. "Ruby is the most delightful elephant," said Pat Derby, co-founder of PAWS. "And she's been a catalyst for harmo...
2008-05-15 - Guruvayur, United States.
The Guruvayur Devaswom is all set to launch the first mahout training school in the state. The Devaswom will conduct a two-year certificate course at Punnathur Anakotta to mould professional mahouts. The traditional elephant physician Avanaparambu Maheswaran Namboothiripad, retired veterinary experts KC Panicker, KN Muraleedharan and other expert vets from the wildlife and forest departments will be the guest faculties. Devaswom Minister G Sudhakaran will inaugurate the Devaswom School of Mahout...
2008-05-15 - Hatfield, United Kingdom. Lei Ren1, Melanie Butler1, Charlotte Miller1, Heather Paxton1, Delf Schwerda2, Martin S. Fischer2 and John R. Hutchinson1, The Royal Veterinary College, University of London
As the largest extant terrestrial animals, elephants do not trot or gallop but can move smoothly to faster speeds without markedly changing their kinematics, yet with a shift from vaulting to bouncing kinetics. To understand this unusual mechanism, we quantified the forelimb and hindlimb motions of eight Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and seven African elephants (Loxodonta africana). We used 240 Hz motion analysis (tracking 10 joint markers) to measure the flexion/extension angles and angular...
2008-05-14 - Bewdley, United Kingdom.
You know how it is when the sun beats down and you just have to cool off? Well, Latabe, the 15-year-old African elephant at the West Midland Safari Park at Bewdley is being given extra long showers to help her enjoy the heat. Although the elephants at the park have access to a mud pool which is constantly topped up with water to ensure it never dries out, they do enjoy a pleasant cooling shower thanks to the efforts of their keepers. Elephant keeper Andy Plumb knows what they like best.
2008-05-14 - Vancouver, Canada.
Governments could save human lives and millions of dollars in crop and income losses for the rural poor through better consideration of the needs of wildlife, according to a new WWF study of conflict between humans and wild elephants in Africa and Asia. The new study, Common Ground, found that the most serious conflict and harm to both human communities and elephants resulted from unplanned and unregulated development. In Namibia, elephant related conflict costs communal farmers around $US 1 mi...
2008-05-14 - Subrahmanya, United States.
Much admired female elephant of Kukke Sri Subrahmanya Temple, Indumathi, breathed her last on Monday night after a brief illness. Final tributes were paid to the 58-year-old elephant at Nakshatravana on the banks of river Kumaradhara on Tuesday. Indumathi had recovered from a sore on its stomach recently; but she was suffering from indigestion for the past two days. Unable to respond to the treatments of senior doctor Dr Venkatachalapathy, she passed away at 11.40 pm on Monday, leaving thousands...
2008-05-14 - Syracuse, United States.
The state is reminding officials at a Syracuse zoo that regulations prohibit visitors from touching the zoo’s three elephants. Department of Environmental Conservation officials notified the Rosamond Gifford Zoo last month that it can’t allow visitors to pet the elephants during demonstrations with the pachyderms’ trainer. The DEC regulations say holders of endangered and threatened species licenses are required to prevent such contact.
2008-05-14 - Seattle, United States. CLARE HODGSON
A year after Hansa's death, we are still grieving the loss of our beloved baby elephant. From the moment she was born in November 2000, Hansa was a hit, doubling attendance at the Woodland Park Zoo. People were captivated by her toddler-like behavior, running around the elephant barn, trying to fit her whole body into a small plastic tub and dribbling her blue ball like a budding soccer star. What a joyful escape from our busy lives to watch the portly little pachyderm having so much fun.
2008-05-14 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH
Dallas Zoo's elephant exhibit re-opened Wednesday, two days after the zoo's oldest elephant died. A necropsy showed that KeKe, 39, had died of a congestive heart failure, zoo officials said. She had been ill for a couple of weeks and was being treated for intestinal colic at the time of her death.
2008-05-14 - Geneva, Switzerland.
Elephants and other wildlife damage millions of dollars' worth of poor farmers' crops each year, which could be avoided with proper fencing and better land use, a leading environmental group said on Wednesday. The Swiss-based WWF, formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund, said wild elephants cost Namibian communal farmers $1 million a year, and up to a quarter of the household incomes of poor farming families in Nepal.
2008-05-14 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Elephants and wildlife cost Namibia's communal farmer s up to US$1 million annually and a quarter of households income in crop damage in some Asian countries, a Swiss-based environmental group said Wednesday. The WWF said in a statement posted on its website that governments could save human lives and millions of dollars in crop and income losses for the rural poor through better consideration of the needs of wildlife, adding that damage could be minimised through fencing and better land use. In...
2008-05-14 - Ruskin, United States. Dom Yodice
Here is one of the best "Foot in Face" photos I have ever seen. It's Ringling-Barnum 1951 with Arky Scott, the wonderful Jeanne Sleeter and of course "Minyak".
2008-05-13 - Dallas, United States.
"Keke," an elephant at the Dallas Zoo, died late Monday afternoon after veterinarians worked throughout the day to treat her. The Dallas Zoo closed the elephant exhibit Monday to treat Keke, who had colic. Zoo officials said the 30-something pachyderm ate some rocks, which led to her stomach problems. Veterinarians were planning to use a crane to lift KeKe to her feet for a more thorough evaluation of her situation.
2008-05-13 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH
KeKe, a 39-year-old African elephant, was euthanized Monday afternoon at the Dallas Zoo after suffering from intestinal problems. "The circle of life goes on here every day." KeKe's death calls into question the future of the zoo's other elephant, Jenny, 31. Zoo officials said they do not expect to keep her by herself long-term, because elephants are herding animals that seek companionship. They said they do not know yet whether she will be transferred, or whether another elephant will be brough...
2008-05-13 - YAKUTSK, Russian Federation. Alex Rodriguez
Every spring, Nikolai Petrov leads a squadron of motorboats along the banks of remote channels and rivers in northern Siberia, waiting for the split second when chunks of thawing tundra plunge into the water. If luck is on Petrov's side, he will see shards of mammoth fossils protruding from the bank. He doesn't want the femurs, pelvises or shoulder blades, just the tusks. Here in the Siberian province of Yakutia, mammoth tusks are big business—a trove thousands of years old meant not for the w...
2008-05-13 - Los Angeles, United States.
There's nothing like an elephant... in a zoo... to get many Angelenos riled up. Should the elephants stay or should they go? And what about that $40-million new elephant habitat under construction? Today, City News Service reports that a lawsuit filed to close the Los Angeles Zoo's current elephant exhibit and stop the construction of a new one was dismissed. In the suit filed last Aug. 2 against the city and zoo director John Lewis, actor Robert Culp and real estate agent Aaron Leider maintaine...
2008-05-13 - St. Paul , United States. PAUL WALSH
The trail of trade in animal parts (including pieces of monkeys and rhinos) from Southeast Asia leads to a Hmong market in St. Paul. In a clash of culture, profit and international law, two east-metro women are accused of smuggling into Minnesota and selling at a Hmong marketplace in St. Paul a host of products derived from various protected wildlife, including elephant, leopard, leaf monkey and weasel.
2008-05-13 - Sault Ste. Marie , United States.
Viola is just one of the main attractions that the Garden Bros Circus will showcase during four Sault Ste. Marie shows Tuesday and Wednesday at the Steelback Centre. Viola and her mates were outback enjoying a meal of hay Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the show. "She's the largest performing female elephant in the world" Ian Garden, President and Ringmaster of Garden Bros. Circus."She tips the scales at 11,000 pounds"
2008-05-13 - Kampala, Uganda. Okello JB, Masembe C, Rasmussen HB, Wittemyer G, Omondi P, Kahindi O, Muwanika VB, Arctander P, Douglas-Hamilton I, Nyakaana S, Siegismund HR. Makerere University
We investigated population genetic structure and regional differentiation among African savannah elephants in Kenya using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers. We observed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) nucleotide diversity of 1.68% and microsatellite variation in terms of average number of alleles, expected and observed heterozygosities in the total study population of 10.20, 0.75, and 0.69, respectively. Hierarchical analysis of molecular variance of mtDNA variation revealed significant differe...
2008-05-12 - Dallas, United States.
The Dallas Zoo on Monday closed its elephant exhibit in order to treat ailing KeKe. According to a news release issued by the zoo, the 39-year-old female African elephant has a severe case of intestinal colic. Zoo veterinarians and zookeepers have been treating her symptoms for more than 10 days and have consulted with experts throughout the country for additional methods to help her, according to the release. Zookeepers had recently noticed problems when KeKe refused to eat. Following treatment...
2008-05-12 - Windhoek, Namibia. Oswald Shivute
A MAN was killed by an elephant during a standoff between a herd of elephants and villagers at Omuntele in the North on Thursday. Thirteen elephants, including three calves, escaped from the Etosha National Park. They trampled crops and mahangu fields, and villagers tried to chase them back to Etosha, shooting into the air with their rifles. One elephant was wounded by a bullet fired by a villager. But this did not deter the elephants, which then stormed at the people. The villagers tried to run...
2008-05-12 - Lampang, Thailand. Pridiyathorn Devakula
I have concentrated on economic issues for many weeks. Today, I would prefer to write a non-economic story about nature that I encountered recently, an occasion that deserves praise. Last Monday, I had a chance to visit the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation's camp at Ban Hua Thung in Lampang's Hang Chat district. There, I witnessed the way that elephants are being trained to live in the wild, eating the plants available to them in the forest. Feeding by humans is not allowed. These elephants we...
2008-05-12 - CHANDRAPUR, India.
Two ageing elephants - Ranjeet and Vimla - who used to take the tourists of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) for a royal ride in the jungle - have been retired. In their place young and energetic Sushila (14 years) and Laxmi (7) have been recruited. Gajraj, another majestic elephant and a colleague of Ranjeet and Vimla, however, retains his post at TATR. Gajraj will lead Sushila and Laxmi in jungle safari. The elephant duo were retired on April 19, sources said. "Because of old age the effic...
2008-05-11 - Dompierre-sur-Besbre, France.
After a long wait finally a female asian elephant was born 4th of May in Le Pal Zoo in France. At first rejected, but later accepted by the mother Nina, who is a second generation Zoo elephant, as well the father Chang. Nina was born 1993 in Paris Zoo, and Chang was born 1981 in Copenhagen.
2008-05-11 - Dundee, United Kingdom. PETER ROSS
Elephants: Dundee was the venue for the first dissection of an elephant. On April 27, 1706, a circus elephant died just outside the city and was dissected by a local surgeon, Patrick Blair.
2008-05-11 - Warkworth, New Zealand. TIM HUME
The observation that pets often resemble their owners is perhaps an unkind way to begin a story about an elephant keeper. But for Tony Ratcliffe and his beloved African elephant Jumbo, inseparable for 30 years, the comparison seems unavoidable.
2008-05-07 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
Blackpool Zoo is looking for an Experienced Elephant Keeper to help in the continuous development of our Elephant care programme. You will assist in the daily care of our four female Asian Elephants and will be involved in all aspects of their husbandry on a daily basis. You should possess the Advanced National Certificate in the Management of Zoo Animals or an equivalent and have a minimum of three years experience working within a recognised free contact Elephant programme.
Blackpool Zoo is looking for a Trainee Elephant keeper to help in the continuous development of our Elephant care programme. You will assist in the daily care of our four female Asian Elephants and will be involved in all aspects of their husbandry on a daily basis. Suitable candidates should have a strong interest in working a free contact keeping system with this species.
2008-05-06 - Oakland, United States.
Job Requirements: Minimum of six months experience in the care of captive elephants in a zoological setting is a must. Inquiries not meeting minimum requirements will not receive a response. Position Responsibilities: The elephant keeper is responsible for the physical health and psychological well being of the animals directly under his/her care. Work ranges from the physical tasks associated with feeding and maintenance of living areas to more analytical tasks. The elephant keeper is expected ...
2008-05-05 - Seattle, United States. KATHY MULADY
A sick elephant at Woodland Park Zoo has prompted her keepers to close the elephant barn temporarily to give the recuperating animal some peace and quiet. Watoto, a 39-year-old African elephant, apparently has colic, but is on medication and responding well, a spokeswoman for the zoo said. The elephant's appetite and activity level are returning to normal. Two other elephants, Chai and Bamboo, are still making their usual appearances in the yard. Chai, who is close to Watoto, is allowed to retur...
2008-05-02 - Washington, United States.
An upsurge of elephant poaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in the killing of 14 elephants in the past two weeks by militias, the military, and local villagers. Four were felled by an ex-Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia, formerly known as Interahamwe. Three elephants were murdered by the local Mai-Mai militia (PARECO), five by the Congolese military (FARDC), and two by local villagers. From eastern Congo’s Virunga National Park where the slaughter occurred, Emmanuel de Morode,...
2008-05-01 - Maun, Botswana. Kate Evans,
Once in camp I caught up with all the news from Peter (my research assistant) over a cup of tea and then on our way to drop of things at my tent we saw the elephant Mafunyane. Mafunyane was the first elephant to be released from Elephant Back Safaris (EBS) in February 2002 and signifies the start of this long-term research project. He seems to know when I am coming back as he makes an appearance in camp, and it is wonderful welcome. It is always lovely to see him. He is 19 years old now and grow...
2008-05-01 - Columbus, United States. Maria Sisti
Visitors to the Columbus Zoo got their first look on Tuesday at three female Asian elephants from the Buffalo Zoo. Buki, Surapa and Jothi took up temporary quarters earlier this month at the 40,000-square-foot elephant exhibit in Columbus while the Buffalo Zoo's Elephant House undergoes an expansion. Zookeepers had kept them quarantined for two weeks after their long road trip.
2008-04-30 - Leipzig, Germany. Prof. K. Eulenberger and Dr. A. Bernhard
The congress will be held in Leipzig from 30 April until 4 May 2008 – and we are delighted to have this opportunity to make such a valuable contribution to the important scientific debate among veterinary colleagues in the interests of maintaining the health of our stocks of animals. We therefore hope very much that you will accept this invitation to Leipzig – not just to meet your colleagues but also to find out more about this vibrant, international city at first hand!
2008-04-30 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
South Africa's 13-year moratorium on elephant culling was set to be lifted on Thursday to combat a surge in population numbers, despite an outcry from animal rights activists. The South African government earlier this year authorised the killing of elephants from May 1 as a last resort in limiting the numbers of the African elephant that have more than doubled since culling was halted in 1995. Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the issue of population management of the animals had...
2008-04-30 - Portland, United States. ERIC MORTENSON
The polar bears are pacing, the elephants need more elbow room and the chimps are treated like chumps, with no running water, no forest canopy and no neighboring wildlife to screech at in their sterile habitat at The Oregon Zoo. That's according to zoo director Tony Vecchio, and so Metro, the regional planning agency that owns the zoo, is likely to ask voters to approve a $117 million bond measure on the November ballot. The money would give major animals more room and more interesting space, in...
2008-04-30 - Tesso Nilo, Indonesia.
The Flying Squad, a conservation team that escorts stray wild elephants back to the safety of Central Sumatra's forests, searches for pachyderms in Tesso Nilo. Shrinking forest habitat on the Indonesian island threatens the dwindling wild elephant herd.
2008-04-30 - Guwahati, India.
A 22-year-old female elephant recently dislocated its hip joint after falling 30 feet into a swampy pit in Assam's Karbi Anglong district. In agony for five days after being pulled out, it finally succumbed. In another incident, an elephant was hit by a train when it tried to save its calf stuck between the railway tracks. Not just elephants, a leopard was recently battered to death by residents of Sivasagar district in upper Assam. It had strayed into the town and attacked four people before be...
2008-04-30 - Montgomery, United States. Montgomery Zoo
The Montgomery Zoo is proud to announce the elephant calf born November 9, 2007 has been named. The elephant calf’s beautiful name is Makena, which means “happy one” in Swahili, an African language. The name was selected through an election held during Zoo Weekend. The names on the ballot were: Tongie submitted by the elephant keepers; Makena submitted by the Montgomery Area Zoological Society; and Sapo and Makuzi submitted by Lowry Park Zoo. The sire elephant is on loan to the Montgomery ...
2008-04-29 - Malappuram, India.
A 10-month-old baby was crushed to death by a wild elephant that strayed into a tribal colony, Munderi, in Kerala early on Tuesday. The parents said the elephant rammed into their hut and crushed the baby while they managed to escape.
2008-04-29 - Oakland , United States. Kristin Bender
Eating, sleeping, mating and showing off for their fans. That's an elephant's life in a nutshell. On Saturday, the Oakland Zoo offers visitors a once-a-year, behind-the-scenes tour of the elephant barn and an opportunity to learn about the zoo's progressive elephant management program. Zoo spokesman Nicky Mora said people will see the daily care and feeding inside the elephant barn, which normally is not visible to the public.
2008-04-29 - Dowa, Malawi. DICKSON KASHOTI
Elephants have killed two people in Dowa leaving another person critically injured and battling with life at Dowa District Hospital. The development has forced the Department of National Parks and Wildlife officials to reinforce its manpower in the affected areas. Dowa Police publicist Kondwani Kandiado confirmed the death of 16-year-old Benjamin Chimphale from Kaphadzira Village and Nachisale Nkhondokunjira from Kasungudzula Village, both from Chief Chiwele’s area where the elephants run riot...
2008-04-28 - IRINJALAKUDA, India.
Minister G Sudhakaran distributed the relief of Rs One lakh each announced by the Koodalmanikyam Temple to the next of kin of two victims who died in the attack of tusker Unnikrishnan in a function held here on Saturday. During the festival of Koodalmanikyam temple here, elephant Unnikrishnan ran amok and killed the mahout Noushad, 40, Kousalya, 75 and Nitheesh 30. The Minister distributed the amount of relief of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of Kousalya and Niteesh only. The relief to the...
2008-04-28 - Bangor, United States. Anne Ravana
An elephant grazing on hay outside the Bangor Auditorium caused drivers to do a double take as they drove down Buck Street on Friday afternoon. The Anah Temple’s 45th annual Shrine Circus was in town for the weekend and drew thousands of families to its Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances. Ringmaster Charley Van Buskirk, in a red velvet tuxedo with tails, returned to lead his 37th Bangor show, which featured 12 acts and performers from around the world. About 4,000 people attended Saturda...
2008-04-28 - Kalpetta, India.
A suspected case of viral disease has resulted in the death of two wild elephants in the Wayanad district in Kerala in the last one month. The latest incident was reported from Chithalayam forest range in the district on Saturday. "A nine-month-old calf was found in the forest in a very weak condition Friday. The elephant herd was seen trying to help the calf stand upright. Though we tried to help the calf, the herd did not allow us to approach. The next day the calf died," forest range officer ...
2008-04-27 - Toledo, United States.
This morning Louie the elephant celebrated his 5th birthday with a morning bath followed by birthday cake, filled with treats any elephant would enjoy. Toledo Zoo is celebrating a special day. Little Louie the elephant is turning 5. This morning Louie got his morning bath followed by birthday cake, filled with treats any elephant would enjoy.
2008-04-27 - Guwahati, India.
The injured elephant, which was stuck in a swampy pit at Daldoli in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district for five days, died a “natural death” in the wee hours today. The 22-year-old female elephant had fallen into the pit after being hit by a train while crossing tracks that run along the ridge overlooking the pit. A post-mortem conducted by experts from the state zoo and College of Veterinary Sciences found multiple injuries on the elephant’s backbone, resulting in paralysis.
2008-04-26 - Guwahati, India. Syed Zarir Hussain
Lack of proper care and management of captive elephants in India could lead to more violent incidents by berserk pachyderms that cause human casualties, experts said Saturday. “It is purely to wrong management of the elephants and the use of unskilled handlers that is leading to frequent incidents of tamed pachyderms going violent and causing fatalities,” Parbati Baruah, an internationally famous elephant tamer, told IANS.
2008-04-26 - Leipzig, Germany. Aupperle H, Reischauer A, Bach F, Hildebrandt T, Göritz F, Jäger K, Scheller R, Klaue HJ, Schoon HA. Institut für Veterinär-Pathologie
A 48-yr-old female Asian elephant with a history of pododermatitis developed recurrent hematuria beginning in 2002. Transrectal ultrasonography and endoscopic examination in 2004 identified the uterus as the source of hematuria and excluded hemorrhagic cystitis. Treatment with Desloreline implants, antibiotics, and homeopathic drugs led to an improved general condition of the elephant. In July 2005, the elephant was suddenly found dead. During necropsy, the severely enlarged uterus contained abo...
2008-04-26 - New Bedford, United States.
Buttonwood Park Zoo invites the public to meet the zoo's new director, Dr. William Langbauer, during a wine and cheese reception on Tuesday. As the first presenter in the zoo's "Creatures Great and Small" spring lecture series, Dr. Langbauer will entertain with stories from Africa as he recounts his research among elephants — captive and wild, sober and drunken. Dr. Langbauer is one of three researchers who discovered that elephants make sounds that humans can't hear (infrasound), which has ma...
2008-04-26 - Berlin, Germany.
This group show hopes to provide an insight into the landscape and wildlife as well as the culture of individual countries on the African continent. Some of this work is familiar, such as Leni Riefenstahl's excellent work for the beautiful tribe of the Nuba. Nick Brands' portraits of African animals are quite good, notably the Elephant seires
2008-04-26 - Maryland, United States.
The Zoo's new baby elephant has a name: Sampson! At a press conferance this moring with the Mayor and Governor Maryland Zoo announced that Felix's baby boy had a new name. The calf was born in late March of this year and people all over the state have been voting on the new name. Zoo officials say Sampson and his mom are both doing very well.
2008-04-26 - Cape Cod, United States. K.C. MYERS
For years, well-known scrimshander Charles Manghis has displayed, sold and demonstrated the art of scrimshaw on the island. But he may have just added a black mark to the historic art form. The 53-year-old was charged Thursday in federal court on several counts of smuggling elephant ivory and sperm whale teeth into Nantucket, where it was sold. The U.S. Department of Justice indictment describes how Manghis worked with a Ukrainian man, Andriy Mikhalyov, to arrange sending elephant ivory and sper...
2008-04-26 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia. Mengenai Saya
At Sebanga-Duri that interval estimate from Pekanbaru City is 139 kilometers founded training and taming center for elephant at Riau Province. As one of attractive tourism objects at Riau found there is give some, entertain that seeing attraction and demonstration of elephants. As wild animal, elephant can tame at Sebanga School for Elephants. The elephants can attract as like: salute to visitor, step over big size of pieces of wood that was pile, pull up piece of wood using it trunk, step over ...
2008-04-25 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Naveen Nair
Thiruvalla Unnikrishnan crushing a man to death at Koodalmanikam temple in Thrissur has shocked elephant lovers in Kerala. Perhaps, it's another grim reminder that human relations with these gentle giants have soured and it might not just get better very soon. “Traditionally elephants are an integral part of temple festivals. It not just the beauty that the elephant brings to festival, but rather its a matter of faith as the elephants represent Lord Ganesha,” Thiruvambadi Devaswom secretary ...
2008-04-25 - New York, United States.
Are elephants your thing? Do you know Echo? Echo is perhaps the most famous elephant in the world. The story of her life, as well as those of her family members (herd) are recorded in the historic three documentaries presented in this fascinating set from BBC. In addition there are five other elephant specials, making this an elephant information source of gigantic proportions. Researcher Cynthia Moss has followed Echo the matriarch of a herd of African elephants and her family for over 30 y...
2008-04-25 - Los Angeles , United States.
Forty-seven-year-old African elephant Ruby, who garnered enormous media attention last year when she left the Los Angeles Zoo for the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) Elephant Sanctuary near Sacramento, Calif., will celebrate her one year “retirement” anniversary on May 3, 2008. As part of the celebration, Ruby will receive a visit from Project OneSong and Rowell Foster Children's Positive Plan (RFCPP) foster children (sponsored by Project OneSong) who will also present PAWS with an ...
2008-04-25 - Guwahati, United States.
The elephant which dislocated its hip joint after falling 30 feet into a pit continued to writhe in agony for the second day today as experts continued to mull the mercy killing option. The principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), M.C. Malakar, said he had instructed his officials to take all necessary steps to save the elephant. “The condition of the elephant is deteriorating. We will take a final decision only after the experts submit the report,” he said.
2008-04-24 - Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin Zoo has officially named its new elephant calf Budi following a competition that attracted over 1,000 entries. 11-year-old Tallaght student Cian Cooke picked the Indonesian name, which means 'wise one', to reflect the elephant's Asian heritage. Budi was born in February, just the second elephant born in Ireland.
2008-04-24 - Tokyo, Japan.
A 2.8 ton ivory stockpile, confiscated in 2006 by Japan Customs in Osaka, has finally been incinerated after previous reports that authorities were hesitating to do so. The record ivory haul represents the lost lives of hundreds of endangered African elephants. The initial confiscation of the ivory took place in August 2006, and represents the largest ivory seizure ever in Japan. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry indicates that the contraband was destroyed last month.
2008-04-24 - Dubbo, Australia.
WITH its brilliant colours and distinctive shape, it could be the design of a funky new T-shirt or a quirky company logo. Instead, the technicolor image was generated by infra-red thermography, which is being used to diagnose health problems in elderly elephants at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. See what it's like from an elephant's point of view here. Senior vet Benn Bryannt described the non-invasive technology as "brilliant" and said it would enable zoo staff to build a clear picture of...
2008-04-24 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Lance Guma
The Zimbabwean newspaper claims that Robert Mugabe's regime has illegally sold US$1 million of ivory as part payment for a shipment of ammunition, grenades and mortars from China. The paper claims that Poly Technologies, a state owned arms manufacturer received payment for the arms on the 1st April, when information began filtering through that Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe had lost the elections. The controversial 'An Yue Jiang' ship is said to contain weapons purchased via that deal.
2008-04-24 - Beerwah, Australia.
Undertake cleaning and maintenance of elephant enclosures, Assist with the planning, development and construction of elephant enclosures, ‘Free contact’ elephant handling techniques, Prepare food and conduct feeding of elephants in accordance with diet requirements feeding, Undertake elephant enrichment programs,
2008-04-23 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant rampaged through a Hindu temple in southern India on Wednesday, killing three people, including one of its handlers, police said. Television footage showed the adult male elephant charging through the temple compound. It knocked down a thatched awning, tried to batter its way through a steel gate and finally trampled a man, kicking the limp body several yards through the air. The elephant was being used during a ceremony for a regional festival in the southern Thrissur district when ...
2008-04-23 - Narayangarh, Nepal. Surya Prakash Kandel
Ever heard of ‘elephant bureaucrats’? Well, there are 80 elephants on the payroll of our government. The practice of ‘hiring’ jumbos as government employees began 70 years ago. These jumbos are stationed in six hattisars (elephant breeding centres) across the country. Officials at the Chitwan National Park said the practice of employing elephants dates back to the Rana period. Subba at the Sauraha hattisar Rameshwar Chaudhary said each jumbo employee on government payroll gets 15 kilos o...
2008-04-23 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
President Robert Mugabe's military junta has illegally sold more than eight tonnes of ivory to China as part payment for a consignment of arms supplies that provoked an international storm this week. Officials sources said stocks of ivory at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management were used to pay for weapons aboard the Chinese ship - 'An Yue Jiang' - that has been turned away from Durban waters but was now heading for the port of Luanda in Angola.
2008-04-22 - Francistown, Botswana. Francinah Baaitse
Last Tuesday, we reported the tragic deaths of two Sri Lankan handlers, Chandana Alahakoon and Piyal Pedige, killed in the line of duty by either one or all the four elephants they took care of at Mokolodi Nature Reserve. This week, it was reported that one male elephant, Shaka, had been killed. A press release from the Serendib elephant project and Mokolodi Nature Reserve stated that they killed Shaka at the instruction of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and that there is no hope ...
2008-04-22 - Pune, India.
The Rajiv Gandhi zoological park at Katraj on Monday moved an application before judicial magistrate first class SJ Ansari urging her to direct the forest department, Pune, to take custody of an elephant on the grounds that the park is unable to maintain the animal due to paucity of funds. The forest department had impounded 'Poornima' after it was found begging on June 7, 2007 and prosecuted the mahout, Dineshkumar Satyanarayan Tiwari, after he failed to produce evidence that he owned the anima...
2008-04-21 - Vallejo, United States. Linda Goldston
Sixty-eight-year-old Taj likes to nap in the pool, resting her nose on the far end. "She's a year younger than my mom, so she's part of my extended family," said Steve Johnson, supervisor of the park's Elephant Encounter, who has worked with Taj for 28 years. Taj, a former circus elephant who has been at the park since 1978, cares for the younger elephants the same way female elephants do in the wild. One of seven elephants at the park, she weighs 9,000 pounds and stands 8 1/2 feet tall but is s...
2008-04-20 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
WILD animals are wrecking havoc in some parts of Matebeleland North destroying crops further compounding the food deficit situation in the province. In an interview with Sunday Business on Friday, Matabeleland North’s Agricultural and Technical Services’ provincial officer, Mr Dumisani Nyoni said his department has received reports of elephants and warthogs destroying crops in some districts. “We have received some reports that elephants are destroying some crops in areas such as Hwange an...
2008-04-20 - Memphis, United States. Cindy Wolff
Past the towering, white animal sculptures, beyond the totems and the serene sound of water spilling into itself, just there on the left at the Memphis Zoo, Fred sprawls in the grass, sound asleep as the sun warms his golden fur. The 325-pound African lion, who turns 18 in July, is uninterested in the record number of visitors that entered his fiefdom last year. Gone are the concrete cages and metal bars where big cats spent years pacing in the Carnivora building, bored and touching nothing natu...
2008-04-19 - Lodz, Poland.
Officers from the Municipal Police encountered a herd of elephants walking around the premises of the Registrar's Office in Lodz, central Poland, this morning. It turned out that the animals belonged to a circus whose members were at the time putting up a tent for their shows. The owner claimed that the elephants were docile and that they did not pose any threat to the people around them. However, the municipal police still sealed off the premises to prevent the elephants from walking into the s...
2008-04-19 - , United States.
A hard-hitting public awareness campaign to help protect seals, whales and elephants is being run by The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Animals on the Underground. The campaign will feature ads on 224 sites across the London Underground network from April 21 for two weeks. Members of the public are being asked to send a text message to help protect these threatened or endangered species. Tens of thousands of endangered elephants continue to be threatened by the illegal ivory tr...
2008-04-19 - Nashik, India. Anuradha Nagaraj
Elephant in custody, officials don’t know what to do with it after cops file case against owner for ‘poking and whipping’ it. In a grubby courtroom in Manmad, a major train junction around 90 km from Nashik, a pitched battle is being fought to protect the rights of an elephant. Lakshmi has been in custody since April 14 after the Manmad police registered a complaint against the owner, alleging that he had “whipped and poked” the elephant, troubling and abusing it during a BSP rally to...
2008-04-19 - Chennai, India. D Madhavan
Visitors can get rides on elephants this summer at Vandalur zoo. The Arignar Anna Zoological Park, popularly known as Vandalur zoo, is planning to start elephant safari rides from May 1. Two elephants from Mudumalai sanctuary and two from Top Slip near Pollachi will be brought to the zoo by the end of the week. Staff at Vandalur zoo are setting up enclosures for the elephants and the route for the rides has been finalised, though the rates are yet to be fixed. Visitors will be able to spot birds...
2008-04-19 - Lima, United States. EDWARD HUSAR
Thousands of years ago, the seed of a mystery was planted when a hulking, furry creature the size of a modern-day elephant keeled over and died along a bluff in the northwest corner of Adams County. The carcass of this giant mastodon, a prehistoric species that roamed Illinois until about 11,000 years ago, eventually disappeared, covered by the erosive forces of nature and the sands of time. Then one day in 1957, a farmer named Arthur Andrew was walking along the bluff, several miles southeast o...
2008-04-18 - Omatjete, Namibia.
The presence of elephants in the Omatjete reserve and its surroundings poses problems to residents in the area. Not only do the elephants pose danger to human lives, but they also destroy crops and water point terminals, making life extremely difficult for the residents. According to residents, a man was killed mid-last year after being trampled by an elephant. He was tending to his goats at a water point in the Otjohorongo area, when he met his fate. Although he tried to run away from a chargi...
2008-04-18 - Shillong, India.
It is a long wait for the families of victims of elephant attacks in Meghalaya. As if losing a loved one to an elephant attack is not enough, the families have to wait for years to get a meagre Rs 1 lakh from the government. Saleng Sangma, a Congress legislator from the elephant-infested Dalmagiri area of West Garo Hills, told the Assembly that it takes years to distribute compensation to the victims’ families though the state government claims that it takes only one year to complete the proce...
2008-04-18 - Powell, United States.
The Columbus Zoo announced Friday that one of its elephants is expecting. Zookeepers said that they paired Phoebe with Coco last spring, hoping for the best. "We had a good feeling about it at the time," said Harry Peachey, the zoo's elephant manager. "That was in June 2007. We kind of had a feeling she was pregnant all of that time." Phoebe is expected to deliver in March 2009, completing the near two-year pregnancy. When she gave birth to Bhodi four years ago, it took a little more than 21 mo...
2008-04-18 - Buea, Cameroon. Pegue Manga
Game rangers in Yokadouma, East Province of Cameroon, recently confiscated 13 elephant tusks and made some arrests.The tusks were tucked away in a timber truck. After swerving through the 180-km bumpy road from Nguilili, a village situated on the outskirts of Lobeke National Park, East Province, where the tusks came from, the truck pulled up in Yokadouma. Rangers, acting on a tip-off, swooped on it and began conducting a search which resulted in the seizure of two bags containing tusks.
2008-04-17 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
The Borneo pygmy elephant may not be native to Borneo after all. Instead, the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race – accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago, a new publication suggests. The origins of the pygmy elephants, found in a range extending from the north-east of the island into the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behaviour differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned wh...
2008-04-17 - Guwahati, India.
The pulsating sound of the dhol and rhythmic beat of the taal will reverberate at Kaziranga National Park, which is celebrating the 6th Elephant Festival from tomorrow. The festival will kick off with a procession of about 50 elephants, which have arrived at Kaziranga from different parts of the state. There will also be a thorough health camp for the participating elephants. “The microchips, which had been implanted in elephants during the first festival in 2003, will be checked,” the offic...
2008-04-17 - Cape Town, South Africa. Wyndham Hartley
China, one of the centres of trade in illicit ivory, is on the list as a customer for the 30 tons of legal ivory which SA has permission to sell on world markets. Despite being a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites ) trade in illegal ivory has flourished in China. Its emerging middle class has such an appetite for ivory carvings and jewellery that in 2005 Richard Leakey, the renowned anthropologist, warned that the enormous economic growth in China pos...
2008-04-16 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham
There will be no gawking at elephants this summer at the Buffalo Zoo. Two of the three female Asian elephants were transported to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Sunday night to make way for expansion of the Elephant House, and the third followed them to Ohio on Monday night. They won’t be back until summer’s end — at the soonest. Donna M. Fernandes, president and CEO, said the zoo accepted the offer of temporary shelter from the Columbus Zoo, in suburban Powell, Ohio, after deciding agai...
2008-04-16 - Berlin, Germany. Kelli
Because Berlin was split into two different cities for quite a while, it has two of everything, like its two zoos! We've been to the Zoo Berlin (West Berlin) many times, but this past Saturday, April 12, we visited the Tierpark Berlin (East Berlin). It was very different! It is a large zoo (the largest landscape zoo in Europe), so you do a lot of walking. The animals seem to be more plentiful, and the spaces are a lot bigger and more open, so we were able to see them closer. Here are some pics:
2008-04-16 - Lubok Bongor , Malaysia. Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah
Villagers in the district are happy that an electric fence is being built to keep wild elephants away from their smallholdings. Construction of the fence began early this year and so far, about two kilometres of fence had been erected between Kampung Lubok Bongor and Kuala Sungai Tapah. Jeli member of parliament Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who is the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister, announced the construction of the fence two years ago. The fence, when completed, will be more than 10km l...
2008-04-16 - Nairobi, Kenya. Solomon Mburu
The building of a corridor meant to ease the movement of elephants around Mount Kenya is set to start by the end of the month. The corridor will help elephants safely cross between Ngare Ndare Forest and Mt. Kenya National Reserve. The aim is to have this done without obstructing traffic flow along the Nanyuki - Meru road and other access roads in the area. The project that has attracted the support of Virgin Atlantic CEO, Sir Richard Branson, the Dutch government and Safaricom, is expected to c...
2008-04-16 - Manila, Philippines. Karen Lema
Sisi slowly browses through the yellow pages, looking not for a phone number but for peanuts and sunflower seeds hidden in the directory. Mali plays with a block of ice containing apples and oranges, crushing it with her feet to get at the fruit. Sisi, a 23-year-old orangutan, and Mali, a 33-year-old elephant, are two of a number of mammals and birds undergoing behavioral therapy at Manila Zoo as part of a program to combat the stress and boredom of living in captivity. The program is Manila's a...
2008-04-15 - New York, United States. Helen Briggs
Moeritherium, an ancient ancestor of the elephant from 37 million years ago lived in water and had a similar lifestyle to a hippo, a fossil study has suggested. The animal was said to be similar to a tapir, a hoofed mammal which looks like a cross between a horse and a rhino.
2008-04-15 - Buffalo, United States. Eileen Buckley
You might say the Buffalo Zoo's three female Asian elephants are on vacation. They were transported to the Columbus Zoo in Ohio so renovation work to the Zoo's elephant house can begin. WBFO'S Eileen Buckley talked to one Zoo official about the elephants move and changes to their living space. Click the "listen" icon above to hear Eileen Buckley's interview now or use your podcasting software to download it to your computer or iPod.
2008-04-15 - Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Villagers living in the dense forests of Equatorial Guinea have asked local authorities for permission to kill elephants who have begun destroying their crops, state radio said today. Elephants have recently emerged from their usual territory, torn down trees and trampled across plantations of manioc, leading to shortages of the staple grain food in the Evinayong region, the radio reported. The country is a very poor, small former Spanish colony of some 507,000 people, according to United Nation...
2008-04-15 - Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.
Marauding elephants that escaped from the Hwange National Park, an animal sanctuary in rural southwestern Zimbabwe, are destroying any hopes among peasant farmers of a moderately successful harvest. Arid climatic conditions are expected to blight agricultural production in the southwest this year, according to a recent forecast by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), while Zimbabwe's political and economic turmoil is also affecting both food production and food security. Elephants ...
2008-04-15 - Asheboro, United States. AZA
Successful candidate will be assigned to the Watani Grasslands section, working with African Elephants and/or White Rhinoceros, a variety of African Antelope, and some African Birds, including Ostrich. The primary focus of this position will be African Elephants. Must have a basic knowledge of elephant natural history and husbandry to include feeding, nutrition, record-keeping, restraint, and safety. Knowledge of operant conditioning and/or environmental enrichment skills, basic computer knowled...
2008-04-14 - Kochi, India.
Around 70 elephants will be readied for the festival, said K. Manoharan, president of the Paramekkavu temple committee. The committee puts up a gallery for foreign tourists to witness the festival, and 350-400 tourists are accommodated there annually. Care is taken to ensure that the elephants are given sufficient water and food and not made to stand under the scorching sun. Elephants have killed several people in the state last year, including during temple festivals that are mostly held during...
2008-04-14 - Jacksonville, United States. ASHLEY BELAND
It's a story that those familiar with the game of love can relate to: Moki and Chana are at odds with each other over a guy, but he can't seem to choose between the two of them. This particular love triangle is between three African elephants at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, whose relationships will hopefully yield offspring to help sustain their species.
2008-04-13 - Baling, Malaysia.
A group of wild elephants believed to be from the Rimba Teloi forest reserve went on a rampage in Kampung Kelian Dalam Siong near here last night causing untold damage to local residents' plants and trees. Banana, jackfruit and oil palm trees in the Risda Mini Estate and smallholdings there suffered various degrees of damage. A resident, Mansor Yaakob, 55, said he suffered severe losses when the jackfruit trees he planted 15 years ago, were destroyed by the elephants.
2008-04-13 - Chennai, India.
The southern state of Tamil Nadu holds two important heritage biospheres, although it is the most urban state in India. The man-elephant conflict seems to be reducing, with just 56 elephants dying in 2007 from a high of 81 in 2003. Three elephants were killed by poachers in 2003, 24 were electrocuted in the last five years, about eight have been run over by trains in this decade. In an exhaustive study on the man-wildlife conflict, as part of a book, Chief Conservator of Forests V.N. Singh and s...
2008-04-13 - Frankfurt, Germany.
Complete with a chill-out area for exhausted elephant keepers and a resuscitation room for distressed tropical fish, Frankfurt Airport's new Animal Lounge opened its doors on Friday. The new 3,750-square-metre (40,000-square-feet) hangar has 42 stalls for large animals like the huge number of polo ponies and racehorses that pass through continental Europe's biggest hub every year, or even for the odd rhino or elephant. The new facility replaces two older hangars and will have 25 vets and 60 care...
2008-04-12 - Sacramento, United States. Steve Wiegand
Winky is dead, and I digress today from the usual politics-and-government nonsense in this space to recount her life, mourn her passing and offer her a belated apology. Winky was an Asian elephant. She was euthanized early Monday at the Ark 2000 animal sanctuary operated by the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in the rolling foothills near San Andreas. She was 56, which is old for an elephant in captivity and an age that made her one of the oldest elephants in the United States. For year...
2008-04-12 - Norwich, United Kingdom.
A mammoth herd of life-sized baby elephant models are set to transform the city's streets into an artistic urban safari this summer. Up to fifty of the elephant sculptures will be uniquely decorated by artists, school children and community groups ready for display around the city, in what is likely to be Norwich's biggest ever public art event. People are this week being invited to watch the artists' work taking shape in a vacant shop in Castle Mall, which has been turned into a public painting...
2008-04-12 - Berlin, Germany. Andreas Kurth
In February 2007, a circus elephant (Elephas maximus) in northern Germany exhibited disseminated ulcerative lesions of the skin and mucosal membranes caused by CPXV infection; the elephant was euthanized after treatment attempts failed. Electron micrographs of negative-stained biopsy specimens of tongue lesions showed orthopoxvirus particles.
2008-04-11 - Panorama City , United States. Rob Hayes
A circus in Panorama City is missing its elephants, and they are not coming back. They were ordered removed by the city of Los Angeles. But why? It's got the big top, it's got the tigers, but Circus Vazquez no longer has its elephants. A new set of rules in L.A. cracks down on handlers of dangerous animals who have been cited recently for federal animal welfare act violations.
2008-04-11 - Thrissur, India.
Need to halt an unruly elephant. Apply the 'brake'. Thats what a small town innovator here has come out a metallic 'brake' to halt unruly elephants which the mahout can apply sitting atop the jumbo to stop the animal from running amok. Bhaskaran, who designed the elephantine brake, claims that the device could rein in even the mightiest of tuskers but elephant experts are skeptical of its efficacy. The device consists of an iron lock to be put on the forelimbs of the animal with a cable linked t...
2008-04-10 - London, United Kingdom.
An innovative project to ward off marauding elephants from human habitation and crops in Assam using chilli smoke by Chester Zoo has been awarded the field conservation award by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Chester Zoo's work on elephant conservation in Assam, called 'Assam Haathi' Project, helps to mitigate human-animal conflict. And supports the conservation of one of the last remaining large elephant populations in the area. The Zoo teamed up with the Assam-based c...
2008-04-10 - Thrissur, India.
Revenue Divisional Officer K N Ravindran on Wednesday issued an order banning the entry of tuskers with the signs of musth/violent nature to the town on April 15, 16 and 17, when Thrissur Pooram will be staged in the town. Documents concerning the elephants proposed to be paraded in the Pooram should be submitted to the DySP concerned in advance, the order said.
2008-04-10 - Moscow, Russian Federation.
Russian scientists say they have obtained the most detailed pictures so far of the insides of a prehistoric animal, with the help of a baby mammoth called Lyuba found immaculately preserved in the Russian Arctic. The mammoth is named after the wife of the hunter who found her last year. The body was shipped back to Russia in February from Japan, where it was studied using computer tomography in a process similar to one doctors use to scan patients.
2008-04-10 - Lincoln, United States.
Morrill hall has the largest mounted mammoth in the world and one of the world's premiere collections of fossil elephants. And like those elephants that never forget, folks will remember their visit here. Nebraska was once home to mammoths and a rich natural history. This week's One Tank Trip takes us to Morrill Hall on the campus of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. "We have something amazing around every corner here at Morrill Hall. People will see where we came from and where we're going ...
2008-04-10 - , Botswana. THATO CHWAANE
Two Sri Lankans were killed by elephants at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve on Tuesday. The two were elephant handlers working for the Mokolodi/Serendib Elephant Project. The project's spokesman Jeroen van Wilgen said it is not known how the Sri Lankans died. He said they are investigating the deaths and a specialist is coming from Maun to look into the matter. He added that the deceased were trained elephant handlers. He gave their names as Chandan Alahakoon (38) and Piyal Pedige (35). He said they...
2008-04-09 - Connecticut, United States. Samantha Grasso
The International Elephant Foundation, a nonprofit corporation working to support the long-term survival of elephants, has announced a slew of new conservation initiatives. The IEF uses its resources to fund a variety of national and international research and conservation projects. Each year, through its grant program, the foundation allocates resources to 10 additional projects, chosen from a pool of proposals. This year, 15 projects will be aimed at habitat protection, anti-poaching, ecotouri...
2008-04-09 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Suzy Khimm
Once plentiful in the Cambodian countryside, elephants like Sambo were historically fixtures at the royal palace. While the animals still evoke the nation's ancient legacy of kings and warriors, Sambo also represents a more recent piece of Cambodian history. Having survived the machetes of the Khmer Rouge she has become one of the capital city's most visible cultural icons – a magnet for tourists, children, and those who venerate her as a sacred beast. For Sin Son, a fourth-generation elephan...
2008-04-09 - Milwaukee, United States. DINESH RAMDE
Brittany wields her paintbrush with confidence, slapping it roughly against the canvas to produce streaks of green or smears of orange. With apparent pride, she steps back, inspects her work — and extends her trunk to receive a freshly loaded paintbrush. Brittany, an African elephant, is doing her small part to pay her way at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Her artwork is sold at the zoo's gift shop to raise funds. This painting pachyderm is far from the only artistic animal in captivity. For years ...
2008-04-09 - Chennai, India.
Elephants will have their way in Tamil Nadu — quite literally, with the government planning Elephant Corridors in different parts of the State to give them a safe transit route and prevent the pachyderm from straying into human habitat. Forest Minister N Selvaraj told the State Assembly in Chennai on Wednesday that 315 acres of land was being acquired for this purpose, the funds for which had been allotted last year.
2008-04-09 - California, United States.
Winky the elephant will be cremated, and her ashes will be scattered over the California sanctuary where she lived for the past three years, a Detroit Zoo official said Tuesday. For years, Winky and an elephant named Wanda were major draws at the zoo. In 2005, they made a controversial move to California after their keepers decided that holding elephants in a small exhibit was inhumane and unhealthy. Winky, 56, was euthanized Monday after her arthritis made her unable to stand. Officials say Wan...
2008-04-09 - Pune, India. Chandan Haygunde
Poornima, the female elephant which was sent to Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Katraj by a local court last year, is ailing. The elephant has developed infection to its foot. And the fingers are being pointed at the zoo officials and the mahout who have allegedly failed to make the elephant walk for 10 kms everyday as stipulated by the court. The forest department had impounded Poornima from Koregaon Park in June 2007 after it was found to be used for begging by its mahout Mahendra Pande.
2008-04-08 - Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Jothi and her daughter Vistash of Belfast Zoo are moving right now (April 8th) to Ostrava Zoo in the Czech Republic. Nikolai of Artis zoo in Amsterdam has moved back to Hannover Zoo on April 1st.
2008-04-08 - Gudalur, India.
Herds of elephants straying into human settlements bordering thick forests have destroyed coffee plantations and water pipes here in Tamil Nadu. Gudalur, situated along the border with Karnataka some 650 km southwest of Chennai, is famous for its high value coffee beans, which are mostly exported. Expanding human habitations on both the sides of the border have displaced the animals from their habitation in the forests that are being developed into newer plantations virtually every day.
2008-04-08 - Guatemala City, Guatemala. Claudia Lorena Quan Rodas, La Aurora Zoo, Guatemala City
This animal was donated for the Bells Brothers Circus from Mexico to the Rex Circus in Guatemala in 1968. Mister Romeo López take care of the animal for 39 years working in several Circus and shows. He decided to let the care of the animal in the hands of the La Aurora National Zoological Park in March of 2008.
2008-04-08 - Baltimore, United States.
He's three weeks old, weighs in at 300 pounds and remains very close to his mother. But he doesn't have a name! So, Maryland Zoo officials are inviting the public to help name the first-ever African elephant born at the zoo. From April 9-13, zoo visitors can place a name suggestion in one of three naming boxes located on zoo grounds. The boxes will be located in Schaefer Plaza near the main entrance, at the Tram Stop near Polar Bear Watch and at the Elephant Overlook. "A male elephant name shoul...
2008-04-08 - Perris, United States. JULISSA McKINNON
To the delight of 70-plus onlookers, Tai the Perris elephant appears to have helped a bubble artist set a new Guinness world record Tuesday, becoming the largest land mammal to be wrapped in a bubble. Initially bubble artist Fan Yang had scheduled the world record attempt for public view at the Santa Ana Discovery Science Center but science center officials canceled the event after animal-rights advocates criticized the center for treating a critically endangered species in a "trivial and sensat...
2008-04-08 - Honolulu, United States.
It is not a scene from an animal version of the "Biggest Loser," there is a whole other reason our elephants were weighed in Tuesday. With the help of a truck scale, Honolulu Zoo keepers weighed in two Asian elephants named Mari and Vaigai. Mari weighed in at 10,200 pounds while her buddy Vaigai weighed in at 9,750 pounds. Zoo officials said the weigh-in happens twice a year for a couple of reasons.
2008-04-08 - Miami, United States.
Miami Metro Zoo is looking for a career minded team player to join our elephant management program. The chosen candidate will be part of a team responsible for all aspects of husbandry for 1.1 Asian and 1.2 African elephants. This position requires 1 year of elephant experience and/or a combination of experience and related coursework. To apply all candidates must apply online at www.miamidade.gov and submit a copy of their resume to Miami Metro Zoo c/o Randall Tucker 12400 sw 152 st Miami FL 33...
2008-04-07 - San Andreas, United States. Elizabeth Bishop
Winky the elephant who lived at the Sacramento Zoo for nearly 40 years died early this morning at the PAWS sanctuary in San Andreas, according to a PAWS spokeswoman. Winky had been suffering from joint problems. Over the weekend, she had slid to her hind quarters and could not get up. Attempts were made to save her life, but she could not stand so veterinarians decided to euthanize her. Winky was born in 1952 and was one of the oldest elephants in the U.S. She had lived at the Sacramento Zoo unt...
2008-04-07 - Gaborone, Botswana.
This is in line with what was agreed last year at The Hague. Information from the Botswana Ministry of Environment Wildlife and Tourism shows that the CITES secretariat in Gaborone gave the country the go-ahead after verifying the government ivory stock earmarked for sale. "Among other things, they looked at the paper trail, data base and the physical ivory to establish its match," reads a statement from the ministry.
2008-04-07 - Kampala, Uganda. Wolfgang H. Thome
A French tourist visitor had a near fatal run in with an elephant at Murchisons Falls National Park last week. Ignoring guidance habitually given to visitors, to take a ranger with them for their game drive, the group approached some elephants to within very close range before switching their car engine off. Little did they know that a female elephant with a small cub was taking this intrusion into her space as a potential threat to her newly born and promptly went on the attack.
2008-04-06 - Oklahoma City, United States. Carrie Coppernoll
ASHA and Chandra don't know what they're in for. Asha and Chandra will leave the zoo in June to breed with the male Sneezy at the Tulsa Zoo. Their return hinges on two timelines: conception and construction. If they breed quickly, the females could be back within two years and be the first elephants to give birth at the Oklahoma City Zoo. But the date of their return depends on whether their new habitat can be finished while they're away. Their new home will be in the $16 million Asia exhibit, a...
2008-04-06 - San Diego, United States. Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
The elephant show at the Wild Animal Park, an attraction at Tembo Stadium since 1977, the most popular show in park history, will close Sunday. Ranchipur, Sunita, Cookie, Mary and Cha-Cha are set to be transported down the freeway to the San Diego Zoo to join three elephants there in a new exhibit. The combined herd will share 2.5 acres -- part of a $44-million project called Elephant Odyssey that will cover seven acres and include tree sloths, jaguars, lions, birds, tapirs, camels, turtles, pro...
2008-04-06 - Raleigh, United States.
The N.C. Zoo opened the gates Saturday on its first major addition in more than 10 years. It's an expansion of its elephant and rhinoceros exhibit called the Watani Grasslands Reserve, an $8.5 million project paid for mostly with private donations. It will increase the number of elephants from three to seven. The expansion also triples the number of rhinos and will allow for four times the antelopes. What the average visitor to the park will notice is a sudden proximity to the elephants. One hig...
2008-04-05 - Nakuru, Kenya. Karanja Njoroge
AN employee with a parcel transport company was charged in a Nakuru court with being in possession of ivory tusks. Mr David Kihara Macharia who works with Roy Parcel Services appeared before Nakuru Principal Magistrate, Mr John Kingori. He was charged with being in illegal possession of 32kg of ivory tusks worth Sh96,000 without permit on March 31. The accused, who denied the charge, was released on Sh100,000 bond on Friday, with surety of similar amount. Kingori directed that the case to be hea...
2008-04-05 - Jim Corbett National Park, India. TAPAS CHAKRABORTY
The labour laws ignored them and no trade union came to their aid. Yet, five workers who toiled four shifts every day of the year, in rain and shine, are trumpeting a famous victory at the Jim Corbett National Park. The elephants on the park’s popular safari service have won a day’s holiday every week, complete with a sort of office party so they can de-stress themselves. “Every Monday, the five elephants will be taken off their duty of ferrying tourists. The tourist flow is thinnest on Mo...
2008-04-05 - Jaipur, India. Harsha Kumari Singh
Jaipurs jumbos have been the city's star attraction for many years now. Tourists love a ride up to the city's historic Amer Fort atop an elephant. But little has been done over the years for their welfare. Animal activists say high rates of elephant insurance instead of being a boon to the elephants are a bane, which has meant that owners make old elephants work till they die and claim the insurance money. NGOs working for elephant welfare have long been lobbying for a retirement age for elephan...
2008-04-05 - Kumbakonam, India.
The temple elephant of the Lord Muruga shrine at nearby Swamimalai today ran amok creating panic among devotees and officials. The elephant "Durga" broke its chain and started banging the iron gates of a marriage hall in the temple. It also attempted to attack the peacock cage. As the devotees fled the temple, authorities closed the main door. It also tried to attack mahouts, who finally managed to chain the animal. It was later administered sedatives by veterinarian Dr Rajyakodi, who attributed...
2008-04-05 - Tulsa, United States.
Scientists and zoo officials are pinning their hopes on the virility of the 34-year-old Asian elephant at the Tulsa Zoo. In June, the two female Asian elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo will be moved to Tulsa to breed with Sneezy and, if all goes well, pass their genes on to the next generation. But beyond the next generation, scientists hope Sneezy will help them solve a puzzle that would improve elephant diversity in the United States. Sneezy and his handlers have been working for years to con...
2008-04-04 - Way Kambas , Indonesia.
Lampung has long been as the Land of Elephants and Way Kambas as the best known as elephant training center. But don't imagine that getting there is easy these days. Getting to the National Park takes at least two hours from the center of town, on a road in terrible condition. This trip is only for the truly adventurous, or tourists with a lot of time on theirs hands. But don't worry - now there's Taman Wisata Bumi Kedaton (Bumi Kedaton Tourism Park), located in Batu Putuk area, only 20 minutes ...
2008-04-04 - Edmonton, Canada. Scott McKeen, The Edmonton Journal
There came a day when I couldn't care less. The moment came after I wrote a column about meeting the Valley Zoo's elephant, Lucy, and painting a picture with her. A few people e-mailed me to express their moral outrage. Lucy, they argued, deserves to be transferred to a southern U.S. sanctuary where she can roam in relative freedom with other elephants. These people were particularly angry with me because, in their eyes, I'd willingly participated in the exploitation and isolation of Lucy.
2008-04-04 - Asheboro, United States.
It took the North Carolina Zoo 10 years to complete. But this weekend officials are celebrating the grand opening of the brand new Watani Grasslands Reserve. Its an $8.5 million expansion and improvement project for the zoos African Elephant and Southern White Rhinoceros. Friday was more than a ribbon cutting event, and more educational than a few good speeches. It was a new gateway to a bigger-than-life experience. Its the biggest exhibit weve built probably in 15 years, said one zoo official.
2008-04-04 - Perris, United States. JULISSA McKINNON
Despite controversy and previous cancellation, an elephant-in-a-bubble show apparently must go on. This time the stunt, which involves encasing a 4-ton Perris elephant in a soap bubble, is scheduled for an undisclosed time and place and requires an invitation to attend. Bubble artist Fan Yang's earlier plan to perform the world-record-setting feat at the Santa Ana Discovery Science Center's Bubblefest fell apart when the science institution came under fire from animal-rights groups for using a c...
2008-04-03 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Sanu George
According to reports, Kerala has a population of around 900 captive elephants. The famed Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor owns the largest herd of 65. In a few months the Kerala forest department will open the first old age home for captive elephants in the country at Kottoor, 70 km from the state capital here. “We have already set up five enclosures at the facility. The first phase will be ready in the next two months. The project when completed will house 30 elephants. The work will be comp...
2008-04-03 - Bangkok, Thailand. Matt Hunziker /The Daily Cardinal
At the Academy for Elephants in Thailand, they are teaching elephants to paint. In a video titled “Elephant Paints Own Self-Portrait,” you can see one of the elephants hard at work with a paintbrush in its trunk. As the shocked spectators in the background attest, the elephant paintings have become a major tourist attraction for Thailand. (Human) art critics have sung their praises. But while some artists are actively trying to cultivate these animals’ creative talents, scientists and othe...
2008-04-03 - Palakkad, India.
Thousands of people witnessed the Nemmara-Vallangi Vela which was celebrated on Wednesday with traditional fervour. In spite of the downpour all roads led to the Vela venue as crowds poured in to enjoy the panchavadyam and to see the elephants. Eleven caparisoned elephants were lined up by the Nemmara desam and another eleven by the Vallangi desam. The highlight of the festivities was the fireworks apart from the panchavadyam and the pandimelam by renowned artistes.
2008-04-03 - Puthenkulam, India.
Take Kerala’s love for elephants and add to it an elephant who is turning one and what you get is a gala birthday bash. Baby elephant Sivan turned one on Wednesday and his birthday celebration was an event people in Puthenkulam will remember for years to come. People came in hundreds to wish him, among them a former minister and actor Ganesh Kumar, but no one had doubts about who the VIP was for this one day. Sivan’s guardian Shaji was overwhelmed by the response his baby elephant got and sa...
2008-04-03 - Kochi, India. Juhan Samuel
A man in Kochi has raised a huge collection of news and photographs of Indian elephants culled from various dailies or other published materials. M.S.Manoj's collection includes photographs and news of accidents on railway tracks, temple festival, transportation of jumbos in vehicles and their plight, the famous Asiad Appu of India, and various other related issues ever happened in India. He started collecting news and pictures related to elephants in 1990 after coming across a news of his villa...
2008-04-03 - Greenbrier, United States.
Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary - The sanctuary, located near Greenbrier, is a non-profit home for any elephant that needs one regardless of species, gender or disposition. Established by Scott and Heidi Riddle, it is the only internationally recognized sanctuary and it currently houses Asian and African elephants. Elephant care and management are taught at this haven in the peaceful Arkansas countryside. Programs include Elephant Experience Weekends and an annual International School f...
2008-04-03 - Portland, United States.
Demolition began today at the site of Portland-based nonprofit Mercy Corps’ new global headquarters in Old Town’s Skidmore Fountain Building (28 SW 1st Avenue, just off West Burnside Street). And when contractors Marsh Construction Co. began taking down the upper sections of the north wall, the first thing to go was a mural, by Portland artist Eric Parsons, of Packy, Portland Zoo’s famous Asian elephant.
2008-04-02 - Vientiane, Laos.
Laos, once known as the Land of a Million Elephants, faces warnings from conservationists that it could lose its herds within 50 years if it does not move quickly to protect them with tourism eyed as a possible savior. Poaching and habitat loss from logging, agriculture and hydroelectric projects has caused a major decline in the number of both wild and domesticated Asian elephants in Communist Laos.
2008-04-02 - Bangalore, India.
Four months after train services resumed between Bangalore and Mangalore, wildlife traders seem to be using the new train as a safe means to smuggle wildlife. On Monday night, the forest mobile squad of CID forest cell caught two persons who were carrying a pair of ivory worth Rs 45 lakh. The accused, Ibrahim (40) and Suresh (34), both hailing from Kodagu, are now being interrogated about the tusks' origin. The duo was arrested at the Mangalore railway station and handed over to Pandaveswara pol...
2008-04-02 - Khao Yai , Thailand. Antoinette van der Water
Trees for Elephants in Khao Yai has made it’s start! The trees for elephants are groing. Looking at those cute little trees I fantasize what they would look like ten years from now. Alongkot on the other hand is thinking more about here and now. These are just 2.400 trees, the current nursery will not be able to hold 25.000 trees like we expected. Well… then we just hit some extra poles into the ground and extend it a little.
2008-04-02 - Nairobi, Kenya. Henry Neondo
“Some of the most important decisions in wildlife management in Africa revolve around elephants, but a lot of the information is not readily accessible to conservation authorities. Much of it is scattered in diverse reports and scientific papers or as part of the body of unwritten expert knowledge,” Holly Dublin, Chair of IUCN’s African Elephant Specialist Group and the Species Survival Commission says in a recent report.
2008-04-01 - Bengkulu, Indonesia. Ria
A group of wild elephants in the Seblat Elephant Training Center (PLG) broke loose and damaged 1,256 oil palm trees of PT Agricinal in Putri Hijau subdistrict, North Bengkulu regency, and a security post near the plantation. PLG Seblat coordinator Aswin Bangun said on Monday that the rampant illegal loggings and damage on the elephant training center had disturbed the elephants and eventually broke loose seeking for food. The damaged oil palm trees not only belonged to PT Agricinal, but also to ...
2008-04-01 - Bangdaki, India. ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY
Chipra Rani, 66, stands 8ft 11 inches tall and has been serving the government for over 40 years. She is the longest-serving trained elephant in the state, probably the country, said Bengal’s chief wildlife warden, S.S. Bist. “We have many kunkis (trained elephants) that are older than Chipra Rani, but she has served the department the longest. She is definitely one of the most experienced kunkis in India in terms of service,” Bist told The Telegraph.
2008-04-01 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
According to government figures, there are 40 elephant camps in Thailand, employing up to 650 pachyderms, catering to tourists in the northern provinces of Tak, Sukhotai, Phitsanulok, Nan, Lampang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son. I would estimate that about 65 per cent of the tourists who come here visit an elephant attraction, said Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Chiang Mai office director Junnaporn Salanart. 'Elephants are big business.'
2008-03-31 - Amboseli, Kenya. PHILIP NGUNJIRI
HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONflict continues to claim the lives of elephants and lions in and around Amboseli National Park. In its latest report, WildlifeDirect.org says 14 jumbos were slain between January and February for reasons that range from political protest to revenge at Kenya’s popular Amboseli National Park. The report comes shortly after community conservation group Lion Guardians confirmed the slaughter of three lions in the same area — bringing the total to at least 10 lions killed in the...
2008-03-31 - Lusaka, Zambia.
Zambian authorities have arrested nine Chinese nationals after they were found in illegal possession of products made from ivory, an official said on Monday. Zambia Wildlife Authority (Zawa) said the nine Chinese nationals were arrested on separate days last week after they conducted a search on a Chinese-owned factory in the capital Lusaka. "I wish to warn the public, especially Chinese nationals, that Zambia is not allowed to trade in ivory. Trade is restricted whether for raw or processed ivo...
2008-03-31 - Washington, United States.
Does the human species have mammoth blood on its hands? Scientists have long debated whether climate change or human hunting were primarily responsible for consigning the shaggy elephant relative to history. A new study uses climate models and fossil distribution to conclude that the woolly mammoth went extinct mainly because a warming climate, while hunting was the final straw.
2008-03-31 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
We have 2 vacancies for Elephant Keepers to join our existing team of 3 caring for our Asian elephants - a group of 4 females with the youngest born here at Twycross. Another of the 4 has been artificially inseminated and the calf is expected in summer 2009. We have a close contact approach to elephant management and train them to obey commands, enabling healthcare maintenance to be carried out. Our training regime is calm and consistent and the right ke...
2008-03-30 - New Delhi, United States. YOJNA GUSAI
Scientists have discovered an unusual elephant repellent, which they claim can save hundreds of acres of paddy farms from the invasion of pachyderms. ARC-11511 will keep away elephant herds from attacking rice plantations in the country. After everything failed to bring down incidents of elephants marauding rice plantations, especially in the north-eastern parts of the country, scientists have come out with just the right thing to keep the pachyderm away from appetite-soaring rice fields. ARC 11...
2008-03-30 - Omaha, United States.
Opera Omaha's 1983 production of "Aida" will long be remembered for its elephant "stampede." More than 7,000 people packed the Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum for the opening night performance that year to see a spectacle that was supposed to include a parade of elephants, leopards and other animals. But one of the elephants, a 6-ton pachyderm named Toto, got a little too close to the audience. Toto was waiting for his cue to walk onstage for the Act 2 triumphal march. A platform was mounted on his back so ...
2008-03-28 - Nilgiris, India. Natasha Raj
Tamil Nadu government has decided to build a public road right across the Sirur reserve forest in the Nilgiris. That`s right across Asias largest elephant reserve and is bound to hamper their habitat. NDTV has documents that reflect the TN governments nod to a proposal to connect this hilly terrain called Siriyur to Satyamangalam. The controversial project is slated to begin soon, but environmentalists are furious and poachers could only be eager for the road to complete. Close to 8000 of these ...
2008-03-28 - Auckland, New Zealand.
The SPCA is investigating allegations an elephant is being mistreated at a South Auckland circus. SPCA Auckland director Bob Kerridge says the call centre received a complaint from a member of the public about the treatment of an elephant at Circus Africa, which is stationed at the Bruce Pulman Park in Papakura. He says when an inspector visited the circus yesterday, she was verbally assaulted by circus staff and told to leave. Mr Kerridge says the inspector will return to the circus today, with...
The SPCA is satisfied the living conditions of an elephant at a South Auckland circus meets its standards. The animal welfare group received a complaint about the treatment of Jumbo at the Story Book Circus. SPCA investigator Sue Baudet visited the circus today and says living conditions are within the minimum standards required by the SPCA. She says the SPCA will always try to monitor the welfare of animals involved in the circus.
2008-03-28 - Tsavo, Kenya.
The population of elephants in the expansive Tsavo/Mkomazi conservation area now stands at 11,696 from 10,397 from the last census three years ago. The new figure from this year’s census represents a 4.1 per cent growth rate. The larger Tsavo is Kenya’s largest protected area (4 per cent of Kenya’s landmass) and holds more elephants than anywhere else in Kenya. Kenya has an estimated 30,000 elephants in total.
2008-03-28 - Windhoek, Namibia. Chrispin Inambao, Katima Mulilo
A groundbreaking compensation scheme in which relatives of villagers wildly trampled to death by elephants from the Mudumu National Park and victims of lions and monstrous, man-eating crocodiles is in place in Mashi area. The unique scheme - the brainchild of the traditional leader of the Mashi community, Chief Joseph Tembwe Mayuni, in Kongola Constituency in Caprivi covers thousands of registered members of three trailblazing conservancies of Kwandu, Mayuni and Mashi.
2008-03-28 - Madera, United States. Jim Steinberg / The Fresno Bee
Trenton A. Parks, 92, of Madera spent his early childhood in Marshall, Ark., with a population of less than 2,000, then grew up to become a merchant mariner and travel the world. Marvin Parks said his father asked him in 1984 whether they could visit the San Diego Wild Animal Park. During his Merchant Marine days, he had brought a baby elephant from India, and remembered exercising it on the deck of the ship. The animal's trainer would allow longshoremen to feed and pet the elephant. Mr. Parks t...
2008-03-28 - Lima, Peru. Victoria Jaggard
A suspicious package found on a bus in Peru turned out to contain a mysterious and massive animal jawbone, officials announced on Tuesday. Police who investigated the bus's cargo hold said they noticed the package because it had no identifying marks and was oddly heavy. "They were worried about its weight, opened it, and found the fossil," Kleber Jimenez, a local police officer, told the Reuters news service. The remains most likely belonged to a proboscidean, or elephant relative.
2008-03-28 - Papakura, New Zealand. Elizabeth Binning
The show will go on after two SPCA inspectors have ruled that Jumbo the elephant is in a good condition and being cared for by Circus Loritz. The 35-year-old African elephant is one of the new additions to the circus which has just started its new two-year show "Out of Africa". Before the big opening at Papakura's Bruce Pullman Park on Thursday night an angry member of the public started complaining after seeing Jumbo chained to a trailer. Circus general manager Marie Gribben said the man - who ...
2008-03-27 - Dieppe, France. Ruth Lumley
An animal lover's bid to help an elephant escape its truck and say goodbye to the circus almost ended in disaster. Jenny Wilkins, 45, was in Dieppe celebrating her best friend's birthday over the Easter weekend, staying in a hotel opposite a circus. On Good Friday she noticed a lot of the animals were tied up in trucks and cages and were not able to move very far. Mrs Wilkins, of Reading Road, Brighton, said: "The weather was so bad and the animals were locked up and I could see the trunk of the...
2008-03-27 - Esmonton, Canada.
An animal rights group is giving Edmonton city councillors something to chew on. A few members of Edmonton-based Voice for Animals dropped off packages of “elephant dung cookies” at city hall Wednesday. The protesters were raising a stink in the hopes it would help convince the city to move Lucy the elephant to a warmer climate. Lucy has been the sole elephant at the city’s Valley Zoo since the zoo sent its only other elephant, Samantha, to a U.S. zoo on a breeding loan in September. Tove ...
2008-03-27 - Tucson, United States.
advertisementThe Randolph Park Zoo's bull elephant, Sabu, was not known for his good disposition. In fact, Sabu had almost been put down because of an earlier incident. But instead of a death sentence, Sabu got a new place to call home. In 1970, the City Council approved a major upgrading of zoo facilities, including a much-improved habitat for Sabu and his partner, Connie. On March 27, 1973, the new $61,000 enclosure was almost finished, and the pair would soon move in. At that time, the zoo, l...
2008-03-27 - Thrissur, India. Kundur Sathya Narayanan / CNN-IBN
Thrissur (Kerala): Caparisoned elephants are displayed accompanied by the traditional panchavadyam orchestra on Thrissur Pooram every year. However, this year the Kerala High Court has thrown water over the festivities, even before they have begun. It has upheld an earlier ban on parading elephants between 1100 hrs (IST) and 1400 hrs (IST) at all festivals. The ban had earlier been modified to allow the Thrissue Pooram festivities, but with elephants running amok at the last Pooram, an animal ri...
2008-03-27 - Amboseli, Kenya.
A series of documentaries collected by the BBC, this two-disc set delivers a beautiful look at the life of one of the world’s most famous elephants. Shot in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, where Echo is a lifelong resident, Echo and Other Elephants follows her and her herd, as well as elephant expert Saba Douglas-Hamilton. This title will be released on April 1, 2008. Pre-order now!
2008-03-27 - Washington, United States. Angela Valdez
Kandula, the National Zoo’s 6-year-old bull elephant, began showing signs of a change a little over a year ago. He started spending more time away from his mother and lashing out at his toys. Keepers could see him flexing his growing muscles, occasionally flashing the whites of his eyes. Kandula was becoming an adolescent jerk. “He’s full of himself, like a teenage boy would be,” says Dr. Don Moore, associate director of animal care. Elephant manager Marie Galloway thinks Moore exaggerat...
2008-03-27 - Murchison Falls , Uganda. Gerald Tenywa
A French tourist sustained serious injuries when he was attacked by an elephant, which was protecting its calf at Murchison Falls National Park. According to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), a group of tourists visited the park on March 22 and went for a game drive. “We offered to guide and protect them but they declined,” said Sam Mwandha, the UWA director of field operations. “They went too close to the elephant and turned off the engine of their vehicle instead of leaving it running...
2008-03-26 - Namib Desert, Namibia. Rebecca Morelle
The tactics used by elephants to keep their cool in extreme desert heat have been caught on camera. A BBC crew filmed the tusked beasts spraying themselves with water that they had stored in a reservoir in their throats several hours earlier. Although this skill for storing water was first documented 100 years ago, the team believes this is the first time it has been filmed. The footage was recorded over six months in the Namib Desert, Namibia.
2008-03-26 - Naypyidaw, Myanmar.
A first-ever zoological garden was inaugurated in Myanmar’s new capital of Nay Pyi Taw this morning, aimed at providing recreation place for tourists visiting the capital and local people, China’s Xinhua news agency reported. Attached with the opening ceremony were elephant and other animal shows as well as elephant-ride programmes for visitors, reports reaching here said. The zoological garden project, which covers an area of more than 400 hectares and was undertaken by the Ministry of Fore...
2008-03-26 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Two Cambodian men have been arrested for allegedly poisoning an elephant and sawing off its tusks to sell on the black market, officials said Wednesday. The male elephant, which was chained to a tree by its owner in Rattanakiri province, about 200 miles northeast of the capital Phnom Penh, was found dead in March 2007. Police at the time said the alleged killers had doused jack fruit, a tropical fruit eaten by elephants, with rat poison. The tusks of the 62-year-old elephant, measuring almost 3 ...
2008-03-26 - Kokrajhar, India.
The number of Asiatic elephants is on the rise in Manas National Park situated in Baksa district of Assam. In the latest elephant census conducted in Basbari, Panbari and Bhuyapara ranges of the park, as many as 1,026 elephants were counted. Bhuyapara range topped the tally with 525 elephants being detected. Another 354 elephants were detected at Basbari range whereas 147 elephants were found at Panbari range. The park authorities are a happy lot with the rise in the number of pachyderms in the ...
2008-03-25 - London, United Kingdom.
A BBC film crew attached cameras to elephants to shoot remarkable footage of tigers for the corporation's latest natural history series, it was disclosed yesterday. Sharks could warn of storms, claims research Tiger - Spy in the Jungle, a three-part documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough, follows the day-to-day lives of four cubs in the Pench National Park in central India.
2008-03-25 - New Delhi , India.
The elephants are ravenous eaters of bananas and rice, and raid the fields, devastating everything. The farmers hunt them or poison them, to defend their meagre profits. Experts: better living and working opportunities must be given to the farmers. Elephants are at risk of disappearing from entire countries in Asia, because of ruthless hunting by farmers who are defending their fields. All over, rapid deforestation and the expansion of planting has increased the age-old conflict between elephan...
2008-03-25 - Baltimore, United States. Joe Burris
No one knows for certain who's the father of the male elephant calf that was born last Wednesday at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, so any name ending in "Jr." is likely out of the question. But what do you call a 290-pound bundle of joy? That's a question posed to officials at the Druid Hill Park zoo. Amid the excitement, no name's been chosen just yet, and zoo spokeswoman Jane Ballentine said yesterday that officials there will decide soon whether to hold a naming contest for the African savann...
2008-03-25 - Ruskin, United States. Williams Woodcock
This shot reminds me of pictures I took of Gunther and the RBBB parade going through NY'S Central Park in 1993, but it is so much more wonderful; it says so much. God bless the photographer who caught this wonderful moment! //Paul G.
2008-03-25 - Guwahati, India.
One person was killed and another seriously injured by a wild elephant near Kaziranga National Park today, official sources said. The victim has been identified as Tulsi Gogoi, while the injured, Buda Ganju, is undergoing treatment at the Golaghat civil hospital. Ganju, a resident of Dagaon, said the elephant tore down a treehouse where Gogoi was sitting and trampled him to death after he fell from the tree.
2008-03-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Yusof Sulaiman
Conservationists around the world are again breathing uneasy following word that Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war has caused the death of 193 elephants last year, up by 13 percent compared to the previous year. In a plan gone wrong, park warden J A Weerasingam blames the action of villagers. "They are shooting my animals," said Weerasingam.
2008-03-24 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Athula Bandara
The residents of several areas including Shravastipura, Siyambalawewa and Aluthwewa in Anuradhapura are facing problems from wild elephants. They have complained to the police and the Wildlife Conservation Department that a herd of wild elephants that roam the human habitat after dusk had destroyed more than 400 acres of cultivated land and 15 houses. They accused the Wildlife Conservation Department of not taking any steps to chase the elephants into a forest reserve. However the Department’s...
2008-03-24 - Massachusetts, United States. Derrick Perkins
Using satellite technology, a team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts track elephants across regions of conflict across Africa through the newly-founded nonprofit organization Elephants Without Borders. By attaching global positioning units on the African elephants, Curtice Griffin, a professor in the department of natural resources conservation, and his team of graduate students have followed the animals as they move across national borders on the path of their seasonal migrati...
2008-03-24 - Temerloh, Malaysia. SIMON KHOO
The National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah near here is a favourite tourist spot despite occasional criticisms. The number of visitors, both local and foreign, keeps increasing every year. In 2005, there were 38,863 visitors, while in 2006, the figure rose to 60,436. Last year, a whopping 81,017 visitors comprising 59,468 locals and 21,549 foreigners visited the pachyderms classified by authorities as endangered. The centre's elephant unit chief Nasharuddin Othman said Australians...
2008-03-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Namali Premawardhana
It is quite a feat to get inside an elephant’s mind, to discover without interaction with the imposing and intimidating animal, the trials and tribulations it faces in daily life; its wants and needs. “Tranquil Footsteps” is one man’s effort to help us achieve that. Through his book, which follows one herd of elephants living within the sanctuary of the Uda Walawe National Park, Srilal Miththapala not only affords the reader valuable and interesting information about this most majestic m...
2008-03-23 - Jaldapara, India.
Elephants at the Dudhwa National Park have punished an elephant with isolation who had turned a nuisance for all due to its rowdy behaviour. The pachyderm was causing chaos all around. The incident has come to the knowledge of Rangers at the Dudhwa National Park. Sanctuary guides and Rangers say that that the jumbo is a male and has been boycotted by other elephants after turning violent and misbehaving with others. Mohammad Naseem, a guide at the Dudhwa National Park, noted that this particular...
Five trained jumbo elephants have been shifted from Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Bengal to the Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh by forest department to monitor the rhino rehabilitation centre and the tiger reserve. Two males - Gajraj and Mohanlal and three she-elephants Madhu, Chameli and Sulochana were chosen for the purpose of patrolling.
2008-03-23 - Guruvayur, India.
The Elephant Owners Federation state committee meet here on Saturday has urged Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan to intervene on issues related to the management of trained domestic elephants in the State. The High Court directions on the management of elephants are being misinterpreted by a certain group of people who have vested interests in toppling the Thrissur pooram and other festivals and are causing trouble to the elephant owners, he alleged. The majority of ezhunnellippu of Thrissur poor...
2008-03-21 - Madikeri, India.
A 65-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Gattadalla, police said here on Wednesday. Aravind was attacked by the elephant when he came out of a coffee estate on Tuesday morning, police said. Local people charged forest officials with not using funds allocated for solar fencing to prevent elephants from entering villages. Forest officials have assured payment of compensation to the victim's family, police said.
2008-03-21 - Dambulla, Sri Lanka.
The manager of Dambulla economic centre Christy L. Wijerathna said yesterday that 25 tons of vegetables had to be thrown out as it had got wet and spoilt due to rain and could not be sold. They were seen eaten by wild elephants. On Wednesday the centre had received a large quantity of vegetables, but only a few traders from outstations had come to purchase them, Wijerathna said. At the economic centre, a kilogram of cabbage could not be sold for Rs. 3, he added.
2008-03-21 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. Ashraf Padanna
Caparisoned elephants will be missing from the famed Thrissur Pooram, the most colourful temple festival of Kerala, from this year if the state’s forest authorities have their way. The state’s forest department has made it clear that it will be strictly abiding by the rules against parading elephants under the scorching sun during daytime and risk lives of thousands of devotees. “The rules are clear and they will be enforced. We are dealing with wild animals which do not know how to...
2008-03-21 - Singapore, Singapore.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) and Singapore Airlines Cargo recently formed a partnership to jointly promote wildlife conservation. SIA Cargo is WRS partner in the freightage of wildlife to zoos globally to boost the gene pool of endangered animals. Animals which have been relocated to boost the gene pool of the species globally included Sang Raja the Singapore-born Asian elephant to Cologne Zoo on September 28, 2004.
2008-03-21 - Guangxi, China.
Forest police in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region intercepted over 790 kilograms ivory worth 36 million yuan from a truck headed toward Nanning on Wednesday. It was the largest amount of smuggled ivory ever confiscated in the region, China News Service reported. Police found more than ten crates of ivory covered with crumbs, for a total of over 270 sections from 139 complete tusks, one of which is 1.83 meters long. Chang Min, team leader of the forest police, said the force sent police out to pa...
2008-03-21 - Ruskin, United States.
Hello Mister Woodcock, Enclosed some photos. 1. photo forest elephantbull at Duesseldorf Zoo 30ties. -"Despite a full head of hair, I know Herr Hugo Schmitt when I see him." //Buckles -On the photo is Zoo director Rudolf Weber in Duesseldorf Zoo 1937//Filipe von Gilsa
2008-03-20 - Amherst, Angola. STAN FREEMAN
Eliminated from Angola during more than two decades of civil war, herds of African elephants are crossing heavily mined fields as they recolonize Angola from neighboring Namibia and Botswana. But miraculously, they are avoiding the mines entirely, according to researchers at University of Massachusetts in Amherst who are tracking them via global positioning system satellites. "It's quite a mystery," said Curtice R. Griffin, the UMass professor of wildlife ecology leading the research. He estimat...
2008-03-20 - Hamilton, Canada.
They are more used to a balmy climate, but as these amazing pictures show, elephants love to play in the snow too. Two of the massive mammals played together in the cold safari park in Ontario, Canada and even made a gigantic snowball together. The elephants at the African Lion Safari in Hamilton, used their trunks to gather the snow and pile it high to create the massive ball of ice. They worked hard to compact the snow and the structure was so stable that one of the safari park workers could s...
2008-03-20 - Baltimore, United States. Karl B. Hille
Maryland Zoo staff were ecstatic and a little tired Thursday as they announced the healthy birth of a 290-pound, 42-inch-tall baby boy to their African elephant Felix Wednesday night. Thats big, even for an elephant, said Mike McClure, curator and elephant manager. Its tall for an elephant baby and he’s heavy, McClure said. Felix is a a petite elephant, and the fact she was able to pass a 290-pound calf is very impressive.Right now, the boy is bonding with his mom and staying warm inside the e...
2008-03-20 - Abington, United States. Mikaela Slaney
The show must go on. And now with the recent rejection of a bill last week that would have prohibited the use of elephants in traveling circuses, the Cole Brothers Circus will continue performances in Abington as it always has. If the bill had passed, opponents said it would have effectively banned circuses in the commonwealth after 80 years of performances. Bill supporters claimed elephants that perform in circuses have been beaten, chained and confined to dangerously small living areas. The Co...
2008-03-19 - Amsterdam, Netherlands. Artis Zoo (Translation Martijn Fabrie)
Artis is hoping for a new elephant baby next spring. Thong Tai is again pregnant after she gave birth of Yindee in August 2005. Thong Tai has been sired by Nikolai who has been in Artis since 2003. Nikolai is planned to leave Artis on April 1st to Hannover. Six elephants are waiting for him to let them be sired. After Nikolai has left, there will be three elephants left. Thong Tai with here daughter Yindee and Win Thida (38 years old), who has been mother once. (Article in dutch)
2008-03-19 - New York, United States.
The elephants and horses of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus have invaded Manhattan. The pack of seven pachyderms and about 15 horses paraded through the Queens Midtown Tunnel early Wednesday morning on their way to Madison Square Garden on 34th Street, where they will appear in the "Over The Top" show. The lead elephant wore a "I love New York" blanket as some onlookers along the route watched the nearly 30-year tradition of marching the circus animals through the tunnel.
2008-03-19 - PIMBURELLEGAMA,, Sri Lanka. Simon Gardner
Shaking his head at an elephant carcass rotting by a lush paddy field in north Sri Lanka, park warden J.A. Weerasingha counts the cost of a state initiative to arm villagers against Tamil Tiger rebels. While Sri Lanka has long wrestled with a human-elephant conflict that kills dozens of animals and people annually, elephant deaths are up sharply and it's clear why. In what the military says is a bid to protect villages in the far north as the government and its Tiger foes wage a new phase of a 2...
2008-03-19 - Melbourne, Australia.
...Then I wandered to the elephant yard. Just after that, Caroline joined me. As we were starting to walk away for lunch, the elephant keeper walked past and said it was time for elephant painting, if we were interested. So of course we followed.
2008-03-19 - Sydney, Australia.
Former Stardust Circus elephant Gigi is putting her best foot forward in the process of becoming a permanent inhabitant of Taronga Western Plains Zoo. On the request of keepers, she regularly presents her feet on fence rails for a zoo-style pedicure. After Gigis toenails are clipped and filed, she enjoys a treat - sometimes raw pumpkin or sweet potato. The zoos senior veterinarian Dr Benn Bryant says “keepers have made great progress with Gigi” in introducing her to the zoo and its sp...
2008-03-19 - Chongqing, United States.
Among the victims of a long ago era of climate change was the Stegodon Orientalis. It was a saber-toothed elephant that roamed Asia and Africa during the mid-Pleistocene Period. A complete skeleton of this long extinct species has been found in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Soon after the discovery last year, the remains proved to be the largest skeleton of the species ever found.
2008-03-18 - Dubbo, Australia. Justin Huntsdale
If you opened your eyes and you were standing on a dirt track, surrounded by waist-high dead grass, some trees and two African elephants, where would you say you are? The sun isn’t rising over the Serengeti – it’s in Dubbo, New South Wales. This is a side of the Taronga Western Plains Zoo (TWPZ) you probably won’t see. It’s 7am, the front gates are still closed, and African elephants Yum Yum and Cuddles are on their morning walk to stretch their legs and graze. “I’d stay out here a...
2008-03-18 - New York, United States.
If it's March, it must be time for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to come to town. And it must mean it's time for the annual Elephant Walk, too! This year's Elephant Walk will take place will be on Tuesday, March 18 into Wednesday March 19th, at midnight. The circus reaches New York City by way of train, stopping in Queens and head into Manhattan through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel for its stand at Madison Square Garden, so anywhere along 34th Street, between the tunnel and Manhatta...
2008-03-18 - New Delhi , India.
2008-03-18 - Gainesville, United States. Wellehan JF, Johnson AJ, Childress AL, Harr KE, Isaza R. University of Florida
The Afrotheria represent an early branching of placental mammals. Only two herpesviruses from Afrotheria have been previously identified, and the genus Proboscivirus in the subfamily Betaherpesvirinae has been proposed for them. Six novel gammaherpesviruses were identified in four species in the superorder Afrotheria by detection and analysis of their DNA polymerase genes. Elephantid herpesvirus 3 (ElHV3) and Elephantid herpesvirus 4 (ElHV4) were identified from conjunctival swabs from Asian ele...
2008-03-17 - Cork, United Kingdom.
How do you fancy transporting a herd of elephants? Like this herd for starters? Ruth Powys has contacted Biglorryblog to ask whether a generous haulier could provide free transport between June and October to transport the herd of wicker elephants between five venues in the UK and Ireland as part of a campaign to raise awareness to the shrinking habitat of Indian Elephants.
2008-03-17 - Qualicum Beach, Canada.
Could a forensic investigation into the life and death of a newly discovered baby woolly mammoth literally take us “back to the future”? Baby Mammoth, a new one-hour Discovery Channel special, premiering Sun., March 23 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT explores the explosive question: Could a mammoth be cloned?
2008-03-17 - Chicago, United States.
Alderman Mary Ann Smith is pushing for a city ordinance that would ban cruelty towards elephants. She came up with the idea last year after three elephants died at the Lincoln Park Zoo, but now it's an issue again because the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is planning its November run at the United Center.
2008-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The eminent conservationist Richard Leakey has given qualified backing for South Africa's plan to cull elephants. In an article for the BBC News website, the former head of the Kenyan Wildlife Service says culling is "a necessary part of population management". But Dr Leakey says there is also a responsibility to curb human activities that impinge on elephant habitat. South Africa plans to allow culling after a gap of 14 years because of growing numbers of elephants. The population is estimated ...
2008-03-17 - Amboseli, Kenya. RUPI MANGAT
Amboseli National Parks elephants are probably the world’s most famous. They are not only the longest studied elephants in the wild but also the longest studied wild mammals. Talk about being doubly famous. “Elephants are extremely intelligent animals,” says Dr Cynthia Moss, taking a morning break from shooting a 13-part Amboseli elephants “soap opera” for Animal Planet which will be screened on Discovery channel starting in 2009.
2008-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Steve Bloomfield
In Chad, Janjaweed militia from Sudan killed 100 elephants in one afternoon; in Kenya, Somali warlords armed with rocket-propelled grenades killed four wildlife rangers during a bloody raid on herds in the Tana Delta; in Democratic Republic of Congo, a whole host of rebel groups have turned the country's dwindling elephant population into a new cash crop.
2008-03-17 - Tapaktuan, Indonesia.
A herd of wild elephants again encroached on human settlements in Trumon Timur sub district, South Aceh District, where they damaged commercial and food crop plantations. "The problem of elephant attacks is continuing. The villagers have been restless for more than three weeks due to the behavior of the protected animals," T. Masrizar, a resident of Trumon, said here on Monday. Meanwhile, Naca Village Head Ramli Hajnur said a herd of four wild elephants had attacked and damaged tens of hectares ...
2008-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Mike Pflanz
Four elephants including two infants have been killed and 10 others wounded during a series of spear attacks close to a Kenyan game park. Among the dead was a four-month-old female calf who had been speared 14 times. Conservationists were today still searching for two other older males spotted with head wounds including one who had a spear still embedded in his skull. The pair have disappeared into the bush since the attacks.
2008-03-17 - Hoogeveen, Netherlands.
Animals rights activists claim they have been sprayed with elephant urine by circus employees last Saturday in Hoogeveen. The activists said that employees of Circus Renz Berlin used water pistols to shoot at them. When the police arrived at the scene everything was quiet again, although a threatening atmosphere was still lingering in the air according to an unnamed police spokesperson. The police confiscated one water gun that contained a “foul smelling substance”.
2008-03-17 - Amboseli, Kenya.
Conservationists have raised concern after 14 elephants were speared in Amboseli, Kenya, leaving four dead. The news comes shortly after community conservation group Lion Guardians confirmed the slaughter of three lions in the same area. It is thought that the spearing of the lions and elephants is connected and related to complex local issues. The elephants are well known by conservationists in the area as they have been studied and followed since birth as part of a programme of research. Scien...
2008-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Leakey
It is too soon for conservationists to ring the alarm bells over South Africa's elephant management plan that includes culling, argues Dr Richard Leakey. In this week's Green Room, he says the measures are necessary and based in animal welfare concerns. The issue of culling is highly emotive
2008-03-17 - , Thailand. Thongtip N, Saikhun J, Mahasawangkul S, Kornkaewrat K, Pongsopavijitr P, Songsasen N, Pinyopummin A.
One of the major obstacles in using artificial insemination to manage genetics of elephant population in captivity is the large variations in semen quality among ejaculates within the same and among individuals. The objectives of this study were to determine the influences of (1) age (2) seasonality (3) and circulating testosterone (SrTest), triiodothyronine (SrT3) and tetraiodothyronine (SrT4), as well as seminal (4) testosterone (SpTest), zinc (SpZn) and protein (SpTP) on semen quality in the ...
2008-03-16 - Athens, United States. Lauren Ricks
To see animals like elephants, llamas, tigers and camels, you only need to travel to the Henderson County Fair Park Complex on March 18. The Carson Barnes Circus will come to Athens that morning and begin setting up. The circus welcomes visitors to come watch the process and see the animals at no charge. It has 25 species of exotic and domestic animals. The elephants are trained to help the crew lift the 40-foot pole in the air for the 300-foot tent. It is the largest in the United States and ha...
2008-03-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Elephants are generally animals on the move, but this bull elephant frequenting Suriyawewa stood lethargically in one place. Soon it collapsed. The wildlife ranger of Hambantota H.M. Abeykoon and veterinary surgeon for the region Dr. Suhada Jayawardena tried giving water to the animal. The elephant’s jaws were pierced and its tongue badly damaged. Something had exploded inside its mouth seriously injuring the animal. The veterinary surgeon immediately started giving it saline. Despite their ef...
2008-03-16 - Singapore, Singapore. Gillian Murdoch
Asia's elephants once roamed across nine million square kilometres of forests from the Iranian coast to the Indian subcontinent, Java, Sumatra and Borneo, and China. Now extinct in west Asia, Java and most of China, about 40,000 to 50,000 remain in pockets of forest in 13 states. About 15,000 Asian elephants live in captivity as work animals, mostly in India, Myanmar and Thailand. By contrast, there are only about 500 captive African elephants, mostly in western zoos, and a wild population of 40...
2008-03-16 - Kompong Speu, Cambodia. Gillian Murdoch
From nightfall until 3 a.m. the villagers of Trang Troyeung commune, in Cambodia's southwest Kompong Speu province, battled to protect their banana grove from attacks by elephants. Camped in a field that backs onto Kirirom National Park, where some of Cambodia's last 250 wild elephants roam, they repelled the animals' by banging pots and patrolling frontlines. But not for long.
2008-03-16 - Reno, United States. RAY HAGAR
Workers cleared out a warehouse last week in Sparks, where John Ascuaga’s Nugget had stored many relics of its 53-year history. The opening act for the showroom, and a Nugget tradition, was Bertha the elephant. Bertha died in 1999 at age 48 after appearing on stage for 37 consecutive years. Ascuaga bought Bertha in 1962 for $8,000 from a circus museum in Wisconsin and treated her like royalty, building her and her later stage partners, Tina and Angel, the Elephant Palace.
2008-03-16 - Vientiane, Laos. DENIS D. GRAY
Connie Speight has swayed on elephant-back through unforgiving jungle and has adopted nine of the high-maintenance beasts. At 83, the retired American teacher is back in this Southeast Asian country to help save what remains of the once mighty herds. Once so famous for its herds that it was called Prathet Lane Xane, or Land of a Million Elephants, Laos is thought to have only 700 left in the wild.
2008-03-16 - Abu Camp, Botswana. Tracey Teo
In the heart of Botswana's Okavango Delta, home to Elephant Back Safaris' Abu Camp, a group of Americans joke and laugh nervously as the elephants they are riding approach a hippo-filled lagoon. Hippopotamuses are notoriously unpredictable, and the riders wonder how the animals will respond to having their turf invaded by a long train of elephants bearing humans on their backs.
2008-03-16 - Bangkok, Thailand. gill murdoch
Standing ten feet tall and weighing up to five tonnes, you’d think an Asian elephant would be hard to miss. But the giants that range across 13 Asian states are so at home in the dense forests and jungles they live in they’re often hard to spot. Conservation experts rarely expect to see the wild elephants they spend their time devising management strategies for. Head counts are mostly based on dung samples rather than fleeting sightings. It’s tourists who typically get the clearest view.
2008-03-16 - Stellenbosch, South Africa. Iain Macdonald
Cleopatra is an elephant and matriarch. The journey is her endeavour to keep her precious family alive against enormous odds. All the events contained in this book take place betweeen 1966 and 1994, a tumultous period for the region.The most tragic event was the demise of the rhino due to commercial poaching. The same people who killed the rhino went on to decimate the elephant.
2008-03-15 - Vallejo, United States.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is seeking qualified applicants for a full time Senior Level Elephant Trainer. These elephants are managed in a free contact system. Senior Level Elephant Trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to participation in elephant training programs, daily care and feeding of elephants in the collection, maintenance of elephant exhibit and night house, public presentations, elephant rides, assisting veterinary staff, good working knowledge of tools and farm equip...
2008-03-15 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Jetjaras Na Ranong
After undergoing hard training and working away to entertain tourists all year round, elephants at a shelter in Ayutthaya were given a one-day break on Thursday _ Thai Elephant Day. Besides 69 ''fruit platters'' for the elephants, the shelter operator also allowed the normally hard-working animals to play around in the water splashing each other for as long as they wanted. The elephants looked to be extremely happy with their day off as they relaxed, playing around and eating. However, while the...
2008-03-15 - New York, United States. Vibhuti Patel
Mohan's collection of black-and-white images, shot over six "very long" years, is now a handsome big-format book, "Vanishing Giants: Elephants of Asia" ( Editions Didier Millet), with a foreword by British environmentalist David Bellamy. In the cover image, a hand reaches out to hold an elephant's extended trunk, embodying the idea of relationship. Inside, most photos similarly focus on the tangled connection between man and beast. Some are loving: one memorable shot depicts an elephant "kissing...
2008-03-14 - Los Angeles, United States.
Horton Hears a Who! is a 2008 CGI animated film based on the 1954 book by Dr. Seuss. It is set to be released on March 14, 2008. One day, Horton the elephant (Jim Carrey) hears a cry for help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can't see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who ...
2008-03-14 - Louisville, United States. Ken Neuhauser
For your pachyderm pleasure, pack up your kids and head over to the Louisville Zoo for Scotty the African elephant's first birthday. Thanks to Coca-Cola, admission is only $1 (free for zoo members). The wingding will begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow with the elephant staff weighing and measuring Scotty and treating him to a slice, er, a whole elephant-sized cake. Scotty, who weighed 285 pounds at birth and loves playing on logs and in the mud, will show off some of the training and behavior techniques ...
2008-03-14 - Chiang Mai , Thailand.
Doung, an11-year-old autistic boy, enjoys playing and touching an elephant’s trunk. The occupational therapists said it was miraculous because he used to isolate himself from others. Doung was among four autistic children who participated in a three-week elephant therapy programme, created by the Occupation Therapy department of Chiang Mai University and the Elephant Conservation Centre in northern Lampang province.
2008-03-14 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
Did you know that elephants ate eggs? Well, most of the zookeepers from across the country who took part in the mahout training programme also did not. They saw the jumbos being given a feed of dates and eggs at the elephant camp at Guruvayur. This was just one of the many elephant camps they visited as part of their training programme in elephant management and all of them in one voice said it was a great learning experience. They also had many tales to recite at the concluding session of the p...
2008-03-14 - Ruskin, United States.
Anonymous said: Is there 36 elephants or are there more? Buckles said: At this point there were 51 elephants in quarters, no reason they wouldn't all be in this picture. The men in blue uniforms were Arky Scott, Smokey Jones, Hugo Schmitt and Louie Reed.
2008-03-14 - Okavango, Botswana.
Joyous celebrations among the elephants and staff at Abu Camp in Botswanas Okavango Delta at the birth to Kitimetse of a healthy and lively baby named Lorato love in Setswana. Little Lorato is the fourth baby elephant to be born at Abu Camp where Randall Moore pioneered Africas first elephant back safari operation 18 years ago. She was born at 3.30 pm on February 11, weighed 70 kilograms and measured 90 centimetres at the shoulder. She was quickly feeding and sleeping and within a few days was j...
2008-03-14 - Los Angeles, United States. Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times
The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana has canceled a stunt in which an artist planned to surround an Asian elephant with a giant soap bubble after critics threatened to protest it as cruel and frivolous, the center announced Friday. “We wanted it to be good, clean family fun, so we’re taking away the part that seemed negative,” said spokeswoman Julie Smith, adding that the only change in plans is to take the elephant out of Tuesday’s show. The science center began reconsidering the s...
2008-03-13 - Tel Aviv, Israel. Ofri Ilani
A few months ago, when he was traveling in the border region between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Prof. Jeheskel Shoshani found the corpse of a large elephant that had been shot by hunters. "It was a large male, and the poachers wanted its ivory, so they sawed off its head," he says. "When I saw that, I thought about the last moments in the life of this elephant. Elephants have language - they talk to one another with sounds that we can't hear. I asked myself what sound he made a moment before he died....
2008-03-13 - Hohenwald, United States. Patricia Feurer
In the early hours of yesterday morning while her sisters and caregivers slept, Delhi made her transition. Her passing was silent and peaceful, she passed without waking. We are all spending the day honoring our last precious hours with her; caregivers are still fussing around her, whispering quiet goodbyes. Misty carefully touched all over Delhi's body and then gently stepped over her, sheltering her dearly departed friend. We are honored to have been Delhi's caregivers, thankful to be loved by...
2008-03-13 - San Diego , United States. Erin McCarthy
Jeffery Zuba, head veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, believes there is a way for African animal parks to preserve the environment without resorting to killing members of their resident herds. Along with colleagues at Disney's Animal Kingdom and Colorado University, Zuba has proposed using laparoscopic surgery—a minimally invasive procedure utilizing fiberoptic instruments—to permanently sterilize free-ranging elephants.
2008-03-13 - Coimbatore, India.
To prevent elephants being hit by speeding trains, the ministries of environment and forests and of railways are considering setting up barbed wire fencing along several hundred kilometres of rail tracks in the Western Ghat forests straddling the borders of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The move comes after the death of a pregnant elephant, along with two other elephants, when they were hit by a train passing between Pothanur and Madhukkari stations, about 20 km from the textile town of Coim...
2008-03-13 - Lampang, Thailand.
Veterinarians on Thursday ruled out surgery for Sampran, the 6-year-old elephant whose forefoot has swollen to a monstrous size after being injured in a hunter's trap two years ago. "We can't operate on the foot because there would be too much blood loss," said Dr Sittidej Mahasawangkul after taking an x-ray of Sampran's damaged foot at Lampang National Elephant Institute hospital in the North. Sampran, a wild elephant, was finally brought to the hospital for treatment Thursday after suffering f...
2008-03-13 - Lampang, Thailand. BARBARA WALTON
Sampran,6, a wild bull elephant who was caught in a poachers snare has his badly infected foot x-rayed by Thai vets trying to save his life, at the Lampang National Elephant Institute hospital in Lampang, northern Thailand, 06 March 2008. Badly dehydrated and thin, the young elephant has about a 50 percent chance of survival and was bought into the hospital for emergency care after the infection, monitored over the past two years by Thai rangers in the Khao Ang Rue Nai wildlife sanctuary where h...
2008-03-13 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Elephants enjoy a "buffet" of fruit and vegetables during Thailand's National Elephant Day in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya, 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, March 13, 2008. Thais honoured the elephant on Wednesday with special fruit and Buddhist ceremonies across the country to pay homage to their national animal.
2008-03-13 - Ruskin, United States.
Buckles, here is another elephant on leash at Circus Knie. The calf tied to the mother is pretty common, but elephant man Ruppert Bemmerl seems to leading both by whip and leash. Thanks. Joey
2008-03-13 - Bangkok, Thailand. Karen Emmons
The Kingdom of Thailand – a country that has long revered the elephant for its royal and religious significance – is home to some 4,000 of the fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) still surviving. Compared to the relatively enduring population of African elephants (currently estimated to number about 500,000), the rapidly dwindling Asian population was a major cause of concern. In 1975, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)...
2008-03-13 - Perris, United States.
Thai the elephant is days away from being surrounded by a bubble. Here is raw video of Thai and other elephants having a midday snack.
2008-03-12 - Carlsbad, United States. MARGA KELLOGG, North County Times
The tusk and molars of a giant prehistoric mastodon that were found in Carlsbad last year, will get new life Wednesday night. The rare finds, which are on display at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Discovery Center through July, will be the centerpiece of a lecture by Tom Demere, curator of paleontology for the San Diego Natural History Museum. The lecture starts at 7 p.m. at the discovery center, 1580 Cannon Road, Carlsbad. The event is free.
2008-03-12 - Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times, United States.
Artist plans to encase Tai the elephant in a soapy sphere. Some call the stunt cruel. Tai the elephant is no stranger to fame. The 39-year-old female has a long resume: TV commercials, corporate parties and 20 movie credits. "She has such a reputation that people ask for her by name," said Kari Johnson, a co-owner of Have Trunk Will Travel. The company operates a ranch in Perris for nine endangered Asian elephants, which often work in show business. Tai is the most famous, she said. But as with ...
2008-03-12 - Berhampur, India.
Recovery of a decapitated elephant calf near Nimisola village in Palanga panchayat in Ganjam block has put the forest officials in a fix. The reason behind the death is still a mystery. A herd of about 15 elephants migrated from Chandaka forest to the Barbara jungle of adjoining Khurda-Ganjam area in January and created a havoc in Khallikote, Purushottampur and Ganjam block. The herd laid waste to standing crops, cashew plantation, coconut trees besides attacking villagers.
2008-03-12 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
A wild elephant strayed into a village in east Nepal and trampled three people to death including a nine-year-old boy, forest officials said on Wednesday. "It first threw the boy...and then trampled him to death," forest official Tadhi Kandel said by telephone from Jhapa, 275 km (170 miles) southeast of Kathmandu. "We are trying to drive it back into the forest so that it does not cause further human losses." There are about 250 elephants in Nepal, including about 100 domesticated ones that are ...
2008-03-12 - Sequim, United States. Avani Nadkarni
Helen Haller Elementary fifth-graders Austin Allen, Bailey Boyce and Rory Roberts crowded around a giant white mammoth tusk, a piece of ivory that is more than double their height, seven times their weight and about a thousand times their age. “That’s awesome!” Allen exclaimed, petting the fossil. The tusk was found almost exactly four years ago, when Rick and Linda Guenthner were taking a mid-January stroll on Port Williams beach with their Brittany spaniel, Belle. Belle spotted the strip...
2008-03-12 - Des Moines, United States.
Rosie will return to Des Moines this summer. And this time, she'll bring her baby. The 7,300-pound elephant drew large crowds when she visited Blank Park Zoo in 2000. Zoo officials have tried for three years to bring her back. "I'm amazed at the number of people who come to the zoo and say, 'Is Rosie coming back?' " said Terry Rich, chief executive officer of the zoo at 7401 S.W. Ninth St. Rosie has gained about 900 pounds since her last trip to Iowa. She is just short of 8 feet tall. Her 1,000-...
2008-03-12 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
Today the breeding bull Chiang Mai in Copenhagen were transfered to the newbuilt facility. Tomorrow the cows will be transfered. Visitors will be welcome in the new house from 10th of June. watch the film when the bull takes the first steps into his new stable.
2008-03-12 - Nagaon, India.
It is another David and Goliath battle where the former prevails again. A string, and just that, has been able to play a role in halting the onslaught of the biggest of land animals. In parts of Nagaon district, strategically deployed strings in the path of wild elephants have resulted in reducing human elephant conflict to an unexpected degree, to the extent that some people have called it sheer magic. However, there actually is no magic involved. The promoter of the idea, Shimanta Goswami of N...
2008-03-12 - Ely, United States.
White Pine High School hosted the Kerak Shrine Circus of Reno on Monday for the first time in four years. Two rings on the gym floor offered entertainment for children of all ages. The circus had performed at White Pine Middle School each of the last three years. Sponsored by the Kerak Shrine Center of Reno, the circus comes to Ely nearly every year.
2008-03-12 - Little Rock, United States.
CURATOR (HOOFSTOCK AND ELEPHANTS) Provides supervision to assigned Zoo personnel, ensuring the proper care of animals and facilities in a designated section of the Zoo; determines dietary, environmental, and psychological needs of animals and species. PREFER: EXPERIENCE WITH ELEPHANTS AND HOOFSTOCK. Completion of a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology, Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Medicine, or related area, two (2) years of experience in the care of birds, carnivores, elephants, great apes, reptiles o...
2008-03-11 - Bekesbourne, United Kingdom.
A baby African elephant has made her debut at an animal park. Uzuri - which means "Beauty" in Swahili - was born on February 17 at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent. The calf, weighing an estimated 70-80 kilos, is the third baby for mother Tammi who was brought to Howletts from Tel Aviv in 1988. She has an older sister, Jara, born in April 2005 and a much bigger brother, Jumar, who is now 10-years-old. He was the first African bull elephant to be conceived, born and reared in the UK.
2008-03-11 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
This year the elephant and buffalo census team, under the leadership of Dr Ian Whyte, who is conducting his 24th census, counted 13 050 elephants in the Kruger National Park (KNP). Although Ian retired earlier this year, he was contracted to conduct the census. The count indicates 623 individuals or five percent more than the 12 427 counted last year. Ian says in his report that only 338 calves were recorded which is considerably less than the 725 counted in 2006.
2008-03-11 - Jhapa, Nepal.
Two persons were trampled to death by a wild elephant in Jhapa district on Tuesday morning. Aasame Tamanag was crushed at Haldaar Chowk in Damak at 6:30 this morning and one hour later Mahendra Poudel was crushed in Dhukurpani by the same wild elephant. In December last year, two persons were killed and one critically injured in a similar attack in Siraha district.
2008-03-11 - , United States. Sarah Dobbs
Why do filmmakers spend so long creating scary sets for horror movies? Animals are scary. Horror movies (and books, and TV shows) said so. Here's your handy cut-out-and-keep guide to all the evil animals out there: E = Elephant. Four letters into the alphabet, and already I'm cheating. Elephants are one of the most obviously scary animals - they're huge!! - but there don't seem to have been many films about them killing people. Probably because it's expensive. An elephant did, however, get some ...
2008-03-11 - Cologne, Germany. Dan Koehl
Tuesday morning a stillborn asian elephant calf was found by the elephant keepers in Zoo Cologne. The birth was sceduled for late April. This was the first baby for the mother, 13 year old Shu Thu Zar, and Cologne veterinarians belive that the baby was dead for over half a year in the mothers uterus.
2008-03-11 - Las Vegas, United States.
Popular “bubble scientist” Fan Yang, who has a show in Las Vegas, will attempt to set a world record March 18 by enclosing an 8,800-pound Asian elephant inside a bubble at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. Yang will use a customized wand to create a bubble large enough to enclose Tai, a 7-foot, 6-inch elephant that will be provided by Have Trunk Will Travel, a conservation and education group whose animals have appeared in many movies and TV shows.
2008-03-11 - Sebastopol, United States. Steve Rubenstein
Nancy Fiddler is cleaning out her garage in Sebastopol these days, which is the thing to do if your garage has a mastodon in it. Not just any mastodon, but a full-grown one. It's among the finest examples of a fossilized mastodon in North America, and certainly the finest example of one in a Sebastopol garage. Fiddler wants it gone. It's been in the family for 11 years, and that's long enough for the relationship to have run its course. "This," she said, pointing to the creature that fills half ...
2008-03-11 - Baltimore, United States. Ron Matz
You were not hallucinating Tuesday morning if you saw some elephants walking the streets in Downtown Baltimore. The greatest show on earth is stepping into town and everyone wants a close up look. The animal walk is a Baltimore tradition. The walk is a little over a mile long and it takes about 25 minutes, from the B&O Railroad Museum to the 1st Mariner Arena. "I feel like a little kid today. I'm going to watch the elephants march down the street, it's very unique" said Brad Hungerford, spectato...
2008-03-11 - Toronto, Canada. DAVID NICKLE
More room for the elephants, a new education learning centre and funding for research into the lives and possible longevity of polar bears are some of the things that $250 million could buy the Toronto Zoo. The money will go to several projects within and outside the zoo. The largest sum, $107.8 million, will go to redeveloping the north zoo site, the animal health centre and increasing the size of the elephant paddock. The zoo wants to spend $21.5 million on an education learning centre and $24...
2008-03-10 - Naklua, Thailand.
On Sunday Afternoon, Police and rescue workers were called to a beach in Naklua after receiving reports of an out-of-control elephant which had attacked and injured someone. Arriving at the scene, rescue workers attended to Khun Ponoomar aged 25 who had sustained suspected spinal injuries. She explained that she was in the process of feeding the 2 year old male elephant outside the Jeyjook Restaurant when she dropped some of the food and was kicked by the elephant.
2008-03-10 - Kolkata, India. Soudhriti Bhabani
Its indeed a jumbo-sized wish. A businessman in West Bengal wants to adopt an elephant, prompting the state government to mull over a legal amendment to fulfil the 65-year-old’s desire. Jute mill owner Om Prakash Mal from Kolkata’s twin town Howarh is one of the two people who have evinced interest in elephant adoption. The West Bengal government, which spends quite a fortune on maintenance of elephants, seems game to the idea and even ready for a legal amendment to facilitate the same.
2008-03-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Security forces armed with loud hailers were deployed in eastern Sri Lanka Monday to drive away wild elephants blocking access to polling booths, police said. Villagers in Wellaveli told the authorities that they were unable to vote at the first local elections in 14 years because a herd of elephants had blocked their polling booth, a police official in the area said. "We sent a team of commandos in armoured personnel carriers and loud hailers and sirens to drive away the elephants," the officia...
2008-03-10 - Mumbai, India.
The crime branch of the Mumbai police arrested two persons and seized elephants tusks worth over Rs7 lakh from them on Friday in Dahisar. Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Raju Gawde alias Vishram, 24, and Aniruddh Sawant alias Kishore, 48, at the Nancy Colony bus depot while they were looking for prospective customers to sell the full-sized ivory tusks. According to the police, the duo was intercepted and the ivory tusks weighing 4.5 kg were found in their possession without any legal do...
2008-03-10 - Lucknow, India. Tarannum Manjul
As a part of the Government of India’s Project Elephant, the state will soon get its own elephant reserve in Bijnore district under the Nazibabad forest range. The reserve will be called Shivalik Elephant Reserve. The reserve will not only have an exclusive protected area for elephants, but will also see to it that crop raiding activities — which affect those living in these areas — are brought down.
2008-03-10 - Chiang Mai , Thailand. Antoinette van de Water
Organization: Foundation Bring the Elephant Home is looking for a Thai freelance campaigner who shares our passion for creating a positive change for the environment and elephants. Date vacancy: 10/03/2008. Starting date job: a.s.a.p. Hours: Freelance, for approx 2 days a week. Period: until the end of 2008
2008-03-10 - Kasungu, Malawi. WANANGWA TEMBO
KASUNGU Magistrate Court last week ordered two men to pay a fine of K60,000 each or in default serve three years imprisonment for poaching in Kasungu National Park. Fole Nkhoma, 27, and Vuntani Zintambira, 24, both from T/A Chulu in Kasungu were arrested late last month together with 16 other people for killing a lone antelope whose value was put at K60,000. Kasungu Police spokesman Andrew Gada said they arrested the 18 people in a joint operation with Wild Life officials late last month.
2008-03-10 - Asheboro, United States.
Successful candidate will be assigned to the Watani Grasslands section, working with African Elephants and/or White Rhinoceros, a variety of African Antelope, and some African Birds, including Ostrich. Specific animal assignment will depend on the section needs and the skills and experiences of the candidate. Regardless of primary assignment, candidate will be expected to assist working with the care of other species within the work unit.
2008-03-09 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. S. BINU RAJ
The grace of an elephant is beyond words. B. Chandra Kumar, a photographer, has followed elephants for more than a decade. Elephants just happened to stray before his lens and thus dictated his frame. “It happened in 1995, during one of my assi gnments at the elephant training centre Kodanad. I was there to shoot the mischievous moods of little Parvathi, an elephant calf who had strayed into the camp from the forest. Those photographs were widely appreciated. After that I started following wil...
2008-03-09 - Anchorage, United States. William J. Tobin
Don't know if the folks at the Alaska Zoo noticed, but the government of South Africa says it will start killing elephants because their herds have so increased in size that the land can't support the burgeoning numbers. Well, now. Isn't this the perfect opportunity to save a couple of baby African elephants from slaughter by offering them a home in Anchorage? When Maggie was removed to an animal park in California a few months ago, one of the rallying cries was that she was lonely — the only ...
2008-03-09 - Kalpetta, India.
The tiger population in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is stable while there is a slight increase in the number of elephants, according to the just-concluded annual wildlife assessment. The 2006 census had found that the Wayanad sanctuary was home to about 500 elephants and the indications of the present study was that there could be an increase in elephant population. According to Mishra, poaching had been contained totally in the area. Based on direct sightings, pugmarks on ...
2008-03-09 - Lahore, Pakistan.
A business tycoon has adopted female elephant ëSuzií of the Lahore Zoo for one year after paying an amount of Rs 732,000. A colorful ceremony was held in this regard at the Lahore Zoo on Saturday, which was attended by students of various schools, civil servants and other notable personalities. Wildlife and Forests Secretary Naveed Akram Cheema was the chief guest. Javed Tariq Khan, who adopted 'Suzi', cut a cake on the occasion while students presented various programmes.
2008-03-09 - Pahang, Malaysia.
Next stop on my tour of “Wildlife Reserves That Are Located Conveniently Close To Places Where You Can Get A Decent Cocktail”, was the elephant sanctuary at Kuala Gandah, a couple of hours outside the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. These critically endangered giants have been rescued from around Malaysia. After a bit of training, they’re re-released into one of the country’s national parks — an operation which apparently involves not just a very big truck, but also a man whose job it ...
2008-03-09 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Garamba: “The Sudanese horsemen have killed almost 1,000 elephants in the past year and are on the verge of eliminating the last wild population of northern white rhinos.” (Norton. Interior Secretary of USA, 2004) Salonga: Large scale bushmeat hunting started rather recently (southern Salonga). Hunting with automatic weapons changed from mainly elephants for ivory to monkeys for the lucrative bushmeat trade… (reasearcher 2007), Virungas : “…four buffalo shot down, 14 colobus shot down,...
2008-03-08 - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
February 2008. Contraception of female elephants in one South African game reserve began in June 2007, well ahead of the news this week that the government has put culling back on the table. The birth control method, developed over 10 years, hopes to slow down elephant growth rate to prevent having to use culling to reduce numbers. In 1995 pressure from the conservation and tourism lobby around the world forced the SA government to put a moratorium on culling in Kruger National Park.
2008-03-08 - Hamburg, United States.
The best part, is if you come early, you get to get up close and personal with some of the performers, like Mikea here. She's a 3,000 pound African Elephant
2008-03-08 - San Fransisco, United States.
The ancient fossilized remains of the famous Rustler Ranch Mastodon are currently up for auction. The 1997 discovery in California of the mastodon (a relative of the woolly mammoth as well as the African elephant) was heralded around the country as a rare opportunity for paleontologists to study an early example of this near-complete, pre-historic fossil. So unique was this unearthing that the Oakland Museum of California and its Chief Curator Tom Stellar had it excavated and put on exhibition a...
2008-03-08 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. John Mackie, Canwest News Service
A catchy name is a key ingredient to success. As is a unique product. Mr. Ellie Pooh has both. Mr. Ellie Pooh is called Mr. Ellie Pooh because it offers paper products made of elephant dung in Sri Lanka. Honest. "It's about 70 per cent dung," explains company founder Karl Wald over the phone from frigid Grand Forks, North Dakota.
2008-03-08 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Kerala government on Saturday directed officials concerned to strictly implement laws under The Captive Elephant Management Rules following a rise in the number of incidents involving elephants participating in temple festivals becoming wild,causing hardship to people. The officials should ensure that elephants engaged for temple festivals were free of any disease and the Festival committees should obtain a certificate from a veterinary doctor, an official press release said here on Saturday...
2008-03-08 - Cambridge, United States. Juliana Rotich
In this issue of Global voices environment, we check in with various blogs around the world. Lets begin with South Africa (SA), where Elephant culling may soon return as a way to control the population of elephants in National parks. This was a banned practice, and it is still banned in other countries like Kenya. Richard Leakey of Wildlife Direct explains his position on the question. Is culling imminent for South African elephants? Reducing elephant populations may therefore, be a necessary pa...
2008-03-07 - Kwale, Kenya.
Residents of Kwale, Kenya, have called for the Kenya Wildlife Service to act after elephants crushed farmlands and attacked villagers in recent days. Parents said they have been keeping their children home from school to protect them from elephant attacks, the Daily Nation reported Friday. Villagers called for wildlife officials to help keep the elephants off their farms and compensate them for damage to their crops. Philip Mwakio, an assistant director for the service, said measures are being p...
2008-03-06 - Calcutta, India.
“Our objective is to fight poaching and preserve endangered species and their habitat by extending financial assistance to the local people and helping them manage their resources better,” said Purnima Dutta, the secretary of the centre, which had recently organised a two-day camp on the Army Territorial Ground to spread awareness about the environment. “We have explained to the villagers the dangers of hula operation. Whenever elephants enter the villages, people light fires and burst cra...
2008-03-06 - Silver Spring, United States. Debbie Olson
The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) today announced their support for 15 new elephant conservation projects for 2008, marking a record level of support. "Elephants all over the world need our help," said IEF President Michael Fouraker. "The grants made today by the International Elephant Foundation support critical elephant conservation programs." "Conservation projects supported by accredited zoos are essential to the survival of elephants," said AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy. "AZA-ac...
2008-03-06 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
In a case of alleged stealing of leopard claws, hair of elephant tails and peacock feathers from the zoo here, the zoo director has suspended a supervisor, pending an enquiry. The suspension was ordered yesterday, following an enquiry into a complaint by some medical college students from Nagpur, who had reported to authorities two months back that a staff member at the zoo had tried to sell leopard claws to them.
2008-03-06 - St. Helena, United States. John Waters Jr.
Dr. Maryanne Kraft of Calistoga received sad news last week. A baby she met in 2007 while volunteering at a refuge facility in Thailand was killed. Poisoned. Her kind was unwanted. The baby in this case was a 2-year-old Asian elephant who had just begun to wander away from its mother when it was murdered. “While they’re young elephants never leave their mother’s side,” Kraft explained. “This particular baby was just getting old enough and curious enough to wander around a little. They ...
2008-03-06 - Tesso Nilo National Park, Indonesia.
In Riau Province, the flying squad are four adult elephants and eight mahouts patrolling an area along the National Park boundaries, keeping wild elephants away from local communities and teaching villagers non-lethal ways to protect their crops. About 80 guests helped Nella celebrate her 1st birthday while Wan Abu Bakar, Vice Governor of Riau Province, officially conferred the name Tesso on the younger calf, born three months ago. It is a tradition in Indonesia to have a naming ceremony soon af...
2008-03-06 - Allen, United States. Jonathan Betz
A nine-year-old North Texas girl recently made an historic find while outside near her home. Alison Dodd was playing in a creek near her Allen home when she said she stumbled across what she thought was a rock. The item that caught her eye turned out to be something an archeologist would love to happen upon - a fossil. Dating back at least 10,000 years when prehistoric beasts roamed the area, the so-called rock turned out to be a wooly mammoth's tooth. "We've always kind of joked that she has a ...
2008-03-06 - Carlsbad, United States.
A mastodon fossil unearthed last year in northern Carlsbad has been allowed to visit home, temporarily. The ancient mammal's tusk and jaw bones are on display at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Discovery Center, at Faraday Avenue and Cannon Road, through July. The fossils are owned by the San Diego Natural History Museum, whose team of paleontologists discovered mastodon bones June 14 when earth movers were grading land for a housing development at El Camino Real and Cannon Road in Carlsbad. “Literal...
2008-03-06 - Rangamati, Bangladesh.
A herd of wild elephants killed an Octogenarian attacking his home situated at a remote hilly village of Chandraghona yesterday evening, police said. The victim was identified as Aminur Rahman, 80, of Hatimara village under Chandraghona Union of Kaptai Upazila in the district. The herd of wild elephants numbering 20 to 25, suddenly attacked the thatch house of the victim at around 6 PM on February 28 when he was sitting on the yard of the house, the police said. Sensing the presence of the wild ...
2008-03-06 - Mangochi, Malawi.
Communities along the lakeshore district of Mangochi, particularly in the areas of Chiefs Mpondasi and Nankumba, are living in great fear following the elephants that have gone on rampage there. However, authorities have said there is nothing they can do at the moment until June when the animals would be moved to Majete Wildlife Reserve in Chikwawa district. The animals are from Phirilongwe Forest Reserve. On Tuesday, an elephant killed 26-year-old man, Fanuel Monja, from Chigundo Village in Chi...
2008-03-06 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A Bangkok restaurant is treating its biggest spenders to a 300,000-dollar meal prepared by Michelin-starred chefs, but only after they have jetted to an elephant camp to see how the other half live. "We're taking these people to Surin, to see how the poor people actually are living and are managing their elephants. They cannot even manage themselves and they cannot manage their elephants," he told AFP. After seeing the dwindling number of pachyderms and the impoverished lives of their handlers, ...
2008-03-06 - Arbroath, United Kingdom.
A trio of white elephants has found shelter in Arbroath. Miami-based sculptor Billie Grace Lynn has created three inflatable life-size elephants during her term as artist in residence at Hospitalfield House. Made from white rip-stop nylon, the display features two standing elephants mourning their dead family member. Ms Lynn has been working at the arts foundation and artists' residency for the past month. She said: "All art is political, in some context, and in the past my work has been concern...
2008-03-06 - London, United Kingdom.
In 1989 the signatories of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) agreed to ban trade in ivory. Last year CITES, which now has 172 member countries, extended this ban for a further nine years, having sanctioned but two sales from stocks, of which only one has taken place. A stroll in Chinatown suggests that trade is thriving nonetheless. A sharp increase in ivory seizures in recent years also points to a flourishing trade. Meanwhile, rising we...
2008-03-06 - Mombasa, Kenya. ANTHONY KITIMO
Parents have stopped their children from going to school for fear of being attacked by elephants. They now want the Kenya Wildlife Service to intervene and ensure that the animals do not encroach on their farms. Those interviewed said the animals had destroyed crops and attacked villagers in the past one week. They demanded that KWS compensates them for their losses. Coast assistant director Philip Mwakio said KWS would put in place measures to ensure that the animals remained within the designa...
2008-03-06 - Los Angeles, United States. Jan Westmark, Celebrity News Service
Two new shows make their television debuts Thursday night, giving people who are not fans of "American Idol" or "Lost" something to watch. Animal Planet will begin airing a series called "Elephant Diaries" and A and E is offering "Crime 360." "Elephant Diaries" is set in an elephant nursery in Kenya and focuses on the struggles of a herd of orphaned calves in their first year away from their families. The show shares facts about the elephants, the largest land mammals, along the way. The show ai...
2008-03-06 - Galt, United States. LACEY PETERSON
"I have no Jelly Bellys, I'm so sorry Minn..." Pat Derby said as she nuzzled the 9,500 pound Asian elephant, Minnie. Elephants love Jelly Bellys. That is just one of the million things Pat Derby knows about elephants — things she learned solely from experience. Derby, 65, is the founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, which has three sanctuaries — 30 acres in Galt, 100 acres (The Amanda Blake Wildlife Refuge) in Herald, Sacramento County, and 2,300 acres (ARK 2000) in San Andreas.
2008-03-06 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Tourism can play a key role in restoring economic activity and employment in Kenya and in doing so play its part in bringing peace and stability to the East African country, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said today. Achim Steiner, UNEP's Executive Director was speaking in Berlin, Germany which this week is hosting one of the world's biggest tourism fairs. Mr Steiner said: 'Indeed it is an overall measure of KWS's success that elephant populations in Kenya have risen recently by...
2008-03-06 - Allen, United States. KARIN SHAW ANDERSON
That warm October day last year, Allison – then 8 years old – pulled on her bright yellow galoshes and headed off to Waters Creek at the Day Spring Nature Preserve. She was on a mission to find fossils. Mom, Dad and a friend were in tow. "It was two days after a big storm," Allison remembered. The creek was high, and water pooled in gullies around the steep banks. Resting just below the surface was a rock-shaped object with rippled edges. Allison saw it first.
2008-03-05 - Coimbatore, India.
A 20-year old cow elephant was found dead in Aliyar dam, near Pollachi on Tuesday. Sources said a herd of elephants entered the dam on Monday evening to drink water and one of them got trapped in the slush. The people, who saw the dead elephant on Tuesday morning, informed the forest officials. Forest officials recovered the carcass and conducted a postmortem.
2008-03-05 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
Jambo the African Elephant, has left Colchester Zoo for BioParc Valencia in Spain. The brand new state of the art zoo is to be Jambo's new home where he will soon by joined his half brother Kito as part of a European Breeding Programme. To minimize the disruption to our herd, the decision was taken to move Jambo and Kito one at a time and Jambo was selected to go first as although the youngest he is the most confident and boisterous of the two.
2008-03-05 - Kasane, Botswana.
A Kasane Magistrate Court last week fined two Chinese men P4 000 each or three months imprisonment for unlawful possession of elephant tusk and entering Botswana through an ungazetted point. Mr Mohutsiwa said the men were arrested after a tip off from Zimbabwean police that they cut tusk from a dead elephant. We confronted the men at Lesoma and we found the tusks, said Mr Mohutsiwa. The two men are Jian Hua Guo and Bian Hua Zahang of Shandong in BOPA
2008-03-05 - Honolulu, United States.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann is asking for millions of dollars to finish a new elephant exhibit at the Honolulu Zoo that's been in the works for over a decade. A large portion of the enclosure is finished and sits empty -- waiting for the funding to complete the job. KITV's Keoki Kerr reported that in his budget proposal last week, Hannemann asked for about $7 million to complete an elephant breeding facility here at the zoo
2008-03-05 - Miami, United States.
This is a position within a progressive elephant management program consisting of 2.3 Asian and African elephants in a protected contact system. The position requires one year of related experience and/or a combination of related coursework and experience. Must be able to acquire and maintain a valid FL driver's license and work a varied work schedule in a tropical environment. All applicants must apply online at www.miamidade.gov and forward a copy of your resume to Miami Metro Zoo c/o Zoologic...
2008-03-04 - Nashville, United States. William Williams
The Nashville Zoos first attempt to artificially inseminate one of its female African elephants has failed. However, zoo officials say additional efforts to impregnate 21-year-old Kiba will be considered. Kiba is not, by any means, finished with the process, said Jim Bartoo, Nashville Zoo director of marketing and public relations. Any time an AI effort is unsuccessful, it limits the U.S. zoo communitys chances to add to its animal population ranks, Bartoo said. We knew it was going to be a 50-5...
2008-03-04 - Bangkok, Thailand. KRITTIYA WONGTAVAVIMARN
It took Pattarapol Maneeorn five days trekking through the jungle in Chanthaburi province to find a 65-year-old wild elephant stuck in mud. By the time the wildlife vet arrived, the animal was breathing slowly, his eyes showing his fatigue; his heart, left lung and kidney were being pressed down on by his six-tonne body.
2008-03-04 - Barcelona, Spain. Jessica Jeniu Perez
Alicia died on february 29, 2008 from an intestinal colic, 46 years old. Alicia arrived in Barcelona Zoo in 1963. African female Susi (arrived September 2002) is now the only elephant at the Barcelona zoo.
2008-03-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources,
In Sri Lanka our Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance (1937) and National Policy on elephants (1996) strictly prohibited culling as a measure to control elephant population. Our culture is based on compassion to all living beings and this too does not permit such measures. Capturing and domestication measures too are being restricted by the law. Our Government signed the CITES (Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Animals & Plants) so that exportation and importation of...
2008-03-04 - Orlando, United States. Courtney Gilmartin
University of Central Florida students will rebuild homes in New Orleans, make repairs to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee and assist in the rescues of abandoned border collies in Maryland during next week's spring break. More than 80 UCF students and 10 faculty and staff members will volunteer in six states as part of Alternative Spring Break, which allows students to help those in need and learn about important social issues during a time when many of their peers are relaxing on the beach. A...
2008-03-04 - Baltimore , United States.
When the circus comes to town, it's an exciting occasion in any city. But Baltimore gets an extra special treat every year: an elephant march and munch from 1st Mariner Arena to Lexington Market. Elephants at Lexington MarketWhen the circus comes to town, it's an exciting occasion in any city. But Baltimore gets an extra special treat every year: an elephant march and munch from 1st Mariner Arena to Lexington Market. The gentle giants of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, accompanied by ...
2008-03-04 - London, United Kingdom. Ed Kemp Marketing
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is launching a direct drive to encourage supporters to lobby the government for a ban on legal elephant ivory trade with China. The mailing, which breaks on 14 March and has been created by direct agency DMS, asks supporters to send an action card to the minister for biodiversity, Joan Ruddock MP,... To access this article and take part in all of the content and community features of Brand Republic and its associated sites, you will need to regist...
2008-03-03 - Baltimore, United States. Melissa Harris
Signs that an elephant is about to go into labor: loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, and a pattern of "lying down, standing up, and lying down," says Colleen Baird of the Maryland Zoo, which is expecting its first elephant birth in its 132-year history any day. Baird, the zoo's assistant elephant manager, says "general agitation" is all she has to go on until Felix's water breaks. And to prepare for that, Baird and her colleagues are keeping a round-the-clock watch, memorizing "elephant birt...
2008-03-03 - Pretoria, South Africa. Kathleen Costello
Scientists discovered this trait after studying the mammals mourning dead relatives in their natural environment. They also know that elephants are highly intelligent, demonstrate empathy and live within complex social structures. (Young elephants need to be taught elaborate social behaviors by adults in order to survive.) These are just a few of the reasons why killing a herd of elephants is more humane than killing a few individuals, experts say. This theory will be tested in South Africa, sta...
2008-03-03 - Pretoria, South Africa.
The Government of South Africa says it will think about allowing some elephants to be killed as it says there are too many of the big beasts in the country. The plan to kill or 'cull' elephants has divided opinion in South Africa. African elephants have been protected since 1995, but the ban on hunting them will be lifted on 1 May. Press Packers Quintin and Erin both live in South Africa, but have different opinions on the matter.
2008-03-03 - Shillong,, India. Rahul Karmakar, Hindustan Times
It's not just militants that voters in Meghalaya have to contend with. As many as 194 polling booths in the state have been labeled sensitive due to the threat from marauding elephants. Meghalaya goes to the polls on Monday. Overall, 829 of the 1,599 polling booths to be set up have been labeled either hypersensitive or sensitive. Last month, state chief electoral officer P. Naik asked the forest department for guards to keep vigil around booths in West Garo Hills, South Garo Hills and Ri-Bhoi d...
2008-03-03 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
FANS of one of Colchester Zoo's most popular animals were out to say their farewells at the weekend after Jambo the young elephant's departure date was announced. Last year it was announced that Jambo and his half-brother Kito, both African bull elephants, were to travel to make a new home at a Spanish zoo where they would take part in a European Breeding programme. And now it has been confirmed that Jambo will be the first to leave the Stanway visitor attraction and begin the four day journey t...
2008-03-03 - Washington, United States. Michelle Gadd, Program Officer, Species Survival Network
The February issue of CITES Afrique is now posted on the English version of the Species Survival Network website - the French version will be posted shortly. This issue has as one of its features a story on the creation of the African Elephant Coalition. It can be found at http://ssn.org
2008-03-03 - Pretoria, United States.
The Elephant Tourism Association (ETA) has welcomed the environmental affairs and tourism minister's terms of the norms and standards of elephant management, it said on Friday. "The ETA applauds the minister and his department on the exhaustive public process they recently completed leading to the issuing of the norms and standards for elephant management in South Africa," the association said in a statement.
2008-03-03 - Arlington, United States. Michelle Gadd, Program Officer, Africa Programs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dear Colleagues, I would like to encourage you to submit proposals for conservation projects to the 2008 USFWS African Elephant Conservation Fund as soon as possible. Proposals received by APRIL 1, 2008 will be fully evaluated for funding before the US Government fiscal year ends in September. Now is an ideal time to apply for any field work taking place in the second half of 2008 or commencing in 2009. This year, the multinational species conservation funds for Africa (Great Ape, African Eleph...
2008-03-03 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
This is the biggest elephant I ever saw. Jim A. said: I believe his name was Samson at the L.A. Zoo. I visited Scott Riddle and somewhere have a photo with Scott, Samson, and myself. Strange feeling to look up to see an elephant's chin -- he was BIG.
2008-03-03 - Louisville, United States. The Courier-Journal
The Louisville Zoo plans a celebration to honor the first birthday of its baby elephant, Scotty. Although he won’t officially be a year old until March 18, the zoo will celebrate the birthday on the previous Saturday — March 15, when zoo admission will be $1 in a Coca-Cola promotion. Zoo members can enter free.
2008-03-03 - Emmen, Netherlands.
The new born elephant in Emmen Zoo, Netherlands, now has a name: Ananda Yingthway, which means son of the greatest in burmese. Ananda is son to the asian elephant bull Radsch (Radza) who is indeed very big, and have unusually large and beautiful tusks. Anandas mother Htoo Yin Aye was born in Burma (Myanmar).
2008-03-03 - Chester, United Kingdom. John Burke
I see from the archives that 17 years ago on the 4th March we took our daughter Gillian to Chester Zoo. She was 4 at the time and by a coincidence so was the date and probably so was the temperature! So was the baby elephant that had been born in the Queen's Silver Jubilee year and was therefore named Jubilee. Ha - why did we not think of that. The elephant shown here is not Jubilee but a bigger one. In the language we used on the day probably either Mummy Elephant or Daddy Elephant.
2008-03-03 - Ruskin, United States. Buckles Woodcock
This film appears to have been made very early in the season, if not the opening day. Canvas looks band new and everyone is bundled up as tho in early spring. We were on the show the previous season (1948) and the biggest change I noticed was the panel banner line. The performance had changed from the Cristiani's and Hubert Castle to the Hannefords, Con Colleano and Barbette. My dad always said the Cole Show elephant acts were the worst he was ever associated with and with the exception of the w...
2008-03-02 - Kampala, Uganda.
2008-03-02 - Pretoria, South Africa. Chris Barron
After a 14-year moratorium, the government has approved elephant culling to protect the environment. Chris Barron asked Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk. Q: Is there enough scientific evidence that elephants are threatening biodiversity? A: The science is evolving all the time, but I believe the scientific evidence we have now is adequate to defend the decision.
2008-03-02 - Quad City, United States. Kay Luna
Scientists also have found fossils from long after the dinosaur era, the early part of what is sometimes referred to as the Age of Mammals — including the skull and tusks of a mastodon, which looked sort of like an elephant, that were found in 1968 in Prophetstown, Ill. That relic, along with fossilized mastodon and wooly mammoth teeth from the same era that were found in Rock Island County, is on display in the Fryxell Geology Museum at Augustana. It wasn’t until long after the age of dinos...
2008-03-02 - Chambéry, France. Wikipedia
The Fontaine des Éléphants ("Elephants Fountain") is surely the most famous landmark in Chambéry. It was built in 1838 to honour Benoît de Boigne's feats when he was in India. This statue, which represents the forelimbs of four elephants truncated in a column in the shape of the savoyan (savoyarde) cross was first hooted by the inhabitants, annoyed to see elephants in their city, but it appears that now, most of them have accepted. Witness of the previous dislike, the statue kept its nicknam...
2008-03-02 - Baltimore, United States. The Baltimore Sun
Felix the elephant is having a baby, and the newest addition to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore can't arrive soon enough. With new leadership, a strong base of state funding and reduced ticket prices, the zoo in Druid Hill Park is poised for resurgence. An infusion of corporate dollars would greatly help it along, even with a new pachyderm in the house. The zoo, which reopened this weekend for the season, is a 132-year-old institution that's been showing its age for some time; its facilities are m...
2008-03-02 - Boston, United States. James Sullivan
Anyone associated with Tufts University is well aware of the tale. The humble contents of an old Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar that sits in the office of the university's athletic director represents the remains of one of the 19th century's biggest international celebrities. Jumbo, the prized pachyderm of P. T. Barnum, inspired the nickname of the college's sports program when the famed showman donated the mounted hide of his main attraction to the school in 1889. Stuffed Jumbo stood proud...
2008-03-02 - Tapaktuan, Indonesia. ANTARA News
Three of wild elephants were reported to have trampled down hundreds of hectares of plantation area belonging to the residents of Kapa Sesak and Naca villages in Trumon sub-district, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD). "Since the last one week, the wild giant animals have destroyed hundreds of hectares of residential plantation in some villages," head of the Trumon sub-district administration H Lahmudin said here on Sunday. According to him, a band of wild elephants destroyed hundreds of hectares of...
2008-03-02 - Kansas, United States. RON SYLVESTER
In 2006, John Epperly and his wife, Shea, were fourth-year students working at Tenwek Hospital, a 300-bed clinic in the rural village of Bomet in southwestern Kenya. The Maasai man had been out tending his cattle when an elephant pinned him against a river bank and gored him four times. He had several tusk wounds in his arms and a 10-centimeter hole through his thigh. Epperly spent hours just getting his wounds cleaned before treating him.
2008-03-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wasantha Chandrapala
The duel between man and beast does not seem to have an end and the situation seems to be worsening by the day. The result is that both man and beast die in the confrontation. While an elephant at Dighawapiya area in Ampara district was killed in early February, on the 26th of last month a wild elephant killed a farmer in Ruhunugama village. Other villages where the menace is rampant in this district are Kotavehera, Suduwella and Vijithapura where at sundown elephants stray into paddy fields des...
2008-03-02 - Auckland, New Zealand. Mark, ZooBeat Forums
2008-03-02 - Colchester, United Kingdom. Colchester Zoo
We have just received confirmation that Jambo the African Elephant, will be leaving for BioParc Valencia in Spain on Tuesday 4th March. This is a brand new state of the art zoo and we are very pleased that it has been confirmed that he will be moving along with his half brother Kito as part of the European Breeding Programme. We know that they will both be in very good hands. Unfortunately, his leaving date has only just been confirmed so we are sorry for the late notice but do hope that you wil...
2008-03-02 - London, United Kingdom.
In an effort to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade China has begun targeting online shops and auction sites, where parts of threatened and endangered animals are openly sold. While there were a wide variety of illegal animal products for sale, there were two particularly popular species. Elephant ivory and tiger bone products were the most popular sellers in China. Ivory is usually sold in carved souvenir form and bought by collectors, while the tiger bone products are usually bought for u...
2008-03-02 - Aalborg, Denmark. Zoologist Jens Lilleør, Aalborg Zoologiske Have
The african bull elephant Tembo in Ahlborg, Denmark, was euthanised on wednesday 27 february. He has been ill for some time, but until now, it was impossible to make a diagnosis, until postmortum. Decision to euthanise was taken on ethical reasosn since he was in poor condition, and could hardly walk or stand on his legs. Tembo was imported from Southafrica 1985 together with the females Bibi, Tanja and Mai.
2008-03-01 - Baltimore, United States. Jewel Edwards-Waldo
Booties for this new baby might take a little more time to knit. The season opening of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore this weekend might be a great time to see their pregnant African elephant, Felix, before she has her baby — expected any day now. “Everybody’s just really excited about the impending birth and being very watchful,” said zoo spokeswoman Jennifer Ludwig. Last December, Felix and Tuffy transferred from Riddles Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Arkansas to join the zoo’s tw...
2008-03-01 - Riau, Indonesia.
A Sumatran elephant gives his trainer a lift at an elephant preserve in Minas, Indonesia's Riau Province.
2008-03-01 - Zakouma, Chad. Sharon Begley, NEWSWEEK
The marauders galloped into Zakouma National Park in Chad, the last refuge of that country's once thriving elephant population. Rather than bother with the few remaining elephants, the attackers last May were after the 1.5 tons of ivory—worth as much as $1.3 million—that Chadian officials had seized from poachers over the years and stored in a strongroom at park headquarters. Neither the audacity of the attack nor its brutality—the raiders killed three park rangers—shocked wildlife offic...
2008-03-01 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock, Ben Trumble, J Goodall
Ben Trumble said: JRN has that look of somebody who rather have been posed with something other than an elephant.
2008-03-01 - Ruskin, United States.
Super Cuts said: For those unaware, the pretty girl standing next to her brother, the one with the bad hair cut, is Kenny's sister, Karen. Karen was once involved with Jack Cassidy, the father of David Cassidy and former husband of Shirley Jones (Partrige Family on tv when it had rabbit ears). For reasons unknown to us, Karen has been banished from KennyFeld Land. Buckles can confirm is the baby elephant Karen, named after the Party Girl herself? Buckles said: The baby elephant was indeed named ...
2008-03-01 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Sheree Béga
China, one of the world's largest traders in illegal ivory, is vying to buy up South Africa's massive elephant ivory stock which has built up over several years as the result of a worldwide ban. But conservation authorities must first decide whether China is a suitable destination for the ivory, the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said this week. Last June, South Africa received permission from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flor...
2008-02-29 - Assam, India.
Two orphaned elephant calves and a rare 18-month-old rhino have been returned to the wild in northeast India. The animals were released into Manas National Park in Assam after they were found orphaned and then hand raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park.
2008-02-29 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Here are some photos of Dailey Bros. in Ames, Iowa in 1950. In the fourth picture, is the little bull Tommy? //Joey. "When I showed this picture to Barbara she immediately recognized the second elephant "Myrtle" from the first elephant act she ever performed in, she appeared in Ring 5 with "Myrtle", "Jenny" and "Jap", trained and presented by the celebrated Robert Jones.//Buckles. David said: I never realized that Dailey Bros. Circus was so large as to have 5 rings. I'm curious as to what...
2008-02-29 - Beawiharta, Indonesia.
The Sumatran elephant, the smallest of the Asian elephants, is facing serious pressures arising from illegal logging and rapid forest conversion to palm oil plantations. As forests shrink, elephants are increasingly closer to fields and cultivated land, generating conflict with humans that often result in the death of the elephants by poisoning or capture, according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report in 2007. The Minas Elephant Training Centre protects more than 40 elephants from around 200 e...
2008-02-28 - Doha, Qatar.
The Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR) yesterday announced its decision to host the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Doha.
2008-02-28 - New Delhi, India.
Environmentalists and wildlife activists have pressed the panic button in the elephant corridor connecting Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where the Asian tusker is under siege. According to an estimate by the NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), more than 20 elephants have died between January 2007 and January 2008 in southern India as a result of man-animal conflict.
2008-02-28 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Jocelyn Ford
Tomorrow's going to be a big day in Thailand. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is expected to return to Bangkok from exile. He was ousted in a coup two years ago, amid accusations of corruption. Out in the Thai jungles, a business tycoon is trying to bring back domesticated elephants. For generations they were used to haul timber, but they were left essentially unemployed when Thailand banned logging twenty years ago. Jocelyn Ford reports on how to make elephants relevant in a modern-day...
2008-02-28 - Philadelphia, United States. Marianne Bessey, Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants
Just last month, the Philadelphia Zoo confirmed plans to breed its two younger African elephants as part of continuing "elephant-conservation efforts" and estimated costs of a new elephant exhibit at $27 million. This week, South African officials announced that thousands of African elephants would be killed starting May 1 to reduce an alleged overpopulation of elephants in that country.
2008-02-28 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. T.N.Quyen
Police of Buon Me Thuot Town in the central highlands province of Dak Lak uncovered an illegal distillation of elephant bones by a local Wednesday. The offender, Vu Thanh Thiem, who was caught in the process of admixing the bones to create a type of medicinal glue, said the 231 kilograms of bones came from his younger brother Vu Thanh Tue who had purchased a dead circus elephant. Thiem, however, failed to present appropriate legal documents for the bones as requested.
2008-02-28 - Mpumalanga, South Africa.
A 46-year-old game ranger was trampled to death by an elephant, Mpumalanga police said on Wednesday. Superintendent Abie Khoabane said two rangers at Manyaleti Game Lodge saw an irate elephant, and vultures in the sky. They went to investigate and the elephant charged them. The rangers ran in different directions. One did not return and a search was launched for him. The missing ranger was found dead on Tuesday near the place where the elephant charged. An inquest docket has been opened.
2008-02-28 - Madikeri, India.
Deputy Conservator of Forests (Madikeri division), B B Mallesh expressed concern over the increasing wild elephant-human conflict in the district. Delivering the keynote address at a Rotary Misty Hills function on Wild Elephant- Human Conflict here recently, he said that the situation had reached its peak in the last one-and-half year due to which seven people had lost their lives. Speaking on crops and property loss, he said in the last ten years, 31 people were killed and 43 injured seriously ...
2008-02-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wasantha Ramanayake
"Asokamala" was born and bred in captivity and therefore could not be released to the wilderness, Wildlife Director General Ananda Weerasuriya stated in his objections to a Fundamental Rights Application before the Supreme Court. The Director General added that the elephant was born in the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala and rared in captivity. The rights application was filed by petitioner Vijitha Fernando of Mt. Lavinia, the treasurer of the organisation, Society for the Protection of Animal R...
2008-02-28 - Pretoria, South Africa.
The Humane Society of the United States and its international arm, Humane Society International, today applauded new regulations on elephant management announced by the South African government on Monday. The new regulations will ban the capture of elephants for commercial exhibition facilities such as elephant back safari industries or circuses, prohibit the import and export of captive elephants and prevent intensive breeding of captive elephants, other than natural birth, beginning May 1, 200...
2008-02-28 - Pinellas park, United States. THOMAS MICHALSKI
Betty Jean Beck was 16 years old in 1942 when she ran away with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. She did everything from riding and training elephants to driving chariots. She even did some clowning thanks to her friend and world renown clown, Emmett Kelly who gained fame playing Weary Willie. “Elephants are just big puppy dogs,” Beck said. “They really are very gentle animals.” There are many tricks to riding elephants. When getting off of one, for example, a rider mu...
2008-02-28 - New Delhi, India. Mudassir Rizwan
Two people have been arrested here for trying to sell 2.5 kg of ivory worth Rs.250,000, the police said Thursday. Trade in ivory is banned in India. Aishwarya Vardhan, a 25-year-old graduate of the Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra, and Raju Kanwar, a 24-year-old from Bihar, were arrested Wednesday from Shanti Path area in New Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) A.S. Cheema said Vardhan was earlier employed with an NGO and was now working with an import-export firm as an ex...
2008-02-27 - Vermont, United States. Joshua E. Brown
For 27 years, civil war battered the African republic of Angola—ravaging not only its people, but also its national parks and wildlife. Combat and bushmeat hunters drove many spectacular species, including elephants, to local extinction. In 1994, South African wildlife scientist Wouter Van Hoven and others started an effort to restore these parks and their animals through the Kissama Foundation.
2008-02-27 - London, United Kingdom. Stuart Coles
Dr Stephen Blake has trekked hundreds of miles on foot with pygmies to study Congo forest elephants. He talks to Stuart Coles about these 'hidden giants'. 'How to catch an elephant' is perhaps not your average book chapter, but Stephen Blake and Andrea Turkalo are not your average authors. Between them, the pair have spent around 30 years' observing one of the planet's largest yet most elusive animals - the forest elephant.
2008-02-27 - Amboseli, Kenya. Solomon Mburu
For ages, marauding elephants of Amboseli have given farmers sleepless nights and scientists have been testing ways of reducing the level of elephant crop damage and the threat to human life in the area. The human wildlife conflict that has persisted for years in Amboseli has left farmers reeling in losses of crops and even lives. The ecosystem in Amboseli National Park and its small size does not allow for complete fencing off to hold the jumbos inside the park making the already precarious ...
2008-02-27 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
Engineers at Fleetwood Trawlers solved a jumbo problem for Blackpool Zoo's Asian elephant, Crumple, who has had a specially designed protective boot made for her. It was discovered that four ton Crumple, who is 39, had been experiencing mobility problems which turned out to be due to an arthritic hip. Fleetwood Trawlers were contacted for their help to take pressure off her foot and after one unsuitable boot, Crumple is now wearing her designer footwear.
2008-02-27 - Baltimore, United States. Jessica Kartalija
Felix is a 24-year-old African elephant who left her old digs behind before packing her trunk for Maryland. "We knew she was pregnant when she came. She came from a facility in Arkansas. We felt like she would be a good fit here," said Mike McClure. The pregnant pachyderm has packed on the pounds. Elephants gain a ton of weight, literally, when they're expecting. "The only way to tell [Felix is pregnant] is by looking at her two front legs. She has milk and her breasts are swollen. That's t...
2008-02-27 - Los Angeles , United States.
David Hasselhoff is reclaiming an ivory tusk and an antique barber's chair from his ex-wife. The former 'Baywatch' actor has won a court order allowing him back into the family home in Los Angeles to collect possessions from ex-wife Pamela Bach. Among other items the former heartthrob wants to reclaim, are an elephant foot and two elephant stools, a statue of a dolphin, a model elephant and baseball memorabilia.
2008-02-27 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
The South African government has decided to lift its moratorium on the culling of elephants in the country's national parks because populations in the country have risen from about 8,000 elephants to nearly 20,000 over the past decade or so. South Africa says, for instance, that there are some 5,000 more elephants living in the Kruger National Park, where numbers have almost doubled to 12,500, than can be sustained by the park's enclosed habitat. What are the arguments for culling elephants?
2008-02-26 - Pretoria, South Africa. Guy Rogers
A NEW policy for managing South Africa‘s elephants lifts the 17-year-old moratorium on culling jumbos – but emphasises that this measure will be approved only as a “last resort”. Announcing the final norms and standards for elephant management at a briefing in Pretoria yesterday, Environment and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said his department recognised the need to maintain culling as a management option. “But we have taken steps to ensure this will be the option of last r...
2008-02-26 - Sydney, Australia. Kelly Burke
THONG DEE bypassed several birthdays over the weekend, as Taronga Zoo management revised her age from eight to 12. But yesterday an Australian National University expert emphatically relegated the pregnant elephant back to single digits. Professor Colin Groves, a biological anthropologist specialising in elephant taxonomy (classification) came to the conclusion based on information the zoo released on Friday. Its statement said "Thong Dee's fourth of six sets of teeth she will have during her li...
2008-02-26 - St. Clair Shores, United States. Christy Strawser
Wendt, 37, of St. Clair Shores, is principal zookeeper at the Detroit Zoo's Arctic Ring of Life where two ferocious furry beasts are expected to visit in late winter or early spring. Wendt has plenty of experience dealing with the zoo's largest animals because he started his career 10 years ago in the elephant exhibit at the Detroit Zoo. He cared for popular elephants Wanda and Winky until they were shipped to an elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, Calif., to retire in comfort. Wendt said he miss...
2008-02-26 - Pretoria, South Africa. The Born Free Foundation
Leading animal protection and conservation organization, The Born Free Foundation, expressed utter disappointment today after Environmental Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk announced that government-sanctioned elephant culling will become official policy on Friday 29 February, 2008. This would end the culling ban introduced in 1994, the year that free elections in the RAINBOW Nation ended apartheid for good.
2008-02-26 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The unnecessary confinement and transportation of elephants for entertainment purposes has left the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) "seriously perturbed". The NSPCA was on Tuesday responding to the Norms and Standards for the Management of Elephants in South Africa, announced by Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Monday.
2008-02-26 - Gamba, Gabon.
'Is that a jumbo on the runway?" I asked an expat in the passport queue next to me. We both squinted. It was! I had just arrived at Gamba Airport in Gabon and already I had spotted my first elephant. He was a handsome bull, with the straight tusks typical of the African forest variety, he emerged from the trees and began to career about the grounds, heading, unnervingly, towards the runway. A couple of officials rushed to sidetrack him but moments later the roar of another plane did the job. As ...
2008-02-26 - Emmen, Netherlands. Martijn Fabrie
In Dierenpark Emmen in The Netherlands, an elephant has given birth to a male calf. His is name is not known right now. He was born on 25 February 2008. Mother: Htoo Yin Aye, Father: Radza. The newborn elephant weights 130 kg at birth. There's a video from him on the Internet, but it's in Dutch: http://nl.sitestat.com/regio-i/dvhnoorden/s?dvhn.video.dvhn-video20080226Olifantje_Emmen&ns_type=clickout&ns_url=http://wm1.streamzilla.jet-stream.nl/ndcvbk/20080226Olifantje_Emmen.wmv
2008-02-26 - Lahore, Pakistan. Imran Shah
The Lahore Zoo continues to deprive the 26-year-old Suzi of her groom, while catering to other demands of entertainment for the public at large. Officials concerned maintained that the administration concerned had always neglected the pairing of animals at the Lahore Zoo, robbing them of their basic needs. The situation is the same for the three female crocodiles who since 1984 remain without a male partner while Suzi, brought to the Lahore Zoo in 1982 at the age of six, had been its strong sour...
2008-02-26 - London, United Kingdom. Hugo Rifkind
Imagine if, here in Britain, we had too many elephants. Not just some elephants, (which is, you might think, a stretch in itself) but far too many of them. Elephants, everywhere. “This train has been delayed, due to elephants.” “Play was disrupted before the final whistle by elephants.” “Junction 15 is closed, and full of elephants.” Magical? Not for long. I throw that out there to help you to empathise with the anti-elephant lobby. It's easier, by far, to be pro-elephant. I forget (...
2008-02-26 - Riau, Indonesia.
Pekanbaru, Sumatra: Turning just one Sumatran province's forests and peat swamps into pulpwood and palm oil plantations is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than the Netherlands and rapidly driving the province's elephants into extinction, a new study by WWF and partners has found.
2008-02-25 - Pretoria, South Africa. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Elephant management in South Africa At approximately this time a year ago, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) published the Draft Norms and Standards for Elephant Management for public comment. Intense public interest was generated and we are now ready to publish a final version that has benefited significantly from the public commentary and consultative processes. It was to be expected that strong emotions would be part of this debate. There are few other creatures on earth ...
2008-02-25 - Manas, India. International Fund for Animal Welfare
Today, IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare http://www.ifaw.org/) and its sister organization, WTI (Wildlife Trust of India) announced that 2 elephant calves and a one-and-a-half year-old greater one-horned rhino were successfully returned to the wild in Manas National Park. The animals, which were hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga National Park, were translocated yesterday, by truck, 450 kilometers to Manas National Park.
2008-02-25 - Palakkad, India.
An elephant which was brought for the festival at the Palabhadra Devi temple in Shoranur ran amok and created some anxious moments on Sunday. Cherpulassery Neelakantan which was taken to the Bharathapuzha river for bathing at 11 a.m. failed to obey the mahout and got into a deep pit inside the river bed. It began to run helter- skelter when it was brought out of the pit. It was with great effort that the mahout managed to tether the elephant.
2008-02-24 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo hopes to breed its first Asian elephant to help stocks of the endangered species. There are only 25,000 Asian elephants left in the world as human population growth in their native environment puts pressure on their food supply. Blood tests reveal a 15-year-old female called Dokkoon will be able to fall pregnant next month, one of only three times each year. Senior elephant keeper Steve Blanchard said the zoo's only male, Bong Su, had continued to warm to his new female counterpart...
2008-02-24 - Stanford, United States. Sam Aola Ooko
The pounding feet of the 15,000 pound African Bush Elephant make protective crevices in the savanna grasslands that help the geckos hide from their predators and the hot, penetrating African sun, according to Robert Pringle, an ecologist and conservation biologist at Stanford University in California, who conducted his research at the Mpala Research Center in Kenya. Significant numbers of geckos have been reported in the aftermath of an elephant’s feeding - the vertebrates often finding breedi...
2008-02-24 - Sydney, Australia. Kelly Burke
RENEWED doubts over the legality of Taronga Zoo's importation of nine Asian elephants have been raised overseas, with documents from Thailand suggesting that up to half may have been snatched from the wild. Moreover, the registration certificate for one elephant, the now pregnant Thong Dee, shows she is just six years and nine months old - despite an animal welfare requirement that the zoo not use any elephant under the age of 12 for breeding.
2008-02-24 - Sydney, Australia.
Throughout 2007, Taronga Zoo stated that Thong Dee was seven years old. This claim was included in a news release dated November 13 about a report to the Government on how the import conditions for the elephants had been met. Last week, the zoo said she was eight. Now, after international controversy around her pregnancy, a keeper has looked at her teeth and declared she is 11 or 12. The same keeper claims elephants can sometimes read his mind. (The Daily Telegraph, Saturday). We are also told T...
2008-02-23 - Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.
Plai Khai Heed, an elephant that injured a villager in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Phrom Khiri district on Wednesday, died yesterday from multiple gunshot wounds, prompting criticism of the villagers' excessive use of firearms. Meanwhile the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department warned the public to be cautious when travelling through Tab Lan, Khao Yai, Khao Ang Reu Nai, Kaeng Krajan and Kui Buri national parks, where they were likely to encounter wild elephants.
2008-02-23 - St Andrews, United States. Bates LA, Sayialel KN, Njiraini NW, Poole JH, Moss CJ, Byrne RW. University of St Andrews
Monitoring the location of conspecifics may be important to social mammals. Here, we use an expectancy-violation paradigm to test the ability of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) to keep track of their social companions from olfactory cues. We presented elephants with samples of earth mixed with urine from female conspecifics that were either kin or unrelated to them, and either unexpected or highly predictable at that location.
2008-02-22 - Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
Wild elephants killed one Buddhist monk and seriously injured another in Thap Lan national park in Nakhon Ratchasima province yesterday. The two were members of a group of 11 monks who had gone to meditate in Khon Buri forest reserve, within the park boundaries. Phra Natthaporn Kittiyano, 38, was trampled to death and Phra Wichian Khemmako, 43, sustained multiple broken bones and was rushed to a local hospital. The other monks in the group were unharmed.
2008-02-22 - Pattaya, Thailand.
A nice story now from the Million Year Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm located on the Eastern Outskirts of Pattaya. On Thursday Afternoon, staff at the farm welcomed a new arrival in the form of a newly born male elephant. The dramatic birth involved Gaesorn a 16 year old elephant who gave birth to her new son after a 21 month gestation period. We understand that the elephant park will run a competition involving Tourists, who will decide the name of the new-born.
2008-02-22 - Sydney, Australia. Garry Linnell
IT began as a sordid tale of steamy and illicit underage sex in a leafy North Shore suburb of Sydney. But yesterday it sounded like a typical encounter in the affluent but ageing suburb of Mosman - just another lustful romp among consenting adults with lots of wrinkled grey skin. Thong Dee is the first elephant to fall pregnant in Australia. But just how old the Taronga Zoo attraction really is remained mired in controversy yesterday amid claims she could be as young as six - or as old as 12.
2008-02-22 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Animal Rights Africa (ARA) has threatened boycotts, protests and legal steps if South Africa legalises culling to control elephant numbers. Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk is expected to announce the national norms and standards for elephant management (NNSEM) on Monday. ARA said on Friday that promoting international tourist boycotts, public protests and legal challenges were among the measures it would resort to if the NNSEM persisted in legalising culling as...
2008-02-22 - Kinshushe, Kenya.
Elephants and baboons have been raiding fields in one district in Kenya, destroying crops and putting at least 3,000 people at risk of starvation. One man was killed by an elephant while standing guard and another man was seriously injured by baboons that showed up while he was harvesting maize, The Nation, a Kenyan newspaper, reported. "Residents guard their farms in shifts to protect crops from baboons during day time while others take over and guard against elephants at night," Joseph Meso, t...
2008-02-22 - Salt Lake City, United States. Derek P. Jensen, The Salt Lake Tribune
After 20 years of traversing the world in the Navy, Earl Gowin has seen a little bit of everything. But it took retirement on a family ranch near Fillmore for Gowin's grandest discovery. In November 2004, a bulldozer operator hit something hard in Gowin's sand and gravel pit, which he had leased to a contractor. "My first thought was, 'That looks like a mammoth tusk,' " Gowin recalled saying about the six-foot fossil. "I didn't know mammoths were in this part of the world, but evidently they wer...
2008-02-22 - Guwahati, India.
The Gauhati High Court today admitted a public interest litigation (PIL) on protection and conservation of wild elephants arising out of frequent human-elephant conflicts and for protection of human life and property from elephant depredations in the State.
2008-02-22 - Kochi, India. Ajayan
If elephants were stocks their price to tail-hair multiples would give a good indication of whether they are over-valued or not. Some revel in the prestige of owning an elephant but all talk of numbers is avoided because Indian laws do not allow animals to be used for commercial purposes
2008-02-22 - Petrolia, United States. JASON HRIBAL
Janet was a female elephant born in 1965. She had been taken from the jungles of Southeastern Asia. Stripped from her mother and extended family, she was ultimately shipped to the United States. After arrival, she was put to work in the circus, and it was in the circus where she remained for the rest of her life. Her main job was to give rides to children and adults. And it was one day, while providing just such an amusement, that this elephant reached her breaking point.
2008-02-21 - Vlaardingen, Netherlands. Antoinette van de Water
Award award winning Bring the Elephant Home documentary “Return to the Wild” will have its European première on Animal Planet. The documentary shows Antoinette’s journey with the rescued elephants Sri Nuan and Douk Ngern, which was the start of the Bring the Elephant Home foundation. As of yet we can’t give a full schedule for all of Europe, as soon as it is available to us we will put it up here, but we can give these times and dates: United Kingdom: Sun Feb 24 - 21:00 The Nethe...
2008-02-21 - Sauraha, Nepal. Anand Gurung
It was late spring but Chitwan was already very hot. There were no people on the road where a little while ago a jeep had driven past lifting a huge cloud of dust. The rickshaw-man who had brought me to Sauraha was red in the face and perspiring profusely through all the cycling. “You’ll just be making a round of jungle,” the rickshaw-man said as we sat in the restaurant patiently waiting for the elephant to arrive. “There are rhinoceros, leopards, chital and many other animals in the ju...
2008-02-21 - Norwich, United States.
TIME is running out for aspiring artists who want to help create a public art trail across Norwich this summer. Up to 50 baby elephant sculptures will go display across the city from June 23 to August 31 as part of Go Elephants!, billed as Norwich's largest ever outdoor art event. The deadline for submissions is tomorrow. Artists who want to take part should contact The Forum Trust for guidance and submission forms by e-mailing events@theforumnorwich.co.uk or calling 01603 727907. Further inform...
2008-02-21 - Warsaw, Poland. Aviva Lori
Antonia Zabinska saw it all on September 15, 1939, two weeks after Nazi Germany invaded Poland: Kasia the elephant was killed by a shell. Her daughter, Tuzinka, was orphaned, but remained alive and well. Some of the monkeys and antelopes were killed by rifle fire; the others scattered across the city. The chimpanzee and the exotic birds disappeared. One giraffe was shot to death. The seals escaped, though it is not clear to where. Camels, llamas and deer wandered along the banks of the Vistula R...
2008-02-21 - Longford, Ireland.
A Longford man recently sued an Irish circus for ¤20,000 damages, after he alleged that he had been head-butted by an elephant. The circus owners claimed that the man had fallen against the elephant's forehead. The case was settled out of court and all parties agreed to forgt about the incident... with the possible exception of the elephant.
2008-02-21 - Dubbo, Australia.
A FORMER circus elephant that killed her handler has found a permanent home at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. After undergoing health and behavioural assessments at the Dubbo zoo, Arna, who crushed her handler, 57-year-old Ray Williams, in December last year, and her companion Gigi will stay there together permanently. Taronga Conservation Society Australia Director Guy Cooper said it was important to make sure the ex-circus elephants were both healthy before a decision was made about where they wo...
2008-02-21 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Two punks collared to big elephants for spec. The African is "Diamond", trained by Hugo Schmitt the following winter in Sarasota and well remembered from his latter days in the Knoxville Zoo.
2008-02-21 - Dublin, Ireland.
A zoo's not-so-little latest arrival made his first public appearance on Thursday. The four-day-old baby elephant - which weighs in at 80kgs (176lbs) - was revealed to visitors to Dublin Zoo with his mother Yasmin. The bouncing boy, who has not yet been named, is thriving since his delivery early on Sunday morning. The natural birth was observed by zoo staff through several infrared cameras, with the calf walking after just 30 minutes. The jumbo delivery is the latest addition to the facility's ...
2008-02-21 - Nanyuki, Kenya.
On January 24, six crop-raiding male elephants were de-tusked on Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The exercise was carried out by Ol Pejeta and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). De-tusking means trimming of the tusks. Its ultimate goal is to prevent the elephants from breaking the fences and venturing into the surrounding communities, where they become a threat to humans and their crops.
2008-02-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. George Obulutsa
Hungry refugees in Tanzania are eating chimpanzees and other endangered species in order to supplement their meager diet, international conservation group Traffic said on Tuesday. It said refugees living near national parks in northwestern Tanzania were also illegally hunting buffalo, topi, eland, elephant and waterbuck. In neighboring Kenya, aid and conservation groups said refugee camps housing thousands of people who fled violence after disputed December 27 were damaging the environment, as d...
2008-02-20 - Woburn, United Kingdom. Lisa Santer, Woburn Safari Park
With the completion of Woburn’s progressive new elephant facility in the Spring of 2008, and a desire to expand the size of Woburn’s herd, a vacancy has arisen for an elephant keeper to help look after Woburn's three Asian Elephants. The elephant section at Woburn currently operates a hands-on system for its two cows and a protected contact system for its bull. Experienced applicants are preferred, but non-experienced applicants may be considered to join one of the most progressive el...
2008-02-19 - Salt City, United States. Rebecca Palmer
Utah's Hogle Zoo announced Monday that its 22-year-old African elephant is expecting a calf, due sometime in summer 2009. Christie was artificially inseminated in October by a team of German scientists, said zoo spokeswoman Holly Braithwaite. It was their third attempt at impregnating Christie, who was chosen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as a good breeding candidate. She has been at Hogle Zoo for most of her life. "I'm ecstatic. I'm even still almost speechless,...
2008-02-19 - Cincinnati, United States.
Big Bone Lick foreshadows a warming Earth filled with condemned species. Bones of numerous Ice Age mammals are entombed at the Kentucky salt lick, which yielded the world's first identified mastodon remains in 1739. President George Washington owned a mastodon tooth from Big Bone Lick. William Henry Harrison, a future U.S. president, gathered 13 large barrels of remains from the lick in 1795. Two hundred years ago, on March 7, 1808, President Jefferson received 300 bones from the lick and had th...
2008-02-19 - Guwahati, India.
For a team that spends most part of the year chasing elephants from human habitats, the forest department knows without even counting that the number of homeless pachydrems has increased in the past year. What it hopes to find out during the weeklong elephant census that begins in Assam tomorrow is whether this homelessness has affected the jumbo count. Most fear that the elephant count is going the tiger way — the National Tiger Conservation Authority has pegged the tiger figure at 70 followi...
2008-02-18 - Dublin, Ireland.
A male elephant has been born at Dublin Zoo - the second elephant to be born at the zoo in the past year. The calf, who has not yet been named, was born to mother Indian elephant mother Yasmin at 5.27am in the zoo's elephant enclosure. The birth was unassisted but was observed by zoo staff through several infrared cameras. Mother and baby are both doing well. The other four elephants at the zoo, all female, are smelling and touching the new arrival. Last May, a female elephant, Asha, was born.
2008-02-18 - Calgary, Canada. MICHAEL PLATT
There are parents in Calgary with more mouths to feed, but at 25 litres of milk a day, there's no baby with an appetite like this 242-kg toddler. Such greedy guzzling has Malti the elephant gaining up to a kilogram of mass a day and half of that milk now comes directly from the baby's mom. Its a breast-feeding victory that's made Family Day all the more significant for keepers at the Calgary Zoo, who've been hand-raising Malti since her birth on August 9. "Each day we have another success and ea...
2008-02-18 - New Delhi, India. Rajesh Sinha
In an unheard of incident, a wild elephant killed and devoured a man who came in the way of the herd in the Garo hills of Meghalaya. Elephants are herbivores. Though they’ve been known to go on the rampage, trampling or battering humans to death or destroying hutments and crops, there are no records of a pachyderm feeding on a human being. Confirming the incident which took place nearly a month ago, principal chief conservator of forests of Meghalaya VK Nautiyal, who was in New Delhi for a co...
2008-02-18 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
2008-02-18 - Nairobi, Kenya. Elizabeth Miranda
International bans on the ivory trade and efforts to control poaching have helped Kenya's elephant population rebound, wildlife authorities say. In the Tsavo/Mkomazi area a conservancy in the larger Tsavo area in southern Kenya the elephant population grew from 10,397 in 2005 to 11,696 in 2008, according the Kenya Wildlife Service.
2008-02-17 - Yala, Sri Lanka. Rohan Abeywardene
A wild female elephant freely roaming the jungles surrounding the historic Sithulpauwa Raja Maha vihara complex in the Yala National Park is also a welcome guest at the temple day and night thanks to the loving kindness practised by its chief incumbent Ven Mevaramba Hemaratne Thera to all living beings. The only problem is that for this friendly creature anytime is meal time and you will find him poking his trunk through any opening in the monks’ living quarters to satisfy its voracious appeti...
2008-02-17 - Dublin, Ireland. Christina Park
ELEPHANTS can stand on tiptoe -- they can run on tiptoe and hardly make a sound. And they can use their sensitive feet to hear through the ground. You would think such behaviour would have drawn attention before but, as the writer Henry David Thoreau (quoted in this book) points out, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see". And Irish-American scientist Dr Caitlin O'Connell, author of The Elephant's Secret Sense, has a keen eye. Employed in 1992 by the Namibian government to s...
2008-02-17 - Manila, Philippines. Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
The United Republic of Tanzania in Africa is willing to donate giraffes and elephants to the Manila Zoo in exchange for Philippine crocodiles. The Philippines has more than enough crocodiles, said Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim who proposed the exchange to a 13-man delegation from Tanzania. An animal-for-reptile exchange had earlier been proposed by Lim so the city could address its surplus of crocodiles and add to its animal collection. Lim said he was willing to exchange 20 of its more than 40 croco...
2008-02-17 - Gastonia, United States. Teri Walley
Larry Agenbroad, modern-day woolly mammoth hunter, was part of an international team of scientists who, in 1999, chipped the Jarkov mammoth out of the permafrost, extracting from the ice an elephant-sized popsicle. The Fossil Fair and Agenbroad's talk fit in with the Schiele's featured exhibit, "TUSKS! Ice Age Mammoths and Mastodons," which presents the skulls of American lions, saber-tooth cats, cave bears and 10-million-year-old shoveltuskers. Agenbroad will tell stories about his famous Russi...
2008-02-17 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
Elephants in Myanmar have long been invaluable labourers in the country's timber industry, nimbly finding their way through forests and dragging heavy fallen trees to rivers for shipping. But as Myanmar's ruling junta expands logging in the country's teak forests, more wild elephants are being captured and trained for clear-cutting operations that destroy the very habitats in which they roamed freely, activists and industry insiders say.
2008-02-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Of all the illegal activities that animate the streets of Bangkok - the vendors who hawk pirated DVDs and fake watches, the brothels that call themselves saunas one stands out more than others. Elephants are not supposed to saunter down the city's streets as they do almost every night. For at least two decades the giant grey beasts have plodded through this giant grey city, stopping off at red-light districts and tourist areas where their handlers peddle elephant snacks of sugar cane and bananas...
2008-02-16 - Kalpetta, India. Jose Kurian
The proposed Nilambur-Nanjangod railway line across the Nilgiri biosphere, which passes through various wildlife sanctuaries would prove death-knell for the Asiatic elephant population, a major share of which is living in the Wayanad plateau, fear wildlife enthusiasts. Their fear is justified considering the fact that hundreds of elephants were killed on track in the last few years while crossing rail lines. According to the data available with the Wildlife Protection Society of India as many as...
2008-02-16 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Patti Flynn
Yesterday, we went back to the mae sa elephant camp, about 40 mins out of chiang mai. we visited there 6 years ago and could hardly believe how the place has changed. the first indication was the piles of enormous chinese tourist buses lined up outside....six years ago, it was a rough little camp with maybe 20 elephants. nobody spoke a word of english. there were a few thatched raised platforms here and there for alighting onto elephants. you got onto an elephant and you were taken for a 60 minu...
2008-02-16 - Berhmapur, India.
Large tracts of cultivated land in several villages of Ganjam have been destroyed by an elephant herd that strayed into Barbara forest from Chandaka last week. The herd consisted of 11 female elephants, a tusker and four calves. In certain places, the herd has even reportedly attacked villagers creating panic in the region. Beguniapada, Khallikote, Purushottampur and Rambha areas are the worst affected. The herd was last located near Bagdevi mound at Purushottampur-Khallikote border and was chas...
2008-02-16 - Knysna, South Africa.
One lucky elephant has a new calling: contributing to the process of winemaking, writes Lesley Beake. Harry the elephant tossed his trunk and ran away to the wine farm. If one thinks at all of elephants and the delights of drink, it will be an image of marula fruit and elephants enjoying sundowners deep in the bush where nobody can report them for drunken lumbering. But a recent experiment has shown that the great grey beasts are also useful in the pressing of grapes for wine. Probably not comme...
2008-02-15 - Paklay, Laos.
the Elephant Festival has been organised to raise awareness of the need for action to protect the Asian elephant as part of the vital cultural and natural heritage of Laos and the countries of the region. Sayaboury Province welcomes you back to pay tribute to its elephants and enjoy great cultural activities and entertainment.
2008-02-15 - Coimbatore, India. GC Shekhar, Hindustan Times
Conflict for space between man and elephant has led to a poignant situation where the villagers of Madukarai, near Coimbatore, will soon build a temple in memory of three elephants killed by a train near their village on January 4. Two male elephants and a pregnant female elephant were run over by a passenger train during the early hours, as the engine driver was unable to spot them due to heavy fog. In the trauma the female elephant delivered the baby, which was born dead.
2008-02-15 - Kollam, India.
The Elephant Lovers Association (ELA), Thrissur, has urged the Forest Department to seize the three elephants now under the custody of former Minister R Balakrishna Pillai and his son and MLA K B Ganesh Kuamar. Association secretary V K Venkitachalam said in a statement that Balakrishna Pillai and Ganesh Kumar had no relevant documents to claim custody of the elephants. The Association had received a reply from the Divisional Forest Office, Punalur, that Balakrishna Pillai has two elephants and ...
2008-02-15 - Kolkata, India.
Alarmed over the killing of elephants by speeding trains in Dooars area of North Bengal, the Union Forest and Environment ministry has formed a seven-member committee to study and recommend steps to check such incidents. "At least 10 elephants were killed by speeding trains on railway tracks in the Dooars region since 2006. Union Forest and Environment ministry was approached to look into such incidents, following which it formed a seven-member committee," Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) ...
2008-02-15 - Yunnan, China.
In addition to sharing a border – and the Mekong River – with Laos, Yunnan province also shares Chinas last herd of Asian elephants, which in recent years has dwindled to only 400 elephants. The herd lives in nature reserves near the border between China and Laos. This week the Yunnan Provincial Forestry Department met with their counterparts from Laos in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture to discuss ways to protect the endangered Asian elephant, which falls under China's grade-one prot...
2008-02-15 - Brisbane, Australia. Paul Larter
So long as you don’t feed the animals, zoos might be considered the epitome of wholesome entertainment. Or at least that was until the new family in Sydney’s Taronga Zoo reached puberty. Gung, a boisterous young Asian bull elephant, has been playing the field. There have been rendezvous with his four female companions under the waterfall, in the rainforest and the open fields. Now there are rumours of an underage pregnancy after Thong Dee, a formerly emaciated Bangkok street elephant aged 8 ...
2008-02-15 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
First, the civil servants were transferred to Myanmar's newly built capital deep in the countryside. Now, it's time for the rhinos and elephants to move. The military government this week began using cranes and trucks to relocate scores of animals , including elephants, monkeys, birds, rhinos, bears and deer , out of the Zoological Garden in the biggest city, Yangon. Fourteen trucks filled with animals, many stuffed into small cages, were scheduled to depart late Friday for the new capital, Nayp...
2008-02-15 - New Delhi, India.
After the grim news on the tiger this week, here is something positive. The Indian population of elephants in the wild has jumped by more than a thousand. As per the latest 2007 survey, it stands at between 18,663 and 18,713. This is excluding figures from the N-E states for which the numbers are yet to be compiled. Last survey conducted in 2002 had pitched the figure for the country, excluding the population east of Chicken Neck at 17,170. The total population of elephants was 26,413. The bigge...
2008-02-15 - Los Angeles, United States. Callie Miller
Despite claims from former zoo employees and animal activists that LA zoo elephant handlers have a history of abusing the elepehants, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reginald A. Dunn said the claims were baseless. The Daily News cites Dunn's ruling: "This is a ... public policy dispute between the plaintiffs and the defendants on how to run the L.A. Zoo," Dunn stated. "Moreover, there does not seem to be any illegal activity currently ongoing that an injunction should be imposed to stop."
2008-02-14 - Sydney, Australia.
Taronga Zoo has officially announced the pregnancy of one its Asian elephants. Eight-year-old Thong Dee is five months pregnant and expected to give birth in June 2009. There was concern that Thong Dee, one of four female elephants brought to Taronga Zoo from Thailand in 2005, was too young to be sexually active. News of the pregnancy was leaked to the media yesterday, when Greens MP Lee Rhiannon expressed concern the zoo had put the animal at risk by allowing her to get pregnant before reaching...
2008-02-14 - Yunnan, China.
China and Laos reached an agreement to protect wild endangered Asian Elephants that live along the border between the two countries, during their annual meeting, held currently in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Xinhua reported yesterday. According to the Yunnan Provincial Forestry Department, the two countries agreed on four items -- to promulgate animal protection knowledge to villagers; to tighten controls over hunting guns and their activity; to plan an agenda for c...
2008-02-14 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The ongoing man-elephant conflict had its echo in the Orissa assembly on Thursday with nearly two dozen members cutting across party lines expressing concern over the growing jumbo menance in different parts of the state. The issue was raised during zero hour with members, both from the ruling BJD-BJP and opposition Congress, CPI and JMM, demanding amendment in the relief coDe for giving adequate compensation to tHe affected people, mostly farmers.
2008-02-14 - Los Angeles, United States.
A judge has ruled that work on a new elephant building at the Los Angeles Zoo can continue and that the zoo's lone elephant can remain, thwarting efforts by Robert Culp to close the exhibit and stop another from being built, according to court papers released Thursday. Superior Court Judge Reginald A. Dunn wrote in his four-page ruling that there were no grounds for issuing an injunction sought by the actor while he and another man pursue a lawsuit seeking to keep elephants out of the zoo becaus...
A row has erupted in Australia after Sydney's zoo announced a nine-year-old Asian elephant was pregnant. Animal rights groups say the elephant, Thong Dee, is too young to fall pregnant, and that the zoo is "irresponsible" in letting it happen. But keepers at Taronga Zoo say they took expert advice and acted on this. "We took our advice from the experts in elephant reproduction," says Lucy Melo, senior keeper at the zoo.
2008-02-14 - Paklay, Laos.
A mahout scrubs his elephant in a river Paklay, Laos, where the annual pachyderm festival is under way. The event draws attention to the plight of domestic and wild elephants in Asia. Laos once had more than a million of the beasts; now there are fewer than 2,000.
2008-02-14 - Richmond, United States. Karri Peifer
Ringling Bros.' "Over The Top" circus is going on now at the Richmond Coliseum. The Free All Access Pre-Show is open to all ticket-holders and starts an hour before each show. For 138 years, Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey has brought the exotic attractions of the circus to cities and towns across the country. This week, its "Over The Top" show rolls into Richmond for six days of spectacular, extraordinary, high-flying family fun. Elephants standing on two legs, trapeze artists swinging thr...
2008-02-13 - Somerset, United States. VICKI ROCK
Chicago has cows. Pittsburgh has dinosaurs. Somerset may soon have elephants. Public sculptures of animals, decorated by artists, can be a draw for tourists, said Somerset Inc. Executive Director Stephanie Williams. “We had been talking about public art for several years and discussed possibly having deer,” she said. “Henry Cook suggested elephants. We sat down and discussed it and have applied for a $13,000 grant.” 20 large fiberglass elephants would be 3 feet high, 4 feet long and 2 fe...
2008-02-13 - Sydney, Australia.
The Greens say they have received information that an underage Asian elephant at Sydney's Taronga Zoo has become pregnant, which they say could put the animal's health at risk. The Greens say they have received information that an underage Asian elephant at Sydney's Taronga Zoo has become pregnant, which they say could put the animal's health at risk. Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says she understands the eight-year-old elephant is six months pregnant, which goes against the zoo's captive management pl...
2008-02-13 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The proprietor of an elephant camp in Thailand's northern province of Chiang Mai has purchased insurance for her elephants to show to the kind and clever animals on Valentine's Day. Wassana Thongsuk, owner of the Maetaeng Elephant Camp, bought insurance coverage from the Thai Insurance Public Company Limited for his camp's 48 elephants. Thai Insurance Pcl is the first insurance company in Thailand which offers coverage for pachyderms. If elephants sicken, or die from an accident or during a perf...
2008-02-13 - Sydney, Australia. Simon Benson
LOVE is in the air at Taronga Zoo - or at least it was five months ago. More than 15 months after arriving under a cloud of controversy from Thailand, Sydney's Asian elephants have conspired to grow their number by one. An ultrasound image has confirmed that eight-year-old Thong Dee has made history and is now 20 weeks pregnant. A successful birth, expected sometime in mid-2009, would mark the first captive elephant breeding success in Australasia. Tests conducted last week revealed a healthy fo...
2008-02-12 - Sydney, Australia. Jonathan Dart
Taronga Zoo is keeping mum about whether one of its Thai elephants is pregnant. Rumours about the elephants surfaced yesterday following an effort by the zoo to make Gung - the only male of the group - impregnate one of his companions. It is understood the zoo was considering whether to begin a program of artificial insemination. Either way, it will be the first time an Asian elephant has conceived on Australian soil. Eight Thai elephants were imported in to Australia in November 2006 - of which...
2008-02-12 - Woodland, United States. ROBIN HINDERY
In September 2004, the discovery of a mammoth fossil bone at a Capay mining facility captured the attention of local residents - and Daily Democrat staff. But after an initial flurry of headlines and conversation, the story of the fossil was buried by other news. No more. In January, the Daily Democrat began digging and unearthed the tale of what happened to the bone, what researchers learned about it, and where it is now.
2008-02-12 - Phuket, Thailand.
Sixteen decorated elephants parading together on one theatre stage is all part of FantaSea, a spectacular night's entertainment in Phuket. Thailand's national animal, a vehicle of war in olden times and still a beast of burden in the logging industry, is better known today in the tourism and showbiz industries. Elephant rides figure in most visitors' itineraries, and they're also on show at places such as the Maesa Camp near Chang Mai in the north where the jumbos frolic with each other in a riv...
2008-02-12 - Seattle, United States. HECTOR CASTRO
A group opposed to the elephant-breeding program at Woodland Park Zoo has asked the federal government to investigate the death of Hansa, a 6-year-old Asian elephant who died in June. The elephant died from a previously unidentified strain of herpes virus, and it remains a mystery how the virus was transmitted. In a letter sent Monday to the Agriculture Department, the Northwest Animal Rights Network asked the agency to investigate the death and order the zoo to freeze its elephant-breeding prog...
2008-02-12 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom. Mick King
Elephant keepers at Whipsnade Zoo are celebrating the birth of a second calf to mum Azizah. The male arrived on January 11 at 1.10pm after a short labour in what was the first daytime delivery of an elephant calf at the zoo. He weighed in at a healthy 220lbs and was up on his feet within 20 minutes. Whipsnade press officer, Christine Drabwell, said: "He is now ready to enjoy some time outdoors with his mother, but also likes his daily nap." Keepers had been expecting the birth and were keeping d...
2008-02-11 - Dhenkanal, India.
Though rampaging elephants are damaging cash crops in the district frequently, there is no compensation package for farmers. Farmers said on the one hand government is encouraging farmers to grow cash crops on the other it is not providing insurance to them in case of destruction. According to divisional forest office sources, population of elephants in Dhenkanal forests has increased to 180 against 80 two years back. As many as 25 persons were killed and more than 40 seriously injured in eight ...
2008-02-11 - Zemio , Central African Republic. Karl Ammann
Once smoked the meat would fetch about CFA 35 000 (US$60) per 100 kg basket. The meat from this one carcass would have fetched a little over US$200. Each tusk weighed around 2 kgs (4 kg in total) and fetched about CFA 8,000 (US$14) per kg (big tusks can fetch a maximum of around CFA 12,000 (US$19) per kg). The total value of the meat (about US$200) was therefore about 4 times that of the ivory (US$50). The hunter confirmed that this was the usual scenario - elephants are hunted for their meat an...
2008-02-11 - Nairobi, Kenya. Philip Mwakio
Seventeen African countries, including Kenya, have signed a document for the establishment of a coalition to save the elephant. It was also agreed that a global elephant action plan that will fight illegal killing and trade in ivory be implemented. It also paved way for an elephant conservation fund to be known as the African Elephant Coalition, says Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Assistant Director for Biodiversity, Research and Planning, Mr Patrick Omondi. He said Mali, where the meeting was hel...
2008-02-11 - Portland, United States. ANDY DWORKIN
Is the average Beaverton homeowner more likely to buy new green space for her kids or for Rose-Tu, the Oregon Zoo's pregnant elephant? Might she splurge for both, despite the struggling economy? These are the multimillion-dollar questions governments are asking across the metro area and the rest of Oregon for a November ballot quickly filling with requests for new taxes to fund schools, streets and public safety.
2008-02-11 - Quitman, United States. Christine Fuller Lucas
Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary,located in Quitman, celebrated the birth of Miss Bets ,an African elephant,on December 8, 2007. Lucky for me, I had already planned a January internship there, and the 263 pound baby did not disappoint. In fact, she grew to nearly 400 pounds before I left a month later. While working there I saw how desperately things like rakes,shovels,and new wheel barrows are needed. With nine elephants at the sanctuary, one can understand how quickly such items wear o...
2008-02-11 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
This well known 50 elephant picture appeared in 1933, the Ringling's 50th Anniversary 1884-'33. The only problem was that the show only carried 41 elephants at the time so Roland Butler gets credit for increasing the herd. This came to light some years ago in Bandwagon Magazine when it was proved that an additional row of elephants had been added to this 1932 Grant's Park photo. I always knew this was the case since the male "Sammy" can be seen at right in both rows 1 and 2.
2008-02-10 - Hugo, United States. Bill Hankins
“Our workers are going to have to double up and do triple time on the work load until we can get the exemptions back,” said Traci Cavallini of Carson & Barnes. “We have a good show this year and it is about ready to go on the road.” Carson & Barnes will have many new performers for this year’s show, and a new baby elephant, Val, born in April to show off to the world. Another young elephant born to the 29-member herd a few years ago — 4-year-old Obert — will perform. “He’s alwa...
2008-02-10 - Lampang, Thailand.
With a fantastic performance about to start, local and foreign tourists were waiting to view the elephant show and give the stars their favorite food as rewards. The elephants greet the audience and gather things for the mahouts. They might sometimes be lazy but they never go on a rampage and disappoint new mahouts because these friendly animals have been well trained since they were young.
2008-02-10 - Cleveland, United States. Damian G. Guevara
Art dealer Tania Siyam sits in a Medina jail cell because prosecutors say the woman tapped her African background and contacts to traffic in forbidden ivory tusks taken from endangered elephants. The Canadian citizen was indicted in U.S. District Court in Cleveland in 2004 after she shipped more than 125 pounds of ivory to an Elyria artisan in 2002 and 2003. Siyam didn't know that the Elyria craftsman was working as an informant for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
2008-02-10 - Coimbatore, India.
The villagers of Karumbapalayam, on the city outskirts, today paid a 'traditional homage,' to three elephants, including a pregnant one, which were recently crushed to death by a train. About 100 residents, majority of them women, carried flowers, incense sticks and pots of milk and performed pooja at the site, where the carcasses were burnt. The priest performed pooja for nearly one hour, as women poured milk on the 'site,' said forest department sources , who attended the 'ritual' done traditi...
2008-02-09 - Palakkad, India.
The Wildlife Protection Society of India has demanded an inquiry into the death of three elephants after being hit by a train in Kurumbanpalayam near Madukkarai. The society said that the Railways should create an awareness among its drivers and co-pilots to drive at a speed of 20km per hour on the Walayar forest stretch. In a statement here on Friday project officer and coordinator of the Wildlife Protection Society of India Guruvayurappan said that eco-development committees should be constitu...
2008-02-09 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Wild elephants straying into a Bangladesh village killed a man, injured another and trampled several homes on Saturday, forest officials said. The incident occurred at a village near Ramu, about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka, said an official of Bangladesh Forest Department. Villagers, who were caught off guard, fled their homes, but later returned with drums and firecrackers to scare off the herd of around six elephants. The elephants also devoured rice stocks, fruits and so...
2008-02-09 - Chuncheng , China.
An elephant has killed a man in a Chinese nature reserve where an American tourist was earlier severely injured, the state news agency Xinhua said. The animal attacked Zeng Shaoping on Wednesday as he returned home after celebrating the Lunar New Year with friends, the agency said, quoting the local Chuncheng Evening News. Two of his friends raced to the scene when they heard trumpeting noises, and found him lying on the roadside. An American living in China was severely injured by an elephant i...
2008-02-08 - Washington, United States. Alexandra Viets, IGSD/INECE Secretariat
BBC World presents "The Ivory Poaching Wars," an Earth Report documentary that tracks illegally poached elephant ivory on its journey from Africa to Japan and the United States, with the help of an African enforcement agency and DNA analysts from the United States. Treaties such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) have been introduced over the years to protect wildlife against illegal poaching, but the elephant ivory trade remains a very...
2008-02-08 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A shimmer of light over much of the gloom shadowing Kenya at the moment is the heart warming news that elephant population in the country has been on the rise in the last several years. Breaking the news early this week, the Kenya Wildlife Service said a four per cent growth of elephant population was an indication that the state of the country’s wildlife is healthy. This follows successful anti-poaching measures and internationally supported bans on ivory trade.
2008-02-08 - Okeechobee, United States. Derek Simmonsen
Herds of elephants soon will be replacing cows on an empty expanse of land in the far western part of the county. Construction on the National Elephant Center, an organization formed by zoos from around the country, will begin this summer, and the first elephants should arrive by October 2009, according to Jeff Sabin, a Waste Management spokesman. The center's creation was announced during a press conference at the Houston Zoo on Thursday, during which a female elephant dipped her trunk in ink a...
2008-02-08 - Vizianagaram, India. B Rajarao
Cutting across party lines, elected representatives of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts have expressed reservations about the proposal to set up an elephant sanctuary in the Andhra-Orissa Border in the two districts. It may be recalled that Forest Minister S Vijayarama Raju, while reviewing ‘Operation Gajendra’ announced that the State Government would set up an elephant zone and the tribals inhabiting the areas affected by rogue elephants would be relocated. However, the proposal was m...
2008-02-08 - Houston, United States. The National Elephant Center news release
A new model for excellence in elephant care and conservation is a reality today as The National Elephant Center announced plans to create a national elephant conservation center in central Florida made possible, in part, by Waste Management’s involvement. The facility will be under construction for several months with the first elephants expected to arrive in 2009. “Elephants are among our most endangered animals in the world, and their future depends on innovative programs that integrate sc...
2008-02-07 - Okeechobee, United States. Jeremy Ashton (Contact), Derek Simmonsen
Chimpanzees and tigers are among the exotic animals that have called St. Lucie County home over the years. Now the elephants are coming. The county is set to become home to the National Elephant Center, an organization formed by zoos around the country to offer assistance to one another in the areas of elephant breeding, research, training and conservation. Officials with the Houston Zoo and Waste Management, which owns the land the center will be on near the Okeechobee County landfill, will ann...
2008-02-07 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Andy Brouwer
The domestic elephant population of Mondulkiri province is facing an array of threats ranging from habitat destruction, physical abuses, and a widespread lack of facilities providing proper medical supervision and treatment, so an Englishman by the name of Jack Highworth has stepped in to fill the void. He has formed an environmental NGO called ELIE (Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment), with the primary aim of improving the medical and welfare condition of domesticated elephants, most of...
2008-02-07 - Coimbatore, India.
The tragic end of three elephants on a railway track near Kurumabapalayam here has once again underlined the threat to the elephant corridors in this region. The increasing number of man-animal conflict recently is a result of vanishing private lands, the migratory paths once used by these pachyderms, into huge constructions. According to researchers, the upsurge in constructions on the foothills has hindered the migratory paths of elephants forcing them to take alternative routes and enter huma...
2008-02-07 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
The senior elephant keeper at Whipsnade Zoo describes the arrival of the latest addition to their herd of rare Asian elephants
2008-02-06 - Tbilisi, Georgia.
A few weeks have passed since the birth of the first elephant ever to be born in Georgia, but he still hasn't been named yet. Zoo workers plan to organise a children's contest to choose the best name. The Indian elephant has just had his first photo shot but he won't be able to get to know too much of his new surroundings yet. He isn't allowed to walk outside his enclosure because right now it's too cold in the country's capital. The newborn drinks his mother's milk and sleeps quite a lot but w...
2008-02-06 - Chennai, India. P. Oppilli
The death of four elephants in Coimbatore on Monday has shocked wildlife enthusiasts and Forest Department officials. Raman Sukumar, professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences in the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said the Centre had already set up a committee to look into train accidents in which elephants were killed. The committee would visit all the places where elephants got killed while trying to cross the track.
2008-02-06 - Okeechobee, United States. JIM REEDER
As many as 1,000 acres near the Okeechobee-St. Lucie County line may become a home for elephants brought there for training and rehabilitation, officials in both counties said Tuesday. The plan will be unveiled Thursday by officials with Waste Management, which operates a landfill in Okeechobee County just outside the St. Lucie County line, officials said. "There's a possibility of something like that on the east side of the landfill," said Ray Domer, vice chairman of the Okeechobee County Commi...
2008-02-06 - Knysna, South Africa. Timothy Twidle
IT was all smiles when three schools in Knysna received books and stationery from a trust set up in memory of a woman and her child who were killed by a stampeding elephant in Zimbabwe last year. British citizens Kelvin Parker, his wife Veronica and daughter Charlotte were on a guided walk in Hwange National Park last March when they were mistakenly led to within 30 metres of a male elephant in musth. A game ranger and Parker narrowly escaped with their lives when the elephant charged in a frenz...
2008-02-06 - Kampala, United States.
The elephant population in Uganda's wildlife reserves and game parks has been growing steadily to about 5,000 since the near depletion of the gigantic mammals under the regime of late dictator Idi Amin, a top conservation official said Wednesday. Ecologists say during the late 1960s, jungles in the east African country's wilderness were teeming with over 30,000 elephants, in both gazetted areas and elephant migratory corridors.
2008-02-06 - Maun, Botswana.
Komana residents have been advised to try other means of chasing away elephants from their village and farms. Addressing residents at the village Vice President Seretse Khama Ian Khama said one other option of chasing elephants away was to plough pepper in their fields. That measure, he said was reported to be working in places where it was practiced. General Khama was in Komana to greet residents after holding a kgotla meeting in Nxaraga. The residents complained about elephants which threaten ...
2008-02-06 - Minneapolis, United States. Katherine Kersten
Last Friday, Minneapolis City Council Member Ralph Remington was on his animal rights soapbox, declaring at the council meeting that banning elephant rides was a moral imperative. As inspired orators often do, Remington reached for a prop an elephant guide, or bull hook, and waved the supposed instrument of punishment about. But Remington has an adversary who knows bull hook bull when he hears it. He's the circus cop: Sgt. Tim Davison of the Minneapolis Police Department, a Shriner who has repre...
2008-02-06 - Bamako, Mali.
Elephant conservation and anti-ivory trade initiatives are the focus of a meeting that opened today here with delegates from 17 African elephant range states. Organizers say there is potential for the formation of a coalition of like-minded states that will work towards strengthening elephant conservation. The gathering is hosted by the governments of Mali and Kenya and facilitated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW. The meeting grew out of an informal agreement last June at the ...
2008-02-06 - Dunstable, United Kingdom.
A baby elephant has made his first appearance longside his mother at a Bedfordshire zoo. The unnamed calf, born on 17 January, weighs about 103kg (220lbs) and was born after a 630-day gestation period. He is the second calf born to mother Azizah following a short labour at Whipsnade Zoo, near Dunstable. The calf, who was up on his feet within 20 minutes, is feeding well and enjoys spending time with his mother, a spokesman for Whipsnade Zoo said.
2008-02-06 - London, United Kingdom. Ren L, Hutchinson JR. University of London
We examined whether elephants shift to using bouncing (i.e. running) mechanics at any speed. To do this, we measured the three-dimensional centre of mass (CM) motions and torso rotations of African and Asian elephants using a novel multisensor method. Hundreds of continuous stride cycles were recorded in the field. African and Asian elephants moved very similarly. Near the mechanically and metabolically optimal speed (a Froude number (Fr) of 0.09), an inverted pendulum mechanism predominated. Wi...
2008-02-05 - San Andreas, United States.
Maggie is ready to join the gang. And the gang is ready for her. Now if it would just stop raining. Mud is the only thing keeping the fence up between Maggie and the four other African elephants at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in northern California. Pat Derby, founder of the sanctuary, said near-record rainfall in San Andreas has soaked the grounds where Maggie and the other elephants hang out during the day. Generally, that's not bad for the elephants, which according to upd...
2008-02-05 - San Diego, United States.
Health officials are investigating a group of workers at the San Diego Wild Animal Park with confirmed cases of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA is a staph infection that is resistant to certain antibiotics. The so-called "Superbug" has apparently made its home for several weeks inside the zoo, health officials said. The elephant exhibit turned into an incubator for the bacteria. Officials said it likely began when a worker transmitted MRSA to a sick baby elephant.
2008-02-05 - San Diego, United States. COLLEEN MENSCHING
A baby elephant with multiple health problems has been euthanized at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park east of Escondido, park officials said Tuesday. The elephant calf, born in November, recently tested positive for a drug-resistant strain of the staphylococcus skin infection, but park spokeswoman Christina Simmons said that infection was not the reason for Monday's euthanasia. "Our baby elephant ... had (a) compromised immune system," Simmons said. "That calf was suffering from malnourishme...
A baby elephant was euthanized on Monday at the Wild Animal Park after failing to grow, and officials said the animal had the same superbug infection as at least three park employees. According to Dr. Wilma Wooten, of the Heath and Human Services Agency, three other cases at the park are pending. The three employees infected with the superbug had all helped feed the elephant. County health officials said the baby elephant developed a lesion on its ear but that the latest cases originated from pe...
Three elephant keepers at the San Diego Wild Animal Park have been sickened by the same superbug that killed an Encinitas boy and sent a high school coach to the hospital last month. County public health officials are closely monitoring cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. A 13-year-old Diegueno Middle School seventh-grader died on Jan. 19 from the superbug and a 50-year-old Fallbrook High School wrestling coach was briefly hospitalized with it two weeks ago. The keeper...
2008-02-04 - Coimbatore, India.
A pregnant pachyderm was killed along with two elephants when they were hit by a train passing between Pothanur and Madhukkari Station, about 20 kms from the city, in the early hours of Monday. A Railway official said the Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) was on way to Palakkadu from Erode, when it ran into the herd at 0130 hrs between Pothanur and Madhukkari. In the impact, the pregnant elephant delivered a calf which, too, died on the spot.
2008-02-04 - Kota Kinabalu, Brunei Darussalam.
It was a busy week at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park with the birth of a Proboscis monkey and a Borneo Pygmy elephant. The monkey was born on Wednesday and the elephant on Friday. The two births were also a milestone for the park as it was the first time in the world that a pygmy elephant had been born in captivity and the second time for a Proboscis monkey. Both newborns are in good health with staff keeping an eye on them round the clock for the next two weeks.
2008-02-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A state of the art ultra modern aquarium and a naturalistic elephant enclosure was inaugurated by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Nandankanan Zoological Park near here on Monday. The education materials are displayed in form of 30 nos. of trans-slides display boards. It covers the all types of aquatic ecosystem. There is a special section which depicts the uniqueness of the marine ecosystem of Orissa. The new elephant enclosure has been developed over an area of 5 acres to provide a near...
2008-02-04 - Chiba, Japan.
An elephant at a Japanese zoo has joined in the fun of an age-old New Year tradition of throwing beans to fend off bad luck. Mammy, a ten-year-old female from Ichihara Elephant Kingdom Zoo, used her trunk to hurl beans at performers dressed as ogres for a packed audience of children. The performance was said to be a very difficult one, as only one out of nine elephants at the zoo were able to be trained to defy the temptation of eating the beans before throwing them. "This elephant can restrain ...
2008-02-04 - Santa Clara County, United States.
On February 12, 2008 starting at 9:30 AM, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will hold an advisory hearing considering a ban of rodeos and circuses that use animals in the entire county. A second and final meeting will be held around the end of March. Your attendance is important for the opposition of this ordinance as the number of people will influence the outcome. It is very important to call/fax/email/write to each and all the Supervisors in opposition to the ban at the addresses be...
2008-02-03 - Merseyside, United Kingdom.
This week Danny (Stephen Tompkinson) has an elephant problem: there is not enough space for their growing numbers at Leopard's Den. The elephants have eaten all the available foliage and are beginning to fight over food, and injure each other. If Danny can't solve this problem, Du Plessis (Deon Stewardson) tells him, the only humane thing to do will be to cull some of the elephants.
2008-02-03 - , United States.
Colbecks film gives us a glimpse into the complex world of elephant society. We meet Echo and begin to understand the importance of such a majestic matriarch to her devoted clan. He shows us their language and ways of communication. And he captures remarkable scenes such as the rare birth of a crippled calf that the family desperately and collectively tries to help to its feet. The film causes us to question if this could be about more than simply survival. Is there a deeper emotion we have just...
2008-02-03 - Mombasa, Kenya.
Kenya's population of elephants _ both a tourism drive and a measure of the state of the East African country's wildlife _ is increasing, after successful anti-poaching measures and bans on the illegal ivory trade, wildlife officials said. In Tsavo, Africa's second-largest game reserve, 11,700 elephants were recorded during a five-day aerial census,
2008-02-03 - Kunming, China. Yao Minji
Yunnan Province is renowned for its breathtaking natural beauty where rolling mountains covered in large colorful tropical flowers provide a picturesque backdrop for tourists keen to discover the area's unique history and culture. But visitors should not expect to be awestruck on first arriving in Yunnan's provincial capital of Kunming. A typical medium-sized Chinese city going through rapid economic development, Kunming's characteristic historic architecture has been knocked down to make way fo...
2008-02-03 - Kingston, Jamaica. KERRY MCCATTY
IT may not be a lot of them, but Thai elephants paint. And one really should not be surprised, says Thai ambassador to Jamaica Snanchart Devahastin, who recently presented his credentials. After all, the elephant is the national animal of the country that is one of the world's major exporters of textiles, jewellery, footwear, handcrafts, home decorations and souvenir gift items.
2008-02-03 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sanath Weerasuriya
Tranquil Footsteps, the dream book of Srilal Miththapala, was launched last week Srilal is a serious wildlife and nature enthusiast with a penchant for elephants. 'Tranquil Footsteps' a long awaited dream of Srilal Miththapala which tells the story about the elephants of Udawalawe National Park and it traces the life of a female elephant and her family, living in the Uda Walawe National Park during the period of 1998-2002.
2008-02-02 - Vallejo, United States. RICH FREEDMAN
Word on the street has it the camel was traded to a zoo to be named later, the giraffe was on the injured reserve list with a muscle twitch in his neck, and the walrus had a dentist appointment. So up stepped Tava, a 9,200-pound African elephant with, apparently, a golden toe. And Six Flags Discovery Kingdom had its kicker to showcase Friday in taking pre-Super Bowl hype to a new level. With two available footballs - each with a logo representing big game foes New England and the New York Giants...
2008-02-02 - Jorhat, India.
The district has been reeling under the threat posed by a marauding herd of elephants which has been foraging in the riverine areas along the Brahmaputra river for the past one month. Due to the failure of the Jorhat Forest Division to chase away the wild jumbos from human-inhabited areas so far, the situation has turned tense in vast localities in north Jorhat. As rumours of the elephants veering towards the town spread last evening, there was panic among residents of Kokilamukh, Neamatighat, J...
2008-02-02 - Golden Triangle, Malaysia. LIM CHEE WAH
The Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle and the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation recognise that in rescuing street elephants, it is important to take the mahouts off the streets as well. “Until there’s another alternative provided, people still have to go to the cities,” said John Roberts, the foundation’s elephant director. “If all your village has ever done is raise elephants and produce mahouts, that’s all you want to do. OK, people can be re-educated, but that’s n...
2008-02-01 - Calcutta, India.
Wild Asian Elephants are among the largest animals walking the face of the earth, but their size is not saving them. In Northern India, dozens are being slaughtered, but not for their ivory. The elephants are locked in a deadly conflict with humans over living space. For centuries, elephants have been migrating from forest to forest. But now their migration patterns are bringing them into direct confrontation with India's expanding human population, more than one billion people who are chopping ...
2008-02-01 - Clearwater, United States. TERRI BRYCE REEVES
He's the television host with boyish good looks, a vast knowledge of wild animals and apparently no fear of teeth, claws or poisonous stingers. On Saturday, the 2004 Emmy winner will take a break from the cameras and man-eating lions to venture into the Clearwater Main Library, where he'll present a 45-minute talk, "Tales from the Field." Cambodian elephants once numbered in the thousands. Now there are "less than 150 in the wild in that part of the world," he said. Poachers and loss of natural ...
2008-02-01 - Minneapolis, United States. Nicole Muehlhausen
The circus may not come to the Twin Cities for much longer if the Minneapolis City Council votes to place heavy restrictions on the shows. On Friday, the council votes on a plan to increase animal regulations at circuses. The Shriners have threatened to cancel it’s circus show at the Target Center in October. At about eight to 10 dollars each, elephant rides bring in a lot of money for circuses. A new City Council measure could ban those wild animal rides.
2008-02-01 - Minneapolis, United States.
You once again ride an elephant in Minneapolis after the City Council made last-minute changes to a proposed set of regulations for circus animals. The council considered an outright ban on wild circus animals during its Friday meeting, but opted instead for increased requirements for the animals care. The new requirements were approved 11-2 and require city inspectors to check how a circus treats its animals in another city before it arrives in Minneapolis.
2008-01-31 - Udzungwa, Tanzania.
In a rare discovery of a new species of mammal, zoologists on Thursday said they had identified a shrew-like creature called a grey-faced sengi living in a small community in remote Tanzania. Sengis, small, furry, insect-eating mammals that live on forest floors, are also called elephant-shrews. Ironically, recent molecular tests showed that they are more closely related to elephants than to shrews, being members of a mammal group called Afrotheria, which evolved in Africa more than 100 million ...
2008-01-31 - Rourkela, India.
A five-year-old girl, Purnima Nayak lost her life in an elephant attack at Ganua village in Koira. A male elephant had strayed into the residential area and destroyed six houses. The kid was crushed to death when a wall collapsed after the pachyderm went on the rampage. Irate villagers gathered near the accident spot after the elephant had left. On being informed, a team of police and forest department officials reached the area. They were detained for over six hours by the agitated villagers.
2008-01-31 - Amber Fort, India.
Animal protection groups have demanded a ban on elephant rides in Rajasthan's famous Amber Fort after two tourists were injured when the pachyderms they were sitting on tussled with each other. Amber Fort, around 12 km from here, is among the most famous hilltop forts in India. The 16th century fort built by Raja Man Singh is a perfect blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture and stands as a proud reminder of the building skills of yesteryears. Tourists usually take elephant rides to get into Ambe...
2008-01-31 - Khurda, India.
A wild bull elephant had to be killed earlier this week after it strayed into the Madhupur Village of Orissa's Khurda District. The jumbo, believed to be around 50 years of age, was shot down by a village elder Purnachandra Baliar Singh at night after it came too close to his residence and damaged the paddy stored outside his house. Seventy-eight-year old Purnachandra described the killing as an action taken in self-defense, said forest officials.
2008-01-31 - Balasore, India. Hemant Rout
The fear of jumbos for the residents of Malyani village under Nilagiri area in Balasore is manifold. People here are forced to stay indoors as elephants from Swarnachuda hill have been terrorising them. The problem is not just limited to Malyani. Border villages of different elephant corridors have been frequently experiencing the problem. Besides terrorising people, the marauding elephants have been ravaging thousands of acres of crops affecting the economic condition of farmers. The man-elepha...
2008-01-30 - Mamfe, Cameroon. Vincent Gudmia Mfonfu
Three dealers in protected wildlife species have been arrested in Mamfe, Manyu Division in the South West Province and are to appear in the Court of First Instance in Mamfe on January 30, 2008 on charges stipulated under the 1994 wildlife law. The dealers were caught trying to sell some parts of elephants including 14 elephant tails, 4 elephant tusks and an elephant tooth. The 14 elephant tails simply mean 14 elephant killed through illegal hunting and related trade. It is difficult to estimate ...
2008-01-30 - Minneapolis, United States. Mike Nizza
A childhood rite of passage may be banned in Minneapolis on Friday, when according to The Minnesota Star Tribune, the city council is expected to vote on an unusual issue: elephant rides. Leading the charge is a council member named Ralph Remington, who failed to push through a tougher measure last year that would’ve banned wild-animal circuses from the city. In both cases, public safety and animal cruelty were cited, two worries brought to him by an advocacy group based in Minnesota called Ci...
2008-01-30 - Shillong, India.
Election officials in Meghalaya face an elephantine problem to ensure that voting for March three polls is not disrupted by marauding pachyderms. Playing safe, election authorities are marking several booths as "sensitive" not from a communal angle or law and order factor but being vulnerable to possible attacks from elephants in the light of previous experience. Officials on wednesday said a scenario like a herd of drunk wild elephants moving dangerously near an election booth, chasing away ele...
2008-01-30 - Minneapolis, United States. TERRY COLLINS, Star Tribune
Minneapolis' attempt to protect circus animals may run them out of town. A new ordinance would allow elephants in circuses, but kids would no longer be able to ride or touch them. If that happens, the show may not go on. "We'll seriously consider leaving the city if we can't do elephant rides," said Tim Davison, the Minneapolis Shriners' assistant circus chairman. Elephant rides are a highlight and a moneymaker of the annual fall circus shows at Target Center, which are the group's principal fun...
2008-01-29 - Washington, United States.
The eating habits of elephants have a strong influence on the habitat choices of lizards, says a researcher. Robert M. Pringle of Stanford University says that his findings are based on an examination of the connections between elephants and lizards, for which he worked at the Mpala Research Center in Kenya between 2004 and 2007. He observed that Kenya dwarf geckos (Lygodactylus keniensis) showed a strong preference for trees that had been damaged by browsing elephants (Loxodonta africana).
2008-01-29 - Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Klaus Wünnemann
We are looking for an experienced elephant keeper who shares our ideas and wants to develop the future of our program with us. We care for Elephants. The Heidelberg Zoo has developed from an outdated system of elephant keeping to an institution giving the welfare of our elephant the utmost importance. We believe in the importance of an ever challenging enrichment program for the physical and mental health of elephants. Our enrichment program for elephants fits to the highest standards.
2008-01-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Incidents of elephants running amok have been on the rise in Kerala over the last few years. Violent pachyderms have killed several people and damaged property. Animal lovers have often attributed the unruly behaviour of captive elephants to ill-treatment or neglect at the hands of mahouts. But a recent study suggests that climate change may have something to do with the disruptive behaviour of pachyderms. The study by T.S. Rajeev of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Wayanad, P.J. R...
2008-01-29 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
A tusker was shot dead at Madhupur village near Khurda today. Forest officials said that they had seized a gun from a person called Purnachandra Baliarsing. He claimed that he had shot the elephant in self defence. Investigations are on as the forest and police officials doubt Baliarsing’s version. The 68-year-old said that the elephant chased him. The animal had strayed from Chandaka forest in search of food and was feeding on the harvest of Purnachandra. These officers never come to ...
2008-01-29 - Tbilisi, Georgia.
Living condition for the two elephants Bachu and Manki has become better. The animals used to live on concrete area, now they have natural surraoundings.
2008-01-29 - Dzhanga Bai, Central African Republic.
This is an interview with Andrea Turkalo, who has spent over 20 years in Africa. For the last 18 of them, she has observed wild forest elephants in a jungle clearing called Dzhanga Bai. The elephants come in great numbers to dig out minerals found below the surface. Turkalo drove for an hour down a muddy logging road to get to Bayanga, the only village in the area. In Bayanga, she agreed to be interviewed in order to help spread new research findings about these unique elephants. The bai is foun...
2008-01-29 - Bayanga, Central African Republic.
2008-01-28 - Beijing, China.
A wild elephant in southern China attacked an American tourist by tossing him with its trunk, causing the man to suffer from fractured ribs and stomach injuries, an official said Monday. Jeremy Allen McGill, who teaches English in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, was found unconscious by a security guard around dusk Thursday at the "Wild Elephant Valley" nature reserve in the Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan province.
2008-01-28 - Gola Block, India.
A killer elephant that had frequently been on a rampage in two villages of Ranchi district was found dead on Saturday. The elephant’s body was found on the borders of Purabdih and Nausadih villages. Villagers of the terror-stricken area had named the elephant as “Laden”. Villagers, who had stopped going out of their homes due to the elephants terror, said they were not happy with its death.
2008-01-28 - Atlanta, United States. Suzanne Fields
Not so long ago, our parents and teachers were forever admonishing us not to act like animals. Now our candidates for president are showing us how they think they can profit by imitating animals, especially the brainy ones. Like the elephants, for example. Hillary can take heart. "Among elephants, it is the females who are the born politicians," writes Natalie Angier, a science writer, in The New York Times. An elephant typically cultivates robust and lifelong social ties with at least 100 other...
2008-01-28 - Washington, United States.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has announced it will award $1,277,921 in grants to 15 African countries to assist in the protection of African elephants. Combined with matching contributions from private-sector partners, the total U.S. commitment to elephant conservation will exceed $4 million.
2008-01-27 - Kunming, China.
An American tourist was seriously injured after he was apparently attacked by wild Asian elephants roaming in a nature reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Thursday, officials confirmed on Sunday. Jeremy Allen McGill, who teaches English at Huazhong Agricultural University in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and arrived in Xishuangbanna for sightseeing on Wednesday, was under intensive care at the central hospital in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, the foreign affairs...
2008-01-27 - Knoxville, United States. JANE CARLSON
After spending three weeks in Thailand caring for elephants, Sara Pool isn’t used to sleeping without the sounds of the jungle. It’s the strangest thing to be back here and not hearing random elephant trumpets at night. I really loved it over there and I miss it every single day,” said Pool, a Knoxville native and budding animal rights activist who is studying animal science at the University of Illinois.
2008-01-27 - Deopara, India.
In yet another instance of man-animal conflict arising out of dwindling vegetation, a herd of rampaging wild elephants killed one person and caused massive destruction to property in Deopara in Assam. The pachyderms also destroyed standing crops, apart from decimating houses on Saturday. Locals said that a herd of about 170 wild elephants is roaming in the forests of Assam. The elephants have become more active since Bihu (harvest festival) and in spite of repeated complaints by the villagers no...
2008-01-27 - Tsavo, Kenya.
Where has all the time gone? I can’t believe that it’s already more than two weeks since I last updated this journal, and now I have an overwhelming amount to catch up on, not least to record the successful conduct and conclusion of the Tsavo Aerial Elephant Count. What a week that was! During a time when some pockets of Kenya were experiencing trauma and troubles, and our politicians could not decide amongst themselves from one day to the next, here in Tsavo we witnessed, and participated i...
2008-01-26 - Jorhat, India.
A 75-year-old man was killed by a herd of wild elephants at Kokilamukh in Upper Assam's Jorhat district where the pachyderms have been creating havoc in the area since early January, Forest department sources said on Friday. The elephants trampled the person at Spur number eight of Kokilamukh and damaged several houses and and graneries there on Thursday night, sources said. The herd had come from Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Nematighat area and had lost direction, and was moving downstream i...
2008-01-26 - Gastonia, United States. Bernie Petit
The countdown began at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning. That’s when the massive semi-trailer truck containing almost 20 crates filled with 80 fossil specimens, replicas and artifacts for a new exhibition pulled into The Schiele Museum’s loading dock area. It gave the Schiele employees setting up the museum’s latest temporary exhibition, “TUSKS! Ice Age Mammoths and Mastodons,” 72 hours to have everything ready for Saturday’s premiere. Shortly after the exhibition arrived from Gainesville, W...
2008-01-26 - Krishnagiri, India. S. Prasad
Incidents of wild elephants straying into human habitats and destroying crops have been on the rise in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts. In 2007-08, 200 cases of crop damage caused by elephants were reported. According to an estimate, crops worth Rs. 7 lakh are damaged every year by elephants in the Dharmapuri forest circle. Of late, depredations by the elephants have been going on unabated, almost every day, especially from October to February in Thally and Pennagaram areas. With the result...
2008-01-25 - Dallas, United States. JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News
A 40-year-old Asian elephant named Babe died Thursday morning from labor-related complications at the Fort Worth Zoo, officials announced Friday. Babe was the oldest female in the zoo's herd of seven Asian elephants. Zoo officials said Babe went into labor Sunday afternoon, but the calf failed to move into the birth canal. Babe died while sleeping about 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Zoo officials said the unborn calf also died. "I can't remember a more difficult time for our elephant staff," Ron Surratt, ...
2008-01-25 - Nairobi, Kenya. Charles Wanyoro
Residents of the larger Meru Central region, many of them farmers, live under fear of elephants. While the beasts pose a general security threat to all locals, the farmers have been affected more since the animals have been feasting and trampling on acres of crops just before harvest. The lush green farms in Ruiri Division of Imenti North District suggest bumper harvest this season but the presence of destructive elephants dictate otherwise. The farmers have for a long time been grappling over m...
2008-01-24 - Hyderabad, India.
Even as the tribals are living in a state of fear with the jumbos straying again into the agency areas of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, the government has dropped a bombshell by saying that people of nearly 100 girijan villages may have to be vacated once the Centre gives the green signal for the development of a sanctuary exclusively for the tuskers in the area.
2008-01-24 - Philadelphia, United States. GLORIA CAMPISI, Philadelphia Daily News
Maybe they can come home again. And the Philadelphia Zoo is hoping its two young African elephants, scheduled to be moved in the spring to a conservation center in southwestern Pennsylvania for breeding, will do just that - accompanied by elephant babies, called calves. The zoo's president and chief executive officer, Vikram Dewan, said yesterday that the idea of a new elephant enclosure at the Philadelphia Zoo is still a gleam in the eye of zoo planners.
2008-01-24 - COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh. Mohammad Nurul Islam / David Fogarty
One man was killed and another injured in attacks by wild elephants that strayed into villages and trampled homes and crops in Bangladesh, police said on Thursday. They said the elephants stormed into different villages near a forest about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka on Wednesday. The victims were working in their fields when the elephants came out of the forest, witnesses told police. Attacks by elephant have become frequent in recent years, as their forest habitats shrink...
2008-01-24 - Pittsburgh, United States. Gene J. Puskar
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008. Moja is one of two elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo expected to deliver in late May after a 24 month gestation.
2008-01-23 - Melbourne, Australia. Cameron Houston and Royce Millar
Concern about the Toorak soiree follows an investigation by The Age into allegations of abuse and neglect at Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, including the stabbing of an elephant with a marlin spike. Zoos Victoria acting chief executive Matt Vincent said senior keeper Pat Flora had taken "appropriate action" when Thai elephant Dokkoon failed to respond to a command. He said no formal complaint was lodged against Mr Flora, and he continued to work at the zoo as head keeper of many of the...
2008-01-23 - Tokyo, Japan. Kaori Bell
When we mention zoos, Japanese people first think of elephants. Many of us know an old song for children in which mentions their long trunks. According to the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums latest database, we have already more than 50 elephants in captivity.
2008-01-23 - Manila, Philippines. Tina G. Santos
An animal-for-reptile exchange has been proposed by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim so the city can address its surplus of crocodiles and add to its animal collection. Lim Tuesday said he was willing to exchange 20 of the Manila Zoo’s more than 40 crocodiles for animals like elephants, zebras and giraffes. The Manila Zoo continues to expand its collection of animals both locally and from other parts of the world. We are willing to swap animals with other zoos, Lim said. He said city veterinarians wer...
2008-01-23 - Oxford, United Kingdom.
An elephant: someone's probably mating behind his back When it comes to the mating game, it seems youthful opportunism may trump brash experience. While the alpha males run around trying to impress the girls, young hopefuls should hang back and await their chance. Well, it works for elephants... Dominant bull elephants may be losing out to cheeky young whipper-snappers in the baby-making stakes, it seems. The cunning youngsters use sneaky tactics to sire calves while their elders' backs are turn...
2008-01-23 - Monta Carlo, Monaco.
As a child Princess Stephanie's daughter Pauline loved the circus so much she was included in one of the acts performed by mother's elephant trainer boyfriend. And the pretty youngster - now 13 - has clearly lost none of her enthusiasm for the big top. Pauline, whose father is Stephanie's former bodyguard and husband Daniel Ducruet, accompanied her mum to the closing ceremony of Monte Carlo's world-famous Circus Festival.
2008-01-23 - Tokyo, Japan. Shigeki Tao / Yomiuri Shimbun
Organized by The Yomiuri Shimbun and others, an exhibition of the mammoth is being held until Feb. 3 at the Marunouchi Building in front of Tokyo Station. Since the end of last year, Naoki Suzuki, director of the Institute for High Dimensional Medical Imaging, has been conducting 3-D computer mapping of a frozen baby mammoth that was discovered in May in permafrost in Russia's western Siberia. The institute, which is part of Jikei University, is located in Komae, Tokyo. With body hair on its fro...
2008-01-23 - Murchison, United States. John P. Meyer
The title of the two-event series is "Opera Without Elephants," in reference to the familiar Verdi opera, Aida, which includes elephants in the story line (I think). Clearly my metaphor is ridiculous and inappropriate, so let's just stick to the facts. his Friday (Jan. 25) the University of North Texas Opera presents the first of two programs featuring small bite-sized portions of famous operatic works - the theory perhaps being similar to an inoculation that introduces a small portion of the ge...
2008-01-23 - Bankura, India.
The kunki (trained) elephants brought from the West Midnapore division have finally driven out the jumbo herd that had been rampaging the Bankura district for the past one month. Out of the 72 that had been on the rampage, only a few remain to be driven out. Senior forest division officials of Bankura and Bishnupur are, however, optimistic that the remaining few would be driven out in the next couple of days. Elephant herds from Dalma range in Jharkhand had intruded into the Bankura district and...
2008-01-22 - New Delhi, India.
Jungle law prevailed inside Delhi zoo on Monday as a mob of around 25-30 people - claiming to be the owners of elephants brought in for the Republic Day parade - attacked the zoo staff, including its director, D N Singh. According to sources, the elephant-keepers were waiting to hit back at the zoo authorities since last year, as they had complained against the mahouts for having misused the animals. Every year, elephants are brought in by the Delhi government from private owners for the R-Day p...
2008-01-22 - Ruskin, United States. Buckles Woodcock / Raffaele de Ritis
Awards (maybe too much) of this year's Monte Carlo. And this is just the official jury awards: dozens of special awards have been given too from donors, as usual. GOLD: Pellegrini bros. - handstands, Florian Richter - equestrian acrobat Li Wei - slack wire
2008-01-22 - Los Angeles, United States.
An actor and a real estate agent want answers now about the elephants. They may get them in a hearing in three weeks. Actor-and-animal activist Robert Culp and Real Estate Agent Aaron Leider sued Los Angeles and its zoo-director in August, over the conditions for elephants there. They want a preliminary injunction now that would shut down the elephant exhibit. They also want to shut down construction on its expansion, which they say is inadequate. There's one elephant on display now, 21-year old...
2008-01-22 - Calgary, Canada. David Parker, Calgary Herald
The zoo's annual budget is $26 million and, of that, Harper's group brings in approximately $17 million -- $10 million of which is from admissions. This year, he is expecting a big boost to the visitor count as well as memberships, thanks to a couple of big attractions: Malti, a baby elephant, and a new stingray tank. Malti is a joy to watch as she kicks ball, throws around cardboard or takes her snack from the keeper's bottle. Directly across from the interior elephant enclosure, a big tank is ...
2008-01-21 - Coimbatore, India.
Four wild elephants, which strayed into human habitation at Chettypalayam, were guided back into the forest by forest officials here on Sunday. The pachyderms entering human habitation and the forest officials guiding them back into forest is not new here. On January 18, the elephants, which were earlier guided back into the forest, were spotted again at Chettypalayam. They had crossed Madukkarai, Neelambur bypass, Podanur and reached Chettypalayam. When the forest officials tried to guide them ...
2008-01-21 - Melbourne, Australia.
The Victorian Government has asked Melbourne Zoo to respond to claims of animal neglect. Melbourne Zoo has denied claims that animals have been mistreated, saying a widely reported incident involving an elephant was a case of a keeper protecting himself. The reports said a former zoo staff member saw an elephant being repeatedly jabbed in the foot by a trainer. Victorian Premier John Brumby says the Government is expecting to receive a written response from zoo management soon.
2008-01-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Sir, you can't beg for coins here, put your trunk away! The New York Times reports on the phenomenon of domesticated elephants begging on the streets of Bangkok. It's technically illegal to sell elephant treats to tourists, but the rewards are great: In four nights of begging an elephant handler can make the same amount of money the typical Thai worker makes in a month.
2008-01-21 - Houston, United States.
Can a special event for a baby elephant add ingenuity to your next marketing campaign? Here’s the scoop from DMNews’s January 14 edition. As the Houston Zoo prepared to celebrate the Mac the Elephant’s first birthday, they decided to get the public involved through a birthday card contest. The marketing campaign was launched on the zoo’s Web site, on their blog, and through an opt-in Email list. This contest’s components explain how to create a winning campaign, and each step is achiev...
2008-01-21 - Kartik Chaori, India.
Continuous depredation by a herd of wild elephants in and around Kartik Chapori of the west Jorhat area, about 20 km off Dergaon has caused immense damage to the villagers in terms of destruction of houses and agricultural land. About 100 elephants have damaged as many as 150 houses in the past few months and vegetable farms etc, compelling the villagers to take shelter at Nahatia HS School and Nahatia Namghar and spend sleepless nights.
2008-01-20 - Madikeri, India.
A seminar on Man-elephant conflict organised by the World Wildlife Fund and the Coorg Wildlife Society was held at the Kannika International Hotel in Kushlnagar on Saturday. In his chief guest address, the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, I B Sreevatsav said that the department would send a proposal to the state government to tranquilize the rogue elephants, for which the locations had already been identified by the district forest officials. The deputy conse...
2008-01-20 - Orissa, India. D N Singh
There is a raging debate throughout the country over the increased conflict between man and animal. And, there is no denying the fact that the mysterious disorder in the climatic regime has pushed the problem of ecological imbalance back to the centre stage. Many instances in the past and the recent past should have served as a reminder for the planners and people in general to assess as to where things have gone wrong. But the fact remains that some wrongs can be corrected, while others are inc...
2008-01-20 - Oxford, United Kingdom.
The average tusk size of African elephants has halved since the mid-19th century. A similar effect has been spotted in the Asian elephant population in India. Demand for ivory has seen Africa’s elephant population more than halved since the late 1970s. Researchers say it is an example of Darwinism in action, caused by the mass slaughter of dominant male elephants - but whereas evolution normally takes place over thousands of years, these changes have occurred within 150 years. Zoologists at Ox...
2008-01-20 - Crosbyton, United States.
The mastodon skull is called the Lonestar Mastodon and it was found in LaGrange, Texas, near San Antonio. As it turns out, this mastodon wasn't alone in the Lone star state when he died. "Why are so many buried in Texas, I don't know. I've been 40 miles that way and 40 miles all around this area and I can tell you that there are a dozen mammoths buried in a half square mile," said Taylor. There's one other unique characteristic about the Lonestar Mastodon. "This particular one has tusks coming o...
2008-01-20 - Melbourne, Australia. Kellie Cameron
MELBOURNE Zoo has hit back at claims an elephant was stabbed and animals mistreated on their grounds. Zoos Victoria Life Sciences director Matt Vincent said the merlin spike, carried by keepers to care for elephants' feet, did not break the animal's skin and was used only when two keepers were at risk. Reports accused a handler of stabbing an elephant, Dokkoon, more than 12 times with a sharp metal spike to restrain it. Mr Vincent rejected outright all claims of animal abuse and cruelty.
2008-01-20 - Sindhudurg, India. Ashwin Aghor
The misery of elephants in Maharashtra may soon end as the state forest ministry has decided to set up a village exclusively for elephants and use this village as an eco-tourism attraction. The ambitious project will be first of its kind in the world. The state forest ministry is expected to soon enter into a memorandum of understanding with Earth Matters Foundations in this regard. The elephant village will most likely be developed at Tilhari Dam in Sindhudurg district. Pachpute said, It is the...
2008-01-20 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH
Lone Star, the world's largest four-tusk mastodon skull discovered in a gravel pit in La Grange, sold for $191,200 at auction Sunday. Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries featured the impressive pre-historic piece at its Natural History Auction along with several hundred other items including a golden nugget from Mexico dubbed the Boot of Cortez. The nearly-foot-long gold deposit sold for $1.6 million. But Lone Star was by far the star of the auction. Including skull and tusks, the mammoth pi...
2008-01-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. THOMAS FULLER
Of all the illegal activities that animate the streets of Bangkok — the vendors who hawk pirated DVDs and fake watches, the brothels that call themselves saunas — one stands out more than others. Elephants are not supposed to saunter down the city’s streets as they do almost every night. For at least two decades the giant gray beasts have plodded through this giant gray city, stopping off at red-light districts and tourist areas where their handlers peddle elephant snacks of sugar cane and...
2008-01-19 - Melbourne, Australia. Royce Millar and Cameron Houston
SENIOR zoo experts, staff and the RSPCA have accused the Melbourne Zoo of abuse and neglect of animals, including one incident where an animal trainer stabbed an elephant more than a dozen times with a sharp metal spike. A confidential internal memo from zookeeper Bryan Welch to then zoo director Matt Vincent reported the stabbing in May last year of a 13-year-old elephant, Dokkoon, with a marlin spike ¡ª a large, needle-like implement used to untie rope knots. In the memo, Mr Welch says anima...
Former senior zoo curator and now zoo consultant Peter Stroud was in charge of the elephant program in the early 2000s and also party to discussions about the Thai elephants. Stroud now says he questions why, if purchase of the elephants was for conservation and animal welfare, neither Melbourne nor Taronga sent the animals to their respective open-range zoos. "Clearly the box office is an issue," he says. "It's preposterous to pretend that breeding elephants in Australia is some type of contrib...
2008-01-19 - Muscatine, United States. Jennifer Meyer
A group of local volunteers wants to bring back the elephant, buffalo, monkeys and reptiles, in plant form, that once inhabited Weed Park. Master Gardener Maryrose Peterschmidt initiated plans for a Weed Park Zoo Garden after picking up a fluorescent green brochure at the Iowa State University Extension office in Muscatine. Two honey bears donated in 1921 launched the Weed Park Zoo, which over the years housed Bengal tigers, African antelope, peacocks, monkeys, deer, foxes, raccoons, reptiles, ...
2008-01-19 - Charara, Zimbabwe. Rebekah Price
Animals and alcohol do not mix. One would think this is a no-brainer. One does not normally drink a six-pack and get on a horse; but, there are those who do. The person is usually hurt and the animal is confused and frustrated. The lives of the person and the horse are placed in imminent danger as the drunk rider tries to exert control over 1200 pounds of sober muscle and brain. Where in our society is this acceptable behavior?
2008-01-19 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo is at the centre of an animal abuse scandal after allegations that an elephant was stabbed by a zookeeper more than a dozen times with a sharp metal spike. But the Zoo claims the trainer's actions were justified. The elephant was jabbed with a small implement used normally for foot care, but the animal was not harmed, stated Melbourne Zoo Director, Matt Vincent. He believes labelling the stabbing as cruelty is an over exaggeration. RSPCA has described the behaviour as 'utterly shoc...
2008-01-19 - Dunstable, United Kingdom. Dan Koehl
The elephant Azizah gave birth to a 103 kgs male calf in the afternnon of 17th of January. Father is Emmet, born in Syracuse Zoo (Rosamond Gifford Zoo) U.S.A.
2008-01-19 - Nagercoil, India.
A dwarf variety of elephant has been identified in a recent census conducted by the District Forest Department in Kanyakumari wild life sanctuary limits. Kallaana, so-called in local parlance of Kanni tribals, would be a new discovery, if ascertained by wild life experts. Noting that the dwarf breed of elephants attains a maximum height of 1.5 metres, the District Forest Officer Sundarajan said that they do not inter-breed with common Indian elephants. The department has enumerated 21 elephants ...
2008-01-19 - Washington, United States.
It's a bit early to decorate the nursery, but officials at the National Zoo are hoping that Shanthi the elephant will have another baby in 2009. Veterinarians conducted two artificial insemination procedures on Shanthi this week. Scientists will now monitor her hormones. If the level of progesterone in her blood remains high after 10 weeks, then she's most likely pregnant. An Asian elephant's gestation period ranges from 20 to 22 months. In 2001, Shanthi gave birth to Kandula - the fifth elephan...
2008-01-18 - Zuerich, Switzerland.
Engaged by Zoo Zürich AG, the Amt für Hochbauten Stadt Zürich [Office for Building and Construction, City of Zurich] launches an anonymous open design competition (stage 1), followed by a study commission (stage 2, with 3-5 teams) in order to obtain projects for a new elephant facility at Zoo Zurich. The objective of the design competition is a new attractive and identity-establishing elephant park that fits well into the zoological garden and complies with the present company philosophy of t...
2008-01-18 - New York, United States.
John M. Kistler is the author of War Elephants. That’s right, war elephants. Kistler tells John J. Miller, “I’ve always loved elephants, but I also love ancient history. And when I found out that elephants were used for thousands of years in armies around the world, I couldn’t help but wonder why no one had written a book about it. So I did.”
2008-01-18 - Coimbatore, India.
Pongal celebrations in Coimbatore have something special to offer to its participants. Elephants are included in the celebration and they have become the main attraction here. Pongal is celebrated at a place called Top Slip at Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. Over 5000 people from all over the State participated in the celebrations. Tourists from abroad also attended the event. The participants were very enthusiastic to take part in the traditional festivities. “I think it is a good thing for...
2008-01-18 - Salt Lake City, United States. Alyssa Farley
Visitors to Utah's Hogle Zoo recently got a chance to feast with the beasts. The feeding tour gave visitors a chance to see the animals exhibit some of the foraging, hunting and other feeding behaviors normally seen only by zookeepers. At the Elephant Encounter arena, a 624-pound pumpkin sat propped up against a supporting beam. The crowd fell quiet as the first elephant, Misha, emerged, walked over to the pumpkin, felt it with her tusk, and daintily broke off a piece and placed it in her mouth....
2008-01-18 - Oklahoma City, United States.
When Mayor Mick Cornett announced that the city was going on a diet, he did it in front of the elephant exhibit at the city zoo. Fittingly, The Oklahoman will monitor the city's weight loss by printing the number of elephants that represent the city's weight loss every day on Page 2A beginning Saturday. Zoo officials say a female Asian elephant (like the ones at the zoo) can weigh up to 6,500 pounds. Good luck, Oklahoma City! "Everywhere I go, people are offering me food, and I was gaining over ...
2008-01-18 - Cincinnati, United States. JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has launched a project that will turn one of its most abundant natural resources into energy. Poop. There are no specific numbers on how much it will save the zoo in energy costs, but the team working on the project says it will be tens of thousands of dollars annually at the outset and more as the program progresses. In about two years, when the plan is fully implemented, the elephant and giraffe houses will be heated, cooled and lit by animal waste convert...
2008-01-18 - San Diego, United States.
The Wild Animal Park's latest baby elephant is sickly. Born Nov. 28, the African elephant calf is not gaining weight as she should, said officials at the San Diego Zoo, which operates the park near Escondido. Zookeepers are feeding the youngster by bottle and intravenously, but her condition is still considered guarded. Veterinarians and keepers are watching around the clock, the zoo said Friday. The calf's mother, Lungile, is also on sick watch due to complications from the birth.
2008-01-18 - Springfield, United States. KSPR News
The Dickerson Park Zoo got off to a good start this year with a surprise. An anonymous donor gave the zoo $10,000 dollars for its elephant program. A local member of Friends of the Zoo gave the donation along with a letter recognizing the zoo’s staff and elephant program. Along with the donation the zoo was also happy to learn that the attendance from last year broke a record. It was the fourth year in a row it had more than 200,000 people.
2008-01-18 - Luton, United Kingdom.
Noah may have counted the animals in two by two, but they need to add up a little more quickly than that at Whipsnade Zoo this week. Of course, there have been some newcomers to add to the tally over the past year. There's Leelee the Asian elephant, who will be celebrating her first birthday on January 19. A little male Asian one-horned rhino calf was born, too, on November 5. Dominic, the gorgeous sea lion pup, made a big splash when he arrived in June. Not forgetting four two-humped Bactrian c...
2008-01-17 - Ontario, Canada. African Lion Safari & Game Farm Ltd., Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
The "4th International Workshop" hosted by the African Lion Safari in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute of Zoo- and Wildlife Research holds the unique opportunity to learn first hand about reproductive biology, management, pathology and assisted reproduction technologies in the 3 Megavertebrate species; elephant, rhinoceros and giraffe:
2008-01-17 - Dallas, United States.
The skull of a four-tusked mastodon believed to be 1 of the nation's largest is going up for auction Sunday. The 40-inch-long skull was found in 2004 in a La Grange gravel pit. Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas expects the skull to fetch as much as $160,000 during its natural history auction. The skull had been housed at the Mount Blanco Fossil Museum near Lubbock. Museum founder and curator Joe Taylor says he needs the money to pay back investors who financed the excavation of the skull afte...
2008-01-17 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Like any good rockstar, Liam Finn travels with an entourage. But when he made two new friends at Auckland Zoo yesterday, it was decided they might be a tad too unwieldy to join his posse. Finn, who is signed up to play a ZooMusic concert next month, got to meet some of the zoo's residents up close and personal yesterday, including Burma and Kashin the elephants. Finn spoke to nzherald.co.nz about the experience and shared some tips for tomorrow's Big Day Out.
2008-01-17 - Santa Barbara, United States.
The Santa Barbara Zoo is seeking a keeper for our elephant team. This position will carry out all basic aspects of the daily care of the animals, including, but not limited to: training, enrichment, maintenance of exhibits, and enhancing the guest experience. This position is part of a dynamic and progressive Animal Care team. The position may be filled at the apprentice keeper, keeper, or senior keeper level depending on experience.
2008-01-17 - Sunsari, Nepal.
Locals of Shivpur area at the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) inside the Thursday obstructed the East-West highway demanding compensation as wild elephants once again went on a rampage destroying half a dozen houses and crops in the village overnight. Demanding compensation, the locals have called a chakka jam in the area affecting the traffic from Inaruwa to Koshi barrage stretch of the busy highway. For the last two decades dispute regarding the compensation, for the losses caused by the w...
2008-01-16 - Dubbo, Australia. KEELY BELL
Arna, the so-called ‘killer’ elephant, yesterday was “cool, calm and collected” as she and her companion Gigi made their debut at Western Plains Zoo. Senior elephant keeper Roger Brogan said the new arrivals were very relaxed despite a tearful farewell with their circus handlers on Monday. “Arna is cool, calm and collected. She and Gigi are busy getting to know their surroundings,” he said. Arna and Gigi arrived early Monday morning after a 14-hour drive from the north coast.
2008-01-16 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. R Ayyappan
Once again the same old elephant story. For the third year running, the State is being converted into a mass grave for captive elephants and their mahouts. During the Oct 05’-March 06’ festival season, a shocking 216 captive elephants and 54 mahouts were killed. Last season was no less shocking. 152 elephants died of torture and 68 mahouts were gored or crushed to death. Not even half way into the festival season, this year too seems no different. At least 17 elephants and seven mahouts had ...
2008-01-16 - Kolkata, India. Mudassir Rizwan
An elephant calf died after it was mowed down by a goods train near Rajabhatkhawa range in West Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve. Local reports here said the elephant calf was found dead near Shikari gate level crossing Tuesday. It had been run over by a Guwahati-bound train from Siliguri. "We have alerted railway authorities repeatedly to slow down the trains passing through the Buxa Tiger Reserve. Now, we will request chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to take up the matter with the centre," Wes...
2008-01-15 - Wuppertal, Germany. Filipe von Gilsa
Tamo was born on Sunday 13 January after 641 days. He was 97 kg heavy and 90 cm high. The birth went well and he was drinking after 30 minutes.
2008-01-15 - Miami, United States.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is reporting that an elephant named P.T. attacked Ringling Bros. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey trainer Joe Frisco Jr. while the circus was at Miami's America Airlines Arena on January 7. Ringling Bros. issued a statement Wednesday stating the Frisco "received minor injuries after falling while walking with a juvenile elephant in the elephant barn in Miami."
2008-01-15 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Wild elephants killed five people, including one woman from Burma, and injured 20 others in the Bangladesh border township Teknaf, opposite Maundaw Township in Burma, according to a local official report. The Burmese victim who was killed was identified as Khadija Begun, 35 years old, who was living in a slum near the Naff River in Teknaf Township. The incident took place on 10 January when Kadija Begun went into the forest to collect firewood along with her two young sons. When the family reach...
2008-01-15 - Rajabhatkhawa, India.
A baby elephant was dragged 900 metres and cut to pieces by a speeding goods train here last night. The driver was allegedly not following the rules laid down for trains passing through forests, which include speed limits. An FIR has been filed against him. Around 1.55am, an elephant herd was roaming the area, part of the Buxa Tiger Reserve, when the train heading towards Assam from Siliguri sucked in the 10-month-old animal standing next to the tracks.
2008-01-15 - Dublin, Ireland.
Over 900,000 people visited Dublin Zoo last year in what was a 20 per cent jump on 2006 and the highest number in its 176-year history, it was announced today. Officials cite the birth of Ireland's first ever baby elephant and a litter of kune kune pigs - a domestic breed rarely bred successfully in Ireland - as some of the highlights that contributed to the record numbers. Zoo director Leo Oosterweghel said they were hoping for similar success in 2008 with a number of new animal arrivals expect...
2008-01-15 - Tzaneen, South Africa.
Isn’t it incredible how a picture taken out of context can have such a detrimental impact. That’s what I was concerned about when writing this article, but nevertheless I’m going to post it as i’d love to hear your point of view on this subject. The subject being training wild African elephants. This post is a follow up to my last post where I mentioned I visited EFAF (definitely in need of website re-design!) - Elephants For Africa Forever - near Tzaneem in Mpumalanga just after Christm...
2008-01-15 - , Australia. Justin Huntsdale
She’s Australias most notorious elephant, and as of today, the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo New South Wales is home. Last month, Asian elephant Arna trampled her 57-year-old handler Ray Williams to death at Yamba. After years of touring with the circus, Stardust has donated the 53-year-old elephant and her companion elephant Gigi, 50, to the Western Plains Zoo. It all went very smoothly, elephant keeper Roger Brogan said. We had the elephants turn up at 10.30am Monday morning. We unloaded them ...
2008-01-15 - Bangalore, India. Jayalakshmi K
The single largest global population of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) can be found in Bangalore's backyard. In a stretch extending from Bannerghatta to MM Hills and further across BRT, Bandipur to Nagarhole and Wayanad (part of what is called Mysore Elephant Corridor), one can find over 6,000 elephants. But foolishly, we fail to see them as we eye the jungles as potential real estate to build our homes and lay our crops.
2008-01-15 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Thitaram C, Brown JL, Pongsopawijit P, Chansitthiwet S, Wongkalasin W, Daram P, Roongsri R, Kalmapijit A, Mahasawangkul S, Rojansthien S, Colenbrander B, van der Weijden GC, van Eerdenburg FJ. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University
Better breeding strategies for captive Asian elephants in range countries are needed to increase populations; this requires a thorough understanding of their reproductive physiology and factors affecting ovarian activity. Weekly blood samples were collected for 3.9 years from 22 semi-captive female Asian elephants in Thai elephant camps to characterize LH and progestin patterns throughout the estrous cycle. The duration of the estrous cycle was 14.6+/-0.2 weeks (mean+/-S.E.M.; n=71), with follic...
2008-01-14 - Dubbo, Australia.
Two circus elephants have arrived at their temporary new home at Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo in far western New South Wales, after one of them crushed its 54-year-old handler on Boxing Day. The Stardust Circus handler was tending to the two asian elephants, Arna and Gigi, at the Yamba Showground on the NSW North Coast when he was killed. The circus donated the elephants to the zoo after the tragedy. Western Plains Zoo's senior elephant keeper, Roger Brogan, says the animals are settling into thei...
2008-01-14 - Rameswaram, India. C. Jaishankar
A five-year-old ‘princess’ from Bihar will soon don the role of the official elephant of Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram. While temple authorities have begun preparations to conduct a grand ceremony, the ‘Pattathu Yanai’ is also getting ready to bless devotees and lead all temple ceremonies and festivals. The elephant, donated by noted industrialist Ramasubramania Raja of Rajapalayam, succeeds Bhavani which has completed nearly 45 years of service to the temple and was donated by...
2008-01-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Despite government efforts, mahouts continue to illegally bring elephants into the Thai capital Bangkok. Though elephant owners face fines for bringing their animals into the city, the International Herald Tribune reported that large numbers of them continue to do so due to problems of enforcement and the potential earnings from tourists. Since 2006 Bangkok has operated a Stray Elephant Task Force, but a member of the group told the newspaper that the role offered numerous problems, making it un...
2008-01-14 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Robyn Dixon
Samson, otherwise known as Elephant No. 1, is twisting his trunk around tufts of grass and throwing them into his mouth. He is aware that David Powrie has sneaked up on him but is willing to ignore him for now. The tall, blond, sunburned ranger knows each one of the 120 elephants here in Welgevonden Game Reserve, identifying them by nicks in their ears, tusks and the patterning of their tails - almost like a fingerprint. He sniffs the air for the bulls in must (they exude an oily secretion when ...
2008-01-13 - London, United Kingdom. Vincent Moss
Anne, the last circus elephant, has been given fresh hope of being released from captivity to spend her retirement in freedom. Government ministers have drawn up new plans to ban performing animals. It following our long campaign - backed by £25,000 in donations from readers - to let 55-year-old Anne spend her retirement in an animal sanctuary. Although Anne, who tours the UK with Bobby Roberts' Super Circus, doesn't perform tricks any more, she is still taken into the big top to pose for pictu...
2008-01-12 - Rangpur, India.
Two people were killed and at least 60 houses were damaged by a wild elephant at Uparmara village under Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat district yesterday. The dead were identified as Aminur Rahman, 30, and Azhar Ali, 48. The officer-in-charge of Patgram Police Station said Aminur and Azhar were trampled to death by the elephant that entered the village at around 6:15 am. The people of Uparmar left their houses and took shelter at the nearby village as soon as the elephant entered the village. Ma...
2008-01-12 - Hassan, India.
A forest mobile squad along with officials of the Sakleshpur Forest Department and Sakleshpur police arrested three persons in the early hours of Friday and seized two elephant tusks together weighing 38 kg. Acting on a tip off, the sleuths intercepted a car near Yebbusale village on Mudigere- Sakleshpur road at 3 a.m. and seized the ivory. The names of the arrested have been given as Ansari, Nassir and Arun. Two other accused, Subbaraya Gowda and Raghu, escaped even as the police stopped the ve...
2008-01-12 - VietNamNet Bridge, Vietnam.
Three wild elephants that escaped from Vu Quang national park have been causing concern among hundreds of households in the two communes of Huong Dien and Huong Quang in the central province of Ha Tinh. A residential house destroyed by wild elephants in the central province of Binh Thuan. Since 1999, the elephants appeared on more than 100 occasions, killing 10 people and destroying 20 houses and 200ha of vegetables. The elephants have crushed motorbikes in their path and stormed into residentia...
A wild elephant killed a man and injured another at a frontier village in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat district yesterday, official sources said. They said the male elephant from the hills in India strayed into village Ufarmara Guriadaho in the morning and ran amok damaging houses, standing crops and property indiscriminately and attacking villagers. At one stage, Aminur Rahman, 30, of the village was trampled to death by the elephant that also injured co-villager Azgar Ali, 40. Azgar was rush...
2008-01-12 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Gavin du Venage
ZIMBABWE plans to kill hundreds of elephants and turn them into biltong, a local dried meat snack usually enjoyed with a beer in front of a game of soccer or rugby, officials here have said. "It is in our plans. We plan to start this year," Zimbabwe National Parks director-general Morris Mtsambiwa was quoted as saying in the state-owned Herald newspaper. At least 500 elephants will be shot, skinned and their flesh dried and processed. Biltong is made by cutting raw flesh into thin strips, which ...
2008-01-11 - Sydney, Australia.
This week a high-level meeting of the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) decided Arna would undergo a psychiatric-style assessment in a protective enclosure at Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo, in central-west NSW. Arna, aged 53, will be housed there temporarily, along with her companion elephant Gigi, 50, while animal experts assess their behaviour. ARAZPA executive director Kevin Johnson announced Arna and Gigi would initially be accommodated the Western Plain...
2008-01-11 - Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ruma Paul and Anis Ahmed
A wild elephant straying into a village trampled a man to death and injured at least 15 people in Bangladesh on Friday, police and forest officials said. The incident occurred at a village in Lalmonirhat district, 350 km (215 miles) north of the capital near the Indian border. The elephant apparently broke from its herd and lost its way and entered the Bangladesh village from nearby Indian forest, one Lalmonirhat police official said.
2008-01-11 - Ha Thin, Vietnam.
Three wild elephants that escaped from Vu Quang national park have been causing concern among hundreds of households in the two communes of Huong Dien and Huong Quang in the central province of Ha Tinh. The elephants have crushed motorbikes in their path and stormed into residential houses, according to local authorities. Villager Nguyen Thi Phuong from Kieu hamlet of Huong Dien Commune said two elephants rushed towards her in the evening. My husband was out and I just managed to take the childr...
2008-01-11 - Guwahati, India.
A beat officer of Kaziranga National Park was critically injured and a bleeding guard spent the entire night tied to a tree after villagers incensed by a woman’s death in an elephant attack chose to vent their anger on forest staff. Beat officer Debanga Bhusan Das and his men were least expecting the usually friendly residents of Neejgarpal, located on the fringes of the national park, to react so violently when they went to the village to help chase away an elephant herd that had strayed into...
2008-01-11 - London, United Kingdom.
Colonel Wallace Pryke , who has died aged 92, had an adventurous Army career which took him to the North-West Frontier, the jungles of Burma and behind enemy lines in wartime Italy. They were assisted by Lt-Col JH Williams, who was famous as "Elephant Bill", who was dropped by parachute with two Harley Street surgeons. They organised the rounding up of stray elephants and used them to transport substantial quantities of medical personnel and equipment. After the end of the war, Pr...
2008-01-11 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham
Zoo President Donna M. Fernandes rejected all charges by In Defense of Elephants, especially noting that “the elephants are never made to lie in their feces and urine. That’s ridiculous.” Less than two months after animal rights activists put the Buffalo Zoo on the defensive over a series of polar bear deaths, it has become the target of charges that its elephants live in cramped, inhumane conditions. The zoo issued a swift denial.
2008-01-10 - London, United Kingdom. Lester Haines
We believe that every child in the UK would benefit from owning an elephant. It was my dream as a child to care for these magnificent creatures but at the age of twelve I find that nobody takes me seriously. We would like to make it legal to import african/indian elephants from africa/india to sell in pet shops across the UK. Elephants are creatures that children could learn about better by owning their own and keeping them in easily and cheaply converted sheds. Please take my idea into account....
2008-01-10 - London, United Kingdom. Roger Highfield
Biologists have often complained conservation efforts are focused too much on charismatic big animals to the exclusion of vast numbers of insects, plants and other small creatures. Now a study has shown that if elephants, giraffes and other picture-postcard animals disappear from the eastern African savanna, the ecological damage may extend, ironically, to the acacia trees they eat and cascade all the way to down to affect ants too. The study is a cautionary tale about the rapid and unanticipate...
2008-01-10 - Kota Tinggi, Malaysia.
EVERY year, from October to December, the villagers of five kampungs in Sedili Besar, Kota Tinggi lose thousands of ringgit to marauding elephants. This is when the pachyderms usually make their annual jaunt to the orchards of Kampung Perpat, Kampung Teluk, Kampung Simpang, Kampung Kampung Kambau and Kampung Semayong to feed on the fruits. But this is expected to end soon once the government approves a special allocation to the Wildlife Department to fund the capture of wild elephants that stray...
2008-01-09 - Sydney, Australia.
The future of two elephants, one of which killed a circus worker, remains up in the air with experts to assess the elephants' behaviour before a final decision is made. Stardust Circus worker Ray Williams, 57, was found dead in the elephant's enclosure at Yamba, in northern NSW, on December 27. An interim post-mortem examination found Mr Williams suffered a broken back and a ruptured aorta and died from "severe blunt trauma" caused by elephant Arna. Following the findings, the circus decided to ...
2008-01-09 - San Francisco, United States. SAVANNAH BLACKWELL
IN EARLY 1997, the San Francisco Zoo had a serious public-relations problem. The zoo wanted San Francisco voters to approve a $48 million bond measure to overhaul the facilities. But the Asian elephant exhibit was making the zoo look bad. Tinkerbelle the elephant had been living alone since April 1995, when her longtime companion, Pennie, was put to sleep. Animal activists had been complaining that, for an animal that herds and has complex social interactions in the wild, life alone was cruel an...
2008-01-09 - Silver Spring, United States.
The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) today announced their support for 15 new elephant conservation projects for 2008, marking a record level of support. Conservation projects supported by accredited zoos are essential to the survival of elephants “Elephants all over the world need our help,” said IEF President Michael Fouraker. “The grants made today by the International Elephant Foundation support critical elephant conservation prog...
2008-01-09 - Hyderabad, India.
The Hyderabad district administration has decided to take assistance of animal trainers from Tirupati and Srikakulam for training elephant, Rajni, to carry the historic ‘Bibi-ka-Alam’ during the Muharram procession on January 19. Reviewing the arrangements to be made for smooth conduct of Muharram here on Tuesday, Minister for Energy and Minorities Welfare Mohd Ali Shabbir said a mock procession with the Nehru Zoological Park elephant, Rajni, would also be organised as a precautionary measur...
2008-01-09 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Here's a couple of pictures of Miss Zerbini and Luke from the '07 Gold Unit. Good to see she is back for 2008 but I agree she needs a bigger act for her talents. //Joey. Unfortunately this is unlikely to happen since for one reason or another, of the 50 or so elephants in storage at Williston and Polk City, none are road worthy. That's the reason outside elephants had to be hired in the first place. //Buckles
2008-01-09 - Guwahati, India.
The army is fighting its “largest” adversary yet with a weapon “hotter” than the AK-47. Constantly harassed by wild elephants, the army is planting the world’s hottest chilli in its camp adjoining the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Mariani to ward off straying herds. “Everything else has failed. We are hoping that the Naga jolokia (Naga chillies) will do the trick,” a senior army officer said. Elephants are known to detest the smell of the Naga jolokia and the army hopes they will st...
2008-01-08 - Crosbyton, United States.
In something of a no-win situation for science a creationist fossil hunter is selling of a massive – and massively rare – fossil mastodon for tens of thousands of dollars. So either a valuable specimen disappears into private hands or public research money goes to a man whose museum proudly declares it is “Digging up the facts of God’s Creation: One fossil at a time.” The fossil in question is a four-toothed mastodon head of a size never before uncovered - roughly a metre on each side....
2008-01-08 - Seattle, United States.
Comforted by buckets of fresh cantaloupe, apples and carrots, the Woodland Park Zoo's 29-year-old Asian elephant, Chai, was artificially inseminated over the weekend. Zoo officials said they performed the 20-minute procedure with the help of a leading expert in elephant reproductive physiology, Dr. Dennis Schmitt, professor of animal science at Missouri State University. The sperm donor was a 36-year-old bull at the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma.
2008-01-08 - Dublin, Ireland. Anne-Marie Walsh
IT will be the ultimate in Zoo TV. Special cameras are set to capture the birth of an elephant at Dublin Zoo with the live images available on the internet. Officials have installed hi-tech CCTV cameras in the elephant enclosure in the Phoenix Park to follow expectant Indian elephant Yasmin's labour and delivery in March . Technology company DNA IT solutions, based in Ireland, has been employed to put two cameras in her enclosure to deliver high quality images. The new cameras have replaced trad...
2008-01-08 - , United States.
An exhibition of Gothic ivory carvings, none more than 12 inches in length, opens at the Courtauld Gallery in London's Somerset House on Thursday. Though small in size, the exhibition is of momentous interest not only to scholars but to the art world in general. The Dormeuil Diptych from the collection of Lord Thomson. The carvings are part of the little-known collection formed by the publicity-shy Canadian businessman, Kenneth Thomson, the second Lord Thomson of Fleet and Northbridge, who died ...
2008-01-08 - Phoenix, United States.
The Phoenix Zoo is accepting applications for a part-time regular Keeper working in our Elephant Sanctuary. Essential duties involve interaction with both the animals and visiting publics. Keepers will observe assigned animals on a daily basis, reporting any abnormalities; perform routine husbandry and environmental maintenance; feed proscribed diets; perform assigned and approved animal enrichment activities and trainings; assist in the restraint and treatment of animals; participate in non-rou...
2008-01-08 - Erwin, United States. Betty B. Chandler
I was checking out our news partner, WEMB’s news headlines recently, only to learn that there have been two more productions dealing with the demise of “Murderous Mary,” the elephant that was hanged on September 13, 1916 at the Second Street railroad crossing in Erwin. According to the news story on WEMB's Web site, one play written in Nashville by Mathew Carleton, sticks to the basics, more or less, in a theatrical setting. The other, according to the WEMB clip, is another story. The Aust...
2008-01-08 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Tusker, a towering 50-year-old bull elephant who had become a favorite for safari camp visitors, was shot dead after New Year's party-goers provoked the animal into trampling several cars, conservationists said Monday. Tusker was executed Sunday by rangers at the Charara camp on the shores of Lake Kariba, 230 miles northwest of Harare, parks officials and independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said. Rangers said that Tusker had become a danger to people and was classified as a "problem ani...
2008-01-07 - Dublin, Ireland.
Network cameras from Axis Communications, the global leader in network video, have been installed by one of Ireland's premier network integrators, DNA IT Solutions, inside the Kaziranga Forest Trail Habitat at Dublin Zoo. The birth, which is due to take place within the next few weeks, will be the second elephant birth ever caught on camera in Europe. Traditional analogue-based CCTV cameras have been replaced by Axis network cameras, because the old ones were not delivering the high quality im...
2008-01-07 - Seattle, United States.
2008-01-07 - Kolkata, India.
West Bengal has finally woken up to the call of wildlife activists who have been voicing concern over the high incidence of elephant deaths on railway tracks - around nine since 2004 - in the state's northern parts. The West Bengal forest department has formulated a proposal and submitted it to the union ministry of environment and forests. The proposal has been accepted and handed over to the Railway Board, West Bengal principal chief conservator of forests Atanu Raha told IANS.
2008-01-07 - Guwahati, India.
After two days of trying, Forest personnel today managed to rescue an elephant calf from inside the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city. The calf, a one-month-old female, is now recuperating at the Assam State Zoo. The calf, together with her mother, was apparently abandoned by the herd after the mother had suffered a serious leg injury, resulting probably from an accidental fall. The calf had no signs of injury but was extremely weak as it had not been able to feed on mother...
2008-01-07 - New York, United States.
Chembio Diagnostic, Inc. (OTC BB:CEMI.OB – News) announces that it has been issued an United States Department ofAgriculture (USDA) license for its ElephantTB STAT-PAK Assay designed to rapidly (<20 minutes) detect tuberculosis (TB) in both Asian and African elephants. Chembio’sother rapid serological TB assay – PrimaTB STAT-PAK received USDA licensure earlierthis year. Both products belong to a larger family of rapid immunochromatographicassays currently under development at Chembio for t...
2008-01-07 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
A herd of wild elephants on Indonesia's Sumatra has repeatedly outsmarted efforts to stop them stealing crops, wising up to attempts to chase them off with burning torches, a report said Monday. The head of Way Kambas natural reserve in Lampung province, Hudiono, told the state-run Antara news agency that a herd of 25 to 30 elephants had been nightly roaming out of the reserve to raid crops since Thursday. The elephants, previously only occasional visitors, have managed to clamber over earthen e...
2008-01-06 - Munster, Germany.
Munster Zoo is searching for a Zookeeper with interest in elephant management. Munster Zoo keeps On-Hand six Asian elephant cows and a bull. If you are educated Zookeeper with Elephant experience, Munster Zoo offer you the chance to develop further.
2008-01-06 - Kolkata, India.
Four persons were injured and around 40 mud houses damaged in Bankura district by a herd of elephants, Forest department sources said today. According to sources, a herd of 72 elephants has entered Bankura from Dalma forest. While 50 elephants are roaming in the Barjora jungle, another 22 entered Beliatore and injured the villagers. Early this morning, several elephants entered the Chakurdanaga village under the Barjora police station area and created panic among the villagers.
2008-01-06 - PALAKKAD, India.
All the owners of captive elephants have been requested to produce their elephants for verification , micro-chipping and issuing of health card at the following venues. On January 8, at the district veterinary centre on VH road from 10 am to 1 pm and at the Divisional Forest Office at Mannarkad from 2 pm to 4 pm. On January 9, venue will be at the M A Parameswaran and Company at Mangalamkunnu from 10 am.
2008-01-06 - Columbus, United States.
METTLER TOLEDO takes pride in proving their competence in making laboratory balances safer and easier by offering innovations that will provide solutions in both routine and special laboratory practices and needs. So, to prove the durability of their 64 kg precision balance they put it to the test by inviting an elephant to stand on it. As you can see on the video, a 3 ½ ton-elephant did not damage our XP precision balance thanks to Overload Protection, a feature that protects from excess weigh...
2008-01-06 - Raipur, India. IANS
The Chhattisgarh government has paid over Rs.76 million ($1.9 million) compensation in the past four years to forest dwellers for loss of life and property due to attacks by wild elephants, a statement said Sunday. The state's forest department paid the amount between financial years 2003-04 and 2006-07. A forest department official told IANS Sunday that about 90 percent of the compensation was paid for damage to standing crops and demolition of homes by wild elephants in the state's northern fo...
2008-01-06 - GUY, United States. STACY HUDSON
Miss Bets is the newest addition to Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary and probably the most recent baby elephant born in captivity in the United States, said Scott Riddle, the sanctuary’s owner and operator. The calf was named after chemist L. Elizabeth L. “Bets” Rasmussen, a longtime colleague and friend of Riddle who studied chemical communication between elephants at Oregon Health & Science University’s OGI School of Science and Engineering in Beaverton, Ore., (formerly the O...
2008-01-06 - ROURKELA, India.
Close on the heels of the death of an old man in Lathikata block, after he was attacked by an elephant, two women were seriously injured in the district in two separate incidents. According to reports, Dulari Kandulina, of Jamsora village was attacked when she was busy harvesting kolath. She was attacked from behind by an elephant which strayed near the human habitat. Fortunately, the villagers came to her rescue. In the second incident, Rasmi Bare, had ventured into the Pahadtoli forest to coll...
2008-01-06 - Yamba, Australia.
ARNA the elephant, who crushed a 54-year-old circus worker at Yamba recently, may be relocated to a zoo. Co-owner of Stardust Circus Janice Lennon said yesterday that the circus family had made a decision after lengthy discussion that a retirement to a zoo for Arna would be best for everybody. Stardust Circus contacted the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) to investigate the possibilities. ARAZPA executive director Kevin Johnson said appropriate zoos of w...
2008-01-05 - PALAKKAD, India.
The Elephant Lovers’ Association submitted an eight-point recommendation at the meet convened at the Collectorate conference hall here on Friday by the district administration to check the harassment of elephants by mahouts and owners during the coming festival season. Elephant Lovers’ Association president V.K.Venkatachalam suggested the setting up of pandals when the elephants are made to stand for long hours for ezhunnellippu in the sun.
2008-01-05 - Jomtien, Thailand.
Thai people hold Elephants in high regard and there comes a time in an Elephants life when its health begins to fail. Wassana, a female elephant aged 80 fell to the floor on Saturday Morning, just off the Tepprasit Road in Jomtien, where the animal and its keepers live. They refuse to accept that her time to depart this world may have come. They brought in a JCB Digger and managed to life the Elephant to its feet so it was able to feed. A Vet was called in who confirmed that the Elephant is clos...
2008-01-05 - Kodanad, India. Juhan Samuel
An elephant camp located here in the Malayatoor Forest Division is under Herpes virus threat, which has already taken lives of two young baby calves. The camp, which was once a hot tourist destination in the Kerala map for being a unique elephant orphanage, is facing tough time with the outbreak of the viral disease. Forest officials have started transferring elephants to nearby areas to avoid worsening of the situation, and have sprinkled bleaching powder and phenol to control the infect...
2008-01-05 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Here are a couple of Harry Quillen photos, my dad wrote on the back of this one, "Pasadena, Cal. taken from Suicide Bridge.".
2008-01-05 - Agra, India.
on an Agra street - as captured in haste from the bus
2008-01-04 - Geldern, Germany. Dan Koehl
The attraction at Circus Alberti in Germany, the giant elephant Shenka, is dead. The five ton heavy elephant did not only impress in the ring, but also as walker on streets and helper when building up the tents, died in heart failure, says Marcel Frank from Circus Alberti. He was very old, 49 years, and grandfather to many babies.
2008-01-04 - Sydney, Australia. Rhett Watson
ARNA the circus elephant is a killer with forensic evidence showing she crushed a worker to death. Ray Williams had spent up to three years feeding and watering the Asian elephant, which has become synonymous with her owner the Stardust Circus. An interim post-mortem examination report has revealed the 57-year-old's previous heart complaint did not contribute to his death at Yamba, on the North Coast, last week. Instead, it found Mr Williams' injuries - a broken back and a ruptured aorta - were ...
2008-01-04 - Coney Island, United States.
On this very day 105 years ago Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant meant to give rides and carry heavy items on Coney Island...all in the name of science! His science. He came to Coney to prove George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla's alternating current (AC) was dangerous, whereas his competing direct current was completely safe. In fact, Edison was the one who convinced New York to use the dangerous and deadly AC for their electric chair.
2008-01-04 - Sonitpur, India.
Putul Baruah and his family haven’t slept a wink in the past 48 hours. Neither have Birbahadur Dorji, Bolbahadur Karki, Ratan Das and Gyan Devi’s families. You can sleep only when you have a roof over your head, Putul said today, the anguish in his voice reflecting what he and the other villagers have had to endure since Wednesday. All five families watched helplessly as a herd of elephants rampaged through their paddy fields at Bokabeel near Sootea that night. The herd came calling again la...
2008-01-04 - Calcutta, India. SUBHAJOY ROY
Sourav Ganguly has a rival in popularity — that, too, on home ground — who is a good two feet taller and 2,450 kg heavier than Bengal’s biggest hero. Emblazoned on her grey-black jersey is the name children and adults call out to her by — Sabitri. The female elephant that not so long ago trumpeted out of the Olympic Circus tent in Ranigunj — responding to a tusker’s call — and romanced in the wild for a week before returning, is now the star of a circus in Sodepur, drawing thousand...
2008-01-04 - SOMWARPET, India.
A wild tusker was found dead in the paddy fields belong to SJM Mutt in Gudugur under Somwarpet Forest Range limits on Wednesday night. The elephant died due to bullet injuries. It is said that the elephant entered into the village on Wednesday night in search of fodder from nearby forest. Unidentified persons shot the elephant on its forehead by using gun. According to forest officers, the elephant was aged about 30 years. The forest officials recovered the tusk from the cadaver and cremated it ...
2008-01-04 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
It is estimated that there are more than 100,000 elephants in Zimbabwe, a figure three times more than the carrying capacity of the protected areas. The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe plans to produce biltong from elephant meat to sell in retail outlets throughout the country "as part of sustainable utilisation of the animals," the Herald online said. Parks director-general Dr Morris Mtsambiwa said the project began last year after the Ministry of...
2008-01-04 - Tokyo, Japan. Hiroko Tabuchi
Frozen in much the state it died some 37,500 years ago, a Siberian baby mammoth undergoing tests in Japan could finally explain why the beasts were driven to extinction -- and shed light on climate change, scientists said Friday. The 6-month-old calf, unearthed in May by a reindeer herder in northern Siberia's remote Yamal-Nenets autonomous region, is virtually intact and even has some fur, though the tail and ear of the animal dubbed "Lyuba" were apparently bitten off. "Lyuba's discovery is an ...
2008-01-04 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Wayne Jackson: Somewhere in my library I remember reading about the three bulls and about Fritz being shot in France, most likely because he was just too much to handle (possibly in musth)? That may also be the reason for the second bull’s death, the third bull was dumped over board before they landed back in the U.S., possibly for the same reason? Bob Cline: If this helps any, I have the following information listed. NICK - Stoke on Trent, England Nov.12, 1898, FRITZ - Tours, France June 11, ...
2008-01-03 - Shillong, India.
A herd of wild Asiatic elephants trampled to death a woman and her son in a village in West Garo Hills on Wednesday night, a wildlife official said today. The elephants entered Darugre village in West Garo Hills on Wednesday night and destroyed crops and several houses. The victims, Aprillish D. Sangma, 50, and her 13-year-old son Jakrik died after the elephants destroyed their house, the official said.
2008-01-03 - Madurai, India.
An 11-year-old she-elephant of Sri Meenakshi temple on Wednesday ran amok after witnessing a fight between two street dogs. According to the Executive Officer of the temple B Raja, Parvathy who was bringing water for pooja, got scared on seeing the two dogs barking and attacking each other ferociously and ran into a hotel near the temple. The mahout managed to persuade the elephant to come out of the hotel and told it that there was no need to get scared. He also chased away the dogs and brought...
2008-01-02 - Tokyo, Japan.
The fossil baby mammoth named Lyuba that was found in May 2007 on Yamal has been delivered from Moscow to Tokyo for research purposes. A refrigerating chamber with the well-preserved 50 kilogram body of the baby mammoth has been transferred from the Narita international airport to Jikei University in Komae, a suburb of Tokyo. Scientists assume that Lyuba died at the aged of 6 months and its body lied in permafrost for about 37 thousand years. According to Professor Naoki Suzuki, the head of the ...
2008-01-02 - Rotterdam, Netherlands. Martijn Fabrie, Netherlands
The unborn child of elephantmother Irma of Zoo Blijdorp isn't likely to live anymore. Employees of the zoo in Rotterdam were counting of a birth around the Christmas and New Year days, but they think the calf is dead by now. Last Friday the the membranes of Irma broke. Normally the delivery will begin and within 48 hours the calf is born. The contractions however didn't start, even after the vetenarian had given her stimulating medicines and massaging the birthchannel.
2008-01-02 - Tampa, United States.
The Rev. Jerry Hogan, chaplain to the nation's circuses, blessed the Ringling Brothers elephants before the opening of the circus's Tampa run tonight. Hogan, who works under the auspices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, sprinkled the beasts with holy water and said a prayer in the plaza outside the St. Pete Times Forum. The half-dozen elephants were treated to a meatless feast of fruit, bread and vegetables. Circus clowns rolled watermelons to the animals, who made a show of ...
2008-01-01 - Tampa, United States. SHERRI ACKERMAN, The Tampa Tribune
Little Sara, at 5 feet and 3,000 pounds, seemed puny next to her gargantuan wrinkly aunts as they got off the train, locked trunks to tails, and began to march in a straight line down Nuccio Parkway. Children from nearby Tampa Park apartments raced on bikes alongside the pachyderms on parade from Union Station to downtown Tampa, a tradition known as the Elephant Walk, which marks the official start of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. "They're very friendly," said animal handler Gle...
2008-01-01 - Vienna, Austria. Egger GF, Witter K, Weissengruber G, Forstenpointner G. University of Veterinary Medicine
Knee joints of one adult and three juvenile African elephants were dissected. The specific features of the articular cartilage with particular reference to matrix components were studied by light and electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. The elephant knee joint cartilage contains an unusually low concentration of proteoglycans resulting in rather eosinophilic staining properties of the matrix. The very thick collagen fibers of the cartilage possibly represent collagen I.
