2012-12-29 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
A pivotal moment in efforts to tackle the current rhino poaching crisis took place today as the governments of South Africa and Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve co-operation between the two states on biodiversity conservation and protection including tackling illegal wildlife trafficking.
2012-12-26 - Geneva, Switzerland.
The Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) welcomes the United Nations Security Council’s call for an investigation into the alleged involvement of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the poaching of African elephants and smuggling of their ivory. Through a statement read out by the current president of the body, Mr Mohammed Loulichki from Morocco, the Security Council called “on the United Nations and African Union ...
2012-12-26 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand´s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation is introducing its new ivory trade control measures to protect Thailand from trade barriers imposed by member countries of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.
2012-12-26 - Los Angeles, United States.
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus train has been bringing four-ton Asian elephants to this city since 1919. But “The Greatest Show on Earth” might have made its last stop here. Los Angeles is poised to ban elephants from performing in circuses within its city limits, after pressure from animal welfare advocates who have for decades condemned the methods used to train and transport elephants as abusive and cruel.
2012-12-22 - Denver, United States.
Kimbo, a 42-year-old female from Fort Worth Zoo, arrived Thursday night and is getting to know her new digs at Toyota Elephant Passage, Denver Zoo said in a news release. Kimbo brings the elephant population back to four as she joins Dolly, the other female, and bulls Bodhi and Groucho. Dolly is 47, Bodhi is 8 and and Groucho is 41.
2012-12-22 - Chitwan, Nepal.
For the last six months, 56 elephants reared in Sauraha Elephant Breeding Center at Chitwan National Park (CNP) have not been fed properly. Not only the elephants but the mahouts also are facing hand to mouth situation as the supply of allocated ration has become irregular.
2012-12-21 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Instead of giving us money, please give us forests. We will help elephants reproduce,†said an elephant breeder in Dak Lak. The elephant breeders in Dak Lak would receive 414 million dong in financial support from the state for every elephant who gives birth. However, they wish they can receive forests rather than money, because the forests, not money, would help elephants live their normal lives and reproduce.
2012-12-20 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
ZIMBABWE is sending baby elephants from its drought-ravaged Hwange region to two Chinese zoos under a covert deal struck by president Robert Mugabe, conservationists warn. Four elephants left Harare late last month for Dubai en route to Beijing after a 12-hour journey by road from Hwange to Harare, said the head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, Johnny Rodrigues. Up to 14 more elephants will leave in January, activists fear.
2012-12-19 - Lyon, France.
Two ailing middle-aged elephants that French officials wanted to put down have been given a Christmas reprieve after an appeal to President Francois Hollande and an Internet campaign to save them. Baby and Nepal, who both have tuberculosis, had been deemed a threat to other animals at their zoo in the city of Lyon as well as to human visitors since the disease is highly contagious.
2012-12-19 - Toronto, Canada.
A Toronto city councillor is vowing to do everything she can to stop the transfer of three aging African elephants from the Toronto Zoo to a California sanctuary, fearing their safety could be jeopardized and the zoo could lose standing with a national organization. “It’s never over till it’s over,†councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby told The Globe and Mail Wednesday. “My heart and soul is in this and I believe in doing the right thing for our animals.â€
2012-12-19 - Los Angeles, United States. Deborah Olson
L.A. City Council´s proposed ban on elephants performing in traveling shows such as circuses paints a romantic picture of elephants as gentle giants. The editorial board seems to buy into the animal extremists´ idealistic scenario of happy, fat pachyderms lazily wandering the open plains of Africa or the jungles of Asia, free of disease and conflict with humans.
2012-12-15 - Lyon, France.
Gilbert Edelstein, the head of the Pinder circus who donated the two pachyderms Nepal and Baby to the Parc de la Tete d´Or in Lyon, sought the "supreme intervention" of Hollande in a letter. The mayor´s office had ordered euthanasia, citing public health concerns, because they have tuberculosis., and said it should be carried out before December 20.
2012-12-15 - London, United Kingdom.
Naomi Campbell is suing the Daily Telegraph for libel over an article claiming she organised an elephant polo tournament in India. A spokeswoman for Campbell emphatically denied that the model, who campaigns against animal cruelty, had planned an elephant polo tournament in Jodhpur as stated by the article on 3 November.
2012-12-15 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Indonesian police say an endangered Sumatran elephant has been found dead at a rubber plantation, apparently poisoned by poachers. It is the 17th Sumatran elephant found dead on the island of Sumatra since March. First Lt. Simson Purba of the local police says the plantation owner found the male elephant dying in East Aceh district Friday. Purba says the animal was dead by the time authorities arrived. It was about 5 years old and its left tusk had been stolen. Police are investigating the death...
2012-12-15 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A whopping 1,500 African elephant tusks were seized this week in a $20 million shipment destined for China’s ivory market. On Monday, Malaysian customs officials discovered 24 tons of unprocessed tusks originating from Togo in West Africa hidden in secret compartments in two cargo containers. Making this the biggest seizure ever, shocked conservationists say 2012 will now go down as the worst year in over two decades, warning that 2013 could be even worse. Read on to learn more about the ...
2012-12-15 - Gourma , Mali.
A two-year study, to appear in January´s edition of Biological Conservation, tracked the elephants´ migration with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars. Its findings advance conservation efforts for the animals, which are facing increased armed conflict in Mali between government forces and Touareg rebels.
2012-12-15 - Sabah, Malaysia.
Numbering about 2,000, these babyish-looking elephants are the most endangered subspecies of Asian elephant. They live primarily in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo, where they are threatened by the loss and fragmentation of their forest, often by development associated with palm oil, a widely used, edible plant oil.
2012-12-13 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
At the end of the war in 1975, as many as 2,000 wild elephants roamed the lowland forests of Vietnam. Today, there are as few as 50. Poaching and habitat destruction have brought the animals to the brink of extinction, and conservationists say the only herd with a long-term chance of survival is located along the border separating Yok Don National Park and Cambodia. ​​According to park director Tran Van Thanh, the already limited forests are shrinking as local communities cut tre...
2012-12-13 - Portland, United States.
Next Tuesday, Oregon Zoo officials are expected to ask the Metro council for $4 million to $5 million to offset high construction costs of the new elephant habitat and other projects, and to exercise the Metro´s option to buy about 200 acres in Clackamas County for a remote elephant center.
2012-12-13 - Detroit, United States.
A researcher has confirmed that two 11-year-old boys found a mastodon bone over the summer while exploring a southeast Michigan yard.The Detroit News reports Eric Stamatin of Macomb County´s Shelby Township and his cousin Andrew Gainariu of Troy found the bone near a stream while exploring Eric´s backyard. Eric says it looked like a rock, but a hole made them think it was a bone.
2012-12-12 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife Department authorities will have discussions with the public at workshops to solve the human-elephant conflict, Wildlife Director General H D Rathnayake said. He said according to the National Elephant Conservation Policy, the Authority activates action plans to prevent the human-elephant conflict. "Under this programme, the department will identify practical and relevant steps which could be used to prevent the conflict between elephants and humans," Rathnayake said. ...
2012-12-12 - Denver, United States.
Dave Johnson, elephant keeper at the Denver Zoo has written a children´s book, called The Elephants of Denver and is using all proceeds from it to travel to Nepal and work on conservation. While Johnson is in Nepal, he will be supplying other environmentally-passionate people with things they need. For example, an anti-poaching team needed a faster way to get around, so he and his colleagues bought motorbikes for them.
2012-12-12 - Port Klang, Malaysia.
THE Selangor Customs Department on Monday foiled an attempt by an international syndicate to smuggle 24 tonnes of elephant tusks and ivory handicraft worth RM60 million at the North Port here. State Customs director Datuk Azis Yacub said enforcement officers seized two containers scheduled for transshipment to China following surveillance since Friday.
2012-12-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
After monitoring a dozen bull Asian elephants in Sri Lanka that were transferred—three of them multiple times—to national parks, researchers have concluded that relocation neither reduces human-elephant conflicts nor helps conservation efforts. Indeed, five of the translocated elephants ended up being killed within 8 months of their release, and the elephants killed five people.
2012-12-09 - Seattle, United States.
Communicating the very serious threat to elephants in the wild — and working to save them — are the most important reasons to have elephants in zoos, write two members of the Woodland Park Zoo board of directors. Seeing, hearing and smelling elephants can spark a very personal, emotional connection that inspires people to help elephants in the wild.
2012-12-09 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon, The Oregonian
The zoo will keep the calf. Have Trunk Will Travel is in good standing with government agencies that grant its licenses and oversee animal-welfare laws. When it comes to captive elephants, cooperation across the spectrum of animal exhibitors is business-as-usual. Public zoos, private zoos, circuses, theme parks, traveling shows -- operations with radically different missions, messages and profit motives -- are all in it together because elephants are big business.
2012-12-09 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan officials say the country’s elephant and zebra populations have dropped sharply over the last four years, mainly due to poaching, demand for ivory, drought and climate change. Kenya Wildlife Service director William Kipkoech says the number of elephants fell from 7,415 to 6,361 during the period.
2012-12-09 - Toronto, Canada.
Hours after Toronto city council attempted to lecture Edmonton on proper elephant care, Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel angrily told the Ontario capital to mind its own affairs. “It’s none of their business to butt into our business. I don’t appreciate it at all,†he said in a noticeably agitated preamble to a Wednesday night council meeting. On Tuesday, Toronto city councillors agreed to ship its zoo’s three elephants south and approved a resolution...
2012-12-09 - Phuket, Thailand.
The management at Laguna Resorts & Hotels, which operates the five-hotel resort complex on Phuket’s west coast, have issued a statement about the baby elephant “Joeyâ€, which was seized in raids in Phuket in February. Ziya Birkan, Deputy Managing Director at Laguna Resorts & Hotels, wrote in the statement: “We’re very pleased the authorities have resolved the question of Joey’s parentage through DNA testing, but obviously disapp...
2012-12-05 - Los Angeles, United States. Deborah Olson
The Times´ editorial Monday on the L.A. City Council´s proposed ban on elephants performing in traveling shows such as circuses paints a romantic picture of elephants as gentle giants. The editorial board seems to buy into the animal extremists´ idealistic scenario of happy, fat pachyderms lazily wandering the open plains of Africa or the jungles of Asia, free of disease and conflict with humans.
2012-12-05 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Approximately 190 elephants in Zimbabwe have been listed dead due to water shortage this year, according to wildlife authorities. The country´s Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said that the elephants died during the dry season at the Hwange National Park, the largest in the country. Last year, the park lost 80 elephants and 25 buffaloes as a result of high temperatures and water shortage, it said.
2012-12-05 - Portland, United States.
Have Trunk Will Travel has no intention and has never had any intention of coming to take Rose-Tu´s calf. Have Trunk Will Travel supports Oregon Zoo´s vision for elephants and has great appreciation for the way they care for elephants. We are very proud of the significant contribution we have made together for Asian elephants. We could not be more excited about the birth of this new calf.
2012-12-05 - Yaounde, Cameroon.
Despite armed guards, Cameroon´s dwindling elephant population is being decimated by heavily armed gangs of international poachers, according to a top official of the World Wide Fund for Nature. Tighter security has been mounted because intelligence shows that two gangs of poachers from Sudan are heading for the area, said WWF Cameroon conservation director Hanson Njiforti at a news conference Tuesday.
2012-12-04 - Seattle, United States. Woodland Park Zoo
Recently, the Seattle Times published a two-part series on elephants in zoos. Woodland Park Zoo’s approach to elephant care and our attempt to help perpetuate the species by inseminating Chai, one of our Asian elephants, was highlighted in what we believe was a very biased and inaccurate slant. We would like to provide you with information that was not included in the series of stories.
2012-11-29 - Lampang, Thailand.
While baby elephants Joey and Popeye are now back living with their mother in the government-owned Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (TECC) in Lampang, Somchok from Phu Thai Review Souvenir Market in Chalong and Nampetch from Laguna Excursions in Cherng Talay - who were subjected to similar DNA tests - have been found to have been acquired legally and have returned to their respective places of work today
2012-11-27 - Lampang, Thailand. Apinya Wipatayotin
Most elephants living in captivity across the country suffer from work overload, malnutrition, and poor living conditions, says the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre. Sittidet Mahasawongkul, head of the Lampang-based centre´s elephant hospital yesterday said he and his team recently conducted elephant health check-ups at several elephant camps and found most of the animals were ailing due to poor care. There are about 2,000 captive elephants in shelters across the country.
2012-11-27 - Mettupalayam, India.
A 52-year-old female elephant died before the opening of the annual rejuvenation camp for temple elephants at Nellithurai near Mettuppalayam in Coimbatore district. The elephant, Bhavani, belonged to the Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram. She died around 8pm on Sunday when she was taken to the Bhavani river for a bath, said sources in the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.
2012-11-26 - Stockholm, Sweden.
438, 244 people visited the elephant database at elephant.se during 25 nov 2011-25 nov 2012, according to Cluster map, which is about 1200 visitors per day. Apr 500 from USA, 180 from UK, 95 from Canada, followed by India, Australia, Germany, Sri Lanka and Netherlands. Other countries represented less than 25 visitors/day.
137, 278 people visited the Elephant www.elephant-news.com during 25 nov 2011-25 nov 2012, according to Cluster map, which is about 376 visitors per day.
2012-11-25 - Mettupalayam, India.
Loaded in lorries, nine elephants with their mahouts from Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari districts on Saturday left for the 48-day annual rejuvenation camp to start at Mettupalayam from November 26 onwards. After being flagged off by Minister for Khadi and Village Industries P. Senthurpandian at the Bypass Road Flyover near KTC Nagar, the elephants’ journey for Mettupalayam began around 4 p.m.
2012-11-22 - Toronto, Canada.
The California sanctuary slated as the next home for the Toronto Zoo’s three remaining elephants “isn’t suitable†because it has a problem with tuberculosis, says the zoo’s CEO in a report set to go before city council next week. The report from John Tracogna says that a due diligence review of PAWS by the zoo resulted in the sanctuary not providing all the medical records the zoo has asked for. The zoo also has concerns about steps PAWS has taken to contain tube...
2012-11-20 - Syracuse, United States.
A 15-year-old bull elephant has joined the elephant herd at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, zoo officials said today. Doc, who came to the zoo from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation, arrived at the zoo on Thursday, officials said. Doc replaces 40-year-old Indy, the zoo´s long-time resident bull. Indy left the zoo Friday and now resides at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Mo.
2012-11-19 - , Cameroon.
Cameroon’s Special Forces have been deployed to foil an imminent raid by Sudanese poachers who for eight weeks earlier this year slaughtered half the population of elephants for their ivory at one of the country’s wildlife reserves. The heavily armed and well coordinated poachers, who had told local villagers of their plans to kill as many elephants as possible, claimed they had killed as much as 650 out of some 1,000 that roamed the park.
2012-11-19 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Chester Zoo have a vacancy for an Elephant Keeper to be based on the Elephants of the Asian forest exhibit working within a close team using a protected contact management system. The post will involve the daily care and management of our herd of 8 Asian elephants and their habitat. The successful candidate will provide excellent animal husbandry, care and welfare, ensuring that all enclosures and facilities are maintained to the highest possible standards for our visitors and the animals in our...
2012-11-16 - Tulsa, United States.
The Tulsa Zoo´s oldest resident is turning a very young 62 years old. Gunda the elephant will celebrate her birthday Friday at 11 a.m. Zoo officials are inviting everyone to stop by and wish Gunda a happy birthday as she digs in to her very own giant-sized cake to celebrate her big day. To commemorate Gunda´s birthday, the 62nd person to enter the zoo will receive free admission.
2012-11-15 - San Diego, United States.
Responsibilities for this position will be to work mostly with a collection of elephants in a protected contact management system at the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey Exhibit. The keeper will work closely with senior keepers, lead keeper and Animal Care Supervisor to develop the skills necessary to become an integral member of a progressive elephant husbandry and training program.
2012-11-13 - Emmen, Netherlands.
A mother elephant, her two sons and a daughter are to be found a new home by Emmen zoo officials after a power struggle within the herd. The problems began earlier this year when the matriarch of the herd died and two rival strands of the family began fighting it out for control. The dispute has become so serious that the two groups cannot exercise at the same time and have to be kept separated, Nos television said.
2012-11-13 - Riau, India.
Three elephants were found dead on a plantation in the Riau district of Pelalawan on Monday, allegedly killed as a result of having been poisoned. The remains were already decaying when discovered not far from Kilometer 89 of Jalan Koridor Baserah, with the rare animals’ deaths judged to have taken place a week earlier.
2012-11-13 - LILONGWE, Malawi.
An elephant calf that was separated from his herd and raised by a human "mother" for months in Malawi has died. Jenny Webb, who raised the calf, said it died Monday night "in her arms." She said the elephant had been sick with colic and diarrhea. In February, Webb adopted the elephant, which had been named Moses after being found in the grasses of a riverbed by game rangers at Vwazi Wildlife Reserve in northern Malawi.
2012-11-13 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Three critically-endangered Sumatran elephants found dead in Indonesia´s Riau province were probably poisoned in a revenge attack by palm oil plantation workers, an official said on Monday. The decomposing carcases of the female elephants, including a year-old baby, were found in a jungly area just outside the Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau province on Saturday, park chief Kupin Simbolon told AFP.
2012-11-13 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
This week, customs agents in Dubai seized elephant ivory tusks that were estimated to be worth more than $4 million dollars. According to an AP report, the tusks were hidden in a shipment of green beans, which came from an unnamed country in Africa. Killing elephants for their tusks is not only a brutal and inhumane practice, but it has been illegal since 1989, when a global ban on ivory was put in place. Illegal poaching of animals and animal parts can include elephant tusks, bear gallbladders,...
2012-11-13 - Amboseli, Kenya.
One of the poachers that killed the well-known elephant, Qumquat and her family has been arrested. The Big Life Foundation anti-poaching unit was informed of the location of the poacher through their community network. The team made the arrest alongside Kenya Wildlife Service. According to Big Life, the poacher was arrested last year but released. The team from Amboseli Elephant Research identified the dead elephants as Qumquat and her two daughters Qantina and Quaye.
2012-11-13 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Yasaratne Gamage
Wild life officials in Anuradhapura have commenced investigations into the death of two jumbos, a tusker found dead in Koongollwewa, Medawachchiya and another, poisoned in Herathgama, Kurunegala. They also found another adolescent elephant, seriously wounded by a trap gun in Kalagama, Galkiriyagama. The carcass of the huge tusker with its tusks removed was found in a jungle in Koongollewa, Medawachchiya by the Wild Life rangers attached to Vavuniya on Monday following information received from a...
2012-11-13 - Knoxville, United States.
Knoxville Zoo 1.2 currently houses African elephants and we are looking for an Elephant Keeper with 2+ years of experience. This person is responsible for a wide variety of tasks involving the husbandry of several area species, the daily upkeep of keeper and public areas and interpretation with zoo guests. The individual must be able to carry out the duties typical of a keeper and comply with Knoxville Zoo policies and procedures as they appear in the employee handbook and departmental protocols...
2012-11-10 - Herefordshire, United Kingdom.
Mr Turner, who had been in the 1st Battalion the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, was fatally injured by the elephant in the Mbarika Mountains, Tanzania. Anton tried to frighten off the elephant and grabbed hold of its trunk to divert it, before being thrown to the ground. His efforts brought time for other members of the group to escape unharmed, it added.
2012-11-09 - Toronto, Canada.
For the past year and a half, a fierce battle has raged over whether three African elephants should stay in their decades-old home at the Toronto Zoo. But it’s a battle that some experts say is now at the centre of a larger North American debate about the future of elephants in zoos. Since the facility opened in 1974, the Toronto Zoo has always had elephants.
2012-11-09 - Bhubaneswar, India.
An elephant undergoing training at Chandaka Sanctuary here today crushed its Mahout to death, forest officials said. Dilip Rabha (52), who was training 20-year-old elephant Shankar for the past two years, was pulled down from the animal´s back and trampled to death while it was being taken for a bath. After killing the Mahout, Shankar sat near the body and prevented anyone to come near him. A team from Nandankanan Zoo reached the spot and tranquilized the elephant.
2012-11-08 - Toronto, Canada.
Toronto council has been debating for over a year whether to move three elephants from the Toronto Zoo to an animal sanctuary in California. In the process, it has managed to lose our zoo’s international accreditation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). We always thought the people best-equipped to decide the fate of these elephants were the experts the zoo hires to look after them. But apparently not, since last October a majority of councillors chose to ignore their recomm...
2012-11-07 - Paris, France.
Archaeologists in France have unearthed a rather hairy fossil _ a nearly complete skeleton of a mammoth. The bones _ thought to belong to a creature that roamed the earth between 200,000 and 50,000 years ago _ were discovered by accident during the excavation of an ancient Roman site 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Paris. It may be only the third remains of a long-haired woolly mammoth discovered in France in the last 150 years. Such discoveries are more common in Siberia.
2012-11-07 - Yongin, South Korea. Angela S. Stoegersend email, Daniel Mietchen, Sukhun Oh, Shermin de Silva, Christian T. Herbst, Soowhan Kwon, W. Tecumseh Fitch
Here, we document a male Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) that imitates human speech, matching Korean formants and fundamental frequency in such detail that Korean native speakers can readily understand and transcribe the imitations. To create these very accurate imitations of speech formant frequencies, this elephant (named Koshik) places his trunk inside his mouth, modulating the shape of the vocal tract during controlled phonation
2012-11-07 - Little Rock, United States.
Provides supervision to Animal Keepers and other assigned Zoo personnel in a designated area of the Zoo; ensures that duties such as feeding, cleaning, and special projects are completed; ensures observance of safety procedures; provides training for assigned personnel and volunteers. Develops, implements, and maintains best practices in elephant care through modern principles relating to captive care.
2012-11-06 - Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka.
Feeding of begging wild elephants in Sri Lanka´s Udawalawe National Park, can be made safer for both man and animal if it is formalized as a supervised process, where fees are charged, a wildlife enthusiast has suggested. S M S Senadhipathi, a wildlife enthusiast says though elephants lining up for food along an electrified fence at the national park has become an iconic sight "it is an eye sore and a serious risk to animals and people."
2012-11-06 - Toronto, Canada.
The Executive Committee has voted to have Toronto Zoo staff decide where their three remaining elephants should be relocated. They said that elephants should be moved as soon as possible. The meeting was held late Monday evening after the committee spent most of the day hearing from the public on the possibility of bringing a casino to Toronto.
2012-11-04 - Santa Barbara Zoo, United States. EMA
2012-11-02 - Nashville, United States.
Under the direction of the Curator of Mammals, the Elephant Manager assists in animal acquisition, husbandry programs, daily maintenance and development of Keeper routines, animal enrichment, behavior modification, exhibit design, staff selection and staff development.
2012-11-01 - New Delhi, India.
India´s Odisha state lost at least 296 elephants in the past five years, several victims of electrocution, officials said. State authorities and wildlife activists said the elephants died after coming in contact with hanging, live electricity wires, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Wildlife activist Biswajit Mohanty said the casualty rate has been about 10 per year.
2012-11-01 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Sixteen pieces of raw elephant ivory were last night intercepted by Police from the special Crime prevention unit in Nairobi. It is not clear where the consignment was heading. Meanwhile, Kenya Wildlife Service rangers in Meru National Park have shot dead two poachers as two accomplices escaped after fierce exchange of fire that lasted for one hour. An AK47 rifle, 47 rounds of ammunition, two ivory tusks and two axes were recovered from them.
2012-11-01 - Calgary, Canada.
As the Calgary Zoos director of animal care, an animal welfare scientist and a captive elephant specialist, I’d like to respond to Jennifer O’Connor’s letter by respectfully encouraging her to consider the evidence relating to the psychological and physical impacts of denying elephants the opportunity to reproduce, before claiming it is “indefensible†and “self-serving†to allow Rani to breed again.
2012-10-31 - Sydney, Australia.
Injured Taronga Zoo elephant keeper Lucy Melo has been released from hospital. Ms Melo, 40, was injured 12 days ago when two-year-old elephant Pathi Harn "challenged´´ her authority and pinned her against a bollard. Her heart stopped beating for five minutes after the incident. A Taronga Zoo spokesman said Ms Melo had made excellent progress in her recovery and went home from Royal North Shore Hospital last night. "She´s in good spirits and will commence a period of rehabilitat...
2012-10-30 - Mysore, India.
The Forest department is all set to organise a Jumbo Festival at the Dubare Elephant camp near Nanjarayapatna tourist centre in Kodagu district. The elephants will take part in various games, which are scheduled to begin at 9.30 am. A total of 20 elephants will take part in various activities. The training of the elephants is being undertaken under the guidance of taskmaster J K Dobi, informed Deputy Conservator of Forests of Madikeri Division, Dhananjay.
2012-10-30 - Venice Beach, United States.
A skeleton believed to be that of a prehistoric mastodon was uncovered near Venice Beach. Representatives of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society were called to the scene to debunk or confirm the find. Both groups were able to confirm the find as real.
2012-10-30 - Temerloh, Malaysia.
A company´s kind act in providing a prosthetic limb for female elephant Seledang has enabled the animal to roam freely again within the gated area of the Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre, here. The 7-year-old´s left foreleg was severed at the ankle after it was caught in a wire mesh, here, a year ago. It was discovered by a plantation worker, who alerted the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).
2012-10-30 - Peechiind, India.
A wildlife survey carried out in the state in 2011, after a gap of nine years, has come out with some reassuring findings. Kerala´s wildlife population has largely stabilised while certain animal populations are even showing signs of growth. The 2011 census data submitted to the Forest Department by the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi, estimates the elephant population of the state to be 7,490 while it was 6,939 in 2002.
2012-10-30 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
POLICE in Dar es Salaam have arrested two Kenyans and a Tanzanian in unlawful possession of 214 elephant tusks and five bones of the mammal worth 2.1bn/- at Kimara Stop Over area in Kinondoni municipality over the weekend. Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Mr Suleiman Kova, told a news conference in the city that the suspects were apprehended while preparing to transport the contraband to Kenya.
Wildlife authorities have explained that the consignment of elephant tusks that were seized in Hong Kong and reported to have been shipped from Tanzania did not necessarily originate from the country. But four Tanzanians have been mentioned by the Interpol early this week in connection with the two shipping containers from Tanzania and Kenya that were loaded with ivory and seized in Hong Kong.
2012-10-30 - New York, United States.
Chandanis great-great-grandfather was a mahout, an elephant trainer. The skills are usually passed down to the sons, but Chandani has no brothers and she wants the job. In this documentary film that feels like fiction, Chandani breaks with tradition and challenges everyone’s beliefs that a girl cannot train an elephant. Her father brings her a baby elephant and she eagerly takes up the challenge of getting him, and herself, ready to ride in the Perahera, a noisy festival where decorated e...
2012-10-30 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Dan Koehl
With kind assistance of Professor Gary S. Hayward, Ph D. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Elephant.se page about EEHV - Elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus is updated to latest level. (Database records of deceased elephants due to Herpes Virus, is presented further down the page)
2012-10-30 - Western Orissa, India.
About 17 elephants in three herds damaged ripening paddy and vegetable crops in several villages including Podagada, Jhatipadar, N Barpalli, Raghunathpur, Balibagada and Palur under Ganjam block. Notably, some elephant herds had created much trouble for the farmers during planting of the paddy saplings in these areas and now when the harvesting time has come, the pachyderms have resurfaced and are creating colossal damages.
2012-10-30 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
A herd of elephants has trampled to death a police officer in a central Vietnamese jungle. The victim and two other men went into the jungle Saturday to look for apricot trees. The director of the elephant conservation center in Daklak province said more than 20 wild elephants attacked the men as they returned home that night. Huynh Trung Luan said two of the men escaped unhurt. The 42-year-old policeman was found dead Sunday morning.
2012-10-29 - Coonoor, India.
An 18-year-old female elephant was today found dead near a private tea estate in Coonoor-Barliar area, about 25 kms from here, forest department sources said. Injuries on the elephant indicated that it had a fight with a male elephant which had gored it to death, sources said. Meanwhile, traffic was paralysed for over one hour on Masanagudi-Theppakkadu Road under Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, as a herd of elephants stood guard, protecting a female elephant, who was delivering a calf.
2012-10-29 - Thiruvidaimaruthur, India.
An Indian school teacher who bowed down in front of a temple elephant to pray for good luck from the Gods died when the animal stamped on him with both feet and then picked him up and smashed him headfirst against a wall. Eyewitnesses said that Sekarv Aadil, 55, had only arrived at the Sri Mahalingaswamy temple at Thiruvidaimaruthur minutes before – and as he walked through the door he had spotted the elephant being led to its stable by one of the temple monks.
2012-10-29 - Portland, United States.
Despite years of important scientific discoveries about elephants — many of them made right here in Portland — pinpointing a pregnant elephant´s due date remains something of a mysterious art. With a 22-month gestation period, the longest of any mammal on the planet, giving birth "a little early" can mean several weeks. Currently, the best predictor is blood-progesterone level, which remains high throughout pregnancy and drops precipitously a few days before delivery.
2012-10-29 - Chennai, India.
A newborn premature elephant calf is battling for survival in Tamil Nadu´s Mudumalai jungle area. Forest officials say the mother elephant probably delivered the calf while crossing a road and since early Monday morning the new born has not had milk. Authorities say the calf is unable to stand and the mother is helpless. A herd of elephants stand guard around the mother and her calf.
2012-10-27 - Dublin, Ireland.
Pat Kenny reflects on the pleasure of summers in the Phoenix Park, where both dad and grandad worked in Dublin Zoo. Each morning he would look after the elephants, feed them and spend the rest of the day talking to the public. Even now, many years later, people still send me pictures or tell me with gratitude about how my father took time to talk to them. He became so well known, in fact, that the famous photographer John Hinde made him the subject of three of his famous coloured postcards.
2012-10-26 - Bloemfontein, South Africa.
An elephant needs a new home because of unhygienic living standards in the Bloemfontein zoo, the National SPCA said on Wednesday. “The lack of cleaning staff led to compromising of the hygiene standards and the living conditions of the animals,†the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) said in a statement.
2012-10-26 - , Namibia.
FOUR people have been arrested in connection with the poaching of elephants in the Caprivi Region. The carcasses of 18 elephants were recently discovered in this region after they were killed for their ivory. Of the 18 killed elephants, 13 were reportedly killed in the Mamili National Park over the past four months. The news of elephant poaching in Namibia, which has been praised internationally for its conservation policy, has rocked the conservation community.
2012-10-26 - Toronto, Canada.
The Board of Management of the Toronto Zoo has received a letter from the Performing Animal Welfare Society´s (PAWS) American attorneys threatening legal action against the Toronto Zoo and certain individuals arising from a Status Report update in September. On September 25, 2012, the Zoo´s CEO and Senior Veterinarian issued an Elephant Transfer Status Report to the Board of Management to update the Board on the progress of the transfer and to explain the outstanding issues regarding...
2012-10-24 - Hugo, United States.
Since the age of 5, Armando Loyal has been in the circus, with Kelly Miller Circus and a sister circus. His first performance was as a bareback rider. Before the circus, the Neosho Daily News asked Loyal some questions about how he got started in the circus, along with what are his duties in the circus today.
2012-10-24 - Calgary, Canada.
Zoo officials are deeply saddened to advise the community that Asian elephant Maharani delivered a premature, stillborn calf in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday, October 24, 2012. The calf was due in February/March 2013.
2012-10-23 - Sydney, Australia.
Northern beaches resident Lucy Melo, 40, is in a stable condition in Royal North Shore Hospital after the two-year-old Asian elephant calf Pathi Harn pinned her against a bollard on Friday morning. While she has been able to write notes to her family, a zoo spokeswoman said she was "alert´´ today and spoke for the first time since Friday. "We’re incredibly pleased to get an update from Lucy’s family that she is alert and making progress in her recovery," Zoo director Ca...
2012-10-23 - San Diego, United States.
In 1988, Huell attended a touching reunion between Charlie Franks, an 80-year-old elephant trainer, and Nita, the elephant he had raised from a baby of five years. When Charlie retired in the early 1970s after traveling the world with his beloved performing elephant, he donated her to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and hadn’t seen her for 15 years.
2012-10-23 - Burladingen, Germany.
A circus elephant which smashed a 12-year-old boy´s jaw with its trunk is being investigated by safety and wildlife officials in Germany. But just two years ago the same elephant crushed a family against a wall, leaving the 24-year-old dad critically injured and breaking his nine-month-old son´s leg. In 2000, the tusker was also accused of attacking a mum and her six year old child with her trunk.
2012-10-23 - Belfast, Ireland.
The younger woman is Denise Austin, a zookeeper at Belfast zoo, and this moment, now frozen forever in black and white, was some time in April or May 1941. The German bombing raids, which were to become known as the Belfast blitz, were bringing terror to the city - and not just to its human citizens. At Belfast Zoo, Denise was looking after Sheila, an Asian elephant, and she was becoming increasingly anxious about the stress the terrible night-time raids were having on her charge.
2012-10-22 - Stirling, United Kingdom.
How does zoo habitat design improve animal welfare? International guest speakers from zoos and field research projects presenting on how the needs of both great apes and elephants should be addressed in the modern zoo environment.
2012-10-21 - Hope, United States.
Asian elephants Rosie and Opal arrived safely today at Hope Elephants in Hope, according to the nonprofit that has been working for more than two years to bring the retired circus animals to Maine. Rosie and Opal have joint and muscle ailments and are the first residents of the Hope Elephants facility, which was created by Dr. Jim Laurita, a Cornell educated veterinarian, and Tom Laurita, his brother.
2012-10-21 - New Delhi, India.
Owners - individuals, companies, temples and temple administration bodies like Devaswoms - will have to pay 12.36 per cent service tax on the earnings their elephants make for them per day. Service tax on earning made by elephants will come into force in April next. However, the elephants of the Department of Forests have been exempted from this. The Government has started collecting information on captive elephants as part of the introduction of service tax on earnings made from use of elephan...
2012-10-21 - Princeton, United States.
Why do elephants have hair on their heads? After combing through the evidence, a team of scientists at Princeton University has teased out the answer: To keep them cool. Unlike other animals whose hairy covering helps keep them warm in cold weather, the sparse hair of the elephant which tends to be found in hot climes helps carry heat away from the animal´s skin and into the air, a study by Princeton University finds.
2012-10-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Two elephant conservation groups are working together to reintroduce domesticated elephants to the wild, releasing 84 of them over the past 10 years under an initiative of Her Majesty the Queen. The Elephant Reintroduction Foundation (ERF) must shoulder not only the increasingly high cost of purchasing elephants, but also of preparing them for their return to the wild. In the meantime, it focuses on taking good care of the domesticated elephants in its custody, which is only a fraction of the nu...
2012-10-21 - Hong Kong, China.
Customs officers have made a record seizure of smuggled ivory - with the discovery of more than 1,200 elephant tusks and a batch of ivory ornaments worth more than HK$26 million - during a joint operation with Guangdong authorities. The consignments, weighing more than 3,800 kilogrammes, were found in two containers shipped to Hong Kong from Tanzania and Kenya.
2012-10-21 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka. Pix and video by Wasantha Chandrapala
A wild elephant, known as ´Kora Aliya´ that has turned a great threat to the safety of residents in several villages of the Ampara district was tranquilized by Wildlife Department officials this morning in order to be transported to Pinnawala, after running rampant in the villages of Kunduwatuwana, Paragahakale and Inidurawa, incurring great losses to the crops in the areas.
2012-10-21 - Sydney, Australia.
WorkCover investigators have seized surveillance footage of the moments leading up to when two-year-old elephant Pathi Harn nudged Ms Melo against a bollard. Because of the position of the cameras, the whole incident was not captured on tape. It is understood the elephant did not appear aggressive towards Ms Melo, or any other keeper in the pen at the time.
2012-10-21 - London, United Kingdom.
A baby elephant which was an exhibit in a former Isle of Wight museum has been sold at auction. The African elephant, thought to date back to Victorian times, was sold to a Sussex antiques dealer for £6,400. Its hide, stretched over a 6ft (1.8m) wire frame, was an exhibit at Brading Waxworks Museum until its closure in 2010. It had been expected to sell for about £1,000. Antiques dealer Spencer Swaffer said his purchase was "most amazing". Mr Swaffer said he intends to display the elephant...
2012-10-21 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Some special guests at Auckland Zoo got closer to the action than most people are ever allowed. To help celebrate Blind Week, which starts tomorrow, the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind treated eight blind children to a fun day out at the zoo where they got to touch the animals, including resident elephant Burma.
2012-10-20 - Mysore, India.
The successor for Balarama, a 54-year-old tusker that carried the 750-kg golden howdah 12 times in a row since 1999 during the Jamboo Savari, the grand Dasara finale here, has been found. The tall and relatively stronger 52-year-old elephant Arjuna will take over the mantle from the master tusker to don the role of a show-stopper this year.
2012-10-20 - Sydney, Australia.
TARONGA Zoo keeper Lucy Melo, seriously injured when a young elephant "challenged" her authority, is in a stable condition in a Sydney hospital. The 40-year-old´s family has asked that their privacy be respected while she recovers in Royal North Shore Hospital after two-year-old Pathi Harn pinned her against a bollard on Friday morning.
2012-10-19 - Sydney, Australia.
Yesterday the senior elephant keeper was left fighting for her life after the youngest male, Pathi Harn, crushed her against a fencepost during morning training. With Ms Melo´s husband, Taronga Zoo´s elephant manager Gary Miller, nearby, the two keepers moved the elephant away and the area went into lockdown at its busiest time, as school groups were turned away and feeding time cancelled.
2012-10-19 - Capriivi, Namibia.
Since the beginning of this year, a total of 18 elephant carcasses have been found in the Caprivi Region, the narrow strip of land in Namibia which borders Angola, Botswana and Zambia, says the Director of Parks and Wildlife Management in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), Colgar Shikopo. He told Nampa here Tuesday that investigations on the discoveries were ongoing and he would not confirm whether the carcasses were found with or without any tusks, describing it as a "sensitive issu...
2012-10-18 - New Delhi, India.
India’s top bureaucrats managing forests and elephants, and the wildlife conservation NGO community on Wednesday showcased public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives that promise to connect more of the 88 identified elephant corridors with forests, potentially reducing the stress on the species. On its part, the Centre is considering hiking compensation for voluntary resettlement of residents to increase habitat available to elephants and reduce human-elephant conflict.
2012-10-17 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Dan Koehl
I have spoken out loudly against the idea of bringing healthy elephants from Toronto zoo, to PAWS, a Tuberculosis infected "sanctuary" in northern California. Now PAWS threatens to sue me. Only in In 2002, PAWS spent $67,000 in legal fees, according to its income tax return.
2012-10-16 - Mysore, India.
The city of Mysore has a long tradition of celebrating the Dasara festival and the festivities there are an elaborate affair, attracting a large audience including foreigners. The Dasara festival completed 400th anniversary in year 2010
2012-10-16 - Shizuoka, Japan.
An elephant trampled its keeper to death at a zoo in Shizuoka Prefecture on Tuesday as he tried to stop the gigantic animal from attacking its new-born calf, police and reports said. Inthavong Khamphone, who was from Laos, had watched the elephants overnight with other keepers at Fuji Safari Park after the mother gave birth on Sunday, police said.
2012-10-16 - Temerloh, Malaysia.
A BABY elephant, which was found roaming alone in a plantation near Mentelong forest in Rompin last week, will be the latest attraction at Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Lanchang near here. The year-old female calf is now the youngest mammal at the sanctuary, which currently has a total of 28 elephants aged up to 70. The oldest is Lokimala, a female elephant which arrived at the sanctuary in 1978 to help in the relocation of wild elephants.
2012-10-16 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
An eye operation has saved the sight of an African elephant at Paignton Zoo in Devon, the organisation has said. An eye expert has deemed the operation a success and said her vision is "significantly better than prior to surgery". The 42-year-old four-tonne animal is the only elephant at the zoo.Senior keeper Jim Dicks said: "I am absolutely over the moon. It couldn´t have gone any better."
2012-10-16 - Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Anantara Resorts, one of the world´s most expensive resort chains, has debuted some of the world´s costliest coffee at its Maldives properties. Just one thing though: The coffee beans are harvested from elephant dung. The coffee beans, called Black Ivory and priced at $1,100 per kilogram, are digested by an elephant before you drink it. There are only 50 kilograms, or about 110 pounds, currently for sale.
Balarama is a veteran of the stables behind the Mysore Palace, and a bit of a celebrity. The elephant’s fame hasn’t come easy. This star of Mysore has carried the golden howdah that weighs 750kg in the yearly Dussehra procession for 13 years. Known for his gentle temperament and patience, Balarama has an active fan following in Mysore, a Wikipedia entry and even a book on him, titled Balarama: A Royal Elephant, which is written and illustrated by Ted and Betsy Lewin.
2012-10-15 - , Tanzania. Lusekelo Philemon
Tanzania loses 30 elephants to poaching every day, a shocking 10,000 every year, the government says the situation cannot effectively reverse for lack of resources. The country’s elephant population is, according to some reports less than 150,000. The same applies to the continent, where the jumbo population has shrunk to 470,000 today from more than 1.3 million elephants in 1977.
2012-10-13 - Topeka, United States.
THE PUBLIC MEETING ON ELEPHANTS IS TODAY AT 2:00 IN THE GARY CLARKE LIVING CLASSROOM AT THE TOPEKA ZOO. IF YOU ARE COMING TO THE MEETING, ADMISSION IS FREE. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! TEMBO AND SUNDA WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT. THEY LIKE IT HERE!
2012-10-12 - Toronto, Canada.
On ElephantVoice Facebook page, elephant researcher Joyce Poole is defending the document she signed as scientist, supporting Toronto to send their elephants to a Tuberculosis infected "sanctuary" where several elephants have died, being positive for TB, the latest elephant 29 year old Sabu, survived 1,5 years.
2012-10-12 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
The serious poaching which has not been eased over the last many years has led to the sharp fall of the number of elephant individuals in Vietnam, from 1500-2000 in 1990s to tens of elephants now. Three years ago, FFI, an international flora and fauna conservation organization, gave the warning that the then 150 elephant individuals were in the danger of becoming extinct. Though the poachers still cannot make elephants disappear absolutely from Vietnam, extinction is a foreseeable thing, if Viet...
2012-10-12 - Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Civet dung coffee? Old news. The big story these days is coffee made with beans that have been pooped out by elephants. At least that´s the claim of Thailand´s Anantara hotels, which refines its own beans at its massive elephant camp behind its Golden Triangle resort in Chiang Rai.
2012-10-12 - Vientiane, Laos.
Known as “Japan-Laos Goodwill Elephants,” eight predominately young female elephants will soon be shipped from their forested and subtropical homes in north-west Laos, to the cold, concreted and caged Tohoko Safari Park, 20 kilometers outside the Fukushima evacuation zone. Well that’s where the fortunate ones will end up. Two are destined for the Kinoshito Circus, whereabouts unknown.
2012-10-12 - Maputo, Mozambique.
The Mozambican customs service on Thursday seized 130 items of carved ivory, valued at about 36,000 US dollars, that a North Korean citizen named Jong Guk Kim was attempting to smuggle out of the country. According to a press release from the Mozambican tax authority (AT), Jong was returning to Korea, via South Africa, and had already checked in for his flight, when customs officers intercepted him in the departure lounge of Maputo International Airport, and demanded that he open his hand baggag...
2012-10-11 - Denver, United States.
Mimi, a beloved, female Asian elephant at Denver Zoo passed away October 9. Zookeepers had been offering her hospice care recently as she had displayed a natural decline in health over the past few months due to her advanced age. Born in India, Mimi´s birth date is not known. However, at the time of her passing she was believed to be at least 53 years old, making her the seventh oldest elephant in a North American zoo.
2012-10-11 - Topeka, United States.
For 46 years, the Topeka Zoo has had elephants within their animal collection. Now, thousands of animal rights activists from outside our community- around the world - are urging the Topeka City Council to send our elephants to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald Tennesse. We do not believe this is in the best interest of Tembo and Sunda.
2012-10-07 - Tokyo, Japan.
The longstanding ties between the Higashiyama zoo and the Dehiwela zoo in Sri Lanka dates back to the time when the first 2 elephants were gifted to the zoo by the Pinnawela elephant orphanage in 2005. At present these elephants are in good health and the female elephant is to give birth to a baby elephant in a few months.
2012-10-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Prague zoo deputy director Jaroslav Simek said it is a unique project that will largely help extend the genetic base of the European breeding of Indian elephants. The elephants, eight-year-old Janita and seven-year-old Tamara, come from the elephant zoo in Pinnawale. "The Hercules C-130 with them is to take off on Saturday at 01:00 the local time," Bobek, who is staying in Colombo, said.
2012-10-06 - San Antonio, United States.
A Texas fisherman says he made a pre-historic discovery while fishing on the San Antonio River. He claims he found a Mastodon tooth in it´s shallow waters. Davy Villanueva says he saw it in about a foot of water that was exposed because of the drought. He says he´s also found other bones there, but because of the rains, the area is now covered up.
2012-10-06 - Plymouth, United States.
Well-known Alaskan wilderness guide Karen Jettmar was sentenced to three years of probation in a U.S. District Court last Friday, after the court found her guilty of helping Plymouth Meeting resident Robert Franz steal a 10,000-year-old mammoth tusk from a state park in 2007, the Alaska Dispatch reports.
2012-10-04 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. unice Au
Having been acknowledged as the longest serving zoo veterinarian from Oct 1, 1981 to June 1, 2008 by the Malaysia Book of Records, Dr S. Vellayan is still very much in the thick of animal care after a three-decade long career. Once a familiar face at the national zoo, he now provides zoo consultancy for Farm in the City at Seri Kembangan, Langkawi Elephant Adventures, Langkawi Wildlife Park and Sunway Lagoon Resort Wildlife Park.
2012-10-03 - Tokyo, Japan.
Yasui S, Konno A, Tanaka M, Idani G, Ludwig A, Lieckfeldt D, & Inoue-Murayama M (2012). Personality Assessment and Its Association With Genetic Factors in Captive Asian and African Elephants. The researchers write, “this study is the first examination of genetic components affecting individual differences of personality in captive elephants.”
2012-10-03 - Woburn, United Kingdom.
Woburn Safari Park is currently looking to recruit a full time Elephant Keeper to join the team. Woburn’s Elephant Herd consists of 1.3 Asian Elephants managed primarily in free contact. Previous experience of working with elephants is preferred however not essential. Duties will include daily husbandry and management of the elephants including training, washing and exercising.
2012-10-01 - Brading, United Kingdom.
A stuffed African elephant 7ft high and 11ft long is going under the hammer at Brading on the Isle of Wight on October 18. The beast had been on show at Brading Waxworks until it closed down in 2010 and has had to be lifted by crane into the auction rooms next door to its old home, Hose Rhodes Dickson. It may make £1,000 and auctioneer Rex Gully said: ‘It has to be the most unusual lot we have ever had. I think there will be big demand because it’s so very rare. Where else do you find one
2012-09-25 - Toronto, Canada.
It’s been nearly a year since Toronto City Council voted to send the zoo’s three remaining elephants to a California sanctuary, but a departure date still hasn’t been set. With Toronto Zoo officials expected to hold a news conference Tuesday updating the situation on its trio of aging female pachyderms, the animal rights group seeking to move them to a California sanctuary claims the zoo has thrown up yet another roadblock to their departure.
2012-09-25 - Manila, Philippines.
Environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr has asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the illegal ivory trade in the country, now linked to its use in religious carvings like Santo Niño. "They need to look into the international syndicate behind this illegal trade. There are people hunting the elephants, killing them, packing and shipping the ivory and carving it before it even reaches the Philippines," Oposa told Rappler on Tuesday, September 25.
2012-09-25 - Topeka, United States.
Topeka Zoo Director Brendan Wiley spoke out Tuesday night (9/25) out on the latest complaint against the zoo. It´s from animal activists to the USDA, and it calls into question video you´ll only see on 13 News and wibw.com. In the video, you can see Asian elephant Sunda run toward the zoo´s African elephant Tembo.
2012-09-24 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
A staff of 8 currently cares for a breeding herd of Asian elephants comprising one breeding bull, 5 cows and 3 calves, the youngest being born in 2012. The bull is managed in protected contact but the females and calves are managed in free contact which allows all of the elephants other than the adult male to be walked around the 600 acre zoo site with the keepers ever day.
2012-09-20 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
The 43-year-old Asian elephant, who only has the one eye left, had been able to do little more than distinguish between light and dark for years. But thanks to surgeons at Paignton Zoo, Devon, she should soon be able to see clearly once again.
2012-09-17 - Mysore, India.
An ailing 73-year-old female elephant, which had taken part in the famous Dasara festival celebrations on eight occasions, died near here, a top Wildlife official said today. The elephant Kavita died yesterday at the K Gudi Camp in Biligiri Ranganatittu Wildlife Sanctuary, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wild Life Warden Dipal Sarmah told PTI. The elephant was not keeping well and was undergoing treatment for the past few months, he added.
2012-09-17 - New Delhi, India.
All temple elephants in Tamil Nadu state, in the far south of India, have been found to be obese with some more than 80 stone overweight, according to the BBC´s Tamil Service. Their condition is blamed partly on the lack of exercise caused by their captivity – many of them are chained close to the temple´s gates – and overfeeding by pilgrims who believe it will bring them blessings.
2012-09-16 - Mana Pools, Zimbabwe.
This unusual behaviour has rarely been photographed but one lucky early-bird photographer caught three elephant as the sun rose over the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mana Pools. his behaviour, normally attributed to giraffes, has made the Mana Pools elephants famous but it has rarely been seen on camera. The group of elephants was composed of two young bulls called ´askari´, which protect the older bull who teaches them the skills they need to reach the leaves in top of the t...
2012-09-16 - Hannover, Germany.
These clever elephants were wowing visitors at a German zoo earlier this week as they put on a stellar dancing performance for the crowds. The group, consisting of both calves and adult beasts, performed on tree logs, played with hula-hoops and even got up to do the conga. The elephants may not make the cut for Strictly Come Dancing, but showed off some remarkable trunk-foot coordination.
2012-09-15 - Somerset, United Kingdom.
A zoo in Somerset has just started work on Europe´s largest elephant sanctuary. Noah´s Ark near Wraxall plans to open the 20 acre enclosure next summer. And just down the road in Longleat plans are underway for a similar sanctuary. Down the road at Longleat, they´re also planning an elephant sanctuary. This one won´t have a breeding programme and aims to only take in rescue animals already in captivity.
2012-09-13 - Tsavo, Kenya.
POACHERS killed three elephants at Taita Ranch on Sunday in the latest incident of escalating poaching in the region. The three male elephants aged between 30 and 40 old were shot dead by the poachers who are said to have been armed with sophisticated guns. In July, poachers killed three elephants at the ranch which is adjacent to the Tsavo conservation area.
2012-09-13 - Somerset, United Kingdom.
Building work is under way on a 20-acre ´elephant sanctuary´ which is to be one of the largest exhibits in Europe. Noah´s Ark Zoo Farm, in North Somerset, is spending £1m on the enclosure which it plans to open next year. A number of animal welfare groups have expressed concern over elephants being kept in captivity since planning permission was granted in 2010.
2012-09-12 - Yakutia, Russian Federation.
Researchers leading an expedition in the far northeastern Russian republic of Yakutia has discovered what they are calling the living cells of a mammoth Researchers leading an expedition in the far northeastern Russian republic of In a unique area at the depth of about 100 meters we discovered some rich material for reasearch – soft and adipose tissues, fur and bone marrow of a mammoth,†Semyon Grigoryev, chief of the Yana-2012 expedition, told a meeting at a university in the regio...
2012-09-09 - Singapore, Singapore. Wildlife Reserves Singapore
Wildlife Reserves Singapore is proud to host in conjunction with the ICZ the 4th International Congress on Zoo Keeping, from September 9th to 13th, 2012. This conference themed “Many Voices, One Calling” hopes to bring together keepers and zoo professionals from around the World for the objectives of enhancing the professionalism of Zoo Keepers and the welfare of the wild animals in their care.
2012-09-09 - Darjeeling, India.
A joint Indo-Nepal task force is likely to be formed to curb the movement of Indian elephants into Nepal, stop smuggling and prevent human trafficking, official sources said here today. A meeting on this issue was held yesterday in Siliguri which was attended by police and forest officials of Darjeeling district and Jhapa, Illam and Panchothori districts of Nepal.
2012-09-09 - Mysore, India.
Gajapayana, the beginning of the journey of elephants for Dasara festivities in Mysore, started at Nagapura on Friday afternoon amid much fanfare. S A Ramdas, the minister in-charge of Mysore district, offered pooja to four decorated elephants bound for the State’s cultural capital.
2012-09-09 - Nagarahole, India.
The Balle camp in Nagarhole National Park has turned into an elephant nursery with four calves being born to Dasara elephants Mary, Varalakshmi, Gange and Sarala. Though these four elephants will miss the Jumboo Savari this year, the camp is bustling with activity and wears a festive look. The mahouts, kavadis and forest officials at the camp are taking special care of the mothers and babies, putting them on a special diet.
2012-09-07 - London, United Kingdom.
this wonderful image from 1930 at the Elephant and Castle in Sultan Road, Buckland is among more than 200 pictures in Ron Brown’s fascinating and nostalgic book looking at Portsmouth’s pubs past and present. The elephants were provided by a visiting circus. How much landlord Tom Jones had to pay to set up this PR stunt is not recorded. The chap holding the bucket, which, allegedly, was filled with beer, was the aptly-named Charlie Phillpots, the pub’s cellarman.
2012-09-06 - Thrissur, India.
The sanitary conditions in the famous elephant sanctuary at Punnathurkotta are in an abysmal state. The 63 elephants owned by the Guruvayur Devaswom Board housed in the compound face a serious health hazard owing to non-removal of waste, which includes elephant excreta, palm leaves and grass. Seven tonnes of waste is generated here daily. Although the devaswom has given tender to remove the waste on a daily basis, the compound has not been cleaned for the past several days.
2012-09-06 - Phuket, Thailand.
The inspection of elephant camps in Southern Thailand, geared to ensure that all pachyderms on the premises are legal, started on Monday and will include searches of the locations in Phuket where elephants were seized earlier this year.“We received an order on Monday from National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department [DNP] Director-General Damrong Phidet to send Regional Natural Resources and Environment Crime Suppression Division [NREC] officers to investigate elephant camps ...
2012-09-04 - Prague, Czech Republic.
Paintings from a Czech elephant are selling for up to $2,000 (1,590 euros) and are expected to go up in value, as she appears to have retired. At the encouragement of her handlers, Shanti, a female elephant at the Prague Zoo took up painting last year. Her handlers had seen other elephants do the same on TV and thought Shanti might have a creative streak too. She did.
2012-09-03 - Madikeri, India. Shrikanth Kallammanavara
In an unique attempt, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices have been installed on the collars of two tamed elephants at Dubare elephant camp in Kushalnagar. It is for the first time that GPS has been installed on elephants. Two elephants that have got the privilege of GPS are Ranjan (4) and Shivagange (11). With the installation of GPS on Saturday, the path on which the elephants walk could be traced through the internet enabled system.
2012-08-30 - Berlin, Germany.
Indian elephant called Pia who was brought over to East Berlin to perform in the GDR State Circus, I knew I´d found that strange kernel of truth from which a story could blossom. Imagining the contrasts was what intrigued me - I could picture this elephant´s journey from the wilds of India to communist Germany, and the disparity she found to encounter the sequined-sparkle and magic of circus life so totally incongruous with the grey bleakness of East Berlin.
2012-08-30 - Boston, United States.
The federal government asked a judge Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a group of animal rights activists who say a rarely used 2006 law has a chilling effect on lawful protest activities. Five activists represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights sued the U.S. government last year, asking that the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act be struck down as unconstitutional.
2012-08-29 - Coimbatore, India.
Four elephants were killed when a train, travelling at a speed in the excess of 135 Kmph, rammed the six-member herd near Walayar at around 1.30am. Three elephants including a pregnant female, and a calf were killed on the spot. The impact was so powerful that four bogies of the train derailed.
2012-08-29 - San Diego, United States.
Early Tuesday morning, a new female African elephant calf was born at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, boosting its pachyderm population to 13. The calf´s mother, Swazi, delivered the 205-pound baby at 3:39 a.m. and within minutes, the calf was on her feet, Safari Park reported. The last calf to be born at the park was last November, said spokeswoman Jenny Mehlow.
2012-08-29 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
An elephant which became the first in England to undergo pioneering surgery to remove a damaged eye is now believed to be almost completely blind after concerns over the health of the remaining eye. In 2011 Duchess, Paignton Zoo´s 42-year-old African elephant, was the first in the country to have an eye removed. She had the ground-breaking operation because of glaucoma in her right eye. Cataracts left her with limited sight in her left. Now, a routine eye check has shown that what vision r...
2012-08-29 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka.
It has been decided to gift two baby elephants from the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage to the Tama Zoo in Japan. The names of these two baby elephants are ‘Amara’ and ‘Vidula’. The two baby elephants would be a donation to the Japanese Government, said the Director General of National Zoological Department, Anura De Silva. These two baby elephants would be officially donated to Japan during the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s upcoming state tour in Japan in October, he further added.
2012-08-29 - Hwange, Zimbabwe.
Presidential elephants and other wild animals in the Hwange Safari Lodge are likely to die from thirst as most of the drinking pans have run out of water. Wildlife conservationists have accused Hwange Safari lodge management of neglecting the watering pans in the area where the special presidential herd roams.
2012-08-29 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
On August 27th, the crate was lifted on to a truck and the team set off for Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, which is to be Sakor’s new home. He joins 5 other rescued Asian elephants who reside there, including Chhouk, the elephant with a prosthetic foot, whose previous rescue enclosure Sakor has now moved into.
2012-08-29 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
We are going through an exciting period of change as this zoo develops and so are looking for dynamic, knowledgeable individuals to help lead the teams forward. The elephant section manages our herd of 4 female Asian elephants currently in free contact but is at the exciting early stages of moving into a protected contact system. This position is a key role which will involve working on the section, covering basic areas of animal husbandry.
2012-08-28 - Evansville, United States.
History Lesson is a pictorial history of Evansville compiled by Patricia Sides, an archivist with Willard Library. contributed photo Drought of 1936 When Karl Kae Knecht photographed this scene at Mesker Park Zoo in July 1936, he noted that the temperature was 107 degrees. Kay the Elephant, the zoo´s most celebrated resident after her arrival in 1929, obviously enjoyed the refreshing showers she received from her caretakers. The newspaper reported that the sizzling heat had entered its thi...
2012-08-28 - Yok Don, Vietnam.
The pair of elephants in Yok Don National Park was killed for tusks, according to a report by the Elephant Conservation Center of Dak Lak Province sent to the local Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on August 27. According to the report, the elephants were killed in Ea Bung commune, Ea Sup district of Dak Lak province. They are between 22 to 25 years old. The male elephant is 3.7 meters long, 2.5 meters tall. Its head was cut off to take its tusks and skull. Its trunk was also seve...
2012-08-27 - Yok Don, Vietnam.
The dead bodies of a male and female elephant were founded in the core zone of the Yok Don National Park, in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. Police are investigating the case. On August 26, Dak Lak police searched the site where the elephants were found. The elephants were also examined to serve the investigation. Earlier, at noon of August 25, forest rangers detected the dead bodies of two elephants that were only 5 meters from each other. The bodies were being decomposed.
2012-08-27 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Not long to go now!! Kiri and Seila’s new enclosure is near completion. We need funds to buy trucks of earth and sand so they can have earth between their toes and sand and mud to throw all over themselves - like real elephants should! Each truck of sand is USD 50 - a donation of any amount is greatly appreciated. Please donate today.
2012-08-26 - Lopburi, Thailand.
Early on April 17, while most Thais were recovering from their traditional Songkran celebrations, a baby elephant was born in a wilderness reserve in central Thailand. This was an important moment not just for Jarunee, a 15-year-old former tourist elephant from Surin, who had carried the baby inside her for 22 months.
2012-08-21 - Dallas, United States.
Responsible for the care, husbandry, and training of the African Elephants. We are a protected contact elephant program, with 5 African elephants in a mixed species exhibit. Must have 3 years of Elephant experience.
2012-08-20 - Santa Barbara, United States.
The Santa Barbara Zoo is seeking a keeper for our Elephant Team. The person filling this position will carry out all basic aspects of the daily care of the elephants, 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.
2012-08-08 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
The head of the Riau Elephant Conservation Center died on Friday after being trampled by a 20-year-old elephant at the center’s Minas training center. M. Taat was checking the health of an elephant named Reno when the large animal attacked him, conservation division head of Natural Resources Conservation Center Riau Syahimin, told Antara news agency on Wednesday.
2012-08-08 - Pretoria, South Africa.
Previous field studies gave us important clues that elephants are a key driver of tree losses, but our airborne 3-D mapping approach was the only way to fully understand the impacts of elephants across a wide range of environmental conditions found in savannas," lead author Greg Asner of Carnegie´s Department of Global Ecology said in a press release.
2012-08-08 - Oklahoma City, United States.
We’re currently seeking a dynamic individual to work with a dedicated and highly motivated pachyderm team that would be responsible for varied taxa, including rhino, hippo, Asian elephants in restricted contact, and small primates. This person will work with associated staff as needed to enhance day-to-day operations including collaborating with other zoo personnel in reaching departmental goals and the presentation and development of guest experiences that support the Zoo’s mission and core...
2012-08-06 - , France.
Rungwe, the first elephant born from artificial insemination in France, eats bamboo near his mother, N´Dala, at the Beauval Zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, central France. The African elephant, a male, named after a volcano in Tanzania, was born July 20 after a gestation of about 23 months.
2012-08-05 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
About 20 endangered Sumatran elephants entered Braja Indah village in Lampung, Indonesia yesterday in search of food. The villagers have been using torches and firecrackers in an attempt to herd the elephants away. A farmer from the same village was accidentally trampled to death in April and since then at 5 elephants have been poisoned. Read on for the full story.
2012-08-03 - Vienna, Austria.
Elephants don’t purr so much as sing when they unleash low-frequency rumblings at friends and foes kilometers away. Too low for humans to hear, the infrasonic components of elephants’ calls have at times been attributed to a process similar to a cat’s contented thrum. But new measurements made by blowing air through the voice box, or larynx, of a deceased zoo elephant suggest that the mechanism is actually a (much bigger) analog to a person speaking or singing.
2012-08-03 - Gauhati, India.
A female elephant died on Wednesday after it was hit by a passenger train while crossing a railway track searching for food, forest officials said. Local Indian villagers buried the Asiatic pachyderm near the Panbari railway station in Assam.
2012-08-02 - Bangalore, India.
The state forest department on an average receives 50 complaints per day of elephant attacks on farm lands and villages adjacent to forests. In the previous year 17,979 cases of such attacks have been registered and in the year 2010-11 it was 29,87, forest minister CP Yogeshwar has said.
2012-08-02 - Saint Louis, United States.
Ellie, one of the Saint Louis Zoo’s Asian elephants, is pregnant with her third calf. Ellie has two other daughters, 6-year-old Maliha, 16-year-old Rani. Ellie is also the grandmother of Rani’s daughter, Kenzi, who was born in June 2011. Now in her third trimester, Ellie is carrying another female calf. Ellie is due to deliver in the spring of 2013. The father is 19-year old Raja, the first Asian elephant ever born at the zoo in 1992.
2012-08-02 - Saigon, Vietnam.
Customs officials at Ho Chi Minh City-based ICD Phuoc Long 3 Port on Tuesday found 150 elephant tusks inside a tractor trailer truck. The illegally smuggled haul weighs 2.4 tons and is worth approximately US$4.9 million at the market price, they said. In the customs declaration the Thai Minh Company, who imported the goods, declared that their consignment only contained salted cowhides from Mozambique worth VND1.2 billion (US$57,500).
2012-08-02 - Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.
Circus fans have given their support to Brian Boswell as he fights off animal rights activists. The activists, who want to stop Boswell using animals in shows, protested in front of his circus in Durban on Sunday. Boswell claims they also posted pictures on the internet that falsely depict him involved in acts of animal cruelty. Yesterday, Boswell said he had instructed his lawyers to demand that the pictures be removed and that the activists responsible apologise for "perpetuating lies" about h...
2012-07-31 - Surin, Thailand.
An elephant stomped a 50year old man to death before the alms offering ceremony on elephants´ backs began yesterday at Surin. The event was being held to welcome PM Yingluck Shinawatra´s mobile cabinet meeting. The unnamed victim, who appeared drunk, reportedly sneaked into the area where the elephants were kept at Wat Jumpol Sutthawat, and played with an elephant there. It got upset, grabbed him by its trunk, threw him onto a tree, and stomped on him after he landed.
2012-07-31 - Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Kishinchand Chadiram Thadhani has been dressing elephants for 47 years. He is the official outfitter to the elephants taking part in one of Buddhism’s most significant festivals; the Kandy Esala Perahera in Sri Lanka. The 10-day parade centered on Kandy’s Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Tooth Relic, ends Thursday.
2012-07-23 - Toronto, Canada.
Three female African elephants named Iringa, Toka, and Thika live at the Toronto Zoo. Last summer, the Zoo’s board decided the trio would be moved to greener pastures, settling on the Performing Animal Welfare Society‘s 80-acre sanctuary in California. The 42, 41, and 30 year old elephants were set to move at the end of next week, but plans were postponed at the last minute. According to the CBC, Canada in the summer is just too hot for these African elephants, whose natural range consists o...
2012-07-20 - San Diego, United States.
One of the two elephants brought to the San Diego in a trade with counterparts in Tucson in February was euthanized due to an infection, the San Diego Zoo announced today. Connie, an Asian elephant believed to be 45, was put down after a thorough veterinary examination that included specialists, the zoo´s Yadira Galindo told City News Service.
2012-07-13 - Auckland, New Zealand.
The south Auckland zoo where a keeper was crushed to death by a former circus elephant is shutting its gates after seven years. Staff at Franklin Zoo say they can no longer run the sanctuary without veterinarian Helen Schofield who was accidentally killed by African elephant, Mila, three months ago.
2012-07-08 - Madurai, India.
The ordeal of a couple over the loss of a pet elephant for almost six years came to an end as the elephant was rescued from its trainers by the city police on Friday. It was one among the interesting cases handled by the police department.
2012-07-05 - Miami, United States.
Zoo Miami reports that on Tuesday they had had to put down one of their most cherished residents, Machito, a 32-year-old African elephant who came to live with them back in 1981. Several weeks ago, the impressive pachyderm appeared stiff and soon his condition progressed to include lethargy, loss of appetite, weight loss and labored breathing, according to the zoo.
2012-06-25 - Tokyo, Japan.
Technically they are not an import, but a loan from the generous Laotian government, who have agreed to send across six elephants to Japan. The animals will make the Tohoku Safari Park in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture; Iwate Safari Park in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture; and World Monkey Park in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, their new homes. The loan is for a short span of three years and the animals are expected to arrive in July.
2012-06-25 - Ho Chi Min city, Vietnam.
The Saigon Zoological and Botanical Garden last weekend finished the restoration of the bronze elephant statue which Thai King Paramindr Maha Prajadhipok had presented to the zoo during his visit to the city in 1930.
2012-06-10 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka.
15 baby elephants born at Sri Lanka’s biggest elephant orphanage were christened in a mass service today. The 15 babies were named: Singithi, Ahinsa, Themiya, Wanamali, Nandi, Mangala, Annuththara, Jeevaka, Kadol, Isira, Bimuthi, Aithi, Gagana and foreign favourites Trinky and Elvina.
2012-05-29 - Erode, India.
A 17-year-old cow elephant was found dead allegedly due to anthrax in Kurangupallam, Vadavalli in Kuthialathur reserve forest, Sathy, on Sunday. Locals informed the forest officials that a carcass of a elephant was found in the Kuthialathur reserve forest area. The conservator of forest D Arun and Sathy Divisional Forest Officer D Sathish visited the spot with forest veterinarian Dr Manoharan. In the autopsy, the officials found that the animal died due to anthrax.
2012-05-29 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Wildlife authorities say rangers shot dead a poacher in northwestern Zimbabwe and seized 28 elephant tusks from a bush hideout. The National Parks and Wildlife Authority said in a statement Tuesday the poacher, aged about 50, died in an exchange of fire over the weekend in Binga near the border with Zambia.
2012-05-27 - Sydney, Australia.
When Lucy first started at Taronga, she was part of the team that went to Thailand to bring the first five Asian Elephants to Sydney, and has been part of the successful Conservation Breeding Program ever since. Since the herd arrived in 2006, three calves have been born and Lucy has been part of raising the calves and looking after the extended family of four adult females and one adult male.
2012-05-21 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
This is an International training course on the Management of the Health, reproduction and breeding of Asian elephants. The course has two components, a stand-alone distance (online-based) course that is designed to provide you with background knowledge in elephant reproduction and health so that you will be able to fully engage with the one-week practical training course in Chiang Mai in Thailand.
2012-05-08 - Surabaya, Indonesia.
The singer Morrissey has called on the Indonesian government to immediately shut down a notorious zoo in eastern Java where hundreds of animals have died or disappeared.
2012-05-07 - Miami, United States.
2012-05-06 - Howletts, United Kingdom.
Two of Howletts Wild Animal Park’s most experienced keepers say they are devastated at being sacked by the company. Head of carnivores Jim Vassie and head elephant keeper Dave Magner were dismissed within three weeks of each other. But both men feel they have been harshly treated by the management.
2012-05-04 - Auckland, New Zealand.
The cost of moving an Auckland elephant which crushed its keeper to death to a Californian sanctuary could reach half a million dollars but is the best option, the SPCA says. Helen Schofield was killed by Mila at Franklin Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary, south of Auckland, last Wednesday when the elephant picked her up with its trunk before bringing her down and crushing her. Schofield, 42, will be farewelled in Tuakau on Thursday.
2012-05-04 - Islamabad, Pakistan.
The female elephant of the zoo was found dead on early morning of Sunday in its enclosure. All the Marghzar Zoo officers reached the elephant’s enclosure and the zoo’s veterinary officer examined the animal and declared that the animal had expired. The female elephant was suffering from an injury in one of its legs but this may not be considered as a reason behind its death.
2012-05-04 - Hope, United States.
Two retired circus elephants are ready to move to Maine after the federal government gave its approval. Hope Elephants, a nonprofit group, plans to bring the animals to a new rehabilitation center built in town by this fall. The group already received town approval and the state approved the elephants’ move in September, according to Justin McAnaney, director of operations.
2012-05-04 - Toronto, Canada.
Toronto zoo is insisting on what appears to be a deal-breaker: TB status reports on all wildlife, including deer and stray cats, found on the 2,300-acre site. There’s no time limit specified. “That’s not going to happen,” PAWS co-director Ed Stewart said Wednesday. “No request like that has ever been made of us — or anyone else. It’s above and beyond ridiculous, and it’s totally insulting.”
Performances of mahouts and veterinary staff of the Capital Development Authority were questioned after the death of a 20-year-old female elephant at Margazar Zoo on Tuesday. It is being alleged that ‘Saheli,’ the female elephant, was poisoned or given an over-dose of tranquiliser, resulting in her death.
2012-05-03 - Thrissur, India.
At least 62 people including women and children were injured on Wednesday when an elephant participating in the Thrissur Pooram ran amok. It was at around 12.15 pm that the elephant, Unnippilly Kalidasan of Paramekkavu temple, who appeared during the elephant parade by noon on Wednesday turned hostile.
2012-05-03 - Pattaya, Thailand.
A 35 year old Elephant has given birth at Nong Nooch Gardens after a 24 month gestation period. We understand this is the 39th child of the father of the newborn. After a 10 hour labour, the new baby boy was born to the delight of workers at Nong Nooch who monitored the birth throughout the night.
2012-05-01 - Coimbatore, India.
A 25-year-old estate worker was today gored to death by a Kumki (tamed elephant), when he attempted to save his colleague from its attack at Kolikamudi Settlement area coming under Anamalai Tiger Reserve in the district, forest department sources said. Vadivelu noticed the elephant coming near his colleague and tried to prevent it from advancing.However, the elephant attacked him and gored him to death, sources said. Sources said there was a camp for taming elephants and the tamed elephant used ...
2012-05-01 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
A ranger says an endangered Sumatran elephant has died in a palm oil plantation in western Indonesia, apparently after being poisoned by villagers trying to protect their crops. Fewer than 3,000 of the animals are left in the wild and environmentalists warn they could be extinct within three decades unless steps are taken to protect them.
2012-05-01 - Surin, Thailand.
Ban Ta Klang in Surin province is Thailand´s largest elephant village and where elephant raising has been passed down through generations for centuries. People here speak the Kui language and have well-preserved their ancient culture and traditions, such as the worshipping of ancestors before capturing wild elephants and the wedding and monk ordination procession on elephant-back.
2012-05-01 - Thrissur, India.
"Every year, we check the elephants. If the elephants are having musth (a period when elephants display highly aggressive behaviour), then we remove the elephant from the list, because it is a very important fair. We also check the heath as well as the microchip number that is inside the elephant´s body, so we can identify the animal very easily. We carry out this process every year for the betterment of the function of Pooram," said Giridas, a veterinary doctor.
Revellers packed the city streets on Tuesday to soak in every bit of the Thrissur Pooram — the elephant parades, ensembles, religious ceremonies and the pyrotechnics. Elephant lovers got to see 38 majestic tuskers, 30 of them at the main parade. People devoted to temples and their customs admired the festival´s celebration of age-old rituals, especially the processions carrying the deities of the Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu temples to the Sree Vadakkannathan temple in the heart of the c...
2012-04-30 - Quebec, Canada.
Vehicle transporting circus animals is all but completely destroyed in blaze north of Quebec City
2012-04-30 - , India.
The news that 28 elephants have died in the State in the last two years due to electrocution comes as a shocker. Most of these incidents have been reported in Kodagu, Chamrajanagar and Mysore areas where the number of elephants is good and the animals are frequently on the move. The recent electrocution occurred at the BBTC plantations near Polibetta in Kodagu on April 12.
2012-04-30 - Toronto, Canada.
Reacting to a Saturday story in the Star that suggested the zoo is stalling or trying to block the transfer of three aging female elephants to the PAWS sanctuary, the zoo issued a release Monday evening accusing the sanctuary of refusing to hand over medical records for the eight elephants it has at its site. “Without this information zoo management is unable to fulfill its due diligence,” the release says.
2012-04-28 - Racine, United States.
For more than 100 years, a once-famous elephant trainer who was fatally gored by a pachyderm that went berserk,rested in an unmarked grave at Mound Cemetery in Racine. Not a shred of evidence showed that this patch of earth covered the burial site of renowned elephant trainer Joe Anderson. But 113 years after the Great Wallace Circus Show came to present-day Racine, when Anderson was gored by an elephant in his charge and died on June 3, 1898, his grave has a headstone. And members of the motorc...
2012-04-25 - Auckland, New Zealand.
A female veterinarian has been crushed by an elephant at Franklin Zoo. Reports say the elephant was trying to protect the vet after it got a fright and wrapped its trunk around her, before going down, killing her. The 39-year-old African elephant is a former circus animal named Jumbo, that was taken in by the Franklin Zoo, in Tuakau south of Auckland, and renamed Mila. It has been at the zoo for about three years.
2012-04-25 - Bangalore, India.
The 14 elephants at Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) will no longer be shackled or put as display items in their enclosures. They will be left free inside the safari with no interference from human beings. In accordance with guidelines laid down by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), the new concept called ‘Elephant Park’ is being implemented at the BBP. The CZA sent a circular to all the state governments, banning chaining and displaying of elephants in public.
2012-04-25 - Garamba National Park, Congo.
In a scene of inconceivable horror, these slaughtered elephant carcasses show the barbaric lengths poachers will go to in their hunt for nature´s grim booty. The bodies were among a herd of 22 animals massacred in a helicopter-borne attack by professionals who swooped over their quarry. The scene beneath the rotor blades would have been chilling - panicked mothers shielding their young, hair-raising screeches and a mad scramble through the blood-stained bush as bullets rained down from the...
2012-04-25 - Blackpool, Ireland.
TWO circus elephants involved in separate freak incidents were drugged with paracetamol and morphine, it has emerged. An investigation is under way after tests confirmed fears that the elderly animals´ food had been tampered with. The results of laboratory tests on blood and urine samples were carried out on the elephants from Courtney Brothers´ Circus.
2012-04-25 - Madrid, Spain.
Humans that populated the banks of the river Manzanares (Madrid, Spain) during the Middle Palaeolithic (between 127,000 and 40,000 years ago) fed themselves on pachyderm meat and bone marrow. This is what a Spanish study shows and has found percussion and cut marks on elephant remains in the site of Preresa.
2012-04-25 - San Diego, United States.
The first ever YouTube upload, featuring one of its founders talking about elephants, is seven years old today. The site has grown remarkably in the intervening years, with an hour of video being uploaded to the site every single second and the Google-owned company inking deals with a number of major content producers.
2012-04-18 - Toronto, Canada.
The decision by Toronto city council to send three elephants from the Toronto Zoo to an animal sanctuary in California has apparently cost the Toronto facility its international accreditation with the Aquarium and Zoos Association (AZA). There was never any question of the Toronto Zoo´s animal care, governance was the key issue, ohn Tracogna, CEO of Toronto Zoo said.
2012-04-15 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Lightning during heavy showers has been suspected as the cause for the death of a temple tusker in Sri Lanka. The 24-year-old elephant named ´Lanka belonging to the Kotte Rajamaha Viahara was found dead Saturday morning in the Ingiriya area in the Kalutara district. According to Ingiriya Police, the elephant has been brought to the area to take part in a New Year festival and was left tethered to a tree in a two-acre filed.
2012-04-15 - Hue, Vietnam.
Two elephants have been used to serve visitors to the Hue royal citadel at Hue Festival 2012, besides tramcars. Tourists can also touch and take photo with these elephants. The Center for Preservation of Hue Relics bought the elephants two years ago. They have been trained since then to perform circus. They will be used to serve tourists during the Hue Festival only.
2012-04-15 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The large number of Chinese now working across Africa has fuelled elephant poaching on the continent, according to a BBC report. While traders were wary of being filmed by a BBC TV crew, a Chinese undercover reporter working for Panorama quickly attracted the attention of sellers using the Chinese word for ivory to good effect.
2012-04-15 - Dallas, United States.
The Dallas Zoo´s oldest elephant, Stumpy, died Friday, officials announced. The elephant was 47 and was believed to be one of the five oldest African elephants living in the United States, the zoo said. Dallas Zoo veterinarian Dr. Tim Storms said the cause of the elephant´s death had not been determined yet, but her health reportedly had been failing in recent weeks because of her age.
2012-04-15 - Kenya, Kenya.
Three Somalis are among the latest people arrested in a crackdown on elephant poaching in the country. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers have linked them to a cartel behind poaching of the animal for its tusks in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. During the incident, three people, among them a 10-year-old boy, were arrested after they were found ferrying the tusks on a motorcycle.
2012-04-14 - Portland, United States.
Packy the elephant celebrated his 50th birthday today by becoming the first animal knighted by the Royal Rosarians, listening to thousands of fans sing him Happy Birthday and swallowing a 40-pound cake in nine minutes and 57 seconds. The 12,600-pound pachyderm and face of the Oregon Zoo debuted on April 14, 1962, the first elephant born in North America in 44 years.
2012-04-10 - Libreville , Gabon.
The government of Gabon has announced it will burn its stockpiles of ivory later this year in a bid to undercut illegal elephant poaching, which is decimating populations in central Africa. Recently, a group of poachers on horseback decimated elephant populations in Cameroon´s remote Bouba Ndjida National Park with impunity. Over 400 elephants were killed over several weeks, before the Cameroonian military was called in.
2012-04-10 - Honolulu, United States.
The nation´s leading accrediting organization for zoos and aquariums has renewed Honolulu Zoo´s accreditation. The new elephant exhibit that opened in December was a critical element, the city said. The new home for Mari and Vaigai is 1.5 acres, nine times larger than the previous exhibit. It also contains two 50,000-gallon swimming pools. The city also increased staffing and improved signage, two areas the Association of Zoos and Aquariums pointed out as deficiencies in a previous i...
2012-04-09 - Louis Trichardt, South Africa.
A 54-year-old man from the Alldays area appeared in the Louis Trichardt District Court on Monday in connection with the alleged illegal hunting of an elephant. Steven Barber from the farm Weltevreden, situated in the Alldays district, was charged with the hunting of wild or alien animals. Barber, who allegedly does not have any elephants on his farm, arranged that an elephant from the neighbouring farm Kruidfontein would be lured to his farm. He supposedly placed a load of oranges close to the ...
2012-04-09 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
The Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Centre on Thursday requested an official probe into the deaths of three wild elephants in the Central Highlands district of Ea Sup during the final week of March. A 2-tonne male elephant was found dead on March 31 with many parts of its body missing in Ea Bung Commune. The body of a 4-year-old elephant, weighing some 500kg, was discovered on the same day in Cu M’lanh while five days later a 5-month-old animal was found dead in the same area.
2012-04-08 - Corrèze, France.
A sanctuary on planning stage already starts with attacking all european elephant institutions with the words: "Europe is the only continent that can not provide safe care for elephants. Yet there are many elephants in Europe who need care", a competition strategy copied from elephant sanctuaries in USA and Thailand.
2012-04-08 - Chiang Rai, Thailand. John Roberts
He’ll be kept on a long chain for a week or two until he gets used to where he is, he’ll then be put into ever increasing electrically fenced areas until, in a couple of months he’ll be put out into the 160,000 acres of protected forest and become one of the Queen’s Own Roaming Elephants.
2012-04-06 - Udhagamandalam, India.
Three elephants, including a one-year old male, were founded dead today at various places coming under Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Nilgiris district. A 25-year old female elephant, which was caught in a slush during search of water and was rescued last night by forest department officials, died this morning without responding to treatment, Forest Department sources said.
2012-04-05 - Sabah, Malaysia.
THE Borneo Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary, which was expected to be ready by the middle of the year for the Borneo Pygmy elephants and other wildlife driven from their habitat, has hit a snag. There is a shortage of experts to train the elephants. In fact, there is only one specialist in the state. He is Sabah Wildlife Department´s elephant trainer Jibius Dausip, who is now tasked with recruiting and training mahouts.
2012-04-05 - Pathanamthitta, India.
A 40-year-old mahout was electrocuted while riding atop a temple elephant at Vallikkod near here, police said. Santhosh Kumar, a mahout of Travancore Devaswom Board, died after he suffered shock while trying to remove a palm leaf on their way with which a live wire was tangled yesterday, police said. The mahout fell off the elephant due to the impact of the shock. Though local people rushed him to a nearby hospital, he was declared dead. The tusker Parthan, being taken to Vallikko...
2012-04-05 - Gundlupet, India.
An incident of a wild Tiger killing five elephant calves in Bandipur National Forest has come to light recently. About four elephant calves aged between one and two years were found injured following Tiger attack in Hediyala, Bandipura and Gudre forest areas. Forest officials had brought one of the calves and treated it, but to no avail. One more calf, which was injured in recent days, was found dead following the attack by the big cat.
2012-04-03 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
The unbridled destruction of Sumatra’s forests over the past 20 years is the main reason for the 44 percent decline in the Sumatran elephant population during that period, wildlife activists said on Monday. Donny Gunaryadi, the elephant program coordinator at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Indonesia program, said the wild elephant population on the island had dropped from around 5,000 in 1992 to just 2,800 today
2012-04-02 - Blackpool, Ireland.
A circus worker is fighting for his life in a Cork hospital after being crushed by Baby, the runaway elephant. Spanish national Justino Munez suffered severe internal injuries when the 2.5-ton animal accidentally crushed him as he was cleaning the elephant pen at Courtney Brothers Circus in Blackpool, Cork, on Saturday night.
2012-04-01 - Blackpool, Ireland.
A circus worker has been taken to hospital with a suspected broken rib following an incident with an elephant at Courtney Brothers Circus in Blackpool, Cork. He was injured by an unintentional blow after one elephant charged another in a holding area. Medical workers and gardaí arrived on the scene shortly after 5pm and a male circus worker was taken by ambulance to hospital.
2012-03-31 - Bangkok, Thailand.
At this time of writing, 26 elephants without registration papers have been confiscated and impounded at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC), a government-run facility and elephant hospital. TECC has confirmed that eight elephants have tested positive in the screening process for TB, two have tested positive with a tetanus, and one of those elephants with tetanus has died. At the March 13th National Elephant Day symposium in Bangkok, the DNP Chief estimated that 10% of the captive eleph...
2012-03-31 - Blackpool, Ireland.
A video of an elephant escaping from a Cork circus during the week has become a global sensation. The Indian elephant named Baby broke free from her keepers at Courtney Brothers Circus in Blackpool on Tuesday, after apparently deciding she was in no mood to have a shower.
2012-03-31 - Guwahati, India.
Assam has recorded a remarkable growth in its elephant population, according to the recently concluded elephant census in the state.The elephant census this year recorded a total of 5,620 elephants in Assam compared to 5,246 elephants in the 2009 census year, state Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain said and added that an increase of 374 in the jumbo population was a good indication.
2012-03-29 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya Wildlife Service rangers shot and killed three suspected poachers in Tsavo East National Park in the latest in a series of poacher killings amid a rise in elephant deaths, an official said Wednesday. Last week rangers shot and killed another three suspected poachers near Mount Kenya.
2012-03-29 - Thrissur, India.
A tusker belonging to the Koodalmanikyam Temple in Irinjalakuda gored its first mahout to death inside the temple compound on Wednesday evening. The deceased has been identified as Devadas, hailing from Palakkad, police told. The temple authorities informed that the elephant “Megharjunan” was in musth and was showing signs of aggression.
2012-03-29 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
Head vet Sarah Chapman said: "Immediately after the birth, we could see the calf wasn´t moving. "It´s common for elephants to nudge a newborn to help it rise to its feet to suckle. However, when all three elephants backed away we knew something was wrong. "The keepers and vet team rushed into the enclosure and worked on trying to bring life into the calf for almost an hour. "Once we reached a point when we knew there was nothing more we could do, we placed the calf back in front of t...
2012-03-29 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Eight of them have tuberculosis, while the others had blood infections and other ailments. The elephants were seized on Feb 29 by National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department officials, who suspected the animals had been obtained illegally. A female called Sri Thong, died on March 20 and health checks on the other 18 conducted by Department of Livestock officials found 15 of them to be in poor health. Mr Sittidet, chief of the state-run Elephant Hospital at the National Elephant In...
2012-03-29 - Linyanti, Botswana.
During the bloody encounter with up to 18 hyenas the vulnerable baby - who had been momentarily separated from the herd - had its tail BITTEN OFF. A startled safari group – alerted to the sound of shrieking elephants - witnessed the furious mum stampede the snarling pack, repeatedly kicking out her feet and swinging her trunk to disperse them.
2012-03-28 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
The section manages our herd of 4 female Asian elephants in free contact. We are seeking a high performing individual with a proven track record in zoo animal management. You will have a minimum of 5 years experience as an elephant keeper and demonstrate a substantial working knowledge of the natural history and management of elephants.
2012-03-28 - Naypyidaw, Myanmar.
Kings and leaders in the predominantly Buddhist nation have traditionally treasured white elephants, whose rare appearances in the country are believed to herald good fortune, including power and political change.
2012-03-22 - Memphis, United States.
She was due to give birth in just a few months, but officials at the Memphis Zoo say that its 29-year-old African elephant has suffered a miscarriage. An ultrasound expert and veterinarians examined “Gina” Sunday and confirmed that the unborn calf had died. "Our animal caregivers, researchers and staff have been working for a very long time on this pregnancy, and everyone here at the Memphis Zoo is deeply saddened by this turn of events," said Dr. Chuck Brady, the Memphis Zoo´s preside...
2012-03-22 - Rappersville, Switzerland.
Three overweight elephants at a Swiss circus will have to diet and work out in order to shed between 50 and 300 kilogrammes (110-660 pounds), Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported Wednesday. To help them lose weight, Circus Knie is not only putting them on a special and low-sugar diet but also making them work for their food. Hay barrels will now be suspended above the elephants´ heads, forcing them to make an effort to reach their food.
2012-03-20 - London, United Kingdom.
Interpol is carrying out the largest anti-elephant ivory poaching operation ever mounted. Wildlife agents in 14 different African countries have been raiding outlets and hunting down traders to crack down on the multi-million pound industry. Operation Worthy, as it is being called, is aimed at stifling the increasing demand in illegal elephant ivory, mostly from Asian countries such as China.
2012-03-20 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
Bua, a gift from the king of Thailand, to the king of Sweden, living in Kolmarden Zoo since 2004, is pregnant through artificial insemination, performed by Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt and Dr. Frank Goeritz from The Leibniz-Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin. Sperm donor is Raja in Woburn safari park, UK.
2012-03-20 - Buôn Ma Thuột, Vietnam.
Dang Nang Long is now director of the Lak Lake Travel Co., an affiliate of the Tourism Company of the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. He owns eight elephants, the largest number of tamed elephants throughout the country. Long told Tien Phong newspaper that in the early 20th century, his grandfather moved from the central coastal region to the highlands. He tamed dozens of elephants and supplied some for King Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam. Long’s father, Dang Nang Nhay, followed t...
2012-03-18 - Phuket, Thailand.
Police from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division have confirmed that 27 out of 37 elephants seized from elephant camps in Phuket for inspection have the same identity as that stated in their official papers. Police seized the 37 elephants from four camps for inspection on February 27. Of the 27 "confirmed" elephants, nine belong to At Hill Adventure Tours 2009 camp and other 18 are owned by Siam Safari Nature Tours camp.
2012-03-18 - Krabi, Thailand.
The owner of the elephant found mutilated in Krabi on Thursday has confessed to working the animal to death. Local villagers had discovered the gruesome remains, now identified as that of 49-year-old elephant Plai Boonam. The front of the head had been hacked off and the elephant’s tusk was missing. In response, Krabi Muang District Chief Yutisak Akeakkara and Wiboon Lerdwattnasombut, chief of the Krabi Livestock Office, launched an investigation into the cause of death of the pachyderm.
2012-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
As one of the world´s most beautiful women, all eyes are usually on Gisele Bundchen. But the 31-year-old Brazilian model found herself well and truly upstaged by an adorable baby elephant during a recent trip to Africa. The stunning star looks deliriously happy in photographs she posted of her January trip to Kenya on her Facebook page today.
2012-03-15 - New Delhi, India.
Army veterinary doctors in Assam recently performed the difficult task of successfully treating an adult wild elephant after it pierced its foot with a six-inch long glass shrapnel. The Advance Field Veterinary Hospital (AFVH) in Misamari regularly helps the ailing animals brought there by forest officials and villagers. Recently the veterinary doctors there successfully treated a wild elephant with a glass piece embedded in its foot, Army officials said here.
2012-03-15 - Bouba N’Djida , Cameroon.
The following statement was issued today by Natasha Kofoworola Quist, WWF’s Central Africa Regional Programme Office Representative: “It has been two weeks since the Cameroon government authorized a military intervention at the site of the slaughter of hundreds of elephants. WWF is disturbed by reports that the poaching continues unabated in Bouba N’Djida National Park and that a soldier’s life has been lost.
2012-03-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Damrong Pidech, chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, yesterday said the department backed plans to amend regulations on issuing ID cards to captive elephants to make it an effective tool to prevent poaching. Mr Damrong was speaking at a seminar to mark Thai Elephant Day yesterday. Under current regulations, an ID card is issued to a captive elephant when it is eight years old. However, Mr Damrong said the ID cards should be issued to a calf as young as thre...
2012-03-14 - SEOUL, South Korea.
Russian and South Korean scientists signed a deal yesterday on joint research intended to recreate a woolly mammoth, an animal which last walked the earth some 10 000 years ago. The deal was signed by Vasily Vasiliev, of North-Eastern Federal University of the Sakha Republic, and controversial cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk of Korea’s Sooam Biotech Research Foundation.
2012-03-13 - Bouba Ndjida national park, Cameroon.
The fight to save elephants from ivory poachers in Cameroon’s Bouba Ndjida national park has reached new, deadly levels, with at least two people killed and about 400 elephants slaughtered since January, rights group say. A poacher, a soldier and 10 elephants were killed in one clash alone last week, when Cameroonian troops intervened after poachers on horseback began storming the park. Rights groups estimate that there are now fewer than 3 000 elephants left in Cameroon.
2012-03-13 - Kinabatangan, Malaysia.
THE protection of endangered animal species in Sabah took another significant step following the successful collaring of an elephant in Kinabatangan recently. The female elephant was caught in the Segaliud-Lokan Forest Reserve before it was fitted with an Iridium collar in a joint effort by the state Wildlife Department, Borneo Conservation Trust and KTS Plantation.
2012-03-11 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Dr Bao Huy from the Tay Nguyen University has warned that the slow implementation of the conservation projects would be a big disadvantage to the province, since a lot of foreign and domestic organizations now show their big interests in the conservation work. The organizations will only provide capital, equipment and techniques to fund the projects if they can see with their eyes, the feasibility of the conservation projects. Meanwhile, Vietnam has to spend too much time on complicated procedur...
2012-03-11 - Fellsmere, United States.
After 32 years working with elephants in various zoos, John Lehnhardt says he´s in familiar territory as the executive director for the National Elephant Center planned for Fellsmere. Lehnhardt, who was one of the center´s founding board members, agreed in January to be the first executive director and steer the project to opening. "I tried to retire," he said Wednesday, chuckling at leaving his most recent job last year, as animal operations director for Disney´s Animal Kingdo...
2012-03-11 - Addo, South Africa.
HAPOOR JUNIOR, one of the offspring of the legendary elephant bull Hapoor who dominated Addo for 24 years, has died at his Pumba Private Game Reserve home after he was attacked by his brother, Nick. He was 58. Hapoor Junior was born at Addo in 1954, sired by Hapoor, the park’s dominating bull. The SANParks website says Hapoor was named for a nick in his ear caused by a hunter’s bullet.
2012-03-08 - Calgary, United States.
Calgary Zoo officials hope the female elephant´s third try at motherhood will be a lot more successful than her previous attempts. Known as Rani by zookeepers, the 22-year-old Asian elephant initially rejected both of her calves, which both subsequently died. Rani is now 10 months along in a 22-month gestation period, meaning that she´s not due to give birth until February.
2012-03-08 - Madikeri, India.
Coffee Growers said that the elephants have started consuming coffee berries. If this is not checked, then coffee growers will be in distress. The growers aired their grievances before the Elephant Task Force constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest on the direction of the High Court, to study the elephant menace, during their visit to Maldare on Wednesday.
2012-03-08 - Hangzhou, China.
A MAN who bought more than 10 kilograms of ivory and six scales of pangolins worth more than 220,000 yuan (US$34,826) during a trip to Angola may face more than five years in prison on charges of wildlife smuggling. The construction company employer surnamed Tan argued he purchased African ivory, listed as a legal commodity in Angola, as gift for his friends rather than for resale, according to the trial at the Intermediate People´s court in Hangzhou, capital of east China´s Zhejiang...
2012-03-08 - Albuquerque, United States.
Albuquerque BioPark’s 19-year-old Asian elephant is expected to have her second calf in November 2013, according to a news release from the zoo. Rozie is three months pregnant, and the average gestation for elephants is 23 months. We are cautiously optimistic because it is early in the pregnancy, said Rhonda Saiers, Elephant Barn Manager.
2012-03-06 - Virunga park, Congo.
Rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo´s Virunga park have a new weapon in their fight against poachers. National Park authorities have trained five bloodhound dogs to track elephant poachers after a spate of incidents. The first investigation using the dogs was carried out last week and led to the discovery of illegal weapons.
2012-03-06 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
An action plan to conserve elephants in Nghe An, Dak Lak and Dong Nai was approved by the Prime Minister six years ago, in 2006. However, no considerable progress has been made so far. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said that the elephant conservation plan has been going slowly, because localities have not have money to implement the plan. Therefore, the ministry has asked the Prime Minister to extend the elephant conservation plan until 2020 with the name: “Emergency...
2012-03-05 - Saigon, Vietnam.
Vietnam has been well known as a country with many elephants that can be found throughout the country. However, big international conservation organizations have repeatedly given warnings that elephants are in danger of extinction. Dr Bao Huy from the Tay Nguyen University has pointed out that the elephant breeding for tourism purpose has degraded their fertility. “If we don’t take actions right now, Dak Lak elephants would get extinct in 20 more years,” he warned.
2012-03-05 - Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.
Male elephant Sidor Plaiwan collapsed and died from heart failure after chasing its mahout in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on Saturday. The mahout was unhurt. The 25-year-old jumbo killed its previous owner when it went berserk last month. The bizarre incident happened in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. The 25-year-old elephant, Sidor Plaiwan, which had killed its previous owner while also in a frenzy of lust, died of heart failure on Saturday night after chasing its owner along a hill. The elepha...
2012-03-04 - Mysore, India. Janaki Lenin
About 25 wild elephants are slated to be transplanted from around Kattepura and Dodbetta Reserve Forests, Hassan District in Karnataka, to other as-yet-undetermined locations. This is punishment for a long string of complaints against them. Since 2007, 14 people have been killed and many more injured by these giants. Besides loss of life and limb, cereal and tree crops are destroyed. In some cases, the entire year’s yield is lost in a single night.
2012-03-04 - Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Rosslyn Beeby
A team led by David Jachowski from the University of Missouri detected high levels of chronic stress in elephants relocated to three South African nature reserves. In some cases, these had occurred more than 10 years ago, and elephants were still exhibiting stressed behaviour in their responses to the not-so-new environments. The study, published online in the global science journal PLoS ONE, has interesting implications for the future design of nature reserves in Africa, and also raises questio...
2012-03-03 - DOUALA, Cameroon.
Cameroon has launched a military offensive to flush out elephant poachers from a remote national park in the country´s northeast near the border with Chad. Defense Minister Alain Mebe Ngo´o announced the operation on state television late Thursday, saying that the country needed to take action against the poachers believed to be from Sudan.
2012-03-03 - , Kenya.
MORE than 20 elephants have been killed in the vast Marsabit Forest in the Central division of Marsabit county in the last two months as Ethiopian poachers invade the forest. Marsabit Central DC Ruto Kipchumba said hundreds of poachers have found their way into the forest from Ethiopia and are causing havoc by killing elephants.
2012-03-03 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Born in Johannesburg in 1950, Anthony was the owner and head of conservation at KwaZulu-Natal’s Thula Thula Game reserve and the author of several bestsellers including The Elephant Whisperer: Learning About Life, Loyalty and Freedom From a Remarkable Herd of Elephants, which has sold over 90 000 copies worldwide. Anthony was also known for his bold ventures in conservation, most notably when he braved the 2003 US bombing of Iraq to rescue a pack of starving lions.
2012-03-03 - Beijing, China.
Armed with tips from animal welfare activists, I recently went on an ivory hunt with my Chinese assistant, Yang, in an antiques market in Beijing. Activists say China´s growing purchasing power is driving global demand for products from vulnerable animals, everything from elephant ivory to rhino horn.
2012-03-03 - Tsavo, Kenya.
Two elephants have been killed by poachers at a private ranch in Taita Taveta County. Wildlife conservationists have condemned the killing of the two female elephants aged about 40 years at Lwalenyi Ranch within Mwatate district which borders the Tsavo West National Park. Poaching is threatening elephant population in the Tsavo ecosystem.
2012-03-03 - San Diego, United States.
Connie and Shaba, elephant pals from Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, are safely ensconced at the San Diego Zoo following a 10-hour journey during which they were housed in individual crates. Although the two females are to be kept in quarantine for six weeks, San Diego zoo personnel are already detecting interest from the Elephant Odyssey´s inhabitants. While Connie and Shaba are in a separate enclosed area, part of it is outdoors.
2012-03-01 - Pittsburgh, United States.
Pittsburgh Zoo has joined an international effort to establish North America’s first elephant sperm bank. The plan is to distribute from it semen collected from wild elephants in South Africa and frozen. Project Frozen Dumbo, started two years ago and led by a German researcher, has already set up an elephant sperm bank in France in the hope of resolving a similar predicament in Europe.
2012-02-29 - KOLKATA, India.
If all goes well, the state will witness this traditional method of capturing wild elephants next August. Permission for this was sought way back in 2000. But the ministry of environment and forests sanctioned it only on February 16 to capture four sub-adult elephants from Dalma herd for captive use.
2012-02-29 - Kanchanburi, Thailand.
Elephant park operators have threatened to block major roads with their jumbos if wildlife officials continue to seize animals from private shelters. Rangsri Paisa-ard, who said he was a representative of elephant parks, made the threat after officials from the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department confiscated 19 elephants at Saiyok Elephant Park in Kanchanaburi´s Sai Yok district yesterday. Mr Rangsri is also president of Tambon Lumsum Administration Organisation in S...
2012-02-29 - Tucson, United States.
Zookeepers are preparing elephants Connie and Shaba to leave for their new home. The beloved Reid Park Zoo elephants are going to live at a sanctuary in San Diego. There has been a big push to keep Connie and Shaba together, as they have been together for more than 30 years. The city received more than 16,000 emails from concerned citizens when there was talk of splitting up the elephants.
2012-02-28 - Phuket, Thailand.
The legal status of 37 elephants is currently under investigation in Phuket, following official raids on four elephant trekking camps on the island on Monday. Nine elephants were seized from AT Hill Adventure Tour, eight from ATV Seaview Tour, two from Laguna Excursions in Cherng Talay and 18 from Siam Safari. All elephants are allowed to keep working, but cannot be moved from the camps until the investigation, which aims to determine the elephant’s legality, has been completed.
The owners of the Kinnari Elephant Camp in Rawai this morning announced the birth of a baby elephant at the camp. Pang Saifon, born at 1:49am, is the second elephant to be born at the camp. The newborn weighs 75 kilograms and is in perfect health, said Jirayu Nirunwiroj, a veterinarian from the Phuket Livestock Office’s Animal Health Development division.
2012-02-28 - Tucson, United States.
There are two new faces at the Reid Park zoo. Lungile and Mabhulane (Mabu), two African elephants just arrived on Friday night. They came from the San Diego Zoo, where both have been staying since they were transported to the U.S. in 2003.
2012-02-27 - Georgetown, Guyana.
There will no elephant for the zoo just yet. And it will be expensive to modernize the facility. It denied that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission is paying for an elephant for the zoo and said there has been no such agreement with any sister agency, country or organizations for the acquisition of an elephant. However, it is discussing the possibilities of introducing an elephant.
2012-02-27 - Phuket, Thailand.
Two of the three young elephants “seized†from elephant trekking camps in Phuket on February 10, have been confirmed as being linked to 19 elephants confiscated in Sai Yoke, Kanchanaburi Province, on January. The two animals, Popeye and Joey, were officially seized on February 10 but were left in place while authorities carried out checks to see whether they were related to the illegally held animals discovered in Sai Yoke.
2012-02-25 - Corvallis, United States.
Vernon Kessi was digging a sewer line for a new apartment complex last December when he saw something strange from the cab of his excavator: What Kessi and his power shovel unearthed that morning turned out to be the jaw of a mastodon, an extinct elephant-like creature that roamed North America until the end of the last Ice Age. A deposit of white, crumbly material that he could tell wasn’t rock.
2012-02-25 - Dong Nai, United States.
A herd of wild elephants have been ravaging farmers’ fields in the southern province of Dong Nai for a week-and-a-half, according to local forest management authorities. The elephants have eaten up fields of corn, sweet potatoes, cassava and sugarcane in Hamlet 2 near the Vinh Cuu Nature Reserve in Phu Ly Commune, Vinh Cuu District.
2012-02-25 - Pattaya, Thailand.
It was indeed happy news announced on Friday at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Na-Jomtien, when management proclaimed that one of their female elephants, Pangubon had successfully given birth to a baby elephant. Both mother and baby are in good health.
2012-02-24 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on wednesday launched a national elephant conservation and management strategy. Speaking at the launch, the Minister for Forestry and Wildlife Hon Dr Noah Wekesa noted that the world was witnessing increased illegal killing of elephants and that the sophistication and the level of organisation of illegal traders in ivory were also worrying.
For more than half a century Dame Daphne Sheldrick has rescued and looked after orphaned elephants and other animals in Kenya. Daphne Sheldrick´s elephant orphanage sits in a corner of Nairobi National Park. Every morning, for an hour, it is open to tourists who come from all over the world to watch the orphans, aged up to three years, play in their mud bath and drink bottles of milk fed to them by their keepers.
2012-02-23 - Yerevan, Armenia.
The exaggerated information published in the media stating that Yerevan zoo is allegedly going to purchase several elephants is not true, the press service of Yerevan zoo informs Armenian News-NEWS.am adding that works are done towards improving the living conditions of the only elephant, Grand. Besides that, it is planned to acquire only one elephant, a girlfriend for Grand. To remind, according to the information that had appeared in the media, Yerevan zoo is planning to purchase not one, but ...
2012-02-23 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
Late night of February 21, a two hectare sugarcane plot belonging to five households in Phu Ly Commune of Vinh Cuu District in Dong Nai Province was completed trampled and devastated by a herd of ten wild elephants, foraging for food. Tran Van Mui, the Zone’s Director, said the herd included female and male elephants along with few baby elephants.
2012-02-23 - Hongsa, Laos.
Sayabouly has hosted an elephant festival for six consecutive years sharing venues in three districts — Sayabouly, Paklai and Hongsa. This year’s event took place, 17 to 19 February, and attracted around 100,000 visitors. Almost all spectators were domestic tourists, while just a few international tourists, possibly 1,000 and most ly Thais, joined the festival.
A 30km solar electric fencing system will be installed in southern Dong Nai Province´s forest this year to minimize conflict between elephants from the Natural and Cultural Reserve and nearby villagers. Tran Van Mui, reserve director, told the Viet Nam News that the fencing, the first of its kind in the country, is expected to protect the living environment of both the people and dwindling elephants.
2012-02-23 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Police arrested Manoon Ruengworraset, his son Withoon, and Panya Samranphis for possessing carcasses of protected animals without permission, after a raid at their homes turned up several organs of elephants, including penises, and ivory. While in police custody, the three suspects implicated Lookkaew Uppatham and Jan Kuafoo for allegedly killing a number of elephants and butchering them for meat and ivory. Police are also on the hunt for Somphorn Jorkai, who has been implicated in poaching.
2012-02-21 - Beirut, Lebanon.
Paleontologists working in the United Arab Emirates have uncovered elephant footprints that are seven million years old, making them the oldest of their kind and possibly the longest preserved trackway in the world. The find, reported on Wednesday in the British journal Biology Letters, was made at a site called Mleisa 1, in the UAE´s Baynunah Formation, a geological outcrop dated to the Late Miocene.
2012-02-18 - Mysore, India.
Mahouts in the Dubare Elephant Camp near Kushalnagar in Kodagu, rallying under the banner of Budakattu Krishikara Sangha, a tribal organisation, staged a protest on Friday to draw the attention of the State Government to confirm their services. They let the 21 captive elephants at the camp, including three calves, into the forests for grazing at 7 a.m. as a measure of protest and refused to bring them back in the afternoon. The elephants, barring a few used in safaris, are let into forests after...
2012-02-17 - Hongsa, 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.
2012-02-17 - Chowchilla, United States.
The Fossil Discovery Center in Chowchilla (Madera County), which opened in 2010, recently added a 13-foot-tall mammoth skeleton replica to fossils of saber-toothed cats, camel kin and the dire wolf, all unearthed from the ground adjacent to the center - which happens to be the largest Pleistocene-era fossil bed in the West.
2012-02-17 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Poachers have slaughtered at least 200 elephants in the past five weeks in a patch of Africa where they are more dangerously endangered than anywhere else on Earth, wildlife activists said Thursday. The money made from selling elephant tusks is fueling misery throughout the continent, the International Fund for Animal Welfare warned.
2012-02-17 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
Twycross Zoo is preparing to welcome its newest addition with one of its elephants nearly ready to give birth. First-time mother Tara, a 13-year-old Asian elephant at the zoo, is being monitored with video cameras around the clock and being kept extra warm at night, ready for the special delivery. As the scan on this page shows, the elephant´s calf is fully formed and could be delivered any day now. All the keepers are prepared.
2012-02-15 - Kruger Park, South Africa.
Stable isotope series from elephant ivory reveal lifetime histories of a true dietary generalist, by Jacqueline Codron et al in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences The implications for all herbivores, and indeed many animal populations, is that you need to widen your dietary intake.
2012-02-15 - Northridge, United States.
April 9, 1973: Shirley, 9, getting a scrub-up at Goodtime Car Wash before her next performance with the Miller-Johnson Circus at the Devonshire Downs Fairground in Northridge. May 21, 1976: Judy, 12, gets a wash in the ocean at Venice Beach with the help of trainer Bones Craig. The Circus Vargas elephant weighs 6,300 pounds. This photo was published in the May 22, 1976, Los Angeles Times.
2012-02-15 - Bangalore, India.
In the wake of increasing incidents of wild elephants entering human settlements following their shrinking habitat, the Karnataka High Court has recently appointed an elephant experts´ Action Committee to study the man-wild conflict. According to sources, environment scientist Raman Sukumar has been appointed as the committee´s chairman with experts from various fields -- Ajaikumar Desai, Sharashchandra Leele, C Basappanavar, S S Bhat, N Ravindranath Kamath, B R Deepak, M K Madhusuda...
2012-02-15 - Phuket, Thailand.
Three elephant camps in Phuket are being investigated after concerns were raised about the origins of the baby elephants in their possession. Officers of Central Investigation Bureau of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok investigated Phuthai Souvenir Market in Chalong, ATV Elephant Camp near the Big Buddha image in Karon and Sheraton Camp in Cheng Talay to determine if the baby elephants were born in the wild or not. “We came down to examine the elephant camps in Phuket as part of our investigat...
2012-02-15 - Toronto, Canada.
Examination of Zoocheck´s statements reveals that PAWS appears to be no different than the standard in place at the majority of accredited zoological institutions in North America. CUPE Local 1600 queries Zoocheck´s assertion, and would welcome verification, with specifics. In addition, Zoocheck makes the claim that the Toronto Zoo´s African elephants are not at risk of contracting disease at the PAWS sanctuary," Ankenman continues. "With all due respect, no one can make this c...
2012-02-14 - Surin, Thailand.
The provincial administrative organization in Surin will hold the sixth “Wedding on the back of an Elephant” event on Valentine’s Day on 14th February 2012. About 55 local and foreign couples are expected to take part in the wedding. Mr. Thongchai Mungcharoenphorn, president of the Surin provincial administrative organization, said the event will take place at Ban Ta Klang Elephant Village in Tambon Krapoh of Thatoom district, Surin province. The event is aimed at promoting warmth, family ...
2012-02-14 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Captive elephants in the state are a sad and lonely lot. Of the 702 captives in the state, only 118 are females, less than 17 per cent of the total captive population. And of the 118, more than 60 per cent have crossed the reproductive age. The jumbos lead such a loveless existence that there is no record of a pregnancy as a result of a union between two captive elephants in the state. In the last four years two female elephants delivered, one in Kollam and another in Kottayam, but both had conc...
2012-02-14 - Samtse, Bhutan.
Seasonal elephant-visitors to the country from across the Indian border spend longer time in Bhutan, a study the forestry officials recently did revealed. The study conducted in 2010 in Samtse, Sarpang and Phipsoo estimates about 110 elephants in Samtse and 380 in Sarpang and Phipsoo wildlife sanctuary. The data were mobilised through collection of dung samples. The reason, foresters said was the availability of large patches of forests and absence of threat from poaching they were trauma...
2012-02-14 - Fulton, United States.
A Fulton Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday that could prevent the county from enforcing animal control laws in the city of Atlanta, according to a Fulton County commissioner. Commissioner Rob Pitts said Judge John Goger´s order effectively blocks the county´s ban of the use of bullhooks by circus elephant trainers. The decision comes only days before Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to Philips Arena in Atlanta. The show will run from W...
2012-02-14 - Rajaji National Park, India.
An adult tusker has been relocated to a new area of India´s Rajaji National Park after allegations of human/elephant conflict - rescuing it from an official death sentence. The successful, if complicated, move from Narendranagar Forest Division to the Chilla Range of the park was a joint operation between the Uttarakhand Forest Department, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), and is the result of two months of careful planning.
2012-02-14 - Tokyo, Japan.
Inokashira Park Zoo in western Tokyo held an event Sunday to mark the 65th birthday of Japan´s oldest Asian elephant, Hanako. A Thai Embassy envoy and mayors of two local cities took part in a ceremony while around 350 visitors joined zoo staff in celebrating. Hanako is now the fifth oldest elephant at zoos around the world, with the oldest aged 74 years, zoo director Etsuo Narushima said in a speech.
2012-02-13 - Palakkad, India.
Two elephants ran amok in Palakkad district and another in Pathanamthitta during temple festivals on Sunday. Four persons were injured in Palakkad, while in Pathanamthitta, the elephant damaged two vehicles and uprooted trees. The pachyderm, Narayanankutty, ran amok at the annual ‘parackezhunnellippu´ ceremony of the Puthenkavumala Mahadevar temple, at Nellad, near Vallamkulam, in Pathanamthitta at 1.30 p.m. on Sunday. It was tranquillised and tethered after three hours by an Elephant Sq...
2012-02-13 - Jaipur, India.
The nation may not have legalised euthanasia (mercy killing) for humans but in a first of its kind incident in the state, an elephant was given mercy killing in Jaipur. The female elephant Sita was down after she broke one of her legs and seeing her pathetic condition the wild life department granted permission for a euthanasia request on Saturday. According to officials, Sita had fractured her leg for the last two and half months.
2012-02-13 - Kampala, Uganda.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) last weekend handed over illegal Elephant Ivory, Monitor Lizard skins and Rhino teeth worth Ush1.6b ($700,000) to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). The trophies that are banned under the Convention in Trade in Endangered Species were impounded over the last three months destined for export. The items were impounded at different customs points after lacking exportation documents. According to Mr. James Kisaame, the enforcement assistant commissioner at URA, 1...
2012-02-13 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Over 500 elephants have been killed by poachers at DR Congo´s Virunga national park since 2010, a senior government official has revealed. An official of the Congolese Institute for Conservation of Nature (ICCN) decried the incidents of poaching at the Virunga national park which is considered as a World Heritage site by Unesco, Xinhua reported Thursday.
2012-02-13 - Madhya Pradesh, India.
The Union Government has given permission to Karnataka to hand over 11 captive elephants to Madhya Pradesh, mostly for use in safaris. According to sources, the permission was granted in November last following a request from the State Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Wildlife Warden. The State Forest Department had identified 29 elephants in various camps from which forest officials from Madhya Pradesh could choose, Ajay Mishra, Field Director, Project Elephant, told The Hindu.
2012-02-12 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
Forest rangers in the Dong Nai Natural and Cultural Conversation Zone in Dong Nai Province yesterday saved a 100-kg elephant that had fallen into a well. With the help of local residents, the rangers managed to take the elephant out of the 2-m deep well in Subzone 59, Phu Ly Commune, Vinh Cuu District, said Tran Van Mui, the zone’s director.
2012-02-12 - Bangalore, India.
Legend has it that King Alexander did not dare cross the Ganges as there were about 6,000 elephants stationed there. And seated on an elephant, he defeated Porous in the Battle of Jhelum. And Alexander had one Indian elephant in his army! Sharing such nuggets of elephant lore, Prof. Raman Sukumar of the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc at the release of his book ´The Story of Asia´s Elephants -- An ecological and cultural history of the Asian elephant´, at Strand book stall...
2012-02-11 - Phuket, Thailand.
Representatives of the three camps, the Sheraton Elephant Camp in Cherng Talay, and the Phu Thai Review Souvenir Market and ATV Review Elephant Trekking Camp, both in Chalong, admitted they had rented the young elephants, which were being used to attract tourists, from an elephant camp in Sai Yoke District, Kanjanaburi Province.
2012-02-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
According to the fresh guidelines on safekeeping of elephants, issued by Kerala forests department, all domestic elephants should wear a name plate. It also says that elephants should be covered under third party insurance scheme. According to an official release, the safekeeping of elephants would be monitored by a committee comprising district collectors, police superintendents, divisional forest officer, devaswom board member and a representative of the Kerala elephant owners´ associati...
2012-02-11 - Alappuzha, India.
The people passing by the Forest Office here on Saturday morning stopped for a moment to watch the little baby elephant inside. The one-and-a-half-month old baby elephant, fondly called ‘Chandramukhi’ has just stopped to take some rest before starting on its journey to Kottur Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
2012-02-11 - Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka.
Few people realize that Asian and African elephants are about as different from one another as we are from chimpanzees. That’s not an exaggeration – the estimated time that they diverged from a common ancestor is about six million years ago, whereas humans and chimpanzees are estimated to have diverged between five to six million years ago [2]. Some have even suggested that Asian elephants may be more closely related to woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius).
2012-02-09 - KINSHASA, Congo.
2012-02-08 - , Thailand.
When two Bangkok cops spotted a man on a street last Saturday whose hands were caked in blood, they decided some tough questioning was in order. The man led them to a nearby house where they found a group of men cutting up two tiger carcasses, over 400 kilos of tiger meat, and bodies and body parts of zebras, crocodiles, wild buffaloes and an elephant. Police arrested seven men and a few days later apprehended the house owner and alleged ring leader, who is denying all charges.
2012-02-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Navam Perahera, held annualy in February, displays hundreds of monks, sacred relics housed in a casket are carried by a majestic elephant on its back, dancers, drummers, and many elephants also displays the rich religious and cultural tradition of Sri Lanka.
2012-02-02 - Tasmania, Australia.
Australia should introduce elephants and allow dingoes to breed in packs as a radical, yet serious, solution to the country´s rampant bushfire and feral animal problems, University of Tasmania professor of environmental change biology, David Bowman, writes in an opinion piece for journal Nature today. Those animals are reconstructing ecosystems and destabilising the country´s food webs, he says.
2012-02-02 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A new type of identity card should be issued for elephants, which should have embedded microchips, an updated photograph every six months and an updated record of every unique change, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said yesterday. The proposal will be taken to the Interior Ministry, and if it is okayed, permission for the movement of every elephant will have to come from provincial governors. This should make illegal movement or getting the pachyderms to beg more difficult, perma...
2012-02-02 - Kansas City, United States.
Fewer U.S. zoos of the future may have elephants but those that do would have happier animals under a new policy requiring American zoos with two elephants to add space for a third in case one dies. Starting in 2016, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums will require room for three elephants if a zoo wants to retain the AZA´s coveted accreditation. "Elephants are social creatures, they require other elephants," said AZA spokesman Steve Feldman.
2012-02-02 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka. Dan Koehl
Sri Lanka is an island with a land area of approximately 62,000 km2 situated in the Indian Ocean, 35 km from the southern end of the Indian Peninsula. The first-ever nationwide elephant census in August 2011 produced a total of 7,379 jumbos across the island: 5,879 of them were spotted near parks and sanctuaries, while another 1,500 were estimated to be living in other areas.
2012-02-01 - Jamshedpur, India.
A pair of elephant tusks, weighing approximately 32kg, were recovered late last night from Dalma sanctuary with the help of a sniffer dog and forest officials believe they have scuttled an attempt to smuggle out the ivory valued at Rs 40 lakh in the open market. Ranchi divisional forest officer (wildlife) Kamlesh Pandey said a massive search operation was launched after they heard about the dead elephant.
2012-02-01 - Jalpaiguri, India.
A pregnant elephant was gored to death by a tusker at the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) forest on Monday night, apparently when it refused to respond to the male´s mating call. The carcass was found on Tuesday morning.From the signs found at the spot, it is thought that the tusker suddenly approached the female elephant from behind. But being pregnant, she could not run and join its herd that had moved ahead by then.
2012-02-01 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka. Dan Koehl
Some notes about history of captive elephant breeding 1875-2011. The 20 most succesful captive elephant breeders. Thoughts for the future regarding subspecies, and a last hope for the elephants of Vietnam.
2012-01-31 - Lampung, Indonesia.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan broke new ground on Monday on the construction of Asia’s first elephant hospital, to be built in the Way Kambas National Park in Lampung. The 1,300-square-kilometer park is home to around 180 Sumatran elephants, a species that was last week listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
2012-01-31 - Theppakadu, India.
A 48-day rejuvenation camp for temple elephants in Tamil Nadu concluded on Monday, at Theppakadu in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris. The camp was held as per recommendations made by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department followed by a government order. About 37 elephants from various temples in the state, all female except for one, participated in the camp which began on December 13.
2012-01-31 - Cairo, Egypt.
A new report names Egypt as the center of illegal ivory trade and smuggling in Africa. With the political unrest of the Arab Spring, illegal ivory outlets and workshops have done a booming business. The report, which appears in TRAFFIC Bulletin, said illegal ivory products are readily available in Cairo and Luxor.
2012-01-31 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
Authorities in Kanchanaburi and from the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department have seized 51 elephants from three elephant camps in Sai Yok district for inspection. Two more camps will be inspected this week in an effort to stop people taking the identity papers of dead elephants and passing the documents off as those of elephants taken from the wild.
2012-01-31 - Melbourne, Australia.
Mammals evolved from the size of a mouse to that of an elephant during that time Shrinking is a much faster process, however. Large-scale reductions in size leading to dwarfism only take around 100,000 generations. Scientists writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at 28 groups of mammals, including elephants, primates and whales.
2012-01-31 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
On Monday 30th January 2012, Louise Rogerson from EARS, Mr Sin Sorn’s son and their mahout, walked Sombo throughout the night when the roads were quiet to her new home in Sen Sok district, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. This was her walk to freedom… her last journey for a long time… she will now live a peaceful life receiving daily medical treatment whilst her feet begin to heal.
2012-01-30 - Wichita, United States.
Stephanie and Cinda have been two peas in a pod for 40 years, but the Sedgwick County Zoo needs to make room for a new friend for them. If it can’t, it risks losing the popular elephants. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums is requiring that all zoos it accredits have space for at least three elephants by September 2016.
2012-01-30 - MORGANTOWN, United States.
Tina Dow has always had an interest in elephants. From her first Little Golden Book and frequent visits to the Pittsburgh Zoo as a girl, the Cumberland, Md., native´s love for the creatures has transformed into a career and a passion."In my backpack I still carry the first Little Golden Book that I was given as a child, and that was ´The Saggy Baggy Elephant,´" said Dow, a doctoral student at West Virginia University.
2012-01-30 - Lampang, Thailand.
Preecha planned to build a DNA database on 4,000 or so domesticated elephants in order to stop people taking over identity papers of deceased pachyderms and replacing them with elephants taken in the wild. After a Wednesday press conference to discuss the February 35 elephant fair at the Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang´s Hang Chat district, Preecha said he would contact the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of issuing elephant identification papers, for information about the be...
2012-01-30 - Buri Ram, Thailand.
Local authorities in Thailand´s northeastern Buri Ram province urge elephant owners to register their animals in order to prevent abuse or fake registration. In the effort to prevent slaughter and cruelty acts to elephants, regarded Thai national symbol, District Chief of Satuek district Damrongchai Neramit-takapong elephant owners to file registration of their animals with the District Administration and report status in such cases as sale and death.
2012-01-30 - Phuket, Thailand.
Jaruwan Wathanapumchoo and her brother Prasit yesterday publicly refuted all allegations that they were in any way involved in the trafficking of elephant meat to Phuket to serve as “exotic food” in selected restaurants. The public joint-statement, made at a press conference at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday, follows allegations of elephant meat trading made against them by two national newspapers. According to Ms Jaruwan, both the Daily News and Thai Rath Today published articles stating ...
2012-01-29 - Andaman islands, India.
After thirty years of service, some workers may never want to work see their employer again, but Rajan the elephant who is retiring at 60 years old, doesn´t want to leave his boss behind. Replaced by motorised boats, the five tonne Asian elephant no longer needs to swim miles as a sea taxi around the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. So now he swims alongside his human keeper, known as a ´mahout´, who has used him as a ferrying service for over 30 years.
2012-01-29 - Mhow, India.
After spending more than three weeks at the clinic of College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry Mhow, ailing elephant Raja was bid adieu when it was sent back to its home town of Chhatarpur in Rajasthan. As Raja was unable to stand, a crane was used to put him in the truck which is carrying him back home. Raja had arrived in Mhow in the back of a truck on January 3.
2012-01-25 - Munich, Germany.
A herd of grieving elephants gathers round the lifeless body of a little calf after she died of a heart defect. Three-month-old Lola was due to receive groundbreaking surgery for her condition but passed away during a preliminary scan. Keepers at Munich´s Hellabrunn Zoo decided to return her body to the enclosure so mother Panang, 22, could say her goodbyes in peace.
2012-01-25 - Amsterdam, Netherlands.
An elephant at Amsterdam’s Artis zoo has become the first elephant in Europe to be fitted with a contact lens. Her eye was injured during a scuffle with another elephant, the zoo says. Asian elephant Win Thida’s eye began streaming and she was evidently having trouble keeping it open because of the pain. Vet Anne-Marie Verbruggen was called in, and an examination revealed that the elephant’s cornea had been damaged, most likely by a twig.
2012-01-25 - Kansas City , United States. MATT CAMPBELL
Penney the elephant was a favorite at the Kansas City Zoo for 40 years after coming here as a “mail order bride,” and she helped inspire a popular book and movie. But on Tuesday the four-ton animal was euthanized after it became clear she was losing her battle with arthritis and old age.Penney had long been arthritic and was being given ibuprofen, but her condition worsened over the last month and a half. Zookeepers upped her pain medication and were feeding her packed balls of grain and giv...
2012-01-25 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has missed out on accessing money for elephant conservation programmes, due to its non-participation in the recent CITES committee meeting in South Africa. Six African states were allocated money for conservation initiatives at the meeting in December 2011. The CITES fund was launched in August 2011 and has received approximately $250,000 in contributions from Germany, France and the Netherlands.
2012-01-25 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Sumatran elephant could be extinct in the wild in under 30 years unless immediate steps are taken to protect its rapidly diminishing habitat, environmental group WWF said on Tuesday. IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, raised its listing of the Sumatran elephant subspecies from "endangered" to "critically endangered" after nearly 70 percent of its habitat and halve its population has been lost in one generation.
2012-01-25 - Perth, Australia.
Tricia is 55 years old, her favourite fruits include watermelons and bananas, and she enjoys long walks around Perth Zoo. Tricia is an Asian elephant and has celebrated her milestone birthday with a 1.5m fruit and bran cake, decorated with tree branches. She first arrived in Perth from Singapore in 1963 and is the longest resident at Perth Zoo.
2012-01-23 - Sabah, Malaysia. Kristy Inus
An abandoned male baby elephant, believed to be a few weeks old, was rescued by the Sabah Wildlife Department´s Wildlife Rescue Unit at a plantation, about 40km from here, on Saturday. Calling it the "Chinese New Year miracle", the team said it was alerted by the plantation workers who found the baby elephant in a deep moat and unable to move.
2012-01-23 - Bangalore, India.
After a daylong workshop on Saturday organised by the Forest Department, Forest Minister C P Yogeeshwara said, that the experts have suggested that the area which holds small population of elephants is not viable for conservation. They have also suggested their translocation to a distant place. “We will catch those 25 jumbos and translocate them to a distant place on an experimental basis. If they return, we will capture them and keep them in captivity,” he said.
2012-01-23 - Vienna, United States.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® is sad to announce the passing of Banana, a 55 year old female Asian elephant. Since 2010, Banana has lived at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation® in central Florida, where she spent time with the herd and was cared for by dedicated members of the Ringling Bros. animal care and veterinary team. Unfortunately, Ringling Bros. veterinary staff recently concluded that euthanasia was appropriate due to Banana’s declining hea...
2012-01-22 - Munich, Germany.
A three-month old elephant at a zoo in Munich died on Saturday of a pulmonary embolism, just before she was due to receive a heart surgery for a congenital defect. The elephant was taken to the Grosshadern Hospital for a CT scan, so that vets could take a closer look at her heart before operating. She was anaesthetized, but died during the scan, despite attempts to resuscitate her.
2012-01-22 - COIMBATORE, India.
Nearly 1,000 people gathered to witness Yanai (elephant) Pongal celebrations at Topslip, nearly 85 km from the city, on Saturday. Fourteen elephants were brought from the permanent camp. "Only 14 of the 21 elephants could make the trip. Four more are in a state of ´musth´. And three are ill or aged," said forest ranger Saravanan.
2012-01-21 - Ranchi, India. A.S.R.P. MUKESH
Samrat and Lakhi will soon be taking jumbo strides in Palamau, helping forest officials patrol the tiger reserve and protect big cats. Their compatriot, Ramu, however, will be entertaining guests at Dalma. Birsa Munda Biological Park in Ormanjhi in Ranchi will soon bid adieu to the three elephants in keeping with Central Zoo Authority guidelines that no longer allow jumbos to be kept in captivity.
2012-01-21 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Elephant poachers have shot dead an unarmed wildlife ranger in Voi, according to Kenya Wildlife Services. A statement from the KWS said Abdullahi Muhammed was killed by poachers in Rukinga Wildlife Works ranch last Friday night. Another Wildlife Works ranger, Ijema Funan, was also shot and is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
2012-01-21 - Entebbe, Uganda.
Authority received an assortment of machines, including computers, ivory detectors and security torches for its workers. The equipment worth Shs7.5 million, a donation from Bush Meat Eastern Africa, will help the wildlife authority staff track animals through the Global Positioning System and also detect ivory in whichever form it has been carried.
2012-01-21 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Feeding wild elephants and enticing them with homemade bites or fast-food leftovers is encouraging a bad and potentially lethal habit – potentially lethal to the humans who tempt the wild animals, who might the next moment turn on them, and lethal to the animal who will probably have to be put down if it took a human life. Local visitors and tourists are unwittingly encouraging a potentially lethal habit when they feed wild elephants.
2012-01-20 - Munich, Germany.
A baby elephant in Munich will be the first in the world to undergo heart surgery, after vets at the zoo realised she had a congenital defect which will kill her within weeks if nothing is done. This is the only chance the little on has to survive,” said Christiane Reiss, spokeswoman for Hellabron zoo.
2012-01-19 - Indore, India.
State’s five national parks will soon have 11 more trained elephants to attract tourists and organize jungle safaris. A team of experts from Bandhavgarh national park left for Karnataka on Wednesday to assess quality of elephants the state government has offered to provide. Karnataka has surplus elephants and we are in dire need of trained ones. So, we accepted the offer,” chief wildlife warden Dr HS Pabla said.
2012-01-18 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Services has translocated a rogue elephant and its calf from Ikanga and Caanan area in Voi. During the operation, business was interrupted along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway as the KWS helicopter hovered around before darting the elephant. It was moved to the Tsavo East National Park.
2012-01-18 - Udhagamandalam, India. D. Radhakrisnan
A significant increase in the inflow of tourists owing to the extended weekend marked the Pongal celebrations in this holiday destination on Saturday. At the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) near here hundreds of tourists, including many foreigners, celebrated Pongal with the camp elephants. After being given a special scrub in the river, the elephants were brought in a procession to the camp at Theppakadu.
2012-01-18 - Tucson, United States.
City of Tucson Parks and Recreation officials and staff from the Reid Park Zoo have been re-evaluating a decision to separate Connie and Shaba from one another. Today, after conferring with experts from San Diego Zoo Global, Reid Park Zoo staff, Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the African Elephant Taxon Advisory Group (TAG), both Connie and Shaba will be relocated to Elephant Odyssey in San Diego. The decision to move Shaba to San Diego along with Connie allows Reid Park Zoo to conti...
2012-01-18 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The declaration was signed yesterday by eight state agencies, the WorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF) Thailand, the Kui Buri Wild Elephant Conservation and Environment and Tambon Hat Kham Administrative Organisation. It originated from His Majesty the King´s idea - expressed on July 5, 1999 - for a conservation strategy to rehabilitate the 18,000 rai of agriculture lands, deemed the Kui Buri Forest encroachment, to be the home and food source for elephants and other wildlife.
2012-01-18 - Coimbatore, India.
the number of elephants that died in the 11 years between 1999 and 2010 is 298. As many as 23 elephants died in 2011 alone. Of the 23 elephants that died in 2011, one was due to poaching, two died of anthrax disease, three were electrocuted, 11 died of worms, one of starvation, three of gastroenteritis, one of old age, and a two-year-old male elephant lost his life in a tiger attack. The Coimbatore-Erode belt is the largest haven for Asiatic elephants. Thus, there is cause for con...
2012-01-18 - PHETCHABURI, Thailand.
An assistant to the chief of the Kaeng Krachan National Park wanted by police in connection with the burning of a wild elephant carcass early this month has turned himself in. Suriyon Pothibandit, assistant to Kaeng Krachan National Park chief Chaiwat Limlikit-auksorn, surrendered to Kaeng Krachan police, who are investigating the elephant killing and burning case. Five elephants were recently found shot dead and their carcasses burnt in the park. Police have laid charges against five park staff...
2012-01-17 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Plans to translocate elephants in Sri Lanka have been scrapped - to the delight of the Sri Lanka Conservation Society (SLCS). However, the charity remains concerned about how the country´s elephant population is to be managed amid intensifying human-elephnt conflict on the island. President Ravi Corea said: There seems to be no definite plans as to how the current populations of elephants in Sri Lanka will be managed over the long term.
2012-01-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
It was a double tragedy – the bullets not only killed the cow-elephant but also the unborn baby she was carrying at Demaliya, close to the northern boundary of the Lunugamvehera National Park last Wednesday. Gunned down by a home-made shot-gun, within an area cleared for chena cultivations, when officials of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) rushed to the area on information received from the villagers , the cow elephant with severe gunshot injuries to the head was already dead, th...
2012-01-16 - Toronto, Canada. Peter Dickinson
Were the councillors kept in the dark over the TB question? How open has this sanctuary been with its medical records? If it were an AZA approved collection (which it isn´t) then these records would be available. It is to an approved AZA collection that the Toronto Zoo staff wanted to send the animals they loved and cared about. Now they have another nightmare of worry.
2012-01-16 - Vienna, United States.
Feld Entertainment, Inc. announced today that a federal appeals court unanimously re-affirmed the judgment entered on behalf of Feld Entertainment, Inc. at trial and on appeal. Feld Entertainment, Inc., the producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus. , won the lawsuit that was originally filed more than a decade ago by animal special interest groups who ultimately sought to outlaw elephants in the circus. After losing at trial in 2009 and losing a unanimous appeal in October of 201...
2012-01-16 - Toronto, Canada.
While many activists are applauding the decision by Toronto City Council to move the Toronto Zoo’s elephants to a California sanctuary, one animal lover warns it might not be in the best interest of the pachyderms. Michael Hackenberger, the Director of the Bowmanville Zoo alleges the PAWS sanctuary where they’re being moved to is home to elephants with tuberculosis and herpes.
2012-01-16 - Galt, United States. Dan Koehl
My earlier blogs Can elephants suffer in sanctuaries, as an effect of volonteers opinions? and Can Sambo and other elephants transmit tuberculosis to people? has become even more actual after the death of Sabu (Look Chai) at Performing Animal Welfare Society / ARK 2000 (PAWS). Sabu tested positive for TB (Tuberculosis) already in year 2000
2012-01-15 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Accusations fly between Kaeng Krachan park chief and local villagers over who killed five jumbos. The brutal slaying of wild elephants in Kaeng Krachan National Park has taken a nasty turn with five officials suspected of being involved.
2012-01-15 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Those who kill Borneo elephants will now face a mandatory jail term as part of Sabah´s efforts to upgrade its conservation of the animal. State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the elephant was classified as a totally protected species under its wildlife laws. "This means that as far as our elephants are concerned, if you kill, you go to jail," he said when closing a wildlife conference here yesterday.
2012-01-12 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Poor Sombo has been forced to pound the pavements for 30 years. Her feet are so deformed and infected after performing for tourists she can barely support her 5,000lb weight. And yet four days a week the 51-year-old elephant limps four kilometres through the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. And that’s BEFORE she gets to the temple where she gives rides to tourists for nine hours a day.
2012-01-11 - Bengaluru, India.
Farmers living on the fringes of the Western Ghats in Hassan district, where elephant movement is rampant, have offered to sell their farm land to the government. About 416 farmers and land owners have agreed to sell their land to make way for elephants if the government purchase’s the land at the rate of Rs 15 lakh per acre.
2012-01-11 - Vienna, Austria.
The 16.5 metre high Christmas tree which has stood proudly in front of Schloß Schönbrunn in Vienna, Austria, over the Christmas period, is to be taken down today (Tues) and turned into animal feed. "The tree serves as not only food for the elephants but also as a toy," said Zoo director, Harald Schwanner, who has watched the animals play with the shredded tree in previous years.
2012-01-11 - Kyodo, Japan. NAOKO IWASAKI
Inokashira Park Zoo in western Tokyo is getting ready to fete the 65th birthday next month of Hanako, soon to become the oldest Asian elephant in Japan. "She likes people very much," said Miwa Saito, 28, one of four keepers who look after the pachyderm. Hanako has been living at the zoo for more than 50 years and has never had a major disease or injury. But she is very timid and nervous, especially from sounds such as sirens, thunder and passing aircraft.
2012-01-11 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Those who kill Borneo elephants will now face a mandatory jail term as part of Sabah´s efforts to upgrade its conservation of the animal. State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the elephant was classified as a totally protected species under its wildlife laws. "This means that as far as our elephants are concerned, if you kill, you go to jail," he said when closing a wildlife conference here yesterday. The conference was jointly organised by the state&...
2012-01-11 - Yorkshire, United States.
Now Yorkshire survivors of a wartime exodus of half a million people from Burma have seen their stories told in a newly published book Exodus Burma – The British Escape Through the Jungles of Death 1942 by Felicity Goodall. John’s father, A procession of 56 elephants, 22 women and 15 children through the mountains to safety in the first of two superbly organised caravans.
2012-01-11 - , Pakistan.
After the suspension Mahaut (Elephant caretaker) who has been working for the last 20 years broke the headlines a month ago, the authorities at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad have refused to reinstate the suspended employ Muhammad Bilal, apparently the only trained Mahaut who can handle the two elephants at the facility.
2012-01-10 - Warsaw, Poland.
A Poland-based foundation has given an award to a Thai activist who founded a nursery for disabled or injured elephants in Chiang Mai, the Thai embassy in Warsaw said yesterday. In its citation for granting the Good Deed Award to Saengduen Chailert, Fundacji Zacny Uczynek said the Elephant Nature Park in Mae Taeng district had nurtured sick and wounded elephants while relying on those in good health to serve local tourism in an ecological and conservationist manner.
2012-01-10 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
A BORNEO Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary will be established on a 2,000-hectare site in Kinabatangan as a refuge for elephants and other wildlife affected by land clearance activities in Sabah. The MoU was one of the five signed during the opening ceremony of the two-day Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium 2012, which was launched by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.
2012-01-10 - Azle, United States.
The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) today announced that it is providing more than $225,000 to support 19 elephant conservation projects for 2012. IEF-supported projects protect elephants from poaching, seek solutions for human-elephant conflict, equip and train community conservationists, increase our knowledge of the treatment and prevention of disease and educate people.
2012-01-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Among the places they visited in Sri Lanka was the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Pinnawala officials feclicitated the visit with the planting of a tree. Eco and wild life tourism expert Sri Lal Miththapala guided the VIPs around on the invitation of the tourism authorities. “Such high profile visits are welcome at a time we are trying to reach out to high end tourists,” said the Acting Sri Lanka Tourism Director General Vipula Wanigasekera.
2012-01-09 - TRIPUNITHURA, India.
Tension prevailed as an elephant, brought for a festival, ran amok across the town for around one-and-a-half hours, in the Sunday afternoon. Thottakkaattu Ramachandran, brought to Kannankulangara as a standby for the festival, ran from Kannankulangara to the crowded Statue Junction, before running towards Tripunithura Junction. “The tusker got frightened as the crowd followed him and some vehicles began to sound horn,” said the mahout after bringing the tusker under control. No causalities w...
2012-01-09 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Selangor Customs have foiled an attempt to smuggle in elephant tusks weighing 492.4kg valued at RM2.4 million at West Port here. Its director, Datuk Azis Yacub said the ivory, which were shipped from Cape Town, South Africa, were found in a container as it went through a scanning machine on Friday.
2012-01-09 - Saigon, Vietnam. Dan Koehl
Ni stayed on Saigon Circus in Vietnam as a single elephant, most of the time kept on an extremely short chain, which restricted her movements to a minimum. She arrived yesterday in Saigon Zoo. And since I am now in Saigon, I will go to see her tomorrow.
2012-01-09 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
A sanctuary for the rehabilitation of rescued Borneo pygmy elephants is expected to be operational in the middle of this year. Sabah Wildlife Director Dr Laurentius Ambu said 2,000 hectares of land has been reserved for the sanctuary, known as the Borneo Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary, in Kinabatangan. "We will keep the animals there for treatment and then we will release them back into the wild," he told reporters after the opening of the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium 2012 here Monday.
2012-01-09 - Rancagua, Chile.
Chiles last circus performing elephant Ramba, was released last saturday into her newly designed facility at Parque Safari de Rancagua in Chile, the first Safari Park in Chile, owned by Ivan Sanchez Lobos.
2012-01-09 - Udhagamandalam, India.
Forty-three stressed-out elephants are frolicking and taking it easy at a spa. They are there to soothe their bodies and minds. These elephants - hired out to Hindu temples to lend majesty to religious ceremonies - are at Mudmalai Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. They have been sent there by the government to relax for six sybaritic weeks because of their gruelling jobs.
2012-01-08 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Department of National Zoological Gardens has earned Rs. 651 million last year, the highest on record. The income came from earnings from the Dehiwala Zoo (Rs. 163 million), Elephant Orphanage, Pinnawela (Rs 487 million) and Rs.16 million from other sources. More than 1. 6 million locals and 20,000 had visited the Dehiwela Zoo in 2011 while around 400,000 locals and around 2.4 million foreigners had had visited the elephant orphanage, the Government’s news web site said.
2012-01-08 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka.
The Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala whas recorded the highest number of elephant births in 2011, according to the statistics of the Department of National Zoological Gardens. During the year, 15 elephant calves were born and nine of them were males. Last year 2,438,541 foreigners visited the Orphanage. A total of 4,612,631 local and foreign tourists have visited the National Zoological Gardens, Dehiwala and the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.
2012-01-08 - Indore, India.
Elephant lovers are doing everything possible to see that the ailing jumbo at Mhow Veterinary College does not suffer from lack of medicine or diet. Elephant lovers from as far as Bhopal and other places are extending help to see the ailing tusker gets best possible treatment. The tusker was brought to Mhow from Kota in Rajasthan for treatment of congenital disease.
2012-01-08 - Bangalore, India.
“Just as we were trying to get people to stay behind the perimeter, one man (Mr. Ramesh) broke the cordon and approached the elephants with his camera,” said a forest official. He was too slow to react to a charge by one of the elephants and was trampled. The crowd intervened and their howling and screaming made the animal retreat. But it was too late, said Police Circle Inspector H.S. Venkatesh.
2012-01-07 - San Diego, United States.
Veterinarians performed an emergency procedure on Christmas after discovering a blockage in Cha Cha´s esophagus. They were able to remove the mass, but the elephant´s condition continued to deteriorate. Animal care staff made the decision to euthanize her on Wednesday. The second elephant, Cookie, was estimated to be 56 years old and had been at the zoo since 1981.
2012-01-06 - Myakka City, United States.
When she’s not on the road, Catherine Carden likes to relax at her family farm in Myakka City. It’s a relatively normal household — with three very big exceptions. There’s Carden, her husband and their two sons, of course. And then there’s the three Asian elephants in the backyard.
2012-01-06 - New Bedford, United States.
A well-meaning animal rights activist from out of state, Deborah Robinson, and her organization, have had at least four, if not more, letters published in this paper suggesting that our elephants, Emily and Ruth, be sent to a sanctuary. To my knowledge, Ms. Robinson has never visited our zoo nor met Emily and Ruth. We, obviously, work with these animals every day.
2012-01-06 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ou Mom
Sambo’s health has become a matter of controversy which has brought her owner into negotiations with the Forestry Administration of Cambodia and wildlife NGO Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival Foundation (EARS) to find a solution to the suffering elephant’s medical problems.
2012-01-06 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Does Sambo have Tuberculosis? Tuberculosis is a medical problem which is a sleeping bomb in regards to captive elephants in Asia. TB is airborne and spreads through tiny droplets in the air. Besides people and elephants, tuberculosis also affects primates, cattle, horses and other animals.
2012-01-06 - Williston, United States.
Happy Holidays from everyone at Two Tails Ranch! Santa is bringing us an early christmas present. A new Asian Elephant is set to help extend our conservation and breeding program here at the ranch, but we need your help. We are in need of roughly $10,000 worth of upgrades. We only have two weeks to get our ranch ready to receive the new Asian Elephant
2012-01-05 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thai wildlife officials on Thursday said body parts from a dead wild elephant found without its tusks, tail and penis were likely destined for restaurants in tourist areas. The creature, which was discovered in Kaeng Krachan National Park near the Myanmar border in central Thailand on Monday, is believed to have died at the hands of a local gang of poachers.
2012-01-05 - Skukuza, South Africa.
The African Elephant Action Plan and the African Elephant Fund received a more than R2 million boost at a meeting held in Skukuza from 12 to 14 December, 2011. The first official session of the trust fund´s steering committee took place in the Kruger National Park (KNP) to allocate available financial resources to the first set of eligible projects. The initiative was created under the auspices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) w...
2012-01-05 - Jinghong, China.
Police have seized 93 suspected ivory products in southwest China´s Yunnan province after a raid on stores located near the region´s wild elephant habitat, local officials said Thursday. Police searched 293 stores in the city of Jinghong on Dec. 28 and found the suspected products in four stores, the officials said. The raid was part of a crackdown on illegal ivory trading, which has flourished in recent years in some of China´s border regions, the officials said. China banned ...
2012-01-03 - DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania.
The number of elephants in two wildlife sanctuaries in Tanzania has fallen by nearly 42 percent in just three years, a census showed on Tuesday, as poachers increasingly killed the animals for their tusks. The census at the Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park revealed elephant numbers had plunged to 43,552 in 2009 from 74,900 in 2006.
2012-01-03 - TUCSON, United States.
Crate training is under way at Reid Park Zoo in Tucson as zoo workers slowly prepare for the day they say goodbye to Connie the elephant. Last month, zookeepers moved into Connie´s pen the crate she´ll be traveling in when the time comes for her to leave Tucson for good. The 42-year-old is being traded to San Diego for a herd of African elephants.
2012-01-01 - BHADRAPUR, Nepal.
One person lost his life in a wild elephant attack in Jhapa district on Friday. With this, the death toll by tusker attack reached three in Jhapa district in one month. According to the District Police Office, Dil Bahadur Magar, 60, of Garamani VDC died on the spot in the elephant trample. A herd of elephants coming from the nearby forest had attacked five pedestrians, killing one of them. Other four managed to save their lives by fleeing the rampage.
2012-01-01 - KOTA BARU, United States.
The elephant, named Awang Jerek, was sent to the national park on Thursday with the help of two tamed elephants Che Mek and Lokimala. Department director Rahmat Topani said the three-hour operation, which started at 9am, involved 18 workers of the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Pahang. "Like in the previous operations, we had to use Che Mek and Lokimala to escort Awang Jerek to ensure that the translocation process to Terengganu went smoothly," he said. R...
2012-01-01 - Hosur, India.
A 2-year-old calf, which came in a herd of 60 elephants, fell accidentally into irrigation well and died near Hosur on Friday. Forest officials said that the male calf along with 60 other elephants strayed into a field in a village near Hosur. It accidentally fell into the 20-feet well, which had no water. Though it had not suffered any serious injury on its body, it died of asphyxiation. Senior forest officials rushed to the spot and after retrieving the carcass conducted a post-mortem and buri...
