2024-04-26 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
The latest round of pregnancy tests at Blackpool Zoo has revealed that two of its elephants are expecting babies. Mother and daughter Noorjahan and Esha are both pregnant and due to give birth in late 2024. The calves will be the first to be born at the zoo in its 52-year history. Samples were collected twice a week and sent to a cutting-edge research laboratory at Chester Zoo for analysis with the results confirming the two pregnancies.
2024-04-02 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia.
There was sad news from Mondulkiri Province, with the death of 2 year old elephant “Chi Pich” being announced. Sources from the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment Organization (ELIE) said that the dead elephant, Chi Pich, was 2 years and 6 days old. By the afternoon she was lethargic, went off her food, and then started to have swelling around her face and body, indicating EEHV (Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus)
2024-03-26 - Kochi, India.
Popular tusker Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan, 55, 55, died at Mangalamkunnu in Palakkad on Monday. The elephant owned by M A Haridasan had been under treatment for the past few months.
2024-03-23 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka.
The 76th elephant calf was born at the Rambukkana Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on March 20.This baby elephant was born to 32-year-old she-elephant Shanthi and 19-year-old Pandu at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was started on February 16, 1975, with five baby elephants according to the concept of P.B.G.Kalugalla, who was a minister at that time. The first elephant born at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was Sukumaliya, born on July 5, 1984 to she-elephant Kum...
2024-03-23 - Pretoria, South Africa.
In the ongoing efforts to curb poaching and snaring of animals within the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, South African National Parks (SANParks) is working to create more partnerships with neighbouring countries to provide benefits to communities neighbouring the parks. The Kruger National Park is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. This park links the Kruger with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.
2024-03-09 - Tucson, United States.
A baby elephant was born at Reid Park Zoo. The zoo said Semba, the facility’s African elephant matriarch, gave birth to a 265-pound calf around 3:31 a.m. Friday, March 8. Reid Park Zoo said the calf, whose sex has not yet been determined, is standing, sticking close to mom, and nursing enthusiastically. The calf is the third born at Reid Park Zoo. The calf joins Semba, big sisters Nandi and Penzi, and allomother Lungile.
2024-03-04 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
A female baby elephant in Copenhagen Zoo has been named Chin after the Tha Chin river in central Thailand. The elephant was born last week in the Danish zoo. The zookeepers, who take care of the young elephant, gave it the name after having carefully discussed if it was a good fit. Copenhagen Zoo has a long tradition of keeping asian elephants, and according to the director of the zoo, Mads Bertelsen, the zoo has a special relation to Thailand, as the Thai Royal Family have giftet the zoo multip...
2024-02-29 - Alappuzha, India.
Evoor Kannan, the elephant known for his murderous rage and with a history of killing two mahouts is in a bad mood these days. He had been gentle under the care of his former Mahout Sharath Parippally. When he got transferred in December, Kannan relapsed to menacing temper; snorting in anger and acting aggressively.
2024-02-20 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands.
African elephant Punda has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf after a 22-month pregnancy. This is the third calf born in the Safari Park Beekse Bergen k in four months. Never before have three African elephants been born in a European zoo in such a short time. The young elephant is a girl and has been named Tendai.
2024-02-15 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The zoo said Tsuni died Thursday after a sudden, brief battle with elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Her EEHV was detected through routine blood testing on Feb. 8, even though she presented no visible clinical signs. The other adult elephants in the ICC herd have sufficiently built up EEHV antibodies as they have aged, so they are at low risk to this disease, the zoo said.
2024-02-15 - Seoul, South Korea.
The oldest female elephant in South Korea passed away Tuesday at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age of 59, zoo officials said Thursday. The female elephant, named Sakura, had suffered from deteriorating health since November last year, primarily caused by ascites and subcutaneous edema. Born in February 1965 in Thailand.
2024-01-30 - Bangalore, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park is brimming with excitement as it welcomes a delightful new addition—a baby boy elephant calf. This adorable arrival brings the elephant count in the Bannerghatta zoo to a total of 26, eliciting joy not only among the visitors but also among the dedicated staff. Both the mother and the newborn are receiving special attention and care to ensure their well-being. The elephant calf, weighing between 120 and 130 kg, adds a heartwarming charm to the zoo’s vibrant ...
2024-01-27 - Guruvayur, India.
Elephant Kannan, of the Guruvayur Devaswom Elephant Camp, a nine-time winner of the festival-related elephant race, has passed away. His demise was around 5:30 pm on Saturday. The tusker's age at the time of death is 62 years as per Devaswom records. In August 1985, Kannan was offered to the temple by Balram, a native of Thrissur. With the death of Kannan, the number of elephants in Guruvayur is now 39.
2024-01-27 - Koh Nhek, Cambodia.
Villagers found a baby elephant dead in Koh Nhek district, Mondulkiri province in the middle of the forest on January 26, 2024, suspected of being shot. Mondulkiri Provincial department of environment director Chao Bunthoeun, confirmed that there was indeed a case and he was arranging for an autopsy. He confirmed that the dead baby elephant was about six months old.
2024-01-13 - Beijing, China.
A recent study published in the journal eLife has uncovered new findings on the development of dextrous trunks by indigenous elephants. According to Dr. Shi-Qi Wang, a senior author of the research, the evolution of mandible structure in the ancient Egyptian herbivory Prosecis has been influenced by multiple eco-adaptations. The paper, published in eLife on November 28, 2023, explores the possible co-evolution of the mandible and nose in early elephantiforms.
2024-01-13 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
The Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan District, Riau Province, again lost one of its Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) after a poacher allegedly killed it for its tusks. The 46-year-old elephant, named "Rahman", was found dead by its mahout on January 10, and its left tusk was cut off, according to the national park's head, Heru Sutmantoro when contacted for a confirmation on Thursday (January 11). The poacher might have poisoned the ill-fated elephant before cutting off its l...
2024-01-11 - New York, United States.
In a narrow but sprawling curatorial space at the uptown museum, The Secret World of Elephants, now opened, tells the story of elephant species and their relatives through life-size models, videos, graphics, and more, a comprehensive look at these intriguing and important animals and the latest scientific thinking about their abilities, environmental roles, social structure, history and future
2024-01-11 - Mysore, India.
In response to the escalating threat posed by leopards, elephants and other wild animals in the Mysuru region, specialised task forces have been established to address the situation. A dedicated Leopard Task Force has been formed in the Mysuru Circle, while an Elephant Task Force has been deployed in the Hunsur area.
2024-01-04 - Los Angeles, United States.
The Los Angeles Zoo is grieving the death of 53-year-old Asian elephant Shaunzi. Zoo staff observed that Shaunzi was unable to stand up in her exhibit at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, according to a statement from the LA Zoo. Zoo veterinarians worked throughout the night to get her back on her feet, but found no success. Shaunzi was sedated and euthanized early Wednesday morning.
2023-12-23 - Ubud, Indonesia.
The Bali Zoo in the Village of Singapadu, Gianyar Regency, welcomed its newest resident on 24 November 2024 with the birth of a “Baby Boy” elephant named Kama. Weighing in at a healthy 80 kilograms at birth, Kama can stand and suckle milk produced by his mother, Nurhayati. A member of the critically endangered Sumatra Elephant subspecies (Elephas maximus sumatranus), Kama’s father at The Bali Zoo is 35-year-old Budi, while his mother Nurhayati is 45. Kama was born on 24 November 2023 at 7:...
2023-11-28 - Manila, Philippines.
Mali, the country’s lone elephant, confined in a Manila Zoo enclosure for over four decades, died on Tuesday. In a social media address, Manila Mayor Honey Lacuña said Vishwamali, commonly known as Mali, died at around 3:45 pm. Mali was brought to the Philippines from Sri Lanka in 1977 as a gift to then-First Lady Imelda Marcos.
2023-11-23 - Hamburg, Germany.
A young elephant at Hagenbeck Zoo has died within just two days, probably due to a herpes virus infection. Despite constant monitoring and treatment by the zoo vets, all measures were unsuccessful, the zoo announced in Hamburg on Thursday. The almost five-year-old animal Santosh died on Wednesday. He was born at the zoo on December 24, 2018 and was the youngest elephant in the herd.
2023-11-21 - Baltimore, United States.
Thanks to early detection and intensive therapy, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Md., announced that its 15-year-old African bull elephant, Samson, has survived an episode of a strain of the Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV6). Samson survived a different strain of the same virus (EEHV3b) when he was five-years-old. He was the first elephant to be clinically diagnosed with the strain at the time.
2023-11-14 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The International Elephant Foundation, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Chiang Mai University, the National Elephant Institute, and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Kasetsart University happily announce the 19th International Elephant Conservation & Research Symposium to be held in Chiang Mai, Thailand on November 14-17, 2023 at the Empress Hotel Chiang Mai.
2023-11-13 - Way Kambas, Indonesia.
A critically endangered Sumatran elephant was born in western Indonesia over the weekend, according to officials, weighing about 108 kilograms (238 pounds), the yet-to-be-named male calf was born at the Way Kambas National Park in Lampung province in southern Sumatra, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry said Sunday. The calf was in good health and his mother Riska was being monitored after giving birth on Saturday, the ministry said. Riska had a female calf in 2017.
2023-11-08 - Cincinnati, United States.
Four Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), two adult females and their young male calves, arrived at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden on Sunday, November 5. The new elephants, SheRa, Kabir, Anak, and Sanjay, came from the Dublin Zoo on a joint recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan® (SSP) and its equivalent in the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA)
2023-11-03 - Karachi, Pakistan.
International animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS has initiated efforts to relocate Madhubala from Karachi Zoo to Safari Park, where she will join fellow elephants Sonia and Malika. A training session has been organized to prepare her for the transition, which will involve transporting her to Safari Park in a crate. Madhubala’s new home is designed to be significantly larger than her current one, providing her with a pool, enrichments, and proper care management
2023-11-01 - Bandipur, India. Vartha Bharati
In a tragic incident, an elephant named Vinayaka, also known as Akkiraja, residing at the Rampura elephant camp in the Bandipur tiger reserve, passed away on Tuesday. The sudden demise occurred after the elephant fell ill and collapsed during a training session at the camp. The exact cause of death is yet to be confirmed, pending the post-mortem report, according to officials from the Forest Department. Vinayaka, originally captured in the forest areas of Coimbatore in 2021, had l...
2023-10-25 - Hohenwald, United States.
The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee announces the passing of African elephant Jana at the age of 43. Jana was The Sanctuary’s 31st resident. In recent weeks, Jana's declining health and reduced mobility led to multiple falls, severely impacting her quality of life. Due to the irreversible progression of these health issues, her inability to stand on her own, and the escalating pain she experienced, the difficult decision was made, and Jana was humanely euthanized on October 20, 2023.
2023-10-24 - Shivamogga, India.
In a rare incident, Netravathi, a female elephant, which had been brought from the Sakrebaiu camp to Shivamogga, for the Jumboo Savari to be held on Vijayadashami festival day (today), delivered a female baby in the premises of the Vasavi school in the wee hours of Monday.
2023-10-02 - Fort Worth, United States.
The Elephant Managers Association (EMA) is proud to announce the dates for our 44th annual conference, hosted by both the Fort Worth Zoo and Dallas Zoo on October 2 to 5, 2023. The conference will include a trip to both zoos, behind-the-scenes demonstrations at both facilities, two days packed with presentations, a banquet and silent auction, and a post-conference trip to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center.
2023-09-10 - Temerloh, Malaysia.
The female elephant, which died at the Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre (PKGK) in Lanchang, was brought to the country from Assam, India in 1974. Lokimala was brought to this country along with three other elephants; Ganesh, La Bahadur and Paul Bahadur to aid in the relocation of wild elephants. Apart from that Lokimala was also involved in entertainment programmes for visitors to the centre.
2023-08-28 - Pattaya, Thailand.
Following Thai tradition, the offspring of Pang Sarai, 22, and Plai Ningnong, 27, was named ‘Plai Boonmak,’ symbolizing ‘Abundant Merit.’ This ceremony expressed heartfelt wishes for the well-being and prosperity of the young elephant. The occasion was particularly significant, as this gentle giant marked the fourth elephant birth of the year and the 108th within Nong Nooch Tropical Garden.
2023-08-26 - Omaha, United States.
The baby elephant at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo officially has a name; Amandra. Pronounced “ah-MON-dra,” the name means “strong woman.” The zoo said it was chosen by a donor and their family. Amandra, born to Jayei, joins Eugenia, Sonny, and Mopani as the fourth elephant calf at the Henry Doorly Zoo. A fifth elephant calf is due to be born at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Spring 2024.
2023-08-24 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo’s nine-year-old elephant Man Jai has died after a sudden illness. The Asian elephant was diagnosed with an incurable disease on Monday after zookeepers noticed lethargy and swelling in his neck. He received antiviral treatments for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), but his health rapidly declined and he died early on Thursday morning.
2023-08-22 - Mysore, India.
Preparations are in full swing at the Mysore Palace premises ahead of the arrival of the Dasara elephants. The jumbos will camp here for approximately two months, undergoing training and consuming nutritious food, till the grand Jumboo Savari. Meanwhile, elephants Vikrama and Chaitra, usually part of the Jumboo Savari, will not be participating this year. Chaitra, a 50-year-old Kumki elephant from Rampura Elephant Camp in Bandipur, has been confirmed as pregnant through a mandatory pregnancy tes...
2023-08-21 - Kataragama, Sri Lanka.
An individual who fed a poisoned watermelon to an elephant called “ Asela” of the Kataragama Abhinawarama temple was taken into custody by the Kataragama police on saturday. However, Veterinary Surgeon, Uva Wildlife Zone Dr.Ananda Dharmakirthi examined the elephant and confirmed that it was out of danger. Police arrested the suspect during investigations of the complaint received from Mahout Thushara Priyadarshana. He told police that the jumbo had developed a pain in mouth when biting the ...
2023-08-21 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Contraceptives are now being successfully used to prevent elephant overpopulation in South Africa. Approximately 75% of all breeding-age female elephants outside of the greater Kruger National Park had been successfully treated with immunocontraceptives in 47 reserves to prevent overpopulation.
2023-08-21 - Sapporo, Japan.
19-year-old Asian elephant Pearl and her newborn baby stand together at the Sapporo Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo. According to the zoo, this is the first time in Japan that an Asian elephant has been born through a more indirect style of breeding, in which zookeepers and veterinarians do not enter the animal’s living space but provide care through a protective barrier.
2023-08-18 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Two elephants at the Hanoi Zoo have been unchained after electric fences have been replaced anew. Le Si Dung, general director of the Hanoi Zoological Garden company, on Thursday said the two elephants of the zoo have been unchained and are now free to roam within their enclosure. "We just replaced the electric fences, so they can now be unchained," he said.
2023-08-18 - Lampang, Thailand.
The Thai elephant, recently repatriated from Sri Lanka, Sak Surin, was moved to a new home today (Friday), at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang province, after the completion of its 30-days at the quarantine centre. Suratchai Inwiset, director of the National Elephant Institute, said the transfer of Sak Surin to his new home, which is just a stone’s throw from the quarantine centre, went smoothly and took only about half an hour.
2023-08-16 - Wuhan, China.
Born on June 26, 2022, the male elephant marked the first time that the zoo successfully bred an African elephant. The calf's father, named A Hai, and his mother, named A Nan, came to Wuhan in 1997 from Hainan province. Both of them grew up together at the zoo and are now 27 years old. In September 2020, A Nan got pregnant and after a 22-month pregnancy period, gave birth to the calf at the zoo.
2023-08-14 - Fresno, United States.
The Fresno Chaffee Zoo celebrated World Elephant Day with a big announcement. Zoo officials say their female African Elephants are pregnant. They are expected to give birth between September and October 2024. The facilities care team will monitor the expectant mothers and prepare for the calves' arrival.
2023-07-05 - Lampang, Thailand.
It is out of question that Sak Surin, now the most famous elephant in Thailand, will have to return to Sri Lanka, as he is now under the patronage of HM the King, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa on Wednesday. Commenting on a call from a senior monk in Sri Lanka for Bangkok to return the elephant once he fully recovers, Varawut said the matter is not even open for discussion.
2023-07-04 - Lampang, Thailand.
On 2 July 2023 at 07.00 hrs. the Tusker, Muthu Raja (Sak Surin), was transported from Sri Lanka to Thailand for medical treatment and rehabilitation by Ilyushin IL-76 cargo plane, with cooperation from the Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo, together with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand, the Zoological Park Organization of Thailand and the relevant authorities of Sri Lanka. The Tusker arrived safely at Chiangmai International Airport, Thailand, on the same day, and later...
2023-05-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
A team of veterinarians and experts will be sent to Sri Lanka next month to prepare for the return of Sak Surin, an ailing and ageing Thai elephant, to Thailand for medical treatment and physical rehabilitation. The team, which will visit from June 6-9, will be responsible for the elephant’s health to make sure it is ready for the journey home. sadi Jatuporn Burutphat, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.He said the Department of National Parks, Wildli...
2023-05-21 - Karachi, Pakistan.
A month after the death of Noor Jehan, an elephant in Karachi Zoo whose illness revived criticisms of the zoos, a second elephant named Madhubala is sick with a potentially fatal infection. The 18-year-old elephant was living in isolation since April when her partner Noor Jehan died in the most tragic way. Lately, a vets team of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), diagnosed the infection in blood samples of an ailing cow.
2023-05-15 - Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
In the early evening of May 11, a small crowd gathered in front of the Zoológico Dr. Juan A. Rivero, hoping for one last peek of Mundi, the elephant symbol of the zoo shut down for animal abuse in March. All they could see, however, was the big metal box where she was transported to a sanctuary in the state of Georgia, where she’ll live the remainder of her days. The departure of Mundi, who was born in 1982 and spent the last 35 years at the Zoológico Dr. Juan A. Rivero, marked the bittersw...
2023-05-09 - Dallas, United States.
The Dallas Zoo made the heartbreaking announcement Tuesday that one of its elephants has died. The 7-year-old African elephant, Ajabu, passed away Monday after a 12-day battle with a viral infection, according to the zoo. The infection is known as elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Ajabu survived a previous infection with EEHV in March 2021. The zoo says that the often-lethal disease is most often found in Asian elephants, but it has begun to show up more in African elephants.
2023-05-05 - Hunsur, India.
Balarama, the 67-year-old former Captain of the Dasara Jumboo Savari elephant squad, who had carried the 750-kg Golden Howdah for a record 14 times has fallen sick due to suspected Tuberculosis (TB) and is said to be critically ill.
2023-04-22 - Pattaya, Thailand.
Nong Nooch Tropical Garden welcomed its second baby elephant of 2023. Park Director Kampol Tansajja presided over the April 20 blessing ceremony for the new calf, named “Plai Chai”, with Phra Khru Kittisophon, abbot of Wat Samakkhi Banphot temple in Bang Saray.
2023-04-21 - Bannerghatta, India.
Performing a rare surgery, a team of veterinary surgeons saved a 48-year-old elephant at Bannerghatta Biological Park. which had suffered a stillbirt and was on the verge of dying. Suvarna has so far delivered nine calves — the highest the highest number of elephant deliveries at the park.
2023-04-18 - Beekse Bergen, Netherlands.
Safari park Beekse Bergen is looking forward to welcoming three baby African elephants this year. Elephant bull Yambo impregnated Pina-Nessi, Punda, and Bongi, the safari park said. Punda is the matriarch of the Beekse Bergen herd. She is 31 and pregnant with her fifth calf. “Punda is the biggest elephant cow of the herd with the biggest tusks. She has a really calm character.” Pina-Nessi is nine years old, and Bongi is 17. Both are pregnant with their first calves. The park described Pina-N...
2023-03-29 - Buon Don, Vietnam.
A 49-year-old elephant in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak has died from illness and exhaustion. The information was given on March 27 by Tran Xuan Phuoc, director of the Dak Lak Centre for Elephant Conservation, Animal Rescue and Forest Protection Management.
2023-03-27 - Oakland, United States.
The Oakland Zoo euthanized its 46-year-old African elephant Lisa on March 26, 2023, due to years of health problems. The elephant was afflicted by eye ulcers, arthritis, foot and nail lesions, and more recently, ventral edema, which involved fluid retention leading to vaginal ulcers. She had begun receiving stem cell therapy in November to help with her arthritis. Lisa was one of only 16 female African Elephants 46 years and older in Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoos.
2023-03-18 - Dallas, United States.
This little boy is almost three weeks old, and he has a NAME! Meet... Okubili! His name means "two" or "duplicate" in Zulu, and we think it's perfect for this little one because he is a carbon copy of second-time mom, Mlilo.
2023-03-15 - Jinan, China.
An Asian elephant named Yaqi at Jinan Zoo in East China's Shandong Province died of multiple organ failure on Monday, the zoo announced, breaking heart of netizens. Yaqi would no longer embrace the spring together with us. His departure breaks heart of everyone who loved him," a notice released by the zoo read. Yaqi was an Asian elephant born on June 14, 2020.
2023-03-13 - Theppakadu, India.
Shot in the Theppakadu Elephant Camp inside the Mudumulai Tiger Reserve in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, The Elephant Whisperers follows Bomman and Bellie as they care for Raghu, an injured baby elephant who gets separated from his herd. Later, Belli is also given the responsibility to care for Ammu, a female elephant calf.
2023-03-08 - Dallas, United States.
In a historic birth, the Dallas Zoo welcomed a baby elephant to the family late last month, the zoo announced Wednesday. At 290 pounds, the male calf was born Feb. 26 at 2:27 a.m. to one of the zoo’s African elephants, Mlilo — a second-time mom. Both Mlilo and the calf will “stay behind the scenes still for several weeks,” the zoo said, so the best place to see him, for now, will be on social media, where the zoo plans to announce his name next week.
2023-02-27 - Sequim, United States.
Using 21st century technology to peer into mankind’s history dating back nearly 14,000 years, a team led by a Texas A&M professor has confirmed what researchers believe is the oldest weapon made of bone ever found in the Americas. And, as many Sequim natives recall, evidence for this research was found by accident 4½ decades ago in Happy Valley.
2023-02-24 - Fort Worth, United States.
It’s official, baby Brazos has a brother from another mother as of 2 a.m. on February 23. This healthy 37-inch-tall, 270-pound male Asian elephant calf is the fifth calf born at the Fort Worth Zoo, following the arrival of half-brother Brazos born in 2021, Belle, his mother, in 2013, Bowie in 2013 (Bowie now resides at the Oklahoma City Zoo), and aunt, Bluebonnet, in 1998.
2023-02-22 - Ramnagar, India.
The 35-year-old elephant Moti passed away on Saturday after suffering a leg and foot injury from being abused his whole life, animal welfare organization Wildlife SOS said. Moti was living in captivity till 2021 when his owner died, local media said. He was then left on his own on the streets to beg in the town of Ramnagar. In January, Wildlife SOS was alerted about the Asian elephant Moti, who had collapsed and couldn’t stand up.
2023-02-19 - Brisbane, Australia. Dr Ingrid Suter, Asian Captive Elephant Standards
Western-run NGOs would rather dominate and talk over local communities, deny poor people a legitimate income stream, and continue to dehumanise all Southeast Asian elephant workers as uneducated, ignorant, and inherently cruel. Even the most educated academics and veterinarians in Southeast Asia are dismissed, their scientific research into elephant welfare entirely snubbed by Western decision-makers. Southeast Asian veterinarians and head of university faculties are routinely abused online by W...
2023-02-18 - Berita, Indonesia.
The male elephant Dwiki, aged approximately 43 years, was declared dead in ANECC, Simalungun Regency, February 14, 2023 at 06.20 WIB."On December 18, 2022, two Dwiki and Dini elephants were moved from Barumun Nagari Wildlife Sanctuary (BNWS) to Aek Nauli Elephant Conservation Camp (ANECC)," said Rudianto, in a statement obtained, Friday, February 17, as reported by Antara. "The action taken by giving 100 bottles of infusion, medicine and vitamins. However, the condition of the Dwiki elephant wea...
2023-02-17 - Lucknow, India. Manish Sahu, Indian Express
Two women and a five-year-old boy were trampled to death when an elephant went berserk during a ‘kalash yatra’ (religious procession) at Mohammadpur Mafi village of Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district on Thursday afternoon. The deceased were identified as Kaushlaya Devi (46), her grandson Krishna and their neighbour Kanti Devi (55), police said. The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination. The procession was being taken out by residents of the village.
2023-02-15 - Miami, United States.
Zoo Miami currently has a full time Zoo Keeper 2 position available with the Elephant team. We are searching for a team-oriented candidate that will be engaging and deliver exceptional customer service by creating friendly and positive interactions with all guests and co-workers. This position reports directly to the Animal Care Coordinator of Elephants. This team works with both Asian Elephants and African Elephants.
2023-02-14 - Lampang, Thailand.
Keeping in mind the well-being of elephants, a total of 13 mahouts (trainers) and cavadis or assistants to mahouts from Tamil Nadu were sent to Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang for training in the scientific management of these animals in captivity. Those sent for training were chosen from elephant camps at Theppakadu in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and Kozhikamuthi in Anamalai Tiger Reserve. On their return the 13 men were felicitated at a function held in Vandalur’s Arignar Anna Zoolo...
2023-02-14 - Myakka City, United States.
Proposed development in East Manatee County could lead to changes at the Myakka Elephant Ranch in Myakka City. Julia Braren said every piece of land is precious in Myakka City. The Myakka Elephant Ranch is home to endangered species of elephants. It also educates guests on conservation efforts. A developer wants to build nearly 5,000 homes and rezone agricultural land. The proposed development would also add new roads.
2023-02-14 - Seoul, South Korea. Srushti Gharat
In the video, a small elephant and its mother are sipping water from a pool when the calf slips into it. The mother elephant panics and tries to bring the baby elephant out of the water. Fortunately, another elephant comes to the scene to aid the mother and youngster. The third elephant was observed running furiously behind the compound, attempting to reach the other two elephants and aid them in rescuing the baby elephant. Meanwhile, the baby elephant was straining to keep its trunk above water...
2023-02-09 - Nairobi, Kenya.
On the afternoon of 8th February, the Nursery herd gathered for their customary mud bath. As has become her new custom, Ziwadi joined in. She was splashing around and having lots of fun, when she suddenly started to have a seizure. Everything unfolded very quickly. As soon as they saw Ziwadi’s distress, the Keepers leapt into the mud bath. They managed to pull her onto firm ground, but to their horror, she was not breathing. Although the Keepers tried their very best to revive her, it was too ...
2023-02-09 - Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States.
Disney's Animal Kingdom is looking to fill an Animal Keeper Associate position on the Elephant team. You will work closely with a team of keepers to perform daily care of the collection following established guidelines. This is a full-time, hourly position, reporting to the Zoological Managers. This position is with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc., which is part of a business we call Walt Disney World Resort.
2023-01-22 - Palakkad, India.
The rogue elephant till now known as PT 7, short for Palakkad Tusker 7, has got a new name. The jumbo was tranquilised by the Forest Department on Sunday morning and moved into a cage by afternoon. The tusker, who unleashed terror in the Dhoni area of the district and thus made the place famous, will now be called Dhoni.
2022-11-29 - Syracuse, United States. CNYCentral
The Onondaga County Executive Office has announced details of a naming competition for the rare twin elephants born earlier this year. Members of the community are encouraged to vote on names for the elephants from now until 6:30 P.M. on Thursday, December 1st for their favorite names and the winners will be announced at a subsequent event.
2022-11-17 - Siem Reap, Cambodia. Peter Olszewski, Khmer Times
Retired pachyderm haven Kulen Elephant Forest has notched up another first for Cambodia after becoming an Asian Captive Elephant Standards (ACES) ‘Certified Facility’ as part of a programme coordinated by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association. For the past year the elephant park has been thoroughly audited by Aces, the leaders in elephant venue auditing, welfare assessments and camp certification and the link bet...
2022-11-01 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Kagoe, BBC News, Nairobi
A Kenyan elephant, thought to have been Africa's largest female tusker, has died of old age, wildlife officials have said. Dida, also known as Queen of Tsavo, was aged between 60 and 65 years, the upper age limit of an elephant in the wild. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) hailed her as an "iconic matriarch" of the Tsavo East National Park. Famed for her long tusks, Dida was a major tourist attraction at the park, the oldest in Kenya.
2022-10-21 - Kampala, Uganda.
A Ugandan court has sentenced an ivory trader to life in prison - the longest sentence for such crimes in the country's history. A new law was passed in 2019 that toughened sentences for poaching or trafficking in endangered species. Pascal Ochiba was arrested in January this year with two pieces of ivory, weighing nearly 10kg (22lb). The magistrate said Ochiba, as a repeat offender, deserved life in prison for the future protection of wildlife.
2022-10-17 - Albuquerque, United States.
Zoo veterinary staff have known for years that Irene suffers from lens luxation, a condition in which the lens in the eye is dislocated from its normal position, causing discomfort and blurry vision, Dr. Carol Bradford, the zoo’s senior veterinarian said Monday. However, more recent complications may cause Irene to lose her eye completely.
2022-09-30 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
Solving human-wildlife conflict is a complex issue and a pressing concern for a wide variety of endangered species, none more so than the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). People living around Vietnam’s Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve, however, want to foster coexistence with elephants, not conflict. That’s according to a new study published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation that looks to understand community perspectives on how to solve human-elephant conflict.
2022-09-29 - Pattaya, Thailand.
follow us in feedly The third baby elephant of the year has been born at a botanical garden in Pattaya. The Nong Nooch Gardens Pattaya welcomed the new little member, named “Ply Poa Jai” with a religious ceremony yesterday. Ply Poa Jai was born to his mother “Ply Por Chai” and his father “Phang Fonthip.” Veterinarians said he was born healthy.
2022-09-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
‘Bandula’, the elephant found at the National Zoological Garden in Dehiwala is reported to have passed away today. According to reports, the elephant had suddenly fallen ill and had collapsed twice. Despite being treated by the veterinary doctors at the zoo, the elephant had passed away. The elephant was 79 years old at the time of its demise.
2022-08-29 - Katmandu, Nepal.
The elephant named Loktantra Kali at the Koshi Tappu gave birth to a female calf while Saraswoti Kali at the CNP delivered a male calf on Sunday. Nepal is presently home to around 225 indigenous elephants while the number of tamed elephants is 178 (102 tamed from the government level and 76 personal). According to Director General at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Dr Maheshwor Dhakal, both mothers and calves are in a good health condition.
2022-08-21 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
A national action plan on elephant conservation in Vietnam for 2023-2032 with a vision for 2050 is being developed. According to the summary report of the General Department of Forestry, the number of elephants in Vietnam has reduced by 95%.In Dak Lak province alone, at least 23 wild elephants died in the period 2009-2016, accounting for about 25% of the total current herd. The central highlands and southern region are the habitat of most elephants in Vietnam.
2022-08-21 - Indawgyi, Myanmar.
The owner of the elephant and the elephant were killed when a landmine exploded at the border of Sagaing Region and Kachin State on August 15 according to sources. They stepped on the landmine when a return trip from Mansein village, Homalin Township to Indawgyi. “We had to ask for help from the elders of Shan region as we were in the jungle. As there is no hospital in Seizin, we carried them to Indawgyi. The explosion hit his thigh and lower belly. His younger brother was also injured,” sai...
2022-08-20 - Toronto, Canada.
Moazu Kromah, 49, made millions of dollars poaching and trafficking elephant tusks and rhino horns from endangered animals and was ordered caged Thursday in New York. Kromah and two confederates were allegedly members of an African crime syndicate that engaged in a massive wildlife smuggling scheme. They shipped an estimated 190 kilograms of rhino horns and at least 10 tons of elephant ivory worth a whopping $7.4 million. The Uganda-based wildlife trafficker helped poach more than 35 rhinos and ...
2022-08-20 - Khuekkhak, Thailand. Lean Jinghui
An elephant in Thailand has reportedly ripped its mahout (elephant rider or keeper) in half after being overworked. According to The Thaiger, the incident happened at a rubber plantation in the Phang Nga province, on the morning of Aug. 17, 2022. Local police from the Takua Thung Police Station were informed of the keeper's death at 11:30am on Wednesday. Upon arriving at the scene, the officers were informed that Pom Pam, a 20-year-old male elephant, had ripped apart his keeper, 32-year-old Supa...
2022-08-19 - New Delhi, India.
Elephant-human conflicts have been on the rise in India as a result of habitat loss, and experts say such conflicts could get worse unless forested areas are protected and migration corridors restored. More than 1,500 people have died in elephant attacks in the country in the past three years, with 300 of the animals killed in retaliation, according to government figures, as authorities seek long-term solutions to minimize such incidents. By various estimates, including those prov...
2022-08-18 - Mysore, India.
A week after embarking on a practice walk on Jamboo Savari route, howdah elephant Abhimanyu entered the second phase of training on Thursday. The 300-kg sand bags were mounted on Abhimanyu after performing the rituals at Palace precincts, under the supervision of priest Prahlad. Unlike last two years, when Abhimanyu did it all-from practice to the carrying of 750-kg golden howdah on the D-day of Jamboo Savari within the Palace fort due to the restrictions of Covid-19 pandemic, for the first time...
2022-08-16 - Karachi, Pakistan.
Global organisation, Four Paws have sent their veterinarian doctors to Karachi for the treatment of elephants. The team of four doctors have arrived in Pakistan to treat four female elephants- two of them are in the Safari park, and the other two are at the Karachi zoo. The team comprises Dr Marina Ivanova, Dr Frank Goritz, Dr Thomas Hilderbrandt, CEO of Four Paws Josef Pfabigan, Director Dr Amir Khalil, elephant trainer Mathias Otto and his assistant Agnieszka.
2022-08-15 - Chittoor, India.
Jayanth (65) and Vinayak (52) are kumkis (trained elephants), faithfully serving the Forest Department in Chittoor district for more than two decades. Housed at the Naniyala forest camp in the Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary at Ramakuppam, over 100 km from here, these two male tuskers are nearing their retirement stage. Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor West) S. Ravi Shankar said donors could adopt either one or two kumkis. While Jayanth was born wild on the elephant corridor along...
2022-08-14 - Lakhimpur Kheri, India.
Chief conservator of forests and field director, Sanjay Kumar Pathak has decided to document the experiences of these veteran mahouts so that not only the park authorities but other mahouts also benefit. Pathak said when he took charge of Dudhwa as field director in 2020, he decided to document the experiences of these veteran mahouts so that not only the park authorities but other mahouts also benefit.
2022-08-12 - Grand Rapids, United States.
Several people are working to unearth mastodon bones in a West Michigan field after they were discovered during a road construction project. The bones are expected to be donated to the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
2022-08-11 - Theppakadu, India.
Wasim’s trunk pauses midair as he reaches for a bamboo shoot. His mahout, M Eswaran, calls out a command from a distance and in a split second, the elephant changes course. The shoot is far from his reach, and hangs above a slippery clump of grass: Eswaran had alerted his elephant. The 28 elephants of Tamil Nadu Forest Dept’s Theppakadu camp at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris, are cared for by some of the country’s most experienced mahouts, many of whom have transformed the l...
2022-08-08 - Rhakine, Myanmar. Team Udayadani
A rare white elephant took birth in western Myanmar. The white elephant was born last month in western Rakhine state and currently weighs 180 pounds (80 kilograms) and its height is 2.5 feet (70 centimeters). The mother elephant is 33 years old and her name is Zar Nan Hia. She resides at the Myanma Timber Enterprise in Rakhine state.
2022-07-18 - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Travelling north from Siem Reap city on National Road 64 for about 90 minutes you will reach a wooden bridge that will take you to the headquarters of the Kulen Elephant Forest Sanctuary, the home of elephants who have been retired after serving the tourism sector, giving rides to tourists at Angkor Wat.
2022-07-10 - Panna, India.
A 55-year-old elephant is held captive in chains and shackels in the Panna Tiger Reserve after the elephant brutally killed its mahout Budhram Rotiya on Monday, said an official. Ever since its arrival at the Panna Tiger Reserve in 1993, 'Rambahadur', a wild elephant, was trained and looked after by mahout Budhram Routia.
2022-07-08 - Mysore, India.
The Forest Department will initiate the process of identifying elephants for Mysuru Dasara-2022 from July 15 onwards and the jumbos for the finale is likely to be finalised by July 30, ahead of the Dasara High-Power Committee meeting. About 14-15 jumbos are likely to be finalised and the jumbo list after their health check-up would be sent to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (wildlife) for approval. On the government’s nod, the dates of Gajapayana are finalised.
2022-05-26 - Higashiosaka, Japan. Jackson White
During a remarkable scientific experiment, cells from a woolly mammoth that died over 28,000 years ago began displaying “signs of life.” The cells from the 28,000-year-old specimen began to display “evidence of biological processes” after that. Five of the cells even displayed very unexpected and intriguing outcomes, such as signals of activity that are normally typically seen just before cell division.
2022-04-27 - Pollachi, India.
Vijayalakshmi, the second oldest camp elephant of the Tamil forest department, died at the age of 71 in the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Wednesday afternoon. The female elephant had not been taking fodder properly for the last 20 days due to digestive ailments. A four-member team had been treating the elephant for the last 20 days, due to digestive ailments.
2022-04-27 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
The 3rd Asian Elephant Range States Meeting (AsERSM) will be held in Nepal from April 27. The sole purpose of the meeting is to secure the future of Asian elephants. Delegates from all 13 Asian Elephant Range States are going to be a part of the meeting. The main objective of the AsERSM is to identify the priorities and challenges at a country and range-wide level and to determine how they might best be addressed.
2022-04-25 - Basel, Switzerland.
African bull elephant Tusker, who sired 13 calves at his previous zoo homes, has become a star attraction at Switzerland's Basel Zoo; not for fatherhood, but for his baffling skills in balancing huge tree trunks in his enclosure. At German Zoo Wuppertal, he fathered 13 calves with four different mothers. In 2019, Tusker then moved to the Netherlands to Rhenen. There, too, he fulfilled his duty impeccably, and he is now considered one of the most successful breeding bulls in Europe.
2022-04-25 - San Diego, United States.
On 24th April, 17 years ago, a 25-year-old man named Jawed Karim posted the first-ever video on YouTube, launching a service that has since grown to become the go-to hub for video streaming. The low-res, 19-second short video, titled Me at the Zoo, shows YouTube co-founder Karim touring the San Diego Zoo, pointing out elephants’ unusually long trunks. The elephant video has been viewed over 228 million times and has garnered over 11 million comments as of April 2022.
2022-04-25 - Nelspruit, South Africa.
Two elephants, Kasper and Kitso, died while under sedation during relocation efforts from the Lowveld to Kleinmond Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) in the Western Cape on April 23. According to the owner and custodian of the elephants, Craig Saunders, they had been in the care of Elephant Sanctuary, Hazyview for the past 20 years.
2022-04-22 - Malappuram, India.
The viral video was shared with the claim that the Muslim man from Kerela attempted to provide the elephant with meat to consume. Social media users mocking alleged that it was an attempt to convert the elephant into Islam. In actuality, the video shows Nabeel Kunhappu with his son who was attempting to feed Kolakkadan Mini with coconuts. The incident took place in Malappuram, Kerela.
2022-04-16 - Austin, United States.
Austin, Texas-based activist filmmaker Kate Kirby’s documentary explores the relationship between a mahout and the 60-year-old elephant he tends at a Laotian elephant conservation center.
2022-04-15 - Kochi, India.
The High Court has directed that the government\'s order not to allow more escort elephants than existing ones must be complied with in festivals and other functions at temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board. A division bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice PG Ajithkumar passed the order on a petition filed by Ambalapuzha native P Premakumar seeking action against the culprits in connection with the death of the elephant named Ambalapuzha Vijayakrishnan owned by the Devaswom...
2022-04-14 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
The keeper Peerapat, 18, pierced Chan's thick leathery skin with the bullhook and caused the elephant so much pain that his legs collapsed. Chan Chao is now being treated by local vets with deep cuts to his head. Video also shows the moment Peerapat was grabbed by the scruff of the neck by the camp's manager and forced to kneel at the elephant's feet and say sorry. Veterinarian Thongthae Meepan, the manager of the attraction, claimed that the wounds on the elephant’s head would be ‘healed in...
2022-04-14 - Gaborone, Botswana.
Two years after pledging 500 elephants to Mozambique as a gift, Botswana says the animals are set to be translocated in the near future. This was revealed by President Mokgweetsi Masisi during a three-day state visit by Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi that ends on Good Friday. Last year, it was reported that conservationists had discovered female elephants in Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park which had been born without tusks.
2022-04-13 - Belfast, United Kingdom.
Two much loved elephants at Belfast Zoo are to leave for a new home the City Council has confirmed on Wednesday. Asian elephants Dunja and Yheeto – both in their 40s - are among the largest residents at the zoo. The article claims falsely the elephants were "rescued" from "from the circus and logging trade".
2022-04-12 - Fort Portal, Uganda.
A Colombian researcher has died after being trampled on by an elephant in Uganda's Kibale National Park. Ramirez Amaya Sebastian, who is based at a university in the US, had been carrying out a routine research in the park forest with an assistant when the incident happened, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The elephant attack at Kibale was the first deadly incident at the park in 50 years, UWA said.
2022-04-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A mahout was trampled to death by an elephant that ran amok on Monday at Mukkukada near Navayikkulam in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram district. Unni, a native of Vellannoor, was killed by the elephant which was brought to carry timber from a private property in the area. Unni was one of the two mahouts of the elephant. Attempts to tame the elephant were on.
2022-04-11 - Prague, Czech Republic. Raymond Johnston
A Prague Zoo employee was injured by an elephant over the weekend. The 31-year-old zoo employee had to be taken to the hospital for injuries to her pelvis, chest, and arm. The incident took place early on Sunday, April 10. We will add more information after an investigation,” zoo director Miroslav Bobek said on Facebook.
2022-04-10 - COIMBATORE, India.
xperts from the Forest College and Research Institute in Mettupalayam have told a committee constituted to probe the reasons for the death of wild elephants, especially young ones, over the past year in Tamil Nadu that 130 elephants may die in Tamil Nadu this year and their population may have gone up by 800 compared to the last census in 2017.
2022-04-08 - Pollachi, India.
Malasar, a six-minute conservation film, narrated by actor Nasser, shows not just the sacred bond between elephants and the Malasar tribes of the Anamalai Hills but also the need to protect the tribes, their identity and conventional wisdom. The Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) near TopSlip is exclusively used to train and discipline captive Asian elephants under the native tribes, who have special skills to work with them. Anaimalai is designated as an ‘anthropol...
2022-04-01 - Kandy, Sri Lanka.
The chief tusker who represents this Sacred Temple is Indi Raja who is 45-years-old. The tuskers are Sinha Raja, Thai Raja, Jana Raja, Migara, Kaveri Raja, Myan Raja, Buruma Raja and Pulasthi Raja. The other elephants are Kandula, Nalaka and Kadhira. Our chief tusker Indi Raja was donated to the Dalada Maligawa in 1989 aged seven years. He was assigned for Perahera duty when he reached 18 years of age”. Indi Raja was donated by the late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
2022-03-30 - Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Elephants were another iconic symbol of circuses during this era. These images from almost 50 years ago show when these incredible beasts roamed the streets of Cambridge as part of the circus. Rather than coming by road, these elephants arrived by train at Cambridge railway station before embarking on their journey through the city. Crowds young, old and everything in between flocked to the station and lined the streets to witness the giant animals in person. Most commonly seen in Cambridge in t...
2022-03-30 - Jalpaiguri, India.
The state forest department intercepted seven elephants on trucks from near the Teesta bridge on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri town on Tuesday. The animals were found from six trucks reportedly heading to Gujarat from the Northeast. Foresters called up vets who examined the elephants. Five are male, one is female and one is a male calf. Last year, two elephants on trucks stopped at the same spot. They were on the way to a temple in Gujarat. The drivers had valid papers.
2022-03-30 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Elephants are a major engine of tourism in Thailand, which uses nearly three-quarters of the total number of elephants used in tourism in Asia, according to London-based World Animal Protection (WAP), a nonprofit animal rights organization. Before the pandemic, nearly 40 million tourists visited Thailand in 2019 generating some 20% of its gross domestic product. According to surveys conducted by WAP, 28% of visitors rode elephants or intended to when they arrived, suggesting demand for over 11 m...
2022-03-29 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia.
A rescued elephant called Gee Pael (Pearl) gave birth to a baby girl named Gee Pich (Diamond) on March 25 at the Elephant Valley Project (EVP) sanctuary run by the NGO Elephant, Livelihood, Initiative and Environment (ELIE) in Mondulkiri province. In March 2020, a wild bull came into the EVP sanctuary and ran away with Pearl. They remained together in the forest for two weeks. ELIE staff – in collaboration with the provincial Department of Environment, Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary rangers and ...
2022-03-26 - Limassol, Cyprus. Kyriacos Nicolaou
The Animal Party on Saturday accused Limassol Zoo of dumping dead animals in a landfill in municipal plastic bags instead of properly disposing of them, saying that the responsibility for such a violation “involves many people for whom no excuses can be made”. The party said that such incidents took place in the past as well, citing the death of Julie the elephant at Limassol zoo, whose carcass was also dumped at the Vati landfill.
2022-03-26 - Odessa, Ukraine.
With Russian forces bogged down about 85 miles northeast in Mykolaiv, Odessa has been spared shelling for the last several weeks, encouraging the port city to return to normal life. Stores have reopened and people are back out on the streets. Things aren’t quite normal, of course. But for a brief few hours, children were able to marvel at tigers and elephants and feed the goats.
2022-03-25 - Singapore, Singapore.
A 40-year-old Vietnamese woman, who is a Singapore permanent resident, imported a 40-feet container consisting of 1,787 elephant tusks from Nigeria to Singapore illegally in 2018. After the container was detained for investigation, 1,787 suspected elephant tusks were discovered within 61 bags weighing a total of 3,480kg. According to 8World News, the ivory's total value was S$3.3 million. Dao Thi Boi was found guilty of an offence under the Endangered Species (Import & Export) Act on Mar. 23, ac...
2022-03-24 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Another elephant from Maesa elephant camp in Chiang Mai died on Friday, making it the 22nd elephant to die at the camp in the past two years. Without almost no income from tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, many camps and sanctuaries have been struggling to provide care and food for the animals. A 50 year old male elephant named Krung Rattana died on Friday just as staff were about to lift him into a truck to seek treatment at the Elephant Conservation Centre in nearby Lampang province. The ...
2022-03-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
“We conducted a survey around Sri Lanka and listed 54 garbage open garbage dumps visited by elephants,” Chandana Sooriyabandara, director-general of Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), told Mongabay. “The department has nothing to do with the setting up of these garbage dumps, but we have to eventually deal with them as elephants frequent the dumps. We are trying to minimise the impact, but it is an uphill task as 70 per cent of Sri Lankan elephants can also be found o...
2022-03-22 - Washington, United States.
As genetics reveals how various ivory shipments are connected, the world is learning how organized and extensive the ivory smuggling network really is. A study suggests that poachers credited to three international crime groups likely returned to the same elephant family again and again, then repeatedly used the same shipping company to smuggle the elephant tusks. Testing more than 4,000 elephant tusks from 49 large ivory seizures that were shipped out of Africa between 2002 to 2019 revealed tha...
2022-03-22 - Quebec, Canada.
Paul Gosselin said the Granby Zoo has been thinking about getting out of the elephant business for the past few years. “Given that, and given the fact we have to agree that the elephant standards are getting more and more tough to keep them in zoological institutions, and given the fact the bill is coming and we supported it, we have decided as a group in Granby to transition out.” He said the zoo’s three African elephants – females Thandi and Sarah and male Tutum – will be moving out,...
2022-03-16 - Monroe, United States. Ian Robinson
The longtime caretaker and friend of Shirley the Elephant at the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo, Solomon James, has died. He died on March 9. He was 69. Perhaps best known as the primary keeper and caregiver for Shirley the Elephant, zoo officials remember James as being an affable zookeeper who had just as big impact on the community as the elephant he loved and cared for.
2022-03-15 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Petch Petpailin
The owner of Mae Taeng Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai made the announcement on Sunday, which was National Elephant Day. Wassana Thongsook, who has been running the camp for 28 years, told Thai media that she has over 40 elephants and needs to spend over 2 million baht per month to care for elephants and pay the staff. She says she’s spent all of her savings and hasn’t had support from the state during the pandemic.
2022-03-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has drawn up a 10-year action plan to mitigate human-elephant conflicts that have occurred wherever elephants and locals share the same habitat, competing for the same resources. The government on May 26, 1998, designated March 13 as National Elephant Day in a bid to raise awareness about the animal's importance to society.
2022-03-13 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Dhinesh Kallungal
Around 20 instances of elephants running amok have been reported in the State, especially in Thrissur, Palakkad and Ernakulam districts, in March alone, though not many casualties have been reported in this connection. The workload on the elephants can be judged from the number of elephants available in the State now. The State had around 521 elephants as per the jumbo census in November 2018. But after the census, 75 elephants died, reducing their number to 446. “There is a great mismatch bet...
2022-03-12 - San Antonio, United States.
The San Antonio Zoo announced the death of one of their Asian elephants, Karen, Wednesday afternoon. Karen passed away this afternoon while under the loving care and comfort of her veterinarians and animal care staff. Karen came to San Antonio Zoo in 2016 to join Nicole and Lucky, forming what was lovingly known as “The Golden Girls.” She was 52 years old, outliving the average lifespan of an Asian elephant which is 47.5 according to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
2022-03-11 - Lyon, France. Lenin Ndebele
The African Elephant Coalition (AEC) has called for the closure of ivory markets in Japan, saying they contribute to poaching in Africa. This clarion call was made at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) conference in Lyon, France, which will end on Friday. In 2016, a recommendation was adopted to close ivory markets in ivory-consuming countries such as Singapore, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and Japan.
2022-03-11 - Oklahoma City, United States.
The longstanding partnership between the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden and the Oklahoma Blood Institute was newly solidified this week with the donation from OBI of a centrifuge to the zoo’s Joan Kirkpatrick Animal Hospital. The most immediate life-saving opportunities that this centrifuge can provide for the zoo are advancements in the research and treatment of EEHV, a persistent and deadly herpes virus affecting elephants worldwide, both wild and in captivity.
2022-03-10 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Visitors’ entry into Nandankanan zoo was restricted for a day after two wild elephants strayed into the zoological park by breaking the fences near Daruthenga early on Wednesday. The elephants that entered the zoo premises at around 4 am caused minor damage to the plantation area, fodder farm, and sprinklers in the morning. However, no damage has been caused to any enclosure, said Nandankanan deputy director Sanjeet Kumar.
2022-03-10 - Nairobi, Kenya.
On the night of 8th March 2022, just as our Ithumba team was getting ready for bed, Mutara and her herd appeared outside the stockades. And... we were delighted to find a newborn in their midst! He was fresh out of the womb — Mutara had clearly given birth earlier that evening — but a picture of health. Mutara decided to spend her first night as a mother around Ithumba, sharing this special moment with Benjamin and the other Keepers who raised her.
2022-03-07 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Namibia has exported 22 of the 37 auctioned elephants to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), sold as part of conservation efforts amid an increase in population and rising cases of human-wildlife conflict involving elephants in the southern African nation. "The elephants arrived in UAE early Saturday morning and are reported to be doing well except for one cow which is seemingly weak," said the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda in an emailed statement Sunday. "...
2022-03-07 - Namanga, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service has requested money from the Ministry of Tourism to build a monument in honour of the late Big Tim, a beloved elephant who was one of Africa's last giant tuskers. The Tim memorial would be built in the Amboseli National Park, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala told the National Assembly's Finance committee.
2022-03-06 - Kiev, Ukraine.
Horace the Asian elephant is so terrified of explosions that he’s been put on sedatives. The zebras are being kept inside after they panicked at the sound of shelling and ran directly into a fence. And Maya the lemur is so overwhelmed that she abandoned her newborn baby this week — nearly killing him.
2022-03-05 - Cape Town, South Africa.
A Zimbabwean has been fined R10,000 in Cape Town for unlawful possession of ivory. Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said Cosmus Ziwande, 38, was sentenced in the Cape Town magistrate's court on Thursday. Ziwande, who is serving a seven-year jail sentence for tampering with essential infrastructure in Clanwilliam, Western Cape, in July 2021, entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the state. The fine was wholly suspended for five years.
2022-03-05 - Wuppertal, Germany.
Did an Elephant Jump out of a Suspension Rail Car? No word if the elephant had to pay extra for trunk space. The latest Tweet by snopes.com states, 'Other than a few scratches, the circus elephant named Tuffi was relatively unharmed during the incident. ...'
2022-03-05 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
CLAIRE Bennett still recalls the day Colchester Zoo’s manager called her into his office and asked if she would like to try working with the elephants. “Since that moment I have never looked back,” admits Claire, who starting working at the attraction in Maldon Road in 1994.
2022-03-02 - Powell, United States.
Frankie the baby elephant could be a lifesaver someday thanks to a project he jump-started the day he was born at the Columbus Zoo last summer. Tissues from Frankie's umbilical cord have been used to create Asian elephant stem cell lines at Ohio State's College of Veterinary Medicine and on a national scale at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Frozen Zoo.
2022-02-28 - New York, United States.
Habeas petitions are not often heard in court, which was only one reason that the case before New York Supreme Court Justice Alison Y. Tuitt—Nonhuman Rights Project v. James Breheny, et al.—was extraordinary. The subject of the petition was Happy, an Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo. American law treats all animals as “things”—the same category as rocks or roller skates. However, if the Justice granted the habeas petition to move Happy from the zoo to a sanctuary, in the eyes of the law...
2022-02-03 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Groups of researchers around the world study EEHV, but Chester Zoo is now taking an important step with the vaccine trial, as the lead scientist behind its development, Prof Falko Steinbach from the University of Surrey, explains. "We know it's almost impossible to prevent infection - we're trying to prevent serious disease and death," he tells BBC News.
2022-01-31 - Omaha, United States.
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is thrilled to announce Claire, a 13-year-old African elephant, gave birth to a male calf at 9:08 p.m. yesterday, January 30, 2022. Mom and calf are doing well. The weight of the calf is unknown at this time. The is the second African elephant calf born at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium this month, January 2022. These two calves are the first and only African elephants born at Omaha’s Zoo and Aquarium.
2022-01-29 - Guwahati, India.
The girl Harshita Bora is from the Golaghat district of upper Assam. She has been found to be playing around with an elephant and drinking its milk. The elephant too understanding the presence of the young girl has shown its motherly side to the young girl.
2022-01-26 - Pollachi, India.
The Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) is yet to get a dedicated veterinarian despite being a protected habitat of endangered species such as tiger, elephant, the Nilgiri tahr (also the State animal of Tamil Nadu), Lion-tailed Macaque and home to more than 20 camp elephants. ATR currently has 27 camp elephants at its two elephant camps — Kozhikamuthi and Varagaliyar. The camp elephants require veterinary care when they fall sick or males develop musth.
2022-01-24 - Bago, Myanmar.
The two-day-old baby male elephant is seen at the Wingabaw Elephant Camp in Bago region, Myanmar on Jan. 23,
2022-01-23 - Taiping, Malaysia.
Taiping Zoo welcomed two new members recently, bringing its total population to 1,400 from 140 species. The new babies, an elephant and African spoonbill bird, were introduced to the media today during a preview at the zoo. Taiping Municipal Council president Datuk Abdul Rahim Md Ariff said the elephant and spoonbill bird were born on December 30. “Now the zoo has nine elephants and three spoonbill birds,” he said.
2021-12-26 - Banlung, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
After being mated with two bulls in 2019, Bak Mai and Bokva, Ikeos breasts became swollen, but an analyze of her prolactin concentrations in November 2020 were low and did not indicate a pregnancy, also unlikely at her age of 38 with a first baby. Therefore it was a miracle, when a female baby was born in the forest at Catien water falls 26th of December. Unfortunately, Ikeo so far rejected her baby, who is named Noel and on 24/7 supervision by Airavata staff.
2021-12-25 - Albuquerque, United States.
Thorn, a three-year-old male elephant at the ABQ BioPark Zoo, died in the early morning hours on Christmas Day from elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). BioPark staff began treating Thorn immediately after traces of the virus were detected in a routine blood test on December 15. This virus causes hemorrhagic disease that can be fatal for young elephants. EEHV is the leading cause of death for Asian elephant calves and can strike elephants in the wild and in human care.
2021-12-25 - Kochi, India.
A Mahout was critically injured after an elephant he was giving a shower forward of parading in reference to a temple ritual turned violent and gored him. The Mahout recognized as Ratnakaran (57) of Onakkoor suffered a deep wound on his rib and was rushed to a non-public hospital close by. “The wound caused by the tusk is fairly deep. We have moved him into ventilator,” stated hospital sources. The elephant recognized as Polakulam Vishu Narayanan was dropped at the temple as a part of the pa...
2021-12-24 - Silchar, India.
In order to keep track of elephants and better monitoring of the pachyderms, Cachar Forest officials have started implanting microchips in them. The three-day camp, which began at Sonai Forest office on Wednesday, was next held at Salchapra on Thursday and Sonai and Matinagar of Cachar district on Friday. The camp also consisted of health checkup for the elephants and verification of the owner.
2021-12-23 - Theppakadu, India.
Cheran, a kumki elephant who was injured by a care taker, got his vision back, thanks to the efforts of the team led by veterinary assistant surgeon K Rajesh Kumar. The 35-year-old elephant is receiving treatment at the Theppakadu elephant camp in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). Currently, the animal has got back nearly 80 per cent of his eyesight and it will take a few more months to recover completely.
2021-12-23 - Hamilton, United States.
A new study examining ancient DNA from the Yukon is changing the timeline for when woolly mammoths and ancient horses roamed the continent. Tyler Murchie, a researcher at the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre in Hamilton, was the lead author on a new paper in the journal Nature on Dec. 8, with new evidence that suggests ancient horses and mammoths may have roamed the Yukon landscape up until 6,000 years ago.
2021-12-23 - Tiruchy, India.
The Elephant Rehabilitation Centre at MR Palayam continues to grow as a haven for sick pachyderms in the State, with two new elephants in dire health conditions being brought for rehabilitation last week. With this, the elephant population at the centre has increased to eight in three years.A veterinary doctor from Coimbatore monitors the health of each elephant every fortnight and a veterinary doctor from the district visits the camp every single week.
2021-12-22 - Bangkok, Thailand.
a recent controversy over an award-winning photo of a swimming elephant at Khao Kheow illustrates the friction that exists between some animal rights activists and people who manage elephants in Thailand. Some Thai people see a double standard in how Khao Kheow, and Thailand in general, have become lightning rods for animal-related criticism from the West. They wonder why the elephant swimming exhibitions held at zoos in Germany and Switzerland have drawn minimal criticism despite appearing to s...
2021-12-21 - Albuquerque, United States.
The ABQ BioPark continues to provide around the clock care and treatments for Thorn, our 3 year old elephant who recently tested positive for the Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV). While the most recent daily test results indicate an escalation in the viral load his treatments continue and we remain hopeful and are confident that together we will have the best chance of helping Thorn through this illness.
2021-12-21 - Cape Town, South Africa. Charles Helm
In the 19th century, a population that came to be known as the “Knysna elephants” (a reference to the nearest big town) were the most southerly group of elephants in Africa. Over time they became the only free-ranging elephants in South Africa. Their numbers were decimated by the ivory market and habitat transformation. Evidence indicates that only one elephant, an adult female in her forties, remains. Now, about 18km from the area that lone elephant occupies, we have found new evidence of h...
2021-12-20 - Surabaya, Indonesia.
The Surabaya City legislative body's Commission B member, Alfian Limardi, urged the Surabaya Zoo operator to take requisite steps to address loopholes in the zoo management following the death of an elephant calf named Dumbo. Dumbo, a male Sumatran elephant, was born on July 22, 2019, from a male elephant Lembang and female elephant Doa.
2021-12-16 - Madikeri, India.
The tamed elephants belonging to conservationist and wildlife researcher Prajna Chowta are being transferred to the possession of the forest department. Residents across Dubare alleged that the elephants from Prajna’s foundation often raided the crops and caused immense damage. Following this, in August this year, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden ordered the confiscation of the elephants owned by Prajna.
2021-12-15 - Albuquerque, United States.
On Wednesday, December 15, a weekly routine blood tests for Thorn, the BioPark's 3.5-year-old Asian elephant, came back positive for a very low level of Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV). Out of an abundance of caution, the ABQ BioPark has begun round-the-clock care, including antiviral treatment and observation for symptoms. At this time, the BioPark's animal care team is monitoring his blood values daily.
2021-12-15 - Mysore, India.
Four of the six elephants that were under the custody of the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru, have been shifted to Gujarat. The elephants which are in transit, left Mysuru late on Tuesday night and will be housed at Elephant Care Centre at Jamnagar. Seetha, Ruby, Gemini and Rajeshwari are being transported in trucks and the Forest Department veterinarians had certified that they were fit to travel.
2021-12-12 - Cadaques, Spain. Jake Hardiman
In 1967, Air India asked surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, to design a series of porcelain ashtrays for their passengers. Following Dalí’s request for a baby elephant as his payment for the ashtrays, Air India also flew both the trainer and the elephant to Europe from Bangalore/Bengaluru. While Dalí was based in Spain at the time, the elephant’s journey by air only took it as far as the Swiss city of Geneva.
2021-12-10 - Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.
Manit Thanabat, 43, of Surat Thani’s Wiang Sa district, was killed at a rubber plantation in tambon Katun by his 25-year-old bull elephant, Phlai Jumbo. The elephant then ran off, but was captured late on Thursday night by livestock officials shooting tranquilliser darts. The elephant was later taken by truck to a controlled area in Wiang Sa district.
2021-12-09 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
What has been quite unknown to most people, however, is that the Swedish King and the Danish Queen, also owns several elephan`s. Now one of the royal elephants has died. The elephant was the son of two elephants that were once given as a gift by another monarch. Prince died on December 7th 2021, to the great sorrow of the king and the zoo staff.
2021-12-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Dr. Nandana Atapattu, a former Director General of Wildlife and an expert on wild elephants has passed away. According to family sources, he had died at his residence in Purwarama Place, Kirulapone.Dr. Nandana Atapattu, has authored a number of research books on wild elephants in Sri Lanka.
2021-12-04 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
The latest Add-On on website elephant.se, a section with elephant persons, has now over 500 persons, who are interlinked with locations of work. Among the last is Vietnamn most famous elephant trainer Y Thu Knul, who captured and tamed 400-500 elephants and founded Buon Don elephant village in DakLak.
2021-12-02 - Pattaya, Thailand.
A three-month-old baby elephant was recovering in this eastern province on Thursday following lifesaving treatment after being shot several times and caught in a hunter's trap. The elephant, whom rescuers have named "Fahsai", meaning "clear sky", was found by passers-by on Sunday with her right foot caught in a trap and gunshot wounds to her shoulder.
2021-11-30 - Karachi, Pakistan.
The experts are to submit a report before the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday (today) recommending a number of steps necessary for the well-being of the elephants. Therefore it would be a good idea if they are also shifted to the Safari Park or their present enclosure at the Zoo may be enlarged and modified.
2021-11-29 - Beira, Mozambique.
A tusk-less elephant phenomenon led a University of Idaho professor to research in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Ryan Long, an associate professor in wildlife sciences, along with researchers from Princeton University, began their study on tusk-less elephants in 2018. Long, a large mammal ecologist, had already been working with elephants in Gorongosa, starting in 2015. The team collected genetic samples and placed trackers on the elephants to monitor their activity.
2021-11-28 - Palakkad, India.
An increase in the frequency of deaths of captive elephants has prompted jumbo lovers to ask two key questions. Without enough festivals in the last two years, have the elephants contracted diseases or developed fitness issues? Mangalamkunnu Haridas, who lost two of his elephants Rajan and Gajendran in as many days, said the captive jumbos were mostly idling in the last two years due to lack of festivals. “Captive elephants need exercise. Mahouts take them out for one or two rounds of walk, bu...
2021-11-24 - Monterey, United States.
Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Institute (MBARI) have found and extracted mammoth tusks from a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi), deep in the ocean. According to MBARI, their team discovered 185 miles offshore and 10,000 feet deep in the seamount in 2019. They returned in July 2021 and brought the tusks to the surface. The deep-sea conservation environment for this specimen is different from most we’ve seen elsewhere,” said Daniel Fisher, a paleontologist at the University of M...
2021-11-22 - Calang, Armenia.
An Indonesian court on Monday began a trial against a group of men accused of poaching endangered Sumatran elephants and trading in illegal ivory, in a case that wildlife conservation officials have hailed as a milestone. The case includes nine men accused of killing wild elephants by setting electrified wire traps on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and two others accused of buying ivory from the elephant killings.
2021-11-22 - Alfred, York County, United States.
It's an interesting tale that starts with Hachaliah Bailey. Yup, that Bailey, as in the Barnum and Bailey circus. Bailey was a farmer in upstate New York when he bought an elephant for about $1,000. As the legend goes, Old Bet came to York County in July of 1816, where people ponied up the admission price to catch a glimpse. But, according to Historic Hudson Valley, a farmer named Daniel Davis reportedly was offended by the idea of taking money from poor people and decided to fatally shoot Old B...
2021-11-22 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Article about the relocation of Asian female elephant Kamu to ENP.
2021-11-16 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
A baby elephant was forced to have her trunk amputated after being snared by cruel poachers and left behind by her herd in Indonesia. She was rescued on Sunday in Alue Meuraksa, a village in the Aceh Jaya district which is forested, according to Agus Arianto, who is the head of Aceh province's conservation agency. To save the life of the baby elephant, wildlife officials today had to amputate half of her trunk at the Elephant Training Centre in Aceh Besar, Indonesia.
2021-11-15 - Azle, United States.
It is with great disappointment that due to the continuing ongoing pandemic we will not be able to meet in person for this year’s International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium. BUT we are planning a multi-day virtual symposium with presentations and opportunities for information sharing and discussion.
2021-11-13 - Melbourne, Australia.
For the first time in Melbourne Zoo’s history, three Asian elephants have become pregnant naturally and will give birth next year. New mum Mali, who was also born at the zoo 11 years ago, is sharing her pregnancy journey with her 28-year-old mother Dokkoon, as well as 20-year-old Num-Oi.
2021-11-13 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
The latest addition to the Elephant Database, presenteation of elephant people is growing, now over 300 names of legandary Circus trainers, Asian Mahouts, and head elephant keepers in Zoos.
2021-11-10 - Mathura, India.
On 10 November 2021, we bid farewell to our beloved Karma. A few days before she passed, Karma collapsed out of exhaustion. Our team would lift Karma up with the help of a crane, without which they feared she would fall again. Despite all efforts, Karma collapsed again, but this time she did not get up. She passed with as much serenity as she had entered the Hospital Campus. Her post mortem report revealed that Karma’s vital organs had slowly been deteriorating. Due to complete respiratory fa...
2021-11-03 - COIMBATORE, India.
A mahout was injured in the attack of a camp elephant at the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve near Top Slip on Monday. A Forest Department official said the mahout, Jayachandran (45), was attacked by the elephant when he was taking care of it. Jayachandran was admitted to a private hospital at Pollachi. His condition was stable, the officer added.
2021-11-02 - Bankura, India.
A three-month-old male orphan baby of an electrocuted elephant from Assam’s Golaghat district has found a second home at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC). The centre, the only rehabilitation shelter for wildlife orphans in northeast India, is now the abode of this baby after it was rescued by Golaghat division’s forest team.
2021-10-21 - Kunming, China.
Yaming, an Asian elephant in the zoo, gave birth to a male Asian elephant calf on Oct. 15, 2021. The new member is in good health and in the period of immune isolation and protection with his mother, unable to meet the public temporarily.
2021-10-18 - Banlung, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
The Elephant Glossary, started back in 1995, has been repaired, recovered and developed, now with almost 200 terms. They can all be viewed by Alphabetical order, or by Category, and the numbers of characters tell you how much is to read from each article. The articles are also interlinked with elephant individual records and locations, and a good start point to search for more info on each Subject.
2021-10-08 - Bubaneshwar, India.
Elephants death toll has risen in Keonjhar forest division over the last one year. Sources revealed that when Santosh Joshi was the DFO from 2017 to 2020, 24 elephants had died in Keonjhar forest division spreading shock and surprise among wildlife lovers and environmentalists. However, after the transfer of Joshi to Mayurbhanj, DFO Swayam Mallik had stressed on forest and wildlife conservation and there was no death of elephants during his one-year tenure.
2021-10-07 - Petang, Indonesia. Al Jazeera Staff
Bali Elephant Camp (BEC), a safari-style park, north of Ubud, Indonesia, left more than a dozen elephants to starve, and staff without pay after plummeting ticket sales forced it to close when COVID-19 spread around the world and borders were closed. . “Our friends in conservation say we have some of the healthiest, happiest elephants they’ve ever seen!” the company’s website boasts. But photographs taken by a wildlife veterinarian at the park in May and shared exclusively with Al Jazeer...
2021-10-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Second Report of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) for the First Session of the Ninth Parliament was presented to Parliament today (06) by its chairman, (Prof). Tissa Vitharana, Parliament Communications Department said. The report also focused on the current status of the Muthurajawela wetland and Human-Elephant Conflict, which had been a very controversial matter among the public. The committee report submitted to Parliament states that as a solution to the Human-Elephant Conflict, t...
2021-10-03 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Lately, I have noticed that Zoos Facebook Pages slowly more and more are taking over Zoos educational role. The latest example is about the elephant Mala in Parc Paradisio. Mala has colic, and hundreds of comments on the zoos Facebook has put the attention to Mala. People upload pictures with candles, pray for her recover etc, as if she was a human relative or a person they had a close social connection to.
2021-09-27 - Shivamogga, India. DHNS, Shivamogga
Gange, a female elephant used for khedda operations, died at the Sakrebailu camp in the district on Sunday. "The elephant was not well for the past two years. The condition worsened fifteen days ago. She was not consuming food properly," said Dr Vinay, who was treating the pachyderm. Gange attracted elephants during khedda operations. She was also caught in a similar operation at Kakanakote in 1971 and had given birth to six calves, said Deputy Forest Officer I M Nagaraj.
2021-09-23 - Attapulgus, United States.
It’s a big day for South Georgia. Bo, a 10,000-pound elephant moved into his new home thanks to Elephant Aid International and George Carden, the person giving Bo a new life. He's the owner of George Carden Circus and spent many years with Bo traveling the world. Bo is the first elephant to step foot on these 850-acres filled with trees and tall grass. It's also the only elephant refuge in South Georgia.
2021-09-16 - Winston, United Kingdom. Brooke Communications
43-year old African elephant Butch, who is over ten-foot-tall, is the newest animal to call the game park in Winston home. Marketing Director Jacob Schlueter said Butch came from another facility where he lost his companions. General Curator Dan Brands said the pachyderm joined the herd on August 31st.
2021-09-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Pamodi Waravita and Ruwani Fonseka
The Sri Lanka Podujana National Zoological Gardens Department Workers’ Union yesterday (9) claimed that National Zoological Gardens Department Director General (DG) Ishini Wickremesinghe has resigned as she is unhappy about a recent court order to release 14 elephants to their original “owners”. The Colombo Magistrate’s Court decision on 6 September directed 14 elephants under the charge of the National Zoological Gardens Department to be released to their original “owners” for regis...
2021-09-09 - Attapulgus, United States.
Elephant Refuge North America, an 850-acre natural habitat located in Attapulgus, Georgia, plans to accept its first resident later this month. Bo, a 34-year-old male elephant, is being released by the George Carden Circus after 30 years of performing, Elephant Aid International says. He was born and raised captive in Florida his entire life, but will now enjoy wide open spaces for roaming and play for the rest of his days.
2021-08-31 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka.
For the first time in Sri Lanka's history, twin baby elephants have been born at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The twin calves were born to female elephant named 'Surangi'. Both calves are male. The first calf was born around 4.00am while the second was born around 12.00 noon. This is also said to be the first twin birth in Sri Lankan history among registered elephants in captivity.
2021-08-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Under the new regulations, logging elephants can only work up to four hours a day, while working at night is forbidden. They are also entitled to at least two-and-a-half hours of bathing time each day. The captive elephants must also undergo a mandatory health check-up every six months. Rule breakers could face a three-year prison sentence and have their elephants taken into state custody, reported AFP.
2021-08-14 - Bhubaneswar, India.
With the large scale poaching of tuskers over the years, the gender imbalance is fast emerging as a major threat to the elephant population growth in Odisha with the drastic drop in the numbers of adult breeding tuskers. As against 1,902 female species, the male population of elephants stands abysmally low at 344. The conservative figures put adult males including sub-adults at about 150-175 but the large adult breeding males above the age of 20 to 25 could be as less as 80 to 100.
2021-08-13 - Topeka, United States.
Cora the elephant is improving after concerns over her health had the Topeka Zoo considering end-of-life options. Shanna Simpson, an animal curator at the zoo, said Cora wasn’t eating, had a lot of gas and wasn't moving as much as she used to. The zoo began giving her pain medication, two gallons of mineral oil a day and Gas-X.
2021-08-12 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation has recorded 219 jumbo deaths up to August 11 this year mainly from human-elephant conflict. During the same period, 89 people were killed in elephant attacks. A Senior Department official told The Island that 160 elephant deaths and 56 human deaths had been recorded during the same period in 2020. This is a 30% increase when compared with the 2005–2010 period. It is the highest annual death rate of elephants in the world.”
2021-08-12 - COIMBATORE, India.
An elephant, which was found dead at Mangalapatti near Thengumaradha in Nilgiris district.on Tuesday, may have died of anthrax, according to the forest department.
2021-08-12 - New Delhi, India.
Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Bhupender Yadav on Thursday said that nature conservation should be taken up with a scientific approach involving the local community. Only technical advances cannot save environment. Without public participation, without traditional wisdom, we cannot carry out conservation," he said, while addressing an event organised by his ministry to mark the World Elephant Day.
2021-08-12 - Hyderabad, India.
An elephant, Madhuri aged 38 years from Kolhapur will be used to carry the Bibi ka Alam standard during the procession on the 10 of Muharram month scheduled next Friday. The costs involved in bringing elephant for the procession are taken care of by Telangana State Wakf Board following a representation of Riyaz ul Hassan Effandi, AIMIM MLC. Madhuri is expected to reach Hyderabad on Friday and will be housed at Khilwat Palace Aashoorkhana located near Charminar bus stand.
2021-08-11 - Bhubaneswar, India.
In 2019, five elephants had died within 33 days in Odisha after testing positive for herpes
2021-08-06 - Udhagamandalam, India.
The villagers reportedly noticed Rivaldo moving around their area in the wee hours of Wednesday, about 40 kms from the camp and alerted the forest department officials.Though the elephant was radio-collared, the movement of Rivaldo could not be traced, may be due to rains and clouds, Forest department sources said.
2021-08-05 - Anchorage, United States.
Maggie, an African elephant that lived at the Alaska Zoo for 24 years, has died at a wildlife sanctuary in California. She was 41 years old. Maggie died at the Performing Animal Welfare Society wildlife sanctuary in San Andreas, where she lived for 13 years after being relocated there from Alaska. Alaska Zoo director Pat Lampi said in a statement that Maggie touched the lives of many Alaskans and people “all over the world.”
2021-08-03 - Chennai, India.
In a 10-hour operation, the iconic tusker Rivaldo, which was captured and put inside a kraal for nearly three months, was successfully released in Chikala in Theppakadu forest range of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve on Monday. It was for the first time such a role reversal from kraal to wild was done in the country. Fitted with a radio collar, Rivaldo's movement is being monitored on an hourly basis. The last live location shows Rivaldo was moving towards Bandipur National Park in Karnataka
2021-07-31 - Oklahoma City, United States.
The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden’s dedicated animal and veterinary care teams have begun to treat its youngest Asian elephant, female Kairavi (Kai), 2, for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), with antiviral medications. A low level of the EEHV1A virus was detected on Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Kai’s blood through routine testing. Despite this, Kai’s behavior and activity level are normal and she continues to show no clinical signs of illness, which are all positive sig...
2021-07-30 - Miami, United States.
In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times–bestselling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings—James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling—all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus. Ultimately, the rivalry of these three men resulted in the creation of an institution that would surpass all intentions and, for 147 years, hold a nation spellbound.
2021-07-28 - Thrissur, India.
The 28-year-old elephant Keerthi of Anakotta (elephant camp) in Guruvayur was found with burn injuries on his head and neck. Injuries on the upper parts of the body remains a mystery to the authorities even after the forest officials visited the place and examined it.Later, the statement of the elephant’s mahouts were recorded. However, they aren’t sure about the cause of injury.
2021-07-28 - Pittsburgh, United States.
It’s a girl! An African elephant calf was born in the early morning hours of July 18th at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium’s International Conservation Center (ICC) in Somerset, PA. Both mother and baby are bonding and doing well. The healthy calf was born at just under three feet tall and weighed in at 218 pounds. This is the first calf for new mom, Sukuri, who had no issues during her pregnancy and is very attentive to her newborn. The pregnancy was a result of natural breeding with resid...
2021-07-27 - MADIKERI, India.
The Mathigodu Camp elephant Kunthi was called in for the rescue mission. A rope was tied around the neck of the calf and it was pulled out by Kunthi. We are tracking the herd across Devarapura Sacred Grove limits to reunite the calf with its mother,” confirmed RFO Ashok.
2021-07-27 - Ziama Forest, Guinea.
A previously unknown family of eight African forest elephants were recently captured by camera traps in Guinea.
2021-07-27 - Hua Hin, Thailand.
A hungry wild elephant in Thailand has smashed his way through the same kitchen wall a month after his first raid. The 40-year-old bull named Plai Bunchuay rammed his head through the concrete building to steal a bag of rice on June 20 in Hua Hin, southern Thailand. Shocked residents recorded the carnage before the damage was repaired by officials.
2021-07-10 - Chennai, India.
Two years ago, Chinnathambi, the famous lonely tusker of the Coimbatore forest circle was captured and converted into a captive elephant. Now the gentle jumbo is a case study for the young TN foresters and is one of the disciplined captive elephants maintained by the forest department for foresters to study about the animal conflicts and their rescue operations.
2021-07-10 - COIMBATORE, India.
A male tusker that was recently captured in Gudalur died at the Abhayaranayam temporary elephant camp in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Friday evening. The animal, believed to be around 30-years-old, had sustained an injury to the region around the base of its tail three years ago. The injury is believed to have probably been caused as a result of a fight with another tusker.
2021-07-09 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Since 2010, around 100 electrocution deaths of elephants have occurred in Odisha. The majority of the electrocution deaths are attributed to live wire poaching. An adult tusker died of electrocution in Talagarh forested areas under the Baantala forest range of Angul district after the animal had come in contact with a live wire. The live wire trap might have been laid out by suspected poachers for the killing of wild elephants.
2021-07-08 - Xishuangbanna, China.
The young calf named Yishuang is the fifth elephant to be born at the park's breeding centre within the approximate 900acre valley that's home to hundreds of the giant mammals. A park spokesperson said Yishuang was born on December 22, 2017 and is developing well after becoming the fifth calf born at their breeding centre.
2021-07-07 - Kent, United Kingdom. Olivia Miller
The Aspinall Foundation has announced that 13 African elephants are to be flown from Howlett’s Zoo (Kent) to Southern Kenya- Professor Keith Somerville of the School of Anthropology and Conservation’s Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) comments on how this is an expensive, stressful and potentially risky procedure that will get lots of media attention but do nothing of value for elephant conservation.
2021-07-07 - Diss, United Kingdom.
Diss Corn Hall has received a £46,400 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop and produce a project about the legend of Madame Abdella. The 20-year-old Burmese elephant is believed to have died on and been buried under Fair Green in 1867, while travelling with a menagerie.
2021-07-07 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Three baby elephants at the rehabilitation centre for pachyderms in Kottur here, who were showing symptoms of Herpes viral infection are stable now, the wildlife department said on Wednesday. The remaining three continued to be under treatment and one of them - a male calf named Kannan, was in a slightly more serious condition. The remaining six calves under the age of 10 years at the centre are also not showing any symptoms of the infection,
2021-07-07 - Nairobi, United Kingdom. Ben Webster
Plans by Carrie Johnson’s animal conservation charity to fly 13 elephants from a zoo in Kent to live in the wild in Kenya have been questioned by the country’s wildlife ministry, which said it was not aware of the scheme. Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife said that relocating and rehabilitating animals from a zoo was “not easy” and expressed concern that neither it nor the Kenya Wildlife Service had been contacted or consulted about the relocation.
2021-07-06 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A six-year previous elephant calf died as a consequence of Herpes virus an infection on the rehabilitation centre for pachyderms at Kottur right here, making it the second such casualty there inside one week and three extra calves — Podichi, Aamina and Kannan — are present process IV remedy as they confirmed signs of the virus an infection. Apart from them, six different calves beneath the age of 10 years are beneath statement and have been given prophylactics to stop an infection.
2021-07-05 - Hythe, United Kingdom.
A herd of elephants born and raised in a Kent zoo are about to get on a plane to travel almost 4,500 miles (7,000km) to Kenya, in order to reintroduce them to the wild in a first-of-its kind operation. The herd of 13, which includes three calves, were all but one born at Howletts Wild Animal Park, a private zoo near Canterbury. The mammoth mission to “rewild” the elephants is being carried out by the Aspinall Foundation, the Kenya Wildlife Service and Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
2021-07-05 - Madikeri, India.
Two adult elephants and a baby elephant died in two separate incidents in Coorg district, here. A male elephant and a baby elephant among them have died at Nagarahole National Park, near Nittur gram of South Coorg. Experts suspect that the male elephant was about 12 to 15 years old and the baby elephant was about a month old. Veterinary doctor Chandrashekar performed the post mortem.
2021-07-05 - Mysore, India.
Along with seasoned elephants like Arjuna, Abhimanyu and Harsha, Vikram too is an expert in wild elephant capture operations. As such, he was taken from Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu District to Rampur Elephant Camp near Bandipur. Sometime back, he was taken to Ramanagara and Hassan to capture rogue elephants and now he will be at Rampur, said Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Hediyala Division M.S. Ravikumar.
2021-07-05 - UDHAGAMANDALAM, India.
Elephant Shankar, which was undergoing training at a kraal in Abhayaranyam in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris for the last four-and-a-half months, was shifted to the nearby temporary elephant camp on Sunday. Including Shankar, there are 12 elephants in the Abhayaranyam temporary elephant camp. The rogue tusker, which killed three people in Gudalur area, was captured from Cherambadi in Gudalur division on February 12. The 35-year-old animal had killed the trio, including a man and h...
2021-07-04 - Halifax, United Kingdom.
Most people in Halifax have never heard of the time the zoo came to town, but it remains one of the strangest sagas in its history. But the star attraction was an elephant who was often seen being taken for exercise in nearby Salterhebble. You can read more about the zoo in "The Halifax Zoo and Amusement Park" by Harry Armitage, and "It Happened Here", by Arthur Porritt.
2021-07-04 - Thrissur, India.
Elephant Guruvayur Madhavankutty belonging to the Guruvayur Devaswom died on Saturday. According to Devaswom records, the tusker was aged 57. But veterinarians who examined it said it must be older by more years. With the death of Madhavankutty, the number of elephants belonging to the Guruvayur Devaswom shrunk to 44.
2021-07-03 - Bewdley, United Kingdom.
Latabe was just 28-years-old when she passed away after initial findings indicated a 'cardiac issue'. She had arrived at the park in 1998 with another female elephant, five, who she had become a close companion too. "She and Five both arrived at the Park as youngsters 23 years ago, after outgrowing an elephant orphanage in South Africa.
2021-07-02 - Chennai, India.
‘Operation Baahubali’, the mission to fit a radio collar to a wild elephant, has been postponed by another 10 days as the animal continues to remain elusive to forest officials. The adult male elephant Baahubali (nicknamed by locals after a Telegu movie character) was found in Mettupalayam, in the foothills of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district a year back.
2021-07-02 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The elephant rehabilitation centre in Kottoor is on high alert following the death of an elephant calf due to elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) and the diagnoses of the infection in two others. The first casualty of the deadly virus at the centre was Sreekutty, aged one year and seven months. The calf died on June 28. The State Institute of Animal Diseases, Palode, confirmed the disease on Thursday.
2021-07-01 - UDHAGAMANDALAM, India.
Forest minister K Ramachandran on Wednesday visited elephant Rivaldo, which is put in a kraal at Vazhaithottam check post. “The eight-member expert committee, set up to decide the fate of the elephant, will prepare a report after examining it. We will take a call then,” the minister said and hinted that it may be shifted to an elephant camp. Rivaldo was guided to the kraal on May 5 by forest officials for treatment. The elephant had been wandering in Vazhaithottam and Mavanallah areas in the...
2021-06-28 - London, United Kingdom.
Remains of the little-known Chatham Elephant or Upnor Elephant - dating back to when Neanderthals inhabitated the land - were found on a site near the River Medway in August 1913. Remarkably, Sydney Turner, of Luton Road, Chatham, stumbled on the bones which were on land owned by the Royal School of Military Engineering.
2021-06-28 - Kottoor, India.
It was in November 2020 that Sreekutty, a baby elephant, celebrated her first birthday with a little party thrown on her behalf by the people who took care of her. But seven months later, on June 28, she died, aged one and a half years. Sreekutty, the much-loved elephant calf of the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Kottoor of Kerala, left many hearts broken.
2021-06-27 - Udhagamandalam, India.
Field director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) K K Kaushal on Saturday wrote twrote to the vice-chancellor of Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), seeking service of a veterinarian to examine the injured eye of elephant Cherans the injured eye of elephant Cheran at the Theppakadu elephant camp in Tamil Nadu.
2021-06-26 - Udhagamandalam, India.
Cheran, a kumki elephant at the Theppakadu camp, was blinded by a ‘kaavadi’, or assistant to its mahout, on May 17. The elephant, aged around 35, has been used in many operations to capture or drive away wild elephants in the Western Ghats. It had already lost sight in one eye and depended on the left eye for vision. Disciplinary action initiated against forest staff, says official
2021-06-24 - Kunming, China.
In the past month, Ming Qingzhong, a university professor in Yunnan, has been closely monitoring 15 wild Asian elephants that have traveled 500 kilometers north from their habitat in the south of the province. Ming and his team from the Tourism and Culture Industry Research Institute at Yunnan University of Finance and Economics in Kunming, the provincial capital, have proposed building an Asian elephant national park, aiming to better manage and restore the giant creatures' habitats. "Such a na...
2021-06-24 - Wraxall, United Kingdom.
Keepers are "distraught" after a young elephant died in an attack involving another bull elephant, a zoo has said. The 12-year-old African elephant, M'Changa, sustained fatal injuries in the incident at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, in Wraxall, near Bristol. Another bull elephant had gone into the area where M'Changa was sleeping in the early hours of Friday, the zoo said. An investigation and a review into what happened is under way. Another two bull elephants, named Shaka and Janu, who w...
2021-06-23 - Atlanta, United States.
A 34-year-old African elephant at Zoo Atlanta in Georgia has just taught engineers a thing or two about how to move water. For one thing, she showed that her trunk doesn’t operate as a simple straw. To suck up water, she dilates that trunk — expands it. This cuts how many snorts she’ll need to pull in drinking water or the moisture she uses to hose herself down.
2021-06-23 - Palermo, Italy.
A team of UK and international scientists has confirmed that one of the largest land mammals that ever lived lost 8,000kg to evolve into a now-extinct species of dwarf elephant. In addition, the animal that once lived an isolated existence on the Italian island of Sicily also reduced in height by two metres to create a remarkable transformation. According to information released by the University of York in the UK, the Sicilian dwarf elephant – thought to have become extinct abo...
2021-06-23 - Palamaner, India.
It is for the first time in recent years that a 26-member herd has appeared on the outskirts of Palamaner, making it tough for the field staff to drive them into the thickets,” he said. The elephant trackers in a bid to tackle the wild herd tried firing crackers. In this process, a cracker exploded in the hand of forest watcher Srihari. The seriously injured worker, with three fingers missing, was rushed to the area hospital.
2021-06-22 - Nairobi, Kenya. Otiato Opali
With Ahmed the elephant in mind, Kenya last week launched the Elephant Naming Festival in which people get the chance to adopt an elephant after contributing money toward their chosen animal's conservation. Launching the program, Najib Balala, the cabinet secretary at the Ministry for Tourism and Wildlife, said the elephant-naming initiative will bring greater awareness of the need for conservation and boost tourism.
2021-06-22 - Izmir, Turkey.
Begümcan, a 25-year-old elephant, gave birth to a female calf in The İzmir Natural Life Park’s protected facility and delighted zookeepers, zoo officials told reporters. No name has been given to the baby elephant yet. Giving birth after about two years of gestation, Begümcan has two more calves named İzmir and Deniz (sea in Turkish) with Winner, the father elephant.
2021-06-21 - Hua Hin, Thailand.
A woman in Thailand made a startling discovery when she heard loud noises coming from her kitchen: There was an elephant that appeared to be looking for snacks. The incident occured in Hua Hin in southern Thailand around 2 a.m. Saturday. The kitchen belonged to resident Ratchadawan Puengprasoppon, according to The Guardian. The elephant, named Boonchuay, poked its head through Puengprasoppon's kitchen wall and proceeded to open drawers and knock down pots and pans as Puengprasoppon filmed it all...
2021-06-19 - Lucknow, India. Subha J Rao
In 2000, Champakali, a pregnant elephant, was brought to the garden from Dudhwa National Park. Around the same time, another elephant had been brought in from somewhere in Rajasthan. The two struck a chord and spent all their time together. “They would eat together, walk together… suddenly Champakali collapsed. Her baby had died. Her friend was inconsolable. We gave medicines to trigger hunger, but he did not eat for 13 or 14 days and died too,” says Kashyap, his voice heavy with emotion.
2021-06-18 - Tennessee, United States.
After a long legal battle, Tarra the elephant now belongs to Carol Buckley, the founder of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee.
2021-06-17 - Anyigbe-Nyagbo, Ghana.
Hyraxes are a cuddly-looking group of small mammals that also happen to be the closest living relatives of elephants and manatees. They’re found across much of Sub-Saharan African and parts of the Middle East. Currently, five distinct hyrax species are recognized. The proposed new species would be a sixth and inhabits the forests between the Niger and Volta rivers, in an area encompassing parts of Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. The findings were published June 15 in the Zoological Journal of...
2021-06-09 - Palakkad, India.
Manisseeri Raghuram, an elephant famous for its magnificent presence during temple festivals in the State, including Thrissur Pooram, died at Ottapalam on Wednesday. The elephant was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis and foot disease for the past several months. It had last paraded for the Paramekavu at Thrissur Pooram.
2021-06-09 - Hyderabad, India.
The Nehru Zoological Pak (NZP) here announced on Wednesday that it has lost an 83-year-old Asiatic elephant and a 21-year-old leopard due to senility. NZP Curator Subhadra Devi said Rani breathed her last on Tuesday and the post-mortem indicated old age related multiple organ failure as the cause of death. Born on October 7, 1938, Rani was one of the oldest elephants in captivity. Devi said Rani lived its life to the fullest and took food till last day and left without any major physical sufferi...
2021-05-17 - Houston, United States.
Just two months after baby elephant Winnie was born, there’s a new pachyderm in the herd! Sunday at 8:04 p.m., 37-year-old Asian elephant Tess gave birth to a 391-pound male, and the calf began to nurse within hours. The calf has been named Teddy by the team who have dedicated their lives to the care, well-being, and conservation of these incredible animals.
2021-04-29 - Kuwait, Kuwait. Nawara Fattahova
Kuwait Times toured the zoo in an exclusive visit, which was very quiet. During the visit we received both good and bad news. According to our guide, an adorable dark brown baby bear was born after three previously unsuccessful pregnancies. The sad part is that the female elephant Dalal is all alone, after her male companion died last year.
2021-04-29 - Budapest, Hungary.
n elephant calf was born in the Budapest Zoo in the small hours of Wednesday, the zoo told MTI. The delivery went without complications and the calf weighing 80kg stood up and started feeding soon after, the zoo said. The zoo has published videos of the birth on its website and will present the newcomer in a live stream on Thursday.
2021-04-28 - Windhoek, Namibia. Arlana Shikongo
THE meat of a 'problem' elephant that was trophy-hunted on Sunday has been distributed among farmers and farmworkers in the Otavi area. Romeo Muyunda, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, yesterday confirmed this. The elephant was made available to be trophy-hunted, much to the dismay of some environmental groups and conservationists, as it was reported to be causing havoc on farms between Otjiwarongo and Otavi.
2021-04-28 - Coorg, India.
Wild tusker Kusha, who escapade from Dubare elephant camp into the jungles to find companions had the Forest Department on tenterhooks for months, has won his freedom. His release from the camp was ordered by Forest Minister Aravind Limbavali on Wednesday after a prolonged discussion with the officials. Though captured from the wild near Chettahalli in Madikeri forest division five years ago and put in a Kraal in Dubare and tamed, it did not crush his spirit and he yearned for freedom.
2021-04-14 - Toledo, United States.
The Toledo Zoo on Wednesday said 9-year-old Lucas the elephant has died from a rare viral infection. "After days of heroic care, we have lost our beloved elephant Lucas to a devastating viral disease known as Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus," zoo President and CEO Jeff Salier said in a video.
2021-04-13 - New Delhi, India.
The elephant is regarded as India's National Heritage Animal. As per the 2017 census, the country housed a population of 27,312 elephants accounting for about 60% of the world's wild Asian elephant population! From this striking percentage, it appears that the country has managed to conserve its elephants quite commendably. However, the demands of development have led to the wanton destruction and fragmentation of elephant habitats across the country in recent decades. The future of India's wild...
2021-04-13 - Udawalawe, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Earlier this month, more than 300 people gathered near the borders of the Dahaiyagala Wildlife Sanctuary in Sri Lanka’s Uva province armed with axes, long knives, ropes and handheld hoes called mamoties. Their apparent intention: Take control of sanctuary lands and expand their farms.
2021-04-09 - , Kenya.
Conservation charity Space for Giants’ Human-Elephant Coexistence team joined the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to coordinate an extraordinary ‘drive’ to move a large number of crop-raiding bull elephants and family herds away from farmland in one of the major milestones of the West Laikipia Fencing Project.
2021-04-09 - HUAY PAKKOT, Thailand. DENIS D. GRAY
In one of the largest known elephant migrations in memory, many of the country's estimated 3,800 captive elephants trudged out of tourist sites ranging from northeastern Surin Province to the beachside towns of Pattaya and Phuket and the mountains around the northern city of Chiang Mai. One group from Chiang Mai trekked for a week to return to Huay Pakkot, a village 180 km southeast of the city, where the Karen ethnic minority has kept elephants for generations
2021-04-09 - Borås, Sweden.
A two-week old elephant has died after being rejected by her family following the birth of another elephant calf, Sweden's Boras Zoo announced Friday. "Despite three days of intensive care with a vet and carers at her side night and day the little animal left us today," the zoo said in a post on Instagram showing keepers surrounding the mammal.
2021-04-08 - Jamshedpur, India. Jayesh Thaker
The elephant count at Dalma wildlife sanctuary is all set to pep up during the census as foresters have spotted around 20 calves inside the sprawling 192 sq km sanctuary, 30 km from Jamshedpur. There are 155 elephants at Dalma reserve.The elephants had migrated to the jungles of West Midnapore and Bankura in neighbouring Bengal in August-September last year.
2021-04-08 - Madurai, India.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a probe into alleged poaching and killing of elephants in the forests of Tamil Nadu, an issue raised by wildlife activists over the years. Several elephants have been electrocuted or killed by poachers in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the last few years.
2021-04-08 - Ambalapuzha, India. Neethu Joseph
It was the efforts of a few kind-hearted people that helped rescue Ambalapuzha Vijayakrishnan, an injured captive elephant in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, from being paraded in a temple festival, something for which officials had deemed the tusker ‘fit’. Unfortunately, on Thursday, the 51-year-old elephant, owned by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), succumbed to its illness. According to activists who had been closely monitoring the elephant, it had not been taking food properly for the...
2021-04-08 - Warminster, United Kingdom.
An elephant called Anne, who spent 55 years performing in the circus before she was rescued in 2011 and brought to Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire, will not retire to France, her keepers have said. Uprooting her from familiar surroundings and people she has learnt to trust over more than a decade, and transporting her to a new, unknown location with the prospect of being left in the company of other elephants she does not know, in the hope it will somehow markedly improve her living conditions...
2021-04-06 - Gabarone, Botswana.
Botswana's authorities have issued 287 elephant-hunting licences as the hunting season resumed after it was suspended last year due to the pandemic. Hunters may shoot 287 elephants this season, Director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Kabelo Senyatso said in an interview. The hunting season runs from April 6 to September 21.
2021-04-06 - Pattaya, Thailand.
Napalai Mai-ngam, 26, said five years ago she had brought her relatives and their tamed elephants from Surin to work at an elephant resort in tambon Lam Huay Yai of Bang Lamung. After waiting in vain for tourists near Pattaya for more than a year, five elephants and their owners are heading back to their northeastern home province of Surin – a 500km journey, on foot.
2021-04-05 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Ministry of Environment has called on residents of Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province to not disturb the wild elephants there as well as participate in their protection. The call came after a herd of 38 wild elephants was spotted and photographed by residents at the sanctuary on March 31.
2021-04-04 - Coorg, India.
Kusha, the 27-year-old male elephant that went missing from Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu district, has been put in Kraal now. Kraal is a wooden log enclosure into which elephants are driven to be tamed and Dubare Camp has many such Kraals. Kusha, in a ‘Musth’ condition, had ventured into the forests after breaking his heavy chain one-and-a-half years ago in search of a mate and had not returned. He was caught last week and was brought to Meenukolli. Being separated from its mate using for...
2021-04-01 - New York City, United States.
A Ringling Brothers Circus elephant walks out of a train car as young children watch in the Bronx railroad yard in New York City, April 1, 1963. The circus opens in Madison Square Garden April 3 for a 40-day engagement.
2021-04-01 - Craven, United Kingdom. Lesley Tate
ROBERT Brothers Mammoth Zoo Circus was preparing to give Craven folk the time of their lives 75 years ago in 1946. Amongst the 20 ‘star acts’ were Buffalo Bill ‘ in person’ and Marharannne, an Indian performing elephant.
2021-03-31 - Raipur, India. AVDHESH MALLICK
Chhattisgarh which witnessed, death of 157 wild elephants from 2001- June 2020 has witnessed death of one more baby elephant in the forest circles of Dharamjaigarh of Raigarh district. State Government data reflects between 2013-18, around 250 people have lost their lives in man-elephant conflict. Meanwhile, the state also holds a record of death of 100 elephants in the period.
2021-03-30 - MADIKERI, India.
The elephant Kusha, which had escaped from the Dubare elephant camp over a year ago, has been recaptured by the forest department. The 29-year-old male elephant is now in the Meenukolli Reserve Forest area and will soon be shifted back to the Dubare camp with the efforts of four other tamed male elephants -- Dhananjaya, Prashantha, Sugreeva and Lakshmana
2021-03-30 - BHUBANESWAR, India. Sujit Kumar Bisoyi
As many as 843 elephants have died in Odisha in the past 10 years due to various reasons, said state forest and environment minister forest and environment minister Bikram Kesha Arukh on Tuesday.
2021-03-30 - Thrissur, India.
Popular elephant, Guruvayur Vailya Kesavan, belonging to Guruvayur Devaswom died on Monay morning. As per the official records, the elephant was 52 years old.
2021-03-28 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Tinashe Farawo
ZIMBABWE has a proud history of successful elephant conservation and is one of the key elephant range states and home to the second-largest elephant population after Botswana. The country has an elephant population estimated at 84 000, according to the last census conducted in 2014. ZimParks has been unable to generate enough resources to support its conservation operations.
2021-03-25 - Gland, Switzerland.
Following population declines over several decades due to poaching for ivory and loss of habitat, the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is now listed as Critically Endangered and the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Before today’s update, African elephants were treated as a single species, listed as Vulnerable; this is the first time the two species have been assessed separately for the IUCN Red List, followin...
2021-03-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
83 wild elephants died so far in 2021, said the Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation Somaratne Vidanapathirana at a media briefing on Wednesday. The Secretary said the deaths were caused by electrocution, shootings, various explosive material, falling into wells, train accidents, and natural causes.
2021-03-24 - Gaborone, Botswana.
Botswana is offering rights to shoot 287 elephants as the southern African country, which has the world’s biggest population of the animals, tries to breathe life into a hunting industry stalled by the Covid-19 outbreak. Botswana’s neighbors including South Africa and Zimbabwe allow elephant hunting. The hunting season will begin April 6.
2021-03-23 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
This wild Sumatran elephant was found abandoned in a forest near Srimulya Village in Peunaron Sub-district, East Aceh District, Aceh Province, in mid-March and received medical treatment on early Sunday (March 21), Anhar, the forum's veterinarian, noted: "The elephant is estimated to have been injured two or three weeks ago," Anhar remarked, adding that the local villagers, however, informed the FKL officers in Langsa District on March 16.
2021-03-22 - Kazan, Russian Federation.
Elephant trainers tried desperately to separate the brawling giants after an Indian female named Jenny butted another named Magda and knocked her to the ground. She then tried to trample her floored rival at the edge of the ring, prompting the audience to abandon their seats and pour out of the circus in Kazan.
2021-03-21 - San Diego, United States.
Jose Manuel Navarrete brought his 2-year-old INSIDE a caged elephant habitat at the San Diego Zoo and fumbled the kid trying to make a run for it. he had to pay a price for his stupid stunt. He was arrested by San Diego PD and booked on child endangerment charges.
2021-03-20 - Ankara, Turkey.
Oksan Basoglu, a professor of archeology at Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University, who is heading excavations told that five different species of elephants, were found. Basoglu underlined that the most interesting piece among those found was a complete elephant skull fossil belonging to Choerolophodon Pentelici, known as elephants' ancestor. "This is the only sample fully uncovered. The species is also significant. It's a rare species in the world," he said.
2021-03-19 - Sauraha, Nepal. Alisha Sijapati and Tufan Neupane
A domesticated elephant used for safaris in Chitwan National Park which was being illegally transported to India in contravention of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) is being tracked by Nepal police at the border. The 50-year-old female elephant belongs to Jungle World Resort, and is named ‘Ashakali’. A video of the truck showed its number to be: ना ४ ख २८२७.
2021-03-19 - Omaha, United States.
Claire will give birth to a roughly 200-pound bundle of joy in late January or February next year. Callee, the baby’s father, came to Omaha about two years ago from the Birmingham Zoo in Alabama. The news is good for the zoo’s seven-elephant herd, said Dennis Pate, CEO and executive director of the zoo. It will allow the animals to maintain their herd.
2021-03-19 - Pune, India.
Agigantic swimming pool has been constructed for two elephants at a zoo in Pune. The pool has been built at the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Katraj. Meera and Janaki, two female elephants in the park, enjoy in the pool every single day as seen in the pictures. Tajjudin, the trainer of the two 25-year-old elephants, explained how he has been taking care, nurturing and training the animals since the past 18 years. The 55-year-old trainer said that his forefathers have been in Pune since the las...
2021-03-19 - El Paso, United States.
Juno the elephant of the El Paso Zoo has died at 53 after fighting breast cancer, the city reported Friday morning. On April 16, 2002, the City Council voted 4-2 to bring another elephant to the El Paso Zoo. Juno, a then 8,000-pound 35-year-old female, arrived later that month, donated by the Center for Elephant Conservation of Polk City, Florida, which is affiliated with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
2021-03-18 - Siem Reap, Cambodia. Peter Olszewski
In 2003, David’s parents tried to launch an elephant sanctuary and retirement camp at Kbal Spean, but the project was shelved. Then, during David’s one-year sabbatical in Cambodia, the idea was reborn, and, as David says: “The Angkor elephant rides had no place in the future, and so it was a good time to change.” The project was initiated in October 2017 and the sanctuary opened three years later in December 2019, after the arrival by truck of the two eldest elephants – Chi Tan and Sam...
2021-03-17 - Ruskin, United States.
Barbara Woodcock’s career began in the 1930s as a child working with her parents at their small operation, Marlowe’s Mighty Hippodrome. Educated as a leopard trainer and aerialist, her career took a major U-turn after meeting William “Buckles” Woodcock, her future husband. From 1982 to 2000, they performed with the Big Apple Circus, adding their children to the shows.
2021-03-16 - Rayong, Thailand.
In Thailand, according to “RT”, a wild elephant was able to identify the veterinarian who treated him 12 years ago, Patarabol Manion, and extended his proboscis to touch the veterinarian’s hand during an unexpected reunion, according to the “Daily Mail” newspaper.
2021-03-16 - Udhagamandalam, India.
A two-year-old female elephant calf was found dead in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). “Pug marks of a tiger were found close to the location where the carcass was found. A tiger could have attacked and killed the elephant, a forest official said.
2021-03-16 - Trichur, India.
Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, the celebrity tusker of Thrissur Pooram, will not take part in the festival vilambaram ceremony this year. Ernakulam Sivakumar owned by the Cochin Devaswom Board, will replace Ramachandran. The committee took the decision as the forest department has restricted the parading of Ramachandran. Forest department has imposed a ban on parading the elephant after it ran amok and killed two people at Guruvayur in February 2019.
2021-03-12 - Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
The three-month-old female calf, weighing 121 kg, was handed over to safari park authorities on Wednesday. It was found abandoned beside Monkhali canal under Shaplapur beat office of Huiyakkong range of Cox's Bazar South Forest Division.
2021-03-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Mahaweli Authority has said that 6150 hectares of land were given to the proposed Hambantota Wild Elephant Management Reserve. The Authority stated that 2250 hectares have been set aside for further development in the proposed reserve. “This land is extremely suitable for development,” Osmond De Silva, the Resident Project Manager of the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority said. It states that the relevant wild elephant management zone will be gazetted under the Wildlife Ordinance.
2021-03-11 - Houston, United States.
The mother and her newborn, who has not yet been named, will undergo continued post-natal exams and spend several days bonding before they join the rest of the elephants. This is the first calf for Tupelo, whose pregnancy was the result of artificial insemination since she is related to all the male elephants at the zoo.
2021-03-09 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.
A Sri Lankan Tusker Rewatha, named by Samagi Jana Balawegaya leader MP Sajith Premadasa, has been found dead. It has been reported that the Tusker found in the Balalu Wewa wildlife forest reserve in Kala Wewa, had died due to electrocution. The majestic Tusker of Sri Lanka is said to have been electrocuted by unauthorized electric fences set up for the protection of illegal farmlands within the forest reserve.
2021-03-05 - Fort Worth, United States.
A spokesperson for the Fort Worth Zoo said this week that the permit to import Emily and Nellie from Canada was withdrawn last year "following an internal decision" from management, and "those two elephants" would not be imported. According to the Fort Worth Zoo permit for application, the planned sale price was $2 million, plus a $200,000 bonus if Emily produced a calf, as long as it lived for more than 60 days.
2021-03-03 - Bristol, United Kingdom.
An opportunity has arisen for an experienced, motivated individual to join our committed and friendly team of animal keepers. We are looking to recruit an experienced animal keeper with at least one year of keeping Elephants into our progressive protected contact Elephant Section which is acting as Europe's premier African Elephant Bull facility.
2021-03-01 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
With its new multi-million-pound elephant facility ‘Project Elephant Basecamp’ opened in 2018 award winning Blackpool Zoo is currently looking to fill a keeper position within its Elephant Section. The successful candidate will be working in a protected contact keeping system.
2021-02-28 - Bristol, United Kingdom.
Earlier this week, Bristol Zoo announced plans to turn its car park into housing. This came after the Bristol Zoological Society announced at the end of November the closure of its Clifton site, with plans to relocate the attraction to its Wild Place Project site in South Gloucestershire to create a 'world-class zoo and safeguard the future of the organisation'.
2021-02-26 - Bedfordshire, United Kingdom.
Zoo keepers have compiled the world's largest collection of thermal images of elephants. The pictures show elephants in every pose as they play, eat and hang out in their enclosure at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. The 30,000 "selfies" are being used in a conservation project to help save endangered elephants.
2021-02-26 - Santander, Spain.
The female elephant weighing around 4,000kg (8,800lb) hit the 44-year-old with her trunk on Wednesday morning at the Cabarceno Natural Park near the northern city of Santander, the zoo said. The man was rushed to hospital where he died from his injuries some three hours later.
2021-02-23 - Madras, India.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday opined that a uniform policy should be put in place to completely prohibit future ownership of elephants by individuals or temples and to bring all elephants under the care of the Forest Department.
2021-02-17 - Stockholm, Sweden.
For the first time, preserved DNA has been recovered from animal remains over a million years old. The DNA belonged to two mammoths that lived around 1.2 million years ago. “Instead of there being one species [or lineage] of mammoth up in Siberia around 1-2 million years ago, it now looks like there are two,” says Love Dalén at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm, Sweden. The genetic sequences change our understanding of mammoth evolution. They reveal that, at that time, Siberia was ...
2021-02-13 - COIMBATORE, India.
The two-month operation by Forest department to capture elephant Shankar bore fruit on Friday with officials capturing the 20-year-old wild tusker near Gudalur in the Nilgiris. A team of veterinarians headed by K Asokan, Forest Veterinary Officer of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, veterinarians G Vijayaragavan and K Rajeshkumar shot the tranquilizer dart at the wild elephant, which killed three persons last year, at Tenth Line at Cherampadi.
2021-02-09 - Pathanamthitta, India.
The building that houses the museum, which was originally opened in 2006 by displaying an elephant skeleton and implements associated with the training of captive elephants, was awaiting renovation for the past several years.
2021-02-08 - Thekkampatti, India.
Elephants from temples across Tamil Nadu began to descend on Sunday morning for the 48-day jumbo retreat at Thekkampatti camp on the banks of river Bhavani in Coimbatore. A pet project of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, the rejuvenation camp started way back in 2003 to provide adequate rest for jumbos with nutritious food and medical treatment.
2021-02-08 - Salukapur, India.
The calf was born on February 3, more than two years after 10 elephants were translocated from Karnataka to Dudhwa tiger reserve's South Sonaripur range. Teresa is the first cow to conceive after the translocation in May 2018. Last year, a wild bull elephant who had gone 'musth' came near the camp searching for a mate. Teresa was released and returned after four days.
2021-02-08 - Buffalo, United States.
Though many elephant relatives harbor extra copies of tumor-suppressor genes, the scientists found that elephant genomes possess some unique duplications that may contribute to tumor suppression through genes involved in DNA repair, resistance to oxidative stress and cellular growth, aging and death.
2021-02-08 - Jaipur , India.
The Rajasthan Government on Monday ordered the removal of 20 medically unfit elephants from tourist rides at Amer Fort in Jaipur. 3 elephants had tested positive for tuberculosis (TB), 11 elephants had one eye blind, along with other ailments for the rest of the elephants, read the release by the Rajasthan Government. The team of veterinary department at the zoo had been constantly monitoring the health of these elephants since July 2020.
2021-02-06 - Isle of Wight, United Kingdom.
Two brothers living in England and interested in fossil hunting as an amateur found a fossil on the beach of Isle of Wight. While this fossil is thought to be an elephant fossil dating back 125,000 years, researchers also showed great interest in this discovery.
2021-02-04 - Medan, Indonesia.
A 35-year-old elephant, named "Sari," gave birth to this female calf, weighing 69 kilograms and 108 centimeters in height, in the Tangkahan Conservation Response Unit (CRU), Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL) in Langkat District, North Sumatra. There are now fewer than 1,700 Sumatran elephants (elephas maximus sumatranus) left in the wild, according to some reports.
2021-01-30 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Aameena, the wild elephant calf found near its deceased mother elephant at Kallar has been shifted to Kottoor elephant rehabilitation centre. The calf calf easily got adjusted to her new home. The mother elephant died after getting electrocuted from a metal line which passes through the forest range.
2021-01-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation will conduct an island-wide elephant census this year after a decade to determine the exact number of the animals in the country, local media reported on Monday. Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation Bandula Harischandra said an elephant census was last conducted in 2011 and it was estimated that Sri Lanka had 5,179 tuskers, reports Xinhua news agency.
2021-01-26 - Empangeni, South Africa.
STAFF, medical teams and anti-poaching personnel at Thula Thula Private Game Reserve are mourning the passing of their beloved matriarch elephant, Frankie, one of seven elephants that arrived at the private game reserve in 1999, when Nana was matriarch. Test results confirmed Frankie had liver damage, and despite a combination of medications and daily feedings, her condition didn’t improve.
2021-01-19 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Pamodi Waravita
The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) would be conducting an investigation at the Horowpothana Elephant Holding Ground (HEHG) in July this year on the circumstances claimed in the National Audit Report for 2020. According to the report, although the HEHG was originally constructed to retain 30 rogue elephants as a solution to the human-elephant conflict, by 2019, 52 elephants had eventually been released to the ground. However, at the time the elephant census of the report was conducted ...
2021-01-18 - New Delhi, India.
In the video, one can clearly see the woman lying comfortably on a low bed as the elephant is standing near her and massaging her back. The video was shared by a Twitter user named Aamir on Saturday (January 16) and ever since then it has garnered thousands of views, hundreds of likes, comments and retweets. However, the location of the video is not known yet.
2021-01-18 - Taikyi , Myanmar. ZON PANN PWINT
As beaches, hotels, pagodas and even walking tours were starved of tourists for most of last year, the pandemic has also taken its toll on the nation’s many elephant camps – which were once a popular weekend activity for animal lovers. About an hour and a half outside Yangon, Winga Baw Elephant Conservation Camp is one such place. It is a popular place for Yantonites wanting to visit a baby pachyderm sadly orphaned by hunters.
2021-01-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
On Monday (18) locals from Walsapugala, Hambantota decided to take to the streets demanding the Proposed Wild Elephant Management Reserve in Hambantota, be included in the government gazette. The Walsapugala village in Hambantota is a village in the frontlines of the Human-Elephant conflict, and for many years the people in this village have been living in fear for their lives.
2021-01-18 - Guwahati, India. Sentinel Digital Desk
Amid repeated incidents of man-animal conflict being reported from different parts of Assam, a five-day training session have kick-started started in Guwahati on Monday for about 35 forest officials, mostly Indian Forest Service (IFS) officials to train them and help respond better in man-animal conflict situations. The training session is being organized by Assam Agriculture University and the College of Veterinary Science. Notably, the session was inaugurated by Assam Forest Minister Parimal S...
2021-01-17 - Jupiter, United Kingdom.
The maverick haulier must overcome a crisis of confidence when he and his friends are hired to transport a pregnant elephant to Texas, a mammoth task that proves far from easy. The Asian elephant in Smokey and the Bandit II, was portrayed by Cora. Cora was during the film rented from the owner Bill and Cindy Morris of Elephant Encounter.
2021-01-17 - Aruvippuram, India.
An aggressive elephant threw its mahout away in a fit of rage resulting in his death. The second mahout identified as Kollam native Vishnu (21) died in the attack by the elephant. The incident took place on Saturday evening at Ayayil Kariyilakulangara temple. The elephant named Gowrinandan, owned by the local festival committee, turned aggressive when he was being to the temple.
2021-01-16 - Yunnan, China.
At the Xishuangbanna Tropical Zoo, an Asian elephant named Ya Long also gave birth to a baby weighing 95.4 kilograms on January 14, after 21 months and 19 days of pregnancy. "It took the baby elephant about 20 minutes to get up. Now, its breathing and other physical signs are normal," said Ji Yang, a veterinarian of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Zoo.
2021-01-15 - Natural Bridge, United States.
The fifth violation involved Asha, the zoo’s prized elephant, and regulations that require dangerous animals such as lions, tigers, bears and elephants to be under the control of an experienced handler during public exhibits. Visitors sometimes rode, photographed or fed Asha without her handler always being nearby, according to the USDA.
2021-01-14 - Bath, United Kingdom. Vikki White
Gerry Cottle, who died in hospital in Bath this week aged 75 after contracting coronavirus, became one of Britain’s best known kings of the Big Top. From virtually nothing he went on to run a string of circuses all over the world. Cottle retired from travelling entertainment in 2003 and bought Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset, adding a clown museum and circus school to the tourist attraction
2021-01-12 - COIMBATORE, India.
Apart from tourists and people in Masinagudi, those in Mavanallah, Bokkapuram, Vaalaithottam and Sigur buffer areas of the MTR, have started taking selfies with Rivaldo after parking their vehicles on the road. Apart from causing traffic congestion, it also disturbs the animal
2021-01-10 - Masindi, Uganda. Michael Ojok
According to Jalon Lakony Opiyo, every time elephants invade the area, each member of the village which has around 2000 households contributes 1000 shillings for the rangers to rescue them and their properties.
2021-01-06 - Jaipur, India. Deep Mukherjee
Ride operators however, say that they ensure care for the elephants and that closing down the rides would be unfair to mahouts. “How is it fair for this report to say that the elephant rides should be done away with," asked Abdul Aziz, president of the Haathi Malik Vikas Samiti.
2021-01-04 - Koppala, India.
Two days after a person who was away for cattle grazing at Virupapura Gaddi Islet in Gangavathi taluk was killed by a leopard, the Forest Department officers have introduced two elephants — a male and a feminine — from Sakrebail Elephant Camp in Shivamogga district and carried out a combing operations for leopards on Sunday.
2021-01-04 - Yangon, Myanmar.
Khaing Khin Sein lives at the Myaing Hay Wun Elephant Camp, which is located between Taik Kyi and Okekan township in the Yangon Region. More than 30 elephants reside at the Myaing Hay Wun Elephant Camp, which became a tourist attraction whilst the city’s lockdown orders came into force.
2021-01-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation has taken steps to use drone technology to chase away elephants; the pilot project of this initiative is currently underway in the Naula Rathgammana area in Matale, wildlife officials said on Saturday The pilot project is conducted together with the Sri Lanka Army Research Unit and Sri Lanka Navy, M.S.R.C. Marasinghe, the Director of Operations at the Department of Wildlife Conservation told News 1st.
2021-01-02 - Beiiing, China.
Seventeen people have been jailed -- including two for life -- for running China's largest ever ivory smuggling ring, moving millions of dollars of tusks from west Africa into the mainland's vast domestic market. A court in the southern city of Guangzhou on Tuesday handed long prison terms to 17 people involved in smuggling over 20 tons of ivory worth more than 1 billion yuan (US$156 million).
2021-01-01 - Berhampur, India.
The elephant calf, rejected by its herd in Sunapur village on the outskirts of Berhampur has been shifted to Kapilash rescue centre in Dhenkanal district. The baby elephant was part of the herd which sneaked into the locality and subsequently entered Tampara lake causing extensive damage to prawn enclosures and fishing boats. Meanwhile, the calf got stuck in marshy lake pond and suffered injuries.
2020-12-29 - Belfast, Ireland. Sammy Edwards
2020-12-26 - St Louis, United States.
One of the St. Louis Zoo's most beloved residents will be turning another year older Sunday. Raja the elephant will turn 28 and you're invited to celebrate him - virtually. The zoo will stream a video of Raja starting at 11 a.m. on their Facebook and YouTube pages and you can celebrate him from the comfort of your couch.
2020-12-26 - Cincinnati, United States.
The Cincinnati Zoo is one giant step closer to building a new home for the elephants. The Cincinnati Business Courier reports the state of Ohio is kicking in $1.5 million to help fund the new Elephant Trek. It's part of a $150-million expansion. Once complete, the elephants will have overhead feeding stations, ponds, a stream, mud wallows and five times the space to explore.
2020-12-24 - Dehradun, India.
The Uttarakhand forest department on Thursday radio-collared a third elephant in the state this year and released it in a forest near Haridwar to keep track of its movement during the Maha Kumbh fair scheduled there from next month. Chief wildlife warden JS Suhag said the elephant, who is around 40-year-old, is part of a herd of around six to seven elephants that frequently ventures into human habitations.
2020-12-21 - Jamnagar, India.
Spread across 250 acres, Jamnagar in Gujarat will have one of the biggest zoos in the world in terms of number and species of animals in one place. As per details uploaded on the Central Zoo Authority, the mega zoo, to be called ”Greens Zoological Rescue and the Rehabilitation Kingdom” will be spread over 250.1 acres.
2020-12-11 - Tambon Ban Tong, Thailand.
Chabakaew, a baby elephant saved after falling into a septic tank last year and taken care of by park officials, died on Wednesday at the Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary in Bueng Kan province. They suspect the calf may have died from Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV), or bad bacteria in its digestive system.
2020-12-11 - Syracuse, United States.
Batu, a five-year-old elephant at Syracuse’s Rosamond Gifford Zoo, died today, Batu, pronounced BAA-two, was 5 years old. His younger brother, baby Ajay, died on Tuesday — about a month before his second birthday. Both young elephants died of elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus, the biggest killer of young Asian elephants.
2020-12-10 - Dodoma, Tanzania.
At least 12 elephants have been killed in Tanzania in the past three months in what the country’s national parks watchdog has described as a new wave of poaching. John Nyamhanga, TANAPA’s assistant conservation commissioner for law enforcement and strategic security, said 10 of the elephants were killed between September and November along the Tarangire-Ngorongoro-Manyara ecosystem.
2020-12-10 - Weymouth, United Kingdom.
These pictures were taken in 1961 and show Billy Smart's Circus arriving in town. They were taken by the bridge opposite Knightsdale Road by the Marsh, where the Big Top would be pitched and the circus would be held. There seem to be four elephants in the picture, coming through the tunnel trunk to tail carrying some rather fancily dressed elephant riders who are waving to the crowds.
2020-12-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has earned the dubious ranking as the country where the largest number of Elephants are killed because of the Human-Elephant conflict, a Parliamentary Committee has heard as evidence of an increase in the intensity of the conflict was presented by experts. This country is also ranked number two globally where humans have died in conflict with wild Elephants, testimony led before the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) heard according to a statement released by the Parliament’s Office...
2020-12-10 - Syracuse, United States.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is mourning the sudden death of its baby elephant, Ajay. The Syracuse zoo announced that its youngest elephant calf died Tuesday from Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus (EEHV), a lethal strain of herpes that largely affects young Asian elephants. Ajay would have turned 2 next month.
2020-12-09 - Jaipur, India.
“An amount of Rs 4.2 crore will be distributed to the caretakers of elephants (mahouts) and their families, responsible for their upkeep. The relief is for the elephant and mahouts living in Jaipur's Haathi Gaon (Elephant village). The money has been issued from the CM Relief Fund and aims to improve the condition of elephants and their caretakers. The money will be distributed through the ‘Elephant welfare fund’. Under this relief, around 95 elephants living in the elephant village will b...
2020-12-09 - Dibrugarh, India.
The carcass of a wild elephant found inside Joypur reserve forest in Assam’s Dibrugarh district last week has tested positive for Anthrax, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) said Wednesday. Though the highly infectious disease caused by the bacteria called ‘Bacilhus anthracis’ had earlier been detected in cattle in the state, this is likely to be the first confirmed case of Anthrax in wild elephants in Assam. Forest officials had found the carcass of a sub-adult female aged nearly 10 years ...
2020-12-08 - Delhi, India.
Tropical Asia and Africa are the only regions on Earth that retain diverse populations of large, land-dwelling mammals, such as elephants, rhinos, and big cats. A new study co-authored by Yale researcher Advait M. Jukar suggests that the persistence of mammalian megafauna in the Indian Subcontinent is related to the great beasts’ long coexistence there with homo sapiens and other human ancestors.
2020-12-07 - Kanha, India.
THE Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has captured the elephant whose brother died of electrocution near Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh on November 27. Kanha Tiger Reserve Field Director S K Singh told The Indian Express, “The elephant was caught in Kanha range in the core area of the tiger reserve around 4 pm on Sunday.”
2020-12-07 - Windhoek, Namibia. Matty Kaminzi
The elephants are from the Omatjete area, Kamanjab commercial farming area, Grootfontein-Kavango Cattle Ranch area and Grootfontein-Tsumkwe area.
2020-12-07 - Anchorage, United States. David Reamer
Annabelle (1964-1997) was a prize, literally. Earlier that year, paper products manufacturer Crown Zellerbach ran a promotion for their Chiffon Tissue. Whichever grocery store sold the most toilet paper won their choice of $3,000 (about $24,500 in 2020 dollars) or a baby Indian elephant. Jack Snyder, owner of the two Anchorage S & F Foodland grocery stores, won and chose the elephant. From this sitcom-quality beginning, Anchorage soon gained not only a zoo but one of its most famous artists.
2020-12-06 - San José del Guaviare, Colombia.
The series of vivid drawings were created approximately 12,600 to 11,800 years ago and deliver solid evidence that the Amazon rainforest’s first inhabitants resided beside Ice Age mega-mammals such as the giant sloths, camelids, horses, mastodons, and three-toed ungulates sporting long trunks.
2020-12-05 - Pleiku, Vietnam.
Ms. Ploanh, the owner of the elephant, said yesterday (December 3), the elephant Ya Tao was taken to the bank of Ia Tul river to drink water. After drinking, the elephant was lying on the bank of the stream, a while later she died.. Ya Tao was bought by Mr. Ksor Cham in an elephant-trading market in Dak Lak province (the province that has the biggest elephant populations in Vietnam) in 1990. After Mr. Cham passed away, Siu Kiem, Mr. Cham’s son-in-law had taken charge of taking care of Ya Tao. ...
2020-12-04 - Tokyo, Japan.
On Tuesday, Tokyo’s Ueno Zoological Gardens unveiled its first baby elephant to the world and asked the public to help name it, reported news agency Reuters. The male calf is born to parent elephants Authi and Artid who were gifted to Japan by Thailand in 2002. The gifts were presented to celebrate the birth of Princess Aiko, who is the only daughter of Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
2020-12-02 - Athirappilly, India.
The social forestry division here has prepared a data bank on the 130 elephants in the district after detailed examination. The details such as their health conditions, treatment, details of owners and mahouts, microchip and pictures were collected. 16 elephants were identified and referred for expert treatment and care. An expert panel was formed including district chief veterinary officer Dr Usharani, Dr David Abraham and veterinary college associate professor TS Rajeev to treat these tuskers.
2020-11-30 - Bozeman, United States.
A newly published paper from the museums reveals that the Pacific mastodon, Mammut pacificus, described in 2019 from the Pleistocene of California and Idaho, was also found in eastern Montana between 639,000 and 160,000 years ago. Determining the new find were the Pacific mastodon fossils sent to the Western Science Museum located at 2345 Searl Parkway in Hemet for study by scientists there.
2020-11-29 - Cornwall, United Kingdom.
The incredible picture above, which was previously shared with Cornwall Live by Perranzabuloe Museum, reappeared on Facebook this week, on The North Coast page, bringing back memories to locals. It is not known whether the photograph, which was passed to the museum in a collection of old images and memorabilia, showed the same two elephants that Mr Philps met when he was young. In England, there has been a ban on wild-animal circuses since January 2020.
2020-11-29 - Oklahoma City, United States.
Asha, a 25-year-old Asian elephant residing at the Oklahoma City Zoo, is expecting a baby in February 2022. The zoo released a video of the calf's ultrasound, even pointing out the growing baby's head, trunk, and legs. If you're wondering why we have to wait over a year to meet Asha's calf, it's because Asian elephants have a gestation period of 645 days...or around 22 months.
2020-11-28 - Kinabatangan, Malaysia.
On Friday (28 November 2020), a Kinabatangan wildlife ranger found and relocated an adolescent elephant that was lost in a plantation in Kampung Sukau. The elephant is now under the protection of the Sabah Wildlife Department and placed in the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary.
2020-11-28 - Byculla, India.
Byculla zoo’s oldest animal, female elephant Laxmi, died on Thursday. It was 64 years old and died due to old age complications and a chronic heart failure, said officials. Laxmi was one of the main attractions of Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo in Byculla. It was brought from Venus Circus in 1977 in an exchange programme.
2020-11-27 - Haag, Netherlands.
The fate of the Netherlands’ last circus elephant lies in the hands of farm minister Carola Schouten, who will decide next week if the animal should stay with the circus family who own her, or if she should be moved to a sanctuary in France. MPs are due to vote on the issue on Tuesday after a motion was filed by CDA MP Martijn van Helvert and the anti-immigration PVV to halt the move. They argue it would be cruel to move the elephant to a new location.
2020-11-27 - London, United Kingdom.
A man has been found guilty of selling jewellery containing elephant hair from a shop in Wembley in London. Harrow Crown Court heard this week that Rajtharan Mahalingam was discovered by the Met’s Wildlife Crime Unit to be selling jewellery he claimed contained elephant hair. Forensic analysis was conducted on samples of the seized jewellery and hair, which were seized in 2017. Results from the hair samples matched DNA from both an African and Asian elephant.
2020-11-24 - Melbourne, Australia.
An elephant keeper who lost his job because of 'spiralling' drug use has been sentenced for breaking into the zoo were he used to work in order to feed animals and take selfies with them. Lucas McGhie, 36, was sentenced in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday after he pleaded guilty to trespass charges from sneaking into Melbourne Zoo with three others in the early hours of April 14 last year.
2020-11-19 - Bronx, United States.
Happy the elephant was the center of attention in court Thursday when five state appellate judges debated whether the beloved Bronx Zoo mammal should be recognized as a person. However, the judges were skeptical in granting “personhood” to the 49-year-old female Asian elephant.
2020-11-16 - Peshawar, Pakistan.
The authorities of the Peshawar Zoo have approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to import a pair of elephants from Zimbabwe. A three-member bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, has issued notices to the respondents and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
2020-11-13 - El Paso, United States.
One of the El Paso Zoo’s Asian elephants, Juno, will undergo her seventh cancer treatment this week. In October 2016, Juno was diagnosed with a malignant mass in her right mammary gland, commonly known as breast cancer. This is the only currently known case of breast cancer in an elephant; elephants are generally not diagnosed with cancer.
2020-11-13 - Bangalore, India.
20-year-old male elephant Sunder was treated to seasonal enrichment to mark the completion of its four-month-long musth period at the Bannerghatta Biological Park here on Thursday. Vanashree Vipin Singh, Executive Director, BBP, said: “Sunder successfully completed the musth period, which was a bit longer. With the onset of winter and Deepavali, we gave it rice balls laced with jaggery, watermelon, banana, maize and carrot.”
2020-11-12 - Rayong, Thailand.
The elephant, named Nga-Sun, was found collapsed on a palm plantation by villagers in Rayong province last month. Vets from the local wildlife team identified gunshot wounds across the animal's buttocks, tail, and front leg. The wounds had punctured major internal organs such as its lungs, heart, spleen, and intestines.
2020-11-11 - Jalpaiguri, India.
An elephant calf was rescued from near the New Mal railway station in Malbazar subdivision of Jalpaiguri on Tuesday. Soon, a team from the Malbazar wildlife squad arrived and intercepted the calf. They tried to send it back to the forest but could not locate its herd. It has been sent to the rescue centre in Gorumara National Park, said Bibhuti Bhusan Das, range officer of the wildlife squad. This is the third elephant calf rescued in four days.
2020-11-10 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Soth Koemsoeun
Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra said the Asian elephant is being severely threatened in world sanctuaries. Airavata Elephant Foundation president Chenda Clais said on November 10 that wild elephants face trapping, a lack of proper shelter and daily food in the dry season. Population growth has also fuelled the human demand for land.
2020-11-09 - Kottoor, India.
Sreekutty was brought to the Kappukadu elephant rehabilitation centre on November 8, 2019. Staying in the Kappukadu elephant rehabilitation center in Kerala, the calf turned a year old on November 8. A grand celebration was organized for her at the center.
2020-11-09 - Dehradun, India.
The Uttarakhand government is considering denotifying the Shivalik Elephant Reserve. A senior forest department official told The Indian Express, “The state wildlife board will discuss this. That area will remain a reserve forest even after denotification as an elephant reserve. It will not make any big difference.” The official said an elephant reserve has “no legal sanctity”.
2020-11-08 - Nawalapur, Nepal.
A mahout has died when an elephant attacked him while grazing it inside the Chitwan National Park. The deceased is 36-year-old Hansaraj Kunmar Dhami of Chandranigahapur, Rautahat. He had been currently residing in Ratnanagar municipality-6 in Chitwan. A four and half years old male elephant named Rajagaja had attacked the mahout.
2020-11-08 - Bengaluru, India.
HM Chaitanya Swamy, DHNS, Bengaluru, NOV 08 2020, 01:34 ISTUPDATED: NOV 08 2020, 01:56 IST Police have arrested a five-member gang from Tamil Nadu that allegedly tried to sell elephant tusks on Food Street, VV Puram, and seized two tusks from them. Police filed a case under the Wildlife Act against Govindaraj, 24, Rajesh, 28, Prabhakaran, 34, Naveen, 29, and Tamil Selvan, 25, who hail from Tirupattur and Vellore districts.
2020-11-07 - Palakkad, India.
The death rate of wild elephants in Kerala is high, reveals statistics shared by the forest department. As per the 2018 census, the wild elephant population in the state is 5,706. The death rate is high, say experts. “The life expectancy of captive elephants in Kerala is 70 to 75 years while that of wild elephants is only 60 years,” said B N Anjan Kumar, technical assistant to chief wildlife warden.
2020-11-06 - Naxalbari, India. AVIJAN SAHA, SAHANA GHOSH
Elephants in north West Bengal, would earlier cross the Mechi river along the Indo-Nepal border, over to Nepal, along a regular route identified as the Mahananda-Kolabari elephant corridor. In 2016, a solar-powered fence erected by Nepal abruptly cut off the herds’ transboundary movement along this route. This northern part of West Bengal has 488 elephants spread over 1933 square km, as reported by the 2017 elephant population estimation. In 2012, the north Bengal population was ...
2020-11-06 - Sereolipi, Kenya.
Nestled in the foothills of Samburu County in northern Kenya is Africa’s first community-owned elephant orphanage. This magical place of healing and hope is named Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. Reteti rescues and releases orphaned and abandoned elephant calves, while at the same time creating much-needed benefits to the local people that live alongside them. It’s a community partnership that is reshaping conservation methods and healing centuries of human-wildlife conflict.
2020-11-06 - Kottoor, India.
With upgradation in progress, the centre will later on have around 50 elephants including the existing 16 elephants. The upgraded centre will have a veterinary hospital equipped with special facilities, an elephant museum, a training centre for mahouts, a research and study centre for students and nature lovers, an administrative office, an entrance plaza, cottages, a cafeteria, and a special elephant viewing facility.
2020-11-06 - Malayinkeezhu, India.
Tusker Vallabhan of Malayinkeezhu Sreekrishnaswamy Temple is struggling to hold his head high literally after the tusks grew longer and heavier. He is unable to take food due to the long tusks and is waiting for tusk trimming. While lying down, the tusks rub against the ground causing difficulties. Action was initiated to trim the tusks in February 2019. However, the process was stopped as the elephant was on musth.
2020-11-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The research team observed that the last elephant birth in captivity was recorded in 1994. “However, the report submitted to the Magistrate’s Court by the Wildlife Conservation Department (DWC) Director General on July 9, 2015 stated that 37 applications had been submitted for registration of elephant calves born in captivity during the period of 2000 to 2015. This raises a serious suspicion about the origin of these 37 elephant calves,” the report said.
2020-11-04 - Werribee, Australia.
Victoria’s Werribee Open Range Zoo is set to receive $84 million funding to develop a new elephant sanctuary. Announced yesterday by Victorian Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, the $84 million for the project will be part of the state’s 2020/21 budget. The investment will include a new elephant sanctuary, with six Asian elephants to be moved to Werribee Zoo’s 22 hectares from the two hectares at Melbourne Zoo.
2020-11-04 - Bengaluru, India.
A tusker died while trying to return to the forest after raiding crops in Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) on Tuesday morning. The incident came to light when a patrolling team saw the sight of the jumbo stuck between two rail barricades. Forest department officials had to cut out a portion of the barricade to free the elephant. Officials said the tusker died on the spot because of the shock and after its head hit the rail barricade. BTR director S R Natesh told TNIE that the incident happened in Mo...
2020-11-04 - Gaborone, Botswana. Mbongeni Mguni
Botswana’s tourism industry, which accounts for a fifth of the economy, is heavily reliant on the world’s biggest elephant population, but the animals have become a political issue as there are too many of them and they destroy crops and occasionally trample villagers. Now, elephants are beginning to migrate into neighboring Angola and the governments of both countries are helping them do so by removing land mines left over from Angola’s civil war and tearing down fences.
2020-11-03 - Mysore, India.
Four persons including two from Kerala have been arrested by the Mysuru Forest Mobile Squad while they were trying to sell elephant tusks in city and have seized eight tusks weighing 25 kg from them. It is learnt that out of the eight tusks, six were very old and two tusks were approximately 10 years old.
2020-11-03 - Mysuru, India.
Two unidentified bikers travelling towards Anechokuru from TThithimathi observed Bhima, a tamed elephant grazing by the roadside. Their attempt to to click close-up photographs of the elephant provoked the jumbo leading to an attack.
2020-11-03 - Tulsa, United States. Cory Smith, KTUL staff
48-year-old female Asian elephant Booper was relocated to Tulsa zoo from Riddles Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary, a private animal facility that is discontinuing its elephant program.
2020-11-02 - Angul, India. KalingaTV Bureau
A 25-year-old female elephant died while undergoing treatment at Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Angul district on Monday. According to reports, a team of forest officials spotted the the ailing female elephant during their routine patrolling in the forest yesterday. A calf aged around one-and-a-half-years was also found near the sick elephant.
2020-11-02 - Zurich, Switzerland.
On August 19, 2020, an elephant cow named Omysha gave birth to her first calf. It was subsequently kicked to death by the herd, prompting an internal investigation. An assessment of the video recordings, with the help of external zoologists and elephant experts from the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), concluded that calf barely moved after birth.
2020-11-01 - Guwahati, India.
Elephant safaris resumed at the Kohora range of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Upper Assam on Sunday eleven days after the park reopened for tourists last month. “We have resumed the elephant safaris this morning with only 10 elephants. The number of rides will be enhanced on the basis of the response in the coming days,” Kaziranga National Park director P. Sivakumar told the media on Sunday.
2020-11-01 - Tokyo, Japan.
Ueno Zoo has seen the first birth of a baby elephant since it opened in 1882. Authai, a female Asian elephant at the zoo in Tokyo, gave birth to a male cub at 5:44 a.m. Saturday (8:44 p.m. Friday GMT), the zoo has said. The baby elephant measures 1 meter in height to its back and weighs 120.5 kilograms. The mother and the baby are both in good condition, according to the zoo.
2020-10-28 - Mysuru, India.
After successful completion of Mysuru Dasara Jamboo Savari, Howdah carrier Abhimanyu and his team, left for their respective camps in the forest on Thursday. The elephants, Vikrama, Gopi, Vijaya and Kaveri, their mahouts and kavaadis left for the their respective camps in the forest on Thursday.
2020-10-27 - Mysuru, India.
Howdah elephant Abhimanyu and his team members, Gopi, Vikram, Kaveri and Vijaya, who participated in the Jumboo Savari at Mysore Palace yesterday and successfully fulfilled the responsibility given to them, were seen in a relaxed mood at the Palace this morning. Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) T. Heeralal had organised lunch for all Mahouts and Kavadis today and the five Dasara elephants will leave for their respective camps tomorrow.
2020-10-27 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
The Yangon Zoo’s most celebrated resident, Momo the elephant celebrated her 67th birthday at a party organised by zoo staff. Now approaching 70, Momo is one of the oldest Asian elephants in the world. Momo first arrived at Yangon Zoo at the age of 7, and has since entertained visitors with her talents for spraying water and kicking footballs.
2020-10-26 - Mysuru, India.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic scare, the government has decided to organise the world famous Dasara celebrations in the palace city of Mysuru in a "simple" way. Jamboo Savari, the biggest attractions of Mysuru Dasara, will be telecast live on Doordarshan Chandana and some social media platforms.
2020-10-26 - Pattaya, Thailand. Patcharapol Panrak
At 09.09 on October 26, Nong Nooch Tropical Garden Pattaya president Kamphol Tansajja held a religious ceremony to welcome a new born female elephant. The baby jumbo was born on October 19 to parents father Ning Nong, 25, and mother Pailin, 19, and was given the name Opal. Pailin had given birth to three babies before, Tubtim, 9, Mukda, 6, and Paetai, 2 and a half.
2020-10-26 - Mysore, India.
Mysuru Dasara is the “Nadahabba” or the State-Festival of Karnataka. With fairs, cultural events, dance performances and musical concerts, the ten-day festival is celebrated with pomp and pageantry. The tenth day, Vijayadashami brings a spectacular procession led by the image of the deity. Bedecked elephants, cavalry, foot soldiers, folk dancers, musicians and tableaux wend their way through the city. The extravagant celebrations come to an end with a torchlight parade as fireworks light up ...
2020-10-25 - Penobscot Bay, United States.
The passenger steamship Royal Tar, heading from Saint John, New Brunswick, to Portland, burns and sinks in Penobscot Bay while carrying a variety of circus animals, as well as 72 passengers and 21 crew members. Eventually, Mogul the elephant, standing on deck throughout the fire, crashes through the ship’s rail and falls to the water, taking some unfortunate passengers with him. Of all the fatalities, 31 people drown and one is burned to death.
2020-10-24 - Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Cameroon authorities arrested four ivory smugglers attempting to transport nearly 120 elephant tusks through the country’s south, officials said Friday. The group had trafficked nearly 675 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of the illicit cargo from neighboring Gabon, which is home to more than half of Africa’s remaining forest elephants.
2020-10-24 - Shivamogga, India.
The death of a 35-year-old male captive elephant 'Ranga' after being attacked by three wild elephants in a forest area near Sakrebailu elephant camp on Thirthahalli road has exposed the apathy of the officials of the forest department. The elephants 'Rajendra' and 'New Tusker' had died after being attacked by wild elephants.
2020-10-22 - Sosto, Hungary.
Jack moved into the new, recently opened Tembea elephant enclosure in May 2017. He spent three and a half years at Basel Zoo. Last Tuesday, he returned to Hungary as agreed. There were no offspring born during his stay – even though he had some encounters with Basel Zoo’s females, none of them became pregnant.
2020-10-21 - Myakka, United States. Liz Ramos
When going to the Myakka Elephant Ranch, be sure not to have anything sweet in your pocket because Lou, an African savanna elephant, will be able to sniff it out. Public can visit Myakka City nonprofit and its three elephants starting in November.
2020-10-21 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. Tran Hoa, Nguyen Quy
Authorities in Dak Lak Province are considering calling a halt to the famous elephant-back tours following accidents and animal protection concerns. Nguyen Thuy Phuong Hieu, deputy director of the Central Highlands province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said at a recent tourism conference that the tours, which activists describe as "exploitation" of elephants, would stop.
2020-10-21 - Mkuze, South Africa.
in a joint operation between WILDLANDS – a programme of the WILDTRUST, the Aspinall Foundation (in partnership with Albus Environmental), Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Conservation Solutions, a 20-year-old Tusker was successfully translocated from Tembe Elephant Park, owned by the Tembe Traditional Authority to Somkhanda Game Reserve, owned and managed by the Emvokweni Community Trust. Tembe Elephant Park was established in 1983 to protect the last remaining herds of free-roaming elephants in Sout...
2020-10-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Focusing on animal welfare, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is working with the Department of Livestock Development, veterinarians and elephant experts to seek a solution in enhancing the standards of elephant camps and mahouts around the country.
2020-10-21 - New Delhi, India.
A 35-year-old elephant, named Ekadanta, passed away at Sakrebailu camp in Shivamogga. According to Sakrebailu forest officers, the death of the elephant was caused by cardiac arrest. His body was found in the Shettyhalli forest. Ekadanta was captured two years back from the forests in Sakleshpur, Hassan district.
2020-10-20 - Bhubaneswar, India.
In its bid to reduce the man-animal conflict, the Odisha government on Tuesday set up a state-level task force to prepare a master plan for the next three years, official sources said. The state level task force (SLTF) is formed under the chairmanship of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, will submit the master plan report to the government within six weeks, said Forest and Environment minister B K Arukha. Official sources said that man-elephant conflic...
2020-10-20 - Xishuangbanna, China.
According to the local forest authority, human deaths and injuries from wild elephant attacks in Xishuangbanna have soared since 2016. In 2019 alone, 12 people were killed by wild elephants in the prefecture, compared with 33 over the two decades through 2010. So far in 2020, seven people have died in clashes with wild elephants.
2020-10-20 - Cedar Rapids, United States. Joe Coffey, The History Center
The Van Amburgh circus that came to Cedar Rapids was run by his longtime manager, Hyatt Frost. It boasted its three tents held “300 men and horses,” the “largest elephant in captivity” and a “double company of star performers.”
2020-10-20 - Kelantan, Malaysia. AKMAL HAKIM
Wildlife authorities managed to rescue an endangered female Asian elephant that sustained injuries to its right foot after being ensnared in a trap near Kampung Renyuk in Jeli. Fortunately, authorities were able to safely remove the snare from the elephant’s foot and provided it with food and medical attention.
2020-10-20 - Pu'er City, China.
A baby Asian elephant was rescued on October 17 after it got trapped in a pond in Pu'er City, Yunnan Province. Forest service center staff members discovered the elephant at around 22:30. After freeing the baby, they treated its bruises and returned it to its mother.
2020-10-19 - Colorado Springs, United States.
Two new elephants have joined the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo after more than a month of anticipation. Missy and Kimba Lou, both elderly female elephants from the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kan., arrived Sunday night and are settling into their new home. Missy, 46, is the fifth-oldest living elephant in facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. She has well exceeded the average life expectancy of just under 38.5 years for female African elephants in captivity.
2020-10-19 - Kuala Krai, Malaysia.
A wild elephant named Awang Uban which encroached into Kampung Tok Uban, Lata Rek, has been relocated by the Kelantan Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) to Taman Negara. Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre (NECC) operations chief Mohamad Khairul Adha Mat Amin said the wild elephant entered the village from the nearby Lata Rek Forest Reserve in search of food.
2020-10-19 - UDHAGAMANDALAM, India.
After more than two years, the post of wildlife veterinarian at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) has finally been filled. According to officials, Rajesh Kumar, a veterinarian from the Department of Animal Husbandry, has been posted on deputation as wildlife veterinarian in MTR. Dr. Kumar’s regular routine would be to take care of the elephants at the Theppakadu Elephant Camp.
2020-10-19 - Xishuangbanna, China.
Xishuangbanna, the southern-most prefecture in China's Yunnan province, is known as a safe haven for wild Asian elephants where hundreds of the giant animals live in the sprawling tropical rainforests. But balancing modern human activities with protection of wildlife has never been easy. For some people in Xishuangbanna, coexistence with the wild elephants is becoming more and more challenging, or even fatal.
2020-10-19 - Makhanda, South Africa. GUY ROGERS
Two elephants from Tembe Elephant Park in KwaZulu-Natal have arrived at Buffalo Kloof near Makhanda as part of a project to secure their big tusker genetics.
2020-10-18 - Kuala Krai, Malaysia. Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah
A 2.5-tonne wild male elephant, caught yesterday after it entered a village presumably in search of food, has been relocated to the Kelantan National Park in Kuala Koh. 25 rangers were involved in the operation, and two tame female elephants, named Rambai and Abot, were used to persuade and lure the wild elephant into relocating.
2020-10-18 - Tirunveli, India.
A 54-year-old female elephant, Lakshmi, died at Mukoodal in the district on Sunday. The elephant was owned by one Dawood Meeran (50) of Ravanasamudram, near Ambasamudram, for the last five years. On Saturday night, he reached Muthumalai Amman Temple in Mukoodal, where a festival was scheduled on Sunday. However, in the early hours of Sunday, Meeran found the pachyderm unconscious
2020-10-18 - Bhubaneswar, India. Sudarsan Maharana
Elephant at Rs 2.5 lakh is the costliest species for adoption for a year. A State PSU like Odisha Mining Corporation has adopted 17 animals at a cost of Rs 16 lakh which include two Indian elephants and a melanistic tiger.
2020-10-17 - Lucknow, India.
The rapidly rising graph of man-animal conflicts and consequent fatalities have not only left UP’s wildlife experts but also lone elephant catcher Kamaal Sheikh, worried. Expressing concern over the scenario, the experts and foresters have recommended elephant-catching as the best possible way to curb the menace and have also approached the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF) demanding lifting of the ban on elephant catching, also known locally as ‘mela shikaar’...
2020-10-16 - Miami, United States.
The 10-year-old pachyderm “volunteered” to have his injury checked out and was very cooperative during the procedure, doctors said. Ongard will undergo treatment as soon as his results are back. Zoo Miami gave the elephant a home back in 2018 from a zoo in Melbourne, Australia. He is the first Asian elephant born in Australia and the first to ever leave the country.
2020-10-16 - Kathmandu, Nepal. Chandan Kumar Mandal
Captive elephants of Chitwan National Park have once again started dying from tuberculosis, bringing back the memories of deaths among elephants due to TB at a worrying rate. Three domestic elephants belonging to the national park have died so far this fiscal year. The park has confirmed TB as the reason behind the death of two elephants while the cause of the third death has yet to be ascertained. The latest casualty is also linked to TB as the elephant had been sick for a long time and was onc...
2020-10-15 - Dehradun, India.
Population has increased in the state and so have man-elephant conflicts. In June, according to the elephant census conducted earlier this year, the numbers of the elephants in the state had reached 2,026. In 2012, there were 1,559 elephants, while in 2017 there were 1,839 elephants in the state.
2020-10-15 - Geneva, Switzerland.
The new website, named ETIS Online, was produced following a request made at the 69th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee in 2017. The site aims to bolster the collection of data on seizures involving elephant specimens and access to such data by submitting Parties. The new functionalities will facilitate enriching data available for analysis to inform international policy relating to preventing and addressing illegal ivory trade.
2020-10-15 - Gonikoppa, India. Naina J A
The tamed elephants were left to graze in the forest on Tuesday night. The mahouts and kavaids spotted a severely injured Rajendra the next morning when they left for the forest to get the elephants back. The male elephant, which was brought back to camp, was being treated but succumbed to its injuries on Thursday, said RFO Y K Kiran Kumar. Rajendra was caught at the Yadavanadu forest in Somwarpet back in 1990
2020-10-14 - Sydney, Australia. Krisinda Merhi
Jai Dee started to show signs of abdominal pain Monday morning and was quickly treated. By midday, Jai Dee was displaying normal behaviour and was monitored closely by keepers and veterinarians, but unfortunately, his condition deteriorated rapidly yesterday morning and despite a full emergency response he devastatingly passed away later that day.
2020-10-13 - New Delhi, India. Mukesh Ranjan
Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev on Tuesday fell on the ground while performing Yoga asanas. Yoga Guru was sitting atop a well-decorate elephant and performing Yoga asanas at the Guru Shardananda Ashram. But, as the elephant moved, he lost his balance and fell on the ground.
2020-10-12 - Kaliningrad, Russian Federation.
We dont know if she will get any presents. Lets just hope, that there is a dedicated elephant keeper there, who will try to make her happier today, than usually. Lets also hope that this keeper actually try to do do a descent work every day, and the fact that Pregolja is still living, and getting 50 years old, is an indication that she is taken good care of.
2020-10-12 - Houston, United States. Elephant Managers Association
For the first time, EMA will host our annual conference virtually, free to all members! EMA will host the EMA virtual conference the same week as previously scheduled via Zoom
2020-10-10 - New York, United States.
The Putnam County Historian’s Office, in partnership with Southeast Museum, recently created a virtual exhibit called Historic Putnam County & the Birth of the American Circus from the early days of Old Bet, an elephant rented out by Nathan Howes of Southeast, to the development of menageries, and Seth B. Howes’ addition of acrobats and clowns that eventually all performed in a ring under a big top.
2020-10-10 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephant Vikrama continued to train for the arduous task of carrying 750-kg golden howdah at Mysuru Palace for the second day on Friday. On Thursday, a sand-bag weighing 350 kg was tied to Vikrama, which it carried around 1.5-km around Mysuru Palace within 20 minutes along with Abhimanyu, Gopi, Cauvery and Vijaya.
2020-10-09 - Dehradun, India.
In an attempt to check the movement of wild animals into residential areas near Ganga river in Haridwar district, the Uttarakhand forest department is now using solar enabled repeller systems. These solar repellers have motion sensor system which creates a high pitch sound when activated, startling wild animals enough to send them back towards the forest. During night time, the repeller instrument also throws a sharp light towards approaching wild animals, affecting their vision.
2020-10-09 - PETALING JAYA, Malaysia.
Paleontologists from Universiti Malaya (UM) have discovered the fossil of a stegodon, an extinct elephant, in a limestone cave in Gopeng, Perak. It is the first stegodon fossil to have been discovered in Malaysia, with a rough geological age of between 30,000 and 80,000 years.
2020-10-08 - New Delhi, India.
55-year-old Arya, a blind elephant, has finally got medical aid and veterinary care at an elephant hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Farah town on Mathura district’s border. The facility is run by the NGO Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the UP Forest Department, which claim it is India’s first and only elephant hospital.
2020-10-08 - Sauraha, Nepal.
For months, elephant owners in Sauraha have been struggling to feed their elephants as there are no tourists visiting the place these days. No tourists mean no business. Under a revenue-sharing cooperative mode, the elephant keepers in Sauraha have agreed to look after the elephants together and share the safari income in the coming days.
2020-10-08 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephant Abhimanyu, which has been given the responsibility of carrying the Golden Howdah on Jumboo Savari day, began his training by carrying 350-kg sand bags which would be gradually increased so that Abhimanyu would be able to carry the 750-kg Ambari on Jumboo Savari day easily.
2020-10-08 - Indianapolis, United States. Lawrence Andrea, Indianapolis Star
Zoo officials said they made "the difficult decision" to euthanize Sophi after her condition declined over the last few days. At 52 years old, Sophi "was among the oldest African elephants in human care in North America."
2020-10-07 - TRICHY, India.
According to senior temple officials, the elephant, which was recently brought from Kerala, was donated by the owner of Lakshmi Mills Company in Coimbatore. The elephant, named Lakshmi, reached the temple around 11am. The temple already has a 40-year-old elephant Andal.
2020-10-06 - Mysore, India.
With just twenty days to go for Dasara jumbo savari procession which will be held on October 26 on the Vijayadashami Day at Mysuru Palace premises, preparations went brisk with all five Dasara elephants completing third day of their training for the procession at Mysuru Palace premises in Mysuru on Monday. Meanwhile, Mysuru district administration has got insurance done for Dasara elephants, their care takers and also for public liability for a period of one month from 1 October to 31 October, d...
2020-10-05 - Idukki, India.
The baby Pincu, who was born with a weak left leg, was brought to Konni four years ago, was succesfully treated for herpes, but has been on treatment for the past nine months due to weakening of her muscles in the hind legs. Unable to stand up, he moved around the cage, his wounds sore.
2020-10-05 - Shivamogga, India.
A six-day-old baby male elephant, born with congenital limb defects last week, which got separated from its mother at the coffee estate at Malali in Sakleshpur taluk, Hassan district, has been brought to Sakrebailu elephants' camp near Shivamogga.
2020-10-05 - Kolkata, India. Sanjoy Dey and Joydeep Thakur
The Union environment ministry has proposed an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to accord legal status to elephant reserves and corridors on the lines of tiger reserves. The ministry has sought responses from 10 elephant range state governments in south, east, north-west India on the proposed amendment and measures to mitigate human-animal conflict to prepare a comprehensive national elephant action plan, said environment ministry forest department officials of multiple states.
2020-10-04 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephants that arrived in the city on Thursday have been put under strict quarantine to prevent them from catching coronavirus. So much so that they have not even been taken out for their weight test, which is an annual ritual. The forest department has dropped the procedure and is strictly against any outing for the elephants and mahouts and kavadis.
2020-10-04 - Kathmandu, Nepal. Lisa Choegyal
According to science, neither is there any moral high ground to be gained by not riding elephants. Studies show that rides are not necessarily a problem provided they are done the right way, in the right terrain and with the right professional care. Elephant treatment must be based on science and experience, not on emotion and sentiment.
2020-10-04 - Kattakkada, India. # B Ajith Kumar
78-year-old elephant Soman from Kottur elephant rehabilitation centre is all set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest elephant. Ahead of this, the herd of elephants in the rehabilitation centre will honour Soman on Sunday.
2020-10-03 - Mysore, India. M Raghuram
Shivaraj Kumar adopted ‘Parvathi’, a female elephant at Mysore zoo, Samyukta Hornad has adopted a bear named Sugreeva, a leopard named Arjun and an elephant named Maya all from the Bannerghatta zoo. About 200 fans of the star, came together in September to adopt animals.
2020-10-02 - Bago, Myanmar.
Baby elephant Ayeyar Sein trumpets impatiently as a vet prepares her milk bottle and walks cautiously, her front left leg in a splint made of bamboo and cloth bandages. The four-month-old calf was rescued from a hunter's snare trap in the forest of Myanmar's southwest Ayeyarwaddy region last month and is now being looked after by staff at the Wingabaw elepant sanctuary, an hour's drive northeast of Yangon.
2020-10-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Siddharthya Roy and Judy Isacoff
The rate of human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka has increased exponentially in recent years. The highest number of human-elephant conflicts since 1948 was recorded in 2019, with 405 elephants and 121 humans reported dead, ,” said Sajeewa Chamikara, a member of the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform, a nongovernment organization.
2020-10-02 - Mysore, India.
Housed in Rampura Elephant Camp at Bandipur, Kumki elephant Chaitra, who has participated in Dasara many times, grabbed the attention of every one and was called a ‘Super Mom’ for her role in comforting her baby, which was shown in yesterday’s webinar.
2020-10-02 - Roc Agel, Monaco. CLAIRE TOUREILLE
Princess Stephanie of Monaco has spoken out against a ban on wild animals in circuses in France, claiming the creatures are treated like 'family' by their handlers. The Monaco royal, 55, who is the patron of the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo, told local paper Monaco Matin that circus animals are 'loved and spoiled', saying: 'We've come a long way since the stool and the whip.'
2020-10-02 - San Antonio, United States. SBG
The streets of San Antonio would be lined with people as elephants, performers and clowns would parade down the street to let everybody know that the circus was in town. Ringling Brothers made its first visit to San Antonio back in 1894 when they still used the seven-pole big top tent.
2020-10-02 - Mysore, India. Hans News Service
Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy has donated Rs 20 lakh for the upkeep of animals at Mysuru Zoo. Shivaraj Kumar visited Mysuru Zoo along with his family and met elephant Parvathi whom he has adopted recently at Mysuru Zoo. Speaking to media persons he said that he was happy that inspired by him, many of his fans too had adopted animals at Mysuru Zoo.
2020-10-01 - Bangalore, India. Arun Janardhan
Vijayakrishnan developed an academic interest in elephants. He initially wanted to get a degree in forestry, but realised it would lead to more of an administrative job. The book, Elephant Days And Nights: Ten Years With The Indian Elephant by Raman Sukumar, inspired him to pursue a research career and get a Master’s degree in wildlife biology.
2020-10-01 - Dehradun, India. Suparna Roy, Hindustan Times, Dehradun
Uttarakhand forest department authorities have initiated the process to put radio collars on five tigers, 10 elephants and 15 leopards in the hill state in a bid to study the animals’ movements and behaviorial pattern and also prevent the growing man-animal conflict.. JS Suhag, chief wildlife warden, Uttarakhand, said that the radio collar project is in progress as part of the three separate initiatives to reduce man-animal conflict and study these animals’ movement patterns.
2020-10-01 - Mysore, India.
Speaking about Dubare Elephant Camp and other Dasara elephants, mahout Dobi said that the captured rouge elephants are being tamed at the kraal in Dubare Elephant Camp. He further said that every mahout take the challenge of bringing the captured rouge elephant under their control in a month and added that every mahout take care of the elephants housed in the camp with love and affection.
2020-10-01 - Hunsur, India.
At around 11 am, the DC offered flowers to five elephants — Howdah carrying elephant Abhimanyu, Vikram, Gopi, Vijaya and Kaveri. The one and only batch of five caparisoned elephants led by Abhimanyu started their journey from the jungle camps to the Mysore Palace.
2020-10-01 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Benjamin VanHoose
Photographer Tharmaplan Tilaxan of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, captured a series of snapshots that document the large wild animals sifting through an open-area landfill located next to a nearby jungle.
2020-09-30 - Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have approved a proposal by the Kenya government for the development of guidelines for the prevention and suppression of wildlife smuggling using international shipping. The decision was taken at the 44th meeting of the FAL Convention on facilitation of international maritime traffic.
2020-09-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
At the Parliament session held today (25), Minister of Tourism, Prasanna Ranatunga has said that the elephant population at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage has exceeded its capacity and its revenue has also dropped significantly in the recent past
2020-09-30 - Guwahati, India. Srimoyee Chowdhury
The veterinarian’s 35-year-old association with elephants was a gradual transition as he used to have a strong affinity towards animals from an early age. Conferred Padma Shri for his outstanding contribution in the field of wildlife earlier this year, he has also been teaching at Veterinary Science at Khanapara in Guwahati.
2020-09-29 - Rotterdam, Netherlands. Dr. M (Mirte) Bosse
Researchers from the Animal Breeding and Genomics group at Wageningen University & Research now join forces with studbook keepers from Rotterdam Zoo (Diergaarde Blijdorp) by performing DNA research to facilitate proper management of captive populations. In a recent kickoff meeting both institutions laid the foundation for future collaborative research.
2020-09-29 - Bopal, India.
The Madhya Pradesh forest department has launched a scheme for wildlife lovers to adopt old and retired elephants which gave joyrides for at least five decades in Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve. The elephants can be adopted for a day, week, month or a year.
2020-09-29 - Greenbrier, United States.
Riddles Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary announced on their Facebook the death of † Peggy, one of the oldest elephants in North America. Peggy peacefully passed away from natural causes.
2020-09-28 - Bhopal, India. Manish Chandra Mishra
Elephants have migrated from Chhattisgarh to Madhya Pradesh primarily because of deforestation in their habitat. About 50 villages near Bandhavgarh National Park in M.P. are affected by an increased presence of elephants. Even as human-elephant conflict is increasing in the state, M.P. lacks the funds and knowhow required to manage the pachyderms.
2020-09-28 - Dhenkanal, India.
The Forest Department has finally freed the killer tusker into an open enclosure in Kapilash area after treating it medically and getting it tamed by an elephant trainer from Assam. Earlier, Rakesh had been a man-killer and had run amok in Talcher area following which it was tranquillized and brought to Kapilash-based Elephant Rescue Centre on January 22 this year.
2020-09-28 - Bathan, India. Staff Reporter
A week-long Elephant festival concluded at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) with medical treatment, feast, fitness and care to the jumbos on Sunday. Oldest elephant Gautam (70) was the main centre of attraction he had sandalwood decoration and oiling was done on his nails. He is giving training to other young elephants since year 1977 and also taking care of wildlife along with tiger movement. Officials of Forest Department said that most of the elephants in Bandhavgarh belong to Gautam’s gener...
2020-09-28 - CHITWAN, Nepal. TILAKRAM RIMAL
The deceased has been identified as Babana Chaudhary (55) of Ratnanagar Municipality-6 in Chitwan district. According to information officer and assistant conservation officer at CNP, Ashok Ram, Chaudhary was attacked by a tiger while he had gone to graze a domestic elephant into Kumroj Intermediate Community Forest, Chaudhary was cutting grass and collecting foliage when suddenly, the big cat pounced on him.
2020-09-28 - Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Pioneering elephant welfare charity, The Human Elephant Learning Programs Foundation (H-ELP), is partnering with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF) to launch a global service that stars elephants in Zoom video calls live from their natural habitat in Northern Thailand’s ancient jungle.
2020-09-28 - Kolkata, India. Sanjoy Dey and Joydeep Thakur
The Union environment ministry has proposed an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act to protect elephant reserves and corridors on the lines of those of the tiger and sought responses of states to a proposed Comprehensive National Elephant Action Plan (NEAP), officials aware of the matter said. State forest departments have been asked to come up with management plans and provide forest staff and strategies to protect elephants
2020-09-27 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
We are battling an over population of this species, against an ecological carrying capacity of around 15 000 we are talking of between 45 000 and 53 000 between Hwange-Matesti block. For years this has been the problem and the threat now is vegetation which is their food and habitat loss for these and other animals in the park,
2020-09-27 - Mahaveli, Sri Lanka. Chanaka Bandarage
Mahaveli Development Program is a national development program of Sri Lanka with irrigation development of about 365,000 hectares of land and development of hydro power. Thanks to the accelerated Mahaveli Program, the human – elephant conflict took an adverse upturn. It is estimated that over 256,000 hectares of virgin forest lands became Mahaveli land.
2020-09-26 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka.
The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was facing a risk of being blacklisted for tourists due to various reasons including the overcrowding of the orphanage, and Bottle feeding was stopped as it was not good to give the baby elephants artificial milk. Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunge said.
2020-09-26 - Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil. Elephant Sanctuary Brazil Blog
Bambi is home at the sanctuary! The crate is being unloaded now. The Facebook Live feed of her arrival is in progress.
2020-09-25 - Berlin, Germany. Dan Koehl
The last elephants left East Berlin Tierpark to Leipzig today, leaving the elephant house empty for the first time since 1955. After renovation, which will take two years, only African elephants will be kept in the renovated house in Berlin Tierpark.
2020-09-24 - Tahri, India. Falah Gulzar
In July 2019 the female elephant, previously named Laksmi, had made headlines after the Forest Department claimed that she was missing. Now, the rescued animal is celebrating one year of freedom after being saved by the government and a wildlife rescue organsiation in India.
2020-09-24 - Delhi, India. Diksha Singh
An initiative has been launched under the aegis of ‘Project Elephant’ which aims to allot Aadhaar cards to 2700 captive elephants across the country. The basic plan is to collect the blood and faecal samples of almost 2700 captive elephants across the country and allot them UIN on the basis of their DNA.
2020-09-23 - Yulee, United States. Melissa Harris
White Oak Conservation has started construction on a new 2,500-acre home for Asian elephants. Most of these elephants previously traveled throughout the United States with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® until they were retired in 2016. Thirty elephants will be released in the northeastern Florida refuge, owned by philanthropists Mark and Kimbra Walter, as soon as it is ready. The first arrivals are expected in 2021.
2020-09-22 - KOCHI, India.
An elephant calf that fell into an abandoned pit was rescued and released in the wild by the forest department on Tuesday. The herd had entered a farm land close to the forest in search of food when the calf fell in the pit.
2020-09-22 - Lalmonirhat , Bangladesh. United News of Bangladesh
Dulal Chandra Roy, a farmer from Lalmonirhat’s Panchagram union, sold his lands to buy an elephant for his wife. His wife Tulsi Rani Dasi said that she had received a divine instruction in her dreams about a year ago to buy an elephant and take care of it. It was not the first time she bought animals after dreaming of them. A few years ago Tulsi bought a horse, a swan and a goat.
2020-09-22 - Siliguri, India. Tarak Sarkar
The West Bengal Forest Department has taken steps to introduce rubber strips on the National Highway, state highway and the Asian Highway in the North Bengal region to control elephant deaths. The forest department has taken this initiative after a meeting headed by the state forest minister in the presence of representatives from railway, electricity, highway, tea gardens, and other related departments.
2020-09-22 - Gaborone, Botswana.
Hundreds of elephants died in Botswana earlier this year from ingesting toxins produced by cyanobacteria, according to government officials who say they will be testing waterholes for algal blooms next rainy season to reduce the risk of another mass die-off. The mysterious death of 350 elephants in the Okavango delta between May and June baffled conservationists, with leading theories suggesting they were killed by a rodent virus known as EMC (encephalomyocarditis) or toxins from algal blooms.
2020-09-22 - Houston, United States. Elephant Managers Association (EMA)
Join the herd! Walk, bike, swim, or hike in honor of elephants around the world on Elephant Appreciation Day, September 22, 2020. By signing up for this virtual 5K event, proceeds will go to the EMA to aid in our mission: enhancing the welfare and survival of the world's elephants through improving communication, husbandry, research, education, and conservation.
2020-09-21 - Rochester, United States.
Content and projects will be available on the zoo’s social media accounts, and donations will be collected to support African elephant conservation with the International Elephant Foundation. Zookeepers will compete against Genny C., Lilac and Moki in a watermelon eating contest and guests at the zoo are encouraged to wear grey over the weekend of Sept. 25.
2020-09-21 - London, United Kingdom. Sara Tabin
Old male elephants might have an important role to play in helping younger males learn to navigate their environment, according to scientists at the University of Exeter, who watched groups of male African savannah elephants traveling together at Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana.
2020-09-21 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Avila Geraldine
The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) received a surprise asset boost when an anonymous individual donated a 10-tonne truck, to help in its efforts to save the Bornean elephants. The Nissan truck, fully-equipped with an 8-ton crane, was handed over to the department director Augustine Tuuga by representatives of Tan Chong Motors at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, near here.
2020-09-21 - Coimbatore, India.
A 41-year-old cow elephant diedof age-related ailments at the elephant camp near Pollachi inthe district on Monday, forest officials said. The elephant Kalpana in the Kolikamuthy camp in TopSlip area had been suffering from the ailments for the lasttwo months and been under treatment, they said
2020-09-21 - Delhi, India.
India plans to build a biometric database and issue an ID number for every elephant in captivity across the country after the death of a pregnant female prompted an outcry. Blood samples will be taken from close to 3,000 elephants. Each will be given a unique identity number based on their DNA, under the plan set out by the government-backed conservation group Project Elephant.
2020-09-21 - Islamabad, Pakistan.
“The expert committee formed to assist the government to shift the zoo animals, following Islamabad High Court (IHC) orders, has some reservations.“One of the experts in the committee advises against shifting the elephant to Cambodia. “He fears that Kaavan might not survive the journey, and even if it does, it will be isolated in the new home.” The government is also considering the suggestion of improving the existing living conditions for Kaavan to international standards, expanding th...
2020-09-20 - BENGALURU, India. Bosky Khanna
On September 18, Karnataka Forest Department officials found the carcass of a juvenile elephant which had become the meal of a tiger in Bandipur Tiger Reserve’s Kundakere range. Forest officials say that while this is not rare, it is not common either. Just the previous day, a similar incident was reported in the adjoining Theppekadu range of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
2020-09-20 - Silver Spring, United States. Isabel Corvington
The film is based on the best selling novel by Katherine Applegate. The film portrays the captivity of circus animals as not black and white, but more nuanced, something that is not often seen in movies surrounding animal captivity. The animals aren’t always upset about performing in the circus, and have a mostly positive outlook on their lives. Additionally, there is no clear villain in the film. Even the somewhat greedy circus’ ringleader Mack (Brian Cranston), who holds the animals captiv...
2020-09-19 - Yangon, Myanmar.
Yangon Zoo is noted for having Mo Mo, the oldest resident in the zoo, who turns 67 this October. The animal adoption program includes three other female elephants – Myo Myo, Ma Hla Chaw and Ma Chaw Lay. They are fed on 10 pounds of wheat, jaggery, salt and 300 pounds of grass twice a day. The cost of adopting one of these pachyderms is K500,000 for one month. Momo was born in Loikaw in 1953, and arrived in Yangon at the age of seven. Mo Mo is a female elephant, and has never mated with any of ...
2020-09-19 - BENGALURU, India. Bosky Khanna
Over 1,600 elephants are wandering in and around Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR), as per an internal survey conducted by forest officials of the reserve. The survey was conducted during the lockdown and unlock period for four months, starting April. The officials followed all the protocols used when the all-India elephant census is carried out. This is the first time that an internal survey has been conducted by a team for a particular forest. As per the last all-India survey, there are 8,500 jumbo...
2020-09-17 - Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka. Srilal Mithapala
There is reliable information coming through that the iconic elephant of Uda Walawe, Rambo, may be captured and translocated to a holding ground by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC). (political and biased article)
2020-09-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
After the rare sighting of twin elephant calves in Sri Lanka in July 2020, misleading claims and old photographs have circulated on Facebook. Some posts falsely claim the Sri Lankan pair were the first twin baby elephants born in South Asia. Other posts share images of elephants in South Africa, misrepresenting them as recent photos of the new baby elephants.
2020-09-14 - Udhagamandalam, India.
When they shot the video of chasing a wild elephant in a jeep and circulated the same on WhatsApp, little did 26-year-old Sujin, of Masinagudi, and his friend know that would land them in trouble. The video shows Sujin chasing the elephant in his jeep by focusing the headlight on the animal that was roaming near Masinagudi area Sigur forest range, which falls under the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. The video was shot by his friend, who was sitting on the backseat of the vehicle, on Saturday night. As...
2020-09-14 - Coimbatore, India.
The forest department brought kumki elephant Suyambu to Mettupalayam forest range from the Chadivayal elephant camp on Sunday and is planning to bring kumki Venkatesh on Monday to capture an injured tusker roaming in the area.
2020-09-14 - Nanyuki, Kenya. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)
As they roam around the African savanna in search for food, giraffes and elephants alter the diversity and richness of its vegetation. By studying the foraging patterns of these megaherbivores across different terrains in a savanna in Kenya, scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and collaborating institutions discovered that these large mammals prefer to eat their meals on flat ground, potentially impacting the growth and survival of plant species on even savanna lan...
2020-09-13 - Coimbatore, India.
Additional principal chief conservator of forests I Anwardeen has formed a technical advisory committee to protect wild elephants and to check human-elephant conflict in Coimbatore circle.The committee will support, assist and advise the forest veterinary team to deal with emerging wildlife health issues and wild animals in physical distress.
2020-09-13 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Conservative staff didn’t pick up on his collar’s signal earlier this week and and subsequently went in search of him. It would appear as if this magnificent tusker had an awkward fall, from which he was not able recover.
2020-09-13 - Erin, United States. Dan Koehl
Mary was a 5 ton heavy female asian elephant hanged in Erwin, Tennessee, after killing the elephant groom Walter "Red" Eldridge, in Kingsport, in 12th of September 1916. Charlie and Addie Sparks decided that the elephant must be killed. One option was to take her to nearby Erwin, where there was large cranes at the railway station, where she could be killed by hanging. Still, today, Erwin is known as the town that hanged the elephant.
2020-09-13 - Sabi Sands, South Africa.
The video of a baby elephant taking a nap in Sabi Sands, South Africa has won the hearts of thousands of netizens.
2020-09-12 - Maasai Mara, Kenya.
On Thursday's "Great Wildebeest Migration" live broadcast, a young elephant was spotted limping in the bush alone in Kenya's Maasai Mara. Its right foreleg was broken and the vet had to check it.
2020-09-12 - Dharmasthala, India.
The internet is simply overjoyed after watching videos of a baby elephant named Shivani. Several short clips featuring Shivani went viral on social media after her naming ceremony in Karnataka's Daramasthala.
2020-09-11 - Monrovia, Burundi.
2020-09-11 - Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Hilaire Zon
An elephant named Hamed by residents in a southern region of Ivory Coast has been captured and relocated to the zoo in Abidjan as he awaits transfer to a park where authorities hope he will have non-human company instead.
2020-09-10 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan police arrest poacher with 14 kg elephant tusksSecurity officers in the northwestern Kenya town of Kitale on Thursday arrested a poacher in possession of 14 kilograms of elephant tusks with a market value of 1.4 million shillings (about 14,000 U.S dollars).
2020-09-10 - Chennai, India. Mirror Now Bureau
A wild male elephant called "Bulldozer" was spotted with suspected gunshot wounds in Mettupalayam circle of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. More than 18 elephants have died in the circle this year.
2020-09-10 - Mysore, India.
Forest Department has begun the process of selecting the elephants to participate in this year’s Dasara festivities. Usually, the process of selecting elephants for Dasara takes place in the month of July every year and the first batch of Dasara elephants, comprising Golden Howdah-carrying elephant, one standby male elephant, two female elephants and two male elephants to be trained to carry the Golden Howdah in future, used to arrive in city before Aug. 15.
2020-09-10 - Kolkata, India. SOUMITRA NANDI
The state Forest department has earmarked a 128 km stretch from Bankura (border) to Jhargram that needs special monitoring and fencing measures to prevent the entry of elephants from neighbouring states like Odisha and Jharkhand. State Forest minister Rajib Banerjee held a meeting at Kharagpur in West Midnapore on Wednesday to discuss measures that can be taken to reduce man – elephant conflict in the districts of south Bengal.
2020-09-10 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Good News! The Elephant News website is working again, so far just the latest news from this year, but over 7 000 old news are stored and searchable. You can also click on the links for country, location, category, or specific year to list archived news.
2020-09-10 - Westtown, N.Y., United States. The-Sanctuary-For-Animals Facebook
Fritha died 49 years old, September 5th, 2020 at Dawn Animal Agency. Fritha was born in Viet Nam in 1971. She was rescued, after being hit with napalm during the war when she was a month or two, and sent to The Sanctuary for animals in the USA.
2020-09-09 - Bengaluru, India.
Another wild elephant has been found dead in Kerala with injuries around its mouth, three months after a pregnant pachyderm was killed by a ‘firecracker-laced’ pineapple in the state. The elephant was found dead Wednesday near a wooden bridge at Sholayur along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Forest officials said that they had been tracking it for months as the elephant had raided homes in Attapadi.
2020-09-09 - Milwaukee, United States. CBS 58 Newsroom
The Milwaukee County Zoo showed its recently-expanded African elephant herd Wednesday, Sept. 9. A new elephant, "Belle," arrived last November. She's been getting used to her new neighbors, Brittany and Ruth.
2020-09-09 - Istanbul, Turkey. DAILY SABAH
Atrove of fossils found by the excavation team on the banks of Yamula Dam in the central province of Kayseri points to the fact that this commerce hub in the Anatolian heartland was once home to giraffes, rhinoceros and elephants.
2020-09-09 - Mysore, India. Lakshmikantha BK
An internal census conducted by the officials of forest depaartment at Bandipur Tiger Reserve indicates a rise in elephant population. The five-month long exercise to estimate the population of mega herbivores was done by examining stool samples of elephants.
2020-09-09 - Tucson, United States. Gloria Knott
For the first time since Tucson’s 5-month-old elephant Mapenzi was born, Reid Park Zoo has reopened to the public. Mapenzi — Penzi for short — was born to African elephant Semba on April 6. She joined sister Nandi, dad Mabu, aunt Lungile, and brother Sundzu.
2020-09-08 - Memphis, United States. NBC News
Zoo officials say Tyranza, or Ty as she was affectionately called, died Friday after a dramatic decline in her health. At 56, Tyranza was the oldest African elephant in North America. She set the record for longest-lived African elephant in north America as well.
2020-09-07 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
With its new multi-million-pound elephant facility ‘Project Elephant Basecamp’ opened in 2018 award winning Blackpool Zoo is currently looking to fill a keeper position within its Elephant Section. The successful candidate will be working in a protected contact keeping system and will be assisting in all aspects of the section’s work, including the delivery of the zoos current Elephant care program to our existing 1 male and 5 female Asian Elephants.
2020-09-07 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Naveed Rozais
Under the formation of the new Government in 2020, it has been announced that the Department of Zoological Gardens will now fall under the Ministry of Tourism, causing concern among animal rights activists across the country with regard to the welfare of the 100 elephants and many other zoo animals in the care of the Department.
2020-09-07 - Ipoh, Malaysia. SYLVIA LOOI
The Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia Department (Perhilitan) through its National Elephant Conservation Centre Kuala Gandah (PKGK) in Lanchang, Pahang deals with distressed elephants. Centre head Mohamad Khairul Adha Mat Amin said since the setting up of PKGK in 1989, it has either rescued or relocated some 900 elephants.
2020-09-07 - Coimbatore, India. George Rajasekaran
Sixty-four elephants have died mysteriously in the forests of Tamil Nadu in the last seven months. Of these 17 died in Coimbatore forest division. Before their deaths, many of them had displayed disorientation and restless movement before they lay down, never to be revived. Eight of the 17 deaths occurred within a single forest beat – Pethikuttai in Sirumugai range.
2020-09-06 - Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.
Polonnaruwa wildlife officials have rescued a baby elephant that had fallen into a muddy swamp at Divulana Villuwa, Polonnaruwa. The victim was a one-year-old male about 4 feet tall.After a five hour operation, wildlife officials have released the baby elephant to the herd.
2020-09-06 - Islamabad, Pakistan.
A team of veterinary experts from different parts of the world has conducted a medical examination on Pakistan's only Asian elephant, a procedure before moving the animal to its new home in Cambodia. Kaavan, the 34-year-old overweight bull elephant, has attracted global attention to the poor conditions of the animals at the Islamabad Zoo in Pakistan.
2020-09-04 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Freddy Mambara
The mass deaths of elephants in Botswana and Zimbabwe could be the result of a bacteria linked to overpopulation, preliminary investigations show. Botswana has recorded over 400 unexplained elephant deaths over the past month while the figure for Zimbabwe is 22. In both cases, poaching has been ruled out since the carcasses were found with their tusks intact. Poisoning has also been discounted in what has become a multinational investigation that involves researchers from the two affected states...
2020-09-04 - Lampang, Thailand. CLAIRE TOUREILLE
Channel 5 viewers were left in 'tears of joy' after following the fate of a baby elephant at a Thai elephant hospital last night. Two-year-old Minnie was being treated for the Elephant Herpes Virus, which can kill the animals, at the Lampang's Elephant Hospital where the show was filmed.
2020-09-04 - Portland, United States. RACHEL FOBAR
Today, an estimated 5 to 6 percent of the nearly 400 elephants in U.S. zoos, sanctuaries, and circuses are infected with TB. In the mid-1990s, after the deaths of several high-profile captive elephants in the United States, veterinarians became aware that the animals had the human strain of tuberculosis (TB). Since then, more than 60 captive elephants—some of which have since died—have been confirmed with the disease
2020-09-04 - Gaborone, Botswana.
Botswana has recorded no new elephant deaths since June this year, Oduetse Koboto, the permanent secretary in Botswana's ministry of environment, natural resources conservation and tourism, has said. The southern African country recorded 281 elephant deaths, due to unknown causes, between March and May. "The number of elephant carcasses found in the northern part of the country remains at 281. No more new elephant deaths have been recorded as of June," Koboto told Xinhua in a telephone i...
2020-09-04 - Mexico City, Mexico.
The bones of some 200 mammoths have been found at the Santa Lucía Air Force Base site in México state, and more skeletons of the extinct mammal have been found there than anywhere else in the world.
2020-09-03 - Exeter, United Kingdom. Connie R. B. Allen, Lauren J. N. Brent, Thatayaone Motsentwa, Michael N. Weiss & Darren P. Croft
By analysing leadership patterns of all-male African savannah elephant traveling groups along elephant pathways in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana, we found that the oldest males were more likely to lead collective movements. Our results challenge the assumption that older male elephants are redundant in the population and raise concerns over the biased removal of old bulls that currently occurs in both legal trophy hunting and illegal poaching.
2020-09-03 - Birpara, India.
Champakali has happily taken up the task of mothering the 7-month-old orphan elephant calf rescued from the Raidak river. The calf was rescued on Tuesday and brought to the Jaldapara National Park by foresters
2020-09-03 - Washington, United States. Christina Larson, The Associated Press Staff
A new study shows that teenage males aren't anti-social after all. Younger male elephants were seen tagging along behind older males as they travel from place to place. It's more evidence in an emerging body of research that shows older males -- like their female counterparts -- play an important role in elephants' complex society.
2020-09-02 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
state forest department officials on Monday night seized around 19 kg of elephant tusks from a car near Bayapita village under Harichandanpur police limits in Keonjhar district. Three persons, all ivory traders, were arrested in this connection.
2020-09-02 - Thanh Son, Vietnam. Phuoc Tuan
A pregnant elephant entered local farmland in southern Dong Nai Province to give birth Tuesday, leaving behind her placenta. Residents of Thanh Son Commune, Dinh Quan District on Monday evening saw a herd of elephants entering a cashew farm 20 meters from the jungle.
2020-09-02 - Harare, Zimbabwe. KATE DENNETT
The number of elephant carcasses mysteriously found near a major game park in Zimbabwe has doubled to 22. It is believed that the elephants were killed by a bacterial infection after 11 carcasses were initially discovered on Friday in Pandamasue Forest, between wildlife sanctuary Hwange National Park and Victoria Falls.
2020-09-01 - Maun, Botswana. Nica Richards
A Botswana-based elephant conservationist who dedicated his life to working with and studying elephants has died. Elephant whisperer Douglas Groves passed away after being trampled by a wild elephant, his wife Sandi confirmed on Monday. She said Groves was out in the bush when the incident took place.
2020-09-01 - New York, United States.
An international team of researchers has conducted a phylogeographic study of the extinct American mastodon (Mammut americanum) based on 35 complete mitochondrial genomes, finding that there were multiple lineages that existed within the species, including two distinct clades from eastern Beringia. In a study published on Tuesday in Nature Communications, the researchers further noted that their data showed these clades arose at different times, suggesting a pattern of repeated northern expansio...
2020-08-30 - Kolkata, India.
An elephant belonging to the state Forest department has given birth to a male elephant calf at Gorumara National Park in Doars at 4.30 am on Saturday. State Forest minister Rajib Banerjee who is presently in North Bengal paid a visit at Gorumara and named the calf as Yuvraj. The calf's father is named Kiranraj, and his mother is known as Motirani.
2020-08-28 - Bangalore, India. RIA DAS
A baby elephant, born in Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) on Wednesday was named ‘Sudha’ after Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy. The decision was taken to acknowledge Murthy’s contributions towards wildlife conservation.
2020-08-26 - Katmandu, Nepal.
the committee decided a depiction of Ram and Lakshman, twin Asian elephants born on the 7th November 2008, in Chitwan National Park, should replace the previous and incorrect image.
2020-08-26 - Warsaw, Poland.
The Warsaw zoo said Wednesday it will start giving its elephants medical marijuana as part of a ground-breaking pilot project to test how it reduces their stress levels. Medical cannabis has been used worldwide to treat dogs and horses but "this is probably the first initiative of its kind for elephants," Agnieszka Czujkowska, the veterinarian in charge of the project, told AFP.
2020-08-25 - Tokyo, Japan.
Athi, (also known as Ache, Artit, Artid) who killed his keeper in 2005, died 24th August 2020, 23 years old, in Ueno Zoo, Japan. He could not stand up on the morning of the 23rd and was confirmed dead on the 24th. He was found to be infected with tuberculosis in late July.
2020-08-24 - Tsavo, Kenya.
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya, an organisation that rescues, rehabilitates and releases orphaned baby elephants, is here to make your day with a delightful clip of a newborn elephant following its mother. The official Twitter account of the trust recently shared a video of their newest baby elephant, Lapa, from when he was less than a day old, waddling around the area with his mother Lenana.
2020-08-23 - Baripada, India.
An elephant calf which got separated from its family was rescued by a team of forest officials today morning. The newborn elephant was lying in a poor condition in a farm. A team of veterinarians have also reached the spot to treat the ill calf.
2020-08-23 - Budapest, Hungary. Zhang Nini
Rene Casselly, a seventh generation animal trainer in Hungary, has risen to fame for his amazing stunts that have earned him the nickname Elephant Boy. He now has more than 1.5million followers.
2020-08-22 - St. Louis, United States. The St. Louis American
2020-08-21 - Brisbane, Australia. S Puvaneswary
With global tourism remaining at a standstill, now’s an opportune time for tour operators who play an important role in shaping the future and vision of elephant tourism in South-east Asia, to rethink their approach to the industry, according to the founder of an elephant camp audit company.
2020-08-20 - Beira, Mozambique. Jacob Dykes
Three elephants, two buffalo, seven hippos and a few hundred antelope – that’s all that could be spotted in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique in 1997, when a violent civil war spanning two decades had swept through the nation, imperilling humans and wildlife alike. Left denuded and depleted of wildlife following a decades-long civil war, the Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique has reinvigorated its biodiversity through a trophic rewilding programme.
2020-08-17 - Washington, United States. Bobby Tanzilo
These images, shared with us by the Milwaukee County Zoo, include some really interesting shots, including one of Robert Raasch, first superintendent of West Park, and his family feeding the deer at the park, and of the elephant Countess Heine. She arrived in Milwaukee in 1907 and was named for Henry "Heine" Bulder, a Milwaukee alderman who raised the funds to purchase her and who can be seen seated atop her in one of the images. Another shot shows the Countess with zoo director Ed Bean.
2020-08-15 - Mexico City, Mexico.
A baby African elephant whose birth was live-streamed by a safari park in Mexico has been named Zoom after the video chat app made popular by the coronavirus pandemic
2020-08-15 - Amboseli, Kenya.
Tal was raised in Kenya’s coastal town of Mombasa and worked with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust for ten years. Tal's expertise centre on GIS(Geographic Information Systems), database management and film work, and now work as Project Manager for Amboseli Trust for Elephants.
2020-08-14 - ITANAGAR, India.
A two- to three-month-old male elephant calf was rescued from the Toru forest range under the Sagalee forest division on Friday afternoon. The rescued baby elephant was handed over to Itanagar Biologial Park Curator Raya Flago in the evening for medical treatment and rehabilitation, the RFO informed.
2020-08-14 - Dubbo, Australia. Hannah Moore NCA NewsWire
The owners of circus elephant Arna, who crushed her handler to death in December 2007, have told a parliamentary inquiry they regret retiring her to a zoo after the incident. Arna crushed her handler Ray Williams, 57, to death at Yamba on the state’s north coast on December 27, 2007. Stardust Circus, the last remaining exotic animal circus in Australia, made the “heartbreaking” decision to retire both her and their other elephant Gigi to Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo the next day.
2020-08-14 - Nairobi, Kenya. GABRIELA SALDIVIA
Amboseli National Park in Kenya is experiencing something of an elephant baby boom. The park, which sits at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, has reported the birth of more than 170 calves this year and counting. What's more, two sets of twins were born this year, and number of poached elephants from January to today has been seven
2020-08-11 - Nagoya, Japan.
47 years old Kenny in Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Japan died 10th of August 2020. Kenny was born wild 1973 in Kenya, arrived in Higashiyama Zoo in 1975.
2020-08-02 - Bangalore, India.
Twelve-year-old female elephant Rupa has given birth to the baby of a male elephant at Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka on Saturday. This was the second child given by Rupa, it gave birth to a female child at the age of 8 in 2016. With this calf, the current elephant population is 24 in BBP Park.
2020-07-30 - Bangkok, Thailand. Johanna Read
"Are there improvements to be made in how captive elephants are treated? Absolutely. But banning tourist-elephant interactions and boycotting elephant camps can result in worse, not better, welfare conditions for elephants. Dubrocard says, “It’s not the activity itself that should be criticized, but the way it’s managed and handled.”"
2020-07-22 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia. Khouth Sophak Chakrya
A local Elephant conservation organisation in Mondulkiri province has expressed concern about the declining domestic elephant population after a 53-year-old male pachyderm named Kham Khen died on Sunday from chronic abscess disease on his back.
2020-07-09 - Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Erika P.
On Wednesday, July 8, a pair of baby elephants were spotted in the Sri Lankan national park, and officials speculate that they are a rare set of twins. They estimate that the young tuskers are three to four weeks old, feeding from the same mother which led experts to believe that they are twins.
2020-06-27 - Prague, Czech Republic. Miroslav Bobek
On Sunday we named both our baby elephants. The daughters of Tamara and Janita, our Prague elephant princesses. I’d like to remind you that the first was born on March 27th, when the zoo had been closed for a fortnight, and the second on May 9th, when it had been reopened, but many restrictions still applied. Of course, right after the baby elephants were born, we were inundated not only with questions about what they will be called, but also with suggestions for their names.
2020-06-22 - Morioka, Japan. KYODO NEWS
Visitors to a Japanese zoo are playing their part in helping an overweight female African elephant make progress on a diet-and-exercise regime to prepare it for a groundbreaking attempt at artificial insemination. Mao, 18, gained some 500 kilograms when put on a special feeding program following the death of her mate in November 2018, and zoo officials have been trying to get her to shed weight to increase the chances of success of what will be the nation's first attempt to artificially breed an...
2020-06-21 - CHAPADA DOS GUIMARAES, Brazil. David Martosko and Richard Miniter
After a border crossing from Argentina that was nearly scrubbed over coronavirus fears, she has the run of an animal sanctuary in Brazil’s midwestern Mato Grosso state. The May road trip to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil was four days long, and almost a waste of diesel: At the border crossing from Argentina, a COVID-19 health order had shut down all traffic for nearly a month. It took days for both countries to issue special permission to proceed.
2020-06-08 - Utrecht, Netherlands. Angkawanish, Taweepoke, Utrecht University
Our study, three reacted positive in a serological test (TB STAT Pak, Chembio). In serum of one of these, antibodies were found retrospectively, 23 months prior to bacterial culture from trunk wash samples. Sequence analysis of M. tuberculosis isolates from the four animals classified them as ancient strains (n=1) based on presence of a M. tuberculosis specific deletion (TbD1) and modern strains (n=3) identical to M. tuberculosis ATCC 2794.
2020-05-25 - Banlung, Cambodia.
Bak Maï, a 32-year-old male domesticated elephant in Ratanakiri province, died on Thursday due to severe diarrhoea, said Airavata Elephant Foundation, the guardians of the elephant sanctuary, in a statement on Friday. An autopsy will be conducted by Airavata Elephant Foundation and local authorities to determine the cause of death since it happened very suddenly.
2020-05-06 - Bngkok, Thailand.
The millions thrown out of work in Thailand by the coronavirus include elephants dependent on tourist money to feed their voracious appetites. With scant numbers of foreign visitors, commercial elephant camps and sanctuaries lack funds for the animals’ upkeep and have sent more than 100 of them trudging up to nearly 100 miles back to their homes.
2020-04-10 - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
A herd of eight Asian elephants – an endangered species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – has been found living in an elephant conservation area in Nong Son District, Quang Nam Province.
2020-02-15 - Hoedspruit, South Africa. JEROME DELAY- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Khanysia did not see the trap set by a poacher in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. She cut her mouth, face and underneath her ear and chin. It was days before the 4-month-old albino elephant was found badly dehydrated but alive, and taken to the Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development center, three hours away. Khanyisa gets her name from her unique appearance as an albino, meaning "Light" or "Sunshine" in the local Shona language.
2020-02-10 - Bangalore, India.
A newborn elephant calf at Bengaluru Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBBP) has been named after Padma Shri recipient Tulsi Gowda, who has planted over one lakh trees. The female calf Tulsi a new member to the BBP family, was born on January 30 to the 13-year-old elephant Vanashree. Both mother and calf are doing well.
2020-01-21 - Kottor, India. Aathira Haridas
At the elephant rehabilitation centre in Kottoor, one among the few elephant rehabilitation centres in the state, a major shift to creating a more pachyderm-friendly space is being spearheaded by Satheesan N V, deputy warden at the Agasthyavanam Biological Park (ABP).
2019-12-30 - Kottor, India. Haritha John
Shasthamkotta Neelakantan, a tusker of Sree Dharma Sastha temple in Kollam district of Kerala, died at the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre at Kottur. He had been struggling, battling pain from multiple wounds and on Saturday morning, the tusker succumbed to his injuries.
2019-11-17 - Augusta, United States. Bill Kirby
In February, officials investigating the elephant deaths determined the animals had probably eaten vegetation sprayed with herbicides during the Atlanta stop, gotten sick and died.The circus train left Augusta for Charleston, S.C., and en route lost its 11th elephant, “Peggy,” who succumbed in a railcar. No one found evidence that large amounts of arsenic had been purchased along the circus route.
2019-11-16 - Okazaki City, Japan. Takashi Ogawa
This year, a staff member who took care of elephants for 35 years left the scene at Shito Higashi Koen Zoo in Okazaki City, Fujiko came from a zoo in Fukuyama City , Hiroshima Prefecture in 1982, before the park opened . Shinpei Satake (69), a zookeeper who retired this spring, was in charge at about the same time as he came to the park.
2019-10-31 - Golaghat, India.
A a herd of 50-60 elephants heading for the tea estate changed its path when they saw a life size dummy giraffe. “We have installed three giraffes made of fiber in our tea estate last week as a measure to protect our crops from elephants,” said Utpal Goswami, the manager at the Dolaguri Tea Estate in Golaghat’s Letekujan area.
2019-10-20 - Mysore, India.
This Dasara, the Mysuru zoo attracted more visitors, improving its revenue. In a span of 10 days, 1.65 lakh people visited the zoo and the gate revenue realised was 1.59 crore. A record number of tourists visited the zoo on the day of Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami, which were public holidays. A total of 30,273 people came on Ayudha Puja and 28,386 on Vijayadashami, realising a revenue of 29.27 lakh and 28.28 lakh respectively. This is the biggest earnings for the zoo in a single day
2019-10-13 - Sastamkotta, India.
Even after expert therapy at Kottur Elephant Rejuvenation Centre, the health of ‘Gajaveeran’ Neelakandan of Sastamkotta Dharmashatha temple remains the same. The elephant was sent to the rehabilitation centre for therapy on July 15 following a High Court order. Vets claim that although the external injuries that the elephant sustained has healed to an extent, there is not much progress in his overall health.
2019-09-25 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka.
An emaciated 70-year-old elephant that caused a social media outcry after being forced to take part in an annual Buddhist pageant in Sri Lanka has died, officials said Wednesday. The government has ordered an autopsy for Tikiri, a domesticated Asian elephant that died Tuesday night in Kegalle, 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of the capital Colombo, a wildlife department official said.
2019-09-20 - Yamunanagar, India.
National Capital's last elephant, Lakshmi, who was rescued from near East Delhi recently, was sent to a rehabilitation center in Haryana on Friday morning. At present, this center is taking care of five elephants including Lakshmi. "She is the fifth elephant here.
2019-09-18 - Delhi, India.
The 47-year-old elephant, Laxmi, was sent to an elephant rescue centre in Ban Santour in Haryana around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, according to officials of forest department. The elephant which had been missing for the last two months was rescued and its mahout was arrested by Delhi Police on late Tuesday night from east Delhi.
2019-09-11 - Bengaluru, India. Rohith BR
The forest department’s experiment to radio-collar select wiwild elephants in Hassan to track their movements and address conflict with humans has paid off. AK Singh, chief conservator of forests, Hassan, recently said six mother elephants are being monitored in his jurisdiction.
2019-08-29 - Delhi, India. Rishika Pardikar
If you go by the country’s first ever synchronised Elephant Census conducted in 2017, there are 27,312 elephants across 23 states. The 10-year project to develop an immunocontraceptive was approved in 2017, with a budget of Rs10 crore. According to Vinod Mathur, the director of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the nodal agency for the project, it will “soon be implemented on a pilot basis in a phased manner”.
2019-07-04 - COIMBATORE, India. Wilson Thomas
Kumki elephants Suyambu (24) and Venkatesh (32) from Anamalai Tiger Reserve will be shifted to Chadivayal camp of Coimbatore Forest Division. The two will replace kumkis Cheran (32) and John (27) of Chadivayal camp, who will be sent to Theppakkadu in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Cheran and John were shifted from Theppakkadu to Chadivayal in April last year.
2019-06-08 - Siem Reap, Cambodia. Lucy Middleton
The overworked group of 14 elephants will no longer be forced to work at Angkor Wat, where over 2.5 million international tourists visit each year. They will be transferred to a conservation and breeding centre by early 2020, the The Angkor Elephant Group Committee confirmed.
2019-05-21 - Banlung, Cambodia. Pann Rethea
Airavata Khmer Elephant Foundation was created four years ago to protect the very last surviving tame domestic elephant population in Ratanakkiri province, as well as the traditions of their mahouts (elephant trainers).
2019-02-22 - Bristol, United Kingdom.
We are looking to recruit an experienced animal keeper on our Elephant Section which is acting as Europe’s premier African Elephant Bull facility. This is a full-time position working a 40-hour week on a flexible rota (including weekends and bank holidays).
2018-11-13 - Westtown, N.Y., United States. WHAM/Associated Press
An elephant was spotted wandering in Westtown, which is located about four miles northeast of the New York-New Jersey border. The 46-year-old Asian elephant named Fritha had wandered away from the Sanctuary For Animals on William Lain Road. It had been burned by napalm during the Vietnam War and was living at the sanctuary.
2018-08-16 - Yangon, Myanmar. Thi Thi Min
THE first elephant museum in Myanmar will be opened in the museum of natural history in Yangon’s Zoological Gardens at the end of this year, said U Thein Toe, Director of Yangon Region Forestry Department.
2018-06-12 - Pathanamthitta, India.
Despite fierce protest by the local legislator, a tusker at the eco-tourism centre at Konni was despatched to faraway Muthanga by the wildlife department so that it could be trained as a 'kumki'
2018-01-03 - Pattaya, Thailand.
A baby elephant scampers to her feet after becoming the first one born in Thailand in 2018. The female calf - named Yellow Saphire - was born on Tuesday at around 5 am after her 23-year-old mother went into labour in Chonburi, Thailand. Local Buddhist monks visited the newborn elephant to bless her at a ceremony with the centre’s mahouts and staff. Kampong Tonsajja, Director of the Nong Nooch Gardens which houses elephants, said: ‘’She is a beautiful girl and the first of the new year. She...
2017-10-14 - Bangalore, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) on Saturday announced the death of Ashwathama, a male elephant aged about eight years
2017-10-02 - Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, United States.
The Elephant Managers Association (EMA) announced the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium as their 38th Annual Conference Host during the 2016 EMA Conference closing ceremonies last October. Since then staff at the Columbus Zoo and the EMA Board of Directors have begun preliminary planning to produce a premier gathering of leaders among the elephant management community to be held October 2-6th.
2017-08-16 - Delhi, India. Aathira Perinchery
Preliminary results from the first-ever synchronised all-India Elephant Population Estimation pegs India’s Asian elephant population at 27,312. According to the report, released by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on August 12, Karnataka has the highest number of elephants (6,049), followed by Assam (5,719) and Kerala (3,054).
2017-07-27 - Bangalore, India.
According to the Bannerghatta Police Station sub inspector Naveen, 27-year-old Abhilash, had entered the park illegally and tried to click a selfie with the elephant Sundar. The 27-year-old man had allegedly illegally entered the Bannerghatta Biological Park after consuming alcohol.
2017-05-15 - London, United Kingdom.
The next Elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus workshop will be hosted by the Zoological Society of London. Lectures will take place at ZSL London Zoo, and the practical aspect of the workshop will be carried out by studying the elephant herd at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.
2017-03-16 - Dublin, Ireland.
A female elephant calf was born at Dublin Zoo on Monday night weighing 80kg. The mother elephant, named Dina, is the Dublin Zoo herd’s matriarch and gave birth to the healthy calf after a 22-month gestation period. The new arrival is Dina’s third calf and the fifth elephant calf born at Dublin Zoo in three years.
2017-03-16 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
Namsai, a three-year-old Asian elephant calf at the Kolmården zoo in central Sweden has contracted the EEHV elephant herpes virus and is seriously ill, the park announced on Tuesday. "There is no cure for EEHV, however treatment can suppress an outbreak and the elephant can survive if the disease is caught early and treatment begins quickly. Among the elephants that have been treated a few have survived," the park said on its website.
2017-03-15 - Hassan, India.
Staff of the Forest Department, with the help of tamed elephants, successfully captured a wild elephant that is suspected to have recently trampled two people to death in Alur and Sakaleshpur taluks on Tuesday. A team of tamed elephants — Abhimanyu, Arjun, Krishna and Harsha — reached the camp at Magadihalli, set up to handle the capture, on Monday evening. The watchers and forest guards were following the movement of the animal and they traced it at noon. The operation, which bega...
2017-03-15 - Kafue National Park, Zambia.
To ensure the proper operation of the satellite collars that will be fitted on a couple of the rehabilitated elephants of the GRI-Elephant Orphanage Project (EOP), we have been running trials in advance of a planned collaring later this month. This information can be obtained by satellite collars, which relay GPS signals of movements over time via the internet and can be downloaded into maps
2017-03-15 - San Diego, United States.
Jumbo the beloved African elephant who toured New Zealand with the travelling circus has died at San Diego Zoo. Former keeper and retired owner of the Whirling Bros circus Tony Ratcliffe said he received a call this morning from the zoo to tell him the news. "They contacted me this morning and told me she passed away in the early hours of the morning," he said. Its not yet clear why Jumbo, also known as Mila, died, and there will be an autopsy.
2017-03-14 - PETALING JAYA, Malaysia.
The viral photo of an elephant chained on all fours at Langkawi Elephant Adventures (LEA) on Langkawi island is in "good shape and healthy", said the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry. Photos of a chained Asian elephant named Lasah have been circulated widely since July 2016, with claims from non-governmental organisation Friends of the Orangutans saying that Lasah was living in "deplorable conditions" and was being exploited at LEA.
2017-03-14 - Atherstone, United Kingdom.
Bosses at Twycross Zoo have responded to questions posed by visitors over the departure of the attraction´s Asian elephant herd. A further statement by the zoo said: "Thank you for your feedback regarding our decision to find a new home for our all-female herd of Asian elephants. The statement then went on to provide answers to 14 frequently asked questions.
2017-03-14 - Surin, Thailand.
Hundreds of performers and more than 50 elephants staged shows and historical re-enactments to show the importance of elephants to Surin’s history. More than 100 elephants feasted on watermelons, pineapples, bananas and jicama on tables stretching 100 meters.
2017-03-14 - SHIRAHAMA, Japan.
Madee Wichai, a Thai national, was washing the animal with a colleague at Adventure World here when the animal hurled him against the metal bars of the cage. Wichai, 37, had worked at the zoo since 2015. He hit the bars with such force that he suffered severe trauma to his head and died from a brain contusion about an hour after he was admitted to a hospital.
2017-03-13 - Tsavo, Kenya.
This baby elephant was born on March 3, 2017, to Ndara, an ex-orphan elephant from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) Nairobi Nursery. Shortly after giving birth, Ndara brought her new baby to see her former caretakers! The pair made a huge impression, the baby still wobbly on his little legs and following his mother like a shadow!
2017-03-13 - Hassan, India.
With the increase in elephant attack cases in Alur and Sakleshpur taluks, the district forest officials have sent a proposal to their department heads seeking approval to capture 26 elephants roaming around there. The Deputy Conservator of Forests of Hassan has sent a request to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) to take up the operation.
2017-03-12 - Wokha, India.
One major factor forcing elephants to venture uphill to the middle and upper reaches of Wokha district is being attributed to fragmentation of their old habitats in Assam. With most of their habitats destroyed due to human encroachment and leaving them without food or home, the elephants are dramatically expanding their range and getting pushed up to the hills from Assam, Steve Odyuo, founder of Natural Nagas, an NGO working for wildlife and environment conservation said.
2017-03-12 - , India.
Elephant poaching in Kerala grabbed national headlines a year ago after poachers confessed they had killed around 20 elephants. However, data from the Forest Department reveals there is a bigger threat to elephants in the state than poaching—man-animal conflict.
2017-03-11 - AYUTTHAYA, Thailand.
Laithongrien Meepan, owner of the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace, said he and other elephant keepers in other provinces would not rally at Government House on Monday, which is also National Elephant Day. Government authorities earlier asked them not to rally in Bangkok as it would cause traffic chaos, he said on Saturday.
2017-03-08 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thai authorities said Tuesday they have seized 422 pieces of ivory elephant tusks and arrested a Gambian national suspected of smuggling the illegal wildlife product worth some 17 million baht (US$ 482,406) The 300 kilograms of tusks were seized at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi airport late last week after customs found suspicious shipments from Malawi through Ethiopian Airlines listed as unprocessed gemstones, according to Associated Press.
2017-03-05 - MWANZA, Tanzania.
The most notorious Tanzanian poacher, Boniface Mathew Maliango nicknamed ‘The Devil’ has been sent to twelve years imprisonment for running an ivory trafficking network across the East and Central African countries. The 47-years old poacher was convicted at the Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s business capital court after being arrested in September 2015 following a year-long manhunt from Tanzanian security organs.
2017-03-05 - Chiang Rai, Thailand.
The world’s most expensive coffee, which is priced at $70 per serving, is made from elephant poo!Black Ivory Coffee, produced in Thailand’s Golden Triangle, a region better known for its export of opium, is made by having elephants eat the coffee beans which are mixed into a fruit mash.
2017-03-05 - San Francisco, United States.
William Walter Power’s elephants originally appeared in the Walter L. Main Circus and transitioned into a vaudeville act in the early 1900s. The pachyderms, all female Asian elephants, worked the Hippodrome Theatre in New York City, and some sources claim the show was the first American elephant act on an indoor stage. “Lena,†“Jennie,†“Ada,†and “Lou†played baseball, bowled, and danced to whatever was in fashion, from the waltz to the Cha...
2017-03-05 - Perth, Australia.
A zoo in Australia has denied claims that it mistreats its elephants by involving them in a yoga class with paying visitors. For $125 (£78) people can do Perth Zoos Exercise for Elephants programme - a 45-minute workout with a personal trainer that includes 15 minutes of interacting with the elephants. The zoo has released footage of the daily activities of the elephants to try to refute allegations that the exercise programme is abusive.
2017-03-05 - , United States.
Scientists on Wednesday said a first-of-its-kind study tracking the sleep behavior of wild elephants found the world´s largest land mammal sleeps two hours per day on average, and some days not at all, and does so mostly standing up. This represented the shortest-known sleep time of any mammal. Previous research showed captive elephants got four to six hours daily.
2017-03-05 - Atherstone, United Kingdom.
Twycross Zoo has confirmed its herd of Asian elephants will be found a new home. The tourist attraction, which is Derby´s nearest zoo, says the decision to move the all-female herd will give them the opportunity to breed and help to ensure the long-term survival of the endangered species. The zoo, in Atherstone, is working in conjunction with European Endangered Species Breeding Programmes (EEP) to arrange the transfer. Its destination and the timescales will be announced as the plans pr...
2017-03-05 - Bhubhaneswar, India.
On the outskirts of Bhubhaneswar city, a herd of elephants has become refugees. They left the intensely disturbed Chandaka sanctuary, and tried to move towards other forest patches. However, human activity has now surrounded the elephants. Videos show how people chase the hapless animals, who seem to be only wanting to cross roads and fields
2017-03-04 - El Paso, United States.
The El Paso Zoo has chosen a treatment protocol for Juno, the 49-year-old Asian elephant diagnosed with a malignant mass in her right mammary gland in January. The zoo team discussed her case with elephant experts and veterinary specialists around the United States to determine the best course of action. Cancer is rare in elephants, and this type of tumor has never been previously reported.
2017-03-03 - , Botswana.
Professor Paul Manger from Wits University and his colleagues are using a tracker called an Actiwatch to study elephant sleep patterns in Botswana. They removed the watches´ bands, insulated them with electrical tape and biologically inert wax, then attached them to the elephants´ trunks. The trunk is the most mobile appendage, Manger said, and if it´s still for more than five minutes it´s reasonable to assume the animal is asleep.
2017-02-27 - , United States.
A new study of de-extinction — the potential to use genetic techniques to recreate lost animals and plants — finds that given limited conservation dollars, the benefits of bringing back one lost species would probably cost the extinction of more species that are currently on the brink. For example
2017-02-26 - NAINITAL, India.
Nine elephants from the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka reached the Corbett Tiger Reserve on Saturday after a journey of more than 2700 km. The elephants had started on their journey by road on Tuesday in a convoy of seven trucks accompanied by 16 mahouts. "The elephants will stay in an interim facility for three months during which they will get acclimatised to the new climate .
2017-02-26 - New Delhi, India.
The Central Zoo Authority has “fully backed†a proposal to ban the use of elephants in circuses, a fading remnant of pre-liberalisation India. The CZA has written to the chief wildlife wardens of the states to ensure the rehabilitation of the elephants which were in their possession. “The Central Zoo Authority fully supports proposal to stop use of elephants to perform in circuses,†member secretary of the CZA D N Singh has written to the Environment Ministry.
2017-02-22 - Trichur, India.
We tested 3 wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in southern India and confirmed infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an obligate human pathogen, by PCR and genetic sequencing. Our results indicate that tuberculosis may be spilling over from humans (reverse zoonosis) and emerging in wild elephants.
2017-02-22 - New Delhi, India.
Postmortem examination of a wild Asian elephant at Rajiv Gandhi National Park, India, revealed nodular lesions, granulomas with central caseation, and acid-fast bacilli in the lungs. PCR and nucleotide sequencing confirmed the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study indicates that wild elephants can harbor M. tuberculosis that can become fatal.
2017-02-20 - Guatemala city, Guatemala.
With a cake made of watermelon, papaya, bananas, carrots and corncobs, Guatemala��´s elephant Trompita celebrated her 56th birthday on Sunday. The pachyderm, whose original name is Bombi, is an Asian elephant rescued by the La Aurora zoo from a circus in 2008 and subsequently adopted as a special member of the family, Efe news agency reported. Trompita��´s handler and "lifelong friend," Romeo Lopez -- better known in the circus world as "Tarzan Lopez" -- said...
2017-02-13 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Elephant things are all over my desk at work. I have elephant clothes and elephant kitchen tools. I was also planning on getting an elephant bamboo tattoo while I was in Thailand, which I definitely didn´t do after this experience. I went from loving elephants, to now being terrified of them.
2017-02-10 - Portland, United States.
Beloved Oregon Zoo elephant Packy was euthanized after a long battle with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, zoo officials announced Thursday. At nearly 55 years old, Packy was the oldest male Asian elephant in North America. We’d run out of options for treating him,†said the zoo´s lead veterinarian Dr. Tim Storms.
2017-02-02 - Muscat, Oman.
A team of geologists has discovered four new fossil sites in Dhofar. Remains of elephants, monkeys and primitive giraffes dating back 35 million years have been found at these sites. Speaking to Muscat Daily, Dr Mohammed Hilal al Kindi, head of the team, said, “Our team comprised Yousef al Sinani, Dr Martin Pickford, Dr Alan Hayward, Dr Ibrahim Ismaili, Axel Hartman and Sohail Hardan.â€
2017-02-01 - ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russian Federation.
A zoo in Russian southern city of Rostov-on-Don welcomed a new-born elephant female calf born on Wednesday (January 18) from two 11-year-old Asian elephants Sinta and Yuma. “An elephant calf stood up immediately (after the birth) and started eating. In about an hour it started eating. You can see now it is sleepy. This particular calf sleeps while standing up. Sitara used to sleep while laying down. It seems to be an individual feature,†a zoo keeper Alexei Titov told journalists on ...
2017-02-01 - Winston, United States.
Alice, the oldest elephant at southern Oregon’s Wildlife Safari in Winston, died at age 44 this week. According to a post on the wildlife sanctuary’s Facebook page, Alice died from natural causes on Tuesday afternoon. Alice, the oldest African Elephant at the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Ore., dies at 44-years-old. Alice, the oldest African Elephant at the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Ore., dies at 44-years-old. Photo courtesy of Wildlife Safari At 44, s...
2017-02-01 - SHIVAMOGGA, India. Ramachandra V Gunari
Karnataka’s seniormost elephant died on Monday, at the ripe old age of 82. Indira died of natural causes at the Sakrebailu elephant camp, her home for the past almost 50 years. Indira was the grande dame of the Sakrebailu elephant camp, loved by all and known to have tamed many a wild elephant brought here over the past many decades. Indira herself had been captured in a khedda operation from Kakanakote forest in the Western Ghats in 1968.
2017-02-01 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Incredible night cam footage has captured the moment a rare Asian elephant was born following a short 20-minute labour. Following a 22-month gestation the male calf was born to 20-year-old mother Sithami Hi Way at Chester Zoo. Zoo keepers stayed up to monitor the birth via live CCTV and watched in awe as the baby dropped onto soft sand and scrambled to his feet in minutes.
2017-01-31 - Michigan, United States.
Paleontologist Daniel Fisher hopes a mastodon skeleton kept at IPFW since the university´s early days may offer clues to solving a question that has baffled researchers for more than 200 years — what caused mastodons to die off at the end of the Ice Age? Fisher and a research assistant arrived Monday at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne to borrow the skeleton for study at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where Fisher is a professor of paleontology and director ...
2017-01-29 - Bhubaneswar, India.
After an annual review meeting of the Forest and Environment department under chairmanship of the Chief Secretary at the State Secretariat here, Suresh Mohapatra, secretary of the department, said, “With two months left for the 2016-17 financial year to get over, 41 elephant deaths have been reported in the State so far which is considerable fall in comparison to 65-70 elephant death cases reported in the last four years on an average.â€
2017-01-28 - , United States. Magnuson RJ1, Linke LM2, Isaza R3, Salman MD2.
Ninety-nine clinical trunk wash samples obtained from 33 elephants were utilized to validate three molecular extraction techniques followed by a polymerase chain reaction for detection of M. tuberculosis. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were estimated compared to culture. Kappa coefficients were determined between molecular results and various culture categories and serological test results.
2017-01-28 - El Paso, United States.
The animal care staff at the El Paso Zoo have received a biopsy report indicating a mass in 49-year-old Asian elephant Juno’s right mammary gland appears malignant, meaning the cells in the mass are exhibiting cancerous characteristics. These results come after several months of close observation and multiple diagnostic procedures. Since receiving the biopsy results, the Zoo veterinarians have been actively researching safe treatment options and consulting with national elephant health ex...
2017-01-27 - Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) has called for urgent action to reverse the decline in the wild elephant population of Myanmar, which is being killed at an increasing rate, while securing the future of the country’s former timber-trade elephants, state media reported on 27 January.
2017-01-26 - Buon Don, Vietnam.
A seasoned veterinarian from the Netherlands has been a lifelong ally of the shrinking herd of elephants in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Dr. Willem Schaftenarr, 63, has been a household name among elephant conservationists, mahouts, and the pachyderms themselves in Ban Don (Don Village), which is nestled in the namesake district in Dak Lak Province.
2017-01-24 - Pennsylvania, United States. Lynch M1, McGrath K2, Raj K3, McLaren P4, Payne K5, McCoy R4, Giger U3.
A wild-caught, 41-yr-old male Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) without an apparent increased bleeding tendency was consistently found to have prolonged prothrombin times (PTs, mean = 55±35 s) compared to 17 other elephants (PT=10±2 s). This elephant´s partial thromboplastin times (PTT) fell within the normal range of the other elephants (12-30 s). A prolonged PT in the presence of a normal PTT suggests disruption of the extrinsic pathway via deficiency of coagulation factor VII (FV...
2017-01-24 - Perth, Australia.
A large crowd of families on school holidays were at the zoo to watch as Tricia enjoyed its birthday cake made from fruit and bran. Perth Zoo senior elephant keeper Kirsty Kerry said Tricia was doing well for its age, despite slowing down a little. "Tricia is showing her age these days, slowing down, getting a little bit stiff," Ms Kerry said. "But we are managing those by giving her a massage every day and walks around the zoo.
2017-01-24 - Atlanta, United States.
Scientists hope to one day develop a robotic gripper modelled on the dexterous trunks of elephants. The boneless appendage can easily pick up objects as small as a peanut or as heavy as a log. But how do elephants regulate the force they apply with their trunk? Researchers who worked with an elephant at Zoo Atlanta in the United States say the secret is the ability to form a joint in the trunk at a location of the animal’s choice.
2017-01-23 - Hugo, United States.
Opal, one of two elephants who lived at the Hope Elephants sanctuary founded by Jim Laurita in 2012, died in Hugo, Okla. on Jan. 10, following a serious injury to her front left leg. Opal and her elephant companion at the Hope facility, Rosie, had been living at the Endangered Ark Foundation in Hugo since Sept. 2014. Opal was 48 years old.
2017-01-23 - Phuket, Thailand.
The injuries occurred when one elephant, believed to have been spooked by another, bolted during official’s inspection of the Safari elephant camp in Saiyuan, Rawai. At 11:30am on Saturday, Capt Somkiet Sarasit of the Chalong Police was informed of an incident where an elephant had bolted at the Safari elephant camp Rawai leaving two persons injured.
2017-01-17 - Salt Lake City, United States.
Josh Schiffman likes to think of the tumor-suppressing protein p53 as a superhero in a bright red cape. It swoops in whenever there is DNA damage and fixes or eliminates the problem in an attempt to keep the body healthy. Most mammals, from humans to elephants, have some p53. But elephants — which rarely get cancer — have many more copies, Schiffman said, and they´re stronger.
2017-01-12 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
According to the Dak Lak provincial Elephant Conservation Center, there are five groups of elephants living in the province, with 60-70 in each group. In Ea Sup district alone, there is one group of 30-34, while in Buon Don district, there are four groups with 30-36 elephants each. A survey conducted by the center found that the number of elephant groups in Dak Lak has decreased.
2017-01-04 - HUA HIN, Thailand.
A task force on wildlife trafficking has unearthed the bones of five elephants which they suspect are linked to the merging of wild animals into domestic populations. The Phaya Sua task force excavated a site in Moo Baan Chang (elephant village) after it received a tip-off that dead elephants had been buried there without the knowledge of concerned authorities.
2017-01-03 - Bardia, Nepal.
Since this is a nepalese/Indian news organ, they put a tame elephant (with a bell) to the article which concearning wild elephants. In 50% of cases, Indian news sites put images of African elephants to articles about Asian elephants. We just have to survive this...
2017-01-03 - Cincinnati, United States.
Cecil Jackson Senior retired from the zoo in 1998, two months shy of being there for 50 years. People could find him and any animal at local parades and he also worked with Marge Schott and the Reds. He appeared on National Geographic twice for the zoo and was on hand to see the first gorilla born in captivity.His son, Cecil Junior, is now the head elephant trainer.
2017-01-03 - Macomb Township, United States.
In June 2011, the Ignasiak siblings, along with their cousin Megan Bonus made the find, although they weren’t sure at the exactly what they had come across.“We had no idea what we were doing, we didn’t plan on finding mastodon bones,†said Nicole Ignasiak, 19, who was 14 at the time of the pair’s discovery.
2017-01-02 - Pune, India.
John Mathew, manager of Rambo Circus, said, “Seven mahouts, who took care of the four elephants at the Rambo Circus, have also shifted to Jamnagar with additional staff and a veterinarian."Saraswati and Champa were shifted to Jamnagar in September, Anar and Nitya moved two weeks ago as their transit permit was awaited.
2017-01-01 - Bejing, China.
China says it will ban all domestic ivory trade by the end of 2017, closing down the world’s biggest ivory market in a move wildlife conservationists believe will help curb elephant poaching in Africa. The announcement deals a blow to a global ivory industry sustained in large part by Chinese demand, and comes after years of international and domestic pressure on Beijing to interdict a trade that has threatened the extinction of wild African elephants.
2016-12-28 - , India.
According to the AWBI, Lakhsmi and Ramabhadran, two elephants of the Thiruvambadi Devaswom, and Thiruvegappuram Devanarayanan (Kattakada Abhimanyu), owned by a private individual, are suffering from serious ailments and should be subjected to mercy killing to end their sufferings.
2016-12-26 - Sauraha, Nepal.
Chitwan Elephant Festival is going to be held at Sauraha in Chitwan district from December 26 to 30. The International Elephant Polo will remain the highlight of the Festival which is being held after a gap of 7 years, according to International Elephant Polo Competition Coordinator Shankar Sainju.
2016-12-21 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Now there are fewer than 100 elephants left in the wild in Vietnam and just 80 or so in captivity, mostly used to ferry tourists around the leafy forests of Vietnam’s central highlands. Experts say the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Centre could be the last hope for Vietnam’s disappearing pachyderms.
2016-12-19 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
The Wang Chang Ayutthaya Elephant Kraal in tambon Suan Phrik has a new arrival - a male calf born at 4.40am on Monday. Romthongsai Meephan, the owner of the kraal, said 30-year-old Phang Dok Sano gave birth to a calf weighing about 70 kilogrammes. The youngster was healthy and strong, with all the dominant features of a male Thai elephant.
2016-12-17 - Chester, United Kingdom.
The unnamed female calf was born to 12-year-old mother Sundara overnight after a 22-month gestation. Keepers at the zoo said both mother and daughter are doing well and visitors will be able to see the new arrival from Saturday.
2016-12-17 - Gia Lai, Vietnam.
Ya Tao, the elephant of local Ksor Cham in Gia Lai Province, is now the only living domesticated elephant in the northern Highland region, a place once famous for its elephant residents. Ksor Cham said many people had wanted to buy his elephant but he had refused them all. Ya Tao has become an important family member after living with them for over 50 years.
2016-12-17 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
Between 2009 and 2011, up to nine elephants died in the southern province of Dong Nai, which were initially suspected of being killed by people. Recently, the only elephant in Tan Phu protective forest was also killed. According to the forest management board, for many years, the elephants have destroyed sugarcane and crops grown by people. Conservationists warned that if more elephants continue to be killed, the species faces extinction in Dong Nai.
2016-12-15 - Portland, United States.
Packy’s human family at the Oregon Zoo is concerned for the health of the legendary Asian elephant, the oldest living of his kind in North America. The 54-year-old Packy has shown a recurrence of tuberculosis, and treatment has stopped working and it’s been suspended. Zoo officials are consulting with experts about what to do. Not to alarm anybody, but it’s an unknown situation.
2016-12-15 - MORANG, Nepal.
Property worth around Rs 100,000 was destroyed after two wild elephants entered a human settlement in Kamalpur, Letang Bhogteni Municipality-7 of Morang district on Wednesday night. The tuskers from a nearby forest had fully destroyed a hut of local Sherman Limbu.
2016-12-15 - , Botswana.
From the end of this month, no elephants will be permitted to be ridden in Botswana. Abu Camp, the only facility that allowed elephant back riding in the country, has been directed to terminate its elephant back safaris. The first commercial elephant rides in Africa began in Zimbabwe in the late 1990s and soon spread throughout Southern Africa. In the region there are now 39 commercial elephant venues, holding around 215 captive elephants. At least 25 of these offer elephant rides. Seven of them...
2016-12-14 - Chitwan, Nepal.
Four community forests located in Chitwan´s western part have introduced elephant safari with an aim to boost tourism. The elephant safari has been started from Devnagar Post, Chitwan National Park (CNP) Chief Conservation Officer, Ram Chandra Kandel said.
2016-12-14 - Perth, Australia.
PERTH Zoo is disappointed an online petition questions their elephant care and training methods, saying staff are 100 per cent dedicated to the welfare of the animals. The change.org petition calls for an end to elephant art, prompted by social media adverts offering Perth Zoo elephant paintings as a unique Christmas gift.
2016-12-13 - Beijing, China.
China is set to announce when it will close its legal ivory carving factories, 18 months after pledging to act. Last year, the world’s largest market for both legal and illegal ivory said it would shut down commercial sales within the country. But did not set a timeline. At the time, conservationists described the announcement as the “single greatest measure†in the fight to save elephants from poaching. Wildlife advocates have since urged Beijing to get on with the job.
2016-12-12 - Sydney, Australia.
To capture Tukta underwater, photographer Toby Zerna attached his camera to a five metre long pool scoop. “Tukta was interested in the camera, coming up to take a look but then she went off to continue swimming,†Zerna said.
2016-12-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Eyeing the Guinness Book honour for the oldest living Asian elephant in captivity, 86-year-old Chenkalloor Dakshayani, would soon get a chain-free spacious enclosure.
2016-12-09 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Two Chinese nationals were detained yesterday after they allegedly attempted to smuggle elephant tusks that were cut into small pieces and stuffed into instant coffee tins. The two suspects were on their way to Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA). HKIA was recently in the news after another Chinese national was caught with 18 rhino horns worth almost N$7 million by the Hawks in South Africa after he was let through though the airport scanners in Namibia had detected the illegal exports.
2016-12-09 - Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.
Circus owner Brian Boswell is challenging the legality of elephant protection laws after his attempt to sell African elephants to a zoo in the United Arab Emirates was blocked by wildlife authorities. Boswell has refused to accept the denial of a permit application to send five circus trained elephants to a Dubai zoo at the selling price of R3 million each
2016-12-08 - RAIPUR, India.
A herd of wild elephants with its young ones ventured into Ambikapur town, district headquarters of Sarguja district in North Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.Later, the herd entered a school group and stayed there. Forest department swung into action and erected barricades to check further movement of elephants in the town and they are under surveillance.
2016-12-07 - COIMBATORE, India.
It is that time of the year when all the temple elephants in the district are brought to Thekkampatti for a 40-day rejuvenation camp. The camp begins in December-end or January.
2016-12-07 - Konni , India.
A one-year-old elephant calf died of viral infection at the Konni elephant training centre. The calf Ammu was suffering from Elephant Endotheliotrop. Ammu was in the news recently after Forest Minister K Raju came to the camp for her naming ceremony
2016-12-06 - Buon Don, Vietnam.
Domesticated elephants in Vietnam’s Central Highlands are receiving ultrasound scans by international experts to check their fitness for mating. In the heat of the afternoon inside Ban Don Village in Dak Lak Province, a group of vets from Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center (DECC) waited alongside Dutch elephant expert Dr. Willem Schaftenaar for H’Tuk, a female elephant who lives at a local ecotourism resort.
2016-12-05 - Guwahati, United States.
Three wild elephants, including two pregnant females, were killed by a speeding train in Assam early on Monday, officials said. A herd of elephants were crossing the railway track at Hojai in Nagaon district when they were hit by the Kanyakumari-Dibrugarh Vivek Express around 12:30am, nearly 137 kilometres from Guwahati. “One of the elephants was a 4-year-old female, while 2 others were pregnant. One of them aborted a 2-month-old fetus after the accident and we found a 4-month-old fetus in...
2016-12-04 - Nairobi, Kenya.
An arrogant buffalo was tossed several feet into the air after it decided to battle with a mother elephant. The buffalo, weighing more than 500kg did not survive the battle. These pictures were taken by a photographer who visited Kenya on vacation.
2016-12-04 - Nuneaton, United Kingdom.
A Twycross Zoo elephant who was suffering with crippling arthritis has been put down. A zoo spokesman said every effort was made to treat her health problems. The 32-year-old Tonzi was euthanised after attempts to treat her health problems were exhausted.
2016-12-04 - Mysore, India.
It was a great honour to Karnataka Forest Department as its elephants captured and tamed by experts from the state are now on demand from other states in the country.Forest department sources told UNI that 12 of these tamed elephants will be sent to Uttarakhand. The elephants have been selected from Bannerghatta, Mathigodu, Dodda Harave and Dubare elephant camps.
2016-12-01 - Ranchi, India.
In a bizarre event people of four families have been forced to live on trees due to the fear of elephants that have gone wild near Ranchi, Jharkhand. Villagers are living in fear since then and have been forced to live on trees in order to protect themselves from the rampant elephants. As per the reports, some families living in Loharatola village in Bundu, around 45 km from Ranchi, have shifted on trees after elephants destroyed their houses.
2016-12-01 - Los Angeles, United States.
Los Angeles was built in a place pockmarked with tar pits, and one of the sites on the extension of the Purple Line is at Wilshire and La Brea, not far from the famous La Brea Tar Pits, which daily yields new finds. Late in November, construction crews found another one, the Los Angeles Times reports. The first piece of an ancient animal that they discovered was a shattered tusk, three feet long, followed by a mastodon tooth. This week, a specialist who monitors the site for fossil finds located...
2016-12-01 - Banlung, Cambodia.
An elephant that killed its owner in September in Mondolkiri province has been sold to a foundation in neighboring Ratanakkiri province, the organization said on Wednesday. “Nobody wanted a killer elephant. They said the killer elephant would kill again,†said Pierre-Yves Clais, the vice president of Airavata Elephant Foundation.
2016-11-30 - Sre Ampoum, Cambodia. Khouth Sophak Chakrya
An elephant that killed its owner in Mondulkiri province in September was recaptured yesterday afternoon after having escaped into the jungle for three days, according to the conservation NGO Airavata, which bought the bull after its old owner’s death. Seng Pich, the group’s spokesperson, said Mai the elephant enjoyed a short-lived escape into the jungle in Pech Chreada district’s Sre Ampoum commune after being taken out of shackles put in place by the grievin...
2016-11-30 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Vietnamese authorities have seized nearly a tonne of ivory smuggled from Africa after locating nearly five tons in five previous shipments to the same port in the past two months. Ho Chi Minh City´s deputy customs chief, Le Dinh Loi, said the ivory seized Monday and Tuesday was hidden inside timber in two containers that arrived at Cat Lai port and was en route to neighboring Cambodia.
2016-11-29 - Columbus, United States.
Asian elephant sisters Rudy, 14, and Sunny, 8, are moving to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium from the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida. Any offspring born of Rudy or Sunny would belong the zoo, and would be used as a part of the American Zoological Association´s Species Survival Plan.
2016-11-29 - , Indonesia.
Fauna & Flora International has acquired two quadcopter drones to help reduce incidents of conflict between humans and wild elephants in Sumatra, Indonesia. The acquisition of two quadcopter drones is helping Fauna & Flora International´s (FFI) Aceh team to monitor the location of Sumatran elephants in Aceh, Indonesia, and respond quickly when elephants are approaching community farms to minimise potential conflicts.
2016-11-29 - Mana Pools, Zimbabwe.
A team of veterinarians saved a juvenile bull elephant caught in a poacher´s wire snare with surgery in the field, in Zimbabwe, on November 21. The young animal, named Little Nyakasanga, is seen standing up after undergoing surgery in Mana Pools. The operation was performed by veterinarians from Aware Trust Zimbabwe, a conservation trust.
2016-11-29 - New Delhi, India.
As many as 213 persons have been killed in elephant attack in Odisha in the last three years from 2013 to 2016, said Environment, Forest and Climate Change minister Anil Madhav Dave answering an unstarred question raised by BJD parliamentarian Narendra Kumar Swain on Monday.
2016-11-28 - New Delhi, India.
Number of human deaths due to tiger attacks has gradually been declining, but there is no let up in the casualties due to elephant attacks in India. In both the cases, West Bengal has suffered the maximum human casualties in the past three years.
Famed temples in south India such as Kerala´s Guruvayoor, which parade richly-decorated jumbos during festivals like Pooram, may lose them forever. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has written to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) asking for such religious institutions ´Which keep wild animals in captivity´ be categorised as zoos.
2016-11-28 - Rome, Italy.
In 1514, King Manuel I of Portugal gave Pope Leo X a white Indian Elephant named Hanno. When Hanno arrived in the Vatican—after sailing from Cochin, on India´s southwest coast, to Lisbon and from Lisbon to Rome, he was an enormous sensation.
2016-11-28 - Islamabad, Pakistan.
Now that winter has set in, the management of the Marghazar Zoo is worried about the fate of Kaavan, the lone elephant, who requires special arrangements during the winter months. Kaavan belongs to Sri Lanka, where the temperature does not drop below zero degrees Celsius.
2016-11-27 - Palakkad, India.
A male wild elephant which was hit by a train on the B line at the Walayar Pudussery section just past Kanjikode succumbed to the injuries on Sunday. The passenger train from Palakkad town Tiruchirapalli (Train No. 56712) hit the 25-year old elephant at around 8km from Palakkad (towards Coimbatore) on Sunday 7.10 AM on the B line.
2016-11-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Many have expressed concern over the government’s move to return the baby elephants to individuals who allegedly had illegal permits or none at all. Several environmental lawyers claimed the move to return the elephants to the suspects was at fault since the court is yet to arrive at a final decision on the matter and it still remains a pending case.
2016-11-26 - Dubbo, Australia.
Belle, a self-proclaimed animal enthusiast, said she saw how much happiness the bub brought Dubbo and that was her inspiration. It’s only fitting she suggested ‘Sabai’ which means happy in Thai language. Her pitch was the overwhelming favourite. “I have a passion for animals and I really like them. I thought it was cool to name a new baby animal that’s going to be at the zoo for a long time,†Belle said.
2016-11-26 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A rogue tusker, which had strayed from the adjoining Chandaka wildlife sanctuary, wreaked havoc in the elephant safari at Nandankanan zoo here, injuring two resident elephants on Thursday night. The two injured elephants are Basanti and Chandan - one female and the other a male. The tusker entered the safari through a gap in the fencing.
2016-11-26 - Dehradun, India.
Raja, Radha and Rangeela, three elephants at the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, are all set for the elephant safari that is now being resumed at Rajaji after nine years. Raja is a male elephant while Radha and Rangeela are females. Arundhati, a famous female safari elephant at the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, then Rajaji National Park, which died in 2007 after it was injured while on patrol.
2016-11-25 - New Delhi, Bangladesh.
The number of elephants crossing over to rice-growing districts South Bengal have increased over the years, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction Numbers tell the state of human-elephant conflict in Bengal: 108 people dead (out of which 71 were in south Bengal) and 14 elephants electrocuted last year. Since April this year, the conflict has left 18 people dead; two elephants have been electrocuted and two shot dead after they were declared rogue by the forest department.
2016-11-25 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A wild elephant destroyed 20 feet of the boundary wall of Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in the wee hours of Friday and attacked two elephants at the zoo. According to sources, the security personnel at NZP were able to scare away the animal using lights and noise makers. Two zoo elephants – Chandan and Basanti –sustained minor injuries in the attack.
2016-11-25 - Bangalore, India.
Faced with growing human-elephant conflict, Karnataka is desperate to gift surplus elephants in its captivity, to states where their population is sparse. It has exhorted other states to adopt the captive elephants, reeling under food and water shortage. There are roughly 200 jumbos housed in the state´s four elephant camps, captured by the forest department after reports of rogue behaviour, raiding crops and killing people.
2016-11-25 - Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Lawyer Andres Gil Dominguez may have had bigger cases, but he´s never had bigger clients. He´s been authorised to represent three elephants in captivity at a former zoo in Argentina´s capital. Dominguez is demanding that Mara, Kuki and Pupi be transferred to a reserve abroad where they can have a better quality of life. All three elephants live in a small treeless site in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires near busy avenues and buildings.
2016-11-24 - , Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka unveiled tougher laws Wednesday, including a ban on using young elephants for logging and other physical work, as part of a crackdown on cruelty to domesticated wild animals. Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera said the cabinet approved new regulations imposing tough conditions on owners of elephants, which are considered sacred by Buddhists in Sri Lanka. The animals are also legally protected but are often subjected to cruel treatment by some owners.
2016-11-24 - , Malawi.
Wildlife crime history was set in Malawi today with not one but two unprecedented court rulings – the first ever conviction of an individual dealing in rhino horn and, in a separate case, the first ever policemen to be convicted for wildlife trafficking.
2016-11-24 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
At 86, Dakshayani shows few signs of aging and looks absolutely fit and graceful as she gets all set all set to enter the Guinness World Records as the oldest-living elephant in the world. The elephant is with the Chengalloor Temple in Poojappura
2016-11-24 - Thrissur, India.
Wednesday was a sad day for elephant lovers in Kerala. Two of their favorite pachyderms, Ithithanam Guruvayoorappan and Valiyaveettil Manikandan, died just hours apart owing to illness. Both the jumbos were star attractions of temple festivals across the state.
2016-11-24 - Wayanad, India.
A wild tusker that had troubled villagers in Wayanad has been caught after a massive operation. The operation started after a government order to capture the elephant was issued. It was shot with tranquilizers when it came out of the forest.
2016-11-23 - SANTA BARBARA, United States.
A piece of the Channel Islands history is being uncovered at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The museum recently received a giant box brought in by Mammoth Movers. “We are not sure if it is a small full size Columbian mammoth, the species that got out to the island originally, or whether it is a large variety of the Pygmy mammoth,†said National Park Service archaeologist Don Morris.
2016-11-23 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.
WWF-Malaysia has frowned on the State Wildlife Department´s killing of a bull elephant in Tawau in a Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) as it impacts the shrinking population of Sabah´s pachyderms. The Department confirmed that the culled bull was in musth, a period where male elephants are known to exhibit aggressive behaviour and, consequently, are susceptible to provocation.
2016-11-23 - Mathigodu, India.
The Mathigodu Elephant Camp has been facing water and fodder shortage. Two months ago, the camp, where rogue elephants are tamed, had 35 jumbos but now only 25 have been left behind as the remaining are relocated to Kallalla camp. The waterbody at the camp has gone dry while the one inside the forest nearby is filled with silt making the water unfit for consumption and insufficient for bathing elephants.
2016-11-14 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Vietnam has destroyed seized ivory and rhino horn, wildlife products derived from species threatened with extinction. The public display of destruction comes ahead of a global conference to combat the illicit trade.
2016-11-14 - Singapore, Singapore.
The fourth joint International Elephant and Rhino Conservation and Research Symposium is a forum for elephant and rhino conservationists and researchers from around the world to present conservation projects and research outcomes, new technologies in field conservation and conflict mitigation, studies in disease, reproduction and behavior, and other issues that impact the long term survival of elephants and rhinos.
2016-11-12 - GUWAHATI, India.
The two-day Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) meet - which saw the participation of elephant experts from five countries - ended here on Friday. The meet collated country-based inputs on the status of wild and captive Asian elephants in their habitats.
2016-11-09 - Kolmorden, Sweden.
Kolmården in Sweden, the largest zoo in the Nordics, has (on 14 October 2016) announced with great pleasure that King Karl XVI Gustaf’s Bua elephant cow is pregnant. The father of the prospective calf is none other than Danish Queen Margrethe‘s elephant bull Tonsak.
2016-11-08 - PATTAYA, Thailand.
The Nong Nooch Pattaya Garden and Resort welcomed a new baby girl elephant into its family Tuesday, during which the garden also organised a blessing ceremony for the adorable animal, Thai News Agency (TNA) reports. Phang Took Jai was born to 19-year-old mother ´Phang Nong Porn´, an elephant performer, and 15-year-old father. ´Plai Mai Muang´, through natural mating.
2016-11-08 - Ann Arbor, United States.
Seth Colling, who teaches children with developmental disabilities at an outdoor learning center in Michigan, was walking along a creek looking for fish with his students in 2014 when they saw something odd sticking out from the water. “It looked really strange,†Mr. Colling said. “I said to my student, ‘Hey what is that?’â€
2016-11-03 - Gibsonton, United States.
Mystery still surrounds the death of a Florida man whose 3-year-old son answered his phone Monday afternoon after they failed to return from a ride on a nearby river. The body of 38-year-old William “Billy†Morris was found Tuesday morning along the south shoreline of the Alafia River in Gibsonton, Florida, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
2016-11-03 - Hambegamuwa, Sri Lanka.
Residents and wildlife officials have released a baby elephant that was tied to a tree in Hambegamuwa area. Residents who saw this elephant has informed the wildlife officials in the area.
2016-11-01 - Phuket, Thailand.
An Australian man who is a resident of Singapore was injured by an elephant in Thailand´s Phuket island on Monday, say local officials. The incident happened on Mai Khao beach on the northern end of the island. The injured man, who is warded at Bangkok Hospital on the resort island, is currently in a stable condition, Mr Sarawut Sisakukam, chief of Mai Khao sub-district administrative organisation, told The Straits Times on Tuesday night. Officials did not name the man.
2016-11-01 - Amherst, United States. University of Massachusetts at Amherst
In a paper this month in PLOS ONE, authors suggest that the two main census methods now in use may be undercounting elephants and that population estimates from both are biased low.
2016-11-01 - Beijing, China.
A man was sentenced to four years in prison and fined 40,000 yuan ($5,903) on Tuesday for smuggling ivory, a Beijing court announced. Beijing No 4 Intermediate People´s Court sentenced the man, surnamed Liu, on Tuesday morning, saying that he was found smuggling 52 products made of ivory in his suitcase at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport in June 2014. The value of the ivory was more than 423,800 yuan, the court said.
2016-11-01 - Tokyo, Japan.
People who miss Hanako, the popular elephant who died in May at a Tokyo zoo, can chip in via the internet to help build a statue in her memory. Hanako reached the age of 69 and was the nation’s oldest elephant. An executive committee comprising the Musashino city government, a local chamber of commerce and other groups, has begun soliciting donations to erect a statue of the Asian elephant.
An elephant at Ueno Zoological Gardens has had a miscarriage, about four months after it was confirmed as the first Asian elephant to get pregnant at the Tokyo zoo since it opened in 1882, the zoo said on Tuesday (Nov 1). Authi, 18, had been expected to give birth around June or July next year but had a miscarriage on Monday, possibly due to a blocked blood flow caused by a twisted umbilical cord.
2016-11-01 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Capturing wild elephants has been banned for decades here. Registration records indicate there should be only 127 elephants in captivity, most of them older. Yet they are a staple of the South Asian island nation´s 400 or so yearly processions — traditional ceremonies honoring a marriage, calling for peace or praying for rain — and in each there are always a few young elephants clumsily cantering to keep up.
2016-10-31 - New Haven, United States. Gaughran SJ, Pless E, Stearns SC. Yale University
Elephants have significantly reduced their risk of cancer by duplicating an important gene called TP53.
2016-10-31 - Dodoma, Tanzania.
Tanzania´s president on Saturday ordered security forces to go after top criminals financing organised networks behind elephant poaching, saying no one was "untouchable". The East African nation, home to the Serengeti Plains packed with wildlife and Africa´s highest mountain Kilimanjaro, relies on revenues from tourism and safaris but has been blighted by poachers chasing ivory to sell mostly in Asia.
2016-10-31 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
According to the Vietnam Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), during the 2010-15 period, customs officers uncovered a total of 116 cases of animal smuggling and trading, confiscating over 22 tonnes of ivory and 457 ivory bracelets.
2016-10-29 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s battle against the ban on ivory trade is not yet over. It might go ahead and sell its ivory in January next year. The country has 90 days to enter a reservation against the decision made under Cites – the international treaty drawn up in 1973 to protect wildlife from exploitation – to ban both international and domestic trade in ivory. Zimbabwe has about 96,000 tonnes of ivory, valued at about $10 billion (Dh36.7bn). It is in desperate need of money...
2016-10-29 - Mumbai, India.
After Rupa, an elephant belonging to Sabha Shankar Pandey, passed away last week at Goregaon’s Film City where she had been brought for a photo shoot, experts have raised concern about the health and care of Lakshmi, Pandey’s other elephant.
2016-10-29 - Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
The Vietnamese customs seized an illegal cargo of ivory weighing nearly one ton in Ho Chi Minh city, making it the fourth ivory smuggling case this month, according to media reports on Thursday. The shipment, on its way to Cambodia from Kenya, was discovered Wednesday in two containers in the city’s Cat Lai Port, according to the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department, the Nhan Dan newspaper reported.
2016-10-27 - Karwar, India.
Ever seen a baby elephant cry? It can melt the hardest of hearts. A 90-day-old calf, which got separated from its herd and was rescued by forest officials, wept when it was put into a truck to be sent to the elephant camp at Sakrebail.
2016-10-27 - Windhoek , Namibia.
The recent arrest of the 52-year-old school principal of Simataa Senior Secondary School in Linyanti Constituency in the Zambezi Region, who was among a group of suspecs accused of running a syndicate that poaches elephants for their coveted ivory, has set tongues wagging at the school where the principal was regarded as a respected elder and a man of high moral values and ethics.
2016-10-25 - KOTTAYAM, India.
At a time when the temples are competing each other by parading more number of elephants during festivals, a temple near here has put an end to this practice. The Governing body of the temple in its meeting held the other day approved the decision to replace the elephant with the chariot.
2016-10-24 - Mumbai, India.
In the wake of the death of an elephant that was hired for a photoshoot in Goregaon’s Film City, the Plant & Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) wrote to the Aarey police demanding that it book its owner Sabha Shankar Pandey, the organisers and the Film City management.
2016-10-23 - Chanthaburi, Thailand.
Tribal villagers have rescued a baby elephant from capture by Chanthaburi animal hunters in the jungle of Khaeng Hang Maew in Thailand on Wednesday night. The calf, found with an injured leg, is now under the care of local forestry officials, according to the Bangkok Post. The rescuers have named the baby Jam and are now searching for an adoptive mother since its own mom is still missing.
2016-10-22 - BENGALURU, United States.
Veterinary doctors and experts on Friday treated and operated on Sidda - the injured and partially blind elephant who has been living in the backwaters of Manchanbele Dam, 30 km from Bengaluru, for 45 days. It was found that Sidda had sustained a fracture in his right forelimb.
2016-10-18 - Mayville, United States.
The most complete ice age mastodon skeleton found in Michigan since the 1940s was recovered this month from the state´s Thumb region by a University of Michigan-led team that included Tuscola County teachers who volunteered for the dig.More than 75 complete or nearly complete bones, accounting for 60-70 percent of the extinct mammal´s skeletal mass, were recovered during the four-day dig at the Fowler Center for Outdoor Learning near Mayville, in Michigan´s Thumb region. The di...
2016-10-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Unlike African elephants that are characterized by strong matriarch-led, unified families, Asian elephant families appear to be less cohesive and seem to lack clear matriarch-leadership, the study found. The researchers found that Asian elephants showed such little dominance behavior that it was almost impossible to construct linear hierarchies among individuals.
2016-10-10 - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The Vietnamese customs in the port of Ho Chi Minh City have seized about two tonnes of ivory hidden in a shipment of timber from Mozambique. Although the ivory trade is banned in Vietnam, the country is still an important market for worked ivory, and a transit point for elephant tusks smuggled from Africa to various other Asian destinations
2016-10-10 - Lampang, Thailand.
The Elephant Reintroduction Foundation and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will release captive elephants into the wild on the auspicious occasion of Her Majesty the Queen’s 84th birthday anniversary, the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT) said today.
2016-10-10 - Mysore, India.
After a rigorous rehearsal, Arjuna is ready to carry the golden howdah weighing 750 kg. He will be accompanied by 11 other elephants — Balarama, Abhimanyu, Gajendra, Kaveri, Vijaya, Vikrama, Gopi, Prashanth, Durgaparameshwari, Harsha and Gopalaswamy.
2016-10-10 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The tusker was the 18th captive elephant to die in the state in the last nine months. According to Heritage Animal Task Force secretary V.K. Venkitachalam, who keeps record of elephant torture and deaths, the number of deaths this year is a record. “Never before has this happened.
2016-10-09 - , Sri Lanka.
Poaching and loss of habitat have caused tuskers to become an increasingly rare sight in Sri Lanka’s jungles. Wildlife officers on Sunday had to treat a tusker with a unique condition The Galgamuwa tusker has earned the name “Dalapoottuwa†because of the entanglement of its tusks.The tusker which usually roams around the jungles of Galgamuwa, makes an annual migration to the Kala Wewa via Kekirawa. Last year, wildlife officers had to treat the tus...
2016-10-07 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Thailand has just announced a new law for all elephant owners which required them to adopt a DNA Registration System to keep track of all captive elephants. This comes in response to a number of investigations carried out by NGO Elephant Family and mounting pressure from the conservation sector.This important step will ensure that captive-bred elephants can be easily distinguished from their wild counterparts.
2016-10-03 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Attempts to give the maximum level of international protection to all African elephants have foundered at a key species conference in Johannesburg. A proposal put forward by Kenya was strongly supported but failed to gain the two-thirds majority required. The opposition of the EU, which voted as a block, was pivotal in the defeat.
2016-10-03 - Oklahoma City, United States.
The Oklahoma City Zoo´s baby elephant Achara is recovering from a case of herpes. She took her final dose of medicine Saturday after about 10 days of elevated virus levels, which are now on the decline. Achara has the same strain of elephant herpes that killed her sister Malee last year, EEHV 1A. This is the second strain she has been exposed to, as she previously contracted EEHV 1B.
2016-10-03 - Lampang, Thailand.
One tusk of a pet bull elephant killed in a crash with an inter-provincial bus in Hang Chat district is missing, a senior police officer said on Sunday. The left tusk, about 70cm long and weighing 2kg, broke off after Plai Udom, 8, was killed when the bus rammed into it on late Friday night. Since the crash, the broken tusk has not been found, Pol Lt Col Somboon Yaya, deputy investigation chief at...
2016-10-02 - Johannesburg, United States.
Delegates at a UN wildlife conference have endorsed calls for the closure of all domestic ivory markets. The non-binding proposal was approved at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in South Africa. Conservationists hailed it as a significant step towards ending the current elephant poaching crisis.
2016-10-01 - Mysore, India.
Mysuru Dasara is the Nadahabba (State-Festival) of the state of Karnataka in South West India. It is also called Navaratri (Nava-ratri = nine-nights) and is a 10-day festival, celebrated with utmost pomp and gaiety in the city of Mysuru. The Dasara festivities have a very long and rich history of more than 400 years.
2016-10-01 - Lampang, Thailand.
A male elephant was killed and a man badly hurt when an inter provincial bus rammed into it in Hang Chat district late Friday night. All passengers on board the bus were unhurt.
2016-09-28 - Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Brazil is ready to open the first elephant sanctuary in Latin America. The facility is located on a 1,100-hectare farm (2,700 acres) in the midwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The area will host up to 50 elephants – and the first elephants to call the sanctuary home will be three females who retired from the circus. The sanctuary, entirely financed by international NGOs, will not be opened to visitation.
2016-09-24 - Sydney, Australia.
At 5.30am on a Sunday exactly 100 years ago, Jessie, a four-tonne elephant, sauntered through Sydney´s CBD. Starting at the old zoo in Moore Park, she strolled down Macquarie Street to the spot where the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House would eventually be built. As the sun rose, she boarded an open-top barge to make the journey across Sydney Harbour to her new home at Taronga Zoo in Mosman.
2016-09-21 - Sre Ampoum, Cambodia.
A rogue male elephant that killed his owner in Mondulkiri on Monday was joined in the forest by two female elephants yesterday after they were released in an unsuccessful attempt to coax the bull home. The bull elephant, Mai, killed his owner, Mob Sreng, 45, by reportedly goring him with his tusks. Yesterday, the victim’s family freed two female elephants from their pens to attract Mai to leave the forest.
2016-09-16 - Boston, United States. Ewen Callaway
Love Dalén, a palaeogeneticist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, says that the study will force a reshuffle of the elephant family tree. “Basically Loxodonta is not valid as a genus name,” he says. He thinks that taxonomists may need to come up with new names for the different species, to better represent the relationship between savannah, forest and straight-tusked elephants.
2016-08-30 - Dodoma, Tanzania.
Two Welsh sniffer dogs who were flown out to Tanzania to help catch smugglers have made their first bust after helping authorities seize a haul of elephant tusks. Jenny, a Belgian Malinois, and Dexter, an English springer spaniel, are being used to help detect ivory, weapons, ammunition and animal products including elephant and buffalo meat in the east African country.
2016-08-23 - San Diego, United States.
The San Diego Zoo lost one of its elder statesmen Tuesday. Ranchipur, the zoo’s 50-year-old Asian elephant, was euthanized after his health suddenly took a turn for the worse. The elderly mammal, who was the fourth-oldest male elephant in the Western Hemisphere, had been under veterinary care for several years due to various geriatric ailments.
2016-08-20 - Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. University of Kelaniya
The conference is meant to cover every aspect of Asian Elephants and aims for a compendium of research papers to be published along with the conference. We welcome research papers on following themes and any other aspect related to Asian Elephants.
2016-08-02 - Havelock Island, India.
Rajan, the legendary elephant whom you could swim along with in the ocean off the Andaman islands, has passed away at the age of 66. A star attraction at Barefoot Resort at Havelock Island, Rajan came to be in the possession of the owners of the resort, after they took him under their care when he was left sick and stranded on the island in 2004, after his owner could not pay to ship him to a nearby island after a film shoot.
2016-08-02 - Jeli, Malaysia.
The Kelantan Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has managed to capture a wild elephant believed to be destroying villagers´ crops together with a herd of about five elephants at Kampung Lawar, Batu Melintang, here. Its director Mohamad Khairi Ahmad said the male elephant, weighing 2.5 tonnes, was captured last Friday and would be relocated to a more suitable habitat with the assistance of the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Pahang.
2016-08-02 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
A team of Assam forest department will reach Bangladesh on Wednesday, to study how to bring back an elephant stranded in the neighbouring country after being washed away by the strong currents of the Brahmaputra river. On June 27, the wild female elephant was separated from her herd in Assam and floated along with the currents of the Brahmaputra river from Dhubri district into the neighbouring Bangladesh.
2016-08-02 - Aurangabad, India.
The animal is likely to be shifted within the next 10-15 days.On August 1, 1996, the city zoo authorities brought a couple of elephants (male Shankar and female Swaraswati) from Mysore to the Siddhartha Garden and Zoo. The team had also reviewed the zoo in Aurangabad and felt that the space provided to the animals was not enough.
2016-08-02 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo´s elephant calf Willow had endured a lot of pain and had gained a reputation as a fighter in her short life, but it was only on Monday that her keepers realised the "sweet, adorable little thing" was not going to make it.
2016-07-28 - Rabat, Morocco.
A seven-year-old girl has died after being struck by a rock thrown by an elephant at a zoo in Morocco. The incident occurred on Tuesday at Rabat zoo. The girl’s father is thought to have lifted her on to his shoulders to give her a better view of the animals. One of the elephants picked up a stone – nearly the size of half a brick – with its trunk and threw it. The stone struck the girl on the back of the head, knocking her unconscious.
2016-07-25 - Tübingen, Germany.
Archaeologists have discovered an eight inch long piece of mammoth ivory at a famous prehistoric site in Germany. The intricately carved tusk (pictured) was thought to be part of a musical instrument but new research has found that it may have actually be used to make rope
2016-06-09 - Buon Don, United States.
Over 20 diplomatic and business delegates enjoyed touring Dak Lak Province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands on Wednesday afternoon, getting a close-up look at local culture.The delegates observed domesticated elephants, visited traditional stilt houses, crossed a wooden suspension bridge, and enjoyed traditional performances by local Rade ethnics.
2016-05-19 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
A herd of 20 wild elephants foraging for food and water near residential areas in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak is threatening the safety of local residents. Huynh Trung Luan, director of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center, said the elephants have destroyed crops and irrigation systems in several villages in Ea Sup District. “They are apparently moving from the Yok Don National Park to the Ea Sup Thuong Reservoir for water.â€
2016-05-07 - Polk city, United States.
The circus held a final performance in Rhode Island, folded the elephant tent for good and shipped the performers to their permanent retirement in Central Florida, where they arrived Thursday. The era of the elephant in "the greatest show on earth" is over.
2016-05-01 - Thrissur, India.
The common forum of Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi devaswoms has denied charges of cruelty to elephants during Thrissur Pooram. “Elephants with wounds or swellings were not paraded for the Pooram,†a joint statement of the devaswoms said. It added that only those elephants with fitness certificates issued by the forest and animal husbandry departments were used for the event.
The Kerala State Animal Welfare Board (KSAWB) has come up against the statement of the Animal Husbandry Department refuting the allegation that elephants were subjected to cruelty during Thrissur Pooram celebrations. In a press release here on Friday, M.N. Jayachandran, Member, Kerala State Animal Welfare Board, alleged that the Thrissur Animal Husbandry officer was trying to misguide people with false information and was trying to protect the festival organisers.
2016-04-30 - Nairobi, Kenya. Martin Oduor
Immediately after the 1974 elections, the Kenyatta family was linked to illegal ivory trade, which was earning the Kenyatta family and other close relatives $10 million (equivalent to about Sh100 million today) per year, as the country’s 120,000 elephants were killed at an annual rate of 20,000! – Source Charles Hornsby in his book, Kenya: A History Since Independence (1963-2011)
2016-04-30 - Atlanta, United States.
Shark-tooth diver Bill Eberlein experienced a first in his lifetime when he found a mastodon jaw embedded in the mud of a river bed. "I have been diving in coastal Georgia rivers for over 15 years for prehistoric shark teeth, but this is the first time I have discovered a mastodon jaw," Eberlein said.
2016-04-30 - ROURKELA, India.
Panic gripped Sector-22 of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), located on the southern tip of the city, when a herd of seven elephants strayed into the area and damaged boundary walls of two buildings on Wednesday night. The herd was staying in Sonaparvat Reserve Forest (RF) for the last 45 days and used to frequent the connecting Bijay Sagar reservoir of IDL Explosives plant for water.
2016-04-30 - Chiredzi, Zimbabwe.
ABOUT 300 elephants and some lions could be culled — reduced in population through selective slaughter — in the Save Valley Conservancy amid reports that the large number of animals at the conservancy in the South East Lowveld of Zimbabwe is destroying the area’s biodiversity in the wake of the El Nino-induced drought that has hit the country.
2016-04-29 - New York, United States. Powell DM, Vitale C.
A study was conducted at the Bronx Zoo to determine whether providing elephants with access to an outdoor corral at night had any significant effects on behavior, use of space, and use of a sand corral. Activity budgets for three female Asian elephants were compared when the subjects were housed indoors overnight and when they were given access to an outdoor yard overnight. Observations were recorded via infrared video cameras between the hours of 1900 and 0700 during the months of July-Septembe...
2016-04-29 - Sequim, United States.
The partial remains of a Columbian mammoth skull discovered in the bluffs near Sequim Bay in early January are undergoing a stabilization process at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle. Once stabilized, the fossil likely will be loaned to the Sequim Museum for display.
2016-04-27 - Nairobi, Kenya.
On Saturday, April 30, Kenya Wildlife Service will host the largest ivory burn in history — a bold statement against elephant poaching, and one we hope will mark the beginning of the end for the global ivory trade, which kills an estimated 33,000 elephants every year. WildAid will be bringing these historic events to a worldwide audience through social media, and we invite you to watch it live.
2016-04-26 - Port Elizabeth , South Africa.
Charges against two circus owners and an employee from the well known Brian Boswell Circus have been withdrawn in the Port Elizabeth magistrate’s court. Jane Boswell, her daughter Georgina, and elephant handler David Marais were facing a string of charges for allegedly beating, chaining, confining and not providing sufficient water and shade to elephants between December 2012 and January 2013.
2016-04-23 - Hamilton, Canada.
Several species of mammoth are thought to have roamed across the North American continent. A new study in the open-access journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, provides DNA evidence to show that these mammoths, which should only mate within their species boundaries, were in fact likely to be interbreeding.
2016-04-23 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
More than 100 pieces of tusks were seized as customs officers checked a suspicious cargo in Noi Bai International Airport on Friday. The shipment was held on suspicion of being elephant tusks upon its arrival to the Hanoi airport from the Turkish Airline flight TK 6562 on April 6, according to the airport customs.
2016-04-23 - Providence, United States.
The Greatest Show on Earth is headed to Providence next week and it will be the last time elephants are ever a part of the show. For the first time in its 146-year history, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is saying goodbye to its legendary elephants.
2016-04-21 - Birmingham, United States.
The Birmingham Zoo’s beloved African elephant, Bulwagi, is set to receive potentially life-saving surgery in May to remove his infected tusk. The surgery is a very involved process requiring intense preparation, so the Birmingham Zoo is bringing in experts from the Colyer Institute and extra veterinary assistance from across the country to help with the multiple hour operation.
2016-04-21 - Zuerich, Switzerland.
Druk, the oldest of the zoos elephants, found herself on the ground after a tussle with other members of the herd, the zoo said in a statement. Seeing that the elderly elephant didnt have the energy to stand up by herself, zookeepers called on Zurich city fire service to help.
2016-04-20 - Yaounde, Cameroon.
Cameroon will incinerate 2000 kg of elephant tusks and more than 1753 art objects made of ivory seized from traffickers over the years, at the request of the Head of State, His Excellency, President Paul Biya on April 19, 2016.
2016-04-20 - Miami, United States.
Zoo Miami welcomed two new African elephants to its exhibit Tuesday, who were brought to Miami from the Virginia Zoo. The elephants, Cita and Lisa, are moving to Zoo Miami as part of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommendation. Cita and Lisa will be presented to the public at Zoo Miami on May 20 following the quarantine period.
2016-04-15 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Conservationists in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak are continuing to try and reintroduce a baby elephant they rescued from a well back to its herd despite several failed attempts. Pham Van Lang, deputy director of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center, told Zing News that the two-month old calf remains at the center as they were seeking more advice from experts and higher authorities.
2016-04-15 - Sydney, Australia.
Sydney´s Taronga Zoo will hear the thump thump of little feet when expectant mother Pak Boon delivers her baby elephant after a 22-month pregnancy. The new calf, expected this time next year, will be the fourth born as part of the zoo´s conservation breeding program for Asian elephants.
2016-04-07 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Officials in Thailand say they seized 315 kilograms (695 pounds) of African elephant tusks worth an estimated $800,000 at Bangkok´s international airport. Kulit Sombatsiri, director-general of the Thai Customs Department, said Tuesday that the haul of 87 ivory tusks was found March 27 in a dozen barrels sent from Mozambique on a Kenya Airways flight. A routine X-ray at Suvarnabhumi International Airport detected the contraband.
2016-04-04 - Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
The conference programme will address all aspects of elephant culture, past, present and future and in all continents. It will deal with both material and cultural concerns, and will cover both the Indian and the African elephant.
2016-03-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Attorney General yesterday informed Court that 38 illegally caught wild elephant were taken into the Wildlife Department custody following the CID investigation into a massive racket where illegally caught wild elephant calves being sold to third parties.
2016-03-29 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Animal rescue officers in Dak Lak Province on Monday saved a baby elephant that fell into a five-meter deep well, possibly while looking for water. Members from the Central Highlands province’s Elephant Conservation Center and forest rangers spent one hour pulling the elephant up, after tying a rope around its belly. Local officials believed the elephant belongs of a herd of more than ten elephants which were traveling to a nearby lake for water.
2016-03-25 - Lampang, Thailand.
The prosthetic leg factory, just for elephants, will soon be operating at Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Thailand. This is a unique and wonderful facility that can make and repair custom-fit artificial limbs for elephants who need them.
2016-03-23 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
A mahout was killed by an elephant yesterday at Chiang Mai Zoo. Somsak Panna was herding bull elephant Billy back to his corral to feed him breakfast Tuesday morning when the 25-year-old pachyderm gored the keeper with his tusk. “Another worker attempted to stop the elephant, but it was too late,†according to a statement from the zoo published Tuesday evening.
2016-03-19 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Two Chinese poachers were yesterday sentenced to 30 years in jail each or pay a record Sh108.7 billion fine in one of the heaviest sentences aimed at curbing the illegal trade. The Kisutu Resident Magistrates Court found Xu Fujie, 31, and Huang Gin, 51, guilty of illegally possessing 706 pieces of elephants tusks.. They were each ordered to pay Sh 54.3 billion in fine each or face the lengthy sentence of a whole three decades behind bars.
2016-03-16 - New Delhi, India.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said eight elephants were killed in 2014015 and 391 humans were killed by elephants. Nearly 400 people have died during 2014-15 due to human-elephant conflict in various parts of the country, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
2016-03-15 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Its time to step forward and give a balancing report of one of the largest scams I have witnessed in Asia, in no way, a paradise for elephants or the staff, although it has according to sources, an estimated annual income between $US 3. 650. 000 and $US 5. 475. 000 dollars.
2016-03-15 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
On March 11, rescue teams and local police in Mae Taeng were called to Elephant Nature Park after a Burmese mahout who had recently visited the center in search for work and to meet with his brother, was trampled in the veterinary enclosure where a rescue elephant known as Mee Sook, was being kept. According to reports, the 10 year old female elephant known as Mee Sook, was rescued from an elephant riding camp in Krabi province.
2016-03-09 - Mbabane , Swaziland.
The Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium and its partner zoos sent an airplane to Swaziland, sedated 18 elephants and loaded them up Tuesday, forcing a judge to make an emergency decision to allow the transport. All signs point to elephants arriving in the U.S. late Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the travel itinerary. After temporarily freezing the import while he deliberated, U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates decided to allow the import for fear that sedating the elephants an additional time ...
2016-03-01 - , Congo.
Elephants in the vast Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) face a precarious future following reports that armed gangs of poachers are wreaking havoc in the game reserve, threatening both the animals and rangers. According to reports, last year, about 114 elephants were killed in the Garamba National Park, located in the north-eastern part of the DRC.
2016-02-27 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.
The increasing number of orphaned baby Bornean elephants being rescued from plantations near forest reserves is worrying the Sabah Wildlife Department. The fact that the baby elephants were found wandering alone was an indication that the adult animals including their mothers had been killed.
2016-02-26 - Kota Kinabalu , Malaysia.
Experts believe that the state’s 2,500 Bornean elephants were at risk of inbreeding in fragmented areas of its jungles as they are unable to meet elephants from other parts to mate and strengthen their gene pool.
2016-02-04 - Pookode, India.
An international workshop on Asian elephants and tigers being held at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) headquarters at Pookode stressed the need for more research on diseases affecting the animals. The four-day programme is being organised by the Centre for Wildlife Studies under KVASU in association with the Department of Forests and Wildlife.
2016-02-03 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
A government minister in Tanzania has called for a "shoot-to-kill" policy against poachers in a radical measure to curb the mass slaughter of elephants. Khamis Kagasheki´s proposal for perpetrators of the illicit ivory trade to be executed "on the spot" divided opinion, with some conservationists backing it as a necessary deterrent but others warning that it would lead to an escalation of violence.
2016-01-29 - Polk City, United States.
On Monday morning, January 25th, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation® lost its youngest elephant to the elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Two-year old “Mikeâ€, who was born at the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation, passed away despite the heroic efforts of our veterinary and animal care staff to save him. While final necropsy results are still pending, preliminary results, as well as blood tests sent to Smithsonian Insti...
2016-01-25 - Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Villagers wielding pangas, grinders and knives slaughtered three elephants that were shot dead in Mpumalanga after escaping from the Kruger National Park. An African Eye News Service reporter witnessed armed rangers from the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) trying to calm residents of Matsulu outside Mbombela last week. The impatient residents, who had arrived on the scene with empty buckets, wanted the rangers to kill the elephants immediately.
2016-01-25 - Kansas City, United States.
The Kansas City Zoo will acquire a bull African elephant sometime in October, making possible a future breeding program, zoo officials announced Wednesday. Tamani, who will soon be 10 years old, now resides at the Birmingham Zoo in Alabama with three other males, including his father. In Kansas City, Tamani will join six female African elephants who are past their reproductive years. But Kansas City Zoo officials hope to acquire younger females in the future.
2016-01-22 - Washington, United States.
Three U.S. zoos announced a new agreement Jan. 21, 2016, with Borneo-based wildlife organizations to protect the endangered Borneo pygmy elephant. The first partnership of its kind, the effort will provide support for solutions to the frequent and sometimes deadly conflicts between people and elephants on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo.
2016-01-22 - Falls Church, United States.
Eighteen elephants from southern Africa soon will be on a 747 headed to the United States. A federal agency has officially approved the permits to import the elephants from Swaziland to zoos in Wichita, Dallas and Omaha. The Sedgwick County Zoo, the Dallas Zoo and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium will each get six elephants under an agreement announced last fall.
2016-01-19 - Venice, United States.
A contributing columnist to the Times Leader felt it was appropriate to attack Ringling Bros. animal care. Not only did he spread animal rights propaganda about the circus, he also insulted the dedicated men and women with Ringling Bros. who spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, caring for our animals.
2016-01-13 - Venice, United States.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus announced Monday that early in May, 11 female elephants that together have spent decades on the road for circuses will step off train cars and super-semi trucks for the last time into retirement in central Florida. Most will be returning to family and friends.
2016-01-10 - Arusha, Tanzania.
Early findings from the largest ever aerial survey of African wildlife—the Great Elephant Census (GEC)—are proving that big data can make a big difference when it comes to saving the world’s largest land mammal. Funded by Microsoft billionaire Paul G. Allen and staffed by 90 researchers, the initiative surveyed elephant populations in a combined distance of 285,000 miles throughout Africa.
2016-01-10 - Pathanamthitta, India.
According to the Heritage Animal Task Force, a total of 14 people died in Kerala last year due to elephant attacks. Among these, 9 people were mahouts The committee, which was formed to provide guidelines to avoid such attacks, has not submitted any report
2016-01-10 - Huntsville, United States.
Elephants have a low incidence of cancer, and scientists are examining why elephants are cancer resistant but humans lack this capability. Ringling Bros. dedicated a performance at the Von Braun Center to Huntsville’s oncology unit. That evening raised awareness to national cancer research by Dr. Joshua Schiffman, who has connected DNA from Ringling Bros. elephants to DNA from patients with cancer.
2016-01-10 - Portland, United States.
Seven staff at the Oregon Zoo were infected with tuberculosis following an outbreak starting in 2013 among three bull elephants – Packy, his son Rama and Tusko. The seven people who developed a latent form of the disease without symptoms had close contact with the elephants, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An eighth person, a volunteer, also developed a mysterious case of tuberculosis.
2016-01-08 - Hai Phong, Vietnam.
In November 2015, Vietnamese officials seized more than two tons of ivory that originated in Mozambique. The haul was valued at over $4 million (US). All Africa News reported that the ivory was found on board a container vessel that docked in Hai Phong.
2016-01-08 - COIMBATORE, India.
Eye witnesses say, a herd of four wild elephants including a male, a female and two cubs, came near the elephant camp on Thursday early morning. At that time, the camp elephants were taking shower and the mahouts who saw the herd raised alarm. Suddenly, the male elephant separated from the herd and began to chase the temple elephants. Immediately, mahouts took the temple elephants to a safer location.
2016-01-08 - Berlin, Germany.
Zoo elephants in Berlin have enjoyed a light festive snack: a late delivery of Christmas trees. The New Year feeding of unsold pine trees has become an annual event. Zookeeper Mario Hammerschmidt says the trees are certified as pesticide-free. Hammerschmidt said Thursday that the trees are "a good supplement to the food the elephants get during winter time."
2016-01-08 - Palani, India.
Sri Dhandayuthapaniswamy temple administration here on Wednesday sent the temple elephant Kasturi to rejuvenation camp at Mettupalayam on Wednesday. After special pujas, the 49-year-old elephant, weighing 4,600 kg, boarded the lorry on Wednesday morning. Officials from HR&CE, Forest and Revenue Departments were present. Earlier, veterinary doctors checked the health condition of Kasturi. She was fit to travel, said veterinary doctor Rajendran. Kasturi had won the first prize in a competition hel...
2016-01-08 - Krishnagiri, India.
A 12-year-old female elephant was found dead on Wednesday in a forest in Tamil Nadu´s Krishnagiri district. This incident took place on a day when temple elephants came to Coimbatore and the Nilgiris for a rejuvenation camp. Authorities have conducted a post-mortem and have sent the samples for analysis. "We suspect the adolescent elephant might have been a victim of violent mating," said Mr Rajendran, District Forest Officer.
2016-01-04 - Berlin, Germany.
Zoo workers in Berlin admitted on Monday that they had made a mistake about the sex of the newest member of their elephant herd. It´s easier than one might think with elephants, as pachyderms´ male member is discreetly hidden away in a pouch unless they are urinating or otherwise making use of it.
2015-12-12 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
2015-12-10 - Juba, Sudan.
Wildlife researchers have found forest elephants for the first time in South Sudan, along with dozens of other rare animal species in Western Equatoria state, a conservation organization said. Scientists from Bucknell University, South Sudan´s Wildlife Service, and Fauna and Flora International organization set up dozens of camera traps over 8000 square kilometers in Western Equatoria state in the last six months, taking 20,000 photographs.
2015-12-09 - Khartoum, Sudan.
Over six months, the camera traps captured more than 20,000 wildlife images, including the first pictures of forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) ever taken in South Sudan.The cameras also found a number of other species never before recorded in South Sudan (or in pre-independence records) including the African golden cat, water chevrotain, red river hog and giant pangolin. Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-12-remote-cameras-glimpse-forgotten-forests.html#jCp
2015-11-27 - , South Africa.
Our wild herd on Kapama originated from the Kruger National Park and found their new home on the Kapama Game Reserve between 1992 and 1997. This calf is now about 5 years of age, and as you can see on the picture he still has the pink eyes and lashes.
2015-11-24 - Tupelo, United States. Jim Clark
On Nov. 2, 1922, Nellie Lockhart arrived in Tupelo via the railroad. She had just given a performance in Booneville and after the Tupelo show was to be sold. Nellie was an elephant, part of the Gollmar Brothers Circus.
2015-11-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Chamath Keppitiyagama of the University of Colombo is working on a radar system that listens out for the inaudible rumbles of elephants’ infrasound, something that was discovered in the 1980s. Infrasound is useful for locating and tracking elephants over long distances – the low frequency means the sounds travel a long way through the air.
2015-11-20 - Sydney, Australia.
Eerily life-like statues of an elephant and sabre-tooth tiger on the back of a trailer driving along the West Gate Freeway have been revealed as nothing more than a publicity stunt! 3AW Mornings listener Ziggy captured the bizarre photo and sent it into Neil Mitchell. He momentarily thought the elephant was real.
2015-11-20 - New York, United States.
Prince William recently stated that he was initially drawn to Tusk by its innovative and holistic approach and its unwavering certainty that conservation is as much about people and community programmes as it is about wildlife protection. The imperative of balancing the conservation of wildlife and natural resources with the ever growing needs of the human race is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today."
2015-11-20 - Venice, United States.
Feld Entertainment was started by his father, Irvin; today, Kenneth, 66, runs it with his three daughters, Nicole, Alana and Juliette, all in their 30s. Earlier this year, they decided together that by 2018, Ringling Brothers would take its elephants off the road and retire them to the family’s vast preserve in Florida, where the Felds say the animals will breed and take part in research for everything from fertility to cancer.
2015-11-18 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Many mahouts in Tha Tum and nearby areas on Wednesday were seen registering with the Khotcha-anajak or "Elephant Kingdom" programme at Pudin village in tambon Krapho. The project, operated by the Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand, has set aside 25 million baht to improve the living conditions of 200 elephants and their mahouts.
2015-11-18 - Aceh, Indonesia.
A RARE Sumatran elephant has been found dead in Indonesias Aceh province after apparently eating fertiliser. THE body of the six-year-old male was found in a coffee plantation in Pidie district on Tuesday, said Genman Hasibuan, the head of the provincial Nature Conservancy Agency. "We suspect he died of accidental poisoning because we found splattered fertiliser urea nearby," left behind by a farmer in his hut, Hasibuan said.
2015-11-17 - Birmingham, United States.
When Birmingham Zoo veterinarians approached researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Engineering to help them stop a crack from growing in their oldest elephant’s tusk, the engineers saw an opportunity to use their expertise in materials science to improve the industry standard for the repair process.
2015-11-17 - Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka.
In August 2015, one of our frequently sighted females in Uda Walawe named Indika was seen suckling two calves of different ages on either sides of her. The younger male calf Indika was nursing was about three months old and merely skin and bones. He was obviously malnourished and weak. She already had a rounded and bulky belly suggesting another calf was on her way.
2015-11-17 - Dhenkanal, India.
Two elephants were found dead under the Sadangi range last week. Though Forest officials declined to disclose about reasons behind death of elephants but poachers are suspected to be active in the reserve forest. Forest officials said they have intensified the patrolling but locals dispute this saying they have rarely found forest officials camping or patrolling in the area
2015-11-17 - Bay Lake, United States.
Tsavo has come back home. The 7-year-old elephant has arrived at Disney´s Animal Kingdom, where he was born, after spending two years at the National Elephant Center in Fellsmere. Tsavo and Thandi were two remaining elephants at the troubled center, which Disney helped found.
2015-11-17 - Raipur, India.
A drought-hit farmer in Chhattisgarh´s tribal Jashpur district died of a heart attack aftera herd of 40 elephants destroyed and fed on all his leftover crops on his eight-acre land, a few days ago. The matter came to light on Tuesday after district Congress raised the issue and claimed the forest department had not paid compensation to the family.
2015-11-17 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Pakkanut Bansiddhi, Preeyanat Vongchan, Achiraya Satityuenyong, Khajohnpat Boonprasert, Sittidet Mahasawangkul, Ronnachit Roongsri, Janine L. Brown and Chatchote Thitaram
The aim of this study was to examine blood compatibility in Asian elephants using the indirect antiglobulin technique, for use as a breeding management tool to reduce the risk of elephant fetal loss. Forty-four blood samples collected from 22 female and 22 male elephants were subjected to standard tube cross-matching tests and examined for macroscopic and microscopic agglutination reactions.
2015-11-17 - Cochin, India.
Gireeshan, one of the senior elephants of Cochin Devaswom Board, died on Monday. According to Devaswom Board sources, the elephant died due to old-age ailments. It was 80 years old. Gireeshan, which collapsed at the Kokkarni compound of the Devaswom on October 26, didn’t recover after that. It was undergoing treatment for almost one year for various ailments, under the guidance of veterinary doctor V. Sunil Kumar. The body was cremated at Kodanad.
2015-11-17 - Napier, New Zealand.
A Napier man who imported illegal ivory was instructing suppliers on how to evade detection by Customs. Patrick Cooper, 62, a natural therapist, appeared in Napier District Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to five charges of trading in endangered species. In June 2012 quarantine inspectors carrying out a routine inspection of mail arriving in New Zealand found a box addressed to Cooper containing a large, carved tusk from an African Elephant.
2015-11-17 - Bengaluru, India.
Chaitra, the elephant in the Bandipur camp who had been shackled ever since she gave birth to her 10th calf, has finally been freed. Following the publication of a report Forest dept forced heavily pregnant jumbo into Dasara in Deccan Herald on November 13, Conservator of Forests and Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve B B Mallesh is learnt to have given directions to unchain the elephant and let her mingle with the other jumbos
2015-11-16 - Tulsa, United States.
Zoo veterinarians and other wildlife experts agreed that the use of humane euthanasia was the best course of action to end the animal’s suffering. The zoo released necropsy results that showed Tova had a 10 pound bladder stone blocking the flow of urine from the bladder.
2015-11-16 - Jorhat, India.
Expressing concern over the rising incidents of man-elephant conflict on both the banks of the mighty Red River, Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar today said that he had taken personal initiative to release funds for undertaking compensatory afforestation in an effort to provide necessary fodder for the marauding elephants.
2015-11-16 - Seattle, United States.
Seattle´s Woodland Park Zoo has transferred ownership of its Asian elephants to zoos in Oklahoma City and St. Louis, where the animals are now living. Female elephants Bamboo and Chai were moved to Oklahoma City Zoo this past May when the zoo closed its elephant exhibit. Another female Asian elephant, Sri (SEE) has been living at the Saint Louis Zoo since 2002.
2015-11-16 - Birmingham, United States.
Bulwagi, the Birmingham Zoo’s 35-year-old African bull elephant, underwent what could be a breakthrough procedure this month to help correct a long-term crack in his tusk.Because of the tusk’s slow growth rate, according to the Zoo, the team will not be able to assess the procedure’s success for several months.
2015-11-16 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Tanzania has launched with UN financial support, a special program for monitoring of elephants by satellite. Funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the program first concerns 30 elephants of Ruaha National Park, from now on equipped with radio transmitters, according to a statement by the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA).
2015-11-16 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyas wildlife authority on Monday vowed to destroy the east African country´s vast ivory stockpile from several thousand elephants, nine times more than the largest pile torched so far. Kenyas stockpile, if illegally sold on the black market at current prices, could be worth some $270 million (over 251 million euros), but conservationists say sale of ivory only serves to fuel further poaching.
2015-11-15 - Mbabane, Swaziland.
The United States government is offering to pay $450, 000 to Swaziland’s Big Game Parks (BGP) in a deal to acquire 18 of 39 elephants blamed for destroying vegetation and causing negative impact on rhino conversation projects.â€US government documents show that the elephants are fenced into a small portion of the reserves, denying them access to much larger areas of land and causing degradation,†the Conservation Action Trust said.
2015-11-15 - Umaria, India.
It took an 65-year-old elephant called Gotham to capture a TV first in this week´s episode — and here´s how the feat was achieved. “We only had access to the elephant for half of the morning,†says Hughes. “The animal welfare rule was that it could work until mid-morning and then it had to go back to its house and have a nice bath and something to eat. So we had only this window in the morning, but it still managed to work.â€
2015-11-15 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
A STARTLED elephant barrelled into a crowd of tourists at Chiang Mai Night Safari on Saturday, mowing down nine, who were offered lifetime passes and Bt30,000 as compensation. The 23-year-old pachyderm named Lamduan had participated in the animal parade for the first time. Four of the injured were in a serious condition and had to stay at the hospital. The other five were allowed to go home.
2015-11-15 - Tulsa, United States.
The Tulsa Zoo reports that one of the zoo´s newest Asian elephants, Tova, has died. Zoo staff says they observed initial signs that Tova was sick on November 9th. The zoo says colleagues from the Center for Elephant Conservation aided experts to ensure all treatments were explored.
2015-11-14 - Pak Lay, Laos.
In Laos, the elephant population has been decimated by logging. Now, a caravan of elephants and their mahouts is marching 400 miles to raise awareness of their plight. The caravan started in Pak Lay district on 27 October and will end, 391 miles later, in Luang Prabang on 9 December with 20 elephants parading through the streets.
2015-11-14 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Adelhelm Meru told journalists in Dar es Salaam that the government was conducting a special operation to fight poaching and trafficking of government trophies.
2015-11-13 - London, United Kingdom.
Police in Britain have helped mastermind a forensic breakthrough that is set to transform law enforcement investigations against poachers and smugglers around the world. Imaging and fingerprint experts from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) have teamed up with scientists from King´s College London and University College London to validate the use of new techniques for retrieving fingerprints from elephant tusks – for the first time. Around 50,000 African elephants are thought to...
2015-11-13 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Members of the police in Kavango East Region have confiscated three crocodile skins, six elephant tusks, one cheetah skin and one skin of a honey badger from various suspects. On Tuesday, two Zambian nationals, a male and a female, were arrested by the police at Kangongo village in Mukwe in Kavango East Region for possession of controlled game products.
2015-11-13 - Jorhat, India.
Hundreds of villagers blocked NH-37 at Kakojan in Jorhat district on Thursday in protest against the forest department´s failure to curb the menace of wild elephants in more than 100 villages. The mob raised slogans against the government and the state forest department demanding immediate steps to prevent elephant menace in their villages.
2015-11-13 - Las Vegas, United States.
A fossil mammoth tusk and molar recently excavated by UNLV paleontologists soon will give us a better idea of what Southern Nevada was like thousands of years ago when animals such as mammoths and camels roamed the valley. The fossils were excavated from a site adjacent to U.S. Highway 95 west of Indian Springs, about 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
A man was killed and five others were seriously injured by a herd of wild elephants at Jhanjimukh area in Assam´s Jorhat district, a police officer said. Pursaram Choudhury (55) and the five others had last night gone to chase a herd of marauding jumbos that had been roaming in the area for past 15 days destroying farmland, the officer said.
2015-11-13 - Entebbe, Uganda.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), working with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has completed an aerial survey, which shows that Ugandan elephant numbers have increased significantly since the 1980´s. The areas surveyed did not include all protected areas, such as the Maramagambo forest within Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The famous Columbian mammoth — an 11-ton creature known for traversing North America during the last ice age — might actually be the same species as the Eurasian steppe mammoth, said study co-researcher Adrian Lister, a research leader of paleontology at the Natural History Museum in London. The discovery suggests that the first mammoth to enter North America was the Eurasian steppe mammoth, and not its ancestor, a European creature called Mammuthus meridionalis.
2015-11-13 - Hohenwald, United States.
The Nashville Zoo has sent all three of the its female African elephants to The Elephant Sanctuary in Lewis County.After successful transports last week, Sukari, 31 years old, and Rosie, 44, have joined their zoo mate, Hadari, in the Sanctuary. Hadari, a 33-year-old African elephant, arrived at The Sanctuary from the Zoo in late September.
The New Ram Terang Village was dedicated to the memory of Mark Shand. Ruth Powys, CEO, Elephant Family said, “An entire new village comes to fruition. We have solved a problem both for elephants and people. Elephant Family is proud to be part of this venture. I can feel that Mark is with us today. Now, every child can play here without danger, and every elephant can move without conflict.â€
2015-11-13 - Aceh, Indonesia.
Since last week, residents of Seumanah Jaya subdistrict in Ranto Peureulak district have been forced to stay away from their plantations after a herd of some 50 wild elephants took over the area. We no longer know what to do to get rid of the wild elephants, Sumanah Jaya subdistrict head Jamian told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
2015-11-13 - Oregon, United States.
A new book, written and photographed by two Wisconsin residents, aims to capture the unique relationship between humans and elephants at the Oregon Zoo. They discuss some of the most powerful photos in the book, and talk about some of the big questions surrounding elephants in captivity.
2015-11-13 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
While nowhere near the same level as rhino poaching, a marked increase in the number of elephants killed by poachers could well signal the start of another onslaught on wildlife in the Kruger National Park.
2015-11-13 - Vizianagaram, India.
A herd of elephants damaged two acres of paddy field at Karakavalasa village of LN Pet mandal in the early hours of Thursday. The pachyderms are frequently entering the paddy and sugarcane fields in LN Peta, Sithampeta, Veeraghattam and other places. District Forest Officer Ch. Shanti Swaroop sent elephant trackers and asked the staff to submit a detailed report on the damage so that the compensation would be paid to the farmers.
2015-11-12 - Wraxall, United Kingdom.
HRH Princess Royal will visit Noahs Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall on December 17 to open its Elephant Eden. The centre is the largest of its kind in Northern Europe and is home to bull elephants Janu and M’Changa. Final details of Princess Anne’s visit have not yet been released but she will meet staff and look around the premises before taking part in an official opening ceremony.
2015-11-12 - Bejing, China.
After years of defending and supporting a legal domestic trade in ivory, China made a big announcement in September: It’s shutting down the trade. The United States is, too. Together, the presidents of both countries have made an unprecedented public pledge to put a stop to all ivory trading—legal and illegal.
2015-11-12 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe´s environment minister on Thursday blamed the poisoning of at least 71 elephants in recent months on disgruntled game rangers and local communities who do not benefit from wildlife revenues. Last week, police arrested three journalists at a weekly newspaper over a story implicating parks rangers, police chiefs and an Asian businessman in the poisoning of the elephants.
2015-11-12 - Omaha, United States.
The Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium filed a permit, along with its partner zoos in Wichita and Dallas, to bring a total of 18 elephants to the U.S. from Swaziland, six of which would head to Omaha. They filed the report in November 2014 and it opened for public comment earlier this month. Members of the public have until Nov. 23 to provide feedback to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before a decision is made on whether to allow the import.
2015-11-12 - SHILIONG, India.
A Garo tribal woman was trampled to death by wild elephants in Meghalaya´s West Garo Hills district, an official said on Thursday. Walji M. Sangma was killed on Wednesday in the forest area in Selbalgre village in the outskirts of Tura while she was collecting firewood, District Magistrate Pravin Bakshi told IANS. Tura is the district headquarters of West Garo Hills.
2015-11-12 - Yakutia, Russian Federation.
Elephants are famed for their intelligence, and now it seems likely that the long-gone woolly mammoths were just as clever. Scientists from Russia and South Africa combined to undertake the first-ever comparison between the brains of the two creatures, using remains of adolescent Yuka, found five years ago close to the Laptev Sea in the Ust-Yansky district of the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia.
2015-11-12 - Bengaluru, India.
Eleven tuskers, who have been gorging on a buffet of cultivated crop in Nelamangala, have kept forest officials on their toes for over a month. While the department is attempting to drive the elephants back to the forests, what is noteworthy is that villagers are being trained to deal with the conflict – a move that has perhaps led to minimal casualties in the area.
2015-11-11 - New Delhi, India.
Maneka´s NGO People For Animals runs a rehabilitation centre for jumbos, billed as the country´s only such facility built on private initiative. The Elephant Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura was set up in 2010 and is now home to 18 elephants, most of them blind, lame, crippled or abandoned.
2015-11-11 - Fellsmere, United States.
Three of five elephants that went to the center since it opened in 2013 have died. Two had come from Disney and one came from the Nashville Zoo. The Nashville Zoo was going to send three more elephants to the center but instead has placed them in a sanctuary.
2015-11-11 - Taungoo, Myanmar.
We departed for the Bago mountains on a tour up to visit an elephant camp, affiliated with the world renowned Save the Elephant Foundation. The work of SEF Myanmar is not just to help elephants and improve government regulations in regards to animal welfare and the environment, but also to provide education, improved healthcare and employment to the families of mahouts (elephant caretakers) and the poor villagers in the surrounding mountains.
2015-11-11 - Topeka, United States.
He made reference to a petition posted at change.org asking that Sunda and Tembo be removed to an elephant sanctuary. More than 150,500 people have signed the petition, which says the elephants — “after a lifetime of neglect†— should be able to spend the rest of their days happy and healthy.
Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker said he and Mayor Susan Adams were assured by center officials that it will remain open despite the pending relocation of male and female elephants who were part of a herd of four that arrived in 2013 from Disney´s Animal Kingdom. Two of those elephants died at the center in 2014.
2015-11-11 - Vienna, United States.
Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) has partnered with pediatric oncologist Dr. Joshua Schiffman to tackle a new frontier of research and treatment. While humans have up to a 25 percent chance of getting cancer in their lifetime, elephants have a less than five percent chance.
2015-11-11 - Charlottesville, United States.
As a National Geographic filmmaker, Geoff Luck has experienced a wide swath of the microcosms that make up our world, covering diverse continents and cultures—but he also knows a hell of a lot about elephants. As part of TEDxCharlottesville’s November 13 event, Luck will give a talk on lessons he learned during his recent experience documenting a baby elephant in Botswana.
2015-11-11 - Riau, Indonesia.
Forestry officials in Indonesia are training elephants to help with the management of the local area. Trained elephants are now able to assist firefighter crews to put out forest fires, and prevent them from igniting. In the elephant conservation centre of Siak district, as many as 23 elephants have been trained to be ‘forest watchdogs’
2015-11-10 - Ituri, Congo. Dana Sanchez
The only way to save the fast-disappearing elephant population in DRC’s Virunga National Park is for rangers to be with them around the clock, says park director Emmanuel de Merode in an MSN video. The park has lost 95 percent of its elephants. With just 195 elephants left, rangers are turning to a solution they say may be the easiest: satellite collars on the elephants.
2015-11-10 - Jalpaiguri, India.
The Forest Rangers seized five elephant tusks and a part of a rhino horn during a raid in West Bengal´s Jalpaiguri city on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, the Forest Rangers conducted a raid in Malbazar area of the city. Five men were also arrested on charges of smuggling.
2015-11-10 - Panbari, India.
A clinic for elephants of the northeast was inaugurated at the upcoming Mark Shand Memorial Learning Centre by Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Founding Patron of the UK based charity Elephant Family and its CEO Ruth Powys in the presence of distinguished guests and a colourful audience from the neighbouring villages.
2015-11-10 - Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Robert Brothers Circus was a regular visitor to Midsummer Common, and rather than coming by road, the elephants arrived by train at Cambridge railway station, usually on a Friday or Saturday, as our archive photos show.
2015-11-10 - New Delhi, India.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests is proposing to immunise female elephants with contraceptives in West Bengal and Odisha to control increase in their population in an attempt to avoid human-elephant conflict. “Immuno-contraception is a technique of contraception, which induces hormonal changes in female elephants. So far, this technique has not been tried on Asian elephants, but the model has been quite successful in African elephants,†said a senior Union Environment Ministry...
2015-11-10 - London, United Kingdom. Alexander Rhodes, CEO, Stop Ivory
The future of both elephants and rural communities across Africa depends on peace, security and tourism dollars. That future depends on us acting now to protect living elephants, not dead ivory.
2015-11-10 - Nebraska , United States.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday for five performances in June of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey´s "Circus XTREME.""Circus XTREME" also features Bengal tigers, two-humped camels ridden by Mongolian women and the most popular members of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey family: the magnificent Asian elephants.
2015-11-10 - Garamba National Park, Congo.
More than 200 elephants have been poached in Garamba since a census in April 2014 counted 1,780 elephants - down from more than 11,000 two decades ago. The shootout last month, in which three rangers and a Congolese army colonel were killed, highlights the challenge of protecting parks in a part of Africa plagued for decades by insurgencies, civil war, refugee flows and weak governments. It shows how some conservation efforts resemble a kind of guerrilla warfare in which rangers and soldiers sta...
2015-11-10 - Dhenkanal, India.
Forest department officials today recovered a carcass of an elephant calf from Ganesh Khol forested area under Sarangi range in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district. Two persons have been injured by the mother of the dead calf. The injured are the local forester Sagramani and a photographer.
2015-11-09 - Garamba National Park, Congo.
Ivory trade is so lucrative that gangs have been formed for the killing of thousands of elephants. The don of these gangs, Boniface Matthew Mariango, has been caught and arrested by Tanzanian officials according to John R. Platt, who writes for Scientific American as well as other publications.
2015-11-09 - Kochi, India.
In a serious lapse on the part of the State Government, the much touted Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules - 2012, framed for preventing abuse of elephants, was not tabled in the Assembly before being notified as a rule. Replying to an RTI query, the State Information Officer stated that the examination carried out by the Information Commission had showed that there was no record to prove that the Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules-2012 (SRO No ...
2015-11-09 - Zhaotong, China.
An Sinomastodon praeintermedius skull fossil, dating back to six million years, was discovered in Shuitangba in Zhaotong City in China. The recent discovery suggests the species originated somewhere in the Yunnan province or in nearby areas.
2015-11-09 - BENGALURU, India.
With the elephant population relatively stable and reaching saturation point in many reserves, the focus had shifted to habitat management – that is, creation of water and food sources within National Parks to prevent elephants from venturing to the veritable buffet of cultivated crops that lie in the plains outside. However, do elephants frequent these spots? A study by researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences and Wildlife Conservation Society point to the contrary.
2015-11-09 - Jorhat, India.
Suggesting pragmatic measures to arrest the occasional death and destruction inflicted by herds of marauding wild elephants on both the banks of the Brahmaputra here, ‘Forest Man of India’ Jadav Payeng has mooted largescale plantation of fig, banana and bamboo in the vast sandbars of the mighty Red River, as he claimed to have achieved good results from such experimental forestry in a sandbar near Aruna Sapori within Jorhat district.
2015-11-09 - Polk City, United States.
Established in 1995, the 200-acre center is home to the largest herd of Asian elephants in the Western Hemisphere, some 28 pachyderms aged 2 to 70. Twenty-six elephant calves have been born here, including Barack, the now 6-year-old male who was the first CEC elephant conceived using artificial insemination.
2015-11-09 - Hohenwald, United States.
All three of the Nashville Zoos African Elephants have been relocated to a Tennessee sanctuary. It was decided in September that Rosie, 44, and 33-year-old Hadari would be moved to The Elephant Sanctuary (TES) in Hohenwald. It was recently decided that 31-year-old Sukari would also join the other two elephants.
2015-11-08 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The shootout last month, in which three rangers and a Congolese army colonel were killed, highlights the challenge of protecting parks in a part of Africa plagued for decades by insurgencies, civil war, refugee flows and weak governments. It shows how some conservation efforts resemble a kind of guerrilla warfare in which rangers and soldiers stalk — and are stalked by — poachers who are slaughtering Africa´s elephants and other wildlife.
2015-11-08 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Last month, orphan elephant Wendy got a new baby---and they have a roaring relationship which is both clumsy as well as cute, according to HNGN. The birth of a baby elephant is great news for conservationists, who are trying to increase the strength of the species.
2015-11-07 - Siruvani, India.
Masini, who was orphaned in 2007, has all along been in the Mudumalai Elephant Camp and is used to cool conditions. When it left the Mudumalai camp last week, after the government decided to give the elephant to the Samayapuram Mariamman Temple, the staff at the camp bid adieu to the friendly calf.
2015-11-07 - Pittsburgh, United States.
Jackson, an African elephant bull, is doing his best to replenish the world´s shrinking pachyderm population, according to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Jackson has mated with three females that could be pregnant
2015-11-07 - Lampung, Indonesia.
Indonesia has set up a special hospital at Way Kambas Park in Lampung, Sumatra, to treat the Sumatran elephant. The elephant hospital named Prof Dr Ir Rubini Atmadijaja Hospital will also function as a facility for supporting conservation efforts, education and research on the Sumatran elephant, the parks public relations coordinator, Sukatmoko said here Saturday.
2015-11-06 - Bardhaman, India.
A herd of wild elephants raided Pursha village under Galsi police station in Burdwan district killing a man and injuring his wife besides damaging several houses, DFO Ajay Das said today. Nanulal Soren (64) and his wife Phulmani were sleeping on the verandah last night when an elephant trampled them. While Nanulal died, Phulmani was under treatment in hospital, Das said.
2015-11-06 - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
TWO men who were travelling from Zimbabwe to Hong Kong have been detained after 36kgs of suspected ivory products were found in their luggage. The reports indicate that during customs clearance, customs officers found about 19kgs of suspected ivory products concealed in a tailor-made vest inside the hand luggage belonging to the 47-year-old
2015-11-06 - Lampang, Thailand.
Thai Ambassador to Israel Angsana Sihapitak received a $1,500 donation from the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo for an elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. The check was delivered Thursday by an Asian elephant named Tamar, who presented it to the ambassador in her trunk.
2015-11-06 - Pittsburg, United States.
Construction of an elephant maternal care center for the Pittsburgh zoo is in full swing — and just in time as three elephants could be pregnant. The new International Conservation Center facility, for the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, is located about 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, near Fairhope. The new center will be able to hold up to 15 elephants.
2015-11-06 - Tokyo, Japan.
Researchers in Japan have now conducted a more detailed investigation of this behaviour, by setting two female elephants at Kamine Zoo a range of food-blasting challenges. Typically, it took the elephants just 3 blows to bring a food item within reach.
2015-11-05 - KOCHI, India.
Supply of elephants — those bling-bedecked pachyderms that take pride of place at the state´s numerous temple festivals — to Kerala could be drying up. That´s because trade in the large mammals has been banned at the annual Sonepur cattle fair in Bihar, the biggest source for the creatures in recent years.
2015-11-05 - Porto-Novo, Benin.
Representatives of wildlife conservation agencies from 20 African countries met on Wednesday in Cotonou, Benin´s capital, and came up with a series of measures aimed at protecting elephants on the African continent.
2015-11-05 - GUWAHATI, India.
Human migration may remain a contentious issue between India and Bangladesh, but not for elephants. The two countries are working with their respective external affairs and home affairs ministries to ensure that jumbos can cross the international boundary with ease. "We (India and Bangladesh) are cooperating on trans-boundary conservation of elephants.
2015-11-05 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has earned US$1 million from the sale of 100 elephants to China early this year, state radio reported Thursday.According to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the baby elephants were sold to the Asian country using guidelines of the International Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species. It said the proceeds from the sale have been channelled towards conservation programmes being undertaken by the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
2015-11-05 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Kerala has taken on a jumbo project: elephants in the state will soon have the luxury of ´ambulance´ service to transport sick and injured jumbos. For the first time, the state forest department has launched an animal ambulance, a specially designed vehicle for elephants, at the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary (WWS), a paradise for wild jumbos in north Kerala.
2015-11-04 - London, United Kingdom.
If horses were quick and strong, elephants were exceptionally strong and intimidating. They could charge towards the enemy instilling fear and confusion. A British man, Billy Williams, had an uncanny ability to understand elephants and motivate them to do what he needed them to do.
2015-11-03 - Richmond, United States.
Following the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the oversight and governing body of accredited zoos in the U.S., Lisa and Cita will relocate to Zoo Miami in 2016. Zoo Miami is home to two older female African elephants, Mable and Peggy.
2015-10-28 - Chester, United Kingdom.
A second young elephant has died in the space of six weeks at Chester Zoo. Three-year-old Hari Hi Way was being treated by vets at the zoo after falling ill with a viral infection. Despite their efforts, the bull calf elephant died late on Tuesday afternoon. A post-mortem examination will take place, the zoo confirmed.
2015-10-20 - New Delhi, India.
According to a study, over 50% of Indian elephants are dying before puberty. To discuss the matter, a two-day international symposium on ´Ecology and Health Management of Asiatic Elephant´ will be organized in the national capital.
2015-10-15 - BANDA ACEH, Indonesia.
Two critically-endangered Sumatran elephants have been found dead from suspected poisoning in Indonesia´s Aceh province, an official said on Thursday (Oct 15). Villagers found the carcasses of the female elephants, aged two and 15, bleeding from their mouths and rectums in the forest near Panggong village, in Aceh Jaya district, on Wednesday (Oct 14), local conservation agency chief Genman Suhefti Hasibuan told Agence France-Presse.
2015-10-05 - Chelsea, United States.
A team of University of Michigan paleontologists and an excavator who donated his time worked all day at the site in Lima Township, roughly 10 miles southwest of Ann Arbor and several miles from the town of Chelsea. They were able to recover about 20 percent of the animal´s bones, including the skull and two tusks, numerous vertebrae and ribs, the pelvis and both shoulder blades.
2015-10-02 - Lusaka, Zambia.
This count will be the first pan-African census in over 40 years. Researchers in 20 countries will use a standardized method of data collection to create an up-to-date picture of the status of African elephants. In 1981, Zambia alone had an estimated 160,000 elephants. Today their number is likely one tenth of that.
2015-10-02 - Kansas City, United States. Chris Oberholtz
The Kansas City Zoo is preparing for a bull African elephant arrival sometime this month. Tamani, meaning "hope" in Swahilli, will turn 10 on Oct. 17 and will join six female African elephants that are past their reproductive years. But zoo officials hope to acquire younger females in the future. "While our females are not in their reproductive years, it is our intent to exhibit some in the future," said Randy Wisthoff, the zoo´s executive director. "Tamani provides us the o...
2015-10-02 - Oklahoma City, United States.
The Oklahoma City Zoo announced Thursday that 4-year-old female Asian elephant Malee died. Malee died about 4 a.m. Thursday. Zookeepers noticed that Malee was moving slower than usual Wednesday afternoon, although she was eating and doing other activities normally, according to a news release
2015-09-29 - Lampung, Indonesia.
According to AFP, it’s suspected that Yongki, a 35-year-old Sumatran elephant who helped patrol Indonesian jungles, died of poisoning at the hands of poachers. His maimed and bloodied body was found nearby a camp at the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park where he had lived.
2015-09-24 - Odisha, India.
The elephant population in Odisha continues to rise and so do cases of man-elephant conflict. Even though the government claims to have spent crores under various projects to avert such conflict, 660 men and women have lost their lives in past 10 years.
2015-09-22 - London, United Kingdom.
Not that we need a reason to celebrate baby animals, because we actually love them all day, every day, but today is National Elephant Appreciation Day, so we wanted to highlight these specific babies. Scroll through to see some of the sweetest pictures we could find, and then check out all the rest of our photos, videos, and stories about elephants.
2015-09-16 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Bala Hi Way, who was born in January 2013, became ill over the weekend and was being treated by veterinary teams at the zoo. Despite their efforts, the animal died on Monday night, the zoo confirmed. The two-year-old had contracted an illness called elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus, which affects wild and captive elephants.
2015-07-01 - Bangalore, India.
An elephant calf, a baby hippopotamus and 72 rescued black-spotted terrapins are among the new attractions. The female calf was born in BBP 10 days ago to elephant Suvarna. With this, the number of female elephants at BBP has increased to 12.
2015-05-10 - SALT LAKE CITY, United States.
The oldest African Elephant in North America and long-time Zoo favorite, 55-year-old Dari, had a difficult time getting up Friday morning. Zoo staff found Dari lying on the ground unable to stand. With a stiff and arthritic hind leg, Dari could not get the leverage she needed to get up on her own.
2015-05-02 - INDORE, India.
Pall of gloom descended on Indore zoo following the death of 45-year-old female elephant Champa, barely two weeks after she was shifted to its new home on the zoo premises, on Friday late night.
2015-04-23 - Stockholm, Sweden. Pallab Ghosh
A US team is already attempting to study the animals´ characteristics by inserting mammoth genes into elephant stem cells. The new genome study has been published in the Journal Current Biology, Dr Love Dalén at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm told BBC
2015-04-21 - CRAIG LEMOULT, United States.
Maybe you remember your school mascot as just a classmate in a bear outfit or some kind of pirate get-up at half time. But at Tufts University, the mascot is much more specific — and historic. Friday, the Tufts community gathered to unveil a huge new statue of their unique mascot Jumbo the elephant.
2015-04-20 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka.
The Zoological Department in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports took the initiative of expediting the construction work of the Open Air Zoo in Pinnawala. It has come up in adjacent to the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala. The public will be given the opportunity of visiting this Zoo free of charge from today until the 01st of next month. It spans 44 acres. The Open Air Zoo has been mainly built on behalf of animals endemic to the country. Zoological Director Anura De Silva said...
2015-04-20 - CUTTACK, India.
Athagarh forest division has chalked out elaborate measures to ensure an error-free elephant census. It will be carried out from May 26 to 28. Official sources said forest officers will sight the pachyderms and record their population from 37 watchtowers to be built across the division.
2015-04-20 - Kavango, Namibia.
Police in Namibia said on Monday that they have arrested five men for possessing nine elephants tusks, a few days after reports that more than 11 elephants have been killed by poachers in the country this year. The arrested are two Namibians, one Angolan and two Tswanas, police said.
2015-04-20 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand seized 4 tons of ivory hidden in bean sacks tracked from Congo in what authorities said was the biggest bust in the country’s history, customs officials said Monday. The 739 elephant tusks, bound for Laos, were seized upon arrival at a port in Bangkok on Saturday after the authorities received a tip and had tracked the containers from Congo, Customs Department director-general Somchai Sujjapongse told reporters.
2015-04-20 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
The authorities are still conducting investigations to clarify the cause of death of an elephant named H´Lun (38 years old), under the management of Mr. Y Nhuan Hmok, 69, of EaWer commune, Buon Don district, Dak Lak province, famous for elephants in Vietnam. It is reported that the elephant was stabbed on its left thigh by someone on March 30. The Elephant Conservation Center of Dak Lak Province brought the elephant to the Ranger Station No. 1 of Yok Don National Park for treatment.
2015-04-18 - New Delhi, India.
Justice Madan B. Lokur of Social Justice Bench of Supreme Court on Friday didn´t take up the public interest litigation petition filed against preventing cruelty to elephants by parading them in temple festivals and in other places. However, Justice Lokur transferred the case to Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant.
2015-04-17 - San Francisco, United States. Bill Shireman
Now that Ringling Brothers has committed to end its elephant shows, for example, it would be tempting for many advocates to go for the kill, and seek to shut down every circus, zoo, or aquarium where animals are put on display for entertainment. But here is the elephant in the room: continuing to demonize animal venues would be a sell-out of the movement´s higher mission. Circuses and zoos can be among the strongest and most effective allies for animal protection, if we mix pressure with p...
2015-04-15 - New Delhi, India.
Elephants have been kept on the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi for hundreds of years but the changing environment of the city and mounting pressure from animal welfare activists look set to consign this ancient way of life to the history books. On Friday, India’s Supreme Court is expected to reach a decision on banning the use of captive elephants in religious functions, processions and other events.
2015-04-15 - Ludhiana, India.
In a macabre incident, an elephant went berserk and repeatedly thrashed a 4-year-old boy to death with his trunk on the road in the Grain market situated on the Gill road here today, police said. According to police and eyewitness accounts the elephant was escorted by four persons who were moving on the road with the purpose of collecting money and food from the people. The boy was identified as Vickky, son of a slum dweller.
2015-04-15 - Buea, Cameroon. Veyu Diana Ngoran
Meeting in Buea in the South West recently, regional experts decried the decline of elephants, pointing accusation to poachers. They unanimously agreed on the putting in place of a new tracking system known as the Elephant Trade Information System, ETIS, a tool kit that facilitates data collection on ivory trade.
2015-04-15 - Borjora, India.
50-year-old Swapan Bauri was cycling back home in Baguli village after attending ´Gajan´ or ´Charak Puja´ festivities in Kandashole village when he was chased by two male elephants. One of the pachyderms lifted him by his trunk and then trampled him to death at Kadashole, Borjora Forest Ranger, Mohan Chandra Shit said today.
2015-04-15 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Adam Cruise
Zimbabwe’s elephant population is so large that it has reached double the country’s carrying capacity, claims Zimbabwe’s minister for the environment, water and climate, Saviour Kasukuwere, who believes that his country’s recent capture and selling off young wild elephants, to zoos and private collections to the middle and far-east are necessary in order to control the exploding population. Kasukuwere provided no scientific evidence to support his claims regarding ca...
2015-04-15 - Aceh, Indonesia.
A Sumatran elephant has been found shot dead in Indonesia with its tusks removed and its head badly mutilated, an official said Wednesday, the latest suspected attack by poachers on the critically-endangered animals. The carcass of the male elephant, aged around 20, was found Monday in a forest in Aceh province, on western Sumatra island, local conservation agency chief Genman Suhefti Hasibuan told AFP.
2015-04-15 - Portland, United States.
The Oregon Zoo’s beloved patriarch elephant, Packy, is celebrating another birthday: the six-ton senior just turned 53. Zoo officials say Packy is the oldest male of his species on the North American continent. The zoo’s elephant curator Bob Lee said Packy has slowed down in old age and the zoo is trying to give him the most comfortable life possible.
2015-04-12 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Sherry UAE
I just got into work and I always have a cup of tea and read the paper. Why destroy the ivory (‘Crushing blow to ivory trade’, 7DAYS, April 9). Why not instead pay someone to make things out of it and then sell it cheap, this way by flooding the market the price will come down then they won’t kill them if it is cheap as chips, as they won’t make money. Flood, flood, flood the market.
2015-04-12 - Santa Monica, United States.
The much-vaunted film of Richard Leakey that is set to be made by Angelina Jolie may not get off the ground. Jolie wants the movie to focus on the battle with the poachers that Leakey undertook during the 1980’s while the movie funders wanted the movie to be a romantic love story.
2015-04-12 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
Reiterating that elephants are an endangered species, Mr. Samarasinghe is quick to point out that the illegal capture of baby elephants from the wild began after 1994, with powerful people including politicians of the then regime keeping them hidden. “Gradually, in the last two to three years it became a huge business,†he laments, stressing that people need to understand the gravity of capturing a baby elephant when it is still suckling. Both the mother and the baby are traumatised.
2015-04-12 - Wayanad, India.
A wild tusker on Saturday morning attacked Kunjan, 55, of Cholangadi, near Aanappara, in the Tholpetty range of forests under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. The tusker destroyed his house. Mr. Kunjan was admitted to the District Hospital at Mananthavady with serious injuries. His nine-year-old daughter escaped the tusker attack. The elephant also partially destroyed the house of Raju Cholangadi and a cattle shed of Raju Aranappara, the villagers said.
2015-04-12 - Sydney, Australia.
A partnership between the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Kenyan Wildlife Service has led to the creation of a drone protection program targeted at identifying and discouraging poachers. The vehicles allow monitoring and identification of elephant populations, and provide a window in the sky from which to search for poachers.
2015-04-11 - Seattle, United States.
The country’s two elephant sanctuaries have, indeed, taken in several animals with confirmed or suspected cases of the disease. When officials at Woodland Park Zoo decided to send Seattle’s aging females, Chai and Bamboo, to the Oklahoma City Zoo instead of a sanctuary, TB was one of the reasons cited. But TB is by no means exclusive to sanctuaries. Three males at Oregon Zoo in Portland were recently diagnosed in quick succession, and six staff members tested positive for exposure.
2015-04-11 - Niue, Niue.
Anjalee arrived in Niue last month and will reside there in a purpose-built enclosure for around 90 days until biosecurity officials give her the all-clear. She was born in the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka. Her mother was rescued from the wild as a severely injured orphan, while her father was born at Pinnawala as part of its captive breeding programme. At two metres in height and weighing 1600kg, Anjalee has several years of growing yet to do and is significantly smaller than Burma...
2015-04-11 - Hartford, United States.
Antique dealers, collectors, auctioneers and museum representatives gathered in Connecticut last month to oppose a bill seeking a total and uncompromising ban on the sale of ivory.The Raised Bill No. 6955 goes significantly further than last year´s federal ban on the commercial sale of elephant ivory and rhino horn or the state legislation recently adopted in New York and New Jersey.
2015-04-11 - Jacksonville, United States.
I have a question concerning an elephant that was born in the Jacksonville Zoo I believe in 1956, maybe 1957, and there was a contest to name the elephant. My class named it Debbie, and we got to go to the zoo for the day.
2015-04-11 - Jaldapara, United States.
A baby elephant, kept in Jhargram Mini Zoo for the past one-and-a-half-months, was today taken to the Jaldapara National Park by forest department, and named Durga. The little jumbo, of 4-5 feet height, was separated from its herd and rescued by wildlife personnel from Sankrail forest in West Midnapore district, Sahu said.
2015-04-11 - Perris, United States.
Animal rights extremists are trying to keep the elephants from coming to the Kern County Fair, where they´ve been loved for over a decade! Please voice your support for keeping elephant rides at the fair, before the decision 20th meeting. Write to the Kern County Fair Board of Directors: MOlcott@kerncountyfair.com, JBurton@kerncountyfair.com
2015-04-11 - Guwahati, India.
In the last six years, Assam has lost more than 40 elephants to poisoning, electrocution, train accidents and bullet injuries. This gruesome man-animal conflict is only likely to worsen unless drastic measures are taken by the state authorities. Since 1987, more than 150 elephants have been killed in rail accidents across the country, many of them in Assam.
2015-04-11 - Los Angeles, United States.
In a move closely related to the epochal March 5th announcement from Ringling Bros. that it plans to phase out the use of elephants in its traveling shows, California state Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) has introduced SB 716, a bill to prohibit the use of bullhooks on elephants in California.
2015-04-11 - Chipinge, Zimbabwe. Manicaland Correspondent
A CHIPINGE man was trampled to death by an elephant whilst guarding his field, recently. The incident happened at Mahenye village under Chief Garahwa area. Chipinge district police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Blessing Kadzuraumera, confirmed the death of Julius Sithole, 48.
2015-04-10 - KOLKATA, India.
Apeejay Tea and WWF India on Thursday announced a three-year, joint management project to find lasting solutions to manage the human-elephant conflicts in Assam. The first phase, which focuses on reducing human-elephant mortality levels substantially, will commence immediately with an intensive conflict management effort in Sonitpur district.
2015-04-09 - Venice, United States.
Ringling Brothers circus is phasing out elephants in its shows, and all of its elephants are expected to retire by 2018. Tucked away in rural central Florida, the elephant sanctuary is where some Ringling Brothers elephants are already enjoying their retirement. "It´s so quiet," said Kenneth Feld, Chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment. "You can walk around, and you don´t hear anything." It´s located on 200 acres of land, and it´s a place where some of the elephants from ...
2015-04-09 - TONAWANDA, United States.
SR Instruments, a leading manufacturer of customized, purpose-built scales for healthcare, veterinary, zoological, aquarium, theme and water park applications, today announced that it has successfully installed a new, large platform scale for the Buffalo Zoo’s elephant and rhino habitats.
2015-04-09 - Raipur, India.
Terror prevailed at Korba forest region when three women were trampled to death at two separate spots by a herd of elephants on Sunday. This is tenth death reported due to tusker attack in four months in northern Chhattisgarh, officials said.
2015-04-09 - Mysore, India.
The congregation of elephant herds at the Kabini backwaters has begun to unfold, much to the delight of wildlife enthusiasts and tourists. An annual phenomena which peaks during summer, scores of elephants have been sighted at Kabini backwaters in the last couple of days. Their numbers are expected to increase in the weeks ahead.
2015-04-09 - Yok Don, Vietnam.
According to the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center, the number of wild and domesticated elephants in the locality is declining in the area. A report shows there were more than 550 wild elephants in 1980, but the figure has dropped to 70-80. Seventeen elephants have been killed since 2009. There were 502 domesticated elephants in 1980, but now there are only 48.
2015-04-09 - Oruwala, Sri Lanka.
The elephant calf which was taken into custody of the wildlife officers in the Oruwala area in Athurugiriya recently was presented before the Kaduwela Magistrate on the night of Monday April 6. The magistrate ordered for the elephant calf to be transferred to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The Kaduwela Magistrate also ordered the release of the two mahouts on bail.
2015-04-09 - Phuket, Thailand. Prasit Tarnsirisin and Alan Morison
Nadia, a juvenile elephant that became target of an online petition to save her from a Phuket resort, has been moved. She has a new home, a new job - and a new name. Managers at the Marina Phuket Resort in Karon told the elephants owners to move her at the weekend from the resort because of an online campaign
2015-04-09 - Seattle, United States.
A federal judge on Tuesday criticized conditions for elephants at both the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and the Oklahoma City Zoo but refused to block the transfer of two aging Seattle elephants to Oklahoma. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said Tuesday he was "deeply troubled" that the Oklahoma zoo won´t be able to offer Chai and Bamboo "the climate nor nearly the amount of space that independent experts have said is necessary for their well-being," The Seattle Times reported (http://i...
2015-04-09 - Guruvayur, India. Mary-Rose Abraham
The unique sanctuary in the state of Kerala, India, is called Anakotta (“Elephant Fortâ€) and houses 58 elephants. They make their home on the grounds of a former royal palace and belong, quite literally, to God. The sanctuary is managed by the Guruvayur Temple, one of the most prominent Hindu shrines in India. And each elephant is a devotional offering to its presiding deity, Lord Krishna.
2015-04-09 - Laikipia, Kenya.
ANOTHER elephant has been killed by poachers at Naigera area of Engelesha Forest in the Laikipia Nature Conservancy, Laikipia county. Conservancy director Kuki Gallmann said the elephant´s tusks were hacked off by the poachers, who struck on Monday. This brings to three the number of elephants killed at the conservancy this year by poachers. "It was shot on the right front leg, right side, back and right ear," she said. The killing of the 20-year-old animal occurred a hundred metres away f...
2015-04-09 - Washington, United States.
Portions of the book are adapted from postings to the New York Times’s Scientist at Work blog that the author wrote while also publishing more technical presentations of her findings in Ethology Ecology & Evolution, American Zoologist and other peer-reviewed journals. When not doing fieldwork in Namibia, O’Connell is an instructor at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
2015-04-09 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Megha Merani
The UAE is to destroy more than 10 tonnes of ivory seized from smugglers as part of efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade. The Ministry of Environment and Water said the crushing of the ivory is the first of its kind in the Middle East and demonstrates the country’s “zero tolerance†on smuggling.
2015-04-09 - Polk City, United States.
The Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation sits on 200 acres of land in rural central Florida, halfway between Orlando and Sarasota, off a nondescript country road. An armed security guard greets you at the entrance. Twenty-nine elephants currently live here, and 13 more will join the group by 2018, after Ringling Bros. decided this year to stop using elephants in its traveling circus.
2015-04-09 - Alofi, Niue.
An eight-year-old elephant eventually to reside in Auckland Zoo has made her much anticipated journey from Sri Lanka to Niue. Anjalee is to be a companion for Burma at Auckland Zoo, but first requires completion of a three month quarantine period in Niue. Auckland Zoo staff has been preparing for Anjalee´s arrival in Niue for five years, and are very excited to see their hard work pay off when she flies in on a C-130 Hercules.
2015-04-09 - Kota Kinabatangan, Malaysia.
The community of Kampung Perpaduan here hopes to make the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (LKWS) as a haven for almost 300 Bornean elephants that reside there. EU-REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Project Manager, Dr Raymond Alfred said that it was a challenge for them to achieve that aim since LKWS was surrounded by human settlements, oil palm plantations and unprotected private lands.
2015-04-09 - Assam, India.
To reduce tea crop losses and prevent man-elephant conflict, four tea estates of Assam will soon be "bio-fenced" with thickets of thorny bamboos. Under a strategic partnership to prevent and manage man-elephant conflict, Apeejay Tea has tied up with the World Wildlife Fund to make a series of interventions and also calculate the amount of damage caused by the pachyderms. Dipankar Ghose, Director (Species & Landscape) WWF-India, said on an average 400 people get killed in India each year in confl...
2015-04-09 - Dublin, Ireland.
From baby elephants to amateur cooks, there´s plenty to watch tonight! The Zoo – RTÉ One (7.00pm) The series is back to showcase the daily occurrences and major events happening at Dublin Zoo, including the arrival of three elephant calves.
2015-04-09 - Seattle, United States. JENNIFER WING
Woodland Park Zoo is actively preparing its two Asian Elephants, Chai and Bamboo, to make the journey to Oklahoma City Zoo. Nancy Hawkes, the zoo’s Curator, says it involves months of planning. “Anything to do with elephants takes time.†Two custom made crates were built for Chai and Bamboo. In February, one was put in their yard so they could get use to it. Keepers stood nearby with watermelons and honeydews to lure them in.
2015-04-09 - Indianapolis, United States.
Video of a reunion between a mother elephant and her baby is making its way around the Internet and prompting thousands of viewers to say, “awwwwwww.†MeBai and her mother Mae Yui had been separated for three years. A videographer was there when the mother-daughter pair were reunited on a sunny day. It’s plain to see the moment is a happy one. MeBai and Mae Yui appear to be dancing around, ears flapping in and out, and each donning smiles so big they’re infectious.
2015-04-09 - Windhoek, Namibia.
An elephant was found dead at Muit’jiku village of Kavango East in the Buffalo core area of Bwabwata West last Friday. Muit’jiku is located in Bwabwata West National Park in Mukwe Constituency in Kavango East. The elephant carcass was allegedly found by villagers who then informed the police at Divundu. It was discovered on Friday morning at about 06h00 and was believed to have been poached. An initial police investigation found two gunshot entry and exit wounds in the carca...
2015-04-06 - Phuket, Thailand. Nattha Thepbamrung
Taveesak Sawasdivej, an official with the Muang District Livestock, said that he had led a team to check three places that were accused of abusing elephants, but had found no evidence of this.“This month, we will survey every elephant camp and places that are reported to have elephants working. There will be an annual health check that will include checks on their microchips and the licenses.â€
2015-04-04 - Kolkata, India.
In a sad incident, a young man was gored and killed by a wild elephant herd in Bankura district of West Bengal on Saturday. According to information, the incident occurred in Kuchkunda village under Barjora forest range of the district in the early hours of Saturday while the 25-year-old man was sleeping outside his house.
2015-04-03 - Coxs Bazar, India.
Two people, including a Border Guard Bangladesh member, were trampled to death by wild elephants in Cox´s Bazar and Chittagong yesterday. The BGB man was identified as Lance Nayak Habibur Rahman, 44, who hailed from Jhalakathi, reports our Cox´s Bazar correspondent. Commander of BGB-17 Battalion in Cox´s Bazar Col Khalequzzaman said Habibur was killed after three wild elephants attacked a BGB team which had gone to Himchhari Shampan Hill area in Ramu upazila around 2:00am...
2015-04-02 - Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.
Over the last few months, there have been ongoing and alarming reports about a group of elephant calves held captive in enclosures in the Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe’s flagship wilderness area.Inside sources, people on the ground in the park, have said that these animals were snatched from their wild herds, rounded up in a facility, and are now being readied for export to unconfirmed destinations around the world.
2015-03-31 - Portland, United States. Felix Balthasar
On Monday, the Oregon Zoo euthanized a 31-year-old elephant named Rama. The zoo officials took this hard decision as Rama was in extreme pain due to an old leg injury. Rama was treated with physical therapy techniques and anti-inflammatory medications. But the zoo officials said that none of them were proving effective to lessen the pain. In fact, no new modifications were able to improve Rama´s quality of life.
2015-03-13 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Zoo is delighted to announce that an eight-year-old Asian elephant na​med Anjalee has begun her journey to join the Zoo´s 32-year-old female elephant Burma. ​Anjalee is the first of two elephants that will be coming to Auckland Zoo from Sri Lanka´s Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage; at 7 o´clock (NZT) she boarded an Emirates freighter plane in Colombo. Following a 12-hour flight to Auckland Airport, she will continue the second leg of her journey on a Ne...
2014-12-24 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The Interpol has arrested Kenyan businessman Feisal Ali Mohamed over trafficking of ivory. Mohamed was tracked down to Tanzania following a warrant of arrest issued against him in October 2014. The organisation had posted Mohamed’s picture and details on its website saying he is wanted for dealing with ivory.
2014-11-20 - Phuket, Thailand.
The bludgeoning to death of two elephant handlers over just three days this week in separate incidents shows how real the risk is any time that male elephants are used in the tourism industry. Two Russian tourists on board one of the out-of-control elephants were fortunate to escape injury or death.
2014-11-06 - San Lorenzo, United States.
An Argentine man digging a well in his yard struck fossils believed to be the bones of a 10,000-year-old mastodon, an extinct mammal. San Lorenzo is located in the Pampas lowlands where other mastodons—part of the elephant family—have been discovered, several of which are on display at the history museum.
2014-09-17 - Dublin, Ireland. Freya Drohan
Siobhan Cullen, from Balgriffin in Co Dublin, suggested the name Kavi, an Indian word which means poet or wise man, for the bull calf. Katie Bush, from Malahide in Co Dublin, won the honour of naming the second calf Ashoka, born in August, after one of India’s greatest emperors.
2014-09-13 - Azle, United States.
Research proposals to conduct policy or management related projects (e.g. those directly mitigating human-elephant conflict or combating poaching) will not be considered. Additionally, research on ex situ elephants will not be considered unless it is a minor portion of a longer-term, in situ study. Studies involving a laboratory component (e.g., genetic or endocrine) are welcomed, but the emphasis should be on the field work.
2014-09-11 - Hope, United States.
The Hope Elephants board of directors announced late Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 10, that Rosie and Opal will return to Oklahoma to the Endangered Ark Foundation, where they had lived before coming to Maine two years ago. The board has also established a Jim Laurita Fund. “The move back there is not necessarily a permanent move,” said Hope Elephants spokesman Andrew Stewart, this evening. “In the interim, we will make plans for the future and how best to move forward.”
2014-09-11 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
This hands on course will be held September 11./12., 2014 and aims to teach the basics in elephant reproduction management. During the practical session, each participant will practice transrectal ultrasound on trained Asian elephants in different reproductive stages. Furthermore, basic set ups for semen collection and AI will be demonstrated.
2014-09-10 - MARRUPA, Mozambique.
Six suspected poachers were arrested in Marrupa on Sunday in a joint operation conducted by the Mecula District police, Luwire scouts and Niassa National Reserve Wildlife Conservation Society scouts. The arrests were the result of a 10-month investigation informed by crucial on-the-ground intelligence about their activities in the Niassa National Reserve, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, based in New York City. The Wildlife Conservation Society has been co-managing the Niassa Nat...
2014-09-10 - , United States. Wilkie, Davison, Kerr, Stidworthy, Redrobe, Steinbach, Dastjerdi, Denk
Here, we report the pathological characteristics of the first fatality linked to EEHV5 infection, and describe the complete viral DNA sequence. Gross post-mortem and histological findings were indistinguishable from lethal cases previously attributed to other EEHV genotypes, and the presence of characteristic herpesviral inclusions in capillary endothelial cells at several sites was consistent with the diagnosis of acute EEHV infection.
2014-09-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The death of a two-year-old elephant in Wayanad forest in Kerala is suspected to be due to herpes, a deadly infectious disease. Samples of the male calf´s carcass has been sent to Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences College in Pookkot in Wayanad for analysis and confirmation to ascertain if herpes virus was the cause of the death, a senior faculty of the college said.
2014-09-10 - Hope, United States.
Veterinarian Dr. Jim Laurita, 56, was found dead in the barn of Hope Elephants on Tuesday morning, the Portland Press Herald reports. Police first believed he had fallen and hit his head on a cement floor, but an afternoon autopsy determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation and fractures from chest compressions.
2014-09-08 - Bhopal, India.
Madhya Pradesh forest department would soon be getting nine elephants from their Karnataka counterpart to expand its almost 50-strong pachyderm population used for monitoring tigers and patrolling in the various tiger reserves in the state, official said on Sunday.
2014-08-28 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The annual tournament, now in its thirteenth year, will take place at the Siam Polo Park at VR Sports Club in Bangkok between 28-31 August 2014.
2014-08-01 - Kandy, Sri Lanka.
The most popular and colourful festival in Sri Lanka, Kandy Perahera is celebrated once a year usually in August. Dates for Kandy Perahera 2014 will be from 01st to the 11th of August 2014.
2014-06-27 - Riau, Indonesia.
A wild Sumatran elephant was found dead in a village in Riau, allegedly hunted and killed for its tusks, according to Antara. The elephant was found dead in Lubuk Kembang Bunga village in Pelalawan district last week. The elephant was part of a herd from Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN). This case adds to the long list of elephant deaths in Riau due to hunting and conflict with humans. Forty-five elephants have died in Sumatra since 2012.
2014-06-25 - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Vietnam’s customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport discovered Sunday 39 African elephant tusks and about 100 ivory handicrafts worth over US$188,000 hidden in a package allegedly shipped from Africa. Customs officers have seized all the tusks and ivory artifacts, worth VND4 billion ($188,271), for investigation.
2014-06-17 - Bekesbourne, United Kingdom.
Keepers at Howletts Wild Animal Park, one of Kent’s most popular visitor attractions, are celebrating the birth of an adorable baby elephant. Born just over a week ago, the calf and her mother Tammi are both reported to be doing well.
2014-06-16 - Greenville, United States.
Joni (Joy), a beloved 44-year-old African elephant at the Greenville Zoo, died while en route to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which was to have been her new home, zoo officials said Sunday. She was being transported because both zoos believed she would receive better geriatric care and have more opportunities for socialization at her new home in Colorado Springs.
2014-06-12 - Bewdley, United Kingdom.
The first elephant born at West Midlands Safari Park has been named Sutton after cancer fundraiser Stephen Sutton. The names ´Stephen´ or ´Sutton´ were frontrunners in a competition to name the male which was born on 5 May.
2014-06-09 - Narok, Kenya.
Scientists who have been carrying wildlife census in Maasai Mara Game Reserve have stumbled on 117 fresh and old elephant carcasses. The elephants, whose tusks were missing, may have been killed by poachers or the local community in human-wildlife conflicts. Last month, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) acting Director General William Kiprono said elephant population in the Mara was declining at an alarming rate and called on residents to help security agencies reverse the trend.
2014-06-09 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sambo the elephant will not be allowed to return to work in Phnom Penh, because both City Hall and the Forestry Administration oppose the idea, the FA’s director-general said yesterday. The 54-year-old Sambo left the city in 2012 after decades of entertaining and giving rides to tourists at Wat Phnom, a job that left her painfully lame and in need of serious rehabilitation.
2014-06-07 - Mombasa, Kenya.
Kenyan authorities seized 228 whole elephant tusks and 74 others in pieces as they were being packed for export in the port city of Mombasa, police and wildlife officials said. Police arrested one suspect and were searching for another who escaped, Marwa said, noting that the suspect in custody tried to bribe police officers by offering them 5 million shillings ($57,100).
2014-06-05 - Zurich, Switzerland.
The 11,000-square-metre park features six times the space of the previous enclosure and six water basins for the elephants to swim in. Visitors can get an aquarium view of them under the water in one of the basins, which has a glass wall. The cost of the elephant park was financed through foundation grants, legacies and sums donated by 5,500 individuals.
2014-06-01 - Yangon, Myanmar.
"We arrested poachers in 34 cases of elephant slayings last year but we believe there were a lot more deaths," said Aye Myint Maung,deputy minister of environmental conservation and forestry. "There are some areas we can’t reach because of fighting between the government and ethnic rebels," he told dpa. There are 2,500 to 3,000 wild elephants left in Myanmar’s jungles, down from 6,000 in 1960-1970, and 4,639 recorded in a 1991 census, the deputy minister said, citing government estimates.
2014-05-29 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Every day, hundreds of pilgrimages to Angkor Wat come to an end without a single glimpse of a centuries-old secret, one that long ago faded into the ancient temple walls. By using digital photography and computer analysis, researchers recently discovered elaborate depictions and murals of elephants, trees, boats and Buddha that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye, erased from plain sight by years of weathering.
2014-05-28 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Two years after she was walked out of the city in the middle of the night to a quiet life of retirement on the outskirts of the capital, Sambo, Phnom Penh’s iconic and much-beloved elephant, might soon be back at work entertaining tourists. With funding for her recently concluded rehabilitation program now gone, her owner is insisting he has little choice but to begin showcasing her once more at Wat Phnom, a decision contested by the elephant rescue organisation that bankrolled her two-year sa...
2014-05-25 - Hai Phong, Vietnam.
The tusks were concealed in a 40-foot container. The customs declaration for the container claimed it held 15 tons of charcoal. Local customs officers inspected the container and found that the haul of elephant tusks, each of which was cut into many pieces and hidden in charcoal bags. The shipment was smuggled into Vietnam from Hong Kong by sea before being exported to China, they said.
2014-05-23 - Knysna, South Africa.
This press statement is being put out by the Knysna Elephant Park (KEP) and Elephants of Eden (EOE) in response to the abuse allegations and Facebook entries on the NSPCA Facebook Site and disseminated by the NSPCA to the various news stations and probably newspapers as well. The legal adviser for EOE, Mr. F J Fischer of C J Ballan Inc of Knysna, has received the necessary instructions to investigate civil action against the NSPCA and Mr. Gerhard Van Rooyen.
2014-05-19 - Knysna, South Africa.
The National Council of SPCA’s (NSPCA) has laid criminal charges against a well-known elephant sanctuary in Knysna for extreme cruelty to animals after photographs emerged showing wounded elephants. The Knysna Elephant Park, part of the Elephants of Eden group before it moved from the Eastern Cape to Knysna, offers visitors a range of experiences with elephants – from close encounters (their ‘Be Touched by an Elephant tour) to exclusive walks, rides and even a sleepover with elephants.
2014-05-17 - Hong Kong, China.
Hong Kong has begun destroying its 29.6-metric-ton stockpile of confiscated ivory. On Thursday authorities in the semi-autonomous Chinese city crushed and incinerated a ton of seized ivory in an action they hope will send a message to poachers and traffickers. Conservationists welcomed the move but said more must be done to address the demand side of the issue.
2014-05-15 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
The South African National Parks (SANParks) has today announced the first confirmed elephant poaching incident in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in well over ten years. The incident occurred in the Pafuri region, in the northern part of the KNP. According to SANParks Rangers Corp Officer Commanding, Major General (Ret) Johan Jooste, forensic evidence suggests that this elephant bull was purposefully shot for its tusks, which were hacked off and carried away by suspected poachers.
2014-05-09 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The Tanzania government, in collaboration with the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF) of the United States of America and the United Nations Development Program, has organized a special conference late this week to address elephant conservation and anti-poaching initiatives. This conference, to be taking place in Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam, will take place Friday this week and is expected to attract national and international stakeholders in conservation of wildl...
2014-05-06 - Prachuab Khiri Khan, Thailand. Post Publishing PCL.
Ivory thieves broke into the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation in Prachuap Khiri Khan province and cut both tusks off an elderly male elephant on Sunday night, and a sacked mahout is one of the suspects. The foundation manager, Piyawut Phetchumpol, said Plai Boonmee, the male elephant, was recovering from the shock of having his ivory snatched and was being given vitamins hidden inside bananas and pineapples.
2014-05-06 - Bangalore, India.
Sources told Express that the Forest Department had not kept its promise to release more money towards feeding those pachyderms and the additional burden has fallen on the zoo. The zoo required just three to four elephants for display purposes, but it has 15 elephants. Maintaining them has become a big problem.
2014-05-06 - Ann Arbor, United States.
More than two decades ago, University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher and some of his students began the laborious task of digitally scanning the bones of mastodons, mammoths and other prehistoric creatures so the images could be displayed on computers.
2014-05-06 - Karachi, Pakistan.
The people of Karachi are not the only ones suffering from the heat wave. The rise in temperature has also affected the animals at the Karachi Zoological Gardens as the ‘ponds’ where they can escape the heat are small and uncomfortable and in one case, nonexistent. While other animals have been provided ponds ‘according to the sizes’, the pair of elephants at the zoo have not been as lucky. To escape the heat, they are being kept under shelter during the day and are shifted to open cages...
2014-05-05 - , Laos.
The captive elephant population in Laos will be extinct in just over a century if current management practices do not change, a University of Queensland study has found. It is estimated that only 480 captive elephants remain across Laos, and the study shows that changes to conservation management are necessary to prevent extinction.
2014-05-05 - Pune, India.
The adoption of elephants, as part of the Katraj zoo adoption scheme, contributed to a major chunk of the money raised through this scheme last year. The zoo raised Rs 5.55 lakh in 2013, the second highest amount collected since the scheme´s launch in 2010. It costs Rs 45,000 a month to care for an elephant and last year, the elephants were adopted several times
2014-05-04 - Punta Gorda, United States. Barbara J. Bonsignore
Jacob reminisces about his earlier life as chief medical person for all of the animals at the Benzini Bros. Circus – “The Greatest Show on Earth.” He dropped out of vet school before his final exam so was technically a vet student. The author gives us a varied tapestry of life behind the scenes at “The Big Top” – the greed, poverty, violence, tawdriness, friendship and caring between the circus employees.
2014-05-04 - Thrissur, India. Dhinesh Kallungal
Dhinesh Kallungal:"The stage is set for one of the ‘mammoth misuses’ of captive elephants in the country, with the festival organisers of Thrissur Pooram, the largest temple festival in the South India, doing the final preparations to make the festival a roaring success at the cultural capital of Kerala."
2014-05-04 - Pollachi, India.
Every love story is interesting. This one is more so as R. Palanisamy begins saying ‘Kalpana Chawla’ will be expecting him back home. He is a mahout and ‘Kalpana Chawla’ is the elephant he has trained. And, they both live in the Tamil Nadu Forest Department’s elephant camp in Topslip.
2014-05-04 - Xishuangbanna, China.
At a time when tens of thousands of elephants across Africa are being slaughtered to feed the Chinese appetite for ivory, it turns out the best place to be a wild elephant may be here in the tropical forests of southwest China. Over the past two decades, the number of Asiatic elephants in Yunnan Province in China has roughly doubled, to nearly 300, thanks to government-financed feeding programs, wildlife education efforts and a strict elephant protection law unmatched anywhere else in the world....
2014-05-04 - Washington, United States.
In June, the United States begins strict enforcement of a ban on ivory from the tusks of African and Asian elephants. But the ban is forcing musicians to make a choice, perform without their favorite instruments, or give up work that takes them across the U.S. border.
2014-05-04 - Kochi, India.
Following a complaint that wounded jumbos were being paraded at the Peruvaram Mahadeva temple at Paravur, a five-member flying squad of the forest department inspected the elephants being readied for the ´kazcha seeveli´ ritual on Saturday evening. We´ve found a wound near the knee of an elephant, Mangalakunnu Karnan. But Dr Gireesh, the veterinarian who issued fitness certificates for the jumbos said the wound is not as severe as to cause pain to the animal.
2014-05-04 - KANNUR, India.
A wild elephant that is suspected to have killed a tribal woman at Aralam here two weeks ago died on Thursday apparently due to injury caused by some explosion. Forest officials said the elephant was found wandering in Aralam with some injury in its mouth in the last week of April, nearly a week after the tribal woman was trampled to death.
2014-05-04 - Edmonton, United States.
A man who fought vigorously against animal rights activists who wanted to see Lucy the Elephant moved to an animal sanctuary, has died. Doctor Milton Ness, a chief veterinarian at the Edmonton Valley Zoo, passed away last week. In 2012, Ness was honoured by the Alberta Veterinarian Medical Association for his exceptional communication with Edmonton residents.
2014-05-03 - Oakland, United States.
On Saturday, May 3, 2014, at 11:00am, Dr. Joel Parrott, President & CEO of Oakland Zoo, will accept the dedication of a bronze elephant statue from the Snow family, in memory of Sidney A. Snow, who personally procured the land for Oakland Zoo and founded the Alameda County Zoological Society, now the East Bay Zoological Society. Snow served as Director of Oakland Zoo from 1936 until his death in 1959.
2014-05-03 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan wildlife authorities say two police officers have been arrested transporting illegal elephant ivory as the government cracks down on poaching of the country’s endangered elephants and rhinos. Kenya Wildlife Service said Saturday the officers were caught with six pieces of ivory at a road block while travelling from the central Kenyan town of Meru to the capital Friday night.
Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) said Saturday its rangers have launched a major manhunt for poachers who killed six elephants and carted off ivory in a poaching incident last Thursday. KWS spokesman Paul Mbugua said the six elephants have been confirmed poached and two - female adults, tusks’ chopped off at Dawida ranch in the periphery of Tsavo West National Park. “Four others were all tusk-less juvenile. All carcasses had gunshot wounds. The area is prone to livestock herding with a number o...
2014-05-03 - Agra, India.
A first of its kind unique elephant conservation centre in Agra rescues elephants from various party of the country and provides a safe haven where the animal can roam about unfettered. The 10- acre centre has been opened by the Wildlife Association and Save Our Souls (SOS) and is located near Mathura. A similar elephant centre is underway in Haryana.
2014-05-03 - Udawalawe, Sri Lanka.
Wildlife Director General W.B. Rathnayake says that he will hold an investigation with regard to the attempt of poaching an elephant calf from the Uda-Walawa Sanctuary yesterday afternoon. Later Wildlife officers have chased after the poachers, and the poachers have fired gun shots at wildlife officers. However wildlife officers found the calf elephant after it was abandoned by its poachers in a nearby shrub jungle.
2014-05-02 - Udawalawe, Sri Lanka.
Some gangsters who had allegedly attempted to remove an elephant calf from the Udawalawe National Park on Thursday and transport it by a tractor were intercepted by the wildlife officers and the residents. When their motives came to light they had fled leaving the calf behind. Residents in the area believe that his high handed act of piracy was attempted with state patronage.
2014-05-01 - Aceh, Indonesia.
Eleven people were arrested on April 16 by West Aceh police for allegedly killing a Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), in a forest six kilometers away from Teupin Panah village, Kaway XVI, in the West Aceh district. The suspects -- five from Ceumara village, one from Babah Lueng village, three from Seumantok village, and two from Teupin Panah village -- confessed to killing two elephants in Pante Ceuremen forest and one elephant in Kaway XVI over the course of a year.
2014-05-01 - Thrissur, India.
It is common knowledge that the Thrissur Pooram was the brain child of King Sakthan Thampuran, who also had the dense teak forests of the renowned Thekkinkadu Maidanam cleared, just for its sake. "There won´t be a next generation of elephants in Kerala, and consequently, no more Poorams! Enjoy them while they are still on,
2014-05-01 - Los Angeles, United States.
The bullhook ban will go into effect at the beginning of 2017 a delay meant to give circuses time to change how they handle elephants or remove them from their shows completely. "We´re not going to come to L.A. without our elephants," said Stephen Payne, vice president of corporate communications for Feld Entertainment, the parent company for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
2014-04-30 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Three suspects will appear in court in Kenya next week after six elephants, including four juveniles, were found shot dead in a private reserve in one of the worst poaching incidents in several years. A wildlife official said that it is thought that the killings were at least partly motivated by revenge against officials because the calves, not having tusks, had no value to poachers.
2014-04-30 - Ernakulam, India.
An injured female wild elephant that took refuge in the reservoir of the Edamalayar Dam in Ernakulam district a week ago after getting isolated from its herd is reluctant to return to the forests. The elephant that limped back into the forests on Saturday morning was found back in the reservoir on Sunday morning
2014-04-29 - Uttarakhand, India.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stayed construction of a 2-km wall inside the Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand, after it found the wall would obstruct a passage used by elephants along the Song River. The Social Action for Forest and Environment (SAFE), an NGO, had filed a petition with the NGT about the construction being carried out by the state irrigation department, without taking permission from the Union forest ministry.
2014-04-24 - , United Kingdom.
The Duchess of Cornwall was left ‘utterly devastated’ last night by the death of her younger brother in New York. Mark Shand, 62, suffered a head injury when he slipped and fell on the pavement on a night out in Manhattan. He was put on life support but doctors could not save him and he died 12 hours later. Camilla, 66, was extremely close to her only brother, who was known for his swashbuckling travel books and passionate commitment to conservation.
2014-04-20 - GARUMARA, India.
Over 90 captive elephants of West Bengal Forest Department are inseparable part of Election process in Northern part of the state that hosts a vast forest area under many reserved and unreserved forests including Buxa Tiger reserve, Garumara National park, Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary or Chapramari WL Sanctuary.
2014-02-27 - Seattle, United States.
The fossilized mammoth tusk discovered at a Seattle construction site will reveal its age, gender and life story, but probably not for another year, because that´s how long it will take scientists to dry out the water-logged and fragile tusk, officials at the Burke Museum said Wednesday.
2014-02-27 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Namibia’s successful implementation of conservation policies has seen the country’s wildlife population rebound dramatically in the past two decades. More than 25 000 elephants exist in Namibia currently, up from a mere 7000 elephants in 1995.
2014-02-27 - Sydney, Australia.
International comedian and actor John Cleese is coming to Dubbo to put on a show and help open new accommodation at Taronga Western Plains Zoo (TWPZ). The unforgettable star of shows like Fawlty Towers and the cult Monty Python films will travel to the city in late March. The general manager confirmed that the 40-year veteran of stage and screen would perform at TWPZ.
2014-02-25 - Okinawa, Japan.
The Okinawa Zoo & Museum has announced on February 10 that 13-year-old Asian elephant Ryuka is pregnant. It is the first time that an elephant has become pregnant in Okinawa. She is scheduled to give birth around next March. Ten elephants have been born in Japan since the war. The people related to the zoo hope the elephant will be born in Okinawa for the first time.
2014-02-22 - Washington, United States.
A decade-long legal battle is finally coming to a close after the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) agreed to pay the owners of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus $9.3 million for alleging the circus abused their elephants. “Animal activists have been attacking our family, our company, and our employees for decades because they oppose animals in circuses,” Kenneth Feld, chairman and chief executive officer of Feld Entertainment, said in a stateme...
2014-02-21 - New York, United States.
Our animals are inspected by animal welfare officials and routinely inspected and are licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Despite this heavy regulatory scrutiny, many animal-rights groups criticize our animal care and the use of approved and widely accepted elephant tools, like the guide (often referred to by animal extremists as a “bullhook”). Groups like the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Elephant Managers Association and other professional organizations recognize ...
2014-02-21 - Wraxall, United Kingdom.
NOAH´S Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall welcomed a new arrival at its Elephant Eden site on Thursday. Buta, a female African elephant, became the first to move into the largest purpose-built elephant habitat in northern Europe where the zoo hopes to establish a herd. Buta was transported to the new 20-acre area from Knowsley Safari after four months of special training
2014-02-20 - Kunming, China.
A zookeeper died in an elephant enclosure on Wednesday afternoon in southwest China´s Yunnan province, a source at the zoo said. The man, 46, was found dead at about 4:30 p.m. He had injuries to his head, according to the zoo of Kunming, the provincial capital. It is not yet known whether the man had been attacked by an elephant. The cause of the accident is being investigated.
2014-02-11 - San Diego, United States.
Animal care staff has been introducing Mila to one the female elephants of the herd -- the most dominant of the group -- an Asian elephant named Mary. They say the interactions have been largely positive, with Mila and Mary reaching through the barriers with their trunks to get to know each other. The 41-year-old elephant arrived in San Diego from a zoo in New Zealand back in November.
2014-02-09 - DHARMAPURI, India.
Five forest department staff and as many as five civilians were injured after they were attacked by a herd of elephants near Denkanikottah, 32km from Hosur in Krishnagiri district, official sources said today. All the injured persons have been hospitalised and are out of danger.
2014-02-09 - Xishuangbanna, China.
Two tourists were injured by a group of wild elephants at a scenic spot in China´s southwestern Yunnan Province, local officials said today. The incident took place at the Wild Elephant Valley in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna yesterday when the elephants trying to cross a river attacked a family of five.
2014-02-09 - Mitaka, Japan.
Hanako, a female Asian elephant who arrived in Japan shortly after the end of World War II celebrated her 67th birthday on Feb. 2 at Inokashira Park Zoo -- continuing her distinction as Japan´s eldest elephant. Also attending the occasion was the family of the late Thai businessperson Somwang Sarasas, who presented Hanako as a gift in 1949 with his own funds.
2014-02-07 - Tupelo, United States.
A circus elephant is coming back to Mississippi, nearly a year after being injured in a drive-by shooting. Carol, a 39-year-old Asian elephant, spent several weeks recovering at a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus farm in Springfield, Mo., after the April 9, 2013, shooting outside BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo, Miss. The animal was shot in the shoulder. No arrests have been made but the case remains open.
2014-02-06 - Windhoek, Namibia.
To give park rangers in Africa an upper hand in the fight against poachers, conservationists are bringing drones to the places where vulnerable elephants and rhinoceroses roam. Google gave the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) a $5 million Global Impact Award about a year ago to look for new ways to detect and deterwildlife crime.
2014-02-06 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The brutal death of Saneesh, a mahout who was mauled by a 19 year old elephant at Thevara, is due to the disruption of a long standing relationship of trust and love that mahouts and elephants used to have till a decade ago. Saneesh was the twenty eighth mahout that 19 year old Uttoli Mahadevan, had to take orders from in the last seven years.
2014-02-06 - Kochi, India.
Don’t blame it on the veterinarians if they arrive late to dart restive wild animals as Kochi has only one licensed government veterinarian for the jumbo job. Though there is enough number of government veterinarians in the district who can dart the animals, including elephants, only one has the licence to pick up the dart gun and fire to sedate them. And it may take hours for making his service available as proved in the city on Tuesday. It took nearly three hours for the veterinarian to arr...
2014-02-06 - Adelaide, Australia.
A gift from the king of Thailand in 1956, Samorn the elephant charmed children and adults alike at the zoo for 35 years by hauling them around the zoo grounds in a cart. Meaning "beautiful lady" in Thai, Samorn was admired by everyone as a gentle giant who loved her "mahout", Hero Nuus and enjoyed her regular contact with children. The three-tonne elephant retired from the role in 1982 and moved to Monarto Zoological Park nine years later. She died in 1994 and in 1998 her bones were put on displ...
2014-02-06 - Chitwan, Nepal.
A man died after a wild elephant attacked him at Gardi VDC-1 in the district on Wednesday night. The victim is identified as 43-year-old Sher Bahadur Darjee of Gardi VDC. Notorious elephant called Dhrube had killed other three people in a row of attacks after it first took one’s life at Ameliya village in the Madi area last year. The government had spent 1,600,000 rupees in a bid to take Dhrube under control.
2014-02-05 - Yangon, Myanmar.
“Simply speaking, smuggling ivory out of the country is increasing. Surveys also show that. As a result, the Forest Department is trying to control it in collaboration with international wildlife preservation organisations,” said the researcher, requesting anonymity. An official from the Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) called for systematic measures, stating that the increasing illegal ivory trade is a danger to the nation.
2014-02-05 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has launched a programme to count the elephant population in both the Tsavo National Park and Mkomanzi Park in Tanzania. A total of 1193 elephants were counted in the year 2013 compared to a similar dry season in October 2010 count of 1065, a 12 per cent increase. In April 2013, the wet season count found 1930 elephants compared to 1420 in April 2010, a 35 per cent increase. Elephant population increased from 1420 to 1,930 while elephant carcass ratio declined fr...
2014-02-05 - Surabaya, Indonesia.
A MALE giraffe died an agonising death at Indonesia´s Surabaya Zoo with 20 kg of plastic found in his stomach, in 2012. Three months later, a 30-year-old female elephant died after living with a broken leg for two years. So far this year, six animals have died at Indonesia´s largest zoo, in East Java province, including a protected 3-year-old Komodo dragon and an African lion called Michael, found with his head caught in a cable in his enclosure.
2014-02-05 - Calcutta, India.
National Green Tribunal on Tuesday sought a response from the Centre and Assam government on a petition alleging that work of some state-owned companies in and around the Dehing-Patkai wildlife sanctuary in Tinsukia district was affecting the environment. Based on the petition, the tribunal also issued notices and sought responses of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Oil India Ltd, National Highways Authority of India, Coal India Ltd and various state authorities. The petition alleged that their activ...
2014-02-05 - Panama City, United States.
Elephant Walk, a USDA-licensed elephant exhibitor, used the STAT-PAK kit to test one of its elephants, Topsy. After the test showed a "reactive" result, Elephant Walk asked for clarification and a retest, claiming that the test was often unreliable. When Elephant Walk later retested Topsy, it allegedly got a negative result. It claimed that the inaccurate "reactive" result stopped it from exhibiting Topsy in circuses and other events because animal rights groups and certain states had interprete...
2014-02-05 - Erfurt, Germany.
A German conservation official who caused uproar after he boasted about shooting an elephant in Botswana has been made president of a state agricultural institute rather than being sacked. Elephant hunting was, when Wedekind fired his shots, allowed to an extent in Botswana. The country banned it at the beginning of 2014. Wedekind will be the head of Thuringia´s Institute for Agriculture, the environmental ministry confirmed.
2014-02-04 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Two new born elephants at Ragunan Zoo are waiting for Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to name them. On Dec. 2, 25-year-old Sumatran elephant Mulyani gave birth to a female calf, while on Oct. 20,Mulyani´s eldest daughter, Agustin, gave birth to a male calf. "We have given the calves temporary names until the governor names them," Ragunan Zoo spokesman Wahyudi Bambang said recently.
2014-02-04 - Mettupalayam, India.
After 48 days in the rejuvenation camp, 31 temple and 18 forest elephants from different parts of Tamil Nadu would leave for their respective places on Tuesday evening. The annual camp was held on the banks of Bhavani river at Thekkumpatti and Nellithorai near Mettupalayam. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) and Forest Department organised the camp to help the temple elephants regain vitality.
2014-02-04 - New York, United States.
After receiving information that African elephants are headed for extinction and elephant ivory poaching is funding terrorism, Assemblyman Bob Sweeney wrote a letter imploring the Department of Conservation to prohibit the sale of ivory in New York.
2014-02-04 - Bangalore, India.
Not since forest brigand Veerappan was killed by the Special Task Force in 2004 has the forest department been so jittery. Three young elephants have been killed for their tusks in the last six months — two of them in just a month in the ´D´ (demarcation) line between Karnataka-Tamil Nadu.
2014-02-04 - Pathanamthitta, India.
A 40-year-old female elephant has died after consuming plastic waste dumped by Sabarimala pilgrims. Forest officials found the carcass at Valiyanavattam along the path leading to the pilgrim centre in Pathanamthitta district. Veterinary surgeon Saseendra Dev, who conducted the autopsy, said the animal had consumed 2 kg of food packaging waste, including plastic bags, biscuit covers and aluminum foils.
2014-02-04 - Houston, United States.
Zookeepers and volunteers are now watching around the clock for any signs of labor in Shanti. “She might swap her tail, lift her legs, maybe she can’t get as comfortable at night. Oftentimes too, you’ll see her lift her tail like she’s straining a little bit.” Like elephants in the wild, Shanti will give birth standing up, and gravity will help the calf drop out of her. The calf might weigh 350 pounds or more.
2014-02-04 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and various stakeholders say they have finalized plans to carry out aerial census of elephants in the expansive Tsavo-Mkomazi ecosystem starting on Tuesday. KWS said Monday the results of the Feb. 4-10 exercise will help the wildlife officials establish the current elephant and other large mammals population size and distribution and compare these results with the results of past aerial counts
2014-02-04 - Lome, Togo.
Authorities in Togo have seized nearly 4 tons of ivory — the tusks from over 500 dead elephants — hidden in containers destined for Vietnam, officials said on Monday. Two locals and a man from Vietnam, where the containers were headed to, were arrested but it was not clear where the ivory came from.
2014-02-03 - Prague, Czech Republic.
A man smuggling 33 kilos of elephant tusks was caught at the Prague international airport on Tuesday, the Czech customs authority and the Czech environmental inspectorate told CTK Friday. The smuggler was heading to Asia where the tusks could be sold for up to $2500 per kilogramme on the black market, or for over $80,000.
2014-02-03 - Mysore, India.
The injured included a journalist, a mahout, a kavadi and two girls, who had visited the venue for the fair. The incident occurred when two elephants of Suttur mutt, Drona and Champa, raised a ruckus owing to the noise of crackers that were burst during Rathotsava, at the venue. The elephants which were near the mutt premises, reacted out of fear as the crackers burst, and ran haywire, resulting in losses to vendors, who had set up shop for the fair.
2014-02-02 - Greenville, United States.
Ladybird, one of the Greenville Zoo´s African elephants, is undergoing treatment and close observation for a medical condition, zoo officials said. Officials said Ladybird experienced an episode of abdominal pain, which can be fairly common with a weather change. As a result, she has been receiving supportive care, including oral fluids and high fiber foods. She may also be taken off exhibit, officials said, while she recovers.
2014-02-02 - , United States.
A German conservation official has shot dead an elephant in Botswana. Udo Wedekind, whose job includes environmental protection and care of endangered species, fired at the animal during a hunting trip in the African country last year. Today, Thueringen´s regional government environment minister, Juergen Reinholz, said: ´It is not of interest what civil servants do in their free time as long as they follow the law and don´t break the rules.´
2014-02-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Minister of Wildlife Resources Conservation Wijith Wijayamuni Zoysa defended the Government’s practice of gifting baby elephants to various parties, stating criticism of the action was unwarranted. Speaking to The Nation, the minister brushed aside criticism leveled by environmentalists, claiming the Government ‘will not be dictated by environmentalists.
2014-02-01 - Daloa, Ivory Coast.
Due to the increasing conflict between elephants and villagers in the town of Daloa, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) was tasked with the mission of transporting a rare subspecies of elephants across the Ivory Coast to improve their safety as well as the safety of local villagers. Of the six African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) that were transported, two died during the trip.
2014-02-01 - Melbourne, Australia.
The new calf has been named Man Jai, which means "confident" in Thai. A special naming celebration was held at Melbourne Zoo on Saturday. The elephant´s name was chosen by zoo members as part of an online poll. Other possible options for the lively zoo addition included Sai, meaning tropical tree or Look Nam, which means "likes water".
2014-02-01 - , Myanmar.
This government-owned camp holding 62 elephants and about 330 local villagers is one of many which are under threat due to upcoming changes in laws that reflect the steady depletion of forests in the country. The local government blames illegal loggers for this, while others are under the opinion that the government carelessly sold land for construction and development purposes to the wrong people. Either way, elephant logging which has been a source of income for many in this country for genera...
2014-01-31 - Bethesda, United States. Stanton JJ, Nofs SA, Zachariah A, Kalaivannan N, Ling PD.
We used previously validated EEHV-specific quantitative real-time PCR assays to detect subclinical EEHV infection in three regionally distinct Asian elephant cohorts, totaling 46 in situ elephants in South India, during October and November 2011. Using DNA prepared from trunk washes, we detected EEHV1, EEHV3/4, and EEHV5 at frequencies of 7, 9, and 20% respectively. None of the trunk washes was positive for EEHV2 or 6. At least one EEHV species was detectable in 35% (16/46) of the samples that w...
2014-01-31 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas has confirmed that the King´s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament will this year move from its original home of Hua Hin to the Thai capital of Bangkok. The annual tournament, now in its thirteenth year, will take place at the Siam Polo Park at VR Sports Club in Bangkok between 28-31 August 2014.
2014-01-31 - Entebbe, Uganda.
The Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) says it will start using surveillance drones to help protect elephants and other endangered animals that have come under increased threat from poachers in recent months. The unmanned aircraft are scheduled to be flying by the end of the year. UWA Executive Director Andrew Seguya told reporters that the drones will catch poachers “while in the act.”
2014-01-31 - London, United Kingdom.
As John Sutherland, the literary academic, admits from the off, his new book is not really an “unauthorised biography” at all. It is more a treasure trove of elephant ephemera with eye-popping statistics on trunks, dung and sex and characters from Chunee, Jumbo’s popular show animal predecessor in London, to Disney’s fictional Dumbo.
2014-01-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday gifted two baby elephants to the Sri Lanka Army and the Police. Three and a half year old ‘Kandula’ was handed over to the Army and four and half year old ‘Abeetha’ to the Police. The baby elephants donated by the Department of Wildlife will be used at ceremonial occassions by the Army and the Police.
2014-01-30 - Washington, United States.
The United Nations Security Council took a critical step today in tackling elephant poaching and illicit ivory trade by addressing the link between instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo and wildlife trafficking. In renewing the DRC sanctions regime, the resolution targets individuals and entities illegally supporting armed groups through the illicit trade of natural resources, including wildlife and wildlife products, such as elephant ivory.
2014-01-28 - New Delhi, India.
Devasthan Management Committee, which manages the famous Jyotiba temple in Kolhapur, today denied that elephant Sunder was tortured and starved during the last six years while it was under the temple´s care, as alleged by NGO PETA. The management committee of the temple, by a resolution passed on December 26, 2013, gifted Sunder to Warna Sahakari Dudh Utpadan Society. Accordingly, it has been shifted to the company premises where it walks in open air, said the affidavit.
2014-01-26 - Tehama, United States.
In the rural, rolling hills of Northern California, plans are under way for a 4,900-acre preserve that would keep African elephants healthy, in shape and breeding. Part fat farm and part laboratory, the elephant preserve would start with three to five elephants and let them grow into a herd of 12 to 15 over two decades. Scientists also would conduct research into the "near-wild" herd, and school groups would come to learn about African elephants, considered to be a threatened species because of ...
2014-01-24 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
This January National Museums Scotland presents Mammoths of the Ice Age, a major exhibition exploring the mysteries of the Ice Age and revealing what life was like for the iconic mammals of this era; the mammoth and the mastodon. Unlike dinosaurs and other prehistoric mammals, mastodons and mammoths lived side by side with humans for thousands of years. In Mammoths of the Ice Age visitors can again come nose-to-trunk with these intriguing animals.
2014-01-21 - Bombay, India.
Sunder the elephant, who has been the subject of a petition for his release will have his case heard in front of the Bombay High court on Tuesday. Through an investigative video, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a non-governmental organisation working for the welfare of animals, had furnished evidence of abuse that the pachyderm was allegedly being subjected to. Officials from PETA and a few supporters had met state forest minister Patangrao Kadam regarding Sunder’s case. At thi...
2014-01-17 - , United States.
Nong Nooch Tropical Garden celebrated the birth of its first elephant calf of 2014 with the arrival of a playful male Jan. 6. Park Director Kampol Tansajja announced that 14-year-old cow Sarai had given birth to her first calf, which appeared healthy and was feeding normally. It was sired by 16-year-old bull Ning Nong.
2014-01-17 - Topeka, United States.
So far, the zoo only has a price estimate for building out the elephant exhibit. In 2012, Wiley said, that cost was estimated at $9.8 million, which would increase the exhibit from three-quarters of an acre and two elephants to 3 acres and six to eight elephants. Expanding the elephant exhibit would be the zoo’s first priority, should the plan be set into motion, he said.
2014-01-16 - Audubon, United States.
How do you slice a birthday cake for elephants? You don´t - the elephant honoree gets an entire cake. At least, that´s what the Audubon Zoo did Thursday for Panya´s 50th birthday. The Asian elephant got one complete chocolate cake. The zoo´s other Asian elephant, 41-year-old Jean, got another.
2014-01-16 - Oquawka, United States.
This is a bittersweet tale about a 6,500-pound circus elephant, her final resting place, and her legacy. It is a story in which some see a grain of humor, perhaps something we all need to find when tragedy strikes under unusual circumstances and is recalled years later.
2013-12-31 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
An elephant bull has been put down after it attacked a couple in the Kruger National Park on Monday, trampling their blue Volkswagen car. Apparently the South African couple were following the elephant bull to videotape it and suddenly the animal turned on them and pushed their car into the bush for about 400m. According to eyewitnesses the animal was extremely aggressive and our rangers were alerted of the incident by the tourists,” Phaahla said.
2013-12-29 - Kochi, India.
The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that has afflicted domestic cattle in southern States is looking to threaten an unexpected sector — Kerala’s flourishing elephant rental business. The rental business’ high season has just opened and elephant owners are flush with bookings. In the case of certain top-end elephants with high brand value, the booking is for four or five months in advance. But the FMD outbreak in the State over a month ago left thousands of cattle infected. Though the airborne...
2013-12-29 - Indianapolis, United States.
Indiana´s own prehistoric beasts are the focus of the museum´s new exhibition. "Ice Age Giants" re-creates the process of uncovering the fossilized bones of mammoths and mastodons, identifying them, studying them and finally reassembling the skeletons to tower once again.
2013-12-28 - Chitwan, Nepal.
Breaking into the all-male profession, Meena Chaudhary and Meena Mahato are the first female mahouts of Nepal. Taking control of the elephant rides, they spoke Saturday with Xinhua of the challenges of being one of the few females into the stereotyped male profession.
2013-12-27 - Thrissur, India.
A woman had a miraculous escape after she was caught in between the legs of an elephant which ran amok during a temple festival at Kumaranchira near Nandipulam here on Thursday. Shobana of Mupliyam suffered minor injuries and has been admitted to the Puthukkad Government Hospital. According to police, the elephant, Irinjalakuda Kannan, turned violent when the mahouts were adorning it with caparisons before the procession at 9.30 a.m.
2013-12-27 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The European Union Commission has pledged more than 170 million Rand (12 million Euros) to assist in combating the illegal trade in ivory in which the fight will be taken more to the organized crime and rebel forces. Key states involved in the illegal ivory value chain have committed to urgent measures to halt the illegal trade. The measures, which include enhancing legislation and wildlife protection at national level, were adopted at the African Elephant Summit in Gaborone, Botswana, earlier t...
2013-12-23 - Dai Nam, Vietnam.
A Vietnamese zookeeper died Monday after being crushed by a two ton elephant. Doan Huu Tai, 27, was attacked by the Elephant who grabbed him with his trunk and slammed him into a water tank. According to Vietnamnet the man attempted to slip into the cage to paint a fence. The Dai Nam tourist area, where the incident occurred is located in the Binh Dong province.
2013-12-20 - Johannesburg, United States.
A Chinese woman was sentenced to a R50 000 fine or three years´ imprisonment by the Kempton Park Regional Court on Wednesday for trying to smuggling ivory through South Africa, the SA Revenue Service said. “She attempted to smuggle 12.7kg ivory, two lion claws and 10 Pangolin scales to Hong Kong,” spokesman Adrian Lackay said in a statement.
2013-12-20 - Guruvayur, India.
Concerned over the cases of two captive elephants that were infected by foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), elephant owners in the State are coming together to protect the national animal from the epidemic. As a precautionary measure to prevent infection among its herd, the Guruvayur Devaswom had recently banned visitors from its Punnathurkotta elephant camp. The 60 elephants of the devaswom are housed at the camp, which is visited by hundreds every day.
2013-12-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Biologists in Sri Lanka have published the first documented evidence of dwarfism in an adult wild animal. A male Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) measuring just over 1.5 meters (five feet) in height was seen in an aggressive encounter with another male of average size, according to the findings published in the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group journal Gajah.
2013-12-19 - Oakland, United States.
Joel Parrott, the Oakland Zoo CEO who earlier this month proposed a plan to develop an elephant reserve in Tehama County, assured county supervisors Tuesday that the reserve would not cost the county money, and water concerns would not be a prohibitive factor.
2013-12-19 - Chennai, India.
For the first time in seven years, the elephants belonging to the forest department would attend the rejuvenation camp, so far held for their temple counterparts, near Mettupalayam from Thursday. Though the 48-day camp would see around 100 elephants, including temple and kumkis. While the 33 temple elephants would attend the Thekkampatty camp, the 55 forest elephants from Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Coimbatore range and Vandalur Zoo would camp at Nellithorai.
2013-12-19 - Prague, Czech Republic.
The five-year female elephant Tonya died in the Prague zoo today, probably of a viral infection, director Miroslav Bobek has said in a press release, adding that she had shown signs of a disorder from Sunday afternoon. “On Monday, when her condition worsened, an intensive treatment was applied. Today, Tuesday, December 17, Tonya collapsed in agony in spite of all effort made,” Bobek wrote.
2013-12-17 - Tobe, Japan.
African elephants brought to zoos in Japan are often unable to raise their offspring because many lost their parents to poaching by ivory hunters. But they are smart enough to learn from their keepers, said Osamu Shiina, who cares for the animals at a prefectural-run zoo on Shikoku. Shiina, 51, is in charge of a family of four African elephants at Tobe Zoological Park in the town of Tobe, Ehime Prefecture.
2013-12-16 - Portland, United States.
An online poll Friday asking, "Should the Oregon Zoo keep its elephants?" drew 5,332 responses. The results: Yes: 3,066 votes or 57.5 percent, No: 2,266 votes or 42.5 percent. The poll was prompted by news Friday morning that comedian-turned-animal-activist had emailed the Oregon Zoo and Metro, which operates the zoo. Her goal: persuade the zoo to send Packy, the zoo´s beloved, 51-year-old male Asian elephant to a sanctuary.
2013-12-16 - Salt Lake City, United States.
Eric Peterson works with a pair the zoo´s African Elephants. With the only spectators consisting of a couple of other keepers and a wandering rooster, Peterson interacts with the elephants in an extraordinary manner.Peterson, who commutes from American Fork each day, works as the zoo´s elephant manager.
2013-12-16 - Maun, Botswana.
Earlier this month Kiti, an elephant from the Abu Camp’s herd, gave birth to a new calf named Naledia – Setswana for star. She earned her name being born on a completely clear and cloudless night. It is a rare experience to be able to experience a baby elephant first hand, and Mirus Journeys are urging customers to book now will the calf is still young.
2013-12-09 - Tehama, United States.
Representatives from the Oakland Zoo and Ndovo Foundation shared their vision Thursday at a Tehama County Planning Commission meeting of a 4,900-acre facility that at peak capacity would house around 50 African elephants.
2013-12-06 - New York, United States.
In Zoo Tycoon you can hose down a baby elephant and pull faces at a chimpanzee. The premise is fairly simple: you must build a popular, profitable zoo and care for all of the animals and visitors inside your gates. You can buy the PC game at the link to the right >>>
2013-12-05 - London, United Kingdom.
It was the arrival of the cannon in the 19th century that finally heralded the end of elephants being used as an instrument of war. Until that time, from as early as 1000BC, they trampled across battlefields around the globe. So far, it seems as though the elephants’ easily panicked nature meant that they weren’t useful companions for battle.
2013-12-05 - New Delhi, India.
Seventy elephants have died on Bengal’s railway tracks since 1994, all but three of them in north Bengal, the state government has told the Supreme Court. According to the state’s affidavit, 57 elephants have died in train hits and 13 of electrocution on the tracks in the past 19 years. Since 2009, the number of elephants killed on Bengal’s railway tracks has been 29.
2013-12-05 - Karachi, Pakistan.
KMC Administrator Rauf Akhtar Farooqui has said that construction of a modern elephant enclave on 65 thousand square feet has been completed in Safari Park. He said that a bath pool for elephants along with rest area and shades on 2800 square feet was also constructed. He was speaking during a visit of Safari Park to inspect development work, said a statement on Wednesday.
2013-12-05 - Gaborone, Botswana.
Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft Corp (MSFT:US). with Bill Gates, will fund a survey of the number of elephants in Africa to help combat poaching that is claiming the life of one of the pachyderms every 15 minutes. The family trust of Allen, who’s worth $15.7 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, will fund an $8 million count of the animals in 13 countries using three fixed-wing airplanes and two helicopters, Botswana-based Elephants Without Borders said today in an e-mail...
2013-12-05 - Beijing, China.
Despite being the largest market for illegal ivory, China has agreed to label the trade of elephant ivory as a serious crime along with 30 other countries at a summit in Botswana. The deal is proposing a cooperative, multi-national effort to prevent the killing of thousands of elephants, caused by the lucrative ivory trade, in which China buys 70% of the world´s illegal ivory.
2013-12-04 - New York, United States.
So the team removed the sperm to examine the seminal plasma, the nutritive brew that helps fuel and protect sperm in the female reproductive tract. Good samples had higher volumes of plasma. They also found that a particular protein showed up in almost all of the good samples and almost none of the bad ones.
2013-12-04 - Bowmanville, Canada.
On Tuesday, as zoo staff mourned, Hackenberger told the Star he couldn’t say whether Limba would be replaced. “At this point I’m dealing exclusively with Limba, so I don’t know. Anyone anywhere in the world, as long as you comply with the laws, can get an elephant. It’s not just Bowmanville Zoo. A private person who has the necessary land can own an elephant.”
2013-12-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Environmentalists have responded with alarm to a proposed amnesty permitting the registration of illegally captured elephants in Sri Lanka. Recent reports in Sri Lankan media have outlined the proposal, stating that during the amnesty period it would be possible to register elephant calves for a fee of about $7,600.
2013-12-04 - Melbourne, Australia.
Sanook, the 11-month-old Asian elephant calf at Melbourne Zoo has died after becoming entangled in a favourite toy. "The CCTV footage shows that at 7pm while playing with the tyre, Sanook managed to manoeuvre it in an unusual way that caused his head to become caught," Melbourne Zoo director Kevin Tanner said in the statement.
2013-12-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Rising incidents of human-elephant conflict has become a headache for the state government. As many as 354 people were killed by the jumbos in the past six years, while 368 elephants died during the same period. Between 2008-09 and 2013-14 (till November 15 this year), the number of elephant deaths caused by poaching, electrocution, and accidents is higher than the casualties due to natural reasons and diseases. Nearly 150 elephants died due to poaching, electrocution, and accidents as against 1...
2013-12-03 - Bowmanville, Canada.
Limba, a beloved elephant at the Bowmanville Zoo, has died. The zoo confirmed that she was euthanized at 12:34 a.m. on Tuesday. Limba was walking through the zoo and on the flood plain on Monday, the zoo said, but became very ill in the evening. “We have always been very clear that Limba would not suffer. Our decision was made to honor that commitment,” the zoo said in a statement.
2013-12-03 - Amboseli, Kenya.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the School for Field Studies, East Africa (SFS) will Tuesday start fitting tracking collars on four elephants within the Amboseli ecosystem in Kajiado County. The fitting of collars, will be conducted by a team of scientists, researchers and veterinarians from the partnering organisations.
2013-12-03 - Hongkong, China.
When Hong Kong intercepted yet another huge shipment of illegal African ivory in early October, it added to a growing headache for authorities: What exactly do you do with one of the world’s biggest stockpiles of elephant tusks?
2013-12-03 - London, United Kingdom.
Heathrow airport is at the centre of a booming trade in illegal ivory, with most of it being carried by big-name courier companies. Border officials are making record seizures, the vast majority taken from newly slaughtered African elephants. Last year a specialist UK Border Force team made 50 seizures of ivory weighing 80.7kg at British airports — compared with just 3.3kg in 2010. Most was at Heathrow. The number of seizures is thought to be a fraction of the amount being smuggled.
2013-12-03 - Dak Drong, Vietnam.
Three wild elephants ravaged crops and damaged dozens of houses in a hamlet in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong last week, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported. Initial statistics by Dak Drong Commune showed 47 households had their houses and crops damaged by the elephants.
2013-12-02 - Beijing, China.
The CITES office in China has released details of a number of cases involving ivory importing and trading. In the most recent case 8 people accused of illegal ivory trading received prison sentences of between 3 and 15 years. The recent case involved the import of 3.6 tonnes of ivory between 2010 and 2012.
2013-12-02 - Ponte Vedra, United States.
In a traditional Hindu marriage ceremony, the groom travels from his city to the bride�s in a procession called a Baraat, entourage in tow, often riding a mare. �We were lucky enough to find an elephant,� Puja Roy said. It was Deepak Dugar�s first time aboard one. Tiny arrived late Saturday morning, said Cyndi Benzel, the wedding planner. She has used Tiny before, she said. Tiny is no newcomer to Hindu weddings.
2013-12-02 - Dublin, Ireland.
ALL four female elephants in the herd at Dublin Zoo are pregnant, the keepers believe. The happy news, which was supposed to be kept secret until after Christmas, emerged at the launch yesterday of a new book for children titled ´Dublin Zoo Elephants´.
2013-12-01 - Miami, United States.
On Wednesday morning Maude, a 41-year old Asian elephant at the popular South Miami-Dade attraction, died while receiving treatment for a severe digestive impaction. Essentially, Maude appears to have died of constipation.During a treatment session at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Maude collapsed and passed away in less than a minute
2013-12-01 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
From 26 November 2012 to 27 November 2013 elephant.se had almost 500 000 visitors, and totally since 23 Nov 2009 over 1,500,000 visits. Thank you for supporting the website, and promoting it during its 13 years on Internet.
2013-12-01 - Bath, United Kingdom.
Local film makers presents their beautiful and moving documentary on Myanmar timber elephants and the relationship between elephants and the men they work with. The film made by Suzanne and Simon Campbell-Jones (both of whom are Bath residents), will be shown to public in Bath film festival on 1st December, 2013 (4:00pm).
2013-11-29 - London, United Kingdom.
Burma (also known as Myanmar) has been closed off to the world for over five decades. As Burma takes steps towards democracy, it will have to decide the fate of its forests. For the first time, the government has granted unprecedented access to an expedition team of scientists and wildlife film-makers.
2013-11-27 - Miami, United States.
Zoo officials also announced that Asian elephant “Maude,†is gravely ill. “She has displayed symptoms of having a severe impaction in her digestive tract which has resulted in no bowel movements and an almost total loss of appetite,†said Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill in a press release. Maude arrived at Zoo Miami from the Central Florida Zoo in 2011. The elephant is believed to be age 40 and suffers from arthritis.
2013-11-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Three adult elephants and one baby elephant were found dead in the Hadilla area of Gannoruwa in Hamabntota in southern Sri Lanka. The elephants were killed when they got caught in an illegally set up electric fence in a private land, local media reported. The Wildlife Department has commenced an investigation in to the incident.
2013-11-25 - Springfield, United States.
Federal inspectors have found no issues with the care of an elephant that killed a zookeeper last month in Springfield. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates zoos under the Animal Welfare Act, released a report last week that found “no non-compliant items.”
2013-11-25 - San Diego, United States.
Read the bullshit: >> "A coroner´s investigation later branded the death as the result of an accident, not an attack. A witness told reporters that Mila seemed to be trying to protect, not harm, Schofield." The coroner and the witness are they elephant experts? Not really...
2013-11-24 - Gaborone, Botswana.
When word started getting around that Botswana is to host an emergency African Elephant Summit on December 2-4, 2013, residents of Chobe and Ngamiland naturally started rekindling hope that finally the elephant problem is being addressed. It, therefore, comes as a shock that the Botswana government has missed this rare opportunity to include the concern of over-population into the agenda of the forthcoming emergency elephant summit.
2013-11-23 - Peren, India.
The Nagaland forest department has “arrested” a domestic elephant, believed to be from Assam, for allegedly destroying large patches of crop land and bamboo groves in a village in Peren district, bordering Assam. “The elephant is in safe custody. We have engaged a few persons to look after it till the owner shows up and claims it by producing proper documents,’ Mokok Jamir, a forest official in Peren district, told The Telegraph over phone today.
2013-11-23 - Wayanad, India.
The team of Gajakesari has selected the elephant that will play an important role in the film. the elephant for the film has been found in Waynad, Kerala. The elephant, named Arjuna, and the shoot for the fourth schedule of the film involving him started earlier this week. Arjuna is a tusker and is one of the biggest domesticated elephants in India.
2013-11-22 - Perth, Australia.
Perth Zoo´s 56-year-old Asian elephant Tricia is receiving 25 minute back and shoulder massages twice daily using a specially designed massage pad usually used on horses. Perth Zoo Senior Vet Dr Simone Vitali said he hoped the massages would starve off the aches and pains of old age as the elephant stomps towards her twilight years.
2013-11-20 - Sydney, Australia.
The Taronga Western Plains Zoo is planning to build a multimillion dollar home for three male Asian elephants due to arrive in Dubbo next year. The bulls, Pathi Harn, Luk Chai and Gung, are being moved to the west to free up space at Taronga´s Sydney zoo.
2013-11-16 - Sonepur, India.
The globally renowned, month-long ´Sonepur mela´ at which elephants, horses and cattle are sold and purchased began today on the bank of the river Ganga in Bihar´s Saran district. The fair originates from the times when Emperor Chandragupta Maurya used to buy elephants and horses from across the Ganga.
2013-11-16 - Lupane, Zimbabwe.
FIVE more people believed to be involved in the cyanide poisoning of 10 elephants in Ngamo Safaris in Lupane have been arrested while five others were arrested for poaching game at the University of Zimbabwe farm in Harare this week. This brings to 22 the number of people who have been arrested following the deaths of about 100 elephants in Hwange National Park in August this year.
2013-11-16 - San Diego, United States.
The 41-year-old elephant, named Mila, arrived in San Diego on Thursday, through collaboration with the Franklin Zoo Charitable Trust. Mila has been living at the Franklin Zoo since 2009, where she has been cared for and trained under a system of positive reinforcement. San Diego Zoo Global was a pioneer in development of this training system for managing elephants.
2013-11-16 - Surin, Thailand.
The over 200 elephants and mahoots congregate at the Elephant Stadium to the south east of the city centre. Here the main show is performed culminating in a re-enactment of the battles of a past century.
2013-11-15 - Vazhachal, India.
Prince Charles met representatives from WWF India at the Vazhachal Forest in the south of the country in an area known as the Western Ghats. He was told about the issues and challenges related to conservation in this area, including the role of corridors, the illegal trade in elephant tusks, and the human-elephant interface in India.
2013-11-15 - Los Angeles, United States.
Ivory stockpiles were destroyed in Kenya in 2011, Gabon in 2012 and the Philippines in 2013. But those events haven´t deterred poaching and the illegal trade of ivory, and raw ivory prices in China have doubled since 2011, said Godfrey Harris, a representative of the Political Action Network of the International Ivory Society.
2013-11-15 - Yangon, Myanmar.
“There are only around 50,000 Asian elephants in the world,” said elephant expert Khine Oo Maw. “More than 14,000 elephants have been held captive and 40 percent of them are in Myanmar. Besides Asian elephants, there are also white-coloured elephants. These elephants are regarded as white elephants in Buddhist countries.”
2013-11-14 - Kolkata, India.
Wildlife authorities Thursday lodged police complaints against the railways, a day after five elephants were mowed down by a speeding train. The incident took place around 5.45 p.m. Wednesday near the Nagrakata-Jaldhaka bridge in West Bengal´s Jalpaiguri district. An earlier report said six elephants were killed, but authorities later revised the figure to five.
2013-11-14 - Los Angeles, United States. Dr Daniel Stiles, IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group
Don´t give an incentive to criminals to kill more elephants. They see this as ivory getting scarcer, prices and demand going up. In response, USFWS will crush seized ivory, almost certainly sending a message to criminals that they had better step up their killing of elephants before all the ivory is gone.
2013-11-14 - Washington, United States.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday offered a $1 million reward to help smash a Laos-based poaching network slaughtering endangered elephants and rhinos for their precious horns and tusks. The reward, the first of its kind by the State Department, targeted the Xaysavang network which operates from Laos as far afield as South Africa, Mozambique, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China.
2013-11-14 - Denver, United States.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is about to destroy 6 tons of confiscated ivory being held in Denver — ostensibly to help the campaign against the illegal killing of elephants.But does the destruction of stockpiles really help the cause?
2013-11-13 - Denver, United States.
U.S. wildlife officials in Denver plan to destroy 6 tons of ivory to send a message against elephant poaching that has reached record levels. The ivory tusks, statues and jewelry that will be destroyed Thursday were confiscated by federal agents around the country.
2013-11-13 - Ontario, Canada. Oliver Knevitt
As someone who works on Silurian age fossils, I can´t help but be jealous every time a new mammoth "fossil" is found in permafrost. These mammoth corpses can barely be considered to be fossils. My most recent pang of jealousy occurred on finding out that Yuka, one of the more famed frozen mammoth corpses is to have her brain scanned.
2013-11-13 - Bowmanville, Canada.
Limba, the beloved Bowmanville elephant, has been invited to walk in the Bowmanville Santa Claus parade but she may be too ill to attend. The zoo is about to announce she may have cancer. “Our number-one commitment has always been Limba’s health and welfare,” said Michael Hackenberger, Bowmanville Zoo director.
2013-11-13 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Six elephants were killed and several others injured after a herd was run over by a train today near West Bengal´s Jalpaiguri district. The herd was hit by a passenger train which was headed for Dibrugarh. In a similar incident, seven elephants had been killed by a speeding train in September 2010 near Binnaguri in Jalpaiguri.
2013-11-13 - Baripada, India.
Elephant rides will be an added attraction for tourists visiting Similipal National Park as the state´s only tiger reserve, located in Mayurbhanj district, opened for public today. Kunki elephants -- Mahindra, Sobha and Raj Kumar -- will take tourists on joyrides, said an official of the park, which opened today after a 12-day delay caused due to efforts to clear trees uprooted by Cyclone Phailin.
2013-11-13 - Deep River, United States. Paula Kahumbu
Indeed, Deep River owes a steep debt to the African elephant. Nestled in the lower Connecticut River Valley, it and the nearby village of Ivoryton in Essex at one time processed up to 90 percent of the ivory that was imported into the United States. According to the Deep River Historical Society, it began with Phineas Pratt’s invention of the circular saw. This led to the area’s dominance in the production of piano keys—made of ivory.
2013-11-13 - Medford, United States.
Jumbo took the United States and Canada by storm as the headline act in Barnum and Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth. But in the fall of 1885, tragedy struck in the shape of a passing freight train. The elephant’s untimely death should have spelled the end of his career. Instead, the act of stuffing Jumbo transformed him into the stuff of legend
2013-11-13 - Beijing, China.
Meng Xianlin, deputy director of China´s Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office said that China, which has been making prestigious products from elephant ivory for almost 5,000 years, has taken most stringent regulatory measures on ivory trade. China does not ban domestic ivory trade, but it sets a ceiling for the amount of legal market consumption at five tonnes each year.
2013-11-13 - Sheffield, United Kingdom.
As World War One raged, the military purchased most of England´s horses and sent them to the Western Front. Many farmers and traders had to find alternative beasts of burden, but none more exotic than elephants. Lizzie, as she was known, was used to performing tricks as part of a travelling menagerie.
2013-11-12 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia. Sean Teehan and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
A long-running animosity exists between local tour guides – some of whom include elephant rides in their tours – and EVP, which brands itself as an ethical alternative to traditional tours in the area, said Phearakech Than, a tour guide in Sen Monorom, who signed one of the letters of complaint and attended Friday’s meeting.Chear Chantorn, who owns a local guesthouse and attended the meeting, added that local restaurant and guesthouse proprietors lose tourists through rumours posted on EVP...
2013-11-12 - Luangwa National Park, Zambia.
An elephant was bitten by a hungry crocodile as it reached its trunk into a watering hole at the Mfuwe Lodge in the South Luangwa Nation Park in Zambia.
2013-11-12 - Mysore, India.
Three weeks after the returning of Dasara elephants to the woods, one of them went berserk on the forest fringes of Nagarahole and charged out of the woods. The drama that began on Tuesday ended on Thursday with the tranquilizing of elephant Harsha.It took 36 hours for the foresters to capture Harsha, otherwise known for his composure, and bring the situation under control.
2013-11-12 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The Royal Elephants´ Stable Museum is open to the public on weekdays during office hours, but reservations must be made in advance.The museum was visited by His Majesty the King on Nov 26 last year, officially opened by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on May 13 this year and has been welcoming the general public since last month. Under the supervision of the Royal Chitralada Projects, the museum consists of two former stables for royal elephants covering a total area of 176m2, as well ...
2013-11-12 - Melbourne, Australia.
The Melbourne Zoo was named the best major tourist attraction at the RACV Victorian Tourism Awards on Monday night. The nod to the zoo breaks a three-year winning streak by the Melbourne Museum, which had won the top award on the back of some blockbuster exhibitions including Tutankhamun and Titanic. The zoo´s award, announced at a black-tie event at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, was given for its 150th anniversary campaign last year that featured major events around baby...
2013-11-11 - Erindi Private Game Reserve, United States.
This female hippo was flipped several feet into the air as she stood her ground against an aggressive elephant bull at the Erindi Private Game Reserve in Namibia.The elephant was grazing alongside a group of hippos, but took exception when the mother hippo ventured slightly too close. Amazingly, the mother emerged relatively unscathed from the attack, apparently suffering nothing worse than a little gash on her side - and a rather bruised ego.
2013-11-10 - Nairobi, Kenya.
In an initiative backed by Prince Charles and Prince William, 25 soldiers from 3rd Batallion Parachute Regiment have been sent to train Kenyan rangers. Al Shabaab, a group linked to Al Qaeda, is said to be funding their training and attacks by selling elephant and rhino horns on the Somalian black market - a trade worth £12billion a year. In the past year, 60 wardens and 38,000 elephants have been killed by illegal poachers.
2013-11-10 - Perak, Malaysia.
Elephants and humans are coming into contact with each other more often in Malaysia. The areas where elephants used to roam are being built upon or used for agriculture. Some favour relocating them to a national park - but is this the right thing to do? A team from the University of Nottingham is investigating the impact of the relocation process. Certain hormones can indicate a rise in stress levels with potentially serious consequences for the animal´s health.
2013-11-07 - Bangalore, India.
A Bangalore-based conservation organisation is testing GPS collars that could help tackle man-elephant conflicts. These collars are designed and developed by a team of engineers at the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (DESE, formerly CEDT), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The collars will be used by the Aane Mane Foundation to track the movement of tame elephants that the state government had decided to release into the wild.
2013-11-07 - Hongkong, China. Samuel Chan
Hongkongers have the chance to see more than 200 pieces of mammoth tusk carved by ivory master carver Chu Chung-shing and his 100-strong team at a free show at the Convention and Exhibition Centre today and tomorrow. Chu has been using the tusks of the prehistoric creature, which became extinct more than 10,000 years ago, as a substitute for African elephant ivory ever since a transnational ban on the ivory trade was imposed in 1989 to protect the African elephant.
2013-11-06 - Maputo, Mozambique.
A man, who wants to remain anonymous, sustained light injuries when the elephant cow attacked his large 4x4 bakkie. He was alone in the bakkie when he visited the reserve on October 16. A cow in the herd lifted her trunk, flapped her ears and then approached his bakkie. She got so close that she scraped past his passenger side door. In an attempt to frighten them off, the panicky man decided to give the elephants an earful by pressing the vehicle’s hooter.
2013-11-06 - Yedashe, Myanmar.
The number of tourists visiting Pho Kyar Elephant Camp during the peak season between October and February is expected to increase by as much as 50 percent, camp officials say. Pho Kyar Elephant Camp is located in Yedashe Township, Bago Region. It is situated in the foothills of the Bago Yoma mountain range, lying within the Saing Ya tropical reserve, 10 miles west of Thargaya near Yoma crossing road.
2013-11-06 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
According to the Agence France Presse, Tanzania shelved its anti-poaching operations on Friday in order to investigate reports of wrongful property seizure, torture and killings that were allegedly perpetrated by officials during the campaign, dubbed "Operation Terminate."
2013-11-05 - Bowmanville, Canada.
A Facebook event shows that a group was planning to form a human blockade to stop the elephant from being part of the procession, and the parade’s organizing committee was concerned about what could happen if protesters got involved, said Terryl Tikas, the committee’s chairperson.
2013-11-04 - Stockholm, Sweden. Ewen Callaway
Linnaeus dubbed the species Elephas maximus, which is now commonly known as the Asian elephant. He recognized just one species of elephant in the world, and this would be its archetype. In some ways, the specimen looked more like an African elephant, two curators later suggested in unpublished notes and at academic meetings.
2013-11-04 - Belfast, Ireland. CLAIRE MCNEILLY
The true story of a Northern Ireland woman who kept a baby elephant in her backyard during the Second World War is going to be made in to a £5m film. Denise Weston Austin – better known as the "elephant angel" – rescued the calf from Belfast Zoo and kept it at her home on the Whitewell Road in the north of the city when we were being bombed by the Luftwaffe in the 1941 blitz.
2013-11-04 - Ellenton, United States. Michael Pollick
Ringling Bros. circus operator Feld Entertainment Inc. has asked a federal judge to make three animal rights groups pay $25.4 million in legal fees incurred by Feld during the activists´ unsuccessful lawsuit challenging Ringling´s use of elephants in circus acts. One of the original four complainants, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA, already paid Feld $9.3 million in December.
2013-11-03 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
At a time when poaching has tremendously scaled up in the country, about 706 pieces of ivory, representing more than 200 tuskers killed, were found yesterday in Dar es Salam Mikocheni area at a residence of Chinese nationals.Three Chinese, Che Jinzhan, Xu Fujie and Huang Qin, are said to use a special Noah microbus with registration number T713 BXG to transport the ivory pieces to the house.
2013-11-03 - Kochi, India.
Dearth of money and a serious shortage of hardwood kambakam (Hopea parviflora) is holding up repair work on the famed elephant kraal (aanakkood) at Kodanad, a village whose history is intimately linked to the tradition of capture and taming of wild elephants.
2013-11-03 - Sukhothai, Thailand.
"I am deeply honored to have won the People’s Choice Award. It is a very exciting opportunity to raise the profile for Thailand’s elephants and educate the public about the cruelty elephants suffer when forced to entertain tourists traveling to Thailand," she said. She hopes her work will inspire others to explore and preserve the world around them.
2013-11-03 - Sai Yok, Thailand.
Police released 28 seized elephants back to a kraal in Kanchanaburi´s Sai Yok district on Friday after their owner presented correct registration papers for the animals. The elephants were seized from the Mahawang camp in tambon Wang Kra-jae by the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division on Aug 29.
2013-11-03 - Kaziranga, India.
The Park was opened for four months by Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain today. Over 67 foreign travellers besides hundreds of domestic tourists took the elephant rides on 17 pachyderms pressed into service from the Mihimukh ground inside the Park, KNP officials said.
2013-11-03 - Yangon, Myanmar.
The mahout was killed by tusker Yaza Gaha Thiri Pissaya Gaza Yaza, 19, who was the first white elephant captured under the junta that ruled Myanmar between 1988 to 2010. Thein Sein, 56, died en route to hospital after being gored accidentally by one of the three white elephants kept at the Royal White Elephant Garden on the outskirts of Yangon, said a garden official. The pachyderm was reportedly moving his massive head up and down when he caught the mahout in the left chest.
2013-11-03 - Jamsha, Bangladesh. Getty Images
Two circus performers ride an elephant past the circus tent of the Olympic Circus, November 1, 2013 in Jamsha, Bangladesh. As modernization slowly takes over landscape of Bangladesh, the circus is a dying art form and is moving further and further away from mainstream entertainment. Generations of low income families are born into circuses with rarely the hope of ever working in different profession or escaping the harsh realities of the circus.
2013-11-01 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Srilal Miththapala
Charles Santiapillai, recently penned an article about the perpetrated suggestion to cull Sri Lankan elephants; this has caused considerable concern and debate among a wide cross section of people. Firstly,one must establish the context in which this statement was supposed to have been made, by the eminent Indian Elephant Expert Ajay Desai during a recent lecture in Sri Lanka.
2013-11-01 - Sussex, United Kingdom.
African elephants´ decision-making abilities are left impaired by culling operations that ended decades ago, according to research. Scientists from the University of Sussex found that elephant herds that had lost adults to culls during the 1970s and 1980s were less able to respond appropriately to other elephants´ calls.
2013-11-01 - Hwange, Zimbabwe.
Two more men accused of poaching elephants in Zimbabwe were this week handed jail sentences, amid an ongoing crackdown that has followed the poisoning of dozens of elephants in the Hwange National Park. Caroline Washaya-Moyo, the spokesperson for Zimbabwe´s Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), on Wednesday welcomed the sentence, saying such jail terms are a ´deterrent´ to would-be poachers.
2013-11-01 - Odzala National Park, Congo.
In its first push, 56 former poachers applied to become park rangers, but the park only had the ability to train 28 of them. Thursday, the parks, along with the Richardson Center—a nonprofit group set up by former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson—announced plans to make the program permanent. They’ll be building a training facility sometime within the next six months and plan to sign up more poachers in early 2014.
2013-10-31 - Kaziranga, India.
Tusker ´Ratan´ (26) in Musth, suddenly attacked another elephant ´Gautam´ (25) when they were playing with each other on Tuesday and seriously injured him. Gautam, who does not have tusks, succumbed to his wounds within three hours of being attacked. Ratan was also grievously injured in the fight and died yesterday, the Park director said.
2013-10-31 - Los Angeles, United States.
Cheered on by animal-welfare activists, City Council members voted unanimously last week to make Los Angeles the only place in the United States to ban the use by elephant trainers of the implements known as bullhooks. Is this a case of animal-welfare activists going too far and pressuring elected officials to take a politically correct stand that really isn’t necessary?
2013-10-31 - Childers, Australia.
RON Simpson may not look like your typical zookeeper but then his "zoo" in Childers isn´t your typical collection of animals. Ranging from a $13,500 life-size elephant to a $605 replica of Scooby-Doo, his business, Pick-It Papers, which he runs with his wife Heather, has an animal for every occasion.
2013-10-31 - Houston, United States.
Houston Zoo is making preparations for 23-year-old Asian elephant Shanti to give birth in January 2014. Shanti gets regular ultrasounds and zookeepers have been monitoring her weight and her diet and leading the expectant mother through a regular exercise program. The night watch pregnancy monitoring will begin in late November and will continue until the calf´s birth.
2013-10-31 - Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.
Maybe we need to look at that video again. What appears to be cruel and abusive treatment of a baby elephant may just be a case of young mahouts trying to deal with an animal that was acting, well, like a baby. That´s what the two teenage mahouts involved in the incident claimed yesterday. Local authorities and wildlife officials yesterday visited the home of Sarayuth Khamkonyai, 50, the owner of the four-year-old elephant shown in the video clip which was circulated online last week.
Police have launched a hunt for two teenage mahouts who were filmed attacking a baby elephant on a street in Ubon Ratchathani province. Wildlife officials yesterday filed police complaints against the two mahouts. The video clip has been circulating online since late last week and shows two young mahouts using hooks to attack a baby elephant after it collapsed from exhaustion because of a lack of food and water.
2013-10-31 - Mumbai, India.
The Maharashtra wildlife department has passed an order prohibiting the entry of elephants into Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane regions. The directive was issued on Monday by additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Suresh Thorat. The circular said that elephants were mostly brought into city limits to beg, entertain, "bless" people and even used for shoots though they were a Schedule-1 protected species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
2013-10-31 - Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, Cambodia. Phak Seangly and Amelia Woodside
A group of endangered Asian elephants found dead in Mondulkiri province on Sunday were likely slaughtered, investigators from conservation group WWF-Cambodia have found. The organisation said in a statement yesterday an investigation into the deaths in protected Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary suggested the elephants were “slaughtered by well-organised poachersâ€.
2013-10-31 - Basel, Switzerland.
On 23rd October, bull elephant Yoga (16) left Basel Zoo for Boras Zoo in Sweden. An articulated lorry and an extra large crate were required to transport the 4.6-ton bull. Yoga should be back in three years’ time for the opening of the new elephant enclosure. On Friday 25th October after 48 hours of travel, Yoga arrived safe and sound at Boras Zoo.
2013-10-29 - Melbourne, Australia.
A Melbourne Zoo elephant that gave birth to the first female calf in Australia four years ago is about to make history again. Zoo head vet Michael Lynch says it could still be a while before the calf is born. "We really expect it between the 1st and the 21st of November."
2013-10-29 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Mila was with her former trainer, Hamilton man Tony Ratcliffe, for 31 years before being taken to Franklin Zoo by vet Schofield in 2009. At the time of Schofield´s death, Tony Ratcliffe´s brother Robin told the Waikato Times the family had warned officials something would happen if the transition was not handled correctly.
2013-10-28 - Hohenwald, United States.
The Lead Caregiver position is a working, front-line supervisory position. This position implements policies and procedures established by The Elephant Sanctuary with direction from the Director of Husbandry. Provides and supervises daily care of elephants utilizing positive reinforcement to manage elephant behaviors.
2013-10-27 - Los Angeles, United States.
Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey, argues they are an accepted tool and that the new law is misguided. “There are already laws in place — federal, state and local ordinances – that prohibit animal cruelty," said Payne. "So this is basically an animal rights driven bill to kick out the circus.” Payne says his company is waiting to see the exact wording of the new law, which will be phased in over three years.
2013-10-27 - Mombasa, Kenya.
Kenya is borrowing a page from America’s war on drugs. Sniffer dogs, normally used to ferret out cocaine shipments, are being put to work in Kenya to track down hidden tusks and horns passing through Kenya’s seaport and airports.
2013-10-27 - Yangon, Myanmar. Nirmal Ghosh
The Ministry for Environmental Conservation and Forestry has pledged to reduce its logging by more than 80,000 tonnes this fiscal year. Myanmar will ban raw teak and timber exports by April 1, 2014, allowing only export of high-end finished timber products. MTE says that the private elephant owners contracted by the government will be the first on the chopping block. Saw Moo, a second generation private elephant owner, sees a bleak future for his stable of 20 elephants. He fears the family busin...
2013-10-27 - Chennai, India.
Elephants in the Nilgiri biosphere comprising Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, are relatively safe, with the number of poaching cases having reduced over the years, renowned conservationist and expert on Asiatic elephants Dr Raman Sukumar said here on Saturday.
2013-10-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Charles Santiapillai & S. Wijeyamohan
In 2012, a total of 252 elephant deaths were reported from Sri Lanka. In the same year, 66 people were killed by wild elephants. Thus it appears that in Sri Lanka, annually about 100 to 120 animals may be killed deliberately in the human-elephant conflict. The pocketed elephants can be captured and relocated to other Range States so that they can still live in the wild, and a few could even be maintained in well managed zoological gardens and safari parks. Thus culling of elephants is not an opt...
2013-10-26 - Mumbai, India.
54-year-old elephant Laxmi is the oldest resident in Jijamata Udyan zoo, Byculla. And everyone is fond of her mahouts, keepers and the public. A few years back the elephants were supposed to be moved out of the zoo to a protected sanctuary. But because of their old age and inability to adapt to new surroundings they were kept back in the company of mahouts who are extremely fond of them.
2013-10-26 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Hundreds of mahouts gathered with their elephants yesterday at Ayutthaya´s elephant corral and called on the government not to approve the draft Wild Animals Preservation and Protection Bill, which would transfer the ownership of domesticated elephants to a state agency supervising wildlife protection.
2013-10-26 - Phuket, Thailand.
Kathu district chief officer Veera Kerdsirimongkol visited a coconut farm yesterday afternoon (October 25) in Baan Bangthong, Kathu, following a complaint. Here Mr Veera found a one-year-old baby elephant, named Sukjai, chained to a tree. The elephant is believed to have been smuggled to Phuket without any permit. At the scene was Prasop Jerkaew, 37, who is understood to have brought the elephant to Phuket from Phang Nga two days ago, and did not report it to authorities.
2013-10-26 - Toronto, Canada.
Bob Barker may have called the Toronto elephant keepers �miserable� on Monday � in fact, he declared they should all be fired, but to those who participated in or observed the elephants being unloaded from their crates at PAWS, it was clear the zoo handlers played a key role in their safe delivery.
2013-10-26 - Thondamuthur, India.
The Forest Department on Thursday night deployed two kumki (tamed/trained) elephants, Nanjan and Pari, at Kuppepalayam near Thondamuthur to send back the lone female elephant and a herd deep into the forests. For the last ten days, the herd and the lone elephant have been straying out of the forests and two days ago, the female elephant trampled a 55-year-old woman to death.
2013-10-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Considering all these failed options Mr. Desai said there was a fourth option—the difficult choice of culling these elephants in ‘troubled’ spots. He said this method was cost effective and would even have conservation gains such as using funds to conserve other viable elephant populations. It would also bring a quick end to these elephants instead of a slow lingering death which is what actually awaits them or a life time in captivity and death in the end.
2013-10-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Twenty-four elephants lined up for a race Thursday on Sri Lanka´s newest expressway, but thousands of spectators were left disappointed when organisers scrapped the event due to safety concerns. The animals and jockeys were jostling at the start line on the Chinese-built 25.8-kilometre (16 mile) four-lane expressway from the airport to the capital when authorities had a sudden change of heart. Police felt that the tuskers could pose a threat to the safety of spectators if one of them went ...
2013-10-25 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
Police in the southern province of Dong Nai have arrested five people on suspicion of killing a wild elephant in 2011 with military weapons, and for illegally trading and keeping the rare animals. According to police, they suspected the poachers of murdering a wild elephant in Tan Phu Forest, Dinh Quan District, nearly two years ago. The elephant was found dead on December 23, 2011, with one of its tusks missing.
2013-10-25 - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
TWO Zimbabwean cross-border bus drivers arrested in South Africa last week for smuggling ivory into that country have each been jailed for four years. Parks and wildlife spokesperson, Caroline Washaya-Moyo said Langton Saka, 35, of Silobela and James Nyirenda, 37, of Bulawayo were convicted after being found guilty by a Musina court in South Africa. The pair worked as drivers for Citiliner bus company.
2013-10-24 - Kochi, India.
Juhaim Ibnu Abdul Jabbar, 22, is studying engineering at Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Kochi. The name of my device is EDD (Elephant Deterrent Device). When elephants run wild, they end up dying in rail accidents or they become a threat to people on the streets, farmers and crops. My device can avert these tragedies.
2013-10-24 - Hwange, Zimbabwe.
Three elephants have trampled a park ranger to death during an anti-poaching patrol in a Zimbabwe nature reserve where more than 102 of the animals have been poisoned with cyanide in past weeks. The veteran ranger was charged by the elephants when separated from colleagues in the remote Hwange National Park. The National Parks Department said Lovemore Maphosa, 61, was out on a 10-day foot patrol.
2013-10-22 - SURAT THANI, Thailand.
Park officials on Tuesday said they are investigating the death of a wild female elephant believed to have been electrocuted and killed on an orchard near Tai Rom Yen National Park in Kanchanadit district. The dead elephant was found by the road side adjacent to an orchard around 300 metres from one of the six national parks in Surat Thani province. A team of park officials and veterinarians found a wooden pole wrapped with a 200-Volt electric wire in a shack about five metres from the animal, p...
2013-10-22 - Hai Phong, Vietnam.
Authorities in Vietnam have seized 2.4 tonnes of elephant tusks illegally imported from Malaysia in the second large seizure this month. Customs official Truong Cong Thanh in the northern port city of Hai Phong says the tusks were found in a container on Monday. The cargo had been declared as sea shells. Thanh said Tuesday that the case was under investigation.
2013-10-21 - Williston, United States.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesperson Karen Parker on Monday said Diane Bedard was injured Aug. 26 by an elephant at Two Tails Ranch at 18655 NE 81st St. Bedard has been in the hospital since Aug. 26 with “life-threatening” injuries, Parker said. According to Parker, Bedard was at the house of the owner, Patricia Zerbini, taking pictures of the elephant.
2013-10-21 - Pegu, Myanmar.
In January, residents and lawmakers from Irrawaddy Division’s Ngaputaw Township reported the deaths of five elephants within seven months by hunters. Myint Wai, a local resident in Pegu Division, northeast of Rangoon, points to a homemade map of the mountain range, identifying sites where he found the dead carcasses most recently. Some sites are deep in the jungle, he says, adding that he walked for several days to get there. One of the closest sites lies two hours from the highway, over a rou...
2013-10-21 - Dimapur, India.
A Female elephant calf, about three weeks old, was rescued from a location called Rara by the Aliba Village Council under Mokokchung District on October 18, 2013. Fondly christened ‘Rara,’ she has been safely relocated to the Nagaland Zoological Park (NZP), Rangapahar on October 20 by a seven-member team comprising of Obed Bohovi Swu, Officer-in-Charge, NZP, Rangaphar along with Dr. R. Wati Ao, the visiting Veterinary doctor of NZP and the Wildlife Staff.
2013-10-21 - Toronto, Canada.
Three elephants from the Toronto Zoo have arrived at their new home at a California sanctuary after a three-day road trip. A truck carrying Toka and Iringa arrived at the Performing Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) Sanctuary near Sacramento around 8:30 p.m. EDT. A separate truck carrying the youngest elephant, Thika, was travelling in another truck and arrived about an hour later.
Lies reg TB at PAWS, lies and propaganda from animal rights activists, politicians, and media who failed to cover the story objectively. Harrasment of staff wo pere pressed not to tell the truth. And the victims, a group of healthy african elephants, exploited by ZooCheck, PAWS and others.
2013-10-20 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The elephant enclosure at Nandankanan would soon be expanded to 20 acre from the current five. The zoo authorities have already got the nod from Central Zoo Authority (CZA). Besides, it will also get four more adult elephants by December. Currently, there are three elephants in the zoo.
2013-10-20 - Walcott, United States.
Three Toronto Zoo elephants en route to their new home in California have passed Chicago and Nebraska and are now travelling through Wyoming. Their convoy crossed the U.S. border early Friday after leaving the Toronto Zoo before 11 p.m. ET on Thursday. The pachyderm parade had a minor incident overnight in Walcott, Iowa, at what´s billed as The World´s Largest Truck Stop.
2013-10-20 - Masai Mara, Kenya.
Standing in his flatbed truck, Marc Goss touches “take off” on his iPad 3, and a $300 AR Drone whirs into the air. It’s his latest weapon to fight elephant poachers around Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. Kenya is proposing stiffer penalties for the slaughter of elephants and rhinos, with fines of as much as $117,000 and 15-year jail terms. The government has deployed paramilitary forces and plans to acquire drones to fight poaching.
2013-10-19 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A joint week-long wildlife census carried out by Kenya and Tanzanian wildlife authorities have counted 1,193 elephants, a remarkable recovery from massive deaths, provisional results show. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the figure is a 12 percent increase compared to a similar dry season in October 2010 when the authorities counted 1,065 elephants during the joint aerial count of elephants and other large mammals in the shared ecosystem of the Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro.
2013-10-18 - Toronto, Canada.
A longtime elephant hauler is unhappy with the way Toronto Zoo elephants are travelling to a California sanctuary. Stephen Fritz said he has transported more than 70 elephants in 27 years and he would not have chosen to transport Thika, Toka and Iringa by truck in the fall, he said Friday from Arizona.
2013-10-18 - Kampala, Uganda.
Over 800 pieces were found concealed in a container ready for shipment via the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa to China. Said to be worth over 6 billion Uganda Shillings, the catch will financially pain the middlemen of the illicit trade but have cost several hundred elephant their lives.
2013-10-17 - Kingman, United States.
Fritz and his wife Phyllis came to Toronto to investigate the project. Even though the money was there; and even though he had tons of experience and wasn�t afraid of facing down animal-rights people, Fritz said no. �It�s not the people of Toronto; it�s not the zoo; it�s the way the whole thing came together. �I took a look at that Toronto project and said �no thanks.� He said he and Phyllis �loved the city; but he couldn´t tolerate the politi...
2013-10-17 - Hwange, Zimbabwe.
A Zimbabwe court on Wednesday sentenced a poacher to more than 15 years in prison for poisoning and killing elephants with cyanide, the fourth such conviction in the country in a month. The court in the western town of Hwange also found Akim Masuku, 26, guilty of illegal possession of ivory, handing down a total jail term of 15-and-a-half years, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority said in a statement.
2013-10-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan and Tanzanian will jointly conduct a cross-border aerial count of elephants and other large mammals in the shared ecosystem of the Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro and Natron-Magadi landscape. Kenya Wildlife Service spokesperson Paul Udoto says the initiative is set to start from October 6 to 13, 2013.
2013-10-17 - Toronto, Canada.
Vice-president of CUPE Local 1600, which represents Toronto Zoo workers, Matt Berridge says they spoke with Active Environments, the company in charge of the move, and they have agreed allow keepers to come along as far as the U.S. border. However should staff wish to travel any further, Berridger says they would need to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
2013-10-17 - Springfield, United States.
The morning of the incident, Patience hesitated in the chute, and elephant manager John Phillip Bradford, 62, was coaxing her forward. Bradford leaned into the chute, reaching for her with a guide. The animal suddenly lunged forward, knocking Bradford down, into the chute. The animal then crushed Bradford against the floor, killing him instantly.
2013-10-15 - Hwange, Zimbabwe.
WILDLIFE authorities said Tuesday they had found another 11 carcasses of elephants killed by cyanide poisoning, bringing to 102 the number of pachyderms poisoned for their tusks in a continuing wildlife crisis. Authorities arrested two suspected poachers at a village outside Hwange National Park where a small quantity of cyanide was recovered.
2013-10-12 - Toronto, Canada.
As you can see council has approved the allowance of 4 anti zoo animal rights groups to make decisions about the future of the Toronto Zoo. These organizations are 100% against zoos, they will begin systematically removing animals and exhibits and move them to their affiliated facilities as was the case with our elephants.They will start with all large iconic mammals, polar bears, bears, big cats and primates.
2013-10-06 - Dallas, United States.
The Dallas Zoo welcomes you to Dallas for the 34th annual conference of the Elephant Managers Association. Please submit abstracts by July 15 to both Karen Gibson and Harry Peachey. Registration is $175 until August 15; $200 August 16 and later. Thursday, Oct. 10: Optional post-conference trip to the Oklahoma City Zoo.
2013-10-05 - Niabi, United States.
A trailer was inside the elephant enclosure at Niabi Zoo on Friday, October 4, 2013. Zoo Director Marc Heinzman said Asian elephants Babe and Sophie will eventually travel in the trailer, and that it was placed in the enclosure so the elephants could get accustomed to being inside of the trailer before they are moved. Heinzman did not give an exact timeline for the move. He previously confirmed the elephants would be gone from Niabi Zoo by the 2014 season.
2013-10-05 - Ramat Gan, Israel.
Safari workers have yet to decide on the calf’s name, but have said it will start with the letter “L” — like her mother’s name. The birth, which happened 22 months after the mother was caught on camera mating with the happy father Motek, was particularly welcomed by workers at the safari since the Asian elephant is considered an endangered species
2013-10-05 - Bamako, Mali.
The six-hectare zoo – small compared with European counterparts – is home to three lions, a small elephant and baboons among the 100 animal species, which also includes 12 breeds of birds, such as white egrets and ostriches, and 58 varieties of fish.
2013-10-05 - Little Rock, United States.
The elephant, named Jewell, was euthanized after staff members discovered her lying on her side, unable to get up. Necropsy results showed that tissue from the elephant tested positive for tuberculosis, though the official cause of death will be listed as euthanasia due to arthritis and severe musculoskeletal problems, the zoo said.
2013-10-04 - Lampang, Thailand.
Naetiwin Amorsin, the owner of a four-year-old female elephant, Phang Taengmo, submitted a complaint with Surapong Kongchantuk, a member of the Lawyer´s Council of Thailand’s human rights committee, on Monday. The mahout asked for legal action against the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) for unfairly confiscating his elephant, and for putting the animal at risk of "imminent death" because of poor treatment
2013-10-04 - Kinabatangan, Indonesia.
Myne Resort has set aside 160 acres of land at Kampung Bilit, Lower Kinabatangan as an ecological corridor for the Bornean elephants. Myne Resort managing director, Ouh Mee Lan said that the Myne Resort was supportive of the effort undertaken by the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and the Borneo Conservation Trust (BCT) to enhance the ecological corridor for the Bornean elephants at the Lower Kinabatangan.
2013-10-03 - Albuquerque, United States.
The newest addition is the third elephant born in New Mexico. Rozie was the first elephant born at the ABQ BioPark Zoo back in 1992. She gave birth to Daizy, her first calf, in 2009. The multi-generation herd includes Rozie, her mother Alice, daughter Daizy and brand new calf. An unrelated female, Irene, is also part of the herd and has been a good auntie. Samson and Albert, two young males, have formed a bachelor herd, and can be seen in yards adjacent to the females.
2013-10-02 - New Delhi, United States.
In a first experiment of this kind, the researchers recorded growls of tigers and leopards when they came upon elephants in the vicinity. There have been sporadic instances of use of predator sound playback to deter elephants or other animals, but in the long range they fail because the animals realize that it is a hoax. However, it is better to try out these methods than fight a costly and unjust war!
2013-09-20 - Tampa, United States.
Spike, the 32-year-old Asian elephant, arrived safely to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla. Friday that will be his new home after a safe 2 1/2 day, 4,500 km journey from the Calgary Zoo. The zoo’s three female elephants are scheduled to depart for the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. early next year.
2013-09-18 - Berlin, Germany. Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).
The aim of this conference is to foster an exchange of ideas between wildlife scientists from different disciplines with an interest in both wild and captive animals, with a focus on mammalian species.
2013-09-16 - Coimbatore, India.
Two tuskers were found dead, probably during fights with other members of a herd, in the Coimbatore and Satyamangalam forest areas. In the first incident, a male tusker was killed in a fight with another elephant, near Kallar in the Mettupalayam forest area. In another incident, a 15-year-old male elephant was found dead in the Satyamangalam forest range in neighbouring Erode district on Saturday.
2013-09-16 - Sangiran Dome, Indonesia.
Archaeologists in Central Java have discovered fossil evidence that prehistoric humans may have hunted a forerunner to the elephant that was twice the size of today’s pachyderms. The archaeologists also found several ball-shaped rocks near the stegodon fossil, which they have identified as weapons used for hunting.
2013-09-15 - SACRAMENTO, United States.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus opens a four-day run in Sacramento Friday with animal handlers defending their treatment of the elephants. "Our animals receive the highest level of care," said assistant animal superintendent Ray Henning.
2013-09-15 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Zoo says the new elephants it wants to bring to New Zealand will definitely spend three months in quarantine on Niue first. The zoo’s head of marketing Ben Hutton says work is continuing to import two elephants from an orphanage in Sri Lanka and if the deal is successful the earliest they will arrive by plane on Niue is late November.
2013-09-15 - Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Researchers from the University´s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences accessed records of the life and deaths of more than 2,000 working elephants from Myanmar, Burma. The unique dataset was recorded from 1948-2000, spanning five generations of elephants – a remarkable feat considering the animals can live up to 80 years.The elephants in the data base are semi-captive animals working in the timber industry by pushing and dragging logs.
2013-09-14 - Houston, United States.
A $459,147 grant will support a research project focusing on elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). The research resulted from a collaboration between Baylor College of Medicine and the Houston Zoo and now also includes Johns Hopkins University and the National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park.
2013-09-14 - Wichita, United States.
The Sedgwick County Zoo will get about $31 million from the county over the next five years, giving zoo supporters a boost in efforts to expand the elephant exhibit. The zoo has two elephants and needs at least one more to meet new requirements for accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
2013-09-11 - Davis, United States. Animal Behavior Graduate Group, University of California, , Davis, CA, USA.
Elephants retreated silently to tiger-growl playbacks, whereas they responded with aggressive vocalizations, such as trumpets and grunts, to leopard-growl playbacks. Elephants also lingered in the area and displayed alert or investigative behaviours in response to leopard growls when compared with tiger growls. We anticipate that the methods outlined here will promote further study of elephant antipredator behaviour in a naturalistic context, with applications for conservation efforts as well.
2013-09-11 - Stockholm, Sweden. Laura Poppick
A previously unknown European lineage of woolly mammoths once plodded Earth, suggest new DNA analyses, which also provide new evidence for the role of climate change in the animal´s ultimate extinction. a team of researchers based at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm has analyzed a suite of 88 new DNA samples from woolly mammoth museum specimens ranging from Europe to North America.
2013-09-10 - Washington, United States.
U.S. wildlife authorities say they will destroy six metric tons of illegal elephant ivory seized by customs agents. Whole tusks, carvings and other ivory material held in storage in the western state of Colorado will be crushed next month.
2013-09-09 - London, United Kingdom.
An independent, artisan gin inspired by Africa and in support of African elephants has launched in the UK this month with an ethical cause at its heart. Elephant Gin is a new handcrafted London Dry Gin of 45% abv, made with carefully selected ingredients to capture the essence of Africa.
2013-09-09 - Little Rock, United States.
The Little Rock Zoo is sad to report the death of Jewell, a 62-year-old elephant living at the Zoo since 2011. The Zoo will be closed today as staff remove the elephant from the exhibit. Large equipment is in use and most pedestrian paths are blocked inside the Zoo.
2013-09-09 - Bakersfield, United States.
The protests have become a circus tradition in their own right. Animal rights activists show up outside circus venues to condemn what they consider to be inhumane treatment of exotic animals by traveling circuses. The circus industry sees these protests as well-meaning but wrongheaded.
2013-09-09 - Spokane, United States.
The Ringleader of the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus says Carol the Elephant has made a full recovery and will make her first appearance Friday night, after being shot in Tupelo back in April.The circus is in Spokane, Washington this weekend.
2013-09-08 - Monroe, United States.
During Shirley’s long sojourn in Monroe, Solomon James was her principal keeper and caregiver. Both James and Shirley are featured in the Emmy Award-winning documentary, “The Urban Elephant,” made for National Geographic and PBS.
2013-09-08 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Environmentalists have warned that the amnesty period for those who rear elephants illegally to register them, will have far-reaching consequences as it will promote elephant poaching. The Environment Conservation Trust has highlighted that relaxing laws on illegally domesticated elephants will encourage poachers to pry on baby elephants, and would run contrary to the Ministry’s good intentions.
2013-09-08 - Portland, United States.
Construction workers digging the new elephant habitat at the Oregon Zoo discovered a human skull last month. Since then, archaeologists have found the remains of nine people buried within a six-acre area. The remains are believed to be people who lived at the Hillside Farm, a 160-acre poor farm owned and operated by Multnomah County. It was a place for the poor to get medical care, and often live out their last days.
2013-09-08 - Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.
The deliberate poisoning of more than 40 elephants in the Hwange National Park has sparked outcry across the world, with a growing chorus of voices demanding that stricter poaching penalties be implemented. The elephants died after members of a suspected poaching syndicate laced salt with the toxic chemical cyanide and distributed the salt in a drinking pool used by elephants in Hwange. The carcasses of the animals were discovered late last month after park rangers heard gunshots within the park...
2013-09-06 - Na Jomtien, Thailand.
Police and wildlife officials raided a Najomtien elephant camp, arresting its owners for illegal documentation seizing a wild elephant 47-year-old elephant “Phunzup,” sold as domesticated using falsified documentation. The arrest came as Thai officials launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal elephants, many of which were shipped over the border from Myanmar with falsified documents.
2013-09-05 - Vienna, Austria. Harald Schwammer, Vienna Zoo
This is the first calf which was sired through artificial insemination with frozen sperm and its father is a wild elephant bull at Phinda Reserve in Africa. Through a novel technique which was developed by a team from Berlin’s Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research the sperm gained in the bush was frozen and successfully thawed.
2013-09-02 - Trivandrum, India.
The death of 36 elephants during the last eight months (2013 January-2013 August) reflects the sorry state of the lives of the captive elephants in the state. Among these captive elephants, 29 were owned by individuals and seven were under the control of state forest department. The statistics is prepared by Thrissur based Heritage animal task force with the help of environmentalists and elephant activists in the state. But the government admits that they are yet to compile the list of dead elep...
2013-09-02 - Mysore, India.
Tall and handsome Arjuna is the new leader of Dasara jumbos. On Wednesday, as the first batch of five jumbos started their sojourn to Mysore from Nagapura bordering Nagarahole national park, 53-year-old Arjuna led them indicating the change in order. After his performance at Dasara procession in October 2012, the tusker is now undisputed leader of the pack of elephants.
2013-09-02 - , United States.
Thai police have arrested a Vietnamese couple for allegedly smuggling 105 kilograms of African elephant ivory from Angola to Cambodia through Thailand. Pham Ngoc Tuan and his wife Pham Thi Kim Chi were nabbed Thursday at Suvarnabhumi Airport after customs officials detected pieces from 23 African elephant tusks in their four suitcases, Bangkok Post reported Friday.
2013-09-01 - Coimbatore, India.
The last two members of an elephant herd that was roaming near Thandarampatti near Sathanur dam in Thiruvannamalai were captured on Wednesday night by forest officials. The two male calves had come in search of the herd leader, a female elephant, which was captured early Wednesday
2013-09-01 - , United States.
A mechanical elephant built in the 1950s at an engineering works in a Lancashire village has returned home. Organisers said 250 people turned out for the official homecoming of Rajah to the former Luneside Engineering works in Halton, near Lancaster.
2013-08-31 - Pittsburgh, United States.
This week the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium hosted the International Elephant & Rhino Symposium, including a session Thursday at the International Conservation Center in Glen Savage. About 150 researchers, scientists and keepers from Africa, Europe and Asia attended the workshops. The last time the Pittsburgh Zoo hosted the symposium was in 1999. The International Conservation Center in Somerset County is believed to be the only one of it’s kind in the world. It’s home to five elephants an...
2013-08-27 - Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka.
It was about 10-15 years ago that a big bull elephant was sighted regularly along the electric fence bordering the Thanamalwila Road that runs adjacent to the Uda Walawe National Park ( UWNP) and he was named Rambo. While certainly everyone will hope and pray that we are all proved wrong, the prognosis is not good, and all logical evidence indicates that Rambo may be no more in the land of the living.
2013-08-25 - Negev, Israel.
A project that organizers hoped would bring masses of tourists to the western Negev – an elephant park – apparently won´t be getting off the ground, despite the fact that Kibbutz Nahal Oz and other investors have sunk over a million shekels into it. But despite international laws against transporting elephants, organizers are still helpful they will be able to make a go of the project.
2013-08-25 - , United States.
Ronald B. Tobias has written a comprehensive history of the elephant in America. As tragic as it is comic, this enthralling chronicle traces this animal´s indelible footprint on American culture.
2013-08-24 - New York, United States.
Qiang Wang, a.k.a. Jeffrey Wang, 34, a New York antiques dealer, pled guilty on August 7 in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to smuggle Asian artifacts made from rhinoceros horns and ivory and to violate wildlife trafficking laws. Wang was arrested in February 2013 as part of Operation Crash, a nationwide crackdown in the illegal trafficking in rhinoceros horns, for his role in smuggling libation cups carved from rhinoceros horns from New York to Hong Kong and China.
2013-08-23 - Ho Chi Min city, Vietnam.
Customs officers at ICD Phuoc Long Port in Thu Duc District said they had seized 158 elephant tusks hidden in a container coming in from Mozambique.The case has now been transferred to the Investigation Police. On August 22, Le Van Tu, Deputy Director of Thai Minh Company and an accomplice were caught illegally transporting a container with the elephant tusks through the port into Vietnam.
2013-08-22 - Tesso Nilo, Indonesia.
A domesticated elephant, a member of the Flying Squad at the Tesso Nilo National Park gave birth to a female calf on Aug. 7. The calf is the fourth new member of the squad at the park located in Pelalawan regency, Riau.The calf, which has yet to be named, was delivered by its 35-year-old mother Ria.
2013-08-22 - Kolkata, India.
The tropical rainforests of Andaman islands are under threat - not from illegal felling of timber or clearing of forests for development activities - but from being finished off by an invasive species of deer and elephant, a research says. According to the report prepared by Rauf Ali from the Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning in Puducherry, the herbivore species is causing the vegetation to decrease significantly.
2013-08-21 - Phuket, Thailand.
Elephant camp owners and officials met yesterday (August 20) to hammer out a code of management for the camps, which have so far been pretty much unhampered by regulations. In addition to the excess elephants, the meeting, held at Phuket City Municipality, discussed the smuggling of elephants onto the island, unregistered sales of elephants from one camp to another, hygiene – or the lack of it – at the elephant camps and the effect of elephant ‘pollution’ on the surrounding area.
2013-08-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Police said Wednesday they had seized 16 elephants from tourist destinations as part of a nationwide swoop on operators suspected of using smuggled wild pachyderms for entertainment. The animals were removed on Tuesday and Wednesday from camps in the southern and eastern resort areas of Koh Chang in Trat and Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga provinces, which are popular with holidaymakers, said Watcharin Phoosit, from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division.
2013-08-21 - Washington, United States.
A $2 million gift from businessman David Rubenstein will allow the Smithsonian´s National Zoo to nearly double the size of its Asian elephant herd. The zoo announced Tuesday that it will receive three female elephants in an open-ended loan from the Calgary Zoo in Canada, which is relocating its elephants to more suitable habitats. The move will be funded entirely by Rubenstein, a co-founder of the Washington-based private equity firm The Carlyle Group. In 2011, Rubenstein gave $4.5 millio...
2013-08-19 - Alappuzha, India.
Businessman Sundar Menon’s confession seems to have courted a controversy. Menon, owner of Thiruvambadi Shivasundar, who said he was in the habit of giving his elephant buckets full of brandy, has come in for severe criticism from all quarters. The row came following a report in the New York Times… “A Big, Blingy Indian Love Song for a Brandy-Swigging Elephant”, which appeared on August 16.
2013-08-18 - Pleiku, Vietnam.
Mr. Nguyen Truong Son, 49, a resident in Phu Hoi Ward, Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province is very cautious seeing strange guests because he owns four pieces of ivory fossils which is a 1.26 m long tusk when they are joined together. According to Son, about 40 years ago his father – a photographer, often worked in Chu A Thai in Thien Phu District, Gia Lai Province. He usually lived with and helped indigenous ethnic minorities there. The village chief once presented the beloved artist four pieces of ...
2013-08-18 - Palani, India.
A pregnant elephant and tusker were found killed in what seemed to have been a fiery battle within the herd in the reserve forests near the Palar-Porundhalar dam on Saturday, forest officials said. The carcass of a six-year-old male elephant was found near Kallar Odai, a forest stream, and 15-year-old pregnant female elephant 300 feet away.
2013-08-17 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Namibia will airlift 10 rhinoceros and five elephants to Cuba in September, concluding a massive translocation project of 135 animals taken from its national parks, the environment ministry said Wednesday. The 15 animals will be captured from the Etosha National Park in northern Namibia – one of the country´s major tourist attractions – plus a nearby smaller game reserve, the Waterberg Plateau, environment and tourism deputy-minister Pohamba Shifeta told AFP.
2013-08-16 - Portland, United States.
Mitch Finnegan said Wednesday that Rama, who started treatment about three weeks ago, began rejecting the oral portion of his drugs on Saturday. Packy´s treatment stopped one day after it started about 10 days ago because the Asian elephant went into musth, a periodic condition during which bulls´ testosterone spikes. Often, bulls in musth grow aggressive but Packy simply turns uncooperative, making it impossible for keepers to medicate him.
2013-08-15 - Palakkad, India.
A captive elephant gored to death its 50-year old mahout to death in Puthur in the district today, police said. The jumbo, which had been brought to participate in the ´anayootu´ (feeding of elephants) festival at Thirupuraikkal Bhagavathy Temple here, killed its second mahout Ramankutty (50).
2013-08-10 - Albuquerque, United States.
Zookeepers say blood tests indicate that Rozie the elephant´s calf will likely be a girl. The window for her giving birth is between August and November, but keepers suspect the calf may come in mid-September. The BioPark´s elephant manager, Rhonda Saiers, says the zoo is excited about the potential of adding another female to the multigenerational herd. Still, there´s a chance the gender test could be wrong.
2013-08-10 - Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The female Asian elephant baby was born this morning at 5 AM at the outside habitat. Mother is Throng Nhi born 2003 in Rotterdam (her father Alexander was born 1978 in Tel Aviv Zoo), father is Timber. Timber was born in Rotterdam 1998, Timbers father Ramon was born 1970 in Hannover Zoo, Germany.
2013-08-10 - Springfield, United States.
Dickerson Park Zoo announced today that its oldest elephant, Connie, is battling kidney disease. She is not expected to recover. The estimated 50-year-old elephant - nicknamed “Pinky” - was born in the wild and came to the zoo in November 1981 from the Zoological Gardens in Abilene, Texas. She has exceeded the average life expectancy for an elephant cow, which is about 47 years.
2013-08-09 - Lome, Togo.
An ivory trafficker whose work is suspected to have fuelled the slaughter of more than 10,000 elephants over 40 years has been arrested. Emile N´bouke, 58, known as ´The Boss´, was detained in the Togo capital Lome where police found 1,500lbs (700kgs) of ivory at his shop. Activists say N´bouke is not only a buyer of illegal ivory but helped finance poaching targeting elephants throughout Central Africa.
2013-08-06 - Ramat Gan, Israel.
La Belle, a seven-year-old Asiatic elephant, gave birth to female calf, handlers at the Safari Park discovered Friday morning. The father is Motek, a 53 year old Asiatic elephant. The maternal grandmother, 25 year old La Petite, is behaving in a pushy manner since the birth and has tried to suckle the calf. Handlers explained that since this is La Belle’s first birth, her mother may be trying to teach her how to care for the calf.
2013-08-06 - Ea Sup, Vietnam.
The herd of 30 wild elephants usually appears on the fields of people in J’Loi commune of Ea Sup district. Ea Sup is not the only district which suffers from elephants. A report of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center, since 2011, the wild elephants have damaged 185 hectares of crops in Ea Sup, Ea H’leo and Don Village.
2013-08-01 - Pittsburgh, United States.
Officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium say a young bull elephant is being treated for a non-contagious autoimmune disease that is preventing skin lesions from healing. Zoo officials announced the illness in a news release Thursday and planned a news conference to provide additional information
2013-08-01 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Former US defence attaché in Nairobi David McNevin has been convicted of smuggling thousands of pounds worth of ivory. According to officials, McNevin was arrested with 21 pieces of ornately carved elephant tusks as he boarded a flight to Netherlands from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
2013-07-26 - Portland, United States.
A Multnomah County health official says members of the Oregon zoo staff, who have had contact with an elephant infected with tuberculosis, tested positive for the disease. A spokesperson for the Oregon Zoo would neither confirm nor deny that members of the staff tested positive for the disease.
2013-07-23 - Washington, United States.
What people really don´t know about PETA is that if they got their way, not only would they ban meat, milk, eggs, honey, leather, or fur. There would also be no more silk, wool, down feathers, fishing, circuses that use any kind of animals even domesticated, horse back riding, live animal shows, aquariums, zoos *even if they´re AZA approved*, hunting, service animals for disabled people, even pets.
2013-07-19 - Hong Kong, China.
More than 1,000 ivory tusks, mainly from baby elephants, were seized by Hong Kong customs in their biggest haul in three years, officials said on Friday. The tusks, which weigh over two tons and are worth more than 2 million dollars, were discovered at the city´s main port in a cargo container from the African country of Togo.
2013-07-16 - Manila, Philippines.
A bigger, better and modern Manila Zoo and possibly two more elephants to keep Mali, its most popular resident, company. This was confirmed by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada who told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, on Tuesday, that talks were ongoing for a public-private partnership program with investors from Singapore who would spend P2 billion for the project.
2013-07-13 - Roc Agel, Monaco.
Two circus elephants who were threatened with euthanasia in France, arrived in their new luxury home near the Cote d´Azur on Friday after being taken in by Princess Stephanie of Monaco, French media reported. The two pachyderms made the 500-kilometre road trip to the Monaco royal family´s estate in Roc Agel in two giant air-conditioned containers.
2013-07-13 - Fort Worth, United States.
The Fort Worth Zoo is asking the public to help find a name for its newest bundle of joy - a 330-pound baby elephant The female Asian elephant was born Sunday. The calf´s mother is 40-year-old Rasha. The father is Groucho, the zoo´s 43-year-old bull, who is on loan to the Denver Zoo. Her sister, Bluebonnet, is 14.
2013-07-13 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
"Selemani Isanzu Chasema, in his 50s, is believed to have exported 781 tusks through Malawi," in May, prosecuting attorney Tumaini Kweka told AFP. Chasema, who denied the charges, was arrested earlier this month in Tanzania´s commercial capital Dar es Salaam with 347 elephant tusks. If found guilty, he could face a minimum of 15 years in jail.
2013-07-12 - Roc Agel, Monaco.
Two sick elephants who were given an 11th-hour stay of execution after a Brigitte Bardot lead public campaign to save them, arrived at their plush new home on Friday where they will be treated like royalty under the watch of the Princess of Monaco. The princess has agreed to host the two elephants, aged 42 and 43, at the royal family´s Roc Agel ranch in the Alpes-Maritimes region in the southeastern corner of France.
2013-07-11 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.
Baby elephant Joe, the sole survivor of a poisoning that killed a herd of 14 Borneo pygmy elephants, is out of the woods. The calf has gained weight and is now socialising with other elephants at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park here. “He is very healthy and has gained over 100kg in the past few months, from 90kg when we rescued him, to almost 200kg now,” said Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan.
2013-07-11 - San Diego, United States.
San Diego County Fair visitors, inspired by two of the five America’s Elephant Ambassadors, Rosie and Becky, donated over $5,000 to fight a virus that is fatal to young elephants. Before the fair opened, Have Trunk Will Travel held a news conference at Del Mar´s Dog Beach to encourage San Diego residents to donate to International Elephant Foundation
2013-07-10 - Kottayam, India.
A tusker fainted and died at 14th Mile in Kottayam on Sunday morning. It is reported that the elephant died as soon as it fell to the ground. Erumeli forest range officer Shantry Tom told ‘Express’ that the deceased elephant was owned by Babu from Thottakad, who owns several elephants. “The exact reason for the death of the animal is not known.
2013-07-10 - Phuket, Thailand.
A 50-year-old female elephant called Wasana, died yesterday (July 9) after a long illness at the Baan Chang Safari elephant trekking camp on the Patong-Karon road. Weerasit Puthipairoj, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office, told The Phuket News, “I was told the elephant was ill last week but was revived by a veterinary team. But today she collapsed again and died.”
2013-07-03 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Jamilah, who was born in January 2011, was taken ill yesterday morning and was being treated by the veterinary team. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of all involved in her care, Jamilah died during the night. The cause of Jamilah´s death will be determined at post-mortem. Jamilah, daughter of Thi Hi Way, was a much loved member of the herd and will be greatly missed by many. It is expected that the elephant house will open a little later than usual today. We are sure you will join ...
2013-07-01 - New York, United States. Michael Daly
In a tale that interweaves the electrocution of a gentle giant with the electrification of America and the rise of the big top circus, �Topsy,� by Michael Daly, reports that the elephant of the title was not the serial man-killer portrayed by those seeking to justify her wrongful execution.
2013-06-30 - Manila, Philippines.
“Mali” the elephant appears to be in the pink of health—if a bit on the stout side. “She looked healthy in every system. The color of the mouth is pink. It’s a good color. It means an elephant is healthy. And her skin is healthy, no wound. The scientist added that contrary to some reports, Mali’s nails “do not look bad, compared to elephants of the same age.”
2013-06-28 - Phuket, Thailand.
Smugglers attempting to transport three elephants onto Phuket illegally were nabbed by livestock officials at 3am today. Phuket Livestock Director Werasit Puphipairoj told Phuketwan today that he was aghast to find the elephant smugglers were carrying fake documents in his name. Nine people on two six-wheel trucks were apprehended, together with female adult elephants Kamsan, 26, Kanoon, 13, and a two-year-old male juvenile, Noppakao.
2013-06-26 - Portland, United States.
Keele, 60 and that community´s most longtime employee -- he´s been there for one-third of the zoo´s 125 years -- will retire Friday. The man who began his life´s work as a less-than-ambitious 18-year-old cleaning up after rats and armadillos, evolved with his zoo. It embraced changing animal welfare standards and a conservation ethic, while Keele rose to be a respected, no-nonsense leader in one of Portland´s signature institutions, and one of North America´s ...
2013-06-26 - Tallin, Estonia.
Shocking footage of a man dancing on the back of a dying circus elephant has provoked calls for a full investigation into the animal’s tragic demise. The film shows Madi - a 48-year-old Indian elephant - slowly drowning in a river as the circus owner´s brother jumps around on her in a pair of swimming shorts. Horrified witnesses made the 40-minute video when Madi - from Germany´s Universal Circus Renz - was taken to a river to bathe during a tour of Estonia.
2013-06-26 - Granby, Canada.
The Granby Zoo is very happy to welcome Tutume (pronounced Tootoomay), a 14 year-old African elephant from the Osnabrück Zoo in Germany; this Zoo has relocated its African elephants to start up a new reproduction program involving Asian elephants. The young male, who possesses excellent genetic qualities, is destined for reproduction within the guidelines of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Program.
2013-06-26 - Denver, United States.
Billy, a 5-year-old Asian elephant, has safely arrived at Denver Zoo after traveling from Amsterdam. The young bull, the third male elephant in the zoo’s Toyota Elephant Passage exhibit, will support the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan with valuable genetics as he is unrelated to any elephants in the US.
2013-06-24 - Nevada County, United States.
Truly, we have listened and continue to listen to the feedback – both the opposition of the elephants at the Fair, and to those that support the Board’s decision to invite the elephants to the Fair. To better explain our decision to welcome the elephants to the Nevada County Fair, our decision was based on the following facts
2013-06-23 - Mumbai, India.
An animal lover here Saturday rued the manner in which some prominent animal rights groups were suddenly concerned by the plight of an ailing elephant named Bijlee, and using her to garner publicity. "I request them not to shed crocodile tears for Bijlee, who is in our care and improving with each day of medication, proper diet and lots of love," Animals Matter To Me (AMTM) chief Ganesh Nayak told IANS.
2013-06-22 - Manila, Philippines.
Philippine government workers used a backhoe and an incinerator Friday to crush and burn more than 5 tons of smuggled elephant tusks worth an estimated $10 million in the biggest known destruction of trafficked ivory outside Africa.Ivory can fetch up to $2,000 per kilogram ($910 per pound) on the black market and more than $50,000 for an entire tusk.
2013-06-21 - Tupelo, United States.
A circus elephant is traveling but not yet performing, two months after being injured in a drive-by shooting in Mississippi. Carol, a 39-year-old Asian elephant, spent several weeks recovering at a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus farm in Springfield, Mo. Carol was shot in the shoulder April 9 after performing at BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo, Miss.
2013-06-15 - New Bedford, United States.
Emily and Ruth, Buttonwood Park Zoo’s beloved elephants, are staying put permanently but they will be the last of their kind to live in the West End wildlife park, Director of Zoologicial Services Keith Lovett said. “Truthfully, we’re struggling to find a facility out there that could provide better care for Ruth and Emily (than us),” Lovett told The Standard-Times editorial board Friday morning.
2013-06-14 - Mossel Bay, South Africa.
Thandora was held in captivity for 23 years before she was released into the wild this year with high hopes that she would adapt to the environment. However, experts from Conservation Global were shocked and distraught to find that she had died. “I am shattered having endured 36 hours of emotional rollercoaster that ended at 05h30 this morning,” Greg Vogt from Conservation Global told News24 after finding the elephant dead.
2013-06-06 - Hua Hin, Thailand.
Two men suspected of killing two elephants in Kaeng Krachan National Park were arrested on Thursday, police said. Sanya Tuansap, 37, and his brother, Veerapong, 25, were caught in Hua Hin district, Prachuap Khiri Khan. They face charges of illegally killing the elephants inside the borders of the park in Kaeng Krachan district of Phetchaburi, police said.
2013-06-06 - San Diego, United States.
I´ve written about viral diseases such as herpes before. But until this morning I didn´t know that elephants can get it. Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus is killing baby elephants. A conservation group stopped by the U-T San Diego offices to show off two adorable examples of what they´re trying to save.(Read comments on the page!)
2013-06-06 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
A Fowlerville native, Ward graduated from Michigan State University’s veterinary school May 3 and was on a plane to Thailand the following Monday to start her new job at Elephant Nature Park. Ward arrived with four trunks of elephant-scaled polyflex bandages from Neogen. A shocking number of elephants — up to 60 percent, Ward said — die during training for the tourist trade.
2013-06-05 - Mahikeng, South Africa.
The senior officials are facing disciplinary action after being charged with contravening environmental management norms and standards for issuing licenses to hunt four elephants that had calves. The calves were translocated to the Eastern Cape from Sandhurst Safari Lodge on March 13. Two of the adults were subsequently culled by the officials from a helicopter, spokesperson Lesiba Kgwele said.
2013-06-05 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Does anyone else, apart from Mrs Lek Chailert, believe its enough to "isolate" a TB positive elephant, in a place with a +70 elephants turnover throughout the years, 16 deaths with no public autopsy reports, and apr 100 international visitors daily, included children? ENP has a very intensive physical contact between humans and elephants, including a special kiss-an-elephant event?
2013-06-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
A ceremony to hand over a baby tusker gifted by the Government of Myanmar to the Bellanwila Rajamahavihara in Sri Lanka took place Tuesday in the presence of the External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris. The Minister expressed Sri Lanka´s appreciation to the government of Myanmar for its support.
2013-06-04 - Nairobi, Kenya.
10 officers of the Kenya Wildlife Service, including a senior warden and company commander, in Tsavo have been suspended for working with poaching gangs. TCA Senior Assistant Director Julius Kimani told local media The Standard yesterday, “We have interdicted the officers for engaging in omission and commission of poaching activities. They have secretly been giving information to the poachers making it difficult for KWS to effectively deal with the poaching menace.
2013-06-02 - Geneva, Switzerland.
The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) received plans from China, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania and Viet Nam – identified as primary source, transit and import countries affected by the illegal trade in ivory. The plans – which contain specific activities in the areas of legislation and regulations, national and international enforcement, outreach and public awareness – were requested by ...
2013-06-02 - Stockholm, Sweden.
Despite the recent discovery of a stunningly preserved mammoth, the odds of scientists using it to clone a real-life mammoth anytime soon are still low, experts say. "To clone a mammoth by finding intact cells — and, more importantly, an intact genome — is going to be exceptionally difficult, likely impossible," said Love Dalén, a paleogeneticist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. "Finding this mammoth makes it slightly less impossible."
2013-06-02 - Yakutsk, Russian Federation.
Scientists in Siberia say they´ve extracted blood samples from the carcass of a 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth, reviving speculation that a clone of the extinct animal might someday walk the earth, if scientists are able to find living cells. But researchers say the find, which also included well-preserved muscle tissue, must be studied further to know its potential.
2013-06-02 - Karachi, Pakistan.
A temporary pond has been prepared for bathing elephants and snakes in the Karachi Zoo. This measure has been taken to give some relief to the animals which were suffering due to the hot summer season, Karachi Zoo Administrator, Aqeel Naqvi, said on Monday.
2013-06-02 - Portland, United States.
The male elephant tested positive for the illness last week. The zoo routinely tests all its elephants for TB by taking an annual trunk culture (collecting fluid from the animal’s trunk and sending it to a certified laboratory for testing) as part of its comprehensive health program and in compliance with U.S. Department of Agriculture standards.
2013-05-25 - Toronto, Canada.
The Department of National Defence says it´s still in talks to help move the Toronto Zoo´s three resident elephants to California, but says the animals will have to stay put until the fall. Animal welfare activists had previously said the zoo was in talks to borrow a Canadian Forces plane to transport the pachyderms to an elephant sanctuary in California.
2013-05-18 - Cochin, India.
The Kerala Forest Department is planning to set up Kerala State Elephant Welfare Board for the well-being of elephants and mahouts. According to the draft proposal, the welfare board will collect Rs.10,000 as annual contribution for an animal from its owners. The department has begun discussions with stakeholders to draw up the structure for the board and its guidelines.
2013-05-18 - Okeechobee, United States.
The family group, consisting of two adult female and two subadult male African elephants, arrived this week and made history as our very first residents. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Elephant Taxon Advisory Group supported the animals’ move to The Center as part of a Species Survival Program (SSP). Previously the four animals lived at an AZA-accredited facility in central Florida.
2013-05-17 - Yok Don national park, Vietnam.
A week after first sighting a wild elephant ensnared by two traps – one on its foot and another on its trunk – rescuers were able to retrieve the animal on May 14 from a protected forest in Dak Lak Province. They used tamed elephants to rope the young injured male elephant around its neck and tow to it to station in Yok Don National Park.
2013-05-16 - Chiang Rai, Thailand.
In addition to managing the Elephant Camp, GTAEF and research conducted by Think Elephants International, in his new worldwide conservation role, Roberts’ expertise and enthusiasm will benefit all Anantara properties, as well as guests.
2013-05-14 - KANCHANABURI, Thailand.
A mahout was killed by an elephant in Sai Yok district yesterday, police said. The incident took place at Mahawang elephant camp in Moo 6 of tambon Wang Krajae, Sai Yok district police station chief Pol Col Bandit Muangsukham said. Witness Rawee Wongnongphlab, 29, who also works at the camp, told police the elephant, a female called Bua Ngern, became agitated when the mahout, 19-year-old Phech Prueksa, tried to unchain it.
2013-05-14 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Authorities say that two employees of an elephant conservation group in one of Kenya´s most popular wildlife parks have been charged with ivory smuggling. The Amboseli Trust for Elephants confirmed the charges in a statement Monday. The group said it is confident that an investigation will exonerate the two, a mother and a son. Court records showed that the two Kenyans were arrested with six tusks.
2013-05-11 - KAO LOOK CHANG, Thailand.
The Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand sanctuary covers 25 hectares (61 acres) of jungle near the village of Kao Look Chang. It was launched 12 years ago with only a few dozen animals by Edwin Wiek, a Dutch national who left his job in the fashion industry to dedicate himself to the conservation movement. The sanctuary was raided in February and about 100 animals were seized. Wiek is charged with sheltering wildlife illegally and a verdict is expected next month.
2013-05-11 - Phuket, Thailand. Sert Tongdee
Two young elephants at Phuket camps, Dollar and Namphon, are suspected to have been poached and the legitimacy of another 61 elephants remains in question after raids yesterday. While the animals remain at the camps and further tests are to be undertaken on Phuket elephants, those found to have been poached will be confiscated.
2013-05-10 - Sydney, Australia.
In November 2010, a clinically healthy Asian elephant in an Australian zoo was found to be shedding M. tuberculosis; in September 2011, a sick chimpanzee at the same zoo was diagnosed with tuberculosis caused by an indistinguishable strain of M. tuberculosis. A pathway of transmission between the animals could not be confirmed. Tuberculosis in an elephant can be transmissible to people in close contact and to other animals more remotely. The mechanism for transmission from elephants requires fur...
2013-05-08 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Some sources state that Pat Derbus first elephant died in a barn fire. Other Sources state Neena was in a truck and it was freezing cold and they lit a fire underneath the trailer to warm her up and the trailer caught on fire. On the link below you can ask on PAWS Facebook what happened?
2013-05-08 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Erin Ivory, (refered to as one of the worlds leading experts on zoo elephants?) suggests that Mila "picked up" Helen Schofield and "squeezzed her a little bit harder because she was upset and tensed" which can result in the incidence" suggesting that Helen Schofield was not purposely killed by the elephant Mila last year?
2013-05-07 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I found an interesting link on Circus Fans Association of America where you can read, among other things regarding Animal Rights Activists and PAWS: "Derby rarely mentions how in her days as a trainer and operator of a roadside zoo in Buellton , CA, an elephant in her care died in a barn fire." The last line, about Neena surprised me, because for sure, it seems really like Mrs Derby doesnt want to speak about this elephant Neena. Searching through PAWS documents, and googling, it was like Neena...
I have documents (download here) stating Pat Derbys poor competence as animal trainer, critizising her total lack of welfare for animals in her posession, as well as privately taking money away from shared bank accounts with other persons os companies.
2013-05-07 - Canterbury, New Zealand.
An international conference on conflict between elephants and humans is set to be held in New Zealand for the first time in May. The University of Canterbury (UC) is hosting this year´s south and southeast Asian elephant symposium, the first of its kind here, on May 7-8.
2013-05-06 - Phang Nga, Thailand.
Officers from the regional Natural Resources and Environment Crime Suppression Division raided seven tour companies in Phang Nga this week following reports that the companies were in possession of illegal elephants. The officers found a total of 40 elephants they suspect of being acquired illegally. Col Watcharin Phusit, who headed the elephant raids in Phuket last year, also led the raids north of Phuket. “We investigated the ATV Tour Company, Pang Kaew elephant camp, Andaman Adventures ...
2013-05-06 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Councillor Cathy Casey has put a case for getting rid of Burma, the one remaining elephant at Auckland Zoo. While her intent is likely to be honourable, such an attempt to "help" Burma could work very much against her, and paradoxically, as recent research shows, it could also work against conservation efforts.
2013-05-05 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
The Essex Air Ambulance was dispatched to Colchester Zoo, where a 19-year-old woman was reported to be suffering breathing problems. The wide, flat space inside the elephant pen was believed to be the best spot for the aircraft to touch down when it arrived just before 11.30am. It is believed that the four elephants in the enclosure were moved inside their house before the helicopter landed.
2013-05-05 - Kaeng Krachan, Thailand.
In early March, Kaeng Krachan National Park chief Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn was outraged to learn of another elephant killing in the area he oversees. A female elephant about 15 years old was discovered close to Krarang 3 Reservoir shot in the head and brutally axed, milk still flowing from her breast. Investigators reasoned that the elephant had a baby with her at the time of the killing.
2013-05-04 - Cincinnati, United States.
The Cincinnati Zoo´s oldest Asian elephant is celebrating her 40th birthday with a special pachyderm-sized cake and a serenade. My-Thai has been at the zoo since she was 9 months old. She has been a zoo ambassador, marching in Cincinnati Reds´ Opening Day parades and handing out the first pitch to folks on the pitching mound.
2013-05-03 - Washington, United States.
The zoo announced Friday that Bozie, a 37-year-old Asian elephant, will join three others in Washington. In March, a 46-year-old elephant named Judy died at the Baton Rouge Zoo, leaving Bozie alone. Bozie is considered beyond her reproductive years. Once she arrives, she will be quarantined for 30 days.
2013-05-03 - Calgary, Canada.
More than 30 years ago in a Sri Lankan jungle, then-Calgary Zoo veterinarian Darrel Florence fashioned a homemade device from a 7Up container and a garden hose, then used it to feed formula milk to three 200-pound infants.Florence, a zoo vet from 1975-1980, says to relocate the aged animals now to a new place is too stressful and not in the elephants’ best interest.
2013-04-29 - Ruskin, United States.
As elephant herds with circuses grew larger, Craven is credited as being the innovator of the pyramid type elephant act in America introducing long mounts on bull tubs etc. The first being with Howes Great London and later improved versions with the Forepaugh Show and Cooper & Bailey. He later became a successful Animal Dealer and the owner of a large ranch near Dallas, Texas where he died Jan. 16, 1890.
2013-04-29 - Bangkok, Thailand.
They are undertaking the search in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi province after a photographer had reported seeing one in a herd on April 10. Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said cameras will be installed along elephant trails inside the park to help in the search. Officials would also send camera-mounted UAVs into the forest. "If it is a white elephant, we will consider how to deal with it," he said.
2013-04-28 - PHETCHABURI, Thailand.
A hunt is on for a possible white elephant in Kaeng Krachan National Park, with a reward of 5 million baht being offered to hunters who can capture the elephant – if it exists. The sighting of the white elephant was reported by Apichart Puangnoi, a photographer who visited Krarang Sam reservoir in tambon Pa Teng on April 10, where a pregnant elephant was found dead the day before. Mr Apichart spotted the calf from still photos of an elephant herd he took and then reported the sighting to ...
2013-04-28 - Colorado Springs, United States.
Encounter Africa is the result of the zoo’s largest capital campaign, a two-year effort that raised $13.5 million through foundation and individual gifts, including $42,000 from zoo staff. The zoo is one of only a handful nationwide that don’t receive support from tax dollars.
2013-04-28 - Iringa, Tanzania.
Five elephants have been killed by people believed to be poachers at Lunda area, about 1.5 kilometres from Ruaha National Park in Iringa Region. Speaking with The Citizen on Sunday Friday, chairman of an NGO dealing with wildlife issues in the area, Mbomipa, Mr Philipo Mkumbata, said he was aware of the incident. Mr Mkumbata said that incidents of jumbo poaching had been on the rise in the recent months in many parts of the region, calling for concerted efforts to curb the problem.
2013-04-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka organized a lecture on April 19, regarding a survey of elephants of Sri Lanka. Dr Charles Santiapillai and S Wijeyamohan addressed the audience.The survey was carried out by the Department of Wildlife Conservation on August 11, 12 and 13, 2011. The lecture highlighted the nature of the survey, and stressed on the difference between a survey and a census.
2013-04-27 - Mandalay, Myanmar.
In 1920, a young Cornishman, James Howard Williams, arrived here to take up a post with Bombay Burma. His remarkable Boy’s Own adventures in the jungles of Burma are brilliantly captured in his memoir, Elephant Bill. It includes a nail-biting account of him leading the exodus of elephants and refugees across the mountains to India in 1942 as the Japanese advanced across the Chindwin. His elephant companies then returned to pave the way, literally, for Allied tanks, armoured cars and soldi...
2013-04-27 - Maun, Botswana.
Walking in the footsteps of African elephant bull Jabu made us feel more closely connected to elephants than ever before. Working together with Sanctuary Retreats, Living With Elephants gave us the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend time with a trio of orphaned elephants in the Okavango Delta. Despite their large size, elephants walk through the Botswanan bush with a soft tread, intelligent animals that are both strong and gentle.
2013-04-27 - Zakouma National Park, Chad.
In an isolated wilderness in Chad, a war is being fought to save central Africa´s decimated elephant herds from gangs of ivory poachers. The frontline is the southern Zakouma National Park: a 3,000-square-kilometre (1,900-square-mile) sanctuary that has lost 90 percent of its elephants in the last 10 years.
2013-04-27 - Durban, South Africa.
The IFP calls on Government to urgently erect border fencing and deploy armed forces between Mozambique and Kruger National Park. IFP Spokesperson on Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mrs. Connie Zikalala MP, said, "Government should do everything in their power to protect our wildlife and heritage. Before we know it thousands of elephants will also be killed this year by poachers who want their ivory tusks. Government must treat this matter as critical and urgently deploy resources to combat s...
2013-04-27 - Maputu, Mozambique.
Mozambique´s elephant population risks being obliterated within a decade unless tight anti-poaching measures are introduced, conservationists have warned. The alarming scale of the poaching problem has become increasingly apparent, with an aerial survey of the north of the country in 2011 tallying 2,667 elephant carcasses in the vast Niassa reserve alone.
Sandi, 45, with her American-born husband Doug, 58, has dedicated her life to raising three orphaned elephants, Jabu, Thembi and Morula, who now live deep in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. When the couple married in the late 1990s, they chose not to have children, because not only do they believe there are enough in the world, but because they committed themselves to the three pachyderms whose families were slaughtered in culling operations in the Kruger National Park and Zimbabwe.
2013-04-26 - Baton Rouge, United States.
Judy, the Asian elephant that died recently at Baton Rouge Zoo, died from chronic gastrointestinal irritation, a side effect from arthritis treatment, according to the animal’s necropsy results. “When dealing with an illness, one must use extreme caution when prescribing a treatment due to possible undesirable side effects. Through consultation with various zoo veterinarians, we used 12 different drugs to treat Judy,†zoo veterinarian Gordon Pirie said in a news release Friday...
2013-04-26 - Thrissur, India.
Thousands of people witnessed the annual Elephant Festival held here over the weekend. The troupe of drummers, roaring crowd, and the decorated elephants, which carried the deities from different temples on their back added to the grandeur of the parade. The festival parade culminated in the grounds of Vadakkunnathan Temple.The festival is celebrated annually in the month of Medam (mid April and May first) as per the Malayalam calendar.
2013-04-26 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
The man tasked with saving Tanzania’s elephants is Khamis Suedi Kagasheki, minister for natural resources and tourism. Kagasheki, a former intelligence officer, is trying hard to beat the poachers, but is up against a government cabal unwilling to give up illegal profits.
2013-04-26 - Mossel Bay, South Africa.
After months of preparation and rehabilitation, Thandora, the 27-year-old elephant from Bloemfontein zoo has been released into Gondwana Game Reserve. She has been physically and mentally prepared for a number of months, while living in a boma in the bush, she took her first steps in the wild on Monday. We take a look at how she’s been doing.
2013-04-26 - Amboseli, Kenya.
The five-day exercise, which started on Monday (April 23, 2013) is a collaboration between the two countries and their agencies; Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Wildlife Division of Tanzania and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), together with affiliated Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) like African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Amboseli Trust for Elephants, School of Field studies Tanzania, Honey Guide foundation among others.
2013-04-26 - Toronto, Canada.
WWF and WCS have received alarming reports from their field operations that elephants are being slaughtered in the violence-ridden Central African Republic (CAR), where new powers in place struggle to gain control over the situation. The conservation organizations are issuing today a joint call for immediate action.
2013-04-26 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasob Suraswadi has been instructed by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to visit Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi Province, following reported sightings of a white elephant in the area, it could not be confirmed for the moment whether the elephant calf in the news was a white elephant until all the traits have been confirmed by experts.
2013-04-26 - Baltimore, United States. Gary S. Hayward, Johns Hopkins University
As a discoverer of elephant endotheliotropic herpes viruses and the developer of diagnostic DNA fingerprint tests used to confirm suspected cases worldwide, I can attest that much of what has been written in the popular press recently about EEHV is wrong or misleading.
2013-04-26 - Tsavo, Kenya.
This is a latent viral disease of elephants caused by Herpes virus and is known to cause deaths only in Asian Elephants. The disease in African Elephants manifests as self limiting nodular lesions in young elephants trunk and face and are rarely fatal. The viruses are intranulclear and have affinity for endothelial cells. Several Elephants were sampled and blood, tissues from nodular lesions taken and will be tested at our new molecular lab in Nairobi. A total of 15 Elephants were sampled making...
2013-04-23 - Knoxville, United States.
Whether an organization permits free or protected contact training of elephants, operant conditioning through positive reinforcement can still serve as the basis for behavioral training. I asked my colleague, Jim Naelitz, the Curator of Elephants at the Knoxville Zoo to weigh in on the topic and answer some questions.
2013-04-23 - San Antonio, United States.
Zoo leaders met Tuesday to decide Luckys fate in the wake of last month´s death of Boo, the zoo´s other Asian elephant. Zoo director Steve McCusker met with elephant staff and other managers and opted to keep Lucky as a sole elephant, said zoo spokeswoman Debbie Rios-Vanskike.“We´re not even going to attempt to move her anywhere or bring in another elephant at this time,†Vanskike said.
2013-04-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A Laotian-Vietnamese wildlife trafficker and influential local people are believed to be behind the slaying of wild elephants in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. Elephant expert Dulasit Snidwongs na Ayutthaya said the alleged Laotian wildlife trafficker who has Vietnamese nationality was Roi or Doi Jantawongsa. She, and influential people, including a Thai policeman and his Vietnamese wife, who live in the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum, worked together and were allegedly involve...
2013-04-21 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
A group of students from the Ho Chi Minh City College of Culture and Arts recently had a frightening experience in Dak Lak Province when a tamed elephant at a tourist spot suddenly rushed at them. The pachyderm, Y Mol, only backed off after its mahout, Y Suong, jabbed it repeatedly on the head with a spur. But Suong said the big animal was not attacking the students.
2013-04-21 - Trichur, India.
The main features of the pooram (festival) are decorated elephants with their nettipattam (decorative golden headdress), beautifuliy crafted kolam, decorative bells and ornaments etc. Add to this is the panchavadyam, the rhythmic beating of the drum, and what would be a cacophony otherwise is turned into an organized but spontaneous symphony.
2013-04-20 - Nairobi, Kenya.
An abandoned baby elephant whose mother was killed by ivory poachers has been saved after an animal rescue worker spotted it from an aeroplane. Tundani, a baby male calf, was seen trudging through the vast Kenyan savannah earlier this month. Alone in the wild and still dependent on its mother’s milk, it had no chance of survival. But since being found and taken in by a Nairobi orphanage, Tundani has been rehabilitated and grown in strength.
2013-04-20 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland coroner Sarn Herdson on Thursday delivered her findings into the death of Franklin Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary´s Helen Schofield at the Tuakau zoo, south of Auckland, in April last year. Dr Schofield, 42, the zoo´s operator, director, vet and elephant programme manager, was killed by 3.7-tonne African elephant Mila when she tried to comfort the ex-circus animal. Witnesses said Mila probably got a shock from an electric fence and Dr Schofield had gone in to try to calm it down...
2013-04-20 - Pattay, Thailand.
On Thursday Morning two male elephants fought to the death at a popular Elephant Park in Na-Jomtien as workers and tourists looked on, powerless to stop the two large mammals who were reportedly fighting over a female elephant who was ready to mate. The fight was between a 30 year old elephant named as “Pai Noiâ€, who had been purchased from a park in Surin Province for the purpose of mating with the female elephant at the Khao Chi Chan Elephant Park in Na-Jomtien, and “Pai Somb...
2013-04-20 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
It was heart-wrenching looking at the picture of an elephant calf forlornly tugging at its dead mother last January at Gunung Rara. The elephant calf, who has since been given the name Kejora (after the plantation where it was found) and nicknamed Joe by his caretakers, is healthy and well – all thanks to the love and care of staff and namely one special person, his preferred caretaker, Augustine David. “Joe is active and naughty, just like any other child,†said Augustine, wh...
After three months, officials still don´t know for certain what killed at least 14 Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) in the Malaysian state of Sabah. However tests do indicate that the herd perished from a "caustic intoxicant," possibly ingested accidentally or just as easily intentionally poisoned. A distinct subspecies, Bornean elephants are the world´s smallest with a population that has fallen to around 2,000 on the island.
2013-04-20 - Lusaka, Zambia.
A baby elephant who was almost hacked to death by ivory poachers is walking again thanks to an ingenious new boot and lots of TLC. The 17-month-old calf called Suni was found in Zambia almost a year ago dragging herself along by her front legs, weak and dehydrated, after suffering severe axe wounds.
2013-04-20 - Wayanad, India. Zachariah A, Zong JC, Long SY, Latimer EM, Heaggans SY, Richman LK, Hayward GS. Source Department of Forests and Wildlife, Government of Kerala, Sultan Battery, Wayanad, India.
These results argue against the previous suggestions that this is just a disease of captive elephants and that the EEHV1 virus has crossed recently from African elephant (Loxodonta africana) hosts to Asian elephants. Instead, both the virus and the disease are evidently widespread in Asia and, despite the disease severity, Asian elephants appear to be the ancient endogenous hosts of both EEHV1A and EEHV1B.
2013-04-17 - CISARUA, Indonesia.
A baby Sumatran elephant peeps out timidly from between the legs of its mother at an Indonesian zoo, where her birth has given a boost to the critically endangered animal. Kartini, named after the country´s most celebrated feminist, Raden Ajeng Kartini, was born on Friday under a captive breeding programme and is in good health. The 105 kilogram (231 pound) elephant was born just south of the capital Jakarta, but the animal is native to Sumatra island, where its population has halved in on...
2013-04-17 - Calgary, Canada.
The Calgary Zoo is close to finding a new home for its three female elephants. After reviewing nine possible locations, the zoo said it is now completing on-site visits for about half of the facilities and will make the decision public in four to six weeks. “We are identifying the best possible place for them with the best possible timeline, keeping in mind the elephants’ needs,” said general curator Jamie Dorgan, who declined to divulge the locations of the facilities except to say they a...
2013-04-17 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The owner of an elephant park in South Africa says one of his handlers was trampled to death while taking elephants out for exercise. Craig Saunders, owner of the Elephant Sanctuary near Hartbeespoort Dam, west of Pretoria, said the accident happened on Monday. Saunders says the handler slipped off the back of an elephant that was engaging in "boisterous behavior" with another elephant. He says the handler ended up in the midst of the altercation, which happened during an early morning exercise ...
2013-04-16 - Trivandrum, India.
After manual labourers, it is now the turn of captive elephants to have a long lunch break and siesta in order to spare them of toiling under scorching heat which Kerala is currently experiencing. The state Wildlife Department has banned parading of jumbos during festivals between 11 AM to 3.30 PM to protect them from the heat wave conditions.
2013-04-15 - Athagarh, India.
The Athagarh Wildlife Division on Sunday sealed Hardev Steel Factory, a sponge iron plant in the area, after a pregnant elephant was electrocuted on its premises. About 40-year-old female elephant strayed from its herd and walked into the steel unit late on Saturday and came in contact with a live electricity line used by the plant officials. After receiving electric shock, the jumbo meandered off about 100 metres and collapsed. It was found dead by the locals in the morning.
2013-04-15 - Udhagamandalam, India.
An eight-year-old male elephant was today electrocuted after it came into contact with an electric fence in a farm in Allurvayal, about 80 kms from here. Two people, including the farm owner, have been arrested in this connection, forest department sources said. They said the post-mortem report revealed that the elephant was electrocuted inside the farm and that its carcass was dragged outside and dumped near the fence.
2013-04-15 - Skukuza, South Africa.
Two Chinese tourists were injured when their vehicle was overturned by an elephant on the H1-7 tar road between Shingwedzi and Punda Maria in the Kruger National Park around 06:30 on Monday morning. The driver sustained serious injuries and was taken to Clinix Phalaborwa Private Hospital after being assisted by a local doctor and paramedics on the scene. The passenger only sustained minor injuries.
2013-04-11 - Tupelo, United States.
Dr. Schmitt, one of five veterinarians who cares for the organization´s animals, has worked with pachyderms for decades. He said Carol, the 39-year-old Asian elephant struck by a bullet Tuesday morning, has been alert and active since the injury. "My estimation would be that she should be back to full recovery in six to eight weeks," Dr. Schmitt added.
2013-04-11 - New York, United States. pseudocode
Authorities say the two owners of a Hudson Valley auction house have been charged with breaking state law by trying to sell stools made from elephant feet. The owners, 60-year-old Mary Jo Garlo and 70-year-old Peter Francese, were charged with illegal commercialization of wildlife.
2013-04-10 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka.
A New Year oil anointing ceremony will be held at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on April 15 at 6.42 a.m. to anoint oil on nearly 100 elephants maintained at the facility. Sabargamuwa Chief Minister Maheepala Herath and Kanaka Herath will be chief guests. The Rambakenpura Surya Mangalyaya to mark Sinhala and Hindu New Year will follow at the near-by Bathambure playground.
2013-04-10 - Tupelo, United States.
m US-Bundesstaat Mississippi ist ein Elefant verletzt worden. Jemand hat auf das Tier geschossen. Der Elefant stand auf dem Zirkusgelände in der Stadt Tupelo, als er in der Schulter getroffen wurde. Das Tier gehört dem "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus".
Tupelo police are investigating a shooting involving an elephant with the Ringling Bro´s and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The shooting took place around 2:00 a-m at the BancorpSouth Arena. Police tell WTVA that a vehicle drove by the arena and fired at the animal.A veterinarian that travels with the circus, and is an elephant specialist is flying to Tupelo later today. The elephant is alert and moving around. The animal is expected to make a full recovery.
2013-04-09 - Jalpaiguri, India.
An elephant was beheaded and its tusks were stolen by suspected poachers from neighbouring Assam at Buxa reserve forest in Jalpaiguri district, officials said today. "The carcass of the elephant without its tusks was found on Saturday at Dakshin Raidak area in the forest and it is the handiwork of poachers coming from Assam," Chief Wildlife Warden Nabin Chandra Bahuguna told reporters here.
2013-04-09 - Thattekkadu, India.
Forest department officials rescued a baby elephant, less than a year-and-a-half-old, from a 15-foot open well into which it fell during a nightly raid by a herd of elephants on a homestead in the Urulanthanni division of Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkadu, on Sunday night.
2013-04-08 - Jaipur, India.
In the past two years, nine elephants have died in the Amber region. This year, two elephants have died so far. Lack of financial aid from the government, elephant owners alleged, is one of the main reasons for the deaths. Most of these elephants are used in riding, a major attraction among tourists.
2013-04-04 - Quang Binh, Vietnam.
An elephant believed to be the last one in the wilds of the north-central province of Quang Binh has been found dead with its head, legs and skin removed in a local forest. It quoted local people as saying that the forest had been home to two adult elephants – one male and one female. But, two years ago the male animal was poached for it tusks, so it was suspected that the newly-discovered carcass belonged to the female.
2013-04-03 - Lyon, France.
They once faced imminent death but have now been offered princely accommodation - two French zoo elephants who had been ordered put down are moving to a ranch belonging to Monaco´s ruling Grimaldi family. Baby, 42, and Nepal, 43, had faced an execution order since last year over a suspected tuberculosis infection deemed a threat to the health of other animals and visitors to the Tete d´Or zoo in the southeastern city of Lyon.
2013-03-26 - Jaipur, India.
The popular elephant festival this year will be celebrated with traditional gaiety at Rambagh Polo Ground on March 26 from 4 pm to 7 pm. The event is being organized by the Rajasthan tourism, district administration, Jaipur Municipal Corporation and Elephants Owners Development Society.
2013-03-25 - Shanghai, China.
On Wednesday, customs officials said two airline passengers were arrested at Pudong International airport for attempting to smuggle rhinoceros horn and ivory items worth over 5 million yuan ($805,000) into Shanghai, according to the Shanghai Daily. A press release from Shanghai Customs said that the two passengers were carrying 11 rhinoceros horn products and over 30 items made of ivory, Global Times reports.
2013-03-25 - Ea Sup, Vietnam.
The dead body of a wild elephant in a state of decay and stinking, was detected on the bank of the Ea Sup Thuong Lake in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, which is known as the land of elephants in Vietnam, on March 18. Mr. Huynh Trung Lan - Director of the Dak Lak Center for Elephant Conservation – said on March 20 that the Center coordinated with the authorities of Ea Sup District to destroy the body of the elephant, which is about 3 months old. The dead elephant was discovered on M...
2013-03-25 - Phetchaburi, Thailand.
Provincial Police Region 7 officers backed by special units of the Royal Thai Army have seized a large quantity of hunting weapons as the investigation continues into the killing of a female elephant with a calf in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. A 375-strong force drawn from the police and the army launched raids on Monday morning in four tambons in Hua Hin district, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, and Kaeng Krachan district, Phetchaburi province, Pol Lt Gen Harnpol Nitwibul, commiss...
2013-03-25 - San Antonio, United States.
When Lucky arrived at the San Antonio Zoo, John F. Kennedy was president. Fifty-one years later, the female Asian elephant still is there, having lived at the facility through the moon landings, the Reagan and the Clinton years and the new millennium. Following the death last week of her fifth and latest enclosure-mate, Boo, zoo leaders are discussing the future of their elephant exhibit and about where Lucky will live out her days.
2013-03-25 - Wallingford, United States.
The circus brought 13 elephants to Wallingford that summer, but left with only a dozen. On July 1, the Meriden Record reported that the circus left at 5 a.m. on June 30, “but ‘Miss India,’ a 2,600-pound cow elephant, didn’t know it. She died several hours earlier.” According to the article, Miss India was 25 years old, the youngest and most pleasant-tempered of the “40 tons of elephants in the show.” It was believed she died of a heart attack at about 2:30 a.m. on June 30.
2013-03-25 - New York, United States.
Animal rights and environmental extremism pose a significant domestic terror threat. To date, extremists have been responsible for more than 1,800 criminal acts and more than $110 million in damages. Currently, we are investigating approximately 170 such extremist incidents across the country.
2013-03-24 - Washington, United States.
Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but also to sniff and touch it. With their unparalleled sense of smell, the animals know exactly what they are going for. Vision is secondary. But as soon as an elephant picks up a stick, its nasal passages are blocked. Even when the stick is close to the food, it impedes feeling and smelling. It is like sending a blindfolded child on an Easter egg hunt. What sort of experiment, then, would do justice to the animal´s special anatomy and abi...
2013-03-23 - Washington, United States.
A 1930s-era elephant house built with individual stalls that drew a rebuke in 2006 from an animal rights group has been transformed into a wide-open new elephant community center with a soft sand floor and wading pool at the Smithsonian´s National Zoo. On Saturday, the zoo will open its new "Elephant Trails" area to the public, following a $56 million overhaul completed over the last seven years. It´s a major expansion, more than tripling the living and socializing space for the zoo&...
2013-03-22 - Pattaya, Thailand.
Of the 28 elephants that wander the Pattaya Elephant Village, only one greets tourists and poses with pictures. And that great mammal is mastered by the area’s most-revered mahout. Ya Sukhree of Surin and his 16-year-old cow Birdy took center stage at the camp’s Thai Elephant Day ceremonies March 13.
2013-03-22 - Maryland, United States.
Samson, the young male elephant who was diagnosed with a deadly virus at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore late last month, has continued to recover in recent days and has "turned a very positive corner" in his treatment, according to zoo officials. "His energy levels are very close to normal again, he´s much brighter and a lot of his symptoms have either gone away or are nearly gone," Michael McClure, general curator for the zoo´s animal department, said Thursday.
2013-03-22 - Kruger national park, South Africa. Ron Thomson
The truth of the matter is that we have been trying to carry too many elephants for far too long in practically every national park in Africa - for the purpose of satisfying the needs of tourism; and for satisfying the emotional and irrational needs of urban people world-wide. For this we have the animal rights brigade to thank! The reality of the matter is that wildlife management authorities throughout Africa have been criminally guilty of neglecting our wildlife management priorities for more...
2013-03-19 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka.
The Pinnawala Zoological Gardens, being constructed in close proximity to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, is being readied for an end 2013 opening. An extent of 44 acres has been set apart for the zoo, the first phase of which is to be completed and opened during the course of this year, at a cost of Rs 577 million. Already, the inner road systems, employees´ quarters, a public restaurant and provision of water and electricity facilities have been completed.
2013-03-19 - , Chad.
Poachers in Chad have slaughtered 86 elephants, including 33 pregnant females, in less than a week. The elephants were killed close to the Chad border with Cameroon and their ivory hacked out. It is the worst killing spree of elephants since early 2012 when poachers from Chad and Sudan killed as many as many as 650 elephants in a matter of weeks in Cameroon´s Bouba Ndjida National Park.
2013-03-19 - San Diego, United States.
While the OC and LA County fairs banned elephant rides, the 22nd District Agricultural Association Board of Directors of the Del Mar Fairgrounds maintained it´s 2011 decision to renew a contract with an elephant ride company. "The documented history with all of the animal care and regulatory agencies that license and inspect us, including USDA/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is evidence of outstanding care and treatment of our elephants," stated the email. "We are happy to give...
2013-03-19 - Winston, United States.
Wildlife Safari keepers presented the animal park’s newest resident by coaxing out the 35-year-old African elephant with food. Tava moved to the animal park late last month from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. She joins the park’s two other African elephants, George, 32, and Alice, 43.
2013-03-14 - Minkebe, Gabon.
Increasing rates of poaching have caused the population of African forest elephants to decrease by 62 percent over the last 10 years, according to a study released March 4 by researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society. The study found that packs of the animals that used to roam together in the thousands have been reduced to small pockets of a few hundred. In Minkébé National Park in Gabon, at least half of its elephant population, nearly 11,000 animals, has been killed over the past 8 ye...
2013-03-14 - Thrissur, India.
Ramachandran, which stands 3.17m tall and fondly called Raman, was released by the Perumbavoor first class judicial magistrate court last week in a case related to the death of three women after he ran amok at a temple festival in Perumbavoor on January 27.
2013-03-14 - Melbourne, Australia.
More than 4,000 Victorians voted in the Herald Sun´s naming competition and Sanook, which means fun-loving and cheerful, was the overwhelming favourite, ahead of Seri and Chaiya. Thai consulate general Simon Wallace said the elephant keepers supplied attributes that best described Sanook and Thai words were shortlisted from their suggestions.
2013-03-12 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Elephant Trade Information System official Tom Milliken told the annual Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) conference in Bangkok, Thailand, that Kenya, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and China had been identified as major players in the trade.
2013-03-12 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species or Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was organized to limit exploitation of international trade of wild animals and plants. Their latest meeting is currently underway in Bangkok, Thailand and two PLOS ONE papers provided evidence to support the enhanced protection of two threatened species – African forest elephants and oceanic whitetip sharks.
2013-03-12 - Fellsmere, United States. John Lehnhardt
February was a big month for The National Elephant Center. We have reached a major milestone and continue to look ahead to a promising future with the first elephants arriving this spring. Crews have finished the first phase of construction, which saw the completion of a large barn with paddocks, a keeper work center for three large interconnected pastures providing the elephants with more than 20 acres to roam.
2013-03-11 - San Antonio, United States.
The San Antonio Zoo says Boo, its female Asian elephant, has died. The zoo euthanized her Sunday because of a debilitating weakness. Boo was 59 years old. The Zoo’s senior veterinarian Dr. Rob Coke and his staff performed several tests to determine the cause of Boo’s declining health. The zoo says in a press release that specific blood tests revealed abnormal white blood cells indicative of lymphoma or blood cancer.
2013-03-11 - Chukha, Bhutan.
In what could be the first ever case to be recorded in the world, a transient solitary Asiatic elephant has been confirmed to have ascended and scaled a snow-covered mountain at an elevation of 3419 masl at Shougay La in Chukha. A team comprising of officials from Wildlife Conservation Division (WCD) and Gedu Forest Division, Chukha under Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFPS) validated the presence through evidences such as traces of dung, foot print in the snow, feeding sign and inter...
2013-03-11 - Niabi, United States.
Many animal-loving Quad-City children donated their savings, raised money at school or opted to forgo birthday gifts in the name of Niabi Zoo’s campaign to raise money for a larger home for elephants Sophie and Babe. Those contributions helped pay for an expanded elephant yard that is three times larger than the one the two Asian elephants have occupied for years. The larger enclosure does not satisfy size requirements by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, but it gets Niabi closer to a pos...
2013-03-11 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The world´s top officials on illegal ivory trading say Thailand and other "gang of eight" countries must stop the business within a year or suffer severe trade sanctions. British newspaper the Guardian quoted the officials as identifying the other countries involved as source nations Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, "enabling" countries Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, and destination countries Thailand and China. Tom de Meulenaer, a senior Cites official at the body´s conferen...
2013-03-11 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka.
Zoological Director Anura de Silva said that the income earned from the Pinnawala Orphanage last year was 483 million rupees. He pointed that out of this amount the sum earned from foreign tourists alone was in the region of 455 million rupees. This is a record income earned when compare with the figures in the year 2011.
2013-03-07 - Washington, United States. Patti Strand
Animal rights tactics are specifically designed to give the animal rightists the opportunity and freedom to express lies, while preventing others from speaking the truth. They are designed to intimidate non-believers into fear-based tolerance of the cult of animal rights, thereby enabling the movement to amass ever-greater political and financial clout.
2013-03-07 - Rayong, Thailand.
At 5:30 p.m., a report of an elephant killing a Thai female tourist was received by Pol. Lt. Capt. Thawatch Norsingha, Muangrayong police station, Rayong. Rescuers from Sawangpornkusol foundation Rayong reported that a 2-year-old elephant went insane and used its tusk to gore a Thai tourist on Maerampung beach. The victim was severely injured and died in Rayong hospital. Police officers arriving at the scene found the elephant, named Plai Boonchoo, 2 years old, was being chained on his front leg...
2013-03-06 - Bloemfontein, South Africa.
After 23 years in captivity, an elephant at the Bloemfontein Zoo will soon be released back into the wild. Zoo officials decided to free 27-year-old Thandora after the death of her companion. She will soon be joining a herd of elephants in the Gondwana Game Reserve in the Western Cape.
2013-03-06 - Higashiyama, Japan.
Two Sri Lankan elephants in Higashiyama zoo in Nagoya, Japan delivered a female baby elephant on Tuesday 29th January, being the first Asian elephant to be born at the Higashiyama zoo and the 6th Asian elephant to be born in Japan. At present there are 73 Asian elephants at 37 facilities in Japan. Of these, 8 elephants are from Sri Lanka.
2013-02-24 - Amboseli, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has fitted six elephants with GPS satellite collars at the Amboseli at a cost of Sh8.8 million. The collars will monitor the animals’ movement and data used to map out migratory routes, critical corridors and seasonal variations for habitat use. Besides assisting scientists and conservation experts establish the extent and how elephants use the Amboseli landscape, the collars will also enable KWS design management intervention measures for conflict mitigation a...
2013-02-24 - Phuket, Thailand.
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) officers, non-governmental organizations and legal wildlife and fauna traders attended a one day meeting in Phuket as part of the 16th Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) being held in Thailand. Members of the meeting expressed their gratitude for the honor of holding the event in Thailand, as the Kingdom attempts to buff its tarnished reputation for being an international tran...
2013-02-24 - Apopa, El Salvador.
At least 12 fossil fragments, including some from a mastodon, have been discovered at a new paleontological site in El Salvador. “We dug down to the fossil-bearing strata…we have now reached some materials of great importance to paleontology,” the head of the expedition, paleontologist Daniel Aguilar, told Efe. Found up to now at the new site, where excavations began on Monday, are “12 fossil deposits,” he said.
2013-02-24 - Portland, United States.
Mike Keele, one of the nation´s leading experts on Asian elephants, this week told co-workers he plans to retire in June after 42 years at the Oregon Zoo. Keele, 59, started at the zoo in 1971. He was 18 and fresh out of Southeast Portland´s Marshall High School.
2013-02-24 - Phoenix, United States.
Elephant Care Conference Tusks & Feet, Husbandry & Health Hosted by the Phoenix Zoo Featured Speakers: Dr. Murray Fowler, Alan Roocroft- Elephant Consultant, Dr. Dave Fagan- Dental Specialist Topics to be covered: Husbandry and Medical Access to Captive Elephants, Restraint in Protected Contact, The Importance of Radiographs and Radiograph Techniques, General Elephant Foot Anatomy, Habitat Design That Supports Elephant Foot Health, Elephant Foot Care Tools and Other Equipment, Elephant Foot Care...
2013-02-23 - San Diego, United States.
This position requires extensive working experience with mammal care and management. An example of experience would be a minimum of fifteen years. Experience with mammal protected contact management, operant training and conditioning is required.Selected candidate must also have experience managing animal care personnel. An example of experience would be at least seven years.
2013-02-23 - Hohenwald, United States.
An inspection held in late January identified concerns by the USDA in the areas of The Sanctuary’s staffing, training and our health care delivery, which resulted in 2 citations by the USDA. Due to lack of sufficient number of trained employees, several elephants are not yet trained in procedures necessary for completion of routine husbandry tasks such as routine foot care, entering chute or allowing blood collection. (USDA 1/31/13 Inspection Report)
2013-02-21 - Longleat, United Kingdom.
A planning application has been submitted to build a multi-million pound elephant sanctuary in Wiltshire. The 24 acre (10 hectare) enclosure at Longleat Safari Park is planned to house four elephants, including a rescued former circus elephant. The facility will include a heated elephant house and an outdoor space with sand pits and an ´elephant spa´.
2013-02-17 - San Jose, United States.
After two longtime Bay Area animal rights activists sued Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for allegedly harassing them as they tried to videotape the backstage treatment of animals, the federal jury hearing the case began deliberations in San Jose on Valentine´s Day afternoon. And it was soon clear that the jurors didn´t buy what activists Deniz Bolbol and Joseph Patrick Cuviello were selling.
2013-02-17 - Galt, United States.
Diagnosed with throat cancer in July of 2010, she fought her way through radiation and chemotherapy and continued to deal with side effects from treatment, including anemia. In early fall of last year came the news that cancer had returned.
2013-02-14 - Budapest, Hungary.
After 52 years, an elephant baby was born at the Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden. The baby was born on Thursday morning, February 14. The baby and mother are hermetically closed off from the outside world. The public may not view them yet, and only designated keepers and veterinarians may enter the Elephant House.
2013-02-09 - Portland, United States.
The Oregon Zoo now has the legal rights to elephants Lily and Tusko after buying them from Have Trunk Will Travel, the zoo announced Friday morning. The zoo purchased Tusko and Lily for $400,000, thus voiding its loan agreement with the California-based company, said Kim Smith, the zoo’s director. Tusko was on a breeding loan since 2005 and sired elephants Lily and Samudra.
2013-01-23 - Cambridge, United Kingdom. V. OBANDA, J. POGHON, M. YONGO, I. MULEI (Cambridge University Press)
In this paper we report the first case of fatal TB in an African elephant in the wild. The infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis was confirmed by post-mortem and histological examinations of a female sub-adult elephant aged >12 years that died in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya, while under treatment.
2013-01-16 - Sydney, Australia.
AN investigation by Taronga Zoo found that they were not at fault over an elephant attack in which one of their keepers was injured last year. Lucy Melo, 40, spent days in intensive care at Royal North Shore Hospital after the October 19 incident, in which two-year-old Asian elephant calf Pathi Harn pinned her against a bollard.
2013-01-16 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia agreed on Monday to collaborate on molecular genetics-based research projects to conserve the Sumatran elephant, which has been listed as a critically endangered species. The DNA-based test can estimate the population of the Sumatran elephant and determine the distribution of the species.
2013-01-16 - Indianapolis, United States.
Staffers are busy assembling 300 bones of "Fred the Mastodon." Chief Curator Ronald Richards says they believe the bones are about 13,000 years old. Richards says they´ve spent months building a steel frame upon which to mount the bones. However, he says the bones themselves are authentic. Richards says more mastodon discoveries have been found in the Indiana area than any other state. He says the exhibit will be about nine feet high and 20 feet long.
2013-01-13 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
The international body responsible for issuing trade permits for endangered species (CITES), has been strongly criticized for allowing the sale of four, wild caught, baby elephants from Zimbabwe to zoos in China, after one of them died from the trauma. CITES went against its own regulations, which prohibit licensing the sale of endangered species for commercial purposes, by issuing permits for the wild caught baby elephants to be flown to two zoos in mainland China in November, 2012. The wildlif...
2013-01-13 - Beijing, China.
They say that the 4 elephants arrived at the end of November 2012. Two went to Taiyuan Zoo, one of which has subsequently died. The other two reportedly went to Xinjiang Tianshan Safari Park. There are apparently still another 14 elephants waiting to be exported and we have to try and stop this from happening
2013-01-13 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka.
The blind elephant ´ Pinnawala Raja´ who was ill for a long time passed away yesterday at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage,reports said. He went blind following an attack by a hunter at Galenbindunuwewa and was taken to Pinnawala, treated for injuries and cured. Claimed to be 70 years at the time of death.
2013-01-13 - Jhargram, India.
An elephant calf which was spotted at areas adjacent to Hatiatara forest near Jhargram was brought to the mini zoo here by forest officials. Divisional forest officer A P Singh said it was probably left behind by a herd which was seen in the area recently. Officials of Kalaikunda, Hijri and Belda under Kharagpur forest division brought the 2-year-old elephant calf to Jhargram mini zoo last evening, he said.
2013-01-13 - Lilongwe, Malawi.
Two Chinese national haves been arrested at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe for attempting to smuggle foreign currency and ivory, Malawi Police said on Wednesday. Police Spokesperson Rhoda Manjolo identified the two Chinese nationals as Bing Tang and MShinxin Wang. The two, who were working as engineers on the recently inaugurated Karonga/Chitipa road, had close to US$100,000 and MK130, 00, according to police.
2013-01-13 - Geneva, Switzerland.
Swiss border police made an unusual find when they searched a train in Basel at the weekend: an elephant tusk meticulously hidden in a Frenchman’s bag, police said on Wednesday. The man, only identified as a 40-year-old French national based in Italy, had tried to smuggle the tusk into Switzerland on a train from Frankfurt to Zurich on Sunday, border police said in a statement.
2013-01-13 - Amboseli, Kenya.
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S new wildlife series, Africa, has amazed viewers with its revealing insights into the continent’s animals. But this week’s episode sparked a storm when it showed the painful, lingering death of a baby elephant. Viewers demanded to know why the BBC crew didn’t step in and save the creature. Here, the series producer explains why that wasn’t possible.
2013-01-13 - Paris, France.
French President François Hollande said Wednesday he would not intervene to spare two zoo elephants diagnosed with tuberculosis. The decision by Lyon authorities to put down the two pachyderms has caused an outcry among animal rights activists.
2013-01-13 - , India.
Elephants in areas with high rail traffic will be tagged electronically under a pilot project to protect them from trains, Minister for Environment & Forests Jayanti Natarajan has said. A tag would help forest officials keep track of an elephant’s movements and give them time to alert railway officials. A speeding driver usually has little time to react after he realises an elephant is on the tracks ahead.
2013-01-13 - Fellsmere, United States.
On schedule and under budget. That´s the word on the first phase of construction on the National Elephant Center being developed about 3 miles north of downtown Fellsmere. Located on a 225-acre site, the National Elephant Center is a collaboration of 73 accredited zoos and will provide a place for aging elephants and transient elephants being relocated between zoos. The first of up to nine elephants that could be served during the first phase of the project could arrive in the spring. When...
2013-01-13 - Coimbatore, India.
After completing their 48-day rejuvenation camp, 35 elephants from different temples and Mutts started their return journey today from Thekkampatti near Mettupalayam in the district. The elephant camp was organized by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department.
2013-01-12 - Wraxall, United Kingdom.
At 20 acres, the attraction´s new �1.2m elephant enclosure � Elephant Eden � will be the largest of its kind in Europe, but the international reputation of the zoo is hanging on its ability to make this particular Eden blossom. Zoo owner Anthony Bush knows all too well that any new elephant enclosure would always be mired in controversy.
2013-01-11 - Geneva, Switzerland.
The Secretariat has corresponded with the CITES Management Authorities of Zimbabwe and China to ascertain the particular circumstances surrounding this trade and whether the procedures set out under Article IV of the Convention and Resolutions Conf. 10.21 and 11.20 were followed. This communication with the relevant Management Authorities is ongoing.
2013-01-10 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan police and wildlife service rangers have shot dead two poachers who had killed four elephants, authorities say, days after the slaughter of 12 animals sparked national outrage. "A team of rangers from the anti-poaching unit (of KWS) and police shot the two poachers and eight tusks were recovered," Isiolo police commander Daniel Kamanga told Reuters. They also recovered rifles and ammunition.
2013-01-09 - TAMPA, United States.
The African elephant birth is the second in the zoo´s history, and the first born in Tampa from the rescued herd. The newborn, sired by Sdudla, a Swaziland bull, is significant to the population because the calf introduces new DNA into the gene pool of elephants managed in North America, which averages three or four births each year.
2013-01-09 - ROURKELA, India.
Wildlife experts on Monday tranquilized the rogue tusker, which had wrecked havoc in the region and killed at least six persons in the last 12 days, in Sundargarh district. The tusker has been tied to a tree in the forest. Its tusks have been trimmed, as a preventive measure.
2013-01-09 - Tsavo, Kenya.
Kenyan park rangers are hunting for a gang of poachers who they say killed eleven elephants and hacked off their tusks, the latest large slaughter of the animals to be reported amid insatiable global demand for ivory. The family of elephants were killed on Saturday in Tsavo East National Park in southern Kenya, according to a statement Monday from the Kenya Wildlife Service. The animals´ carcasses all had bullet wounds and their tusks had been chopped off, the agency said.
2013-01-08 - Vienna, United States.
The ASPCA sued Ringling Brothers, but ended up paying the circus $9.3 million to help cover its legal bills. Tom Rider, the star witness for the plaintiffs, proved to be problematic. Even though he referred to the elephants as his “girls†and claimed to have a “personal†and “emotional†attachment to them on par with the one he had for his two daughters and his grandson, he was unable to identify the elephants in videotaped footage.
2013-01-07 - New Delhi, India.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) is planning to tell the Railway Board to ensure that trains slow down sufficiently in elephant corridors. This comes in the wake of Coromondel Express mowing down five elephants and a calf at Ganjam district on December 30 night. The train was running at 110 kmph when the accident happened.
2013-01-07 - Paris, France.
Former French model and actress Brigitte Bardot is taking her animal activism to the next level by threatening to leave her home country and seek citizenship in Russia if two sick circus elephants are euthanized. According to the Huffington Post, France is scheduling to kill two 42-year-old elephants, named Baby and Nepal, who are suffering from tuberculosis at a Lyon zoo. Well, Bardot is not pleased.
2013-01-01 - Bhubaneshwar, India.
A passenger train has ploughed into and killed five elephants of a herd crossing railroad tracks in eastern India. RN Mohapatra, a railways spokesman, said the train struck the animals early on Sunday, in the Rambha forest area, about 110 miles south of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of the state of Orissa.
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 - 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.
2012-12-26 - 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 - 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 ...
2012-12-22 - 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.
2012-12-22 - 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.
2012-12-21 - 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 - 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.
2012-12-19 - 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 - 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.
2012-12-15 - 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.
2012-12-15 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-12-13 - 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.
2012-12-13 - 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 - 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...
2012-12-12 - 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.
2012-12-12 - 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 - 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. ...
2012-12-09 - 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...
2012-12-09 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-12-05 - 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.
2012-12-05 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-12-04 - 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 - 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.
2012-11-27 - 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.
2012-11-26 - Stockholm, Sweden.
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.
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.
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 - 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...
2012-11-19 - , 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.
2012-11-16 - 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 - 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...
2012-11-13 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-11-10 - 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 - 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.
2012-11-09 - 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.
2012-11-08 - 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 - 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.
2012-11-07 - 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 - 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.
2012-11-06 - 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.
2012-11-06 - 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."
2012-11-04 - 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 - 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.
2012-11-01 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-31 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-30 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
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.
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.
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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-29 - 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.
2012-10-29 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-27 - 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 - 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...
2012-10-26 - , 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 - 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.
2012-10-24 - 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.
2012-10-24 - 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.
2012-10-23 - 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.
2012-10-23 - 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 - 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 - 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...
2012-10-22 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-21 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-20 - 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.
2012-10-20 - 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.
2012-10-19 - 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...
2012-10-19 - 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.
2012-10-18 - 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.
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.
2012-10-16 - 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.
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 - 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 - 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.
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
2012-10-15 - , 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 - 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...
2012-10-12 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-11 - 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.
2012-10-11 - 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.
2012-10-07 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-06 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-04 - 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 - 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.
2012-10-03 - 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.”
2012-10-01 - 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 - 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.
2012-09-25 - 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.
2012-09-24 - 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 - 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.
2012-09-17 - 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.
2012-09-16 - 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.
2012-09-16 - 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...
2012-09-15 - 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 - 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.
2012-09-13 - 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.
2012-09-12 - 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 - 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.
2012-09-09 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-09-07 - 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 - 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 ...
2012-09-06 - 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.
2012-09-04 - 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 - 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.
2012-08-30 - 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.
2012-08-29 - 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.
2012-08-29 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-08-28 - 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...
2012-08-28 - 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...
2012-08-27 - 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.
2012-08-27 - 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.
2012-08-26 - 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 - 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...
2012-08-08 - 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 - 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.
2012-08-06 - , 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 - 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.
2012-08-03 - 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.
2012-08-02 - 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...
2012-08-02 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-07-31 - 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.
2012-07-31 - 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.
2012-07-23 - 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 - 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.
2012-06-25 - 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.
2012-06-10 - 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 - 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.
2012-05-29 - 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.
2012-05-27 - 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 - Islamabad, Pakistan.
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.
2012-05-04 - 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.”
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.
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 - 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.
2012-05-03 - 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.
2012-05-03 - 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.
2012-05-01 - Thrissur, India.
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...
"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.
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 - 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 - 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 ...
2012-04-30 - 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.
2012-04-30 - , 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 - Quebec, Canada.
Vehicle transporting circus animals is all but completely destroyed in blaze north of Quebec City
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 - 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.
2012-04-25 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-04-18 - 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 - 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.
2012-04-15 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-04-14 - 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 - 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...
2012-04-10 - 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.
2012-04-09 - 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.
2012-04-09 - 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 ...
2012-04-08 - 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.
2012-04-08 - 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.
2012-04-06 - 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 - 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.
2012-04-05 - 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 - 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.
2012-04-03 - 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 - 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.
2012-03-31 - 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 - 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...
2012-03-29 - 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.
2012-03-29 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-03-28 - 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.
2012-03-28 - 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.
2012-03-22 - 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.
2012-03-22 - 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...
2012-03-20 - 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...
2012-03-20 - 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 - 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.
2012-03-18 - 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.
2012-03-18 - 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.
2012-03-17 - 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 - 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.
2012-03-15 - 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.
2012-03-14 - 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.
2012-03-14 - 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...
2012-03-13 - 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.
2012-03-13 - 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.
2012-03-11 - 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.
2012-03-11 - 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 - 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...
2012-03-08 - 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.
2012-03-08 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-03-06 - 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...
2012-03-06 - 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.
2012-03-05 - 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...
2012-03-05 - 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.
2012-03-04 - 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...
2012-03-04 - 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.
2012-03-03 - 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.
2012-03-03 - 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 - 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 - 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 - , 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 - 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.
2012-03-01 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-29 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-28 - 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.
2012-02-28 - Phuket, Thailand.
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.
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.
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.
2012-02-27 - 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.
2012-02-25 - 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.
2012-02-25 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-24 - Nairobi, Kenya.
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.
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.
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.
2012-02-23 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
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 - 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.
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 - 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 ...
2012-02-21 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-17 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-15 - 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...
2012-02-15 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-14 - 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.
2012-02-14 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 ...
2012-02-13 - 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.
2012-02-13 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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...
2012-02-12 - 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...
2012-02-12 - 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.
2012-02-11 - 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).
2012-02-11 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-09 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-02 - 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 - 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.
2012-02-01 - 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.
2012-02-01 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-31 - 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.
2012-01-31 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-30 - 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 ...
2012-01-30 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-29 - 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.
2012-01-29 - 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.
2012-01-25 - 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.
2012-01-25 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-23 - 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...
2012-01-23 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-22 - 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.
2012-01-22 - 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.
2012-01-21 - 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.
2012-01-21 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-20 - 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 - 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...
2012-01-18 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-17 - 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 - 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
2012-01-16 - 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 - 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. 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 - 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...
2012-01-15 - 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.
2012-01-15 - 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.
2012-01-12 - 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 - , 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.
2012-01-11 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-10 - 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.
2012-01-10 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-09 - 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.
2012-01-09 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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...
2012-01-08 - 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.
2012-01-08 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-07 - 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 - 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
2012-01-06 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-05 - 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 ...
2012-01-05 - 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 - 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.
2012-01-03 - 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.
2012-01-03 - 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.
2012-01-01 - 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...
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 - 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.
2011-12-31 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
During 2011 submissions in the elephant database: There was 66 elephants born 2011 in the database, 32 males, 20 females. 49 were born in captivity, 22 males, 17 females. 64 records of elephants deaths in the database during 2011. 105 transfers of elephants during 2011 in the database. In The Elephants News, 359 headlines about Elephants was recorded during 2011.
2011-12-30 - Chitwan, Nepal.
The lucky ellies got their toes painted in Nepal as part of a a three-day, elephant-themed festival. The event, which includes elephant races, elephant soccer and an elephant beauty pageant (!!), is intended to attract positive attention to Nepal, encourage tourism and raise awareness of conservation efforts. You know how many cool nail designs you could fit on those things? Check it out. But what they really raised awareness of (for us, at least) was how awesome it would be to d...
2011-12-30 - JAMSHEDPUR, India.
The birth of two baby elephants has come as a boon for the villagers of Chandil block in Seraikela as it has stopped a marauding herd from wreaking further damage to crop and property in the area. On Wednesday, the wandering elephants razed about a dozen houses and destroyed crops in Kodidhar village.
2011-12-30 - Maputo, Mozambique.
Poachers have killed 77 elephants in a Niassa Game Reserve in northern Mozambique this year, Xinhua reported Thursday. Poachers, reportedly from Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, have also cut trees indiscriminately in the reserve, the local media reported. The provincial authorities have intensified operations to nab the criminals.
2011-12-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Disna MUDALIGE
Work on four elephant conservation sites planned in selected areas to control the human-elephant conflict would be completed within the next year, Wildlife Conservation Department director general H D Ratnayake told the Daily News yesterday. He said that the centre in Veheragala has been completed, while the construction of the three other centres in Horowpathana, Maduru Oya and Galgamuwa will be completed within the next year using the budgetary allocation of Rs 100 million.
2011-12-29 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Upon my return to Cambodia in December, I met Jack Highwood, again, and he invited me to Mondulkiri to spend christmas there, and see the Elephant Valley Project again. It once again strucked me, what a nice place Jack has found for the elephants within the project, and for himself and the project volunteers and guests.
2011-12-29 - Wuppertal, Germany.
Zookeepers in Germany appear to have come up with a novel way of getting reluctant baby elephants to behave. These pictures, which some may find disturbing, show a young man dragging a resistant calf by the trunk to get it on to the weighing scales for a check-up at Wuppertal Zoo in Germany. Uli is one of around 5,000 animals of 500 different species living at the park, who all have to be counted, weighed and measured each year to see if they are developing as they should.
2011-12-29 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
An elephant in a south Devon zoo is recovering well after receiving surgery to remove an eye. Paignton Zoo´s four tonne African elephant Duchess became the first in the UK to undergo the operation. Duchess had been plagued by pain after glaucoma and cataracts had left her virtually blind.
2011-12-29 - Pretoria, South Africa.
SIX AFRICAN elephant conservation projects across the continent are the first to benefit from a new international trust fund set up last year to help protect the giant pachyderms. The selected projects, which have collectively been granted $150 000 (R1.2 million), include investigating regional illegal ivory markets, mitigating local human-elephant conflicts, providing equipment to rangers and strengthening the management of key protected areas.
2011-12-29 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
Half of the wild elephants in Dong Nai Province have been wiped out in recent years, despite steps taken by the Prime Minister to save them. A project that he initiated five years ago to provide them with sanctuary in three "elephant" provinces by the year 2010 failed to get underway in the province.
2011-12-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Elephants in India may be considered an embodiment of Lord Ganesh, but the status of captive jumbos in Kerala is anything but divine. Experts say the lack of proper medical care as well as money-minded owners pose a serious threat to the magnificent beasts. According to 70-year-old veterinarian Jacob Cheeran, of the 14,000 elephants in captivity in the world, around 26 percent are in India.
2011-12-29 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
More elephant tusks were seized in 2011 than in any year since 1989, when the ivory trade was banned, international wildlife trade group Traffic says. The group said elephants have had a "horrible year", with 23 tonnes of ivory seized - representing at least 2,500 dead animals.
2011-12-28 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia.
A couple of years ago I came in contact with Jack Highwood through the Internet, and finally visited him in Cambodia in March 2011. In 2007, Jack Highwood founded the Elephant Valley Project 20 minutes from the Mondulkiri capitol Sen Monorum, which is 5-7 hours bus trip from Phnom Penh.
2011-12-28 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
There is between 400 and 600 wild elephants in Cambodia. There is today around 120 captive elephants in Cambodia. Most of Cambodias captive elephants are privately owned by tribal peoples in eastern Cambodia.
2011-12-28 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
Police in Dong Nai Province said they had found 2 bullet tips in the body of the wild elephant that was killed 5 days ago. One of the tips was buried in the head of the elephant and the other in its right leg, the police said. Six holes similar to bullet-holes were found on the head and hip and two cuts, about 50 cm long each, were also found on the back.
2011-12-28 - Jaipur, India. Akshya Rout
On Sunday , Nanda Lal a Mahot from Uttar Pradesh left the village Trijanga after chained a 50 year old male elephant on the tree . The elephant roared in hunger and due to absence of its Mahot . After knowing this incident, we rushed to the village with veterinary doctors and six forest guards to provide proper food and medicine to the jumbo. A Mahout of a pet elephant left the chained jumbo in village Trijanga under Danagadi block of Jajpur district for two days for which thepanicked villagers ...
2011-12-28 - Los Angeles, United States.
The woman, who has not yet been identified, crossed ditched and climbed fences -- barriers specifically meant to keep people like her out to get into the elephant sanctuary on what was a very busy afternoon at the zoo. The woman walked right up to the animals and even petted some of them while horrified onlookers screamed at her, trying to get her to leave the sanctuary which houses three elephants.
2011-12-27 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
Forest rangers on Friday found the carcass of an elephant in a protected forest in the southern province of Dong Nai, the online newspaper Dan Tri reported. The decaying elephant, which weighed around three tons, was found in the 14,000-hectare Tan Phu Forest in Dinh Quan District.
2011-12-26 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo Inc. is seeking an enthusiastic professional to join our Elephant Team. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of a progressive elephant program. With a new exhibit and barn and continued elephant breeding, the Houston zoo elephant program has become a state of the art program and facility. We recently opened another new Elephant exhibit, tripling the elephant’s usable space.
2011-12-26 - Dallas, United States.
Responsible for the care, husbandry, and training of the African Elephants. Responsible for maintaining all aspects of daily animal husbandry. Responsible for exhibit maintenance and observation. Assists in veterinary procedures and research. Provides environmental enrichment. Actively encourages public interest in elephants through educational presentations, public relations and tours.
2011-12-25 - Mombasa, Kenya.
Kenya seized 727 pieces of ivory in a container destined for Asia, a customs official said, the latest in a wave of ivory hauls in the east African country. Customs agents in the port of Mombasa said the contraband was hidden in bags of plastic chips and showed up in a scan of the container ahead of shipment on Wednesday.
2011-12-24 - London, United Kingdom. 1. John R. Hutchinson1, 2. Cyrille Delmer2, 3. Charlotte E. Miller1, 4. Thomas Hildebrandt3, 5. Andrew A. Pitsillides1, 6. Alan Boyde4
Our survey shows that basal proboscideans were relatively “flat-footed” (plantigrade), whereas early elephantiforms evolved the more derived “tip-toed” (subunguligrade) morphology, including the predigits and fat pad, of extant elephants. Thus, elephants co-opted sesamoid bones into a role as false digits and used them for support as they changed their foot posture.
2011-12-23 - Bentong, Malaysia. M. HAMZAH JAMALUDIN
THE Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) successfully relocated three out of five wild elephants that were captured in Kampung Troh near here, last week. The pachyderms were relocated to an undisclosed location in Taman Negara on Wednesday. Twenty State Perhilitan employees, including those from the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, were involved in the seven-hour relocation process of the two adult females and a year-old calf, which began at 8am.
2011-12-22 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan authorities seized 727 pieces of ivory in a container at the main port of Mombasa in one of the largest hauls of tusks in recent years, officials said Thursday. "We had a suspicion of the contents, and that is why we invited the Kenya Wildlife Service, opened the container and we have elephant tusks," said Kenya Revenue Authority Deputy Commissioner Rose Gachiri.
2011-12-22 - Maun, Botswana. Doug and Sandi Groves
We are looking for a dedicated and experienced person to help with the handling and husbandry of our little herd. If you are interested and qualified please send resume and reference letters. Living With Elephants is dedicated to relieving conflict and competition between the African Elephant and human populations in Botswana.
2011-12-22 - Anchorage, United States.
A man from Pennsylvania who planned to go fossil hunting in Alaska has learned the hard way that bragging about your ill-gotten stash can come back to haunt you. In this case, though, it´s the guide who helped him gain access to Alaska´s prehistoric treasures who´s suffering the consequences. On Dec. 14, a federal grand jury indicted author and outdoor guide Karen Jettmar on charges of conspiracy and removing a paleontological resource from federal land.
2011-12-20 - Winston, United States.
This is a full-time staff position responsible for the daily animal husbandry of a designated department or area. Works independently and in a team environment to apply highest standards of animal care, enrichment and training. Interacts with the public to educate them about the collection and conservation concerns, providing keeper talks and encounters. Works closely with the vet staff to maintain animals’ good health and well-being.
This is a full-time, working supervisory role, coordinating daily operations of the Elephant Section while under general supervision of the General Curator and assisting the General Curator in managing the animal collection of the Elephant Section. Senior Ranger is responsible for supervising keeper staff and regularly performs keeper duties.
2011-12-18 - Chitwan, Nepal.
Chitwan National Park (CNP) has decided not to allow the entry of private-owned tuskers for now after all political parties unanimously opposed the government decision to allow private elephants in CNP. CNP was preparing to allow entry from Monday after the government gave its permission despite serious concerns raised by conservation activists about the negative impact of the movement of private-owned elephants on bio-diversity and animal conservation.
2011-12-17 - Moloundou, Cameroon.
Game rangers and the military in Cameroon have confiscated over 100 kilograms of elephant ivory hidden in a truck transporting cocoa. Authorities say four people have been arrested in the case, including a businessman believed to have arranged for the transportation of the ivory. The seizure was conducted Monday near Lobéké National Park in Southeast Cameroon, close to the country’s borders with Congo and Central African Republic.
2011-12-17 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
A FOUR-tonne elephant suffering from painful vision problems has become the first in Britain to have an eye removed. A team of 15 vets, nurses and animal keepers spent four hours operating on giant 40-year-old Duchess. The African elephant is virtually blind due to cataracts and glaucoma and experts decided the only way to prevent her suffering further was to remove it.
2011-12-17 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Of course noone wants Sambo to suffer anymore, including her owner, Sin Sorn in Phnom Penh. What can be done for Sambo? I want to stress, that she can not be viewed only as an elephant, shes a vicitm of so many pathological issues, that shes in need of intensive medical care. And her feet are in such a bad condition, that they have to be priority over general management issues.
Went to the area opposite the Australian Embassy and met Sin Sorn and Sambo, it looks almost idyllic. When you get close, the picture changes. Numerous abcesses, and she keep the worst foot lifted all the time. Her nails had really been shortened, but the laength of the nails is now a secondary problem, as can be seen here and on close-ups.
2011-12-17 - Hope, United States.
Hope Elephants welcomes the community to its nearly-completed elephant care and rehabilitation facility in Hope on Tuesday, Dec. 27, at 3 p.m. for a behind-the-scenes tour and presentation in advance of the arrival of its first resident elephant, Rosie. Jim Laurita, executive director and curator of Hope Elephants, will give a short tour of the facility, a description of the care Rosie and a second elephant will receive at the facility, and a presentation on Asian elephants, including their habi...
Dr Paolo Martelli, Chief Veterinarian, Ocean Park, Hong Kong: His Conclusion states that she is painfully lame as a result of pododermatitis, osteitis, ostoelysis, deep sepsis and other lesions. Furthermore, if the lameness is not improved drastically it will lead to degeneration of all joints in all limbs.
2011-12-17 - Colombo, United States.
Sri Lanka Department of Forest Conservation says that 200 elephants and 48 men were killed in the human-elephant conflicts this year. Of these elephants, 75 were killed due to gunshot injuries, says the Deputy Director of the Department W.S.K. Navaratne. Another 22 elephants were killed by food traps laid by farmers and hunters. This explosive laden food detonates when the elephant munches it and the animal receives a painful death.
2011-12-17 - Santa Ana, United States.
The Santa Ana Zoo announced Friday that it has ended its 25-year-old elephant ride attraction to comply with changes in animal care and safety guidelines designed to protect zookeepers and trainers from being harmed by the powerful and moody land giants. The decision was based on policy changes adopted in September by the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums, which accredits the Santa Ana Zoo. Santa Ana Zoo was one of the last two zoos in the United States encouraging visitor-elephant interactions.
2011-12-16 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I had already from Internet collected information about the female asian elephant Sambo, which were used daily for tourist rides around the temple Wat Phnom, by her owner, Sin Sorn since 1993. Sin Sorn also claims a romantic story, about him finding her again, after being separated from her during the years of Khmer Rogue.Now I should see her myself.
2011-12-16 - Tiruchi, India.
An elephant, visibly weak and with some injury above it´s hind right leg , which was used for begging alms, was chased away by police personnel at Srirangam on Thursday. Even as the mahout was directing the elephant to stand before each and every shop near the ‘Rajagopuram´, a large number of Iyappa devotees, after worship with folded hands, offered money.
2011-12-16 - Madera County, United States.
The biggest mammal ever to walk North America now lives in a museum in Madera County. On Thursday, the Fossil Discovery Center unveiled its new replica skeleton of a prehistoric giant. Center director Blake Bufford says it took three hours to set up the display of the mammoth that lived right here in the Valley about 10,000 years ago. But if you´re thinking "wooly," you´ve got the wrong mammoth.
2011-12-16 - Sydney, Australia.
Taronga Zoo is looking for a number of permanent Keepers to work in our Elephant free contact program within the Exotic Fauna Precinct. The Elephant Unit currently manages eight Asian Elephants on site at Taronga Zoo. Our ideal candidates will have significant experience working free contact with elephants, possess a detailed knowledge of elephant behaviour and biology and will have good team work, communication and mentoring skills.
2011-12-15 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
An albino elephant has been born by the wild elephant Jemima around the 10th of December 2011, in Amboseli National Park. A rare sight, and probably the first albino elephant born in Amboseli. In 27th of October 2011 a captive white elephant was born in Naypyidaw Zoo (Nay Pyi Taw Zoo) in Burma, most probably the first captive bred one documented.
2011-12-15 - Oklahoma City, United States.
The Oklahoma City Zoo added a bull elephant to its growing herd Tuesday as a male Asian elephant named Rex arrived about noon Tuesday after a 20-hour, 1,300-mile trip from Cambridge, Ontario. Rex was brought to the Oklahoma City Zoo to breed with the two female elephants, Asha and Chandra.
2011-12-15 - Madurai, India.
V Sundararaj, an advocate and environmentalist is seeking to restrain the state government from conducting the elephant rejuvenation camp at Mudumalai, a public interest litigation was filed on Tuesday in the Madurai bench of the Madras high court. The petitioner said that the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve has the highest density of tigers in the country.
2011-12-15 - Chennai, India.
Beginning from Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu government is organising a 48-day-long vacation for temple elephants in the wilderness. As many as 35 pachyderms are heading to a rejuvenation camp in Theppakadu reserve forest along the Moyar river in the Mudumalai hills. From a herbal diet to health screening and treatment for infections, the elephants will get to enjoy a stress-free life in the jungle environs.
2011-12-15 - Tel Aviv, Israel.
Findings from the University of Tel Aviv reveal how important the huge animals were to the diet of early humans - researchers that elephants provided 60 per cent of the meat eaten by Homo erectus. Elephants also had the perfect fat-to-protein ratio for early humans and provided a year-round source of food.
2011-12-15 - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Around Angor Wat and Angkor Thom you can ride elephants on the roads. During the day, elephants await customers near Bayon or at the South Gate of Angkor Thom. In the evenings, elephants are stationed at the base of Phnom Bakheng, ready to transport riders up the hill for sunset.
2011-12-15 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Malaysian authorities have seized a staggering 15 tonnes of elephant ivory in Port Klang, just west of Kuala Lumpur; the sixth and by far the largest major seizure involving Malaysia in recent months, quite possibly the largest ever. If we estimate the tusks of an African elephant weigh 30 kilos each, this haul represents the death of 250 elephants! This ivory seizure is the largest to date in a year that has seen an overwhelming number of seizures.
2011-12-10 - Powell, United States.
The 23-year-old named Hank arrived Thursday at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Plans are to breed him with the zoo´s females, Connie and Phoebe. Zoo Assistant Curator Harry Peachey says Hank has previously sired a calf. The elephant moved from Riddle´s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Arkansas. He was born at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and has also lived at the Bronx Zoo and at Have Trunk Will Travel in California.
2011-12-08 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Jenna O´Grady Donley, 26, a Sydney-based veterinarian, was attacked by the elephant yesterday, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported. The animal was apparently startled by the sounds of a camera´s shutter and flash. Witnesses said that she could not escape in time as the elephant suddenly charged at her while her female companion and guide escaped in the attack at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah.
2011-12-07 - Azle, United States.
The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) is thrilled to announce another major grant to help fund the National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory (NEHL) at the Smithsonian´s National Zoo. Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, Feld Entertainment, Have Trunk Will Travel, the Oregon Zoo, and the Saint Louis Zoo were all major donors to fund IEF´s grant to the NEHL lab through the Smithsonian´s National Zoo.
2011-12-07 - Washington, United States. Alasdair Wilkins
No, we won´t be able to clone a woolly mammoth in the next five yearsA team of Russian and Japanese scientists recently announced that they have discovered pristine DNA samples of woolly mammoths, and they will clone a living mammoth within five years. It´s tremendously exciting...but almost certainly not going to happen. Here´s why.
2011-12-05 - Kampala, Uganda.
Conservationists have raised the red flag over the increase in poaching of elephants in national parks. According to UWA, 33 elephants have been killed at Murchison Falls National Game Park in the last seven years, of which 25 have been killed this year. The numbers of elephants killed in parks since the year began have more than tripled.
2011-12-05 - Tokyo, Japan.
Scientists from Japan´s Kinki University and the Sakha Republic´s mammoth museum have discovered well preserved marrow in a thigh bone discovered in Siberia, buried under the permafrost. The marrow is in such good condition that its cells´ DNA could be used to replace the nuclei of elephant egg cells. Scientists have been trying to clone woolly mammoths for years, but now they´re really close. So close that in five years you may see herds of this gigantic beast—one of t...
2011-12-03 - Giridih, India.
A herd of elephants destroyed at least 35 houses in adjoining villages in Giridih district, rendering the dwellers homeless, the police said today. The animals raided villages under Kudko panchayat last night, trampled a few cattle to death and ate away grains, the sources said, adding angry villagers put up road blockade at Pirtand demanding compensation. The blockade was removed after Deputy Commissioner D P Lakra and DFO Asmita Pankaj went to the spot and announced compensations. The DC assur...
2011-12-03 - Molodova, Ukraine.
The new discovery comes from Molodova, a Ukrainian site first excavated in the 1950s. There, Neandertals erected a mammoth-bone structure thats unlike later mammoth-bone huts, suggesting that the two Homo species developed these practices independently, says study coauthor Stephane Pean, also of France’s National Museum of Natural History.
2011-12-02 - Cincinnati, United States.
Cincinnati’s zoo has received an elephant-size gift from the foundation of the late Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott. She was a major supporter of the zoo and once donated an elephant named Schottzie. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden director Thane Maynard says the $5 million contribution from the Marge and Charles J. Schott Foundation is the zoo’s single biggest gift ever. Marge Schott died in 2004 at age 75.
2011-12-02 - Washington, United States.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals provides aid and comfort for the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The two groups are responsible for more than 600 crimes since 1996, causing (by a very conservative FBI estimate) more than $43 million in damage. ALF’s “press office” brags that in 2002, the two groups committed “100 illegal direct actions” -- like blowing up SUVs, destroying the brakes on seafood delivery trucks, and planting firebombs in re...
2011-12-01 - Vienna, Austria.
This course is organized as a workshop and will be basically in English language but main parts of the presentations and live performances will be provided in English and German. The Workshop is turned specifically to elephant keepers but also veterinarians and curators. The program includes theory - and a lot of practical parts and deals with various topics related to advanced protected contact methods. Beneath preparation for birth, foot care and enrichment there is a special part of the works...
2011-11-30 - , United States.
Lifting equipment manufacturer R&M Materials Handling have been called on to help veterinary specialists in North Carolina lift a very unusual load, a 6.5USt partially-sighted elephant. A team of vets from North Carolina State University of Veterinary Medicine decided an operation to save the elephant’s eyesight was necessary, but the sedated C’sar had to be lifted into a suitable position to perform the procedure.
2011-11-30 - St. Louis, United States.
A documentary starring Flora debutes nationwide December 1st on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Circus Flora´s David Balding discusses the film, "One Lucky Elephant." Flora, the African elephant was the star of Circus Flora until she retired from the big top in 2000. Flora was moved to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. That´s where this story really begins: A documentary starring Flora debutes nationwide December 1st on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Circus Flora´s David...
2011-11-30 - Coimbatore, India.
The orphaned elephant calf which was rescued from jungles on Sunday is finding its transit home, the Erode forest office, quite comfortable and responding well to treatment. The two-month-old male calf strayed from its herd and was found stranded near a pond in Chennampatti village in Anthiyur block on Sunday morning. Forest officials tried to reunite the calf with its mother. The officials took it to the forests and left him to the care of a herd. But the calf returned to the pond as the herd r...
2011-11-29 - Xayabouri, Laos. Tracy Brookshaw, ElefantAsia
Having reported Laos’ first registered elephant birth of 2011 in Ban Viengkeo, Hongsa late September, ElefantAsia proudly announces the birth of a second baby elephant born in Sayaboury just last week. Born to mother Mae Thongkhoun under the supervision of ECC staff, this new baby elephant, a male, will share the same name ‘Noy’ meaning small with the other calves at the Center until the age of two or three when during an official animist ceremony he will chose his own name through the sel...
2011-11-29 - ALAPPUZHA, India.
District collector Saurabh Jain on Monday issued stringent guidelines under the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules 2003 to prevent cruelty against elephants in the wake of the commencement of the festival season. If rules are flouted, action would be taken against the officers concerned, temple authorities, elephant owners and mahouts, he warned.
2011-11-29 - Polk City, United States.
The USDA on Monday announced a $270,000 fine against the company that owns Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus and an elephant breeding facility in Polk County over its treatment and housing of animals. The United States Department of Agriculture reached an agreement with Feld Entertainment Inc. in which the company would be penalized for violating portions of the Animal Welfare Act between June 2007 and August 2011.
2011-11-28 - Jaipur, India.
One of its many popular tourist spots is the Amer fort that was constructed in the 16thcentury by Rajput King Man Singh. Located nearby is the village of Amer after which the Amer fort is named. But another thing, which makes the village special today are the number of elephants it houses. About 110 elephants are taken care of here by the mahouts or elephant riders of the village.
2011-11-27 - Hunsur, India.
A 25-year-old elephant was found dead with a bullet injury on its back near the Nagapura Tribal Rehabilitation Centre’s VI block on the fringes of Nagarahole National Park on Saturday. The pachyderm was pregnant. This is the 75th jumbo death in the Hunsur sub-division in the last one-and-half-year, according to Doddahejjur Gram Panchayat former
2011-11-27 - Bladensburg, United States. John Kelly
After last week’s column on George’s Pet Shop, Answer Man had mentioned that an elephant from George’s was sold to Jett’s Petting Zoo. Dan Koehl noticed that Jett’s sold an elephant to the Tucson zoo. Could it be the same elephant? Maybe.
2011-11-27 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan authorities have seized a container loaded with 87 elephant tusks and disguised as soapstone carvings destined for Hong Kong, a customs official said. The 20-foot container was impounded at a depot in Nairobi. As it was being inspected for clearance for shipment, officials scanning its contents became suspicious.
2011-11-26 - Bladensburg, United States. John Kelly
As for elephants, George actually owned two over the years, baby Asian elephants that he purchased to rent out for political rallies, although a 1966 story in The Post said George was willing to part with his 4-month-old elephant from Thailand, for $5,000 to $6,000. One of the elephants was eventually sold to a traveling petting zoo called Jet’s. One was rented to a Republican convention where, Georgette said, it caught a cold. “Exotic animals are very, very frail,” she said. “It develop...
2011-11-26 - Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Amateur documentary footage filmed by Gyles Mackrell, a British man who rescued hundreds of people during the Second World War using a herd of elephants has been published by Cambridge University.
Mackrell, a 53-year-old tea exporter in the Indian province of Assam, hurried the convoy of about 20 elephants and their handlers to the river – a journey of more than 100 miles through jungle, braving leeches – in less than a week and waded across the river to rescue troops in danger of starvation, capture or drowning.
2011-11-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Holding grounds will be the most effective way to address the problem, he said. President Rajapaksa has approved building four elephant holding grounds in Lunugamwehera, Horowpathana, Maduru Oya and Palukadawa Galgamuwa areas where wildlife and people overlap as a means to reduce the conflict. President has allocated Rs 400 million for Wildlife and Agrarian Ministry to carry out these projects.
2011-11-25 - Wankie, Zimbabwe.
Near the waterhole alone, four calves elephants lie dead, while scores of other elephants continue with their struggle to drink, each concentrating on his or her own survival. Close to the drinking hole, a mother elephant battles to resuscitate its dying calf. It uses its foreleg to try and make the baby stand on its feet again but the baby collapses to the ground, headlong.
2011-11-25 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
Myanmar said it was holding a welcoming ceremony in the capital on Sunday for two white elephants, a five-year-old male from western Rakhine state, while the second was a female aged 15 found in the Irrawaddy region, west of Yangon, another official said.considered symbols of good luck -- after a landmark week for the Army-dominated nation. The recent capture of the pale pachyderms brings the number being held by the government to an auspicious seven, according to an official in the capital Nayp...
2011-11-25 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
An elephant at a Devon zoo is to undergo an operation to remove an eye. Duchess, a 40-year-old African elephant at Paignton zoo has been treated for cataracts in both eyes and glaucoma in her right eye. Paignton zoo said the two conditions meant her eye-sight was "greatly reduced" and she had no sight in her right eye, which was causing her pain.
2011-11-25 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Approximately 200 elephants have died of thirst in Zimbabwe´s Hwange National Park due to searing heat and chronic water shortages, a local conservationist said Thursday. Zimbabwe, which, as a southern hemisphere nation, is currently in the middle of summer, has been experiencing record-high temperatures since October.
2011-11-25 - Toronto, Canada.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA) are threatening to pull Toronto Zoo’s accreditation over the city´s decision to transfer three of its elephants to a sanctuary in California. Toronto city council voted 31-4 on Oct. 25 to transfer the elephants from the zoo to the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in San Andreas. The climate at the new location would be much more suitable for these large land mammals. AZA and CAZA...
2011-11-25 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
A 50-year-old British man has dragged a piano up a mountain in Thailand - so he could play Beethoven for blind elephants. Paul Barton achieved a long-held ambition as he sat behind his piano, just a few metres away for the graceful giants, calmly playing his instrument. He decided to do the challenge to help fund raising for the blind elephants, which live in a sanctuary on the mountains of Kanchanaburi, north-east of Bangkok.
2011-11-25 - Tuli, Zimbabwe.
Ling Dobson told the Cape Times that her husband Mike, 67, had been killed at the weekend, in a "once-in-a-lifetime freak accident" on a private game farm belonging to close friends on the Shashe River in the Thuli block region in Northern Botswana. Botswana police confirmed that he had been gored by an elephant tusk "with great force".
2011-11-25 - Daytona Beach, United States. Tom Johnson
"They say it´s a mastodon," said Leroy McDuffie. "I live right here on the corner and I´ve been watching them dig the project, and all of a sudden it came to a screeching halt." Archaeologists have already recovered some teeth and at least one tusk. "The tusks on that thing must´ve been massive," said McDuffie. "It had to be at least five foot long!" The historic find was sitting just 8 to 10 feet underground a block from McDuffie´s house.
2011-11-23 - Ban Ta Klang, Thailand. Dan Koehl
Mew Salangam, was born 1926 in the village of Ban Ta Klang. Altogether he has caught 50-60 elephants, the last catch was about 1970, 40 years ago. Now 85 years, he is one of the five oldest Mor Chang (highranked elephant trainers) of Kui tribe, having the rank Sadam. His father had 5 elephants, which he started to work with, when he was 10 years old. After his fathers death, being the only son, he inherited those elephants, and caught another 5 for himself. His last two elephants were passed to ...
2011-11-23 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
The Chinese Buddha sacred tooth relic, after being placed in Nay Pyi Taw for 16-day public obeisance, was conveyed to Yangon´s Maha Pasana Cave in Kaba Aye Pagoda Tuesday for continued public obeisance by Yangon residents. Nearly 50,000 people filled the two sides of the 7-kilometer motor road leading from the airport to the Kaba Aye Pagoda in greeting the tooth relic.
2011-11-21 - Surin, Thailand. Dan Koehl
King Naresuan´s elephant is now standing out on the stadium field, prepared to battle. The black color also has a reason; Naresuan (then known as Prince Naret) was also known as the Black Prince (Thai: พระà¸à¸‡à¸„์ดำ). His younger brother Ekathotsarot was known as the White Prince, and his elder sister Suphankanlaya was known as the Golden Princess.
2011-11-17 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Dan Koehl
What started with a 100 year old picture of 12 Chipperfield elephants in Clonmel railway station, Tipperary, during tour in Ireland in 1952, has developed into an ambitious effort to research all their elephants from 1947.Inspired by this story about about travels, I pack my trunk and leave with air to Bangkok, for a five months journey in Asia, soon comes here pictures and reports from the elephant roundup in Surin!
2011-11-16 - Hong Kong, China.
Hong Kong Customs officials Monday smashed a smuggling case and seized 33 rhino horns, 758 ivory chopsticks and 127 ivory bracelets with a total value of about US$17.4 million. The contraband ivory and rhino horns were hidden inside a container shipped to Hong Kong from South Africa. Acting on a risk assessment, Customs officers selected a container for inspection that was declared to contain 63 packages of "scrap plastic" from a vessel arriving from Cape Town, South Africa.
2011-11-15 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
The Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Elephant Kraal or Wangchang Ayutthaya corral, a major tourist attraction in the central province of Ayutthaya, will reopen Nov 15 as the severe flooding has eased, according to owner Laithongrien Meepan.
2011-11-14 - Rochester, United States.
On Sept. 15, 1885, at St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, Jumbo and a tiny clown elephant named "Tom Thumb" were being led along a railroad track when an unscheduled freight train appeared. Jumbo charged at the train and was killed in the ensuing collision. Barnum immediately summoned the best man in America to salvage something from the debacle – Henry A. Ward of Rochester.
2011-11-14 - BARIPADA, India.
A huge herd of elephants sneaked into Khuntapal village in Mayurbhanj´s Rasgovindpur block at about 8 pm on Saturday, triggering panic among people. Before entering into Khuntapal, the herd prowled through Bhuraidihi and Kukudajodi villages of the block, giving forest officers sleepless nights.
2011-11-14 - Hamburg, Germany.
The curriculum will cover the majority aspects of elephant management and elephant care, from husbandry and health care, to transport, training, reproduction and conservation.
2011-11-13 - Thrissur , India.
He was inaugurating the 4th State Conference of Kerala Elephant Owners Federation at Town Hall yesterday. Ganesh Kumar also announced the merger of Kerala Elephant Owners Association with Kerala Elephant Owners Federation.
2011-11-13 - Bangalore, India.
The forest department is all set to capture and relocate at least 30 elephants in December in Hassan district. While they await the central government´s permission for it, the forest department has begun preparations for one of the massive elephant captures of the country.
2011-11-13 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
IT HAS been more than two months since the Royal Malaysian Customs announced there had been three massive seizures of African elephant tusks or ivory at the ports of Pasir Gudang, Penang and Port Klang. In total, 1764 tusks were seized. Has the ivory been auctioned as suggested by some parties, and if it is to be, where is the public announcement?
2011-11-13 - New Delhi, India.
This elephant tumbled into a hole while walking in a tea plantation in India, according to the video. The animal struggles to get off its back to no avail, as a crowd gathers and attempts to help. In what appears to be a last-ditch effort, some locals bring in an excavator to dig out the elephant and give it a few friendly pushes.
2011-11-13 - New York, United States.
The bill, introduced this month in the House of Representatives by Virginia Congressman Jim Moran, aims directly at travelling circuses by seeking to outlaw exotic or wild animals from performances if they have been traveling within the previous 15 days.
2011-11-13 - KOZHIKODE, India.
A 65-year-old man was injured when a wild elephant ran amok at a retreat centre at Kulathuvayal, near Chakkittapara in the district on Saturday morning. The tusker came from Mukkavala forest region and entered the centre by destructing the compound wall.
2011-11-13 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
One is dead and will more follow, for three elephants have been mowed down by the Colombo Fort-Omanthai mail train at the 97.5 milepost between Galgamuwa and Ambanpola at about 3 a.m. last Tuesday. Ironically this is not the first but the third time that elephants have been knocked down at the same location. It was in June this year that three gentle giants died an agonising death after being hit by a special train carrying Poson pilgrims. A few years prior to that another three were killed prac...
2011-11-12 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
President Robert Mugabe has donated three elephants to China in appreciation for that country’s assistance to his wife’s orphanage project. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force says it does not know where the elephants came from and is concerned that they may not survive the long, traumatic journey to China.
2011-11-11 - Mfuwe, Zambia. Dominique van Heerden
Most conservationists would agree that you should not interfere with mother nature. But there are exceptions to every rule. Staff and tourists at Kapani Safari Lodge in Zambia were caught by surprise when a mother and baby elephant became trapped in mud. Saying they couldn´t just "stand by and watch them slowly die," what ensued was a dramatic rescue.
2011-11-11 - Mumbai, India.
Kerala’s famous Thrissur Pooram festival will be replicated in the city from November 11 to 13 at the KDMC stadium in Dombivili. Complete with gold caparisoned elephants, colour, dance and fireworks, the festival will aim to increase cultural exchange between the two states.
2011-11-10 - Kinshasa, Congo.
In some of the best-documented cases to date, the study shows the elephant population in the Okapi Faunal Reserve – one of the last strongholds of forest elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – saw a 50 per cent decline in the last decade due to civil war and ivory poaching, from 6,439 to 3,288. In other parks in eastern DRC, the decimation was even greater.
2011-11-10 - Syracuse, United States.
Three of the Syracuse zoo´s elephants are finally back home after spending the past five years at a safari park in Canada. Ted Fox, director of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, says Mali and her 3-year-old son Chuck arrived at the zoo Tuesday afternoon, followed the next day by Targa. The pachyderms were carried from Cambridge, Ontario in tractor-trailer trucks specially designed to haul elephants.
2011-11-10 - London, United Kingdom.
Husband and wife Bobby and Moira Roberts have been charged with causing unnecessary suffering to Anne the circus elephant. The Crown Prosecution Service said it had taken over the prosecution of the couple, who run the Bobby Roberts Super Circus, from Animal Defenders International (ADI) "given the public concern over the case". An undercover team from the animal welfare organisation filmed Anne being hit with a metal pitchfork, kicked in the face and body and shackled with heavy chains earlier ...
2011-11-10 - Mong Cai, Vietnam.
Weighing more than a tonne and hidden inside bundles of cloth, more than a tonne of ivory has been confiscated from a river boat near the city of Mong Cai, close to the country´s border with China. Vietnamese officials say that scientific analysis confirms that all 211 items seized during the raid last month were, as suspected, African elephant ivory.
2011-11-10 - Singapore, Singapore.
In January, Sotheby’s will auction off the statues and donate part of the proceeds to the Asian Elephant Foundation and the conservation fund of the Wildlife Reserves Singapore. The funds will pay for elephant hospitals and land for elephants to roam in the wild.
2011-11-10 - COLORADO SPRINGS, United States.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo´s ´Encounter Africa´ project took another step Wednesday morning when crews demolished the old elephant barn to make room for the new exhibit. Elephant keepers got the first swings in with sledgehammers, then gave way to a wrecking ball, which made quick work of the vacant barn.
2011-11-09 - Snowmass, United States.
The site was uncovered on 14 October 2010, when a bulldozer ran into a number of mammoth bones at Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass, Colorado. Palaeontologists were called out, including Kirk Johnson of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and found the nearly complete skeleton of a Pleistocene mammoth (Mammuthus columbi).
2011-11-09 - San Diego, United States.
After hearing three hours of passionate disagreement about how to treat elephants, the governing board of the San Diego County Fair rejected a request Tuesday from two high-profile animal-rights groups to cut ties with a company that brings elephants to the fair for children to ride. But board members voted 4 to 3 to revisit the issue in 2014 when new restrictive rules from the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums about elephants become effective. The new rules do not have the force of law, but the asso...
2011-11-09 - Denver, United States. Electa Draper
The two-year din of construction behind screened fences at Denver Zoo is being replaced by the pitter-patter of enormous feet — elephant, rhino and tapir. The almost-completed $50 million Asian Tropics exhibit is the zoo´s bid for greatness. Everything about the 10-acre exhibit — which must remain under wraps until late spring, when animal relocations, quarantines and training all will have run their courses — is meant to be a gee-whiz, eye-opening experience. And not just for the hu...
2011-11-08 - Burdwan, India.
An elephant twice flung a seven-year-old boy to the ground and trampled him to death in front of his parents, shortly after the child had a fun ride on its back here this afternoon. Vivek Sahani had just placed a ten-rupee note in the hollow of 30-year-old Anarkali’s trunk when the unexplained attack came.
2011-11-07 - Toronto, Canada.
Back on May 12th a decision was made by the Toronto Zoo Board of Management to send the zoo´s three Elephants to another accredited facility. On Oct 25th this decision was overturned in a surprise last minute motion by a Toronto City Councilor. Please sign this petition to help us urge Toronto City Council to change this motion to allow the elephant experts at the Toronto Zoo to research and decide which facility is best for these elephants taking all of their physical and psychological ne...
2011-11-06 - Xishuangbanna Dai, China.
Local police confirmed the death of Cao Xiaoer, a resident of Xinshan village in the prefecture, was caused by a wild elephant, said a statement issued by the prefecture government´s information office. Since 1991, wild elephants in Xishuangbanna have attacked more than 140 people and destroyed 50,000 tonnes of grain, local forestry authorities said one year ago.
2011-11-05 - London, United Kingdom.
Amongst the objects on show will be a rare and important Anglo-Indian writing cum dressing table from Raynham Hall, Norfolk. Vizagapatam ivory inlaid furniture from the late 17th and first half of the 18th century was the exclusive preserve of senior representatives of the East India Company and wealthy British patrons enamoured of exotic Anglo- Indian design.
2011-11-05 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
In a chilling reminder of last year’s elephant poaching spree in Similipal, three elephants were found dead in Ektalia forests under Karanjia forest division on Friday. Besides a male and a female, carcass of a calf was found. The tusk of the male elephant was missing fuelling fears of poisoning, as is suspected by the wildlife officials too. “A forensic officer will proceed to the spot on Saturday morning to collect evidence,” said Field Director Anup Kumar Nayak.
2011-11-05 - PHNOM TAMAO, Cambodia.
"I really thought he would never make it," said Nick Marx, stroking Chhouk´s trunk with a sense of pride and affection. "He was seriously injured. He was extremely young, emaciated and very, very sick." Chhouk, a bull elephant now 5 years old, was found in the Cambodian jungle in 2007, alone and close to death, his left front foot mangled by a poacher´s trap.
2011-11-04 - Niassa, Mozambique.
So far this year, poachers have killed at least 52 elephants in the Niassa Reserve, in the far north of Mozambique, according to a report in Wednesday’s issue of the Beira daily paper “Diario de Mocambique”. Last year, the poachers, many of whom have crossed the border from Tanzania, killed 72 elephants in the reserve. Usually, the poachers hack off the tusks, and leave the elephants’ bodies to rot in the bush.
2011-11-04 - Trivandrum, India.
The wild elephant population in the Kerala forests has remained stable and healthy between 2007 and 2010, according the 2010 wild elephant census results received by the Forest Department this week. The 2010 census, according to what is called ‘block count method’ of enumeration, puts the number of wild elephants in the State’s wildlife sanctuaries and protected areas at 3,520. The same method of enumeration in the previous census conducted in 2007 had put the number at 3002.
2011-11-04 - Denver, United States.
The arrival Thursday afternoon of a 7-year-old male elephant named Bodhi marked a new chapter for the Denver Zoo, where staffers excitedly welcomed the first of the bull elephants for which it built the $50 million Asian Tropics exhibit. Bodhi, pronounced BOH-dee, traveled by truck with an elephant manager, veterinarian and head animal keeper from the Columbus Zoo in Ohio to his new home — which is nearly completed and slated for a public opening in the late spring.
2011-11-04 - Sabi Sabi Game Reserve, South Africa. Boyd Matson
Showing off for the girls, pushing and shoving, picking fights, refusing to listen to their mothers, I could be describing teenage boys, but in this case I’m talking teenage male elephants. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference in their behavior, and the similarities were on display when I was at the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve in South Africa. In the young male groups one minute they would be eating and the next they were butting heads and crossing tusks.
2011-11-04 - Honolulu, United States. Nina Wu
Sometime this month, Honolulu Zoo elephants Mari and Vaigai will take a short stroll to their newly expanded home that is 17 times larger than their old enclosure. The new $12 million elephant exhibit, measuring 1.4 acres, features an open dirt space, tall concrete planters, shady coves and two 55,000-gallon waterfall pools with overlooking viewing areas. It is skirted by a walkway leading from the gharial display to the African Savanna section, and is surrounded by an electrified...
2011-11-04 - Bedford, United States.
Trimble County High School recently received a special donation that was at least 8,000 years in the making - a mastodon tusk. Trimble County Superintendent Marcia Dunaway delivered the tusk to TCHS biology teacher Debby Griffin about three weeks ago. It was donated by Rick Leach, the plant manager of Nugent Sand Co. in Milton, who found it while digging in one of the company´s pits.
2011-11-02 - Toronto, Canada.
CUPE 1600, representing workers at the Toronto Zoo, can no longer remain silent on the issue of transferring the zoo’s three aged elephants to a private sanctuary in California. “What the council did was an ‘end run’ around the duly constituted Toronto Zoo Board of Management, who, to their credit, were doing due diligence to find the best possible place for our beloved animals,” said Grant Ankenman, president of CUPE local 1600.
2011-11-02 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
About 300 rampaging elephants have invaded three villages in Sedeko ward in Serengeti district, northern Tanzania, and destroyed over 200 hectares of farmland and killed one person. "Until now the elephants are in the farms and they are grazing on crops like cows. Over 200 hectares have already been destroyed in Mbirikiri, Isarara and Bonchugu villages," Sedeko Ward Councilor, Richard Nyakera was quoted by Dailynews as saying. The stray elephants have also blocked thousands of villagers in the a...
2011-11-02 - Philadelphia, United States.
The Philadelphia Zoo announced yesterday that Kallie, an elephant that was moved to the Pittsburgh Zoo´s International Conservation Center in 2009 - along with Bette, another African elephant - was moved again yesterday, this time to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
2011-11-02 - Chitwan, Nepal.
A group of wild elephants has dismantled two houses at Ayodhyapuri VDC of Madi in Chitwan. The wild tuskers entering from the Chitwan National Park area broke down the houses of Bhim Prasad Neupane and Nawaraj Goudel of Ayodhyapuri-3 last night. Losses incurred due to the breakdown of houses by elephants is estimated at around Rs. 100,000, informed Chitwan District Police Office.
2011-11-01 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Luxury items made of elephant ivory and turtle shell have been seized in Auckland as part of an international-sting on smugglers. Wildlife enforcement officers confiscated 25 wildlife items from an Auckland address on Monday night. Forensic tests will be carried out to confirm the pieces including three carved tusks, six statues and a fan - were made from endangered elephant tusk and turtle shell
2011-11-01 - Cleveland, United States.
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo´s elephant herd just grew to six with the arrival of Kallie from the International Conservation Center near Pittsburgh. When her quarantine is over in about a week, she will find three familiar faces: Willy, the bull of the herd, and females Martika and Shenga.
2011-11-01 - Mbombela, South Africa.
The tusk of one of the Kruger National Park´s oldest elephants, Duke, who died in October, seems set to break environmental records, according to a report on Tuesday. The elephant´s left tusk was the longest ever measured in the KNP, reported Beeld newspape. It was 3.21m long, while the right tusk was 2.93m long. Together, the tusks weighed 140.5kg.
2011-11-01 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
A group of elephants is facing a second month cut off by floods in this submerged Thai city, stranded on a small concrete island at an animal shelter just a few yards (meters) wide. The group of 17 includes seven pachyderms under 4 years old who were too small to flee when the rest of their nearly 90-strong herd escaped approaching floodwaters that engulfed this historic city north of Bangkok more than a month ago.
2011-10-31 - Seattle, United States.
For years, scientists dismissed Carl Gustafson´s claims that a pierced mastodon bone found in Sequim in 1977 was evidence that humans were hunting large mammals in North America 13,800 years ago. For almost 35 years, his find was ridiculed or ignored, the site dismissed as curious but not significant. New tests now show he was right.
2011-10-31 - Mysore, India.
If you missed the elephants´s procession during Dasara celebrations in Mysore, here´s another chance. The festival of elephants is being organized on Monday at Dubare elephant camp in Kodagu district where elephants and their masters will amuse the public.
2011-10-31 - KINABATANGAN, Malaysia.
Three more Bornean elephants in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (LKWS) in Sabah have joined two others being tracked from space after they were fitted with a satellite collars last week. The collars will help experts track the animals which have been penned into smaller areas over the last several years by uncontrolled plantation activities that have encroached into their habitat.
2011-10-31 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is seeking experienced elephant keepers who would be interested in joining a progressive elephant management team, utilizing both free and protected contact. The successful candidate´s primary assignment will be at the Zoo’s International Conservation Center just outside of Berlin, Pa., about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh.
2011-10-31 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Unplanned human settlement and cultivation on elephant habitat is causing a human-elephant conflict in Bangladesh. The result each year is around 32 human and four elephant deaths, said experts yesterday. Many more are injured and the damage to crops amounts to Tk 3 crore in the country´s north-eastern and south-eastern regions, they said.
2011-10-31 - Kunming, China.
China and Laos have signed an agreement to jointly build another cross-border nature reserve in order to better protect the endangered Asian elephant, reports Xinhua news agency quoting local authorities as saying. The second reserve will cover 20,000 hectares of forest in China and stretch across 35,000 hectares in Laos, according to the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve Administration.
2011-10-30 - London, United Kingdom.
Million Dollar Dandy brand revealed today a pair of unique, ornamented elephants worth $9 million that were manufactured more than 100 years ago. Standing seven feet high, they were crafted by the Minton factory in Staffordshire, England, for The Great 1889 Exhibition in Paris and to celebrate the opening of the Eiffel tower, these unique pieces are currently on offer by David Frosdick, founder of www.milliondollardandy.com, with a price tag of approximately over $9,000,000.
2011-10-29 - Perth, Australia.
Perth Zoo currently has a fixed term vacancy up to 7 December 2013 as a Keeper within our Elephant Section. The Keeper’s role involves providing the highest possible levels of welfare, husbandry, species management, conservation research and enrichment for the group of elephants in our care.
2011-10-28 - Bangalore, India.
A three-month-old baby elephant, rescued from Kollegal Forest Division was brought to Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) on Thursday. The baby elephant is very weak, tender and suffering from malnutrition. It has been put into intensive care and is being closely monitored. With an addition of one more elephant, the total number of elephants in the BBP has gone up to 14, said R Raju, Executive Director, BBP.
2011-10-26 - Toronto, Canada.
A senior elephant keeper at the Toronto Zoo is “begging” city council to reconsider its decision to send its three aging pachyderms to an 80-acre sanctuary in California. In an unexpected, and unusual move, city council voted late Tuesday to seize control of the fate of Toka, Thika and Iringa away from the Zoo board, which had decided earlier this year to place the animals in a facility accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
2011-10-26 - , Canada.
The Toronto Zoo’s three aging elephants should be moved to a California sanctuary, city council decided late Tuesday. The elephants would be able to live out their days there, said Councillor Michelle Berardinetti, whose motion to move the elephants was approved in a 31-4 vote. Berardinetti said councillors could be assured the elephants would not be moved again but would stay in the spacious facility, which includes an elephant sized whirlpool to treat arthritis.
2011-10-26 - Pattaya, Thailand.
Residents help ´Phungbunma´, female elephant that had fallen in the eucalyptus jungle and could not get up on her own, she is a tour elephant that the mahout had tied from being ill in an area vegetated with Eucalyptus not far from the Maaprachan reservoir.
2011-10-25 - SYRACUSE, United States.
Anyone who has tried to get their pet across an international border knows that it can be difficult. Try getting three elephants across the border. That´s what officials at Syracuse´s Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park are attempting to do five years after sending two pachyderms to a safari park outside Toronto because the upstate zoo was getting crowded. While at the Ontario zoo, one of the elephants gave birth.
2011-10-24 - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
A 70-year-old elephant died last Tuesday due to hunger and cold weather while it was on the way to perform circus in the central province of Quang Nam. The body of the 4-ton elephant has been destroyed and the place where it died has been sterilized, said Nguyen Van Ngu, chairman of People’s Committee of Thang Binh District. The elephant, named Ho Nun, came from the Don village in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak and was hired by the animal circus troupe Hoang Nam.
2011-10-23 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Vietnamese authorities say they have uncovered more than a ton of elephant tusks that smugglers were attempting to illegally take to China. Customs official Ly Tran Tuan says the 221 pieces of tusks were discovered Sunday hidden in rolls of fabric that were being transported on a boat on the Ka Long river bordering the two countries.
2011-10-20 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
After a 700 day pregnancy, the newest addition to ZSL Whipsnade Zoo’s Asian elephant herd was born at 12:15am this Tuesday. Despite this, the new calf (who has yet to be named) is also the smallest elephant ever born at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo weighing in at just 104kg, around 16 stone, at birth. At first keepers were not sure whether he would be able to reach his mother’s milk but he quickly learnt to get on his tip-toes and has had no problem feeding.
2011-10-20 - Washington, United States.
Other scientists scoffed when Carl Gustafson claimed that Stone Age people were hunting mastodons 14,000 years ago in the Northwest, a millennium before the appearance of the Clovis-style stone tools widely regarded as the signature of the first Americans. Gustafson found mastodon remains including a rib with a foreign piece of bone embedded in it near Sequim, Wash., in 1977. He concluded it was a weapon carved from bone or antler and hurled at the tip of a spear.
2011-10-12 - Jacksonville, United States.
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is currently seeking a qualified candidate for the position of full time Mammal Keeper with responsibilities focused on the daily management and care of 1.3 African elephants. Desired skills include, but are not limited to, animal husbandry, operant conditioning, environmental enrichment, exhibit maintenance and minor repair. Candidates must possess solid observational and record keeping skills, an excellent safety record, a strong work history, and the ability t...
2011-10-12 - Houston, United States.
An elephant exhibit sets great zoos apart from the ordinary. That is why the Houston zoo is proud to announce the latest improvement to the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat. The end result of two years of planning and construction, the latest addition represents a six-fold expansion of the Habitat since the opening of the 7,000 square foot elephant barn and improved viewing areas in June 2008. The new addition adds 1.5 acres to the elephant’s outside habitats.
2011-10-10 - Washington, United States.
The 36-year-old actor announced yesterday that he´s leading a new initiative, Elephants, Never Forget, to focus on the crisis that elephants face. "The ivory trade fuels conflict and strife," DiCaprio said. "Elephants are killed by poachers so their tusks can be traded for weapons and drugs by international criminal organizations before becoming trinkets and jewelry for consumers. Authorities in 85 countries have seized almost 400 tons of ivory on the black market since the 1989 ivory trad...
2011-10-10 - Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The Rotterdam Zoo in association with the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) would like to invite you to participate in the 2011 Elephant and Rhino Research and Conservation Symposium scheduled for October 10-14, 2011 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This year IEF welcomes to the elephant symposium our colleagues working with all species of rhinos, both in human care and in the wild. Elephants and rhinos face similar problems in the wild (habitat loss and poaching), and many animal managers, ...
2011-10-06 - Memphis, United States.
The Memphis Zoo has an opening for a Keeper in our Elephant area. This position requires a minimum of two years of experience in pachyderm care, including knowledge of training concepts and philosophies needed to work with pachyderms and a varied collection of hooved animals and birds, and a college degree in zoology, biology or a related field (or the equivalent combination of education and experience). Significant experience with operant conditioning is required.
2011-10-04 - Hohenwald, United States.
Provides day-to-day care for elephants and endorses, practices and promotes the Protected Contact system of elephant management supervised by the Lead Caregiver.
2011-10-04 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
With the death of a large number of tame elephants recently concerns have risen regarding the threat of extinction in the absence of measures to safeguard the animals. Dan Nang Long, an elephant keeper from Central Highland Dak Lak Province, had one of his elephants killed and three others injured in a poaching attack. Long said that while he had reported the incident to local police, very little existed in terms of concrete evidence in confirming the crime.
2011-10-01 - Ha Noi, Vietnam.
Vietnamese police have seized more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of ivory believed smuggled from abroad, state-controlled media reported on Friday. Officers arrested three Vietnamese transporting the banned cargo on Thursday in a van through the north-central province of Nghe An, the reports said. Pictures of the haul showed more than two dozen tusks.
2011-10-01 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Escalating land invasions in Zimbabwe are taking their toll on the country’s already decimated wildlife and a herd of 70 elephants on the Chiredzi River Conservancy (CRC) in the south eastern lowveld, close to Gona re Zhou National Park, is under serious threat. The nucleus of this remarkable herd originated from Gona re Zhou, (place of the elephant) National Park’s conservation programme initiated in 1991/2 when there was an exceptionally severe drought in the lowveld and their elephants we...
2011-09-30 - Ha Noi, Vietnam.
A recently released postcard book titled Nhung Nguoi Ban Lon (The Giant Friends) features 51 elephants that work with families living in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Dac Lac. A photograph, biography and the characteristics of each elephant cover a double page colour spread, along with the slogan: "Don´t let elephants become a memory".
2011-09-30 - Pattaya, Thailand.
Thailand’s most-famous living elephant nearly went to the big pachyderm park in the sky after a veterinarian’s injection prompted a stagger and fall into a muddy pool at the Pattaya Floating Market. Somrak, whose handler claims is a record-shattering 115 years old, was rescued by staff and residents near the market’s elephant camp Sept. 21.
2011-09-30 - Rochester, NY, United States.
The 32nd Annual Elephant Manager’s Association Conference hosted by the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, NY, could very well be one of the most important to date. In today’s internet age, elephant management is now a global effort, and this conference will feature presentations on elephant conservation and management partnerships and collaborations in the US and worldwide.
2011-09-29 - Xayabouri, Laos. Ingrid Suter
ElefantAsia has collaborated with the Elephant Conservation Centre to establish Laos’ first elephant breeding sanctuary. The Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) focuses on providing cows with a safe environment to give birth, when their calves while supplying an income for their owners through soft tourism. The ECC hosts a specialised elephant hospital and laboratory, run by ElefantAsia. This much-needed hospital is capable of detailed blood analysis and the provision of full-time care for sick...
2011-09-29 - Coimbatore, India. V. S. Palaniappan
The officials of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Wednesday conducted the second phase of morphometric measurement exercise for four of the 20 camp elephants. The ATR has an elephant camp at Kozhikamudhi near Top Slip. Camp elephants are subjected to morphometric measurement exercise every year to assess their health condition and to gauge the efficacy of the camp elephant management strategies.
2011-09-29 - Jorhat, India.
A person from the Lakhmijan area near Bokakhat forest beat office in Golaghat district was killed in an elephant attack on Wednesday while a herd of wild elephants killed a man on Tuesday night at Bubrighat Tea Estate under Patharkandi block in Karimganj district. Locals said a herd of wild elephant came out from the nearby Karbi Hills damaged the house of Kanchan Sinha, the deceased person and attacked him. However, the other members of his family managed to escape.
2011-09-28 - Yala, Sri Lanka.
Several villagers including Minipuragama, Buruthagola, Helagama and Pahalagama are facing the threat of wild elephants and people in more than 1000 families are living in constant fear. They pointed out that a herd of about 30 wild elephants from the Yala National Park roam into the villages at dusk and destroy home garden crops, chena cultivations, paddy fields and chase after people.
2011-09-27 - Raipur, India.
After giving sleepless nights for a week to the tribal people in forests of Surguja district, Chhattisgarh, a herd of wild elephants returned on Monday to the same pocket, forcing dozens of families to migrate to safe areas. A group of seven wild elephants entered two forest villages, Bakna and Bakdiha, in the wee hours.
2011-09-26 - Front Royal, United States. Brooke Boening
Shortly upon completing her undergraduate studies in animal and nutritional sciences, West Virginia University Ph.D. student, Tina Dow, discovered a passion that would take her beyond the ordinary work environment: elephants. When Dow landed an internship at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, R.I., in 2002, she quickly developed a fascination with the park´s African elephants.
2011-09-26 - Banlung, Cambodia.
It´s early in the morning and my motorbike guide is driving me two hours northeast from Ban Lung, the capital of Ratanakiri, toward the Vietnamese border. My quest is to find the last of Cambodia´s elephant riders.These indigenous highlanders have captured, tamed and worked with wild elephants for 2,000 years, but their traditional ways and the elephants at the heart of their culture are quickly disappearing. From an estimated wild population of around 500 elephants in this area in ...
2011-09-26 - San Diego, United States.
Early this morning (5:45 A.M.) Umngani the 21 year old African elephant gave birth to her third calf. A male. Mabhulane is now tied with Jackson for the most calves sired. Although their ratios are reversed: seven males and two females for Mabhu, seven females and two males for Jackson. This is the sixth consecutive male elephant born at the park. And the third (out of four) born this year.
2011-09-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gazala Anver
Several months ago, reliable sources informed The Sunday Leader that several baby elephants had been taken from the wild and kept at temples around the country. Investigations were conducted in April and three baby elephants were traced to Dewram Vehara in Pannipitiya and the Vipashyarama Purana Vihara, Maharagama.
2011-09-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dhaneshi YATAWARA
Following several rounds of discussion Railway officials together with Wildlife Conservation Authorities will impose speed limits for trains on certain areas on the Northern and Eastern railway track, Wildlife and Agrarian Services Minister S.M. Chandrasena said. "According to the talks we had with Railway officials, the trains need to limit their speed in areas where elephants cross the railway track," Minister Chandrasena told the ´Sunday Observer´. According to the Wildlife Conser...
2011-09-26 - Keonjhar, India.
Forest department employees on Saturday found the body of two adult elephants, one male and one female, from a remote forest in Ghungi village in Banspal block, about 30-km from here. Another elephant was run over by a train in Dhenkanal district. The 20-year-old male elephant was about 10-foot-tall and the 25-year-old female one close to 9 feet. Officials suspected the death of the elephants was caused by electrocution, as there were burn injuries on the bodies of both. There was no confirmed r...
2011-09-26 - Kochi, India.
The unnatural death of an elephant, suspected of Anthrax, at the Periyar Tiger Reserve a couple of days ago has raised fears of an epidemic outbreak. With Forest Veterinary officials suspecting symptoms of Anthrax in the animal, samples have been sent for detailed tests. A final confirmation will be made only after the results of the tests are out. It was last week that a female elephant was found dead at Vallakkadavu range, opposite to Nellikkampetti in the Thekkady range. The forest officials ...
2011-09-26 - Nairobi, Kenya.
More than 3000 elephants may have been slaughtered in 2011 so far - and that´s just those we know about. In Kenya, Mary Rice from the Environmental Investigation Agency witnesses the bloody reality of the global ivory trade. since January 1, 2011 (worldwide): 11,493kg of ivory have been seized; representing at least 1,149 elephants (based on an average of 10kg per animal); � an additional 3,997 tusks (no weight recorded) were seized, so that�s at least 1,998 elep...
2011-09-23 - Phuket, Thailand. Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian
A rogue elephant responsible for two terrifying rampages on Phuket in which the legs of tourists were broken could already be back making elephant treks on Phuket. Captain, a 22-year-old male, attacked another elephant on a trek on September 12, leaving Ukrainian honeymooner Tetiana Meia, 26, still recovering today in a Phuket hospital from a compound leg fracture. Swedish tourist Gustav Karlsson, 31, suffered similar breaks when he leapt from the back of Captain in full rampage early last year.
2011-09-22 - Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. Lucy Clapham
It was larger than a donkey, could carry up to six children at a time and delighted seaside crowds - yet no one can seem to remember the life of Cromer’s mechanical elephant. Do you know any more about the elephant, what happened to it or where it is now? Contact reporter Lucy Clapham.
2011-09-22 - Narok, Kenya.
Kenyan rangers on Thursday began relocating 50 rampaging elephants to the renowned Maasai Mara game reserve to stem rising human deaths and property destruction in outlying villages. The first four of the elephants due to be relocated over the next 10 days were shot with tranquilizer darts from a helicopter near Narok town, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Nairobi, a zone notorious for human-wildlife conflict.
2011-09-21 - Ueno, Japan.
Hoping to become proud parents, the Ueno Zoo loaned its Asian elephant ASHA to Toyohashi Zoo two years ago. The wait was worth it on Sept. 17 at 12:30 a.m., as ASHA gave birth to a female calf, the fourth successful birth in captivity in Japan of an Asian elephant and the first for an elephant belonging to the Ueno Zoo. The calf weighed 90.5 kilograms and was 93 centimeters tall. At 34, ASHA is the oldest elephant in Japan to give birth. Her age is the equivalent of between 40 to 50 years in hum...
2011-09-21 - Way Kambas, Indonesia.
A picture made available on 21 September shows Indonesian mahouts take care their Sumatran elephants at the elephant conservation center in Way Kambas national park, Lampung province, Indonesia, 18 September 2011. At least 65 elephants are kept at Way Kambas elephant conservation center. The Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatrensis) is the smallest of the Asian elephants and suffers from from illegal logging and associated habitat loss and fragmentation in Indonesia.
2011-09-21 - Keonjhar, India.
In the wake of increasing cases of elephant deaths due to electrocution, the state government has sanctioned Rs 10 crore from the State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (state-CAMPA) fund for upgrading and insulating electric cables in Telkoi forest range of Keonjhar forest division.
2011-09-20 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) will move about 50 elephants from Narok North to the world famous Maasai Mara National Reserve, about 80 km southwest of Nairobi to mitigate escalating human wildlife conflict in the area, said a statement from KWS on Wednesday. KWS said the 10-day exercise to be officially launched on September 22 will be the first phase of an exercise whose total cost is expected to reach USD328,000. The first phase will cost USD74,000.
2011-09-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. Usra Hussain
The Samburu National Reserve located in Kenya has experienced a high rate of elephant poaching this year in comparison to the past 11 years. Although, elephants do not have any natural predators other than lions, elephants are threatened by human beings. African and Asian elephants are hunted for their ivory tusks and illegally traded for money. The conservationists of the Samburu National Reserve have been actively fighting poachers in order to protect the elephants in their reserve.
2011-09-20 - Maputo, Mozambique.
Poachers have killed at least 12 elephants in the space of a week in the Quirimbas National Park (PNQ), in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado. The PNQ is a fully protected area covering around 7,500 square kilometres. It consists of the islands of the Quirimbas archipelago, and a large stretch of mainland bush and forest.
2011-09-19 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
Fearing further spread of deadly tuberculosis among elephants, the Department of National Park and Wildlife Reserve (DNPWC) has barred government-owned tuskers from taking part in any kind of game where chances of physical contacts with privately-owned elephants without tuberculosis-free certificates are high.
2011-09-19 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
An ivory smuggler attempting to pass through Dubai International Airport has been arrested. The passenger faces a fine or imprisonment, officials said on Thursday. Police did not disclose how the smuggler was caught, where the ivory had come from or its intended destination. The smuggler´s identity was not revealed. Police said the polished ivory had originally been taken from the tusks of an African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana). Items seized included bracelets.
2011-09-19 - Hong Kong, China.
A long-dormant threat to Africa´s elephant population is back with a vengeance, thanks to rising demand for ivory from newly affluent Chinese consumers.Reflecting this demand, ivory prices in China have soared to as high as US$7,000 a kilogram in 2011 from US$157 a kilo in 2008, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency, a nongovernmental organization based in London. Estimates from other researchers and NGOs put ivory prices in China as low as US$300 to US$750 a kilo, which neve...
2011-09-19 - Hua Hin, Thailand.
Tell most Americans you spent Sunday watching some large creatures chasing a ball around a field and they will assume you went to an NFL football game. But say that to someone in Thailand and they might assume you attended the King´s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in the town of Hua Hin. The annual event raises money for the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand, which cares for more than 60 elephants and their "mahouts," the people who drive the lumbering giants.
2011-09-19 - Mysore, India.
A new ‘ambari’ elephant is in the making. The 53-year-old Balarama, which carried golden howdah for 12 consecutive years, is likely to do the job for another three to fours years only. Tusker Gopi, who was brought from Dubare elephant camp this year to participate in the famed jumbo savari, is responding well to the training and has been chosen as Balarama’s successor.
2011-09-19 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe´s wildlife authority says poachers have begun poisoning watering holes, killing nine elephants and at least five lions in recent weeks. Spokeswoman Caroline Washaya-Moyo of Zimbabwe´s wildlife department says elephants´ ivory tusks were removed but lions´ heads and skins were left intact.
2011-09-19 - Phoenix, United States.
A Practical Workshop on Elephant Footcare and Habitat. Design to support elephant health. Friday, September 23rd, 2011 - Optional Trip to Tucson’s Reid Park Zoo. Reid Park Zoo provides participants to observe African Elephant Footcare.
2011-09-17 - Memnagar, India.
In a bizarre incident, a man sitting on an elephant was stoned by some children in Memnagar for no known reason. The man fainted on the elephant itself. What, however, followed was a scene that resembled a comedy Bollywood flick. The officials of 108 emergency service had to use two ambulances to get the man off the elephant.
2011-09-17 - Jorhat, India.
An elephant calf was injured in the Deusur area of Kaziranga National Park after being hit by a bus on NH-37 early on Friday. Forest department officials said the incident took place when a herd of jumbos was crossing the highway. "Although the other jumbos in the herd crossed the road safely, the calf got hit by the bus and was injured," said Burapahar forest range officer I Majid.
2011-09-16 - Chhindwara, India.
An aged elephant was put to sleep by poisoning here today as the animal, suffering from paralysis and other ailments, was very ill, forest department sources said. The elephant had been abandoned by a circus company after it suffered a stroke about two-and-half months ago, sources said. Since then it was in the care of Forest Officials in the Puama Depot. But its condition deteriorated, so the official decided to put it out of misery, sources said.
2011-09-16 - Dehra Dun, India.
A tusker was found dead today in Corbett Tiger Reserve here, an official said. The carcass of the adult elephant with its back portion eaten by a tiger was noticed by forest guards in Sarpduli range during patrolling, CTR deputy director C K Kavidayal said. A postmortem will be conducted to ascertain the cause of its death, he said. Another 11-year-old tusker was found dead in a paddy field at Halduchaur area in Nainital district yesterday.
2011-09-16 - Pittsburgh, United States. Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
The blood from woolly mammoths is helping scientists develop new blood products for medical procedures such as heart and brain surgery. Many such operations require artificial hypothermia to be induced by drastically reducing the patient´s body temperature.
2011-09-15 - Mombasa, Kenya. ANTHONY KITIMO
Thirty elephant tusks of undetermined value were impounded at the port of Mombasa en route Hong Kong on Wednesday evening. The consignment weighing 274.4 kilograms was intercepted by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials during their normal inspection at the port. According to deputy commissioner in charge of customs in the southern region, Ms Rose Gichira, the consignment was stuffed in a 40-foot container covered with bales of buttons and clothes.
2011-09-15 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Government spokesman and Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said Thursday that the Cabinet has approved a proposal presented by the Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne to donate the baby elephant from the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage to the Manila zoo. In addition, Sri Lankan Embassy in Philippines has organized a series of events to mark the golden jubilee celebrations to be held in Manila on the 3rd week of September.
2011-09-13 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Greig Box-Turnbull
BABY elephant Paloh – who was cruelly chained up in a filthy zoo – was freed yesterday thanks to campaigning Mirror readers. Shocking photographs of two-year-old orphan Paloh shackled and roped in a dirty back yard in a Malaysian zoo sparked outrage. But now Paloh has been taken to a loving sanctuary where she can forage happily for hours every day.
2011-09-13 - Kochi, India. Jose Kurian
Just two days ago wild elephants went on a rampage after they strayed into human inhabitations in the hamlets adjoining the jungles of Palakkad district. Man-animal conflict is a continuing story in the State’s jungle zones. For thousands of families living either within the jungles or contiguous to them, life has become dangerous. The elephants, for their part, bear the brunt of man’s commercial greed that has blocked their natural corridors.
2011-09-13 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thai veterinarians say a 22-year-old elephant was wounded when he wandered into neighboring Myanmar and stepped on a land mine. Soraida Salwala of the Friends of the Asian Elephant conservation group in northern Thailand says the pachyderm´s left foot was severely hurt in Sunday´s blast in Myanmar´s Kayin state.
2011-09-07 - Fellsmere, United States. Eric Pfahler
Plans for a National Elephant Center on the Treasure Coast are back, although the location has changed. The group looking to house elephants now plans to locate in Fellsmere instead of western St. Lucie County. After squabbles with St. Lucie County commissioners over restrictions, the organization is expected to apply for permits on Thursday on 225 acres in northern Fellsmere, currently an unused private citrus grove surrounded by farmland near the Brevard County line.
2011-09-06 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Malaysian authorities have seized nearly 700 elephant tusks bound for China, an official said, the latest in a series of hauls indicating Malaysia had become a key ivory transit hub. Inspectors discovered the 695 African elephant tusks, worth three million ringgit ($1 million), on Friday in Klang, Malaysia´s biggest port, customs official Zainul Abidin Taib told AFP on Tuesday.
2011-09-04 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A new film that highlights the plight of Asian Elephant landmine survivors.
2011-08-26 - PETALING JAYA, Malaysia.
A container of anchovies headed for Malaysia from Africa turned out to be no small fry. Hidden within the strong smelling anchovies were more than 1,000 elephant tusks. The killing of more than 500 elephants for the tusks has now turned the spotlight on Malaysia as a significant transit point for the illegal elephant ivory trade.
2011-08-26 - LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States.
The elephant herd at Disney’s Animal Kingdom got just a little larger with the birth of a baby calf. Weighing 311 pounds, the male African elephant was welcomed into the group by his mother Vasha, 10 herd members and a team of animal care professionals assisting with the birth. The 25-year-old mother delivered the herd’s sixth offspring after gaining more than 800 pounds during a 22-month gestation. This latest addition, which has yet to be named, is the second calf for Vasha, who gave birth...
2011-08-24 - New York, United States. Rachel Raskin-Zrihen
New rules recently adopted by the nation´s animal facility oversight agency may mean the end of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom´s popular elephant encounter attraction. The new policy, approved Monday, prohibits "free contact" handling of elephants in favor of the so-called "protected-contact" elephant management method, according to information from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) website.
2011-08-24 - Saigon, Vietnam. Annie Eagleton
Shortly after returning from Dak Lak to Da Nang, I was alerted to a campaign to retire a circus elephant in Sai Gon. This elephant cow, Ny, had been captured from the wild at age three and was gifted to Sai Gon Circus in District 1, by the City of Ho Chi Minh. (I was recently informed that she was originally a gift from Sony Korea, along with another elephant, in gratitude for licence in Viet Nam. The government, at a loss what to do with them, gave them to the circus.)
2011-08-22 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dhaneshi YATAWARA
The results of the first ever National Elephant Survey is currently undergoing a close scrutiny at the Statistics Department of the Peradeniya University. The Department of Wildlife Conservation expects to issue an interim report as the initial step and later a complete survey.
2011-08-19 - Moscow, Russian Federation. Michael Santo
Another, new, near perfectly preserved baby woolly mammoth has been discovered in Russia´s permafrost by a reindeer herder, authorities said on Friday. Local officials said that the carcass of the baby woolly mammoth was as perfectly preserved as Lyuba, a 40,000 year old mammoth calf discovered in the same region four yearse ago. The new, still be be "named" calf was discovered sticking out of the permafrost. Although unconfirmed by authorities, they have sent an expedition to the region, ...
2011-08-18 - Jaipur, India.
A global campaign by animal right activists has led to cancellation of the day-long prestigious elephant polo tournament scheduled on Sunday and slated to be witnessed by who´s who of the corporate world at the Rajasthan Polo Ground here. The main sponsor of the event - Carlsberg India Pvt. Ltd. - withdrew on Tuesday in view of the growing opposition to the event as animal right activists from across the world had launched a campaign against it.
2011-08-13 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
An elephant calf has died in Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on the 9th. The calf had been born on 16th January to the she elephant called ‘Lasanda.’ However, this elephant mother had been separated from its calf on a request by the President and was offered to Vishnu Temple at Devinuwara.
2011-08-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tharindu Muthukumarana
The world famous Millangoda Raja has passed away, leaving us the sweet memories that we had of the great tusker. Millangoda Raja was known as a tusker, had the longest tusks in the whole of Asia. The beauty of the tusker was such that it was featured in the covers of several books about elephants. The death of Millangoda Raja was a natural death. The teeth of the elephant had worn out and it could only swallow little amounts of food at a time. This sort of old aged death comes to wild elephants,...
2011-08-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Wildlife groups in Sri Lanka are threatening to boycott the country´s first national survey of wild elephants after a minister said it would be used to identify animals for use at temples. A dozen privately-run wildlife organisations on Tuesday pulled out their volunteers on the eve of the survey which aims to count the number of animals across all of the formerly war-torn island´s national parks for the first time.
2011-08-08 - Pittsburgh, United States.
Officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium say they´re still waiting for South African officials to ship elephant semen to the United States so the zoo can establish North America´s first elephant sperm bank. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/qS5twH ) says the zoo has been working on the plan for nearly two years, but they´ve had difficulty getting export and import permits for16 liters of semen being stored in the National Zoo´s BioBank in Pretoria, South...
2011-07-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Residents of the area blocked Palagala junction last week, demanding a solution for their Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) issue. About 1,500 villagers gathered at this junction on July 20, protesting the death in the last two months of 7 villagers killed by elephants, according to media reports. Traffic from Kekirawa, Galewela and Mahawa was blocked, causing severe inconvenience to the public. The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) had to assure the villagers that they would relocate the tr...
2011-07-31 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Last Wednesday, Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki set fire to more than five tonnes of elephant ivory to bring attention to the problem of poaching. About 335 ivory tusks and 41,000 trinkets worth about $16,290,000 ( £10 million) were burned. It had been confiscated by officials in Singapore in 2002 and found to be from Zambia and Malawai, says the Guardian.
2011-07-31 - Hua Hin, Thailand.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament is on Sept. 5-11 in the seaside town of Hua Hin. Returning to its original venue, the annual charity tournament has become one of the country’s largest tourist events. It has raised more than $300,000, primarily for the National Elephant Institute, which provides medical care, sustenance, employment and mahout training for Thailand’s elephant population
2011-07-31 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
The Chinese, political decisions and a growing black market are being blamed for the rise in elephant and rhino poaching. Last week 10 people were arrested for poaching and unlawful possession of elephant tusks and rhino horns that they were suspected of selling to buyers from China.
2011-07-28 - Philadelphia, United States.
An African art dealer from Philadelphia was arrested on Tuesday 26 July and has been charged with illegally smuggling elephant ivory. Police seized one ton of ivory originating from Africa, making it one of the largest seizures of ivory to be illegally imported to the United States. The suspect, Victor Gordon, stained and dyed the ivory to create the impression that it was old.
2011-07-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Corroborating previous studies of this and other Asian elephant populations, we find that the sizes of elephant groups observed in the field on any particular day are typically small and that rates of association are low. In contrast to earlier studies, our longitudinal observations reveal that individuals form larger social units that can be remarkably stable across years while associations among such units change across seasons.
2011-07-19 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tharindu Muthukumarana
The death of this majestic tusker was a tear jerking story for most Sri Lankans. This is not the first time when a death of an elephant became a story much talked about through out Sri Lanka. The tusker passed away on Friday 8, 2011, at about 7 am. Navam Raja was an attractive part of the Navam Prerahera. Raja meaning the king in both Sinhala and Tamil languages became the lead elephant to take part in the Gangarama Navam Perahera.
2011-07-14 - Tyler, United States.
Caldwell Zoo is saddened to announce that our African Elephant bull “Chico” passed away suddenly Saturday July 9. At the time of his death he was 46 years old and the oldest African bull in North American zoos. Chico had not exhibited any signs of illness prior to his death. A team of pathologists from Texas A&M University along with Caldwell Zoo veterinarians performed a necropsy and at this time the cause of death is undetermined pending further test results.
2011-06-08 - Little Rock, United States.
Two retired female circus elephants have arrived at the Little Rock Zoo to keep Ellen company. Full information is on the jump. Jewell is 60. Zina, the one with the hairy legs, is 50. Both are Asian elephants. The elephants came from the Ringling Center for Elephant Conservation and arrived here early this morning following a 20-hour tractor-trailer ride from Sarasota, Fla. They seemed comfortable in their new home when we visited — trumpeting and harrumphing occasionally as they ambled about,...
2011-06-08 - Amboseli, Kenya.
After four decades of research into the social behavior of pachyderms, biologists have arrived at a remarkable conclusion: they´re really not so different from us. The results of the longest continual study of elephants found that some behaviors many people believe to be unique to humans, like casting flirtatious glances or arguing about directions, are in reality quite common among these species as well -- except they never forget to pack their trunks.
2011-06-08 - Mysore, India.
Two wild elephants have trampled a man to death and killed two cows in a rampage through an Indian city. The animals entered a suburb in Mysore, in the southern Karnataka state, from a nearby forest and soon caused widespread panic and havoc. A 55-year-old man was killed after coming out of his house to see what the commotion was all about.
2011-06-08 - Chandler, United States.
One of the more poignant lessons in forgiveness that Colleen Bennett has received is exemplified on the walls of her daughter´s bedroom. Lauren Bennett sleeps at the family´s Chandler home while surrounded by pictures of elephants. They remain her favorite animals, three months after she was attacked by one in Thailand. The incident left her with a life-threatening liver laceration and severe anguish for a family stuck half the world from home.
2011-06-07 - Kochi, India.
A 42yearold elephant, which was suffering from serious injuries, died at Choondi near Muvattupuzha on Monday. The Forest Department has started looking into the circumstances that led to the death of the animal. Officials said the elephant died near Pariyaram Mahavishnu Temple where it was camped for the past few days. The mahout of the elephant Viswanathan also stayed near the temple. According to forest officials, tusker Nayarambalam Ramankutty, owned by the Nayarambalam NSS Trust, died on Mon...
2011-06-07 - Knoxville, United States.
The Knoxville Zoo is fighting the citations and fines imposed upon them by the Tennesssee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) after the death of a worker. In January, elephant keeper Stephanie James was killed when an elephant named Edie pushed her into a steel beam.
2011-06-07 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Two ˜holding grounds to relocate problematic elephants will be completed by the end of the year in a bid to resolve the long-standing human-elephant conflict in the country, the Wildlife Department said yesterday. Wildlife Department Director Dr. Chandrawansa Pathiraja told the Daily Mirror that the construction process of two holding grounds in Lunugamwehera and Horowpathana would be launched in the coming weeks.
The Knoxville Zoo has been fined more than $12,000 dollars after an inspection by TOSHA following the death of an elephant trainer. Stephanie James was killed in January when Edie, an 8500 pound African elephant, pushed her into a stall. The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) inspected the zoo after the incident, and their findings were released to 10News on Monday.
2011-06-06 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Dak Lak Province authorities have incinerated the body of a baby elephant found in Yok Don National Park last Wednesday. Nguyen Con, Yok Don park ranger, said they found the decomposed elephant, weighing around 100 kilograms, at the section No. 290. He said it was a newborn elephant but they couldn’t identify the cause of the death.
2011-06-06 - Knysna, South Africa.
A handler at the Knysna Elephant Park is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after being attacked by an elephant over the weekend. Arnold Ndzwanana had to have one of his legs amputated after being tossed in the air and then trampled by the 22-year-old bull, Harry. The park is now investigating what happened in the moments leading up to the incident. In June 2005, Harry trampled another handler to death.
2011-06-05 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. Gandhya Senanayake & Karunarathna Athukorala
A baby elephant had drowned at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage Saturday evening, officials said. It drowned after the foot of the baby reportedly got trapped in stones in the area which led to the drowning in the Ma-Oya, they said. Senior Assistant Director Renuka Bandaranayke told Daily Mirror Online that the body of baby elephant had been sent to the Veterinary faculty of the Peradeniya University for the postmortem and that they were waiting for the autopsy report. A police and administrati...
2011-06-04 - Charles Q. Choi, United States.
The woolly mammoth may surprisingly have regularly interbred with a completely different and much larger elephant species, researchers now find. Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) roamed the planet for more than a million years, ranging from Europe to Asia to North America. Nearly all of these giants vanished from Siberia by about 10,000 years ago, although dwarf mammoths survived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until 3,700 years ago.
2011-06-04 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The scientists from the Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources of Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University found seven pieces of fossil tooth in Nakhon Ratchasima´s Chalerm Phrakiat district about 10 years ago. "The fossils are different from other ancient elephants found in Egypt, Kenya, Europe and China," said Chavalit Vidthayanon, deputy director of the institute. "This is the first time we have found such a species in Thailand," he said, adding the discove...
2011-06-03 - Atlanta, United States. David Beasley
Queenie, a water-skiing Asian elephant who delighted fans in the 1950s, has been euthanized at the Georgia wildlife park where she lived her final years in retirement. "She had a declining quality of life and declining health," said Micha Hogan, public relations director of the Wild Adventures Water and Theme Park in Valdosta, where Queenie had lived out of the spotlight since 2003.
2011-05-25 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Zoo´s beloved elephant Burma is set to get new companions after the council approved a proposal to import two young elephants from Sri Lanka. Two female elephants will be brought over from Sri Lanka at a cost of $3.2 million, but Auckland Council´s strategy and finance chair Penny Webster said there would be zero cost to ratepayers.
2011-05-19 - Asheboro, United States.
The oldest elephant at the North Carolina Zoo could not get to his feet after his Thursday morning training exercises, zoo officials said. Thirty-seven-year-old C’sar weighs 13,000 pounds, requiring the assistance of more than just a few zoo keepers to stand up.
2011-05-19 - Toledo, United States.
The Toledo Zoo is getting ready for a new addition -- a baby! This one´s going to big, nearly 300 pounds! Louie the elephant is about to get a sibling! Louie´s mother, Renee, is pregnant with her second calf. And her due date is any day now Imagine being pregnant for nearly two years! Mama elephant Renee has been with calf for 22 months!
2011-05-18 - Santiago, Chile.
A perfectly preserved skull of a mastodon -- a relative of today´s elephant -- was found here during excavation work at a water treatment plant, one of the scientists involved in the discovery said Tuesday. "This is the remains of a gomphothere (mastodon) skull in optimal condition," paleontologist Rafael Labarca told AFP about the discovery of the animal, which had two to four tusks and died out 10,000 years ago.
2011-05-16 - Kota Bahru, Malaysia.
Residents around Kampung Cherang Hangus, Machang, Kelantan (near Kota Bahru) sigh of relief when the wild elephants that roam their village since last week captured by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Wildlife) Kelantan, yesterday. Jeli District Wildlife Officer, Cosmas Ngau said, the 15-year-old male elephant weighing two tons was arrested at about 12.30pm by a team of eight members of the department after a week of monitoring.
2011-05-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gazala Anver
The gentle giants, inextricably linked to the history and culture of our country, have for generations been hunted and sold for their ivory or as symbols of prestige. It has come to such a point now, that there are very few tame elephants left and the price for them is sky high, as near as a million rupees per elephant.
2011-05-16 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
2011-05-11 - Marseille, United States.
On a busy day, a veterinary clinic can seem like a zoo. But Tuesday afternoon at the Marseilles Veterinary Hospital it was more like a circus. Tuesday morning the hospital received a call asking if someone could inspect an elephant that was being transported with eight ponies from Florida to Baraboo, Wis. The elephant needed a health certificate to cross into Wisconsin, hospital technician Melissa Peterson told The Times.
2011-05-11 - Oklahoma City, United States.
The baby elephant born last month at the Oklahoma City Zoo has been named Malee. Zoo officials announced the name at a ceremony Wednesday in the zoo´s new elephant habitat. Malee (pronounced MAY-lee) was chosen in an online vote. Malee, which is Thai for flower or jasmine, garnered more than 70 percent of the 14,000 votes cast. Zoo officials billed Malee as the zookeepers´ preference out of the three names offered. Other options were Annika and Hanako.
2011-05-11 - Lam Dong , Vietnam.
The Lam Dong Province People’s Procuracy has charged Phan Thi Hoa, director of the Nam Qua Eco-Tourism Co., Ltd., and two other with selling ivories of a dead elephant. Hoa, 52, from Lam Dong is now banned from leaving her residence, while Phan Dac Mau Dai, 33, also from Lam Dong and Nguyen Ngoc Thuan, 36, from Dong Nai Province, will be detained for 2 months for investigation.
2011-05-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
There was panic for a moment along the main road in Rajagiriya yesterday morning when an elephant ran amok near the Welikada police station after its caretaker lost control of the elephant. However, the animal was brought under control after some time. According to the caretaker the elephant that was brought to Sri Lanka from Myanmar some time ago was being taken from the Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya to the Defence Ministry for a function when it got disturbed and ran amok.
2011-05-10 - , United States. Das SK, Chattopadhyay S.
The study attempts to find out the nature of injuries caused by wild elephant attack and the common factors contributing to human-wild elephant conflict so that vulnerable population can be cautioned to avoid conflicts. A distinct seasonal as well as diurnal variation of attack incidences was noted. Attacks were sudden and unprovoked. Killer elephants were wild tuskers in all the cases.
2011-05-10 - Bangalore, India.
A seven year old elephant gave birth to a stillborn born baby elephant on Sunday night in Bannerghatta National Park. Nisarga (the mother elephant) went into labour at around 9.30 pm and give birth to premature 10 month old still born baby elephant. "The normal gestation period for elephants is in between 18 to 22 months, while in this case even the mother was only seven year old, as usually in elephants the right breeding age is from 14 years," Dr R Raju, Executive Director, Bannerghatta Biolog...
2011-05-06 - Little Rock, United States. Lindsey Fry
The long-lived life of Little Rock Zoo´s Mary the elephant ended peacefully Thursday, May 5, 2011, when the 60-year-old pachyderm was euthanized after her health took a sharp decline in the last few days. During the procedure, Mary was surrounded by the loving Zoo staff that cared for her including several staff members who worked with her for the more than 10 years she lived at the Zoo.
2011-05-06 - Kushalnagar, India.
It was a day for picnic at the Dubare elephant camp on Wednesday, which is gaining popularity as a major tourist attraction of Kodagu district. The elephants and their care-takers were treated to a feast by philanthropist D. Vinod Shivappa, a well-known coffee planter from Suntikoppa village near here. He also adopted two elephant calves that are star attractions for the visitors at Dubare.
2011-05-06 - Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The elephant male born in Ostrava Zoo on March 11 as the first in the Czech Republic died during the night, the zoo´s spokeswoman Sarka Kalouskova told CTK today, adding the baby was too weak. The breeding of the Indian elephant was accompanied by problems from the very beginning. It was probably born prematurely, its weight was low and it was not putting weight on at all.
2011-05-06 - New Delhi, India.
The Prime Minister´s Office has shot down a proposal to set up a National Elephant Conservation Authority along the lines of one existing for tigers. The environment ministry had recommended an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act creating a powerful autonomous authority for the pachyderm. The authority was intended to create a network of elephant reserves which could be kept free of mining and other harmful industrial activities.
2011-05-06 - Hai Phong, Vietnam.
Vietnamese customs discovered nearly 600 kilograms of African elephant tusks hidden in a shipping container of rubber from Tanzania, authorities said Friday. The authorities made the haul on Thursday after receiving a tip. "Smuggled elephant tusks were hidden in a very sophisticated way," Vu Hoang Duong, head of customs at the port of Hai Phong, told the German Press Agency dpa. "They cut open tanks for holding rubber, filled them with elephant tusks and soldered them shut again."
2011-05-06 - Nairobi, Kenya.
An official says Kenyan police have seized about a tonne of illegal ivory destined for Nigeria at the country´s main airport in Nairobi. Joseph Ngisa, the officer in charge of criminal investigations in the country´s airports, said they impounded 84 elephant tusks on concealed in metal containers on Thursday. Ngisa said Friday sniffer dogs led the policemen to the containers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport´s cargo hold. He said no arrests had been made.
2011-05-04 - Nairobi, Kenya. Jason Straziuso
Four out of seven elephants fitted with satellite tracking collars have been killed on the slopes of Mount Kenya in recent months, only a short distance from the safari lodge where Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton. Scottish conservationist Iain Douglas-Hamilton said the animals were fitted with collars over the last year by his charity, Save The Elephants.
2011-04-26 - Chitwan, Nepal.
A woman was killed in an attack by a wild elephant at Meghauli of west Chitwan on Tuesday. Local resident Bhim Maya Tamang, 45, had gone to collect fodder when she was attacked by the wild elephant at the bank of Rapti River. The elephant had come to the place from Chitwan National Park, local resident Chudamani Chaudhari told Kalika FM. More than 12 other locals had joined Tamang to collect fodder for their cattle however managed to escape unhurt.
2011-04-25 - Dalat, Vietnam.
An elephant was found brutally killed in the central highlands resort town of Da Lat Sunday. The 38-year-old male elephant was found tied to a tree, and the tendons of its hind legs were slashed. Its tusks and tail hair, meanwhile, were still in place. According to initial information, the elephant belonging to Tuyen Lam Lake Tourism Complex went missing Saturday night when it was left to graze on a hillside. The elephant´s caretaker was absent from work that day.
2011-04-22 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Dehiwala National Zoological Gardens has organized a best video clip competition for visitors from April 8 to 22 for the New Year school vacation, Director General Bashwara Senanka Gunaratne told the Daily News. A tame, juvenile elephant will be brought to the zoo from the Pinnawala elephant orphanage on April 22. People will be allowed to view these animals from 3 pm onwards on this day, he explained. Gunaratne requested the public to visit the zoo during their vacation and participate in t...
2011-04-21 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Wongai Zhangazha
PRISONERS in the country’s overcrowded jails may soon be fed with elephant meat if a proposal by the Justice and Legal Affairs ministry to curb the shortage of protein in prisons is accepted by government. The ministry is proposing the culling of the “over-populated” elephants and supply the meat to prisons where inmates have had meals without meat for years. The country’s prison dietary requirements are said to be far below international standards and what is required by the law. Inmate...
2011-04-21 - Vientiane, Laos.
A herd of wild elephants in Luang Namtha province in the country´s north is now being protected to ensure they do not disappear, according to a provincial official. Luang Namtha provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office Head Mr Soukson Phonpadith told Vientiane Times yesterday there were great numbers of wild elephants in the province in the past. “Now only six elephants remain,” he said. The main causes of the decimation of the elephant population are de...
2011-04-19 - Coimbatore, India.
A four-year old elephant was found electrocuted in a village near here today. The elephant was found entangled in a snapped electric wire by villagers of Thalimalai near Periyanaickenpalayam, about 25 km from here. On being informed, forest department officials rushed to the spot, recovered the body of the pachyderm and conducted a postmortem, police sources said.
2011-04-19 - Harrare, Zimbabwe.
Four Harare men were last week arrested at Avondale shopping centre for possession of 15 elephant tusks valued at US$8 500. The four suspected poachers were arrested last week on Thursday following a tip off to the police by the people who suspected the men of possessing weapons. Police spokesperson, Inspector James Sabau said the four, 42-year old George Chatanga, 37-year old Shepherd Naite, 31-year old Farai Dzvairo, all from Chitungwiza, and 47-year old Glen Norah-based Kenneth Sibanda, were ...
2011-04-15 - Oklahoma City, United States.
The pregnant Asian elephant at the Oklahoma City Zoo has gone into labor and is expected to give birth late today or early Saturday. Asha and her calf are both doing well, the zoo´s veterinarian said this morning.
2011-04-14 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
It is with great sadness that Twycross Zoo has said goodbye to their young Asian elephant, Ganesh Vijay aged 18 months. Ganesh died yesterday due to a heart condition despite all the efforts of the animal and veterinary teams to save his life. Vets from around the country with specialist elephant and equine experience converged at Twycross Zoo in an attempt to keep him alive.
2011-04-12 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The death of Dineo, the first baby elephant born at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa in Pretoria, felt like a death in the family, zoo staff said yesterday. Dineo, born three weeks ago, died in her sleep yesterday morning. An autopsy is being conducted. "We had her under 24-hour surveillance since the day she was born," said Craig Allenby, a manager at the zoo.
2011-04-12 - Honolulu, United States.
We, as emotional beings, place a high value on happiness and joy. Happiness is more than a feeling to us - it’s something we require and strive for. We’re so fixated on happiness that we define the pursuit of it as a right. We seek happiness not only for ourselves and our loved ones, but also for our planet and its creatures.
2011-04-12 - Surin, Thailand.
The submissions of some 180 elephants from Ban Ta Klang in Surin, Thailand, made the database tip over 7000 elephants. The elephant database now includes 7081 elephants from 1980 location facilities in 110 countries.
2011-04-11 - St. Louis, United States.
St. Louis Zoo says it´s a mystery how 40-year-old Asian elephant Donna contracted tuberculosis. No other elephant or keeper has tested positive for the illness. "We assume elephants get TB like any other animal," said the zoo´s director of animal health, Dr. Randy Junge. "An animal or human who has TB blows it out and another animal can pick it up. It takes prolonged contact. But we have a closed herd with no animals coming or going."
2011-04-05 - Vavuniya, Sri Lanka.
Two elephants have sustained injuries in between the Seelawathura and Mollikulama areas, after being caught to a landmine. The Vavuniya Wild Life office said that the injured animals are being treated for these injuries sustained recently. Officers of the army detachment in the area had informed the wild life office in Vavuniya, after stumbling upon the injured elephants.
2011-04-04 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
Duchess, who weighs four tonnes, has started a course of treatment to prevent the condition from worsening. Glaucoma is a progressive eye condition which if untreated can lead to blindness. The zoo said she would be monitored closely and medication should help control the condition.
2011-04-04 - Wellington, New Zealand.
Generations of Wellingtonians who took ride on Kamala the elephant at the zoo probably didn´t know they were sitting on a saddle stuffed with old undies and a 1940s Avondale racebook. Rides on Indian elephant Kamala were a favourite attraction at the zoo from 1953 till 1983. Now those child riders can take a sentimental journey to the Museum of City and Sea on the waterfront to see the fully restored saddle.
2011-04-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Disna Mudalige
The Wildlife Conservation Department has decided to do away with elephant translocation with immediate effect considering the negative impact it has caused to both humans and elephants, a spokesperson of the Department told the Daily News yesterday. She said that previous translocation attempts had proved to be unsuccessful. "The elephants had somehow tried to find a route to go back to their previous location. Translocation can affect the behaviour of the elephants. In return they become aggres...
2011-04-04 - Singapore, Singapore.
The park’s first baby elephant in nine years makes his first public appearance at the April launch of an exhibit on the Asian elephant, whose population in the wild is dwindling fast. It´s estimated that there are now only some 30,000 to 50,000 left in the forests of India, Sri Lanka, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. In Singapore, the latest addition to the Night Safari’s brood of endangered Asian elephants is the first to be born at both the Night Safari and S...
2011-04-03 - Surat Thani, Thailand.
In January 2011, Elephant Hills Rainforest Camp situated in the centre of Cheow Larn Lake in Khao Sok National Park, was added to the already successful nature tours offered by Elephant Hills Safaris. As well as elephant trekking, the new luxury floating camp on Cheow Larn Lake in Khao Sok National Park is now on offer, a unique rainforest experience.
2011-04-03 - Jerudong, Brunei Darussalam. Fadley Faisal
A 49-year-old foreigner who works as an elephant keeper in Brunei Darussalam was slapped with a $1,000 fine by the Bandar Seri Begawan Magistrate´s Court for gambling at a house in Kg Jerudong last week. The court was told that the defedant, Sahit Wongsa, was caught gaming with a few other people at a house in Kg Jerudong on March 26, 2011, at about 11.35pm by anti-vice police personnel during a raid.
2011-04-03 - Longleat, United Kingdom.
A circus elephant filmed being abused by her groom was successfully moved to her new home at Longleat Safari Park this morning. Anne, an elderly performing elephant, was ferried by a specialist team of handlers from her winter quarters in Polebrook, Northamptonshire, to the Wiltshire wildlife attraction. Bobby Roberts Super Circus, the elephant´s former owner, agreed to the handover after a Romanian employee was secretly filmed kicking the arthritic elephant and striking her with a pitchfo...
2011-04-03 - Sinharaja, Sri Lanka. Srilal Miththapala
It is a known fact that wild elephants were found in most parts of Sri Lanka during the early 1900’s. However, with the rapid development of the South and South West regions, they gradually moved towards the Central, South Eastern and North Eastern regions. With the rapid development of the tea plantations, the elephants living in the central hills also moved away into the central East or were decimated in the course of development.
2011-04-03 - Don Village, Vietnam.
An old elephant waits, incomplete, in the shade of a big tamarind tree outside Yok Don National Park. The giant beast’s two tusks have been cut off by its owner to dissuade poachers from killing it. But that didn’t stop them from cutting off the hairy tip of its tail—a single strand can sell for between US$10-15 at tourist shops throughout Dak Lak Province.
2011-04-02 - Knutsford, United Kingdom.
The owner of Anne the circus elephant yesterday apologised for her mistreatment as a deal was struck to rehome her at Longleat Safari Park. Moira Roberts said she felt responsible for the suffering endured by Britain’s oldest elephant because she hired Nicolae Nitu, the Romanian groom secretly filmed kicking her and stabbing her with a pitchfork.
2011-03-30 - Binga, Zimbabwe.
PARKS rangers have shot and killed two poachers in Chizarira National Park in Binga. The rangers recovered three .303 rifles, 76 rounds of ammunition, a pair of elephant tusks and fresh elephant meat in the night operation that saw some of the poachers fleeing. Bodies of the unidentified poachers, suspected to have come from the Sinamuchembo communal lands in Gokwe, have since been taken to a mortuary at Binga Rural District Hospital.
2011-03-30 - Longleat, United Kingdom.
A deal was close last night to rehome Anne the circus elephant within a week. Her owners Moira and Bobby Roberts have finally agreed to allow the 59-year-old animal to retire to an enclosure at Longleat Safari Park, the Mail can reveal. It marks a victory for this paper, which brought Anne’s desperate plight to the public’s attention by revealing secret footage of the Asian elephant’s Romanian groom stabbing and beating her.
2011-03-29 - Osaka, Japan.
Now Japanese scientists believe they may be just four years away from resurrecting something far more impressive – the woolly mammoth. The feat is all down to the discovery of mammoths preserved in the Siberian permafrost and the revolutionary cloning of a mouse – usually portrayed as an elephant’s nemesis. The project to bring back a real life ‘manny’ from Ice Age extinction is being led by researchers at Kinki University in Osaka, Japan.
2011-03-28 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
An American woman has slaughtered an elephant with a bow and arrow... to win a bet. Teressa Groenewald-Hagerman was so proud, she posted pictures on the internet showing her beaming beside her kill in Zimbabwe. The 39-year-old huntress said she crept into a herd of 37 elephants, knelt down, and shot the grand creature from just 12 yards. It staggered 500 yards before it collapsed, then she left it to die overnight. Ms Groenewald-Hagerman is the first woman known to have killed an elephant with a...
2011-03-28 - Pretoria, South Africa.
On Monday 21st March 2011 we became parents to a baby girl. Lerata is her name and she is only seven days old. She is managed by Carol Thobela and Graeme Ogilvie and she doing well. Here she is being fed her hourly bottle of milk which she devours. Sadly she was too short and could not reach her mums teat, so could not feed - thus the desperate decision to pull her only 24 hours after her birth. But the vets are happy and so is the herd, mum is fine and seems to be content with the plans t...
2011-03-28 - Riaou, Indonesia.
A rare Sumatran elephant has died in Indonesia after blocking a village street for a week, an official said Sunday. The female elephant was in a "weak condition" after becoming separated from its herd about a week ago in Bengkalis district, Riau province, conservation agency official Adit Gunawan told AFP. "It was hungry. We gave it food, water and medical attention. We tried our best to nurse it back to health but it wasn´t getting better and died on Saturday evening," he said.
2011-03-28 - London, United Kingdom.
Charitable donations requested by Prince William and Kate Middleton instead of wedding gifts will help the London Zoological Society. It works in Thailand with the Elephant Conservation Network to reduce conflict between villagers and the animals in the western province of Kanchanaburi. Network director Belinda Stewart-Cox said Thursday the gift would help ensure "we really make a difference to the lives of these amazing animals and the villagers who accommodate them."
2011-03-28 - Kampot, Cambodia.
Kampot province’s Teuk Chhou zoo is a place where no one seems to care about how animals are treated, a place where animals are kept in cramped, roofless shelters and rely largely on food from tourists to survive. The state of the zoo’s two elephants is heartbreaking, as their emaciated necks stretch through the thick bars of their enclosure in an attempt to eat blades of grass, seemingly one of their few sources of nourishment. The skeletal bodies of the two animals are hard to ignore and t...
2011-03-28 - Polebrook, United Kingdom.
Northamptonshire Police said it was investigating jointly with the RSPCA after images emerged of Annie the Asian elephant being struck with a metal pitchfork on Bobby Roberts Super Circus. Animal Defenders International (ADI) shot the covert video earlier this year amid concerns for the 57-year-old animal´s well-being as part of the Bobby Roberts Super Circus.
2011-03-27 - Surat Thani, Thailand.
TWO MALE elephants fought over a female on a trekking ride through Khao Sok National Park, north of Phuket, trampling one tourist to death and leaving several others with injuries. A Swiss woman has been killed, and an Australian woman and two other victims are being treated for injuries in Bangkok Hospital Phuket in Phuket City. One person remains in intensive care after the incident, which occurred yesterday, Phuketwan reporters learned at the hospital
2011-03-27 - Cleveland, United States.
Lisa Leeman´s documentary traces the relationship between circus owner David Balding and his main attraction, not just in the show but in his life. Balding raised the 18-year-old only to realize when she turned 16 that he´d made a mistake. She needs to be with other elephants, even if it means being apart from her human companion.
2011-03-27 - Portland, United States.
Packy made his entrance at what´s known today as the Oregon Zoo the first elephant born in the United States in more than 40 years. Matthew Maberry was in the elephant barn that morning and he recalls every detail in "Packy & Me: The Incredible Tale of Doc Maberry and the Baby Elephant Who Made History." Maberry, 93, wrote the memoir with his wife, Patricia, and Michelle Trappen, a former reporter for The Oregonian.
2011-03-25 - Knoxville, United States.
The Jan. 14 death of Stephanie James, the Knoxville Zoo keeper who died after being pushed by female elephant Edie, was accidental, a review panel has found. The zoo also announced Thursday that Edie and its other female elephant, Jana, will be permanently cared for by keepers in what´s called ´protected contact.´ That means keepers will work with the pachyderms with bars or barriers between them.
2011-03-25 - Miami, United States.
An update from the Central Florida Zoo & botanical Gardens: Maude, the Central Florida Zoo’s Asian elephant that moved to Zoo Miami, is adjusting well to her new elephant herd, the zoo reports. She has joined two other Asian elephants, Nellie and Dahlip. Central Florida Zoo hoofstock keepers Bernie Bartosch and Dani Lent remained in Miami for several days after Maude’s arrival to help her adjust to her new environment.
2011-03-25 - Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.
The fossil tooth is believed to be the tooth of an Asian elephant, with an age of 30,000-50,000 years. “This is the first time a fossil tooth of this species of elephant has been discovered in Thai Nguyen,” said Dr. Trinh Nang Chung, who led the archaeological survey. The tooth was founded in Than Sa River in Vo Nhai district, the section running through the Da Nguom, a famous archaeological site in Thai Nguyen. The tooth was unearthed at the depth of 3m, in a hole dug by gold miners. Gold m...
2011-03-25 - Monterey, United States.
Mark Hylkema, Archaeologist with California State Parks, told Central Coast News his team found the remains of a juvenile Columbian mammoth in Monterey County. "We´re hoping to find out more and to get a chance to view and learn more about what they do discover once they´re done excavating," said Annie Holdren, Pacific Grove Museum Curator. The archeologist asked us not to reveal the city or exact location of the discovery.
2011-03-21 - Hyderabad, India.
The five elephants in Nehru Zoological Park may not be relocated to a sanctuary. Highly-placed sources said that Nehru Zoological Park was one among the zoos, which had written to Central Zoo Authority (CZA) requesting an inspection before the relocation is carried out. Awaiting an inspection, the authorities are confident that it is offering an appropriate environment for this largest mammal.
2011-03-20 - Kochi, India.
Elephant owners in the state have increased the daily rentals of their elephants as temples in the state have ushered into this year’s festival season. They, however, justify the hike in rentals citing a variety of factors including the steep rise in the price of essential commodities and decreasing number of captive elephants.
2011-03-19 - , Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Ministry of Wildlife says that a new interim elephant orphanage is being constructed in the North Central Province. The new orphanage for wild elephants is in Ulankulama along the A-12 highway from Puttalam to Trincomalee. The Ulankulama orphanage is also expected to be a tourist attraction probably from July this year, says Minister Chandrasena.
2011-03-19 - Jaipur, India.
The unique annual Elephant Festival in Jaipur is all set to return in 2011. Celebrated along with Holi in Jaipur, Elephant Festival is one of the most popular festival in Rajasthan. As the name suggets the prime attraction of the festival are Elephants. The festival takes place at the Chaugan ground in Jaipur where Elephants participate in varieties of events to entertain the crowd.
2011-03-18 - Rambukkana, Sri Lanka. Oswald Godakumbura
The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage yesterday recorded the 59th birth. Menika gave birth to her third baby and it is in good health, sources from the Orphanage told the Daily News. She gave birth in 2001 and 2005 and they have been named Migara and Mihiri. The number of jumbos at the orphanage rose to 91 with the birth of the latest entry. Nine elephants were born at the orphanage this month alone and they would be christened by the orphanage later this month, sources told the Daily News.
2011-03-17 - AHMEDABAD, India.
Ashok and Roopa were one of the main attractions in the city zoo and after Ashoks sudden death on Monday, Roopa, the 22-year-old elephant who had spent 20 years of her life with him, stands alone today, calm and silent.
2011-03-16 - Nashville, United States. Craig Boerner
Circus workers, zookeepers and others having direct or indirect contact with elephants are on alert because of a study definitively showing that elephants can transmit tuberculosis to humans, the result of a cooperative investigation between the Tennessee Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
2011-03-16 - Washington, United States.
A judge sentenced Pascal Vieillard, CEO of A-440 Pianos Inc., to 3 years probation for illegally smuggling elephant ivory into the US, while the Georgia-based company has been fined $17,500. Vieillard had earlier pleaded guilty to importing pianos with ivory parts.
2011-03-16 - Seattle, United States.
The Woodland Park Zoo is hoping it will be able to ring in 2013 with a brand new baby elephant after artificially inseminating its 32-year-old Asian elephant, Chai, over the weekend. "Chai is very healthy and in excellent condition for pregnancy," Bruce Upchurch, curator of behavioral managment and elephants, said in a Woodland Park Zoo press release. "Our fingers are crossed that she has conceived."
2011-03-16 - Sherman, United States.
It may be hard to imagine woolly mammoths roaming through North Texas, but scientists from Dallas have unearthed the proof. Someone found a bone in a creek wall in Sherman a few months ago. When archaeologists started digging last week, they found more intriguing remains.
2011-03-16 - Chobe, Botswana.
Even a single male can overpower a young elephant. Between 1994 and 1997, Dereck Joubert found that the lions of Botswana’s Chobe National Park were getting better and better at hunting elephants. He wrote: “In one notable case, a single male lion ran at nearly full speed into the side of a 6-year-old male calf with sufficient force to collapse the elephant on its side.”
2011-03-14 - Washington, United States.
Two American explorers are heading to Africa today to begin an important expedition that could prove vital to the fight against the illegal ivory trade. Their five week long journey, dubbed the Elephant Ivory Project, may help to save herds of those creatures, which have come increasingly under attack from poachers in recent years.
2011-03-13 - Hohenwald, United States. Murphree R, Warkentin JV, Dunn JR, Schaffner W, Jones TF.
In 2009, the Tennessee Department of Health received reports of 5 tuberculin skin test (TST) conversions among employees of an elephant refuge and isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a resident elephant. To determine the extent of the outbreak and identify risk factors for TST conversion, we conducted a cohort study and onsite assessment. Risk for conversion was increased for elephant caregivers and administrative employees working in the barn housing the M. tuberculosis-infected elepha...
2011-03-13 - Hohenwald, United States.
A tuberculosis outbreak among workers at a Tennessee elephant sanctuary in 2009 is being blamed on one of the pachyderms, even though some of the employees didn´t have close contact with the animal. TB spread to eight employees, though three of them didn´t work directly with the elephant. The eight employees tested positive on a skin test and received treatment,
2011-03-13 - , Thailand.
In May 1998, the Cabinet approved the designation of March 13 as Thai Elephants Day to raise and sustain public awareness of the importance of elephants. Elephant are recognzied as the national animal of Thailand. National Elephant Day is an occasion when people show their love for elephants and many of the elephant parks hold special events where visitors can look after the animals and help with the feeding.
2011-03-12 - Bangalore, India.
The Bandipur National Park landscape harbours one of the highest densities of elephants in Asia and as per the latest census reports, there are not less than 6,000 to 10,000 elephants that roam free in these jungles.
2011-03-12 - Nashville, United States.
Full Time Elephant Keeper - The Elephant Department is accepting resumes for a full time with benefits elephant keeper position. At least one year of free contact elephant experience is required. This position includes: Daily handling, training and care of 0.4 African elephants in a free contact environment, detailed daily cleaning and maintenance of holding areas and exhibit, record keeping, public speaking, veterinary assistance, team and individual problem solving and decision making.
2011-03-11 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
an elephant race and dug-out canoe race were organized by the Dak Lak Tourism JS Company, with the participation of 20 elephants and 20 dug-out canoes. In the qualifying round, four teams, each comprising 5 elephants aged 23 to 45, raced each other and the first five qualified for the final. Each elephant was ridden by two handlers who prodded the animals to run as fast as they could.
2011-03-11 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The more than 1,600 tusks seized since the beginning of 2009 by Thai customs indicate that more than 800 elephants were slaughtered to feed a murky and voracious international market. "Thailand is still ranked number one" in the ivory traffic rankings, said Chris Shepherd, deputy manager for Southeast Asia at wildlife protection group Traffic.
2011-03-09 - Atlanta, United States. Plotnik JM, Lair R, Suphachoksahakun W, de Waal FB.
This paradigm explores the cognition underlying coordination toward a shared goal. What do animals know or learn about the benefits of cooperation? Can they learn critical elements of a partner´s role in cooperation? Whereas observations in nature suggest such understanding in nonhuman primates, experimental results have been mixed, and little evidence exists with regards to nonprimates. Here, we show that elephants can learn to coordinate with a partner in a task requiring two individuals...
2011-03-08 - Oklahoma City, United States.
After a year and a half of construction, the elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo finally have a new home. The new elephant habitat covers more than nine and a half acres at the zoo. The $13 million, state-of-the-art exhibit includes three outdoor yards, pools, a waterfall, shade structures and a more than 15,000 square foot barn.
2011-03-07 - Hohenwald, United States.
The sanctuary has fired back with a counterclaim that Buckley created a hostile working environment, with mistreatment of workers. It also alleges that she failed to implement infection control measures, which the sanctuary and regulators agreed to, that preceded several elephant caregivers´ testing positive for tuberculosis.
2011-03-02 - Miami, United States.
Zoo Miami is accepting applications for a full time, temporary elephant keeper. We are seeking an energetic, team oriented, and outgoing person to join our staff. Experience with elephants and a working knowledge of operant conditioning is desired. This is a substitute position with the potential to be permanent. Minimum requirements are a college degree in Animal Science or related field and one year of professional animal care experience in an AZA accredited facility, as well as the ability to...
2011-02-26 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.
An endangered Borneo Pygmy elephant, Rocco, has died in captivity at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park here. Rocco, reportedly about 27 years old, died at 3.30am on Monday, hardly 24-hours after it showed signs of weakness that was treated with emergency intravenous and subcutaneous fluid therapy.
2011-02-24 - Baltimore, United States.
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is looking for a qualified individual to join our team as the Elephant Operations Manager. Under the general supervision of the General Curator/Elephant Manager and Assistant Curator, the Elephant Operations Manager is directly responsible for the development, maintenance, and daily execution of the elephant program so that it meets or exceeds AZA standards for elephant care and management.
2011-02-24 - Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic.
An elephant attacked one of its keepers at Dvur Kralove Zoo on Friday morning. The incident happened during a routine visit to the elephants’ enclosure when the animals were being fed. Another keeper was in the enclosure at the time and helped get the injured man out. He was airlifted to hospital and doctors report that he escaped with severe bruises and is suffering from shock. It is not clear why the elephant attacked him. The last time an elephant attacked a keeper was in 2001 when the inci...
2011-02-23 - Cleveland, United States.
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo says its current herd of three elephants this spring will welcome Shenga, a female African elephant from the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. That zoo had two elephants but the other died in October, leaving Shenga alone. Cleveland also will receive one more elephant for a total of five that will inhabit the zoo´s new African Elephant Crossing when it opens May 5.
2011-02-23 - Bangalore, India.
A tiger cub and a baby elephant were born at Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) yesterday. Veda, a 12-year-old elephant, gave birth to the calf around 5.30 pm in the forest outside the park limits. The forest guards informed the BBP officers, who are expected to bring back the mother and calf to the BBP today.
2011-02-22 - Portland, United States.
The Oregon Zoo is pleased to announce an available position working as a member of the professional animal care team for our Elephant facility. We are headed for an exciting time in our elephant program with the expansion of our current elephant facilities from 2.5 acres to 6 acres and the development of an off-site elephant facility.
2011-02-18 - Memphis, United States.
Working under the general direction of the Director of Animal Programs, responsible for the management and well being of the large mammal collection and associated exhibits in accordance with the Zoo’s goals of conservation, education, research, and exhibition
2011-02-18 - Paklay, Laos.
For its 5th edition, the Lao Elephant Festival will take place on: 18th, 19th & 20th February 2011. Paklay District, Sayaboury province
2011-02-16 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sambo, the aggressive bull elephant that rampaged through a Kampong Speu village in December, tragically died on Monday during a routine veterinary procedure at Phnom Tamao Zoo in Takeo province, said forestry officials and NGO representatives. “I’m absolutely devastated by this loss … I was directly involved in all of it,” Nick Marx, wildlife rescue director at Wildlife Alliance, said today. “The Forestry Administration wanted to sedate him so that the chains around his legs could be...
2011-02-15 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Ewa Narkiewicz
Galaget decided to drop her bundle so her little boy could be called Valentine! A big strapping boy with long tail and excellent structure, this is Galaget´s third baby and with same father Junboon as Angpow so they are officially related. As usual mother and baby are doing extremely well!
2011-02-15 - Knoxville, United States.
The elephant that killed its handler at the Knoxville Zoo last month apparently committed an “intentional” attack without provocation, according to a state report released today. Zoo officials say that’s a conclusion without any proof. “Intentional is a word that I don’t know how you can say,” said Jim Vlna, the zoo’s director. “They don’t know the mind of an elephant.”
2011-02-12 - Kent, United Kingdom.
Firefighters faced a jumbo problem when they were called to rescue and elephant at Howletts Wild Animal Park. One of the Park’s elephants collapsed in its bedroom and needed help getting to its feet. Umna, a 13-year-old African Elephant, was trapped on her side at the park in Bekesbourne Lane, Bekesbourne, after becoming ill with colic.
2011-02-11 - Coimbatore, India.
After the killing of Veerappan, who is said have gunned down at least 100 elephants, there was a brief lull in poaching activities in the jungles that stretch from Sathyamangalam to Erode. That changed in 2007 when two tuskers were shot dead in Sathyamangalam forests. Since then, poachers have killed seven elephants.
2011-02-11 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Central Highland Dak Lak Province´s famed tame elephants may become extinct in the next 20-25 years unless conservation project receive Goverment funding, experts said. The population of existing tame elephants is being overexploited for tourism and is under threat from poachers. Elephants are also not being encouraged to breed, according to a study on tamed elephants in the province by Central Highlands University, which showed that the number of tamed elephants in the province had declin...
2011-02-11 - Izmir, Turkey.
´Begümcan´ and ´Winner´, an Indian race elephant ‘couple’, had their first baby in Turkey, still unnamed. The baby elephant is also the first to be born in Turkey. The 110-kg-weighed baby elephant was delivered at İzmir Wild Life Park in western Turkey. The number of the Park’s elephants has risen to 3 with the coming of the newborn, whose name is to be determined with an İzmir-residents participated survey.
2011-02-10 - Beijing, China.
CHINA is driving demand for smuggled ivory from Africa, leading to a surge in the killing of endangered elephants. An international ivory trafficking operation saw a Beijing-based smuggler offering undercover reporters three pairs of recently-arrived tusks with a price tag of $64,000. Asked if he could supply more, he replied, "Don´t worry about that. If we can do a deal today, then next time I have some good ivory, I´ll call you." He said his uncle works in West Africa and uses cont...
2011-02-10 - Emmen, Netherlands.
The Emmen Zoo in the Netherlands celebrated the birth of a male calf on February 6, the second to be born in the outdoor exhibit with the herd. The calf was the fourth for the thirty year old Burmese cow Htoo Yin Aye. It was sired by the zoo’s breeding bull Radza. The forty four year old male arrived at Emmen in 2003 from Latvia. Since his arrival, he has sired twelve calves. The new calf brought the zoo’s herd size to thirteen, seven of which are males.
2011-02-10 - Chester, United Kingdom.
THE matriarch of Chester Zoo’s Asian elephant herd, Sheba, has died after a short illness. Sheba, 56, has been at the zoo for 46 years and was the zoo’s oldest elephant. Affectionately known as Madam Sheba by the team who looked after her, she had been at the zoo longer than any other elephant. Sheba had been ill for a short time and despite the best efforts of the keeping team and zoo’s veterinarians the decision was taken to euthanise her. She died on Wednesday afternoon.
2011-02-10 - Karaikal, India.
The famous Lord Saneeswara temple at Tirunallar in Karaikal district has got a female elephant calf from Karnataka in exchange for its fierce male elephant.The male elephant ´Ganesan´,gifted as a calf by a Tiruchi-based textiles baron in 2003, started behaving abnormally a few months back and remained restless, temple officials said.
2011-02-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
More than 72 wild elephants have been detected marooned in the flood affected areas in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, Director General of Wildlife Conservation Department, Chandrawansa Pathiraja said. He added that 70 out of them were stranded in Manik Farm and Settikulam areas in Vavuniya. Two elephant calves have been detected in Singhapura area in Welikanda, and measures have already been taken to rescue those two, the Director General said.
2011-02-09 - New Delhi, India.
The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the central government and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to ensure ´conducive´ atmosphere for a pair of elephants to be sent to Germany from Karnataka, as part of an exchange programme in which two pairs of cheetahs would be brought to India. ´Ensure that the elephants live in a conducive atmosphere in Germany,´ said a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
2011-02-09 - Chittoor, India.
Two persons were trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants on Andhra-Karnataka border on Tuesday. Forty others suffered injuries in the attack by the rampaging tuskers.
2011-02-09 - Tokyo, Japan.
A survey of Japanese Internet auction sites has revealed an average of more than 20 new and potentially illegal listings for ivory products per day. The auction site survey -- conducted by the Japanese branch of the non-government organization Traffic, which monitors the international animal trade also revealed that many of the listings do not mention a country of origin or other vital information, suggesting some of the items may be connected to the illegal trade in animals and animal products.
2011-02-08 - Washington, United States.
Almost half a century back, in 1954, in the remotes and dense jungles of Angola, Jose (Joseph) Fenykovi first saw the track of largest animal ever recorded in human history. It was an unbelievably big elephant track by the muddy shore of a lake. Joseph Fenykovi, Hungarian-born resident of Spain, was an engineer and big game hunter. Every Year, Fenykovi and his wife would abandon Europe and take off for their 1,000-acre ranch in Angola to start their big-game sport spanning for three months.
2011-02-08 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
If you are currently an Elephant Keeper and would like to join ZSL’s world class Elephant team, please apply by sending a full CV including a covering letter detailing your suitability for the above position to: Human Resources Department, ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, Whipsnade, Nr Dunstable. Beds LU6 2LF or email WZHR@zsl.org
2011-02-05 - Sydney, Australia.
One of the stars of Sydney´s Taronga Zoo, an 18-year-old Asian elephant, has been diagnosed with Tuberculosis. The Asian elephant, named Pak Boon, has been diagnosed with the illness which keepers believe she bought with her when she came from Thailand four years ago. She was tested for the bug when she came to Australia, but tests at the time came up negative. Pak Boon gave birth three months ago to a female calf, Tuka.
2011-02-03 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
The number of elephants in Don Village, Dak Lak province, famous for hunting and taming wild elephants, is going down. According to research, only 0.6 percent of tamed elephants have been reproductive in the last 30 years. Recently, the rate is nearly zero percent because male and female elephants don’t have favorable environment to meet and copulate since they are managed by different people. Moreover, they are overexploited for tourism purposes.
2011-02-02 - Los Angeles, United States.
Sex and the City star Kristin Davis will receive the Wyler Award from the Humane Society of the United States for her work in helping orphaned African elephants that are hunted for their ivory tusks. She´ll receive the tribute on March 19 in Los Angeles at the organization´s 25th anniversary Genesis Awards.
2011-02-02 - Vallejo, United States. AZA
Responsible for helping to train Elephants in a free contact program. Have involvement in training programs; care of Elephants, presentations in Elephant show, and other various duties as assigned. Qualified candidates should submit a resume to the Human Resources Office at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
2011-02-01 - Central Florida, United States.
The Central Florida & Botanical Gardens announces it will be transferring Maude, the Asian elephant to Zoo Miami within the next month. Maude will share a home at Zoo Miami with two other Asian elephants and will become part of this elephant herd. "We have an obligation to all of our animals, and especially to Maude, to select what is in her best interest," says Joe Montisano, CEO of Zoo. "After an extensive process and analysis of our options, we are confident this is best for her at this time....
2011-02-01 - Casablanca, Morocco.
Four circus elephants are locked for months in Morocco by a European administrative imbroglio prevented their return to France and their trainer, out of resources and hope, fear of being forced to euthanize them, "he said today . "We´re going to have to put them to sleep. I have no other options. It is taken hostage by the EU, " said Josef Gartner circus performer in a telephone interview.
2011-01-31 - Kent, United Kingdom.
A baby elephant whose twin died has been causing excitement at the Kent wild animal park where he was born. The as-yet-unnamed male was born to mother Masa following a 22-month pregnancy at Howletts, near Canterbury. The African elephant calf came into the world on January 25 but his twin did not survive. Ecstatic officials are still heralding the survival of its sibling and mother as a major success.
2011-01-30 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka.
Three more mahouts of the Pinnawela Elephant Sanctuary who were investigated regarding the death of an elephant who died under tragic circumstances, allegedly due to injuries caused by its caretakers’ spear were interdicted. Several mahouts, an Animal Protection Officer was suspended while the Assistant Director of the Orphanage was transferred following the death of the elephant at the orphanage, Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage Director S. Gunaratne said. A total number of nine personnel ...
2011-01-21 - Dale McFeatters , South Korea.
Curiosity is an overpowering motivation. Perhaps that best explains a plan by Japanese, Russian and U.S. scientists to clone a woolly mammoth, a large Ice Age mammal that was largely extinct 10,000 years ago. News accounts of the venture suggest that the scientists are doing this basically to see if they can and they´ll worry about what to do with a mammoth once they have one
2011-01-21 - Jamestown, United States.
A fossil which brought thousands of visitors to Randolph nearly eight decades ago could bring a whole new generation of interested guests to Jamestown during the next several weeks. For the first time since it was un-earthed from the Randolph Fish Hatchery in 1934, the fossilized re-mains of the “Randolph Mammoth” will be on display beginning Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown. The fossil — which is part of the museums “Fossils!” exhibit w...
2011-01-21 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Chamikara Weerasinghe
The Government has allocated nearly Rs 300 million to put up elephant fences in areas where the human-elephant conflict is deemed severe, Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S M Chandrasena said yesterday. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reportedly instructed Minister Chandrasena to fully activate the safety and protection systems in all National Parks.
2011-01-21 - Vallejo, United States.
North America´s oldest Asian elephant has died at a Northern California theme park at the age of 71. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Tuesday announced the death of Taj, who had lived at the Vallejo park for 33 years. The elephant was one of Discovery Kingdom´s most popular attractions. Her tricks included stacking logs and playing tug-of-war with guests. The park retired her three years ago.
2011-01-17 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. Karunaratne Atukorala
An elephant at the Pinnawela elephant orphanage died under tragic circumstances, allegedly due to injuries caused by its caretakers’ spear, an official said today. Two mahouts and an Animal Protection Officer at the Orphanage were suspended from service following the death of the elephant at the orphanage, Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage Director S. Gunaratne said
2011-01-16 - Knoxville, United States.
Stephanie James loved animals - whether it was the horses she used to take care of as a child, her dog she rescued from being euthanized or the elephants that she cared for daily at the Knoxville Zoo. "That was her life," her father, Ron James, said by telephone Friday evening. "It was just her goal in life to take care of animals and be around them."
2011-01-15 - Knoxville, United States. Amy McRary
The Knoxville Zoo African elephant that fatally injured one of her keepers will not be punished as multiple agencies begin to investigate what zoo officials call a tragic accident. Elephant keeper Stephanie Elaine James, 33, died from internal injuries she suffered Friday afternoon when a zoo elephant named Edie pushed her into the heavy metal bars of a stall inside the pachyderms’ barn.
2011-01-15 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The weekend of the 15th and 16th of January 2011 we invite you to join our ‘Bike for Elephants’ tour in Northern Thailand. Two days of adventure and fun biking through the Mae Tang valley, in Chiang Mai province. This event will raise much needed funds for the Elephant Nature Park and create awareness about the plight of Thai elephants.
2011-01-08 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
A tame elephant that was stabbed dozens of times by poachers two months ago has died, Le Thi Thanh Ha, director of the Ban Don Eco-tourism Company, said on Thursday. Poachers inflicted 217 cuts to the Pak Cu elephant´s hind legs and tail. Ha said the male elephant had long and valuable tusks. The eco-tourism company spent VND50 million (US$2,500) trying to treat the elephant´s injuries.
2011-01-04 - Greenville, South Carolina, United States.
A Greenville Zoo elephant, Lady Bird, 40, lost part of her right tusk last week, according to zoo officials. In a release, they say the tusk was discovered by zoo staff in the elephant barn when they let her out for exhibit. While they say it is not uncommon for elephants to break off their tusks, Lady Bird had a large crack in what was left of her tusk that concerned staff. “If the pulp canal, the vital portion of the tooth that runs down the center of the tusk, is open via the crack, then th...
2011-01-02 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Forest Rangers of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary captured a two-year-old male elephant calf from the vicinity of Madarihat village in West Bengal´s Jalpaiguri District. The elephant calf was residing in and around the village located near the sanctuary for the last 13 days. The elephant calf had got detached from its herd few days back and later the herd probably refused its re-entry.
2011-01-02 - New York, United States. Matthew McDermott
There are only an estimated 116 wild Asian elephants in Cambodia´s Seima Protection Area, and until now most of the photographic evidence of them has be taken by camera traps. New footage released by the Wildlife Conservation Society changes that. The short video, a screengrab of which is above (here´s the original footage), taken back in August by Allan Michaud shows a male elephant feeding on grass.
2010-12-27 - Rostov-na-Donu, Russian Federation.
Is the present new-year than miracle newly born elephant calf - Sint´s cow-elephant presented in the outgoing year to zoo. On the night on December 22 was born [samochka]. First-born Sints (so they call cow-elephant- mom) saw zoologists early in the morning. This remarkable event the specialists of zoo " hid” several days from the curious eyes for superstitious reasons. [Malyshka] was born by weight about 70 kg. now it [okrepla], she grew prettier. Like all little-ones, it is active and ...
2010-12-27 - San Diego, California, United States. Imperial Valley News
In the dark, early hours of Monday morning, an African elephant calf was born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. No human was there to witness it, but when the elephant staff arrived, about 6 a.m., they noticed the tiny, new member of the African elephant herd. Keepers called the mother, Litsemba, into an upper yard for a visual check of her and the new calf. "The baby was born out on the main exhibit in the presence of all the other moms and calves, but we wanted to make sure today that he reall...
2010-12-27 - Bangalore, India.
Death of six elephants in 15 days due to bacterial disease haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) or Pasturellosis, has shocked forest officials and experts as they fear it may become an epidemic affecting about 5,630 elephants residing in a 9,751-sq km area.
2010-12-26 - Sanjay Gandhi National Park, India.
After drowning in Gadchiroli in 2007, Vimala has become the first pachyderm to be resurrected by taxidermists at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. On Saturday, Dr Santosh Gaikwad, placed a pair of eyes on a model of Vimala, an 80 year-old elephant, who died in a drowning accident in Gadchiroli in 2007. This making the country´s first taxidermy model of an elephant.
2010-12-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife has decided to conduct an island wide survey to take census on wild elephants. The Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife, S.M. Chandrasena says that he has directed the officials of the Department to conduct the survey in August next year.
2010-12-25 - Haryana, India.
Despite a ban on elephant trading, jumbos can be bought and sold in Haryana thanks to loopholes in the state´s Village Cattle Fair Act (1970). The act, amended twice, continues to have elephants on its list of tradable animals at rural cattle fairs. The state act violates the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) that puts elephants in the protected category and bars their domestication.
2010-12-24 - Assam, India.
The thirty-hour ordeal of an Asian elephant calf trapped in a trench on a tea estate in eastern Assam ended on a happy note as rescuers successfully reunited it with its mother. Two captive elephants were deployed to keep the mother away from the rescue site as Assam Forest Department officials and an IFAW-WTI team helped the calf out of the trench.
2010-12-24 - Karachi, Pakistan. Qadeer Tanoli
Even after her death, Anarkali — a female elephant which entertained almost three generations in Karachi — continue to attract visitors at the Karachi Zoological Garden, though in a very different way. Due to their love for the elephant-deity, Ganesh, visitors from the Hindu community have now learnt how to trick the two staffers guarding the skull of Anarkali at the Karachi Zoo to offer sacrifices to it.
2010-12-23 - , United States.
A New Zealand elephant handler won a wrongful dismissal claim Wednesday against a circus that falsely told him it had lost his beloved animal and his services were no longer required. The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found that Tony Ratcliffe, who had looked after Jumbo the elephant for 30 years, agreed to sell the animal to the Australian-based Loritz Bros. Circus in 2008 and act as its carer.
2010-12-23 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Three suspected poachers were shot dead in Kenya in the past week in two incidents for killing five elephants, Kenyan wildlife authorities said on Monday. Kenya Wildlife Service said its rangers shot dead two poachers in the southeast of the country, arrested another, and recovered two assault rifles and seven elephant tusks.
2010-12-23 - Boston, United States. Nadin Rohland, David Reich, Swapan Mallick, Matthias Meyer, Richard E. Green3, Nicholas J. Georgiadis, Alfred L. Roca, Michael Hofreiter, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
To elucidate the history of living and extinct elephantids, we generated 39,763 bp of aligned nuclear DNA sequence across 375 loci for African savanna elephant, African forest elephant, Asian elephant, the extinct American mastodon, and the woolly mammoth. Our data establish that the Asian elephant is the closest living relative of the extinct mammoth in the nuclear genome, extending previous findings from mitochondrial DNA analyses
2010-12-22 - Old Crow, United States.
Baby woolly mammoths in the Yukon were nourished exclusively on their mother´s milk for two years, much longer than elephants nurse their young, a new study has found. The dependency on nursing may have hastened the extinction of the giant tusked mammals 10,000 years ago, suggested Jessica Metcalfe, the University of Western Ontario researcher who led the study published in December in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
2010-12-22 - Washington, United States.
Everyone is taught that there are two species of elephants — the African and the Asian — but new research is suggesting this isn´t the whole truth. The "African elephant" is actually two species, as evolutionarily different as lions and tigers are from one another.
2010-12-12 - Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States. Timothy Tegge
Clocking in at just under two full hours, this magnificent collection of all things pachyderm contains 28 different elephant acts (some partial and many complete), in addition to several additional accompanying vignettes filmed on various shows around the world. It can be purchased soon at http://www.circustimevideo.com/
2010-12-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Minister of Wildlife and Peasants Services S.M. Chandrasena says that 5,000 personnel of Civil Defense Force will be deployed to prevent man-elephant conflicts. The Civil Defense Force personnel will assist the Wildlife officials to protect the elephant population as well as the crops of the farmers.
2010-12-11 - Bangalore, India.
A rogue tusker, which had killed six people in the last six months, was finally captured on Thursday in Tiptur, near Honavalli in Tumkur. The tusker on Thursday morning trampled 28-year-old Yogesh to death in Honavalli near KR Katte. According to the deputy conservator of forests, Tumkur wildlife division, UP Singh, the elephant came from Arsikere about five months back and was camping here. Yogesh had gone to attend nature’s call, when he was trampled by the tusker.
2010-12-11 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Two Singaporean nationals were arrested late Friday as they allegedly tried to smuggle raw elephant ivory out of Kenya, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service. The suspects were arrested with 92 kilograms of illegal raw ivory at the Jomo Kenyatta International airport while trying to board a midnight flight to Bangkok, Thailand. The K9 unit of the Kenya Wildlife Service made the bust, according to Paul Udoto, a spokesman for the KWS.
2010-12-09 - Kandy, Thailand. Asela KURULUWANSA and Indika POLKOTUWA
Sri Lankan Veterinary Scientists are far ahead of their counterparts in other Asian countries such as India, Thailand and Myanmar, said Peradeniya University Veterinary Science Senior Lecturer Ashoka Dangolla addressing the media at Kandy Sinhala Traders´ Front auditorium Monday. he said that only two percent of elephants in Sri Lanka die when being transferred from one forest to another, whereas in other Asian countries the corresponding figure is about 10 percent.
2010-12-08 - Raipur, India.
Wild elephants trampled six people to death in Chhattisgarh´s Surguja district this year, Forest Minister Vikram Usendi said Wednesday. ´As many as six people were killed and 527 houses destroyed by elephants this year,´ the minister said in a written reply to Congress legislator Premsai Singh Tekam. Usendi said the government paid Rs.1 million as compensation to each family which lost a member in the elephant attacks. Over Rs.5 million was paid to people whose houses were brou...
2010-12-08 - Pinnawala, Sri Lanka.
A baby elephant that had roamed away from its herd was found lying exhausted in a paddy field in Kidachchiur. The calf was handed over to the Vavuniya Range Forest Conservation Office by the Sri Lanka Army and some locals. Range Forest Officer W J K Herath said the calf had been starving for several days and that it would be handed over to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage after medical treatment.
2010-12-07 - Kampong Speu, Cambodia.
An elephant named Sambo stomped its 54-year-old owner to death and fled into the jungle in Kampong Speu province’s Mon village, prompting the owner’s family to intervene with authorties to catch the angry beast and remove it to a zoo. Se Phoeun was killed on Friday when his elephant went on a rampage, trampling him to death and destroying neighbours’ crops
2010-12-06 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
Elephant drivers in Nepal´s top wildlife park held a four-hour strike on Monday and threatened to stop working altogether in a protest over pay and conditions. The drivers, or mahouts, are employed by the hotel industry to take tourists on elephant-back safaris in the Chitwan national park, home to Nepal´s largest populations of rhinos and tigers as well as many rare bird and deer species.
2010-12-06 - Bhavani Sagar, India.
Sunday 2.45 a.m. at Bhavani Sagar, the captured tusker got off the truck and headed straight for its habitat, bringing joy to Forest Department officials, who had toiled for 72 hours. The jumbo had caused considerable tension when it entered a human habitat, and remained there for three days. The release of the over 25-year-old marked the end of a 20-hour-operation, perhaps Tamil Nadu´s first.
2010-12-06 - Thrissur, India.
In 2003, the Kerala Government introduced the Captive Elephant (Management & Maintenance) Rule, known as Rule 2003, whereby microchips and registration for captive elephants were made compulsory. To a large extent it resulted in reducing their illegal transportation. According to the 2009 census, there are about 695 elephants in Kerala, of which 196 are in Thrissur, a place known for elephant craze where caparisoned elephants are paraded in every function.
2010-12-05 - Seoul , South Korea. Robert Lee
Seoul’s zoo is expecting to receive two baby African elephants next year, the only ones in the country, according to zoo officials Sunday. Seoul Grand Park Zoo said they are in the process of obtaining baby African elephants, of both sexes, costing the city 280 million won ($246, 900). “Through an agency we are hoping to receive two elephants, from an African country, that are weaning and have good personalities,” according to park officials.
2010-12-03 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Five-year-old Kannan, the resident elephant at a Hindu temple near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala has been looking a bit long in the tooth. With its tusks too long to be able to eat, it is time for a visit from Vinayan, the elephant beautician. Vinayan was an elephant driver by profession but took to cutting and shaping elephants tusks that earned him the nickname of the "elephant beautician"
2010-11-27 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan wildlife rangers shot dead two poachers suspected of killing two elephants in one of the country´s top national parks, a park official said Friday. The pair, a Kenyan and a Tanzanian, were gunned down Thursday near the Amboseli National Park in the south of the country as they prepared to shoot a herd of elephants.
2010-11-27 - Washington, United States.
The di no saurs’ de mise 65 mil lion years ago paved the way for mam mals to even tu ally grow over a thou sand fold in size, hit ting rec ords for heft some 34 mil lion years ago, a new study sug gests. “Size im pacts all as pects of bi ol o gy, from re pro duc tion to ex tinc tion,” said Uni vers ity of New Mex i co bi ol o gist Fe lisa Smith, who led the re search. “Un der stand ing the con straints op er at ing on size is cru cial to un der stand ing how ecosys tems work.”
2010-11-27 - Thrissur, India.
Twenty-seven-year-old Devidasan had been enduring acute pain from a deep cavity in his tusk for the past five years. With the aim to alleviate the pain and repair and restore the beauty of Devidasan’s tusk, his owner, Forest Veterinary Officer Dr. V. Sunil Kumar, got in touch with Dr. C. V. Pradeep, conservative dentist and endodontist of Kannur.
2010-11-26 - Knysna, South Africa.
THE international Eco- Etho Research and Education Centre has joined the Knysna Elephant Park’s African elephant research unit to launch a new academy that will study animal welfare and psychology. The major aim of the academy’s courses will be to develop world- recognised qualifications for those professionally involved with large mammals, in order to ensure that animals under any form of human jurisdiction do not suffer and that, in particular, co-operative contact, handling and teaching a...
2010-11-24 - Galgamuwa, Sri Lanka. Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe
An elephant being transported by the Wildlife Department died of suffocation in the Galgamuwa area, officials said. The elephant, a tusker was being taken in a lorry when its leg broke through the bottom of the lorry and the elephant had struggled. Later attempts were made to release the elephant midway, but the attempt failed and the elephant had died.
2010-11-22 - New Delhi, India. Press Information Bureau Government of India
The Ministry is considering for setting up of the National Elephant Conservation Authority. The details are yet to be finalized. The population of wild elephants in the country as per the census done in the year 2007-08 is in the range of 27,669 to 27,719 as compared to a 26,413 estimated in previous census done in the year 2002. The population of elephant in the country is increasing not declining. This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent char...
2010-11-20 - Paris, France.
An auction of prints by fashion photographer Richard Avedon has netted more than $7.5 million US. Billed as the largest auction ever of Avedon works, 65 photos were put on the block. Avedon´s most famous picture may be Dovima with elephants, a 224-centimetre by 152-centimetre print that adorned the entrance to his New York City studio for more than two decades. It sold for $1.15 million US. The sales in Paris will benefit his eponymous foundation, which is seeking to establish an endowment...
2010-11-20 - Smowmass, United States. Loren Grush
An accidental discovery by a bulldozer driver has led to what may be the find of the century: an ice-age burial ground that could rival the famed La Brea tar pits. After two weeks of excavating ancient fossils at the Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village, Colorado, scientists from the Denver Museum of Natural Science returned home Wednesday with their unearthed treasures in tow -- a wide array of fossils, insects and plant life that they say give a stunningly realistic view of what life was li...
2010-11-19 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon
"Using Science to Understand Elephant Welfare" will involve all 290 Asian and African elephants housed in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Zoos with pachyderms were not required to participate, but all signed on.
2010-11-15 - St. Louis, United States. AZA
Works as part of a team to provide daily elephant care including but not limited to diet preparation and feeding, barn and yard cleaning, foot and skin care and training of 1.1 African elephants within a Protected Contact management system. Must be team oriented with strong communication skills (written and oral). Observes elephants for changes in behavior and any sign of injury or illness. Assists in maintaining enrichment programs Participates in on-going research involving elephant care and h...
2010-11-15 - Omaha, United States.
Her friend Maliaka dead, Shenga will now head to a new home. The female African elephant will move to a new zoo early next year, according to a news release from the Henry Doorly Zoo: "The decision to move Shenga comes after the death of Maliaka, a 47-year-old elderly female elephant who lived with her."
2010-11-15 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
An incredible ultrasound image of a baby elephant in utero has been released by ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. The picture shows George at three months - 19 months before his birth in May this year. Incredibly his trunk is already visible. The Zoo used 3D ultrasound scanners to monitor the health and well-being of mum and baby. Now six months old, George weighs around 60 stone and is part of the herd of Asian elephants at the Zoo in Dunstable. His keepers say he loves to play in the seven-acre paddock with ...
2010-11-15 - Hamburg, Germany.
Elephant Management School in Hamburg, is holding its held annual course in November. The First European Elephant Management School is a practical orientated course on different elephant management tactics. Free contact as well as protected contact management techniques and procedures will be trained.
2010-11-13 - Karlsruhe, Germany.
The elephants and hippos at Karlsruhe Zoo were rescued in dramatic circumstances on Friday night after a fire which had already killed a number of animals threatened to spread to their enclosure. Fire broke out in the petting area of the zoo, killing all 26 animals kept there, including sheep, African dwarf goats, alpacas, Shetland ponies and Sardinian dwarf donkeys. It would seem only the doves which were housed there could escape.
2010-11-11 - Winston, United States. AZA
The Wildlife Safari offers an exciting, hands-on, and unique internship program. These three-month, non-paid internships occur in one of four departments; Cheetah, Carnivore, Ungulate and Elephant departments. The Wildlife Safari offers an experience much like that of doing field conservation due to our large mixed species exhibits with 600 acres for the animals to roam. Wildlife Safari is also known for it’s top cheetah breed program with 163 cheetah births.
2010-11-10 - Cleveland, Ohio, United States. James Ewinger
Today´s word is "biggest" -- as in the biggest land mammal in the world, the biggest animal the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has ever housed, and an exhibit that is expected to be the biggest draw since the RainForest opened nearly 20 years ago. The new African Elephant Crossing, set to open May 5, is also expected to attract zoo managers from around North America because of its innovations. But the biggest news right now is the arrival of Willy, a 31-year-old African bull elephant who stands ...
2010-11-07 - Cleveland, United States.
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is winding down construction on its African elephant crossing project. Although the sparks are still flying, the finishing touches are still being made to the facility and its grounds. “We’ve quadrupled the amount of space that we originally had for elephants. So it’s an increase in the amount of space, but also we’ve made that space so much better for the elephants by improving its quality,” said Amanda Majewski with the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
2010-11-07 - Agra, India.
A 38-year-old elephant that was “lodged” at Loni police station here since last week was transferred to a rescue centre in Agra, where it will have a natural environment and also a companion. Last month, the mahout of the elephant, Bhola, reportedly tried to walk the elephant into Uttar Pradesh, without proper documents.
2010-11-06 - Haridwar, India.
In Haridwar, a woman and her two grandchildren were trampled to death by a wild elephant last night on National Highway at Moteechur near Rajaji National Park. According to Director of Rajaji National Park S S Rasaily the incident took place outside Motichur range of the national park last evening when five members of a family were attacked by the wild elephant. He told our Dehradun correspondent that a man and his one daughter managed to run away from the spot whereas three members of his famil...
2010-11-06 - Bangalore, India.
The Karnataka State Forest Department is gearing up for a two-day elephant census that will be conducted across most of the State´s national parks and sanctuaries on May 15 and 16. The census will be simultaneously carried out in the three other southern States — Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
2010-11-05 - Angul, India. Sangram Ranjan Nath
When Shankar arrived at Tikarpada Sakakosia wildlife forest, the villagers protested him. Shankar is now a well discussed elephant not only at Angul but also in Keonjhar area. Shankar a pet elephant who was enged for drive away the other wild elephant, and eco truism project at Telkoi Keonjhar district.
2010-11-04 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
A FARMER’S son from South Somerset, who is now an elephant keeper at Whipsnade Zoo, will star in an upcoming documentary that goes behind-the-scenes at the UK’s largest zoo. Rob Conachie, 27, will feature in The Zoo, a three-part documentary series that shows the goings-on of the Zoological Society of London – beginning at 8pm on Tuesday, November 9, on ITV1.
2010-11-04 - Los Angeles, United States. Jason Jacobs, Los Angeles Zoo PR
On the morning of Thursday, November 4, 2010, the Los Angeles Zoo moved 25-year-old Asian elephant Billy into a completed section of the new six-acre Elephants of Asia exhibit, scheduled to open December 16. Zoo staff used pumpkins to create a trail for Billy to follow into his new home. After cautiously stepping into the new habitat, Billy began eating the pumpkins along with some of the landscaping. Billy then showered himself underneath the new waterfall and dug into the river sand which surr...
2010-11-03 - Snowmass, United States. Brent Gardner-Smith
Plant material and soil sent for radiocarbon dating; big dig at reservoir begins today. For now, think “Snowmass mastodon” as much as “Snowmass mammoth.” Dr. Steven Holen, curator of archaeology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, has determined that five tusks found last Thursday in the Ziegler Reservoir are from mastodons. “We have an absolute minimum of three mastodons,” Holen said Monday by phone before excitedly rushing back to the archaeological dig, which is set...
2010-11-03 - Guwahati, India.
Police in northeast India said Wednesday they had busted an elephant smuggling racket which is suspected of selling nearly 100 animals across the country and to Nepal. Two elephants, a mother and a calf, were seized when a police team swooped on a truck travelling across the state border from Assam to West Bengal at the weekend.
2010-11-02 - Sydney, Australia. Taronga Conservation Society Australia Press release
Taronga third Asian Elephant calf was born at 1.12 am last night. The calf is Taronga’s first female and it is the fifth calf born to the Australian Conservation Management Plan for these endangered elephants. The calf was born in the paddock four years to the day of the arrival of the herd from Thailand in 2006.
2010-10-30 - Portland, United States.
We are headed for an exciting time in our elephant program with the expansion of our current elephant facilities from 2.5 acres to 6 acres and the development of an off-site elephant facility. We are seeking an Elephant Curator to manage the elephant collection.
2010-10-30 - Los Angeles, United States. Carla Hall and Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
Two females will be on indefinite loan from the San Diego Zoo, bringing the Griffith Park facility´s number of pachyderms to three. Tina and Jewel are female Asian elephants of un certain age who between them have endured foot problems and dental surgery. They will be on indefinite loan from the San Diego Zoo, both zoos announced Friday.
2010-10-27 - San Diego Zoo, United States. Sarah, Real World Team
We talked to the Senior Elephant Keeper Ron Ringer, who gave us a breif explanation of the Center. Then Anne Alfama, the Lead Keeper of Elephant Odyssey, gave a basic rundown of both the Center and the Odyssey. She emphasized that the Elephant Care Center is a state of the art elephant care facility, built with Keeper input.
2010-10-27 - Bejing, China.
Zoos and parks across China will be banned from putting up shows of animal performances for extra profits, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said in a notice Tuesday. The notice explains while China´s zoo industry has experienced rapid development, a few profit-driven zoos were found improperly caring for the animals or even involved in gross neglect in some cases.
2010-10-27 - Jagiroad, India.
A day after the elephant was officially declared a Heritage Animal, entitling it to the same sort of protection as the tiger, a video has captured villagers in Assam beating a baby elephant to death. The three-year-old calf had was injured and had been abandoned by his herd. Villagers are seen in the video riding on the injured calf, while policemen watch.
2010-10-27 - Kekirawa, Sri Lanka. Karunaratne Dissanayake
The prowling of wild elephants in villages and paddy fields in the Kekirawa area has increased after the harvesting season. However cultivation in the Maha season has not been possible owing to a severe drought.
2010-10-26 - Winston, United States.
With the help of a local winery, the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Ore. made a little history this weekend. One of the elephants made famous for its Elephant Car Wash traded in bucket and sponge for a glass of Pinot. George the elephant from Wildlife Safari stomped grapes for wine this past weekend in Winston, Ore. – marking the first time in North America where an elephant has been used to stomp grapes for wine.
2010-10-26 - Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.
A wild elephant that had been saved from drowning in the sea off Sampur in Trincomalee a few months ago by the Sri Lanka Navy and released to the jungle was found dead last night in a well in Jayanthipura in Trincomalee. Few months ago the elephant had been caught in a current and swept farther into the deep sea when the Navy spotted it. The jumbo had been roaming in the Sampur and Trincomalee areas and was being monitored by the Wildlife Conservation officials.
2010-10-26 - Bhubaneswar, India.
After serving a term in confinement, tusker Nandan has a public service on hand. The forest department plans to use the 24-year-old tusker as a kumki (trained commando elephant) to tame wild elephants so that they do not destroy lives and property. On Monday, Nandan was transported to the elephant-training centre at the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary, 60 km from Bhubaneswar, from Nandankanan Zoo, on the outskirts of the Orissa capital, where he spent ten years in chains after unintentionally killin...
2010-10-26 - New Delhi, India.
Rajbhar Harmohinder Singh will forever rue the moment when he agreed to meet a ´foreign lady´ to try and sell her an ivory necklace. His dreams of the Rs 8.05 lakh illegal sale were horribly shattered when the man found out that his customer was none other than former environment minister, Maneka Gandhi. He was immediately put behind bars, sources said.
2010-10-25 - Kent, United Kingdom.
A jumbo-sized problem kicking up a stink at Howletts zoo has been solved by Southern Water. The park’s 14 elephants – who let nature take its course every two hours – had been causing a headache for owners because their enclosure wasn’t connected to the public sewer system. It meant having to hire tankers to come in and suck up daily waste water left by their toilet habits and take it to a nearby treatment works.
2010-10-25 - Tây Nguyên, Vietnam.
It’s 1975, and Y’Tin Eban, a thirteen year old Rhade boy living in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, is the youngest elephant keeper ever in his village. He plans someday to open the first elephant-training school in Vietnam. He has promised his elephant, Lady, that he will care for her all her life and mash up bananas for her when she’s old and has lost her teeth. Y’Tin has lots of ideas, lots of plans.
2010-10-25 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
A tamed elephant with beautiful tusks found last week with hundreds of cuts on his body has been in critical condition, Buon Don District officials said. The tusker was found in a forest near the Ban Don Eco-tourism Company´s office in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. Thieves attacked the three-tonne elephant, named Pac Ku, with the intention of killing him and removing his 70cm tusks, local people say.
2010-10-25 - Lampung, Indonesia.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the central government will soon build the biggest animal hospital in South East Asia. The construction will begin in 2011 at the Way Kambas National Park, Lampung. "The architectural design has been completed and the hospital, intended for wild and domestic animals, can soon be realized,” said Zulkifli after launching the program "Plant One Billion Trees" in Lampung yesterday.
2010-10-23 - Naypyidaw, Myanmar.
MYANMAR state media yesterday hailed the discovery of a fifth white elephant, considered a symbol of good fortune, ahead of elections dismissed by critics as a charade to legitimise military rule. The female pachyderm named Nandawady was sprinkled with holy water in a ceremony that coincided with Thursday´s unveiling of the country´s new flag.
2010-10-23 - Maun, Botswana. Sarah Whyte
AUSTRALIAN elephant expert Nathan Jamieson´s conservation work with the animals he devoted his life to has ended in tragedy in Africa. The 32-year-old, who had been working in Botswana since resigning from the Taronga and Dubbo zoos in March, was killed when an elephant he was tending struck him suddenly with its trunk.
2010-10-22 - Washington, United States.
The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s endocrinology laboratory is set to play a vital role in what will be the most comprehensive and collaborative study on elephant welfare in zoos—a project funded by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services with the Honolulu Zoo serving as principal investigator.
2010-10-22 - Pretoria, South Africa.
A man gored by an elephant is suing a North West game lodge for R300 000, according to court papers. In papers lodged in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria this week, Andrew Falcon is demanding R300 000 from Three Cities Management Ltd, Madikwe River Lodge (Pty) Ltd and Madikwe River Lodge Management Ltd. He alleged that the lodge´s emergency medical procedures were so poor that he had to wait almost five hours before he could be evacuated for medical attention.
2010-10-22 - New Delhi, India.
The environment ministry on Friday declared the elephant a national heritage animal in order to step up measures for its protection. The ministry Friday issued a notification in this regard after the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) approved the proposal in its meeting held on Oct 13. The Elephant Task Force Aug 31 in its report had recommended the special status to elephants, saying the move will help in protecting the jumbos.
2010-10-22 - Mt. Juliet, United States.
A Mt. Juliet native who survived an elephant attack in China is returning to Middle Tennessee to tell his story about survival and to sign copies of his book, Elephant Juice: Miracles Happen, this weekend. Jeremy McGill, 33, who now lives in Henderson, Tenn., was teaching English in China in January 2008 when he was given a vacation stipend and time off to travel the country.
2010-10-21 - Vallejo, United States.
REPORTS TO: Elephant Supervisos. STATUS: Full-Time Hourly. JOB SUMMARY: Responsible for helping to train Elephants in a free contact program. Have involvement in training programs; care of Elephants, presentations in Elephant show, and other various duties as assigned.
2010-10-21 - Kui Buri National Park , Thailand.
Poachers have shot dead a male elephant and hacked its face to dig out its tusks. Kui Buri National Park chief Boonlue Poonnil said yesterday that forest rangers saw two men slashing something in deep jungle in Sam Roi Yot district on Wednesday night. The men fled after spotting the rangers.Authorities investigating the scene found the carcass of a male elephant aged from five to 10 years.
2010-10-21 - Lucknow, India.
Jaimala could be on its way back to Lucknow zoo. Reason: the elephant has perhaps not been able to acclimatise to the wild environs of Katarniaghat. Its inability to survive in the wild and learn performing the tasks meant for jumbos has led Katarniaghat officials to consider sending Jaimala back to its old habitat, Lucknow zoo.
2010-10-19 - , India.
Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary which is a popular elephant corridor will further be enlarged with the addition of Khanakpur Forest to its area. Currently Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary, a popular elephant reserve is spread over Belgaum, Karwar, Dharwad and Haveri districts of Karnataka. The addition of Khanakpur Forest adds further 64,643 hectares of forest area which consist of about 161 villages.
2010-10-19 - Franklin, United States.
Past the driveways and decorative mailboxes of a quiet Franklin cul de sac, the ancient bones of what´s likely a mastodon and the tools of prehistoric America are seeing sunlight for the first time in thousands of years. Since last week, a team of archaeologists and Middle Tennessee State University students has hewn a trench about 10 feet deep into the cool clay of a suburban Williamson County backyard, bringing out bags of bone fragments and stones once used perhaps as axes or other impl...
2010-10-18 - Mysore, India.
The 400th year of Mysore Dasara celebrations drew to a close with the famous Jumboo Savari and Torchlight Parade witnessed by a large crowd here on Sunday. Showcasing the cultural diversity of the State, the grand Vijayadashami procession marked the culmination of 10 days of festivities. With 132 cultural troupes from across the State, including 32 thematic tableaux, participating, the procession was the lengthiest in recent years. It covered a distance of about 4 km before terminating at Bannim...
2010-10-18 - Macau, Macau.
The Customs Service (SA) of Macao has announced their biggest ivory smuggling bust since 1999, involving an officially estimated value of 10 million patacas ($1.25m), the Macao Post Daily reported Monday. The ivory seized in the operation Sunday weighs about 1 ton. The case was also the first in Macao since 2003, when customs official confiscated 170 kilograms of ivory found on a boat.
2010-10-18 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The trends of poaching in Kenya over the last three years are illustrated by a steep graph that defies gravity. The number of elephant deaths in that period has grown five times. The seizure of ivory and rhino horns coming from Kenya and eastern Africa region is at a record high, even before the year ends. Data from various sources show that while 47 elephants died in 2007 due to poaching, the number rose to 145 in 2008 and to 216 in 2009. This year, 28,000 tonnes of ivory have been seized.
2010-10-18 - Oklahoma City, United States.
Asian elephants Asha and Chandra have returned to the Oklahoma City Zoo after more than 2 years in Tulsa. The sisters returned Monday to Oklahoma City after riding in a special climate-controlled truck. "They´re back in town," Oklahoma City Zoo spokeswoman Tara Henson said. "They´re doing great."
2010-10-18 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand evacuated dozens of elephants from a popular tourist attraction Monday after they were threatened by floods that submerged homes and paralyzed transportation in parts of the country. The rescue operation in Ayutthaya province, north of the capital, had 92 of the endangered beasts moved from a site known as Elephant Village, said manager Ittiporn Kaolamai.
2010-10-16 - Omatjete, Namibia.
Game rangers this week herded out four elephants that have been causing sleepless nights for villagers in the Omatjete communal area. Conflict between elephants and communities along the Ugab River continues, but authorities caution that the area is a natural grazing ground for elephants. The latest incidents concerning threats by elephants occurred at the villages of Otjikakaneno and Okongue along the river. Otjikakaneno village is located between the borders of Erongo and Kunene regions.
2010-10-15 - Portland, United States.
We are headed for an exciting time in our elephant program with the expansion of our current elephant facilities from 2.5 acres to 6 acres and the development of an off-site elephant facility. We are seeking an Elephant Curator manage the elephant collection.
2010-10-15 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force has announced the death of South African businessman, Don Hornsby an avid conservationist after an attack by an elephant at Matusadona in Kariba. In a statement released today Johnny Rodrigues, Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said ; It is with deep regret that we announce that South African businessman, Don Hornsby was killed by an elephant in Kariba on October 13th 2010.
2010-10-13 - Daklak, Vietnam.
For a taste of central highlands history, tourists to Daklak Province should visit the tomb of the king of elephant hunters in Buon Don Village. There are 40 elephant hunters buried in the unique graveyard that has about 40 tombs. The hunters entombed there killed at least 25 to 30 elephants each. To be buried in the cemetery was a tribute to their huntsmanship. The oldest tomb belongs to N’Thu Knul, who was a powerful tribal chief born in 1828. He is worshipped as founder of the art of hunti...
2010-10-12 - Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Darren Naish
Many people have reported elephants (both Asian and African) to reach into the mouth with the trunk and withdraw water. The elephants then spray this water over themselves (particularly their ears) to keep cool. The quantity of water produced in these instances is apparently quite large: J. Emerson Tennent, writing in his 1861 Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon, referred to "gallons of water" being withdrawn.
2010-10-12 - Yongin, South Korea.
Korea´s very own talking elephant is starting to gain attention abroad. His fame has now brought foreign researchers to Korea, including German biologist Daniel Mietchen of the University of Jena and elephant vocal sound expert Angela Stoeger-Horwarth of the University of Vienna, who visited Korea to study Kosik last week.
2010-10-12 - Louisville, United States.
A post-mortem exam has concluded a 3-year-old African elephant that died at the Louisville Zoo earlier this year had a common complication of colic. The zoo, in a release Tuesday, said Scotty, the first elephant born in the facility´s 41-year history, died in early May after contracting endotoxemia, which happens when bacteria leaks from the intestinal tract into the bloodstream.
2010-10-11 - Central Florida, United States.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus® and the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation® are pleased to announce a unique learning opportunity in elephant care. The next intern session is scheduled to begin on February 28,2011and will conclude on May 20, 2011.
2010-10-11 - Jersey City, United States.
You may never be too old to learn, but a new exhibit at the Liberty Science Center proves you’re never too old to enlighten either. Lyuba, a 42,000-year old baby woolly mammoth discovered in Siberia in 1997, arrived at the interactive science museum in Jersey City on Friday for a temporary stay which opens to the public on Oct. 16.
2010-10-11 - Jackson, United States.
When hungry, Rosie and Juno could each make quick work of an oak tree branch, bamboo stalks, a pitchfork handle, peanut butter sandwiches and a 55-gallon tank of frozen popsicles. When the light is right, both are the color of cappuccino, including their ears, which resemble maps of Africa so massive they could double as pup tents.
2010-10-11 - Guwahati, India.
The carcasses of two female elephants were recovered from two separate places near Kaziranga today, barely five days after two elephants calves died of suspected poisoning at Diffloo tea estate near Kaziranga National Park. Preliminary investigations suggest that both the elephants, one of them pregnant, died of suspected poisoning.
2010-10-11 - Mount Cameroon, Cameroon.
The North Carolina Zoo’s commitment to wildlilfe extends far beyond its gates. One of the Zoo’s most important conservation research projects operates in the western African nation of Cameroon. There, Zoo Chief Veterinarian Dr. Michael Loomis works with several NGO and government partners to study elephants and elephant habitat. The Zoo joined forces with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 1996 to study elephants in northern Cameroon.
2010-10-11 - Madurai, India.
A substitute mahout was injured after he was flung by a domesticated elephant which ran amok on a road in the city today, causing panic. Kannan, assigned to take care of the 26-year old elephant in place of its mahout Ashok Kumar, had attempted to feed it when it lifted him with its trunk and flung him, police said adding he suffered a fracture and has been hospitalised. The female elephant, brought here for a private function, then turned violent, broke free from its chains and started running ...
2010-10-09 - Berlin, Germany.
Berlin postcard. Baby Indian elephant ("Kalifa") at the Zoologischer Garten (Berlin zoo). According to the card, Kalifa was born on September 20, 1928. Not posted. Corners rather worn, some small marks on the message side, otherwise in fair to good condition.
2010-10-08 - Oklahoma City, United States.
Asian elephants Asha and Chandra will return to their home at Oklahoma City Zoo in the coming weeks, and they´ll find a homestead that´s very different from their old stomping grounds. They´ll have 3½ acres of land instead of fourth of an acre. Theyir barn will be 10 times bigger.
2010-10-08 - Raipur, India.
Dozens of families have migrated from a forested village in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district after a herd of wild elephants ran amok, killing a child and destroying several houses, officials said Friday. “Some 25 families of Panekatel village have moved to safer areas for a brief period after wild jumbos sneaked into their village Thursday night and trampled a three-year-old girl, Manisha, to death and demolished several houses,” an official at the forest headquarters here told IANS. Paneka...
2010-10-08 - Hohenwald, United States.
A co-founder of a renowned habitat for sick and endangered elephants claims she was forced out and is suing the safe haven and two of its Nashville board members. Carol Buckley, a founder of The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, is suing for retaliatory termination, breach of contract and visitation rights for her elephant, Tarra, among other things. Buckley also claims she had her name and art used without her permission, according to a Davidson County Chancery Court lawsuit. She is suing the sa...
2010-10-08 - San Andreas, United States. Cynthia Hubert
Big news from the Performing Animal Welfare Society: Sabu, a seven-ton Asian bull elephant, has arrived at the organization´s ARK 2000 compound. A retiree from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, he is the largest captive elephant in North America, said Pat Derby, PAWS president. Sabu joins his brother Nicholas, who came to ARK 2000 five years ago. "Sabu is a big, big boy, and so beautiful," Derby said of the 28-year-old elephant.
2010-10-08 - Auckland, New Zealand.
The Auckland City Council´s arts, culture and recreation committee has approved a $13 million proposal to bring in a herd of up to 10 Asian elephants, and make the elephant enclosure six times its present size. The zoo´s life science manager, Kevin Buley, said moving any elephant was a big undertaking, but the zoo needed to provide companionship for its only remaining elephant Burma after the death of Kashin last year.
2010-10-08 - Nashville, United States. LIZ POTOCSNAK
A founder of the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee claims the sanctuary squeezed her out for objecting to illegal payments and its slow response to tuberculosis. Carol Buckley, whom Time magazine called a "Hero For The Planet" for her work at the refuge, says the sanctuary is still using her name and biography collect donations.
2010-10-07 - Winston, United States.
It is a heart wrenching day for the staff at Wildlife Safari in Winston. Tiki the Elephant, world famous for her paintings and working as a living Elephant Car Wash, has died. Tiki died early this morning, after park officials say she had been sick for several days. Even though she was the smallest one there, she was the matriarch. She had been at the park for over 35 years, and the staff doesn´t know how the other two elephants, George and Alice, are going to fare without her.
2010-10-06 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Four men in Vietnam´s Central Highlands have been charged with cutting off the tusks and tails of captive elephants at tourist sites, a police official said Tuesday. The men allegedly shocked the elephants unconscious with a car battery, then sawed off their tusks and tails to sell for ornamental and medicinal purposes.
2010-10-06 - St. Louis, United States. Ryan Easley
The Tom Packs Elephants were considered the best trained elephant act of its time. Trained by elephant master Mac MacDonald, they represented the epitome of class and skill throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. Originally trained as a group of five elephants for the Tom Packs Circus, four of the animals represent part of a larger group imported together in 1948.
2010-10-05 - Houston, United States. Caroline Gallay
The Houston Zoo welcomed its second baby Asian elephant in less than five months on Sunday evening. Baby Tupelo joins Baylor at the zoo´s McNair Asian Elephant Habitat, where the newborn is bonding with her mother, Tess. The baby weighed in at 273 pounds and is a half sister of Baylor, who was born May 4 to mom Shanti and bull elephant Thailand. Thailand is also the new baby elephant´s dad.
2010-10-05 - Hudson, United States. ALBERT McKEON
Bret Bronson practically shared a home with elephants. But he hardly recognizes that home away from home now, 15 years after he and his pachyderms said goodbye to the 165-acre tract that was once Benson’s Wild Animal Farm. The town of Hudson has converted the once-popular destination spot into a lush recreational reserve, with the hopes of again drawing the masses.
2010-10-04 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
The Lok Kawi Wildlife Park did not miss out on the World Animal Day 2010 celebrations as it held a special open day which featured the newly rescued baby Bornean Elephant named Huminodun, and Unduk Ngadau 2010 Crystel Eve Huminodun William Majimbun.
2010-10-04 - Dubbo, NSW, Australia.
Australia´s oldest living African elephant has died, with both staff and animals at Taronga Western Plains Zoo now in mourning. Yum Yum was also the matriarch and longest serving resident of the park, in Dubbo, central NSW. She was put down after suffering a digestive-related illness, aged about 41.
2010-10-04 - Jerusalem, Israel.
Jerusalem´s Biblical Zoo made last preparations over the weekend to ship Gabi the elephant on a long journey to his new home in Turkey. Accompanied by his caretaker, 5-year-old Gabi will be placed inside a large crate and will then be shipped by sea to Turkey´s Gaziantep Zoo. Ammar Abidat, head of the Biblical Zoo´s elephant department, said Gabi was a handful as a young elephant, but has since been trained and is now well-behaved.
2010-10-03 - Pittsburgh, United States. Emily Gibb, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A playful squabble between 2-year-olds rolling in the dirt turns rough, so mom steps in because one is sitting on the other´s head. Such antics are a normal occurrence in the elephant yard at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, but this time they were in the international spotlight as the zoo hosts the 31st annual Elephant Managers Association conference this weekend. The EMA is a group of elephant professionals, veterinarians, researchers and enthusiasts, said EMA president Andrew Smith, w...
2010-10-03 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
The Elephant News, being 10 years old and dating back to 2000, has now over 5000 articles, which you can search through. Recently it also got its own facebook page, where you are invited to join (below on this page). If you have a website, you can also place a newsticker on your own site, displaying the 10 latest news!
2010-10-02 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
Our current herd consists of 1.4 Asian elephants, including a young bull born in 2009 as a result of AI. We continue to support AI and research projects. We currently have a vacancy for a new Keeper to become the 5th person in our elephant team. We have a close contact approach to elephant management and train them to obey commands in a calm and consistent manner, enabling healthcare maintenance to be carried out.
2010-10-02 - Mysore, India.
Akin to politics, most of the elephants used in the Dasara procession are well above 50 years, considered an ideal age for retirement, according to veterinarians. The forest department, however, does not seem to be serious about preparing the second line of elephants to take over the mantle. Instead, what they have been doing is getting elephants to attend Dasara festival, for the last 10 years, devoid of any change and much thought.
Six jumbos-Srirama, Kanthi, Vikrama, Kavitha, Mary and Harsha were given a ceremonial welcome by the forest officials on their arrival. These elephants would be part of the first batch of jumbos led by howdah elephant Balarama to take part in the Vijayadashami procession, to be held as the grand finale of the nine-day Dasara festivities. In all, the 12 elephants would camp in Palace premises for the next 20 days till the Dasara celebrations come to an end.
2010-10-01 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Five people have been arrested on charges they ran the largest rare animal-parts trafficking ring ever uncovered in Hanoi, a police official said Wednesday. The suspects allegedly bought and processed rare animal remains, including tiger and elephant bones, for use in traditional medicine. Police arrested the five suspects on Tuesday, said Colonel Nguyen Van Nong, Head of Hanoi Police´s department for economic crime investigation.
2010-09-30 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The 31st Annual Elephant Manager’s Association Conference hosted by the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, could very well be one of the most important to date. In today’s internet age, elephant management is now a global effort, and this conference will feature presentations on elephant conservation and management partnerships and collaborations in the US and worldwide.
2010-09-26 - New Bedford, United States.
New Bedford´s Buttonwood Park Zoo wants to expand, bring in new animals and become more self sufficient. Zoo management says their $12 million draft master plan unveiled this week would add four acres, making room for a third elephant, and exhibits featuring tigers, monkeys and red pandas. Director William Langbauer tells The Standard Times that expansion could boost attendance by 33 percent a year, and help make the zoo two-thirds self-sufficient.
2010-09-26 - Seattle, United States.
A 41-year-old African elephant lost her tusk at the Woodland Park Zoo Tuesday after getting excited when keepers were moving hay feeders. Watoto got her tusk stuck in a nearby restraint device and was able to dislodge it, but about 10 minutes later, the tusk fell out. Gigi Allianic, a spokeswoman for the zoo, said the elephant is doing fine and is expected to recover normally.
2010-09-26 - Washington, United States. OurAmazingPlanet Staff
In an attempt to further conservation efforts for the Asian elephant, veterinarians at the Smithsonian National Zoo have performed a series of artificial insemination procedures on Shanthi, a 34-year old Asian elephant. A successful pregnancy would be an important milestone in the zoo´s commitment to Asian elephant conservation, zoo officials said in a statement.
2010-09-26 - Okavango, Botswana. Leah Hyslop
Dr Kate Evans, founder of the charity Elephants in Africa, has been living in a tent in Botswana’s Okavango delta since 2002. She tells Telegraph Expat why she can’t imagine doing anything else. After studying zoology at Swansea University, and gaining experience volunteering on various projects throughout southern Africa, she ended up in Botswana’s Okavango delta.
2010-09-26 - Chicago, United States.
For the first time since 1889, there are no elephants in either Chicago zoo. On Wednesday, Brookfield Zoo shipped its lone female, Joyce, to a Six Flags park in New Jersey. Joyce, a 27-year-old African elephant, was lent by Six Flags to Brookfield a year ago as a companion to Christy, a 28-year-old female elephant at the zoo. But Joyce was left alone when Christy became ill and died last December.
2010-09-25 - Nagaon , India. Shib Shankar Chatterjee
What does it take to stop a herd of hungry jumbos each (around) 03-metres tall and middling over 04- tons in weight off paddy fields? Apparently, it´s a thread as thick as a fishing line and not nearly as strong. Villagers of Chapanala village area under Nagaon district of Eastern Indian State, Assam are finding out that their economy is literally hanging by a thread woven around their paddy fields to keep elephants away.
2010-09-24 - Maungdaw, Myanmar. Takaloo
Another rare white elephant was captured on Thursday in the remote jungle of northwestern Maungdaw Township in Burma´s Arakan State, said a forestry official. "The white elephant is 18 years old and her height is 7 feet and 1 inch. After a five-day joint operation by forestry, army, and Nasaka forces, the elephant was finally caught at 11:55 am in the jungle nearby Yan Aung Pyin Village under Kyein Chaung in northern Maungdaw," the official said.
2010-09-23 - Jalpaiguri, India.
At least five elephants were killed and three others were injured on Wednesday when a speeding goods train hit the animals when they were crossing railway tracks near Binnaguri in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.
2010-09-23 - Coimbatore, India.
A furious circus elephant flung down her 55-year-old mahout, killing him on the spot at Krishnapuram near Udumalpet in Tirupur district late Tuesday night. Immediately, the police was called and Ghani was rushed to the Udumalpet Government hospital around 1.30pm. "He was declared brought dead´ by the hospital," said Madathukulam inspector K Kanagaraj.
2010-09-22 - Dibrujan, India.
Two elephants which were being smuggled to Myanmar were recovered from Jairampur town in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday night. One of the elephant which belonged to Jerela Moran was stolen on Saturday night from Dibrujan forest under Pengeri PS of Tinsukia district. The two thieves (both mahouts) were also caught by the villagers.
2010-09-22 - Las Cruces, United States.
The skull of a mastodon-like animal has been unearthed in a mining pit in southern New Mexico. It crumbled after researchers tried to excavate it from the site near Mesquite, and it will now have to be painstakingly reassembled. "We have a big job of putting it together again,´´ said New Mexico State University biologist and Paleozoic museum curator Peter Houde.
2010-09-21 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Huong´s dank shop provides some brief respite from the waves of horn-blaring luxury SUVs bullying pedestrians on the pavements of Hanoi. But more crucially, it offers a final resting place, of sorts, for some of Vietnam´s wild elephants. Huong is the beaming owner of Artcen Company, an "import-export" outfit specialising in crafted ivory products.
2010-09-21 - Chathapuram, India.
Tension prevailed for more than three hours in the Chathapuram-Kalpathy-Shekaripuram areas of the town on Tuesday as the elephant `Chathapuram Babu´ ran amok. The Tusker that was taken by its two Mahouts to collect palm leafs became wild and tried to attack them and ran amok. The elephant ran through the streets of Chathapuram, Kalpathy and Sekharapuram in the town creating scare among the people in the area.
2010-09-21 - Hubei, China. Zhang Qian
Fossils of large teeth were found at Li Jiahe Village, Xuan´en County of Hubei Province, according to Hubei Daily. After primary certification, researchers believe the fossil belonged to an elephant that lived about 50,000 years ago. The fossils are being stored at Xuan´en Museum at present. The local culture station, which first received this news, found that the fossil was white color. The fragments of the fossils were noticeably lighter than the surrounding rocks when they were pi...
2010-09-20 - Vamanjoor, India. Stanley Pinto
The elephant calf born to `Durga´ at Dr Shivaram Karanth Biological Park at Pilikula Nisargadhama here has been christened as `Radha´. The calf has been adopted by K G Shenoy, proprietor of Oasis Pharmacy, Dubai.
2010-09-20 - Debiso, Ghana.
Farming activities at Debiso, the district capital of Bia in the Western Region have been severely hampered this season following the invasion of the area by elephants from the La Cote d´Ivoire boarder. Large trucks of cocoa and food crop farms have been destroyed by the elephants. Economic and other social activities at Debiso have virtually come to a standstill because of fear of the animals.
2010-09-20 - Thrissur, India.
A herd of wild elephants destroyed plantain and rubber crop at nearby Marottichal under the Pattikad forest range. Pattikad forest range officer, K Jayapraksh told PTI here today that the damage was yet to be assessed. It was suspected that wild elephants from Palappilly, Chimmini and Peechi forest areas might have entered the fields yesterday and destroyed the crops, he said. The locals, who saw the wild elephants destroying the crops, said that there were more than 10 elephants in the herd.
2010-09-19 - Ebay, United States.
This is an early real photo postcard showing a Female Elephant Trainer on a Elephant. Circa 1910. It is in excellent condition.
2010-09-19 - Port Lympne, United Kingdom.
Exciting changes are underway at the Bull elephant house at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent. The house is home to Kruger, the park´s 26 year old bull African elephant. His indoor quarters are being improved and expanded in a large scale project stretching across several weeks.
2010-09-17 - Shangani, Zimbabwe. Isdore Guvamombe
The fire was moving at an estimated speed of 50km per hour and mysteriously cornered and engulfed 20 elephant bulls. One of the elephants died on the spot, while National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority were forced to kill 19 others after observing that they had been burnt beyond treatable levels.
2010-09-16 - Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia.
Teetering on two legs, this elephant showed he aims high when it comes to getting a good meal. The animal wasn´t daunted when faced with pulling some tasty pods from the branches of a particularly tall tree. Instead of simply shaking the tree trunk and catching his meal when it fell, he stretched himself to his full height to elegantly pluck it from the branches. It is thought this elephant, a 40-year-old male, is the only one of his herd who has learnt the extraordinary stunt.
2010-09-16 - Okovango, Botswana.
At the end of the film you can easily see the erected penis.
2010-09-15 - Johnson City, United States.
A mammoth skeleton is among the finds the director of East Tennessee State University´s paleontology center unearthed during a summer of Ice Age excavations in Saltville, Virginia. ETSU´s Blaine Schubert said the find represents the best potential evidence that the giant bears, which were up to 5 1/2 feet at the shoulder when on all fours, scavenged on mammoths.
2010-09-15 - Lampang, Thailand.
An eight-month-old elephant injured by a landmine is receiving treatment at an elephant hospital in Northern Thailand. The male calf, Pangboon, stepped on a landmine in Myanmar on Monday. It has been following its logging elephant mother to work in the forest along the Thai-Burmese border. With its right front foot shredded, Pangboon is the 14th landmine casualty to be treated at Thailand´s Friends of the Asian Elephants Hospital in Lampang this year.
2010-09-15 - Kampala, Uganda. Gerald Tenywa
POACHERS kill three elephants in Uganda every year, John Makombo, the acting head of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), has said. “Poaching has never been stopped anywhere in the world, but it can be controlled. That is one of the reasons UWA exists,” Makombo said. According to Makombo, the population of elephants, currently estimated at 5,000, has been increasing over the years due to UWA’s strong anti-poaching drives.
2010-09-15 - Kwelera, South Africa. Andrew Stone
A “WALKING-with-elephants” experience to enable visitors to get “close and personal” with pachyderms in their natural environment is being offered at an East Coast game park. Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve owner Graham Stanton said the walks, which varied in time and length, would be held in conjunction with elephant-back safaris and elephant interaction.
2010-09-15 - Oklahoma City, United States.
Keepers at the Oklahoma City and Tulsa zoos hope Chandra will get pregnant like her sister, Asha, before the two move back to Oklahoma City this fall. After 2 years of trying, Chandra isn´t pregnant. It´s not that the Asian elephant isn´t healthy or able to conceive. She´s just not that interested in her suitor, Sneezy. "She´s being kind of a stinker," said Jennifer D´Agostino, director of veterinary services for the Oklahoma City Zoo. "She´s not really ...
2010-09-14 - Moscow, Russian Federation.
A Moscow woman is suing the Moscow Zoo for 4 million rubles ($130,000) after her adult daughter was stomped to death by a rampaging elephant in 2007, Interfax reported Monday. The daughter, Olga Grishina, 43, a single mother of three, worked in animal transportation at the zoo. Her mother, Tatyana Novikova, 70, said the zoo refused to compensate her for the death, claiming that it could not be held responsible for the actions of an animal. She accused the zoo of repeatedly violating wild animal ...
2010-09-14 - Hong Kong, China. Sonya Bryskine
More than 1.55 tonnes of elephant ivory tusks were seized in Hong Kong last week, worth $HK10.85 million ($US1.4 million), making it the largest shipment in a decade. Hong Kong customs intercepted the load containing 384 tusks, which were packed in two containers declared as dried anchovies. The ivory is believed to have entered Hong Kong via Malaysia, the Citizen reported.
2010-09-13 - Mysore, India. R.KRISHNA KUMAR
This is that time of the year when elephants are in the limelight in Mysore. Elephants have been brought from the jungle camps to Mysore, to participate in the Dasara festivities to be held from October 8 to 17. Leading them is the elephant Balarama who will carry the 750 kg golden howdah on the day of the Vijayadashmi procession which is also called Jamboo Savari.
2010-09-13 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
Taiwan donated US$10,000 to a Thai wildlife conservation group Monday as part of its efforts to help protect elephants and their natural habitat in the southwestern. It marked the third consecutive year that Taiwan has given funding to the Elephant Conservation Network (ECN) , which works to secure the future of elepha
2010-09-12 - San Diego, United States.
Today, I headed over to the zoo to meet with Ann Alfama, a lead keeper who takes care of the elephants and polar bears, and who´s also been known to feed the lions. Alfama grew up in Minnesota with dreams of becoming a veterinarian, but eventually had a change of heart, deciding that she didn´t only want to care for sick animals. Alfama earned a degree in exotic animal training and management and the rest was history.
2010-09-12 - Sacramento, United States.
Two days after the city sent a letter to Ringling Bros. officials declaring four elephants unfit under a new city ordinance to perform in a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus show at Arco Arena, it followed up with a second letter Saturday, clearing the elephants to perform. One elephant is to be limited in its performances.
2010-09-12 - Dhamtari, India.
In Chhattisgarh, the police of Dhamtari district have arrested an elephant for killing a man. The elephant had been brought from Allahabad to a park for joyrides. Locals at the park started teasing the elephant and climbed on to its trunk. In spite of repeated warnings given by the elephant´s handler, the locals did not stop. Finally, in a rage the elephant flung a man in the air with his trunk.
2010-09-12 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Wildlife rangers rescued two endangered Borneo Pygmy elephants which had wandered into a plantation area in the east coast of Tawau. After tracking their movements through footprints for nearly a week, Sabah Wildlife Department rangers led by chief veterinarian Dr Sen Nathan spotted the jumbos near the Felda Umas plantation about 70km from Tawau town on the first day of Hari Raya.
2010-09-10 - Madikeri, India.
Two elephants from Kodagu Dubare elephant training centre, Harsha and Vikrama, are included in the team of elephants going to Mysore for the Heritage (Banni Mantapa) procession on Vijaya dashami next. They would leave soon to be in Mysore, the Range Forest officer Chinnappa informed. The two tuskers have already taken part in the Jumbo procession on Dasara Day in the last 15 years.
2010-09-10 - Jersey City, United States.
When the Field Museum’s traveling exhibition Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age comes to the Liberty Science Center next month, it will bring with it the celebrated 42,000-year-old baby woolly mammoth Lyuba. Lyuba, considered to be the best preserved and most complete mammoth ever, was discovered in northern Siberia three years ago by a reindeer herder, and named after his wife
2010-09-10 - Anhui, China.
A 3.34-meter-long ancient ivory fossil were found at Zhang Changying Village, Mengcheng County of Anhui Province on the afternoon of Sept 8. After primary certification, researchers believe the ivory fossil belonged to an ancient elephant that lived about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. The fossil was buried 5 meters under the ground, and the thickest part of it reaches 22 centimeters. And judging from the ivory, it could be an adult elephant.
2010-09-10 - Hong Kong, China.
Hong Kong customs officers had seized over one and a half tonnes of smuggled elephant ivory worth $HK10.9 million ($A1.41 million) shipped from Tanzania, they said Friday. The 384 ivory tusks, weighing a total of 1.55 tonnes, were found Thursday inside two containers labelled as "dried anchovies" at the Tsing Yi container terminal, the Ports and Maritime Command said in a statement.
2010-09-10 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo´s baby elephant brood is growing, with a half-brother for Mali arriving after a difficult and dangerous four-day labour. Kulab´s massive 142-kilogram baby was born on Friday morning after a 22-month pregnancy, but zoo staff were desperately worried for both mother and offspring in the later stages of labour.
2010-09-08 - St. Thomas, Canada.
Jumbo is much bigger and stronger than the 46 plow horses competing at the International Plowing Match here next week, but he’s ineligible. That’s because Jumbo is an African elephant—a dead African elephant. He died here 125 years ago on Sept. 15. Still, Jumbo will be a star at the 98th annual plowing match, which takes place Sept. 21-25 and attracts competitors from England, the United States and across Canada.
2010-09-07 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Isdore Guvamombe
ZIMBABWE which by 2009 had a teeming elephant population of about 100 000 against a holding capacity of 56 000 has embarked on an expensive aerial large mammals body count in the Zambezi Valley to determine population status and living trends for large mammals.
2010-09-07 - Hohenwald, United States.
Robert Atkinson, Head of Wildlife for the United Kingdom´s Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was has been named CEO of The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald. It’s the nation’s largest natural habitat refuge developed specifically for endangered Asian and African elephants, the group says.
2010-09-07 - Siliguri, India.
Foresters of the Kurseong division on Friday recovered the carcass of a four-year-old male elephant calf from Simulbari Tea Estate near Sukna, near Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. Officials suspect the elephant died on Thursday night due to poisoning. The carcass was found on a spot where Guatemala grass had been planted to make the land suitable for tea plantation. Primary investigation suggested that the garden authorities had sprinkled pesticide on the grass, which the elephant might have consu...
2010-09-07 - Hamilton, Canada.
In a surprising reversal of conventional wisdom, a DNA-based study has revealed that the last of the woolly mammoths—which lived between 40,000 and 4,000 years ago—had roots that were exclusively North American. The research, which appears in the September issue of Current Biology, is expected to cause some controversy within the paleontological community.
2010-09-07 - Madrid, Spain.
A team made up of members of the University of Oviedo (UO) and the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) have gathered together all findings of the woolly mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros and the reindeer in the Iberian Peninsula to show that, although in small numbers, these big mammals -- prehistoric indicators of cold climates -- already lived in this territory some 150,000 years ago.
2010-09-07 - Colorado Springs, United States. KIMBERLY FIELD
If a Hollywood casting agent sent over the quintessential rancher, you’d get Bob Norris, the original owner of the Oldachs’ home. He’s possibly better known as the Marlboro Man — but that is the least interesting role Norris has played in his 81 years. Take the story of Amy, for starters. Amy is an orphaned ele-phant who he raised and taught to waltz and play a piano. She stole his heart when an elephant trainer showed up at Bob’s T-Cross Ranch in 1988 looking to rent stalls for six ba...
2010-09-07 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Police in southeastern Congo say they have arrested three men carrying six suitcases full of elephant tusks. Anti-smuggling commission co-ordinator Placide Magungu said Tuesday the three Chinese nationals were caught at Lumumbashi´s airport while trying to fly to Nairobi, Kenya. He says the men said they bought the ivory from antique dealers.
2010-09-06 - Toro-Semliki, Uganda. Gerald Tenywa
TWO elephants have been killed in Toro-Semliki wildlife reserve in western Uganda by poachers who crossed over from the Congo. Sources said one of the poachers was intercepted with elephant ivory and was being held by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces. The sources added that the elephants were butchered on Wednesday and the carcasses were discovered the following day.
2010-09-06 - Denpasar, Indonesia.
After last year’s failed attempt to ship in Komodo dragons, Bali now is looking at getting elephants from Sumatra to attract more tourists. Four conservation institutions in Bali on Tuesday requested 59 elephants from Way Kambas National Park in Lampung: 10 for the Elephant Safari Park in Taro, Gianyar district; 14 for Bali Zoo Park, also in Gianyar; 15 for Kasian in Badung; and 20 for Bakas Zoo in Klungkung district.
2010-09-06 - Cuttack, India.
The Forest Officials have seized dead body of an elephant near Arati Steel Plant of Athgarh on Monday. The reason of death not known. As per the information the local peoples found a dead body of elephant near Arati Steel Plant. They informed the forest officials. The forest officials seized the dead body of the elephant and sent for postmortem.
2010-09-06 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Orissa, famous since the times of King Ashoka for its magnificent elephant population, will soon lose that exalted status in view of large-scale killing by the poachers and increasing death of pachyderms from electrocution. According to official figures, during the last 19 years 231 elephants were killed by poachers, 166 died due to accidents and 173 died of natural causes.
2010-09-06 - Plock, Poland. Peter Stolk, Netherlands
In Plock Zoo in Poland, arrived the two young bulls Letsongmon and Myo Set Kaung from Emmen Zoo in Netherlands. Both bulls are captive born in Emmen.
2010-09-06 - Mahaweva, Sri Lanka.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province face a big problem - elephants which have taken a liking to abandoned homesteads.Since the decades-long civil war ended in May 2009, thousands of residents who fled the area in the 1980s and 1990s have been returning to their homes only to find that the jumbos, which had lived in the area previously, were now wreaking havoc in farmers’ fields.
2010-09-04 - Udhagamandalam, India.
After being thwarted for three days by two tuskers in their efforts to treat an injured jumbo, forest officials today succeeded in tranquilising the animal which was moving around Mudumalai Tiger Reserve area. The 20-year old elephant, with serious injuries to the leg, was roaming in Sigur range in MTR, under protection of the two tuskers, for the last three days and the veterinarian and medical team could not go near it, forest officials said. However, the veterinarian managed to shoot the tran...
2010-09-04 - Jalpaiguri, India. Tarak Sarkar
An elephant under the care of the Gorumara National Park near West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district gave birth to a female calf. The calf was born on Friday under the supervision of the sanctuary’s veterinarian. The forest rangers and game wardens at the Gorumara National Park are delighted to watch the gentle mother Amon and the tiny cute calf. Range (South) Officer of the Gorumara National Park Bimal Debnath said both the mother and its offspring are healthy.
2010-09-03 - Baltimore, United States.
2010-09-03 - Bangalore, India.
A 13-year-old tusker was killed on Friday following crop raids by a herd of elephants. The tusker was shot at by villagers in Periyapattan range. "Villagers killed the elephant in a rage after the herd raided the crops. We are compensating all crop raid cases. Yet there is so much anger among people," principal chief conservator of forests, B K Singh said.
2010-09-03 - Golungo Alto, Angola.
A herd of elephants on Wednesday destroyed several hectares of crops in Cambondo commune, north central Kwanza Norte province, local administrator, Domingos Barros, told Angop today. Mr Barros stated that the beasts had previously destroyed 126 plantations of banana, manioc and palm trees, depleting 300 families of their nourishing source and worsening food security in the region.
2010-09-03 - Nagaon, India.
A male elephant has been found dead at the courtyard of a house inside Kalidan tea estate near Nagaon in Assam. It´s unusual for an elephant to die in such circumstances unless electrocuted. Workers at the tea estate insist the elephant died of natural causes. 255 elephants have died in Assam as a result of conflicts with humans between 1990 and 2003. Most of them were poisoned or electrocuted.
2010-09-02 - Gainesville, United States. Jeanna Bryner
Palmer and his colleague Jacob Goheen, of the University of Wyoming, were conducting research in the central highlands of Kenya, where elephants have destroyed much of the tree cover. There, the A. drepanolobium trees appeared to be unscathed by the hungry giants. That tree in particular has a cozy relationship with ants, which live on its branches full time. "The ants protect the tree in exchange for both housing that the tree produces in the form of bulbous hollow thorns, as well as food in th...
2010-09-01 - Kolmården, Sweden. Dan Koehl
The elephant database now includes 6009 elephants (including 549 breeding cows and 210 breeding bulls), from 1780 location facilities in 108 countries.
2010-09-01 - Dalat, Vietnam.
Rascals cut tails of two elephants, which are serving at the Prenn Waterfall Tourist Area in the Highland city of Dalat on August 31. Hunting elephants for tail hair has boomed in Daklak Province, which is famous for elephant taming, because people believe that luck will come to those who wear elephant-tail-hair-made jewelry.
2010-09-01 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Widespread summer bush fires in Zimbabwe killed 10 people and 10 elephants recently, police said Wednesday. -Within the past two weeks, we have about six people who have perished during veld fires. Ten elephants were burnt to death at Derbyshire Ranch in Shangani in Matabeleland South Province,- police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka said. An environmental agency said the fires, most of them started deliberately, had also destroyed almost a million hectares of land.
2010-09-01 - Washington, United States. Emily Leaman
Years of renovations and new exhibits at the National Zoo have taken their toll on the institution’s most important residents: the crowd-pleasing animals known as “charismatic megafauna.” Zoos have learned that to attract visitors, they need to offer 6 to 12 species of charismatic megafauna, the iconic large animals that range from pandas and tigers to elephants and great apes. After relocating its rhinos, giraffe, Nile hippopotamus, and a few pygmy hippos to other zoos, the National Zoo i...
2010-09-01 - Oklahoma City, United States.
Devon Energy is donating more than 3 miles of recycled oil pipes to the Oklahoma City Zoo. The pipes will be used to build a fence at the zoo´s new elephant habitat. A shipment of pipes was delivered Tuesday. Devon Energy has delivered a little more than half of the used drill and steam pipes, which are worth about $115,000.
2010-08-31 - Jena, Germany.
A woman in the eastern German city of Jena was flung across a field by a hungry elephant looking for a snack in her purse, according to the police on Monday. The 42-year-old woman had the unpleasant run-in with the rambunctious pachyderm after taking her 10-year-old daughter to the grounds of a visiting circus.
2010-08-31 - New Delhi, India.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Tuesday said the elephant would soon be declared a national heritage animal in order to step up measures for its protection. We will soon declare elephant as a national heritage animal as they have been part of our heritage since ages. We need to give same degree of importance to elephant as is given to tiger in order to protect the big animal, said Ramesh.
2010-08-30 - Le Puy-en-Velay , France. Dr Frédéric Lacombat
250 scientists from all over the world will present new and unpublished results on many topics such as : evolution, the environment, associated fauna, absolute dating, ancient DNA. This scientific symposium will be accompanied, in the summer, with an important exhibition, intend a wide public, associating fossils and life-sized models of some of these pachyderms. Pr Yves Coppens (Collège de France) and Dr Frédéric Lacombat are the chairmen of the Scientific Commitee.
2010-08-27 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan authorities have seized two tonnes of raw elephant ivory and five rhino horns bound for Malaysia at the country´s main airport, wildlife officials said Monday. Officials said the ivory, from an estimated 150 elephants, had likely been collected over a period of two decades and represented "the largest elephant ivory recovery in Kenya in the recent past".
2010-08-27 - Siliguri, India.
A four-year-old tusker was found dead in a tea garden in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district Friday, forest officials said. The elephant’s body was found in Simulbari tea garden in Siliguri sub division. Preliminary investigation revealed that the elephant died of poisoning after possibly having eaten plants treated with fertlisers. However, a final conclusion could be drawn only after the viscera report arrived, said a forest official.
2010-08-27 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Police in northeastern Congo have seized 116 elephant tusks and arrested two men following a truck crash. Col. Sylvain Tshikez said Wednesday that the ivory was found inside jerry cans that tumbled off a truck involved in a crash. The discovery took place near the town of Kisangani in the northeastern Orientale province following the accident. The owner of the vehicle was seriously injured but was also expected to face charges.
2010-08-27 - Escondido, United States.
A male African elephant born at the former San Diego Zoo´s Wild Animal Park three months ago will be called Emanti, which means "water" in the language of Swaziland, zoo officials announced Thursday. The calf was born May 12 at the newly renamed San Diego Zoo Safari Park located in southeast Escondido. More than 1,000 name suggestions were submitted via the zoo´s website. Of those, three finalists were chosen for a public vote.
2010-08-26 - Nairobi, Kenya. David McKenzie
Kenya authorities have sentenced a Chinese national to 18 months in prison for possession of illegal ivory, the country´s wildlife service said. The man was seized on Tuesday with hand luggage, containing 10 ivory chopsticks and two bangles, according to the service. The trade in ivory both raw and finished is illegal in Kenya. The man pleaded guilty to possession of wildlife trophies. It appeared the man was taking the finished products home for his personal use and is not an ivory...
2010-08-25 - Kandy, Sri Lanka.
An elephant stands in front of Sri Lanka´s Temple of the Tooth (Dalada Maligawa) waiting for the start of Maha Pereha (Great Parade) at Kandy, about 110 km northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Aug. 24, 2010. The Esala Maha Perahera (Great Parade) was held on Tuesday night at the ancient capital of Kandy. As one of the biggest Buddhist celebrations in Sri Lanka, the annual Esala Perahera during which elephants, drummers, dancers and acrobats parade along the streets of Kandy, is held for ten da...
2010-08-20 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Guy Rogers
THE Addo Elephant National Park took a giant step forward yesterday, lowering the southern fence between the old and new sections of the park and opening the way for its burgeoning jumbo herd to return to their ancestral home. “Addo has expanded to about 180000ha but the park core, where the elephants presently are, is just over 12000ha, north of the Addo Heights road. With the lowering of the fence today we have expanded this core to include the just under 12000ha south of the road.
2010-08-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ajithlal Shanthaudaya
Buddhist temples and devalas in the country are finding it difficult to maintain the status and grandeur of their annual religious festivals and peraheras owing to the dearth of tame elephants. Basnayake Nilame of the Sabaragamuwa Maha Saman Devala Sunil Shantha Weerasekara who expressed concern about this situation, pointed out that there was an urgent need to capture and tame elephants for use in temple matters or else many annual processions that were considered as great national pageants w...
2010-08-19 - Siliguri, India.
An adult elephant blocked railway tracks passing through Mahananda wildlife sanctuary two times today and damaged a train engine. The drama unfolded between Sevoke and Gulma stations around 9.45am when the driver of a passenger train that was on way to New Jalpaiguri from Alipurduar noticed the adult makna (male without tusks) standing on the tracks.
2010-08-19 - Khulna, India.
Traffic along the National Highway-31.C (NH-31.C) in India´s eastern state of West Bengal came to a standstill for nearly an hour. A fully-grown wild elephant, probably from Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, had strayed onto the highway and almost lorded over the road not letting any vehicle move an inch ahead. The vehicles on the highway had no other option – they were forced to wait until the pachyderm moved away leisurely at its own will.
2010-08-18 - Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The two Indian elephants who expect young in the Ostrava zoo are undergoing special training for their delivery to be smooth and successful, zoo keeper Pavel Zvolanek told reporters, adding that simultaneous pregnancy of two elephants is the zoo´s international success. The elephants learn to have their legs fastened by chains, get accustomed to blood taking and make exercises to keep fit until the delivery.
2010-08-17 - Durham, United Kingdom. Pallab Ghosh
Woolly mammoths died out because of dwindling grasslands - rather than being hunted to extinction by humans, according to a Durham University study. After the coldest phase of the last ice age 21,000 years ago, the research revealed, there was a dramatic decline in pasture on which the mammoths fed.
2010-08-17 - Vientiane, Laos.
A shootout between a gang of poachers and elephant handlers in Laos left one man and one pachyderm dead, news reports said Tuesday. The gang allegedly attacked the mahouts at midnight on August 9 in Hinheup district, Vientiane province, in an attempt to slaughter four elephants for their ivory and body parts, district governor Chanpaeng Douangphachan told the Vientiane Times. Chanpaeng said the poachers fired upon the mahouts, sparking a brief shootout before the elephant minders fled and inform...
2010-08-17 - Mumbai, India.
It took three years for Sarish Pandey, a dealer who supplies animals to films, to realise that he was undone by his greed. In June 2007, Pandey signed a gift deed with a Kerala-based animal dealer to trade his elephant for a pregnant one, hoping that he will get two in exchange of one. But little did Pandey know that giving away Lucky Prasad, who he had nurtured for 28 years since his birth, would rid him of all his luck.
2010-08-17 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan wildlife veterinarians have gone on strike to protest at the alleged mishandling of elephant conservation which has resulted in an increase in deadly attacks, a union leader said Tuesday. "There is no proper management of wild elephants who are being pushed into narrow habitats as the government allows people to encroach into traditional elephant homelands," Vijitha Perera, the secretary of the vets´ union, told AFP.
2010-08-16 - Vienna, Austria.
The Vienna Zoo’s new male elephant calf born on 6 August will be named Tuluba, the zoo announced today. Some 61.4 per cent of the 10,000 voters on the internet chose the name, which means "big ears." Zoo Director Dagmar Schratter said: "Tuluba was my favourite since it is a very melodic name.
2010-08-16 - Udhgamandalam, India.
A 35-year-old elephant in ´musth´ is missing from Theppakkadu Elephant Camp, about 60 Km from here, since yesterday afternoon. The elephant, Waseem, was under chain and lock for the last couple of days and kept in an isolated place near Mayar river, in the camp, forest department sources said. The Elephant´s disappearance was noticed only in the night, sources said. Forest officials, including those from veterinary department, are searching the entire Mudumalai range for the an...
2010-08-14 - Honolulu, United States.
The Honolulu Zoo´s two elephants will move into prime real estate next year when their 37,000-square-foot grazing habitat is completed. The zoo broke ground yesterday on the enclosure that will house the two female Indian elephants and provide space for a male, which the zoo is hoping to get in the next few years. The facility will replace the elephants´ existing 3,100-square-foot facility and form the backbone of a retooled Asian rain forest exhibit.
2010-08-13 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
A juvenile elephant that won renown after appearing in a documentary died in Hanoi Wednesday of an infection it had been carrying for years. Kham Bun, a six-year-old male Asiatic elephant belonging to the Vietnam Circus Federation, suffered a foreleg injury four years ago and veterinarians were unable to cure it. The infection got into his bone and proved fatal, according to the federation.
2010-08-13 - Hong Kong, China.
Stumped by a ban designed to save elephants from extinction, Hong Kong´s master carvers turned to a long dead species that left thousands of tonnes of frozen ivory in Siberian mass graves.Mammoth tusks, intricately carved to depict anything from devotional Buddhist scenes and teeming wildlife to bizarre erotic fantasies, now make up most of the ivory for sale in the city.
2010-08-12 - Auckland, New Zealand.
A $13 million extension to Auckland Zoo has been given the thumbs up - which could bring the only elephant herd in Australasia to New Zealand. Auckland City Council´s arts, culture and recreation committee has endorsed a proposal to enlarge the zoo´s existing enclosure to six times its size, which would incorporate two areas of Auckland´s Western Springs Park. The proposed areas, which run adjacent to the zoo´s current elephant enclosure, will include an exercise area, a ...
2010-08-12 - Columbus, United States.
Beco’s Big Year: A Baby Elephant Turns One by Linda Stanek, about the first year in the life of a baby Asian elephant. Both titles were released with 10,000-copy first print runs, half in hardcover, half in paper. The books are currently available at Columbus Zoo gift shops, local bookstores, and online.
2010-08-11 - Vienna, Austria. Jutta Kirchner
Photographer Jutta Kirchner has portrayed the first day of public display of the new born african elephant in the oldest Zoo in the world, Tiergarten Schönbrunn in Vienna.
2010-08-10 - Kaduruwewa tank, Sri Lanka. Atula Bandara
An elephant calf that drank from Kaduruwewa tank in Eppawala fell dead. The Wildlife Conservation Officers who visited the scene on reports received from the public examined the carcass. They were of the opinion that the calf had died from poisoning or when some object, probably a palmirah seed got lodged in its throat. However they said a gunshot injury they came across on the body could have also been the cause of death. Veterinary surgeon of the North Western Wildlife Zone Dr. Chandana Jayas...
2010-08-10 - Toledo, United States.
The elephant trainer who was attacked at the Toledo Zoo by a 7-year-old male elephant on July 1 has no memory of the incident, officials said Tuesday. As a result, Anne Baker, the zoo´s executive director, and Marna Ramnath, who headed a zoo review of the incident, said they do not believe they´ll ever know for sure what happened involving trainer Don RedFox.
2010-08-10 - Krabi, Thailand.
Krabi has been chosen for the first elephant hospital in the country´s South to treat animals which have been injured while working in plantations and in the tourism industry. More than 800 elephants work in rubber plantations and at tourist sites in the southern provinces, but there are limited veterinary services in the area to treat the animals, National Elephant Institute director Worrawit Rothjanaphaithoon said.
2010-08-10 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
Myanmar´s ruling junta threw a lavish welcome ceremony for a rare white elephant, a traditional symbol of power and prosperity, which was transported from the jungle to the country´s remote capital, state media reported Tuesday. The 38-year-old female elephant was recently captured in the jungles of northwestern Myanmar and transported Monday by boat and truck to Naypyitaw, where it was given the name Bhaddavati, or "One Who is Endowed With Goodness," in a formal naming ceremony, the...
2010-08-10 - Thongmixay, Laos. Fiona MacGregor
It may be known as the Land of a Million Elephants, but conservationists are warning that the imminent exportation of more than a third of Laos´s remaining domesticated elephant calves to a Chinese circus could prove disastrous for the endangered species. Once worshipped as gods, the animals are still considered sacred by many in Laos, but loss of habitat and tradition means there are now just 20 domesticated elephants under the age of 10 left in the country.
2010-08-09 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo has a world class Elephant programme having had six calves born in seven years; with the current herd consisting of 3.6 Asian Elephants. The programme is primarily free contact; with Elephants given daily walks through the Zoo and provides public education demonstrations. ZSL has and continues to contribute to research and AI projects.
2010-08-09 - Vienna, Austria.
This tinky tusker has caused big trouble for zoo bosses in Austria - where his five year old big brother has been forced to pack his trunk to make way for him. The five week old male African elephant - as yet unnamed by keepers - was expected to be a girl and join the herd at Vienna´s Schoenbrunn Zoo. But because he´s a boy, his big brother Kibo - born to the same mum Numbi five years ago - has to be sent to another zoo to avoid causing conflict in the colony.
2010-08-09 - Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. SRILAL MITHTHAPALA
The “Gathering” is one of the most unique wildlife spectacles in Asia, where during the months of May to September, large numbers of wild elephants - 150 or more - gather around the banks of the Minneriya reservoir or tank. Viewing these elephants is quite easy, and today, due to the efforts of some of us wildlife enthusiasts,and with the support of Sri Lanka tourism, this is now fast becoming a “branded” event referred to as “The Gathering.”
2010-08-08 - Cincinnati, United States.
Dr. Mark Campbell makes his first house call of the day shortly before 8 a.m. The bearded, bespectacled veterinarian enters the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden´s Elephant House, where his patient awaits. My-Thai, a 36-year-old, 8,700-pound Asian elephant, is not sick. But Campbell needs to draw a blood sample for a species survival plan study that will determine whether elephants experience menopause
2010-08-08 - Fort Collins, United States. Pam Mellskog
If elephants carried their canteloupe-size testicles in the usual spot, sterilizing them would be easier. Instead, these reproductive parts — along with the tubes that carry the sperm away — grow internally by the kidneys. No one cared much about elephant birth control during those years when poachers ravaged herds to sell ivory for as much as $125 a pound. But since the 1989 international ban on the ivory trade, African elephants have replenished their ranks and then some.
2010-08-07 - Calgary, Canada.
It took several hours of work by a team of eight experts backed by a machinist and a welder — plus a 10-tonne hoist just in case — but the Calgary zoo´s largest elephant has a new set of stainless steel tusk caps. Ganesha — or Spike, as he is nicknamed — was fitted with the 21-kilogram dental caps on Wednesday to replace the ones he has worn since 2002, according to zoo officials.
2010-08-06 - Vienna, Austria.
The as yet unnamed baby elephant was born this morning at Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria and weigh in at 112 kilos. The mother Numbi already had a baby 5 years ago, Kibo, who lives also in Schönnbrunn and will be a play mate for the new baby, said Zoo director Dagmar Schratter.
2010-08-06 - Chennai, India.
With more than 50 per cent of the 300 temple elephants in Tamil Nadu suffering from diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, authorities have drawn up a food and exercise regimen for the jumbos and directed the mahouts to strictly follow it. An official of the Tamil Nadu government’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department said the plan had been drawn up to ensure proper care of the elephants.
2010-08-05 - Madurai, India.
Parvathi, the 15-year-old female elephant of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here, is basking under a new shower system installed exclusively for its use. Put into operation on Wednesday, the shower will use 5,000 litres of water a day for the elephant, which will be cleaned once in the morning and evening. The shower was installed at a cost of Rs. 20,000. The move follows a meeting of the temple authorities and individuals owning elephants convened on July 2 by the Chief Conservator of Fores...
2010-08-05 - Houston, United States.
A sensitive real-time PCR test that specifically detects a deadly strain of herpes virus in elephants has been developed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine. The findings appear in the current edition of the American Journal of Veterinary Research. There are many strains of herpes viruses that affect elephants, but in particular the endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV1) is deadly. No symptoms are seen until it is too late, and treatment options are limited because little is known about ...
2010-08-05 - Bristol, United Kingdom.
Animal welfare experts have urged a zoo near Bristol to drop plans to build what is thought would be the UK´s biggest elephant enclosure. Noah´s Ark Zoo Farm, at Wraxall, has been granted planning permission for a 12-acre enclosure which would be home to up to 10 elephants.
2010-08-05 - Lampang, Thailand.
Veterinarians were treating the latest land mine victim from the embattled Thai-Myanmar border Thursday, a 22-year-old female elephant whose foot was blown off by the explosion. "We have now monitored her condition for 48 hours after we cleaned the wound and injected pain killers. We will give her a tetanus shot later today. Overall, she is a good condition. She is obedient and can eat normally," said Dr. Preecha Phuangkam, a veterinarian and the hospital director.
2010-08-05 - Amboseli, Kenya. JENNA SLOAN
HER life has had more twists and turns than a soap opera. She saw one daughter murdered and rescued another from a kidnapper. She helped her son fight back from a crippling illness and even fostered her orphaned grandson. Sir David Attenborough filmed his first documentary with Echo and her clan more than 20 years ago. He has now filmed a new show, Echo: An Unforgettable Elephant - screened on BBC2 at 8pm tonight - to celebrate her life as well as to commemorate her death.
2010-08-04 - Springfield, United States.
The staff of Dickerson Park Zoo is deeply saddened by the death of “Ol’ C.C.,” the zoo’s oldest elephant. “C.C. held a special place in the hearts of everyone associated with the zoo and among the community,” says Mike Crocker, Zoo Superintendent. “This is a profound loss for our staff, especially her zookeepers who cared for her every day, and for the community as a whole.”
2010-08-03 - Tucson, United States.
Reid Park Zoo will begin construction this fall on a new multi-million dollar expansion, dedicated to housing elephants. "Expedition Tanzania" will be a seven-acre expansion, that Reid Park general curator Jim Schnormeier says is expected to cost between $8 and $9 million. Funding for the expansion will come from the City of Tucson and the Reid Park Zoological Society.
2010-08-03 - Keonjhar, India.
Three engineers of a private power distribution company in Orissa have been booked for the deaths of three elephants by electrocution in Keonjhar district, an official said Tuesday. The engineers of the North Eastern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa Ltd (NESCO) were booked under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, Divisional Forest Officer Sarat Chandra Mohanty told IANS.
2010-08-03 - Chennai, India.
Tamil Nadu government is likely to ban the age old practice of elephants ´blessing´ pilgrims in temples. Wildlife officials have asked temple authorities to put an end to the practice as trainers torture the elephants, compelling them to ´bless´ pilgrims, sometimes leaving them injured. Moreover, elephants like humans suffer from diseases like asthma and tuberculosis and it might spread to pilgrims, the authorities said.
2010-08-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
An elephant named Stumpy will be the mascot for the 2011 cricket World Cup. The elephant’s name was unveiled Monday — 200 days before the first ball is bowled — following an online contest. The winner receives a bat signed by cricket stars Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar of India and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena.
2010-08-02 - Bhubaneswar, India. Debabrata Mohanty
Field staff of Simlipal Tiger Reserve, the fourth-largest tiger reserve in the country, burnt a large number of elephant carcasses to remove any evidences of poaching, a probe committee of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has found. After a number of elephant deaths were reported in April and May 2010, the NTCA constituted an independent assessment team comprising wildlife activists Belinda Wright and Biswajit Mohanty, who visited Simlipal between June 6 and 11. The team confirme...
2010-08-01 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
A Cambodian man was killed by an angry elephant when he was trying to approach the animal with an improper manner, a police office said Saturday. Khut Sophal, a district police chief said the man who was killed by an elephant was identified as Yang Mark, 52, living in Taing Krasaing Village, Samraung Tong district in Kompong Speu province.
2010-08-01 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Three wild elephants were electrocuted in a forest area of Orissa´s Keonjhar district, an official Sunday said. The two male and a female elephant died near Durlabhapur village under Telkoi forest division, some 210 km from Bhubaneswar after coming in contact with a high-tension overhead wire, a district forest official told IANS. Wildlife and forest officials rushed to the spot and began investigation after local residents spotted the dead elephants early Sunday.
2010-07-31 - Dudhwa, India.
Once Lucknow Zoo’s priced possession, Sumit, a 55-year old male elephant, died at the Dudhwa National Park in the wee hours of Thursday. The pachyderm was shifted to the national park on May 2 last following directives of the Central Zoo Authority to shift all elephants to national parks. According to veterinary doctors attending to the ailing elephant, Sumit was suffering from various old-age related diseases and could not recover even after proper medical care.
2010-07-29 - Basel, Switzerland.
Ruaha has died at Basel Zoo at the age of 59, which made her the world�s oldest African elephant in captivity, the zoo announced on Thursday. She was delivered to the zoo in 1952 along with four other young elephants. Ruaha was believed to be one year old at the time. A member of the zoo staff found her dead in the elephant enclosure on Thursday morning. The zoo said she probably died of old age, but will investigate the actual cause of death.
2010-07-29 - Boston, United States.
An Asian elephant rescued more than 30 years ago from a camp in Thailand has died at a local zoo. The animal, Dondi, died Wednesday morning at Southwick´s Zoo in Mendon. Dondi was rescued from a lumber camp in Thailand in April 1975 by Phil and Francine Schacht.
2010-07-27 - Hyderabad, India.
The Environment, Forest, Science and Technology department has permitted the Andhra Pradesh Wild Life warden to provide an elephant from the Nehru Zoological Park for the Bonalu and Moharrum processions. However, the permission would be only for this year.
2010-07-27 - Wellington, New Zealand.
Elephant lovers who remember taking a ride on Kamala the elephant have until Sunday to make a sentimental journey to the Elephant House at Wellington Zoo´s. Although 1983 was the last year the zoo housed a living elephant, the demolition of its historic Elephant House will create mixed feelings in many who came to view the building as iconic.
2010-07-27 - Sonitpur, India.
A couple and a child were trampled to death by wild elephants in the Biswanath Reserve Forest in northern Assam´s Sonitpur district late on Monday night. The incident occurred on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. From 2007 to 2009, Assam has recorded a total of 166 human deaths and 32 elephant deaths in incidents of man-elephant conflict. The figure shows an increasing trend, with 44 human deaths recorded in 2007, 52 in 2008 and 70 in 2009.
2010-07-27 - Rishikesh, India.
A woman was today trampled to death by a wild elephant in Jim Corbett National Park, an official said here. The incident occurred in Jhirna range of Jim Corbett Reserve this morning when Tulsi Devi (45) along with other women went to the jungles to fetch fodder. She was suddenly attacked by the pachyderm, Warden of the Park Umesh Chandra Tiwari said.
2010-07-27 - Kobeiganei, Sri Lanka.
Three men were arrested in the area of Kobeiganei yesterday by Baladora Police, whilst transporting on motorbike, the tusks of an elephant they had killed at the Wilapattu National Park. The three arrestees, residents of the Adampanei, Novichchiyagama area, who were taken into custody by a team of policemen led by the OIC of the Baldora Police Station Inspector Abeyratne, are to be produced before the Hettipola Court today.
2010-07-26 - Miyazaki, Japan.
A trainer who was cleaning an elephant pen at Phoenix Zoo here suffered broken ribs and other injuries July 25 when Taiyo, a male Asian elephant, used his trunk to knock the trainer down and stepped on him. Police said the trainer is a 27-year-old Thai male, who has been in charge of Taiyo, 10, since he was introduced to the zoo around five years ago.
2010-07-26 - Chikmagalur, India.
Will the 8.3-feet-elephant tusk recently seized by the forest department in Chikmagalur find a mention in the Guinness Book of Records? "The tusk, which weighs an amazing 44 kg, found in Chikmagalur should easily make it to the Guinness Book of Records. The size and length of the tusk makes it a rare find," said a forest department official.
2010-07-24 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh´s biggest zoo has declared three days of mourning following the death of a 100-year-old elephant which was its top attraction and "loyal servant", an official said on Saturday. Pabantara collapsed on Thursday after a heart attack and died hours later, plunging her fans into grief, AHM Shahidullah, head of the state-owned Dhaka Zoo, told AFP. The female Asian elephant had lived at the zoo since it was founded in 1957 and carried hundreds of thousands of children and adults on fun...
2010-07-22 - Gumla, India.
A woman was trampled to death and another injured by an elephant in Gumla district of Jharkhand on Thursday. The 65-year-old woman and her neighbour were in a field at Gonmar village when the pachyderm attacked them, the police said. The elephant had strayed into the village earlier this week and efforts were on to drive it animal back to the forest.
2010-07-21 - Toledo, United States.
Toledo Zoo officials released video of an African elephant pinning his trainer in a corner of its cell and charging at the zookeeper, critically injuring the man, who has remained in a hospital since the July 1 attack. Louie, a 7-year-old African elephant, is seen knocking down and attacking trainer Don RedFox after being startled by the man´s arrival in the enclosure.
2010-07-21 - Trat, Thailand.
A rare elephant round-up ritual has been performed in Trat to return a stray wild elephant to its natural habitat. The ritual, which took place yesterday, is usually only seen in shows for tourists in Surin, a province long renowned for the skill of its elephant handlers in capturing and training wild elephants.
2010-07-21 - Nairobi, United States. FRED MUKINDA and BENJAMIN MUINDI
Kenya has become a safe route for cartels involved in illegal ivory trade. Investigations have, however, cleared Kenya of being the source of elephant tusks and ivory products seized in parts of the world in recent months. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), working with Interpol, is now trying to identify key people running the cartels responsible for the dwindling number of elephants. The trafficking of game trophy through Kenya has exposed the relaxed surveillance at the country’s entry and e...
2010-07-21 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Venturing into the outside world for the first time, Chester Zoo´s four-day-old elephant calf has already proved a hit with the crowds. Hundreds of people craned their necks and joined crowds 10-deep around the paddock as the young Asian elephant made his public debut. Despite his tender age, the male, who has yet to be named, already weighs in at 110kg (242lb). He was born at the weekend to mother Sithami, 13, and father Upali, 16.
2010-07-21 - Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Rotterdam´s Blijdorp Zoo has announced the welcome addition of another elephant. The calf weighed in at 75 kilograms which zoo authorities say is "on the small side". Despite this, the baby was up on its feet and suckling less than two hours after birth.
2010-07-21 - Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Scientists in Brazil say a fossil of an elephant´s tooth found in the Amazon jungle proves the presence of pachyderms in South America some 45,000 years ago, a report said on Tuesday. The fossil was discovered at the start of the 1990s by a precious metals researcher, but a university student only noticed its laminate structure years later.
2010-07-20 - Chester, United Kingdom.
DELIGHTED zookeepers are celebrating the birth of a new elephant calf. The calf, who is yet to be named, was born at Chester Zoo just before midnight on Sunday, ending a pregnancy of about 22 months. Its sex is currently unknown but both the mother, Asian elephant Sithami, and her newborn are said to be doing well. It is the second calf for Sithami, 13, who is also mother to Sundara, six.
2010-07-19 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Since being fingered as one of the countries promoting illegal trade in Ivory, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has vowed tost rengthened the struggle against the trade. To date, more than 11 tonnes of Ivory, seized from traffickers and poachers, are kept at the Central Bank of Congo, PANA learned from the executive director of the Congolese Institute for Conservation of Nature (ICCN), Cosma Wilungula.
2010-07-18 - Anekal, India.
Two farmers died following wild elephant attack near Tattekere-Chudahalli area in the Mahadeshwara forest range, in the Bannerghatta National Park limits on Sunday. The killed are identified as Motanna (60) of Chudahalli and Shivanegowda alias Huchchanna(68) of Tattekere. A small pathway of about 5 KM in the forest between Chudahalli and Tattekere makes the travel easy for the villagers.
2010-07-17 - Guwahati, United States.
Two elephant calves were killed in separate incidents in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park on Saturday, officials said. According to report, a six-year old elephant calf died after it was hit by a speeding vehicle on NH-37 inside the park in the wee hours of Saturday. “When the killed elephant calf was trying to cross the NH-37 at Amguri under Burapahar Forest Range office in the Park, a speeding vehicle, coming from Jorhat to Guwahati, hit the calf. It died on the spot,” a senior forest off...
2010-07-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A large shipment of illicit ivory has been seized in Thailand after the elephant tusks were smuggled from Africa in pallets labeled as plywood furniture or notepads. Customs authorities said Friday the 765 kilograms (1,683 pounds) of elephant tusks seized Tuesday was Thailand´s third big ivory seizure this year.
2010-07-16 - Los Angeles, United States. Jeff Favre
In recent years, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles had been getting a bit long in the tooth — and we’re not talking about the saber-toothed tiger fossils in its collections. No, the museum’s building was nearly a century old, and it was in need of a serious makeover. Thanks to an extensive series of just-wrapped renovations, the structure built in 1913 is looking better than ever. But what good is a structural facelift if there’s nothing new to see inside?
2010-07-15 - Cambridge, Canada.
Officials at African Lion Safari announced Thursday the birth of ´Jake´, a healthy male Asian elephant. ´Jake´ is the result of artificial insemination, the first ever in Canada. African Lion Safari has been involved in this ongoing research programme in cooperation with the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Biology, Berlin.
2010-07-15 - Chennai, India.
Separated from the herd when it was barely two weeks old and then rehabilitated at the Vandalur Zoo, a four-month-old male elephant calf still yearns for the love of its mother. Longing for maternal warmth and refusing to eat properly, Giri stands emaciated, causing concern to veterinarians, mahouts and other forest officials taking care of him.
2010-07-15 - Springfield, United States.
Dickerson Park Zoo´s oldest elephant is recovering from a serious spinal injury. Dr. Erica Wilson, a staff veterinarian at the zoo, said C.C. the elephant was injured earlier this month when she fell during an exercise walk. She has two fractured lumbar vertebrae and minor damage to her spinal cord. Wilson believes the elephant fell due to some disorientation caused by anti-tuberculocidal medicine the elephant was given, she said.
2010-07-14 - Springfield, United States.
An ultrasound examination on one of Dickerson Park Zoo’s elephants provides new information about the animal’s condition. As the zoo has previously reported, zookeepers have seen signs of physical weakness and mobility problems in the zoo’s oldest elephant, Ol’ C.C. A local vascular surgeon helped Dr. Erica Wilson, the zoo’s staff veterinarian, visualize Ol’ C.C.’s spine and some internal organs. During the spinal examination, the doctors found two fractured lumbar vertebrae with m...
2010-07-14 - Seoul, South Korea.
The Sri Lanka government recently decided to donate a pair of elephants to Korea by the end of July, a month after Cambodia donated two elephants for a Seoul zoo. According to Seoul diplomatic sources, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has offered a pair of five-year-old elephants, one female and one male, to the Global Love Sharing Center, a Seoul-based civic group, to thank the group for its efforts to help migrant workers from Sri Lanka.
2010-07-14 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) is planning to relocate 26 elephants in Hulu Perak during a five-year period starting this year, said Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas Natural Resources and Environment Minister. In a written reply to Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah (BN - Lenggong) question on the ministry’s plan to overcome problems of wild elephants in Lenggong and Hulu Perak, the minister said that three wild elephants have been captured and relocated this year.
2010-07-14 - Corbett National Park, India.
Swinging mid-air like a rag doll, this monitor lizard was in for a rough time when a playful elephant took a fancy to it. The unlucky creature had been swept off the ground and was carried around for a number of days by Madhuri, an Indian elephant. With tail firmly clamped in the animal´s trunk the lizard was swung around and occasionally put back on the floor.
2010-07-13 - Toeldo, United States. Anne Baker, CEO/Executive Director, Toledo Zoo
On behalf of the Toledo Zoo, I would like to extend our thanks for the many kind thoughts that the community has sent for our elephant manager, Don RedFox. They have been a great comfort to his family and to our staff as we unite behind our friend and colleague. Even as this tragedy has galvanized the community in its support for Mr. RedFox and the zoo’s elephant program, the zoo’s positions on certain aspects of this incident have been misunderstood, and I feel the need to clarify them.
2010-07-13 - London, United Kingdom.
The SHO Jewellery Pearly Prince elephant, which raised £18,000 at auction for conservation charity the World Land Trust, is leaving Coutts. The Swarovski embellished elephant will be taking pride of place in the lobby of an undisclosed pet hotel, where owner’s can watch their beloved animals on webcam whilst on holiday.
2010-07-12 - Kiev, Ukraine.
On April 26, the Kiev Zoo´s symbol, an elephant by the name of Boy died. Local media reported that the animal was allegedly poisoned. Numerous deaths of animals in the Kiev Zoo raised strong concern from the Ukrainian Ministry of Environmental Protection and forced it to create a special commission to investigate the case.
2010-07-12 - Golungo-Alto, Angola.
At least 283 farms have been destroyed by a herd of elephants in Cambondo, Golungo-Alto district (Kwanza Norte province), during the first six months of this year. Speaking this Monday to Angop, the official of the Institute for Forest Development (IDF) said that the destruction of 130 hectares of diverse products might contribute to food penury in Cambondo village, once that most of people there are farmers depend on agriculture production as source of subsistence.
2010-07-12 - Aceh, Indonesia.
The corpse of a wild male elephant has been found near a palm plantation owned by PT Bumi Flora in East Aceh district, an official said on Monday. Ridwan, who serves at the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), confirmed on Monday that the body of the elephant had been discovered by a local on Friday. “When I found the body, one of its tusks had been sawn off. I was informed that the elephant was poisoned deliberately,” Ridwan said.
2010-07-12 - San Diego, United States. Yadira Galindo
The calf born in April to Swazi has been given a name courtesy of one of our donors: eMacembe La Lu Hlata; keepers call him Macembe (ma KEM bay). Now, after naming seven elephants born at the Wild Animal Park over the past six years, we’re out of ideas! Well, maybe not, but we still want you to suggest names for our youngest African elephant. Our blog readers have been kind enough to help us find very suitable names for Yun Zi, our youngest giant panda, and Zoli, a silvered leaf langur, but no...
2010-07-12 - Bangkok, Thailand.
You can still feed elephants in Thailand´s bustling capital — but it could cost you. Bangkok authorities said Monday anyone caught handing bunches of bananas or sugar cane to the hulking beasts — proffered by their handlers in a ruse to make money — faces a $320 (10,000 baht) fine.
2010-07-12 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Athula Bandara
A government hospital doctor is labouring hard to save the life of an elephant, which had been abandoned by Wildlife Officials as there was no improvement in the animal’s health despite medical treatment by them. At the request of the Ven. Thanthirimale Chandrarathana Nayake Thera and the Wilachchiya Divisional Secretary Sugath Kithsiri, Dr. Dhammika Kumara Dias volunteered to treat the animal lying in a mud hole for over a week in Medadangaswewa, Thanthirimale
2010-07-12 - Stuttgart, Germany. Dan Koehl
The 61 year old Vilja in Stuttgart Zoo Wilhelma died saturday 10th. Visitors saw her suddenly knee down on her forelegs, and then she collapsed and fell into the dry moat. Although she lost weight the last years, she was seemlingly fit before her death.
2010-07-11 - New Bedford, United States. CHARIS ANDERSON
Zoo officials are proposing a multimillion-dollar renovation to upgrade the elephant exhibit and add new Asian-themed exhibits at the Buttonwood Park Zoo, improvements that officials said are needed to maintain the zoo´s accreditation and long-term viability.
2010-07-10 - Springfield, United States.
The oldest resident of Dickerson Park Zoo, an elephant called Ol´ C.C., has developed a weakness in her back legs for a reason not yet known. Since January, the 60-year-old pachyderm has been receiving medication for a mycobacterial infection, treatment that was expected to last about nine months, possibly less if she responded quickly.
2010-07-09 - Springfield, United States.
Earlier this week, Dickerson Park Zoo’s veterinarian and zookeeper staff discontinued medication treating one of the zoo’s elephants for a mycobacterial infection. The elephant being treated, Ol’ C.C., is in her early 60s. She is the zoo’s eldest elephant and the fifth oldest elephant living in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. C.C. is among the 15 oldest living elephants listed in the Asian elephant studbook for North America.
2010-07-09 - Vallejo, United States.
Reports to: Director of Animal Care Status: Full-Time/Exempt. Responsible for the overall quality and safe operation of the Elephant Encounter, its animals and team members. Must have a minimum seven years prior experience in the training of elephants for rides and shows with the ability to train all standard behaviors required; previous experience handling or training other species of exotic animals in other institutions preferred
REPORTS TO: Elephant Supervisor. Full-Time Hourly. Responsible for helping to train Elephants in a free contact program. Have involvement in training programs; care of Elephants, presentations in Elephant show, and other various duties as assigned.
2010-07-09 - , United States.
This picture of the poor elephant baby is like taken from Rudyard Kiplings The Elephant´s Child
2010-07-08 - Forest Park, United States.
The Saint Louis Zoo´s has announced that Ellie, a pregnant Asian elephant, experienced an early pregnancy loss overnight. Keepers, curators, and veterinarians have been monitoring her closely since Monday due to a discharge and changes in her blood progesterone levels. She was 36 weeks into a 22-month pregnancy and due to deliver her calf in late summer of 2011.
2010-07-07 - Seoul, South Korea.
In the Seoul Zoo, Taesan, a 34-year old male, lives the lonely life of a widower after his mate Taesun died of colitis 14 years ago. Of the 11 elephants in six zoos across the country, five are females past childbearing age.
2010-07-07 - Indianapolis, United States.
Nominations for the 2012 Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation, will be accepted from now until January 21, 2011. The $100,000 biennial award is given to an individual animal conservationist who has made significant achievements in advancing sustainability of an animal species or group of species. It represents the largest individual monetary award for animal conservation in the world and is given as an unrestricted gift to the chosen recipient.
2010-07-07 - Windsor, United States.
There will be protests when the Shrine Circus comes to Windsor today, promises a local animal rights group. But Larry Solheim, the general manager of the circus, says the group’s criticism hasn’t hurt attendance. “If anything, they draw attention to the fact that the circus is in town,” Solheim said. “It’s not the majority of the people that have this opinion. It’s a very small but vocal group.” As they have in years past, the Windsor Animal Action Group has announced they will s...
2010-07-06 - Birmingham, United States.
The Birmingham Zoo has broke ground on Trails of Africa, a 14 acre state-of-the-art Elephant complex that, in its maturity, will display a variety of African veldt animals to complement the signature attraction – Bull African Elephants. These magnificent creatures will roam a vast habitat and provide a rich and rewarding experience for our visitors. Trails of Africa will provide an unprecedented view of the animals roaming in an environment that closely matches the wilds of Africa.
2010-07-06 - Atlanta, United States.
This is a salaried position that is responsible for implementing departmental activities and staff training of the Elephant Area of the Mammal Department. Staff in the Elephant Area cares for African elephants and warthogs. Zoo Atlanta’s elephants are managed in protected contact. This position reports to the department’s Assistant Curator and Curator. This position also works closely with the Zoo’s Elephant Manager.
2010-07-06 - Toledo, United States. Laura Rice
The Toledo Zoo keeper hospitalized after being knocked to the ground by an elephant is being kept in a sedated state and on a ventilator at The University of Toledo Medical Center. 53-year old Don RedFox´s doctors say he is in critical but stable condition and are hesitant to say he will make a full recovery after the July 1st attack.
2010-07-06 - Huruluwewa, Sri Lanka. Kanchana Ariyadasa
Wildlife officers are investigating whether a cow elephant found dead at Huruluwewa in Habarana had died of gun shot injuries and what had happened to its calf. They said the body of the elephant was found in the vicinity of the forest reserve but the calf was nowhere to be seen. A post mortem examination had revealed the elephant had been shot dead. In a similar incident the calf, of another elephant that was killed by poachers sometime ago was found in Colombo.
2010-07-05 - Banzena, Mali.
Ali Ag Rhissa, a young Touareg nomad, sits in his tent, his gun ready, on the frontline of one of Mali´s battles, protecting its majestic but dwindling herds of desert elephants. Faced with the dual threat of drought and poachers, the elephant population has almost halved in recent decades.
2010-07-05 - Toledo, United States.
The Toledo Zoo is still investigating an elephant attack that sent a trainer to the hospital last week. Don Redfox suffered broken ribs and other injuries when Louie the elephant pushed him. The zoo decided not to release surveillance video of the incident after getting a letter from Redfox´s attorney, but an animal expert saw the video and says it looks like Louie was startled but didn´t want to hurt Redfox.
2010-07-02 - Brighton, United States. Mike Mueller
When a crew digging ground for a swimming pool found the jawbone of an extinct beast in Jim Leyden´s yard, the Tipton County homeowner confessed that he was disoriented. "I grew up in New Jersey. I might find a body, but not a prehistoric animal," Leyden said of the discovery at his Brighton home.
2010-07-02 - Toledo, United States.
An elephant keeper was injured by an elephant at the Toledo, Ohio, Zoo on Thursday afternoon, according to officials. Don RedFox, the keeper, was taken to the University of Toledo Medical Center, said zoo spokesman Andi Norman. RedFox´s injuries are not life threatening, according to the zoo. RedFox is the elephant manager and has been employed at the zoo for more than 30 years, mostly working with elephants.
2010-07-01 - Oklahoma City, United States.
The Oklahoma City Zoological Park is looking for a knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and motivated individual who will compliment the pachyderm team in the day-to-day operations of the pachyderm department (Asian elephant, Asian rhino, black rhino, and pygmy hippo). Construction has begun on a state-of-the-art elephant exhibit to be completed in September 2010. This exhibit will accommodate multiple cows, calves, and at least two bulls. Contact with all species will be protected. The ideal candidate ...
2010-06-28 - Toledo, United States.
The Toledo Zoo and its Elephant Management Program has the ability to offer a unique opportunity to individuals that would like to make captive elephant management a career. The zoo has a structured internship program that encompasses many different opportunities throughout the zoo campus.
2010-06-28 - River Cess, Liberia. Abednego N. Davis
At least three logging companies in Rivercess County have been given a two-week ultimatum to construct good road networks and provide jobs for the youths in Morweh District or else elephants will destroy their efforts. A local government official from the southeast was in Monrovia last week, pleading with some logging companies not to sit down supinely and allow traditional chiefs to send elephants to destroy their efforts if they fail to heed the advice to provide social services. At least thre...
2010-06-22 - Kunda, India.
Celebrations have marked the opening of India´s first "elephant village" in the northern state of Rajasthan. Fifty-one houses have been built in the village of Kunda to house the mahouts - keepers - and their elephants.
2010-06-13 - Denver, United States.
The Denver Zoo is currently seeking qualified applicants for an open position in the large mammal division. The large mammal division includes pachyderms, a great variety of hoofstock and large predators. The position requires excellence in husbandry skills and the ability to work in a team oriented environment.
2010-06-11 - Blora, Indonesia.
The residents of the small town of Blora, 105 kilometers from Semarang, were surprised earlier this year when the most intact fossilized elephant skeleton ever found in Indonesia was unearthed nearby, a senior archeologist said on Thursday. The recovery of the skeleton was completed last month and it has been taken to the Geology Museum in Bandung, said Suroso, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s director of archeological heritage.
2010-06-04 - Palakkad, India.
A wild baby elephant fell into a well in Palakkad district of India´s southern Kerala state on Thursday night. The four-year-old elephant fell into the well when it entered the residential area of Vadakkethara along with its herd. The locals came to know about the incident early in the morning on Friday and informed the forest department immediately. A huge crowd of locals gathered near the well to help the officials in rescuing the elephant. The animal is unhurt and is swimming in the wel...
2010-06-04 - Chicago, United States.
This summer, visitors can beat Chicago’s heat and chill out while ogling colossal bones at the Field Museum. The exhibit, called “Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age,” focuses on these ancestors of the elephant that roamed Europe, Asia and North America during the Ice Age. Life-size models, fossil tusks, skulls and video installations highlight the differences between mammoths and their shorter, stockier cousins, the mastodons.
2010-06-03 - Indianapolis, United States.
Douglas-Hamilton is one of world´s best known experts on the African elephants and was the first to do an in-depth study on there behavior, and chronicled the elephant holocaust for ivory between 1979-1989 helping to implement the world ivory trade ban
2010-06-03 - Fresno, United States.
Shaunzi and Kara are the Valley´s biggest losers. Together, the once-portly pachyderm pair have lost a ton -- 2,175 pounds, to be exact -- after keepers at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo put the two on a diet. The result, they hope, will be longer and healthier lives for the elephants. Shaunzi, the larger of the two, started the weight-loss program in January 2009 at 10,245 pounds and now weighs 9,135 pounds -- down more than 10%. Kara´s results have been similar. Tipping the scales at 9,800...
2010-06-02 - Kenosha, United States.
“At the Edge of the Ice: Mammoths, Mastodons and More” opens Saturday, June 5, at the Kenosha Public Museum, 5500 First Ave., and continues through March 2011. The exhibit explores the history of mammoths and mastodons in Kenosha County during the Ice Age. The exhibit highlights new research, data and scientific evidence, which has changed views of the early people of the Americas since the excavation of the Schaefer Mammoth in Kenosha County almost 20 years ago. The exhibit features mammoth...
2010-06-02 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
An "emergency action plan" to protect elephants announced in 2006 has yet to get off the ground, a Vietnamese provincial forest official said Wednesday. In the meantime, seven of the 15 elephants in his province of Dong Nai have died, he said. "I don´t understand why they are responding with the project so late," said Le Viet Dung, deputy director of the Dong Nai forest management department. "If they don´t do it quick, there will be no elephants to preserve." Le Viet Dung sai...
2010-06-01 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A dozen elephants were found killed in Simlipal forest during a recent census, shocking officials and underscoring the threat to the animals from organised poaching gangs. The needle of suspicion also points towards some forest officials, who may be hand in glove with the poachers. Regional chief conservator of forests (RCCF) Ajit Bhartuar, who spoke to TOI from Baripada, admitted the deaths had taken place but did not agree with the number.
2010-06-01 - Cuttack, India.
The Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) has demanded a CBI probe into the recent mass killings of elephants in Simlipal Tiger Reserve. WSO has put forward its request in a letter to Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh. A CBI investigation is required to know the role of field forest officers as to whether they connived with the poachers in at least four cases, there was an effort to destroy evidence by burning or burying the bones, WSO secretary Biswajit Mohanty said today.
2010-06-01 - Lucknow, India.
The elephant census, which recently concluded in Uttar Pradesh, has shown a decline in the population of pachyderms. While the number of elephants has dropped in Bijnor and Nazibabad reserves, there is a marginal increase in the elephant population in Shivalik forest division as compared to the 2007 census figure.
2010-06-01 - Thekkady, India.
A hunt is underway for a rogue bull elephant accused of killing at least 10 female elephants during a testosterone-induced sex rampage in Kerela. A task force has been formed consisting of 15 experts to track the killer elephant through the Periyar forest. Eight females were killed last year, before another two gored corpses were found last month.
2010-05-31 - Dudhwa, India.
For the first time, elephant census has kicked off in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. As part of the project, the findings will be a part of Project Elephant. "As we did not have a sizeable elephant population here earlier, the census never took place. Now, due to the increase in the visibility of elephants, the Centre and the state governments decided to begin the census," said Sanjay Pathak, Deputy Director of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.
2010-05-31 - , United States. Lesley Stahl
It´s difficult to imagine that 10,000 years ago, right here in North America, there lived giant animals that are now the stuff of legends - mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths and sabretooth cats. They, and thousands of other species, have vanished from the Earth. And today, partly due to the expansion of one species - ours - animals are going extinct faster than ever before.
2010-05-31 - Chiang Rai, Thailand.
A new little bundle of joy has brought a token of good luck to the delight of the on-site Elephant Camp at Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The baby elephant was born at 4.10 am on the 23rd of May 2010, and was welcomed into the world with the nickname Nong Phil.
2010-05-31 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
A baby elephant found dead in the southern province of Dong Nai on Thursday was very likely poisoned, a forensic expert said Friday. The male elephant, weighing one ton, was found dead with its tongue sticking out, and tests found bleeding in its heart and liver.
2010-05-31 - The Imperial Maeping Hotel, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
This symposium has been organised in the context of the ASIA Link project ‘Elephant Health and Reproduction’, a project subsidised by the EU involving Utrecht University, Chiang Mai University (Thailand), Peradeniya University (Sri Lanka) and The Zoological Society of London (UK), among other partners. The results of the project are discussed each year during an annual conference, and are relevant for the ASIA Link Project partners, zoo owners and wildlife preservationists.
2010-05-30 - Karachi, Pakistan.
City District Government Karachi (CDGK)’s Community Development Department has been striving to create a suitable atmosphere for families looking for recreational comforts at various family parks, Safari Park and the historical Karachi Zoological Gardens, said Safari Park District Officer Raza Abbas Rizvi while talking to Daily Times.
2010-05-29 - Monroe, United States.
Museum Village in Monroe will hold a fundraising dinner and program devoted to the mystery of the Orange County mastodons and their scientific and historical significance on Saturday, June 19 from 5 to 9 p.m. Following dining under a tent on the Village Green, Evan Galbraith of Tuxedo will present his design and vision for the Peale Museum of Discovery in Montgomery.
2010-05-29 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
A three-year-old elephant was found dead on Thursday in a local residents mango orchard 100m from the edge of the Vinh Cuu Natural Reserve in southern Dong Nai Province. Rangers said that the 800-kilogramme animals carcass had been sent for an autopsy and the remains of some jackfruits, cassava, and mangoes had been found in its stomach.
2010-05-28 - Hai Phong, Vietnam.
Vietnamese police have detained two people who were caught smuggling 82 kilograms of elephant tusks from the central province of Nghe An to Hai Phong, a port city near China. Nguyen Huu Hong, 40 and Ngo Thanh Ly, 38, from Nghe An are being investigated for illegally transporting elephant tusks,Thai Binh Province police said.
2010-05-28 - Adelaide, Australia. Alessandro De Arcangelis
A group of Australian scientists managed to revive a primary component of mammoth blood, revealing, within a research published on Nature Genetics, how the colossal ancestors of modern elephants could survive in the Arctic area. The researchers of the Australian Centre for Ancient Dna of the Adelaide university, along with the colleagues from the university of Manitoba, Canada, managed to recreate the hemoglobin, the protein which carries oxygen, starting from fossil relics of Siberian animals t...
2010-05-28 - Dallas, United States. Julie Cosgrove
Not Savannah, Georgia with an "h", but Africa! After seventeen months, the new 11 plus acres exhibit is open at the Dallas Zoo, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. The Grand opening is tomorrow, Saturday May 29th. For more about the Great Savanna exhibit and everything else fun that happens on this 95 acre wonderland, log onto dallaszoo.com.
2010-05-28 - Nairobi, Kenya.
SEX AND THE CITY star KRISTIN DAVIS is the proud mother of a baby elephant she adopted in Kenya. The animal-loving actress came across the mammal during her travels in between shooting the hit Sex and the City films and she decided to pay for it to be housed in a local shelter. She tells Us Weekly magazine, "I adopted a baby elephant I found abandoned in Kenya. She lives at Kenyas Sheldrick orphanage now."
2010-05-28 - Houston, Texas, United States. Daryl Hoffman
Baby Baylor’s family just doubled overnight. The first few days after Baylor was born he spent all of his time with his mother, Shanti. Zoo keepers wanted to be sure that he and his mom bonded well and that he knew where to go to eat. The keepers also wanted to be sure that Shanti knew what to do when Baylor was hungry or needed her help. Once the team was comfortable with their behaviors and actions, we introduced “aunt” Methai. Methai is an experienced elephant that has been around man...
2010-05-27 - Jacksonville, United States.
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is currently seeking an experienced elephant keeper. Required qualifications include a degree in a life science and a minimum of 3 years paid experience in an AZA accredited zoo. Applicants must be familiar with the AZA Standards for Elephant Management & Care and have previous experience working in protected contact.
2010-05-24 - , United States.
Heres a Youtube video of Nong Phils first hours. The elephant baby was born at Anantara and Four Seasons Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation in Thailand.
2010-05-24 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
A mystery "leak" draining a jacuzzi in South Africa has been explained after tourists caught an elephant drinking from the pool. Affectionately nicknamed Troublesome, the animal is well-known to rangers at the reserve for her inquisitive nature. But no one imagined any connection with a problematic jacuzzi outside one of the £400-a-night lodges.
2010-05-24 - Radhanagar, India. Stephen Adams
Perched between the tusks, an Indian mahout or elephant driver is photographed on his steed in this arresting image. It was taken in the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, where Rajan, a 60-year-old elephant, lives. But in 2002 logging was banned in the islands and most of the 200 elephants were sent back to the Indian mainland.
2010-05-24 - Lucknow, India.
The elephant census that took place last week in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve has recorded the presence of 11 tuskers in the area. While the figure is much less than the 37 elephant sightings reported a week ago by the forest department, authorities claim the reduced number could be owing to the elephants moving to Nepal.
2010-05-24 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A Korean who operates gambling businesses in Nairobi is in police custody in connection with illegal ivory trade. He was arrested hours after police impounded a lorry ferrying 48 elephant tusks and seven tonnes of sandalwood. The lorrys driver and a loader are also locked up at Kasarani Police station. The consignment in two containers was seized by Administration Police officers on Thika Road at around 6pm on Saturday.
2010-05-24 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
About 400 kilogrammes of ivory and rhino horn have been seized from poachers in six southern African countries – including Zimbabwe – under a transboundary operation coordinated by the international police organisation (Interpol), the body announced last week. The France-based organisation said a transnational operation targeting wildlife crime across southern Africa resulted in the location and closure of an illegal ivory factory, the seizure of elephant tasks and rhino horn with a market v...
2010-05-24 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
The six-month old female elephant rescued from the Ladang Felcra /KTS in Lahad Datu last week is doing well, Sabah Wildlife Department senior veterinary officer Dr Sen Nathan said. Dr Sen who heads the departments Wildlife Rescue Unit said the baby elephant was rescued in the nick of time and if the discovery was made a few hours later, it would have been fatal for the pachyderm.
2010-05-24 - Dublin, Ireland. Paul Melia and Patricia McDonagh
THOUSANDS of families were forced to cope with traffic tailbacks as they descended on beaches and parks to make the most of the hottest day of the year so far. Up to 8,000 families flocked to Dublin Zoo for the opening of the new petting farm, beaches were inundated with day-trippers, while hundreds took part in the Killarney fun run and thousands attended sporting events including the 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh.
2010-05-24 - Lampang, Thailand.
At the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand with practical training and field work at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, National Elephant Institute Forest Industry Organization and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, Doi Pha Muang Wildlife Sanctuary, Lampang, Thailand. Distance learning: 26 April – 10 May 2010 (Home country: Internet-based) 2) Lectures & Practical training: 24 – 28 May 2010 (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
2010-05-23 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
A baby elephant on the brink of death was rescued in the east coast district of Lahad Datu. Weak and dehydrated, the female calf appeared to have been abandoned when found by the wildlife rescue unit of the Sabah Wildlife Department last week. Now recuperating at the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary in Sandakan, the department is keeping its fingers crossed that the calf responds well to treatment and its new surroundings.
2010-05-23 - Fillmore, United States.
According to director Francis Lawrences twitter stream, production for his newest film, ‘Water for Elephants’ starring Hal Holbrook, Christoph Waltz, Reese Witherspoon and Rob Pattinson, began on Thursday, May 20. The first footage for the movie was shot on location in Fillmore, California, and the production is expected to continue in nearby Santa Paula, Piru and Los Angeles over the coming weeks.
2010-05-21 - Lake Buena Vista, United States.
The elephant herd at Disneys Animal Kingdom just expanded – by about 288 pounds. That amount represents the weight of the newborn female calf born late last night. Twenty-two-year-old Donna gave birth to the herds fifth offspring after gaining more than 400 pounds during a 22-month gestation. This latest addition, which has yet to be named, is the second calf for Donna, which gave birth to a female calf, Nadirah, in 2005. This birth raises the number of elephants in the Disneys Animal Kingdom ...
2010-05-21 - Jaipur, India.
The much-awaited Indias first and the worlds third elephant village, after a delay of over two years, is now finally just awaiting a formal inauguration. The project that is envisaged to provide basic comforts for the pachyderms at Amber, might just bring some respite from the heat for the jumbos.
2010-05-20 - Bristol, United Kingdom.
Noahs Ark Zoo Farm in Bristol has been awarded permission to construct a new elephant house by North Somerset Council. At 12 acres, the new open elephant enclosure will be one of the largest of its kind in the UK. The attraction is located six miles from Bristol and it welcomes around 120,000 people through its doors each year.
2010-05-18 - Paris, France.
Police seized $1 million worth of rhino horns and ivory and shut down an illegal ivory factory in a sweep across southern Africa, international police agency Interpol said on Tuesday, May 18. The operation, which Interpol coordinated earlier this month, included the arrests of 41 people. "Taking these illegal items off the market is just the first step," said Peter Younger, manager of Interpols Africa wildlife programme.
2010-05-18 - Karachi, Pakistan.
A large number of children started rushing to the Karachi Zoo on Sunday night, after news spread that two female elephant calves, Madhu Bala and Noor Jahan, had been shifted from Safari Park. The transfer of the two calves ended a four-year wait for the Zoo, which had been without an elephant after the death of Anarkali in 2006. The trainer of the elephants at the Zoo has named the two calves as Madhu Bala and Noor Jahan.
2010-05-17 - San Francisco, United States. Jeremy Hance
A lifelong advocate for elephants in the Southeast Asian country, Tuy Sereivathanas work has allowed villagers and elephants to live side-by-side. Working with Fauna and Flora International (FFI) he has successfully brought elephant-killing in Cambodia to an end.
2010-05-17 - Hollywood, United States.
Riding the tide of Twilight Saga, Hollywood and I do mean Hollywood hunk Robert Pattinson is set to appear opposite Hollywood Oscar Winners Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon. His larger than life other co-star happens to be a 8000 pound elephant named Tai. Tai is set to play Rosie in the film entitled Water For Elephants.
2010-05-17 - Louisville, United States.
The Louisville zoo director is apologizing after he says he mistakenly lowered the American flag to honor the dead baby elephant named Scotty. John Walczak told WHAS11 News, it is a mistake that was called to his attention by a WHAS11 viewer who saw the flag on our newscast.
2010-05-17 - Nagercoil, India.
Fifty-seven elephants, including 13 calves, were found in Kanyakumari district during a two-day elephant census conducted by the forest department, a senior official said today. This showed an increase of six elephants over the 2008 census figures, District Forest Officer Sundara Raju told reporters here.
2010-05-17 - LUNUGAMWEHERA, Sri Lanka.
In the early hours of a hot dry day, four orphaned elephants begin a bumpy truck ride back to the jungles of southern Sri Lanka where they had been rescued from near certain death. The four baby jumbos, now aged five and six, are ready to leave the Elephant Transit Home where they have been treated and cared for since they were less than a year old. The state-run home is refuge for dozens of baby elephants who are separated from their herds, fall into wells or ditches or are shot at by angry far...
2010-05-17 - Pukekohe, New Zealand.
Kapiti animal rights campaigners say their battle to save Jumbo the elephant has proved worthwhile, with news the former circus performer is making big strides in her rehabilitation. The 37-year-old African elephant caused a stir in Paraparaumu when she appeared in the Loritz Circus in 2008, with a group of local protestors unhappy with her treatment.
2010-05-16 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Officials in Zimbabwes National Parks and Wildlife Department have moved to defend President Robert Mugabe from a directive to send a Noahs Ark collection of wild animals to North Korean dictator Kim Jong II as a special gift. Last week it was reported Mugabe ordered that two of every animal species in the Hwange National Park be sent to North Korea.
2010-05-15 - Bangalore, India. Bosky Khanna
Volunteers for the elephant census that will begin on Saturday were imparted training on Friday afternoon on how to identify an adult, sub adult and juvenile elephant based on the height, skin colour, and tusks in case of a bull elephant. They were also given directions on how to collate information in data sheets regarding the total number of elephants in a particular season, pachyderms in various age groups, members of each sex and tuskers in the adult and sub adult categories.
2010-05-13 - Louisville, United States. Stephanie Crosby
Life goes on at the Louisville Zoo, though director John Walczak says the loss of three-year-old elephant Scotty has been hard on employees there. Scotty was euthanized last night after a week-long gastrointestinal illness. Walczak says Scotty was beloved by the community and by his keepers, and his loss has been difficult to deal with.
2010-05-12 - Louisville, Kentucky, United States.
Scotty, a three-year-old elephant at the Louisville Zoo has died. Scotty had been experiencing severe gastric and intestinal problems. He had been under close surveillance, and Wednesday night he took a turn for the worse and he had to be put down. His condition, known as colic, is not uncommon in elephants. Visitors have already made a makeshift memorial spot in his remembrance. One zoo visitor, Jessie Fife, tells Fox 41 News, "He was cute. I remember when he was born, and I was here when the...
2010-05-11 - Hannover, Germany. Rob Belterman
This morning an Asian bull calf was born in Hannover. Mother Farina, father Nikolai. This is Farinas first, and Nikolais third baby.
2010-05-09 - DEHRA DUN, India.
A man was trampled to death by an elephant on Saturday, triggering a clash between villagers and forest guards at Bishanpur Kundi village in Haridwar district, the police said. The incident took place when the man was quarrying sand on the bank of the Ganga river and the elephant came rushing and trampled him. The man died on the spot. The forest guards who reached the spot were gheraoed by villagers who were upset over the incident.
2010-05-06 - Houston, United States. Houston Zoo
After a pregnancy lasting almost 23 months, Shanti, a 19-year-old Asian elephant, delivered a healthy 348-pound male calf Tuesday morning at the Houston Zoos McNair Asian Elephant Habitat. The calf has been named Baylor by the Zoos elephant care team in recognition of the unprecedented and ongoing advances made by Baylor College of Medicines research team to significantly reduce the threat of a potentially lethal elephant herpes virus.
2010-05-04 - Winnipeg, Canada. Paul Rincon
Scientists have discovered genetic mutations that allowed woolly mammoths to survive freezing temperatures. Nature Genetics reports that scientists "resurrected" a mammoth blood protein to come to their finding. This protein, known as haemoglobin, is found in red blood cells, where it binds to and carries oxygen. The team found that mammoths possessed a genetic adaptation allowing their haemoglobin to release oxygen into the body even at low temperatures. The ability of haemoglobin to rel...
2010-05-03 - Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic.
The 3rd Elephant Workshop is organised by and will take place in our Zoo Dvur Kralove a.s. in the Czech Republic. The workshop is mainly for the zoos in eastern and central Europe so it will be presented in English and Russian.
2010-05-01 - Elk Valley, Canada. REBECCA EDWARDS AND MARY GIULIANO
Elk Valley resident Popeye Fontana thought nothing of the fossil he found out on a hunting trip in the Corbin area of the Flathead Valley – but, years later, a scholar has confirmed it is a mammoth tooth over 16,000 years old. Lower Elk Valley Road resident Fontana, 83, noticed the unusual fossil while out hunting three years ago, but it wasn’tuntil earlier this year that its significance was recognized.
2010-04-29 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
Zoo keepers stumped coming up with a name for their new baby elephant have decided to auction the naming rights on eBay to raise money for conservation. For the first time ever, keepers at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo are inviting bidders on eBay to help name their newest arrival – a male baby elephant born on 12 April.
2010-04-29 - Karlsruhe, Germany.
The page about elephant insemination on www.elephant.se is now further developed so you can see which elephants were born through AI (32 in the list), and which bulls have so far been used (16 in the list), and how many offspring they have. The list may be incomplete.
2010-04-29 - Ber, Germany.
OLD B & W PHOTO CIRCA.1930S-ELEPHANT IN BERLIN
2010-04-28 - Yaounde, Cameroon.
People living close to the Dja Reserve, in south-eastern Cameroon, have raised the alarm about the incursion of elephants, while the Forest Service accused poachers of throwing the animals into a panic. According to a member of Parliament, Roger Nkodo Dang, a native of the area, the elephants attacked several villages in the district, damaged and destroyed fields and dwellings.
2010-04-28 - Kiev, Ukraine.
UKRAINE prosecutors are probing the suspected poisoning of a 40-year-old Asian elephant called Boy who dropped dead at Kiev zoo. "Boy was poisoned, theres no doubt," veterinary official Oleg Melnik told Kievskie Vedomosti daily after taking part in the autopsy. "We will know what poison was used in a few days."
2010-04-28 - Periyar Tiger Reserve, India.
Wildlife experts in southern India are hunting a rogue bull elephant who is thought to have gored 12 female tuskers to death because they spurned his sexual advances. The Times of India said on Wednesday that a 15-member taskforce has been set up to catch the aggressive male, called Alpha, who has been on the run in the jungles of Kerala state for the last three years. Keralas chief wildlife warden, K.K. Srivastava, said eight female elephants were found dead in the vast Periyar reserve between ...
2010-04-28 - Bankura, India.
Even as the shooting of a rogue elephant in West Bengals Paschim Medinipur district led to a controversy, Forest Department officials said that a rescue centre for “problem elephants” in the region is being contemplated. “A rescue centre for rogue elephants has been planned and the Divisional Forest Officer in Bankura has been given the task of identifying land for this purpose,” said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) S.B. Mondal.
2010-04-28 - Bewdley, United Kingdom.
A frustrated zoo keeper at a UK safari park was given unusual assistance when his jeep broke down… an elephant gave him a push start. Lawrence Bates was all set to call for assistance to the animal reserve when his jeep broke down, until Five the elephant decided to give him a helping (hand) trunk. The keeper couldnt believe his eyes as the 18-year-old d African Elephant run behind the jeep and started pushing. In a matter of seconds the trusty nelly had pushed the car out of trouble and out o...
2010-04-27 - Claremont, United States.
A Claremont doughnut shop owner has pleaded guilty to charges that he illegally bought the ivory of endangered African elephants on eBay. Moun Chau, 50, will face up to five years in federal prison and up to $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced Oct. 18 in Los Angeles federal court. Chau, who owns Pixie Donuts in Claremont and lives in Montclair, pleaded guilty April 8 to one count of importing ivory in part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors.
2010-04-27 - Rome, Italy.
Residents of an Italian village were surprised to find an elephant relaxing in their garden on Tuesday after she escaped from a travelling circus, the ANSA news agency reported. The elephant, named Dumbo and weighing around three-and-a-half tonnes, took a walk from her cage shortly after the Armando Orfei circus arrived in the village of Bassano, around 100 kilometres (65 miles) north of Rome.
2010-04-27 - Cheraw, South Carolina, United States.
Americas Elephants is a new ebook by Circus Historian Bob Cline. The entrance to America of the first couple elephants to the growth of elephant groups begins this fabulous journey into the elephants and the people that took care of them every day. Youll read about the scientific explanations as well as the descriptions of the elephants anatamy and its uses. Since the circuses became the largest owners of elephants in America for more than 100 years, the circus is given generous portions of the ...
2010-04-26 - Kiev, Ukraine.
The only elephant in Kievs zoo, 39-year-old Boy, died Monday in his enclosure, apparently after being poisoned, the zoos director said. This morning at 10.45 a.m. he let out a terrible cry and fell. I have the conclusions of veterinarians ... It was a poisoning," zoo director Svitlana Berzina told Reuters.
2010-04-25 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. Ruchika Kher
Dont call it crap. Dung is actually being turned into profit at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, thanks to a good idea.At the entrance to the orphanage stands a shop, Pinnawala Elephant Dung Paper, where elephant excrement is used to make products like notebooks, photo frames, gift items, book marks, photo albums and greeting cards. An elephants dung is just fibre. Elephants are poor digesters and over 50 percent of what they eat comes straight out, which helps in making dung products, M.R.S. P...
2010-04-23 - Calgary, Canada.
Its a burning question for Calgary Zoo veterinary staff , who suspect that Maharani, a 20-year-old Asian elephant, is pregnant again. If blood tests confirm the pachyderm is indeed expecting a third calf, theres a heartbreaking possibility the newborn will fall ill to the same disease that killed Maharanis last offspring, Malti, in 2008.
2010-04-23 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The much-awaited elephant census began in Orissa with the deployment of around 10,000 officials of the Orissa Wildlife Department. The latest census will determine the exact number of elephants in the state. The officials have been provided with necessary equipments and given due training to undertake their work. The counting of elephants will last for three days. It would be conducted in about 129,700 sq km of forest area in Orissa. According to a 2007 census, there were 1,862 elephants in the ...
2010-04-23 - Esslingen, Germany.
The Bionic Handling Assistant (BHA) from Festo of Esslingen, Germany is a working concept inspired by the anatomy of an elephants trunk. Festos goal of developing the BHA was to study and improve the interaction between humans and robots. Perhaps the impression of elephants as being gentle giants was a big factor in the early stages of development.
2010-04-23 - Thrissur, India.
A task force formed to protect elephants and their habitats across the country is to meet here April 30, an official said. The task force of Project Elephant, a government scheme, was formed in February and the meeting in Kochi would be its first sitting. Project Elephant, which is being implemented in 13 states, also addresses issues of man-animal conflict and welfare of domesticated elephants.
2010-04-22 - San Antonio, United States.
Boo, also known as Queenie, is a female Asian elephant who used to be a circus performer worked by Wilbur Davenport, arrived Wednesday in San Antonio Zoo, as company for Lucky, who is a 50-year-old female. Queenie is believed to be about 55 years old.
2010-04-21 - San Francisco, United States.
Tuy Sereivathana introduced innovative low-cost solutions to mitigate human-elephant conflict in Cambodia, empowering local communities to cooperatively participate in endangered Asian elephant conservation. Since his work began, Tuy has seen significant success. At the start of the decade, elephant killings due to crop raids were not uncommon. As a result of Tuys involvement with the project, there has not been a single confirmed elephant death due to human-elephant conflict since 2005.
2010-04-21 - Williston, United States.
More than 200 elephants—as many as 40 at one time—have crossed the gates of Two Tails Ranch since it was founded in 1984. They arrive for various reasons and Patricia opens her doors and her heart to all of them. Some are boarded for Ringling Bros. when theyre not on the road; others are owned by zoos under renovation; and some are retired from a life of performing. If an elephant needs a place to stay—temporarily or permanently—Two Tails Ranch rolls out the welcome mat.
2010-04-21 - Bangkok, Thailand. Ayinde O. Chase
Thai authorities announced Wednesday they had seized 1.4 tons of ivory tusks. The illegal ivory haul is worth nearly $2.2 million. The 296 tusks were confiscated at Bangkok International airport and originated from Qatar. Acting on a tip, customs officials found the tusks Saturday in a shipment declared as “printing metal.” The shipment was slated for a Thai company based in the capital. According to officials, the elephant tusks weighed 3,058 pounds and most likely originated from southern ...
2010-04-20 - San Diego, United States.
Its a boy! The newest member of the Wild Animal Parks African elephant herd made his appearance at about 8:30 p.m. on April 12. He and Mom, Swazi, are doing famously. He joins his "big brother" (a whole two months older!) as the two calves born so far in 2010. Another calf is due within the next few months, so stay tuned.
2010-04-20 - Vallejo, United States.
Responsible for helping to train Elephants and have involvement in training programs; care of Elephants, presentations in Elephant show, and other various duties as assigned. REPORTS TO: Elephant Supervisor STATUS: Full-Time Hourly. Ability to manage elephants in a free contact system. Help with elephant training programs, public presentations, and elephant rides. Daily care & feeding of elephants in the collection. Maintenance of elephant exhibit, and night house. Behavioral observations, recor...
2010-04-16 - Orlando, United States.
Barack has recovered from the herpes virus, Ringling spokeswoman Amy McWethy said Friday. Hes "active and healthy," tipping the scale at about 1,400 pounds. Barack and his mother, Bonnie, are currently at the conservation center. Its still unclear when the mother-and-son duo will return to the circus lineup, McWethy said.
2010-04-14 - Dallas, United States.
We are seeking an enthusiastic professional to join our Elephant Team. The Zoo is currently acquiring a herd of elephants that will reside at the new 10 acre African Savannah Exhibit. This exhibit will be opening in the Spring of 2010 and will be a mixed species exhibit. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of a challenging and evolving elephant program. This is a full time, year round position that includes responsibility for the care, husbandry, and training of the zoos African Elephan...
2010-04-10 - Wilkes-Barre, United States.
Wilkes-Barre police Lt. Steve Olshefski confirmed that an animal groomer at the Irem Shrine Circus at the 109th Field Armory was killed by the shows elephant, Dumbo, Friday evening sometime before the 7:15 performance. He was unable to provide neither the groomers name nor details of what happened.
2010-04-09 - Fazana, Croatia.
Sony, the elephant gifted by Indira Gandhi to former Yugoslavias socialist leader Tito, recently passed away unexpectedly at the Brijuni National Park in Croatia. The 42-year-old elephant was one of the parks best-known residents. Together with his partner, the female elephant Lanka, he arrived in 1970, at the age of two, as a gift from Indias then-Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Since then, he was seen by more than four million visitors.
2010-04-09 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
A mature elephant was found dead Wednesday near a lake and a stream in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. Local residents found the elephant when catching fish in the stream in Ea Sup District. The body was stinking and its bones were broken into pieces, they said. Officials surmised that the elephant had been trampled on and killed by others in the herd, making it hard to identify the animals gender.
2010-04-08 - Auckland, New Zealand. JOCELYN REIN
She may be alone, but life is far from lonely for Burma. After the death of her only companion, Kashin, last August, there were fears the "fun, sparky", Asian elephant would never recover and wouldnt be able to work with keepers any more. Seven months later, Auckland Zoo elephant keeper Laurel Sandy says she is back to having the same quality of life she did before Kashins death, enjoying elephant "scrubs" and walks around the zoo, building her confidence every day.
2010-04-05 - Hohenwald, United States.
A total of 2 real lead african elephant keeper salary data found within 25 miles of Hohenwald, TN. Salary Average: $23,700, Salary Range: $22,400-$25,000
2010-03-31 - Mayapur, India. Hari Sauri Dasa
At about 8.00 AM on March 30 2010 Mayapur received its newest resident– Vishnu-priya the baby elephant. After a tortuous 2 years of negotiation Hrmati Dasi performed the practically impossible task of bringing a new companion for Laxmi-priya from Assam to her new home in the holy dhama.
2010-03-29 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Nimal Wijesinghe
The Wildlife Conservation Department has reinforced remedial measures to minimise human-elephant conflict which is on the increase. Special attention has been focused to strengthen existing electrified fences and create a number of protective fences. North Western Wildlife Conservation Zone, Conservation Officer S.A. Sarath told the Daily News that a 45 kilometre long new electrified fence will be created from Kalawewa (South) range towards Undhuruwa via Dambewatawa.
2010-03-28 - Mumbai, India.
Laxmi and Anarkali, the two female elephants at the Byculla zoo, have no past record of unruly behaviour, say zoo officials. However, Sundays incident, where Laxmi, the 55-year-old female pachyderm killed a man who entered the enclosure, goes to prove that wild animals can be unpredictable, if provoked, say experts.
2010-03-28 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
Two Sumatran elephants (Elephas Maximus Sumatranus) were found dead in the Tesso Nilo National Park, Riau province. "The two elephants are predicted to have died about a week ago and found in the national park," head of the Tesso Nilo national park Suprahman said here, Sunday. He said that the wild elephants were found dead in Air Hitam village, Pelalawan regency, Riau
2010-03-28 - Doha, Qatar.
The United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has made some surprising decisions about restrictions, or lack thereof, on trade of endangered species around the world. Some animals are coming out with successes, while others, like the blue fin tuna and red and pink corals, are not. The two-week conference met to determine certain bans on trade, as well as to take requests to lift bans.
2010-03-28 - Addis Abeba, Tanzania.
A new investigation by a panel of international and local experts that implicated senior government officials in the illegal ivory trade and the rise in elephant poaching in Tanzania is believed to have led to the country being denied permission for a one-off sale of its $20 million ivory stockpile.
2010-03-28 - Bowmanville, Canada.
Limba the elephant took a walk down Bowmanville streets today for a good cause, publicizing the upcoming MS Walk on April 18. The Asiatic elephant, who calls Bowmanville Zoo home, walked down Highway 2 to Liberty Street from the zoo, than made the trip back home. The pachyderms trip proved to be an effective way to bring attention to the 2010 Bowmanville MS Walk, to be held on Sunday April 18, beginning at 9:40 am at the Bowmanville High School.
A zoo visitor who had sneaked into an enclosure was killed by an elephant today, the first such incident in the 149-year history of the city zoo. Apparently alarmed by the presence of a stranger, Lakshmi, 70, kicked the man, who was in his forties, has not been identified and is suspected to have been on drugs. Another female elephant, Anarkali, 50, was in the enclosure with Lakshmi, but there were no mahouts or workers, all having gone for lunch.
2010-03-27 - Cooch Behar, India.
Wildlife wardens have found the carcass of an adult cow elephant in the Chilpata Forest Range of West Bengals Cooch Behar District. Bania Range forest officials were patrolling the area, when they discovered the dead elephant. A divisional forest officer and veterinarians were called in to determine the exact cause of death.
2010-03-27 - Houston, United States. Kelly Russo
Shantis due date is rapidly approaching, so the zoos volunteers and the Elephant team have started to monitor her 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Over 35 volunteers have given their time to help the Elephant team keep an eye on Shanti. The volunteers started to monitor Shanti on February 20th and are at the zoo from 4PM – 7AM every day.
2010-03-27 - Pocatello, United States.
The auction scheduled for 10 a.m. today at the Idaho Museum of Natural History will be no typical sale. The sale will also include three rare books. One of them, a first-edition copy of the 1936 book “Proboscidea” by Henry Fairfield Osborn, was listed for sale online Friday by a Florida book seller at $1,150.
2010-03-27 - Nashville, United States.
Unleash your artistic side at two new art classes offered by Nashville Zoo. The new Arts for Life and Sketch Safari classes teach kids and adults different art styles and techniques using Zoo animals for subjects. Arts for Life is taught by Karen Frey, a childrens art instructor in Middle Tennessee for more than 25 years. Each class uses live animal models and different mediums to teach kids ages 6 and up the basics of art, color theory, value, technique and form. Classes are held March 27, Apri...
2010-03-26 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
The 175-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has given Zimbabwe the green light to continue trading in ivory despite attempts by some African countries to have a 20-year moratorium, a government official told ZimOnline on Thursday.
2010-03-26 - Orlando, United States. Rachael Jackson
Earlier this month, Mary the elephant died at the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Sanford. While at 63 she was one of the oldest zoo elephants in the U.S., Mary will be greatly missed at the zoo, particularly by her manager, senior hoofstock keeper Bernie Bartosch. Bartosch, 48, who cared for the elephant for nearly 16 years, answered questions from Orlando Sentinel reporter Rachael Jackson.
2010-03-25 - Sydney, Australia. Lisa Keen, Taronga and Taronga Western Plains Zoos
The new calf has a name as of this morning. He is Pathi Harn, which is Thai for Miracle. Its pronounced Par Tea Harn. Hes doing really well, as is his mum Porntip, who is very attentive. Pathi Harn has been enjoying the water and also the mud wallow. He was blessed this morning by Thai Buddhist monks who came to the zoo especially for the naming ceremony.
2010-03-24 - Hohenwald, United States.
The co-founder of the internationally-known elephant sanctuary in Hohenwald is off the job. Carol Buckley said the Board of Directors has fired her. "This was unbelievable and shocking. I had no idea. I was broadsided," said Buckley. Buckley co-founded the elephant sanctuary 15 years ago.
2010-03-24 - Kitwe, Zambia. Kabanda Chulu
INTERNATIONAL Fund for Animal Welfare representative Ezzeldin Downs has said there has been no scientific evidence to back statements from Tanzania and Zambia about an increase in the elephant population. Commenting on the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)s decision to reject Tanzania and Zambia’s plans to sell stockpiled ivory, Downs stated that conservationists had scored a rare victory.
2010-03-24 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Poachers are suspected to have killed an endangered Sumatran elephant whose body was discovered by villagers with its tusks removed, Indonesian conservationists said Wednesday. We also found a stab wound on the right side of the chest, piercing through his liver," Mulyo Utomo from the nature conservation agency in Sumatras Riau province told AFP. The 10-year-old male elephants body was found in Petani village in Riau province.
2010-03-23 - Woburn, United Kingdom.
Inside the ten tonne crate, which arrived at the park from Emmen Zoo in the Netherlands this morning, was Yu Zin a five tonne, female Asian elephant. Born 32 years ago, she joins three other Asian elephants that have lived at the Park for over a decade. Coincidentally it is thirteen years to the day since Woburns other elephants, male Raja, and females Damini and Chandrika arrived in Bedfordshire from India in 1997.
2010-03-22 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Milk from three elephants in Ayutthaya is being extracted to feed an injured newborn calf in the southern province of Chumphon. Nopporn Kawkanitharak, of the Chumphon livestock office, travelled to the Elephant Kraal in Ayutthaya yesterday to pick up the milk to be taken back to Chumphon to feed Plai Huay Yai. Plai Huay Yai, aged 15 days old, strayed from the wild herd and fell into the Huay Yai ravine in Phato district of Chumphon recently.
2010-03-22 - Doha, Qatar.
Bids by Tanzania and Zambia for one-off sales of their ivory stockpiles have been rejected by the UN body that oversees trade in threatened wildlife. The decision was reached during the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) meeting in Doha, the Qatari capital.
2010-03-21 - Wichita, United States.
Sedgwick County is looking into building a new elephant exhibit and breeding facility. The zoo already has two South African bush elephants — Stephanie and Cinda. Their exhibit measures 19,000 square feet. But that would expand under a plan the zoo’s board of directors will vote on in July. The plan calls for 4.75 acres of public viewing space that could hold up to six African elephant cows with calves and two bulls.
2010-03-21 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
A large herd of hungry elephants has taken over part of the Indonesian village of Petani on the island of Sumatra, forcing villagers to flee their homes, the countrys Antara news agency reported on Friday. The herd of some 45 elephants came into the village two weeks ago, though many have now returned back into the jungle.
2010-03-21 - Nairobi, Kenya. WALTER MENYA
Elephants were thrown a life line on Thursday after it emerged that Tanzanias proposal to be allowed to sell ivory is likely to be rejected. The rejection by conservation agency, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), would be a major victory for the Kenyan elephant, which is facing increasing danger from poachers. Elephants move freely between the Kenyan and Tanzanian game parks along the common border.
2010-03-21 - Trivandrum, India.
Who doesn’t love elephants? If you love them as much as I do and would like to see some on your trip to Kerala, here are the best places to find them. If youd like to spot elephants in Kerala in the wild youll need to visit one of the national parks. Of course, sightings aren’t guaranteed, but if you do get lucky it will be an exciting experience.
2010-03-21 - Balasore, India.
An elephant died of prenatal complications in Kuldiha sanctuary of Balasore district yesterday while giving birth to a stillborn calf. Sources said, the calf was in an upside-down position never seen by vets and Forest officials, which made the birth complicated. “We couldnt do a caesarean section on the elephant as we dont have any facility here,” said forest ranger Sarat Behera.
2010-03-21 - Doha, Qatar. CATHERINE RIUNGU
In a surprise turn of events, Tanzania is this week likely to win its bid to sell its stockpile of ivory, estimated to be worth $15 million. The vote on Tanzania’s proposal to be allowed to sell its ivory stockpile is due this week amid reports that the counter-proposal 20-year ban on ivory sales that has divided Kenya and Tanzania down the middle is likely to fail, partly because Britain and other members of the EU are refusing to support it.
2010-03-21 - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Vietnamese police have seized about 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of ivory near the border with China, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Traffic police made the discovery after stopping a car early Friday morning, said Tuoi Tre newspaper, which did not say if any arrests were made. The police declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
2010-03-20 - Knysna, South Africa.
There has not been a confirmed sighting of an elephant in the Knysna forests of South Africa for decades, after they were hunted to the brink of extinction in the early 1900s. But signs of their survival can still be found, as Hamilton Wende discovers.
2010-03-20 - Chester, United Kingdom. Mark Dowling
HUNDREDS more villagers in northeast India will be able to live peacefully with elephants thanks to a conservation project. Conservationists from Chester Zoo and EcoSystems-India, who are working to mitigate human-elephant conflict, have been awarded a second Darwin Initiative grant to assist the expansion of their elephant conservation project in Assam.
2010-03-19 - Berlin, Germany.
Baby Asian elephant calf Dimas made his first public appearance today at the Tierpark in Berlin, Germany. The four-day old elephant was born on 15 March to mother elephant, Cynthia. He weights 194 kilograms and stands 94cm tall. Bimas is the 16th elephant to be born at the zoo, Europes largest landscaped zoo, since 1998 as part of its successful Asian elephant breeding and conservation programme.
2010-03-17 - Hohenwald, United States. John Van Mol
The board of directors of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee announced today it is beginning an international search for a CEO of the organization, as co-founder and former Executive Director and CEO Carol Buckley is leaving the Sanctuary. The pioneering work done by Carol Buckley in co-founding The Elephant Sanctuary with Scott Blais and the two of them nurturing it over the past 15 years are sincerely appreciated by all who care about the work of protecting elephants,” said William Schaffne...
2010-03-16 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe the death of a bull elephant is a blessing. Starving villagers are able to use every piece of the elephant for food, including the trunk and ears. Even the bones are used as they are boiled for soup; within 24 hours there is nothing left of what was a 13ft Elephant.
2010-03-16 - Kerala, India. John Mary
As the drumbeats reach a crescendo in temples across Kerala, with the festive season coming into its own, tragic tales of elephants goring their mahouts to death are casting a shadow on the revelries. There have always been stray incidents of the odd tusker running amok, squashing roadside shops and overturning vehicles, but the pattern emerging now is far more disturbing: these intelligent, sensitive animals are turning serial killers.
2010-03-16 - Karnataka, India. Shyam Sundar Vattam
Because the forest cover is shrinking, elephants have no other option but to raid villages in search of food. They turn rogue, and the government hasn’t been able to tame them, owing to a shortage of tranquillisers. The districts of Mysore, Hassan, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar have a large population of jumbos. The number of elephants has increased manifold. According to an estimate, there were around 2,500 elephants till a few years back in the State and now the population has crossed the 5,000-...
2010-03-16 - Khuti, India.
Two elephants were electrocuted Monday when they bumped into high tension wires in Jharkhands Khuti district, an official said Monday. The incident took place near Nimidin village, some 60 km from here. District forest officer Manel Tudu said elephants come regularly to the area in search of wheat crops. It seems one elephant hit an electric pole and snapped the high tension wires.
2010-03-16 - Saint Louis, United States.
The Saint Louis Zoo has announced that Ellie, one of its Asian elephants, is pregnant. She is 38 years old and this will be her third birth. Her daughter, Maliha, will turn four years old on August 2, 2010. And her 14-year-old daughter, Rani is also pregnant. The Zoos bull elephant, 17-year-old Raja, is the father of both babies. He was the first Asian elephant ever born at the Zoo in 1992, and this calf will be his fourth offspring. An elephant pregnancy lasts about 22 months. Ellie will be du...
2010-03-15 - St. Louis, United States.
Ellie, a 38-year-old Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo, is expecting her third baby. The Zoo announced this morning that Ellie is due in late summer 2011. An elephant pregnancy lasts about 22 months. Ellie has two daughters -- 3-year-old Maliha, and 14-year-old Rani, who is also pregnant. Rani is expected to deliver in mid-summer 2011.
2010-03-15 - Doha, Qatar.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) begins their annual meeting today in Doha, Qatar. A big item on the agenda this year is the sale of ivory. Tanzania and Zambia would like to sell some of their stock piled ivory. The idea is to flood the market with "legal" ivory and so reduce the need for poaching. Unfortunately it doesnt work this way. The Asian and US market for ivory does not seem to have a saturation point, demand always exceeds supply. Allowing some "legal...
2010-03-14 - Tsavo, Kenya.
Three suspected poachers from a neighbouring country were gunned down by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) game rangers from Taita-Taveta as the war on poaching activities is intensified in the sprawling Tsavo National Park. The district police boss Herbert Khaemba, confirmed the Saturday night incident and said the poachers, suspected to be Tanzanian nationals, were shot dead at Kuranze area, Kasigahu location in Tsavo West National Park.
2010-03-14 - Goma, Congo.
D.R. Congos internal wars officially ended in 2005, but for Congos elephants war goes on. An international appetite has ivory prices soaring. Other appetites are whetted: National governments who want to sell legal ivory stocks, smugglers who want to move illegal ivory across borders, poachers who want to avoid risk, but still supply smugglers. For well-armed military, poaching risk is low. In Congo, battalions of military surround national parks, the last arenas of the war and the last rema...
2010-03-13 - Guwahati, India.
The Assam forest department is contemplating mercy killing of a 25-year-old female elephant that was seriously injured after being hit by a goods train at Deepor Beel on February 28. A senior official of the Guwahati wildlife division, which is looking after the elephant, said the animal was in pain and finding it difficult to even walk inside the Rani reserve forest, where it is being kept at present.
2010-03-10 - Sydney, Australia.
An elephant gave birth to a calf at Sydneys main zoo on Wednesday, surprising vets and keepers who two days earlier declared the baby had died in the womb. The Asian elephant mother delivered the male baby in the early hours of Wednesday in what Taronga Park Zoo officials said was "unbelievable good fortune".
2010-03-09 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
A four-tonne Asian elephant which has spent more than 30 years at a zoo in Devon has been put down because of abscesses on her feet. Gay joined Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in 1977 and, with African elephant Duchess, proved popular with visitors.
2010-03-08 - Samburu, Kenya.
A research camp with environmental organization Save the Elephants (STE) in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya fell victim to a flash flood last week, after the Ewaso Ng’iro River broke its banks. Fortunately, none of the researchers or employees were hurt, but the camp lost most of the equipment—including tents, food, computers, and collars—and data in the flood.
2010-03-08 - Pretoria, South Africa.
Animal Rights Africa and the DA have lambasted a top official in the department of environmental affairs for suggesting that culling some of the countrys elephants was "inevitable". Fundisile Mketeni, the departments deputy director-general for biodiversity and conservation, told parliaments portfolio committee on environmental affairs last week that the growing elephant population was a threat to national parks.
2010-03-08 - Washington, United States.
Police in Washington, D.C. arrested a man who was trespassing on the grounds of The National Zoo Saturday afternoon. The man was outside the elephant enclosure that has been closed for a multi-million dollar renovation and got into a dispute, according to Lindsay Renick Mayer, a public affairs specialist for the zoo. He was then escorted off the property by zoo park police.
2010-03-08 - Bangkok, Thailand.
"Was I shocked? No. But I grieved for the grisly fate of those elephants," says Tanat Suvattanametakul. The director of the Clearance Customs Bureau at Suvarnabhumi airport recounted his feelings after opening two large pallets at a cargo building of the airport on the night of Feb24. He found 239 pieces of elephant tusk weighing two tonnes. The contraband was valued at 120 million baht.
2010-03-08 - Sydney, Australia.
The matriarch of the zoos elephant herd, Porntip, showed on March 1 she was ready to give birth to a 100kg calf, after having been artificially inseminated about 22 months before. But by Sunday night ultrasound scans made it clear the calf had rotated inside its mothers womb and was lying upside down.
2010-03-07 - Dallas, United States.
The Dallas Zoo plans to have six elephants on display just two years after animal rights activists were calling for the shutdown of an aging exhibit with just one pachyderm. Zoo officials stirred controversy in 2008 when they said they planned to move their lone remaining elephant, Jenny, to Mexico. Activists wanted the facility shuttered and the elephant placed at a U.S. animal preserve
2010-03-06 - Dallas, United States.
Like birds in spring, elephants have been flocking to the Dallas Zoo over the past few weeks. Two female African elephants – Kamba, 30 years old and weighing 4,700 pounds, and Congo, 32, weighing 5,400 pounds – have joined the zoos two existing pachyderms, Gypsy and Jenny.
2010-03-04 - Toronto, Canada.
The Toronto Zoo should replace its live elephant habitat with an interactive display that has everything to satisfy a visitors curiosity about elephants - except the elephants themselves, according to zoo board member Glenn De Baeremaeker.
2010-03-04 - Melbourne , Australia.
This is a key position for the continuing development and evolution of Zoos Victoria’s elephant program with the target of providing best practice animal care in a holistic environment. Candidates will require a minimum of five years of direct contact (free contact) elephant experience. Candidates will also require a high level of competency in handling elephants, and an understanding of traditional and progressive training techniques.
2010-03-04 - Orlando, United States.
One of the oldest Asian elephants on record has died. Mary, a 63-year-old elephant, died this week at the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens in Orlando, zoo officials said. Shonna Green, spokeswoman for the zoo, said Mary died late Tuesday of an age-related illness. She was 63 -- which is rather old for an elephant -- but no one dies of old age, so there has to be some kind of complication, Green said. A necropsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
2010-03-03 - Orlando, United States.
Maintain the care, well-being, management, behavioral conditioning and enrichment of the elephant collection. Ensure the daily routines of cleaning, animal observation, diet preparation and reporting medical needs and abnormal conditions to zoological managers. The keeper is also responsible for maintaining daily records, collecting and logging information and insuring this information is communicated to management and the central record keeping system of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
2010-03-03 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A young tusker was killed by poachers in Kulunda forest of Orissa’s Angul district, a forest official said Wednesday. The wild elephant received bullets below its ears and on its head. Villagers reported the incident to forest officials, who tried to locate the elephant. But the animal succumbed to its injuries and its dead body was recovered deep in the forest about 200 km from here. “We tried to trace the elephant all through the day. But we could not find it. Before we could treat it, it ...
2010-03-02 - Belgaum, India.
Chikkodi police on Sunday arrested eight persons for "allegedly" smuggling ivory and recovered two pieces of 3-foot-long ivories worth Rs 60 lakh from them. The accused have been identified as Arif Sangolli, Peeraji Raut, Saleem Pathan, Sadanand Masekar (all from Belgaum), Wilson Soza, Govind Sutar, Mahadev Ghatage and Yashwant Tanbolke (all from Khanapur).
2010-03-02 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.
A she elephant accompanied by her calf had been shot dead at Nellikulama in Anuradhapura, Wildlife officials said. Veterinary Surgeon of the Wild Life Department, W.A. Dharmakeerthi who conducted the post mortem examination the day before yesterday said the elephant had died on the spot, following gun shots.
2010-03-02 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant hired for a Hindu wedding in India caused over £200,000 in damage after trying to reach an in-heat female. The turned-on mammal crushed 20 limos trying to get to the female in a nearby sugar cane field in the Indian capital New Delhi. He then mounted and attempted to mate with a truck, and smashed through a shopping mall in a 15-hour rampage, reports the Metro.
2010-03-02 - Guwahati, India.
The female elephant was one of two knocked down by a train. The other elephant which was pregnant was seriously injured. It gave birth after the accident. The baby was rescued by forest guards and sent to the Guwahati Zoo for treatment.
2010-03-02 - Miami, United States.
2010-03-01 - Casper, United States.
After resting for 11,600 years underground, Dee the mammoth has a home at the Tate Geological Museum at Casper College. More than 180 bones were unearthed from the Allemand Ranch about 25 miles north of Glenrock, cleaned and sent to South Dakota to be mounted. The skeleton returned to Casper over the weekend, and carpenters and staff members on Monday assembled the pieces on a large platform at the front of the museum.
2010-03-01 - chicago, United States.
Lyuba, the baby wooly mammoth that goes on display this week at the Field Museum, was preserved almost perfectly intact right down to her baby fat for 42,000 years in frigid Siberian river muck. Now released from her icy grave, she is being preserved in much the same manner as another famous Russian relic, the body of Communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. It is a process called desiccation, removing all moisture from the body tissues.
2010-03-01 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
All the happiness of this world lies on his back - the elephant! At least in northern Thailand, where more and more tourists on holiday to live with pachyderms, riding under the expert guidance through the jungle, while exploring the nature and the lives of mountain peoples. Ironically a former keeper of the Berlin Friedrichsfelde Zoo in Thailand is now one of the most respected leaders and elephant trainer. The animals also need urgent assistance. Because the number of elephants in Asia is gett...
2010-02-28 - Guwahati, India.
A goods train knocked down a herd of five elephants crossing the track on the outskirts of the city, killing two of them and injuring three others, including a calf, today. Assam state zoo director Narayan Mahanta said the herd was crossing the track along the Deepor beel to drink water when they were hit by the train around 12.15 pm. Last year, one elephant had died at the same area.
2010-02-27 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium announced on Friday that elephants Bette and Kallie will not be bred at the International Conservation Center in Fairhope. The decision was made in consultation with the Philadelphia Zoo and international experts. Bette and Kallie, female African elephants, moved from the Philadelphia Zoo to the Pittsburgh Zoo’s ICC last July and several months later were evaluated as possible candidates for breeding.
2010-02-27 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
A young male Bornean elephant was recently relocated from the Sabah east coast to the Lok Kawi Wildlife Centre to prevent conflicts with human population that has encroached on the habitat of Sabah’s remaining 1,500 elephants, the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) said. The SWD said although Sabah retains about 49 per cent of its permanent forest cover and is the second biggest state in Malaysia, a lack of habitat for its unique wildlife is leading to more human elephant conflicts.
2010-02-26 - Koh Lanta, Thailand.
A new female baby elephant was born on February 17th at a safari at Klong Jak village of Lanta Yai island. The baby drew vast attention from residents and tourists alike. The owner, 26 year- old Pimonrat Insamran, said the new baby was born from a 30 year- old mother which had been relocated from Samui Island just two months ago. The baby is, however, 1 month premature, but the vet has confirmed that she is normal and healthy. Pimonrat told reporters that she usually works with the elephant on t...
2010-02-26 - Ootacamund, India.
Tension is simmering over a proposed elephant corridor in the Ooty foothills. While conservationists say this is essential to restore the man-nature balance, farmers and property owners are questioning the state government's decision to acquire 7,000 acres of fertile land for it.
2010-02-26 - Meerut, India.
An elephant wreaked havoc on the streets of Uttar Pradesh's Meerut city after being abandoned by his keeper. Named 'Happy', the elephant became unhappy when abandoned and ran amok for the next 18 hours along the city's main highway, trampling vehicles and neighbouring farmland.
2010-02-25 - Guruvayur, India.
A 72-year-old elephant of the Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple here died at the jumbo park in the temple town today. Ramachandran had been keeping indifferent health for the last few years, a temple official said. A favourite of elephant lovers, Ramachandran was donated to the temple by the royal house of Zamorins of Malabar in 1942. He was retired from temple duties 10 years ago, in-charge of the elephant park Kunnathur Kotta said.
2010-02-25 - Dudhwa, India.
One person was killed and several injured when a herd of elephants which had apparently strayed in from Nepal went on a rampage in a village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, officials said Thursday. At least eight people were reported to be severely injured and crops worth thousands of rupees were damaged over the past two days, with the pachyderms trampling everything and anything that came in their path in the vicinity of the Katarniya Ghat Tiger Reserve, that falls under the extended pa...
2010-02-25 - Melbourne, Australia.
With her playful poise she's inspired a lot of oohs and ahhs and now, a bit of humming too. Melbourne Zoo's baby elephant has been blessed by Buddhist monks after Victorians voted to name her "Mali", the Thai word for the jasmine flower. Arriving at the zoo on Thursday in orange robes, the monks from three Buddhist temples began a rumbling hum as they chanted before Mali and her mum Dokkoon.
2010-02-25 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Wildlife authorities here are imparting special patrolling training to rescued elephant calves at the Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri District. Buddhadeb Mondal, a forest ranger at the sanctuary, said six calves, ranging from three to four days to a year, are being trained.
2010-02-25 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand has seized two tons of elephant tusks from Africa hidden in pallets labeled as mobile phone parts in the country's largest ivory seizure. Thai Customs officials valued Wednesday night's haul at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport at 120 million baht ($3.6 million). It is further sign that Thailand is emerging as a hub for the illicit trade.
2010-02-23 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand is trying to persuade a UN wildlife trade watchdog to remove it from the blacklist of countries involved in the illegal ivory trade. The director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Jatuporn Burutpat, yesterday said Thailand was preparing a report to submit to a meeting of the Conference of the Parties to Cites in Qatar's Doha from March 13 to 25.
2010-02-18 - Emmen, Netherlands.
The elephant attendants of animal park Emmen found gisterochtend elephant Swe San Thay inanimately in the stable. Nor to the body of the elephant, nor to camera pictures, which are at night made in the stable, is see something what can an indication for the cause of death be. The elephant has been transmitted for section to the department animal medicine of the university of Utrecht. Swe San Thay (Burmese for golden abundance) were one of the seven Asian elephants, which came in 1988, from Burma...
2010-02-16 - Melbourne, Australia.
The Thai names for five floral emblems have been short-listed and people can vote online to select the winner. The female baby elephant is one month old today and Premier John Brumby says Victorians have warmed to the calf. "There is nothing quite like a baby elephant and they're up and running about from the first day," he said. "She's unbelievably playful. She's just running around with her mum, running around with her aunty out there, she's always mucking around their legs." Thailand's Honora...
2010-02-16 - San Diego, California, United States. Tony Barboza
The San Diego Zoo ushered in Valentine’s Day with a bundle of joy that’s not so little. A male African elephant was born about 2 a.m. Sunday at the zoo’s Wild Animal Park. He and his mother Ndlula are reportedly doing well. Visitors camping overnight at the zoo could hear the herd trumpeting in the early morning -- a common behavior when a calf is born, according to the Associated Press. The elephant, which hasn’t been given a name yet, is the sixth calf born to a herd that was brought t...
2010-02-15 - California, United States.
ROBERT PATTINSON experienced the "best day" of his life on the set of his new movie when an elephant picked him up in its mouth and turned him upside down. The animal-loving Twilight actor is currently shooting circus movie Water for Elephants in California with Hollywood beauty Reese Witherspoon, but it was another female co-star who caught Pattinson's attention after a close encounter. He tells Details magazine, "So this big female started sniffing my foot - big female elephant, that is. "She ...
2010-02-15 - Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Erich Spivey
Dirty Jobs, Jacksonville style, rolled up our sleeves to see how dirty it is behind the scenes at the elephant exhibit at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. We started at the rear, one of the biggest in town, then watched as a team of four trainers gave Moki a routine enema. The contour of Moki's intestines are out of line, so to avoid getting backed up, an enema is routine. Her trainers tie down her feet for safety; they said she obeys commands better than many other animals. The trainer reache...
2010-02-15 - White Plains, New York, United States. Aman Ali
Baby elephant Val performs for the crowd during the Royal Hanneford Circus performance at the Westchester County Center in White Plains Feb. 14, 2010.
2010-02-13 - Toledo, Ohio, United States. Jennifer Feehan
It didn't take long for the Toledo Zoo's newest addition to make herself at home. Twiggy, a 25-year-old African elephant, arrived at the zoo late Thursday after being confiscated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from a private circus owner near Peru, Ind. Now, she's getting comfortable in the just-completed "bachelor pad" that the zoo created for 6-year-old Louie. "Louie's facility has a stall with a concrete floor to bathe him and a huge stall with a sand floor," said Anne Baker, the zoo's...
2010-02-12 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Jody Gill
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium staff, in consultation with the Philadelphia Zoo and international experts, has determined that elephants Bette and Kallie will not be bred at their new home at the International Conservation Center (ICC) in Fairhope, Pennsylvania. The two female African elephants moved from the Philadelphia Zoo to the Pittsburgh Zoo’s ICC last July and several months later were evaluated as possible candidates for breeding. “Our first and foremost concerns are the short an...
2010-02-12 - Shelbyville, Tennessee, United States.
Three of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey elephants watch calmly, nibbling on their lunch of hay, while circus workers run power lines and set upstages and props for the show at Calsonic Arena. Circus performances will be 7 p.m. today; 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. The all-access "pre-show" on the floor of Calsonic Arena one hour prior to circus time allows spectators to meet and interact with clowns and other circus performers.
2010-02-11 - Wichita, Kansas, United States. Beccy Tanner
The exhibit for the elephants at the Sedgwick County Zoo is about to get a new look — and some visitors may not like it. It's a safety issue for the aging elephants, the zoo says. Work began this week to replace the moat in the exhibit with an 8-foot-tall post and cable fence. Stephanie and Cinda, the two South African bush elephants, are close to 40 years old. Zoo officials are concerned that the elephants, who like to stretch their trunks out for treats and grass on the other side, could los...
2010-02-11 - Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States.
Thursday morning the U. S. Department of Agriculture took an African elephant from a home in Miami County, Indiana . The USDA took tigers and lions from the same residence a few days ago. The USDA claims the animals' living conditions weren't following the law, but the animals' owner, Julius von Uhl, 72, said he wasn't given proper notice of the violations. von Uhl grew up with the circus in Hungary. When he was 12, von Uhl started learning how to work with circus animals, and by age 15, he was ...
2010-02-11 - St Lucie County, Florida, United States. Eric Pfahler
The elephants might not be coming to town after all. What seemed to be a done deal has taken a step back after The National Elephant Center Board of Directors did not react favorably to demands made by St. Lucie County commissioners on the center, National Elephant Center Chair Rick Barongi said. The National Elephant Center is re-evaluating its options and could choose a different location for the $4 million, 326-acre project after county commissioners grilled the organization’s representativ...
2010-02-11 - Melbourne, Australia. Bridie Smith
THE former director of the Seattle and Werribee zoos has called for Melbourne Zoo's growing elephant herd to be relocated to the more spacious Werribee Open Range Zoo as a matter of urgency. A second elephant, Kulab, which arrived from Thailand with new mother Dokkoon in 2006, is due to give birth in August-September. The arrival of a second calf would swell the zoo's city campus herd to seven, following the birth last month of Victoria's first baby elephant. David Hancocks said that as Parkvill...
2010-02-10 - , Cambodia. Khouth Sophakchakrya
CAMBODIA is considering donating an elephant to a South Korean zoo that is short of fertile females, officials confirmed Monday. But conservationists are also alarmed at the prospect of sending a member of an already endangered species out of the country. South Korean authorities have requested that Cambodia donate fertile females between the ages of 5 and 7 for breeding purposes, said Ty Sokhun, director of forestry and wildlife with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. But Ty S...
2010-02-09 - Melbourne, Australia. Kathy Lord
The as-yet unnamed female, born on January 16, will go on display for short periods of time at first, but viewing times will be extended once she has adjusted to life in the public glare. The youngster is the first baby elephant born in the zoo's 148-year history, the first elephant in Australia conceived by artificial insemination, and only the second baby elephant ever born in Australia. But she will not be on her own for long. The zoo is expecting another baby elephant in August or September ...
2010-02-09 - Jakarta, Indonesia. Made Arya Kencana
Denpasar. After last year’s failed attempt to ship in Komodo dragons, Bali now is looking at getting elephants from Sumatra to attract more tourists. Four conservation institutions in Bali on Tuesday requested 59 elephants from Way Kambas National Park in Lampung: 10 for the Elephant Safari Park in Taro, Gianyar district; 14 for Bali Zoo Park, also in Gianyar; 15 for Kasian in Badung; and 20 for Bakas Zoo in Klungkung district. The request was made at a meeting in Sanur, Bali, on elephants and...
2010-02-09 - Melbourne, Australia. Kellie Cameron
ELEPHANTS could be packing their trunks for Wyndham, thanks to Melbourne Zoo’s elephant breeding program. Werribee Open Range Zoo director Sally Lewis said the local zoo could become a second home to elephants born at Melbourne. But with elephant pregnancies lasting 22 months, don’t expect to see them in the short term. Melbourne Zoo is Victoria’s only zoo with elephants. One of its five Asian elephants, Dokkoon, gave birth to the zoo’s first baby elephant last month, as part of a breed...
2010-02-06 - , South Korea. E Choong-hyeong, Kim Mi-ju
Korean zoos are facing a jumbo-sized problem. With cow elephants in Korean zoos long past the age of giving birth, senior diplomats are now struggling to find ways to bring young cow elephants to Korea. Because an international agreement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora prohibits governments from selling and buying elephants, the diplomats are asking elephant-rich nations such as Cambodia to donate some young cow elephants in return for econ...
2010-02-05 - Chicago, Illinois, United States. William Mullen
Home to Share. West Suburbs. Seeking single female roommate for high-spirited, inquisitive middle-age female. Must be African by birth or descent, age not important. Must be social and vegetarian. Trumpeting a plus, the louder the better. Large indoor space. Secure fenced yard, charming mudhole. All meals, clean daily bedding, electricity, heat provided free. That tempting offer might be how Joyce, a 27-year-old African elephant, might word a want ad if she were in charge of finding a companion ...
2010-02-05 - Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Officials at a zoo in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Ill., say they are seeking an elephant to serve as a companion to their African elephant, Joyce. The Chicago Tribune said Friday while animal rights groups have openly opposed keeping elephants on display, the Brookfield Zoo is attempting to add another of the large mammals to its collection. Carol Sodaro, Brookfield Zoo's associate curator of mammals, said elephants "are very social animals that live in large herds, with strong bonds and l...
2010-02-05 - Orlando, Florida, United States. Eloísa Ruano González
The first Asian elephant born as a result of artificial insemination at a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus facility has been pulled from the circus lineup after he became infected with a potentially deadly herpes virus. The 1-year-old calf, Barack, is being treated for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), a disease that has killed several Asian elephants in zoos across the continent in the past three decades. He and his mother were taken off the traveling unit two weeks ago and...
2010-02-04 - Miami, Florida, United States. Brian Hamacher
Talkabout a tooth ache! One of the Miami MetroZoo's favorite inhabitants, a 12,000-pound elephant named Dalip, had to get some tusk work done yesterday and he took it like a champ. Elephant keepers at the zoo trimmed off about 12 inches from Dalip's ivory tusks to prevent him from injuring himself by hitting them on the floor when he walks. The handlers used a water-cooled hand saw to cut through the tough teeth. Dalip, an Asian elephant, is 43 years old. Most elephants live for as long as 70 ye...
2010-02-04 - Houston, Texas, United States. Allan Turner
It's stork time at the Houston Zoo's elephant barn as the maternity countdown begins for Shanti and Tess, endangered Asian elephants whose pregnancies, officials hope, will bring success to a pachyderm breeding program thus far marked by failure. Zoo officials Thursday staged a maternity “boot camp” in which they outlined efforts to ensure live births and the survival of the calves. In 25 years of zoo breeding efforts, all 14 calves died before or relatively soon after birth. Six of the calv...
2010-01-27 - South Devon, United Kingdom. Herald Express
A SOUTH Devon vet is helping to treat a half-blind elephant. Duchess, a 39-year-old African elephant at Paignton Zoo, has gone blind in one eye and her vision in the other eye is impaired due to cataracts. She is presently having eye drops to control the cataracts but could face the possibility of having an operation to remove one if she cannot cope. Keepers had to train Duchess to co-operate before they could find out what was wrong with her. A zoo spokesman explained that when keepers began to...
2010-01-26 - Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Alec Harvey
Baby Barack, the year-old Asian elephant making his debut in the current tour of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, will not appear during the circus stop in Birmingham this week, a publicist for the show says. After appearing in Orlando and Jacksonville, the first two stops of the new tour, Baby Barack returned with his mother, Bonnie, to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation, a 200-acre facility run in Polk County, Fla. "The Ringling Bros. veterina...
2010-01-26 - , United States.
When money trouble led collector Jerry Snapp to put his prized possession up for sale, he had no idea what lay ahead. Jerry Snapp loved Tiffany, and it broke his heart that he had to sell her. Close to 200 pounds, almost 4 feet tall, a foot and a half wide, she was his most beautiful skull. He picked her up in the spring of '97. He heard about her from a friend and wanted to know where she came from. "The L.A. Zoo," his friend said.
2010-01-26 - Fenton, Michigan, United States. Sally Rummel
To have a memory like an elephant means that you remember everything. Just ask Brett Carden, 28, owner/elephant trainer for the Shrine Circus/Central States, and he’ll tell you that this saying is definitely true. “Elephants never forget what you’ve taught them,” said Carden, who travels the circus circuit throughout Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. Their most recent performance was in Flint, where they finished a four-day run a...
2010-01-25 - Muarojambi, Indonesia. The Jarkarta Post
A tamed elephant has escaped from a circus arena in Kumpeh Kasang village in the Jambi regency of Muarojambi, injuring a 10-year-old girl, Antara state news agency reported on Monday. Spokesman for the Jambi police Adj. Sr. Comr. Alhansyah said the elephant stepped on Maya, breaking the young spectator's left leg. Another spectator was sustained slight injurires after he fell to the ground during the commotion, Alhansyah added. The two victims were admitted to Raden Mataher Hospital in Jambi cit...
2010-01-25 - Kwalata Game Ranch, South Africa.
The International Elephant Foundation and the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa are pleased to announce that the International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium will be held from 25 - 29 January 2010 at Kwalata Game Ranch in South Africa. This important symposium will concentrate on the research and conservation needs of captive and wild populations of elephants. We invite researchers from around the world to present conservation projects and research results on human-elepha...
2010-01-20 - St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
The St. Louis Zoo is expecting a 300-pound bundle of joy next summer. Asian elephant Rani is almost five months into her 22-month pregnancy. Raja, the first elephant ever born at the St. Louis Zoo, is the father. Rani is eating her regular diet of grain and hay and has stepped up her exercise routine, said Martha Fischer, the zoo’s mammal curator. She will gain some 500 pounds during her pregnancy. "She’s climbing up on these stumps to strengthen her abdominal muscles. It’s sort of like a...
2010-01-20 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. KSPR News
Here's the release from the zoo: Dickerson Park Zoo’s veterinarian and zookeeper staff have initiated an aggressive course of treatment to proactively help one of the elephants overcome a mycobacterial infection. The elephant, Ol’ C.C., is the zoo’s eldest elephant and the fifth oldest elephant living in AZA-accredited zoos. C.C. is among the 15 oldest living elephants listed in the Asian elephant studbook for North America. As a routine part of caring for the zoo’s elephants, the zoo’...
2010-01-17 - East Lansing, United States. Leanne Smith
If Sandra Losey Gifford closes her eyes, she can almost see giant prehistoric elephant-like animals grazing on her family's Tompkins Township farm. It isn't a far stretch. Fifty-five years ago — Jan. 6, 1955, to be exact — the farm, owned then by her grandparents, Vern and Avis Losey, and parents, Hugh and Harriett Losey, became a hot spot when the bones of a 12,000-year-old woolly mammoth were unearthed in a pond she often swam in on warmer days. "I came home from school, and there were peo...
2010-01-17 - Phuket, Thailand. Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison
AN AUSTRALIAN tourist is dead and eight other Australians have been injured after a tour jeep ran off the Big Buddha road in southern Phuket today and toppled down a steep embankment. The vehicle came to rest after crashing into an adventure park and injuring a young elephant, tethered to a stake. The dead Australian, married in Sydney a week ago, was honeymooning on Phuket. His wife is among those in hospital, and she is now in a satisfactory condition.
2010-01-16 - Melbourne, Australia.
Female Asian Elephant Born at 1:10am The first baby elephant in Melbourne Zoo's 147-year history was born early today to the delight of tired but ecstatic Zoo staff. After weeks of round the clock monitoring, and enormous anticipation, Asian Elephant Dokkoon became the first elephant in Australia to give birth to a female calf and also to deliver a baby conceived by artificial insemination.
2010-01-15 - New Delhi, India. Archana Jyoti
It's a new year gift to nearly 1,000 elephants and other wild species who can now wander freely without any human interference through the Kollegal corridor in Karnataka. This has been made possible by an NGO, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) supported by its partner ? the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) which has purchased nearly 25 acre-Kollegal (Edayarhalli?Doddasampige) elephant corridor from private ownership and transferred to the state government.
2010-01-15 - Zakouma, Chad. Sean McLachlan
Central Africa is one of the last regions with a sizable population of African elephant, but their numbers are only a fraction of what they used to be. In Zakouma National Park in Chad there are an estimated 600 elephants. Twenty years ago there were 40,000. Zakouma takes up 3,000 square kilometers of savanna in southern Chad and has populations of elephants, giraffes, lions, cranes, and other animals. It's the number one tourist destination in the country and the government is trying to preserv...
2010-01-14 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Chester city centre will be welcoming a heavyweight new arrival come the New Year. Taking centre stage at a proposed site near Barclays Bank will be a bronze elephant calf, donated to the city by Chester Zoo. The 1m tall elephant elephant – created by Hampshire-based sculptress Annette Yarrow – mirrors the bronze elephant calf that resides near the main entrance of the 110-acre zoo. The female calf was gifted by the zoo to the city to demonstrate the links between the award-winning attractio...
2010-01-14 - Montpelier, Vermont, United States.
In a year dominated by a mammoth state budget crisis, statehouse lawmakers have found plenty of other causes to sponsor. "You know the old saying, 'Every bill is important to somebody or it wouldn't have been introduced,'" Gov. Jim Douglas said Thursday. The new proposals now pending cover everything from allowing Mom and Pop stores to sell hard liquor -- to requiring "chain restaurants" to publish nutritional information on menus. One would up the penalty for "super speeders" while another woul...
2010-01-14 - NDjamena, Chad.
Concerned about the increase of poaching in Chad and the loss of some of Africa’s Great elephant herds, President Idriss Déby is personally involved in the fight against poachers.
2010-01-14 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom. SOPHIE SCOTT
A zoo keeper who was crushed by a three tonne adult elephant escaped with arm injuries. He was walking Asian elephant Azizah, aged 25, at Whipsnade Zoo when he was pushed up against a tree by her head on New Year’s Eve. The keeper was transferred to Luton and Dunstable Hospital with bruising to his arm while Azizah, was put into a ‘managed protected area’ where she was looked at.
2010-01-14 - Nanyuki, Kenya.
Amman and Peterson offer a revelatory collection of photos and text on elephants. Ammann's photographs capture an astonishing range of elephant behavior, but Peterson's text—with its scope, synthesis of history and observation, précis of the ivory trade and conservationis what distinguishes this book. He spins the history of elephant research into mini-mysteries of how scientists struggled to understand elephants' secretive behaviors.
2010-01-14 - Raipur, India.
At least 29 people were trampled to death by elephants last year in Chhattisgarh, one of the worst states hit by man-elephant conflict, the state assembly was told Thursday. Forest Minister Vikram Usendi told the house that the government was trying to find a permanent solution to the decades-old man-elephant conflict and is willing to set up “elephant villages” in state’s northern region, comprising Surguja, Jashpur, Koria, Korba and Raigarh districts.
2010-01-14 - Tucson, United States.
It's close to 14 feet tall and almost 20,000 years old. And this prehistoric beast is for sale. GeoDecor, an Arizona company specializing in fossils, minerals and meteorites for interior design and research, is unveiling the ice age giant to southern Arizonans as part of an exhibit. The skeleton was originally found in eastern Siberia. This is a monster. This is one of the largest... maybe one of the top three mammoths ever found, GeoDecor President Tom Lindgren said.
2010-01-14 - Thrissur, India.
The mahouts of three elephants were injured in three separate incidents in Kottayam and Thrissur districts on Saturday and Sunday. Gopi of Chorimanthiyil House in Idukki - mahout of tusker Venattumattom Kithappilly Rajan - was seriously injured when the elephant attacked him after it ran amok at Mundakkayam on Sunday. The tusker which is being used for transporting timber has a history of masth, alleged the Elephant Lovers Association. Gopi is undergoing treatment at Kottayam Medical College.
2010-01-14 - Vienna, Austria.
Elephants at Vienna's city zoo got a rare treat Monday: a Christmas tree. The 65-foot-tall spruce Christmas tree in front of Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace was given to the zoo animals. The tree was taken down that morning and will be used as feed and toys for the elephants. This isn't the only creative way the Austrians are recycling their Christmas trees. Last week, Vienna city officials announced that the 88-foot-tall Christmas tree on the square in front of Vienna's city hall would be made into...
2010-01-14 - Nairobi, Kenya. Jason Straziuso
38-year-old Sharon Brown and her 1-year-old daughter were killed by an elephant on a nature hike in the Mount Kenya National Park. Sharon Brown was hiking with family and her 1-year-old daughter in a Kenyan nature reserve when suddenly their unarmed guide froze in his tracks. Around a corner was an elephant.
2010-01-14 - Winston, United States.
About once a month, elephants Tiki, Alice and George get a special visit from 10-year-old Wylie Malek (pictured). "Wylie was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 3," said his father, Kris Malek. When he started school about kindergarten they kind of moved it up to a high functioning autism. For some children with autism, animal interaction improves their social skills and decreases anxiety. That can mean dogs, cats, rabbits or elephants? At Wildlife Safari, Wylie has bonded with animals 312 times...
2010-01-13 - Chitwan, Nepal.
The eldest elephant in Nepal has died on Wednesday.The female elephant, named Tribhuvankali, was believed to be around 80 years of age. It had been brought to the Koshi Tappu Wild Life Reserve from India in 1952. Reserve officials say the female elephant died due to natural causes. The elephant was sick from the past few days and had suddenly fallen down while grazing today morning. Doctors at the reserve declared it dead shortly after.
2010-01-12 - Chicago, Illinois, United States. Bob Uphues
When Christy, a 29-year-old African elephant, died at Brookfield Zoo on Dec. 22, 2009 it left the zoo without an elephant of its own for the first time in its 75 year history. And with its only remaining elephant on loan from a California zoo - brought to Brookfield specifically to provide companionship for Christy - it's possible Brookfield Zoo could be without one of its signature animals for a time. Joyce, a 26-year-old African elephant on loan from Six Flag Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Cali...
2010-01-12 - Harrisburg, United States.
State Rep. John Siptroth reminds residents that a mastodon skeleton that was excavated in Marshall’s Creek will be the centerpiece of an exhibit at the State Museum from Jan. 24 to May 2 called Tusks! Ice Age Mammoths and Mastodons. The mastodon died about 12,000 years ago in a marshy area, according to museum officials. The site of the discovery was Leap’s Bog on the border of Smithfield and Middle Smithfield townships across Route 209 from the Pocono Bazaar. The bones, which are not fossil...
2010-01-08 - , United States.
Should the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals be hanging around school yards? How would you like to pick your kid up from school and find an elephant? Not a real elephant, rather a representative from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in an elephant suit. A cute costume, except this pachyderm is sporting a bloody ear. It's all part of PETA's campaign against cruelty to circus animals. Yesterday, students at a Florida elementary school were met at the gates by "Ellie the Elepha...
2010-01-08 - Vienna, Virginia, United States.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® sadly announces the passing of Josky, a beloved female Asian elephant, at its Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation® in central Florida. Ringling Bros.® veterinary staff determined euthanasia was appropriate due to the elephant’s declining health and a necropsy was performed. As part of Ringling Bros. own reporting protocol, the USDA was contacted. During the mid 1970’s Josky made her debut at Circus World in Florida and became a featured perf...
2010-01-05 - Lake Buena Vista, United States.
Led by Disney’s Animal Programs, an international coalition of veterinarians from conservation groups, zoos, universities and private industry have returned from Africa after effectively sterilizing seven bull elephants in Swaziland’s Big Game Parks. As a result of this effort, Swaziland wildlife officials will be able to better manage the elephant population in wildlife parks and reserves over the next decade.
2010-01-02 - Guwahati, India.
Four wild Asiatic elephants, including two calves, were mowed down by a speeding goods train Saturday in Assam, officials said. A railway spokesperson said the incident occurred near Walingdisa railway station in Karbi Anglong district, about 270 km east of Assam’s main city Guwahati. The train was transporting petroleum products.
2010-01-02 - Oklahoma City, United States. CARRIE COPPERNOLL
Construction of the new elephant habitat at the Oklahoma City Zoo is on time and on budget, making way for the first elephant birth at the zoo. Asha, one of the zoo’s two female elephants, successfully bred with male Sneezy at the Tulsa Zoo this summer. She and her sister, Chandra, won’t return to Oklahoma City until their new home is finished.
2010-01-01 - Tirupati, India.
An elephant ran amok at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara near here today, creating panic for a while. The six-year old temple elephant Avanija panicked after a stray dog came close to her, temple sources said. Devotees, who had thronged the temple on New Year's Day, ran helter-skelter. In the melee, two persons received minor injuries, the sources said, adding they were treated as out-patients at a local hospital.
2009-12-31 - Washington, United States.
A federal judge Wednesday ruled in favor of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum&Bailey Circus in a case brought by animal rights activists who accused the circus of abusing elephants. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan said former Ringling employee Tom Rider and the Animal Protection Institute did not have legal standing to sue the circus, owned by Feld Entertainment Inc. Rider and the animal protection group brought the lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act.
2009-12-27 - Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States.
The long-awaited mating of elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo conservation center in Somerset County now has a timetable: Officials want them to hook up next summer. And they plan to open an elephant sperm bank at the International Conservation Center to aid in breeding, zoo officials said. Barbara Baker, the zoo’s chief executive officer, traveled to Africa with a team to collect semen from bull elephants. She was in town recently to discuss plans for the conservation center in Fairhope. “We ...
2009-12-27 - Bangalore, India.
The recent poaching of two elephants in the Bannerghatta National Park has prompted the Forest Department to set up two anti-poaching camps in the national park near the inter-State border with Tamil Nadu. This is the first time that the anti-poaching camps are coming up in the area. Two tuskers were found shot dead in the Harohalli range of the Bannerghatta National Park near the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border on Saturday. While the tusks of one elephant were removed, those of the other were intac...
2009-12-27 - Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve, South Africa. Louise O’Keeffe
TWO Toowoomba boys have made headlines in South Africa after the elephant they were riding on went on a rampage last Friday. “They then fell off right at the elephant’s feet where it was mauling the ranger with its tusk. They boys were very lucky, but they are quite traumatised by the even. The boy’s father Mick Meintjes spoke to The Chronicle after the story was published in the South African paper Daily Dispatch. The family were from East London in South Africa and moved to Toowoomba thr...
2009-12-27 - St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
Raja turns a whopping 17. The Zoo's bull Asian Elephant will receive special presents at 11 a.m. on his birthday, Sunday, December 27 in River's Edge at the Saint Louis Zoo, weather permitting. Visitors are invited to sing "Happy Birthday" and cheer for Raja who turns 17 this year. Raja, the first Asian elephant born at the Zoo, is the proud papa of babies Maliha, age 3, and Jade, age 2 . Zookeepers and volunteers have constructed giant presents for the party, filled with some of the elephant's ...
2009-12-25 - Greenbrier, United States. Dena Potter
As you walk through the field beside them, it's difficult to tell if that rumble is the sound of their mighty footsteps or your heart thumping in your chest. Then just before you sink into the forest, one of the elephants throws her trunk into the air and trumpets, and you're certain what you're witnessing is nothing short of magical. You're not on an African safari. You're in Arkansas, in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, at a sanctuary for unwanted elephants. And this may be the closest yo...
2009-12-24 - Munich, Germany.
This baby elephant has been reunited with her mum after keepers rescued her from being trampled. Baby elephant Jamuno Toni - who already tips the scales at 17 stones - was in danger of being squashed to death by her three-tonne mum. Keepers were forced to separate the pair after the birth in Hellabrunn Zoo, Munich, Germany, while Jamuno took her first steps and learned how to dodge her mum Panang's massive bulk. Zoo boss Andreas Knieriem said: "New mothers can be clumsy so we needed to make sure...
2009-12-23 - Munich, Germany.
It'll be a merry Christmas indeed at Munich, Germany's Hellabrunn Zoo: After a two-year gestation period, Asian elephant Panang gave birth to a healthy female calf Monday. The calf, named Jamuna Toni, weighed nearly 250 pounds at birth. For obvious (read: adorable) reasons, Jamuna Toni has quickly become a favorite among staff at the zoo -- she's shown here with keeper Robert Ostermeier, who didn't even get mad when her wandering trunk found its way to a place that, frankly, it didn't belong. (H...
2009-12-23 - Brookfield, United States.
An elephant died Tuesday at the Brookfield Zoo, making it the second elephant the zoo has lost in the last seven months. Christy, 29, was euthanized as a result of kidney failure, according to a zoo press release. Necropsy findings concluded Christy had a structurally abnormal right kidney, roughly one-tenth the size of a normal kidney, the zoo stated. In 2007, Christy was diagnosed with the enlarged ureter — one of the tubes that carriers urine from the kidneys to the bladder.
2009-12-22 - Pune, India. Vivek Sabnis
Circus may soon phase out elephants after an order from Central Zoo Authority. The popular Rambo circus will probably not have its most famous elephant trick this season. And this is because the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is contemplating to move all elephants from the zoo and circuses to wildlife parks and sanctuaries.
2009-12-18 - Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Jennifer Brooks
When Kiba the elephant died, the rest of her herd mourned — human and elephant alike. The Nashville Zoo was forced to euthanize the 26-year-old African elephant on Thursday. Kiba suffered from a degenerative joint injury that was crippling her with pain. Afterward, her human caretakers said their goodbyes, then opened the doors to the rest of her herd, 25-year-old Sukari and 27-year-old Hadari. "It was pretty beautiful," said Connie Philipp, the zoo's director of animal collections, reduced to...
2009-12-17 - Kochi, India. theanand
2009-12-16 - Hanoi , Vietnam.
Vietnam plans to build an elephant hospital as part of a new reservation for the animals in the country's central highlands, a government official said Wednesday. Y Rit Buon Ya, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the province of Dak Lak, said the project would be developed between 2010-14.
2009-12-16 - Riau, Indonesia.
Herds of Sumatran elephants have been closing in on villages in Riau following flooding in their natural habitat. Many of them enter residential areas and destroy palm and rice fields, Syahimin, a top official at the local Natural Resources Conservation Center, told Antara state news agency in Pekanbaru on Wednesday.
2009-12-16 - Franklin, New Zealand.
Franklin District Council has officially welcomed a jumbo-sized citizen to the district. Jumbo the elephant was 'sworn in' as a Franklin citizen by Franklin District Mayor Mark Ball at a special citizenship ceremony today at her new home at Franklin Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary. Jumbo (also known as Mila) has recently been gifted to Franklin Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary on her retirement from the circus. The sanctuary provides a home and rehabilitation for at-risk exotic and native species.
2009-12-16 - Tampa, United States. SARAH HOYE
For 140 years, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has let kids be kids and adults be kids, too. Also making his debut today was Barack, a baby Asian elephant born Jan. 19. To mark the 200th birthday of circus entertainer extraordinaire P.T. Barnum, organizers promise the making of their biggest, over-the-top show to date when it roars into town Jan. 6 with Barnum's FUNundrum, a celebration inspired by the greatest showman who ever lived.
2009-12-16 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. Cong Hoan – Translated by Kim Khanh
A tourism and culture week themed “Legend of the Central Highlands Elephant” will be held in Buon Ma Thuot City in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak from December 16-20. Activities will also be held in the city’s districts of Krong and Buon Don (Don Village).
2009-12-15 - Edmonton, Canada. Elise Stolte
Woolly mammoths and ancient horses disappeared from North America thousands of years later than originally thought, casting doubt on common theories of a sudden mass extinction, says a researcher from the University of Alberta. Duane Froese and a team of international researchers have been studying the dramatic changes in climate conditions at the end of the Pleistocene era about 13,000 years ago using evidence gathered at a dig on the Yukon River in northern Alaska.
2009-12-14 - New Delhi, India.
The government has not taken any decision to free all captive elephants to wild, the Rajya Sabha was told today. However, a decision to rehabilitate captive elephants only from zoos to the wild has been taken, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena, who is currently holding the charge of Environment Ministry, said in a written reply.
2009-12-13 - Shanghai, China.
CHINA and Laos have signed an agreement to jointly build a cross-border nature reserve to better protect Asian elephants and other rare animals, an official said yesterday. Tang Zhongming, deputy director of the state-level Xishuangbanna Natural Reserve Administration, said the reserve covers 31,300 hectares of forests in China and another 23,400 hectares in Laos.
2009-12-13 - Siliguri, India.
A herd of 20 wild elephants damaged a tea garden in the Dooars region here on Saturday. The jumbos were first sighted by tealeaf pluckers on Saturday morning. The elephants came in from the nearby forest. They were roaming around in the tea garden and also uprooted plants. They were chased from the other side as they came in here, said Niranjan Roy, a resident.
2009-12-13 - Minakuchi, Japan.
Almost complete skeleton of Stegodon aurorae (Taga specimen) was found in Taga town, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. On the basis of the skeletal restration of the specimen, this paper presents morphological features of Stegodon aurorae. The restored skeleton is 193cm in shoulder height; 458cm in body length. The dorsal convex curvature in anterior thoracic vertebrae is rather strong, while straightened in posterior thoracic and lumber vertebrae
2009-12-13 - Phrae, Thailand. Subin Kheunkaew
When elephant meat becomes available at a small village in Phrae province, fanciers of the rare meal are quick to buy up the treat. ''On a day that elephant meat is available in the village, it is eagerly snapped up and sells out in no time,'' said Uncle Pao, 73, from Wiang Thong village in Sung Men district where elephant meat costs 100 baht a kilogramme. Nobody wants to buy other kinds of meat.
2009-12-10 - Cape Town, South Africa.
The public has just over two weeks in which to submit comments on how captive elephants should be treated. This follows the publication late last month of the department of environmental affair's Draft Minimum Standards For the Management Of Captive Elephants, issued in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act.
2009-12-10 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
Asian elephant Jade at the St. Louis Zoo has experienced a recurrence of the potentially deadly virus that struck last February. Her symptoms have subsided already, but Jade continues to receive intravenous antiviral medication and 24-hour care. The rest of the zoo's herd remains healthy. "We're in foreign territory," said mammal curator Martha Fischer. "We didn't expect a relapse because none of the other survivors (of this virus) have had notable relapses.
2009-12-10 - Edmonton, Canada.
Lucy the Elephant has dropped 400 pounds after just one month of being placed on a new fitness regime. Valley Zoo officials said her weight loss is equivalent to the size of an adult black bear. But she isn't done yet. Zookeepers are hoping Lucy can shed a 1,000 pounds overall to help improve her health and ease her symptoms of arthritis. The zoo is also adding more sand and rubber mats to make it easier for the elephant to walk around the sanctuary.
2009-12-10 - Si Satchanalai, Thailand. KATHERINE CONNOR
I sold my house and used some of the money to buy a round-the-world ticket. At first all went to plan. It was a dream holiday, and by the time I arrived in Thailand, I was in good spirits. Then one day I decided to join some other tourists I'd met on a visit to an elephant conservation centre in northern Thailand. Within a month of our sanctuary opening we had four elephants, Sumai, Pang Tong and two others who had been abused by their owners which we had managed to buy.
2009-12-09 - San Diego, United States.
See film when San Diego Zoo veterinarians, assisted by more than 30 staff members, surgically removed malfunctioning portions of Jewel's teeth. The procedure should result in weight gain and better health for the ailing elephant who was confiscated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture this summer.
2009-12-09 - Mumbai, India. Lata Mishra and Mitali Parekh
After years of campaigning by animal rights organisations, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) passed an order last month making it mandatory for circuses and zoos across the country to free their elephants and relocate them in sanctuaries, camps and reserves. However, authorities at the Byculla zoo - which received a notice to this effect last week - are worried the shift will be too traumatic for their two elephants.
2009-12-08 - Bardia National Park, Nepal.
This is the World Elephant Polo Championships, hosted in Nepal. A pitch of jumbo proportions was set up at the Bardia National Park. Teams from all over the globe came to take part in this special tournament including Scotland, the United Arab Emirates and Austria. After a week of competition, host nation Nepal claimed the first prize against Thailand.
2009-12-07 - Dhanusha, Nepal.
Four including three of a family died in elephant attack in Chisapani, the northern region of Dhanusha on Monday. The elephant, that is believed to have entered Dhanusha from Sindhuli, has killed Bir Bahadur Bhujel, 60, his wife Kanchhi Maya, 45, their seven-year old granddaughter Gauri and Urmila Devi Mahato, 45, of Godar village.
2009-12-07 - Surin, Thailand.
On November 19th, 2009, the night before the start of the annual Surin Elephant Round-up (20-22), Award-winning environmentalist Sangduen (Lek) Chailert and Surin Project Manager Jeff Smith met with Wichian Chawalit, the appointed governor of Surin, and Thongchai Mungcharoenporn, the Chief Executive of the Surin Provincial Administration Organization, to discuss their plans to bring elephants back to Surin.
2009-12-07 - Tulsa, United States. SARA PLUMMER
The plan to breed Tulsa Zoo's male elephant Sneezy with the two female elephants from the Oklahoma City Zoo is proving fruitful. Asha, the 14-year-old female, is in the first trimester of pregnancy, which for elephants is about seven months along, said Assistant Curator Mike Connolly. Elephant pregnancies last for about 22 months, and Asha is due in the spring of 2011. "It's early in her pregnancy," Connolly said. "It should be a healthy pregnancy. She's young and she's in good shape."
2009-12-07 - Nairobi, Kenya. WOLFGANG H. THOME
Information received indicates that in recent weeks over one and a half tons of ivory has been confiscated and recovered from poachers, smugglers and individuals found with it, across Eastern Africa in a concerted effort of the respective wildlife authorities, police and other security organs and customs.
2009-12-07 - Raipur, India.
About a dozen cops on duty at a police station in Chhattisgarh ran for cover when they found a herd of wild jumbos roaming in the complex, authorities said Monday. We are always prepared for any Maoist attack but we never thought of facing jumbos. We ran for cover when eight wild elephants entered the police station premises late Saturday, Assistant sub-inspector Krishna Singh told IANS.
2009-12-07 - Kendrapada, India.
The sighting of elephants in human habitats is not a new phenomenon, especially to people living in villages bordering the forests. But the problem comes when these tuskers descend in herds, rampaging through farmlands and destroying crops, thereby robbing the only sustenance of the peasants in these villages.
2009-12-07 - Kendujhar, India.
It was no isolated incident, when an elephant attacked Pipilia village in Ghatagaon and killed a 30-year old youth on Friday. Kandarpa Mohanta, a small trader and resident of nearby Toranipokhari village, came face to face with an elephant while going to the market on his cycle. It was the fifth incident in the past six months in the area.
2009-12-06 - , Indonesia. John M. Glionna
The compact 37-year-old Syamsuardi manages the Flying Squad, a herd of tame elephants that patrols the more-than-80,000-hectare Tesso Nilo National Park. Syamsuardi’s team is the brainchild of the World Wildlife Fund, which borrowed the idea from India. The goal: persuade the errant elephants to return to their sanctuary, where lethal run-ins with humans are less likely.
2009-12-06 - Val d'Oise, France.
These photos are also by photographer F. DeHurtevent and are posted on the French circus site "aucirque.com". The Casselly Family presented this interesting variation of the classic courier routine using both elephants and horses as part of the Val d'Oise Circus Festival. You can find the Casselly courier act on Youtube by searching the title Cavalos Elefantes. It is the entire 7 minute act.
2009-12-06 - Kafue National Park, Zambia.
Two fully grown African bush Elephants in Itezhi-tezhi District have died after being electrocuted. The incident happened when the two adult male Elephants got in contact with a live 33Kilovolts (KV) ZESCO main power line. The power line which was hanging low following a heavy down pour caused the electrocution of the mammals.The live wire is the main power supply line from Choma power station to Itzhi-tezhi district. Zambia Wild (ZAWA) Public Relations Officer Wilfred Moonga said this in a stat...
2009-12-06 - Copenhagen, Denmark. David Owen
you can appreciate it at the Norman Foster-designed elephant house, where I arrive after a 20-minute bus ride and a 10-minute stroll past wolves and polar bears. The building undulates with the terrain and is the colour of Africa, topped off with two curved glass cupolas that make me think of the Eden Project. It smells strongly of – what else? – elephant. It is overlooked by the old Elefanthus, home to the zoo’s pachyderms between 1914 and 2008, which surmounts a neighbouring hill ...
2009-12-05 - Bridgeport, United States. JAMES HYNES
The saddest animal story in the book is that of Jumbo, the giant elephant Barnum purchased from a London zoo (to the outrage of the British public) and displayed at his circus, making millions. Even after Jumbo was killed in a collision with a train, Barnum managed to milk more money out of him, displaying both the elephant’s skin, stretched over a wooden frame, and his skeleton, as a “double Jumbo” exhibit.
2009-12-05 - Amsterdam, Netherlands. Ron Callari
"Twelephants" is a unique campaign that seeks to provide a safe haven for 100,000 elephants in the Elephant Corridor of Africa. In an interview recently conducted with Femke Hulsenbek, Pifworld's program officer, she noted that "Twelephants is one of the most ambitious projects on the Pifworld platform...established to raise awareness for the Elephant Corridor, enabling elephants in Botswana to roam freely across the border to Zambia."
2009-12-04 - Tuakau, New Zealand.
Jumbo, New Zealand's only African elephant, has retired from the circus and is starting a new life at Franklin Zoo in Tuakau. She has settled into to her new facility which has given her space to explore, toys to play with and wallows so she can enjoy being an elephant.
2009-12-04 - Toronto, Canada.
What killed the matriarch of the Toronto Zoos dwindling elephant herd? Toronto Zoo officials said yesterday even after the post-mortem on Tara the elephant, they still dont know what killed the 41-year-old pachyderm. Eric Cole, animal care supervisor of the zoos African savannah pavilion, said the post-mortem didnt find anything obvious to indicate cause of death. They did find some gallstones but those are to be expected at Taras age, he said.
2009-12-04 - Kottor, India. R. Ayyappan
There are plans to transfer a nine-year-old she elephant called Sreelakshmi from far north of the State in Neeleshwaram to the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre here in Kottur. If this happens, the Forest Department would make history. The elephant will be the first one to be seized by the Department from a private owner in the State.
2009-12-04 - Cheshire, United Kingdom. LIZ HULL
Leading circus elephants along the street, driving to work in a horse and cart or sending a message via carrier pigeon are duties which have long since disappeared from modern day policing. But as these photographs show they were all in a day's work for bobbies on the beat during the last century. The bygone images, which date back to 1904, give a fascinating insight into the duties of police officers at a time when political correctness and health and safety had yet to make an impact on ...
2009-12-04 - Melbourne, Australia. CAROLYN WEBB
In 20 YEARS as a vet, Michael Lynch has delivered baby cows, giraffes, bison, zebras, gorillas and meerkats. All being well, he is about to assist at his first elephant birth - also Melbourne Zoo's first - and says it will top them all.
2009-12-03 - Kruger Park, South Africa. Jeff Warner
Color us fascinated by submitter Jeff Warner's photo, taken on a trip to South Africa's Kruger National Park. According to Jeff, this plucky warthog, despite having no warthog backup, decided to challenge a herd of elephants in order to assert his rights to a water hole. We were pulling for the little guy (who doesn't love an underdog?), but according to Jeff, things didn't quite go his way. "The elephant kicked sand in the warthog's face," Jeff explains. The indignity!
2009-12-03 - Sindhulimadi, Nepal.
A boy died in an attack by a wild elephant in Kamalamai Sindhuli on Friday. According to District Police Office Sindhuli, the deceased has been identified as Bikas Sarki, 15, a resident of Kamalimai Municipility -3, Sindhuli. Two persons were killed in a similar attack by wild elephants earlier. Yadav Dhital, chief of District Forest Office informed that a joint team of the Nepal Police and District Forest Office has been deployed to drive away the elephant, though they are unable to bring it un...
2009-12-03 - Denver, United States.
A former concession stand at the Denver Zoo was razed by a front-end loader before a cheering crowd on Wednesday to make way for the new Asian Tropics exhibit. The weather was anything but tropical, as a light dusting of snow covered the 10-acre plot on the southern edge of the zoo where the new $50-million exhibit will soon stand. The price tag for half of the project is covered thanks to a 1999 Zoo Improvement Bond Fund passed by voters, while the other half came from private donors.
2009-12-02 - Mumbai, India. Alaka Sahani
After impressing critics at the Mumbai Film Festival, director Aijaz Khan’s debut feature film White Elephant is being shown in the Indian Panorama section of the Goa Film Festival. How was it directing an elephant? Oh! it was difficult and it needed patience, but it was such an exhilarating, enriching and moving experience that I’ll never ever forget it.
2009-12-02 - Guwahati, India.
The Assam forest department has requested the Centre for funds to acquire private land in elephant corridors for better protection of their habitats. This was disclosed today by Assam’s principal chief conservator of forests, Suresh Chand, at a workshop on Training of Trainers on Advancement of Elephant Heal-thcare and Managerial Practices. The 11-day workshop is being supported by the centrally sponsored Project Elephant. The course has 20 participants, including local experts and resource pe...
2009-12-02 - Sydney, Australia. ILIANA STILLITANO
A PAINTING not seen publicly since it was bought by the late Camden doctor Robert Crookston in 1945 sold for $575,000 last week and helped set a sales record for auction house Sotheby's. The painting a powerful image of a country woman confronting the tragedy of the 1944 drought was part of an estate owned by Dr Crookston's daughter Jacqueline which she bequeathed to the Taronga Foundation when she died, aged 96, in July.
2009-12-01 - Guwahati, India.
The Assam zoo is not in a position to abide by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) directive of sending all its elephants to national parks or wildlife sanctuaries immediately. The zoo authorities said of the 12 elephants, two were pregnant and hence they could not be sent now. They will have to wait for at least a year. “We are keeping a close watch on the health of the elephants and would not be able to send them for another year,” a zoo official said.
2009-12-01 - Coimbatore, India. VR Jayaraj
Human beings have much to learn from the sociology and “humane” nature of elephants, and the bonding among the giant animals as seen among a herd in the Amaravathy forest area in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu is beyond description. Forest department personnel here have been passionately watching how a herd of elephants have been guarding a pregnant elephant from attacks of animals.
2009-12-01 - Hot Springs, United States.
Thanks to a $10,000 grant from South Dakota Community Foundation, the in-situ paleontological discovery at The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, will now be much more protected from environmental dangers with the installation of a humidity control system to regulate relative humidity. “The building enclosing the bonebed protects the bones, tusks and other specimens from the elements so they can remain where they were discovered (in-situ),” said Joe Muller, business manager at The Mammoth Site.
2009-12-01 - Somerset, United States. PATRICK BUCHNOWSKI
The long-awaited mating of elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo conservation center in Somerset County now has a timetable: Officials want them to hook up next summer. And they plan to open an elephant sperm bank at the International Conservation Center to aid in breeding, zoo officials said. Barbara Baker, the zoo’s chief executive officer, traveled to Africa with a team to collect semen from bull elephants.
2009-11-30 - Coimbatore, India.
In a touching instance of animal bonding, a herd of elephants has been guarding a fully pregnant pachyderm for past few days in Amaravathi forest area of the district to prevent it from being attacked by other wild animals. While one group moves around this elephant monitoring her movement and preventing possible attacks by other elephants and wild animals, others go and fetch food and water and come back by evening.
2009-11-30 - Toronto, Canada.
An elephant at the Toronto Zoo died this morning after zoo staff found her lying down, unable to stand up. Tara, the 41-year-old "matriarch" of the elephant herd, had not exhibited any recent health concerns, Eric Cole, supervisor of the zoo's African Savanna, said. She was found by animal care staff shortly before 8 a.m. Monday morning, who tried in vain to lift the 8,500-pound animal back onto her feet. They were unable to hoist her back up, and she died at 11 a.m.
2009-11-30 - Nairobi, Kenya.
African authorities raided shops, intercepted vehicles at checkpoints and used sniffer dogs to detect and seize over 3,800 pounds (1,768 kilograms) of illegal elephant ivory in a six-nation operation, Interpol and the Kenya Wildlife Service said Monday. During the three-month-long operation, authorities also seized leopard, crocodile and snake skins, among other illegal animal products, said Awad Dahia, Interpol's eastern Africa chief.
2009-11-30 - Bangalore, India.
Autopsy has revealed that the 30-year-old elephant found dead near Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on Sunday, was, in fact, shot dead, sending shock waves among conservationists and forest officials. Speaking to DNA, principal chief conservator of forests BK Singh said that one bullet was recovered from the female pachyderm's brain and another from the back. Alibis suggest that the first bullet might have hit her back, and the second bullet the forehead, killing her on the spot, he said.
2009-11-29 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Poachers have killed a young tusker for ivory in the forests of Sangramal in Orissa's Sambalpur district, officials said Saturday. The elephant was brutally killed and the mutilated body was discovered by villagers lying in a pool of blood. The villagers informed the forest officials about the elephant's death. The animal's trunk was chopped into several pieces to extract the ivory.
2009-11-29 - Chitwan, Nepal.
The World Elephant Polo Association was founded 28 years ago by Brits James Manclark and Jim Edwards in Nepal. It has now become a World Series of world class events embodying superb skill and daring, undertaken in a spirit of fun and goodwill, and at the same time contributing to the welfare of the elephants.
2009-11-28 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Tanzania is still in discussions with the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) to be allowed to sell existing stocks of elephant ivory. The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Shamsha Mwangunga, told THISDAY on the sideline of a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the government was still engaging the international body to have her stockpile of ivory sold off.
2009-11-28 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
A group of wild elephants have demolished hectares of plantations of palm oil and rubber and paddy fields in Pekan Tebih village, Kepenuhan Hulu district, Rokan Hulu regency, Riau province in the past three months, an official said Friday. The district chief Damri Poti revealed that the elephants have destroyed 10 hectares of the plantations, including two hectares of paddy fields.
2009-11-28 - Tuakau, New Zealand.
The 36-year-old pachyderm will become the only African elephant at a zoo in New Zealand on her arrival at Franklin Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary in Tuakau from Helensville this weekend. The facility is closed to the public until Monday as staff and contractors put the finishing touches to Jumbo's training, entertainment and living enclosure and get her used to her new environment.
2009-11-27 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
There are only 80 elephants left in the wild in Vietnam, and they are in danger due to illegal hunting and deforestation, state media reported Friday. The state-run newspaper Lao Dong quoted experts at a Vietnam Forest Management Agency workshop on elephant preservation as saying the population was dropping fast.
2009-11-26 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
The Dong Nai provincial Forest Ranger Department in coordination with national parks in the southern region is seeking ways to raise public awareness of elephant conservation and expand the living environment for the animal. At a seminar on November 26, local and foreign scientists agreed that it is necessary to quickly implement the project on elephant preservation, approved by the Prime Minister in 2006.
2009-11-26 - Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Poachers "wiped out" the entire elephant herd in Sierra Leone's only wildlife park, wildlife managers said Thursday after police said they had arrested a gang of 10 poachers. "It is likely that the elephant population is wiped out," Ibrahim Bangura, senior superintendent of the agriculture ministry's Conservation and Wildlife Management Unit.
2009-11-26 - New York, United States. Todd NE. Department of Biology, Manhattanville College
A new, descriptive character dataset was generated from studies of modern elephants for use with fossil species. Parallel evolution in cranial and dental characters in all three lineages of elephants creates homoplastic noise in cladistic analysis, but new inferences about evolutionary relationships are possible. In this analysis, early Loxodonta and early African Mammuthus are virtually indistinguishable in dental morphology.
2009-11-26 - New Delhi, India.
Painting a grim picture of rising man-animal conflicts in the country, the government on Wednesday said as many as 1,090 people were killed by wild elephants, 11 by tigers and three by lions in various states in the last three years. "The states have reported damages of 15,312 houses and 87,269 cases of crop damage by wild elephants in the last three years," environment minister Jairam Ramesh said in Lok Sabha while replying to a written question.
2009-11-26 - Bengkulu, Indonesia.
The number of elephants existing in Bengkulu province, Sumatra, has been reduced from 225 to 150, a conservationist said. The declining number of Sumatran elephants in Bengkulu is due among others to illegal hunting, poisoning (due to conflict with locals) and unmanaged population outside the conservation areas, Supartono of Bangkulu`s Nature Conservation Agency (BKSDA), said here on Wednesday.
2009-11-26 - London, United Kingdom. Andrew Pulver
This was taken in India, at a circus in Ahmedabad. I think it was called the Great Golden Circus. I'm a street photographer, but I'm interested in any ironic, whimsical images, and there's something very romantic about a circus. I was doing a book; I spent six months travelling, saw 18 different circuses, and it was just a wonderful time. Believe me, there couldn't be a more strange place for a circus than India.
2009-11-25 - Plettenberg Bay, South Africa.
AN elephant handler who was gored in the chest by an eight- year-old cow at the Elephant Sanctuary at The Crags in Plettenberg Bay is recovering from his injuries in hospital. Sanctuary owner Chris Kruger described the incident as “an accident” yesterday and said an investigation by staff had found there was no malicious intent by the elephant.
2009-11-25 - Assam, India.
Angry over frequent depredation by wild elephants, an influential students' group Wednesday threatened an indefinite shutdown of tea plantations in Assam. The immediate provocation for the Assam Tea Tribes Students' Association (ATTSA) to threaten to cease work was the killing of five plantation workers in separate incidents by rampaging elephant herds in northern Assam in the past one week.
2009-11-25 - Rourkela, India.
About 300 families in four villages in Orissa's Sundargarh district have left home due to fear of elephant attack, officials said. The residents of Ramjodi, Khatagbeda, Gosaitali and Baratoli villages along the Orissa-Jharkhand border left home last night and took shelter in school buildings, they said. A herd of 40 elephants have crossed over to Orissa from neighbouring Jharkhand and destroyed about 25 houses in these villages, besides damaging standing crops.
2009-11-24 - Tuakau, New Zealand.
The retirement of circus elephant Jumbo is being hailed as a victory by animal rights group Save Animals From Exploitation (Safe). Jumbo, New Zealand's only African elephant, spent 28 years with the Weber Bros Circus before a decision last week to put her into retirement. Weber Bros owner Harry Weber told The Dominion Post newspaper a group of specialists met in Auckland last week to discuss 36-year-old Jumbo's future.
2009-11-23 - Lampang, Thailand. Lindsay Barnett
Thailand's new Pang La Elephant Rehabilitation Center officially opened over the weekend, becoming the first facility of its kind in the country known for its love affair with elephants. The center, in Thailand's Lampang province, plans to care for up to 200 elderly and disabled Asian elephants; currently, about 30 elephants call it home, including several that are partially or completely blind, according to the Bangkok Post.
2009-11-23 - Mumbai, India.
The elephant may be an enduring, lovable icon which draws thousands of wildlife tourists to India every year, but officials are desperate to find ways to control them amid increasing numbers of attacks on humans. A Mumbai engineer has discovered the answer: The 'Violent Elephant Control Gear', a remote control immobiliser which tethers marauding pachyderms at the press of a button.
2009-11-22 - Kathmandu, Nepal. Victoria Picknell
Nepals greater one-horned rhino population is on the road to recovery, following almost a decade of steep decline caused by poaching. Conservationists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have joined forces with local communities to form a team of rhino bodyguards on elephant-back to protect the species last remaining strongholds in Bardia and Chitwan National Parks. The new patrol guards, who are trained to recognise individual rhinos and adhere to strict scientific monitoring, are provi...
2009-11-22 - Chennai, India.
A four-year-old sub adult cow elephant died at Vandalur zoo, on Friday due to a suspected attack of herpes virus. The zoo authorities said the elephant, Chellamma, was rescued from the Andhiyur forests in Erode district and brought to the zoo in 2005. Since Friday morning, the animal refused food. Its head started swelling and administration of prophylactic medicines also did not help.
2009-11-21 - Kanpur, India.
After steady improvement in the health of the blind female elephant, Champa, found abandoned a few days ago, the forest authorities shifted the pachyderm to Kanpur Zoo on Friday. Chanda Devi, who had claimed that she owned the elephant, disappeared again on Friday. District Forest Officer B R Ahirwar said: “In view of the poor diet and cruelty towards the animal by the owner, we decided to shift Champa.”
2009-11-19 - Yangon, Myanmar.
The National Geographic Channel is due in Myanmar this month to shoot a documentary on the country's hard-working elephants, sources close to the project said Thursday. They will come here this month to document the state of Myanmar's domesticated elephants - how to catch wild elephants, how to tame and train them, said an official from the politically well-connected Htoo Trading Company, which will facilitate the production.
2009-11-19 - Tulsa, United States. Rick Wells
There was a really big birthday Wednesday at the Tulsa Zoo. Gunda the Asian elephant is 59 years old. The News On 6 doesn’t show up for everyone's birthday, but Gunda has been at the zoo longer than any other animal. “Hi – birthday time,” said zoo keeper Jessica Scallan is getting us all ready for Gunda's big day. Ella Goodwin, 3, is very excited. She’s wearing an “I Love Gunda” t-shirt, and there are hats. Afterall, this is Gunda's 59th birthday
2009-11-18 - Tulsa, United States.
Oklahoma State University's Center for Veterinary Health Sciences students recently got an up-close look at a performing elephant. Kamba, a 29 year-old female African elephant owned by Doug Terranova, was referred to the center's OSU Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital after wandering away and being hit by an SUV on a highway near Enid.
2009-11-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Police have arrested two Thai nationals for trafficking in African ivory, a crime that carries a maximum four-year jail sentence, police said Tuesday. Samat Chokechoima and Kanok Wongsarot were arrested Monday in a sting operation in which Thai police posed as buyers of carved African ivory items, Police Lieutenant Colonel Thanayos Gengkasrikit, spokesman of the Natural Resource and Environmental Crime Division said. The suspects face a maximum of four years in prison and fines of up to 40,000 b...
2009-11-16 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
An international crime syndicate is behind an escalation in poaching in Zimbabwe which has slaughtered 65 elephants and 30 rhinos this year, a wildlife official said Monday. "From January to October this year we have lost 65 elephants through poaching," Vitalis Chadenga, operations director of the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority told journalists. "In the same period we have lost 24 black and six white rhinos. It is true that we have witnessed an escalation of poaching nationwide, ...
2009-11-14 - Fairhope, United States.
On Friday, Somerset County welcomed a new elephant to its population. The elephant needs no space to roam and lives in Somerset Borough. Do not fear, Jackson, the fiberglass elephant, is a tame and gentle creature. Jackson was recently put together on the grounds of Laurel Arts at 214 South Harrison Avenue. The fiberglass elephant is the estimated size of the African elephants at the International Conservation Center in Fairhope Township.
2009-11-12 - New Delhi, India. Neha Lalchandani & Deeksha Chopra
Delhi Zoo will soon be bidding farewell to its three elephants. In fact, elephants will no longer be seen in any zoo or circus in the country after the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) issued a notice on Monday to the effect that all of these animals in zoos, numbering about 140, should be sent to national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves as soon as possible.
2009-11-10 - Amersfoort, Netherlands.
Indra of Amersfoort got a baby around 5:30 am this morning. According the the official website of the zoo everything seems to be fine. Gender is unkown yet. Indra got her baby in the new barn. She stood there together with Mimi while her moter was separated in one of the boxes. The public can watch the new baby in the new barn.
2009-11-10 - Livingstone, Zambia. Edwin Mbulo
A 17-year-old boy yesterday miraculously survived an attack by an elephant in Livingstone’s Kasiya area. Narrating the ordeal from his hospital bed at the Livingstone General Hospital, Nixon Lubindo said he was cycling near Suns of Thunder when he came into contact with the animal. “I was cycling near Suns of Thunder orphanage when I saw the elephant and stopped, but the animal charged towards me and I turned around and started to cycle back when I noticed that it had started to chase me,”...
2009-11-10 - Bandarban, Bangladesh.
Poachers killed a wild elephant at Kagoji Khola-Garjontoli area of Naikkhongchhari upazila on Sunday afternoon. Locals alleged that the poachers shot the female elephant dead to collect its bones and tusk. Naikkhongchhari police said local people saw the dead elephant with bullet holes in its body and informed the forest officials and police. Earlier, a wild male elephant was allegedly killed at a rubber garden near Alikhhong village of Baishari union of the upazila on October 1.
2009-11-10 - Nairobi, Kenya. James Pomfret and Tom Kirkwood
Tucked into a grimy building in Guangzhou, a small band of Chinese master carvers chip away at ivory tusks with chisels, fashioning them into the sorts of intricate carvings that were prized by Chinese emperors. A passion for ivory ornaments such as these is what helped decimate African and Asian elephant populations until a 1989 ban on ivory trade. Today, China's economic rise, and along with it a seemingly insatiable appetite for status symbols by its nouveau riche, has spurred demand for Afri...
2009-11-10 - Rangamati, India.
A herd of the wild elephants killed Kye Ching Marma, 40, son of Chai Kye Marma of village Dongnala in Bangalhalia union council under Razasthali upazila of the district, while he was working at his ginger plantation on Saturday evening, said sources in police. On the same day, the marauding wild elephants trampled Suruj Bangalee, 55, to death at Rajnagar in Gulshakhali union council under Langadu upazila of the district.
2009-11-09 - Shimba Hills National Park, Kenya. Joe Ombuor
From the safety of his house, Philip Ndivo sees a herd of elephants moving down a hill in Shimba Hills National Park. He pulls down a big electric switch mounted on a wooden deck in his house. He moves out of his house in Lukore village, Kwale District, holding an instrument that tests electric current, which he clips to an electric fence passing near his compound. The gadget confirms the voltage is high enough to keep off any elephant that might try to cross the fence into farms.
2009-11-09 - Hamburg, Germany.
The First European Elephant Management School is a practical orientated course on different elephant management tactics. Free contact as well as protected contact management techniques and procedures will be trained. Hagenbecks Tierpark currently houses eleven Asian elephants of all age groups and with a high training standard. Important elephant management procedures will be taught on and with the animals (e.g. foot trimming, transportation). The School is held in a nine-day-session. The course...
2009-11-08 - Sauraha, Nepal.
The first birthday of twin baby elephants at the elephant breeding center in Sauraha was celebrated amidst a special program on Saturday. These calves are the first twin baby elephants in the South Asia. An elephant named Devi Kali aged over 40 years at the center gave birth to the twins last year. The twins´ father is an elephant named Romeo. The two calves were named Ram and Laxman during the function.
2009-11-07 - Albany, United States. SCOTT WALDMAN
A 9-foot-long mastodon tusk recently excavated in Orange County is now at the State Museum. The tusk may be the largest ever found in New York state. It was discovered by two people canoeing through Orange County a year ago, but could not be excavated until recently because of weather conditions. Museum scientists removed the tusk from the riverbank where it had remained buried for thousands of years.
2009-11-07 - Los Angeles, United States. Robyn Dixon
Elephants are a harrowing threat to villagers and their crops. But they bring in tourists (and their money), and are rigorously protected -- more so than humans, critics say. Reporting from Katubya, Zambia - Here's how to pitch this (true) story to Hollywood: Ordinary guy named John, ordinary Sunday, cycling home into a setting sun. Monster roars out of the bushes! John abandons his bike, flees in terror. The creature smashes the bicycle, catches him in a few short strides, grabs him by the shir...
2009-11-07 - Udalguri, India. Jayanta Kumar
Nature lovers have expressed serious concern at the electrocution of another female wild elephant ,who had been carrying a near matured calf at Bhutiachang TE on the night of November 4/09.According to information received a 14 years old female wild elephant was electrocuted at section No. 6 of Bhutiachang TE.It has been learned that a herd of wild elephants numbering 25-30 had been seen roaming in the locality for a few days. Unfortunately, a female elephant got stuck to low lying high voltage ...
2009-11-06 - Munich, Germany.
Like any expectant mother, Panang the elephant wants the very best for her baby, which is evident as she carefully performs her maternity exercises. Guided by her minder Andi Fries, the 20-year-old elephant did a series of stretches in her pen at the Tierpark Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich. Panang, who is nearing the end of her two-year gestation period, is due to give birth this month or next.
2009-11-06 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
POLICE in Dar es Salaam are investigating a suspected ivory smuggling syndicate following the arrest of four people this week in possession of over 30 elephant tusks. According to sources within the wildlife industry, the ivory weighing more than 100 kilogrammes is believed to have come from at least 18 elephants killed recently by poachers within the vast Selous Game Reserve stretching over 54,600 square kilometres to the south of the country.
2009-11-05 - Milwaukee, United States.
Ruth the elephant is up and about after she took a tumble in her enclosure landing her in the exhibits moat for hours on Monday at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Ruth ended up on her back with her back legs up and her front legs on the ground. A fall like this could happen to any elephant, but it happened to poor Ruth on her birthday.
2009-11-05 - Oklahoma city, United States.
An elephant that escaped from the Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds after being spooked caused a vehicle accident Wednesday night, Nov. 4, 2009 as it ran along North the U.S. 81 bypass in Enid, Okla. According to Enid Police Department Sgt. Billy Varney, the couple in the vehicle were not injured. The elephant suffered a broken tusk, a hurt leg and bumps, bruises and scratches, he said.
2009-11-05 - Calcutta, India.
Hall, who is a London-based journalist, joins the hunter, Dinesh Choudhury, on a mission to shoot a tusker that had been killing people brutally in Assam’s forests. The hunt brings Hall face to face with the crucial issues of man-animal conflict that always stand in the way of effective conservation, whether of forests or of animals.
2009-11-05 - Zhaotong, China.
A team of more than 10 Chinese and foreign archeologists have been examining the mastodon fossil site in Zhaotong prefecture, which consists of at least three complete skeletons, according to a Dushi Shibao report. One of the fossilized tusks found at the site is 2.6 meters long and weighs more than 150 kilograms. The fossil was discovered by local farmers who were digging up brown coal.
2009-11-05 - London, United Kingdom. ALAN HALL and SARA NELSON
Germany’s 'Dr Death' Gunter von Hagens has plastinated a pachyderm for a Jumbo-sized exhibition. The corpse collector, who preserves bodies for eternity with a special gel to display around the world, turned his unique talents to Samba the elephant. She passed away last year at the age of 41 in Neukirchen Zoo in Germany.
2009-11-05 - Angul, India.
A tusker from Nandankanan Zoo, trained to carry tourists in Satkosia forest of Orissa, went berserk and killed its mahout (keeper) at Tikarpara, about 60 km from here, official sources said today. The mahout, identified as Bimal Das, was taking the elephant out of the forest yesterday when the animal attacked him and pierced its tusk into his body, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), S Mishra said.
2009-11-04 - Sommerset, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is seeking experienced elephant keepers that would be interested in joining a progressive elephant management team, utilizing both free and protected contact. The successful candidates primary job assignment will be at the zoo’s International Conservation Center just outside of Berlin, PA about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh. We will also require a moderate amount of time spent at the zoo’s facility in Pittsburgh to facilitate the development of a versatile an...
2009-11-03 - Guwahati, India.
Another elephant died of electrocution at Bhutiachang tea estate in Udalguri district late last night, triggering concern among environmentalists over increasing deaths of elephants that come in contact with civilisation. The female elephant died when it came into contact with high-tension transmission line at Section-1 of the tea garden. The forest department has lodged an FIR at Paneri police station in this regard.
2009-11-03 - Raipur, United States.
A five-year-old male elephant was found dead in a hamlet in the middle of a forest in Chhattisgarh’s northern Surguja area, forest department officials said Tuesday. The officials, however, refused to speculate on the reasons behind the death till a post-mortem examination report was received. “The jumbo’s jaws were rotten and hundreds of insects were inside when we reached Chikni village after being informed by local people,” Amarnath Prasad, divisional forest officer (Surguja) told IAN...
2009-11-02 - Darjeeling, India.
Farmers are erecting fences in an attempt to save their crops from elephants menace in Kolabari village of Darjeeling district. Herds of elephants going on rampage and destroying agricultural fields, is a common site here. The Terai (foothills) belt of Darjeeling is spread up with massive tropical rainforest and is the home to a number of wild animals.
2009-11-02 - Midnapore, India.
Residents of Daha, Bhadutola in Salboni are spending sleepless night since Friday evening. A herd of about 60-70 elephants has come to the area from Dalma hills. The animals have destroyed huge quantities of standing paddy crop and a number of houses. While villagers are too scared to chase away the herd, forest officials, too, seem wary of venturing in the area after PCPA-backed Sidhu-Kanu militia squad ransacked and burnt Silda forest range office and Binpur beat office at Champaboni on Thursd...
2009-11-01 - Kandy, Sri Lanka.
An elephant who was tethered at the Natha Devala premises of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy attached the resident monk of Sri Pushparamaya, Ihala Kadigamuwa Ven. Maunawe Medhankara Thera on Saturday (31/10) evening and caused him serious injuries. The monk on admission to Kandy hospital succumbed to his injuries. This rogue elephant known as 'Nilame' was chained and confined to the Devala premises as it was behaving in a boisterous manner for some time. It had also reportedly attacked a mahout d...
2009-11-01 - Crestline, United States.
The Lowe-Volk Park Nature Center was full of the old -- and a little bit of the new -- on Saturday at the opening of the "Ice Age Mammals, Mastodons and More" exhibit. Heather Donnenwirth and her two children, Grayson and Jillian, posed for a photograph by a 174-pound mastodon skull found in Union County.
2009-11-01 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham
Not so fast, New York State Museum. The 9-foot-long Mastodon tusk retrieved from the Hudson Valley a year ago, which you say might be the largest ever found in the state, is not. That distinction evidently belongs to a 10-footer recovered from the Buffalo Museum of Science Hiscock dig in Genesee County in 1997.
2009-11-01 - Kolkata, India.
Tourists at Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary in North Bengal will no longer be able to enjoy an elephant ride as the forest department plans use the animals to patrol the jungle against poachers. "There are five to six trained elephants at Jaldapara which ferry tourists in the forest. Instructions have been issued to the forest department to use them for patrolling," state's Chief Wildlife Warden S B Mondal told PTI here.
2009-11-01 - Montgomery, United States.
The discovery of a 9-foot-long mastodon tusk in Orange County will provide scientists with a new source of information about the prehistoric animal, according to the men who found and helped exhume it. Glen Keeton, an archeologist from Mount Hope who found the tusk last year, and his father, Gary Keeton, talked about the discovery in detail for the first time Saturday during an archeology symposium at Valley Central Middle School. The tusk, the longest ever found in New York, is expected to prov...
2009-10-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ananda Weerasuriya
An elephant at the Dehiwala zoo became unruly yesterday and damaged the roof of the elephant enclosure badly bruising and wounding its trunk, veterinary surgeons at the zoo said. The elephant named Bandula had been tied for the last few days since he had been in ‘must’ (the period when male elephants are ready for mating). However, the condition of the elephant had turned worse yesterday becoming violent and kicking and hitting at the concrete pillars of the enclosure.
2009-10-31 - Selous game reserve, Tanzania. Murray Wardrop
Anton Turner, 38, described as an expert with elephants, was escorting a television crew through a remote mountainous area of the African country when the animal ran at him. Mr Turner, a former British Army officer, suffered massive injuries and died at the scene, despite efforts to save him by a doctor, who was travelling with the party. Three children, who were in the group, escaped unhurt.
2009-10-31 - Detroit, United States. John Frederick Walker
Ivory poaching is back, big time, and the Internet is awash with photos of bloodied tusks and elephant carcasses. In 2007, Kenyan wildlife officials counted 47 elephants killed by poachers. In 2008, the number jumped to 98. Estimates of the number of elephants now being poached across the African continent range as high as 37,000 a year. All this despite a ban on international trade in ivory that was enacted 20 years ago today. Why hasn't the ivory ban been effective? Mostly because it doesn't f...
2009-10-30 - New Delhi, India. New Delhi
Concerned over the increasing incidents of elephant-human conflicts, the Centre will hold a high-level meeting with jumbo-range states here next week to find ways to improve their habitat. "Almost all states are grappling with increasing jumbo-human conflicts due to habitat degradation resulting in disappearance of corridors," A N Prasad, Director of Project Elephant, said.
2009-10-30 - Dooars, India. Andrew Gadsden
The Dam Dim (or Dumdim) Tea Estate has been ravaged by elephants in a recent incursion. The incident happened 10 Oct 09, when a herd of elephants from the Baikunthapur jungles entered the Dooars tea gardens during the night. The animals became stranded, and destroyed a number of bushes as they tried to find a way out.
2009-10-29 - New Jersey, United States. Brian Switek
As strange as it might seem, the living African and Asian elephants are only the remnants of what was once a very diverse array of proboscideans. In the not-too-distant past elephants and their closest relatives occupied Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, Central America, and South America, but almost all of them had perished by about 10,000 years ago.* Of these recently-extinct forms the most iconic was the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, which was covered in long coats of shaggy hair....
2009-10-28 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Deputy Bangkok Governor Theerachon Manomaipiboon Wednesday handed out a Bt2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of men apprehended with an elephant in Lat Phrao and said that from November 6 the city would be getting tough on such animal abuse.
2009-10-28 - Budapest, Hungary.
The nine year old asian elephant bull Assam, born in Chester Zoo (Chang x Thai (Thi Ha Way), was transfered yesterday to Budapest Zoo in Hungary.
2009-10-28 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
A herd of wild elephants damaged houses and devoured crops as they rampaged through an Indonesian village, terrifying residents, officials said Wednesday. The elephants charged villagers and ran amok on Tuesday night in the latest incident of animal-human conflict in Indonesia, where the jungles that serve as wildlife habitats are being rapidly destroyed. Officials responded by using five tame elephants to chase out the invaders.
2009-10-27 - Kumargram, India.
IN 2007, the village of Kumargram in the Indian state of West Bengal became the focus of international attention. Shortly after dawn, a truck driver made a remarkable discovery – five elephants lay dead in the dry bed of the Raidak River. Rumours of the spectacle spread fast and a crowd gathered. For India's many Hindus, the elephant is sacred, so the death of a whole family of the animals was a tragedy.
2009-10-27 - Vienna, Austria.
The 17 year old bull Pambo, born in Basel Zoo in Switzerland, has been transfered from Vienna Zoo to spanish safaripark Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabarceno, as breeder for the group of females there. Next spring Vienna will recieve a female with calf from Wuppertal Zoo in Germany
2009-10-26 - Lagrange, United States. BOB BRALEY
From the outside it doesn’t look like anything other than an old house. The wood is so old it won’t hold paint, and behind it there are clothes visible hanging from the line. Go inside and you find rooms filled with articles that recall former LaGrange County residents, from pump organs to a wedding dress, from school excuses to china, from Civil War memorabilia to an 18th-century Bible in German. And — oh, yes, there’s the mastodon skull.
2009-10-26 - Knysna, South Africa.
THERE is a herd of 11 to 12 elephants in the Knysna forests, according to Gareth Patterson, who has spent the last eight years of his life studying the area’s elusive creatures. Patterson on Friday evening launched a book about his quest, The Secret Elephants, at Wordsworth Books in Knysna. His findings contradict earlier conclusions by SANParks that it is unlikely there is more than one Knysna elephant left.
2009-10-26 - Sonepur, India.
Sonepur, 22 km away from Patna, is famous for hosting month-long Asia’s largest cattle fair commencing from November 1. An elephant `bazaar’, which always draws crowds because of big demand for the elephants from the southern parts of the country, will also come up soon. Besides, it’s a fair of dance, music and `masti’ and, as such, it draws tourists from all over India and abroad.
2009-10-25 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
This website, www.elephant-news.com was created in october 2001. Today, some eight years later, the database reached 5000 articles, which are all indexed in the database, searchable, and therefore becoming a recource also for research and statistics. (Some of the original articles already deleted at the origial website) which you can search through from the searchfield in the upper left corner. You can even search the database from YOUR website
2009-10-25 - New Bedford, United States.
Elephants never forget anything – including where to find your wallet. Those who work at Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Mass., know to keep an eye on their pockets when they're around Ruth, a 7,200-pound Asian elephant that has a very tricky trunk. On Friday, elephant keepers Tina DeMedeiros and Shelley Avila recalled when Ruth snuck $20 from a visitor awhile back. Luckily, they were able to retrieve some of it – but in truth, Ruth still owes some guy $15. “She likes to be the center ...
2009-10-25 - Guwahati, India. Syed Zarir Hussain
Wildlife authorities in Assam have warned that the human-elephant conflict has reached alarming proportions with villagers poisoning to death at least four wild elephants in the past three weeks by lacing toxic chemicals in homemade moonshine. According to wildlife officials, the latest incident of an adult male poisoned to death was reported Saturday from village Chechapani in Goalpara district, about 170 km west of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.
2009-10-25 - Jaldapara, India. Pinak Priya Bhattacharya
The forest department has decided to stop elephant safari in Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary following the recent incidents of rhino poaching. This has robbed the sanctuary of one of its biggest attractions. The withdrawal of the elephant safari, forest officials claimed, would deny poachers access to the core area of the sanctuary. The forest officials strongly believe that poachers often took the safari in the guise of tourists to locate the rhino habitation and the tracks followed by the pachyd...
2009-10-24 - Voi, Kenya.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) personnel have arrested five prominent businessmen including a woman in connection with illegal sale of ivory. During the well coordinated operation by KWS security intelligence agents, more than 80 kilogrammes of ivory were recovered in Voi town among other places in the larger Taita-Taveta region and the neighboring Kinango District.
2009-10-24 - Kodanad, India.
Forest officials have detained six mahouts and seized three elephants, which were being brought for an ad shoot near here, as they allegedly did not have valid documents. Under the Captive Elephant Management Rules, if an elephant is transported from one district to the other, it should possess transit pass from the district from which it was coming, forest officials said.
2009-10-23 - , United States.
As part of the Halloween festivities at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, even the elephants are getting the chance to celebrate our ghastliest holiday in style. African elephants Felix (above, who, despite what her name suggests, is female) and her year-old son, Samson, will spend the weekend enjoying Halloween-themed enrichment activities before the zoo's visitors.
2009-10-23 - New York, United States.
Research under way at the New York State Museum indicates that a huge mastodon tusk, recently excavated by Museum scientists in Orange County, may be the largest tusk ever found in New York State. The nearly complete but fragmented tusk, measuring more than 9 feet long, was one of two excavated this past summer in the Black Dirt area of Orange County at the confluence of Tunkamoose Creek and the Wallkill River, on the property of Lester Lain of Westtown
2009-10-23 - Guwahati, India.
The carcass of a full-grown female elephant, suspected to have died of poisoning, was found this morning at Orangajuli tea estate along the Indo-Bhutan border in Udalguri district. This is the sixth elephant to have fallen prey to the rising cases of man-elephant conflict along the border the district shares with Bhutan. Eleven persons have been killed by elephants since last November.
2009-10-23 - San Diego, United States.
The operator of a private company in Texas that exhibits elephants is facing multiple alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act related to the care of three Asian elephants, two of which were rescued and brought to the San Diego Zoo, it was announced Thursday. The 10-page complaint was filed in Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Wilbur Davenport, who runs a business near Houston called Maximus “Tons of Fun” LLC, which leases elephants for exhibition. D...
2009-10-23 - Portland, United States.
Debate on the existence of a Younger Dryas comet impact, 12,900 years ago, and whether it is linked to mass extinctions of large mammals and early humans in North America reopened this week. This then wiped out such Pleistocene megafauna as the sabre-toothed cat, the mastodon and the mammoth, along with the Clovis people, one of the earliest American cultures.
2009-10-22 - Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. Pushpakumara Jayaratne
Statistically the death rate of wild elephants due to the human-elephant conflict increased this year when compared to the previous year. Director General of the Wildlife Conservation Department Ananda Weerasuriya said 160 deaths were reported last year and this increased to 170 elephants for the last nine months of the current year. He said about 50 per cent of this number had been shot dead with automatic firearms and that the homeguards were largely responsible for killing wild elephants. The...
2009-10-22 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The rains are finally here, heralding a new start for the agricultural masses. But welcome as they are, they came a bit too late for the country’s prime tourist attraction – the wildlife. According to the Kenya Wildlife Services, hundreds of animals died solely due to the drought. The country lost 40 of its 2,000 grevy’s zebra to the drought, which is two per cent of their population. “Losing 40 is a significant loss,” said Mr Patrick Omondi, a KWS Senior Assistant Director.
2009-10-22 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Zoologist and television personality Jack Hanna is here with his film crew to capture Sabah's pygmy elephants, sun bears and orang utan on film to be shown in the Into the Wild television programme in the US to heighten the world's awareness of the animals. The famed Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, was pleased with the warm welcome he, his wife, daughter and film crew received and would be here for six days.
Lying in a crumpled heap in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, bony hips jutting into the sky, was a female elephant that had collapsed days before. “The elephants are dying a lot. The babies that were born last year are all dead,” said Norah Njiraini, of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, who has watched as nearly a hundred calves have succumbed to exhaustion and malnutrition in recent months.
2009-10-21 - Pattaya, Thailand.
a 3-year-old boy was gored by an apparently rogue elephant during an elephant show at Pattaya Floating Market, sustaining serious injuries. When the boy’s father later approached the market management for recompense he was callously kept waiting for six hours before they deigned to see him. Mayor Ittipon Khunpleum says there will be no more elephant shows at the market.
2009-10-21 - Sonora, Mexico. Rex Dalton
Scientists have discovered a site containing the most extensive evidence seen so far in Mexico for the Clovis culture. The find extends the range of America's oldest identifiable culture, which roamed North America about 13,000 years ago. The bed of artefacts in the state of Sonora in northwest Mexico also includes the bones of an extinct cousin of the mastodon called a gomphothere. The beast was probably hunted and killed by the Clovis people, known for their distinctive spear points, who myste...
2009-10-21 - Voi, Kenya. BEATRICE GACHENGE
Why would you follow an elephant trail to pick its dung? If you need a quick answer ask Patrick Kilonzo, the director of Tsavo Treasure. Kilonzo produces paper using the animal waste — turning what would be lost into the wilds into a money-minting business. Based in Voi, Tsavo East, Kilonzo is a witness to the intense and continuing human- wildlife conflict in the area. Elephant dung would be the last thing on the local people’s minds, but this is where Kilonzo has found his silver lining.
2009-10-21 - Geneva, Switzerland. Hui Min Neo
Asian demand for bluefin tuna, sharks' fins and ivory will come under scrutiny when 175 member states of the UN wildlife trade agency meet to consider trade restrictions, according to documents seen by AFP. Proposals to restrict or ban international trade in those three products are due to be studied when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) holds its next triennial meeting in Qatar next year.
2009-10-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. Rhishja Larson
Thanks to the controversial approval of a one-off ivory sale, illegal trade in ivory has been reinvigorated - and 100 elephants a day are being slaughtered. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) approved a one-off elephant ivory auction in 2008 of 119 tons (108 tonnes) - representing over 10,000 dead elephants - and this decision is believed to have stimulated the growing illegal ivory market.
2009-10-20 - Lampang, Thailand.
Thailand has set up its first nursing home for elderly elephants in Lampang province, already the home of two elephant hospitals, media reports said Tuesday. The Pang-La Nursing Home for Aged Elephants will be officially opened Nov 21, in Ngao district of Lampang, 490 km north of Bangkok, the Bangkok Post reported. Situated on a 153-hectare plot with its own small river for elephant bathing, the shelter will be operated by the Forest Industry Organization (FIO), which also runs the Elephant Hosp...
2009-10-20 - Nyiregyhaza, Hungary.
Orphaned elephant calf Jumanee may soon be packing his trunk as zoo bosses try to find him an adoptive mum. The heartbroken youngster lost his mum in August when she died of cancer and stood guard over the spot where her body fell for days trumpeting plaintively. Now keepers in Nyiregyhaza Zoo, Hungary, think they've found him a new mum in France. Zoo director Laszlo Gajdos said: "It really does hurt to see him being so sad. Accepting a substitute mum is not easy, but we hope, it will help the e...
2009-10-20 - Phayao, Thailand.
The preserved teeth and molars of Hoe tusker, an elephant species that lived 13 million years ago, have won the first best fossil award given by the Mineral Resources Department. The award was inaugurated to raise public awareness of fossils and to educate people about history in the hope of encouraging more discoveries. A cattle raiser discovered the Hoe tusker, known scientifically as Dienotherium, by accident on a mountain in Phayao's Pong district a year ago.
2009-10-19 - Washington, United States. John Platt
Twenty years after the international ban on ivory trade took effect, poachers are still slaughtering more than 100 elephants a day, according to a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Poaching almost ceased after the ban, but it is now on the increase once again, felling an average of 104 elephants per day, the IFAW has found.
2009-10-18 - Guwahati, India.
The Assam government has set up joint co-ordination committees in every district for monitoring the maintenance of the transmission lines to prevent electrocution of elephants. The committees set up recently in the wake of a rise in such incidents across the state will ascertain whether the guidelines issued by the ministry of environment and forests and the Central Electricity Authority have been followed.
2009-10-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Risidra Mendis
Another elephant killed due to gunshot wounds or electrocution has become a piece of news that we see almost every day. The deaths of wild elephants and humans seem to be increasing, with no immediate solution at hand. But while government authorities discuss possible solutions Sri Lanka’s elephant population continues to decline at an alarming rate.
2009-10-17 - Erode, India.
The elephant population in the district is expected to increase from 200 to 220 after the current enumeration, as also migration of pachyderms from other places to this district, according to district forest officer Jaghanathan. He told reporters here yesterday that the enumeration was underway and would soon be completed.
2009-10-16 - Windhoek, Namibia.
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has denied the country’s biggest private game farm, Erindi permission to import 200 elephants from South Africa’s Kruger National Park. “Erindi needs elephants desperately and the ministry have shut the door in our face,” said Gert Joubert, the owner of the country’s biggest game reserve. Erindi decided to import elephants after failing to source them locally after the government again refused permission to do so.
2009-10-16 - Frankton, New Zealand.
Circus elephant Jumbo, along with "soul-mate" Tony Ratcliffe, strolled through the Hamilton suburb of Frankton yesterday as part of her continuing retirement preparations. The 35-year-old African elephant perused the menu at Smo's Cafe, where she encountered Christian Curtis, left, during her walk-about, which lasted about an hour and which will be repeated over coming days.
2009-10-15 - Kolkata, India.
Three women were crushed to death and four others, including two children, were injured by an elephant that went berserk in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district Thursday, a forest department official said. “Three women were killed and four, including two children, were seriously injured when a berserk elephant entered a village near Ambari forest area in the district,” a forest official said. “All four villagers were admitted to a nearby district hospital with critical injuries,” he said....
2009-10-15 - Guwahati, India.
Assam’s trained elephants — experts in chasing herds of wild pachyderms from human habitats — will be taken to Orissa and Chhattisgarh to help the two states tackle the rising menace of the man-elephant conflict. The two states sought the Assam forest department’s help to tackle the crisis. Assam’s principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Suresh Chand told The Telegraph today that Chhattisgarh has selected a few trained elephants, known as kunkis.
2009-10-15 - Eastern Province, Zambia.
They came while the village slept, destroying the reed fence and trampling the vegetable fields. Tipping over the maize and sorghum granaries (three-metre-high woven reed baskets) they gorged themselves on the meagre crop. Subsistence farmer Andyson Nyendwa remembers leaving his hut and joining his neighbours in lighting fires to scare away the three house-sized beasts.
2009-10-15 - San Diego, United States.
The two elephants brought to the San Diego Zoo from a private collection in Texas have both gained about 300 pounds and are building trust with their handlers, zoo officials said Wednesday. Jewel and Tina, who are believed to be in their mid-40s, were removed from their owner by the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture and brought to San Diego in August. Jewel now weighs 6,714 pounds and Tina tops the scale at 7,664 pounds.
2009-10-15 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo is pleased to announce that the 2009 Elephant Managers Association Annual Conference and Workshops will be held October 15 – 19 in Houston, TX. This meeting will include presentations on a variety of management and care issues facing the captive elephant population, as well the important link they have to wild populations of elephants. The program will include a tour of the newly constructed McNair Asian Elephant Habitat at the Houston Zoo and 3 full days of activities, prese...
2009-10-14 - Buffalo, United States. Charlotte Hsu
It was with the sorrow of losing a good friend that staff at the Buffalo Zoo said goodbye last month to Buki, the 52-year-old elephant who died on September 28. By all accounts, the 8,500-pound pachyderm, lauded for her intelligence and sweet disposition, was a charmer. She had a penchant for watermelons, loved a good rub behind the ears, and played the harmonica.
2009-10-14 - Ruskin, United States.
Ben Williams, who was born into a circus family and made a name for himself both inside and outside the Big Top, died this month of cancer. He was 56. Williams was best known as a flamboyant, tiger-skin-loincloth-clad performer who delighted crowds by fearlessly cavorting around elephants, particularly his beloved 7,880-pound Anna May. But he had another side apart from the circus, as East Bay High's first male cheerleader and president of the National Honor Society.
2009-10-14 - Windhoek, Namibia. Chrispin Inambao
A row has erupted between the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and Erindi Game Reserve over a request by the private game reserve for a permit to translocate 200 elephants. The rationale behind Erindi’s application is to decongest the national parks whose jumbo-carrying capacity is stretched to the limit.
2009-10-14 - Nepalgunj, Nepal.
A man was killed when an elephant attacked him in Bardiya on Tuesday night. According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Om Prakash Jaisi, a local resident of Thakurdwar VDC. He was attacked by an elephant while he was sleeping in a small hut in the fields to look after the crops. Om Prakash breathed his last while undergoing treatment in Bardiya Hospital.
2009-10-14 - Tsavo National Park, Kenya. Renson Mnyamwezi
A steward in a Tsavo National Park lodge Mr Mwakisakenyi Mali had taken his weekend off last Thursday hoping to return to work on Sunday. But on the day he was to resume duty, sad news reached the hotel that he had been trampled to death by an elephant. A man who had lived all his life in the wildlife infested area of Bura, Mwatate District, his family members said he knew how to avoid danger. However, on the fateful day, as he walked home through a path made dark by an evening drizzle, he encou...
2009-10-14 - Seoul, South Korea. Bae Hyun-jung
The first-ever elephant to be accused of assaulting a person has become the top star of the Seoul Children's Grand Park zoo after being cleared of its charges, according to zoo officials. A 48-year-old woman surnamed Kim claimed last month that one of the zoo's elephants, named Tae-san, knocked her out by throwing a large stone that hit her, but the police concluded the case, having found no evidence or witnesses. The zoo was also released from supervising responsibilities.
2009-10-13 - Moscow, Russian Federation.
Since long ago dwellers of the Russian North procured seal bones and walrus tusks in the polar seas and gathered fossil mammoth bones on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. The bone carvings from Kholmogory were notable for excellent craftsmanship and perfected technique. The best carving masters from Kholmogory were invited to work in the Kremlin's Armoury, which performed orders for the tsar’s court. The unique art of Kholmogory bone carving has existed for more than 400 years. The first archive...
2009-10-13 - Atherstone, United Kingdom. Kim Riley
Ganesh Vijay, the first elephant calf born at Twycross Zoo by Artificial Insemination (A.I.), will be formally named and blessed for good health during a traditional Hindu ceremony. This will be carried out by a Brahmin (Hindu priest) on 21st October 2009 at 2.30 pm. The blessing will be led by Brahmin Shree Mahendra Pandya from Leicester who will pray that the baby brings happiness to the zoo and its visitors. During the ceremony a red dot will be placed on the head of the calf and a sweet will...
2009-10-13 - Toledo, United States. Arielle Berlin
Tuesday is the 100th birthday of jazz legend Art Tatum. As part of the celebration, Renee the elephant painted a piano in his honor at the Toledo Zoo. This is part of a larger project where painted pianos will be placed around the city to honor Art Tatum. Besides Renee, local artists have also contributed to the effort. This is similar to the large frogs that were placed around town several years ago.
2009-10-13 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Guy DeLauney
Conservationists in Cambodia have brokered an agreement which should see elephants living more peacefully alongside their human neighbours. Villagers living near elephant habitats have promised not to harm the animals - or disturb their environment.
2009-10-12 - Purulia, India.
A villager was killed when wild elephants strayed into a village in Jhalda range of Purulia district today. Forest officials said the 12-member herd strayed into Sikarpahar village from Dalma hills in adjoining Jharkhand and went on a rampage destroying crops and flattening mud houses. One Brajabhusan Mahto was trampled to death as he fell before the herd. Locals protested to the forest officials as attempts were on to drive away the herd to its habitat.
2009-10-12 - Detroit, United States. Joshua
I got (via interlibrary loan) a book called The Proboscidea : evolution and palaeoecology of elephants and their relatives which is quite a bit more technical than I hoped, so I'm not adding it to my "What I'm Reading" list; I'm just flipping through it and reading parts of it, not the entire thing.
2009-10-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. Yvonne Bohwongprasert
Tucked away in a corner of the Dusit Palace compound is an historically significant depository of the long traditions and beliefs associated with white elephants in the Kingdom - the Royal Elephant National Museum. Some of the most prominent fixtures include huge elephant tusks that date back to the reigns of King Rama V and King Rama VII. Located at the exit of the Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall, the edifice is built in a beautiful Thai architectural style and encircled with thick vegetation that ha...
2009-10-11 - Guwahati, India.
An elephant was electrocuted near a tea garden in the Kathiatoli area of Nagaon district, about 140 km from here, on Saturday. The carcass of the pachyderm was found near Kandoli tea estate. Forest officials said it was an accident and not a case of retaliatory killing. "The elephant died after its trunk touched a livewire near the tea estate. It was not killed by human beings," Nagaon divisional forest officer A Ahmed said.
2009-10-11 - Yamal Peninsula, Russian Federation. Luke Harding
It was 15 years ago when Vasily Ivanovich spotted something curious poking out of the side of a lake. Scrambling down a reed-lined bank, the reindeer hunter gently coaxed the object from the mud. "It was a mammoth tusk," Ivanovich said. "It wasn't very big," his wife, Valentina, pointed out. "There are lots of them," she added.
2009-10-11 - Mysore, India.
State Bank of India (SBI) has adopted two Asian elephants from Mysore Zoo. SBI Chief General Manager Arundhati Bhattacharya handed over a cheque for Rs. 3,19,140 to Zoo Executive Director Vijay Ranjan Singh last evening for the maintenance of two elephants Rama (aged 14 years) and Kollegala
2009-10-11 - Jalpaiguri, India.
A herd of elephants from the jungles of Baikunthapur strayed into a tea estate in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district and destroyed shrubs at the tea gardens. The herd entered the Dumdim Tea Estate located in Dooars region from the nearby forest during the night. On losing their way in the gardens, the elephants could not move out before dawn.ith the break of dawn, the workers came out and found the animals stranded in the middle of the garden area.
2009-10-11 - Chamarajnagar, India.
A 25-year-old female elephant was found dead at a farm owned by Rangya Nayaka of Kotkere village under Omkar forest range in Gundlupet taluk. Sources said that the animal had died in 'mysterious circumstances'. A post-mortem was conducted. Meanwhile, villagers in the area staged a protest against the increased movement of wildlife and subsequent crop loss in villages near the forest. They alleged that forest officials— who refuse to assess reports of crop loss— turn up only to look into the ...
2009-10-11 - Guwahati, India. SIVASISH THAKUR
The elephant population in the North-east – among the last bastions of the Asian elephant – has recorded an alarming decrease since the past one-and-a-half decade. As per official data, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal which make up the bulk of the elephant population in the North-east, have now (2008 census) a combined population of 8,782 as against 10,498 in 1993; 8,952 in 1997 and 8,721 in 2002. Compared to 2002 figures, there has been a marginal increase in the number in Assam (35) and Aru...
2009-10-10 - Cape Town, South Africa. Sean O’Toole
The elephants came first, recalls Steve Bloom. As a small child I had a cuddly toy elephant that accompanied me everywhere, and that may have had some influence on my affinity for elephants. Not that the biography of this Cape Town-born (1953) son of the soil is as straightforward as this. Bloom, who recently won two International Photography Awards from the Lucie Foundation for his pictures of an elephant swimming in the sea off the Andaman Islands, came to wildlife photography relatively late.
2009-10-10 - , United States.
In some towns visited by the roadside circus, people wait in line for the elephant dung. Fights can break out, too, like the time three men scrapped over the last of the pachyderm poop. A firefighter from Chicago regularly fishes out particular shapes, looking for the perfect pieces to take home, coat in shellac and give away as paperweights. But most people want elephant dung for their gardens. It is held in high, almost mystical, regard as a fertilizer. And the circus gives it away for free. "...
2009-10-10 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. JOLEEN LUNJEW
Having to deal with tons of elephant dung can be a bit of a headache, but a touch of innovation has turned it into a profitable business. The first thing that caught my eye as we were waiting at the entrance of Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, Sri Lanka, was a huge orange sign at a small shop beside the orphanage proclaiming: “Poo Paper Sold Here!”
2009-10-10 - Jamshedpur, United States. JAYESH THAKER
When everyone at Tata zoo had lost hope of his survival, Raja had pulled through. But when they thought the worst was over, he bade adieu. The injured elephant calf, rescued from Rajabasa forest in Ghatshila and recuperating at Tata Steel Zoological Park in Jamshedpur, breathed his last around 1.30am last night at the park’s clinic. It was buried on the zoo premises this morning.
2009-10-09 - Palmetto, United States.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation® are pleased to announce an educational opportunity in elephant husbandry and management. The winter intern session is planned for February 15, 2010 through May 15, 2010. Application deadline for the winter session is December 15, 2009. A summer session is scheduled to begin in June 2010.
2009-10-09 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Rhishja Larson
After a gun battle in Charara National park near Sanyati Gorge, park rangers shot and killed an elephant poacher, arrested three accomplices - and recovered an AK-47 rifle. While out on patrol, two rangers stationed at Charara Safari Area and Tashinga National Parks came across the carcass of an elephant, who appeared to have been recently killed. As their regular rounds did not turn up any suspects, they decided to wait in ambush near the elephant’s carcass.
2009-10-09 - Jaldapara Sanctuary, India. Sankar Ray and Rajen Pradhan
Forty-year-old Sakuntala died of her intense romantic forays. She had no semblance of Sakuntala in the great poet Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Sakuntalam. This Sakuntala was a female element, born in 1969. Sakuntala had been desperately in love with Makhana for several years and one day felt an urge to rush to her love, in early July this year. She broke her fetters and tore off after him, but as a result her left leg was wounded as nails pierced through the leg. Profuse bleeding began immediately y...
2009-10-09 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Flooding devastated Tenggamus regency, Lampung, on Monday, leaving two children dead, while another person and elephant were buried alive in a landslide as three other victims remained missing. The floods and landslides followed heavy rains in the last two days across the regency. The two children, five-year-old Suci Wulandari and six-year-old Rina, both residents from Semaka district, were drowned in the overflowing Way Kerap river. Their bodies were recovered late Sunday evening.
2009-10-09 - Etosha National Park, Namibia. Brigitte Weidlich and Oswald Shivute
THEFT of solar panels from a water point for elephants in the Etosha National Park has forced a small herd to search for water among human settlements in the past few days and one of them killed a person near Ruacana on Wednesday night. Joseph Hamukwaya, a resident of Oshifo near Ruacana, was apparently on his way home when he was killed by the elephant, Ruacana Councillor Lazarus Kornelius told The Namibian yesterday.
2009-10-09 - Jerthi, Malaysia. Mohammad Ishak
A rogue elephant that has been causing havoc in Pelagat for almost a week was finally captured by wildlife authorities on Wednesday. The 12-year-old wild elephant walked into a trap set up three days ago by the State Wildlife department with the help of locals. For almost seven days before that, the elephant had caused havoc in three villages — Pelagat, Paroh and Padang Tapung — by destroying their crops. The rampage took place especially at nights, causing widespread fear among villagers fo...
2009-10-09 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Today, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust reported Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher recently spent time visiting its elephant orphans. The Trust says elephants are at risk now more than ever. According to the WSPA member society, drought, poaching and habitat loss have put African elephant populations under serious threat. The organization is dedicated to the protection and preservation of Africa's Wildreness, with particular attention to endagered species such as rhinos and elephants.
2009-10-09 - EERATTUPETTAH, India.
A tusker gave vent to its ire by attacking a private bus at Mukkuzhy on the Poonjar- Pathampuzha road on Thursday afternoon. The vehicle was smashed mercilessly by the elephant, while the 40 passengers inside it had a miraculous escape as they jumped out and ran to safety. However, the driver of the bus sustained injuries to his hand. Karnan the tusker had reportedly `marked' the bus, Ann Mary, while it was proceeding to Pathampuzha when the driver frightened it by sounding the horn in high-pitc...
2009-10-08 - Keonhjar, India.
A 45-year-old tuskar was electrocuted in the Champua forest range area. The carcass was seized on Wednesday and buried after postmortem. The tusker died after it came in contact with an 11 KV power line that was hanging at a low-level. Assistant conservator of forest (Keonjhar) Trilochan Mohanty said, "The full-grown tusker was killed when it came in contact with 11 KV line. It was supposed to be at 13 feet but was hanging at 10 ft." There were burns on the trunk, left leg and near the left tusk...
2009-10-08 - Gumla, India.
A herd of wild elephants trampled one person to death and created havoc at Kharka village about 13 kms from here on Tuesday afternoon. Jaggu Sahu (65) was working in his paddy field when a huge tusker rushed towards him, lifted him by the trunk and repeatedly smashed him to the ground. The critically injured Sahu was rush to Gumla Sadar hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The herd comprising 22 elephants also damaged standing paddy and other crops at Kharka village and adjoining area ca...
2009-10-08 - Nairobi, Kenya. MUCHIRI KARANJA
Sir Richard Branson is giving a virgin gift for Kenyan jumbos — an Sh18 million underpass on the busy Meru-Nanyuki highway. Virgin Atlantic, his company, donated the money to put up the underpass through the Bill Woodley Mount Kenya Trust. Once complete, the six metre long underpass will be the first of its kind in East Africa, and the second in Africa. The South Africans have one, but it is much smaller than the one we are putting up, said The Bill Woodley Mount Kenya Trust CEO, Susie Weeks.
2009-10-08 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Andrew Meacham
The crowd hunkered in the dark as smells of cotton candy and peanuts filled the air. "And now, please welcome …" the ringmaster intoned over a drumroll before the payoff: "Ben Williams and Anna May!" The curtain opened, and in trotted an elephant carrying a blond man in a loincloth. "The crowd would scream," recalled Michael Christensen, a co-founder of Big Apple Circus, where Mr. Williams and his elephants performed. Mr. Williams was a star, and the act never failed. He was so attached to Ann...
2009-10-07 - Libreville, Gabon.
Police detained two major ivory traffickers in the Central African Republic as a part of a joint operation with animal rights activists, two groups announced Monday. The arrests were the first of their kind in the African nation since it passed a wildlife protection law in the 1980s, said Ofir Drori, director of the Cameroon-based group The Last Great Ape which announced the arrests with the World Wildlife Fund.
2009-10-06 - Chester , United Kingdom.
Chester Zoo is one of the leading zoological collections in Europe with an international reputation for achieving its mission in conservation, research and education. We are currently recruiting for an Asian Elephant Keeper. Applicants should have proven zoo experience of working with large mammals and also have experience with working with operant conditioning in a zoo setting. Ideally candidates will have a higher education qualification in life sciences (min HND) and/or Animal Management Qual...
2009-10-05 - Bhubaneswar, India.
As rest of the country is celebrating Wildlife Week beginning October 2, Orissa today chose to make noises about jumbos which are under an increasing pressure from rapidly growing urbanisation and industrialisation. Like the previous years, the Wildlife Wing today showcased the elephants at Nandankanan Zoo in a bid to spread awareness among the students and visitors in general. A few kilometres away, a 6.3 km nature’s trail was thrown open in the core of Chandaka Elephant Sanctuary, home to 67...
2009-10-05 - Guwahati, India.
Areas bordering Bhutan in Udalguri district now resemble a battle zone amidst an escalating man-elephant conflict, with disturbing consequences for both. A spurt in the conflict has claimed the lives of six elephants this year, with the past one month alone witnessing the death of three elephants. Equally damaging has been the fatality on the human side, with about eight persons trampled by elephants in the past one year.
2009-10-05 - Cape Town, South Africa.
The elephant cow that provoked an outcry from an animal rights group when it was spotted, apparently distressed and in pain, on an Mpumalanga game reserve's live webcam a fortnight ago, has died. The elephant cow died yesterday [Sunday] afternoon of natural causes, i.e. old age, Djuma Private Game Reserve owner Jurie Moolman told Sapa in an e-mail on Monday.
2009-10-05 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The skull of a wild elephant has been found in a canal in a forest at Kummannoor in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district. The Wildlife Department was examining the remains of the jumbo to ascertain whether it died of natural cause or a victim of poaching, a senior Wildlife official said today. "We can arrive at a conclusion only after detailed examination of the skull and a few pieces of bones found in the forest," P Pukazhenthi, Divisional Forest Officer, Konni division, told PTI.
2009-10-05 - Kollam, India. Ignatius Pereira
Just eight of the 695 captive elephants in the State turned up for the ‘Gajadinam’ (Elephant Day) celebrations organised by the Forest Department in five places on Sunday to mark Wildlife Week. The Kerala Elephant Owners’ Federation boycotted the celebrations in protest against the alleged failure of the Forest Department to implement important decisions taken at a meeting between its representatives and Forest Minister Benoy Viswom. The organisation also alleged harassment by the departme...
2009-10-05 - Denver, United States. Kim Posey
Two teenagers made a significant scientific discovery in a creek bed Ken Caryl Ranch. Tyler Kellett and Jake Carstensen found a jaw bone and tusk of a mastodon. The elephant relative could be 50,000 to 150,000 years old. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science excavated the site and volunteers will preserve the fossils. "It's exciting and one of the best things that's ever happened to me,"" said 13 year old Kellett. "It's expensive to do, but I hope we can find more and keep digging," said Carst...
2009-10-04 - Erie, United States. ROBB FREDERICK
The tusks on the giant dino elephant at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center are 10 feet long. Each of the teeth weighs 15 pounds. The feet come up to Scott McKenzie's knee. "This is going to excite the 8-year-old child in everyone who sees it," said McKenzie, the curator of Mercyhurst College's annual Sincak Natural History Exhibit, which opens Monday and continues through Nov. 20.
2009-10-04 - Chicago, United States.
Coming next March to the Field Museum will be a perfectly preserved, 40,000-year-old baby, a little wooly mammoth found on the tundra of northern Siberia by two sons of a reindeer herder. Baby mammoth Lyuba drowned in a mudhole and was soon frozen in the soil which protected her for 40,000 years. Though she's a wooly mammoth, the years eroded the wool, but otherwise she's intact, right down to the food still in her stomach, mostly remnants of mothers milk though that would have soon been changin...
2009-10-04 - Jamshedpur, India. KUMUD JENAMANI
If the state forest department has its way and the injured baby elephant rescued from a Ghatshila village a bit of luck, the latter will soon be reunited with its family. The department has put its officials posted at Rajabasa and Bhurudih jungles in Ghatshila on alert to locate the estranged family members of the calf, which is recovering at Tata Steel Zoological Park in Jamshedpur. Once the herd is spotted, efforts will be made to send the baby elephant back to it.
2009-10-03 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Ferocious killer elephants have been capturing headlines--and public wonder--in Thailand’s local news, but the reasons for the mounting numbers of elephants with an attitude–just why they have become ferocious, is not clear. However, in Thailand’s central Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province, there is an ancient sanctuary founded long ago dedicated solely to provide shelter to calm the spirits of disturbed elephants and to provide them a grounding place to live quietly.
2009-10-03 - Phuket, Thailand. Chutima Sidasathian
PHUKET'S elephant population is growing larger but then, when you're as popular as elephants are, everyone follows the herd. More camps and rides are springing up. The island now has 177 elephants, and all except the youngest one, born on January 1, have microchips under their ears. In theory, that makes them all carefully tabbed so that nothing strange or unforeseen can happen to them. This is a wise move because ivory remains a desirable commodity among poachers.
2009-10-03 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
The government´s plan to mobilize the national army within three months for its anti-poaching drive is likely to face a major set-back, thanks to the severe fund crunch facing the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). The additional financial aid, particularly for anti-poaching work, comes from NGOs and INGOs like the WWF and NTNC. Moreover, even the hattisars (elephant sheds) are understaffed. Usually, three persons -- mauthe, pachuwa and fadhert -- are deployed to loo...
2009-10-03 - Bhubaneshwar, India.
The coastal state may emerge as a beacon of hope for Assam's phandis (traditional elephant catchers), who have been virtually rendered jobless after trapping of wild elephants was banned in the northeastern state in the 1980s. Wildife management experts are thinking of utilizing the expertise of phandis for mitigation of human-elephant conflicts in Orissa.
2009-10-02 - Guwahati, India.
It is more of the “sweet taste” of country liquor than the lush green paddy fields that has resulted in an increase in man-elephant conflicts along the foothills of Himalayas in Udalguri along the border with Bhutan. The Udalguri forest department today requested the district administration to carry out drives on country liquor dens to pre-empt more elephant attacks.
2009-10-02 - Kansas, United States.
Ruth Seeliger will be at the Winfield Public Library for a book signing and program for her newly published book Kansas City Zoo Tales ... a wild 100-year history at 7 p.m. Oct. 15. The public is invited Oct. 15 to learn about some of the colorful residents from the last century: Sally, the cigarette smoking chimp; Casey, the bull elephant; a furry escape artist named Nemo; and many others on this wild ride through 100 years of zoo-keeping history.
2009-10-02 - Taro, Indonesia. Nigel Mason, Safari Park at Taro, Bali
Graphic footage of the first ever elephant birth filmed in Bali, Indonesia. The founder of the Elephant Safari Park at Taro, Bali, Nigel Mason talks us through the experience.
2009-10-02 - Hyderabad, India.
DQE, the AIM listed, India based animation, gaming and live action entertainment group, is pleased to announce the development and production of a live action TV series, 'Toomai The Story of an Elephant Boy'. Adapted from Rudyard Kipling's 'Toomai of the Elephants' and entirely produced by DQE, this 26 episode series has an estimated production budget of EUR7.5 - EUR8.5M, to be raised by pre-sales and scheduled to be concluded shortly.
2009-10-02 - Nyahururu, Kenya.
After four consecutive failed rainy seasons, Kenya is hit by a drought, which experts say is the worst in years. Major reservoirs have dried up across the country and Kenya’s wildlife is also suffering. A thirsty elephant strayed out of the national park and tore through the fence of a local primaty school to find water and got stuck in the mud. Hundreds of residents of Nyahururu gathered to watch the stuck elephant, as it was struggling to free itself.
2009-10-02 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
An elephant fossil of 200,000 years old found in Indonesia in April went on display Tuesday, the Kompas.com news portal reported Wednesday. "The elephant fossil is more than 200,000 years old, the largest and the most complete one found in Indonesia," Head of Indonesian Geology museum Yunus Kusumabrata said. The Jurassic elephant was predicted to have a weight of 10 tons with a length of 5 meters from head to the tail and a height of up to 4 meters from the ground, he said.
2009-10-02 - Denver, United States.
It's a dinosaur-loving kids dream come true - not to mention that of archaeologists. The chance discovery of a rare fossil American Mastodon tusk and partial jawbone with teeth by youngsters in Ken-Caryl hasis creatinga major scientific stir. Mastodon fossils, unlike wooly mammoths, are a rare find in Colorado. According to an account on the Ken-Caryl Ranch. org, Web site 13-year-old friends Jake Carstensen and Tyler Kellett were exploring June 1 after a period of heavy rain along a stream swoll...
2009-10-02 - Rourkela, India.
Elephant poaching is on the rise in Bonai forest division of Orissa's Sundargarh district where two wild tuskers were killed within a week. Forest officials said an elephant was found dead in dense area of Barsuan forest range yesterday and its tusks were found missing. A similar incident was reported last week in Tamara range of the forest division. B N Samal, ranger of Barsuan forest range said an inter-state gang of poachers was involved in the incidents. All pre...
2009-10-02 - Lanchang, Malaysia. SIMON KHOO
Visitors to the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah near here will find better facilities once upgrading works on the premises is completed. The centre’s deputy chief Ahmad Kamsul Alias said the project cost about RM3mil. “Work started late last year and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
2009-10-02 - Pretoria, South Africa.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare says it has noticed an alarming increase in elephant poaching since the sale of about 100 tons of stockpiled ivory. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species sanctioned the once-off sale in October last year but IFAW says it opened the flood gates for poachers. The stockpiled ivory from four African countries, including South Africa, was sold for R114 million.
2009-10-02 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
If you've never wanted to take a peek into the lives of elephants, here is your chance – and you don't even have to put up with the smell. With his big ears and long trunk, Ganesh Vijay is a bit bigger than most babies, but is just as fascinating, and you can now spy on his every move. Ganesh is only the third elephant birth at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire. The zoo has set up a webcam pointing towards the outdoor elephant enclosure, and readers can view the live video link on the Mercury's w...
2009-10-02 - Orlando, United States.
One of the Magic Kingdom's most beloved attractions, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, is completely re-imagined when the circus comes to town. Guests are invited to step into the big top and join the circus before their magical flight over Fantasyland. The attraction will be part of the expanded Fantasyland that was announced at the D23 Expo on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo.
2009-10-01 - Dumka, India.
Dumka forest department may have been successful in rescuing tame circus elephants, but has miserably failed to control increasing man-animal conflict in tribal villages. The threat of elephant attacks increase in this time, when farmers harvest their paddy and brew hadiya to celebrate several festivals. Vairabpur village under Jama block in Dumka recently was attacked by a heard of 17 elephants who destroyed standing crops, stored foodgrain and mud houses.
2009-10-01 - Pretoria, South Africa.
The distressed elephant cow that provoked an outcry from an animal rights group when it was spotted on an Mpumalanga game reserve's live webcam last week has been granted a temporary reprieve. "She is now keeping up with the herd and will not be euthanised unless she falls behind," Djuma Private Game Reserve owner Jurie Moolman told Sapa by phone this morning.
2009-10-01 - Vienna, United States. Diana Lambdin Meyer
When Alana Feld turned 7, her backyard birthday party included a live elephant and a one-horned "unicorn" goat, followed by a field trip for all of her classmates to see the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Her sisters, Nicole and Juliette, recall similar birthday extravaganzas featuring trips to see Disney On Ice with all the students in their school, personal audiences with Disney character actors and skating practice with Olympic silver medalist Linda Fratianne.
2009-10-01 - Jamshedpur, India. Kumud Jenamani
The forest department is pinning hope on ayurvedic medicines to cure the injured baby elephant that was rescued from Rajabasa jungle in Ghatshila on Monday. The calf’s condition has deteriorated. A.T. Mishra, the divisional forest officer (DFO) of Dhalbhum, said: “We are looking for an ayurvedic expert who can treat the baby elephant.” He added that they were not very optimistic about the recovery of the calf, which had fever yesterday and stopped eating. It was also suffering from diarrho...
2009-10-01 - Buffalo, United States. Mark Perrotte
Cancer may have killed one of the Buffalo zoo's most beloved creatures. Buki the elephant died at the age of 52. Pathologists discovered a large, cancerous tumor in her abdominal area. Officials said a full necropsy report will not be completed for a few weeks. Buki had been at the zoo for more than 20 years.
2009-09-30 - Cape Town, South Africa.
The elephant cow that provoked an uproar from an animal rights group when it was spotted on an Mpumalanga game reserve's live webcam last week, distressed and in pain, was found on Wednesday by rangers in the Sabi Sand Reserve. A decision was taken to euthanise the animal, Djuma Private Game Reserve owner Jurie Moolman told Sapa in an e-mail. Djuma is one of more than a dozen lodges and reserves that make up the 65 000 hectare Sabi Sand Reserve, which shares an unfenced 50km border with the Krug...
2009-09-30 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan authorities have seized almost 700kg of ivory worth millions of dollars in a night-time raid at the country's main airport. The Kenya Wildlife Service says a similar amount was intercepted in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Both consignments - with a potential value of more than $1.5m (£938,000) - were reportedly headed for Thailand. The BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says poaching is on the increase mostly owing to high demand for ivory in Asia. Our reporter says it is not yet cl...
2009-09-29 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham
For several hours Monday, Jothi and Surapa hovered over a lifeless Buki in the Buffalo Zoo's Elephant House. The younger Asian elephants nudged the matriarch's head and brushed her body with their trunks, presumably in the hope that their constant companion of more than two decades might awaken and rise up from the padded floor.
2009-09-29 - Tirupati, India.
Six devotees were injured after a baby elephant ran amok at a temple procession in the southern Indian state of Andra Pradesh on Monday. The authorities claimed that the young pachyderm became startled when bells began clanging loudly during a festival at the Tirupati Balaji temple. Chaos ensued as the assembled crowds scrambled to get out of the charging animal’s way.
2009-09-29 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Today I met up with a group of elephants on the outskirts of Bangkok that have been on a 250km trek through Thailand organised by Greenpeace, tcktcktck and a number of wildlife, animal welfare and human rights organisations. The elephant caravan has travelled from Khao Yai National Park to Bangkok arriving in time for the climate negotiations.
2009-09-29 - Mysore, India.
The 10-day Dasara celebrations ended here on Monday with a march by caparisoned elephants and tableaux showcasing the cultural diversity of the State. The culmination of the procession at Bannimantap Grounds signalled the conclusion of the Naada Habba , which has emerged as the principal face of tourism promotion in Karnataka. The main attraction of Monday’s festivities was the caparisoned elephants which led the procession, followed by folk dancers and musicians. The 52-year-old elephant Bala...
2009-09-28 - Albuquerque, United States. Bill Diven
The 300-plus pound baby elephant born Sept. 2 at the Rio Grande Zoo will be called Daizy. After a contest and public vote Daizy with a Z suits the pachyderm best. Her mother is Rozie, also with a Z. Zoo patrons paid $1 each to have their votes counted. The money will go toward elephant conservation. Most days Daizy and Rozie can be seen from 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m. Zoo officials also hinted there may be a baby shower coming up.
2009-09-28 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
An elephant in distress at a well-known game reserve has caused an uproar with the group Animal Rights Africa (ARA) demanding on Monday that the reserve's owners help the animal. According to the group, the elephant had suffered for more than two weeks with what appeared to be birth complications. They said that on complaining that nothing was being done to help the elephant, they were told by Sabi Sands that their policy was not to intervene in natural processes. ARA spokesperson Steve Smit sai...
2009-09-28 - Bamunjuli, India.
In view of the recent clashes between man and elephant in Assam particularly in Udalguri and Sonitpur district,which had resulted deaths of four wild elephants and five people so far,WWF (World Wildlife Fund ) authority along with a few NGOs organized an awareness camp at Bamunjuli tea garden, near Indo-Bhutan areas on September 21 at 2pm.With the focal theme aware “ Problems and sufferings : an open discussion” ,the awareness camp had been organized by WWF India North Bank Landscape Prog...
2009-09-28 - Buffalo, United States.
Buki, one of the Buffalo Zoo’s beloved Asian elephants, has died at the age of 52. A long-time resident, she was a favorite among visitors and a special friend to Zoo staff. Keepers were present when she passed away at 5:40 a.m. on Monday, September 28, 2009.
2009-09-28 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
At least two people were killed and hectares of oil palm plantations destroyed when a herd of wild elephants went on a rampage through a resettlement area in eastern Sumatra over the weekend, a media report said Monday.
2009-09-28 - Mysore, India. Eugene Moodubelle
Dasara is the festival that is being celebrated throughout India as the celebration of the victory of the good over the evil. However, the mode and the fervour of the celebration differ to a great extent across the country. In different parts of India, Dasara has been celebrated in different ways. In some regions it has been celebrated as Navratri, some observe it as Vijayadashami, in Bengal and Eastern India, devotees celebrate it as Durga Puja and in other regions, especially in Karnataka it i...
2009-09-28 - Nairobi, Kenya. Lucy Thornton
A British holidaymaker has told how he survived a terrifying elephant attack by pretending he was dead as the giant beast gored him with its tusks. Jonathan, who was camping in the bush during a five week trip to Kenya, was forced to run for his life when the elephant came charging out of the undergrowth. He said: “It was going at full speed and making a loud trumpeting noise. I turned and ran but I could hear his feet thumping behind me, it was a thundering sound.
2009-09-27 - Lampang, Thailand.
It's very sad to know that " Loong min" has about three day left staying at Thai Elephant Conservation Center. His eyes looked very sad that he told me that he has to retire from his job after devotedly works with elephant over 42 years. I remember his last elephant was Pang Mee who died many year ago and Loong Min was assigned to work as the baby elephant trainer. He trained many elephant in the past such as Nau Oon, Areena, Poopan, Ai and many more. I think If I were him I could not make my mi...
2009-09-27 - Way Kambas, Indonesia. Zack Petersen
Indonesia walks a fine line when it comes to conservation and ecotourism. Dexter is four months old and weighs nearly 130 kilograms, he’s got eyelashes as thick as paint brushes and if you feed him sugar cane by hand he’ll be your best friend. Tika, who handles both Dexter and his mother, waves you closer to the four-meter-tall matron and her playful calf. Dexter swings his trunk and paws the ground like a bull. But he’s shy, he hides behind those lashes and the hanging belly of his mother...
2009-09-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
One of the suspects, Dr Dangolla in the case of a three- month- old baby elephant who died while being held captive in Balangoda, is alleged to have fled the country, environmentalists charged. "After the cub elephant was found in a room of a property belonging to the Deputy Chairman of the Balangoda Urban Council, the main suspect in the case, Richard Gonakumbura, father- in- law of the deputy chairman of the Balangoda Urban Council pleaded guilty at the Balangoda magistrate's court.
2009-09-27 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Since April, at least 17 elephants have died in Orissa, boasting of the largest jumbo population in the eastern region. Their number has risen and so has their misery. In the last 10 years, approximately 400 pachyderms have died in Orissa. The decade also marked an upswing in mineral and industrial activities. Besides encroaching habitats of elephants through increasing mining as well as urbanisation activities, large-scale infrastructure such as road network and railway lines have led to fragme...
2009-09-26 - Columbus, United States. KATHY LYNN GRAY
Beco the elephant will be 6 months old Sunday, and his popularity has diminished little since his surprising birth at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on March 27. Instead of the usual middle-of-the-night delivery, mother Phoebe dropped Beco during the day in the outdoor elephant yard before a few lucky visitors.
2009-09-26 - Mysore, India.
Unlike previous years when the Jumboo Savari was peppered by cultural troupes from Karnataka, this time, performing artistes from Tamil Nadu and Kerala will spice up the programme along with tableux of displaying military and technological expertise. The city is getting ready for the D-day amidst the rain holding out a threat to Monday's celebrations. Folk artistes have arrived to cheer up Mysore, tableaux are getting finishing touches to portray Karnataka's vibrant art and culture and the polic...
2009-09-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nadira Gunatilleke
Veterinary doctors of Sri Lanka have identified two elephants that were infected by rabies. This is the first time the decease was identified among elephants, said Sri Lanka's virology research institute chief Ochala Wimalaratna addressing a seminar held yesterday. The infected elephants are tamed ones that live in Colombo municipal limits, she said.
2009-09-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
For the first time in the Sri Lankan film industry, the first screening of the movie “Bindu” directed by award winning filmmaking duo Somaratne Dissanayake and Renuka Balasuriya’s was free of charge in all cinema halls island wide. The movie “Bindu” was released in Lankan cinema halls yesterday (23) and the show was free to all movie lovers for the first time in the Sri Lankan film industry. Large crowds were seen lined up at the cinema’s yesterday to watch the movie.
2009-09-26 - Lampung, Indonesia.
Villagers around the Way Kambas National Park (TNWK) in Lampung have been living in a state of fear over the past few days due raging wild elephants destroying their crops. The herd of around 50 elephants has also damaged the residents' huts and chicken coops. Villagers are also gripped with fear because the elephants are no longer afraid of torches and bamboo drums, which were successfully used in the past to drive them away.
2009-09-25 - Borobudur, Indonesia.
Two girls were injured when they fell off elephants jostling to quench their thirst on Friday morning at the north wing of the Borobudur Temple Tourism Park in Magelang, Central Java. Agus H Canny, marketing director of PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, operator of the internationally renowned park, confirmed that Ari Setyorini, 10, and Rahma Lila Utami, 11, fell off the backs of the elephants at around 10:30 a.m. on Friday. He said Ari fainted before reaching the hospital.
2009-09-25 - Kolmården, Sweden. Dan Koehl
After three years of intensive work the database now include 5002 elephants (including 471 breeding cows and 185 breeding bulls) , from 1400 location facilities from 100 countries all over the world which is submitted in the database, ranging from year 802 until now. Thanks to Ryan Easley from USA who has made a great job updating american elephants!
2009-09-25 - Calgary, Canada.
The Calgary Zoo says the statue of an elephant that's the focus of criticism by a religious group is meant to symbolize the widely revered culture behind the Asian elephant exhibit. Spokesman Graham Newton tells the Morning News on QR77 says the statue will not come down. "The connection is with the Asian culture," Newton said. "Much like the bald eagle stands for the American culture." He says the attraction has been the source of a handful of complaints but most people love it.
2009-09-25 - Chitwan, Nepal.
A Chinese tourist died after being attacked by an elephant at Sauraha, near Chitwan National Park on Friday. Wang Heung was attacked by Laxmikali, belonging to Holiday Safari, after he returned from an elephant safari. The elephant suddenly attacked him while he tried to feed fruits to it. The elephant pulled him down and crushed with a leg. Wang died on the way to Bharatpur Medical College hospital, according to the police. Wang was accompanied by his wife
2009-09-24 - Varanasi, India.
Police claimed to have busted a gang of ivory smugglers in the temple town by arresting five persons from Narottampur Colony and seizing ivory worth over Rs one crore. "We have arrested five persons last night and recovered about 100 kg smuggled ivory from a house in the Narottampur area," Vijay Bhushan, city SP, told PTI. He said that three machines used in the nefarious trade have also been seized from the house.
2009-09-23 - Pattaya, Thailand.
Gardens was informed of the birth of a baby elephant, born at the gardens the previous evening around 11.45pm. This was excellent news for the venue and an excellent edition to their existing troop of 43 elephants. In the early hours of the 4th of September, the Director of the Nongnooch Tropical. The young elephant’s mother, 16 year old Phang Sombat, has been entertaining the crowds at the Tropical Gardens for many years showing off her skills with bowling, basketball and carrying visitors ar...
2009-09-23 - Los Angeles, United States.
An actor who is suing to stop construction of an elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo can move forward with his lawsuit against the city.A notification was posted on the 2nd District Court of Appeal's Web site Wednesday, saying that a 2008 Superior Court ruling dismissing the case was "reversed in full." Actor and animal rights activist Robert Culp and real estate agent Aaron Leider filed a lawsuit in August 2007, alleging that the zoo did not treat the elephants well and the planned l...
2009-09-23 - Washington, United States. LEE DYE
If you were as clever as an elephant you could communicate with your friends without a cell phone or iPod or any other fancy electronic gadget. All you would have to do is speak, quite loudly as it turns out, and the earth would carry your message through seismic waves across considerable distances.
2009-09-23 - Albuquerque, United States. David Romero
Shes cute. Shes just three weeks old. Shes 320 pounds. And, zoo officials hope shell bring in a lot more visitors and money. The Rio Grande Zoos baby Asian elephant made her public debut on Tuesday after spending the first weeks of her life bonding with her mother. She already brought in excited crowds. "Just a baby elephant running around with that little trunk flopping around like a wet noodle, its pretty cute," said Rick Janser, the director of the Albuquerque Biological Park.
2009-09-23 - Augusta, United States. Rosemary Herbert
Mention the 1836 wreck, off of Vinalhaven, of the Royal Tar to some of Maine's islanders and you'll hear some very amazing tales. Some will tell you about rumors of an elephant arriving on the beach, or serpents seen slithering on various islands way back when. You might even be told that there are some places where people still won't fish, ever since the Royal Tar's boiler blew and the ship went up in flames.
2009-09-22 - Dhenkanal, India.
A tusker was found dead in Dandeibereni forest in Gondia block under Sadangi forest range today. After being informed, a team of Forest officials headed by DFO M M Panigrahi visited to the spot and sent the carcass for post-mortem. A forest guard first spotted the carcass of the 12-year-old tusker in the forest. DFO Panigrahi said the elephant is suspected to have died after consuming pesticide-laced crops. Farmers have applied pesticides on crops in the region.
2009-09-22 - Columbia, United States. Ben, Columbia University
Today is Elephant Appreciation Day, which we learned is a fairly young holiday created in 1996 by a father who was disproportionately elated by the paperweight of elephants parading that his daughter gave him as a gift. Doesn’t he know that paperweights are just about the most thoughtless and empty gifts one can give? At any rate, it spawned a great holiday so we can’t really complain. In celebration, we’ve rounded up these 9 Unforgettable Elephants in Pop Culture.
2009-09-22 - El Paso, United States.
Firefighters used special inflating airbags to lift the 7,700-pound elephant Savannah when she could not stand on her own Monday morning at the El Paso Zoo. The rescue team was called after Savannah, who is 57 years old, was unable to stand up after lying on an incline, zoo officials said. Medical staff are monitoring the Asian elephant and gave her anti-inflammatory medicine.
2009-09-22 - Stromsburg, United States. Adam Lefkoe
It is the job of archaeologists to uncover and study ancient artifacts. Some search for years for the ultimate discovery. It did not take that long for one Central Nebraska man. But he is not an archaeologist, he is a mechanic. This guy is pretty excited and he has every reason to be. He was working in a sand and gravel pit when he came across a piece of history. It is one that dates back thousands of years.
2009-09-22 - Waverly, United States. MATT HICKS
The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center is all about making history come alive, and on Monday co-founder Ted Keir did just that with his presentation of the Newton Mammoth that was excavated near Wyalusing in the mid-1980s. Walter and Jane Newton owned the 58-acre impoundment that housed Spring Lake, and had plans to make it a more suitable recreational area by deepening the body of water and installing an island in the middle for waterfowl propagation, said Keir. When work began in 1983, ho...
2009-09-22 - Suri, India.
A herd of elephants damaged a house at a village in Birbhum on Sunday night. Though foresters tried their best to drive the herd away, the pachyderms played hide-and-seek with them all night. The incident occurred in Patalpur village under Rajnagar police station. Rabin Chatterjee, a forest department official, said: "The herd broke into the village from a forest in Jharkhand.
2009-09-22 - Bristol, United Kingdom.
Over 1,000 paleontologists from all over the world will arrive in Bristol, UK, this week to attend an international conference being held at the University of Bristol. Feathered dinosaurs, fossil giraffes, and the fossil bones of mammoth, bison and woolly rhinos from the bottom of the North Sea, are but a few of the hundreds of exciting new finds that will be revealed during the four days of the conference (23-26 September).
2009-09-21 - Bhagalpur, India.
Rules have been framed to protect animals, but for four elephants caught in transit here, their enforcement could well lead to their deaths. The elephants, all belonging to a circus, have been refusing food for the past 40-odd hours — since yesterday when forest department officials seized three trucks in which they were being ferried from Bihar’s Bhagalpur to Burdwan in Bengal.
2009-09-21 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
An elephant keeper prepares to be splashed as he baths a elephant in a river at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Center, 100 kilometers west of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2009. The center was set up in 1974 to help with locating, subduing and translocating elephant from areas where their habits have been encroached by human development.
2009-09-21 - Guwahati, India.
A two-member committee has suggested adoption of a systematic approach in areas prone to human-elephant conflicts to determine the efficacy of deterrent crops. The committee comprising WWF-India official Amit Sharma and B.S. Bonal of the state forest department was set up by Dispur on July 18 last year. It submitted the report recently. A systematic approach should be adopted in conflict-prone areas to determine the efficacy of deterrent crops. The deterrent crops popularly used in Assam should ...
2009-09-21 - York, United States. Kate Burke
Seth Staehr knows what it is, it’s a tooth, a grinding tooth, a worn, ancient tooth. But he still can’t believe it. Staehr works for Overland Sand & Gravel. Ordinarily he’s at the Stromsburg location, where he works as a mechanic. When he’s needed, however, he runs the payloader at different locations. In May, he was at the new Phelps pit, a few miles south of the I-80 Waco interchange.
2009-09-21 - Nairobi, Kenya.
More than sixty African elephants and hundreds of other animals have died so far in Kenya amid the worst drought to hit the country in over a decade, conservationists announced. So-called "long rains" that usually fall in March and April failed this year, and some areas have now been in drought conditions for almost three years. No one knows why the drought has been so bad. Many attribute it to global warming, but others say it is simply part of the long-term weather cycle in East Africa.
2009-09-21 - Mainichi, Japan.
Inokashira Park Zoo celebrated on Monday the 55th anniversary of the arrival of Hanako, believed to be the oldest Asian elephant in Japan. Hanako, believed to be 62 years old, first came to Ueno Zoo in September 1949 from Bangkok. As a member of a traveling zoo, Hanako traveled across Japan over the following six-month period with other animals including Indira, another elephant presented by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
2009-09-20 - Nairobi, Kenya.
One of the worst droughts in living memory is taking its toll on both people and wildlife in Kenya. Clashes over land and water lead to the deaths of 32 people last week, with community leaders warning there will be more violence. Meanwhile, in Samburu district at least 24 elephants have either starved or been shot by poachers looking for food. Peter Greste reports from northern Kenya.
2009-09-20 - New Bedford, United States.
You may have seen the story recently about a 48-year-old elephant in Thailand named Motala who lost part of her leg ten years ago to a landmine. She has just become the second elephant in the world fitted with an artificial leg to help her walk. To learn more about her and all things elephant, we're lucky to have on Dr. Bill Langbauer a man who really knows these creatures. He studied African elephants in the wild for many years and now as the director of the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford M...
2009-09-20 - Tsavo, Kenya. Iregi Mwenja
Yesterday I went to Kedong outside Tsavo West to witness another victim of the drought - a baby elephant being rescued. However, though calls were made to relevant authorities, no one turned up to help! This morning the sad news come, drought has claimed yet another life of an endangered species.
2009-09-20 - Karachi, Pakistan. Irfan Aligi
The City District Government Karachi’s (CDGK) Community Development Department (CDD) has failed to ensure timely placement of four baby elephants at their destined venues for the amusement of citizens. It is yet uncertain that these baby elephants would be shifted to Karachi Zoological Garden (KZG) , commonly known as Gandhi Garden, in the next three months.
2009-09-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. L.B.Senaratne
The elephant, whether captive or wild, evokes much interest, debate and controversy in Sri Lanka. On the one hand there is a cry among those who organize processions and religious pageants that there are not enough captive elephants to go around during the Perahera seasons, especially during the period of July to September. On the other hand, farmers and rural people who live in areas close to forests and rely on agriculture as the mainstay of their livelihoods complain of elephant attacks not o...
2009-09-19 - Dumka, India. Rajesh Kumar Pandey
The condition of four elephants of Ajanta Circus is fast deteriorating because they have been forced to remain in standing position since Friday. Forest officials had seized three trucks carrying six elephants, nine dogs and two horses on Friday because the truck drivers had failed to relevant documents required to carry the animals to Burdwan (West Bengal) from Bhagalpur. The drivers were The drivers were arrested, but the mahouts managed to escape.
2009-09-19 - Kollam, India.
Almost two and a half years after he was born in captive at Puthenkulam near here, the elephant calf Sivan was weaned from his mother Lakshmi on Friday evening. Captive elephant management expert, B. Aravind who supervised the weaning process said that it was a mammoth task. Puthekulam Shaji who owns Lakshmi was not aware of the pregnancy when he purchased her from Bihar late in 2006. Sivan was born on April 2, 2007 and till Friday he was always besides his mother and her milk, his staple diet.
2009-09-19 - Bankura, India.
An 18-day-old elephant calf died after it fell into a small waterbody while roaming with its herd at Chanchor forest in the Bankadaha forest range in Bankura early on Friday. The calf was born in this forest after the herd about 25 elephants wandered from the Dalma forests a few weeks ago. The elephants come into the South Bengal forests in search of food during this time of the year, their breeding season.
2009-09-18 - Odawara, Japan.
Japan's oldest Asian elephant died on Thursday at the estimated age of 62, officials at a small zoo here announced. An employee at Odawara Zoo found the female elephant, dubbed "Umeko," lying on the floor of the elephant house on Thursday morning. Umeko came to the zoo from Thailand at the estimated age of 3 in October 1950, to mark the Kodomo Bunka Hakurankai (Children's Cultural Exposition) hosted by the city of Odawara.
2009-09-18 - Edmonton, Canada. Paula Simons and Gordon Kent
Clayton Ruby is famous for getting the wrongfully convicted out of jail. Now, the high-profile criminal lawyer will work to free a different kind of jailbird Lucy the elephant from a different kind of cage: Edmonton's Valley Zoo. "I have been retained to look into the Lucy problem and find a solution," Ruby confirmed yesterday. Ruby's involvement in the case was revealed at a news conference in Edmonton yesterday where former TV game-show host Bob Barker called for Lucy to be sent to a Californi...
2009-09-18 - Livingstone, Zambia.
LIVINSGTONE resident of Simonga village was on Wednesday morning trampled to death by a wounded elephant. In an interview, Mosi-O-Tunya National Park area warden Stephen Malungo said the elephant, which had since been gunned down by Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) officials, had seven to eight bullet wounds on its back. I can confirm that a 33-year-old Chrispin Matali, Simonga resident, was yesterday (Wednesday) killed around 07:30 hours by an elephant as he was heading home from his work place...
2009-09-18 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Captive elephants, used by the forest officials to supervise the area, enjoyed a royal treat at the Jaldapara Sanctuary in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. The forest officials use elephants to supervise the area since most of the sanctuary is inaccessible by vehicle or on foot. Every year on the occasion of Vishwakarma puja, the jumbos get the much-awaited annual holiday.
2009-09-17 - Haridwar, India.
A cow elephant was gored to death by a tusker in Dhaulkhand range of Rajaji Park in Uttarakhand, officials said today. The incident took place yesterday after the two elephants fought over mating and the pachyderm pierced its tusks into the stomach of cow elephant resulting in latter's death. The postmortem report confirmed its death as a result of a violent struggle, they said.
2009-09-17 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Three elephant shots from Chester zoo, hope you like, btw not tha same elephant on all 3.
2009-09-17 - Museumplein, Netherlands.
From September onwards, a hundred full size art elephants will swarm the streets of Amsterdam: together, they form a remarkable open-air exhibition, the Elephant Parade, that is dedicated to the Asian elephant. After the successful editions in Rotterdam and Antwerp, the exhibition in Amsterdam will be the largest so far. The Elephant Parade is founded by father and son Mike and Marc Spits. With their project, they aim to raise attention for the Asian elephant, that is threatened with extinction.
2009-09-16 - Salt Lake City, United States.
Utah’s Hogle Zoo's animal management is announcing the immediate opening of a full time animal care position, as a relief keeper in our Elephant Encounter area. The Zoo is seeking qualified applicants for this keeper position. This is a full time, year-round position and includes responsibility for the care and husbandry of the resident pachyderms, as well as other animals as assigned. This is an exciting opportunity to work in a newly renovated facility.
2009-09-16 - Seoul, South Korea.
South Korean police, in one of their more heavyweight cases, are investigating whether a zoo elephant threw a stone at a woman visitor. The woman surnamed Kim told police she was visiting the zoo at the Children?s Grand Park in southeast Seoul on Monday when she noticed an elephant picking up a stone with its trunk. After she turned away from 35-year-old Taesani, she was hit on the back of her head by a large stone, several newspapers reported. She reported the incident to police in Gwang...
2009-09-16 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Long seven years after the Central government requested Odisha government to put in place a perspective plan to reduce human-elephant conflict, the state has finally announced to finalise a plan for proper management of elephant corridors. The state government on Tuesday said that it would prepare an elephant corridor management plan in the next six months. The decision was taken at a high level meeting that was chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
2009-09-15 - Tulsa, United States.
The Tulsa Zoo is seeking qualified applicants for a Large Mammal zookeeper position, specifically will work in our Pachyderm area ( Asian elephants & white rhinos) and possibly swing into the African ungulate area. Minimum requirements include: graduation from an accredited college or university with an associate’s degree in biology, zoology, wildlife management or related field & two (2) years of experience in the care of large mammals; preferable experience with elephants, rhinos, and ungula...
2009-09-15 - Salt Lake City, United States.
The newest resident of Utah's Hogle Zoo finally has a name. The zoo says the clear winner for its newly arrived baby elephant is Zuri, which means adorable or beautiful. Nearly 10,000 ballots were cast and among five choices, Zuri picked up nearly half the votes. The zoo welcomed the African elephant calf on Aug. 10. She is the first baby for 23-year-old Christie and the first African elephant born at the zoo. Zuri made her first appearance before the general public on Friday.
2009-09-15 - New Delhi, India.
Herds of wild elephants straying from shrinking habitats in Orissa and Jharkhand have killed at least 30 people in Chhattisgarh so far this year. "This year at least 30 persons have been trampled by jumbos who come from Orissa and Jharkhand where their habitat has shrunk," N K Bhagat, Chattisgarh chief wildlife warden said.
2009-09-15 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
The 26th Annual Conference of EAZA will be hosted by Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark from 15 to 19 September 2009. The Conference will take place at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel located near the city centre and close to many of Copenhagen's attractions. Coordinators, however, will already have their first meetings earlier that day. After two conference days, a much-needed break in the full conference programme will be offered on Thursday (late) afternoon and evening, when all participants will b...
2009-09-14 - Vientiane, Laos.
The Laotian government has approved a plan to develop a lignite mine and built a power plant in the Hongsa Valley, an area near the habitat of an important elephant population. Environmentalists and experts fear this will drive the pachyderms closer to extinction. A new lignite mine and a power station are slated for construction in Hongsa Valley (Sayaboury province), a natural habitat for elephants that is irreplaceable.
2009-09-14 - Edmonton, Canada.
An independant veterinarian has told the city that moving Lucy the elephant from the Valley Zoo could killer her. Her current respiratory problems preclude any thought of moving her and in fact it would (be) life threatening for her to be placed under that kind of stress, Dr. James Oosterhuis said in a letter to the Edmonton Valley Zoo, sent after an examination of Lucy. It is my opinion that it would be unethical for any veterinarian to recommend moving her and in fact would be malpractice to s...
The Edmonton Valley Zoo is holding a news conference Monday to provide an update on the health of Lucy, the elephant. The update will include the results of a recent examination of Lucy and the opinions of a third-party specialist. Community Services General Manager Linda Cochrane and Valley Zoo veterinarian Dr. Milton Ness will be there. Actor William Shatner recently added his voice to the many calls for Lucy to be retired to a sanctuary.
2009-09-14 - Sonitpur, India.
Battling for life for about a month with two bullet wounds in his head, a wild tusker succumbed to his injuries in Sonitpur district on Sunday afternoon. The carcass was spotted in a paddy field adjacent to the Behali Reserve Forest, about 180 km from Guwahati. A senior forest official said the elephant was about 20 years old and 6.5 ft tall.
2009-09-14 - Windhoek, Namibia. Petronella Sibeene
In a tragic turn of events, a man was attacked and killed in a seemingly unprovoked attack by an elephant bull in the Khorixas area last Thursday night. The deceased, identified as Ermansred Eiseb aged 31, was attacked on Thursday evening as he walked from one village to the next, Ministry of Environment and Tourism Deputy Director of Parks and Wildlife Management, Colgar Sikopo, confirmed to New Era yesterday. Parks and Wildlife Management staff in the area went on a search for the animal on Fr...
2009-09-14 - Lusaka, Zambia.
The Zambian government is pressing to get back 6.5 tonnes of ivory from the Nairobi based Lusaka Agreement Task Force after the illegal trophies were confiscated in Singapore over eight years ago. Zambia’s minister of tourism, environment and natural resources Catherine Namugala has written to the Lusaka Agreement Task Force demanding the retrieval of the ivory that is believed to have been extracted from elephants poached in Zambia, taken to Malawi and subsequently transported to Singapore.
2009-09-14 - Haridwar, India.
An elephant trampled to death one person and injured another at Chiriapur forest range today, official sources said here. The incident took place early today when the elephant attacked two men sleeping on the loft in a paddy field at Kategarh village. While Ikmal Singh (35) died on the spot after being hit against the ground repeatedly by the pachyderm, Sandip (36) managed to run from the spot. However, he received back injuries in the attack.
A male elephant without tusks was today found dead in Khanpur forest range near the Rajaji Park here, a forest official said. The body of 40-year-old pachyderm was noticed by a priest of a temple at Dhaluwala area who informed the forest officials, said Divisional Forest Officer of Haridwar R B Pathak. Pathak ruled out poaching behind the death of the particular breed of elephants called"Makhna"which does not have tusks.
2009-09-13 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Bangkok and Tokyo will hold talks over a plan to send a pair of Thai elephants to a state zoo in Osaka, Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungruang said yesterday. The minister, who is in Japan to promote trade cooperation, said the jumbos would be a "present to mark close trade ties between the two countries". Japan had expressed strong interest in raising a pair of Thai elephants at its zoo in Osaka, which already has one Thai jumbo, Mr Charnchai said ahead of a meeting with the Japanese environ...
2009-09-13 - Buffalo, United States. Maki Becker
Buki, the oldest Asian elephant at the Buffalo Zoo, may be in her last days. Over the last couple of weeks, zookeepers have become alarmed at the 52- year-old pachyderm’s sudden loss of weight and appetite. Blood tests have shown her kidneys are not functioning properly, although she’s not in kidney failure. This could be the beginning of the end, zoo President Donna M. Fernandes reported Saturday. But she said all hope is not lost. We’re hoping she’ll rally, she said.
2009-09-12 - Washington, United States.
Like humans, the living elephants are unusual among mammals in being sparsely covered with hair. Relative to extant elephants, the extinct woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, had a dense hair cover and extremely long hair, which likely were adaptations to its subarctic habitat. The fibroblast growth factor 5 (FGF5) gene affects hair length in a diverse set of mammalian species. Mutations in FGF5 lead to recessive long hair phenotypes in mice, dogs, and cats; and the gene has been implicated i...
2009-09-12 - Guruvayur, India.
The efforts of Guruvayur Devaswom Managing Committee in implementing Scientific Elephant Management practices at Punnathur Aanakotta is an exemplary initiative, said Devaswom Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran here on Friday. The minister was inaugurating the newly- built Anakottil and launching the training curriculum and functional literacy programme for mahouts at the Punnathur Aanakkotta. The managing committee has done a laudable work in taking care of devaswom-owned jumbos, he added.
2009-09-11 - Hollowood, United States. Richard Williams
The movie sound stages of London and Hollywood are a long way from Karapur, Mysore City, India where Sabu Dastagir was born on 27 January 1924. Sabu’s father, who was in the service of the Maharajah of Mysore, died when Sabu was a small child. His uncle, Shaik Hussaim, also worked for the Maharajah as the caretaker for his herd of two hundred elephants. He hired young Sabu to help care for the herd, thus making his later screen persona as The Elephant Boy a legitimate reality as opposed to hyp...
2009-09-10 - Tsavo East National Park, Kenya.
Kenyan villagers near the Tsavo East National Park in the south of the country have eaten five elephants killed when they were hit by a train, Senior Warden Bernard Koruta said. It happened so fast and sometimes it becomes impossible to stop the feasting, Koruta said today in a phone interview from the park. The two adult elephants and three calves were hit by the train on Sept. 8, Koruta said. It was a family herd of elephants, he said
2009-09-10 - Chester, United Kingdom.
HOW do you manage when your next door neighbour weighs five tonnes? Chester Zoo has the anser. And how do you stop your over-sized neighbour 'rampaging' through what is effectively your back garden? Chester Zoo has come up with the answers to help people who live side by side with Asian elephants. Living with Elephants is a practical handbook for the people of Assam, India, and has been launched in an effort to help both humans and elephants co-exist peacefully. The aim of the guide, which inclu...
2009-09-10 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
An elephant was found dead on Tuesday night in Dong Nai, the sixth such case in the last four months in the southern Vietnamese province, underlining the authorities’ failure to protect its elephant population.
2009-09-10 - Kampala, Uganda. Gerald Tenywa
EACH week, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has to rescue an elephant or lion from a wire snare.The snares, set up by poachers, are fixed on fences or trees to trap the animals. According to Sam Mwandha, UWA's director of conservation, poaching is common in Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls national parks. "We have been called every week to remove snares from animals in the two parks," he said.
2009-09-10 - Hamburg, Germany.
It hardly counts as one of the athletes of the animal kingdom, but even an elephant can have its agile moments. In this case, several tons of jumbo is balanced on a 4-in wide ledge to take a tidbit. The peckish pachyderm was in its enclosure when it spotted a toddler in his father's arms holding out a vegetable stalk.
2009-09-10 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will propose to the government long-term solutions to roaming elephants, hoping to receive support on City Hall’s Chang Yim (Smiling Elephant) Project, according to Deputy Bangkok Governor Teerachon Manomaiphibul. Chang Yim aims to take Bangkok’s roaming elephants off the capital’s streets within a year, and get them back to their natural environment, or something almost like their real homes.
2009-09-09 - , United States.
Earth is a brand-new full-length documentary from DisneyNature that takes a look at three animal families living across the globe. It shows the hardships they face in trying to survive. Watch how polar bears, elephants and whales live, love and survive against certain odds. The film is narrated by James Earl Jones.
2009-09-09 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Conservationists say more than 100 of Kenya's famous elephants have died in the country's north this year through poaching or drought-related hunger. Save the Elephants head Iain Douglas-Hamilton says the drought is Kenya's worst in 12 years. He said that elephants are malnourished and vulnerable to illness. He also says increased poaching could be related to last year's decision by an international regulatory body to allow Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa to sell off their co...
2009-09-09 - Cairo, Egypt.
Visitors are allowed to feed the animals, including the hippopotamus who gobbles down handfuls of clover. Children can have their photographs taken with a lion cub or baby chimpanzee - or even with their heads inside the mouth of an elephant kept on a short chain.
2009-09-08 - Livingstone, Zambia.
President Robert Mugabe has given seven elephants to a Zambian traditional chief for tourism purposes. President Mugabe last month promised to give elephants to chief Mukuni of the Toka Leya people of southern Zambia when the 85-year-old Zimbabwean leader visited the chiefdom during a traditional ceremony. Mr Mukuni, whose chiefdom borders Zimbabwe, runs several tourism ventures and tames wild animals in Livingstone – the tourist capital of Zambia – situated about 472km south of Lusaka.
2009-09-08 - Salt Lake City, United States. Elizabeth White
The baby elephant at Utah's Hogle Zoo is getting ready to make her big debut. And she'll soon have a name, too. The zoo, www.hoglezoo.org, welcomed an African elephant calf on Aug. 10. It's the first baby for 23-year-old Christie and the first African elephant born at the zoo. The little one will make her first appearance before the general public on Friday. A couple days after that, she'll get a name. The zoo invites people choose their favorite among five possibilities: Abenia, Apara, K...
2009-09-08 - Phuket, Thailand.
As you expected, your family is the first team to arrive at Phuket. Congratulations! No time to hit the beach yet, however. You must first make your way to an elephant farm. Too bad you don’t speak Thai. However, as you cleverly take out your pad of paper and draw an elephant for the shuttle driver, he laughs so loud that it draws a large crowd, some of whom happen to speak English. In a flash, you are on your way.
2009-09-08 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A Chinese official Monday denied allegations that demand for ivory from Chinese workers is a main contributor to rising elephant poaching in Kenya. Wan Ziming, director of enforcement and training at the endangered species' office of the State Forestry Administration, said illegal ivory imports to China have declined significantly since 2000, despite smuggles from individual workers or travelers to Africa.
2009-09-08 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Hundreds of villagers have been forced to take shelter in camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by a herd of elephants. Seven people have been killed and several others injured in attacks by a herd of 12-13 elephants over the past few weeks in Kandhamal district. Over 2,500 people living in 45 villages have been affected by the attacks, district chief Krishen Kumar said.
2009-09-08 - Sayaboury, Laos. Beaumont Smith
The wildly successful Sayaboury Elephant Festival, held this year in the village of Hongsa, attracted more than 80,000 visitors, some elegantly attired, some dreadlocked ganja-inspired, despite the event's remote location in northwestern Laos. The 70 or so jumbos were by turns applauded, photographed and simply adored as they dipped like divas.
2009-09-07 - Thrissur, India.
Two tuskers ran amok and blocked traffic on the NH-47 between Marathakkara, near here, and Chalakkudy for over 2 hours on Sunday. The incident created panic among the passengers who were stuck in various vehicles on the highway. Elephants Mahadevan and Ayyappan, both owned by Uttoli Krishnankutty, ran amok while being taken through the NH-47 from Marathakkara to the residence of the owner at Amballur. Though the mahouts managed to chain Mahadevan, the other tusker could not be brought under cont...
2009-09-07 - Mulago, Uganda.
MUSTAFA Batanyenda, the Rukungiri man who was seriously wounded by a marauding elephant, has been transferred to Mulago Hospital where he is expected to undergo a major operation this week. Mulago Hospital spokesperson Erifazi Ssekabira said on Thursday the patient’s wounds were being treated in preparation for the operation. He noted that Batanyenda sustained broken jaws.
2009-09-06 - Bhubaneswar, India. Sandeep Mishra
There seems no end to relief camps in Kandhamal. Last week, the administration shut down its two remaining camps for ethno-communal riot victims, only to set up two more on Sunday. But the new camps are meant for people who lost their houses to marauding elephants.
2009-09-05 - Udalguri, India. Jayanta Kumar Das
Another shocking example of the death of a baby wild elephant in Udalguri district has come to light to much disappointment of people. Instead of finding the cause of death, the dead body was dumped quickly without performing the postmortem. The incident has raised several questions regarding the safe movement of the wild elephants in the district in view of the so called man elephant conflict.
2009-09-05 - Grevena, Greece.
A fossil mastodon tusk found in the northern Greek region of Grevena was officially entered into the Guiness Book of Records on Saturday as the largest ever found. The tusk is truly mammoth at 5.02 metres in length, dates back three million years and belongs to the extinct mastodon species Mammut borsoni. The previous record for the world's largest tusk was also held by a tusk found in the Grevena region in 1997, with a length of 4.39 metres.
2009-09-05 - Kochi, India.
The burial of an elephant, which reportedly died of anthrax in Perumbavoor on Thursday, has kicked up a controversy. There are allegations that the pachyderm was buried, near the Muvattupuzha river, unscientifically and could pose a threat of polluting the river, a source of potable water in the district. The Elephant Lovers Association has demanded an inquiry into the death of the elephant. It was on Thursday that Unnikrishnan, an elephant owned by a saw mill owner in Perumbavoor, died.
2009-09-05 - Botene, Laos. SIMON MONTLAKE
When French explorer Henri Mouhot passed this way in 1861, he found the roads so rugged -- "devil's pathways," he called them -- that the only way to travel was on the back of an elephant, without which "no communication would be possible." His appreciation for the animals grew to be nearly poetic. "This colossus is no rough specimen of natural handiwork," he wrote, "but a creature of especial amiability and sagacity, designed for the service of man." Back then, every village had elephants -- so...
2009-09-05 - New Delhi, India.
The increasing number of developmental projects coming up near jungles is taking a toll on the Indian elephant. Over 45% of elephant deaths in the past decade were caused by electrocution, experts say. Senior officers of Project Elephant said this has been the trend for the past many years and that they are "concerned" as they can't stop the projects for the sake of elephants.
2009-09-05 - Rajkot, India.
The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Bhavnagar police busted an ivory smuggling racket and seized ivory jewellery worth Rs 10 lakh on Friday. Elephant tusks weighing around three kilograms, jewellery made of ivory, mainly bangles, weighing over seven kg, along with 87 kg of raw ivory were recovered from a local businessman in the city.
2009-09-04 - Albuquerque, United States.
The Albuquerque BioPark's Zoo joyfully welcomes a female Asian elephant calf born at 1:43am on Wednesday, September 2, 2009. The newborn tipped the scales at a whopping 318 pounds! This calf is the second elephant born at the Zoo and her mother, Rozie, was the first. “Mother and calf are doing well,” stated BioPark Director Rick Janser. To allow time for bonding, mother Rozie and her yet-to-be-named calf will stay together behind the scenes. Staff will continue 24-hour watches to monitor the...
2009-09-04 - Coney Island, United States.
Suzie the circus elephant took a bath - and the FDNY got all wet. City Hall turned an engine company into a bunch of clowns by forcing them to wash an elephant for a Ringling Brothers photo-op, the firefighters union charged Thursday. The "public relations stunt" jeopardized the safety of Coney Island residents because Engine Co. 245 was out of service for a half-hour Wednesday, Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy said.
2009-09-04 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia. Rizal Harahap
A horde of elephants have trampled to death a man guarding a palm oil plantation in the remote Sumatra hamlet of Lubuk Kandis, Riau. Rinto Lumbangaol, 27, was found dead by his wife Emiska, 25. Head of the Rengat Nature Conservation Agency Edi Susanto said Friday the newly wedded couple was asleep early on Thursday when about 15 elephants trampled their makeshift house near the plantation. Rinto asked his wife to run for help. When Emiska arrived with villagers from nearby, they found Rinto had ...
2009-09-04 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
It is a desperate cry - or rather a very loud trumpet - for attention. These elephants were painted black and white to look like the pandas who have stolen all their fans. The elephant is Thailand's national symbol, but the country has gone panda-crazy since the birth of a female panda cub to pandas Lin Hui and Xuang Xuang at Chiang Mai zoo in Bangkok.
2009-09-03 - San Diego, United States. Jeanette Steele
Call them the peacemaking pachyderms. Tina and Jewel, two former circus elephants, have helped create rare goodwill between animal-rights groups and the San Diego Zoo after years of acrimony over the institution's policies for pachyderms. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and In Defense of Animals are applauding the zoo for accepting the two elephants, which federal officials had taken from a Texas exhibitor.
2009-09-03 - Woodside, United States. Julia Prodis Sulek and Brandon Bailey
Today he's home in Woodside, recuperating from serious injuries. A little more than a month ago, Silicon Valley billionaire Tom Siebel was in the Serengeti, where a charging elephant attacked him and a guide. "It was all happening so fast. There was no place to hide, no place to run," the 56-year-old Siebel, founder of the Siebel Systems software company, told the Mercury News in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
2009-09-02 - Nyakibale, Uganda. Milton Olupot
NYAKIBALE Hospital in Rukungiri district is stranded with a man, whose jaws were shattered in an attack by an elephant on Augusts 27 as he tended his garden at Kihihi village in Kanungu district. Mustapha Batanyenda, 48, is said to have been hurled by an elephant onto a tree, injuring him severely. He now needs extensive facial recontructive surgery, according to Dr. Ronald Kasyaba. For him to regain near normalcy, this surgical reconstruction has to be done, that is if he has not died by the ti...
2009-09-02 - Dublin, Ireland.
The impact of the ivory trade on the future of elephants was revealed at Dublin Zoo as Customs officers handed over seized jewellery for display. The ivory necklaces and bracelets from South Africa were confiscated from a posted parcel at Dublin Airport. Dublin Zoo Director, Leo Oosterweghel, said the items will be put on show to inform visitors about the impact of the ivory trade.
2009-09-02 - Salinas, United States.
It was about 5:30 in the afternoon. Fred Alspaw, chief elephant trainer for the Sells-Floto Circus, was lazing with some crew members after setting up the big top and menagerie at Hebert's Field in Salinas. When Alspaw arrived at the line of tethered elephants, he got the surprise of his life. There, in danger of being trampled to death by a pachyderm named Princess Alice, was the pinkish form of a baby elephant.
2009-09-02 - Toledo, United States. Jennifer Taylor
Major construction is underway Wednesday morning at the Toledo Zoo. The zoo is installing a brand new bull elephant exhibit. Voters approved the project by passing last November's zoo levy. The first phase of the project will be complete this fall. Another phase will be completed in 2012. 175 people and 85 local companies are being employed as part of this 10 month period of construction.
2009-09-01 - Las Vegas, United States. ERICA SHEN
In a desert wash that was once teeming with water, full of luscious plants and home to such animals as bison, camels and mammoths, they have identified hundreds of sites rich in fossils in an area north of the city. Two mammoth vertebrae were found at the dig.
2009-09-01 - Patna, India.
An elephant Wednesday trampled a young man to death in a village in Saran district of Bihar, police said. Madan Thakur, in his 20s, was killed by the elephant near Chamrahiya village in Saran. Thakur was attacked by the elephant when he was on his way to a nearby market. “When he was passing the elephant, it suddenly turned violent. The animal attacked Thakur and killed him,” a police officer said. The forest officials have taken the animal into their possession and a case has been registere...
2009-09-01 - Cleveland', United States. Michael Scott
When Cleveland's trio of elephants return home in June 2011 after a three-year Columbus Zoo vacation, they'll move into what could be the nation's largest green-certified animal exhibit. "No one thought it could be done -- build an animal building up to the highest green standards -- but we're doing it," said Dick Chodera, project manager for RFC Contracting Inc., a Strongsville firm advising the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo on the project. Zoos in Philadelphia, Seattle and New York have green-certi...
2009-09-01 - Guwahati, United States.
It's always the children who bear the wrath of conflict, whether it's human or animal strife. Just as decades of insurgency have orphaned thousands of kids in terror-riddled Assam, relentless human-tusker conflicts have also taken a steady toll on the live of wild pachyderms, leaving behind scores of their young ones alone and vulnerable in the process. Many of these calves have had to be rescued by human intervention. Though the number of orphaned elephant calves is comparatively lower than hum...
2009-08-31 - Winston, United States.
Wildlife Safari is looking for dedicated and enthusiastic interns for our Elephant Department Internship Program. Interns will assist in daily routines including, but not limited to: diet prep, daily husbandry, exhibit maintenance, enrichment, observation and public interaction. We provide a large variety of educational opportunities for guests, so interns must be comfortable speaking in front of large groups.
2009-08-31 - Jamshedpur, United States.
The late monsoon is upsetting the migration schedule of the elephants of the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. Each year, in the month of September, elephants leave the reserve area and head to Purulia, West and East Midnapore districts. They return to sanctuary before the start of the summer season, around mid-February. Migration usually depends on the cultivation of paddy crops in the villages that fall along the migratory route of the tuskers.
2009-08-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Dubbed Kublai Khan for his majestic form, the eight-foot tusker who died last Sunday was a favourite with visitors to the Yala park. Here veteran wildlife photographer and researcher Lal Anthonis who has been studying the Yala tuskers for decades shares his fascination with Kublai Khan dating back all of 20 years…. Describing Kublai Khan as an ‘icon’ of Yala, Lal Anthonis, immediate past president of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society recalls how Kublai Khan was on the cover of the...
2009-08-30 - Karuwalagaswewa, Sri Lanka. Hiran P Jayasinghe
A baby elephant about five months old had accidentally fallen into a flooded quarry in the Kuda Medawachchiya jungle area in Karuwalagaswewa.Villagers reported this incident to Wildlife officials who spared no pains to rescue the animal. Helped by the Karuwalagaswewa police, the animal was rescued on Friday evening.
2009-08-30 - Edmonton, Canada.
In a hilly field filled with shrubs and trees in an undeveloped part of the zoo, a massive creature plays hide-and-seek with her keepers. Slowly walking around a pathway the animal remembers well, she soaks up the sun and breeze while cavorting with its human friends. "She loves grazing on the grass up here," says head zookeeper Wade Krasnow, who has been caring for the animal for almost two decades. "She" is Lucy, a beloved Asian elephant who has been a fixture at Edmonton's Valley Zoo for the ...
2009-08-29 - Berlin, Germany.
(Translated by Yahoo! Babel Fish) Three Asian elephants from the Tierpark Berlin Friedrichsfelde began the long journey on Monday into the zoo of Rostow at the Don in Russia. Animal park boss Bernhard Blaszkiewitz communicated that Horas, Cinta and Yoma in their future homeland in a new elephant house are to form their own group. On 7 November Tierpark is to be opened trunk trio born in Rostow the new at home for the 2005 in the citizen of Berlin. The transport of the animals by trucks was taken...
2009-08-29 - Nantes, France.
On the Ile de Nantes (Isle of Nantes) in France, bizarre monstrous creatures right out of the pages of fantasy penned by the likes of Jules Verne are taking astonished visitors for a ride. When the Great Elephant trundles out for its 45-minute walk at a leisurely pace, there is no mistaking the beast for anything but the machine that it is. It is larger than life at 12m high and 8m wide, and comes with outdoor balconies on both sides and a lounge on top. Technology is still unable to make it wal...
2009-08-26 - Bangalore, India.
How angry can you get at an animal? Though human-animal conflict is a regular event with more and more wild habitats being encroached, wrath like this is rare. A farmer near Bandipur reserve shot a young elephant dead when she was about to enter his farm on Wednesday. Even while crop compensation packages have almost been tripled, fear and intolerance still persist among farmers who live on the border areas.
2009-08-26 - Sydney, Australia.
The loud pitter patter of baby elephant feet has helped Taronga Zoo claim the title of Sydney's favourite attraction. The zoo won 24 per cent of votes in the Sydney Chamber of Commerce's annual favourite things survey of the city's inhabitants. The birth of Asian elephant calf Luk Chai in July has also boosted zoo visitor numbers, with Sydneysiders and tourists flocking to Taronga since his arrival. Sydney Opera House came second in the survey of most popular attractions, with 22 per cent of vot...
2009-08-26 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Any replacement for Auckland Zoo favourite Kashin will come from established Asian elephant breeding programmes under way in Europe. But a new addition to the zoo's elephant colony - which since Kashin's death on Monday stands at one - is likely to be at least two years away.
2009-08-25 - Xishuangbanna, China.
The breeding base, mainly aiming at protecting, rescuing and multiplying the wild Asian elephants, successfully protects the species diversity and promotes harmonious development between human and animals.
2009-08-25 - West Midlands, United Kingdom.
WHEN it comes to making music, the elephants at West Midland Safari Park have learned a thing or two. After producing colourful works of art and playing football, their latest interest involves playing the harmonica. A video clip can be seen on the park's website, http://www.wmsp.co.uk/harmonica . Latabe and Five - aged 16 and 17 respectively - have lived at West Midland Safari Park since they were five-year-old orphans and often show off various skills.
2009-08-25 - Kumbikkulama, Sri Lanka. Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa
In a continuation of the conflict between humans and elephants, a man was killed but a child miraculously escaped unhurt when an elephant in the Kumbikkulama area of Habarana charged a group of farmers tending their land. T.D Wimalasena (47), father of two and a farmer from the Heenmoragolla area had being working at a vegetable plot at around 5.00 last evening, together with a group of other farmers, when an elephant had emerged from the jungle and charged the group, causing panic.
2009-08-25 - Auckland, New Zealand.
A press conference about Auckland Zoo elephant Kashin will be held at the zoo's Old Elephant House today at 1pm. As part of the conference, the zoo will be letting people know how they can honour Kashin by contributing to a Kashin memorial fund, which will be dedicated to helping the conservation of elephants in the wild. The zoo is also intending to have a public memorial for Kashin. Details are still be worked through, and we will advise as soon as possible. The zoo has been overwhelmed by the...
2009-08-25 - Haiphong, Vietnam.
VIETNAMESE customs inspectors have discovered more than two tons of elephant tusks hidden in a shipping container full of snail shells from Kenya. Bui Hoang Duong, head of the customs inspection department at the northern port of Haiphong, said inspectors opened the container on Friday as part of enhanced scrutiny of shipping from Tanzania. The purge follows several recent cases of ivory smuggling.
2009-08-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. S.S. Selvanayagam
The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed the fundamental rights petition filed in respect of two baby elephants that had been offered to Sri Dalada Maligawa by the President. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, Justices Saleem Marsoof and Jagath Balapatabendi dismissed the petition after it was withdrawn. The Supreme Court was also notified that action was being taken to reunite the baby elephants with their mothers. Counsel I.R .Rajapakse appearing for the petitioner had earlier tol...
2009-08-25 - Jaipur, India.
In what can be described as a blow to elephant tourism at the Amber Fort, a 25-year-old she-elephant that had run off to the hills on Sunday died under mysterious conditions on Monday. Officials of the state forest department refused to go into the details of the death but hinted that the elephant had received severe injuries. However, others present on the spot were of the opinion that the elephant died due to an overdose of tranquillisers.
2009-08-25 - Auckland, New Zealand. Vaimoana Tapaleao
Auckland Zoo will be closed today as staff grieve the loss of 40-year-old Kashin the Elephant, who died yesterday. The female Asian elephant, who had chronic arthritis and foot abscesses, was euthanised after her health deteriorated.
2009-08-24 - McMinnville, United States.
Archaeologists made history in Oregon on Sunday when they recovered the second tusk of a 44,000-year-old mammoth near McMinnville. Mike Full, an ex-police officer in the area, led a team of archaeologists and volunteers who uncovered the 26-inch portion of what was once a 6-foot tusk along the South Yamhill River. It's the first time both tusks from a single mammoth have been found in Oregon.
2009-08-24 - Casper, United States.
Casper College Geology Instructor Kent Sundell was richly rewarded during his final attempt to recover the remaining tusk and skull from a large Mammuthus Columbi also known as a Columbian Mammoth during a final digging expedition. Not only did he find the skull, but also the complete tusk measuring approximately eight to nine feet in length and 9 inches in diameter. "Dee" the mammoth was originally discovered on March 8, 2006 on the Allemand Ranch. By the end of June 2006 Sundell, Tate prep lab...
2009-08-24 - Theppakadu, India. D. RADHAKRISHNAN
Mudumalai came alive on Sunday during the Vinayaka Chathurthi celebrations. A remarkable feature of the festivities was the participation of elephants belonging to the Theppakadu camp of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Though rain dampened the spirit of the festival in some parts of the Nilgiris, at Mudumalai the celebrations were marked by considerable enthusiasm. Witnessed by a large number of devotees and tourists, including a few foreigners, 17 elephants were given a bath in the Moyar river and...
2009-08-24 - Chestermere, Canada.
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2009-08-24 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Elephant Kashin, one of Auckland Zoo's oldest and most recognisable residents, has died age 40. A message on Auckland Zoo's website says "much-loved female elephant Kashin, a part of the zoo family for over 36 years, was put to sleep at 5pm this evening after losing her battle with chronic health conditions". Auckland Zoo Board Chair, Councillor Graeme Mulholland said staff were devastated, "grieving the loss of their incredibly spirited and gentle matriarch". "Kashin touched the lives, not just...
2009-08-23 - London, United Kingdom. Martin Northway
Christopher Nicholson's well-crafted debut novel "The Elephant Keeper," is set in mid-18th century England instead of mid-20th century America. Here, menageries and particularly elephants are still exotic and unfamiliar, and they enter the changing social and physical landscape of George III.
2009-08-23 - Nairobi, Kenya.
In the first six months of this year, more than 70 elephants have been killed by poachers, and last year, nearly 100 elephants in Kenya were found dead with their tusks missing. According to an official of the Kenya Wildlife Service, the surge in poaching can be attributed to criminal syndicates – mostly from China and Southeast Asia – which are aiding and abetting the poachers. The report warned that if poaching continued, the elephant population could die off within 15 years.
2009-08-23 - San Diego, United States. Tony Perry
Two Asian elephants in need of better veterinary care have been removed from a Texas facility by the federal government and brought to the San Diego Zoo. Jewel and Tina, both thought to be in their 40s, arrived at the zoo Saturday after being removed from Leggett, Texas, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates zoos and other animal facilities. The Leggett facility's owner agreed to the removal as part of a deal in which the government dropped its demand for fines.
2009-08-23 - Koramore, India. Jayanta Kumar
The eight years old female elephant which had been mercilessly tortured by locals near Koramore on August 9 was rescued by forest and civil administration under police and CRPF protection on August 11.It was given first aid veterinary treatment for several days under the guidance of Dr.KC Chamua, VAS, Tangla.
2009-08-23 - Budapest, Hungary. ATTILA BALAZS
Today's photo was taken by Attila Balazs and shows elephants. Orphaned 2-year-old African elephant Jumaane climbs on the back of his dead mother, Yoki, Friday in the Nyiregyhaza Animal Park, 245 kilometres east of Budapest, Hungary. Yoki, 19, died the day before, apparently of a tumour in her spleen. Jumaane stayed with his mother’s body for 14 hours. Keepers say the calf has been looking for his mother, weeping, since the body was removed from the elephant house. View our elephants photo gall...
2009-08-23 - Chennai, India. Barnabas Tiburtius
Today is the festival of Ganesh Chathurthi. A day to worship the God who removes all obstacles. Though Ganesha considered as son of Shiva and Parvati, the Matsya Purana, Shiva Purana, and Skanda Purana ascribe the birth of Ganesha to Parvati only, without any form of participation of Shiva in Ganesha's birth.
2009-08-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Risidra Mendis
An ongoing baby elephant racket in the country has come to light with the discovery of a third baby being held captive in Balangoda. However the Flying Squad of the Department of Wildlife and Conservation (DWC) is yet to find out how many baby elephants have been abducted from the wild and how many of them have died while in captivity. It was in early 2000 that the first baby elephant was found in Pugoda in the Kirindiwela area. According to an animal rights lawyer the owners of the baby elephan...
2009-08-22 - Thanh Hoa, Vietnam.
Vietnamese police have seized almost 100 kilograms of ivory, the second seizure of its kind in recent weeks, state media reported on Saturday. Police found the 17 pieces of ivory weighing 94 kilograms (207 pounds) after they stopped a car travelling in the wrong lane on a highway in northern Thanh Hoa province, the Vietnam News said, citing traffic police.
2009-08-22 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
The government has sent a pair of Sumatran elephants to Belgium to enliven the Indonesian Park in Parc Paradisio in the European country. Male elephant Valentino, 5 years old, and his partner Ani, 4, have become a center of attraction since their arrival on Aug. 17, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said. Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium Nadjib Riphat Kesoema received the elephants, which were resettled under a breeding loan program signed by the two countries.
2009-08-22 - Portland, United States.
On his big day, Sam will get to chow down on a cake made by the zoo's Executive Chef Paul Warner, but he won't be the only one celebrating. The zoo will throw a party in Sam's honor on Sunday, Aug. 23, and all zoo visitors are invited. Sam was born as a part of the Oregon Zoo's renowned breeding program for endangered Asian elephants. More than 25 calves have been born at the zoo, beginning with Packy in 1962. Samudra is the first third-generation elephant to be born in the United States.
2009-08-22 - Thattekad, India.
Residents and forest officials found the bodies of two baby elephants that probably slipped and drowned from a steep upstream due to heavy rainfall near Thattekad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala. Officials presume that bodies slipped due to very heavy rainfall the night before, which had led to temporary flood-like-situation in the region. Both the babies must have slipped and flown over, that is the reason we assume deaths have happened, said Thomas Varghese, forest ranger of the Thattekad Bird Sanctu...
2009-08-21 - Ithaca, United States.
A CT scan of artifacts held by the Paleontological Research Institution could be the key to unlocking the evolutionary mystery of elephant legs. On Tuesday, curators from the Museum of the Earth and medical professionals from Cayuga Medical Center will take a look inside the leg bones of a mastodon skeleton at the museum with a CT scan. What they find will help advance research into the evolutionary path that has led to elephants' unusual structure, said biologist John Hutchinson, a reader in ev...
2009-08-21 - Hanoi, Vietnam. Sahil Nagpal
Police in Vietnam have seized nearly 100 kilograms of elephant tusks concealed in a car headed for Hanoi, state media reported Friday. The state-run newspaper Lao Dong reported police in the central province of Thanh Hoa stopped a car Thursday for driving in the wrong lane. The police found sixteen elephant tusks weighing 94 kilograms hidden in the boot and under the chassis. Police arrested the driver on suspicion of smuggling, and seized the car and the tusks as evidence.
2009-08-20 - Leggett, United States. CINDY HORSWELL
Willie Davenport will keep Boo — a 9,000-pound elephant who has performed in circuses with his family since the 1960s — but he had to relinquish two other elephants to end his fight Thursday with federal authorities over permitting and care of the gentle giants. I am sad. This is not just my loss, but East Texas is losing their elephants. They have touched a lot of people, said Davenport, who was surrounded by 70 neighbors who came to show support when authorities arrived to collect the two ...
2009-08-20 - lam, Thailand.
Thai elephant damages newly fitted artificial limb An elephant fitted with an artificial limb 10 years after stepping on a land mine has had a minor setback, damaging the device attached to her left front leg. Soraida Salwala of the private group Friends of the Asian Elephant said today that 48-year-old Motola bent the prothesis when she lay down on it. Motola, who weighs three tons, was fitted with the custom-made device Sunday at the Elephant Hospital in Lampang, northern Thailan...
2009-08-20 - Guwahati, India. Prabin Kalita
Assam has asked the Centre to lift a 1982 ban on mela ‘shikar’, a traditional way of trapping wild jumbos with the help of domesticated elephants. "We want the Centre to withdraw the ban so that we can acquire wild elephants and domesticate them for government duties," said state forest minister Rockybul Hussain on Thursday. The jumbos are needed for carrying guards and tourists in wildlife sanctuaries, transporting EVMs and polling officials to remote areas. Besides, trapping wild pachyderm...
2009-08-20 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Nigel Wild
The story behind how Chhouk the baby elephant gained his artificial foot is one of hope and salvation following the desperate years of his troubled homeland. It is also a story of how Cambodian medical students found themselves using techniques developed to create prosthetic limbs for mine victims to help a wild animal. Cambodia is now politically stable and tourism a major growth industry, but the legacy of war, genocide and political upheaval has left the country as one of the poorest of the d...
2009-08-20 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
TWYCROSS Zoo has celebrated the birth of a new baby elephant after the calf pulled through a potentially life-threatening illness. Born to the zoo’s Asian elephant, Noorjahan, earlier this month, the as-yet unnamed calf had to be monitored by vets after “suddenly turning offcolour”. But the youngster has since “made good progress” and staff belatedly celebrated his birth yesterday.
2009-08-19 - London, United Kingdom.
Secret cameras hidden inside the elephant tent of the Great British Circus showed animals being hit with a metal hook, a broom and a pitchfork. An undercover investigation by Animal Defenders International (ADI) filmed three elephants - Sonja, Delhi and Vana Mana - during the circus's tour of Britain this summer. A groom is seen deliberately twisting an animal's tail and the elephants are shown crying out in distress and retreating in fear from their handlers.
2009-08-19 - Oaxaca, Mexico.
Scientists have unearthed the skeleton of a prehistoric Mastodon in Mexico. The relative of today’s elephant roamed the earth many thousands of years ago. If scientists have it right, the remains of this beast haven't seen the light of day in at least 10,000 years. The skeleton of a prehistoric Mastodon has been unearthed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca after being discovered by a local farmer.
2009-08-19 - Francistown, Botswana. NDINGILILO GAOSWEDIWE and THATO MARAPO
Two unemployed Zimbabweans yesterday appeared before the Magistrates Court here on a single count of unlawful possession of an elephant tusk. Two accused persons, Fortunate Mwanza (29) and Prince Sakurita (26) seemed befuddled by the proceedings, agreeing with everything put to them by both the prosecutor and the magistrate. At one stage, Principal Magistrate Peggy Madandume had to intervene to clarify certain phrases before the accused made their pleas. Prosecutor Osefile Mmitseng of the Diamon...
2009-08-18 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
A baby elephant, whose mother was the first elephant to conceive via artificial insemination at Twycross Zoo, has suffered a setback. A press conference to show off the elephant, who was born on Thursday at the Leicestershire zoo, has been cancelled as he has become unwell.
2009-08-18 - Oaktown, United States.
Mine workers in southwestern Indiana have unearthed the tusks and skeletal remains of a prehistoric elephant that lived more than 12,000 years ago. The workers were digging a coal slurry storage pit recently at Vectren's Black Panther Mine about 30 miles south of Terre Haute when they noticed the fossil mastodon bones in a backhoe shovel. After realizing the importance of the find, the crew notified the Indiana Division of Reclamation, which regulates mining operations.
2009-08-18 - , United States.
Central and local agencies have passed the buck in implementing a project to protect endangered elephants in the southern Dong Nai Province while the mysterious death of five elephants remains unsolved. The protection project envisaged setting up an elephant reserve in the province, 35 kilometers to the northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.
2009-08-17 - Leggett, United States.
Willie Davenport, an animal exhibitor, has 3 female elephants: Boo (52 yrs. old), Jewel (45 yrs. old), and Tina (42 yrs. old). The problem Davenport is having is with Jewel and a lady named Denise Sofranko. Sofranko wants to take Jewel away from Davenport and put her in an "elephant sanctuary". Davenport is a 3rd generation animal exhibitor. "Denise Sofranko drove my dad out of business in 1997 and now she's coming for me... It's personal", Davenport told PolkCountyToday.com. "Elephants at...
2009-08-16 - Kolkata, India.
A four-month-old sick elephant calf, which was rescued from a riverside in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district last month, died Sunday at a wildlife camp, a senior state forest department official said. The young pachyderm, named as Aranya by the forest department officials, died early Sunday, a senior state forest department official said. According to officials, the baby elephant, believed to be separated from its herd, was unfed and sick when it was first spotted near a riverside. Aranya was ...
2009-08-16 - Wellington, New Zealand.
The future of the New Zealand's only circus elephant is in dispute as animal activists are calling for Jumbo to be retired claiming she is poorly treated. However, the circus says there is nowhere for her to go. Jumbo has entertained Kiwi children for over 30 years but now the African elephant is looking for a new home as her owner attempts to retire her.
2009-08-15 - Kolkata, India.
An adult female elephant was killed after getting entangled in electified fencing at an army cantonment in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district late Friday night, a forest department official said Saturday. The elephant came from Chapramari forest area in Dooars region and entered a village Friday night in search of food. It died on the spot. The army personnel found the elephant lying dead this morning and informed us, Jalpaiguri district’s divisional forest officer-2 Biman Biswas told IANS.
2009-08-15 - New York, United States. Simon Barrett in Book Reviews
Victoria Cristiani Rossi has just released a memoir Spangles, Elephants, Violets And Me. It takes us behind the scenes of the traveling circus, a staple of the first half of the 20th century. Victoria was born in 1940 and although she herself was not a part of the daring horseback act she was a performer in her own right, she appeared in the Elephant act. The Cristiani family are one of the best known multi generational circus families, their skills on horseback were legendary, and over the year...
2009-08-15 - Felixstowe, United Kingdom.
MORE parts of a massive mammoth which used to live where Felixstowe stands today have been washed up on the resort's shores. The great woolly beast one was one of many which would have scavenged for food on the land between Britain and Europe before the North Sea swept through and separated them. Beachcomber Clive Bamberger was walking at Landguard when he found a fossilised tooth on the sand between the high and low water marks
2009-08-15 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Nqobani Ndlovu
A white South African has been arrested in southern Zimbabwe facing charges of illegal poaching that is costing the southern African nation millions of foreign currency in wildlife tourism revenue. Jan Johannes George Roos, the South African, is languishing at Beitbridge prison at a border town separating Zimbabwe and that neighbouring country following his arrest on Wednesday.
2009-08-15 - Lampang, Thailand. APICHART WEERAWONG
Motola, a female elephant who stepped on a land mine 10 years ago and endured painful operations, was fitted Saturday in Thailand for a permanent artificial leg. The 48-year-old pachyderm became a symbol of the plight of today's elephants, and her injury sparked international sympathy and donations. Experts were making a cast of her injured left front leg for a plastic prosthetic limb which will be attached later Saturday.
2009-08-15 - Golaghat, India.
An elephant was attacked and seriously injured by a tiger in world-famous Kaziranga National Park (KNP), forest officials said today. The six-year-old female elephant was attacked by a tiger in the northern part of the Park and its hind legs were injured last night, KNP director S N Buragohain told PTI. The elephant, which had its ears torn apart in the incident, was being treated at the camp office of the Park where her condition was stated to be stable, he said.
2009-08-15 - Portland, United States. Bill LaMarche
The Oregon Zoo's Asian elephants have been getting fitter this summer, thanks to some local teenagers. Three Catlin Gabel students recently revived a six-year-old, out-of-service environmental enrichment device for the zoo's bull elephants. The device was initially designed by Portland State University students to mentally engage the elephants, while also encouraging them to exercise.
2009-08-15 - Gudalur, India.
A trek into the wild turned tragic for two French tourists at Gudalur in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. An elephant attacked them on Friday killing Annie Delyotal (65). Her son, Frederick (39), escaped with minor injuries. The duo, residents of Isle-sur-Marne in northeastern France, arrived in Bangalore on August 11. They checked into a jungle resort at Bokkapuram village near Masinagudi, about 12 km from the Mudumalai tiger reserve, on Thursday. They two were led to jungles in a jeep with...
2009-08-14 - Knoxville, United States.
The Knoxville Zoo is seeking a qualified person to fill an opening in the elephant department. The Knoxville Zoo currently houses 1.2 African Elephants. The females are managed in free contact and the male is managed in protected contact. We need a dependable, trustworthy, and very team oriented individual who will be able to work in a fast paced, progressive program. Elephant experience not required but it is preferred.
2009-08-14 - Bewdley, United Kingdom. LILY FU
An African elephant at the West Midlands Safari Park in Worcestershire, Britain has acquired a unique skill the ability to play the harmonica. Five the elephant fiddled around with a harmonica after someone accidentally left one on the side of her enclosure, according to the Telegraph . Five picked it up and figured out how to make music on it. "It is very unusual for animals to actually get a sense of playing a tune," park spokewoman Wendy Jackson said. "Five was really curious about it when it...
2009-08-14 - Bangkok, Thailand. Rhishja Larson
Current laws in Thailand make it easy for live elephants - including infant elephants stolen from their mothers in the wild - to be traded unscrupulously for “entertainment” purposes. For many people, thoughts of Thailand conjure up romantic notions of being transported to various tourist attractions on the back of an elephant. But tragically, many of the captive elephants used for the Thai tourist trade, and as zoo and circus exports, are the victims of an insidious, illegal market that thr...
2009-08-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.
As the elephant dragged its feet towards city hall, the chains draped from its neck swung like twin pendulums. The animal’s dusty skin fit loose on its 30-year-old body. Where a right eye belonged, there was only a crusty socket. Such sorry condition is typical of Thailand’s street elephants. This particular pachyderm, named Pang Buakam by its owner, has squeezed along the city’s narrow lanes for more than ten years. Like other urban elephants, Pang Buakam and its guide would ply to...
2009-08-14 - Mysore, India.
The jumbos chosen for taking part in this year's Dasara festivities next month have arrived in the city. The journey of the first batch of elephants, comprising five from the elephant camp in Veeranahosahalli near Hunsur in Mysore District, and one from Kyathedevaragudi of Biligiri Ranga Hills in Chamarajanagar District began on Thursday. The five-strong batch of elephants comprising Balarama, chosen to carry the Ambari (golden howdah), Abhimanyu, assigned the task of drawing the decorated cart ...
2009-08-14 - Pittsburgh, United States. Allison M. Heinrichs
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium's prolific bull elephant is a father for the eighth time, the zoo confirmed today. Jackson's latest offspring is a 251-pound female born at the Hogle Zoo in Utah on Monday. She and her mother, Christie, are doing well. Last year, Jackson became father to two calves at the Pittsburgh Zoo, females Angeline and Zuri.
2009-08-14 - Coonoor, India.
A five-year-old elephant calf was captured by forest officials in Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. The elephant had strayed towards a human habitation after separating from its herd. The officials tranquillized the elephant that had been creating problems for inhabitants of the tea estate in the town, and later released it in the Burliar forest area.
2009-08-13 - Buffalo, United States.
Minimum two-year degree in one of the natural sciences or a closely related discipline, four-year degree preferred. A minimum of two years of elephant training, management, and husbandry experience with demonstrated proficiency is required. Free contact experience preferred. Experience may substitute for educational requirement.
2009-08-13 - Charleston, United States.
Elephants Cora and Shannon will take the spotlight at the 85th annual West Virginia State Fair starting Friday through Aug. 22. The girls are the stars of "Elephant Encounter," an educational and entertaining experience for the entire family. Bill Morris and his wife, Cindy, travel with their animals five months out of the year, doing fairs and festivals throughout the Midwest. These are not circus elephants, nor are they zoo elephants. They are family elephants and have been owned and cared for...
2009-08-13 - Rochford, United Kingdom. Emma Thomas
ANIMAL lovers are angry after elephants joined a circus performance for the first time. The Great British Circus has pitched its big top at Southend Road, in Rochford, with tigers, camels and ponies entering the ring. But this year’s line-up has the addition of three elephants – Sonja, Vana Mana and Dehli – and a white tiger called Tiara. Circus director Martin Lacey, who has worked with wild animals for more than 40 years, has always insisted his animals receive the best possible care and...
2009-08-13 - Salt Lake City, United States. Matthew D. LaPlante
She's a baby years in the making. Veterinarians decided back in 2004 that Christie the elephant was ready to be a mother. But it took five years and millions of dollars in renovations to the zoo's elephant habitat to bring the Hogle Zoo's newest resident to life. In a 20-minute labor that went by so fast it surprised her keepers, Christie gave birth to a 251-pound female calf on Monday afternoon. The as-of-yet unnamed calf is the first elephant born in Utah in more than 90 years and is the first...
2009-08-12 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Chinese authorities have promised death or lengthy jail terms to Zimbabweans caught smuggling ivory and drugs into the country. A notice posted outside the Chinese embassy here reads, “It has been observed that Zimbabweans knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly have been involved in trafficking prohibited substances into China. According to Chinese law, illegal buying or selling of, importing and exporting of the following products is a serious offence that attracts a death penalty...
2009-08-11 - Chandrapur, India.
The case of a minor elephant giving birth to a stillborn calf couple of weeks ago at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) has shocked the forest authorities as well as the veterinary doctors. It is a unique case and probably the first in history of the species, when an elephant conceived at an age when she is still a calf.
2009-08-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. SUPOJ WANCHAROEN
Public donations have allowed City Hall to buy a partially blind 30-year-old elephant found begging for food on Bangkok's streets. Pang Bua Kham will be sent to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang as part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's "Smiling Elephants" project. The project is aimed at rescuing all elephants roaming the streets of Bangkok within one year. Donations are being collected from the public to buy the beasts from their owners and transport them to the state...
2009-08-11 - Madurai, India.
Despite becoming part of a new herd, love and affection for their mother simply refuses to die, as two elephant calves, including a new born, have been visiting daily the place, where their mother was buried in a forest area in neighboring Virudhunagar district. The female elephant had given birth to a calf on August 5 in Shenbagathoppu forest area near Srivilliputhur, about 80 km from here, but died later following dehydration.
2009-08-11 - Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
Salt Lake City now has its first newborn baby elephant in more than 89 years. Christie, a 7,900-pound African elephant at Hogle Zoo delivered her first baby Monday afternoon, after a 22-month gestation. The 251-pound and 36-inch tall female calf is reported to be doing well."The birth was extremely fast," elephant manager Doug Tomkinson said. "It went easy and well, but I can't believe how fast it happened." He added, "This is something miraculous that has occurred. It has been years of hard wor...
2009-08-11 - Paignton, United Kingdom. Jace Shoemaker-Galloway
Gay, the Asian elephant, has been suffering from very sore feet recently. For the past several months, keepers at the Paignton Zoo Environmental Park have been keeping a close eye on the 40-year-old elephant. Although she gets regular pedicures and antibiotic foot baths, Gay has been suffering from painful abscesses in both her front feet.
2009-08-11 - Jakarta, Indonesia. Li Xianzhi
A male elephant has been found dead at a national park in Lampung province of Indonesia, and both of its tusks went missing, the provincial World Wild Fund (WWF) said on Tuesday. The two-year-old animal may have been killed by those on purpose to steal its tusks, Afrizal Khaidir a senior official of the WWF said. The elephant was found dead at its cage at the Way Kambas National Park on Friday, he said.
2009-08-10 - Indianapolis, United States. Stan Lehr
Elephants don't sweat. Cocktail party trivia to you, perhaps, but to Michael Rowe it's a scientific challenge. Rowe, a doctoral student at Indiana State University, is studying how elephants deal with hot and cold at four zoos in Indianapolis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Toronto. By learning how heat is dissipated in different environments, he hopes to better understand the impact of vanishing habitat and possibly provide new guidelines for the care of elephants in captivity.
2009-08-10 - Manzini, Swaziland.
In an effort to reduce the need for elephant culling, Disney Animal Kingdom vets have successfully performed vasectomies on seven Swaziland bull elephants. The elephants were from the Hlane Royal National Park and Mkhaya Game Reserve, both owned by Big Game Parks. The parks carry small elephant herds. While the operation helped to pave the way forward in finding environmentally sound, financially viable and humane methods of elephant population control, park managers said the vasectomy operation...
2009-08-10 - Kadugannawa, Sri Lanka.
The Forum of the Basnayake Nialmes (BN) of Sri Lanka revealed that there are only 98 domesticated elephants now in Sri Lanka following the death of the she elephant at Kadugannawa on Friday. The number of tamed elephants dwindled fast during the part few years as they died due to old age. There were more than 120 of them a few years and the number decreased as 60 per cent of them were over 70 years, the Forum said. The she elephant which died while returning to her master at Hemmathagama after p...
2009-08-10 - , United Kingdom.
A baby elephant, whose mother was the first elephant to conceive via artificial insemination at Twycross Zoo, has suffered a setback.A press conference to show off the elephant, who was born on Thursday at the Leicestershire zoo, has been cancelled as he has become unwell. The 100kg (220lb) elephant is being closely supervised by vets but is not thought to be in a serious condition. Staff have said he just needs more time alone with mother Noorjahan. Noorjahan was inseminated from a bull elephan...
2009-08-10 - Chicago, Illinois, United States.
The newest resident of Brookfield Zoo is described by the staff as a "busybody" who loves splashing water, wallowing in mud and chowing down on oranges, watermelon and cantaloupe, but she's not exactly a kid. Joyce is a 26-year-old African elephant who arrived at the west suburban zoo on Sunday, according to a release from the zoo. The nearly 8-foot, 6,800-pounds pachyderm arrived in a special truck from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif., to become a companion for Christy, the zoo's...
2009-08-09 - Lampang, Thailand.
Thailand's National Elephant Institute on Sunday launched a training programme for mahouts across the country in an attempt to raise elephant quality of life and help preserve the decreasing population of the huge animal. The training is co-sponsored by the National Elephant Institute, the Forest Industry Organization (FIO) and Asia House Foundation and is being held at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang province
2009-08-09 - Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Sindu and Raju are not the only elephants handed over to the Dalada Maligawa at the request of the Diyawadana Nilames (DN). In 2007, the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) came under pressure to release a wild elephant brought to the Maligawa to be tamed. Dr.Vijitha Perera, a veterinary surgeon attached to the DWC, described the sad fate of this elephant in his book “Ten Years with the Wild Elephants” (Wana Ali Samaga Dasa Wasarak).
2009-08-09 - Balangoda, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) raided a house in Balangoda on a tip off that a three-month old elephant calf was being kept there illegally. According to Wildlife sources, following the tip offthe DWC’s flying squad carried out the raid in Bagewatte last morning after being on the lookout for the calf the past week. The team headed by Upali Padmasiri had eventually located the house on Friday night and when they raided it last morning, they found the elephant chained inside the ...
2009-08-07 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
The first elephant to conceive via artificial insemination at Twycross Zoo has given birth. Noorjahan, who lives at the Leicestershire Zoo, was inseminated from a bull elephant based at Whipsnade Wildlife park in Bedfordshire. The procedure was done artificially as moving elephants between zoos for mating can be bad for herd dynamics. The male elephant calf, who has not been named yet, is about one metre tall (3.28ft) and weighs 100kg (220lb). The baby elephant, who was born on Thu...
2009-08-07 - , United Kingdom.
Noorjahan, who lives at the Leicestershire Zoo, was inseminated from a bull elephant based at Whipsnade Wildlife park in Bedfordshire. The procedure was done artificially as moving elephants between zoos for mating can be bad for herd dynamics. The male elephant calf, who has not been named yet, is about one metre tall (3.28ft) and weighs 100kg (220lb). The baby elephant, who was born on Thursday morning, will be named by a public competition in about a week's time. Noorjahan arrived at the zoo ...
2009-08-04 - Bangalore, India. Bosky Khanna
It’s a boy! Before the feminists among you protest, there is reason for special cheer in this birth. On Saturday night, Suvarna (19) gave birth to Gajendra. This is the first time in the history of the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) that a male elephant calf has been born in captivity.
2009-08-04 - Gland, Switzerland.
The IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group aims to undertake a study to improve understanding of the elephant meat trade on elephant populations in Central Africa. The study will elaborate on bushmeat research already undertaken throughout the region by a number of institutions, but will focus on the African elephant. The study will examine the dynamics, scale and impact of the elephant meat trade throughout the Central African subregion. The study will examine the trade in elephant meat as ...
2009-08-04 - Chicago, United States. Joe Fontanetta
"So, Joe, you've been working here almost a year and you haven't even come to meet the girls," he said. He was John, the head elephant keeper at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. "Hey, are you serious?" I asked. Meeting the zoo's two resident female elephants was considered a privilege, and rightly so. "Sure," answered John. "If things slow down a little in the Small Mammal House this afternoon, come on over." Well, even though I'd been a zookeeper for almost a year, I had, as yet, been lucky eno...
2009-08-04 - London, United Kingdom.
Minister of defence and President Robert Mugabe’s heir apparent, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has been named by a British newspaper as the mastermind behind a multi-million dollar ivory and rhino horn smuggling cartel.
2009-08-03 - Berhampur, India.
A three-member team of wildlife experts was pressed into service on Monday to drive away the marauding elephants, who have been wreaking havoc in Kandhamal's Daringibadi block for the past two-and-half months. The team, including an expert ranger from the wildlife warden's office, have reached Baliguda. Besides, three squads, comprising around 30 personnel, were engaged in the job to drive away the elephants.
2009-08-03 - Hamburg, Germany.
Baby elephant Rani plays with her mother Tura outdoors for the first time in an enclosure at the Hagenbeck zoo in Hamburg. Rani was born on July 3, 2009 and is now the youngest member of a family of 12 elephants that live in the zoo.
2009-08-03 - Bengaluru, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) welcomed its first male elephant to be born at the park. Suvarna, a 19-year-old cow elephant, delivered the calf taking the number of elephants in the park to 11. Vanaraj, a 40-year-old majestic tusker, who participated in the Dasara festivities last year, was the only male elephant here. But even he came from elsewhere. The park officials are jubilant as the elephant calf was adopted soon after its birth by a Dubai based businessman.
2009-08-01 - Tulsa, United States.
2009-08-01 - Jersualem, Israel. Jonathan Lis
Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo last week lost two elephants, an unborn calf and its mother, who died from complications of pregnancy. Abigail, 32, died on Friday evening at the zoo's intensive care veterinary ward despite an international effort to deliver the dead calf she was carrying in her womb. After Abigail went into labor but could not give birth, the zoo's veterinary staff called Dr. Thomas Bernd Hildebrandt from the Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research, Berlin, and another expert o...
2009-07-31 - Memphis, United States.
The Memphis Zoo has an opening for a Keeper in our Elephant area; the anticipated vacancy will occur 10/09. This position requires a minimum of two years of experience in pachyderm care, including knowledge of training concepts and philosophies needed to work with pachyderms and a varied collection of hooved animals and birds, and a college degree in zoology, biology or a related field (or the equivalent combination of education and experience).
2009-07-30 - Jacksonville, United States. AZA
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is currently recruiting a Supervisor of Mammals with the primary responsibility as the Elephant Program Manager. The successful candidate must have a bachelors degree in a related life science and a minimum of 5 years experience in an AZA accredited zoo with previous experience working protected contact. Must be familiar with the AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care and have at least 2 yrs. experience as a supervisor. Responsibilities include managing 1...
2009-07-29 - San Diego, United States.
Lowell Lindsay, co-author of Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert: The Last Seven Million Years, will be at the San Diego Zoo’s new Elephant Odyssey Exhibit on Saturday, August 15. He will be discussing, in a hands-on presentation, one of America’s most significant fossil treasure troves—the Anza-Borrego Desert, located in San Diego’s own desert backyard. San Diego County’s Anza-Borrego Desert region boasts the longest continuous fossil record in North America, with fossils of s...
2009-07-29 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. Asela Kuruluwansa
The third Kumbal Perahera of the Kandy Esala pageant will parade the streets of Kandy tonight. A massive crowd witnessed the first Kumbal Perahera on Monday. Although the perahera commenced at 7.20 p.m. all streets along the perahera route were overcrowded with people occupying all vantage points by 4 p.m. with a considerable number left out on other streets unable to gain access to streets on the perahera route. Among the crowds were a large number of children.
2009-07-29 - Ta Phraya, Thailand.
Pang Kamlai, a female elephant seriously injured in a road accident in Sa Kaeo two months ago, died on Wednesday despite extensive efforts to save her. The medical team tried in vain to revive her with cardio pulmonary respiration for 30 minutes, but could not fight off death. One of the veterinarians broke down, sobbing and placing Plang Kamlai's trunk on his shoulder after he learned that she was gone. The 10-year-old female elephant suffered severe injuries to her front legs and head when hit...
2009-07-29 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Vietnamese customs officials have uncovered 200 kilogrammes (440 pounds) of elephant ivory tusks illegally imported from Kenya, official media reported on Wednesday. The tusks were found hidden in timber inside a container at the northern Hai Phong port, said Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Police) newspaper. Authorities are seeking the owner of the container, who did not turn up to receive the goods when they arrived in April, the newspaper said. It did not say who was listed as the receiver or giv...
2009-07-28 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
A female elephant calf made her public debut today at the Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, England. The calf, who has yet to be named by zoo staff, weighs 126kg (278lbs) and was born earlier this month. The zoo has seen its elephant population decline this year. Two of its elephants died from an elephant herpes virus. Zoo director David Field told the BBC the baby calf's birth was important for the zoo's endangered species program. "The female calf represents another important addition to our herd...
2009-07-28 - Fairhope, United States. BERNIE HORNICK
The stage is set for the biggest romance Somerset County has ever seen. But only one of the two players is certain: Jackson, the bull elephant who lives at the International Conservation Center. He gets to pick his love interest from the new arrivals, Kallie and Bette – pronounced Bet. Jackson hasn’t yet been given the chance to decide: As is often the case in matters of the heart, timing is everything, and zookeepers want to get this one right. The ICC on Monday introduced the girls to thei...
2009-07-27 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Two baby elephants under five years old were taken away from their mothers, sparking anger in a world-renown elephant orphanage in central Sri Lanka, a local English newspaper said on Monday. The Island said the two baby tuskers were forcibly separated from their mothers by the Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela, the chief custodian of the Temple of the Tooth, on Saturday night at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, about 80 km northeast of the capital Colombo.
2009-07-27 - , United Kingdom. PRLog Press Release
A tiny elephant standing just over 3ft high is the latest addition to the herd at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. The pint-sized pachyderm was born on Wednesday night to mum Kaylee, 27, weighing in at a healthy 126kg (almost 20st). Adult elephants can weigh over 800st. The speedy nipper was on her feet within five minutes of being born, the quickest any calf born at the Zoo has been up and about. She has already been enjoying the summer sunshine taking her first wobbly steps outside, much to the delight of z...
2009-07-27 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. KDKA.com
Two of the Philadelphia Zoo's female elephants are getting used to their new home at the Pittsburgh Zoo's International Conservation Center. Bette and Kallie are said to be doing well so far and will be introduced to the outside yards soon. "Both Bette and Kallie are doing very well," says Dr. Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. "They started to explore the elephant barn almost immediately and love to be in the sand arena." Currently the two elephants are bein...
2009-07-26 - , United States. Keith O'Brien / Boston.com
In zoo parlance, they’re known as charismatic megafauna. We’re talking lions, tigers, and other large creatures. They are the big-ticket beasts and the reason, historically anyway, why people have come to the zoo. Where there is megafauna, the thinking goes, there will be crowds. That’s partly what made Ron Kagan’s decision so shocking. The executive director of the Detroit Zoo announced in 2004 that he was voluntarily sending his zoo’s two Asian elephants to a California sanctuary, wh...
2009-07-24 - Nairobi, Kenya. ROB CRILLY
ELEPHANTS ARE destroying Kenya’s national parks, trampling woodland and putting other species at risk, according to a new report. The giant mammals need vast areas of land to graze and trying to protect them inside parks is putting a strain on the rest of the ecosystem. The finding is part of a study that discovered Kenya’s famous wild animal population is dying off at the same rate inside protected parks as outside – 40 per cent in 20 years.
2009-07-16 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. WPXI.com
Thursday was a big day for the elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. They're celebrating two birthdays. Angeline and Zuri were born last July. The first year of life is critical for elephants to grow and learn and both Angeline and Zuri are doing very well. The zoo said the little pachyderms have reached several major milestones. "They are eating solid foods, using their trunks to pick up objects, and learning simple commands such as ‘come here and stop,’ says Willie Theison, ele...
2009-07-14 - Dallas, Texas, United States. Dawson M Williams / The Dallas Morning News
Jenny the elephant, one of the Dallas Zoo's most famous residents, was introduced Tuesday to the pachyderm that will become her constant companion. Gypsy, a 27-year-old female African elephant, arrived at the zoo in late March from a private owner in Southeast Texas and had been quarantined since then. All new zoo animals are separated at first to ensure that they aren't carrying diseases and to allow them time to adapt to the staff and their new environment. The pair met for the first time earl...
2009-07-11 - Fairhope, Pennsylvania, United States. CUMBERLAND TIMES-NEWS
A trio of animal-rights groups is railing against the pending move of two elephants to Pittsburgh Zoo’s conservation center in Somerset County. The organizations — including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — argue that the two pachyderms from Philadelphia’s zoo are too old for breeding and would be confined to “small pens” at the Fairhope-area facility. But the zoo’s top administrator begs to differ, saying the activists’ assertions are misleading and, in some cases, ...
2009-07-08 - Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Linda Moore
The jubilance at the Memphis Zoo following the Monday night birth of an African elephant calf was snatched away on Wednesday after the new baby was accidentally killed by its mother. At about 10 a.m. Wednesday, the calf stumbled in the enclosure. As Asali tried to right the baby with her trunk, she used too much pressure and critically injured it with her tusk, said Chuck Brady, zoo president and CEO. Zoo staffers immediately moved Asali away from the female calf, but the facility’s medical te...
2009-07-07 - Memphis, Tennessee, United States. PRESS RELEASE
“Asali,” an African elephant at the Memphis Zoo gave birth to a female calf at approximately 10:23pm on July 6 after a gestation of 1 year, 9 months, and 15 days. Currently, Asali and her calf are in healthy, stable condition. The pregnancy is a result of the Zoo’s continued participation in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) plans to grow the captive population of elephants. This plan, known as the Species Survival Plan, outlines the management and development of healthy eleph...
2009-07-06 - Los Angeles, United States. WPXI.com
Hours before a public memorial for Michael Jackson, a herd of elephants were on the march through downtown Los Angeles in a fitting start to a circus-like day. Eleven Asian elephants and seven horses from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus lumbered from Union Station toward the Staples Center early Tuesday, where the memorial service for Jackson was to be held. The elephants were set to arrive at the arena some five hours before the memorial. Some elephants and early arriving Jackson ...
2009-07-05 - Sydney, Australia.
The male calf was born to Asian elephant Thong Dee in Taronga Zoo's Elephant Barn about 3.08am yesterday. After a three-hour labour, Thong Dee, who was a street elephant in Bangkok, was surprised by the calf and took time to calm down. She greeted the new baby by touching his trunk. By morning, he was trying to suckle, which zookeepers say is excellent news. "Although it's very soon since the delivery, the early signs are good and we will monitor mother and calf very closely, providing every pos...
2009-07-03 - Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Jody Callahan
For a baby elephant, mother's milk really is the essence of life. In an elephant, the milk carries important antibodies and nutrients that human babies typically get while still in the womb. So if the baby elephant, due any day now at the Memphis Zoo, somehow doesn't nurse from its mother, Asali, the little bundle of joy could be in big trouble.That's where Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center stepped in, donating a human breast pump valued at more than $1,000. The pump and a stand were given to...
2009-07-02 - Karachi, Pakistan. Syed Intikhab
The four newly brought baby elephants will be accessible to general public from today (Thursday) as the 48 hours monitoring period has come to an end on Wednesday, The Nations learnt. Great jubilation was observed in the Safari Park, when four baby elephants were witnessed trumpeting in the quarantine station, but the visitors were not allowed for the spectacle till Wednesday due to 48 hours strict monitoring of the loving species.
2009-06-28 - London, United Kingdom. Robin McKie
Scientists have used a revolutionary genetic technique to pinpoint the area of Africa where smugglers are slaughtering elephants to feed the worldwide illegal ivory trade. Using a DNA map of Africa's elephants, they have found that most recent seizures of tusks can be traced to animals that had grazed in the Selous and Niassa game reserves on the Tanzania and Mozambique borders.
2009-06-26 - Bangkok, Thailand. SUNTHORN PONGPAO
The Ayutthaya Elephant Kraal has painted Plai Panlan, a 5-year-old male elephant, in the panda colours of black and white to remind the public that elephants have needs, too. The watercolour is harmless, and the elephant did not seem to mind. Kraal staff are gently mocking the national craze over the female panda cub born to Lin Hui and Xuang Xuang at Chiang Mai zoo.
2009-06-24 - Hong Kong, China.
Law enforcement officials investigating the source of confiscated ivory (605 elephant tusks) in Hong Kong had no clue where the stash originated before leaving Douala, a port city in Cameroon. DNA technology, however, was able to verify that many of the tusks once belonged to forest elephants that lived in southern Gabon, near the Republic of Congo border. Extracting elephant DNA from confiscated ivory could be an important tool to take wildlife investigations a step farther and to stop poaching...
2009-06-24 - Fairhope, Pennsylvania, United States. WPXI.com
Their trunks are packed, and they're headed west. Kallie and Bette, the Philadelphia Zoo's two female African elephants, are moving to southern Pennsylvania. They'll join Jackson, a male African elephant, at the Pittsburgh Zoo's center for rare and endangered species. The zoos said the pachyderms will be trucked to their new quarters in a specially equipped trailer after the July 4 weekend. The Pittsburgh Zoo's 724-acre International Conservation Center is a new preservation and education facili...
2009-06-23 - Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Dana Rebik / MyEyeWitnessNews.com
A very pregnant African elephant is trying to stay cool at the Memphis Zoo. 23 year-old Asili is due July 12th, 2009, but could give birth at any time according to zookeepers. Zoology students from Rhodes College are keeping watch on mom 24 hours a day, monitoring her behavior. “She is definitely dozing in the shade a lot and throwing water on herself. Yes, she is hot," says zoo curator Matt Thompson. Zoo goers gathered around the elephant exhibit learning more about the pregnancy. "It is ...
2009-06-16 - Portland, United States.
Voters passed a $125 million bond measure for the zoo last fall. The money will be spent on everything from a new enclosure for polar bears to improved veterinary facilities. $30 million is earmarked to increase the elephant enclosure from three acres to six acres. Zoo deputy director, Mike Keele, says the bull elephants will also get a 200 acre off-site space.
2009-06-14 - Toronto, Canada. Katherine Laidlaw
An African elephant living at the Toronto Zoo died Saturday after another elephant knocked her over as the herd scrambled for its hay at feeding time. Tessa, the 40-year-old elephant who lived at the zoo since its opening in 1974, lived with four other elephants in the five-acre enclosure. On Saturday afternoon, the elephants were outside being fed when Tessa fell to the ground and couldn’t stand up again.
2009-06-08 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
The Elephant Conservation Science and Veterinary Research Group website functions to provide current information concerning advances in elephant research in key topics that are relevant for wild and captive elephant management. This website provides not only basic explanations of elephant conservation topics such as endtheliotropic herpesvirus and tuberculosis but also an explanation of the implications of new findings for elephant management and conservation.
2009-05-22 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom. Anne O’Donoghue
Leelee, a two-year-old female Asian elephant, has been struck down by the same deadly virus which killed Donaldson, a one-year-old male calf. She began showing signs of elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV) on Friday, May 15, and immediately began undergoing treatment. The little jumbo was also given a blood plasma transfusion, but sadly died on Sunday, May 17. Vets battled for 50 hours in vain to try to save her.
2009-05-21 - Antwerp, Belgium.
In what was Belgium’s largest live streaming event on May 16-17, more than 30,000 concurrent online viewers, some as far away as New Zealand, Aruba and Argentina, witnessed the birth of Kai Mook, the first-ever elephant born at the Antwerp Zoo. The 42-hour non-stop live streaming was orchestrated by the cutting-edge Belgian content delivery network Rambla using Wowza Media Server® Pro for Amazon® EC2, which gave them the elastic capacity to manage the flood of global viewers.
2009-05-20 - Safaripark Beekse Bergen, Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands.
On behalf of the Leibniz Institut for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) and the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians (EAZWV) we wish to extend a cordial invitation to you to participate in the: "International Conference on Diseases of Zoo and Wild Animals 2009", between 20th and 24th May 2009. The Conferece will be held at the Safaripark Beekse Bergen, Hilvarenbeek, The Netherlands
2009-05-19 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
CUSTOMS officials in the Philippines have seized a shipment of elephant tusks from Tanzania estimated to be worth more than $1m (approx. 1.4bn/-). Customs police in Manila said they made the catch after inspecting a shipment of purported moulding machines which arrived on March 1 from Tanzania. The inspection is understood to have been based on a tip that the contents of the shipment were falsely declared.
2009-05-18 - Chicago, United States. Janice Hoppe
The elephant exhibit in Brookfield Zoo near Chicago is closed until further notice after the death last week of Affie, a 40-year-old African elephant. Officials are still unsure of the cause of death. About 8 a.m. Friday, Affie’s keepers arrived and found her lying on her side indoors not able to stand back up, according to Sondra Katzen, spokeswoman for the zoo. After hours of attempts to get the 10,400-pound elephant on her feet, she died at 2 p.m., Katzen said.
2009-05-17 - Hohenwald, United States.
On May 15, at 3:42 am CT, Ned, the second elephant ever confiscated by the United States Department of Agriculture, died peacefully in the company of his caregivers at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Ned was born into the captive breeding program at Busch Gardens, and at age two, sold to a circus trainer and performed with the Big Apple Circus until 2000. Later, Ned was traded to another circus trainer who hired him out to the Royal Hannaford traveling circus until Ned’s emaciated conditi...
2009-05-17 - Chicago, United States.
The Chicago Zoological Society announced the death of Affie, a 40-year-old African elephant at Brookfield Zoo on Friday afternoon. Despite the staff's efforts to assist the 10,400-pound elephant, Affie died on Friday surrounded by her zookeepers. At 40 years old, Affie was one of the oldest elephants in North America. She was one of the zoo's most popular animals with guests
2009-05-15 - Hohenwald, United States.
On May 14, at around 3:30pm Central Time, Bunny, the second to the oldest elephant resident of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, died peacefully in the company of her caregivers. Bunny’s long time elephant companions, Shirley and Tarra, kept a round-the-clock vigil nearby. Bunny suffered from no diseases, and approximately six weeks prior to her death had visibly slowed down and was no longer walking as far as she usually did. A necropsy will be performed on Saturday, May 16 with her burial...
2009-05-12 - , Germany.
Against 9.45 o'clock went today since September 2008 at the Leipziger zoo lent elephant bull Calvin (geb. 1986 in Calgary) from the zoo Hanover on journeys into its new homeland zoo to Ostrava. From the outset it was certain that the 11-11-fache father inserts one intermediate stop into Leipzig only, in order to provide with the Leipziger elephant ladies for new generation. Whether the 4.5 tons heavy bull covered also successfully in Leipzig, is not certain. „ only in a few months can we a ...
2009-05-10 - Utah, United States. Becky Cairns
Baby fat? Not on this mommy-to-be, still svelte as ever at 7,500 pounds. It may be hard for human moms to fathom, but Christie the expectant elephant isn’t even "showing" yet — after 18 months of pregnancy. "If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t know," says Nancy Carpenter, the Hogle Zoo veterinarian caring for the African elephant. Not only that, this pregnant pachyderm has escaped morning sickness, mood swings and food cravings. How about swollen ankles? No to those, too, her doctor says ...
2009-05-10 - Columbus, Ohio, United States.
The baby elephant born March 27 at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium now has a name: Beco. Zoo officials said the name -- pronounced BEE-co -- received 6,064 votes, almost half of the 12,783 votes cast. The name was announced this afternoon. Melanie Celello of Westerville was named the grand-prize winner after her name was drawn out of a hat. She and two others submitted Beco, which is a combination of the names of the baby's parents, Phoebe and Coco. Celello wins a one-year zoo membership and other...
2009-05-08 - Columbus, Ohio, United States. Susan Glaser/Plain Dealer Reporter
Pack up your herd of elephant enthusiasts -- there's a pachyderm party going on this spring in the state capital. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has become a major large-mammal meeting place, with eight elephants under one roof. Among the inhabitants: the three African elephants from Cleveland, temporarily relocated downstate while their digs here are redone. And the newest addition: a calf, as yet unnamed, born March 27 to mom Phoebe, an Asian elephant and longtime Columbus Zoo resident. The mal...
2009-05-07 - Tennessee, United States. Rich Davis
Ten years ago, under a postcard-blue September sky, I stood outside a million-dollar barn and watched Bunny the 8,000-pound pachyderm become part of The Elephant Sanctuary in tiny Hohenwald, Tenn., southwest of Nashville. The other Asian elephants had already entered the pasture, Barbara the matriarch lying in the sun in a far field, Tarra roaming a fence line and Jenny and Shirley — best buds, I learned — waiting for the new kid from Evansville to join in. For an hour, Bunny stood at the ba...
2009-05-07 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom. Anne O'Donoghue
There was sad news at Whipsnade Zoo this week, when little baby elephant Donaldson, pictured, died just two days after falling ill. Keepers noticed that the one-year-old male calf seemed off-colour during routine morning checks on Thursday, April 30. Vets carried out a follow-up investigation and found that the calf was showing early symptoms of a virus which only targets elephants. Donaldson was given drugs straight away to fight the infection, known as elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (E...
2009-04-26 - Duluth, Minnesota, United States. Dan Hinnenkamp
Shrine circus time in Duluth begins an annual debate over whether animals belong in circuses. I’ve worked for circuses. I’ve seen the care and dedication that goes into the daily lives of the animals, the proper techniques used when handling exotic and domestic performing creatures, and how no expense is spared when it comes to the animals — even when it means circus workers living less-than-glamorous lives on the road. Last summer, I spent three weeks traveling across northern Minnesota, ...
2009-04-26 - Shillong, India.
Meghalaya Forest Department today blamed the depletion of forest cover for the increasing man-elephant conflict in the state. At least 15 people have been killed by marauding pachyderms in the state in the last five years. " Despite efforts by the forest department, there has been no significant improvement in the constant depletion of forest cover due to the practice of Jhum cultivation in the Garo hills region of the state," Meghalaya Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) V K Nau...
2009-04-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The National Trust of Sri Lanka will present another lecture in its ongoing monthly series - this time, 'The Wild Elephants of Sri Lanka' by Dr. Srilal Miththapala on April 30, at 6.30 p.m. at the Barefoot Gallery, Colombo 3. The talk will give a brief background of the evaluation of the elephants and the scientific classification of African and Asian species, the characteristics of Sri Lankan elephants along with the highlights of the historical and religious association that elephants have had...
2009-04-26 - San Diego, United States. Brady MacDonald
Visitors to the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey habitat will travel back in time to explore the ancestors of animals that roamed California 10,000 years ago or more. Opening May 23, the new $45-million pachyderm playground brings together the zoo’s three elephants with four from its sister Wild Animal Park into a single herd. The elephants’ new home features a 2.5-acre yard, a 120,000-gallon pool and a medical facility where visitors can watch zookeepers and veterinarians feed and care fo...
2009-04-26 - Baton Rouge, United States.
The East Baton Rouge Recreation and Park Commission Foundation is looking for private donations to help fund projects such as a new running track, a boathouse for City Park and a new elephant exhibit at the Baton Rouge Zoo.
2009-04-26 - Berlin, Germany.
Three elephants that belong to a circus currently camped in a southern suburb of Berlin have been spotted roaming the area regularly, the daily Tagesspiegel reported Sunday. Residents in the district of Marienfelde report that the three African elephants walk the neighbourhood’s streets daily and spend time at a nearby field. There have been no reports of injuries, though passers-by often stop, stare and photograph the massive animals as they calmly make their way through the quiet area....
2009-04-25 - Dong nai, Vietnam.
A herd of wild elephants recently gone astray is becoming increasingly bolder, encroaching on inhabited land in southern Dong Nai Province’s Vinh Cuu District, according to officials. The 13 elephants, which are being kept unfenced in Cat Tien National Park in Central Highland province of Lam Dong, left the park in search of food, Tran Van Mui, the park director, has said.
2009-04-25 - Columbos, United States. HOLLY ZACHARIAH
Anyone hoping to cast their vote today for one of top three name choices for the baby elephant at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will just have to wait. Zoo officials had planned to announce the public's best submissions today in its Name the Baby Elephant Contest. But they're still sorting through the suggestions. Now they hope to unveil a list on Monday afternoon, zoo spokeswoman Patty Peters said. The baby, born March 27, is on public view from at least 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily at the indoor el...
2009-04-25 - San Diego, California, United States. Tony Perry
After a year of planning and an hourlong trip on Interstate 15, four adult Asian elephants arrived safely today at the San Diego Zoo from the zoo's Wild Animal Park. The four -- the bull Ranchipur and the females Cookie, Mary and Cha Cha -- are set to star in the zoo's new Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey, which will open May 23. The zoo's three resident elephants will also be part of the exhibit, the largest (7.5 acres), most expensive ($45 million) and most complex (30 species) in zoo h...
Reporting from San Diego -- Ranchipur, the bull, is ready. Cookie and Mary are getting there. Cha Cha, well, she's always been the idiosyncratic one, the youngest and a bit flighty. Soon, Ranchipur and the three females -- Asian elephants all -- will transfer from the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park to the zoo itself. The exact day and time of the move is a closely held secret. The four will be stars in the zoo's largest and most expensive exhibit: the $45-million Harry and Grace Steele Elephan...
2009-04-24 - Mecklenburg, Germany.
The rust ochers elephant lady Bibi is dead. The grey lady had not no more recovered from a heart cycle attack. The directors of zoo Udo nail in Rostock and Trade Union of German Employees Encke in Nuremberg yesterday gave their Okay to o'clock shortly before 15 for putting to sleep.Still the previous evening Bibi discharges its male nurse Jörg kitchen master against 22 o'clock as used. But when the elephant dad goes past on the next morning with his two dogs at the Dickhäuter playpen, the 42-J...
2009-04-18 - Portland, Oregon, United States. Phillip Swarts, The Oregonian
Packy the elephant turned 47 today, amid plenty of cake, smiles and elephant ears. Packy helped make Portland's zoo famous when he became the first elephant in decades born in the Western Hemisphere, and the Oregon Zoo has celebrated "Elephantastic!" on his birthday weekend ever since. Rama, one of Packy's sons, 26, also celebrated his birthday today, with a "trunk show" of paintings he creates with his trunk. With two and a half hours left until closing time, there had been 8,500 visitors to th...
2009-04-15 - Atlanta, United States.
The Keeper III is responsible for animal husbandry and maintenance of exhibit, holding and public areas of the assigned department. This person will report to the area Lead Keeper or Assistant Curator or Curator as appropriate.
2009-04-14 - , New Zealand. Sudesh Kissun
The Auckland City Council has come under fire for its decision to spend more than $13 million in acquiring five elephants for the Auckland Zoo. It has agreed in principle to pay for five elephants by 2015 and build an enclosure six times the size of the existing facility at the zoo. The zoo currently has two female elephants, Kashin (40) and Burma (26). Kashin’s health is deteriorating and may live up for another five years. Burma, her mate, cannot be left alone and hence the council wants to ...
2009-04-12 - Hunan, China.
It looked like a normal birthday party with a cake and pink balloons -- but the birthday boy was an endangered Asian elephant. Pamai celebrated his 18th year in style Saturday at Changsha Zoo, in the capital of Hunan Province. His super-sized cake contained more than 100 kilograms of fodder and 30 kilograms of fruit and vegetables. The celebration was also used to highlight the plight of wild Asian elephants. More than 30 college students came to the party to show their dedication to protect wil...
2009-04-11 - Poznan, Poland. Mail Foreign Service
A Polish zoo is under fire - for having a 'gay' elephant. Officials at the zoo in Poznan, western Poland, claims to have built the largest elephant house in Europe at a cost of 37million zlotys (£8million). However, their attempts to increase the size of zoo's elephant herd have run into difficulties after the revelation that ten-year-old African Bush elephant, Ninio, is homosexual. The bull has had to change zoos three times in the past five years because of his aggressive behaviour toward fem...
2009-04-11 - Hunan, China.
Elephant lovers are being sought by the Changsha Zoo in Hunan province to help celebrate the 18th birthday of Pa Ke, an Asian elephant. In addition to a large birthday cake made of apples, watermelons and other fruits, Pa Ke will wear a red outfit at the party. The zoo hopes to find 10 people who are 18 years old to help at the party. Pa Ke, who has lived in Changsha for seven years, has grown to 3.3 meters from 2.8 meters. It weighs more than four tons, a ton more since he moved to the zoo seve...
2009-04-10 - Portland, Oregon, United States. Katy Muldoon, The Oregonian
The Oregon Zoo's effort to carefully track its elephant calf's weight began with a technique developed, or so it might seem, by sadistic physicians. Each day, keepers shoved little Samudra onto a scale. But as the zoo's prize newcomer approaches 1,000 pounds -- he was born last Aug. 23, weighing 286 pounds -- he's learned to follow the simple, firm directive that keeper Bob Lee delivered Tuesday: "Scale!" At the word, Sam, as he's known, stepped onto a plywood platform hooked to a scale. His leg...
2009-04-03 - Yerevan, Armenia.
These days one can find few visitors in Yerevan's zoological garden. The employees say visitors will increase with the start of the season, from May 1. The director says the zoo had no losses in the winter. Just on the contrary, the number of the "residents" rose during the winter months as some of them had baby animals. "As the winter was comparatively milder we were able to secure minimum conditions in cages. The zoo has about 2300 animals of 210 species," says the zoo director Sahak Abovyan. ...
2009-04-02 - Belfast, United Kingdom. Margaret Canning
Belfast should brace itself as two retired circus performers pack up their trunks and make their way to the city’s zoo. Asian elephants, Jenny (48) and 32-year-old Dunja, left their home in Hanover Zoo, Germany yesterday for the three day journey to their new home in north Belfast. The Asian Elephant breeding programme recommended the zoo here as the best location for a placement for the ex-circus elephants. They are pictured bidding auf wiedersehen to their German friends, hopefully comforted...
2009-04-01 - Dallas, United States. Selena Hernandez
Jenny the elephant, at the Dallas Zoo, has been the center of controversy for nearly a year. Wednesday zoo officials announced that Jenny will soon have some new playmates. Dallas Zoo officials announced that Gypsy, a 27-year-old African elephant, has come to live with Jenny. Gypsy arrived at the Dallas Zoo on March 31. "She fits the profile of the type of elephant that would benefit from our new Giants of the Savanna habitat, and we wanted to find the best possible companion for our current ele...
2009-03-31 - Mudgee, Australia.
(1st of April freaud) Authorities are still attempting to recapture an elephant roaming at large in the Mid-Western Region. The pachyderm was passing through the region with Lipra’s Circus, along with another elephant, when the truck transporting the pair collided with another car and overturned. Although the drivers of the vehicles sustained only minor injuries, the truck suffered sufficient damage to allow the elephants to escape. One was recaptured within two hours by polic...
2009-03-28 - Baroda, United States. DENNIS COGSWELL
As young boys will, brothers Ethan and Evan Hoge and their cousin Sebastian O’Connor spend much of their free time looking for antique bottles and other things around what was once a railroad line along the edge of their family’s property. They probably never imagined that one of their trips would result in finding part of the remains of a prehistoric elephant.
2009-03-27 - Powell, United States. Patty Peters, COLUMBUS ZOO
The much anticipated birth of an Asian elephant calf at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium occurred on March 27 at approximately 2:35 p.m. after a 655 day gestation period. The male calf stood within minutes. Phoebe's health was monitored throughout her pregnancy including an exercise regimen and regular ultrasounds and blood draws. On Wednesday her progesterone levels dropped significantly indicating the onset of the birthing process. Phoebe and her calf will continue to be observed around t...
2009-03-27 - London, United Kingdom.
Jim Edwards, who died on March 23 aged 73, was the co-founder of the World Elephant Polo Championships, which are held in Nepal each year. Although there is some evidence that the game may have been played in India in the early 20th century, the idea took off in 1981 when Edwards met the Scottish polo player and tobogganist James Manclark in a club at St Moritz. Ever the keen sportsman, Jim Edwards enjoyed tobogganing and playing conventional polo at Ham; he was fishing in Iceland in 2004, and t...
2009-03-26 - Belfast, United Kingdom.
The Second World War 'elephant angel' of Belfast Zoo has been found. During the Second World War, some of the zoo's more dangerous animals were killed in case the site was bombed and the animals escaped. Sheila the elephant escaped the order and found her way to the backgarden of Denise Austin, one of the first female keepers at the zoo.
2009-03-25 - London, United Kingdom.
He’s no stranger to talking mumbo-jumbo. But Michael Jackson has stumped organisers of his London concerts – by planning to take to the stage astride an elephant. One insider said: “He hopes to make it the most spectacular gig ever. For the jungle section, he wants to ride out on an African elephant with panthers led on gold chains. Parrots and other birds will fly behind him. If it goes to plan it will look incredible.”
2009-03-25 - Chieng Mai, Thailand.
The elephant population in Thailand has decreased to less than 5,000 as they have been abandoned and left uncared. Concern authorities have made efforts to increase the huge animal’s population through artificial insemination projects. Research into frozen elephant semen has also been carried out. The frozen semen can be kept for about 20 years for artificial insemination. Phang Sao was given frozen semen and now she is pregnant, with delivery of her baby expected in September. Phang Sommai i...
2009-03-23 - Dallas, Texas, United States. Joanna Cattanach, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Elephants brought the Dallas Zoo nothing but problems last summer. But soon they'll be at the center of a $30 million African Savanna exhibit that officials hope will silence critics – and even serve as a national model. The 10-acre attraction, set to open next spring, will house lions, impalas, zebras, ostriches, giraffes, wild dogs, wart hogs – and elephants. Zoo director Gregg Hudson said the exhibit will be on par with a similar display at the acclaimed San Diego Zoo. Huds...
2009-03-23 - Belfast, United Kingdom. BBC NEWS
The search is on for the kind guardian who adopted a baby elephant and brought her up in her back garden in north Belfast during World War II. Sheila, the elephant, had luck on her side. Nine lions, two tigers and a number of bears and wolves were killed on the orders of the Ministry of Public Security because of fears that if a bomb hit the site of Bellevue Zoo, they would escape and pose a threat. But baby Sheila dodged the death list and was re-housed by a woman who lived near the zoo and kep...
2009-03-23 - Golden Triangle, Thailand.
It will kick off with a colorful opening parade and blessing ceremony which will take place in the nearby village of Chiang Saen. The parade is a wonderful example of Northern Thai culture with traditional dancers, hill-tribe villagers, elephant spirit men (Khru Ba Yai), and of course the stars of the parade - the elephants.
2009-03-22 - Baltimore, Maryland, United States. WBALTV
BALTIMORE -- My, how he has grown. Samson, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore's baby elephant weighed 290 pounds at birth and over the year he gained about 2 pounds a day. Samson is now tipping the scales at 1,000 pounds. Hundreds of people showed up for Samson's first birthday party on Saturday. The elephant and a couple of friends were treated to their very own cakes topped with sweet potatoes, bananas, apples and raisins. Two legged guests were treated to cupcakes from Charm City Cupcakes.<...
2009-03-22 - , United States. Ryan Easley
Elephants presented by Larry Carden: Bo - Vicky - Cindy - Betty. Larry Carden presents a great act and a very able hand, also presenting the only bull elephant on the road in America.
2009-03-22 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
The Don Festival, called Buon Don in Vietnamese, is expected to take place from March 22-26 in the Buon Don District, said director of York Don Park, one of official members to join the festival. He said the festival would feature folk games such as buffalo stabbing, food and drink, and an elephant race.
2009-03-21 - Berlin, Germany. Lindsay Barnett
Ko Raya, a five-day-old female Asian elephant, made her big debut yesterday at the Berlin Zoo. She's the third offspring of her 22-year-old mother, Pang Pha. Her father is 15-year-old Victor. Ko Raya is named for an island in Thailand. She weighed about 370 pounds at birth.
2009-03-20 - Okavango, Botswana. Rebecca Morelle
A pink baby elephant has been caught on camera in Botswana. A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta. Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants. They are unsure of its chances of long-term survival - the blazing African sunlight may cause blindness and skin problems for the calf. Mike Holding, who spotted the baby while filming for a BBC wildlife programme,...
2009-03-19 - Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Gus G. Sentementes
Samson, the first elephant to be born in Baltimore, turns 1 year old today, and organizers at the Maryland Zoo are planning a birthday bash for him on Saturday. The zoo is inviting the public to the "elephant overlook," where people can sing "Happy Birthday" to Samson and watch him eat his own birthday cake. The birthday sing-a-long is scheduled for noon. Other child-friendly events include free cupcakes for guests, face-painting and the signing of a large birthday card for Samson. ...
2009-03-18 - , United States. DeWayne Bevil
A 24-year-old African elephant died Tuesday at Disney's Animal Kingdom after a brief, isolated illness, Walt Disney World officials say. Tumpe, a female that was moved to Animal Kingdom in 2007, had been suffering from skin sores and gastrointestinal problems for two months. The staff provided medical care including blood tests, ultrasound, bacterial and viral testing, electrocardiography and laparoscopic surgery, the company said. A pathology report is expected within weeks, but Disney experts ...
2009-03-18 - Queensland, Australia. Dani Cooper, ABC
In what sounds like a page from a Michael Crichton novel, an Australian ecologist has called for the introduction of elephants into South America and the creation of Pleistocene parks across the world. Professor Chris Johnson, of James Cook University, Far North Queensland, says the re-introduction of large herbivores to the Americas would help restore ecosystems and save threatened native species. The experiment would also help settle the debate over whether humans or climate chan...
2009-03-17 - Mexico City, Mexico.
A 70-year-old female elephant died at Chapultepec Zoo, Mexico’s largest, after falling into the pit separating her from the public, the Mexico City mayor’s office said Sunday. The Asian elephant named Ranny on Saturday lost “strength in her extremities, could not keep her balance and fell to one side of her pen,” the Mexican capital’s government said. The accident occurred as a “result of her advanced age” and forced authorities to close part of the zoo while they undertook rescue ...
2009-03-15 - Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. Bill Radford, THE GAZETTE
The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has a movie star in its midst. Malaika, a female African elephant, arrived at the zoo in December after 21 years in the hands of a private owner - an animal trainer who found Malaika plenty of work on TV and in film. Despite her Hollywood status, keepers say she hasn't been throwing her weight around - and at 7,800 pounds, she has plenty to throw around. "She's real calm and laid-back," said Jason Bredahl, the zoo's elephant manager. It has ...
2009-03-13 - San Diego, California, United States. Jeanette Steele, UNION-TRIBUTE
NORTH COUNTY — An African elephant calf was born early Friday morning at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. The little male appears healthy and is nursing often from his mother, Umngani, said zoo spokeswoman Yadira Galindo. “He's doing great. He is wobbly on his feet, but he is walking around following his mom,” she said. The calf, as yet unnamed, was born with 2-year-old big sister, Khosi, nearby. Zoo officials intend to keep the trio together as soon as they ar...
2009-03-10 - Mysore, India.
MYSORE: The African female elephant Jambi, who was the cynosure of all eyes for more than three decades in the Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, died after a prolonged illness here on Monday. As the news spread, a sombre mood engulfed the zoo. The staff prayed for the departed soul before the body was laid to rest. The elephant was around 44 years and was suffering from arthritis for many years. Jambi was brought from West Germany in 1976. Six years ago, Jambi was attacked by a male elephant Tim...
2009-03-10 - Louisville, Kentucky, United States.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville Zoo's baby elephant, Scotty, is getting ready for his second birthday celebration. Last year, Scotty was given a special birthday cake and other animals were invited to celebrate with him. Over the past year, zoo officials said Scotty learned to swim, went through teething and was featured in People magazine. Scotty, mom Mikki and aunt Punch will show off some of his training to the public on March 21. The festivities begin at 11 a.m. ...
2009-03-10 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
An elephant in Thailand has been fitted with a new false leg, after outgrowing her original prosthetic. Mosha, 3, lost part of her right front leg as a seven-month-old when she stepped on a landmine. She was taken to an elephant orphanage where staff initially thought she might die, but an amputation expert fitted her first leg and she recovered well. Now eating 90kg (200lb) of food a day, Mosha was doing so well she needed the upgrade, and may live for many years. When Mosha was brought to the ...
2009-03-09 - Seoul, South Korea. Ser Myo-ja, JOONANG DAILY
Giant, an Asian elephant known to be the oldest animal in Korea, died on Sunday at the age of 58, Seoul Grand Park said yesterday. According to the amusement park, located south of Seoul, the late Samsung chairman Lee Byung-chull brought Giant from Thailand in 1955 and offered him to the Changgyeong Palace zoo, Seoul Grand Park’s predecessor. Giant was famous for his energy and was adored by many fans, the zoo said. He was known for his unusual habit of rarely sitting or lying d...
2009-03-07 - Indianapolis, United States.
Indianapolis fire officials say a dozen children and an adult have suffered minor injuries when a circus elephant knocked over a portable stairway at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Indianapolis Fire Department spokeswoman Rita Reith (RIGHT') said none of the injured needed to go to a hospital after the incident Saturday at the Murat Shrine Circus. Reith says the elephant was giving rides to children when it bumped the stairway where adults and other children were standing.
2009-03-07 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Vietnam customs officials have uncovered up to five tonnes of elephant tusks smuggled in from Tanzania, state media said Saturday. The tusks were found Friday hidden in around 114 boxes of plastic waste after being transported from Africa through Malaysia to Vietnam's northern Hai Phong port, said the Tuoi Tre newspaper. The Thanh Nien newspaper quoted Dang Tat The, a national wild animal expert, as saying the tusks were from African elephants. It was not yet clear if the tusks were for selling ...
2009-03-06 - , Germany.
The zoo Amnéville is the new homeland of elephant cow Goni. On Wednesday Goni was brought to this week with many patience and light tranquilizers to go into a transportation crate which was then shipped by crane on a low loader. Subsequently, was direction Amnéville, where they probably-keep meanwhile arrived. Gonis future herd consists of two adults cows and a bull. In April 2004 the then eleven-year old Goni came from the zoo Rostock to Osnabrück and from the outset dominated it the ...
2009-03-05 - Atlanta, United States.
An outbreak of community-associated methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus occurred among caretakers of an elephant calf, U.S. health officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report, released Thursday, warns that people working with animals in zoo settings should perform proper hand hygiene before and after animal contact and use personal protective equipment -- gowns, gloves, and masks -- when working with ill or infected animals.
2009-03-03 - Washington, United States. Nedra Pickler, AP
The head of the company that owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus acknowledged in federal court Tuesday that all his elephant handlers strike the animals with metal-tipped prods, but he said it´s necessary to keep the huge animals under control and doesn´t harm them. Feld entertainment Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Feld said the circus probably couldn´t have elephants without the prods - called bull hooks - and chains that are at the center of a trial i...
2009-03-02 - Emman, Netherlands.
Film showing the female asian elephant Annabel in Emmen Zoo, Netherlands, after she fell down in the in the dry moat and could not get out by herself. After several attempts to help, zoo staff brought in a crane to lift her out. Unable to stand and in shock, the decision was made to euthanize the zoo's oldest elephant.
2009-03-01 - Columbus, Ohio, United States. Kathy Lynn Gray, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Think your pregnancy was tough? Imagine it lasting 22 months and ending with the delivery of a 300-pound baby. That's the reality for Phoebe, the Asian elephant who's about to deliver her second calf at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. But although the gestation period is long and the baby huge, Phoebe's not unlike pregnant humans in many ways. She has gained a bit too much weight, for one thing, said assistant curator Harry Peachey, who is in charge of the elephants. A...
2009-03-01 - Emmen, Netherlands. RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE
A breakdown truck was called to Emmen Zoo on Sunday to rescue an elephant that had fallen into a ditch. The 42-year-old Annabel fell into the dry ditch that surrounds the elephant compound at 4.00 p.m. She landed on her side and was unable to climb back out by herself. After she was lifted out of the ditch by the breakdown truck, her rescuers couldn't immediately turn her the right way up. A vet said she was in a state of shock. Although elephants regularly fall into the ditch surrounding their ...
2009-02-28 - Kinshasa, Congo.
I was 14 years old when I went elephant hunting for the first time with my uncle. This was during the boom in ivory prices in the early 80s. We hunted mainly inside the Salonga National Park (west of TL2). My ethnic group, the Libinza , are renowned hunters and, alas, were one of main groups to decimate the Park’s elephants. My uncles were traditionally fishermen or hunters of monkeys and some large mammals including buffalo, bongo and hippopotamus. But when the price of ivory went up, the...
2009-02-26 - St Louis, Missouri, United States. Malcom Gay, NEW YORK TIMES
Zookeepers here feared the worst when they noticed that Jade, a 2-year-old elephant calf, was acting sluggish this month. The calf was limping slightly, her appetite was down, and the keepers, wary of a deadly herpes virus prevalent in the country’s Asian elephant population, sent a blood sample to a laboratory for analysis. “That’s pretty much the first thing we do when we see something amiss with our Asian elephant calves,” said Martha Fischer, curator of mammals at the...
2009-02-26 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Tibor Krausz
Dok Mak is old enough to be Goh’s great-grandma and her head alone dwarfs the boy. She eats his weight for breakfast and can easily lift a tree trunk many times his size. Right now, though, on the pint-size boy’s command, the matronly pachyderm obediently lifts a leg – with Goh standing on it. Goh grabs Dok Mak’s droopy ear and hoists himself astride her bulky neck. He rides the elephant down a well-trodden dirt path to the nearby river for her afternoon bath.
2009-02-26 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
“Elephant culture” are the words the Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak Province, Truong Bi, used to talk about the benefits that Dak Lak gain from elephants. According to Truong Bi, Don village currently has four old elephants which can’t participate in the upcoming elephant festival. Two others have been shot dead by wood thieves. He said that in five years, Don village would not have any elephant left. Elephants give Dak Lak a distinct cultural c...
2009-02-26 - London, United Kingdom. Dea Birkett
When I was a little girl, once a year, the park where I played on the seesaw and swings was transformed into a world of wondrous, exotic people and beasts. I saw men walking on stilts and wobbling on a high wire, clowns squelching through custard pies, horses teetering on their hind legs and an elephant strolling around a sawdust ring. The circus had arrived. So entranced was I by this spectacle that I resolved to run away and join the circus.
2009-02-26 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
Evaristti’s labels show pink-coloured weapons whose combustible parts have been ‘castrated and rendered harmless’, then replaced with elephant trunks symbolising ‘peace and harmony’. The mascot for the project is a pink elephant. And conveniently enough, the elephant has also been Carlsberg’s leading symbol since 1901, when the famous granite elephants were built on the brewery’s Valby site.
2009-02-26 - Salt Lake City, United States. Jessica Eyre
The 40-acre zoo at the mouth of Emigration Canyon has some great exhibits. The Elephant Encounter exhibit features a large canopy next to the view of the elephants. Although it was quite chilly the day we were there, I can imagine this being a welcomed shady area in which to escape the heat. Hogle Zoo now has the oldest african elephant in North America, Dari, who turned 48 on June 14, and another is pregnant.
2009-02-26 - Washington, United States.
The federal trial against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act will determine whether the circus can continue using bull hooks and chains to train and control its Asian elephant herd. But the implications of the trial go far beyond what devices elephant handlers can wield. If the animal rights plaintiffs succeed against Ringling Bros., they will also succeed in a dramatic reshaping of the ESA itself.
2009-02-25 - Nairobi, Kenya. Michael McCarthy
There has been an "unprecedented" surge in elephant poaching in one of Kenya's principal national parks since a large-scale ivory sale late last year, which gave a renewed boost to the international ivory market. The sale was of more than 100 tonnes of legal ivory from four southern African countries whose elephant populations are not threatened, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
2009-02-25 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Jeffrey Barbee
A new form of contraception may help to solve the problem of an overpopulation of elephants in South Africa's national parks. Here, Smelly, a 27-year-old female, stands with her 18-month-old son, Stinky, at Makalali, a private game reserve. Smelly had for several years been on an innovative vaccination which prevented her from becoming pregnant. Then the process was reversed and she successfully conceived and gave birth to Stinky.
2009-02-25 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya's major wildlife park has seen a surge in elephant poaching, an increase officials attribute to last year's large-scale ivory sale -- authorized by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in the face of fierce criticism. Five elephants were killed in six weeks at Tsavo National Park, home to 11,700 elephants, Kenya's largest single elephant population. Officials fear the sale and subsequent spike in poaching could lead to the return of slaughter on the scale witnesse...
2009-02-25 - Amboseli, Kenya. Nicholas Wadhams
Poachers on the hunt for ivory have stepped up their use of poison arrows and spears to kill elephants in southern Kenya, according to conservationists who say the techniques are harder to trace than gun attacks. The surge is part of a nationwide increase in attacks on the animals, according to a report issued earlier this month by the Amboseli Trust for Elephants.
2009-02-25 - San Diego, United States. Tony Perry
Sunita, the oldest elephant at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, was euthanized this morning by animal keepers after a long battle with ill health, zoo officials said. A 60-year-old Asian elephant female, Sunita came to the zoo in 1974. Her death leaves the Wild Animal Park with four Asian elephants and 11 African elephants. Sunita had a number of health problems associated with old age, including a fast-moving infection. She had also broken a tooth and had refused to eat in recent days.
2009-02-25 - Kaziranga, India.
Hardly a month after the elephant festival to counter the man-elephant conflict, a villager was trampled to death by a wild elephant in the outskirts of the Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Gopal Barua who trampled to death in his home at Hatikhuli village by the tusker which got separated from its herd and strayed out of the national park at Hatikhuli village. The forest department sources said the department is taking measures to drive the tusker back to the p...
2009-02-24 - Siliguri, India.
An injured makna (male elephant without tusks) roaming the forest of Apalchand near Malbazar has put the forest staff on alert. The 9.5ft tall elephant is around 30-35 years old and has been spotted in Compartment IV of the forest, 50km from here, with injuries on its left knee and shoulder. “We had informed the wildlife wing which sent us two trained elephants and two vets,” said Sailesh Anand, the divisional forest officer of Baikunthapur.
2009-02-24 - Bangkok, United States.
A drunken tourist staggers about as he repeatedly drops his bags of elephant feed on Bangkok's Soi Cowboy boulevard. Beneath the neon lights advertising Thailand's bars and bargirls, the man teases the two-year-old elephant as the beast tries to coax a few sugarcane snacks from his shaking hands. Finally the distressed elephant lets out a cry and her handlers pull her down the street to the next group of paying tourists. "They get beaten because they're tired, they don't want to walk, it'...
2009-02-24 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service has arrested two suspected poachers and a middleman from their hideout in the park for allegedly killing five elephants in the last six weeks in Tsavo ecosystems of Kenya, a government wildlife official has said. The poaching incidents come barely three months after the auctions of 112 tonnes of ivory stocks from South Africa, Bostwana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Five elephants have been poached in the last six weeks in the Tsavo ecosystem of Kenya, alarming authorities and conservationists alike. The elephants, whose tusks had been hacked off, were found in three separate parts of the protected area. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers arrested two suspected poachers and one middleman from their hideout in the park, and recovered two AK-47 rifles and 38 rounds of ammunition. The middleman had already sold off the tusks to other dealers in the illegal i...
2009-02-23 - Hwange, Zimbabwe. Fortunate Muzarabani
MARAUDING elephants have left a trail of destruction on what promised to be a bumper harvest for villagers in c, it has been learnt. Villagers who spoke to Sunday News last Monday indicated that the worst destruction of crops was witnessed in Bhayebaye, Masuswini, Mlagisa, Somkhaya and other surrounding villages in Ward 4 under Chief Mathupula.
2009-02-23 - Rangoon, Myanmar.
THIRTEEN years ago, Dr Tin Thein took a small group of foreign tourists into the mountains west of Taungoo. They were interested in seeing Myanma Timber Enterprise elephants clearing trees in the Bago Yoma, and he had the local connections to make it happen. Dr Tin Thein saw a future in the elephant camp trips – and a way help the poor communities who work in the timber industry.
2009-02-23 - London, United Kingdom. PAUL SIMS
A circus show billed as the first British elephant act in a decade is caught up in a row with animal welfare campaigners. Just days before it is due to begin a nationwide tour, the Great British Circus found itself at the centre of attempts to ban the use of the creatures in performances. The Born Free Foundation, an international animal welfare charity, is concerned about plans to take African and Asian elephants on the tour.
2009-02-23 - Salford, United Kingdom. Louise Gray
Elephants in zoos are at risk of depression, according to a new study that found captive animals are unhappy kept alone or in small groups. The research found that most elephants in zoos are kept in groups of four or smaller. Scientists say this is unnatural for the herd animals. It not only means young elephants cannot learn important socials skills but many begin showing "abnormal behaviour" that suggests depression such as swaying on the spot or pacing in circles. Animal welfare specialist Dr...
2009-02-23 - Sukau, Indonesia. Niluksi Koswanage
Deprived of access to his favorite food, a pygmy elephant trumpets furiously and charges at wildlife officials, a manifestation of this rare species' battle against Malaysia's key palm oil industry. Some herds of pygmy elephants, an endangered species according to conservation body the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), are thriving on the fruit of palm oil plantations that encroach on their domains on Borneo island.
2009-02-23 - St. Louis, United States.
Officials at the Saint Louis Zoo announced on February 23 that Jade is showing some signs that she is responding to treatment. The Zoo's animal care team of curators, veterinarians and zookeepers have been working around the clock monitoring Jade's condition closely and aggressively treating her illness. "We are beginning to see some changes in Jade's laboratory results that suggest for the first time that she is not just holding her own against this illness, but may be making some progress in o...
2009-02-22 - Eugene, United States.
A University of Oregon geology professor has donated his collection of fossils to the university's Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Greg Retallack picked up his first fossil as a 6-year-old boy on vacation at a beach in Coledale, Australia. His collection now exceeds 9,000 items, stretching back through the ages, from 13,000-year-old woolly mammoth hairs found in Siberia to 3.5 billion-year-old limestone unearthed in Western Australia.
2009-02-22 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Soaring demand for ivory from local and foreign consumers and a restriction of supply sent the prices of illegal ivory skyrocketing in Vietnam last year, an international survey released Monday said. The survey, An assessment of the illegal ivory trade in Vietnam, conducted by the wildlife trade monitoring organization TRAFFIC, said illegal ivory prices in Vietnam could be the world's highest with tusks reportedly selling for up to US$1,500 per kilogram and small, cut pieces selling for up to $1...
2009-02-22 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A herd of wild elephants trampled to death two hikers who were part of a 10- member group returning from a trek to Agasthyarkoodam peak in the Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary in Nedumangadu taluk on Saturday evening. They were identified as Anuroop, 25 and Jayakumar, 27, of Neyyatinkara. S. Bijukumar, 30, who narrowly survived the attack, told reporters that the attack occurred in the forest midway between Thankayanvacha Kovil point and the Bonacaud Forest Picket station, almost 2 km. downhill.
2009-02-22 - Midnapore, India.
Farmers of Dantan in West Midnapore were livid after a herd of elephants entered the Tararoi gram panchayat area and ransacked a paddy field on Saturday morning. Also, forest officials were allegedly late in reaching the area despite being informed early in the morning. A herd of 70 elephants with eight calves entered near Singhda in Dantan and rampaged a huge paddy field, said a villager. "The herd damaged more than a few hundred bighas of boro paddy field at Singhda, Tarorai and Kusturia villa...
2009-02-22 - La Brea, United States.
Most rare of all is a well-preserved male Columbian mammoth fossil, about 80% complete, with 10-feet long intact tusks found in an ancient river bed near the other discoveries. This latter fossil is the first complete individual mammoth to have been found in Rancho La Brea. In recognition of the importance of the find, paleontologists at the Page Museum have nicknamed the mammoth “Zed.”
2009-02-21 - Port Townsend, United States.
How do whales and elephants use sound? And how important is sound to their survival? Researcher Jason Wood will present information about the importance of sound to both African elephants and southern resident orcas during a lecture today (Saturday). His presentation, "Whales and Elephants: Using Sound to Save Species," will follow the Port Townsend Marine Science Center's annual meeting at 4 p.m. in Fort Worden State Park's Building 204. After a brief meeting, Anne Murphy, the science center's ...
2009-02-21 - Melbourne Zoo, Australia. Eleni Hale
Bong Su, the elephant responsible for impregnating Melbourne Zoo's new mother Kulab, now could father dozens of calves across the globe after keepers developed a method of exporting his sperm, thanks to the donation of a sperm-freezing machine from the German Government. The Asian elephant, 36, who keepers describe as "easygoing" and "extremely attractive", has a mind-boggling sperm count of up to 2.5 billion per millilitre compared with the average of 800 million per millilitre.
2009-02-21 - Collioure, France. Regina Marler
Hussein is the story of a Muslim mahout (an elephant keeper for the British Raj) whose bravery and curiosity lead him on a series of lively adventures. After a scandal involving a hated rival, a deadly curse, and a beautiful woman, Hussein is forced to leave government service and make his way as an itinerant snake charmer and storyteller. His stories open into other stories, which connect with the action of the novel, and eventually our hero finds himself in a situation in which, like Scheheraz...
2009-02-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. Desmond Morris
Is it true that elephants are artists? Can they really paint pictures of flowers, trees and even other elephants? Are they the only animals on Earth, apart from human beings, that can create pictorial images? Last summer my friend, the scientist Richard Dawkins, asked me to look at a video clip on the internet, taken in Thailand, that showed a young female elephant called Hong painting a picture of an elephant running along, holding a flower in its trunk. He wanted to know if I thought it was a ...
2009-02-19 - Melbourne, Australia. ABC NEWS
An elephant breeding program at the Melbourne Zoo has had another success, with the announcement of a second pregnancy. Kulab, a 10-year-old Asian elephant, has been artificially inseminated and will give birth next spring. The conservation program has resulted in four pregnancies, two at Melbourne and two at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. The pregnancy resulted from an artificial insemination procedure carried out in late November, with the zoo's bull elephant Bong Su the donor. Environment Minister Ga...
2009-02-18 - Los Angeles, United States. Dan Whitcomb
The nearly complete skeleton of a massive Columbian mammoth who died during the last ice age has been dug out of a construction site near the La Brea Tar Pits in downtown Los Angeles, a remarkable find even in the fossil-rich area, scientists said Wednesday. The mammoth, dubbed "Zed" by researchers at the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, likely died in his late 40s some 40,000 years ago and was found near an unprecedented treasure trove of fossils that workers stumbled upon while digging the...
2009-02-18 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
Maliha, another Asian calf at the St. Louis Zoo, has tested positive for the potentially deadly strain of herpes that struck 2-year old Jade more than a week ago. However, Maliha shows no symptoms of the disease and her blood values are normal. Maliha is Jade’s 2 1/2-year old cousin. The Zoo tested the rest of its eight-elephant herd after tests confirmed Jade had elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, or EEHV. The disease has killed 20 percent of calves born in American Zoos.
2009-02-14 - Sayaboury, Laos.
2009-02-13 - Hambantota, Sri Lanka. Raja Waidyasekera
A three year plan will be implemented in Hambantota district to minimize human-elephant conflict. The Department of wildlife will implement the project till 2011. Rs. 527 million has been allocated for the project. Under the plan mooted by the Department of Wildlife the existing electric fence in extent of 1,336 kilo meters will be maintained, wild elephants that roam about in villages will be rehabilitated. Plots of land will be allocated for elephants.
2009-02-13 - Bogor, Indonesia. Lindsay Barnett
The Sumatran elephant, a subspecies of the Asian elephant, is imperiled -- but its numbers (estimated by the World Wildlife Fund to be between 2,440 to 3,350) just got a much-needed, if tiny, boost. This little guy is 2 days old and lives in Indonesia's Safari zoo. While he's sure to grow substantially, Sumatran elephants are the smallest of the Asian elephant subspecies, of which there are four (the others are the Indian elephant, Sri Lankan elephant and Borneo elephant).
2009-02-13 - London, United Kingdom. Emily Welch
The World Wildlife Fund has launched an online campaign themed for Valentine’s Day in order to push people to adopt Asian elephants as gifts for the holiday. The United Kingdom campaign has appeared on web portals such as MSN and Yahoo in order to attract an audience to the Asian elephant site, urging people to adopt an elephant as an unusual gift for Valentine’s Day.
2009-02-13 - Kaziranga, India. Apem Kamadoang
Due to the increasing inflow of tourists at the Kaziranga National Park located in Assam, the state forest department has engaged private elephant owners for elephant safaris in the park. Because of increasing tourist arrivals, the park authorities are engaging private elephant owners to cater to the tourist rush. “At present, we are having around 52 departmental elephants at the Kaziranga National Park and about 19 elephants from private sector who are participating for the visitors.
2009-02-13 - Koorg, India. KALYANI CANDADE
He froze, trunk poised in mid-air, and looked straight at me. I turned around to see what had disturbed him. Nothing, except a mahout leaning lazily against the wall with a slight smile playing on his face. We were in Coorg, at the Elephant Interaction Centre of the Dubare Wildlife Sanctuary. I was fascinated at how much interaction was possible, with opportunities for even getting into the water and giving a massive hind quarter a good scrub! But the highlight for me was watching the feeding.
2009-02-13 - Tucson, United States. Tom Beal
Complete fossil skeletons of two ice age mammals — a woolly mammoth and woolly rhino — are being erected in the atrium of the state office complex Downtown at 400 W. Congress St. You can visit them for free. Heck, you can buy them if you've got the cash. The exhibit is sponsored by the Tucson office of the Arizona Geological Survey and supplied by a natural history museum in Siberia that sells its fossils to raise money. It's not illegal, but it's certainly not condoned, say U.S. museum offi...
2009-02-13 - St. Louis, United States. Todd C. Frankel
The virus that has a 2-year-old St. Louis Zoo elephant fighting for her life is a medical mystery. Scientists do not know how it is spread. They do not have a proven cure. The virus is often fatal. It seems to target the young. Since 2000, it has killed about one in five elephant calves born in U.S. zoos, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. And because breeding elephants in captivity is so difficult and so important to the endangered species, the virus is especially troubling.
2009-02-13 - Kochi, India.
A four-year-old elephant died in Neryamangalam forest of Kerala's Idukki district after it chewed a fire cracker left by people living on the forest fringes to kill wild boars. The elephant, which was found on Tuesday with an infected mouth, died on Wednesday morning. Workers cutting bamboo inside the forest saw the elephant lying on the ground and informed forest guards. Conservator of forests (Kottayam high range circle), Bennychan Thomas, said the cause of the injury which led to its death wa...
2009-02-13 - Rishikesh, India. Raja Murthy
Raja, a 19-year-old elephant with grimy ivory tusks, sways morosely from side to side while standing chained under an asbestos-roofed shed in the Rajaji National Park, a last major refuge of the Asiatic elephant roaming the Himalayan foothills in eastern India. Raja has every reason to be disturbed. He was part of a family of six wild elephants struck in a train accident seven years ago on the rail track cutting through the wildlife reserve. Raja was the sole survivor. Forest officials rescued t...
2009-02-12 - Barnstaple, United Kingdom.
N 1845 shards of tusk and teeth from the straight-tusked elephant, which became extinct between 100,000 and 400,000 years ago, were found in a field where Summerland Street, Barnstaple, now stands. Some of the remains are in the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon but the teeth were sold on privately. Now Barnstaple town councillor Simon Harvey wants to reunite the remains for Elephant Day, an event first staged last year to mark the unusual 19th century find. The teeth are now held at the Natu...
2009-02-12 - Jalpaiguri , India.
Two elephants were found dead in a tiger reserve here, an official said today. The carcass of a tusker was found in a river in Rajabhatkhawa forest running through the Buxa Tiger Reserve (West), Field Director of the reserve, Ashok Prasad Singh said. The reason for its death has not been ascertained, he said while ruling out any involvement of poachers. An elephant cub was also found dead in the reserve. Its post-mortem report has revealed a heart ailment, the official said.
2009-02-11 - Miami, United States.
Miami Metro Zoo is accepting applications for an elephant keeper position. The zoo currently houses both Asian and African elephants in a protected contact program and is in the initial phases of expanding our program and conservation efforts. We are seeking an energetic, team oriented, and outgoing person to join our staff as we move the program forward. The ideal candidate will possess a 2 year degree in a science related field, at least 2 years of elephant handling experience, and a strong ba...
2009-02-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Every year a tragedy unfolds in Kerala -- a land of festivals. The festival season (February-April) has just started and two persons have already been trampled to death by temple elephants trained to participate in the festivities. A partially blind tusker ran amok at the Ernakulam Shiva temple last Friday, trampling a woman to death and injuring 15 others seriously. Two days later a mahout (trainer) was killed by another jumbo in Kunnamkulam near Thrissur.
2009-02-11 - Raipur, India.
Twenty-three persons have died due to elephant attacks in Chattisgarh during the current financial year till January 20, 2009, the assembly was informed on Wednesday. The forest minister Vikram Usendi today informed the assembly that the state government has given compensation of Rs 34,50,000 to the family members of the deceased. In his written reply to a question of Congress MLA Dharmajit Singh, Usendi informed the House that seven persons were injured and 775 houses were damaged by the eleph...
2009-02-11 - Maungdaw, Myanmar.
The number of wild elephants have been increasing in the Mayu Range, located on the Mayu Peninsula between the Naff and Mayu Rivers in western Burma, as elephants from other parts of Burma including the Indian and Bangladesh borders have been moving into the area this cold season, said an official from the forest department.
2009-02-11 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
Jade, a 23-month-old Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo, has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal strain of herpes. Jade is receiving antiviral medication and round-the-clock care from the veterinary and keeper staff. Jade had been acting lethargic Sunday. A blood sample submitted to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park’s elephant herpes research laboratory Monday showed the presence of elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV).
2009-02-11 - San Diego, United States.
The San Diego Zoo has begun a project to study the movement of elephant herds over a 50,000-square-mile area encompassing the African nations of Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The study is meant to monitor the impact of herds on various habitats from desert to riverine. So far, 60 elephants have been outfitted with global positioning system collars to track their movements.
2009-02-10 - Mysore, India.
If it is an ordeal in wilderness for a tusker, it is a question of practicality for the wildlife division officials. For the past several days, a tusker injured in its legs and hips, is staying in the backwaters of Kabini reservoir. According to villagers, the pachyderm aged between 40 and 45 years is suffering silently. At times, it comes out of water to graze. The villagers feel the forest department officials of Nagarahole National Park and wildlife division have failed to come to the rescue ...
2009-02-10 - , United Kingdom. Paul Bradley
A LOVE-struck elephant has fallen head over heels – or should that be trunk over heels – for her zoo keeper. Five, an African elephant, fell for her 30-year-old keeper, Lawrence Bates, when he was given the task of looking after her at the West Midland Safari Park. And workers at the zoo think it must be the world’s biggest ever crush. The romance first blossomed when Lawrence joined the Bewdley-based park in 2006. Since then Five, who is 17, has showered him with thousands of wet kisses a...
2009-02-10 - Bangalore, India. T G Prem Kumar
The Forest department has just concluded an operation to capture wild elephants in the Kodagu forests. With this, the department has succeeded in capturing three rogue elephants that wreaked havoc on crops in Dubare, Maldare, Avaregund, Karadigodu, Anekadu, Meenukolli, Attur and villages bordering the Jenukallubetta Reserve Forest limits.
2009-02-10 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Schalk van Schalkwyk
Tourists watched in tears as an elephant bull bade farewell to its "friend", the deceased bull Alexander. The bull tried to chase vultures and hyenas away from Alexander's carcass and even tried to pick Alexander up. Alexander, one of the Kruger National Park's largest elephants and a familiar sight in the area around the Mopani Rest Camp, died on Saturday, presumably of a heart attack. Tourists parked near the carcass watched as an elephant bull arrived there and tried to lift up its friend. Th...
2009-02-09 - Golaghat, India.
The seventh elephant festival would begins on Monday in Assam's Kaziranga National Park, a world heritage site and home to the highly endangered one-horned rhinos. Organised jointly by state Tourism and Forest department and Golaghat district administration, 50 elephants would be on display during the four-day event. The organisers said the highlight of the festival, to be attended by a host of foreign and domestic tourists, would be the "harmony procession" to focus on the topic of man-elephant...
2009-02-08 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
It was the first nation to end its monarchy by a bloodless vote and the first to introduce a unique calendar with 11 Picassos of the Jungle (Poster courtesy: Indigo Gallery) months. Now the new republic of Nepal will launch another revolutionary concept – art exhibitions by elephants. The sensational event will be inaugurated at the Indigo Gallery in Kathmandu owned by American James Giambrone, who has helped other expatriate activities like an Obama ball to celebrate the victory of new US Pre...
2009-02-07 - Boreas Pass, United States. Mary Ellen Gilliland
Boreas Pass (el. 3499 m./11,481 ft.) is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. Storytellers say that when the P. T. Barnum circus came to Breckenridge, the heavily-laden circus train failed to make it up to the pass. With the lions roaring from hunger and schedules unmet, officials unloaded the train’s bulkiest passengers to assist. And so, the circus elephants pushed the train to the Boreas summit.
2009-02-07 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Some of you may have visited the Elephant Transit Home (ETH), Eth Athuru Sevana, at the Udawalawe National Park. If you have been there, you would know just what a joyful experience it is to observe at close range all the elephants, especially the little ones, who reside there.
2009-02-07 - Ubud, Indonesia.
A nine-day-old baby elephant sticks with his eighteen-year-old mother Tini at the Safari Park in Gianyar, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on February 2, 2009. The male Sumatran elephant baby, the 31st at the park, was born on January 24 to become the first baby elephant born on Bali island.
2009-02-07 - New Delhi, India. Dhananjay Mahapatra
The National Highways Authority of India says it will build the world’s first flyover corridors for elephants over the highway and railway line that cut through Rajaji National Park to link major pilgrim towns of Hardwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. Detailing the elevated elephant corridor project on Friday before a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia, senior advocate Ramji Srinivasan said it would solve the technically insurmountable pr...
2009-02-07 - Howletts, United Kingdom.
The latest African elephant calf to be born at Howletts has gone out into the paddock and is adjusting well to her surroundings, her keepers have said. Etana, which means "strong one" in Swahili, brings the size of the herd at the Kent wild animal park to 14. Head of elephants, Dave Magner, said: "The baby is adjusting very well to its new surroundings and family.
2009-02-07 - Nairobi, Kenya. Claire Wanja
A Chinese national was Saturday morning seized with four bangles of ivory at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. Mr Zhang Zhong, 37, who was on transit from Guinea to Uganda's Entebbe Airport, was arrested at 8am by Customs and Kenya Wildlife Service officials. The suspect is being held at the JKIA police station and is expected to be charged with possession of wildlife trophy without a permit at Makadara Law Court on Monday morning.
2009-02-07 - Chicago, United States.
Author John Frederick Walker, who spent five years researching his latest book, Ivory's Ghosts, shares the fascinating and sometimes savage story of ivory’s enormous impact on both human history and that of its most important source—the majestic African elephant. Join John Frederick Walker for an exploration through ivory’s troubled past and its uncertain future—the future of elephants themselves.
2009-02-06 - Kochi, India.
A woman was killed by an elephant at a temple here, triggering a stampede which left at least 19 others injured. The elephant caught hold of the woman by its trunk and flung her in the air. The others were injured in the subsequent stampede. Of the injured, the condition of three women is stated to be serious, police said. As part of the festivities in the temple, seven caparisoned elephants had been lined up at the temple grounds.
2009-02-06 - Zirakpur, India.
Visitors to the Chhatbir Zoological Park were in for a treat on Thursday. They got to see Rajbir, a male elephant born at the zoo about one and a half years ago, who was put on display for the first time. Rajbir, who was seen playing with his mother the whole day, became the centre of attraction for the visitors, especially the children. The zoo authorities had made special arrangements to capture Rajbir’s movements through video recording.
2009-02-06 - Barcelona, Spain.
A Spanish animal rights group has launched a campaign to have Susi, the only elephant in Barcelona's zoo, moved to a parkland, saying she could otherwise die of sadness. The Barcelona-based group Libera says Susi's "life is in serious danger" from the depression she is reportedly suffering since her female companion, Alicia, died last year. Libera says Susi is 36 years old and was born in the wild in Africa.
2009-02-05 - Washington, United States.
The plaintiffs claim to be interested in protecting the welfare of circus elephants. But in a similar case in 2003, the same plaintiff’s attorney trying this week’s case—representing some of the same animal rights groups—argued that her clients would rather see African elephants killed than imported to the United States to be raised in captivity.
2009-02-04 - Washington, United States.
Embedded video from CNN Video
2009-02-04 - Washington, United States. Paul Courson
A federal judge began hearing a lawsuit alleging the abuse of circus elephants, including the use of heavy chains, tethers and sharp tools called bullhooks. Defense attorneys for Ringling Bros. deny any abuse and hope the trial will disprove what they call years of "misinformation" about the treatment of circus elephants. Lawyer Michelle Pardo told CNN "the agenda of these animal special rights groups are that they want elephants out of captivity but they are starting here with the circus.
2009-02-03 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Held under the auspices of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), Namibia recently hosted a once-off ivory auction for international bidders. The ivory auction was part of a sale that included large amounts of elephant tusks put up for auction in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Earlier this year, the Cites Secretariat visited these four countries and verified that the declared ivory stocks had been properly registered and that they were of legal ori...
2009-02-02 - Alipurduar, India.
A wild elephant lifted up a five-year-old girl by the trunk, brought her outside the hut and for almost half-an-hour held the screaming child in between its fore legs as her father watched helplessly from a distance. The girl was unhurt, but there were no witnesses to narrate how the elephant let her go since Gobinda Das had, by then, fallen down unconscious. The father had been hit by a stone hurled at him by the elephant.
2009-02-02 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Andrew Davis
The non-profit sanctuary, in the forests of Mae Taeng Valley in northern Thailand, doesn’t offer rides or show the animals swinging hula hoops on their trunks -- standard fare at many Thai elephant camps. Founded in 1996 by Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, 47, who sold her car and other possessions to open the park, the area also tries to educate tourists about the fate of Thailand’s “tamed” and wild elephants.
2009-02-02 - Waikiki, United States. Brooks Baehr
In mid-January Stephen Walker, who spent 30 years at the Tulsa Zoo, took over as Zoo Director in Waikiki. He is still getting to know the 80 people on his staff and the 600,000 who visit the zoo annually. Walker will oversee changes at the zoo including construction of a new $6.7 million elephant facility.
2009-02-02 - Memphis , United States.
We have an opening for a Keeper in our Elephant area. This position requires a minimum of two years of experience in pachyderm care, including knowledge of training concepts and philosophies needed to work with pachyderms and a varied collection of hooved animals and birds, and a college degree in zoology, biology or a related field (or the equivalent combination of education and experience).
2009-02-01 - West Midlands, United Kingdom.
Salt and Sauce were the strange names of britains most famous elephants. They were part of George Lockharts "Cruet", topping the bill in music halls and circuses, but by 1904 a tragedy at Walthamstow station left their owner crushed to death and the reputations of the elephants forever the part of an infamous legend.
2009-01-31 - Taipei, Taiwan. The China Post Staff, THE CHINA POST
Grandpa Lin Wang, the world’s oldest Asian elephant in captivity died in Taipei yesterday. He was 86. The old pachyderm was found dead in his pen pond at the Taipei City Zoo at Mucha at 200 a.m. “He died in dignity from extreme weakness due to old age,” a zoo spokesman said. Lin Hua-ching said the grand old elephant, brought here by former Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army Sun Li-jen in 1947, showed signs of frailty after the Chinese New Year holiday early this month. Lin Wang (Forest...
2009-01-30 - Winston, United States.
2009-01-30 - Garden City, United States.
Lee Richardson Zoo is currently looking for a knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and motivated individual to join the animal department staff. Elephant experience as well as willingness to work under protected contact conditions required. Applicants should have a four year degree in a biology related field with some animal experience, an associate degree with two years paid experience in an AZA accredited institution, or 5 years paid experience at an AZA accredited institution.
2009-01-30 - Bronx, New York, United States. Christine Romans and Jennifer Bragg, CNN
Layoffs for sea lions? Furloughs for frogs? Is there no job security, anywhere? State budget cuts mean New York's 76 zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums will lose $9.1 million in funding. The recession may be coming to a zoo near you. State budget cuts mean many zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens will lose crucial state funding for their exhibits. New York's 76 zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens will lose $9.1 million in state funds next year. "We're faced with this...
2009-01-30 - Polk City, United States.
On behalf of the entire Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® family, I’m thrilled to announce the birth of our first Asian elephant born as a result of artificial insemination. A healthy male born on the inaugural eve of our 44th President of the United States, the calf named Barack, is a living tribute of our ongoing commitment to help save this magnificent yet endangered species.
2009-01-30 - Colchester, United Kingdom. RODDY ASHWORTH
It turned out to be a case of “Who's the (big) daddy?” Because today it emerged that an elephant credited with siring a yet-to-be-born calf had nothing to do with the pregnancy. Yesterday Colchester Zoo announced that Opal, a cow elephant at the Stanway attraction, had become pregnant thanks to its bull elephant Tembo. Tembo, who has been at the zoo with Opal for 10 years, is already a father of four - Kito, Jambo, Abu and Thabo-Umasi. But it transpires that when Opal was artificially insemi...
2009-01-29 - Kiev, Ukraine.
The mayor of Ukraine's capital Kiev said he sacked the head of the city's zoo after he failed to find a "wife" for a male elephant, Ukrainian media reported on Thursday. Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky said he sponsored the elephant through Kiev zoo's sponsorship program, and his deputies are also involved in the project.
2009-01-29 - Surabaya, India.
A spate of recent deadly animal attacks in Indonesia has thrown the spotlight on growing conflicts between humans and animals triggered by the rapid dwindling of the country's forests
MOSCOW, January 29 (RIA Novosti) - The mayor of Ukraine's capital Kiev said he sacked the head of the city's zoo after he failed to find a "wife" for a male elephant, Ukrainian media reported on Thursday. Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky said he sponsored the elephant through Kiev zoo's sponsorship program, and his deputies are also involved in the project. "Today... I remembered that I feed the elephant 100,000 hryvnas ($13,000) per quarter or per month - I don't remember exactly," ...
2009-01-29 - London, United Kingdom. Jason Palmer, BBC
A study of wildfires after the last ice age has cast doubt on the theory that a giant comet impact wiped out woolly mammoths and prehistoric humans. Analysis of charcoal and pollen records from around 13,000 years ago showed no evidence of continental-scale fires the cometary impact theory suggests.
2009-01-28 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo and Baylor College of Medicine are teaming up to find a vaccine for elephant herpes, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday. In November, a 2-year-old Asian elephant named Mac at the Houston Zoo died from the virus. His death prompted the two organizations to spend the next three years studying the virus in an effort to protect elephants in zoos and those in the wild. "Very little is known about it," Dr. Alan Herron said. "We don't know how it is spread from elephant to elephant." The p...
2009-01-28 - Los Angeles, United States. Rick Orlov
In what looks like the final chapter of the Battle of Billy, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday rejected entreaties from Hollywood stars and animal-rights groups and voted to resume the Los Angeles Zoo's controversial elephant project. With celebrities such as Cher, Bob Barker, Robert Culp, Tippi Hedren and Lily Tomlin urging them to shut down the $42 million, 3.6-acre project, council members voted 11-4 to move ahead with the long- planned Pachyderm Forest.
2009-01-27 - Vienna, Virginia, United States. Amy McWethy
January 27, 2009 -Vienna, VA) – The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation® proudly announces the birth of a healthy male Asian elephant – marking the twenty-second birth in what has proven to be the most successful Asian elephant breeding program in the Western Hemisphere. Most importantly, this is the first calf in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey assisted reproduction program born as a result of artificial insemination (AI). Born on Jan. 19, the inaugur...
2009-01-27 - Colchester, United Kingdom. Roddy Ashworth
AN elephant acquired by a zoo after its original owner was prosecuted for animal cruelty has become pregnant for the first time. Opal the elephant became pregnant by fellow herd-member Tembo at Colchester Zoo through artificial insemination and is expected to give birth in the spring of next year. The move comes on the 10th anniversary of the prosecution of Mary Chipperfield and her husband for the abuse of a number of animals in their travelling circus. The unhappy conviction paved the way for ...
2009-01-26 - Asheboro, North Carolina, United States.
The North Carolina Zoo has on its staff some of the best and most experienced exotic animal veterinarians in the country. But sometimes even the best zoo doctors need assistance from other experts. That was the case recently when specialists from the North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine were called upon to help repair a broken tusk for a young female Elephant Zoo chief veterinarian, Dr. Mike Loomis, tells us more about the case. The elephant that broke t...
2009-01-26 - Bristol, United Kingdom. Haakonsson JE, Semple S. Bristol Zoo Gardens
Behavioural lateralisation has been widely investigated in vertebrates. Most studies in this area have focused on laterality in paired organs such as hands, limbs, and eyes. Fewer studies have explored side preferences in unpaired organs such as tails or trunks. We investigated laterality of trunk use among captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), quantifying side preference in four different trunk movements: feeding, sand spraying, self-touching, and swinging. We found evidence for significan...
2009-01-26 - Portland, United States.
Samudra, the Oregon Zoo’s celebrated Asian elephant calf, turns 5 months old today, and according to keepers he is more playful and inquisitive than ever. Samudra is the first third-generation elephant to be born in the United States. “It appears he’s developed some athletic ability,” said Bob Lee, senior elephant keeper at the zoo. “He loves playing with a blue ball, knocking it around with his trunk soccer-style.” The Oregon Zoo has a renowned breeding program for Asian elephants. ...
2009-01-25 - Ranchi, India.
Villagers poisoned a wild tusker to death in Khuti district of Jharkhand after it wreaked havoc on their standing crop and houses, said a forest official Sunday. “Primary investigations reveal that the wild elephant was poisoned Friday. We have taken the elephant’s body in our possession,” the forest department official told IANS. According to him, “the wild tusker had wreaked havoc in Torpa area of Khuti district.”
2009-01-25 - Mysore, India.
Vedavalli, a resident of Bangalore, has adopted two elephants of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens here under the adoption of animals scheme. The elephants, one male and another female, will benefit for a period of one year under the scheme. Known to be a lover of animals, Vedavalli adopted Aishwarya (8-year-old) and Madesha (1-year-old) in a simple function at the Zoo on Saturday in the presence of her family members.
2009-01-25 - San Diego, United States. Jeanette Steele
American zoos have decided to go big or give up when it comes to housing elephants. The San Diego Zoo is one of five nationwide with plans for larger exhibits, while at least 11 are getting out of the elephant business. The $45 million Elephant Odyssey, set to open in June in San Diego, will be the first supersized elephant home to debut after zoos have taken years of criticism from animal welfare activists about cramped quarters for the world's largest land mammals.
2009-01-24 - Los Angeles, United States.
Acknowledging that traditional elephant exhibits are inadequate to the point of cruelty -- small, spare, with foot-punishing floors -- zoos have chosen divergent directions. Some, including the Chicago, San Francisco and venerable Bronx zoos, are closing or making plans to close their elephant exhibits altogether. The Los Angeles Zoo has chosen the latter approach. Its planned $42-million, 3.6-acre Pachyderm Forest was $12 million into construction when Councilman Tony Cardenas called instead fo...
2009-01-24 - Salt Lake City, United States.
The Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City is hoping a new addition later this year will boost attendance. An elephant calf is expected to be born late this summer. The zoo hopes the birth could increase visits, which numbered nearly one million in 2008. Christie the elephant is pregnant. Her calf would be the first African elephant born at Hogle Zoo. But zoo Director Craig Dinsmore said there are a lot of potential problems with elephant births in zoos.
2009-01-24 - Galt, United States.
Minnie, our 54 year old circus retiree whose vocalizations and sweet disposition charmed everyone at ARK 2000, died peacefully in her barn with Rebecca, her long time companion, and Pat Derby, Ed Stewart and her keepers at her side. Her peaceful posture and the serenity with which she slipped away were a great comfort to all of us. Minnie, who had endured years chained in railroad cars died tranquilly among her old friends.
2009-01-23 - Belfast, United Kingdom.
One of Belfast Zoo's most iconic animals, 44-year-old Tina the elephant, will shortly be getting more company - some being former Big Top 'performers'. Tina is being joined by other non-breeding female elephants to enjoy 'retirement' and the Zoo has confirmed that some of the elephants arriving in Belfast will be from a 'circus background'.
2009-01-23 - Salt Lake City, United States.
The Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City is hoping a new addition later this year will boost attendance. An elephant calf is expected to be born late this summer. The zoo hopes the birth could increase visits, which numbered nearly one million in 2008. Christie the elephant is pregnant. Her calf would be the first African elephant born at Hogle Zoo. But zoo Director Craig Dinsmore says there are a lot of potential problems with elephant births in zoos. Elephant stillbirths are common and infant mortality...
2009-01-22 - Seattle, United States.
A U.S. study shows the negative effects of African elephant poaching persist for decades after the killings. Kathleen Gobush, a research ecologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who led the study, said African elephants rely heavily on matriarchs to lead groups and keep families together. Before the 1989 ban on ivory trade, nearly 75 percent of all elephants in Tanzania's Mikumi National Park were killed, many of them females with large tusks.
2009-01-22 - New Delhi, India. Harish Bhat
Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, received a tiger cub as his birthday gift. Before you conclude that this is the wildest gift you've heard of, listen to my small story. My uncle, who lives in Kerala, once received an elephant as a gift. An elderly priest gifted it to him. It was a noble female elephant. My uncle named her Preethikutty and tethered her to a coconut palm in his backyard. There she rested a couple of days.
2009-01-22 - Little Rock, United States. Doug Smith
The Little Rock Zoo seems to be at another turning point, large questions being raised by public officials and animal lovers about what sort of zoo there should be, and even, in some quarters, whether there should be much of a zoo at all. Zoo officials think that certain improvements would allow Little Rock to make that leap to world-class. The most dramatic of these would be the establishment of an elephant breeding program, something that no other zoo in the area has — not Memphis, not St. L...
2009-01-22 - Los Angeles, United States. The Elephant Keepers and colleagues at the LA Zoo
We know Billy and we know elephants. From 71 years experience with elephants including Billy we know that Billy’s best chance at a happy, natural life is a completed Pachyderm Forest at the Los Angeles Zoo. Here he can father calves with a herd of cows and make his own family. We know Billy. His favorite food is banana plants. We feed him bales of hay, bushels of produce and tree trimmings daily. We hide bananas and oranges in his yard for exercise and enrichment. We walk him miles, scrub his ...
2009-01-22 - Los Angeles, United States.
The LA Zoo’s Elephant Keepers held a press conference at the Zoo on Sunday January 11 2009 to release an Open Letter to the LA City Council calling for completion of the “Pachyderm Forest,” a cutting edge but controversial exhibit planned as home to Asian elephant Billy and a breeding herd. Seventy-seven of their LA Zoo colleagues also signed the letter. The LA City Council will vote later this month on whether to continue funding the exhibit, which was approved by 79% of voters and is two...
2009-01-22 - Jaipur, India.
Julia Roberts came holidaying to the picturesque Indian city of Jaipur with her husband and kids, went sightseeing and enjoyed elephant and camel cart rides. Roberts, who arrived in the city Tuesday afternoon, was staying at the luxury resort of Oberoi Rajvilas. She spent two days in the historic city.
2009-01-22 - Cambridge, Canada. African Lion Safari & Game Farm Ltd
The fifth international workshop hosted by the African Lion Safari in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute of Zoo- and Wildlife Research with the unique opportunity to learn first hand about reproductive biology, management, pathology and assisted reproduction technologies in the 3 Megavertebrae species; elephant, rhinoceros and giraffe.
2009-01-21 - Jim Corbett National Park, India. Vipul Goel
Jim Corbett National Park, Jan 21 (ANI): Elephants in Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand have been installed with microchips, which will act as their identification proof. Installed with the help of a syringe, these chips will help the authorities identify the elephants from among the wild ones. The chips would provide a unique identification number to the elephants, which would enable the wildlife authorities at the park, to keep a track on these elephants through the means of a digital r...
2009-01-20 - Perris, United States. JULISSA McKINNON
What started as an afternoon of rockhounding in the riverbed behind his Perris home ended with Greg Riecke discovering a tusk that experts say likely dates back to the last Ice Age -- 16,000 to 2 million years ago. Upon inspection, an archaeologist and paleontologist from a Hemet museum believe the 4-foot long tusk belonged to either a mammoth or a mastodon, two extinct ancestors of the modern-day elephant. Riecke, a part-time plumber who regularly combs the flood channel for gold with a metal d...
2009-01-20 - Mikumi National Park, Tanzania.
An African elephant never forgets – especially when it comes to the loss of its kin, according to researchers at the University of Washington. Their findings, published online in the journal, Molecular Ecology, reveal that the negative effects of poaching persist for decades after the killing has ended. “Our study shows that it takes a long time – upwards of 20 years – for a family who has lost its kin to rebuild,†said lead researcher Kathleen Gobush, Ph.D., a r...
2009-01-20 - Mt. Cameroon, Cameroon. Janet Molisa
On January 8, 2009, WWF Coastal Forests (SAWA) Programme Limbe, with technical assistance from the North Carolina Zoological Park, and funds from WWF Sweden, succeeded in collaring a third elephant on Mt. Cameroon. A collar, (radio-collar) is a satellite device attached around an elephant's neck that provides geographic information used in mapping the animal's movement pattern in the forest.
2009-01-20 - Windhoek, Namibia. Wezi Tjaronda
Tired of elephants that da-mage water infrastructure, homesteads and make people live in fear, communities in the Omatjete area want the elephants relocated elsewhere. “We want them out of this area. We don’t think they are from this area. They were chased away from villages in upper Ugab in the Kunene Region,” said a councillor in the Zeraua Traditional Authority, Fabianus Uaseapuani. He said around 1991 and 1992, the area had a few elephants, which would come and go back to areas around ...
2009-01-20 - COIMBATORE, India.
Jaunty jumbo rides in the zoos, yes, but what about a power lunch and a gallant walk with wild pachyderms in the forests? Tourists at the picturesque Top Slip in Anamalai range on Monday were treated to a rare jumbo party out in the jungles on Monday. Called the "elephant Pongal," the Forest department unveiled treated 200-odd tourists to an exciting saunter and snack session with the elephants. As many as 17 trained elephants, including six tuskers, from the Kozhikamudi camp near Top Slip were ...
2009-01-19 - Guwahati, India.
Non-release of funds by Dispur to the state forest department has hit elephant conservation work. Director of Project Elephant, A.N. Prasad today said non-utilisation of funds has become a major concern and the state government could well have lost over Rs 1 crore in the last three years. Prasad is in Guwahati to attend a national symposium on elephant healthcare and managerial practices.
2009-01-18 - , Mexico. Edith Martinez, THE UNIVERSAL ONE
Ciba surpassed the life expectancy of its species, arrived at the 70 years when the Asian paquidermos live between 40 and 45. Elefanta of the zoological one of San Juan de Aragon passed away east Friday because of the natural aging of its body, informed Juan González, director of this dependency. For four months, Ciba, that was characterized for being “arrogant and the dominant one” in the pair that Maid did with her companion, stopped being it and yielded its place in the h...
2009-01-18 - , Zimbabwe. Daniel Foggo
BRITISH hunters, including a prominent Harley Street surgeon, have been paying the Zimbabwean authorities thousands of pounds each to take part in a mass elephant cull. They are among groups of hunters who have been permitted to track and kill whole herds, including their calves, before taking photographs of themselves with the carcasses. Rumours that Zimbabwe was culling its population of 80,000-100,000 elephants have been circulating for some time, but definitive proof that foreigners have bee...
2009-01-18 - Dhenkanal, India.
A six-month-old elephant calf died in Nathua village in Sadar block after it fell in a pit and its body was recovered by forest officials on Saturday. According to villagers, jumbos raided houses of two persons - Jadumani Dehury and R Dehury - on Friday. They destroyed their houses and plantations such as banana and papaya and damaged their property. ACF S P Bisoi said the elephant calf might have died due to damage in brain after it fell in the pit. Its body has been sent for post mortem
2009-01-18 - Berhampur, India.
The forest officials chased away the elephant, which was guarding the carcass of another elephant for over 48 hours, to the forest with the help of locals. For the past few days, a herd comprising over 12 elephants including a tusker was roaming in Digapahandi block. On Thursday night, the herd entered Bhramarapur and destroyed the paddy crop stored after harvest. The villagers guarding the crop ran for their life. Later, the villagers returned en masse and chased away the herd.
2009-01-18 - Washington, United States.
I loved this book, based on a true story. Washington state, an old elephant (Hannah) and keeper, been together 41 years; old run down circus/wildlife park created by past eccentric, we get parallel stories of parks origins and eccentric's talks withthe elephant keeper over the years, but now the elephant keeper is ill and must retire; no one know's Hannah and can care for her the way keeper and his wife have. Bossy and rigid park manager, has odd ideas how to attract people to park, but brings i...
2009-01-18 - Samburu, Kenya. Brian Jackman
Samburu is elephant country. Arthur Neumann, the legendary Victorian ivory hunter, used to camp here in what is today the Samburu National Reserve, and now it is where Iain Douglas-Hamilton, one of the world's most distinguished biologists, conducts his research for Save the Elephants , the organisation he founded in 1993. A few miles downstream from Iain's headquarters lies Elephant Watch Camp, presided over by Oria Douglas-Hamilton, his Kenyan-born Italian wife. In a small park over-endowed wi...
2009-01-18 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Daniel Foggo
2009-01-17 - New Delhi, India.
For almost six decades Indian elephants in elaborate headdresses have been part of the annual Republic Day parade through Delhi. This year, however, the bejewelled elephants that traditionally carry the winners of children’s bravery awards will be absent from the parade for the first time since it began in 1950. Because of concerns about safety and animal rights the 20 children in the parade will now ride in military vehicles. The Defence Ministry said that it had taken the step partly because...
2009-01-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Mike Pflanz
A female elephant is seen shoving her naughty son with her tusks for being mean to his little sister in extraordinary new BBC documentary footage showing behaviour never before witnessed. The everyday tale of family jealousy was captured on camera by a team of animal experts filming elephants in Kenya for a new documentary to be shown on the BBC tonight. The matriarch of the herd Harbattan had lost a calf soon after the birth and her only other son Buster had reached the age of six with no sibli...
2009-01-17 - Los Angeles, United States. Lindsay Barnett
L.A. Zoo animal keepers are the latest group adding their voices to the debate over Billy, the zoo's lone elephant. They appealed Monday to city officials to vote to complete the zoo's planned $42-million Pachyderm Forest. The keepers say they have Billy's best interests at heart and are firmly convinced that the zoo is the best place for him. (Construction on Pachyderm Forest was halted in early December; the City Council is expected to make a final decision on whether to continue the project ...
2009-01-17 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka.
The second zoological garden in Sri Lanka, which is currently under constructions, is scheduled to open by next June at Pinnawela in Kegalle about 80 km northeast of capital Colombo. Minister for Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge said that the first phase of the zoo will be to house the local mammals and the birds. The 77 acre Pinnawela Zoological garden is being constructed near the famous elephant orphanage in the area. According to the Minister eighty percent of construction works of...
2009-01-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thais are donning scarves, farmers are scrambling to save their rice crops and snakes are freezing to death. That is all because temperatures in this normally balmy country have dipped to their coldest in a decade. The country has been gripped in a cold spell that blew down from China earlier this month and is likely to last until February, the Thai Meteorological Department said Saturday. Chukiat Thaijaratsathian, an official in the department's forecasting office, said temperatures in the coun...
2009-01-16 - Mandrem, India.
The campaign launched in Pernem taluka by the Forest department officials and locals to drive away rampaging elephants coming from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka has met with success. Strict vigil is also being maintained to prevent the tuskers from entering villages of Hasapur, Phakirpatto, Ibrampur and neighbouring areas in the taluka.
2009-01-16 - Coimbatore, India.
The incidence of elephant attack on vehicles on the premier tourist path of Mettupalyam- Ooty National Highways is on the rise. Damages to the crops on the stretch by stray animals have also become common. On Wednesday, a herd of elephants stopped in the middle of the road on seeing a tourist car around 11 pm near Kallar railway gate on Mettupalayam- Ooty NH. The driver stopped the vehicle, a few feet away and waited. One of the elephants ran towards the vehicle and attacked the front glass and ...
2009-01-16 - Berhampur, India.
The amazing spectacle of a elephant guarding the body of another and not allowing any human being to approach the dead one drew awe from villagers and forest officials at Saura-Mukundpur area today. Forest officials failed to take possession of the body of the elephant electrocuted to death as another wild elephant stood guard. The electrocuted elephant was a female of around 25 years old and the one guarding the carcass happened to be a female of over 40 years. Generally females in wild elephan...
2009-01-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
A Wildlife Conservation Department survey has revealed that 2,241 elephants have died as a result of shooting, unknown reasons, electrocution, poisoning, accidents and natural and other causes from 1990 to 2007. The current elephant population is estimated at 3,500-4,000 and a gradual increase has been witnessed in Mahaweli and Wayamba regions during the last four decades. According to the survey, 100 elephants have died due to natural causes from 1990 to 2007 and a certain number of elephants t...
2009-01-16 - Mandrem, India. Nilkanth Pednekar
The campaign launched in Pernem taluka by the Forest department officials and locals to drive away rampaging elephants coming from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka has met with success. Strict vigil is also being maintained to prevent the tuskers from entering villages of Hasapur, Phakirpatto, Ibrampur and neighbouring areas in the taluka. A couple of days back, the Forest department drove away a rampaging tusker towards Kas-Madura in Maharashtra.
2009-01-16 - Guwahati, India.
Three people, including a five-year-old girl, were killed by a herd of wild elephants in Assam Friday, an official said. About five elephants entered Bhelapara village in Karbi Anglong district, about 260 km east of the state's main city Guwahati, and went on a rampage killing three people. "The elephants came from an adjoining hill in search of food and in the process trampled upon the three members of a tribal family,"the official said.
2009-01-16 - Nairobi, Kenya. AMANDA CABLE
Harmattan is living on the edge of her nerves. Her teenage son Buster is straying away from home and picking fights with local gangs. Younger daughter, Breeze, is desperate for more independence, but Harmattan is still haunted by the death of her middle child, and is fiercely over-protective. She has an awful instinct that something terrible will happen, which may threaten the survival of her children. And she isn't wrong. It sounds like the same stresses faced by mothers the world over. But Har...
2009-01-16 - Cologne, Germany. Martin Junius
Zoo Cologne - Elephant Bars
2009-01-16 - Dresden, Germany.
It’s nice to know that if you do use a real, live pine tree at Christmastime it won’t necessarily be thrown on the waste heap. Over in Germany, Christmas trees are fed to the animals at Dresden Zoo. Elephant calf Thabo-Umasai joined camels, deer, and sheep in a traditional new-year feast of Christmas trees just after the new year. Each elephant received about five Christmas trees each. The pine trees’ unique oils are said to aid some animals’ digestion. Indeed, pine bark extract is being...
2009-01-15 - Los Angeles, United States. Rick Orlov
Los Angeles County officials warned Thursday that the city would have to refund nearly $5million within 60 days if it abandons plans for a $42million elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo. The City Council is expected to decide today whether to proceed with construction of the 3.6-acre "Pachyderm Forest," which would house Billy, the zoo's last remaining elephant. Under pressure from animal-rights activists who want Billy sent to a free-range sanctuary, the city halted work last month although...
2009-01-15 - London, United Kingdom.
BBC One's 'The Secret Life of Elephants', revealing the behaviour and emotional lives of elephants in Kenya's Samburu reserve, attracted 4.2m viewers on BBC One, according to unofficial overnight figures. The first instalment of the three-part series, which contrasted one elephant family's excitement when a new baby is born with a herd mourning the death of a female elephant, pulled in an 18.1% share of the 9pm-10pm audience.
2009-01-15 - Taman Negara, Malaysia.
A count of elephant dung revealed a surprisingly large endangered elephant population — more than 600 — in Malaysia's biggest national park, researchers said Thursday. The number of endangered Asian elephants had always been a mystery as researchers tried to visually count every one of the frequently shifting crowd in the dense jungle. But the new method of counting dung piles came up with an estimate of 631 animals living in Taman Negara National Park, the New York-based Wildlife Conservati...
2009-01-15 - Tokyo, Japan.
As always, a little about the film: This 2005 film stars Yuya Yagira (Tetsumu), of Dare mo Shiranai (Nobody Knows) fame - a role that earned him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival - as a young man who wants to become the first Japanese elephant trainer. I think the elephants scenes are the ones that I enjoyed the most~ xD THOUGH, the ending is not really happy…
2009-01-14 - London, United Kingdom. Christy Williams
There are no winners when elephants and humans compete for the same resources, says Christy Williams. But, he argues, intelligent buying by western consumers, and informed policies from governments in areas where elephants occur, could reduce the problem. To ensure elephant habitat isn't needlessly destroyed, buy Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified timber and certified coffee; and if you aren't sure whether a product has been sustainably sourced or not, then ask.
2009-01-13 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
Finally, it was left to a goddess to speak up for the beleaguered elephant. Bhadra, the presiding deity of Kanichukulangara Devi Temple, when an ‘ashtamangalyaprasnam’ was conducted to know her mind, said henceforth her idol would be mounted, not on the back of a hapless elephant, but on the shoulders of men who had undergone fasting and penance for 40 days. Thus, at a time when temple festivals cannot do without elephants, the Kanichukulangara Temple in Alappuzha district has become the fir...
2009-01-12 - Panaji, India.
Posting of two elephants from Bondla zoo to help forest department staff patrolling Goa's border areas around Chandel and Hassapur has helped keep two pachyderms, which had destroyed crops in Mopa and Anconem, at bay for some time. "The tame elephants help better visibility as staff mounted on it can see far and wild ones are a little afraid of them," Shashi Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forest told TOI on Saturday. The elephants which had been straying into Goa at random have not been seen for a ...
2009-01-12 - Auckland, New Zealand. IAN STEWARD
A jumbo-sized dispute has broken out over the living conditions of New Zealand's only circus elephant. Animal rights campaigner Save Animals from Exploitation (Safe) says Jumbo, an African elephant with the Loritz Circus which is currently in Christchurch, is being kept in conditions that break welfare codes for circus elephants. The circus has dismissed the campaigner's claims as "hysterical". Safe campaign officer Sacha Dowell said Jumbo was being kept tethered inside her trailer and was not b...
2009-01-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
As controversy surrounded preparations to transfer two “babies” from the Elephant Transit Home (ETH) at Uda Walawe to the Pinnawela Orphanage, opinion among activists was divided whether this was a good or bad move. “We are hoping to move ‘Atlas’ and another baby elephant from ETH to Pinnawela on Sunday (today) or this week,” said W.A.D.A. Wijesooriya, Director-General of the Department of Wild Life Conservation (DWLC), when contacted by The Sunday Times.
2009-01-10 - Dindigul, India.
Forest department is planning to put up watch towers at four places to monitor the movement of elephants in Palani forest areas in the district. Officials said the watch towers would be installed near Summer Water spots as the elephants would come there in search of water. The locations selected were Palaru and Porundalaru dams, Vaiyanturai and Kudiraiyaru.
2009-01-10 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
A wildlife campaigner in Zimbabwe says members of the army are being given elephant meat for their rations because of a shortage of beef. A spokesman for the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, Jonny Rodrigues, says army contracts to supply beef have been cancelled, because it is easier and cheaper to provide elephant.
2009-01-10 - Hudson, United States.
Sure, it was huge, full of fun rides and oddball sights, and loaded with animals you'd usually have to leave the United States to see. But still, you'd think it would get old after a while, given it was so close by, right in our proverbial backyards. Not so. After all, this was "The Strangest Farm on Earth." Nobody, no matter how many times they'd been there, would ever turn down another stroll through the enchanted pathways and curious attractions of Hudson's famous Benson's Wild Animal Farm.
2009-01-09 - Baton Rouge, United States.
Includes but not limited to the supervison of animal care staff and management of hoofstock collection and exhibits. Also performs animal care duties as required. This position also oversees the elephant program. H.S. diploma and Associate Degree in Biology, Animal Science or related field. Three years experience in the care of exotic hoofstock. Supervisory experience. Valid drivers license.
2009-01-09 - Ebay, United States.
his is not a reproduction. Completely original and complete. From 1906. Contains a day by day account of the circus Elephant Keeper. Contains notes on what happened in different places as well as diary of his pay. Pages are yellowed and some are a little loose but overall very good condition for a notebook 100 years old. Approx 6 x 4 inches.
2009-01-08 - Portland, United States. Oregon Zoo Press release
The Oregon Zoo's elephant program enjoyed a remarkable year in 2008, with Rose-Tu successfully giving birth to Samudra and local voters passing a $125 million zoo bond measure, of which $30 million will go toward expanding the current elephant exhibit and funding an off-site reserve. Rose-Tu stayed physically fit during 2008 through brisk walks and daily workouts with her trainers. The zoo's comprehensive exercise program helped prepare Rose-Tu for the difficulty of labor, and on Aug. 23 she gav...
2009-01-05 - Bogor, Indonesia. JP/Theresia Sufa
A 38-year-old Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatrensis) named Linda and her unnamed newborn calf are seen at Taman Safari Indonesia animal park in Cisarua, Bogor, on Sunday. The calf, a female weighing around 90 kilograms, is Linda's fourth calf since her first was born in 1995.
2009-01-05 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Chester Zoo is one of the leading zoological collections in Europe with an international reputation for achieving its mission in conservation breeding programmes, research and education. We are currently recruiting for a suitably experienced and qualified Specialist Keeper to be the Second-in-Charge of our Asian Elephant programme at the Zoo. Applicants should have proven experience of working with a mixed elephant herd in protected contact.
2009-01-04 - Belvidere, United States. Carolynn Regan
Wallace Beery was an American Academy Award winning actor, best known for his portrayal of Long John Silver in "Treasure Island" (1934), who appeared in 200 movies over a 36 year span. Wallace Beery joined the Ringling Brothers Circus at age sixteen as an assistant elephant trainer. He left two years later, after being clawed by a leopard. Beery found work in New York City in musical variety and began to appear on Broadway. In 1913 he moved to Chicago to work for Essanay Studios, cast as "Sweedi...
2009-01-03 - Nairobi, Kenya. DANIEL WESANGULA
For the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the official custodian of the country’s wildlife, 2008 has been a year of mixed fortunes. Despite the violence that the country experienced at the turn of the year, KWS officials were optimistic that the wildlife population would increase with most of the national parks and game reserves not negatively affected.
2009-01-02 - San Diego, United States.
Move over Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, theres a new diet thats proving a success — and its fit for an elephant. San Diego's elephants no longer supersized
2008-12-30 - Washington, United States. Brendan Borrell
In November, Brendan Borrell wrote about eBay's coming ban on the sale of ivory products and why it may not be such a great idea. The ban goes into effect Thursday. If, like me, you have always wanted to get a carved, elephant-ivory snuff box for that special someone, this holiday season may well be your last opportunity. The online auction site eBay announced on Oct. 20 that it would ban nearly all ivory sales on its auction sites effective Jan. 1. Last month, the company was embarrassed by the...
2008-12-30 - Los Angeles, United States. Brenda Scott Royce
My last post here, about the efforts by animal activists to halt construction of the Los Angeles Zoo's new elephant habitat, sparked more debate than anything I've previously written. As I've followed the firestorm of comments here and in other media outlets, I've been increasingly struck by what has become the rallying cry of Los Angeles's anti-zoo crowd: "Free Billy." It's cute and catchy, but utterly disingenuous.
2008-12-24 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
have a vacancy for a Deputy Section Head to join our team of a Section Head and 3 Keepers caring for our Asian elephants - a group of 4 females with the youngest born here at Twycross. Another of the herd has been artificially inseminated and the calf is expected in summer 2009. We have a close contact approach to elephant management and train them to obey commands, enabling healthcare maintenance to be carried out. Our training regime is calm and consistent and the right keeper will demonstrate...
2008-12-21 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Can you imagine an orphanage that's a happy place? 60 Minutes couldn't, but then we found one. The kids don't arrive here smiling. Like orphans all over the world, they've been abandoned. They're hungry, sad and desperate. But after a few years, they're healthy, well-fed and happy. As correspondent Bob Simon reports, this orphanage is for elephants, located outside Nairobi, Kenya. They've been orphaned because their parents - their mothers mainly - have died, or more likely, been killed in the b...
2008-12-18 - Portland, United States. press release courtesy of the Oregon Zoo
Samudra, the Oregon Zoo's celebrated Asian elephant calf, got his first taste of snow -- literally. Keepers say the newest addition to the elephant herd romped in the snow for nearly a half hour playing with it, rolling in it and, yes, eating it. After closing for a day and canceling two nights of its popular ZooLights festival, the zoo has resumed regular operations and visitors were rewarded with a rare glimpse of animals enjoying a winter wonderland. "Our visitors rarely get to watch the anim...
2008-12-18 - Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Nora Schultz
Are elephants the bullies of the national parks? Should they be culled to give other creatures a look-in at the water hole? These are questions that were asked recently when figures showed that, as some elephant populations have increased due to reduced poaching and creation of artificial water holes, other herbivore species have declined. But when Marion Valeix, then at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Beauvoir-sur-Niort, France, set out to discover if the elephants of Hwange Nati...
2008-12-18 - Victoria Falls, United States. Quentin Jones
Representatives of Wild Horizons have confirmed that earlier this week Gavin Best, an experienced and well respected handler of captive elephants used in their tourist elephant-back safari rides, was killed in a horrific and tragic incident by one of the elephants in his care. They have suspended their elephant tourism interactions whilst the incident is investigated. Wild Horizons recently established the ‘Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust’ to support their commercial elephant-back tours and e...
2008-12-18 - Buttala, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Tree Tops Jungle Lodge has been honoured with the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Award 2008 at an award ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tree Tops is a basic mud- and tree-hut ecolodge entirely run and managed by staff recruited in a remote community where hunter-gathering is the traditional lifestyle combined with slash-burn farming. Situated in lowland Uva, 10 km from Buttala, the lodge is located in dryzone Weliara bush jungle in Southeastern Sri Lanka, a wilderness and slash and...
2008-12-17 - Los Angeles, United States.
Today, Connie Morgan, President of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn., issued the following statement: "We are grateful to the Los Angeles Zoo Commission members for overwhelmingly voting today to support the completion of Billy's new home in the Pachyderm Forest after they had an opportunity to review all of the facts. Our forest will provide one of the largest and safest elephant habitats in the country, one that will be enjoyed for years to come by the schoolchildren and working families of Lo...
2008-12-16 - Dubare elephant camp, India. Jeevan Chinnappa
A five-day hunt to capture a wild elephant ended dramatically in the Maldare forest area in Kodagu on Tuesday with the capture of the animal by the Forest Department officials. This came as a relief to the people of Maldare. The operation to track and capture four elephants began with a puja here on December 10. The elephant caught on Tuesday is said to have killed five persons in and around Maldare recently. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) granted permission to capture four el...
2008-12-16 - Polk City, United States. Eloisa Ruano Gonzalez
Ringling opened the Asian elephant conservation center in the Green Swamp in 1995 to retire and breed its circus performers. Officials say they've been successful breeding the endangered animal to ensure it survives, although animal-rights groups criticize the program. The center is experimenting with artificial insemination. Semen is collected from the male elephants and sent to various zoos and research centers across the United States to breed more elephants.
2008-12-15 - , Nigeria.
Yankari has one of the most important populations of the elephant species in West Africa. The NCF added, “If the current poaching trend continues, Yankari may lose more than half of its population of elephants over the next six months. In the last few weeks alone there are reports of at least five elephants being killed and many more were killed earlier in the year. “Every day it is possible to find meat from elephants, roan, waterbuck and buffalo in the surrounding markets and this is all e...
2008-12-15 - Colorado Springs, United States. KKTV
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo welcomed a new friend Saturday. The zoo has announced that America’s mountain zoo is the new home to a 22-year-old African elephant. The new female elephant, Malaika, was welcomed on Saturday, December 13 after her owner chose for her elephant’s new home. The zoo has been searching for an additional elephant to join their other two elephants. The addition of Malaika is an important step in the zoo’s plans for redesign and expansion of its elephant exhibit area. Malaik...
2008-12-14 - Berlin, Germany. Peter Stolk and Rob Belterman, Netherlands
Yesterday Kewa, at Tierpark Berlin, delivered her fourth calf. Father of this 14th elephantcalf at Tierpark Berlin is Ankhor. And .... it's a female calf!
2008-12-12 - Rangoon, Myanmar.
Myanmar is at the centre of an illegal trade in elephants and ivory, with more than 250 live animals smuggled out of the country in the past decade, a report said Wednesday. Most of the elephants were destined for use in the tourist trekking industry in neighbouring Thailand, said the report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. Smuggling of live elephants and ivory is in "blatant contravention" of national laws and of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Specie...
2008-12-11 - New York, United States. CORNELIA DEAN
Living in a zoo drastically shortens the lives of Asian and African elephants, possibly because of the effects of stress and obesity, researchers are reporting. But their work provoked a sharp response from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Paul Boyle, the senior vice president for conservation and education at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, based in Silver Spring, Md., called the work “terribly flawed” and said it reflected an antizoo agenda. He said he could not recall “the ...
2008-12-10 - Pennsylvania, United States.
Scientists have mapped out most of the genetic code of the wooly mammoth, marking the first time an extinct animal’s DNA has been decoded and raising the possibility that the creature could be cloned and return to life. Wooly mammoths, which roamed the planet 10,000 years ago, are relatives of the modern African Elephant, but were covered with thick hair, had larger tusks and smaller ears.
2008-12-10 - Pittsburgh, United States. Tacy Gray
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is roaring: You could be the 1,000,000th visitor! The Zoo’s current annual attendance is at 989 (Monday, December 8 2008) and counting. As a way to encourage everyone to visit the Zoo within the next couple of weeks and reach our goal, the 1,000,000th visitor to walk through the gates will receive a lifetime Zoo Membership, a $500 shopping spree at the Zoo’s gift shops, and a behind-the-scenes tour for ten people. The 1,000,000th visitor also will receive re...
2008-12-10 - Patna, India.
Though the capture, sale and purchase of elephants are banned in India, according to the media reports, they were still sold in the Sonepur Cattle Fair, which concluded recently. This is possible because those engaged in the business have devised a unique method to circumvent the law. Temples in the southern states buy pachyderms at the annual Sonepur cattle fair. But what is more significant is that their trade has much to do with the rise of Bahujan Samaj Party in neighbouring UP as elephant i...
2008-12-09 - Arkansas, United States. Fred Petrucelli
Solomon is dead; long live Solomon. The 24-year-old pachyderm, the star of the Riddle Elephant Preserve near Quitman, passed peacefully and quietly in his sleep. The end for Solomon was difficult for his owner Scott Riddle who considered the huge elephant a member of the family. "Solomon died earlier this year from the affects of an infection and we could not do anything about it," he said. Large four-footed creatures elephants and horses are susceptible to the kind of infection that doomed Solo...
2008-12-09 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ethiopia began inviting tourists to visit its dwindling elephant herd on Monday as part of efforts to boost income from tourism. The Babile wildlife sanctuary near Harar, 560 km (350 miles) east of Addis Ababa, is the first in Ethiopia to offer visits specifically aimed at seeing elephants, whose numbers have been ravaged by poaching and decades of neglect. There are around 300 in Babile, which is also home to a national symbol: the rare black-mane lion, depicted on Ethiopia's currency.
2008-12-09 - Perris, United States. James Montgomery
On Monday, People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued a press release condemning Britney Spears for featuring "cruelly trained lions and elephants" in her just-released "Circus" video and demanded that the pop star "stop using exotic animals in her videos and concerts once and for all."
2008-12-09 - Los Angeles, United States. HECTOR TOBAR
Stand behind the curtain of bamboo just outside the paddock of the last, lone elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo and you'll hear the daylong drumbeat of running feet. Boys and girls yell "elefante!" and cry out "grandotote," which is Spanish for "huge." They ooh and ah, and ask questions of their parents in English, Korean, Tagalog and many languages more. Visiting the zoo is a Los Angeles rite of passage. I started coming in the late 1960s. For my Guatemalan immigrant parents, it was one more libe...
2008-12-08 - New Delhi, India. Sankar Ray
India’s elephants, as much as tigers the country’s symbol, are dying in ever-greater numbers as industrialization, deforestation, the pressure of human settlement and shrinking food resources cut into their numbers. Although the world's concern has risen over the fate of India's tigers, the descending numbers of India's elephants have not caused alarm. They are not listed as endangered species. The Federal Ministry of Environment and Forests estimated the population of wild elephants at 26,4...
2008-12-08 - Guruvayoor, India.
In a moving spectacle, elephants of the Sree Krishna temple here paid floral tributes in memory of their legendary peer Guruvayoor Kesavan on the 32nd death anniversary of the majestic tusker, around whom are woven many a tale. In a solemn procession, 33 elephants marched through the temple town to the Sreevalsom compound close to the shrine, where they showered petals at the feet of Kesavan's statue.
2008-12-07 - Los Angeles, United States.
The Los Angeles City Council last week halted construction on the new $42 million pachyderm exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo under fire from animal activists who say it's cruel to keep the large animals in zoos. They will be considering killing the project altogether. In these economic times, it makes sense. But the council has yet to decide what to do with L.A.'s sole elephant, Billy. What's your take? Should L.A. set Billy free and use his pen for something else?
2008-12-07 - OI Pejeta, Kenya. Rachel Sutcliffe
Elephants of the OI Pejeta conservancy have been fitted with SIM cards on their necks which, when they reach the perimeter of local villages, automatically sends the rangers text messages. A virtual fence was implemented after an almost extinct breed, the Bull Elephant, raided crops during harvest, costing the locals as much as six months work and pay. This resulted in the Kenyan Wildlife Service reluctantly having to shoot five particularly persistent animals.
2008-12-06 - Berhampur, India.
Three elephants, who fell into a well at Mahurapalli village in Ganjam district, were rescued on Saturday, official sources said here. The elephants had slipped into an open well located in a farm land last night when they came to the human habitation in search of food in Buguda forest range, B N Mohanty, Divisional Forest Officer (Ghumusar south) said. On being informed about the incident, forest personnel rushed to the spot this morning to pull out the pachyderms from the well.
2008-12-05 - Tsavo, Kenya.
The census was supported by Kenya Wildlife Service, Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Saint Louis Zoo Field Conservation Program, Oregon Zoo Foundation, Phoenix Zoo, Zuercher Tierschutz, Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), Marwell Conservation and Grevy's Zebra Trust
2008-12-05 - Houston, United States. MARY FLOOD
A Houston man was among six people arrested on federal charges of smuggling black market ivory disguised to look like wood sculptures or musical instruments into the United States. A Houston federal magistrate on Friday ordered Mamadi Doumbouya, 39, be kept in custody and moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., to stand trial. He and his alleged co-conspirators, arrested in other states, are accused of bringing the forbidden elephant tusks from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Uganda into this country through JFK...
2008-12-05 - Sofia, Bulgaria.
The fossilized jawbone of an 18-million-year-old ancestor of the elephant has gone on display in a Bulgarian museum. The rare fossil at the Black Sea city of Varna's Natural Science Museum belongs to what experts call the 8.2-foot-tall (2.5-meter-tall) prodeinotherium bavaricum. Museum curator Stoyan Vergiev says the jawbone was found in 2005 at a construction site in northeastern Bulgaria, but never shown to the public until now.
2008-12-05 - Meghauli, Nepal.
The world may be lurching into recession, but in the jungles of southern Nepal, it’s business as usual for the eclectic bunch of jetsetters gathered for their annual festival of Pimm’s and elephant polo. An idea thought up in a bar nearly 30 years ago in the Swiss resort of St Moritz by Nepalese tourism pioneer AV Jim Edwards and polo enthusiast James Manclark, has blossomed into a series of tournaments held in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Nepal.
2008-12-03 - New Delhi, India.
At least 10 tigers and 57 elephants have been poached in India during last three years, the environment and forests ministry said Wednesday but said the government was doing its best to protect wildlife. While poachers in Rajasthan killed four tigers, two tigers each in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Kerala fell victims to wildlife criminals, according to a ministry report. Of the 57 jumbos killed, 22 were poached in Orissa alone. While eight elephants were killed each in Karnataka, Assam and Ke...
2008-12-03 - Melbourn, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo's first elephant, Ranee, arrived at the Parkville campus to much fanfare in March 1883. Within a week the Asian elephant, fresh from Calcutta, was being saddled up in the summer heat for visitors to sit atop as she plodded her way along a meandering, purpose-built route
2008-12-02 - Negara, Malaysia.
IN line with its Corporate Social Respon-sibility (CSR) commitment, Carlsberg Malaysia continues its annual sponsorship of RM15,000 to the Malaysian Zoological Society (Zoo Negara), for the upkeep of the two Malaysian elephants. A group of 50 orphans from the Sinthamani Divine Life Ashram was also invited to join the fun-filled “Children’s Day at Zoo by Carlsberg Malaysia” and brought home with them many prizes and most importantly, big smiles on their faces.
2008-12-01 - Dimapur, India.
Rogue elephants have killed another man in Wokha, this time in Yanmhon. One Belka Orang, an Adivasi, was killed on November 29, when elephants went on a spree destroying paddy fields, fishery ponds and plantations and even government and private houses in and around Yanmhon. A laborer, one Borli Orang was killed by an elephant on November 18 earlier. It is also reported that the Asian Oilfields Survey Service Limited is unable to carry out survey works for seismic activities in Yanmhon areas due...
2008-12-01 - Los Angeles, United States. Zach Behrens
Brenda Scott Royce, director of publications for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, sounded off this weekend at Huffington Post about all the elephant talk going on these days. Animal activists and Councilman Tony Cardenas want the exhibit currently under construction to halt work and have a search a large expansive elephant sanctuary. Royce, along with others, believe the exhibit is just fine. Their point of view has not gotten as much press, so here's some of it.
2008-12-01 - Oklahoma City, United States. CARRIE COPPERNOLL
The capstone of the Asia exhibit will be the elephants. It will transform the Oklahoma City elephant program from a pair of sisters cramped onto a quarter acre of concrete to a family herd roaming up to 6 acres of lush grassland. Zoo design, especially for elephants, has changed dramatically since Torre began his career more than 30 years ago.
2008-12-01 - Los Angeles, United States.
The fate of a new elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo will be debated Monday afternoon by a city council committee. At issue is a $42 million elephant exhibit, which critics say is too small and ill-suited for the elephants. The city council committee will provide new information about the financial consequences of scrapping construction on the project, which has already cost $12 million since being approved by the council in 2006.
2008-12-01 - Washington, United States.
Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants serves as a comprehensive text on elephant medicine and surgery. Based on the expertise of 36 scientists and clinical veterinarians, this volume covers biology, husbandry, veterinary medicine and surgery of the elephant as known today. This is the only definitive text on these species and should be available at every institution that may be involved, even peripherally, with elephants
2008-12-01 - Norwich, United Kingdom. SAM EMANUEL
CLIC Sargent, the children's cancer charity which is the focus of this year's Evening News Christmas campaign, and The Born Free Foundation, a wildlife charity working to prevent animal cruelty and suffering, were presented with cheques totaling £136,000 as the money raised at the Go Elephants! auction was given to the good causes. Children and animals in need will soon be benefitting to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds which was raised at the most talked about charity auction of the...
2008-12-01 - London, United Kingdom. British Museum
This delightful giftbook celebrates the enduring fascination with this majestic animal through a wide variety of British Museum objects representing or inspired by elephants. The Bamileke in Cameroon donned spectacular trunked masks for theirelephant masquerade. Sixteenth-century European artists, when learning the art of drawing animals, practised images of elephants, whether or not they had seen one in real life. Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god, is depicted in many wonderful sculptures.
2008-11-30 - Jamshedpur, India. KUMUD JENAMANI
For the first time, tuskers from Dalma have found the perfect shelter. Their new home has been built by the forest department on the same corridor that is frequently ravaged by them. For thousands of villagers in Ghatshila sub-division in East Singhbhum district, this harvest season has also been relatively incident-free as at least 12 elephants, including a calf, are huddled in Charchakka forest for the past fortnight. In a first-of-its-kind project in this part of the country, the Dhalbhum div...
2008-11-28 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Brigitte Larsson, Kolmarden
Kolmarden is looking for an experienced elephant keeper to join the staff in our pachyderm section, currently housing three female Asian elephants managed in free contact and four white rhinos. We are seeking an ambitious, team oriented, and outgoing person. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of elephant training, husbandry and management and is fluent in a Scandinavian language and/or English.
2008-11-27 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
Local residents of Cot Pangee village have urged authorities in Aceh Jaya District to deal with elephants which have run amok and killed one villager. "I notice that despite a casualty and damages in hectares of crops, there is no effort to solve the elephant problem in Cot Pangee village," Saudi M Daud, an inhabitant of Aceh Jaya, told ANTARA here on Thursday. Since November 25, 2008, a herd of elephants have run amok in Cot Pangee village, around 130 km west of Banda Aceh. The herd killed a lo...
2008-11-26 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Elephant menace has grown alarmingly in Jalpaiguri district this year and the forest department has clearly failed to contain the leviathans in the forests. It admits so too. Speaking on the subject, the chief conservator of forest, North Bengal Dr Sylvan Patel admitted the point and said that developing communication with the villagers is essential for handling elephant raids. “We have only four elephant squads at the Malbazaar, Ramsai, Khunia and Binnaguri ranges respectively under the Wild ...
2008-11-26 - Memphis, United States.
The Memphis Zoo has another big reason to be thankful this year. This morning, “Gina,” a 25-year-old African elephant, became the third resident in a growing herd of African elephants at the Memphis Zoo. The Memphis Zoo acquired Gina from a private owner. She joins the Zoo’s two other African elephant cows - “Tyranza,” age 44, and “Asali,” age 23. Asali is currently pregnant, and due in July 2009.
2008-11-26 - Hamburg, Germany.
Four-day-old Russelchen - which means 'little trunk' in German - had great fun exploring the elephant house, and is set to be a massive hit with the public. But can he really be the new Knut, the cute polar bear who won the hearts of people around the world with his antics at Berlin Zoo? Russelchen bravely tried out everything his bigger friends were doing – blowing his trunk, having a hearty drink and going for a splash around. But his first swimming attempt was cut short by his cautio...
2008-11-26 - New York, United States.
They are the world's unlikeliest contenders heading to Nepal for the world's unlikeliest sport. Meet the New York Blue, America's elephant polo team. Now elephants are hard to come by in New York. Large motor vehicles are not. So before flying this week to the World Elephant Polo tournament, the New York Blue's seven adventurers practiced swinging at small white balls from the roofs of two SUVs in an empty beachside car park.
2008-11-26 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
A herd of wild elephants went on a rampage in Indonesia's north-westernmost province of Aceh, killing one person and destroying property, state-run media reported Wednesday. A herd estimated at 13 pachyderms entered Cot Pengee village in Aceh Jaya district during the past several days, forcing residents to flee their homes for safety. Antara news agency quoted local community leader Iskandar Musa saying residents tried to drive the wild animals away with traditional methods, such as making loud ...
2008-11-26 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
SAFETY barriers on the elephant enclosure have been improved at Paignton Zoo after an inspection found unsupervised small children could climb in. The zoo increased the three bar visitor fence to five bars to comply with an independent inspection report as a condition of the zoo licence. The report said parts of the railings 'were insufficient as barriers' in places where dense bamboo had been cut back 'and had not yet grown sufficiently, such that unsupervised small children might gain access t...
2008-11-25 - London, United Kingdom.
Britney Spears fans can expect a treat next Saturday when the Womanizer singer takes to the X Factor stage. Her friend Brian Friedman told the official X Factor website: "She is going to be doing a massive performance. "You know her album is called Circus, so we're going to be seeing a circus vibe coming in". He added: "I wouldn't be surprised if there were elephants because this is The X Factor - and we go big here"! Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis and Take That might have performed on the hit show i...
2008-11-25 - Melbourne, Australia. Bridie Smith
A TEAM of researchers working at Melbourne Zoo believes new techniques for freezing elephant sperm will prove the breakthrough the endangered species needs. And the zoo's super-stud Bong Su — a 34-year-old bull regarded as one of the world's most fertile Asian elephants because of his high sperm count — will play a key part, with the frozen sperm to be made available to overseas zoos.
2008-11-25 - Kampala, Uganda.
It may not be quite as bad as the Three Bears returning home to find Goldilocks sleeping in one of their beds, but Ugandan villagers returning to the villages they abandoned during the East African nation's civil war are being met with a rather large surprise. "Elephants are moving into the villages," says Sam Mwandha, operations director for the state-owned Uganda Wildlife Authority. Much of Uganda's northern region lies in the so-called elephant corridor, a vast tropical flat terrain that adjo...
2008-11-24 - Colne, United Kingdom.
This week takes us back to 1890 and a wonderful Victorian scene showing a troupe of elephants perambulating along Keighley Road, Colne. The circus in town was Lord John Sangers, which toured Great Britain for more than 150 years and this premier travelling circus, as well as Indian and African elephants, had lions, tigers, black panthers, giraffes, brown bears, polar bears, zebras, camels, Appaloosa horses and not forgetting the acrobats, high wire artistes, clowns and the ring master himself, i...
2008-11-24 - Pattaya, Thailand. Dr. Harald M. Schwammer
The International Elephant Foundation and Mahidol University are pleased to announce the International Elephant Research Symposium November 24-26, 2008 (New Date) at the Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens, Pattaya, Thailand, to match with the Surin Elephant Round-Up. This will make the Surin Elephant Round-Up the pre-tour to the 2008 International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium. This important symposium will concentrate on the research and conservation needs of captive and wild pop...
2008-11-23 - Hamburg, Germany.
A newly born elephant baby plays with its mother Yashoda at the Hagenbeck Tierpark (animal park) in the northern German city of Hamburg. The 90 centimetre in height and 95 kilo in weight baby Asian elephant was born on November 21.
2008-11-23 - Mysore, India.
Forty-two year old Belliyappa often spoke of sending his son to a big city college for higher education because he wanted his son to explore the world. But, too soon, his dreams were trampled by an elephant on Friday. Belliyappa, a small farmer in Napoklu in Kodagu district, was found dead near his farm here on Friday. He bore all the marks of having been crushed under the mighty feet of an elephant.
2008-11-22 - Surin, Thailand. Veronica Matheson
FOUR old men with weather-beaten faces stand by their ancestral spirit house in the small village of Ban Ta Klang in northeastern Thailand to make offerings to protect the village elephants, who are off to the annual elephant festival in the nearby city of Surin. Offerings -- including a bottle of beer, some home-brewed whisky and a pig's head -- sit on a table as one of the old men chants incantations while another lights incense sticks, and another plays droning music on a horn that looks like...
2008-11-22 - Pennsylvania, United States.
Scientists are a decade or two away from recreating the extinct woolly mammoth, according to a Pennsylvania State University researcher. The Colombian mammoth, the southern cousin of the woolly mammoth, roamed the eastern New Mexico plains up to 10,000 years ago. Matt Hillsman, the curator of Eastern New Mexico University’s Blackwater Draw Museum, said remains of the Colombian mammoth were found at the Black Water Draw dig site.
2008-11-22 - Surin, Thailand.
Surin, the northeastern province known as ''the Land of Elephants'', has been holding the annual Elephant Round-up for nearly half a century. This year, the exciting spectacle is scheduled to take place November 22-23 in the compound of the Elephant Study Centre. Surin natives are naturally skilled in rounding up wild elephants as well as taming them. This upcoming 48th edition will boast seven eye-catching performances with no less than 200 trained elephants showcasing their extraordinary talen...
2008-11-21 - Kolkata, India.
A six-month-old elephant that strayed from the herd and fell into a ring-well at Pedothorang in Bagmundi block of West Bengal’s Purulia district was rescued after about 10 hours on Thursday. The staff of the local forest division and villagers had to first placate the mother elephant to reach the spot. Paddy stacks and mud were thrown into the 15-feet-deep well after initial efforts to draw out the baby elephant with ropes failed, K Balamurugan, local divisional forest officer told The Hindu o...
2008-11-21 - Sonepur, India.
Elephant dung is selling like hot cake at the famous annual cattle fair here for use as a mosquito repellent and also as fuel. Over 70 elephants are at the fair this year. They are brought here for show, as their sale at the fair is banned under wildlife protection laws, said another forest department official, CP Khanduja. Elephants are big attractions at the fair, especially for tourists. But there are unofficial reports that elephants are bought and sold at the fair in the garb of gifting the...
2008-11-21 - Bewdley, United Kingdom.
Elephants at West Midlands Safari Park have been played rock and roll music to help them relax.
2008-11-20 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
A Thai elephant has become pregnant after IVF treatment, boosting hopes in the species' fight against extinction. Vets confirmed that Phang Sao, a 26-year-old elephant, responded well to the procedure which involved injecting her with frozen sperm. An elephant is pregnant for a 22-month period and Phang Sao is expected to deliver her artificially-bred calf between August and September next year. She is being given special care by the vets in Mae Sa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai to avoid a miscarri...
2008-11-20 - Pennsylvania, United States. Miller W, Drautz DI, Ratan A, Pusey B, Qi J, Lesk AM, Tomsho LP, Packard MD, Zhao F, Sher A, Tikhonov A, Raney B, Patterson N, Lindblad-Toh K, Lander ES, Knight JR, Irzyk GP, Fredrikson KM, Harkins TT, Sheridan S, Pringle T, Schuster SC., Pennsylvania State University, Center for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics
In 1994, two independent groups extracted DNA from several Pleistocene epoch mammoths and noted differences among individual specimens. Subsequently, DNA sequences have been published for a number of extinct species. However, such ancient DNA is often fragmented and damaged, and studies to date have typically focused on short mitochondrial sequences, never yielding more than a fraction of a per cent of any nuclear genome. Here we describe 4.17 billion bases (Gb) of sequence from several mammoth ...
2008-11-19 - San Andreas, United States. Mike Taylor
Exactly how a five-ton animal communicates with its friends and family came into focus as an expert visited San Andreas. Dr. Joyce Poole-who has lived with elephants in Africa's savannah for more than 27 years-described her experiences to more than 100 people Saturday at ARK 2000, the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary. She recounted her time spent working on the Amboseli Elephant Research Project at Amboseli National Park in Kenya, a 57-square-mile park near Mount Kilimanjaro.
2008-11-19 - Bangalore, India. Preethi Nagaraj
The rogue elephant 'Kyata' which crushed his mahout Bora to death recently, has been sent to kraal – a place where wild and restless elephants are tamed – in Moorkal, within Nagarhole forest range. The nine year old Kyata after killing his mahout, had stood guard of the body for nearly 12 hours without food and water. It was only after many attempts that Bora's body was lifted and cremated.
2008-11-19 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Zoo elephants Kashin and Burma could become the last elephants in a New Zealand zoo as a result of Auckland City Council budget cuts. The zoo wants to build a herd of elephants as part of a succession plan for Kashin, who turned 40 on Sunday. But the council has not set aside the $5 million cost in its 10-year budget. The future of the popular female elephants was raised at a council meeting yesterday, where Mayor John Banks and his Citizens & Ratepayers allies were looking to cut hundr...
2008-11-18 - Bangalore, India. Vidya TN, Sukumar R, Melnick DJ., Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science
Recent phylogeographic studies of the endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) reveal two highly divergent mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages, an elucidation of which is central to understanding the species's evolution. Previous explanations for the divergent clades include introgression of mtDNA haplotypes between ancestral species, allopatric divergence of the clades between Sri Lanka or the Sunda region and the mainland, historical trade of elephants, and retention of divergent lineages du...
2008-11-18 - Accra, Ghana. Anita Nyarko
artefact sellers were at the weekend arrested at the Arts Centre in Accra for allegedly possessing ivory in the country. The suspects, who are currently on police enquiry bail, are Tahiru Haruna, 29, Mohammed Kabiru, 29, Rose Mensah, 25, Atta Issah, 30, and Razak Tahiru 18. The others are Yakubu Benjamin, 45, Garba Ibrahim, 55, Musa Ali, 40, Jibril Alhassan 27, Yakubu Osman, 28, and Samaila Alahassan. They are being charged under the Wildlife Conservation Regulation LI 685 of 1971 which makes it...
2008-11-18 - Marshalls Creek, United States. Beth Brelje
With shelves of bones everywhere, the Phil Fraley Productions studio could be a dog's dream come true. The prehistoric bones there are not for gnawing, however, but for rebuilding history. The Marshalls Creek mastodon is one of the Pittsburgh company's latest projects. The nearly complete mastodon skeleton was discovered in a peat bog in Marshalls Creek, just behind Wendy's restaurant, in 1968. While excavating peat, John Leap and Paul Strauser of Lakeside Peat Humus Co. pulled a mastodon skull ...
2008-11-18 - Dehra Dun, India.
An elephant was found dead in the Jim Corbett National Park, taking the number of pachyderm deaths in the sanctuary this year to eight. The 40-year-old tuskless elephant died on Monday apparently after being attacked by a herd of tuskers in the park, forest officials said on Tuesday. The officials said deep wounds on its body and footprints of several elephants were found in the area. The pachyderm was buried after a post-mortem, they said.
2008-11-18 - Vienna, United States. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation press release
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation proudly announces the birth of a healthy female Asian elephant – marking the twenty-first birth in what is already the most successful Asian elephant breeding program in the Western Hemisphere. The calf named Sundara, which means “beautiful” in Hindi, was born on Nov. 9, 7:15 p.m. at 310 pounds, and is an offspring of 39-year-old Sally and 35-year-old Charlie. Sally has given birth before as part of the Ringling Bros. ...
2008-11-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A tonne of ivory items and 57 suspects were netted in a four-month operation billed Africa's largest-ever crackdown on wildlife crime, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said Monday. The crackdown -- code-named Operation Baba -- also seized cheetah, leopard, serval cat and python skins as well as hippo teeth at several markets, airports and border crossings in Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. "All the participating countries simultaneously struck at the illegal domestic markets ...
2008-11-16 - Bangalore, India.
The High Court of Karnataka on Friday directed the state and Central governments to submit by December 9, 2008 a comprehensive report on the spate of elephant deaths in the Nagarahole-Bandipur belt, especially the alleged killing of four pachyderms in Nanjangud taluk of Chamarajanagar district on November 5 last. Hearing a suo motu public interest litigation, a division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakran and Justice V G Sabahit said: "It is most unfortunate and inhuman. We should be ash...
2008-11-15 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo family came together Saturday to remember the 2-year-old elephant known as Mac. Mac, the largest Asian elephant born in captivity at 384 pounds, died last Sunday after contracting elephant herpesvirus. Staff and supporters of the zoo gathered at the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat to remember the loss. In a press release, the zoo's spokesman thanked the public for their outreach during the difficult time.
2008-11-14 - Cleveland, United States.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is seeking an experienced Animal Keeper to work with its three African elephants which are temporarily located at the Columbus Zoo until the Zoo’s new African Elephant Crossing exhibit is completed in 2010. Qualifications: Must have a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences or related field plus 6 months of elephant experience. This position requires excellent husbandry skills and knowledge, specifically related to the care of elephants at an AZA-accredited institution....
2008-11-14 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Alex Morales
South Africa may start its first elephant culls since 1994 next year to protect other species harmed by their destruction of habitats. South Africa's elephant population has swelled to 17,000 from 200 in 1900 when hunting had slashed their numbers, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, South Africa's environment minister, said Nov. 12 in an interview in London. That's leading to overgrazing that threatens animal species including rhinos and antelopes, he said.
2008-11-14 - Bangalore, India.
Even as the government confirmed "cyanide poison in ragi balls" as a cause for the elephants' death, the Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the Forest Department to find out the culprits behind the episode in Kappasoge village near Nanjangud and submit a report before December 9. After registering a suo motu case on the elephants’ death, the division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice V G Sabhahit said “It is an inhumane act, we call them animals, we should be asha...
2008-11-14 - Kurunegala correspondent, Sri Lanka. S. M. Wijayaratne
According to the recent survey conducted by the Department of Wildlife Conservation, it has been revealed that during the past nine months of 2008, 60 wild elephants have died and 24 human beings have died following attacks by wild elephants in the North Western zone of the wildlife conservation. In the year 2007, 33 humans and 73 wild elephants have died of this ongoing conflict.
2008-11-12 - Melbourne, Australia.
EMILY Robins was excited when invited to audition for the lead role in a new Australian children's series in which she would both act and sing. "I'd been singing all my life in musical theatre and competitions and stuff like that," says the 19-year-old from New Zealand, who plays a 16-year-old who discovers she is a princess from an exotic, mystical kingdom, in The Elephant Princess. "The fact that they were looking for a singer and an actor was perfect for me."
2008-11-12 - Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa.
Two elephants from the Brian Boswell Circus are to strike their own gold coins as part of the 2008 Natura coin range. South African Mint Company deputy general manager Natanya van Niekerk said the elephants had been chosen because the company had been inspired by circus owner Brian Boswell's saving of 10 elephant calves from being culled in 1983. Two of the calves grew up as part of the Boswell circus family.
2008-11-12 - San Andreas, United States.
On Saturday, November 8, Ned, a severely underweight 21-year-old captive born, male Asian elephant, was confiscated by the USDA. PAWS has agreed to provide a permanent home for Ned as soon as he is strong enough to make the trip to California. An expansion of the existing bull elephant barn and habitat at ARK 2000 will begin immediately. Ned will occupy the Galt sanctuary’s bull elephant area until construction is complete in San Andreas.
2008-11-12 - Raipur, India.
Elephants too are an election issue in the tribal state Chhattisgarh going to assembly poll later this month. With the jumbo menace affecting northern part of the state comprising of districts like Surguja, Koria, Jashpur, Korba and Raigarh, ruling BJP has in its election manifesto promised a new scheme for development of a corridor for movement of elephants so that they do not stray into human habitations.
2008-11-10 - Cologne, Germany.
The Elephant House at Cologne Zoo, built in 1863 in the Moorish style, and originally intended to be temperorary only, turned out to be very long lasting. Finally a new Elephant Park was opened on 19.09.2004. This new project took into consideration the latest knowledge about the way of life of Asian elephants and the best way to look after them in zoos.
2008-11-10 - Eastern Cape, South Africa.
THIS baa-my pair are inseparable after they struck up an unlikely friendship. Orphaned baby elephant Themba was unable to feed himself and faced certain death until Albert the sheep provided some much needed company. The pair now spend every hour together at their home in the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
2008-11-10 - Houston, United States.
Mac, an Asian elephant whose birth was a cause for celebration at the Houston Zoo scarcely more than two years ago, died Sunday night after a brief battle with the elephant herpes virus, zoo officials said this morning. "The entire zoo staff is absolutely devastated," said zoo spokesman Brian Hill. "It's difficult to put into words and describe the attachment that has developed over the past two years. "This is a terrible loss, especially for the elephant keepers and veterinary medical staff who...
2008-11-09 - Jaipur, India.
The increased influx of tourists may have given a chance to mint money to those from the tourism industry, but the elephants at Amber are having a tough time. One can witness utter chaos during the peak hours for elephant rides with tourists thronging the Amber Fort. Despite the fact that the tourism department has restricted the maximum load for elephants (two tourists per elephant) and just one ride for each animal per day, the 95 elephants at here are having a hard time as mahouts have been f...
2008-11-09 - Jalpaiguri , India.
A four-year-old child was tossed to death by a wild elephant at Mantagara in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday sparking protest by villagers who gheraoed forest officials. Forest officials said the baby girl was tossed to the ground by the tusker which strayed into the area and barged into the hut of a tribal family. While the girl's parents scampered to safety mistaking the girl to be away in a neighbour's house, the toddler fell before the jumbo. As a forest team went to the area, they were gherao...
2008-11-09 - Los Angeles , United States.
A City Council committee has rejected a move to stop work on a $40 million elephant enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo. The panel's decision came Thursday despite pleas from celebrities such as Lily Tomlin and Bob Barker to instead fund a 60-acre elephant sanctuary in the San Fernando Valley. The council committee declined to take a vote that would have sent the proposal to the full council for consideration. Celebrities who want to remove the elephants from the zoo say living there can harm their...
2008-11-09 - Hohenwald, United States.
An elephant confiscated by the USDA is on his way to the mid-state. Ned, a 21-year-old male elephant, has been placed in the care of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald. Ned was taken from his Florida-based circus trainer for what police say was failure to comply with the Animal Welfare Act. The elephant is expected to arrive at the sanctuary tomorrow. Officials at the sanctuary say they will help the elephant recover and find a permanent home.
2008-11-08 - Geneva, Switzerland.
A controversial series of legal ivory auctions in southern Africa should undercut poachers who have been charging exorbitant prices in key Asian markets, United Nations conservationists said Friday. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates international trade in endangered species, allowed four African countries South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe to hold one-off sales to buyers from China and Japan.
2008-11-08 - Tucson, United States.
The opening of the Conservation Learning Center put the Reid Park Zoo one step closer to completing its $12.5 million master plan, which includes a 7-acre expansion and new elephant exhibit. The City Council is funding half of the expansion, provided the Tucson Zoological Society raises the other half of the funds, said Diana Whitman, director of development at the Tucson Zoological Society, the fundraising arm of the zoo.
2008-11-07 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa landed in a controversy for gifting a elephant to a temple in Kerala with animal rights activists alleging violation of wildlife rules including that the person donating a pachyderm should be declared "pauper" by law. Kerala Chief Wildlife Warden J K Tewari has asked the Divisional Forest officer in Kannur to look into the matter and submit a report following a complaint by animal rights campaigners,
2008-11-07 - Thimpu, Bhutan. Steve Herman
Although the young king told his Buddhist subjects he is wanting for nothing and has no material desires, in accordance with tradition, he was presented with a number of gifts. Among them: several satchels of coins, nine bags of cereals, five bales of textiles and a number of animals, including three elephants, several sheep, a pair of yaks, two horses and a mule.
2008-11-07 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Lisa Schlein
Conservationists say ivory auctions in four Southern African countries this week have raised more than $15 million for conservation efforts. The ivory sale was organized by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The organization says the money will go for African elephant conservation and to support local communities. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe sold more than 100 tons of ivory to Chinese and Japanese accredited tra...
2008-11-07 - Bangalore, India. Deepa Balakrishnan
The Karnataka High Court has ordered an inquiry into the increasing number of unnatural elephant deaths in Mysore. On Wednesday four elephants were badly wounded after getting electrocuted near the Kabini canal. Soon some villagers noticed that all the four were dead and the carcasses were floating in the canal. "We come by this canal everyday and suddenly saw these carcasses floating in the canal. We called the police to see what can be done," a villager Siddaraju said.
2008-11-07 - Melbourne, Australia. Nathanael Cooper
There is no shortage of big stars who hail from the Sunshine Coast, but none of them are quite as big as our latest celebrity. In fact, she's so big that while most stars have their own trailer on set, this one has a whole truck to herself.Siam, an Asian elephant that weighs more than 500kg, resides at Australia Zoo and has recently finished filming a role in Network Ten's upcoming children's drama, The Elephant Princess. Shot in Melbourne, The Elephant Princess is about a young girl who discove...
2008-11-06 - Chicago, United States. Bob Cline
Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) didn’t get what she wanted tonight when she half heartedly agreed to an elephant protection bill that was no where near what she wanted to see in Chicago. Her original request would have eliminated the use of an elephant management tool called an ankus that is used by every elephant Professional throughout the world including Zoos and the Circuses that visit Chicago.
2008-11-05 - Miami, United States.
Miami Metro Zoo is accepting applications for 1 open elephant keeper position. The zoo currently houses both Asian and African elephants in a protected contact program and is in the initial phases of expanding our program and conservation efforts. We are seeking an energetic, team oriented, and outgoing person to join our staff as we move the program forward. The ideal candidate will possess a 2 year degree in a science related field, at least 2 years of elephant handling experience, and a stron...
2008-11-05 - Brooklyn, United States.
Coney Island is home to several iconic landmarks of American recreation. The Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump come to mind. But it’s also aM graveyard of amusements—so many ostentatious attractions have come and gone, such as the Elephant Hotel. Situated on Surf Avenue and West 5th Street, this enormous elephant made of pine and tin—often referred to as the Coney Island Elephant—burnt down in 1896. The five people inside at the time of the blaze were safely guided to safe...
2008-11-05 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Leakey
I am deeply concerned about the ongoing one-off ivory auction that started on 28 October in Namibia and ended on Wednesday, 6 November 2008 in South Africa. I have spent many years looking at issues of elephant conservation and ivory trade and played a major role in successfully eliminating the massive ivory poaching that characterized what is considered the darkest period for African elephants in Kenya in the late 1980s, I believe that auctioning the ivory stockpiles would cause poaching to inc...
2008-11-05 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Samrit Jeamjaruanpornkul, Wannapa Phetdee
Severe flooding yesterday forced the evacuation of more than 80 elephants from a sanctuary in Ayutthaya's Suanprik tambon. The pachyderms are being given temporary shelter at Si Suriyothai Park and other nonflooded areas in Suanprik. Meanwhile, the elephant camp's owner, Laitongrian Meepan, who has about 100 of the beasts under his care, is threatening to bring the entire herd to Bangkok and demand that the Royal Irrigation Department compensate him for the damages the floods have done to his fi...
2008-11-05 - Atlanta, United States.
Officials at Zoo Atlanta say a pregnant African elephant that died suddenly last month had pneumonia. Officials announced the finding Wednesday after receiving preliminary necropsy results for 26-year-old Dottie. Still, zoo officials have not yet said whether the disease is what killed the elephant Oct. 28. “We are saddened by the sudden loss of Dottie. I know our veterinary and animal management team worked diligently to ensure she received the best care and treatment possible. This is especi...
2008-11-05 - Mysore, India.
Nine elephants in seven days. This is the tragic tally of poor jumbos which have met their gory end owing to the "shocking" means the villagers adopt to keep the creature at bay in Mysore district alone. What led to the 'massacre' of elephants is the electrified fencing with which the farmers protect their fields. While the government has made it mandatory to use only solar powered barbed wires, farmers often tap electricity illegally and allow high voltage to pass through the wires.
2008-11-05 - London, United Kingdom. Steve Connor
Scientists in Japan have refined a cloning technique that has enabled researchers to clone apparently healthy mice from the frozen corpse of a mouse that had been kept in a freezer for 16 years at a temperature of -20C. The scientists believe the study shows that it might be possible in the future to use the same techniques to clone creatures from the frozen tissue of animals found buried in permafrost regions, for example, the frozen corpses of mammoths.
2008-11-04 - Portland, United States. Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian
A $125 million bond measure that would provide more space and more natural surroundings for the Oregon Zoo's elephants, polar bears, chimps and other animals won handily Tuesday. Zoo supporters acknowledged the difficulty of passing a multimillion-dollar bond measure just as the state and national economies are flagging, but said a long list of improvements is necessary to improve conditions at the zoo. Metro area voters, including supporters who have contributed to record attendance at the zoo,...
2008-11-03 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A wildlife sanctuary in Thailand has come up with an innovative way of keeping elephants away from farmer's crops – unwanted CDs. The Elephant Conservation Network (ECN), working alongside the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), is the first to use the CDs as light reflectors to deter the elephants from destroying Thailand's crops. Ecologists in the country claim that "crop-raiding" commonly occurs on traditional elephant forest routes with the large animals devouring crops and destroying tree...
2008-11-03 - Calgary, Canada.
The Calgary Zoo is learning more about the death of Malti the baby elephant. The little pachyderm died this weekend, less than a week after being diagnosed with elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV). The disease kills by attacking the cells that line an elephant's blood vessels in the heart, liver and other organs. The virus hits suddenly and causes internal bleeding and heart failure, killing the animal within a few days. The virus seems to lie dormant in adult elephants and is spread t...
2008-11-02 - Washington, United States. Amy Hotz
During the 1950s and 1960s American readers clamored for the sporting adventure books and magazine articles of Wilmington native Robert Ruark. With Hemingway-esque flare, Ruark described real and fictional hunting trips from his grandfather’s backyard to the wilds of Africa. At 10 a.m. Monday, a relic of one of those adventures, and other personal items that once belonged to the author, will be auctioned at Doyle New York in New York City. The first item in the lot is a pair of elephant tusks ...
2008-11-02 - Auckland, New Zealand.
KASHIN THE elephant's snot is clear and gritty. "Blow into her trunk," instructs the zookeeper. "She wants to smell your breath." Looking up an elephant's nose is like peering into twin surgical wounds. Pink and glistening tunnels, 1.6m long, containing more than 40,000 muscles, useful for pushing over logs, snuffling in the dirt and getting to know human visitors.
2008-11-01 - Calgary, Canada.
The Calgary Zoo's baby elephant has died, despite round-the-clock efforts to save her. Malti was diagnosed with a rare, but deadly disease called elephant herpesvirus on Friday. The disease attacks the lining of the blood vessels. It's suspected she got it from one of the adult elephants which can carry the virus without ever becoming ill themselves. The Elephant Crossing area of the zoo was closed to the public Saturday. All of the elephants were kept outside while staff worked feverishly to ke...
2008-11-01 - Calgary, Canada. DAWN WALTON
The baby elephant that has been drawing huge crowds at the Calgary Zoo is gravely ill with a virus that is almost always fatal and has been responsible for killing dozens of pachyderms in captivity and in the wild. Officials said Friday afternoon that blood tests have confirmed that Malti, an almost 15-month-old female Asian elephant, has elephant herpes virus, a condition that attacks the circulatory system. Zoo veterinarians are working around the clock and administer anti-viral medication to ...
2008-11-01 - Bronx, New York, United States. Stephen Blake, Sharon L. Deem, Samantha Strindberg, Fiona Maisels, Ludovic Momont, Inogwabini-Bila Isia, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, William B. Karesh, Michael D. Kock
A dramatic expansion of road building is underway in the Congo Basin fuelled by private enterprise, international aid, and government aspirations. Among the great wilderness areas on earth, the Congo Basin is outstanding for its high biodiversity, particularly mobile megafauna including forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis). The abundance of many mammal species in the Basin increases with distance from roads due to hunting pressure, but the impacts of road proliferation on the movements...
2008-10-31 - Calcutta, India. CHANDAN SARMAH
It has been 30 years since Tapan Sinha gave us Safed Hathi — the heartwarming tale of two orphaned children and their protector, a white elephant. Thirty years and the dynamics between this large animal and rural India have changed enough to prompt an Assamese filmmaker to name his documentary on elephant movement A Friend Turned Foe. Selected for the non-feature section of the Indian Panorama for the forthcoming International Film Festival of India, 2008, A Friend Turned Foe, by Gautam Saikia...
2008-10-31 - Portland, United States. NATHALIE WEINSTEIN
When the Oregon Zoo opened in 1959 in Washington Park, the exhibits were designed at a time when naturalistic exhibits were not a concept, and instead focused on modern design, asymmetrical structures and bright colors. Over the years, the facilities have become outdated and detrimental to the health of the animals that inhabit them, zoo officials say. That’s why the Metro Council, Oregon Zoo Foundation, zoo staff and community leaders have been working to develop a bond measure for the past f...
2008-10-28 - Atlanta, United States. LEON STAFFORD, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The elephant, which had recently gone into the third trimester of her 24-month pregnancy, was 26. Zoo Atlanta’s veterinary team, along with the Department of Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia, will perform a necropsy. “We are saddened by the sudden loss of Dottie,” Zoo Atlanta President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Kelly said in a prepared statement. “I know our veterinary and animal management team worked diligently to ensure she received...
2008-10-27 - Washington, United States.
This position is located in the Animal Programs, Large Mammal & Elephant Unit of the National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. This animal keeper position works with elephants and other wild/exotic large mammals and performs a variety of duties that ensure the proper care, feeding, exhibition, and propagation of the animals, many of which are rare and endangered.
2008-10-27 - Syracuse, United States. Lorrell Walter
Calling all pumpkin producers! The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is looking for someone to donate a giant gourd for the annual “Squishing of the Squash,” on Saturday, November 8. Each year, the zoo’s elephants and many of the other animals enjoy a post-Halloween pumpkin feast. While pumpkins have been secured for the zoo’s smaller pumpkin fans, the zoo has been unable to secure a pumpkin of pachyderm proportion.
2008-10-27 - Cape Town, South Africa.
An elephant ivory auction totaling over 19,800 lb (9,000 kg) will begin tomorrow in Namibia. This is the first time in nearly 10 years that international trade in elephant ivory has been sanctioned by the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The sales will continue over the next two weeks in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, with a grand total of 119 tons (108 tonnes) of ivory up for bidding. This accounts for an estimated 10,000+ dead elephants.
2008-10-27 - Knysna, South Africa.
In 1876, the Knysna elephants, that freely ranged the forest and fynbos areas in the southern cape, numbered about 500 individuals. The numbers declined rapidly as increasing numbers of woodcutters and hunters settled in the area. By 1908 the population status was estimated at 20 individuals, dwindling further to an estimated 11 by 1970. By 1980 a mere 3 individuals were believed to still roam the area.
2008-10-26 - New Delhi, India. Neha Sinha
In a first-of-its-kind move, Project Elephant has released funds for setting up rescue and rehabilitation centres across the country to accommodate ill or ageing working elephants. There are an estimated 3,500-3,600 privately-owned captive elephants in the country and most of them are made to work. Approximately Rs 90 lakh has been released for a 400-acre elephant rescue centre to be run in Haryana, officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forests said. Funds have also been released for el...
2008-10-26 - Portland, United States. Brooks Burford
Samudra, now 2 months old, joins the Oregon Zoo's herd to "squish the squash" on Friday. Every year the zoo's Asian elephants are presented with pumpkins which they proceed to play with and tromp into squishy blobs of goo. "Sam" turned 2 months of age on Thursday. That morning he weighed 473 pounds "and he's growing 2 to 3 pounds every day, just on mother's milk." Elephant keeper Bob Lee says Samudra is now teething, chomping and chewing on leaves and branches.
2008-10-26 - Beijing, China. Dinah Gardner
There are fewer than 300 wild elephants left in China, so when Jeremy McGill, an American tourist, stumbled across a group of adults earlier this year in a nature reserve in Yunnan province, near the border with Laos, he whipped out his camera and started taking pictures. It almost cost him his life.´"I was alone when I came across the four elephants," he said. "One scooped me up into his mouth and bit me. My body was folded in half, my head between my knees, and then the elephant spat me out a...
2008-10-25 - Bengkulu, Indonesia.
A group of wild elephants in the Seblat Elephant Training Center (PLG) broke loose and damaged 1,256 oil palm trees of PT Agricinal in Putri Hijau subdistrict, North Bengkulu regency, and a security post near the plantation. PLG Seblat coordinator Aswin Bangun said on Monday that the rampant illegal loggings and damage on the elephent training center had disturbed the elephants and eventually broke loose seeking for food.
2008-10-25 - Fairfax, Australia. CLAIRE MCENTEE
Trade Me is under pressure to follow online auction giant eBay's lead and ban the sale of ivory products. The United States-based site banned ivory products after the International Fund for Animal Welfare found more than 4000 illegal elephant ivory listings. IFAW Asia Pacific director Erica Martin said online trading sites, including Trade Me, should follow eBay's lead. "They should put immediate bans on ivory sales in place".
2008-10-25 - Guwahati, India.
Noted wildlife filmmaker Gautam Saikia’s documentary A Friend turned Foe has been selected for the 39th Indian Panorama scheduled to be held in Goa from November 23. The 15-minute documentary that highlights the intensifying man-elephant conflict in Assam has been chosen for the non-feature category of the Panorama. “The documentary depicts the worsening man-elephant conflict, and has primarily been shot in Golaghat district, which is one of the worst-affected areas of the conflict,” Saiki...
2008-10-25 - New Orleans, United States.
Im right in the middle of running an elephant. Can you call back in like half an hour?" Michael Rowe pocketed his cell phone and returned full attention to clicking off Jean's paces. It was after hours at the Audubon Zoo _ one of four zoos where Rowe is studying how elephants, which can't sweat or pant to bring their temperatures down when they get too hot, deal with heat and cold. Regulation of body heat hasn't been studied much in very large animals, Rowe said. His doctoral research may have i...
2008-10-24 - London, United Kingdom.
Following the announcement that more than 108 tonnes of stockpiled elephant ivory in Southern Africa will be auctioned between 28th October and 6th November 2008, fear is mounting that the most vulnerable elephant populations across Africa and Asia will be unable to withstand the increased levels of poaching that are predicted to occur as a result of these sales. The ivory auction, taking place in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, was approved by members of the Convention on Internat...
2008-10-24 - Amuru, Uganda.
Marauding elephants in northern Uganda have added to the challenges faced by civilians trying to rebuild their lives in the wake of 20 years of civil war, destroying their crops and prompting some to return to displaced people’s (IDP) camps they had only recently left. "The villagers are scared of the elephants; some of them have sought refuge in huts they had left in the [IDP] camps," John Bosco Okullo, a local leader in Amuru District told IRIN.
2008-10-23 - Vienna, United States. Feld Entertainment, Inc.
Feld Entertainment is conducting a vigorous defense in the lawsuit, ASPCA, et al. v. Feld Entertainment, Inc. which is scheduled to go to trial on October 27, 2008 in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. The case, which began more than eight years ago, is being pursued by four animal special interest groups against Feld Entertainment, Inc., the parent company of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey(R) Circus. "Animal special interest groups are distorting the facts by making false allegation...
2008-10-23 - Edmonton, Canada. VICTORIA HANDYSIDES
Lucy the elephant is healthy, but too sick to survive a move, staff at the Valley Zoo insist, responding to calls for her be sent to a sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. “Aside from her tooth problem and her arthritis, she’s a very healthy elephant,” said the zoo’s veterinarian, Milton Ness. “Under stress, we’re worried her capacity to breathe could be diminished.”
2008-10-23 - Chennai, India.
An elephant owned by actor Jayaram recently received the coveted Gajarajapattam award in Kerala. The elephant, known as Thiruvanikkavu Kannan, is no ordinary elephant. He is very soft-natured and is like a member of my family,” says a proud Jayaram. An ardent elephant lover, Jayaram says that he has been crazy about elephants since his childhood and recalls that he used to go to all temple festivals just to have a glimpse of the gorgeous creatures. Jayaram bought Kannan when his son Kalidas wa...
2008-10-23 - Providence, United States.
The African exhibit at the Roger Williams Park Zoo officially opened it's new elephant yard today, along with the recently renovated Elephant and Giraffe Pavilion. The 'Girls,' as the elephants are affectionately referred to by zoo staff, tried out their new yard for the first time last week. Elephant Keeper Brett Haskins, explains, "The first day, they just kind of crept out and looked around. But, the second day, they went berzerk, trumpeting and running around like 'this is our new home!'" Al...
2008-10-23 - Praia da Rocha, Portugal.
USING ANIMALS as part of a circus act is a controversial subject that both animal activists and those who keep the animals are passionate about. Following reports of animal abuse as featured in The Resident October 3, The Resident’s DAISY SAMPSON visited the Victor Hugo Cardinali circus while it was in Praia da Rocha to investigate the conditions of the animals being kept at the circus.
2008-10-23 - Odessa, Ukraine.
On following site you can see some pictures of Taruns tusk-operation!
2008-10-22 - San Antonio, United States.
Peggy MacDonald was famous with her husband, Mack MacDonald, for the training and presentation of the Polack Brothers’ Shrine Circus elephant act, known as the Besalou elephants, in the US. She was born in a tent at Glenwood, Minnesota, in 1923, during the Saturday night performance of the Henderson Comedy Company. In 1945 the Henderson family was engaged with the Bailey Brothers’ Circus in America. In 1946 its owner, Bob Stevens, took on a young man to train his new elephant group. Mack Mac...
2008-10-21 - Bangor, Ireland.
A circus has been reported to Northern Ireland's Parades Commission for leading elephants through a street in Bangor, County Down. Alexander Scholl from the Sydney Circus said the elephants were being exercised last week when the police arrived and told him to put them back in a trailer.
2008-10-21 - Los Angeles , United States.
Bob Barker, Alicia Silverstone and other celebrities have joined a city councilman's efforts to remove elephants from the Los Angeles Zoo and into a massive sanctuary where they can roam free—or at least close to it. Councilman Tony Cardenas, accompanied by several celebrities at a press conference Tuesday, announced his desire to halt construction of the zoo's elephant habitat and use the money to build a 60-acre sanctuary operated by the zoo.
2008-10-21 - New York, United States. FELICITY BARRINGER, New York Times
In response to growing pressure from international law enforcement agencies and conservation groups, eBay, the online auction giant, announced Monday that it would ban all commerce in ivory, including most heirlooms, to avoid providing a market that will encourage the slaughter of endangered elephants. EBay says it will no longer allow advertisements like this one, for elephant tusks. The ban also extends to most heirlooms. The announcement, made to the company’s merchants and customers, came ...
2008-10-20 - Rourkela, India.
The recent death of an elephant due to electrocution near Sanchebahal jungle some 10 kilometres away from Bamra also displayed a rare glimpse of the solidarity by pachyderms. The elephant which was electrocuted when its trunk touched a high tension wire hanging about 7 feet above the ground was surrounded by a herd of elephants soon after its death. Even though forest officials rushed to the spot upon getting information about the elephant’s death they were surprised to see as many as 18 eleph...
2008-10-20 - Odessa, Ukraine.
Yesterday, on October 19th, Indian elephant Tarun died in Odessa zoo, IA “Context-Prichernomorie†correspondent reports. This was reported to the agency correspondent today, on October 20th, during the telephone talk by the director of UE “Odessa zoological park†Yury Kucherenko. Yury Kucherenko reminded that in 2000 Odessa zoo refused from performing operation on removal of sore tusks, for performing of which a team of specialists from England came. During this period th...
2008-10-20 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
An environmental group focusing on Arakanese wildlife is preparing to record wild elephants in Arakan State with video cameras as the elephant population has declined in recent years, said one environmental worker from Sittwe. The group will be carrying out the plan in the near future in Arakan Roma and the Mayu Range, where wild elephants range. The elephants will be counted by the group via the video cameras.
2008-10-19 - Thrissur, India.
Another festival season is coming up in Kerala and elephants are definitely a part of the show. But this time, the state government hopes to bring in more stringent rules to bring down the instances of elephants going berserk and attacking humans. The government realises that it’s not just the noise and heat which makes the elephants go crazy, but also the ill-treatment of elephants by mahouts. Several reports have shown gory pictures of violent abuse of the giants, therefore this year th...
2008-10-19 - Kunming, China.
An Asian elephant who was cured of heroin addiction in southwest China has been declared unfit for the wild, local zoo keepers said on Sunday. Four-year-old male Xiguang and five other elephants became the targets of illegal traders at the China-Myanmar border in March 2005. Among the beasts, Xiguang, was fed with bananas smeared with heroin by the smugglers who intended to snare the animal. The elephants were captured by police two months later. Four of them, including Xiguang, were later sent ...
2008-10-19 - Tiruchi, India. R. Rajaram
The Central Zoo Authority has approved a detailed layout of the zoological park to be established by the State Forest Department inside the sprawling Reserve Forest at M.R. Palayam, near here. The officials said animals including deer, sloth bear, Indian gaur, elephant, wild dog, hyena and hippopotamus besides peacock, monkey, salt and fresh water crocodiles, swamp birds and different types of snakes, would be housed in the zoo. The zoo will spread over 300 acres inside the M.R. Palayam reserve ...
2008-10-18 - Windhoek, Namibia. Wezi Tjaronda
Some community members of the Malengalenga area in the Caprivi Region have abandoned their maize fields for fear of being attacked by elephants roaming around the area. Malengalenga village is one of the areas where elephants roam freely because it borders the Mamili National Park. During this time, some people leave their homes to go and tend to their maize fields. But due to the havoc the jumbos are causing, some people especially, widows have abandoned their fields. James Lizazi, chairperson ...
2008-10-18 - Berlin, Germany.
Sara of the Alpha-Omega British School in Spain asks the scientists: Sara: Do elephants have good memories? The answer comes from elephant ecologist Stephen Blake, at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology. He works to conserve habitat for elephants in Central Africa. Stephen Blake: Elephants do have fantastic memories. If you imagine an elephant that lives in a tropical rainforest, one of the most complicated systems on Earth, that elephant has to know where fruit trees are, where good forage...
2008-10-18 - Denver, United States.
Zoo elephants Mimi and Dolly have a new place to go when it's time for lunch. Two new feeders where the elephants get their meals are serving up a side of practicality with a design that blends with the natural environment of these several-ton creatures. The feeders, which are roughly six feet tall and weigh 8,000 pounds, provide a number of uses. They resemble tree trunks with various nooks and holes to place food for the elephants to find. This along with scent spots and branches give the elep...
2008-10-18 - Bandarlampung, Indonesia.
A Lampung resident identified as Hasyim (30) was seriously injured after being trampled on by a herd of wild elephants at the Way Kambas National Park (TNKW) in East Lampung District, Lampung Province, on Friday. TNKW Director MZ Hudiyono here on Saturday confirmed that Hasyim, a resident of Rajabasa Lama village, East Lampung District, suffered serious injuries and was rushed to Bandarlampung General Hospital for intensive medical care after he was trampled down by wild elephants inside the 1,3...
2008-10-18 - Dallas, United States. DIANA HEIDGERD
An elephant expert whose beach house on the Texas Gulf Coast was destroyed by Hurricane Ike is putting his collection back together — one tooth at a time. Roy Davis evacuated his Bolivar Peninsula home on Sept. 11, two days before Ike slammed the Texas coast. Davis, 57, said Thursday that among the items scattered from his one-bedroom house were prized animal keepsakes from years of working at zoos. "I probably had 30 pieces of modern-day elephants, they shed their teeth, they wear them d...
2008-10-18 - Ranchi, India.
He will no longer stop people in their tracks, rummage trucks or invade roadside stalls for food. RTO, the friendly tusker who would roam the forests of West Singhbhum and often venture out into human habitation for food in Noamundi, was found dead deep inside the forest late on Wednesday night. Even though foresters said the elephant had died a natural death, a post-mortem has been done and the animal's viscera preserved for a forensic test.
2008-10-17 - Hunan, China. Sharon Lee
An elephant with a blocked intestinal tract was rescued and relieved after more than seven hours of treatment at Changsha Zoo in Hunan province on Sunday. After honey helped reduce swelling in the Asian elephant's stomach, the 3.2-m-tall specimen finally passed a stool weighing 7 kg with a length of 40 cm and a diameter of 20 cm. The 17-year-old elephant, Pa Mai, had fallen to the ground in pain several times on Sunday afternoon before 20 zoo staff moved it indoors for treatment. Changsha Zoo im...
2008-10-17 - Mount Kenya, Kenya. Mark Smith
A teenage soldier training for Afghanistan has already survived one harrowing battle – with a rampaging elephant. Private Stuart Edgar, 18, is lucky to be alive after the enraged wild jumbo attacked him while he was on exercise in Africa. The massive bull elephant kicked him around like a football, battered him with its trunk and tore at him with its deadly tusks. He and his Black Watch comrades had been taking photographs of a herd in the Kenyan bush when the male charged them. Stuart, w...
2008-10-17 - Pretoria, South Africa.
South Africa will sell 51 tons of stockpiled ivory on November 6 in a once-off sale to China and Japan, the Department of Environmental Affairs said on Wednesday. Chief executive of South African National Parks (SANParks) David Mabunda said the stockpile consisted of ivory that was verified by the secretariat of the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) as being of legal origin with data to back the origins. “The ivory emanates from SANParks, Mpumalanga ...
2008-10-17 - Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka.
The elephant-human conflict has claimed a high number of deaths from both species. While authorities attempt to protect the elephants, cultivators often lay traps or shoot at the animals who invade their plantations. Several transit homes have been set up to care for the offspring of killed elephants and to send them back to the wild successfully.
2008-10-17 - Guwahati, India.
An adult, partially blind elephant was critically injured when it got hit by a goods train near Deepor Beel last night. The female elephant was crossing the track around 9pm when the train, travelling from Azara to Guwahati, hurtled towards it. It hit the elephant at Chakradeo in Deepor Beel, an international wetland. “The elephant, aged between 35 and 40 years, was standing on the track when the train hit her,†a forest official said. Though the train blew its whistle, the elephant ...
2008-10-17 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
An Asian elephant has become the first of its species in the UK to become pregnant by artificial insemination, a zoo said today. Keepers of Noorjahan at Twycross Zoo, in Leicestershire, said the procedure had been 'incredibly successful' and the baby is expected in August next year. The zoo chose artificial insemination because it had no male elephants in its collection. The father is a bull elephant called Emmet, from Whipsnade Zoo.
2008-10-16 - Thimphu, Bhutan. Tandin Wangchuk
A temporary home for the three elephants at Serbithang has become a mini zoo with hundreds of people flocking every day to catch a glimpse of the gigantic pachyderm. Caretakers at the temporary home said that they could have easily collected more than Nu 100,000 had they charged visitors since the elephants were brought to Thimphu on October 9 for the Coronation next month. Many Thimphu residents, who’ve never seen elephants in the flesh, drove to Serbithang during the tsechu holidays last we...
2008-10-16 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
More than 100 tonnes of ivory will go on auction in four southern African countries in two weeks, in the first sale of stockpiled elephant ivory in nearly a decade, wildlife groups said Wednesday. The sales were approved in July by the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and auctions have now been scheduled in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, wildlife officials said. China and Japan are expected to be among the biggest buyers, after CITES agre...
2008-10-15 - Medan, Indonesia. Rudianto Sembiring
On 5 october 2008 2 tourist from french come to medan zoo and when they walked arround medan zoo suddenly met with me .so i suprise that one of them is an elephant keeper in french zoo. His name Olivier. We sharing about animal husbandry. and i say thank's so much to them about change experience about animal welfare.
2008-10-15 - Auckland, New Zealand.
A travelling circus has come under fire from animal rights campaigners for continuing to use an elephant in its performances. 'Jumbo' is the only circus elephant left in the country, and protesters are comparing her living conditions to solitary confinement. But circus operators and the SPCA say the circus is the best place for her. "We don't believe that circuses are a place for any animals, let alone large exotic animals like this elephant, because most of their days are spent in solitary conf...
2008-10-14 - St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Metabolic rate and body mass do not have any consistent relationship, according to a new study. Anastassia Makarieva, a researcher from Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, says that most groups of organismsbe it a tiny bacterium, a growing tree, or a gigantic mammalfavour the same optimum metabolic rate. While it has been found in past studies that smaller species within many groups of organisms generally produce more energy within each cell than their larger counterp...
2008-10-14 - Singapore, Singapore. Dhany Osman
Nature lovers looking for more to do will be excited to know that the Singapore Zoo has just introduced boat rides. Since the start of this month, adult visitors can pay $4 for a single trip ticket ($2 for children) for a 20-minute guided ride along the Upper Seletar Reservoir to learn about the area's wildlife. The rides are offered daily. Each of the four boats is named after one of the zoo's animal stars: Pedro the otter, Omar the white tiger, Komali the elephant, and Ah Meng, the zoo's world...
2008-10-13 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
FIVE years ago Walter Gwarada was stuck in the office every day, but chance and an impatient American turned him into the “elephant whisperer†of Addo. Gwarada, who came to South Africa in 2003 after working in information technology at a Zimbabwean cellphone operator in Harare, was hired as a manager for a fledgling private game reserve in Addo, where there was an American brought in to train three tame elephants from Knysna to do safaris. But after four weeks the American had deser...
2008-10-12 - Sabah, Indonesia.
Wildlife rangers are finding increasing numbers of Borneo Pygmy elephants injured or killed by snares set by poorly paid oil palm plantation workers, reports Malaysia's Sabah Wildlife Department. "We have a bigger issue of elephants getting injured mostly due to man-made snare traps then dying from their injuries," said Laurentius Ambu, Sabah Wildlife Department Director. "Besides being a cruel and inhumane way to kill wildlife it is also illegal and it leads to injuries and eventual death of no...
2008-10-12 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.
A growing number of elephants in the State are ending up injured or dead due to human-animal conflicts and this is worrying the Wildlife Department. Its Director, Laurentius Ambu, said a young elephant was found dead from unknown causes in early September. "But we have a bigger issue of elephants getting injured mostly due to man-made snares, then dying from their injuries," he said, in a statement. These traps are usually set by oil palm plantation workers who struggle for additional income by ...
2008-10-12 - Victoria falls, Zimbabwe. Elephant Experience
Our Sophie gave birth to huge bouncing baby bull, last Thurday 9th October. He is strong healthy and Sophie has plenty of milk. As this is her third calf in semi-captivity. The Bull that mated with her was a wild bull, which had everyone running for two weeks, so its a wild and new bloodline. The trainers have named him JUMBO after the late sweet Sondelani Jumbo.
2008-10-11 - Mysore, India.
The 13 Dasara elephants were accorded a traditional farewell at a function organized at the Mysore palace premises here today October 11, 2008. Deputy Commissioner P Manivannan offered puja to all the 13 pachyderms which were fed jaggery, sugarcane and banana. The elephants still bore the colorful designs on their trunks boarded the trucks to begin their journey back to the jungles. Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wild Life) Yatish speaking on the occasion said that Balarama who has been carrying...
2008-10-11 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Nimal Wijesinghe
The Wildlife Conservation Authorities have planned to set up a number of 'holding grounds' to detain wild jumbos who frequently invade the hamlets. Manjula Amararatne, Assistant Director-in-Charge of North Western Wildlife Conservation Zone told the Sunday Observer that steps are being taken to start two wild elephants detention grounds at Ritigala along the Banks of Yanoya in Mihintale and at Lunugamwehera in the South. The Ritigala holding ground will consist 1,000 hectares with a electrified ...
2008-10-11 - Ol Pejeta, Kenya. KATHARINE HOURELD
The text message from the elephant flashed across Richard Lesowapir's screen: Kimani was heading for neighboring farms. The huge bull elephant had a long history of raiding villagers' crops during the harvest, sometimes wiping out six months of income at a time. But this time a mobile phone card inserted in his collar sent rangers a text message. Lesowapir, an armed guard and a driver arrived in a jeep bristling with spotlights to frighten Kimani back into the Ol Pejeta conservancy. Kenya is the...
2008-10-11 - Sabah, United States.
It is increasingly concerned over the rise in the number of injured and dead elephants in the state. In one instance, a 25-year veteran wildlife guide and lecturer was reduced to tears when he saw a calf (young elephant) in excruciating pain after falling prey to a man-made trap in Kinabatangan. SWD director Laurentius Ambu noted that the bigger issue facing the department involved elephants getting injured or maimed, mostly due to man-made traps and subsequently succumbing to the injuries. He s...
2008-10-11 - Washington, United States.
Come quittin’ time I was already running late for a casual dinner with close friends so I speed-walked out of the office and across the street towards the Metro station. I caught a glimmer out of the corner of my eye—something gold and high off the ground. A crowd of people blocked the sidewalk and I groaned as I tried to push through towards my destination. And then I looked up. The glimmer had grown larger as I approached and I finally focused my eyes away from my beeline to...
2008-10-10 - Mosman, Australia.
This is an exceptional career opportunity for a committed and experienced Keeper to join our Life Science and Environmental Education Division within our Elephant Unit. Embracing all aspects of the Life Sciences division, this dynamic role exists during an exciting time for the Elephant Unit due to its redevelopment master plan and its focus on the regional Elephant Conservation Breeding program within the context of both free and protected contact. This position is located at Taronga Zoo, Mosma...
2008-10-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife Conservation Department has planned to form 'Elephant Protection Societies' in the North Western wildlife preservation zone for minimising the elephant-human conflict. Assistant Director in charge of the North Western Zone Manjula Amararatne which consist of five districts such as Mannar, Puttalam, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Kurunegala, said that villagers who live in areas where elephant invasions are rampant will be trained in strategical methodologies that could be practised in d...
2008-10-09 - Montgomery, United States.
The Montgomery Zoo’s African Elephant Exhibit is in need of a Zookeeper I (Elephants)! Here is your chance to work with a TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED African Elephant Exhibit. Minimum Qualifications: High school diploma or G.E.D. and 1,000 hours or 6 months of professional experience working with elephants within the last five years, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Preference will be given to those applicants who have obtained their experience in a zoo or circus set...
2008-10-09 - Tavira, Portugal. ELOISE WALTON
CIRCUSES ARE free to set up in Portugal without any inspections by municipal veterinarians before, during or after the shows, provided they have a licence from the local Câmara. The surprising situation was uncovered by The Resident following last week’s article about the collapse of an elephant at the Victor Hugo Cardinali circus in Tavira.
2008-10-09 - Kampala, Uganda. Edmund Kagire
Most rare and precious African fauna and flora species are on the verge of extinction, today more than in the past years following increased illegal trade in the past decade as global demand for these increases on daily basis. Data from the Lusaka Agreement reveals that over 20.000 elephants are killed in Africa annually and the ivory worth over $20m is exported to China, USA and Japan where it has a lucrative ready market. There is also a ready market for rhino horns, hippo teeth, primates like...
2008-10-09 - Knoxville, United States. The Clausens
We recently visited the Shriner Circus where you were given the opportunity to ride an elephant. I graciously volunteered Mitch to take Tanner for a ride. As you can see from the photos, the elephant trainer was much to worried about his phone call than the 2 ton animal carrying small children! It was a highlight for Tanner, my little animal fanatic.
2008-10-09 - Happisburgh, United Kingdom. NATASHA VICTOR
She thought she had stumbled upon a piece of fascinating flotsam to use in a sculpture. But when artist Belinda Opie had a chance meeting in her local with a fossil expert, she found out there was more to this humble-looking bit of beach debris than met the eye. For it is actually a 500,000-year-old mammoth tooth. And its sudden reappearance near the cliffs at Happisburgh after half a million years has raised fears that creeping coastal erosion is washing many of the UK's pre-historic fossils in...
2008-10-09 - Knoxville, United States. Jamie Satterfield
Thomas D. "Zoo Man" Huskey appeared in Criminal Court for a new sentencing hearing that Judge Richard Baumgartner said was necessary because of a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision rendering Tennessee's sentencing law as unconstitutional. What is at issue is a 22-year sentence Huskey received for the rape and kidnapping of a prostitute at the Knoxville Zoo, where he worked as an elephant keeper. That rape occurred before the bodies of four women were found in 1992 that Huskey admitted killing. He ...
2008-10-09 - Maine, United States.
The first human inhabitants are referred to as Paleo-Indians. They shared the land with woolly mammoths and likely hunted them for food. In 1959, when radiocarbon dating technology was in its infancy, a tusk more than four feet long was pulled out of the mud in Scarborough. After the initial excitement subsided it was concluded that the tusk probably belonged to "Old Bet" a traveling circus elephant that had been euthanized there in 1816. In the early 1990s the tusk was acquired by the Maine Sta...
2008-10-09 - London, United Kingdom.
One Planet presents Animal Migration in a climate of Change, a series of programmes exploring the way that animal migration has been affected by environmental changes. In Part Three, The Elephant's Journey, Brett Westwood looks at African elephant migration. Mac, the African elephant, travels each year between Kruger National Park in South Africa and the private nature reserves which have been created to preserve animals and habitats there. Until relatively recently, reserves have been fenced, a...
2008-10-08 - Salt Lake City, United States.
The keeper is responsible for the daily care of the assigned animals, observation and enrichment, training, as well as assisting in veterinary practices, educational presentations, public relations and support aspects of the Zoo's operations. Also required to be trained and work in other animal areas of the Zoo as needed which may include birds, other mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.
2008-10-08 - Washington, United States. Ken Banks
According to Fauna & Flora International (FFI, "In Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy, FFI and its local partners have fitted elephants with radio collars that transmit their location in 'real time.' This technology is not only useful to researchers who are able to track the elephants with far greater precision, but can also be used on problem animals -- elephants that habitually break fences, for example. The collars can be remotely programmed to send SMS messages at user-defined intervals or when a...
2008-10-08 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Jenni Marsh
A BABY elephant and a sheep named Albert may not appear to have much in common, but at the Shamwari Game Reserve these two animals have become the best of pals. Eight-month-old orphan Themba, whose name means “hope†in Xhosa, struck up a friendship with wooly Albert after arriving at the reserve‘s animal hospital when he was just six months old. Thembas mum had fallen off a cliff and died at the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in the Western Cape, where both elephants lived. Shamwaris...
2008-10-08 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Baby elephants follow a keeper enroute to their watering place at a wildlife trust in Kenyan capital Nairobi Oct. 2, 2008. Visitors are allowed only about an hour each day at the trust, an elephant orphanage founded in the 1970s to take in baby elephants orphaned by ivory poachers.
2008-10-07 - Caplen, United States.
A homeowner whose beachfront property in Texas was destroyed during Hurricane Ike has found a football-size fossil tooth in the debris. Dorothy Sisk and her colleague, Lamar University paleontologist Jim Westgate, visited her Bolivar Peninsula home after Ike hit. Together they found something unusual in Sisk's front yard: a 6-pound fossil tooth. Westgate believes the fossil is from a Columbian mammoth common in North America until around 10,000 years ago. The tooth, which looks like a series of ...
2008-10-06 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Despite the conflict between the two species Sri Lankans have managed to rescue the lives of five wild elephants fallen into agriculture wells in Kekirawa of the North Central Province during the last 3 days. According to Wildlife Department, during a rescue operation that took place on October 3rd to remove two elephant calves and a female elephant, an onlooker was attacked by the female elephant and later succumbed to his injuries. However, another female elephant died before being rescued on ...
2008-10-06 - Jaigaon, India.
Their tin hut surrounded by marauding elephants on three sides, a 65-year-old woman dug a tunnel with the help of her two grandsons to escape through the rear this morning. Around 2am, Maneshwari Burman was awakened by trumpeting in her kitchen, a few yards from where she slept with Pradip, 14, and Arjun, 10. “We knew that to talk would be to die and so looked at each other. Along with us was Bindu, a neighbour who had come to sleep at my home last night,†said Maneshwari. The family...
2008-10-06 - Paris, France.
Yesterday, I had a slice of Pollux for dinner. Pollux and his brother Castor are two elephants, which have been killed. It was tough, coarse, and oily, and I do not recommend English families to eat elephant as long as they can get beef or mutton. Castor and Pollux's trunks sold for 45fr. a lb.; the other parts of the interesting twins fetched about 10fr. a lb.
2008-10-06 - Minneriya, Sri Lanka.
According to Sri Lanka's wildlife department, 193 elephants died in 2007 and 171 died in 2006. Most of them were either shot, poisoned or electrocuted. The population has now shrunk to 4,500 from 12,000 a century ago. "You can't completely stop the human against elephant conflict," said Jayawardene, who worked for 30 years at the government's wildlife department. "But, with education and money coming into local hands through elephant safaris, we can minimise the damage. Locals will treat the ele...
2008-10-06 - Dallas, United States.
If you're following the trials and tribulations of Jenny, the Dallas Zoo's last elephant, or the trials and tribulations of those who care about her future, we may have found the book for you. Diane Hammond, onetime press secretary to the killer whale who starred in Free Willy, has written a book about an Asian elephant. The book, Hannah's Dream, seems to revolve around the struggle, both political and personal, of transferring an elephant from a zoo to a sanctuary.
2008-10-05 - Bangalore, India.
After a long and tedious hunt, Venkat, one of Karnataka’s ‘most wanted’ poachers, was arrested on Saturday morning while selling tiger nai ls at Taraka village near Nagarahole National Park. According to Sunil Panwar, assistant conservator of forests of Nagarahole National Park, Venkat was involved in various poaching and smuggling activities including ivory theft cases.
2008-10-05 - Alipurduar, India.
An elephant’s violent death on tracks yesterday has proved the railways are not following the speed rules they are supposed to, the state’s chief wildlife warden said today. “We had discussed the problem at a seminar in Calcutta last month in the presence of Project Elephant representatives. But yesterday’s incident proves the railways are not abiding by the speed rules. I will inform Project Elephant about the incident,†said S.S. Bist. A.P. Singh, deputy field ...
2008-10-05 - Siliguri, India.
An elephant was killed by a goods train near Rajabhat Khawo area of the Bauxa Tiger Reserve Forest of Cooch Bihar District of West-Bengal on early Sunday morning. According to the forest officials, while crossing the railway track, the elephant collided with the speeding train. The animal was crossing the forest from 21, basti area of the forestland to the other part of the forest. It died soon after colliding with the train. As a result of the accident, two coaches of the train were also derail...
2008-10-05 - , Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Among the many elephant deaths we hear of, this was particularly shocking. Not only because it was a majestic tusker being monitored through a satellite collar, but also because it was killed inside a national park. Ravana died on August 25 in a muddy water hole inside Lunugamvehera National Park, from infected gunshot wounds. The post-mortem revealed that the jumbo– named after the powerful king of ancient Sri Lanka – was starving at the time of death - the wound on its cheek preventing it ...
2008-10-05 - Barcelona, Spain.
More than 8,000 of the world’s leading decision makers in sustainable development: from governments, NGOs, business, the UN and academia. Together in one place for 10 days: to debate, share, network, learn, commit, vote and decide. The objective: ideas, action and solutions for a diverse and sustainable world. 1’500 participants in the World Conservation Congress will build their skills for conservation action by participating in one of 50 (4-8 hours) practical and experiential workshops. Ma...
2008-10-03 - Mysore, India.
The cynosure of all eyes, the Naada Habba (State Festival) or People's Dasara festival is incomplete without the presence of 12 elephants. And what is more, each one of the elephants has a characteristic feature that is remarkable and evokes admiration. Twelve elephants come to Mysore annually from the Jungle Camps to acclimatise themselves to the ambience of the concrete jungle and lend sheen to the Dasara festivities. Their presence in the famous Mysore Palace premises would be another attract...
2008-10-03 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH
The Dallas Zoo broke its attendance record this past year, welcoming 670,084 visitors in the 2007-08 fiscal year, which ended Tuesday. That's nearly 24,000 more visitors than the previous record of 646,169 set in 1979. It was big year in other ways, too. The zoo lost several prominent old friends and became the center of a national elephant debate. Year of loss: Boris the lion, KeKe the elephant, Hercules the gorilla and Jenny, the world's oldest captive gorilla, all died in the past year. Anima...
2008-10-03 - Kissimee, Orlando, Florida, United States.
October 3-7 at Radisson Worldgate in Kissimee Florida. An official notice has not been sent out yet, but this is the probable date and location. Deadline for Abstracts has been moved to August 1
2008-10-01 - Ndola, Zambia. Nebert Mulenga
FROM what started as a mere campaign to scare away elephants from crop fields, chilli growing has now become a viable commercial farming activity for several Mfuwe residents in Eastern Province. Peasant farmer Boniface Mbao, 63, first planted the hot spice crop in 2006. By the end of the last season, he had managed to raise enough to buy iron sheets, household goods, and even built a standard house on his farm. "I have bought a big radio cassette, 10 iron sheets, and even this house I have built...
2008-10-01 - Luangwa, Zambia.
It's not everyday that you see a wild elephant standing next to you at the reception of a hotel. But in the Mfuwe Lodge in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, the sight of one or even ten elephants strolling around the lobby is a regular occurrence. Unwittingly built on the elephant's traditional path in 1998, the Mfuwe Lodge stands directly en-route to this elephant herd's favourite food - wild mangoes. Andy Hogg, 44, Director at the Bushcamp Company that runs the Mfuwe Lodge, has lived ...
2008-10-01 - Doha, Qatar. Peter Townson
DOHA Zoo was bustling with visitors yesterday as many of the citys residents opted to spend the first day of their Eid holiday looking at the various animals and birds homed there. Although usually reserved for ladies only, this Tuesday was kept open for bachelors, many of whose companies had arranged for them to be transported to the zoo. The queue in the car park was an indication of the large numbers of visitors, with a huge variety of nationalities and ages gathered at the park’s entrance.
2008-09-30 - Udhagamandalam, India.
A 52-year old man was trampled to death by a herd of elephants, including one calf, at Manjakombai near Coonoor in Nilgiris district. According to forest department sources, four persons, who were returning home after their work last night, were chased by a group of five wild elephants. Though three of them managed to escape, one Selvaraj was trampled by the elephants to death, they said. Meanwhile, the same herd of elephants waylaid a van at the nearby Thalakombai this morning. As the four occu...
2008-09-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankas Ministry of Public Recreation and Sports has allocated 80 million rupees to upgrade the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala, about 90 km north of the capital Colombo, the government said. In a measure to attract more tourists to the world famous elephant sanctuary the Ministry has allocated funds build a ‘open zoo’ in an eco-friendly environment. The Ministry plans to lay an internal road network, erect a parapet wall around the zoo, construct an overhead bridge and build a w...
2008-09-30 - Raipur, India.
About 850 residents of a Chhattisgarh village have not slept for the past one week as a group of 14 wild tuskers, having a record of killing people, have settled in the village and destroyed standing paddy crops. ‘About 850 persons of Raigarh districts Bhaisgarhi village have been spending sleepless nights since last Tuesday Sep 23 as a group of 14 wild elephants are roaming in the area,’ officials at the forest department here told IANS. They said the tuskers have sneaked into the ...
2008-09-30 - Knysna, South Africa.
Although SANParks believes there is 'no reliable evidence' that more than one elephant is living in the indigenous Knysna forests, it has begun a DNA study of dung to determine the size of the herd.
2008-09-30 - Paris, France.
At least 750 elephants are killed every year at the Zakouma National Park, in Chad, President of Association for the Protection and Preserva tion of Fauna and Flora (APROCOFF), Hamdan Annadif, disclosed here. "In 2004, Zakouma Park had 4,351 elephants; now there are only 1,000 left. On average, 750 elephants are savagely killed every year in the park. There are more carcasses of elephants than the living species," he told NAN. Annadif said that since 2002, the number of elephants in the park had...
2008-09-29 - Bowmanville, Canada.
The Bowmanville Zoo is seeking a candidate to fill an elephant manager position in the Elephant Department. Individuals must have extensive knowledge in elephant training and husbandry. Duties include, but are not limited to, cleaning animal enclosures, preparing diets, performing daily animal presentations, presenting on site and off site programs, training husbandry and show behaviors, and providing enrichment for the collection. Candidates must be capable of managing both onsite activities as...
2008-09-29 - San Andreas, United States. Mike Taylor
Preliminary results from a necropsy performed Sept. 21 indicate that 71, a poster elephant for the Performing Animal Welfare Society, died from pancreatitis. The pachyderm had lived at two PAWS facilities since 1986 and suffered from frequent bouts with colic. 71 died Sept. 19 at the ARK 2000 sanctuary in San Andreas. “Colic is fairly common in African elephants,†PAWS co-director Ed Stewart said. He said from her first days with he and co-director Pat Derby, 71 was battling one illn...
2008-09-28 - Karachi, Pakistan. SYED INTIKHAB ALI
Competent authorities in the CDGK have approved the purchasing of two Elephants in two to three months time for Karachi Zoo and Safari park as tender has been given to an international firm on lowest bid, The Nation has learnt on Saturday. Sources in the Community Development Department (CDD) said that city nazim Mustafa Kamal and DCO Karachi Javed Hanif had approved the summary for purchasing two elephants last month. It may be mentioned here that since the death of Anarkali (a female elephant ...
2008-09-28 - Gainesville , United States. Siegal-Willott J, Isaza R, Johnson R, Blaik M., University of Florida
Eleven juvenile Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were evaluated radiographically to determine the relative times of growth plate closure and phalangeal ossification in the bones of the distal forelimb. Specifically, the first, second, and third phalanges of the third digit (D3) were evaluated, as well as the third phalanx of digits 1, 2, 4, and 5. All elephants were healthy at the time of examination. A retrospective evaluation of radiographs from six of the 11 juvenile elephants was also compl...
2008-09-27 - El Paso, United States.
Festival is the word – as the El Paso Zoo highlights our city’s favorite pachyderms Savannah and Juno in a celebration of elephants worldwide. You’ll have BIG fun while you support conservation of the world’s largest land mammal. You’ll touch neat bio-facts from elephants, kids can play elephant-themed games, or buy a ticket for the opportunity to actually walk into the elephant exhibit area and hide produce to feed Conservation Ambassadors; Savannah and Juno, the El Paso Zoo’s Asian...
2008-09-27 - Bangalore , India. Nirmala Ravindran
In a study that revealed alarming statistics, it has been discovered that one in four temple elephants in south India suffered from tuberculosis. The study was spread across the four southern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and covered 387 captive elephants and looked at over 45 parameters. The recently-concluded study was led by principal investigator Jacob Cheeran, an expert on elephant studies and commissioned by Asian Nature and Conservation Foundation. It is understood that lack ...
2008-09-26 - Martinsville, United States. MICKEY POWELL
The Virginia Museum of Natural History’s newest temporary exhibit helps visitors learn about large elephant-like animals that roamed North America during the Ice Age. Tusks! Ice Age Mammoths and Mastodons” will open Saturday. The exhibit features 80 fossil specimens, artifacts and replicas of extinct animals. Most of the specimens are real, but do not feel cheated that a few are not. “The casts were made so accurately that they can be used for scientific research,” said Ryan Barber, the ...
2008-09-26 - Indianapolis Prize, United States. John Stehr
Hes taken on an incredible job, a commitment to save a species. That commitment to elephants has landed Iain Douglas-Hamilton as a nominee for the Indianapolis Prize. "I think I always wanted to fly," Douglas-Hamilton said. "I wanted to see how far the elephants went and from the air it's just a revelation." No one has revealed to the world more about African Elephants than Douglas-Hamilton. He was the first to put collars on key members of herds to track their movement and habits.
2008-09-26 - Yangon, Myanmar.
Wildlife keepers in Myanmar have warned against tendency of move of sanctuary of wild elephants from deep mountain range in western Rakhine state to agricultural field as elephant feed is running short there this year, the local Biweekly Eleven News reported Friday. Such wild elephants are being found shifting from the May Yu mountain range bordering Bangladesh to agricultural farms with crop plantations of local farmers and destroying the plantations for the sake of feed, the report said, calli...
2008-09-26 - Mexico City, Mexico.
Mexico has seized 12 animals from a circus a day after one of its elephants wandered onto a highway and was struck and killed by a bus. Mexico's Environmental Protection office said the two Asian elephants and 10 Siberian tigers were not properly contained and were at risk of escaping. The office said Wednesday in a statement that inspectors found the elephants tied to the tire of a trailer. Doors on several of the trailers also lacked proper locks. On Tuesday, a 5-ton elephant named Indr...
2008-09-26 - SIRAHA, Nepal.
Two persons died when wild elephants attacked villages in Siraha district for the past few days. According to the Area Police Office Dhangadi, Rima Bishwakarma, 12, of Jamdaha VDC-6, died Friday morning, and Padam Tamang, 27, of Bishnupurkatti VDC-4, died Thursday night. Tamang was attacked by wild elephant last night while he had gone to irrigate his paddy field. Six persons have been killed and around 5o families have been displaced for three weeks after wild elephants went berserk in the dist...
2008-09-26 - Calderdale, United Kingdom. Joe Shute
HOW many elephants can you get in a Calderdale flat? Mum-of-three Kathy Dawson has managed to squeeze more than 1,600 into her home. The 61-year-old of Oldham Road, Ripponden, has been collecting "all things elephant" for 21 years after first buying a wooden model from a Gambian market stall. Now with every corner of her home occupied by elephant models, vases, clocks, soft toys, candlestick holders and even a watering can, she certainly got more than she bargained for.
2008-09-26 - Maputo, Mozambique.
An unspecified number of elephants which escaped from South Africa's Kruger Park are creating panic and destroying crops in Mozambique's poor districts of Moamba and Magude, reported the daily Noticias on Friday. The paper said on its online edition that the elephants were invading the local farmers' gardens, destroying winter crops. Xavier Mendonca, Moamba district director for economic activities, was quoted by the paper as saying officers from the wildlife and forestry services had been instr...
2008-09-25 - Temerloh, Indonesia. B.Suresh Ram
The elephant management unit of the Wildlife and National Parks Department is facing a problem of mammoth proportions. There is a shortage of tame decoy elephants to help in the transfer of wild elephants to wildlife preserves. The unit only has three tame elephants -- Loky Mala, Myan Thon Pyan and Mek Bunga. Unit chief Nasharuddin Othman said it would be difficult to move wild elephants without the help of decoy elephants.
2008-09-25 - Guwahati, India.
The carcass of a male elephant calf was found floating in a water tank inside Narengi army cantonment here this morning. The calf, aged between two and two-and-a-half years, seems to have been part of a herd which strayed into the army cantonment from the adjoining Amchang wildlife sanctuary last night. “Army personnel and residents around the cantonment told us that they had seen a herd of about 14 elephants moving in the area for the past two days,†a police officer said.
2008-09-24 - San Jose, United States. Lisa M. Krieger
After three years of undergoing scientific scrutiny at the University of California-Berkeley, the juvenile mammoth fossil nicknamed "Lupe,'' found near San Jose's Guadalupe River, is returning to San Jose. It will be the centerpiece of a new permanent display at the Children's Discovery Museum, officials told the Mercury News on Wednesday.
2008-09-24 - Dudhwa, India. Kamna Mathur
Not many may know that Dudhwa National Park holds a unique position for according pension and other emoluments to its elephants for rendering service to tourists and patrolling. These elephants belong to the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department at the Dudhwa National Park located in Lakhimpuri Kheri region of the State. And, after retirement from their official duties, these jumbos avail free medical treatment, pension and an attendant.
2008-09-24 - Omaha, United States. TIM JOHNSON
Henry Doorly Zoo's director, Dr. Lee Simmons envisions an arctic environment, elephant center and other specialized areas, he told chamber members at a luncheon Tuesday at the Mid-America Center. "Right now, we've got room for three adult and a bull stall," he said. "But once a year, the bull goes into lust; and when a bull goes into lust, nobody wants to be around it, except a female elephant," he said. "Our plan right now, we would be able to hold 10, 12, 14 elephants. We would become a player...
2008-09-24 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
The Indonesian chapter of WWF (World Wildlife Fund) is asking Indonesian authorities to investigate the death of two Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in Southeast Aceh district, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province, a spokesman said. "This is important. To prevent a negative interpretation of what happened, the authorities should investigate the death of the two Sumatran elephants so that the cause of their death is clearly established," WWF Indonesia Deputy Team Leader Dede Su...
2008-09-24 - Mexico City, Mexico.
A five-ton elephant escaped from Gran Circo Union and wandered onto a busy highway, where it was hit by a bus. Both the driver and pachyderm were killed early Tuesday. Bus driver Tomas Lopez, 49, was killed and at least four passengers were hospitalized after the pre-dawn collision in Ecatepec, just north of Mexico City. State police spokesman Juan Sanchez said the elephant escaped from its cage at the Circo Union, but he declined to give any other details. He said officials were investigating. ...
2008-09-23 - Dhodhana, Nepal.
Dev Narayan Chaudhary, 42, of Dhodhana VDC-8, Lahan succumbed to injuries he suffered in an attack by a wild elephant Sunday night. Reports quoted locals as saying that the wild elephant attacked him at around 7 pm while he was in his cowshed. He was immediately rushed to hospital where he died while undergoing treatment. People in VDC's close to the jungle in Siraha and Saptari districts live in constant terror of attacks by wild animals. In the past three weeks wild elephants alone have claime...
2008-09-23 - San Andreas, United States. Jennifer K. Morita
A 26-year-old African elephant at the Performing Animal Welfare Society's San Andreas sanctuary died from chronic pancreatitis, according to preliminary necropsy results. Pathologists from the University of California at Davis laboratory in San Bernardino told PAWS officials that the female elephant, who died Friday, had an inflamed pancreas that was likely a result of early medical problems. The elephant was named "71" for the tag number she was assigned when captured as a baby in Africa.
2008-09-23 - Kansas City, United States. Max Evans
A coalition of Zoos, including the Kansas City Zoo, received high honors last week at the 84th Annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Conference in Milwaukee for their work in elephant conservation. The AZA’s Significant Achievement Award for International Conservation was given to the zoos for their work as part of the Tarangire Elephant Project. The project is led by the Wildlife Conservation Society with support from a cadre of Zoos including the Kansas City Zoo, which provides...
2008-09-23 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
Myanmar [Burma] has taken measures for wildlife conservation by restricting the catching of elephant in the country's Bago Yoma mountain range where most of the animal take sanctuary, the local Weekly Eleven journal reported Tuesday. In order to prevent elephant from extinction in the country, the Myanmar forestry authorities allowed catching of the wild elephants in the mountain range's Hlegu area only once in three years, prescribing the ratio of the elephants caught to be handed over to the a...
2008-09-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
Constructive measures have been put in place to solve the human - elephant conflict. Minister of natural resources and environment Pathali Champika Ranawaka quoting a recent survey said that the number of elephants living in Sri Lanka has considerably increased. According to a detail survey it is reported that there were 673 elephants in 1993. But it has increased four times more than its original figure as of this date. There are more than 2420 elephants found in Mahaweli zone. But unfortunatel...
2008-09-22 - THRISSUR, India.
A Programme to give practical training to mahouts and issue licence to the trained mahouts is under the consideration of the Kerala Elephant owners Federation, said Federation president K B Ganeshkumar, MLA. Filmstar Jayaram inaugurated the meet which commenced with a gajapooja. At the function, the Gajamithra Puraskaram and Nitish Memorial Endowment of Rs 5,001 was presented to Guruvayur Devaswom mahout P Radhakr i shnan. the ‘Palakapya puraskaram’ instituted by the Federation for ...
2008-09-21 - Houston, United States.
In Houston, residents are having a hard time removing debris from their yards, after Hurricane Ike. So, some animals from the Houston Zoo are giving them a hand...a trunk, rather. The 2,600 pound elephant, named ‘Tucker,’ is moving tree limbs. The three-year-old elephant can lift four times its body weight. Zookeepers say it’s good exercise for Tucker.
2008-09-21 - San Andreas, United States. Jennifer Morita
A 26-year-old African elephant that once had been slated to be sold to a circus died Friday at the Performing Animal Welfare Society's sanctuary in San Andreas. Named 71 for the tag number she was assigned when captured as a baby, the elephant was shipped to the United States where she was purchased by a Florida man and later taken in by PAWS founders Pat Derby and Ed Stewart. When she arrived at PAWS in 1986, 71 was malnourished and chronically sick. Handlers had to sleep with her and bottle fe...
2008-09-21 - Pittsburgh, United States. Kellie B. Gormly
Guests at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Sunday can help zookeepers pamper and honor the zoo's eight elephants, especially the two baby females born in July, in a party just for the pachyderms. Macy's Elephant Day, an event in its eighth year, brings a special excitement this year, because with the two new calves -- Angeline and Zuri -- it's like a belated birthday party, with an added cuteness factor, zoo officials say. Guests will watch the keepers feed a special carrot or banana nut cak...
2008-09-21 - copenhagen, Denmark.
This might seem odd, but elephants are being used to help with the gardening at a nature reserve in Denmark. Apparently they're great at pulling out unwanted trees and bushes, without leaving big holes. It's part of an experiment to see if the animals could work as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to machinery like tractors and diggers. If it's a success, elephants will be called in help to maintain the Danish countryside for three months each year.
2008-09-21 - Akkaraipattu, Sri Lanka. Rathindra Kuruwita
Wild elephants killed two people in the Damana Police area yesterday. According to Damana Police, this is the second instance where humans have been attacked by elephants in the area recently. “The elephants have attacked and killed two individuals in the early hours, in a place called Rahman town and the bodies have been sent to Akkaraipattu for magisterial inquiries,†a senior Police officer there said adding that the attacks on humans by elephants have risen in the area dramatical...
2008-09-20 - RANCHI, India.
Two people were trampled to death and one was injured as elephants entered a village in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district on Friday and went on the rampage, attacking people and damaging property, police said. A herd of elephants entered villages that come under the Kuju police station of Ramgargh, around 70 km from here, in the morning. They then went on the rampage in Ratwe village and trampled Khirodhar Mahto and Gulab Mahto to death. The elephants also wounded another villager, a police official ...
2008-09-20 - KOTA KINABALU, United States. Jaswinder Kaur
The death of a male Borneo Pygmy elephant near a jungle resort in the Kinabatangan district early this month has sparked an investigation by the Sabah Wildlife Department. The department is probing the cause of death of the elephant, estimated to be about two years old. Its carcass showed no visible injuries. The department's officer-in-charge in Kota Kinabatangan, Roland Nuin, received information about the dead elephant on Sept 2 and sent a team to the scene.
2008-09-20 - Mahaweli, Sri Lanka. Kelum Bandara
Despite the worsening of human-elephant conflict which has claimed the lives of both species, the elephant population has drastically increased from 673 in 1993 to 2423 this year in the Mahaweli areas of the country. Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka made this observation yesterday while referring to a report of the census conducted covering the Mahaweli areas of Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa, Matale, Badulla and Ampara. Addressing a ceremony held to mark the launch ...
2008-09-19 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Leakey
I am incredulous that the Centre of International Forestry Research (CIFOR) would suggest bushmeat hunting be legalized, giving the local people the task of policing themselves. This position shows remarkable naïveté and totally fails to understand the realities on the ground. A hungry population is never going to practice conservation of food, especially where it can be had free from the forest.
2008-09-17 - Durban, South Africa. Woolley LA, Millspaugh JJ, Woods RJ, van Rensburg SJ, Mackey RL, Page B, Slotow R. University of KwaZulu-Natal
In predator-free large herbivore populations, where density-dependent feedbacks occur at the limit where forage resources can no longer support the population, environmental catastrophes may play a significant role in population regulation. The potential role of fire as a stochastic mass-mortality event limiting these populations is poorly understood, so too the behavioural and physiological responses of the affected animals to this type of large disturbance event. During September 2005, a wildf...
2008-09-17 - Vacaville, United States. Danny Bernardini
In a scene straight from the movies, Isa the elephant could be seen Monday morning helping set up poles under the big top in anticipation for the opening night of the Carson and Barnes Circus. He said the elephants can sense the tension in the big top and will stop before tearing the tarp, unlike someone on a tractor doing the same job.
2008-09-17 - Eltham, New Zealand.
AN ELEPHANT Race on Bridge Street, Eltham, April 28, 1965, was held in aid of funds for the Eventide Home. The elephants were borrowed from the Coles Circus. This event took place for several years, starting first in 1965 through to about 1971, when the circus was in town. One of the jockeys is Fred Taylor, mayor of Eltham at the time, who the others are would be an interest to know. Paul Connell and his trustee camera was there to record the event. He and later, his wife Shelia, have left behin...
2008-09-17 - Palakkad, United States.
The problems faced by elephants could be mitigated to a certain extent by imparting scientific training to the mahouts, said Deputy Speaker Jose Baby. He was speaking after inaugurating the five-day training camp organised by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) near the Pariyanampatta temple in Mangalamkunnu on Tuesday. The camp was being organised with the co-operation of the Departments of Forest, Animal Husbandry and elephant owners.
2008-09-16 - Yaounde, Cameroon. Tansa Musa
Elegant waitresses offer patrons a menu of mainly common game -- pangolin, antelope, bush pig, monkey, cane rat and viper -- at prices of 5,000-10,000 CFA francs a dish. But in a fridge outside, a Reuters reporter saw two arms of what appeared to be a gorilla or a chimpanzee, thick black fur and hands still attached -- together with a piece of what a restaurant employee said was elephant meat. "If you want to eat meat of big animals like chimpanzee, gorilla and even the elephant, you make a spec...
2008-09-16 - Lampang, Thailand. PICHAYA SVASTI
At the Elephant Hospital in Lampang, 31-month-old Mo Cha, who stepped on a landmine in Burma and lost her front right leg two years ago, walks and plays in a pool of sand after being fitted with the world's first artificial leg for pachyderms. She lifts and curls her trunk as if to thank Dr Therdchai.
2008-09-16 - Antwerp Zoo, Belgium.
The 25th EAZA Annual Conference will be hosted by Antwerp Zoo, Belgium from 16 to 20 September 2008. The conference will take place at the Flanders Congress & Concert Centre in the heart of Antwerp, conveniently located in the Zoo and next to Antwerp Central Station. For the majority of the participants, the conference will officially start with an ice-breaker in the evening of Tuesday 16 September 2008. The TAG chairs and the EEP coordinators, however, will already have their first meetings ear...
2008-09-15 - Montgomery, United States. John Shryock
The Montgomery Zoo says the calf born to Mary, an elephant who died last month at the zoo, has also died. The male African elephant calf died Sunday after officials said it became unresponsive and veterinary and animal care staff were unable to revive it. Marcia Woodard, Deputy Director of the Montgomery Zoo, tells WSFA 12 News she wasn't aware of a single case in North America where an elephant calf survived while being bottlefed, but that the zoo put great effort into the cause, taking care of...
2008-09-15 - Mount Kenya, Kenya. Dan Vergano
The call came last week from Kenyan Wildlife Services. Mountain Bull had to die. The adult elephant living near Mount Kenya had absconded from his reserve home to pillage villagers' crops with a posse of other male tuskers. Outraged by the elephants eating their livelihood, a regular occurrence in the last two years, impoverished locals wanted the elephants tracked down and killed. "Hold on, hold on, we asked them, don't shoot that one," says biologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants...
2008-09-14 - Tesso Nilo, Indonesia.
The government of Indonesia has declared its commitment to enlarging the most suitable block of forest for Sumatran elephants, expanding the vital Tesso Nilo National Park on Sumatra island to 86,000 hectares. "This is an important milestone toward securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger," said Dr. Mubariq Ahmad, WWF-Indonesia's Chief Executive. “To ensure that the commitment is effectively implemented, we must redouble our efforts on the ground to eliminate poaching and ille...
2008-09-14 - KINABATANGAN, Indonesia.
There is much about the Bornean Elephant that is unknown, according to a conservationist in Sabah. “We do not yet understand their actual family structures and how group dynamics are,” said Nurzhafarina Othman, the conservation biologist at the Danau Girang Field Centre, who heads a new study which is the first on the social structure of the Bornean Elephant. Danau Girang is a field study centre located within the Kinabatangan. It is a collaborative project between the Sabah Wildlife Departm...
2008-09-13 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
Elephant attacks have been occurring with increasing frequency in Pantee Purba/Ligan , Sampiniet sub district, Aceh Jaya District, during the past one month, local sources said. "Since they entered this region last August, the herds of wild elephants have destroyed crops on hectares of farm land," Abdul Hakim, a local farmer, told ANTARA on Saturday. Some 13 Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) were currently in the outskirts of Ie Jeureungeh village and in a forest bordering the SP-V...
2008-09-13 - Siraha, Nepal.
At least five people were killed when wild elephants turned rampage in Saptari and Siraha district on Saturday. 10-year old Nilam Kumari Ram, Bhukiyadevi Ram and Pritandevi Yadav were killed on the spot when three wild elephants from Chure forest attacked the villagers at Madhupatti in Saptari. Meanwhile, Bantu Ram who has been seriously injured is undergoing treatment at Lahan Hospital after the elephants pounced on him. They also destroyed 10 houses in the village. Similarly, Ramdev Sathi and ...
2008-09-12 - Milwaukee County Zoo, United States.
The 2008 AZA Annual Conference will be hosted by the Milwaukee County Zoo, WI, USA. For more information, please visit www.aza.org
2008-09-12 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
THIS delightful snap shows best friends, Kito and Jambo, messing around at Colchester Zoo - and will provide happy memories for those who remember the young elephants before leaving East Anglia for warmer climes. The moment was captured by reader James Meadows, whose wildlife photos are often featured on the pages of the Star. Mr Meadows, 58, of Gloucester Road, Ipswich, took the snap during February half term when the country was enjoying slightly more favourable weather. The keen photographer ...
2008-09-12 - Warsaw, United States. Jennifer Peryam
Performing elephants, lions, tigers and horses will entertain those who attend Baron von Uhl's Wild Animal Circus in Warsaw next weekend. Elephant rides will be available for $5, and pony rides will be $4. The circus will feature two performing elephants it adopted from Africa, Tiny, 15, and Twiggy, 20. There will be photo opportunities with the basketball-playing elephant. Tom Liebling, who is an elephant trainer with the circus, has been with the circus for 50 years. The circus is based out of...
2008-09-12 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon, The Oregonian
The votes are in, and the Oregon Zoo's new baby elephant is named Samudra, or Sam for short. The calf loves his baths, so the name, which means "lord of the ocean," is fitting. More than 17,000 people voted among five names, and Samudra took 35 percent. Hugo-Tu was second. The contenders: Amul: Hindi for priceless or of inestimable worth. Bao: Chinese for precious treasure. Duc (rhymes with hook): Vietnamese for good, moral, desire. Plus, the zoo notes, it makes up a fraction of Kevin Duc...
2008-09-12 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephants housed in the premises of Palace are being given royal treatment. On the other hand, Palace elephants which are supposed to get similar treatment, are suffering. There are seven elephants under the charge of Palace Administration. Out of them, five are suffering from one disease or the other. The personnel who are supposed to take care of their health, are showing negligence. Elephant Raji has developed big tumours near both the eyes. Jamini has a tumour with infection on the ri...
2008-09-11 - San Andreas, United States. MEGAN HOLLAND
A year into her new life roaming a California sanctuary with other elephants, Alaska's favorite expat shows every sign of enjoying it. She trumpets, knocks down trees and calls for her companions when they wander too far, say her new keepers. "She's the comedian of the crowd," said Pat Derby, president of the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary. "She's Ms. Personality." The facility, 50 miles southeast of Sacramento, offers Maggie three companions and 75 acres to roam. It's a stark contr...
2008-09-11 - Hollywood, United States. Elisabeth Rappe
The bidding war is over, and Fox 2000 has emerged triumphant, clutching the rights to Sara Gruen's bestseller Water for Elephants, which they are promptly putting on the fast track. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Francis Lawrence is attached to direct, and Richard LaGravenese is adapting it for the big screen.
2008-09-11 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
THE death of a Woody Cape farm worker who was “grabbed” through an electric fence and trampled to death by an elephant last week, has been described as a freak accident. Zimbabwean-born Vanhuvmnwe Chinangama was killed instantly on the farm Request, while walking alongside a re-enforced electric fence separating a herd of nine elephants at the Elephants of Eden sanctuary from the rest of the farm. The farm spokesperson Stanford Slabbert yesterday said the elephant had inexplicably grabbed Ch...
2008-09-11 - Berkshire, United Kingdom. Giles Whittell
The late spring of 1941. A circus in Horley has two elephants for sale. Chief Supply Officer Captain F. Ellam, of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), is on the phone, trying to buy elephants. Capt Ellam agrees terms and the Ministry of Aircraft Production approves funds for what would be the world's first four-legged airfield tractors. The circus offers an Indian mahout to go with the elephants, and the ATA measures him up for a uniform of fine navy worsted. The plan falls through, but only becau...
2008-09-11 - Havelock islands, India. PATANJALI V. PARIMI
Rajan is unique. He flies in the waters of the Bay of Bengal with the ease of a pelican in the air. He may be a majestic giant on land, but in the water he seems to transform into a weightless creature specially designed to fly in the sea. If you ever imagined flying with an elephant in a surreal world, you sure can realise your dream with the help of a male tusker called Rajan in the Andaman Islands. For a country that has an estimated 25,000 wild elephants and 3,500 domesticated elephants, the...
2008-09-11 - Polpithigama, Sri Lanka. M. A. R. MANUKULASOORIYA
Nearly 1,000 villagers from Gomadiyagala in the Polpithigama police area launched an agitation campaign against Wildlife Officers on Tuesday after a 25-year-old man was killed by a wild elephant near the Hakwatuna oya reservoir in the Polpithigama Divisional Secretariat division. The Divisional Secretary promised that he would take every possible action on this matter. The villagers forcibly opened the gate of the Divisional Secretary's office and entered the premises and made a complaint regard...
2008-09-11 - Salt Lake City, United States. Lynn Arave
Misha, a 27-year-old African elephant, died at Hogle Zoo Tuesday afternoon after being euthanized because of declining health. For the last few weeks, Misha's physical health had been mysteriously deteriorating and early on, animal care staff was aware — through changes in her behavior — that she was not feeling well, according to Holly Braithwaite, Hogle Zoo spokeswoman.
2008-09-10 - Toledo, United States.
The Toledo Zoo and its Elephant Management Program has the ability to offer a unique opportunity to individuals that would like to make captive elephant management a career. The zoo has a structured internship program that encompasses many different opportunities throughout the zoo campus. A participant in the Elephant Keeper Internship Program would work directly with the zoo’s elephants and staff under the direction of the elephant manager. The intern will assist in the daily cleaning of the...
2008-09-10 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The first exhaustive study of captive elephants in southern India has found that 15.25 per cent of them suffer from tuberculosis. Principal investigator of the two-year-long study Jacob Cheeran said that the study was done on 387 captive elephants in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; 59 of the elephants had TB. "The study on the health of captive elephants with special attention on TB was conducted by the Bangalore-based NGO Asian Nature and Conservation Foundati...
2008-09-10 - San Diego, United States.
Deep in the bush of South Africa, Dr. Dean Hendrickson finally has his surgical routine down: Hoist up the elephant, make a 4-inch incision, make a couple snips, and suture the elephant back up. Hendrickson, the interim director of the CSU vet hospital, is the surgeon on a four-person team from Disney’s Animal Kingdom in San Diego that ventures into the reserves of South Africa to perform vasectomies male elephants.
2008-09-09 - Windhoek, Namibia. Garth Owen-Smith, Co-director of IRDNC Namibia
OVER the past few weeks I have watched in amazement the escalating media frenzy, sensational headlines and misinformation over the Ministry of Environment and Tourism's issuing of trophy-hunting permits for six elephants to conservancies in Namibia's northwest. Having worked as an agricultural official in the then Kaokoveld (1968-70), I was in charge of the Endangered Wildlife Trust's field operations in Kaokoland and Damaraland (1982-1990), and since then been co-director with Dr Margaret Jacob...
2008-09-09 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Wildlife for Sustainable Development (WSD) announced it is undertaking various activities to protect increasingly diminishing Ethiopian elephants and reverse the trend. A national elephant conservation program is launched to protect and increase the number of Ethiopian elephants whose number is diminishing from time to time, WSD Director General Dr Yirmed Demeke told WIC. The program envisages to care for the elephants by protecting them from poaching, disease prevention, habitat protection so a...
2008-09-09 - Mysore, India.
During the Dasara procession it is the ambari elephant that attracts a lot of attention. And, choosing the ambari elephant is no mean task. Shyam Sundar Vattam delves deep into historical records to trace the process of their selection. The world famous Mysore Dasara is synonymous with elephants. Dasara procession without elephants is unthinkable. It is, therefore, no wonder that these gentle giants which are brought from the neighbouring national parks for Dasara enjoy a protocol which is norma...
2008-09-08 - New Delhi, India. Pressrelease, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India
Carving of ivory is a traditional cottage industry in South India. the spurt in prices of ivory has been mainly responsible for killing of elephants in India. It is alleged that poachers do not hesitate to shoot even young elephants down to 5 years of age, which carry tusks of about 2.5 kg. a piece only. This type of systematic and sustained poaching of tuskers appeared to affect even the genetic potential and sex ration of the species.
2008-09-08 - Babille, Ethiopia.
It is with great sadness that I report the death of another great conservationist at work. Zahoor Kashmiri was darting elephants in Babille in Ethiopia where a little understood population of elephants was being studied. The work was a collaboration with Yirmed from Ethiopian Elephants blog. I spoke to Yirmed who told me that a well know aggressive single tusked bull attacked and killed my good friend who simply didn’t have a chance. For me this is one of the saddest days in the year. Some of...
2008-09-07 - Dublin, Ireland.
I am asked to recreate a John Hinde picture postcard of my late father, an elephant keeper in Dublin Zoo, which was taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I dress in the uniform and cap and get the elephant to salute with her trunk. For my dad it was Sarah, for me it is Yasmin. The result will be seen on TG4 in a few weeks’ time on a programme called Cartai Poist. It turns out to be an afternoon full of memories because, in my childhood, Dublin Zoo was virtually a second home.
2008-09-07 - London, United Kingdom.
A camel never forgets The Ancient Greeks claimed that the camel "never forgets an injury". By the early 20th century, this had evolved into "women and elephants never forget an injury", before becoming simply "elephants never forget" in the 1930s. According to research by the Wildlife Conservation Society, this might be true for older females. During times of drought, a matriarch that has survived a previous dry spell is able to guide the herd to distant water sources.
2008-09-06 - Toronto, Canada. Anthony Reinhart, Eric Cole, Toronto Zoo
Sure as the sun rose each morning, Tequila the African elephant could be found lumbering about her enclosure, eager to fortify her imposing bulk with a bale of hay for breakfast. Such had been her routine since the summer of 1974, when the young orphan from Mozambique took up residence with the rest of the elephants at the newly opened Toronto Zoo. When the zoo's elephant keepers reported for work on Tuesday, they expected no different. But there was nothing routine about what they found in the ...
2008-09-05 - Corbett Tiger Reserve, India.
The environment ministry has sought a report from the Uttarakhand government on increasing cases of elephant mortality at the famous Corbett Tiger Reserve in recent months. "There have been reports of higher cases of jumbo mortality from the region in the last few months when compared to the last few years. It is definitely a matter of concern though it would be too early to comment whether it is due to the negligence of the park's staff or due to some other reasons," A N Prasad, director of Pro...
2008-09-05 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Environment Ministry will soon formulate a national level action plan with new regulations with regard to tamed elephants to ensure their well-being, Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said. The regulations will comply with international conditions as well, the Minister told a ceremony at the Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya on Thursday. The Minister opened the sacred relic exhibition at the conclusion of the temple’s 108th annual perahera.
2008-09-05 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
Four people were killed in elephant rampage in southern Nepali districts, local newspaper The Kathmandu Post reported on Friday. In Dhanusa district, some 125 km south of the Nepali capital, six-year old Nisha Pokherel was killed on her way with her family at the Jalar river in the morning. Similarly Ram Ashis Mahatto, 65, was also killed by the wild elephant while 20-year-old Mira Pokherel was injured and is undergoing treatment at a local hospital. Wild elephants have increasingly been on the ...
2008-09-04 - Emmen, Netherlands. Martijn Fabrie
A male calf has been born this morning at 11.30 AM in Emmen Zoo. His mother is Mingalar Oo and his father is Radza (father to seven babies, grandfather of 2 babies in Japan). It's the first time in the zoo's history that a birth took place in the outside enclosure.
2008-09-04 - Kunming, China. Sun Yunlong
An Asian elephant who became addicted to drugs after eating a banana smeared with heroin is headed back to Kunming after a three-year detoxification program in China's southernmost Hainan Province. The 4-year-old male elephant, Xiguang, became addicted in March2005. He was among six elephants lured by animal smugglers along the Sino-Myanmar border. They used the bananas as bait for the animals, which were being brought into China's Dehong Autonomous Prefecture of Dai and Jingpo nationalities. Po...
2008-09-04 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Chester Zoo will be hosting an Elephant & Rhino evening on Thursday 4th September. Join us for an evening with a difference at Oakfield Manor followed by a personal Zoo tour with our keepers. Pre booking is essential, to make a booking please call our Events Office on 01244 650 209 or email events@chesterzoo.org
2008-09-03 - Toronto, Canada. Danielle Wong
The surprise death of a Toronto Zoo elephant yesterday offered a fresh challenge for veterinarian staff who have learned that elephants, like humans, mourn the death of their loved ones. When Thika found her mother, a 38-year-old African elephant named Tequila, dead early at the zoo’s outdoor elephant exhibit, she stayed beside the body for four hours. Thika even started digging at the ground and throwing dirt on her mother’s body, as if hoping to get any response at all. It wasn’t until T...
2008-09-03 - Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Darren Tom
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's three African elephants arrived safely yesterday at the Columbus Zoo, and they're adapting very well to their new surroundings. Elephants Moshi, Jo and Martika will be staying in Columbus during construction of the new African Elephant Crossing habitat at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The elephants are scheduled to return to Cleveland before their expanded exhibit opens to the public in 2011. The elephants were transported to Columbus in a specially equipped trailer and a...
2008-09-03 - Dallas, United States.
The Dallas Zoo announced moments ago that it has received the largest gift in its 120-year history, a $5 million donation from the Harold Simmons Foundation. Zoo officials plan the use the funds to help build a new $40 million African Savanna exhibit that will house large animals from elephants to giraffes and zebras. Plans for the Savanna's elephant exhibit were recently fasttracked after the zoo decided to keep its lone remaining elephant, Jenny, in Dallas. Zoo officials hope to have a new 4-a...
2008-09-03 - Dar es salaam, Tanzania. Guardian Reporter
By The speed at which the African elephant has been slaughtered is reported to have been rising alarmingly since an international ban on ivory trade took effect in 1989. The public outcry that resulted in the ban has strangely died off, with University of Washington conservation biologist Samuel Wasser contending that it is because public awareness on the plight of the giant mammal has also faded. Recent studies show that poaching, which is endemic in Africa, accounts for an 8 per cent annual de...
2008-09-02 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Antoinette van de Water
The end of the rainy season is coming near and after a couple of weeks of non-stop tree planting, Trees for Elephants 2008 has also accomplished her final goal! The idea to plant 100,000 trees for Thai elephants was born in august 2007. Yesterday, exactly one year later, the 100,000th tree has been planted. The planting of this tree was an unforgettable moment! Of course I wanted to experience this moment in the Elephant Nature Park, together with Douk Ngern, Sri Nuan and Faa Sai. We planted a p...
2008-09-02 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Dan Koehl
After two years of intensive work the database now include 4000 elephants (including 380 breeding cows and 154 breeding bulls), 1732 dead elephants and 2268 living, from 1121 location facilities in 92 countries, ranging from year 802 until now.
2008-09-02 - Auvergne, France.
Researchers recently uncovered a fossilized skull of a steppe mammoth in the Auvergne region of France, shedding light on the evolution of such beasts. The find is notably rare because while a handful of mammoth skeletons have been discovered, the skull is rarely intact. Paleontologists Frederic Lacombat and Dick Mol report that the skull belongs to a male steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii) that stood about 12ft tall and lived about 400,000 years ago, during Middle Pleistocene times. The st...
2008-09-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
At least two people and an elephant have died in the human-elephant conflict prevalent in SriLanka's rural north central and eastern areas, police said Tuesday. Police said that a 45-year-old man was killed as a result of being attacked by a wild elephant at Sigiriya, about 165 km from here in North Central Province. The ill-fated man was attacked at around 8 p.m. local time Monday while returning home. In the nearby Digampathaha area, another man was attacked by a wild elephant earlier on Monda...
2008-09-02 - Katima Mulilo , Namibia. Reagan Malumo
A mysterious disease believed to be anthrax is exerting a grim toll on Caprivi’s elephant herd, wiping out large numbers of these majestic wild animals particularly in the area of Nakabolelwa, about 90 kilometres east of Katima Mulilo. A village headman at Nakabolelwa told New Era that last month at least four elephants succumbed to the mysterious disease in that area. He said several other cases were also confirmed at a nearby settlement in Botswana and that it is suspected that the elep...
2008-09-02 - Mahavilachchiya, Sri Lanka. Senaka de Silva
Wild elephants are known to go on the rampage, but drunken elephants can be a handful or is it a mouthful as both villagers and wildlife officials in Mahavilachchiya came to experience. Wild Life officials said a roaming herd of wild elephants walked into a kasippu den after sniffing the aromatic smell of fruits used in distilling the brew and had more than a mouthful of the booze and in their drunken state ran amok destroying crops and houses in the village. The men at the illegal brewery showe...
2008-09-01 - Washington, United States. Joe DeCapua
An animal conservation group warns that Namibia's desert elephants face a severe blow because the government has issued permits to kill some breeding bulls. Permits to kill six of the bulls have been awarded for trophy hunting. The government says the elephant herds can handle the loss. Johannes Haasbroek is the operations director for the group Elephant-Human Relations Aid. From Swakopmund, Namibia, he spoke to VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua about the permits to kill the br...
2008-09-01 - Laikipia, Kenya. KNA
An elderly man has been killed by a stray elephant in Laikipia North district. Laikipia OCS James Kithuka said Pipitano Ole Rosoyo, 70 was crossing the Mpala ranch when he was attacked by the rogue elephant on Sunday. Kithuka said the elderly man was trampled on before being thrown into a dam. It is suspected the elderly man chanced upon the elephant as it was drinking water from the dam. The body was taken to Nanyuki hospital district mortuary. Kithuka appealed to Wananchi in the three district...
2008-09-01 - New York, United States. Melody Ng, ©The Moodie Report
US. Leathergoods specialist Hunting World is introducing a new bag made from organic material to help save wild elephants in Borneo. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the Borneo Bag will go to support the Trust's campaign to unify fragmented forests of Borneo and to help connect important elephant migration routes. Hunting World wants to raise awareness of what is happening to these animals in Borneo and to help save them for future generations.
2008-09-01 - Mysore, India.
Elephants play a major role in Dasara procession. The six elephants which are camping for the past few days in the premises of Mysore Palace are being taken for walking daily in the morning and evening in the path of 'Jumboo Savari' to enable them to get acquainted with the route. The elephants Balarama, Arjuna, Gajendra, Abhimanyu, Sarala, Vijaya in the first batch started their exercise a few days ago to get acquainted with the city environment, people and vehicular traffic. Balarama has been ...
2008-09-01 - Windhoek, Namibia. Chis Haslam
Africas few remaining desert elephants are facing extinction after the Namibian government issued permits for six breeding bulls to shot by trophy hunters. The government claims the herds can sustain the slaughter but Johannes Haasbroek, operations director of Elephant-Human Relations Aid, says the issue of the $40,000 dollar permits to big game hunters will be catastrophic. Three of the licences have been issued in the south Kunene region, where Hassbroek says there are just three breeding bull...
2008-09-01 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen
In Sri Lanka nearly 120 elephants are killed by humans and in return about 65 people die after being attacked by elephants every year. The number of cases of elephants being killed or run over by trains could be reduced if the train staff take precautions by giving the elephants enough warning in advance when they spot the elephants close to the rail tracks, Managing Trustee of the Bio Diversity and Elephant Conservation Trust and leading expert on Asian elephants and former planter Jayantha Jay...
2008-09-01 - Chennai, India.
Forests minister N Selvaraj said on Sunday that the first installment of Rs 125 crore of a total of the Rs 256 crore was released for setting up night safaris in Vandalur zoo. The state government also plans to set up a zoo in Tiruchi, he added. At the Vandalur zoo, 60 deer can be seen during the safari, while for the jumbo rides, the services of two elephants from Pollachi will be used to thrill visitors. The jumbo rides would be offered between 9.30 am and 11.30 am, and 4 pm to 5.30 pm, except...
2008-08-31 - Dac Lac, Vietnam. Thu Huong
To ethnic minority groups living in the central highland province of Dac Lac, a ring made of hair taken from an elephant’s tail is far more than an ordinary ornament. Because most people consider it to be an amulet that is expected to bring them luck in love, local couples often use elephant hair as a pawn in the game of love. Although no one has ever been able to prove the reliability of such a rumor, rings plaited with elephant hairs are now appearing in many souvenir shops. But the con...
2008-08-31 - Nairobi, Kenya. Daniel Stiles
The "to be or not to be" question of selling ivory has been the subject of a heated debate for 20 years now. Kenya has been leading the charge in the debate with its resounding "Not to be" answer. Kenya banned the domestic use and sale of ivory and other wildlife products in 1978, and it was instrumental in promoting the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) ban on international ivory sales voted in 1989. Everyone remembers the huge bonfire of elephant tusks in the Nair...
2008-08-31 - BISMARCK, United States.
Rare prehistoric artifacts are on display in North Dakota's state museum. The "Clovis" artifacts are unfinished tools that are about 13,000 years old. The people who made them hunted woolly mammoth and mastodon. They're the oldest artifacts in the State Historical Society's collection. The artifacts were donated by some western North Dakota residents who unearthed them in Golden Valley County. Some of them are now on exhibit in the Recent Acquisitions case at the North Dakota Heritage Center in ...
2008-08-30 - Nairobi, Kenya.
For close to a decade now, Kenya has been in the forefront in crusading against the push by a few countries seeking to have a worldwide ban on trade in ivory lifted. As a country, Kenya has had a chilling experience with poaching which justifies this trepidation. In 1973, our elephant population stood at 135,000. The next decade saw wanton poaching almost wipe out the entire elephant population. By the time an international ban on the trade in ivory was in place and the jumbos brought under the ...
2008-08-30 - Portland, United States.
The newest addition to the Oregon Zoo is ready to meet his adoring fans. The public will be able to see the 286-pound elephant calf born last weekend to Asian elephant Rose-Tu for the first time on Saturday. Zookeepers have been working to "baby proof" the elephant exhibit at the Oregon Zoo for the past few days. Meanwhile, the calf has been exploring his surroundings, picking up sticks and even playing in the bath with his mother. The baby has also been lying down Zoo officials say the calf con...
2008-08-30 - Puttlalam, Sri Lanka. Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe
Puttlalam district farmers who have been severely affected by rampaging elephants say they may even have to give up farming, in the face of little or no state compensation or measures to minimise the human-elephant conflict. “Elephants have destroyed our crops that cost us many months of hard labour. This is in addition to being in debt over the capital to plant these crops,” lamented T. D. Ranbanda a farmer from the village of Mahauswewa in Anamaduwa.
2008-08-30 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Hilary Smith
After an eye-opening, palette-pleasing trip through Vietnam, three couples — Barry and Pat Brown of Mendon, Jim Kurtz and Jan Kellner of Webster and Paul and Sue Wilkens of Ontario — journeyed through Chiang Mai, Thailand, to reach a pachyderm sanctuary known simply as the Elephant Nature Park. It is home to about 30 elephants, all of whom were rescued from circuses or logging camps or injured by poachers, land mines, trucks or other human causes. Created through the efforts of one Thai woma...
2008-08-30 - Washington, United States.
Almost 10 per cent of elephants have been killed in Congos troubled Virunga National Park by armed groups, soldiers, and poachers, allegedly driven by rising Chinese demand for ivory. Surveys carried out in the 1960s found 2,889 elephants in the park. By 2006 that number had dropped to 400. Just two years later, its estimated there are as few as half that number. According to a report in National Geographic News, the announcement raises fears that elephants could disappear forever from Africas o...
2008-08-30 - Kiev, Ukraine.
The Kyiv zoo will celebrate the Elephant Day on August 30. According to the press-service of the Kyiv City State Administration, the holiday will begin at noon with presenting a “Summer Bouquet” to zoo’s elephant Boy. Specialists will tell interesting information about his life. Boy’s favorite delicacies – apples, oranges, carrots, and cabbage, will be hidden in his open-air cage. Those willing will be allowed to make photos with the elephant. Boy the elephant has been living in the Ky...
2008-08-29 - Negara, Malaysia.
ZOO Negara received a RM10,000 contribution collected from 1 Utama’s Go Green campaigns “Feed-The Fish” and “Recycle-A-Bottle”. The amount will go towards renewing the adoption of Teriang, a 28-year-old Malaysian elephant for the third consecutive year. The cheque was handed over by 1 Utama Shopping Centre advertising and promotion manager Patrick So and Wespack Waste Management business development director Sherwyn Chin to Zoo Negara chairman Datuk Ismail Hutson and director Dr Mohama...
2008-08-29 - Bamako, Mali.
Implementers of an international project to help endangered elephants in Mali want to prove that by doing so, they can also help local communities adapt to climate change in the Sahel. The Malian government lists elephants in Gourma in the country's far desert north as highly endangered. A drought in the 1970’s killed most of the country's elephants leading the population to dwindle from several thousand down to 350. Often seen near Lake Banzena, about 400 kilometres south of Gao, these elepha...
2008-08-29 - Kampala, Kenya. Patson Baraire
Over 200 families from Kinyabutongo and Kameme villages in Kihiihi Sub-county, Kanungu District have fled their homes and camped at the sub-county headquarters after elephants from the Queen Elizabeth National Park invaded their area. Last weekend, the elephants killed two people and injured several others. The Kihiihi LC3 chairperson, Mr Nelson Natukunda, named the victims as Ms Beatrice Musabyimaana, 39, and her two-year-old son Brian Abemaana, who were killed as she tended to her garden.
2008-08-29 - Denver, United States. Kathleen St. John
Sometimes, when you find yourself at a particularly boisterous bar, it seems like you're surrounded by wild animals. "For these guys, particularly Mimi and Dolly, the elephants, it's kind of business as usual for them," says Bowie. "They know it's evening, so that's different, but their keepers are still around. I think they think it's weird, but it's fine." The elephants probably remember plenty of past Brews — the annual beer bust is in its 11th year. With Mimi and Dolly looking on, visitors...
2008-08-29 - , United States.
Many scientists believe that the ancient pachyderms became extinct about 10,000 years ago because of climactic changes that drastically reduced their food sources. Although only about a hundred mammoth specimens have been found throughout the world over the years, it is believed that as many as ten million mammoths may be buried in permanently frozen Russian soil. Previously, scientists believed that woolly mammoths were one large homogeneous group, but the mitochondrial DNA extracted from froze...
2008-08-28 - Washington, United States. Gobush KS, Mutayoba BM, Wasser SK. niversity of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle
Widespread poaching prior to the 1989 ivory ban greatly altered the demographic structure of matrilineal African elephant (Loxodonta africana) family groups in many populations by decreasing the number of old, adult females. We assessed the long-term impacts of poaching by investigating genetic, physiological, and reproductive correlates of a disturbed social structure resulting from heavy poaching of an African elephant population in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, prior to 1989. We examined fe...
2008-08-28 - Windhoek, Namibia. Wezi Tjaronda
Director of Parks and Wildlife Management, Ben Beytell, says some rivers should be closed for normal tourism access as a way of reducing the elephant-human conflict. Beytell said it was his opinion that this should be the ministry’s next proposal to Cabinet. He said there was an enormous elephant-human conflict problem caused mainly because of irresponsible and uncontrolled tourism activities in such areas. Although this is happening near all rivers where elephants live, the problem along Ugab...
2008-08-28 - Vienna, United States. Lloyd Grove
What we´re doing with the Asian elephant is the best work in the world. We have the only sustainable herd of Asian elephants in the Western Hemisphere. It´s only through our Center for Elephant Conservation—that´s only about reproduction, research, and retirement of Asian elephants—that the zoos or anyone else can really hopefully propagate this species in the wild—that there are only 30,000 of.
2008-08-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
You don't always get thanked for your good deeds - certainly not these villagers anyway, as they found out after rescuing this Sri Lanka elephant after it fell into a local well. It seemed rather more angry than happy, giving the local cameraman who was filming a run for his money as well as the villagers who helped him. The baby elephant in question had fallen into a cultivation well in one of the farming areas in North Central Sri Lankan Province, it's an increasing sight as many of the elepha...
2008-08-28 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. Ashraf Padanna
Kerala’s old captive elephants can now retire and spend their twilight years in dignity at their new home outside the state capital here. The Elephant Rehabilitation Centre, India’s first old-age home for the pachyderm, was opened yesterday at the serene Agasthyavanam Biological Park, a major attraction for the eco-tourists in Kerala. We’ll convert this into a pilgrimage centre for animal lovers all over the world,†Forest Minister Binoy Vishwam said as he opened the c...
2008-08-28 - Geneva, Switzerland. Richard Williams
Sumatra's endangered elephants and tigers should get a boost from an Indonesian government move to expand one of their last havens, a four-year-old national park on the island, conservation body WWF said on Thursday. But WWF warned that increased efforts would be vital to ensure that poaching and other illegal activities -- like unsanctioned logging and settlement -- did not continue in the park, Tesso Nilo in Sumatra's Riau Province. "This is an important milestone towards securing a future for...
2008-08-28 - Melbourne, Australia.
No baby elephant has ever been born in Australia - but now three elephants are pregnant at zoos in Sydney and Melbourne. Zoo authorities have announced a third elephant, Pontipp, is in the maternity wing, as a result of artificial insemination (AI) at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. She joins Thong Dee, impregnated naturally by mate Gong at Taronga last year and Dokkoon which was impregnated by artificial insemination at Melbourne Zoo also last year. The two AI infants were sired by Melbourne's Bong Su - ...
2008-08-28 - Karachi, Pakistan. Jan Khaskheli
Families which went to the local Zoo, in a bid to catch a glimpse of the new elephant had to leave without having their wish come true. Though some inquired from the gardeners about the arrival of the new elephant, the only response they got was “the officers may know better when the elephant will arrive.†A gardener busy pruning bushes told The News that when he joined the Karachi Zoo 35 years ago there were two elephants. Anarkali was the only animal that attracted children as it p...
2008-08-27 - Philadelphia, United States. Bonnie L. Cook
Petal, the Philadelphia Zoo's beloved African elephant, died of acute heart and lung failure after she fell on her side while sleeping, zoo officials said yesterday. What's more, the 52-year-old pachyderm, the oldest of her kind in an American zoo, suffered from an underlying condition related to aging - heart disease, according to autopsy results released yesterday. "Like some elderly people, older animals are often able to compensate for chronic health problems up to a point, but when somethin...
2008-08-27 - Jamshedpur, India. ANKUSH SINGH
Numbers suggest the tuskers are fast disappearing. The conflict between man and animal has taken a toll on the elephant population at the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, around 10km from the city. According to the census report of 2008, the elephant count stands at 80, 16 less than the last census prepared in 2003. Officials said in villages of Jharkhand and Bengal, elephants mostly die due to conflict with humans. They explained that two elephants were electrocuted by an overhead wire near the Dimna ...
2008-08-27 - Dallas, United States. Carol Cavazos
The controversy over the Dallas Zoo elephant named Jenny has taken a musical turn. One songwriter is hoping her effort will help give Jenny a new home. "There's nothing that really tells about an issue more than a song… more than music," explained singer Beverly Perry. 'Jenny's Song' was recorded in a professional studio Tuesday night. The music and lyrics were birthed out of concern for the aging elephant. One verse of the song expresses the concern for the animal saying, "Your troubled life ...
2008-08-27 - New Ziana, Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said on Sunday it has not yet started implementing any of the 2005 recommendations of the Sadc Taskforce on strategies to control the population of elephants in the region. Director-General Dr Morris Mutsambiwa said the Government had not yet taken a position on any of the four methods that Sadc countries were given the greenlight to adopt in 2005. "Although culling is a recognised method of controlling populations, we have not started impleme...
2008-08-27 - Windhoek, Namibia. Wezi Tjaronda
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism says Namibia has more elephants now than at any other time in the last 100 years. Growing at a rate of 3.3 percent per year, the country’s elephant population is more than 20 000, up from 16 000 in 2004. Minister of Environment and Tourism, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, said on Monday the entire population especially that of the Kunene Region was healthy and growing, with the levels of consumptive off takes being very conservative and being below the sustainab...
2008-08-27 - Portland, United States.
The new baby elephant that arrived last weekend at the Oregon Zoo gave it a tremendous gift a 281.6-pound boost. But the baby's arrival is well-timed for another reason, too. In November, the region's voters will decide whether to support a $125 million bond measure that includes $30 million to expand the zoo's cramped elephant quarters. (In a memorable phrase in June, The Oregonian's Susan Nielsen described the current indoor viewing area and 1.5-acre yard shared by six, now seven, elephants as...
2008-08-27 - Evansville, United States. Rich Davis
Karl Kae Knecht, a photographer and The Evansville Courier's front-page editorial cartoonist from 1906 until 1960, was a lifelong circus fan. Courtesy Willard Library A parade down Riverside Drive on June 14, 1929, celebrates Kay the elephant's arrival in Evansville from Germany. A young Kay is shown in the Washington Avenue backyard of zoo superintendent Clem Kevekordes. She stayed there until the Knecht Building was finished in 1931. Courtesy Willard Library Wesiba the chimpanzee helps christe...
2008-08-26 - Philadelphia, United States. Bonnie L. Cook
Petal, the Philadelphia Zoo's beloved African elephant, died of acute heart and lung failure after she fell on her side while sleeping, zoo officials said yesterday. What's more, the 52-year-old pachyderm, the oldest of her kind in an American zoo, suffered from an underlying condition related to aging - heart disease, according to autopsy results released Tuesday. At autopsy, pathologists found latent traces of a bacteria that can cause tuberculosis in Petal's lung tissue, according to prelimin...
2008-08-26 - Bankura, India.
A herd of 60 elephants entered Bankura district last night. According to senior forest officials, on Tuesday morning the herd was sighted at the Bankadaha range in the jungles under the Panchet Soil Conservation division in Bishnupur. The herd, comprising four tuskers, is the first herd to enter Bankura this monsoon. At Asthasole, the herd entered agricultural land and destroyed a significant amount of standing crop. The forest division, however, doesn’t have any plan to drive the elephants ou...
2008-08-26 - SOMERSET COUNTY, United States.
In a couple weeks, the first African elephant will be moving to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium's International Conservation Center near Fairhope, Somerset County. The center's primary focus will be breeding programs, something the Pittsburgh Zoo has renowned success in, thanks in part to its elephant bull named Jackson. Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium President Dr. Barbara Baker said "Jackson has eight babies on the ground and two more are due to be born shortly." The electric fencing is in pla...
2008-08-26 - Virunga, Congo.
The director of one of central Africa's most important wildlife reserves has warned that rebels and soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo are increasingly targeting elephants in the area to supply ivory to china. In an interview with the Bloomberg news agency, Virunga National Park's director, Emmanuel de Merode, warned that as many as ten per cent of the area's elephant population has been killed by poachers in recent years. Specifically, Mr de Merode said that seven elephants have bee...
2008-08-26 - Sulthan Bathery, India.
An elephant patrol will roam the deep forests of Kerala in a bid to check poaching. The anti-poaching patrol in Wayanad district consists of three elephants, mahouts and forest officials.‘We started the patrol Monday. The team has around 15 members. We arranged this patrol following information from Tamil Nadu authorities that poachers could become active along Kerala-Tamil Nadu border this season,’ K. Radhakrishna Lal, assistant wildlife warden at Muthanga in Wayanad, told IANS.
2008-08-26 - Auckland, New Zealand. HEATHER McCRACKEN
Officials are facing the prospect of Auckland Zoo without elephants. Plans are being developed for the future of young Asian elephant Burma, who couldn’t remain on her own if Kashin died. There are no immediate concerns about the older elephant, who turns 40 this year. But zoo director Jonathan Wilcken says decisions need to be made in advance on whether to bring more elephants to New Zealand or send Burma away. "Kashin’s approaching 40 and for some time now she’s been treat...
2008-08-26 - Afiaso, Ghana. Alister Doyle
Rising elephant numbers in a protected forest park in Ghana are angering farmers whose crops are being raided in an unwanted side-effect of a plan to slow deforestation. Locals in Afiaso, a village of 620 people in southern Ghana with no electricity nor running water, grumble that they are seeing limited benefits from agreeing to cooperate in protecting Kakum National Park forest, which starts 2 km (1 mile) away. "We used to cut down a lot of trees to plant cocoa. Cutting down trees used to be n...
2008-08-26 - Bangkok, Thailand. APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Researchers from Chiang Mai University (CMU) have a new means of fighting phobias and depression _ elephants. CMU had previously studied the effects of ''elephant therapy'' on autistic children and, having noted promising results, are now proposing a similar programme for people suffering from depression or phobias. Audomsark Haesungcharern, dean of CMU's associated medical sciences faculty, believes the animals' voice may have therapeutic qualities.
2008-08-26 - Idukki, India.
A mahout died on Sunday after he fell with his elephant from a moving truck near Kerala’s Idukki. Maitheen, 64, was crushed under the weight of the pachyderm.
2008-08-25 - Little Rock, United States.
Temporary Part-time employment available for Elephant & Lg. Hoofstock Keeper. Position is 36-40 hours/week. Pay rate of $8.00 to $10.50/hour is available depending on experience. This position will work with Asian Elephants as well as Black and White Rhinos, Giraffe, and Zebra. Experience in working free contact with elephants is helpful but not necessary. Our institution is willing to train a hard-working, motivated, enthusiastic individual with a specific interest in elephants. This position h...
2008-08-25 - Portland, United States.
Rose-Tu and her calf have been together since 5 p.m. last night, supervised by keepers. She's letting him nurse and gently tucks him underneath her when he does so. She's so relaxed during nursing, it sometimes looks like she's sleeping. The baby continues to get stronger and is sucking heartily. When Rose-Tu appears too tired to nurse, keepers supplement his diet with elephant formula, delivered via a 12-ounce bottle with a large, specially crafted nipple. The baby elephant is taking in about 1...
2008-08-25 - Rombo, Tanzania. AMINA JUMA
Rombo District Council in Kilimanjaro Region has incurred a loss of 718m/- due to destruction done by elephants which wandered into the villages from Tsavo National Park in neighbouring Kenya and ruined food crop farms. Rombo District has been facing the problem for more than fifteen years now whereby elephants cause havoc in the villages, destroying farms and other property. Speaking with 'Daily News' at the weekend, the District Director, Mr Naijaijaya Koira, said up to June this year the dist...
watch photographers pictures from Rose-Tu´s ultrasound until the baby is being dried by the keepers
2008-08-25 - Mmadinare, Botswana. Jeremiah Sejabosigo
Mmadinare Development Trust sold its quota of 14 elephants from the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism at the main kgotla of the village last week, where all the elephants were bought by the highest bidders. Mr Graeme Phillips of Auctioneers Botswana conducted the sale on behalf of the trust. Hunting of the auctioned elephants will be done in the CT27 hunting area, which falls in the range between Letsibogo, Mmadinare and Mathathane areas.
2008-08-25 - Kinshasa, Congo. Franz Wild
Rebels and soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed more than a 10th of the elephants in one of Africa's oldest national parks as demand for ivory in China grows, said Emmanuel de Merode, director of the Virunga National Park. Members of a Rwandan militia in the country's eastern North Kivu province killed seven elephants in the last two weeks, taking this year's total to 24, de Merode said today in an interview from the park's headquarters in Rumangabo.
2008-08-25 - Portland, United States. ANTONIA GIEDWOYN
Happy news for a baby elephant born at the Oregon Zoo over the weekend – elephant mother Rose-Tu has begun nursing her calf and appears to have accepted her newborn. The calf began walking up to his mother and successfully nursing on both sides, according to zoo spokeswoman Linda D'Ae-Smith. When Rose-Tu gets tired, staff supplements the nursing with a bottle.
2008-08-25 - Dallas, United States.
Africam Safari in Puebla, Mexico was very nearly the new home of the Dallas zoo's last elephant, the troubled and famous Jenny (don't those always go hand in hand). But after weeks of protests and a bit of bad press, the Dallas Zoo decided that it was best, for Jenny's health, that she stay right here. Tomorrow, the owners of Africam will be at City Hall to tell their side of the story and defend their institution from claims of protesters that their facility is nothing more than a "drive throug...
2008-08-25 - Ruskin, United States. Eric Beheim, Buckles WebLog
"Toug-Toulog" the sacred white elephant was imported to the Barnum & London Show in 1884 and thus began the famous White Elephant War between Barnum and his rival Adam Forepaugh who simply painted an elephant white. Since Albino elephants are actually somewhat gray in color, Barnum's elephant was something of a disappointment whereas Forepaugh's (John) was as white as the driven snow, leading to charges and counter charges of fakery. Three years later "Toug-Toulog" and three other ...
2008-08-25 - Portland, United States. Jeff Thompson
Rose-Tu and her newborn calf at the Oregon Zoo are continuing the reintroduction process after some scary moments Saturday afternoon. When the 280-pound calf was born, keepers say Rose-Tu was confused, having never witnessed an elephant birth before. She started kicking the baby and keepers had to intervene and separate the two. The calf has since been monitored and seems to be okay. Mike Keele, zoo asssistant director, says keepers and vets are carefully continuing the re-introduction process s...
2008-08-24 - London, United Kingdom. Kathryn Phillips, Journal of Experimental Biology 211, i (2008)
Throughout history, elephants have been thought of as `different'. Shakespeare, and even Aristotle, described them as walking on inflexible column-like legs. And this myth persists even today. Which made John Hutchinson from The Royal Veterinary College, London, want to find out more about elephants and the way they move. Are they really that different from other, more fleet-footed species? Are their legs as rigid and `columnar' as people had thought? Travelling to Thailand and several UK zoos, ...
2008-08-24 - Kinshasa, Congo. Wildlife extra
Two elephants have been killed by FDLR rebels near Rwindi, in the central sector of Virunga National Park. The FDLR are comprised of Hutu militia who were involved in the Rwandan genocide. A group of Congo Rangers had gone on patrol on the Rwindi plain encountered a group of FDLR poachers. A gunfight ensued and the Rangers were able to push the rebels back. No-one was injured on either side and the rebels escaped. The Rangers then discovered the bodies of two elephants that the rebels had killed...
2008-08-24 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
The baby abduction from Kalubowila led to the discovery of a baby smuggling racket that shocked the nation. At present, Sri Lanka’s Wildlife Department officers are investigating trails of baby elephants allegedly being abducted from the wild. The recovery of a baby elephant illegally held without a proper permit in an estate close to Colombo is probably only the tip of this iceberg, they feel. The elephant is now in the Uda Walawe Elephant Transit Home.
2008-08-24 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. S. M. Jiffrey ABDEEN- Kandy South Group Corr
Elephants live in herds are led by the oldest female elephant in the herd. The male elephant is driven away from the herd to prevent breeding. These are the strange ways of elephants said the Managing Trustee of Bio Diversity and Elephant Conservation Trust and leading expert on Asian elephants and former planter Jayantha Jayawardena. Jayawardena said that the elephants in Sri Lanka are highly threatened in spite of what anyone may say to the contrary. Explaining the reasons for the Human - Elep...
2008-08-24 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Risidra Mendis
Can you imagine a perahera without an elephant? This is a thought that constantly crosses our minds especially with the fast dwindling elephant population in the country. The main attraction at the annual Kandy Esela Perahera is the majestic tusker, draped in a colourful costume decorated with beads and sequins, carrying the tooth relic. The tuskers and elephants are at times in musth but are forced by their mahouts to take part in the perahera, resulting in cases where elephants run amok and i...
2008-08-24 - Portland, United States.
Rose-Tu has given birth to her first baby, the 28th elephant born in the history of the Oregon Zoo. The 14-year-old Asian elephant delivered the 286-pound male calf Saturday afternoon and immediately kicked it, a common way mother elephants encourage infants to stand. Zookeepers, however, rushed in when the kicking became too violent. Mike Keele, the zoo's deputy director, believes that because Rose-Tu had never seen a birth before, she became confused when the baby was born. "Our veterinarians ...
2008-08-23 - Goa, India. PANKAJ SEKHSARIA
Wild elephant migration from Karnataka to Goa and Maharashtra is termed ‘unnatural’ and Goa seeks Maharashtra’s help to drive the animals back. When Goa starts the operation it finds that its efforts to drive back the elephants have been hampered by trenches dug on the Maharashtra side to prevent the animals from entering that state. Goan authorities are asking Project Elephant authorities to intervene and ask Maharashtra to behave. Elephants that had ‘strayed’ from Orissa into Andhra ...
2008-08-23 - Washington, United States.
This free event will feature demonstrations on how our keepers and vets care for elephants, and what a day in the life of a Zoo elephant is like. You can also sneak a peek at the construction of our Elephant Trails exhibit. Watch the elephants as they are bathed, weighed, and trained to hold still for physical exams, weighing, and x-rays. Our female elephant, Ambika, turns 60 this year so stop by the yards at 1 p.m. to watch her enjoy her birthday “cake,†specially prepared by the Zo...
2008-08-22 - Phoenix, United States.
The Phoenix Zoo is accepting applications for a part-time regular Keeper working in our Elephant Sanctuary. Essential duties involve interaction with both the animals and visiting public. Keepers will observe assigned animals on a daily basis, reporting any abnormalities; perform routine husbandry and environmental maintenance; feed prescribed diets; perform assigned and approved animal enrichment activities and trainings; assist in the restraint and treatment of animals; participate in non-rout...
2008-08-22 - AGARTALA, India.
Border Security Force (BSF) troopers gunned down a Bangladeshi national in Tripura and captured two elephants he and his associates were allegedly trying to smuggle into India, officials said on Friday. The incident occurred in Kailashahar in north Tripura, some 175 km from the state capital Agartala. The BSF troopers shot dead a Bangladeshi national who was trying to smuggle elephants into India. His two companions managed to escape.
2008-08-22 - Kinshasa, Congo. Joe Bavier
Poachers in Congo have killed a fifthof the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year asChina buys more ivory, the park's director said on Friday. Rwandan rebels have killed seven Savannah elephants in thepast 10 days alone in the Virunga National Park, along Congo'seastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, Emmanuel de Merode toldReuters. "We've definitely lost 20 percent of the population thisyear and probably more," he said. "We have rangers with them,and we're trying to reinforce them...
2008-08-22 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon
Anxiety simmers at the Oregon Zoo, and it's no wonder. For the first time in 14 years, just as the zoo faces key decisions about its future, one of its Asian elephants --the institution's flagship species --is about to give birth. If all goes well, an adorably wobbly, floppy eared calf could draw tens of thousands of extra visitors and prompt a wave of positive publicity at an opportune time: Metro, which owns the zoo, will ask voters in November to approve a $117 million bond measure to upgrade...
Poachers in Congo have killed a fifth of the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year as China buys more ivory, the park's director said on Friday. Rwandan rebels have killed seven Savannah elephants in the past 10 days alone in the Virunga National Park, along Congo's eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, Emmanuel de Merode told Reuters. "We've definitely lost 20 percent of the population this year and probably more," he said. "We have rangers with them, and we're trying to reinfor...
2008-08-21 - Greenbrier, United States. Bill Bonucci, Elephant Manager, Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary
Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary has an open position working with African and Asian elephants. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing elephant care, maintaining and cleaning animal areas, preparing feed, and grounds upkeep. The position requires a high school diploma or equivalent; one-year experience working with elephants is preferred; good communication/organizational skills and ability to work well as a team; and a class “C” driver license with an acceptable ...
2008-08-20 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is seeking experienced elephant keepers that would be interested in joining a progressive elephant management team, utilizing both free and protected contact. The successful candidates primary job assignment will be at the zoo’s International Conservation Center just outside of Berlin, PA about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh. We will also require a moderate amount of time spent at the zoo’s facility in Pittsburgh to facilitate the development of a ve...
2008-08-20 - Tokyo, Japan. Irie-Sugimoto N, Kobayashi T, Sato T, Hasegawa T. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo
This study investigated whether Asian elephants can make relative quantity judgment (RQJ), a dichotomous judgment of unequal quantities ordered in magnitude. In Experiment 1, elephants were simultaneously shown two baskets with differing quantities of bait (up to 6 items). In Experiment 2, elephants were sequentially presented with baits, which could not be seen by elephants in their total quantities. The task of elephants was to choose the larger quantity in both experiments. Results showed tha...
2008-08-20 - Windhoek, Namibia. Johannes Haasbroek
Six elephant trophy permits were issued recently for the Kunene region conservancies and to date five out of the six elephants have been shot. As we firmly believe the population cannot sustain this take off we have decided to issue a press release to clarify our position on this matter. Elephant-Human Relations Aid is a Namibian based Non-Governmental Organization, established in 2003 in the Southern Kunene Region, helping communal farmers in the region to deal with elephant-human conflict issu...
2008-08-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shakuntala Perera
No other animal in Sri Lanka has suffered the wrath of human interference like the elephant. Every year records a number of elephant deaths that the country can ill afford. If there are no ill planned elephant drives killing them, there are the gun shots. The latest in the series of causes for concern was the finding of a calf in chains at a location in Athurugiriya. The owner of the calf could not produce a proper license. The Flying Squad of the Wild Life Department found the three year old ma...
2008-08-20 - Tokyo, Japan. Ewen Callaway, NewScientist.com news service
Add elephants to the growing menagerie of animals that can count. An Asian elephant named Ashya beat this reporter at a devilishly simple addition problem. When a trainer dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples in the first and five more in the second, the pacaderm recognised that three plus four is greater than one plus five, and snacked on the seven apples. (In my defence, I watched the video in a noisy and crowded auditorium.)
2008-08-20 - Dallas, United States. JASON WHITELY
The Dallas Zoo has decided to keep Jenny, 32, its lone African elephant, after weeks of controversy over whether she should be sent to a zoo in Mexico. The Dallas Zoo originally planned to close its elephant exhibit and send Jenny away while it built a much larger exhibit here. But the zoo's idea to loan Jenny to the Africam Safari Park in Puebla, Mexico generated thousands of e-mails and phone calls in protest to city leaders. Opponents wanted Jenny to instead be retired to The Elephant Sanctua...
2008-08-20 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Namibia will impose a ban on all trade with 'worked ivory' from next month in a bid to assert its control and abide by international regulations on endangered species, an official said on Wednesday. "We have to strengthen control measures in ivory trade to abide by provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which requires specific legislation," Kalumbi Shangula told reporters. Windhoek jeweller Horst Knop welcomed the move but said jewellers and goldsmiths...
2008-08-20 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. R.A.Ratwatte, Basnayake Nilame – Lankatilleke Sri Vishnu Devalaya- Handessa
There seems to be a belief among the general populace that a perahera is judged by the number of elephants therein. One of the first questions that is asked when one says one has viewed a perahera is: "How many elephants?" A large number is greeted with an appropriate response and a small number is invariably greeted with derision and an insinuation that one has wasted one’s time at that perahera! Contrary to popular belief and the belief of certain uneducated custodians of temples and organis...
2008-08-19 - Montgomery, United States. Markeshia Ricks
State Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks said the department's diagnostic lab in Auburn was able to assist the Montgomery Zoo with diagnostic services this past weekend for an elephant that died at the zoo. Lab staff examined the 23 year-old animal and determined that it died from intussusception, a rare intestinal disorder. “The unfortunate loss of such a grand animal is a reminder of how important diagnostic ability is to veterinary health,” Sparks said. “Knowledge is ess...
2008-08-19 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo has confirmed that 15 year old Dokkoon, one of three Asian Elephants that arrived in November 2006, is pregnant. The pregnancy is the result of artificial insemination carried out in March by the Melbourne Zoo and visiting fertility specialists from the Berlin Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research. Bong Su, Melbourne Zoo’s bull elephant is the father. The pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasound in early June. The ultrasound showed a black sack of amniotic fluid containing a tiny ...
2008-08-19 - Cleveland, United States. Michael Sangiacomo
Viktor Schreckengost's massive wall sculptures of mastodons and mammoths, on display at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo since 1956, are coming down. But the popular sculptures by the man called "Cleveland's Da Vinci" will not be gone for long. After cleaning and repairing, they will become part of a new zoo entrance in 2010. "After all those years at the pachyderm building, the sculptures will be in an area of even greater prominence and open to more people than ever," said Elizabeth Fowler of the ...
2008-08-19 - Stetten ob Lontal, Germany. Silke Jeklic
It was a cool afternoon. A small gathering of people assembled at the Swabian village Stetten ob Lontal, in Germany. They waited for a guided trip to Vogelherd Cave. It cannot be called a real cave, like one that allows you to descend deeply into the earth and that might feature artfully dripping stalactite and stalagmite sculptures, perhaps like the Charlotte Cave and other natural caves found in the Swabian Alps. Excursion leader Brigitta Roeck led the group in stages up a soft, rain-soaked fo...
2008-08-19 - Washington, United States.
On a seemingly ordinary day in November, 2001, something amazing happens at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C. aby Kandula is born. His birth marks a rare success and huge scientific milestone for the zoological community: The 320-pound newborn is only the second Asian elephant to be born through artificial insemination. Watch as this playful, rambunctious youngster grows up right before your eyes taking his first steps, learning to feed and figuring out how to manipulate object...
2008-08-19 - MontÂgomery, United States. Teri Greene
A male African elephant calf born early Thursday morning at the MontÂgomery Zoo was the second elephant calf born at the zoo within the past year. But the joyous occasion was soon marred by sorrow. After giving birth, the elephant calf's 23-year-old mother became ill. She died Saturday, reported Sarah McKemey of the Montgomery Zoo. Preliminary necropsy results inÂdicate that Mary, one of the zoo's perÂmanent elephant herd, died from complications due to colic with intesÂtinal rupture...
2008-08-18 - Thrissur, India.
Indian elephants are now walking a fashion ramp with a difference, providing their footprints to be printed on textile carry bags of New York-based fashion designer Barbara Gerard, who is here getting her models to perform. Gerard is at this cultural capital of Kerala to also introduce a new concept for children called "Elephant House". She said her concept was an innovative exploration of the Asian elephant involving the six senses as seen through the lens of video, film, painting, photography,...
2008-08-18 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service officers in collaboration with the Kenya Airport Authority have arrested three Chinese Nationals with 2.2 kilograms of processed ivory at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi. The three Chinese, who were travelling to Harare, Zimbabwe, were arrested and taken to the JKIA police station when they failed to produce any valid CITES permits allowing them to travel with the carved trophies.
2008-08-18 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Violet Gonda
Zimbabwe’s once thriving wildlife and tourism industry is under serious threat as authorities continue to kill elephants and other animals at an alarming rate. Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman for the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management has embarked on what they are calling an "Elephant Population Management Programme". But the authorities are deliberately targeting elephants with the largest tusks, which has nothing to do with pop...
2008-08-18 - Beijing, China. Dominique Patton
In a cosy workshop filled with the smell of fresh wood chip, neatly arranged tables and well-worn carving tools, Fang Fu Zhai reminisces about his days working with ivory. “Only the best people were picked to carve ivory. If you were chosen, you had to move out of the main workshop to an area where they kept an eye on the piece. They were afraid of it being stolen.†Mr Fang seldom gets his carver’s hands on ivory nowadays. Since the ban on the global ivory trade almost 20 year...
2008-08-18 - San Antonio, United States. AZA
The San Antonio Zoo currently has a need for a Zoo Keeper in our Elephant Department. Duties include daily cleaning, feeding, and maintenance of animal exhibits. Zoo Keepers observe, evaluate, and report animal behavior and condition to their supervisor on a daily basis. They assist in treating Zoo animals in accordance with instructions from their supervisor or veterinarian. Minimum qualifications include ability to work weekends, holidays, and occasional after-hours assignments; valid driver...
2008-08-18 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon, The Oregonian
Anxiety simmers at the Oregon Zoo, and it's no wonder. For the first time in 14 years, just as the zoo faces key decisions about its future, one of its Asian elephants the institution's flagship species is about to give birth. If all goes well, an adorably wobbly, floppy-eared calf could draw tens of thousands of extra visitors and prompt a wave of positive publicity at an opportune time: Metro, which owns the zoo, will ask voters in November to approve a $117 million bond measure to upgrade exh...
2008-08-18 - MONTGOMERY, United States. John Shryock
The Montgomery Zoo lost a star in one of its main attractions over the weekend. Mary, an elephant in the zoo's collection, died Saturday just days after giving birth to a male African elephant calf. She was 23-years-old. Zoo officials say a preliminary necropsy showed that the elephant died of complications due to colic with intestinal rupture. Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks says the Department of Agriculture and Industries' Diagonstic Lab in Auburn helped with the necropsy. "The unfortunat...
2008-08-18 - Samburu, United States. David Quammen, Michael Nichols, National Geographic
The biologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton is walking up on an elephant, a sizable young female, nubile and shy. Her name, as she's known to him and his colleagues, is Anne. She stands half-concealed within a cluster of trees on the knob of a hill in remote northern Kenya, browsing tranquilly with several members of her family. Around her neck hangs a stout leather collar along which, at the crest of her shoulders, like a tiny porkpie hat, sits an electronic transmitter. That transmitter has allowed Do...
2008-08-18 - Amboseli, Kenya. Hcroze, Amboseli Trust for Elephants
The Amboseli Trust for Elephants field team has been forced to open a new eastern front in the continuing war to conserve elephants and the ecosystem. Already over the past two months our Maasai Elephant Scouts have reported that possibly six large breeding bulls have been killed in the Kimana-Kuku area. One was speared in early July. Another found dead with four spear wounds and the tusks already taken. Another, as the Scouts could reconstruct from tracks, retreated into dense push and managed ...
2008-08-18 - Little Rock, United States. L. LAMOR WILLIAMS
The elephants almost seemed to be eavesdropping. They’d seen Little Rock Zoo’s new curator for hoof stock and birds, Joseph Darcangelo, passing their enclosure. He was explaining renovations of the elephant house, expected to double in size by spring 2009. As if they knew he was talking about them and their home — the renovation also includes a new pool, kitchen and corral area to keep the elephants from moving around during examinations — the two female Asian elephants, named Ellen and ...
2008-08-18 - Surin, Thailand. Gillian Murdoch
Trudging the city streets with a hungry four-tonne elephant at your heels is not a job for everyone. But add a cute baby, and tourists flock to pet and feed the grey-brown giants, making the plodding pachyderms more of an investment than a curse for modern mahouts working in Thailand, one of Asia's top holiday destinations. With logging banned in 1989, more babies are hitting streets and trekking camps to meet tourism-driven demand for docile, good-looking animals, said the director of the Thai ...
2008-08-18 - Hunsur, India.
Preparations for this year's Dasara festivities were set into motion today when District in-charge Minister Shobha Karandlaje flagged off the journey of elephants (Gajapayana) towards Mysore. The Minister inaugurated the journey of the first batch of the caparisoned elephants at Veera-nahosahalli gate in Nagarahole forests, about 28 kms from here in the morning. She lit the traditional lamp at the gate and broke a ash gourd. The journey began as the Minister showered flower petals on the elephan...
2008-08-18 - Way Kambas, Indonesia.
Today we visited a National Park here in Southern Sumatra. ‘Way Kambas’ hosts five endangered mammals - elephants, Sumatran Tigers, Sun Bears, tapirs and the Sumatran rhino. The facilities for the elephants are not so flash. The idea behind the creation of the Elephant Training Centre was to remove wild elephants that were threatening local villages and to train them to work in logging and tourism. Kids go for rides on a few of these beautful creatures, while those not working graze nearby.
2008-08-18 - Pittsburgh, United States. Patricia Sheridan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Willie Theison, renowned elephant manager at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, oversaw the birth of two baby elephants (Angelina and Zuri) within weeks of each other in July. He was involved with a recent National Geographic special looking at elephants in India and the conflict between them and the human population.
2008-08-18 - Udhagamandalam, India. D. Radhakrishnan
The kumki (working) elephants of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve near here which have over the decades played a significant role in spreading the name of the sanctuary far and wide have of late been entrusted with the additional responsibility of keeping poachers at bay. Long considered the pride of Mudumalai, the kumkis have now become an integral part of the anti-poaching operations. Pointing out that for the past few weeks the kumkis have been a source of strength to the anti-poaching staff, the ...
2008-08-17 - Mysore, India.
The first batch of elephants participating in the Dasara procession will begin their journey (Gaja payana) towards the city from tomorrow. The District In-charge Minister Shobha Karandlaje will flag off the journey at Veeranahosahalli in Nagarahole forests at 9.30 am tomorrow with a special puja. The first batch of six elephants including Balaram, which has successfully carried the 'Golden Howdah' (Ambari) eight times in a row, will be heading towards the city. The batch includes Balarama, Bhara...
2008-08-17 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. P. Karunakharan
Nearly 100 caparisoned elephants, dancers and torchbearers walked down the streets of this central city decorated with colourful lights and flags as the annual Buddhist festival of Kandy Perahera (pageant) was celebrated with great enthusiasm. The colourful parade began Saturday night from the sacred Buddhist shrine of Dalada Maligawa, showcasing the temple custodians known as Nilames, who were dressed up like ancient kings. The festivities also included traditional Kandyan dancers, fire-jugglin...
2008-08-17 - Portland, United States. KATY MULDOON
Anxiety simmers at the Oregon Zoo, and it's no wonder. For the first time in 14 years, just as the zoo faces key decisions about its future, one of its Asian elephants -- the institution's flagship species -- is about to give birth. If all goes well, an adorably wobbly, floppy eared calf could draw tens of thousands of extra visitors and prompt a wave of positive publicity at an opportune time: Metro, which owns the zoo, will ask voters in November to approve a $117 million bond measure to upgra...
2008-08-17 - Waco, United States. Kelsie Hahn
Like footprints in the sand, the Glen Rose dinosaur tracks and the Waco mammoth bones have run parallel journeys through modern history. Separated by millions of years in their creation and decades in their discovery, both have gone from surprising find to national sensation to community cause, and the Waco Mammoth Site’s unveiling as a full-fledged park is only a step away, projected for late 2009. Both cities, however, say these sites are only a piece of the attractions that make for success...
2008-08-16 - John Mariani, United States.
Pass the word it's OK to pet the elephants again at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park. The state Department of Environmental Conservation told zoo officials Friday that it would amend the zoo's endangered/threatened species license to allow contact between the zoo's elephants and their human visitors. The move came just in time for the zoo's Asian Elephant Extravaganza, an annual celebration of its pachyderm herd and Asian culture taking place 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today.
2008-08-16 - Burnet Park, United States.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park will host Asian Elephant Extravaganza, presented by Total Care Incorporated, on Saturday, August 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The annual event celebrates Asian culture and honors the Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s Asian elephant herd, which includes Indy, Siri, Romani and Kirina. The many activities planned for the event include elephant demonstrations, cultural performances, games, puppet shows and more!
2008-08-14 - Chester, United Kingdom.
It’s all change in the animal division with new team leaders for both the giraffe and elephant sections. There is also a new face at the elephants where Evelyn De Wolf takes over as team leader. Evelyn joins the zoo from Bellewaerde Park in Belgium where she was the animal curator. Kevin Buley, Chester Zoo’s Head of Zoo Programmes, said: “As the zoo continues to successfully grow and expand, new opportunities arise for our dedicated staff.
2008-08-14 - Matale, Sri Lanka. Nimal S.Bogahawatta
A man was trampled to death by a tamed elephant near the Karandagolla bridge in Matale on Tuesday. The victim K.I.B.Jayasuriya of Karandagolla died on the spot. The Matale police are conducting further inquiries.
2008-08-13 - Dallas, United States. BRAD HAWKINS
There has been more debate in and outside Dallas City Hall today on the future of Jenny, the Dallas Zoo's lone elephant. Activists say they are going to keep coming to Dallas City Hall until there is an "acceptable" solution to the problem of what to do with Jenny. There may be other options other than the Africam Safari Park in Puebla, Mexico and the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Today, there was a new voice among those who say Jenny should not be sent to Mexico. "We recommend tha...
2008-08-13 - Mangochi, Malawi. Emelyn Nyoni
A 70-year-old Mangochi man died on the spot after five marauding elephants trampled upon him last week. Officer-in-Charge of Lake Malawi National Park Samuel Nyanyale confirmed the development saying the old man met his fate as he fetched firewood along the Phirilongwe Forest Reserve in the district. The deceased, Lester Kamacho from Thera Village, Traditional Authority Mponda in the district, was all by himself in the forest when he encountered the elephants around 5.00pm on Friday.
2008-08-13 - Dehradun, India.
In A unique move, the authorities at Rajaji National Park have undertaken a project to build an overpass above a stretch of railway tracks and a motorable road for the movement of elephants. Once completed, this 1.5-km stretch between Motichur railway crossing to Raiwala in Haridwar district will be the first overpass of its kind in the world. It is being constructed at the directions of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court, in order to protect the corridor through which el...
2008-08-12 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Jens Laurson and George Pieler
AFTER nearly 20 years, ivory trade is legal again. This is good news for callous lovers of exotic trinkets or traditionalists among pianists, but hardly a reason for elephants to celebrate, you might think. Somehow it’s not more comforting to know that China, quickly becoming the premier neocolonial force in Africa, is a key reason why the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) has allowed the export of 110 tons of ivory. The other reason is Jap...
2008-08-12 - Boras, Sweden. Marcus Svedin
An african bull elephant was born tonight at 23.44, without knowledge or presence of staff in Boras Zoo. This is Boras third birth, and the first son to Kibo, who was born in Hannover Zoo 1977. The birth was a little bit early, but all is well.
2008-08-12 - Bucharest, Romania.
Miners in Romania have unearthed the skeleton of a 2.5 million-year-old mastodon, believed to be one of the best preserved in Europe, a local official said Friday. They stumbled on the remains of the mammoth-like animal during excavations in June at a coal mine in the village of Racosul de Sus, around 100 miles (170 kilometers) northwest of Bucharest, according to Laszlo Demeter, a historian and local councilor. "This is one of the most spectacular finds in Europe," paleontologist Vlad Codrea, w...
2008-08-12 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Dan Koehl
This website, www.elephant-news.com was created in october 2001. Today, some seven years later, the database reached 4000 articles, which are all indexed in the database, searchable, and therefore becoming a recource also for research and statistics. (Some of the original articles already deleted at the origial website) which you can search through from the searchfield in the upper left corner. You can even search the database from YOUR website
2008-08-12 - Kunene, Namibia. JOHN GROBLER
A storm of public protest has erupted over Namibian authorities' decision to allow six Kunene region elephant bulls to be shot as trophies -- three of them true desert-adapted elephants -- in what critics are charging is a "quick-buck mentality" that could damage Namibia's reputation as a pristine tourism destination. Like that of its fellow black rhino denizens, the elephant population in the arid Kunene region was decimated in the era of uncontrolled hunting in the Eighties, during which apart...
2008-08-11 - Honolulu, United States. Leanne Ta
An ongoing change is the expansion of the Indian elephant exhibit. Zookeepers are preparing to move elephants Mari and Vai Gai from their current 3,600-square-foot enclosure to a 30,000-square-foot space. Local landscapers will be contracted for the project, which will take about a year to build, Luscomb said. The zoo is searching for two more elephants — a cow and a bull — to add to the larger exhibit. About $6.8 million will go toward the project this year.
2008-08-11 - Akron, United States.
An art dealer who operated import and export businesses in Canada and Cameroon that were fronts for smuggling raw elephant ivory has been sentenced to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine for smuggling ivory from Cameroon into the United States. Canadian citizen and former Montreal resident Tania Julie Siyam, 32, was sentenced in Akron, Ohio Thursday after pleading guilty in March to four felonies. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge John Adams, is the result of a multi-y...
2008-08-11 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. K. Venkateshwarlu
For keepers and mahouts alike, it was always a messy problem that defied solution. We are talking about the roughly 180 kg of waste an adult pachyderm generates a day. And imagine the pile if it were from a herd of 60 staying and sauntering about in one place. That is simply a problem of elephantine proportions at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage here in Sri Lanka, especially for the poor keepers. But it need not be anymore. For, the orphanage, counted among the best in the world for elephants, ...
2008-08-11 - Mysore, India. Muralidhara Khajane
As the countdown for “Gajapayana”, scheduled to be held on August 18, has began, the tribal people living in the Nagarahole forest and mahouts and kavadis (helpers) of caparisoned elephants have threatened to boycott the Dasara festivities if the State Government “fails” to concede their long-pending demands. This has put the authorities in a piquant situation. “Gajapayana” is the ceremonial event in which the elephants participating in the “Jamboo Savari” march to Mysore Palace ...
2008-08-11 - London, United Kingdom.
Elephants really do have a memory like, well, an elephant. Elephant matriarchs seem to retain memories of distant, life-sustaining sources of food and water, a new study suggests. These memories could be key to the survival of their family groups during lean times. "Understanding how elephants and other animal populations react to droughts will be a central component of wildlife management and conservation," said lead author of the study, Charles Foley, of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)...
2008-08-10 - Chhattisgarh, India.
Chhattisgarh Sunday issued an advisory to forested people, mainly of Jashpur district facing repeated attacks by wild tuskers, to stay indoors at night. The forest department has advised Jashpur residents to remain in their houses after sunset till sunrise as a herd of rogue elephants is roaming in nearby araes. 'If it is urgent to come out of houses between sunset and sunrise, then do only in a group and not alone, and also with sufficient light arrangements, to avoid elephants deadly attacks,'...
2008-08-10 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo Inc. is seeking an enthusiastic professional to join our Elephant Team. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of an evolving and maturing elephant program. With a new exhibit and barn and continued elephant breeding, the Houston zoo elephant program is well on its way to becoming a state of the art program and facility. This is a full time, year-round position and includes responsibility for the care, husbandry, and training of the zoos 2.2 resident Asian elephants. In the...
2008-08-10 - Thrissur, India. N V Davies
It is height of cruelty. It is alarming. And it is simply beyond belief. But it is a naked truth. Nearly 15 percent of the domesticated tuskers carrying Gods and Goddesses and entertaining public in festivals and celebrations in this God’s Own Country is partially or totally blind. Believe it or not, majority of these animals lost their eye-sight due to beating by their mahouts. Paradoxically, in this group of blind tuskers are some of the elegant ones most sought after by the organisers of fe...
2008-08-10 - Raipur, India.
Chhattisgarh Sunday issued an advisory to forested people, mainly of Jashpur district facing repeated attacks by wild tuskers, to stay indoors at night. The forest department has advised Jashpur residents to remain in their houses after sunset till sunrise as a herd of rogue elephants is roaming in nearby araes. ‘If it is urgent to come out of houses between sunset and sunrise, then do only in a group and not alone, and also with sufficient light arrangements, to avoid elephants deadly attacks...
2008-08-09 - Thrissur, India.
US-based Grande Gesture director Barbara Gerard is in love with elephants. Talking to this website's newspaper, Barbara, who is engaged in a project on conservation of the Asian Elephants, said, "When I look at an elephant a lot of compassion is visible in its eyes and this is never told to our children.”It is important therefore to introduce the children to the gentle side of the elephant, she added. In an attempt to do this, she invented the idea of ‘Elephant House’, which is portable.
2008-08-08 - Izmir, Turkey.
Six-year-old Asian elephant Winner, bought by the Ýzmir Metropolitan Municipality from Israel after the death of the city's well-known elephant Bahadýr, has easily adapted to his new home. Winner is also happy with the hospitality of young female landlord elephant Begümcan. At the first meeting of Winner and Begümcan without barriers, the new couple seemed happy.
2008-08-08 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Mats Elting
Cute butt. The elephants at Kolmården is a gift from the King of Thailand to the King of Sweden
2008-08-08 - Seattle, United States.
The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle says an elephant that had been artificially inseminated has miscarried. The zoo says it's monitoring the 29-year-old Asian elephant Chai around the clock after Thursday's miscarriage, but she's eating and behaving normally. One of three elephants at the zoo, Chai had been inseminated in January with semen from an elephant named Sneezy at the zoo in Tulsa, Okla.
2008-08-06 - Knoxville, United States.
The Knoxville Zoo is seeking a qualified person to fill an opening in the elephant department. The Knoxville Zoo currently houses 1.2 African Elephants. The females are managed in free contact and the male is managed in protected contact. We need a dependable, trustworthy, and very team oriented individual who will be able to work in a fast paced, progressive program. Elephant experience not required but it is preferred. A high school diploma or equivalent is required, a college degree in a rela...
2008-08-05 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Indonesian villagers threatened on Tuesday to poison rare wild elephants that are destroying their palm oil plantations in search of food. "The residents are so angry and have said they will put poison around the plantation areas to kill the elephants unless officials take quick action," said Jambo Dalem village chief Teungku Baili. He said he had warned officials in Trumon Timur district of Sumatra's Aceh province, but nothing had been done to protect the plantations. A herd of eight elephants ...
2008-08-05 - Syracuse, United States.
An Asian elephant on loan from an upstate New York zoo has given birth in Canada to the first third-generation calf born in North America, zoo officials said Tuesday. The 235-pound male was born July 15 at the African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Ontario, home to North America's most successful Asian elephant breeding program, with more second-generation captive births than any other North American institution. The calf is the twelfth elephant born at African Lion Safari since 1991.
2008-08-04 - Dublin, Ireland.
AN UNPRECEDENTED baby boom at Dublin Zoo is set to draw a record one million visitors this year for the first time in the zoo's 177-year history. A total of 905,000 people entered the Phoenix Park attraction in 2007, but the patter of heavy feet has boosted interest among families and schools so far in 2008. The past year has seen the arrival of two young giraffes, a white rhino baby and a Californian sea lion calf. In coming weeks the veritable animal creche is expected to see the arrival of a ...
2008-08-04 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
Seven members of Y Ngo’s family in the central province of Dak Lak depend on one hectare of farmland. But their farm is all but destroyed, damaged by severe drought and wild elephants. “The area they trample destroys 10 times more than what they eat and there is no way rice can survive being stepped on by elephants,” said Ngo, a farmer in Ba Na Village of Ia J’loi Commune in the province’s Ea Sup District.
2008-08-03 - Washington, United States. Michael E. Ruane
The Asian elephants at the National Zoo have it nice. Every morning they get bathed and scrubbed. They often get pedicures, and step up on the scale to have their weight checked. Then they go outside to the oohs and ahhs of the adoring public. Now life is about to get even better. In March, the zoo began work on a $60 million renovation of its elephant complex, announced two years ago, that will transform it into a state-of-the-art sanctuary called Elephant Trails.
2008-08-03 - Birmingham, United States. Mark Hughes
It's easy to sometimes forget, even if we believe we think green, that we share the planet with those who really live in the green. You can't forget at the Birmingham Zoo. And yes, there will be elephants, a bachelor herd of four to six pachyderms. 'A majority of the spread will be for the elephants,' said Jamie Adcock, the zoo's marketing manager. The zoo's long-lived elephant inhabitants, Susie and Mona, died in recent years. The incoming bull elephants will be a different experience from the ...
2008-08-03 - Raipur, India.
A seven-year-old girl was trampled to death by a wild tusker in a forested stretch in Chhattisgarh, taking to eight the number of people killed by rogue elephants since June. Villagers have held demonstrations to demand that the wild elephants be hunted down. The latest casualty was reported late Saturday in Korba districts Karatala block when the girl along with her parents was gathering wood in the jungle. She was killed by a tusker.
2008-08-02 - Vallejo, United States.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is seeking qualified applicants for a full time Elephant Trainer. These elephants are managed in a free contact system. Trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to participation in animal training programs, daily care and feeding of the elephants in the collection, maintenance of the elephant exhibit and night house, behavioral observations, record keeping, animals enrichment and training, public presentations, elephant rides and operation of farm equipmen...
2008-08-02 - Dallas, United States. Ana Ley
Jenny the elephant lazily poked her trunk into a bucket of fruit as her keepers at the Dallas Zoo hosed her during her morning bath, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she could soon be shipped far from her home of 22 years. She's also certainly unaware of the debate her possible departure has stirred. Zoo officials plan to send Jenny, who became the zoo's lone elephant when her companion died in May, to a drive-through wildlife park in Mexico because African elephants become unhappy when left...
2008-08-02 - Lake Geneva, United States.
A half-hour from Milwaukee, the 135-foot-deep Lake Geneva ranks as the second-deepest lake in Wisconsin. During the late 1800s, the Barnum & Bailey Circus wintered in the area, and when one of the performing elephants died, practicality ruled. A hole was cut in the ice of nearby Delavan Lake, and the elephant was buried below.
2008-08-01 - Bangalore, India. Kamala Balachandran, Deccan Herald
It is said that in his lifetime Veerappan killed hundreds of elephants and made enormous profit from the tusks. So now that he is gone, are the elephants in the Nilgiris Mountains safe? No, because, in the place of Veerappan there are perhaps, many more, equally audacious, poachers on the prowl. And if there is one thing that anyone can say for sure, it is that there will never be a day when we can say that the last of the poachers is dead. That is because there will never be a day when people w...
2008-08-01 - Washington, United States.
African elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory at a pace unseen since an international ban on the ivory trade took effect in 1989. But the public outcry that resulted in that ban is absent today, and a University of Washington conservation biologist contends it is because the public seems to be unaware of the giant mammals' plight.
2008-08-01 - JERUSALEM, Israel.
Israeli officials say a 17-year-old girl who sneaked into a zoo near Tel Aviv with a friend was attacked by an elephant and hospitalized. An employee of Safari nature park says the couple entered the park before dawn Friday by climbing over a wall and then entering the elephants' enclosure. Mori Hertzenstein told Army Radio the girl then approached the pen of 1 of the male elephants, who grabbed her with his trunk. Hertzenstein said "the elephant, which is a giant animal, hurt her." Israeli resc...
2008-08-01 - Lake Buena Vista, United States. Dewayne Bevil
When African elephant Tsavo was born this summer at Disney's Animal Kingdom, two pachyderm families were already in place to welcome the 327-pound calf. Five years ago, his mother, Moyo, gave birth to Tufani, a built-in brother for Tsavo, who shares his name with a region of Kenya. He'll have playmates from other breeding groups, which is how the animals divide themselves in the wild -- and at Animal Kingdom. "They live very highly socialized existences," says John Lehnhardt, animal operations d...
Today's Calendar column revolves around the elephants of Disney's Animal Kingdom. You'll recall that the herd expanded in June with the birth of Tsavo, who weighed in at a whopping 327 pounds, the largest of the DAK baby elephants. When interviewing John Lehnhardt, who oversees animal care at Animal Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I asked him if he -- or anyone, for that matter -- can tell when an elephant is happy. "If they're acting like elephants -- getting along with others, eating nor...
2008-08-01 - Topeka, United States.
It's easy for everyone to get in on recycling, even elephants. With a toss of a phone book, Mayor Bill Bunten kicked off a recycling event at the Topeka Zoo today. It's called "Even an Elephant Doesn't Forget to Recycle Old Phone Books." The elephants recycled phone books by creating works of art on them. Children and their families came out to enjoy the show and all helped recycle old AT&T phone books. Some of the works of art will be auctioned off at an event tonight. You can see the elephants...
2008-08-01 - Knoxville, United States. LaSaundra Brown
A little pre-game pep talk still may not ease the nerves of the big orange players, who are getting ready to play one of their toughest games ever. "I've never been around somebody who was bigger than me," offensive tackle William Brimfield says. He's referring to elephants Edie and Jana, who together weigh more than 17,000 pounds. "They make an awesome offensive line," Knoxville Zoo Elephant Curator Jim Naelitz says. The elephants have been preparing for their match up against the star Vol play...
2008-08-01 - Houston, United States. Brad Woodard
On one occasion, our cameras spotted elephants being housed in a metal trailer on a sweltering summer afternoon. The trailer appeared to have an air conditioner, but it was unclear whether it was running. Then on a second visit, 11 News spotted the elephants outside and under an awning. The heat index was in the triple digits and the elephants appeared to be restrained by their legs. The circus manager said the elephant’s trainer is Will Davenport, but he was not available to talk to 11 News. ...
2008-07-31 - Orlando, United States.
2008-07-31 - Washington, United States. Kristen Everett, Press Releases, The Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States and its international arm Humane Society International has a list of do's and don'ts for those traveling to China, where tourist souvenirs and some meals involve cruelty to animals. Teresa Telecky, Ph.D., policy director for Humane Society International, offers the following tips to help those wishing to make animal-friendly decisions while in China: Don't buy ivory. During a recent trip to China, Telecky saw ivory for sale widely, even in hotel gift shops...
2008-07-31 - Mangalore, India.
Pilikula Nisargadhama, located at Vamanjoor in the outskirts of the city, will be getting two elephants soon. This initiative has been taken to attract more tourists to Pilikula. Rajendra and Kapile, who are at Sakrebail elephant camp which is located in Shimoga district, will be brought here soon. Earlier, Rajendra was staying in the premises of Kollur temple. But his mischievous activities proved to be a headache for the temple management there. Later he was sent to Sakrebail camp. Rajendra di...
2008-07-31 - Seattle, United States. Lisa Stiffler
The number of poached elephants is on the rise and could lead to the extinction of large populations of African elephants in a scant 12 years, according to new research from the University of Washington. Said Sam Wasser, a UW biology professor, in a press release: "If the trend continues, there won't be any elephants except in fenced areas with a lot of enforcement to protect them."Wasser is a master of DNA extraction from difficult sources such as ivory and various animal scat. Through his rese...
2008-07-31 - LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States. Andrea Finger, Walt Disney World
Disney’s Animal Programs is leading an international coalition of veterinarians, conservation groups, zoos, universities and private industry to conduct a series of procedures to effectively sterilize male elephants and help reduce the elephant birth rates in areas of South Africa. The team expects to perform laparoscopic vasectomies on eight bull elephants at the Pongola Game Reserve in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Elephant overpopulation in wildlife parks and reserves in southern Africa is ...
2008-07-31 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium announced the name of its second baby elephant today. The baby, born on July 25th, has been named Zuri. "We saw our visitors coming in to the barn and they would say, 'Oh, she's beautiful,' or 'Oh, she's pretty,' or 'Oh, she's gorgeous,' and she is actually a little bit of a pink coloration," said the zoo's Dr. Barbara Baker, "and so the staff went into books and looked up what was Swahili or African for 'pretty' and 'beautiful' and came up with the name Zuri."
2008-07-31 - Hatipota, India.
In the Hatipota forest of Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal, a female elephant was killed by a tusker on Monday. It occurred when a fight took place among some male elephants and in the meanwhile, a tusker gored a female elephant to death. IN A RARE attack of passion, a female elephant was killed by a tusker on Monday night (July 28) in the Hatipota forest of Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal. Two male elephants from the herd of wild elephants seen in the neighbourhood had been pursuing the fe...
2008-07-31 - North Bengal, India.
For the fourth time in a week a man was trampled to death by an elephant near the Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal.65-year-old Edward Lakra was returning home late on Sunday night (July 28). As he walked alone through the forest adjoining Kartick Tea Estate he was attacked and killed. Over the last eight days, three other tea workers have been killed in three separate incidents. On July 24, Bhab Younus Toppo (45) of Rydak Tea Estate, on July 23, Rabin Sangma (28) of Garam Basti and on July 21,...
2008-07-31 - Windhoek, Namibia. JOHN GROBLER
SERIOUS alarm has been raised over official plans to shoot three of Namibia's rare desert-adapted elephant bulls in the Kunene Region as trophies for big-game hunters, which conservationists fear could cause a collapse in their dwindling numbers. The permits for shooting what could be three of only five breeding-age elephant bulls left were issued in spite of warnings that this was unsustainable in a population that already showed alarming signs of high natural mortality and genetic problems due...
2008-07-30 - Chennai, United States. D Madhavan
Started barely a fortnight ago with much fanfare, the jumbo safari at the Arignar Anna Zoological park, Vandalur, has come to a halt. The two elephants used for the rides were injured in the foot a few days ago. Compounding the problem, 24-year-old Ashwini and 26-year-old Pari who were brought from the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary are suffering from diarrhoea. Zoo director Ananthaswamy told The Times of India that the over-growth of nails on the toes and infection between them that was aggravate...
2008-07-30 - Dac Lac, Vietnam.
A herd of 40 elephants over the past few days destroyed over 30 hectares of crops in Ea R’loi and Ea Lop Village in the Central Highlands province of Dac Lac. According to Ea R’Loi’s People’s Committee, the animals have been showing up in the area since 2005. They usually roam around, destroying crops in the process, for a few days before leaving. No casualities were reported.
2008-07-30 - Mumbai, India.
The state government has mooted a plan to put up a fence with electric current at the Maharashtra, Goa-Karnataka border to overcome the increasing menace of elephants in the state. At a meeting held in Mantralaya on Tuesday, revenue minister Narayan Rane suggested a fence that will work on solar energy to stop elephants from entering the Konkan region. The meeting was attended by the state finance minister Jayant Patil and forest minister Babanrao Pachpute as well as other officials from the for...
2008-07-30 - Lansing, United States.
Potter Park Zoo will host guest speaker Dr. Susan Mikota, co-editor of Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants and co-founder and Director of Veterinary Programs and Research of Elephant Care International at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 in the zoo’s Safari Room. The presentation is free and open to the public.
2008-07-29 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH and ANGELA KOCHERGA
Plans to move the Dallas Zoo's lone elephant to the Africam Safari Park by the end of the year are still on track, director Gregg Hudson said Tuesday after a tour of the facility in Puebla, Mexico. But Jenny's future is apparently not yet certain. Mr. Hudson met with the director of the driving zoo, Amy Camacho, and a team of elephant specialists who would take care of Jenny, a Dallas Zoo fixture for 22 years. "I've been impressed with the facilities that we've seen and the expansion that they'r...
2008-07-29 - Cheraw, United States. Bob Cline
The Gentry Bros. began their operation in 1887 as Professor Gentry's Canine Paradox. In a couple years the show had grown to two seperate units called Professor Gentry's Famous Dog & Pony Show. They bought their first elephant in 1890 which broke it's leg being unloaded and was euthanized immediately. 8 years later they bought a baby elephant again and named it Pinto. Same thing happened again. In 1899 they again bought another Indian female elephant and named her Pinto again. This was the first...
2008-07-29 - Raipur, India.
A rogue elephant that has killed eight people and caused widespread damage in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district is to be hunted - with tranquiliser gun - the state government announced after affected villagers started a road blockade. "We are forced to order that the rogue elephant be hunted as it has killed eight people and caused widespread damage to property in the past one year," O.P. Yadav, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Jashpur, said on Tuesday.
2008-07-29 - Trivandrum, India. T. K. Devasia
After the gruelling festival season, its time for complete rest, feasts and rejuvenation for captive elephants in Kerala. Elephant owners, especially temples, have begun the annual sukhachikitsa (ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy) for their elephants that were paraded from temple to temple from March without rest. The sukhachikitsa for elephants attached to temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) commenced in the state capital Trivandrum yesterday. Forty elephants under various temples in...
2008-07-29 - Nairobi, Kenya. Isaac Ongiri
The decision by a global arbiter on endangered species to allow China to import backlog stock of ivory from Africa may be the death knell for Kenyan elephants. The lives of the country’s more than 40,000 elephants spread across national parks is now on the line. Sitting in Geneva, Switzerland, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) ruled that China and Japan would buy 108 tonnes of ivory stocks in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Namibia.
2008-07-29 - Maryland, United States. Chelsea Haddaway
"I honestly never expected to work with elephants, and I never gave them a whole lot of thought. I have a bachelor's in biology, and when I was studying I put a lot of my focus on animal behavior and physiology. I worked in a small state park-run zoo in North Carolina the whole time I was in college. After school I came up to Baltimore and worked in the animal department. There was an opportunity in elephants and I found out that it was something that suited my personality and just stuck with it...
2008-07-28 - Kampala, Uganda. Patience Aber
The Police and army have launched a joint operation to drive back 35 stary elephants from Amuru District to Murchison Falls National Park. "We have embarked on an operation to drive elephants straying in Kochgoma and Alero sub-counties in Amuru district back to their conservation area in Murchison Falls National Park," UPDF northern region spokesperson Capt Ronald Kakurungu said last Tuesday in a statement. The elephants recently crossed over into the new district. Capt. Kakurungu said they are ...
2008-07-28 - NONG NUCH , Thailand.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Sattahip district and Nong Nuch Village organized a "Larb Cooking" competition in Northern and Northeastern style. Two intelligent female elephants, "Pang Morakot" and "Pang Christmas", also joined in to show how to do Larb Cooking. On July 27th, 2008, Mr. Kampol Tansatja, Director of Nong Nuch Village, Na-Jomtien, assigned Mr.Manit Narinrak, Deputy General Manager, to organize a competition of Larb Cooking to promote traditional foods and tourism.
2008-07-26 - Kerala, India.
elephants are now walking a fashion ramp with a difference, providing their footprints to be printed on textile carry bags of New York-based fashion designer Barbara Gerard, who is here getting her models to perform. Gerard is at this cultural capital of Kerala to also introduce a new concept for children called “Elephant House”. She said her concept was an innovative exploration of the Asian elephant involving the six senses as seen through the lens of video, film, painting, photography, mu...
2008-07-26 - Mendon, United States. Tanya Girgenrath
It's not uncommon for a groom to include his sister in his wedding party. The story becomes significantly more unique when you find out his "sister" is an elephant. Joshua Schacht, 22, and Ashley Glass, 18, were married last night at Mendon's Southwick Zoo in a wildly entertaining ceremony. Dondi, a female Asian elephant, served as the flower girl in the couple's wedding, but that wasn't her only job. The ceremony began, amidst whispers of amazement from the crowd, when the couple mounted the el...
2008-07-25 - New Delhi, India. Anand Sankar
It is a lonely and forlorn trudge for Bhola, Gangaram, Gulabu and their comrades —Delhi’s captive elephants — as they daily haul themselves from under the ITO Bridge at dawn, on the banks of the Yamuna cesspool. They plod through a city that does not bat an eyelid for them, to carry a groom at his wedding, or offer joyrides to tourists at a star hotel, all for Rs 2,000. Their day begins before the bedlam of the city’s roads and ends well after it, thanks to the traffic police. And the ma...
2008-07-25 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham
Buki is taking full advantage of new privileges accorded the queen of the Buffalo Zoo’s remodeled Elephant House. Last week, during one of her first nights back after two months at the Columbus Zoo, the 50-year-old Asian elephant poked through the bars and snatched a bale of hay keepers believed was beyond her grasp. “I thought there was no way she could reach that far,” said Kelly Amrhein, Elephant House manager.
2008-07-25 - Pittsburgh , United States.
A baby elephant was born at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium at 5:30 this morning. The baby and its 25-yer-old mother, Moja, are healthy and bonding well, zoo officials said. It’s the second successful birth of an elephant at the zoo this month. On July 9, Savannah, another 25-year-old African elephant, gave birth to a female. The zoo has not named that elephant, which weighed more than 200 pounds at birth.
2008-07-25 - Dallas, United States. Andy Hogue
A pachyderm in the public eye in Dallas could possibly be joining the elephant Gainesville never forgot, that is, if animal rights advocates have their way. Jenny the Elephant, a resident of the Dallas Zoo, has been the subject of many news stories following the death of her partner, KeKe, in May. Animal rights groups are concerned that Jenny, age 32 (and near the elephant's life expectancy in captivity of 33), would not be healthy in a zoo, and that she should be transferred to a wilderness pre...
2008-07-25 - RANCHI, India.
The Jharkhand forest department will constitute mobile squads to chase away wild elephants who create havoc in villages around the forests in the state, said an official on Thursday. "As per plan, we will constitute 15 mobile squads equipped with weapons and cell phones to chase the elephant herds," a forest official said. Each squad, expected to be constituted by the year end, is likely to have 10 to 15 members including villagers and forest officials. The squads are likely to start functioning...
2008-07-24 - Washington, United States. KIMBERLY LAUNIER
Watch the story Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET. There is something startling about an elephant's eyes. Their fiery amber color seems to blaze against the surrounding skin's burlap creases. An ancient face, lined with history, but it is the eyes that convey the generational knowledge of the species. They offer a glimpse into what researchers now say is a surprising level of consciousness. It is one of many reasons why the place elephants hold in our imaginations is both epic, and wondrous.
2008-07-24 - WORCESTER, United States. Jacqueline Reis
Somewhere, an elephant herd is one foot short of a full stampede. Or perhaps someone finally had enough of an elephant foot umbrella holder and tossed it. Wherever it started, a grotesque, hollowed-out elephant foot that appeared to be somewhere between recent kill and finished object ended up on the fifth floor of the CitySquare parking garage at the corner of Commercial and Foster streets. Police bagged it and brought it to the station early this evening.
2008-07-24 - Cleveland, United States. Darren Toms
A $20 million construction contract has been awarded for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s African Elephant Crossing project. On Thursday, the Cleveland Metroparks’ Board of Park Commissioners approved a $20,795,000 contract with Marous Brothers Construction of Willoughby, Ohio, for construction of the state-of-the-art elephant habitat and conservation center. Construction of African Elephant Crossing is expected to start in the fall.
2008-07-24 - Tshwane, South Africa.
The South African Government has donated 160 elephants to Lusenga Plains National Park in Zambia's Kawambwa Disrict. Luapula Province Acting Permanent Secretary Clement Siame said the elephants would arrive next week for Lusenga Plains National Park as part of an on going restocking program. Speaking at a preparatory meeting for Destination Luapula Tour on Wednesday, Mr Siame said the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) had given the Park 100 Zebras, 100 Wildebeests and 280 Impalas, as well, to inc...
2008-07-24 - Guwahati, India. Kumar Sarkar
Pachyderms in North Bengal are increasingly under threat with some being poisoned to death, others shot by troops of the Nepalese Army while others are being run over by trains passing forest areas. It is time the Ministry of Environment sat up..
2008-07-24 - Hamburg, Germany.
Can I get a bucket of coffee with that? Just what the elephants at the Hamburg Zoo need -- pasteries.
2008-07-24 - Buffalo, United States. Jane Kwiatkowski
Long time no see, Buki! You, too, Surapa and Jothi! From 10 a. m. to 3:30 p. m. Saturday and Sunday, party with the elephants at The Buffalo Zoo. Practice elephant art, ask a trainer the million-dollar question, and scarf down some Perry’s ice cream. All activities included with admission at the grand house of animals, 300 Parkside Ave.
2008-07-23 - Ranchi, India. ANEETA SHARMA
The forest department has proposed a Rs 77.62 crore scheme to the Centre to tackle recurring man-tusker conflicts in Jharkhand. The chief wildlife warden of the state, A.K. Singh, said the forest department has proposed forming 15 well-equipped mobile squads to maintain vigil on elephants and chase away wild pachyderms when they come near human habitations. The mobile squads would have cellphones to talk to co-ordinators in the villages concerned and keep them abreast of pachyderms’ movement.
2008-07-18 - Salem, United States. Kristin Adams
Elephant Encounter, this year’s exotic animal act at the Salem Fair in Salem, Va., was sponsored by Salem Delegate Morgan Griffith. The show featured Shannon, a 27-year-old African elephant, and Cora, a 48-year-old Asian elephant. Owners Bill and Cindy Morris gave educational shows. They showed the differences between Asian elephants and African elephants. African females have tusks while Asian females do not. Africans are also the smaller of the two. Bill Morris also pointed out that both Asi...
2008-07-18 - SANDAKAN, Indonesia.
Three Borneo pygmy elephants in Kinabatangan were fitted with satellite collars last week, marking the start of an inaugural study on the social structure of the elephants. Danau Girang Field Centre conservation biologist Nurzhafarina Othman said that studies on the genetic aspects of the elephant had been carried out but their social structure was virtually unknown. “The collaring of the elephants will ease our access to them. The bulk of the study will be done through fieldwork with the Elep...
2008-07-18 - Portland, United States. KATY MULDOON
Mamas-to-be, you know what the doctor says: Stay fit. Eat right. Don't gain too much weight. Same holds true if you're a 7,660-pound pregnant Asian elephant, which explains why the Oregon Zoo's Rose-Tu was cross training early Thursday: a little jogging, strength training, water aerobics, sit-ups, leg-lifts, stretching and -- wait -- was that a Pilates move? Might have been. Girl's gotta work her core if she's to have a trouble-free labor and delivery, which is what zookeepers hope for Rose-Tu s...
2008-07-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan authorities have detained three Chinese nationals at the country's main airport on suspicion of smuggling ivory, an official said. "The three Chinese nationals - two women and a man - were arrested at the airport in Nairobi while in possession of 2.2 kilograms of ivory," Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesman Gichuki Kabukuru said. "Since they did not have a permit, we take it as smuggling of ivory." The trio, who had stayed in Kenya for four days, were en route to the Zimbabwean capital ...
2008-07-17 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
China's approval for the first time as a bona fide buyer of ivory has drawn flak from some conservationists, who blame the country for stoking the illegal ivory trade. One of the world's biggest consumers of elephant ivory, China was given the go-ahead on Tuesday to participate as a licensed buyer in an upcoming auction of 108 tons of ivory from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. "This sale has literally given the green light to international poaching syndicates and organised crime, a...
2008-07-17 - Toronto, Canada. Ben Kaplan
This year the Pirelli Calendar has 52 pages of what you might call the elephant metaphor. The entire ecology of the elephant is more similar to us [and our fate] than any other animal – adapting to the damage we both cause eating sand cookies, while elephants eat wood. It seems we are next. This feeling is portrayed in Africa, in the Okavanga Swamp area, with African elephants of circus background and dangerous-looking humorous sittings, with lots of beauty thanks to the outstanding top ten mo...
2008-07-17 - Buffalo, United States.
The pachyderms are back from Columbus, Ohio two weeks earlier than expected, and the fans were there to greet them. Buki, Jothi, and Surapa are one of the most popular exhibits at the Buffalo Zoo. Starting Thursday you can see them outside their new home. "They really have the sense of recognition, and they're already using all four of the holding spaces. We only had two before. They're sleeping and eating normally so we think they've just come back home." says Buffalo Zoo President Donna Fernan...
2008-07-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Alphonce Shiundu And John Ngirachu
Three Chinese nationals were on Wednesday arrested in possession of 2.2 kilogrammes of ivory at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The three were arrested on the same day that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) relaxed the ban on ivory trade, to allow China import stocks from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The measure has alarmed conservation groups, which believe the huge Chinese demand for ivory will result in an increase in poaching of the...
2008-07-17 - Pretoria, South Africa. Michael Appel
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) standing committee on Wednesday authorised a decision taken last year for a once-off sale of ivory. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has welcomed the decision. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are now authorised to make a once off sale of a total of 108 tons of government-owned ivory, the department said in a statement on Wednesday. The following quantities of raw ivory have been approved for sale:...
2008-07-17 - BEIJING, China.
China defended its ivory policy on Thursday after conservationists criticized a U.N. panel's decision to allow the country to import elephant ivory from African government stockpiles. The vote this week by the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, qualifies China for a one-time auction because it has dramatically improved its enforcement of ivory rules. But some environmental groups disagreed, saying that China had over a dozen years lost track of 121 tons of iv...
2008-07-17 - Louisville, United States. Kara Bussabarger
Scotty, the Louisville Zoo’s 1-year-old baby African elephant, hit a big milestone today when he went swimming in the elephant yard pool. After he slowly eased down the pool steps behind his mom Mikki, Scotty cut loose, diving down into the deep 6-foot pool and using his trunk as a snorkel. “He really liked it,” Elephant Area Supervisor Dave Campbell smiled. “Scotty is very buoyant and floats like a cork.”
2008-07-16 - NAIROBI, Kenya.
Kenya's wildlife service says two Chinese women are being questioned at Nairobi's international airport after being found with 36 pieces of ivory. The women were stopped at the airport Wednesday morning, said Kentice Tikomo, a spokesman for the Kenyan Wildlife Service. They were booked on a flight to China. Kenya's elephant population has grown from 16,000 to 27,000 since the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species banned the ivory trade in 1989. But that is far fewer than t...
2008-07-10 - Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Lamine Sebogo
What is the best way of mitigating human-elephants conflicts in South-Western Burkina Faso? According to an IUCN expert, a good solution would be to establish a special Human-Elephant Committee in the region. Mr. Lamine Sebogo, a programme Officer for the African Elephant Specialist Group in West Africa, said that he has come to that conclusion together with local community leaders, during his fact-finding mission in the area.
2008-07-09 - Birmingham, United States.
The successful candidate should have the skills needed to lead a professional team of keepers through the daily operation, husbandry, and management that oversees a collection consisting of bull African elephants, white and black rhino, hippo, giraffe and a variety of African hoof stock, all managed in multi mixed species exhibits. This individual should have a proven work history with bull elephants and the ability to develop animal programs that will build on the daily operations within this e...
2008-07-08 - Memphis, United States.
Memphis Zoo officials are making plans for the first birth of an elephant in the zoo's century-old history. African elephant Asali has been pregnant 10 months, but won't deliver for another year. The 21-year-old elephant was impregnated with semen from bulls from zoos in Pittsburgh and Jacksonville, Fla. Memphis Zoo curator Matt Thompson said tests will be done after the calf is born to determine which is the father. Asali lives with a 44-year-old female, who zoo officials expect to act as an au...
2008-07-01 - LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States.
An elephant was born at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom this weekend. African elephant Moyo, 26, gave birth to a 327-pound male elephant on June 28. "African elephants are considered endangered and are challenging to breed," Jackie Ogden, vice president of Disney's Animal Programs, said in a news release. "This elephant birth is significant, not only for the herd and species, but also for the team of dedicated team of professionals who have been working with Moyo attentively for the past two ...
2008-06-29 - Mombasa, Kenya. JOHN MBARIA
AS THE LARGEST LAND-Based animal, the elephant has the ability to excite strong emotions — emotions that now pit different African countries against each other over whether the beast has more value alive or dead. The jumbo dispute was once again played out recently in Mombasa’s Whitesands Hotel, where representatives of 19 African countries met to cement their unity and sharpen their campaign against the resumption of the ivory trade. Meeting under the auspices of the African Elephant Coalit...
2008-06-28 - Denver, United States.
The Denver Zoo says it will spend $50 million on an Asian Tropics area to house elephants and other endangered species. Construction is to start next year, the Rocky Mountain News reported. When completed, the exhibit will have five habitat areas and room for 12 elephants. The zoo, like others in the United States, is under pressure to improve the living conditions of its elephants or move them elsewhere. Some critics, such as Marc Bekoff, a former biology professor at the University of Colorado...
2008-06-26 - Syracuse, United States.
Will zoo-goers be able to touch the elephants again? That’s a question reps from the Rosamond Gifford Zoo were hoping to get answered during a meeting with DEC officials this week. For decades, people coming to the zoo have been about to touch the Asian elephants, but the DEC recently began enforcing a law prohibiting contact with the public. Representatives from the four New York State zoos that house elephants met with DEC officials. They hope to reach a compromise in the near future.
2008-06-23 - Siliguri, India.
Yet another Indian wild elephant was killed in Nepal. This time, it's a 40-year old female pachyderm that has succumbed to bullet injuries allegedly inflicted by the Nepal police in the eastern district of Jhapa adjacent to the Siliguri sub-division. According to Ms Sumita Ghatak, the divisional forest officer, Mahananda Wildlife Division - I in Siliguri, a herd of nearly 80 Indian elephants had strayed into Nepal from the Kalabari forests near Naxalbari in Siliguri last night but were brought b...
2008-06-23 - Ghatshila, India.
Tribals in Jharkhand have started living on tree tops to escape from the increasing menace of elephants ravaging their houses. They said that the elephants have been plundering their poorly built thatched houses as they could not afford concrete structures. The tribals said that elephants have in recent months destroyed dozens of houses and trampled many people to death. We don't have houses and these elephants trouble us a lot. So, we have built our houses on tree tops, said Sundari Sabat, a tr...
2008-06-23 - Jinan, United States. Xinhua News
An elephant gets a cold shower at the Jinan Zoo in Jinan, Shandong Province on Sunday, June 22, 2008. The zoo tried to keep its animals cool as the temperature hit 37.2 degrees Celsius (98.9 degrees Fahrenheit).
2008-06-23 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Belgium has asked two female elephants from Indonesia to be bred at Parc Paradisio sanctuary park, in Belgium. Parc Paradisio`s management has developed an international-standard elephant cage to accommodate Indonesia`s elephants, a press statement of the Indonesian forestry ministry said here on Monday. Parc Paradisio also invited an Indonesian delegation to visit the zoo accommodating various endangered animals. Indonesia, in return, has asked the assistance of Parc Paradisio in managing sever...
2008-06-23 - St. Louis , United States.
The St. Louis Zoo serves Anheuser-Busch products, but it's the elephants, penguins and hippopotamuses that really define the relationship between the city's two institutions. The elephant program began in 1955 when the Busch family donated eight of the animals. A $3 million gift in 1996 became the Zoo's Hippo Harbor. The dapper birds at the popular Penguin and Puffin Coast came from Sea World, owned by Anheuser-Busch. The Zoo, like perhaps no other institution, demonstrates the entrenched relati...
2008-06-23 - Norwich, United Kingdom. VICTORIA LEGGETT
They are usually more at home in Africa but these baby elephants have been welcomed to Norwich with open arms. The 53 fibre-glass animals, which are dotted around the city, went on view for the first time today and brought smiles to the faces of their many admirers. They are here as part of a public art event called Go Elephants, which is jointly run by Wild in Art and the Forum Trust, to showcase Norwich's creativity and will be on show until August 31.
2008-06-22 - Hangchatr, Thailand.
Mosha was only seven months old when she trod on a landmine in Thailand in 2006. The explosion severed her right foreleg, which later had to be amputated. Now the two-year-old has been fitted with a prosthetic leg at the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital in Hangchatr, northern Thailand.
2008-06-22 - Chaibasa, India.
No truck driver plying on the Haatgamria-Baraiburu road in Jharkhand can escape without giving him his due. He is no toll collector, but a tusker, who has got separated from a herd. He stands for hours each day on the road waiting for food-laden trucks to give him his daily quota of food. “We don’t mind giving him a bunch of fruits, rice or other eatables. This is his toll,” says a trucker plying on the route. Fondly called ‘Ramu Haathi,’ he is not always friendly. If he cannot spot a ...
2008-06-22 - Oregon, United States. Susan Nielsen
About 284 African and Asian elephants live in about 80 accredited zoos in the United States. These zoos are trending in two directions, after decades of treating elephants as a must-have accessory and ignoring their needs for space, kinship and stimulation. Zoos are either phasing out their elephant exhibits, for ethical and financial reasons, or they're improving them and investing in off-site sanctuaries. The Oregon Zoo wants to join the latter group.
2008-06-21 - New Delhi, India. Christian Cotroneo
As India reshapes its landscape on the way to becoming an industrial and urban giant, conservationists are warning of an increase in deadly clashes between humans and elephants. While the government claims the elephant population has enjoyed a modest increase in recent years, development is robbing the herds of their natural habitat. "I think that human-animal conflict, generally, is going to be the biggest challenge of the next 10 years," said Belinda Wright, the founder the Wildlife Protection...
2008-06-21 - Nagaon, India.
Two elephants, a mother and its calf, died after they fell into a pond in the foothills of Kondoli, 35km from Nagaon, last night. The incident took place when the pair was proceeding towards the hill in a herd comprising 40-45 animals. The calf was the first to fall into the pond as soon as they had crossed Titajuri Basti. The mother jumped into the pond to rescue the calf. The villagers moved the Kothiatoli forest range office this morning to inform the authorities about the herd of elephants,...
2008-06-21 - RYAN STRONG , United States.
The Tulsa Zoo's 35-year-old Asian elephant provides the majority of semen samples to zoos across the country to help increase the captive elephant population. "Sneezy is the most sought-after male elephant in North America," said Michael Connolly, a zoologist at the Tulsa Zoo. Two factors make Sneezy a sought-after daddy — the lack of inbreeding in his family history and the diversity of his genes. Once semen samples are obtained for artificial insemination, an ultrasound determines the viabil...
2008-06-20 - Seattle, United States.
An elephant at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle may be pregnant. The zoo says it won't know for sure until an ultrasound scheduled this fall. The elephant, named Chai (chy) was artificially inseminated in January. The father is an elephant named Sneezy at the zoo in Tulsa, Okla. It all goes as planned the baby would be born by Thanksgiving of 2009. Some animal rights activists are worried about the health risks. The group Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants says it's unethical to breed Chai b...
2008-06-19 - Rajaji, India.
Recommendations of a Wildlife Trust of India-International Fund for Animal Welfare study done in 2001 have ensured zero elephant deaths in train accidents on a railway track that crosses the forests of the Rajaji National Park in the northern Indian Uttarakhand state. The railway line, which joins the holy city of Haridwar on the foothills of the Himalayas to the busy capital of the Uttarakhand state, Dehradun, had seen 20 elephant deaths, including those of tuskers and pregnant females, between...
2008-06-19 - Knoxville, United States. Amy McRary
Battle lines were drawn Tuesday in the hard-packed red clay of the Knoxville Zoo elephant yard. The pachyderm Edie was challenged to tug-of-war by eight determined if unrealistic humans. Five zoo marketing staff workers, two elephant keepers and one News Sentinel reporter grabbed a 15-foot rope and planted tennis shoes or work boots in the dirt. Edie waited feet away. All 8,700 pounds of her. Edie's back was turned to her competition. She wore a harness fastened to a yoke to which keepers hooked...
2008-06-19 - Oklahoma City, United States. Carrie Coppernoll
Zoo trustees Wednesday approved spending $23 million on the upcoming Asia exhibit — $7 million more than originally expected. The original budget of $16 million was set during the 2001-02 fiscal year, said Brian Aucone, interim executive director. Building and project costs have increased since then, he said. Project funds will largely be spent on an elephant barn and exhibit area. The Asia exhibit will be the largest in zoo history. It's scheduled to open in spring 2011.
2008-06-19 - Ahmedabad, India.
The Ahmedabd Municipal Corporation (AMC) has already begun frantic search for land for the new zoo in the city, to be spread over 100 acres. At present, the areas — near the Science City in Sola, Pirana and Hathijan — are high on the priority list. On the shopping list, apart from orangutans and pandas, are lions from Gir, the African elephant and the Himalayan Yak. “There is a proposal for a zoological park of international standards. We are looking for land which will be easily accessibl...
2008-06-19 - Daniel's Harbour, Canada.
The owner of three circus animals stranded in Daniel's Harbour, Nfld., when the truck carrying them overturned wants to say thanks to the community for its help. Mike Hackenberger has donated $4,000 toward the cost of a new playground in the name of Limba, the elephant. The huge pachyderm was in the back of the truck along with two camels when the vehicle overturned on Sunday morning. There were no serious injuries and the animals were put up in an abandoned garage equipped with wood shavings an...
2008-06-19 - Philadelphia, United States. GLORIA CAMPISI
Kutenga, a female African elephant, was only 27 when she collapsed in her stall at the Philadelphia Zoo in 1991 and died despite heroic efforts to get her to her feet, including trying to lift her with the hook from a tow truck. Peggy, 52, a female Asian elephant, fell to the concrete floor of the zoo's elephant quarters in 1994 and was euthanized shortly afterward because of debilitating arthritis and dental disease, which made eating difficult.
2008-06-19 - Kolkata, India. Raktima Bose
An elephant with rifle shots on its left hind leg was tracked down by wildlife officials on Tuesday near north Bengal’s border with Nepal, while an elephant calf died after coming in contact with the electrified border fence within the Nepal boundary. The injured tusker was part of a herd that entered the region from Nepal through the Mechi river corridor. It was tranquillised and treated by the wildlife department. Forest officials are certain that it was shot “either by the security force ...
2008-06-18 - Kanpur, India.
A female elephant from Assam is caught in an ownership battle between the administration of the famous Manki temple here and the forest department. While the temple claims Lakhi was presented to its head priest by a devotee, the forest department holds it is a government property. Faraway from the controversy, the elephant is enjoying its stay at Kanpur Zoo. Trouble began when someone registered a complaint against the temple administration that the tusker was not being looked after well and was...
2008-06-18 - Indianapolis, United States.
Elephant Awareness Week — Indianapolis Zoo. Elephant Awareness Week begins today. 11:30 a.m., elephant bath; 1:30 and 3 p.m., elephant show.
2008-06-18 - Bolton, United Kingdom.
AN MP has called for action on the illegal trade in ivory to protect endangered elephants. Brian Iddon, Bolton south east MP, backed a new campaign by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The ivory trade was banned in 1989 but approximately 20,000 elephants are killed every year to supply the black market. Dr Iddon said China was `the single major destination' for traded ivory. The IFAW is campaigning to ensure China is not allowed to import stockpiled ivory.
2008-06-17 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Elephant owners, mahouts and veterinarians are getting together to frame guidelines for the management of captive elephants in Kerala to ensure the animals are not overworked and ill-treated. The Elephant Welfare Association of the state will hold a meeting June 29 in Thrissur, about 300 km from here, to draw up a set of rules for the owners and handlers of captive elephants.
2008-06-16 - Ontario, Canada.
A small reminder of the huge animals that roamed the earth 10,000 years ago has surfaced near Barrie. An ivory tusk from either a mastodon or mammoth has been donated to the Simcoe County museum after it was discovered in Springwater Township last month. There have been approximately 120 known mastodon and mammoth remains found in Ontario. But Kevin Seymour, assistant curator at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, says this tusk is particularly rare because most mastodon or mammoth remains in O...
2008-06-16 - Heath, United States. L.B. WHYDE
A discovery made on a cold, wintery day in December 1989 changed a few men's lives, as well as history as it was known at the time. Dec. 12, 1989, was the fateful day the most complete skeleton of a mastodon was discovered on the property of the Burning Tree Golf Course, Heath, owned by Sherman Byers. While excavating for a pond on the back nine of the course, the drag-line operator caught hold of the skull. After two days, the mastodon had been recovered from three separate piles of bones about...
2008-06-16 - Denver, United States.
A special scale was at the Denver Zoo today to weigh elephants Mimi and Dolly. Mimi weighed in at 10,800 pounds and Dolly at 8,200, good weights for such animals, the zoo said. The Colorado Department of Revenue, port of entry, loaned the scales for the weigh-in. A zoo spokeswoman alluded to the zoo's fund-raising event coming up Thursday in a news release about the weigh-in. "Everyone wants to look their best for this event. However, when you attend in your birthday suit, it's exceptionally im...
2008-06-16 - Hamburg, Germany. Ursula Spuler-Stegemann, University of Marburg
Various sources relate that Charlemagne established diplomatic relations with this Abbasid ruler Caliph Harun al-Rashid in the year 797 or 801. Both sides reportedly guaranteed freedom of belief for members of the other religion in their respective empires. It is in any case an established historic fact that the elephant Abul Abbas died in 810. This magnificent animal had been sent by the caliph to Charlemagne in Aachen as a token of his friendship.
2008-06-16 - Jaipur, India.
Elephants in Rajasthan are almost synonymous with the pomp and show associated with the regal times of yore. One would find them in weddings, ceremonial processions, trade shows and on just about every occasion that needs a flavour of the august times. But little thought is spared to them after they age beyond 60, their official retirement age fixed by the forest department. Most of these elephants live in conditions detrimental to their being or are abandoned by the owners who adopt indifferenc...
2008-06-16 - Kumamoto, Japan.
Children were delighted to get the chance over the weekend to make postcards using recycled elephant dung at Kumamoto Zoo. The 10 elementary school pupils made the environmentally friendly postcards as part of a program that started in 2006 and will be held again next month. "It was great fun," said Hayato Yonemura, a 7-year-old first grader who has taken part in the postcard program since his kindergarten days. Hayato's mom lauded the program "It's great if it helps the kids develop an understa...
2008-06-16 - St. Lucie County , United States.
There soon might come a time when western St. Lucie County looks an awful lot like Kenya. Representatives from the National Elephant Center, a coalition of zoos from around the country, had preliminary talks last month with the county about its planned facility in western St. Lucie County. The organization's board of directors will meet this week to discuss the center's progress. The center was announced in February, and it will be on 300 acres owned by Waste Management, which will lease the sit...
2008-06-16 - Baraboo, United States. Brian D. Bridgeford
The audience clapped and cheered Sunday as circus performers swung high above the ring or juggled large barrels with their feet in Circus World Museum's first day open after flooding threatened the museum grounds. With a few exceptions, most of the museum escaped the flooding without being damaged, he said. Museum staff members put up a barrier of sandbags to protect the historic elephant building, and its drains were able to handled any leakage that got in.
2008-06-16 - DANIELS HARBOUR, Canada.
Two camels and an elephant made an unexpected stop in a village on Newfoundland's northern peninsula on Sunday morning. Local firefighters had to use the jaws of life to extricate the animals after the truck they were travelling in crashed near Daniels Harbour, N.L. The animals were touring the province as part of a travelling circus. A veterinarian and provincial wildlife officials were called to the scene to treat the animals, who received only minor injuries. The driver was treated for non-li...
2008-06-13 - Chipata, Zambia.
The High court in Chipata, Eastern Province has sentenced a 34 years old Mozambican national to five years imprisonment with hard labour for unlawful possession of prescribed trophy. Amon Mpinga of Marara village in chief Kachembe¢s area in Tete district, was convicted by Judge Eddie Sikazwe after he was found in possession of five elephant tusks which he brought from Malavia district. He wanted to sell the items without certificate of ownership. Facts are that on 28th December 2006, Mpinga was...
2008-06-12 - Pretoria, South Africa.
Elephant culling at the Kruger National Park is unnecessary and not a last option, the Earth organisation said on Wednesday. Founder of the group, Lawrence Anthony, said the assertion that culling was only a last option was a method cleverly designed to try to sell the slaughter to an unwilling public. "The decision to cull is based on emotion. Credible science demonstrates that the cull is unnecessary. "The public is being asked to accept an unpopular decision which has no support among respect...
2008-06-12 - Oklahoma City, United States. Carrie Coppernoll
The two Asian elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo were transported to Tulsa on Thursday morning, marking the beginning of a breeding plan that could yield an elephant herd in Oklahoma City. Elephants Asha and Chandra were loaded onto a specialized trailer after several hours of maneuvering Thursday morning, said Tara Henson, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City Zoo. The process went smoothly, she said. The 6,000-pound elephants left Oklahoma City shortly after 10 a.m.
2008-06-12 - Dak Lak , Vietnam.
The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak is the sole location in Vietnam where there remains the tradition of maintaining herds of tame elephants in its districts of Buon Don, Lac, Ea Sup, and Krong Nang. However, the population of tame elephants is sharply falling. In the past nearly two decades, many tame elephants have died of old age while there is no source of replacement. This fact has threatened the existence of the tame elephant herd in Dak Lak.
2008-06-12 - Saratoga, United States. Lee Coleman
There will be no elephant rides at the Saratoga County Fair this summer, nor at any fairs or circuses held in the Capital Region. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is enforcing a clause in its endangered and threatened species licenses that forbids the public from riding or touching African or Asian elephants. Most of the elephants exhibited at amusement parks and fairs in the state are Asian elephants. Richard Rowland, general manager of the Saratoga County Fair, said the new D...
2008-06-12 - New Delhi, India. Rahul Bedi
India’s captive elephants will soon be able to live out their twilight years at a retirement home in the southern state of Kerala where there will be an abundance of good food, the company of other tuskers and professional veterinary care. When it opens, possibly in the next few months, the facility at Kottoor, 70km from the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, will be the first in India to cater to ageing pachyderms. “We have already set up five enclosures at the facility,” said VS Varghe...
2008-06-11 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
Holding on tight to the hand of his grandfather Prince Henrik and with an elephant soft toy clutched in the other, little Christian of Denmark headed off to Copenhagen Zoo on Tuesday to help inaugurate its new elephant house. Once there, the two-year-old son of Crown Prince Frederik and his Australia-born wife Mary stuck close to his animal-loving grandpa - Henrik is honorary president of the Danish Dachshund Club - as they made their way to two glass-domed enclosures which house the pachyderms.
The new Elephant House at Copenhagen Zoo opened today following an official ceremony attended by His Royal Highness the Prince Consort of Denmark and his grandson, Prince Christian. This new Elephant House provides these magnificent animals with a stimulating environment, including easily accessible spaces for the public to enjoy them, and restores the visual relationship between the zoo and the park. The project has been driven by research into the behavioural patterns of elephants. The tendenc...
2008-06-10 - Salt Lake City, United States. Matthew D. LaPlante
A 48th birthday celebration for Hydari, an African elephant at the Hogle Zoo, will take on added significance this Saturday, following the Monday morning death of The Philadelphia Zoo's Petal. With Petal's passing at 52, Hydari - known affectionately as "Dari" by her keepers - is now the oldest African elephant in a U.S. zoo. Hogle spokeswoman Holly Braithwaite expressed condolences over Petal's death, and praised the example set by the Philadelphia Zoo's staff in keeping her healthy for so long...
2008-06-10 - Pittsburgh, United States. Allison M. Heinrichs
The oldest African elephant in a U.S. zoo won't be coming to Western Pennsylvania for her retirement. Petal, 52, died at the Philadelphia Zoo Monday morning. She was scheduled to come to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium's International Conservation Center in Somerset County with two other elephants at the end of the summer. "They called and let us know right away," said Pittsburgh Zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray. "It doesn't change anything on our end. The plan to relocate the other two elephants is...
2008-06-10 - Brinsop, United Kingdom. Wildlife Extra
For the first time in nearly a decade, the international sale of ivory from endangered African elephants has been authorized by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat. An estimated 119 tons of ivory, put up for sale from four southern African nations, which was in part conditionally approved in 2002, has been audited and verified by the CITES Secretariat. This sum represents the deaths of over 10,000 African elephants. Significant amounts of ivory in thes...
2008-06-10 - Philadelphia, United States.
A 52-year old female African elephant at the Philadelphia Zoo died Monday morning, the zoo said. Called Petal, the elephant was one of three African elephants scheduled to be moved to a new preserve outside Pittsburgh. The death will not affect the transfer of the two remaining elephants to the Pittsburgh Zoo's International Conservation Center, which should take place by late summer or early fall, a Philadelphia Zoo spokeswoman said. The zoo said it expects testing to determine Petal's cause of...
2008-06-10 - Pennsylvania, United States.
A large genetic study of the extinct woolly mammoth has revealed that the species was not one large homogenous group, as scientists previously had assumed, and that it did not have much genetic diversity. "The population was split into two groups, then one of the groups died out 45,000 years ago, long before the first humans began to appear in the region," said Stephan C. Schuster, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State and a leader of the research team. "This di...
2008-06-08 - Seattle, United States.
Wind, rain and bitter cold could not keep five determined women from sending their message to Woodland Park Zoo: An elephant never forgets. Bruce Bohmke, the deputy director of the zoo, disagreed. "They are not aware of the facts, or not using the facts accurately," he said. "About a month and a half ago, we met with these women and told them all about herpes, and that you can't pass herpes through artificial insemination, but that's not what they're saying today."Instead, Bohmke said that depri...
2008-06-08 - St. Louis, United States. Daniel Durchholz
Circus Flora is named after Flora the elephant, who formerly performed but is now retired at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennesee. The show still features animal acts. This edition includes a group of large horses used for bareback riding stunts and well as miniature horses trained by Lisa Dufresne. There's also a herd of goats that perform a humorous turn led by trainer Carlos Svenson.
2008-06-08 - St. Louis , United States.
A few years ago, Mahlon B. Wallace III of Ladue, a retired pencil company executive, rancher, wildlife art collector and philanthropist, purchased a small bronze statue by the noted wildlife sculptor Kent Ullberg. "Reaching Elephant," it was called, an African bull elephant browsing in an acacia tree.
2008-06-08 - Oklahoma City , United States. Carrie Coppernoll
The Asian elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo are moving to Tulsa in the coming days, and zookeepers are busy preparing them for the trip. Elephants Asha and Chandra will breed with the male Sneezy at the Tulsa Zoo. “It’s something that’s very hard as a keeper — to see your animals leave,” said Toni Sibilla, one of the elephant keepers. But, she said, it’s an exciting time. The sister elephants could both become pregnant and give birth in Oklahoma City.
2008-06-08 - Wakeeney, United States. Tim Unruh
Two spooked elephants on the loose capped a day of severe weather here Thursday and led to the cancellation of a circus, said Trego County Sheriff Richard Schneider. The pachyderms were preparing to perform with the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus at the Trego County Fairgrounds when tornado sirens sounded. The sirens are believed to have caused the elephants to bolt from their tethers, Schneider said.
2008-06-07 - Fairhope, United States. KECIA BA
Pittsburgh Zoo administrators are taking advantage of construction-friendly weather to work toward finishing a barn for bull elephants to be brought to a new breeding center in Somerset County this year. “It’s moving along very well,” zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray said. “Construction is underway.” By August, the center should be complete at a 724-acre former game preserve that the zoo is turning into an International Conservation Center. African elephants are the first on a list of endang...
2008-06-07 - Stavropol, Russian Federation.
Russian archeologists want to submit unique bones of mammoth’s ancestor to Guinness Record Book as “most credible exhibit in the world”. Last autumn employees of Stavropol state local history museum found a skeleton of a fossil mammoth’s ancestor (“southern elephant”) Archidiskodon meridionalis Nesti, which lived about 1-1.8 million years ago. Lucky researchers found about 80% of animal’s body in well state of preservation. To that moment world museums boasted only 4 skeletons of s...
2008-06-06 - Jackson, United States.
The Jackson Zoological Park is seeking qualified applicants for keeper positions in our African area of the zoo. This area includes hoof stock, rhinos, primates and elephants. Keepers are responsible for the daily husbandry, exhibit upkeep, environmental enrichment and on going conditioning of animals in the area. Requirements: 1 year of elephant experience in a hands on elephant program. Prefer individual with experience in operant conditioning and a degree in related field.
2008-06-05 - Miami, United States.
This position is responsible for the management of animals and staff assigned to the Asian section of the zoo as well as African and Asian elephants. Staff consists of 3 Sr. Zookeepers and approximately 12 Zookeepers. Duties include scheduling, payroll, coordination of procedures with veterinary and maintenance staff, and development and review of animal husbandry procedures including diets and enrichment. The animal collection is primarily mammals (elephant, rhino, hoofstock and large carnivore...
2008-06-05 - New York, United States. Larry Greenemeier
An animal welfare group charges that eBay sales of ivory are brisker than ever a year after the online marketplace promised to restrict the sale of products made from animal teeth and tusks—many of which come from endangered species. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), based in Washington, D.C., is urging eBay to ban—not simply restrict—all such sales on its Web market.
2008-06-05 - Wichita, United States.
Two elephants that broke loose from a traveling circus are back in custody in Kansas. The elephants were apparently spooked by severe weather that moved across the state today and got out of their enclosures. They wandered into the town of WaKeeney. One ended up in a resident's backyard less than a mile from the Trego County Fairgrounds. It was blocked off by fire trucks until its trainers could coax it onto a truck. The second elephant was tranquilized in another resident's backyard, coaxed int...
2008-06-05 - Bhubaneswar, India.
At least 250 people die on an average every year in the country's eastern states in the man-elephant conflict. "Conflict with wild-elephants claims 250 lives in the east every year," A N Prasad, Inspector-General of Forests and Director of Project Elephant told a workshop on 'Man-Elephant Interface for the Eastern Region" on Wednesday. The workshop was informed that Jharkhand reported the highest human casualty of 67 deaths in the region in 2006-07 while the death toll was 91 in 2005-06. Jharkha...
2008-06-05 - Jharkhand, India. Nityanand Shukla
Elephants are in danger in their natural habitat — Jharkhand. The death of three elephants in two separate places within a week is the latest example of the confrontation of mammoths with human beings. There was a time when elephants and human beings lived in harmony, but the goliaths started venturing into human habitats after the forests were encroached and their corridors were destroyed. The surge in Maoist activities also forced elephants to come out of jungles, as gunshots and explosive b...
2008-06-05 - Beijing, China.
Paintings by elephants? Yes! And the huge mammals with their powerful trunks and floppy ears have even had a showing of their own, in Beijing. The elephant's trunks are applied as distinctive brushes. It takes a long time to train an elephant in the refinements of high art. Many pachyderms sought inspiration for their works from the upcoming 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The show is organized by the Thailand-China Friendship Association. The elephant is to Thailand, what the panda is to China, a...
2008-06-05 - Segamat, Malaysia.
THEY thought their job was almost done. Shoot the rogue elephant with a tranquiliser dart and wait for it to drop. But Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) team suffered a momentary scare when one of two wild elephants pulled out the dart with its trunk. Sent to Segamat, Johor to capture the two beasts, Perhilitan's elephant capture unit started searching for the pair of wild male elephants on 21 May, reported China Press. And just a week later, they found them, runn...
2008-06-05 - Pittsburgh, United States. Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Willie Theison, elephant manager at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, shows some affection to Nan, one of two pregnant elephants at the zoo.Two new elephants will soon be born at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, one maybe this weekend and probably within the next week, and the second also possible at any time. The pachyderm bundles of joy -- each expected to tip the baby scales at more than 200 pounds -- will be born to two 25-year-old females, Moja and Savannah, also known as Nan, impregnate...
2008-06-05 - Lampang, Thailand. Mohit Joshi
"Hey, little one, come to mama," chirps Soraida Salwala. The "little one" is a female elephant calf named Mosha, and she knows that Soraida never visits her empty-handed. She approaches Soraida to find a treat of bananas. Soraida has cared for the calf for the past 18 months after Mosha tripped on a landmine in the jungle near Thailand's border with Myanmar. The explosion almost severed her right foreleg, and she was brought to Soraida's elephant clinic when she was 7 months old.
2008-06-04 - Windhoek, Namibia. Oswald Shivute
RESIDENTS at Onanke village in the Oshikoto Region are complaining about a herd of elephants that have destroyed their crops. One of the villagers, Moses Thomas, told The Namibian that the elephants arrived at the village early last month, trampling mahangu fields, fences and homesteads. "My whole mahangu field has been emptied by these elephants. We have no more mahangu in the fields and are going to have no harvest this year, because of these elephants," Thomas said. He said the village also h...
2008-06-04 - Labis, Malaysia.
Two wild elephants, caught after they went on a rampage at a farm in Kampung Tenang, have been transferred to Taman Negara. Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) officers carried out the transfer yesterday. The elephants, aged 10 and 15, will be released into the wild. Lancang Pahang Elephant Operation commander Nasaruddin Othman said the elephants were caught between May 26 and May 27 after two villages in Kota Tinggi were destroyed by several elephants two months ago.
2008-06-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
On the eve of World Environment Day, senior wildlife officials from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bengal today came together to work out an inter-state co-ordination strategy and to resolve the long standing issue of man-elephant conflict. Organised by the wildlife wing of the forest department, the workshop titled “Man-Elephant interface for the eastern regional states of India” aimed to focus on conflicts arising due to spatial and food-related problems.
2008-06-03 - Anuradhapura , Sri Lanka. Roland Buerk
The renewed civil war between Sri Lanka's government and the separatist Tamil Tigers is claiming many victims, among them increasing numbers of the island's wild elephants. Of the 74 elephants which died in the north and north-west region last year, 44 were killed by gunfire. The others fell victim to poison, were deliberately electrocuted by farmers who connected wire fences to the mains, or fell down wells. Just four died of natural causes.
2008-06-03 - Melbourne, Australia. MIKI PERKINS
BONG Su, the 34-year-old bull elephant at the Melbourne Zoo, has smashed an Australian and a world record, and all it took was a little gentle persuasion. Not only did he help companion Dokkoon become the first elephant in Australia to get pregnant through artificial insemination, but he has broken the world record for elephant sperm concentration — 2.2 billion sperm per millilitre, compared with the average of 600 million a millilitre.
2008-06-02 - Melbourne, Australia.
An ultra-sound has confirmed one of the Melbourne Zoo's elephants is pregnant. The zoo is celebrating the pregnancy of a 15 year old endangered Asian elephant, named "Dokkoon". It is the first elephant pregnancy at the Melbourne Zoo. It is also the first artificial insemination pregnancy at any Australian zoo. The elephant's pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasound examination carried out on Saturday by fertility experts from Berlin working with the zoo's veterinarians.
2008-06-02 - Jamshedpur, India.
The carcass of two elephants, a mother elephant and its baby, which died due to electrocution, was found this morning in Kewar village of Jharkhand. According to reports as the baby elephant crossed the Dlama forest and entered the adjoining Kewar village, it got an electric shock from an exposed electric wire and died on the spot. The mother elephant in its effort to save its offspring got electrocuted in the same way and died soon after.
2008-06-02 - Tallin, Estonia.
On 28 May, the Management Board of Enterprise Estonia approved support for renewal of the elephant house at Tallinn Zoo, renovation of the Bastion tunnels and Kiek in die Kök, and installation of the exposition. Support was also granted to the project of the Kihnu Rural Municipality, as a result of which the Kihnu museum building will be fully renovated and furnished with a richer exposition.
2008-05-31 - Vallejo, United States.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is seeking qualified applicants for a full time Senior Level Elephant Trainer. These elephants are managed in a free contact system. Senior Level Elephant Trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to participation in elephant training programs, daily care and feeding of elephants in the collection, maintenence of elephant exhibit and night house, public presentations, elephant rides, assisting veterinary staff, good working knowledge of tools and farm equip...
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is seeking qualified applicants for a full time elephant trainer. These elephants are managed in a free contact system. Trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to participation in animal training programs, daily care and feeding of the elephants in the collection, maintenence of the elephant exhibit and night house, behavioral observations, record keeping, animals enrichment and training, public presentations, elephant rides and operation of farm equipmen...
2008-05-31 - Patna, India.
An elephant named "Osama bin Laden" that has killed more than 11 people and injured dozens over the past few months was shot dead in Jharkhand, officials said on Saturday. The wild male elephant, had been terrorising villagers in two states, destroying their crops and homes. Forest officials and a police team tracked down the rogue jumbo in Jharkhand late on Friday, where it was shot dead, Ravi Ranjan, a senior government official said. "Yes, Osama has finally been killed and it took us 20 bulle...
2008-05-31 - Raleigh, United States. Martha Quillin
The N.C. Zoological Park enjoyed record attendance over Memorial Day weekend, and state tourism officials think the milestone portends a good year for the travel industry. Zoo spokesman Rod Hackney said 32,732 people came to see the elephants, chimpanzees and their neighbors over the three-day Memorial Day weekend. That tops the previous Memorial Day weekend record of 25,806 in 2005. Hackney attributed the turnout to good weather, wide publicity of the zoo's improved elephant and rhino habitat, ...
2008-05-30 - Wichita, United States.
The Sedgwick County Zoo has unveiled its plans for the future, which should mean new animals and a lot of changes at the popular attraction. If the zoo has its way, there could be a multi-million dollar walk-through elephant exhibit, a new events center that could seat 2,000 people and an aquatic complex.
2008-05-30 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
An elephant regarded as the biggest in the Central Highlands’ Dak Lak Province, the land of elephants in Viet Nam, suffered a sudden death on Tuesday evening after reportedly eating grass from a field that had been sprayed with insecticide. The 68-year-old elephant, Y Trut, had won many prizes at local races and strength competitions. Y Trut, 7.4 tonnes in weight and 3.4m in height, was buried according to the customs of Tay Nguyen highlanders.
2008-05-30 - Woburn, United Kingdom.
David Bellamy was at Woburn Safari Park to open the new elephant house.Checking out the new elephant house at Woburn Safari Park. Chandrika, Damini and bull Raja moved in on Tuesday after the new Elephant House's official opening by TV conservationist David Bellamy and the Duke of Bedford. The sandy floor is easy on the toes and great for dust baths while the residents can wander off into side rooms for some peace and quiet. Dr Bellamy was pleased to see that the facility – one of the f...
2008-05-30 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Forest Minister Benoy Viswom said that captive elephants without an embedded microchip will not be allowed to be paraded during festivals and other social gatherings from June 1. "We have already held discussions with the elephant owners and they have agreed. Revenue, Forest and Tourism Department officials also have been intimated," the Minister told reporters at a press conference here on Thursday to highlight the achievements of his ministry during the past two years. The new cut-off date on ...
2008-05-30 - Majete Wildlife Reserve , Malawi.
Are you the kind of tourist whose choice of holiday destination is affected by the size of your carbon footprint? If so then step into the largest footprints you'll find on earth and help the elephant translocation project in Malawi this June. In a new twist on eco-tourism, visitors are being offered the chance to help capture and move 70 elephants from Malawi's Liwonde National Park and Mangochi district and help re-stock the Majete Wildlife Reserve in southern Malawi.
2008-05-29 - Cairo, Egypt. Abeer Allam
In most world zoos, employees feed and care for the animals. At Egypt's Giza Zoo, workers turn them into dinner or sell them as pets. The zoo is a living example of the mess our country has become, said Ahmed El-Sherbiny, chairman of the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends. It is a combination of corruption, the death of work ethic, mismanagement and apathy. The sole elephant is leashed to a 50-centimeter (20-inch) chain, treatment that left a previous pachyderm disabled for lack of exercise, he ...
2008-05-29 - Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Rosli Zakaria
After nearly 30 years of uncertainty, Tasik Kenyir is set for comprehensive development. Ten islands will be transformed into dedicated parks for exotic birds, snakes, deers and wild orchids as well as for interactive games and recreational areas. "It is only known as an angler's paradise and there is little else for others to see," said Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said. He pointed out that a new attraction had been added to Tasik Kenyir recently - the elephant sanctuary at Sungai Ketiar. Ahmad sa...
2008-05-29 - Jerantut, Malaysia.
A wild elephant which had been destroying plantations in three villages near Felda Padang Piol here, has been captured. The male elephant, believed to have been separated from its herd in the Padang Piol Forest Reserve two months ago, had been giving villagers of Kampung Lada, Kampung Paya Garut and Kampung Beletir the jitters. It had wandered alone and damaged the villagers' fruit orchards. Last week, about 20 Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) officers were despatched to trap ...
2008-05-28 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Caroline Duffield
South Africa has lifted its ban on the culling of elephants, as numbers have more than doubled since its introduction 1994.
2008-05-28 - Laikipia, Kenya. Rebecca Wanjiku
For the farmers living around Mount Kenya Forest, every day is a struggle, wondering whether the 5,000 elephants from the forest will "visit" and leave a trail of destruction and even death. But the days of living in fear may be over, thanks to new technology that will enhance communication between local communities and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). In the past, when rogue elephants broke from the forest, they destroyed farm land and the only thing farmers could do was scream and report the ...
2008-05-27 - Anchorage, United States. Sean Doogan
Alaskans keep asking for updates on Maggie the elephant -- folks just can't seem to get enough. Maggie has joined the herd of four other African elephants at the Performing Animal Welfare Society, or P.A.W.S., Sanctuary in California. Maggie has made friends with a pachyderm named Lulu Bell. But Pat Derby, P.A.W.S. co-founder, says Maggie is fitting in well with all of the elephants and is now a full-fledged member of the herd. "She loves this big habitat, she's learned how to knock down ...
2008-05-27 - Mereuch, Cambodia. Stefan Lovgren
For years wildlife poacher Lean Kha had prowled the war-ravaged forests of Mondulkiri Province in eastern Cambodia looking for meat. A former teenage soldier for the Khmer Rouge political party, he estimates that he killed a thousand animals, including ten tigers, after the fall of the brutal Pol Pot regime in 1979. Now, with Cambodia finally at peace, small but growing populations of animals—including Indochinese tigers, Asian elephants, and critically endangered species such as the giant ibi...
2008-05-26 - Cooch Behar, India.
A pregnant elephant was found dead in a maize field near the National Highway in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal and it is suspected that she suffered a heart attack during labour. The carcass of the pachyderm was found by villagers in the area this morning following which senior forest officials including Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife north) L C Bahuguna rushed to the spot, officials said. They said a veterinary surgeon of the forest department Pralay Mandal and others examined the ...
2008-05-23 - Bloomfield Hills, Ethiopia. Sandra Shoshani
On Tuesday evening, May 20, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Hezy Shoshani was one of the victims of a bomb attack on a public minibus taxi as he was returning to his home from Addis Ababa University. He was taken to hospital and operated on but he had massive trauma and he died on Wednesday morning. Arrangements are being made for a funeral service in Israel, as soon as his body is released. Memorial services may be held in Addis Ababa, where he had been teaching for 1.5 years and doi...
2008-05-22 - Pittsburgh, United States.
2008-05-20 - Polk City, United States. Keith Baker
Firefighters in Polk County scrambled to keep a herd of elephants safe from flames this afternoon. It was just after 2:30 when a wildfire flared up about a quarter-mile east of the Barnum & Bailey Circus Elephant Farm, off Old Grade Road. Fire crews positioned themselves at the elephant farm to protect the animals, while a separate crew fought flames in a nearby wooded area with backhoes and other earth-moving equipment.
2008-05-20 - Lusaka, Zambia.
AN EMERGENCY appeal launched by a Cranleigh-based wildlife charity has ensured the future of a group of orphaned elephants in Africa. Following the floods that devastated much of Zambia earlier this year and with their home washed away, the elephants – tragic victims of ivory poaching - were facing an uncertain future. But the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) launched an emergency appeal and local supporters responded "magnificently", said a spokesman for the charity, "funding the bui...
2008-05-20 - Calgary, Canada.
The injury of an animal keeper at the Calgary Zoo on Sunday, gave known animal activists PETA, a chance to attack their elephant management techniques. But Graham Newton, the Director of Corporate Services at the zoo tells 660News, PETA's accusations are unfounded. He says their information is filled with inaccuracies and shoddy research, because they already do use protected contact method with one of their elephants, and for others the free contact method is what they're used to, and is a safe...
2008-05-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. Solomon Mburu
Modern technology may soon come to the aid of farmers living under the constant threat of elephants from Mount Kenya forest. Tests on a new GSM technology that seeks to enhance communication between local communities and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) are at an advanced stage. Dubbed ‘Push to Talk on Cellular’ (PoC), the technology has brought together Safaricom Ltd as the lead organization, Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association (GSMA) Development Fund, Wireless Zeta Telecomunicaciones (Wire...
2008-05-19 - Bucharest, Romania.
From parading an elephant through the streets to wrapping a condom on a finger or posing as Jesus, Romanian politicians are finding new ways to woo voters ahead of municipal elections on June 1. In the Black Sea port of Constanta, a bulky candidate for mayor, nicknamed "the elephant", publicised his campaign by walking the animal through the town centre. "It eats peas," the candidate Victor Manea said, poking fun at the current mayor of Constanta, whose last name, Mazare, means peas in Romanian.
2008-05-19 - Beaverton, United States.
The white-haired man rises from morning coffee, pushing hard on his cane, summoning his 90-year-old legs to stand. The time has come to explain his life -- beyond Packy, the beloved elephant he delivered 46 years ago at today's Oregon Zoo. Matthew Maberry has never been much of a talker. A smart farm boy reared in a small Washington town, the Beaverton man would rather be lost in books or outside among animals
2008-05-18 - Siliguri, India.
The decomposed body of an adult elephant was today found at Ponorogharia area near Oodlabari in the Dooars. The spot is in Lethi-I forest of Noam range in the Kalimpong forest division. According to the Kalimpong divisional forest manager, Mr Ompraksah, a forest patrolling party from the Noam range discovered the carcass of a female elephant early this morning. The eight feet long pachyderm was found lying on the track inside the Lethi forest and the body was partially decomposed.
2008-05-18 - Calgary, Canada.
Senior elephant keeper Brent Vanhooft, 48, was taken to hospital Sunday afternoon after an incident in the Tropical Eurasia building at the Calgary Zoo. Around 1:30 p.m., a crowd of people in the Elephant Crossing facility looked on in disbelief as one of the animals; a 33-year old elephant named Swarna, became agitated, and knocked the zoo keeper down. Swarna was in a pen with two other elephants, a mother, Maharani, and her 9-month old calf, Malti. Maharani is Swarna's sister. Zoo officials be...
2008-05-18 - Lucknow, India.
A former legislator of the Uttar Pradesh assembly was booked for illegally keeping two elephants in his farmhouse, forest department officials said on Sunday. Jitendra Jaiswal, who represented Gorakhpur assembly constituency, was served a show cause notice after he was found not having a license to keep elephants. The detection was made during a raid on his farmhouse.
2008-05-18 - Chiang Rai, Thailand. Lisa Young
A HEAVY morning mist lingers over the mighty Mekong river and spills on to the lush jungle foothills of Thailand and Laos. I am at the confluence of the great Ruak and Mae Nam Khong (Mekong) rivers, home to the Anantara Resort and Elephant Camp in northern Thailand's Golden Triangle. My day begins in luxury at this exclusive rural hideaway overlooking the rugged hillsides, but I pull on my old clothes. They may be inviting, but I have no intention of visiting the spa or the infinity pool.
2008-05-18 - Washington, United States.
A new WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) study of conflict between humans and wild elephants in Africa and Asia has suggested that governments could save human lives and millions of dollars in crop and income losses for the rural poor through better consideration of the needs of wildlife. According to a report in ENN (Environmental News Network), the study found the most serious conflict and harm to both human communities and elephants resulted from unplanned and unregulated development.
2008-05-17 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
As time passes by, Nepal’s endangered wildlife population is decreasing thanks to unabated poaching even inside the national parks and wildlife centres. The officials at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) also accepted that the domestic and international poachers targeted the endangered wildlife with the threats of total disappearance of several species in the not too distant future in absence of effective measures to preserve them.
2008-05-17 - Lampang, Thailand. Supat Sutti
Nau Oon is very cute baby elephant of greatest mother Singha Khon as she has very high possibility of pregnancy as told by the mahout.. Nau Oon was born at Thai Elephant Conservation Center on 12 of June 2004, its about 4 years ago in the forest. I remember that Singha Khon she gave birth of her second baby by her own self and the day before she still worked in our mahout training course and we brought the elephant into the forest with the tourists and next day the Mahout Berm he just knocked my...
2008-05-17 - Jamshedpur, India. SASWATI MUKHERJEE
Summer months bring with them an increase in the number of guests to Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, though the tourism department cannot claim credit for these visitors. During this season, a drastic increase in the number of elephants is witnessed. The number of elephants in the sanctuary now stands at 80, which would go down to 15 after summer. The figures are based on a rough census carried out during Sendra or Bishu Shikaar — traditional tribal hunting festival — on May 12.
2008-05-16 - Imperial, United States.
When the standard summer day trips all seem run of the mill, why not do a little time traveling and jump back, oh, 10,000 or 15,000 years? The Mastodon State Historic Site at Imperial boasts one of the most extensive Pleistocene Ice Age deposits in the nation. Known as the Kimmswick bone bed, this important archaeological site was discovered in the early 1800s. It contains bones of mastodons and other now-extinct animals that once roamed the area now known as Jefferson County.
2008-05-16 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is beginning to resemble a maternity ward. Days after the birth of a baby tiger, the zoo is just weeks away from the arrival of not one but two baby elephants. This is the first time that two of the zoo's elephants will deliver within a month of each other. The first one could come as early as May 28. After 22 months gestation, it has been a long wait, zoo officials said.
2008-05-16 - Houma, United States. Mark Bahm
In this book, Adrienne Mayor, a classicist specializing in ancient folklore, contends that the Greeks and Romans had a much more-extensive knowledge of the fossil remains of extinct animals than is usually admitted by modern writers. Though extinct except in Africa by historical times, elephants had once been fairly common in the Mediterranean basin. The ancients are known to have found their remains, and these remains have a couple of peculiarities that may well have given rise to the Cyclops m...
2008-05-16 - Nairobi, Kenya. TOM ODULA
Police charged a Chinese man and woman with illegally possessing about 240 pounds of ivory and trying to fly it out of Kenya, an officer said Thursday. Shubo Liang and Tao Gu pleaded not guilty after the charges were read in a magistrate's court, said Joseph Mumira, chief investigator at Kenya's main international airport where the pair were arrested. A routine screen of the suspects' luggage Wednesday showed they contained elephant tusks, cut into pieces, Mumira said, adding that the origin of ...
2008-05-15 - Hatfield, United Kingdom. Lei Ren1, Melanie Butler1, Charlotte Miller1, Heather Paxton1, Delf Schwerda2, Martin S. Fischer2 and John R. Hutchinson1, The Royal Veterinary College, University of London
As the largest extant terrestrial animals, elephants do not trot or gallop but can move smoothly to faster speeds without markedly changing their kinematics, yet with a shift from vaulting to bouncing kinetics. To understand this unusual mechanism, we quantified the forelimb and hindlimb motions of eight Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and seven African elephants (Loxodonta africana). We used 240 Hz motion analysis (tracking 10 joint markers) to measure the flexion/extension angles and angular...
2008-05-15 - Guruvayur, United States.
The Guruvayur Devaswom is all set to launch the first mahout training school in the state. The Devaswom will conduct a two-year certificate course at Punnathur Anakotta to mould professional mahouts. The traditional elephant physician Avanaparambu Maheswaran Namboothiripad, retired veterinary experts KC Panicker, KN Muraleedharan and other expert vets from the wildlife and forest departments will be the guest faculties. Devaswom Minister G Sudhakaran will inaugurate the Devaswom School of Mahout...
2008-05-15 - San Francisco, United States.
No doubt, Ruby--with her fabled elephant's memory--has not forgotten that this is her first anniversary at PAWS sanctuary in San Andreas. One year ago today, the Los Angeles Zoo's female African elephant, Ruby, left behind her solitary off-exhibit barn, and controversy over her fate, for retirement at the bucolic northern California sanctuary. From all reports, the move was a success. "Ruby is the most delightful elephant," said Pat Derby, co-founder of PAWS. "And she's been a catalyst for harmo...
2008-05-15 - Tunica Hills , Angola. JAMES MINTON
Recently, high water flushed a bear out of the woods, and now Angola has another significant discovery: a mastodon tooth found by Lt. Col. Joe Norwood on family property in the Tunica Hills near the penitentiary. LSU paleontologist Judith A. Schiebout identified the fossil through e-mailed pictures, and LSU now wants to look at the site, with the landowner’s permission, prison spokeswoman Cathy Fontenot reports. The tooth appears to be about 8 inches long, judging from the pictures.
2008-05-15 - Little Rock, United States.
Wild Week continues here at Today's THV. Thursday at 10:00 we're taking you on a safari without ever leaving Arkansas. Scott and Heidi Riddle opened Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in 1990. Now eight elephants call 367 acres home. The goal Scott says is to provide a safe haven for these animals and so much more. The non-profit sanctuary also gives the public a unique opportunity for an "up-close and personal" elephant experience. People from across the U.S. come here for a wild weekend....
2008-05-14 - Ruskin, United States. Dom Yodice
Here is one of the best "Foot in Face" photos I have ever seen. It's Ringling-Barnum 1951 with Arky Scott, the wonderful Jeanne Sleeter and of course "Minyak".
2008-05-14 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Elephants and wildlife cost Namibia's communal farmer s up to US$1 million annually and a quarter of households income in crop damage in some Asian countries, a Swiss-based environmental group said Wednesday. The WWF said in a statement posted on its website that governments could save human lives and millions of dollars in crop and income losses for the rural poor through better consideration of the needs of wildlife, adding that damage could be minimised through fencing and better land use. In...
2008-05-14 - Geneva, Switzerland.
Elephants and other wildlife damage millions of dollars' worth of poor farmers' crops each year, which could be avoided with proper fencing and better land use, a leading environmental group said on Wednesday. The Swiss-based WWF, formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund, said wild elephants cost Namibian communal farmers $1 million a year, and up to a quarter of the household incomes of poor farming families in Nepal.
2008-05-14 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH
Dallas Zoo's elephant exhibit re-opened Wednesday, two days after the zoo's oldest elephant died. A necropsy showed that KeKe, 39, had died of a congestive heart failure, zoo officials said. She had been ill for a couple of weeks and was being treated for intestinal colic at the time of her death.
2008-05-14 - Seattle, United States. CLARE HODGSON
A year after Hansa's death, we are still grieving the loss of our beloved baby elephant. From the moment she was born in November 2000, Hansa was a hit, doubling attendance at the Woodland Park Zoo. People were captivated by her toddler-like behavior, running around the elephant barn, trying to fit her whole body into a small plastic tub and dribbling her blue ball like a budding soccer star. What a joyful escape from our busy lives to watch the portly little pachyderm having so much fun.
2008-05-14 - Syracuse, United States.
The state is reminding officials at a Syracuse zoo that regulations prohibit visitors from touching the zoo’s three elephants. Department of Environmental Conservation officials notified the Rosamond Gifford Zoo last month that it can’t allow visitors to pet the elephants during demonstrations with the pachyderms’ trainer. The DEC regulations say holders of endangered and threatened species licenses are required to prevent such contact.
2008-05-14 - Subrahmanya, United States.
Much admired female elephant of Kukke Sri Subrahmanya Temple, Indumathi, breathed her last on Monday night after a brief illness. Final tributes were paid to the 58-year-old elephant at Nakshatravana on the banks of river Kumaradhara on Tuesday. Indumathi had recovered from a sore on its stomach recently; but she was suffering from indigestion for the past two days. Unable to respond to the treatments of senior doctor Dr Venkatachalapathy, she passed away at 11.40 pm on Monday, leaving thousands...
2008-05-14 - Vancouver, Canada.
Governments could save human lives and millions of dollars in crop and income losses for the rural poor through better consideration of the needs of wildlife, according to a new WWF study of conflict between humans and wild elephants in Africa and Asia. The new study, Common Ground, found that the most serious conflict and harm to both human communities and elephants resulted from unplanned and unregulated development. In Namibia, elephant related conflict costs communal farmers around $US 1 mi...
2008-05-14 - Bewdley, United Kingdom.
You know how it is when the sun beats down and you just have to cool off? Well, Latabe, the 15-year-old African elephant at the West Midland Safari Park at Bewdley is being given extra long showers to help her enjoy the heat. Although the elephants at the park have access to a mud pool which is constantly topped up with water to ensure it never dries out, they do enjoy a pleasant cooling shower thanks to the efforts of their keepers. Elephant keeper Andy Plumb knows what they like best.
2008-05-13 - Kampala, Uganda. Okello JB, Masembe C, Rasmussen HB, Wittemyer G, Omondi P, Kahindi O, Muwanika VB, Arctander P, Douglas-Hamilton I, Nyakaana S, Siegismund HR. Makerere University
We investigated population genetic structure and regional differentiation among African savannah elephants in Kenya using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers. We observed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) nucleotide diversity of 1.68% and microsatellite variation in terms of average number of alleles, expected and observed heterozygosities in the total study population of 10.20, 0.75, and 0.69, respectively. Hierarchical analysis of molecular variance of mtDNA variation revealed significant differe...
2008-05-13 - Sault Ste. Marie , United States.
Viola is just one of the main attractions that the Garden Bros Circus will showcase during four Sault Ste. Marie shows Tuesday and Wednesday at the Steelback Centre. Viola and her mates were outback enjoying a meal of hay Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the show. "She's the largest performing female elephant in the world" Ian Garden, President and Ringmaster of Garden Bros. Circus."She tips the scales at 11,000 pounds"
2008-05-13 - St. Paul , United States. PAUL WALSH
The trail of trade in animal parts (including pieces of monkeys and rhinos) from Southeast Asia leads to a Hmong market in St. Paul. In a clash of culture, profit and international law, two east-metro women are accused of smuggling into Minnesota and selling at a Hmong marketplace in St. Paul a host of products derived from various protected wildlife, including elephant, leopard, leaf monkey and weasel.
2008-05-13 - Los Angeles, United States.
There's nothing like an elephant... in a zoo... to get many Angelenos riled up. Should the elephants stay or should they go? And what about that $40-million new elephant habitat under construction? Today, City News Service reports that a lawsuit filed to close the Los Angeles Zoo's current elephant exhibit and stop the construction of a new one was dismissed. In the suit filed last Aug. 2 against the city and zoo director John Lewis, actor Robert Culp and real estate agent Aaron Leider maintaine...
2008-05-13 - YAKUTSK, Russian Federation. Alex Rodriguez
Every spring, Nikolai Petrov leads a squadron of motorboats along the banks of remote channels and rivers in northern Siberia, waiting for the split second when chunks of thawing tundra plunge into the water. If luck is on Petrov's side, he will see shards of mammoth fossils protruding from the bank. He doesn't want the femurs, pelvises or shoulder blades, just the tusks. Here in the Siberian province of Yakutia, mammoth tusks are big business—a trove thousands of years old meant not for the w...
2008-05-13 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH
KeKe, a 39-year-old African elephant, was euthanized Monday afternoon at the Dallas Zoo after suffering from intestinal problems. "The circle of life goes on here every day." KeKe's death calls into question the future of the zoo's other elephant, Jenny, 31. Zoo officials said they do not expect to keep her by herself long-term, because elephants are herding animals that seek companionship. They said they do not know yet whether she will be transferred, or whether another elephant will be brough...
2008-05-13 - Dallas, United States.
"Keke," an elephant at the Dallas Zoo, died late Monday afternoon after veterinarians worked throughout the day to treat her. The Dallas Zoo closed the elephant exhibit Monday to treat Keke, who had colic. Zoo officials said the 30-something pachyderm ate some rocks, which led to her stomach problems. Veterinarians were planning to use a crane to lift KeKe to her feet for a more thorough evaluation of her situation.
2008-05-12 - CHANDRAPUR, India.
Two ageing elephants - Ranjeet and Vimla - who used to take the tourists of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) for a royal ride in the jungle - have been retired. In their place young and energetic Sushila (14 years) and Laxmi (7) have been recruited. Gajraj, another majestic elephant and a colleague of Ranjeet and Vimla, however, retains his post at TATR. Gajraj will lead Sushila and Laxmi in jungle safari. The elephant duo were retired on April 19, sources said. "Because of old age the effic...
2008-05-12 - Lampang, Thailand. Pridiyathorn Devakula
I have concentrated on economic issues for many weeks. Today, I would prefer to write a non-economic story about nature that I encountered recently, an occasion that deserves praise. Last Monday, I had a chance to visit the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation's camp at Ban Hua Thung in Lampang's Hang Chat district. There, I witnessed the way that elephants are being trained to live in the wild, eating the plants available to them in the forest. Feeding by humans is not allowed. These elephants we...
2008-05-12 - Windhoek, Namibia. Oswald Shivute
A MAN was killed by an elephant during a standoff between a herd of elephants and villagers at Omuntele in the North on Thursday. Thirteen elephants, including three calves, escaped from the Etosha National Park. They trampled crops and mahangu fields, and villagers tried to chase them back to Etosha, shooting into the air with their rifles. One elephant was wounded by a bullet fired by a villager. But this did not deter the elephants, which then stormed at the people. The villagers tried to run...
2008-05-12 - Dallas, United States.
The Dallas Zoo on Monday closed its elephant exhibit in order to treat ailing KeKe. According to a news release issued by the zoo, the 39-year-old female African elephant has a severe case of intestinal colic. Zoo veterinarians and zookeepers have been treating her symptoms for more than 10 days and have consulted with experts throughout the country for additional methods to help her, according to the release. Zookeepers had recently noticed problems when KeKe refused to eat. Following treatment...
2008-05-11 - Warkworth, New Zealand. TIM HUME
The observation that pets often resemble their owners is perhaps an unkind way to begin a story about an elephant keeper. But for Tony Ratcliffe and his beloved African elephant Jumbo, inseparable for 30 years, the comparison seems unavoidable.
2008-05-11 - Dundee, United Kingdom. PETER ROSS
Elephants: Dundee was the venue for the first dissection of an elephant. On April 27, 1706, a circus elephant died just outside the city and was dissected by a local surgeon, Patrick Blair.
2008-05-11 - Dompierre-sur-Besbre, France.
After a long wait finally a female asian elephant was born 4th of May in Le Pal Zoo in France. At first rejected, but later accepted by the mother Nina, who is a second generation Zoo elephant, as well the father Chang. Nina was born 1993 in Paris Zoo, and Chang was born 1981 in Copenhagen.
2008-05-07 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
Blackpool Zoo is looking for a Trainee Elephant keeper to help in the continuous development of our Elephant care programme. You will assist in the daily care of our four female Asian Elephants and will be involved in all aspects of their husbandry on a daily basis. Suitable candidates should have a strong interest in working a free contact keeping system with this species.
Blackpool Zoo is looking for an Experienced Elephant Keeper to help in the continuous development of our Elephant care programme. You will assist in the daily care of our four female Asian Elephants and will be involved in all aspects of their husbandry on a daily basis. You should possess the Advanced National Certificate in the Management of Zoo Animals or an equivalent and have a minimum of three years experience working within a recognised free contact Elephant programme.
2008-05-06 - Oakland, United States.
Job Requirements: Minimum of six months experience in the care of captive elephants in a zoological setting is a must. Inquiries not meeting minimum requirements will not receive a response. Position Responsibilities: The elephant keeper is responsible for the physical health and psychological well being of the animals directly under his/her care. Work ranges from the physical tasks associated with feeding and maintenance of living areas to more analytical tasks. The elephant keeper is expected ...
2008-05-05 - Seattle, United States. KATHY MULADY
A sick elephant at Woodland Park Zoo has prompted her keepers to close the elephant barn temporarily to give the recuperating animal some peace and quiet. Watoto, a 39-year-old African elephant, apparently has colic, but is on medication and responding well, a spokeswoman for the zoo said. The elephant's appetite and activity level are returning to normal. Two other elephants, Chai and Bamboo, are still making their usual appearances in the yard. Chai, who is close to Watoto, is allowed to retur...
2008-05-02 - Washington, United States.
An upsurge of elephant poaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in the killing of 14 elephants in the past two weeks by militias, the military, and local villagers. Four were felled by an ex-Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia, formerly known as Interahamwe. Three elephants were murdered by the local Mai-Mai militia (PARECO), five by the Congolese military (FARDC), and two by local villagers. From eastern Congo’s Virunga National Park where the slaughter occurred, Emmanuel de Morode,...
2008-05-01 - Columbus, United States. Maria Sisti
Visitors to the Columbus Zoo got their first look on Tuesday at three female Asian elephants from the Buffalo Zoo. Buki, Surapa and Jothi took up temporary quarters earlier this month at the 40,000-square-foot elephant exhibit in Columbus while the Buffalo Zoo's Elephant House undergoes an expansion. Zookeepers had kept them quarantined for two weeks after their long road trip.
2008-05-01 - Maun, Botswana. Kate Evans,
Once in camp I caught up with all the news from Peter (my research assistant) over a cup of tea and then on our way to drop of things at my tent we saw the elephant Mafunyane. Mafunyane was the first elephant to be released from Elephant Back Safaris (EBS) in February 2002 and signifies the start of this long-term research project. He seems to know when I am coming back as he makes an appearance in camp, and it is wonderful welcome. It is always lovely to see him. He is 19 years old now and grow...
2008-04-30 - Montgomery, United States. Montgomery Zoo
The Montgomery Zoo is proud to announce the elephant calf born November 9, 2007 has been named. The elephant calf’s beautiful name is Makena, which means “happy one” in Swahili, an African language. The name was selected through an election held during Zoo Weekend. The names on the ballot were: Tongie submitted by the elephant keepers; Makena submitted by the Montgomery Area Zoological Society; and Sapo and Makuzi submitted by Lowry Park Zoo. The sire elephant is on loan to the Montgomery ...
2008-04-30 - Guwahati, India.
A 22-year-old female elephant recently dislocated its hip joint after falling 30 feet into a swampy pit in Assam's Karbi Anglong district. In agony for five days after being pulled out, it finally succumbed. In another incident, an elephant was hit by a train when it tried to save its calf stuck between the railway tracks. Not just elephants, a leopard was recently battered to death by residents of Sivasagar district in upper Assam. It had strayed into the town and attacked four people before be...
2008-04-30 - Tesso Nilo, Indonesia.
The Flying Squad, a conservation team that escorts stray wild elephants back to the safety of Central Sumatra's forests, searches for pachyderms in Tesso Nilo. Shrinking forest habitat on the Indonesian island threatens the dwindling wild elephant herd.
2008-04-30 - Portland, United States. ERIC MORTENSON
The polar bears are pacing, the elephants need more elbow room and the chimps are treated like chumps, with no running water, no forest canopy and no neighboring wildlife to screech at in their sterile habitat at The Oregon Zoo. That's according to zoo director Tony Vecchio, and so Metro, the regional planning agency that owns the zoo, is likely to ask voters to approve a $117 million bond measure on the November ballot. The money would give major animals more room and more interesting space, in...
2008-04-30 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
South Africa's 13-year moratorium on elephant culling was set to be lifted on Thursday to combat a surge in population numbers, despite an outcry from animal rights activists. The South African government earlier this year authorised the killing of elephants from May 1 as a last resort in limiting the numbers of the African elephant that have more than doubled since culling was halted in 1995. Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the issue of population management of the animals had...
2008-04-30 - Leipzig, Germany. Prof. K. Eulenberger and Dr. A. Bernhard
The congress will be held in Leipzig from 30 April until 4 May 2008 – and we are delighted to have this opportunity to make such a valuable contribution to the important scientific debate among veterinary colleagues in the interests of maintaining the health of our stocks of animals. We therefore hope very much that you will accept this invitation to Leipzig – not just to meet your colleagues but also to find out more about this vibrant, international city at first hand!
2008-04-29 - Dowa, Malawi. DICKSON KASHOTI
Elephants have killed two people in Dowa leaving another person critically injured and battling with life at Dowa District Hospital. The development has forced the Department of National Parks and Wildlife officials to reinforce its manpower in the affected areas. Dowa Police publicist Kondwani Kandiado confirmed the death of 16-year-old Benjamin Chimphale from Kaphadzira Village and Nachisale Nkhondokunjira from Kasungudzula Village, both from Chief Chiwele’s area where the elephants run riot...
2008-04-29 - Oakland , United States. Kristin Bender
Eating, sleeping, mating and showing off for their fans. That's an elephant's life in a nutshell. On Saturday, the Oakland Zoo offers visitors a once-a-year, behind-the-scenes tour of the elephant barn and an opportunity to learn about the zoo's progressive elephant management program. Zoo spokesman Nicky Mora said people will see the daily care and feeding inside the elephant barn, which normally is not visible to the public.
2008-04-29 - Malappuram, India.
A 10-month-old baby was crushed to death by a wild elephant that strayed into a tribal colony, Munderi, in Kerala early on Tuesday. The parents said the elephant rammed into their hut and crushed the baby while they managed to escape.
2008-04-28 - Kalpetta, India.
A suspected case of viral disease has resulted in the death of two wild elephants in the Wayanad district in Kerala in the last one month. The latest incident was reported from Chithalayam forest range in the district on Saturday. "A nine-month-old calf was found in the forest in a very weak condition Friday. The elephant herd was seen trying to help the calf stand upright. Though we tried to help the calf, the herd did not allow us to approach. The next day the calf died," forest range officer ...
2008-04-28 - Bangor, United States. Anne Ravana
An elephant grazing on hay outside the Bangor Auditorium caused drivers to do a double take as they drove down Buck Street on Friday afternoon. The Anah Temple’s 45th annual Shrine Circus was in town for the weekend and drew thousands of families to its Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances. Ringmaster Charley Van Buskirk, in a red velvet tuxedo with tails, returned to lead his 37th Bangor show, which featured 12 acts and performers from around the world. About 4,000 people attended Saturda...
2008-04-28 - IRINJALAKUDA, India.
Minister G Sudhakaran distributed the relief of Rs One lakh each announced by the Koodalmanikyam Temple to the next of kin of two victims who died in the attack of tusker Unnikrishnan in a function held here on Saturday. During the festival of Koodalmanikyam temple here, elephant Unnikrishnan ran amok and killed the mahout Noushad, 40, Kousalya, 75 and Nitheesh 30. The Minister distributed the amount of relief of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of Kousalya and Niteesh only. The relief to the...
2008-04-27 - Guwahati, India.
The injured elephant, which was stuck in a swampy pit at Daldoli in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district for five days, died a “natural death” in the wee hours today. The 22-year-old female elephant had fallen into the pit after being hit by a train while crossing tracks that run along the ridge overlooking the pit. A post-mortem conducted by experts from the state zoo and College of Veterinary Sciences found multiple injuries on the elephant’s backbone, resulting in paralysis.
2008-04-27 - Toledo, United States.
This morning Louie the elephant celebrated his 5th birthday with a morning bath followed by birthday cake, filled with treats any elephant would enjoy. Toledo Zoo is celebrating a special day. Little Louie the elephant is turning 5. This morning Louie got his morning bath followed by birthday cake, filled with treats any elephant would enjoy.
2008-04-26 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia. Mengenai Saya
At Sebanga-Duri that interval estimate from Pekanbaru City is 139 kilometers founded training and taming center for elephant at Riau Province. As one of attractive tourism objects at Riau found there is give some, entertain that seeing attraction and demonstration of elephants. As wild animal, elephant can tame at Sebanga School for Elephants. The elephants can attract as like: salute to visitor, step over big size of pieces of wood that was pile, pull up piece of wood using it trunk, step over ...
2008-04-26 - Cape Cod, United States. K.C. MYERS
For years, well-known scrimshander Charles Manghis has displayed, sold and demonstrated the art of scrimshaw on the island. But he may have just added a black mark to the historic art form. The 53-year-old was charged Thursday in federal court on several counts of smuggling elephant ivory and sperm whale teeth into Nantucket, where it was sold. The U.S. Department of Justice indictment describes how Manghis worked with a Ukrainian man, Andriy Mikhalyov, to arrange sending elephant ivory and sper...
2008-04-26 - Maryland, United States.
The Zoo's new baby elephant has a name: Sampson! At a press conferance this moring with the Mayor and Governor Maryland Zoo announced that Felix's baby boy had a new name. The calf was born in late March of this year and people all over the state have been voting on the new name. Zoo officials say Sampson and his mom are both doing very well.
2008-04-26 - Guwahati, India. Syed Zarir Hussain
Lack of proper care and management of captive elephants in India could lead to more violent incidents by berserk pachyderms that cause human casualties, experts said Saturday. “It is purely to wrong management of the elephants and the use of unskilled handlers that is leading to frequent incidents of tamed pachyderms going violent and causing fatalities,” Parbati Baruah, an internationally famous elephant tamer, told IANS.
2008-04-26 - Berlin, Germany.
This group show hopes to provide an insight into the landscape and wildlife as well as the culture of individual countries on the African continent. Some of this work is familiar, such as Leni Riefenstahl's excellent work for the beautiful tribe of the Nuba. Nick Brands' portraits of African animals are quite good, notably the Elephant seires
2008-04-26 - New Bedford, United States.
Buttonwood Park Zoo invites the public to meet the zoo's new director, Dr. William Langbauer, during a wine and cheese reception on Tuesday. As the first presenter in the zoo's "Creatures Great and Small" spring lecture series, Dr. Langbauer will entertain with stories from Africa as he recounts his research among elephants — captive and wild, sober and drunken. Dr. Langbauer is one of three researchers who discovered that elephants make sounds that humans can't hear (infrasound), which has ma...
2008-04-26 - Leipzig, Germany. Aupperle H, Reischauer A, Bach F, Hildebrandt T, Göritz F, Jäger K, Scheller R, Klaue HJ, Schoon HA. Institut für Veterinär-Pathologie
A 48-yr-old female Asian elephant with a history of pododermatitis developed recurrent hematuria beginning in 2002. Transrectal ultrasonography and endoscopic examination in 2004 identified the uterus as the source of hematuria and excluded hemorrhagic cystitis. Treatment with Desloreline implants, antibiotics, and homeopathic drugs led to an improved general condition of the elephant. In July 2005, the elephant was suddenly found dead. During necropsy, the severely enlarged uterus contained abo...
2008-04-25 - Guwahati, United States.
The elephant which dislocated its hip joint after falling 30 feet into a pit continued to writhe in agony for the second day today as experts continued to mull the mercy killing option. The principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), M.C. Malakar, said he had instructed his officials to take all necessary steps to save the elephant. “The condition of the elephant is deteriorating. We will take a final decision only after the experts submit the report,” he said.
2008-04-25 - Los Angeles , United States.
Forty-seven-year-old African elephant Ruby, who garnered enormous media attention last year when she left the Los Angeles Zoo for the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) Elephant Sanctuary near Sacramento, Calif., will celebrate her one year “retirement” anniversary on May 3, 2008. As part of the celebration, Ruby will receive a visit from Project OneSong and Rowell Foster Children's Positive Plan (RFCPP) foster children (sponsored by Project OneSong) who will also present PAWS with an ...
2008-04-25 - New York, United States.
Are elephants your thing? Do you know Echo? Echo is perhaps the most famous elephant in the world. The story of her life, as well as those of her family members (herd) are recorded in the historic three documentaries presented in this fascinating set from BBC. In addition there are five other elephant specials, making this an elephant information source of gigantic proportions. Researcher Cynthia Moss has followed Echo the matriarch of a herd of African elephants and her family for over 30 y...
2008-04-25 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Naveen Nair
Thiruvalla Unnikrishnan crushing a man to death at Koodalmanikam temple in Thrissur has shocked elephant lovers in Kerala. Perhaps, it's another grim reminder that human relations with these gentle giants have soured and it might not just get better very soon. “Traditionally elephants are an integral part of temple festivals. It not just the beauty that the elephant brings to festival, but rather its a matter of faith as the elephants represent Lord Ganesha,” Thiruvambadi Devaswom secretary ...
2008-04-24 - Beerwah, Australia.
Undertake cleaning and maintenance of elephant enclosures, Assist with the planning, development and construction of elephant enclosures, ‘Free contact’ elephant handling techniques, Prepare food and conduct feeding of elephants in accordance with diet requirements feeding, Undertake elephant enrichment programs,
2008-04-24 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Lance Guma
The Zimbabwean newspaper claims that Robert Mugabe's regime has illegally sold US$1 million of ivory as part payment for a shipment of ammunition, grenades and mortars from China. The paper claims that Poly Technologies, a state owned arms manufacturer received payment for the arms on the 1st April, when information began filtering through that Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe had lost the elections. The controversial 'An Yue Jiang' ship is said to contain weapons purchased via that deal.
2008-04-24 - Dubbo, Australia.
WITH its brilliant colours and distinctive shape, it could be the design of a funky new T-shirt or a quirky company logo. Instead, the technicolor image was generated by infra-red thermography, which is being used to diagnose health problems in elderly elephants at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. See what it's like from an elephant's point of view here. Senior vet Benn Bryannt described the non-invasive technology as "brilliant" and said it would enable zoo staff to build a clear picture of...
2008-04-24 - Tokyo, Japan.
A 2.8 ton ivory stockpile, confiscated in 2006 by Japan Customs in Osaka, has finally been incinerated after previous reports that authorities were hesitating to do so. The record ivory haul represents the lost lives of hundreds of endangered African elephants. The initial confiscation of the ivory took place in August 2006, and represents the largest ivory seizure ever in Japan. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry indicates that the contraband was destroyed last month.
2008-04-24 - Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin Zoo has officially named its new elephant calf Budi following a competition that attracted over 1,000 entries. 11-year-old Tallaght student Cian Cooke picked the Indonesian name, which means 'wise one', to reflect the elephant's Asian heritage. Budi was born in February, just the second elephant born in Ireland.
2008-04-23 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
President Robert Mugabe's military junta has illegally sold more than eight tonnes of ivory to China as part payment for a consignment of arms supplies that provoked an international storm this week. Officials sources said stocks of ivory at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management were used to pay for weapons aboard the Chinese ship - 'An Yue Jiang' - that has been turned away from Durban waters but was now heading for the port of Luanda in Angola.
2008-04-23 - Narayangarh, Nepal. Surya Prakash Kandel
Ever heard of ‘elephant bureaucrats’? Well, there are 80 elephants on the payroll of our government. The practice of ‘hiring’ jumbos as government employees began 70 years ago. These jumbos are stationed in six hattisars (elephant breeding centres) across the country. Officials at the Chitwan National Park said the practice of employing elephants dates back to the Rana period. Subba at the Sauraha hattisar Rameshwar Chaudhary said each jumbo employee on government payroll gets 15 kilos o...
2008-04-23 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant rampaged through a Hindu temple in southern India on Wednesday, killing three people, including one of its handlers, police said. Television footage showed the adult male elephant charging through the temple compound. It knocked down a thatched awning, tried to batter its way through a steel gate and finally trampled a man, kicking the limp body several yards through the air. The elephant was being used during a ceremony for a regional festival in the southern Thrissur district when ...
2008-04-22 - Pune, India.
The Rajiv Gandhi zoological park at Katraj on Monday moved an application before judicial magistrate first class SJ Ansari urging her to direct the forest department, Pune, to take custody of an elephant on the grounds that the park is unable to maintain the animal due to paucity of funds. The forest department had impounded 'Poornima' after it was found begging on June 7, 2007 and prosecuted the mahout, Dineshkumar Satyanarayan Tiwari, after he failed to produce evidence that he owned the anima...
2008-04-22 - Francistown, Botswana. Francinah Baaitse
Last Tuesday, we reported the tragic deaths of two Sri Lankan handlers, Chandana Alahakoon and Piyal Pedige, killed in the line of duty by either one or all the four elephants they took care of at Mokolodi Nature Reserve. This week, it was reported that one male elephant, Shaka, had been killed. A press release from the Serendib elephant project and Mokolodi Nature Reserve stated that they killed Shaka at the instruction of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and that there is no hope ...
2008-04-21 - Vallejo, United States. Linda Goldston
Sixty-eight-year-old Taj likes to nap in the pool, resting her nose on the far end. "She's a year younger than my mom, so she's part of my extended family," said Steve Johnson, supervisor of the park's Elephant Encounter, who has worked with Taj for 28 years. Taj, a former circus elephant who has been at the park since 1978, cares for the younger elephants the same way female elephants do in the wild. One of seven elephants at the park, she weighs 9,000 pounds and stands 8 1/2 feet tall but is s...
2008-04-20 - Memphis, United States. Cindy Wolff
Past the towering, white animal sculptures, beyond the totems and the serene sound of water spilling into itself, just there on the left at the Memphis Zoo, Fred sprawls in the grass, sound asleep as the sun warms his golden fur. The 325-pound African lion, who turns 18 in July, is uninterested in the record number of visitors that entered his fiefdom last year. Gone are the concrete cages and metal bars where big cats spent years pacing in the Carnivora building, bored and touching nothing natu...
2008-04-20 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
WILD animals are wrecking havoc in some parts of Matebeleland North destroying crops further compounding the food deficit situation in the province. In an interview with Sunday Business on Friday, Matabeleland North’s Agricultural and Technical Services’ provincial officer, Mr Dumisani Nyoni said his department has received reports of elephants and warthogs destroying crops in some districts. “We have received some reports that elephants are destroying some crops in areas such as Hwange an...
2008-04-19 - Lima, United States. EDWARD HUSAR
Thousands of years ago, the seed of a mystery was planted when a hulking, furry creature the size of a modern-day elephant keeled over and died along a bluff in the northwest corner of Adams County. The carcass of this giant mastodon, a prehistoric species that roamed Illinois until about 11,000 years ago, eventually disappeared, covered by the erosive forces of nature and the sands of time. Then one day in 1957, a farmer named Arthur Andrew was walking along the bluff, several miles southeast o...
2008-04-19 - Chennai, India. D Madhavan
Visitors can get rides on elephants this summer at Vandalur zoo. The Arignar Anna Zoological Park, popularly known as Vandalur zoo, is planning to start elephant safari rides from May 1. Two elephants from Mudumalai sanctuary and two from Top Slip near Pollachi will be brought to the zoo by the end of the week. Staff at Vandalur zoo are setting up enclosures for the elephants and the route for the rides has been finalised, though the rates are yet to be fixed. Visitors will be able to spot birds...
2008-04-19 - Nashik, India. Anuradha Nagaraj
Elephant in custody, officials don’t know what to do with it after cops file case against owner for ‘poking and whipping’ it. In a grubby courtroom in Manmad, a major train junction around 90 km from Nashik, a pitched battle is being fought to protect the rights of an elephant. Lakshmi has been in custody since April 14 after the Manmad police registered a complaint against the owner, alleging that he had “whipped and poked” the elephant, troubling and abusing it during a BSP rally to...
2008-04-19 - , United States.
A hard-hitting public awareness campaign to help protect seals, whales and elephants is being run by The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Animals on the Underground. The campaign will feature ads on 224 sites across the London Underground network from April 21 for two weeks. Members of the public are being asked to send a text message to help protect these threatened or endangered species. Tens of thousands of endangered elephants continue to be threatened by the illegal ivory tr...
2008-04-19 - Lodz, Poland.
Officers from the Municipal Police encountered a herd of elephants walking around the premises of the Registrar's Office in Lodz, central Poland, this morning. It turned out that the animals belonged to a circus whose members were at the time putting up a tent for their shows. The owner claimed that the elephants were docile and that they did not pose any threat to the people around them. However, the municipal police still sealed off the premises to prevent the elephants from walking into the s...
2008-04-18 - Buea, Cameroon. Pegue Manga
Game rangers in Yokadouma, East Province of Cameroon, recently confiscated 13 elephant tusks and made some arrests.The tusks were tucked away in a timber truck. After swerving through the 180-km bumpy road from Nguilili, a village situated on the outskirts of Lobeke National Park, East Province, where the tusks came from, the truck pulled up in Yokadouma. Rangers, acting on a tip-off, swooped on it and began conducting a search which resulted in the seizure of two bags containing tusks.
2008-04-18 - Powell, United States.
The Columbus Zoo announced Friday that one of its elephants is expecting. Zookeepers said that they paired Phoebe with Coco last spring, hoping for the best. "We had a good feeling about it at the time," said Harry Peachey, the zoo's elephant manager. "That was in June 2007. We kind of had a feeling she was pregnant all of that time." Phoebe is expected to deliver in March 2009, completing the near two-year pregnancy. When she gave birth to Bhodi four years ago, it took a little more than 21 mo...
2008-04-18 - Shillong, India.
It is a long wait for the families of victims of elephant attacks in Meghalaya. As if losing a loved one to an elephant attack is not enough, the families have to wait for years to get a meagre Rs 1 lakh from the government. Saleng Sangma, a Congress legislator from the elephant-infested Dalmagiri area of West Garo Hills, told the Assembly that it takes years to distribute compensation to the victims’ families though the state government claims that it takes only one year to complete the proce...
2008-04-18 - Omatjete, Namibia.
The presence of elephants in the Omatjete reserve and its surroundings poses problems to residents in the area. Not only do the elephants pose danger to human lives, but they also destroy crops and water point terminals, making life extremely difficult for the residents. According to residents, a man was killed mid-last year after being trampled by an elephant. He was tending to his goats at a water point in the Otjohorongo area, when he met his fate. Although he tried to run away from a chargi...
2008-04-17 - Cape Town, South Africa. Wyndham Hartley
China, one of the centres of trade in illicit ivory, is on the list as a customer for the 30 tons of legal ivory which SA has permission to sell on world markets. Despite being a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites ) trade in illegal ivory has flourished in China. Its emerging middle class has such an appetite for ivory carvings and jewellery that in 2005 Richard Leakey, the renowned anthropologist, warned that the enormous economic growth in China pos...
2008-04-17 - Guwahati, India.
The pulsating sound of the dhol and rhythmic beat of the taal will reverberate at Kaziranga National Park, which is celebrating the 6th Elephant Festival from tomorrow. The festival will kick off with a procession of about 50 elephants, which have arrived at Kaziranga from different parts of the state. There will also be a thorough health camp for the participating elephants. “The microchips, which had been implanted in elephants during the first festival in 2003, will be checked,” the offic...
2008-04-17 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
The Borneo pygmy elephant may not be native to Borneo after all. Instead, the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race – accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago, a new publication suggests. The origins of the pygmy elephants, found in a range extending from the north-east of the island into the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behaviour differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned wh...
2008-04-16 - Manila, Philippines. Karen Lema
Sisi slowly browses through the yellow pages, looking not for a phone number but for peanuts and sunflower seeds hidden in the directory. Mali plays with a block of ice containing apples and oranges, crushing it with her feet to get at the fruit. Sisi, a 23-year-old orangutan, and Mali, a 33-year-old elephant, are two of a number of mammals and birds undergoing behavioral therapy at Manila Zoo as part of a program to combat the stress and boredom of living in captivity. The program is Manila's a...
2008-04-16 - Nairobi, Kenya. Solomon Mburu
The building of a corridor meant to ease the movement of elephants around Mount Kenya is set to start by the end of the month. The corridor will help elephants safely cross between Ngare Ndare Forest and Mt. Kenya National Reserve. The aim is to have this done without obstructing traffic flow along the Nanyuki - Meru road and other access roads in the area. The project that has attracted the support of Virgin Atlantic CEO, Sir Richard Branson, the Dutch government and Safaricom, is expected to c...
2008-04-16 - Lubok Bongor , Malaysia. Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah
Villagers in the district are happy that an electric fence is being built to keep wild elephants away from their smallholdings. Construction of the fence began early this year and so far, about two kilometres of fence had been erected between Kampung Lubok Bongor and Kuala Sungai Tapah. Jeli member of parliament Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who is the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister, announced the construction of the fence two years ago. The fence, when completed, will be more than 10km l...
2008-04-16 - Berlin, Germany. Kelli
Because Berlin was split into two different cities for quite a while, it has two of everything, like its two zoos! We've been to the Zoo Berlin (West Berlin) many times, but this past Saturday, April 12, we visited the Tierpark Berlin (East Berlin). It was very different! It is a large zoo (the largest landscape zoo in Europe), so you do a lot of walking. The animals seem to be more plentiful, and the spaces are a lot bigger and more open, so we were able to see them closer. Here are some pics:
2008-04-16 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham
There will be no gawking at elephants this summer at the Buffalo Zoo. Two of the three female Asian elephants were transported to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Sunday night to make way for expansion of the Elephant House, and the third followed them to Ohio on Monday night. They won’t be back until summer’s end — at the soonest. Donna M. Fernandes, president and CEO, said the zoo accepted the offer of temporary shelter from the Columbus Zoo, in suburban Powell, Ohio, after deciding agai...
2008-04-15 - Asheboro, United States. AZA
Successful candidate will be assigned to the Watani Grasslands section, working with African Elephants and/or White Rhinoceros, a variety of African Antelope, and some African Birds, including Ostrich. The primary focus of this position will be African Elephants. Must have a basic knowledge of elephant natural history and husbandry to include feeding, nutrition, record-keeping, restraint, and safety. Knowledge of operant conditioning and/or environmental enrichment skills, basic computer knowled...
2008-04-15 - Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.
Marauding elephants that escaped from the Hwange National Park, an animal sanctuary in rural southwestern Zimbabwe, are destroying any hopes among peasant farmers of a moderately successful harvest. Arid climatic conditions are expected to blight agricultural production in the southwest this year, according to a recent forecast by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), while Zimbabwe's political and economic turmoil is also affecting both food production and food security. Elephants ...
2008-04-15 - Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Villagers living in the dense forests of Equatorial Guinea have asked local authorities for permission to kill elephants who have begun destroying their crops, state radio said today. Elephants have recently emerged from their usual territory, torn down trees and trampled across plantations of manioc, leading to shortages of the staple grain food in the Evinayong region, the radio reported. The country is a very poor, small former Spanish colony of some 507,000 people, according to United Nation...
2008-04-15 - Buffalo, United States. Eileen Buckley
You might say the Buffalo Zoo's three female Asian elephants are on vacation. They were transported to the Columbus Zoo in Ohio so renovation work to the Zoo's elephant house can begin. WBFO'S Eileen Buckley talked to one Zoo official about the elephants move and changes to their living space. Click the "listen" icon above to hear Eileen Buckley's interview now or use your podcasting software to download it to your computer or iPod.
2008-04-15 - New York, United States. Helen Briggs
Moeritherium, an ancient ancestor of the elephant from 37 million years ago lived in water and had a similar lifestyle to a hippo, a fossil study has suggested. The animal was said to be similar to a tapir, a hoofed mammal which looks like a cross between a horse and a rhino.
2008-04-14 - Jacksonville, United States. ASHLEY BELAND
It's a story that those familiar with the game of love can relate to: Moki and Chana are at odds with each other over a guy, but he can't seem to choose between the two of them. This particular love triangle is between three African elephants at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, whose relationships will hopefully yield offspring to help sustain their species.
2008-04-14 - Kochi, India.
Around 70 elephants will be readied for the festival, said K. Manoharan, president of the Paramekkavu temple committee. The committee puts up a gallery for foreign tourists to witness the festival, and 350-400 tourists are accommodated there annually. Care is taken to ensure that the elephants are given sufficient water and food and not made to stand under the scorching sun. Elephants have killed several people in the state last year, including during temple festivals that are mostly held during...
2008-04-13 - Frankfurt, Germany.
Complete with a chill-out area for exhausted elephant keepers and a resuscitation room for distressed tropical fish, Frankfurt Airport's new Animal Lounge opened its doors on Friday. The new 3,750-square-metre (40,000-square-feet) hangar has 42 stalls for large animals like the huge number of polo ponies and racehorses that pass through continental Europe's biggest hub every year, or even for the odd rhino or elephant. The new facility replaces two older hangars and will have 25 vets and 60 care...
2008-04-13 - Chennai, India.
The southern state of Tamil Nadu holds two important heritage biospheres, although it is the most urban state in India. The man-elephant conflict seems to be reducing, with just 56 elephants dying in 2007 from a high of 81 in 2003. Three elephants were killed by poachers in 2003, 24 were electrocuted in the last five years, about eight have been run over by trains in this decade. In an exhaustive study on the man-wildlife conflict, as part of a book, Chief Conservator of Forests V.N. Singh and s...
2008-04-13 - Baling, Malaysia.
A group of wild elephants believed to be from the Rimba Teloi forest reserve went on a rampage in Kampung Kelian Dalam Siong near here last night causing untold damage to local residents' plants and trees. Banana, jackfruit and oil palm trees in the Risda Mini Estate and smallholdings there suffered various degrees of damage. A resident, Mansor Yaakob, 55, said he suffered severe losses when the jackfruit trees he planted 15 years ago, were destroyed by the elephants.
2008-04-12 - Berlin, Germany. Andreas Kurth
In February 2007, a circus elephant (Elephas maximus) in northern Germany exhibited disseminated ulcerative lesions of the skin and mucosal membranes caused by CPXV infection; the elephant was euthanized after treatment attempts failed. Electron micrographs of negative-stained biopsy specimens of tongue lesions showed orthopoxvirus particles.
2008-04-12 - Norwich, United Kingdom.
A mammoth herd of life-sized baby elephant models are set to transform the city's streets into an artistic urban safari this summer. Up to fifty of the elephant sculptures will be uniquely decorated by artists, school children and community groups ready for display around the city, in what is likely to be Norwich's biggest ever public art event. People are this week being invited to watch the artists' work taking shape in a vacant shop in Castle Mall, which has been turned into a public painting...
2008-04-12 - Sacramento, United States. Steve Wiegand
Winky is dead, and I digress today from the usual politics-and-government nonsense in this space to recount her life, mourn her passing and offer her a belated apology. Winky was an Asian elephant. She was euthanized early Monday at the Ark 2000 animal sanctuary operated by the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in the rolling foothills near San Andreas. She was 56, which is old for an elephant in captivity and an age that made her one of the oldest elephants in the United States. For year...
2008-04-11 - Thrissur, India.
Need to halt an unruly elephant. Apply the 'brake'. Thats what a small town innovator here has come out a metallic 'brake' to halt unruly elephants which the mahout can apply sitting atop the jumbo to stop the animal from running amok. Bhaskaran, who designed the elephantine brake, claims that the device could rein in even the mightiest of tuskers but elephant experts are skeptical of its efficacy. The device consists of an iron lock to be put on the forelimbs of the animal with a cable linked t...
2008-04-11 - Panorama City , United States. Rob Hayes
A circus in Panorama City is missing its elephants, and they are not coming back. They were ordered removed by the city of Los Angeles. But why? It's got the big top, it's got the tigers, but Circus Vazquez no longer has its elephants. A new set of rules in L.A. cracks down on handlers of dangerous animals who have been cited recently for federal animal welfare act violations.
2008-04-10 - , Botswana. THATO CHWAANE
Two Sri Lankans were killed by elephants at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve on Tuesday. The two were elephant handlers working for the Mokolodi/Serendib Elephant Project. The project's spokesman Jeroen van Wilgen said it is not known how the Sri Lankans died. He said they are investigating the deaths and a specialist is coming from Maun to look into the matter. He added that the deceased were trained elephant handlers. He gave their names as Chandan Alahakoon (38) and Piyal Pedige (35). He said they...
2008-04-10 - Lincoln, United States.
Morrill hall has the largest mounted mammoth in the world and one of the world's premiere collections of fossil elephants. And like those elephants that never forget, folks will remember their visit here. Nebraska was once home to mammoths and a rich natural history. This week's One Tank Trip takes us to Morrill Hall on the campus of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. "We have something amazing around every corner here at Morrill Hall. People will see where we came from and where we're going ...
2008-04-10 - Moscow, Russian Federation.
Russian scientists say they have obtained the most detailed pictures so far of the insides of a prehistoric animal, with the help of a baby mammoth called Lyuba found immaculately preserved in the Russian Arctic. The mammoth is named after the wife of the hunter who found her last year. The body was shipped back to Russia in February from Japan, where it was studied using computer tomography in a process similar to one doctors use to scan patients.
2008-04-10 - Thrissur, India.
Revenue Divisional Officer K N Ravindran on Wednesday issued an order banning the entry of tuskers with the signs of musth/violent nature to the town on April 15, 16 and 17, when Thrissur Pooram will be staged in the town. Documents concerning the elephants proposed to be paraded in the Pooram should be submitted to the DySP concerned in advance, the order said.
2008-04-10 - London, United Kingdom.
An innovative project to ward off marauding elephants from human habitation and crops in Assam using chilli smoke by Chester Zoo has been awarded the field conservation award by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Chester Zoo's work on elephant conservation in Assam, called 'Assam Haathi' Project, helps to mitigate human-animal conflict. And supports the conservation of one of the last remaining large elephant populations in the area. The Zoo teamed up with the Assam-based c...
2008-04-09 - Pune, India. Chandan Haygunde
Poornima, the female elephant which was sent to Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Katraj by a local court last year, is ailing. The elephant has developed infection to its foot. And the fingers are being pointed at the zoo officials and the mahout who have allegedly failed to make the elephant walk for 10 kms everyday as stipulated by the court. The forest department had impounded Poornima from Koregaon Park in June 2007 after it was found to be used for begging by its mahout Mahendra Pande.
2008-04-09 - California, United States.
Winky the elephant will be cremated, and her ashes will be scattered over the California sanctuary where she lived for the past three years, a Detroit Zoo official said Tuesday. For years, Winky and an elephant named Wanda were major draws at the zoo. In 2005, they made a controversial move to California after their keepers decided that holding elephants in a small exhibit was inhumane and unhealthy. Winky, 56, was euthanized Monday after her arthritis made her unable to stand. Officials say Wan...
2008-04-09 - Chennai, India.
Elephants will have their way in Tamil Nadu — quite literally, with the government planning Elephant Corridors in different parts of the State to give them a safe transit route and prevent the pachyderm from straying into human habitat. Forest Minister N Selvaraj told the State Assembly in Chennai on Wednesday that 315 acres of land was being acquired for this purpose, the funds for which had been allotted last year.
2008-04-09 - Milwaukee, United States. DINESH RAMDE
Brittany wields her paintbrush with confidence, slapping it roughly against the canvas to produce streaks of green or smears of orange. With apparent pride, she steps back, inspects her work — and extends her trunk to receive a freshly loaded paintbrush. Brittany, an African elephant, is doing her small part to pay her way at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Her artwork is sold at the zoo's gift shop to raise funds. This painting pachyderm is far from the only artistic animal in captivity. For years ...
2008-04-09 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Suzy Khimm
Once plentiful in the Cambodian countryside, elephants like Sambo were historically fixtures at the royal palace. While the animals still evoke the nation's ancient legacy of kings and warriors, Sambo also represents a more recent piece of Cambodian history. Having survived the machetes of the Khmer Rouge she has become one of the capital city's most visible cultural icons – a magnet for tourists, children, and those who venerate her as a sacred beast. For Sin Son, a fourth-generation elephan...
2008-04-09 - Connecticut, United States. Samantha Grasso
The International Elephant Foundation, a nonprofit corporation working to support the long-term survival of elephants, has announced a slew of new conservation initiatives. The IEF uses its resources to fund a variety of national and international research and conservation projects. Each year, through its grant program, the foundation allocates resources to 10 additional projects, chosen from a pool of proposals. This year, 15 projects will be aimed at habitat protection, anti-poaching, ecotouri...
2008-04-08 - Miami, United States.
Miami Metro Zoo is looking for a career minded team player to join our elephant management program. The chosen candidate will be part of a team responsible for all aspects of husbandry for 1.1 Asian and 1.2 African elephants. This position requires 1 year of elephant experience and/or a combination of experience and related coursework. To apply all candidates must apply online at www.miamidade.gov and submit a copy of their resume to Miami Metro Zoo c/o Randall Tucker 12400 sw 152 st Miami FL 33...
2008-04-08 - Honolulu, United States.
It is not a scene from an animal version of the "Biggest Loser," there is a whole other reason our elephants were weighed in Tuesday. With the help of a truck scale, Honolulu Zoo keepers weighed in two Asian elephants named Mari and Vaigai. Mari weighed in at 10,200 pounds while her buddy Vaigai weighed in at 9,750 pounds. Zoo officials said the weigh-in happens twice a year for a couple of reasons.
2008-04-08 - Perris, United States. JULISSA McKINNON
To the delight of 70-plus onlookers, Tai the Perris elephant appears to have helped a bubble artist set a new Guinness world record Tuesday, becoming the largest land mammal to be wrapped in a bubble. Initially bubble artist Fan Yang had scheduled the world record attempt for public view at the Santa Ana Discovery Science Center but science center officials canceled the event after animal-rights advocates criticized the center for treating a critically endangered species in a "trivial and sensat...
2008-04-08 - Baltimore, United States.
He's three weeks old, weighs in at 300 pounds and remains very close to his mother. But he doesn't have a name! So, Maryland Zoo officials are inviting the public to help name the first-ever African elephant born at the zoo. From April 9-13, zoo visitors can place a name suggestion in one of three naming boxes located on zoo grounds. The boxes will be located in Schaefer Plaza near the main entrance, at the Tram Stop near Polar Bear Watch and at the Elephant Overlook. "A male elephant name shoul...
2008-04-08 - Guatemala City, Guatemala. Claudia Lorena Quan Rodas, La Aurora Zoo, Guatemala City
This animal was donated for the Bells Brothers Circus from Mexico to the Rex Circus in Guatemala in 1968. Mister Romeo López take care of the animal for 39 years working in several Circus and shows. He decided to let the care of the animal in the hands of the La Aurora National Zoological Park in March of 2008.
2008-04-08 - Gudalur, India.
Herds of elephants straying into human settlements bordering thick forests have destroyed coffee plantations and water pipes here in Tamil Nadu. Gudalur, situated along the border with Karnataka some 650 km southwest of Chennai, is famous for its high value coffee beans, which are mostly exported. Expanding human habitations on both the sides of the border have displaced the animals from their habitation in the forests that are being developed into newer plantations virtually every day.
2008-04-08 - Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Jothi and her daughter Vistash of Belfast Zoo are moving right now (April 8th) to Ostrava Zoo in the Czech Republic. Nikolai of Artis zoo in Amsterdam has moved back to Hannover Zoo on April 1st.
2008-04-07 - Kampala, Uganda. Wolfgang H. Thome
A French tourist visitor had a near fatal run in with an elephant at Murchisons Falls National Park last week. Ignoring guidance habitually given to visitors, to take a ranger with them for their game drive, the group approached some elephants to within very close range before switching their car engine off. Little did they know that a female elephant with a small cub was taking this intrusion into her space as a potential threat to her newly born and promptly went on the attack.
2008-04-07 - Gaborone, Botswana.
This is in line with what was agreed last year at The Hague. Information from the Botswana Ministry of Environment Wildlife and Tourism shows that the CITES secretariat in Gaborone gave the country the go-ahead after verifying the government ivory stock earmarked for sale. "Among other things, they looked at the paper trail, data base and the physical ivory to establish its match," reads a statement from the ministry.
2008-04-07 - San Andreas, United States. Elizabeth Bishop
Winky the elephant who lived at the Sacramento Zoo for nearly 40 years died early this morning at the PAWS sanctuary in San Andreas, according to a PAWS spokeswoman. Winky had been suffering from joint problems. Over the weekend, she had slid to her hind quarters and could not get up. Attempts were made to save her life, but she could not stand so veterinarians decided to euthanize her. Winky was born in 1952 and was one of the oldest elephants in the U.S. She had lived at the Sacramento Zoo unt...
2008-04-06 - Raleigh, United States.
The N.C. Zoo opened the gates Saturday on its first major addition in more than 10 years. It's an expansion of its elephant and rhinoceros exhibit called the Watani Grasslands Reserve, an $8.5 million project paid for mostly with private donations. It will increase the number of elephants from three to seven. The expansion also triples the number of rhinos and will allow for four times the antelopes. What the average visitor to the park will notice is a sudden proximity to the elephants. One hig...
2008-04-06 - San Diego, United States. Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
The elephant show at the Wild Animal Park, an attraction at Tembo Stadium since 1977, the most popular show in park history, will close Sunday. Ranchipur, Sunita, Cookie, Mary and Cha-Cha are set to be transported down the freeway to the San Diego Zoo to join three elephants there in a new exhibit. The combined herd will share 2.5 acres -- part of a $44-million project called Elephant Odyssey that will cover seven acres and include tree sloths, jaguars, lions, birds, tapirs, camels, turtles, pro...
2008-04-06 - Oklahoma City, United States. Carrie Coppernoll
ASHA and Chandra don't know what they're in for. Asha and Chandra will leave the zoo in June to breed with the male Sneezy at the Tulsa Zoo. Their return hinges on two timelines: conception and construction. If they breed quickly, the females could be back within two years and be the first elephants to give birth at the Oklahoma City Zoo. But the date of their return depends on whether their new habitat can be finished while they're away. Their new home will be in the $16 million Asia exhibit, a...
2008-04-05 - Tulsa, United States.
Scientists and zoo officials are pinning their hopes on the virility of the 34-year-old Asian elephant at the Tulsa Zoo. In June, the two female Asian elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo will be moved to Tulsa to breed with Sneezy and, if all goes well, pass their genes on to the next generation. But beyond the next generation, scientists hope Sneezy will help them solve a puzzle that would improve elephant diversity in the United States. Sneezy and his handlers have been working for years to con...
2008-04-05 - Kumbakonam, India.
The temple elephant of the Lord Muruga shrine at nearby Swamimalai today ran amok creating panic among devotees and officials. The elephant "Durga" broke its chain and started banging the iron gates of a marriage hall in the temple. It also attempted to attack the peacock cage. As the devotees fled the temple, authorities closed the main door. It also tried to attack mahouts, who finally managed to chain the animal. It was later administered sedatives by veterinarian Dr Rajyakodi, who attributed...
2008-04-05 - Jaipur, India. Harsha Kumari Singh
Jaipurs jumbos have been the city's star attraction for many years now. Tourists love a ride up to the city's historic Amer Fort atop an elephant. But little has been done over the years for their welfare. Animal activists say high rates of elephant insurance instead of being a boon to the elephants are a bane, which has meant that owners make old elephants work till they die and claim the insurance money. NGOs working for elephant welfare have long been lobbying for a retirement age for elephan...
2008-04-05 - Jim Corbett National Park, India. TAPAS CHAKRABORTY
The labour laws ignored them and no trade union came to their aid. Yet, five workers who toiled four shifts every day of the year, in rain and shine, are trumpeting a famous victory at the Jim Corbett National Park. The elephants on the park’s popular safari service have won a day’s holiday every week, complete with a sort of office party so they can de-stress themselves. “Every Monday, the five elephants will be taken off their duty of ferrying tourists. The tourist flow is thinnest on Mo...
2008-04-05 - Nakuru, Kenya. Karanja Njoroge
AN employee with a parcel transport company was charged in a Nakuru court with being in possession of ivory tusks. Mr David Kihara Macharia who works with Roy Parcel Services appeared before Nakuru Principal Magistrate, Mr John Kingori. He was charged with being in illegal possession of 32kg of ivory tusks worth Sh96,000 without permit on March 31. The accused, who denied the charge, was released on Sh100,000 bond on Friday, with surety of similar amount. Kingori directed that the case to be hea...
2008-04-04 - Perris, United States. JULISSA McKINNON
Despite controversy and previous cancellation, an elephant-in-a-bubble show apparently must go on. This time the stunt, which involves encasing a 4-ton Perris elephant in a soap bubble, is scheduled for an undisclosed time and place and requires an invitation to attend. Bubble artist Fan Yang's earlier plan to perform the world-record-setting feat at the Santa Ana Discovery Science Center's Bubblefest fell apart when the science institution came under fire from animal-rights groups for using a c...
2008-04-04 - Asheboro, United States.
It took the North Carolina Zoo 10 years to complete. But this weekend officials are celebrating the grand opening of the brand new Watani Grasslands Reserve. Its an $8.5 million expansion and improvement project for the zoos African Elephant and Southern White Rhinoceros. Friday was more than a ribbon cutting event, and more educational than a few good speeches. It was a new gateway to a bigger-than-life experience. Its the biggest exhibit weve built probably in 15 years, said one zoo official.
2008-04-04 - Edmonton, Canada. Scott McKeen, The Edmonton Journal
There came a day when I couldn't care less. The moment came after I wrote a column about meeting the Valley Zoo's elephant, Lucy, and painting a picture with her. A few people e-mailed me to express their moral outrage. Lucy, they argued, deserves to be transferred to a southern U.S. sanctuary where she can roam in relative freedom with other elephants. These people were particularly angry with me because, in their eyes, I'd willingly participated in the exploitation and isolation of Lucy.
2008-04-04 - Way Kambas , Indonesia.
Lampung has long been as the Land of Elephants and Way Kambas as the best known as elephant training center. But don't imagine that getting there is easy these days. Getting to the National Park takes at least two hours from the center of town, on a road in terrible condition. This trip is only for the truly adventurous, or tourists with a lot of time on theirs hands. But don't worry - now there's Taman Wisata Bumi Kedaton (Bumi Kedaton Tourism Park), located in Batu Putuk area, only 20 minutes ...
2008-04-03 - Portland, United States.
Demolition began today at the site of Portland-based nonprofit Mercy Corps’ new global headquarters in Old Town’s Skidmore Fountain Building (28 SW 1st Avenue, just off West Burnside Street). And when contractors Marsh Construction Co. began taking down the upper sections of the north wall, the first thing to go was a mural, by Portland artist Eric Parsons, of Packy, Portland Zoo’s famous Asian elephant.
2008-04-03 - Greenbrier, United States.
Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary - The sanctuary, located near Greenbrier, is a non-profit home for any elephant that needs one regardless of species, gender or disposition. Established by Scott and Heidi Riddle, it is the only internationally recognized sanctuary and it currently houses Asian and African elephants. Elephant care and management are taught at this haven in the peaceful Arkansas countryside. Programs include Elephant Experience Weekends and an annual International School f...
2008-04-03 - Kochi, India. Juhan Samuel
A man in Kochi has raised a huge collection of news and photographs of Indian elephants culled from various dailies or other published materials. M.S.Manoj's collection includes photographs and news of accidents on railway tracks, temple festival, transportation of jumbos in vehicles and their plight, the famous Asiad Appu of India, and various other related issues ever happened in India. He started collecting news and pictures related to elephants in 1990 after coming across a news of his villa...
2008-04-03 - Puthenkulam, India.
Take Kerala’s love for elephants and add to it an elephant who is turning one and what you get is a gala birthday bash. Baby elephant Sivan turned one on Wednesday and his birthday celebration was an event people in Puthenkulam will remember for years to come. People came in hundreds to wish him, among them a former minister and actor Ganesh Kumar, but no one had doubts about who the VIP was for this one day. Sivan’s guardian Shaji was overwhelmed by the response his baby elephant got and sa...
2008-04-03 - Palakkad, India.
Thousands of people witnessed the Nemmara-Vallangi Vela which was celebrated on Wednesday with traditional fervour. In spite of the downpour all roads led to the Vela venue as crowds poured in to enjoy the panchavadyam and to see the elephants. Eleven caparisoned elephants were lined up by the Nemmara desam and another eleven by the Vallangi desam. The highlight of the festivities was the fireworks apart from the panchavadyam and the pandimelam by renowned artistes.
2008-04-03 - Bangkok, Thailand. Matt Hunziker /The Daily Cardinal
At the Academy for Elephants in Thailand, they are teaching elephants to paint. In a video titled “Elephant Paints Own Self-Portrait,” you can see one of the elephants hard at work with a paintbrush in its trunk. As the shocked spectators in the background attest, the elephant paintings have become a major tourist attraction for Thailand. (Human) art critics have sung their praises. But while some artists are actively trying to cultivate these animals’ creative talents, scientists and othe...
2008-04-03 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Sanu George
According to reports, Kerala has a population of around 900 captive elephants. The famed Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor owns the largest herd of 65. In a few months the Kerala forest department will open the first old age home for captive elephants in the country at Kottoor, 70 km from the state capital here. “We have already set up five enclosures at the facility. The first phase will be ready in the next two months. The project when completed will house 30 elephants. The work will be comp...
2008-04-02 - Nairobi, Kenya. Henry Neondo
“Some of the most important decisions in wildlife management in Africa revolve around elephants, but a lot of the information is not readily accessible to conservation authorities. Much of it is scattered in diverse reports and scientific papers or as part of the body of unwritten expert knowledge,” Holly Dublin, Chair of IUCN’s African Elephant Specialist Group and the Species Survival Commission says in a recent report.
2008-04-02 - Khao Yai , Thailand. Antoinette van der Water
Trees for Elephants in Khao Yai has made it’s start! The trees for elephants are groing. Looking at those cute little trees I fantasize what they would look like ten years from now. Alongkot on the other hand is thinking more about here and now. These are just 2.400 trees, the current nursery will not be able to hold 25.000 trees like we expected. Well… then we just hit some extra poles into the ground and extend it a little.
2008-04-02 - Bangalore, India.
Four months after train services resumed between Bangalore and Mangalore, wildlife traders seem to be using the new train as a safe means to smuggle wildlife. On Monday night, the forest mobile squad of CID forest cell caught two persons who were carrying a pair of ivory worth Rs 45 lakh. The accused, Ibrahim (40) and Suresh (34), both hailing from Kodagu, are now being interrogated about the tusks' origin. The duo was arrested at the Mangalore railway station and handed over to Pandaveswara pol...
2008-04-02 - Vientiane, Laos.
Laos, once known as the Land of a Million Elephants, faces warnings from conservationists that it could lose its herds within 50 years if it does not move quickly to protect them with tourism eyed as a possible savior. Poaching and habitat loss from logging, agriculture and hydroelectric projects has caused a major decline in the number of both wild and domesticated Asian elephants in Communist Laos.
2008-04-01 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
According to government figures, there are 40 elephant camps in Thailand, employing up to 650 pachyderms, catering to tourists in the northern provinces of Tak, Sukhotai, Phitsanulok, Nan, Lampang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son. I would estimate that about 65 per cent of the tourists who come here visit an elephant attraction, said Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Chiang Mai office director Junnaporn Salanart. 'Elephants are big business.'
2008-04-01 - Bangdaki, India. ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY
Chipra Rani, 66, stands 8ft 11 inches tall and has been serving the government for over 40 years. She is the longest-serving trained elephant in the state, probably the country, said Bengal’s chief wildlife warden, S.S. Bist. “We have many kunkis (trained elephants) that are older than Chipra Rani, but she has served the department the longest. She is definitely one of the most experienced kunkis in India in terms of service,” Bist told The Telegraph.
2008-04-01 - Bengkulu, Indonesia. Ria
A group of wild elephants in the Seblat Elephant Training Center (PLG) broke loose and damaged 1,256 oil palm trees of PT Agricinal in Putri Hijau subdistrict, North Bengkulu regency, and a security post near the plantation. PLG Seblat coordinator Aswin Bangun said on Monday that the rampant illegal loggings and damage on the elephant training center had disturbed the elephants and eventually broke loose seeking for food. The damaged oil palm trees not only belonged to PT Agricinal, but also to ...
2008-03-31 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
We have 2 vacancies for Elephant Keepers to join our existing team of 3 caring for our Asian elephants - a group of 4 females with the youngest born here at Twycross. Another of the 4 has been artificially inseminated and the calf is expected in summer 2009. We have a close contact approach to elephant management and train them to obey commands, enabling healthcare maintenance to be carried out. Our training regime is calm and consistent and the right ke...
2008-03-31 - Washington, United States.
Does the human species have mammoth blood on its hands? Scientists have long debated whether climate change or human hunting were primarily responsible for consigning the shaggy elephant relative to history. A new study uses climate models and fossil distribution to conclude that the woolly mammoth went extinct mainly because a warming climate, while hunting was the final straw.
2008-03-31 - Lusaka, Zambia.
Zambian authorities have arrested nine Chinese nationals after they were found in illegal possession of products made from ivory, an official said on Monday. Zambia Wildlife Authority (Zawa) said the nine Chinese nationals were arrested on separate days last week after they conducted a search on a Chinese-owned factory in the capital Lusaka. "I wish to warn the public, especially Chinese nationals, that Zambia is not allowed to trade in ivory. Trade is restricted whether for raw or processed ivo...
2008-03-31 - Amboseli, Kenya. PHILIP NGUNJIRI
HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONflict continues to claim the lives of elephants and lions in and around Amboseli National Park. In its latest report, WildlifeDirect.org says 14 jumbos were slain between January and February for reasons that range from political protest to revenge at Kenya’s popular Amboseli National Park. The report comes shortly after community conservation group Lion Guardians confirmed the slaughter of three lions in the same area — bringing the total to at least 10 lions killed in the...
2008-03-30 - Omaha, United States.
Opera Omaha's 1983 production of "Aida" will long be remembered for its elephant "stampede." More than 7,000 people packed the Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum for the opening night performance that year to see a spectacle that was supposed to include a parade of elephants, leopards and other animals. But one of the elephants, a 6-ton pachyderm named Toto, got a little too close to the audience. Toto was waiting for his cue to walk onstage for the Act 2 triumphal march. A platform was mounted on his back so ...
2008-03-30 - New Delhi, United States. YOJNA GUSAI
Scientists have discovered an unusual elephant repellent, which they claim can save hundreds of acres of paddy farms from the invasion of pachyderms. ARC-11511 will keep away elephant herds from attacking rice plantations in the country. After everything failed to bring down incidents of elephants marauding rice plantations, especially in the north-eastern parts of the country, scientists have come out with just the right thing to keep the pachyderm away from appetite-soaring rice fields. ARC 11...
2008-03-28 - Papakura, New Zealand. Elizabeth Binning
The show will go on after two SPCA inspectors have ruled that Jumbo the elephant is in a good condition and being cared for by Circus Loritz. The 35-year-old African elephant is one of the new additions to the circus which has just started its new two-year show "Out of Africa". Before the big opening at Papakura's Bruce Pullman Park on Thursday night an angry member of the public started complaining after seeing Jumbo chained to a trailer. Circus general manager Marie Gribben said the man - who ...
2008-03-28 - Lima, Peru. Victoria Jaggard
A suspicious package found on a bus in Peru turned out to contain a mysterious and massive animal jawbone, officials announced on Tuesday. Police who investigated the bus's cargo hold said they noticed the package because it had no identifying marks and was oddly heavy. "They were worried about its weight, opened it, and found the fossil," Kleber Jimenez, a local police officer, told the Reuters news service. The remains most likely belonged to a proboscidean, or elephant relative.
2008-03-28 - Madera, United States. Jim Steinberg / The Fresno Bee
Trenton A. Parks, 92, of Madera spent his early childhood in Marshall, Ark., with a population of less than 2,000, then grew up to become a merchant mariner and travel the world. Marvin Parks said his father asked him in 1984 whether they could visit the San Diego Wild Animal Park. During his Merchant Marine days, he had brought a baby elephant from India, and remembered exercising it on the deck of the ship. The animal's trainer would allow longshoremen to feed and pet the elephant. Mr. Parks t...
2008-03-28 - Windhoek, Namibia. Chrispin Inambao, Katima Mulilo
A groundbreaking compensation scheme in which relatives of villagers wildly trampled to death by elephants from the Mudumu National Park and victims of lions and monstrous, man-eating crocodiles is in place in Mashi area. The unique scheme - the brainchild of the traditional leader of the Mashi community, Chief Joseph Tembwe Mayuni, in Kongola Constituency in Caprivi covers thousands of registered members of three trailblazing conservancies of Kwandu, Mayuni and Mashi.
2008-03-28 - Tsavo, Kenya.
The population of elephants in the expansive Tsavo/Mkomazi conservation area now stands at 11,696 from 10,397 from the last census three years ago. The new figure from this year’s census represents a 4.1 per cent growth rate. The larger Tsavo is Kenya’s largest protected area (4 per cent of Kenya’s landmass) and holds more elephants than anywhere else in Kenya. Kenya has an estimated 30,000 elephants in total.
2008-03-28 - Auckland, New Zealand.
The SPCA is satisfied the living conditions of an elephant at a South Auckland circus meets its standards. The animal welfare group received a complaint about the treatment of Jumbo at the Story Book Circus. SPCA investigator Sue Baudet visited the circus today and says living conditions are within the minimum standards required by the SPCA. She says the SPCA will always try to monitor the welfare of animals involved in the circus.
The SPCA is investigating allegations an elephant is being mistreated at a South Auckland circus. SPCA Auckland director Bob Kerridge says the call centre received a complaint from a member of the public about the treatment of an elephant at Circus Africa, which is stationed at the Bruce Pulman Park in Papakura. He says when an inspector visited the circus yesterday, she was verbally assaulted by circus staff and told to leave. Mr Kerridge says the inspector will return to the circus today, with...
2008-03-28 - Nilgiris, India. Natasha Raj
Tamil Nadu government has decided to build a public road right across the Sirur reserve forest in the Nilgiris. That`s right across Asias largest elephant reserve and is bound to hamper their habitat. NDTV has documents that reflect the TN governments nod to a proposal to connect this hilly terrain called Siriyur to Satyamangalam. The controversial project is slated to begin soon, but environmentalists are furious and poachers could only be eager for the road to complete. Close to 8000 of these ...
2008-03-27 - Murchison Falls , Uganda. Gerald Tenywa
A French tourist sustained serious injuries when he was attacked by an elephant, which was protecting its calf at Murchison Falls National Park. According to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), a group of tourists visited the park on March 22 and went for a game drive. “We offered to guide and protect them but they declined,” said Sam Mwandha, the UWA director of field operations. “They went too close to the elephant and turned off the engine of their vehicle instead of leaving it running...
2008-03-27 - Washington, United States. Angela Valdez
Kandula, the National Zoo’s 6-year-old bull elephant, began showing signs of a change a little over a year ago. He started spending more time away from his mother and lashing out at his toys. Keepers could see him flexing his growing muscles, occasionally flashing the whites of his eyes. Kandula was becoming an adolescent jerk. “He’s full of himself, like a teenage boy would be,” says Dr. Don Moore, associate director of animal care. Elephant manager Marie Galloway thinks Moore exaggerat...
2008-03-27 - Amboseli, Kenya.
A series of documentaries collected by the BBC, this two-disc set delivers a beautiful look at the life of one of the world’s most famous elephants. Shot in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, where Echo is a lifelong resident, Echo and Other Elephants follows her and her herd, as well as elephant expert Saba Douglas-Hamilton. This title will be released on April 1, 2008. Pre-order now!
2008-03-27 - Thrissur, India. Kundur Sathya Narayanan / CNN-IBN
Thrissur (Kerala): Caparisoned elephants are displayed accompanied by the traditional panchavadyam orchestra on Thrissur Pooram every year. However, this year the Kerala High Court has thrown water over the festivities, even before they have begun. It has upheld an earlier ban on parading elephants between 1100 hrs (IST) and 1400 hrs (IST) at all festivals. The ban had earlier been modified to allow the Thrissue Pooram festivities, but with elephants running amok at the last Pooram, an animal ri...
2008-03-27 - Tucson, United States.
advertisementThe Randolph Park Zoo's bull elephant, Sabu, was not known for his good disposition. In fact, Sabu had almost been put down because of an earlier incident. But instead of a death sentence, Sabu got a new place to call home. In 1970, the City Council approved a major upgrading of zoo facilities, including a much-improved habitat for Sabu and his partner, Connie. On March 27, 1973, the new $61,000 enclosure was almost finished, and the pair would soon move in. At that time, the zoo, l...
2008-03-27 - Esmonton, Canada.
An animal rights group is giving Edmonton city councillors something to chew on. A few members of Edmonton-based Voice for Animals dropped off packages of “elephant dung cookies” at city hall Wednesday. The protesters were raising a stink in the hopes it would help convince the city to move Lucy the elephant to a warmer climate. Lucy has been the sole elephant at the city’s Valley Zoo since the zoo sent its only other elephant, Samantha, to a U.S. zoo on a breeding loan in September. Tove ...
2008-03-27 - Dieppe, France. Ruth Lumley
An animal lover's bid to help an elephant escape its truck and say goodbye to the circus almost ended in disaster. Jenny Wilkins, 45, was in Dieppe celebrating her best friend's birthday over the Easter weekend, staying in a hotel opposite a circus. On Good Friday she noticed a lot of the animals were tied up in trucks and cages and were not able to move very far. Mrs Wilkins, of Reading Road, Brighton, said: "The weather was so bad and the animals were locked up and I could see the trunk of the...
2008-03-26 - Kokrajhar, India.
The number of Asiatic elephants is on the rise in Manas National Park situated in Baksa district of Assam. In the latest elephant census conducted in Basbari, Panbari and Bhuyapara ranges of the park, as many as 1,026 elephants were counted. Bhuyapara range topped the tally with 525 elephants being detected. Another 354 elephants were detected at Basbari range whereas 147 elephants were found at Panbari range. The park authorities are a happy lot with the rise in the number of pachyderms in the ...
2008-03-26 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Two Cambodian men have been arrested for allegedly poisoning an elephant and sawing off its tusks to sell on the black market, officials said Wednesday. The male elephant, which was chained to a tree by its owner in Rattanakiri province, about 200 miles northeast of the capital Phnom Penh, was found dead in March 2007. Police at the time said the alleged killers had doused jack fruit, a tropical fruit eaten by elephants, with rat poison. The tusks of the 62-year-old elephant, measuring almost 3 ...
2008-03-26 - Naypyidaw, Myanmar.
A first-ever zoological garden was inaugurated in Myanmar’s new capital of Nay Pyi Taw this morning, aimed at providing recreation place for tourists visiting the capital and local people, China’s Xinhua news agency reported. Attached with the opening ceremony were elephant and other animal shows as well as elephant-ride programmes for visitors, reports reaching here said. The zoological garden project, which covers an area of more than 400 hectares and was undertaken by the Ministry of Fore...
2008-03-26 - Namib Desert, Namibia. Rebecca Morelle
The tactics used by elephants to keep their cool in extreme desert heat have been caught on camera. A BBC crew filmed the tusked beasts spraying themselves with water that they had stored in a reservoir in their throats several hours earlier. Although this skill for storing water was first documented 100 years ago, the team believes this is the first time it has been filmed. The footage was recorded over six months in the Namib Desert, Namibia.
2008-03-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Yusof Sulaiman
Conservationists around the world are again breathing uneasy following word that Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war has caused the death of 193 elephants last year, up by 13 percent compared to the previous year. In a plan gone wrong, park warden J A Weerasingam blames the action of villagers. "They are shooting my animals," said Weerasingam.
2008-03-25 - Guwahati, India.
One person was killed and another seriously injured by a wild elephant near Kaziranga National Park today, official sources said. The victim has been identified as Tulsi Gogoi, while the injured, Buda Ganju, is undergoing treatment at the Golaghat civil hospital. Ganju, a resident of Dagaon, said the elephant tore down a treehouse where Gogoi was sitting and trampled him to death after he fell from the tree.
2008-03-25 - Ruskin, United States. Williams Woodcock
This shot reminds me of pictures I took of Gunther and the RBBB parade going through NY'S Central Park in 1993, but it is so much more wonderful; it says so much. God bless the photographer who caught this wonderful moment! //Paul G.
2008-03-25 - Baltimore, United States. Joe Burris
No one knows for certain who's the father of the male elephant calf that was born last Wednesday at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, so any name ending in "Jr." is likely out of the question. But what do you call a 290-pound bundle of joy? That's a question posed to officials at the Druid Hill Park zoo. Amid the excitement, no name's been chosen just yet, and zoo spokeswoman Jane Ballentine said yesterday that officials there will decide soon whether to hold a naming contest for the African savann...
2008-03-25 - New Delhi , India.
The elephants are ravenous eaters of bananas and rice, and raid the fields, devastating everything. The farmers hunt them or poison them, to defend their meagre profits. Experts: better living and working opportunities must be given to the farmers. Elephants are at risk of disappearing from entire countries in Asia, because of ruthless hunting by farmers who are defending their fields. All over, rapid deforestation and the expansion of planting has increased the age-old conflict between elephan...
2008-03-25 - London, United Kingdom.
A BBC film crew attached cameras to elephants to shoot remarkable footage of tigers for the corporation's latest natural history series, it was disclosed yesterday. Sharks could warn of storms, claims research Tiger - Spy in the Jungle, a three-part documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough, follows the day-to-day lives of four cubs in the Pench National Park in central India.
2008-03-24 - Temerloh, Malaysia. SIMON KHOO
The National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah near here is a favourite tourist spot despite occasional criticisms. The number of visitors, both local and foreign, keeps increasing every year. In 2005, there were 38,863 visitors, while in 2006, the figure rose to 60,436. Last year, a whopping 81,017 visitors comprising 59,468 locals and 21,549 foreigners visited the pachyderms classified by authorities as endangered. The centre's elephant unit chief Nasharuddin Othman said Australians...
2008-03-24 - Massachusetts, United States. Derrick Perkins
Using satellite technology, a team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts track elephants across regions of conflict across Africa through the newly-founded nonprofit organization Elephants Without Borders. By attaching global positioning units on the African elephants, Curtice Griffin, a professor in the department of natural resources conservation, and his team of graduate students have followed the animals as they move across national borders on the path of their seasonal migrati...
2008-03-24 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Athula Bandara
The residents of several areas including Shravastipura, Siyambalawewa and Aluthwewa in Anuradhapura are facing problems from wild elephants. They have complained to the police and the Wildlife Conservation Department that a herd of wild elephants that roam the human habitat after dusk had destroyed more than 400 acres of cultivated land and 15 houses. They accused the Wildlife Conservation Department of not taking any steps to chase the elephants into a forest reserve. However the Department’s...
2008-03-23 - Guruvayur, India.
The Elephant Owners Federation state committee meet here on Saturday has urged Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan to intervene on issues related to the management of trained domestic elephants in the State. The High Court directions on the management of elephants are being misinterpreted by a certain group of people who have vested interests in toppling the Thrissur pooram and other festivals and are causing trouble to the elephant owners, he alleged. The majority of ezhunnellippu of Thrissur poor...
2008-03-23 - Jaldapara, India.
Five trained jumbo elephants have been shifted from Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Bengal to the Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh by forest department to monitor the rhino rehabilitation centre and the tiger reserve. Two males - Gajraj and Mohanlal and three she-elephants Madhu, Chameli and Sulochana were chosen for the purpose of patrolling.
Elephants at the Dudhwa National Park have punished an elephant with isolation who had turned a nuisance for all due to its rowdy behaviour. The pachyderm was causing chaos all around. The incident has come to the knowledge of Rangers at the Dudhwa National Park. Sanctuary guides and Rangers say that that the jumbo is a male and has been boycotted by other elephants after turning violent and misbehaving with others. Mohammad Naseem, a guide at the Dudhwa National Park, noted that this particular...
2008-03-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Namali Premawardhana
It is quite a feat to get inside an elephant’s mind, to discover without interaction with the imposing and intimidating animal, the trials and tribulations it faces in daily life; its wants and needs. “Tranquil Footsteps” is one man’s effort to help us achieve that. Through his book, which follows one herd of elephants living within the sanctuary of the Uda Walawe National Park, Srilal Miththapala not only affords the reader valuable and interesting information about this most majestic m...
2008-03-21 - Ruskin, United States.
Hello Mister Woodcock, Enclosed some photos. 1. photo forest elephantbull at Duesseldorf Zoo 30ties. -"Despite a full head of hair, I know Herr Hugo Schmitt when I see him." //Buckles -On the photo is Zoo director Rudolf Weber in Duesseldorf Zoo 1937//Filipe von Gilsa
2008-03-21 - Guangxi, China.
Forest police in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region intercepted over 790 kilograms ivory worth 36 million yuan from a truck headed toward Nanning on Wednesday. It was the largest amount of smuggled ivory ever confiscated in the region, China News Service reported. Police found more than ten crates of ivory covered with crumbs, for a total of over 270 sections from 139 complete tusks, one of which is 1.83 meters long. Chang Min, team leader of the forest police, said the force sent police out to pa...
2008-03-21 - Singapore, Singapore.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) and Singapore Airlines Cargo recently formed a partnership to jointly promote wildlife conservation. SIA Cargo is WRS partner in the freightage of wildlife to zoos globally to boost the gene pool of endangered animals. Animals which have been relocated to boost the gene pool of the species globally included Sang Raja the Singapore-born Asian elephant to Cologne Zoo on September 28, 2004.
2008-03-21 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. Ashraf Padanna
Caparisoned elephants will be missing from the famed Thrissur Pooram, the most colourful temple festival of Kerala, from this year if the state’s forest authorities have their way. The state’s forest department has made it clear that it will be strictly abiding by the rules against parading elephants under the scorching sun during daytime and risk lives of thousands of devotees. “The rules are clear and they will be enforced. We are dealing with wild animals which do not know how to...
2008-03-21 - Dambulla, Sri Lanka.
The manager of Dambulla economic centre Christy L. Wijerathna said yesterday that 25 tons of vegetables had to be thrown out as it had got wet and spoilt due to rain and could not be sold. They were seen eaten by wild elephants. On Wednesday the centre had received a large quantity of vegetables, but only a few traders from outstations had come to purchase them, Wijerathna said. At the economic centre, a kilogram of cabbage could not be sold for Rs. 3, he added.
2008-03-21 - Madikeri, India.
A 65-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Gattadalla, police said here on Wednesday. Aravind was attacked by the elephant when he came out of a coffee estate on Tuesday morning, police said. Local people charged forest officials with not using funds allocated for solar fencing to prevent elephants from entering villages. Forest officials have assured payment of compensation to the victim's family, police said.
2008-03-20 - Abington, United States. Mikaela Slaney
The show must go on. And now with the recent rejection of a bill last week that would have prohibited the use of elephants in traveling circuses, the Cole Brothers Circus will continue performances in Abington as it always has. If the bill had passed, opponents said it would have effectively banned circuses in the commonwealth after 80 years of performances. Bill supporters claimed elephants that perform in circuses have been beaten, chained and confined to dangerously small living areas. The Co...
2008-03-20 - Baltimore, United States. Karl B. Hille
Maryland Zoo staff were ecstatic and a little tired Thursday as they announced the healthy birth of a 290-pound, 42-inch-tall baby boy to their African elephant Felix Wednesday night. Thats big, even for an elephant, said Mike McClure, curator and elephant manager. Its tall for an elephant baby and he’s heavy, McClure said. Felix is a a petite elephant, and the fact she was able to pass a 290-pound calf is very impressive.Right now, the boy is bonding with his mom and staying warm inside the e...
2008-03-20 - Hamilton, Canada.
They are more used to a balmy climate, but as these amazing pictures show, elephants love to play in the snow too. Two of the massive mammals played together in the cold safari park in Ontario, Canada and even made a gigantic snowball together. The elephants at the African Lion Safari in Hamilton, used their trunks to gather the snow and pile it high to create the massive ball of ice. They worked hard to compact the snow and the structure was so stable that one of the safari park workers could s...
2008-03-20 - Amherst, Angola. STAN FREEMAN
Eliminated from Angola during more than two decades of civil war, herds of African elephants are crossing heavily mined fields as they recolonize Angola from neighboring Namibia and Botswana. But miraculously, they are avoiding the mines entirely, according to researchers at University of Massachusetts in Amherst who are tracking them via global positioning system satellites. "It's quite a mystery," said Curtice R. Griffin, the UMass professor of wildlife ecology leading the research. He estimat...
2008-03-19 - Chongqing, United States.
Among the victims of a long ago era of climate change was the Stegodon Orientalis. It was a saber-toothed elephant that roamed Asia and Africa during the mid-Pleistocene Period. A complete skeleton of this long extinct species has been found in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Soon after the discovery last year, the remains proved to be the largest skeleton of the species ever found.
2008-03-19 - Sydney, Australia.
Former Stardust Circus elephant Gigi is putting her best foot forward in the process of becoming a permanent inhabitant of Taronga Western Plains Zoo. On the request of keepers, she regularly presents her feet on fence rails for a zoo-style pedicure. After Gigis toenails are clipped and filed, she enjoys a treat - sometimes raw pumpkin or sweet potato. The zoos senior veterinarian Dr Benn Bryant says “keepers have made great progress with Gigi” in introducing her to the zoo and its sp...
2008-03-19 - Melbourne, Australia.
...Then I wandered to the elephant yard. Just after that, Caroline joined me. As we were starting to walk away for lunch, the elephant keeper walked past and said it was time for elephant painting, if we were interested. So of course we followed.
2008-03-19 - PIMBURELLEGAMA,, Sri Lanka. Simon Gardner
Shaking his head at an elephant carcass rotting by a lush paddy field in north Sri Lanka, park warden J.A. Weerasingha counts the cost of a state initiative to arm villagers against Tamil Tiger rebels. While Sri Lanka has long wrestled with a human-elephant conflict that kills dozens of animals and people annually, elephant deaths are up sharply and it's clear why. In what the military says is a bid to protect villages in the far north as the government and its Tiger foes wage a new phase of a 2...
2008-03-19 - New York, United States.
The elephants and horses of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus have invaded Manhattan. The pack of seven pachyderms and about 15 horses paraded through the Queens Midtown Tunnel early Wednesday morning on their way to Madison Square Garden on 34th Street, where they will appear in the "Over The Top" show. The lead elephant wore a "I love New York" blanket as some onlookers along the route watched the nearly 30-year tradition of marching the circus animals through the tunnel.
2008-03-19 - Amsterdam, Netherlands. Artis Zoo (Translation Martijn Fabrie)
Artis is hoping for a new elephant baby next spring. Thong Tai is again pregnant after she gave birth of Yindee in August 2005. Thong Tai has been sired by Nikolai who has been in Artis since 2003. Nikolai is planned to leave Artis on April 1st to Hannover. Six elephants are waiting for him to let them be sired. After Nikolai has left, there will be three elephants left. Thong Tai with here daughter Yindee and Win Thida (38 years old), who has been mother once. (Article in dutch)
2008-03-18 - Gainesville, United States. Wellehan JF, Johnson AJ, Childress AL, Harr KE, Isaza R. University of Florida
The Afrotheria represent an early branching of placental mammals. Only two herpesviruses from Afrotheria have been previously identified, and the genus Proboscivirus in the subfamily Betaherpesvirinae has been proposed for them. Six novel gammaherpesviruses were identified in four species in the superorder Afrotheria by detection and analysis of their DNA polymerase genes. Elephantid herpesvirus 3 (ElHV3) and Elephantid herpesvirus 4 (ElHV4) were identified from conjunctival swabs from Asian ele...
2008-03-18 - New Delhi , India.
2008-03-18 - Dubbo, Australia. Justin Huntsdale
If you opened your eyes and you were standing on a dirt track, surrounded by waist-high dead grass, some trees and two African elephants, where would you say you are? The sun isn’t rising over the Serengeti – it’s in Dubbo, New South Wales. This is a side of the Taronga Western Plains Zoo (TWPZ) you probably won’t see. It’s 7am, the front gates are still closed, and African elephants Yum Yum and Cuddles are on their morning walk to stretch their legs and graze. “I’d stay out here a...
2008-03-18 - New York, United States.
If it's March, it must be time for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to come to town. And it must mean it's time for the annual Elephant Walk, too! This year's Elephant Walk will take place will be on Tuesday, March 18 into Wednesday March 19th, at midnight. The circus reaches New York City by way of train, stopping in Queens and head into Manhattan through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel for its stand at Madison Square Garden, so anywhere along 34th Street, between the tunnel and Manhatta...
2008-03-17 - , Thailand. Thongtip N, Saikhun J, Mahasawangkul S, Kornkaewrat K, Pongsopavijitr P, Songsasen N, Pinyopummin A.
One of the major obstacles in using artificial insemination to manage genetics of elephant population in captivity is the large variations in semen quality among ejaculates within the same and among individuals. The objectives of this study were to determine the influences of (1) age (2) seasonality (3) and circulating testosterone (SrTest), triiodothyronine (SrT3) and tetraiodothyronine (SrT4), as well as seminal (4) testosterone (SpTest), zinc (SpZn) and protein (SpTP) on semen quality in the ...
2008-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Leakey
It is too soon for conservationists to ring the alarm bells over South Africa's elephant management plan that includes culling, argues Dr Richard Leakey. In this week's Green Room, he says the measures are necessary and based in animal welfare concerns. The issue of culling is highly emotive
2008-03-17 - Amboseli, Kenya.
Conservationists have raised concern after 14 elephants were speared in Amboseli, Kenya, leaving four dead. The news comes shortly after community conservation group Lion Guardians confirmed the slaughter of three lions in the same area. It is thought that the spearing of the lions and elephants is connected and related to complex local issues. The elephants are well known by conservationists in the area as they have been studied and followed since birth as part of a programme of research. Scien...
2008-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The eminent conservationist Richard Leakey has given qualified backing for South Africa's plan to cull elephants. In an article for the BBC News website, the former head of the Kenyan Wildlife Service says culling is "a necessary part of population management". But Dr Leakey says there is also a responsibility to curb human activities that impinge on elephant habitat. South Africa plans to allow culling after a gap of 14 years because of growing numbers of elephants. The population is estimated ...
2008-03-17 - Chicago, United States.
Alderman Mary Ann Smith is pushing for a city ordinance that would ban cruelty towards elephants. She came up with the idea last year after three elephants died at the Lincoln Park Zoo, but now it's an issue again because the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is planning its November run at the United Center.
2008-03-17 - Qualicum Beach, Canada.
Could a forensic investigation into the life and death of a newly discovered baby woolly mammoth literally take us “back to the future”? Baby Mammoth, a new one-hour Discovery Channel special, premiering Sun., March 23 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT explores the explosive question: Could a mammoth be cloned?
2008-03-17 - Cork, United Kingdom.
How do you fancy transporting a herd of elephants? Like this herd for starters? Ruth Powys has contacted Biglorryblog to ask whether a generous haulier could provide free transport between June and October to transport the herd of wicker elephants between five venues in the UK and Ireland as part of a campaign to raise awareness to the shrinking habitat of Indian Elephants.
2008-03-17 - Hoogeveen, Netherlands.
Animals rights activists claim they have been sprayed with elephant urine by circus employees last Saturday in Hoogeveen. The activists said that employees of Circus Renz Berlin used water pistols to shoot at them. When the police arrived at the scene everything was quiet again, although a threatening atmosphere was still lingering in the air according to an unnamed police spokesperson. The police confiscated one water gun that contained a “foul smelling substance”.
2008-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Mike Pflanz
Four elephants including two infants have been killed and 10 others wounded during a series of spear attacks close to a Kenyan game park. Among the dead was a four-month-old female calf who had been speared 14 times. Conservationists were today still searching for two other older males spotted with head wounds including one who had a spear still embedded in his skull. The pair have disappeared into the bush since the attacks.
2008-03-17 - Tapaktuan, Indonesia.
A herd of wild elephants again encroached on human settlements in Trumon Timur sub district, South Aceh District, where they damaged commercial and food crop plantations. "The problem of elephant attacks is continuing. The villagers have been restless for more than three weeks due to the behavior of the protected animals," T. Masrizar, a resident of Trumon, said here on Monday. Meanwhile, Naca Village Head Ramli Hajnur said a herd of four wild elephants had attacked and damaged tens of hectares ...
2008-03-17 - Nairobi, Kenya. Steve Bloomfield
In Chad, Janjaweed militia from Sudan killed 100 elephants in one afternoon; in Kenya, Somali warlords armed with rocket-propelled grenades killed four wildlife rangers during a bloody raid on herds in the Tana Delta; in Democratic Republic of Congo, a whole host of rebel groups have turned the country's dwindling elephant population into a new cash crop.
2008-03-17 - Amboseli, Kenya. RUPI MANGAT
Amboseli National Parks elephants are probably the world’s most famous. They are not only the longest studied elephants in the wild but also the longest studied wild mammals. Talk about being doubly famous. “Elephants are extremely intelligent animals,” says Dr Cynthia Moss, taking a morning break from shooting a 13-part Amboseli elephants “soap opera” for Animal Planet which will be screened on Discovery channel starting in 2009.
2008-03-16 - Stellenbosch, South Africa. Iain Macdonald
Cleopatra is an elephant and matriarch. The journey is her endeavour to keep her precious family alive against enormous odds. All the events contained in this book take place betweeen 1966 and 1994, a tumultous period for the region.The most tragic event was the demise of the rhino due to commercial poaching. The same people who killed the rhino went on to decimate the elephant.
2008-03-16 - Bangkok, Thailand. gill murdoch
Standing ten feet tall and weighing up to five tonnes, you’d think an Asian elephant would be hard to miss. But the giants that range across 13 Asian states are so at home in the dense forests and jungles they live in they’re often hard to spot. Conservation experts rarely expect to see the wild elephants they spend their time devising management strategies for. Head counts are mostly based on dung samples rather than fleeting sightings. It’s tourists who typically get the clearest view.
2008-03-16 - Abu Camp, Botswana. Tracey Teo
In the heart of Botswana's Okavango Delta, home to Elephant Back Safaris' Abu Camp, a group of Americans joke and laugh nervously as the elephants they are riding approach a hippo-filled lagoon. Hippopotamuses are notoriously unpredictable, and the riders wonder how the animals will respond to having their turf invaded by a long train of elephants bearing humans on their backs.
2008-03-16 - Vientiane, Laos. DENIS D. GRAY
Connie Speight has swayed on elephant-back through unforgiving jungle and has adopted nine of the high-maintenance beasts. At 83, the retired American teacher is back in this Southeast Asian country to help save what remains of the once mighty herds. Once so famous for its herds that it was called Prathet Lane Xane, or Land of a Million Elephants, Laos is thought to have only 700 left in the wild.
2008-03-16 - Reno, United States. RAY HAGAR
Workers cleared out a warehouse last week in Sparks, where John Ascuaga’s Nugget had stored many relics of its 53-year history. The opening act for the showroom, and a Nugget tradition, was Bertha the elephant. Bertha died in 1999 at age 48 after appearing on stage for 37 consecutive years. Ascuaga bought Bertha in 1962 for $8,000 from a circus museum in Wisconsin and treated her like royalty, building her and her later stage partners, Tina and Angel, the Elephant Palace.
2008-03-16 - Kompong Speu, Cambodia. Gillian Murdoch
From nightfall until 3 a.m. the villagers of Trang Troyeung commune, in Cambodia's southwest Kompong Speu province, battled to protect their banana grove from attacks by elephants. Camped in a field that backs onto Kirirom National Park, where some of Cambodia's last 250 wild elephants roam, they repelled the animals' by banging pots and patrolling frontlines. But not for long.
2008-03-16 - Singapore, Singapore. Gillian Murdoch
Asia's elephants once roamed across nine million square kilometres of forests from the Iranian coast to the Indian subcontinent, Java, Sumatra and Borneo, and China. Now extinct in west Asia, Java and most of China, about 40,000 to 50,000 remain in pockets of forest in 13 states. About 15,000 Asian elephants live in captivity as work animals, mostly in India, Myanmar and Thailand. By contrast, there are only about 500 captive African elephants, mostly in western zoos, and a wild population of 40...
2008-03-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Malaka Rodrigo
Elephants are generally animals on the move, but this bull elephant frequenting Suriyawewa stood lethargically in one place. Soon it collapsed. The wildlife ranger of Hambantota H.M. Abeykoon and veterinary surgeon for the region Dr. Suhada Jayawardena tried giving water to the animal. The elephant’s jaws were pierced and its tongue badly damaged. Something had exploded inside its mouth seriously injuring the animal. The veterinary surgeon immediately started giving it saline. Despite their ef...
2008-03-16 - Athens, United States. Lauren Ricks
To see animals like elephants, llamas, tigers and camels, you only need to travel to the Henderson County Fair Park Complex on March 18. The Carson Barnes Circus will come to Athens that morning and begin setting up. The circus welcomes visitors to come watch the process and see the animals at no charge. It has 25 species of exotic and domestic animals. The elephants are trained to help the crew lift the 40-foot pole in the air for the 300-foot tent. It is the largest in the United States and ha...
2008-03-15 - New York, United States. Vibhuti Patel
Mohan's collection of black-and-white images, shot over six "very long" years, is now a handsome big-format book, "Vanishing Giants: Elephants of Asia" ( Editions Didier Millet), with a foreword by British environmentalist David Bellamy. In the cover image, a hand reaches out to hold an elephant's extended trunk, embodying the idea of relationship. Inside, most photos similarly focus on the tangled connection between man and beast. Some are loving: one memorable shot depicts an elephant "kissing...
2008-03-15 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Jetjaras Na Ranong
After undergoing hard training and working away to entertain tourists all year round, elephants at a shelter in Ayutthaya were given a one-day break on Thursday _ Thai Elephant Day. Besides 69 ''fruit platters'' for the elephants, the shelter operator also allowed the normally hard-working animals to play around in the water splashing each other for as long as they wanted. The elephants looked to be extremely happy with their day off as they relaxed, playing around and eating. However, while the...
2008-03-15 - Vallejo, United States.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is seeking qualified applicants for a full time Senior Level Elephant Trainer. These elephants are managed in a free contact system. Senior Level Elephant Trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to participation in elephant training programs, daily care and feeding of elephants in the collection, maintenance of elephant exhibit and night house, public presentations, elephant rides, assisting veterinary staff, good working knowledge of tools and farm equip...
2008-03-14 - Los Angeles, United States. Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times
The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana has canceled a stunt in which an artist planned to surround an Asian elephant with a giant soap bubble after critics threatened to protest it as cruel and frivolous, the center announced Friday. “We wanted it to be good, clean family fun, so we’re taking away the part that seemed negative,” said spokeswoman Julie Smith, adding that the only change in plans is to take the elephant out of Tuesday’s show. The science center began reconsidering the s...
2008-03-14 - Okavango, Botswana.
Joyous celebrations among the elephants and staff at Abu Camp in Botswanas Okavango Delta at the birth to Kitimetse of a healthy and lively baby named Lorato love in Setswana. Little Lorato is the fourth baby elephant to be born at Abu Camp where Randall Moore pioneered Africas first elephant back safari operation 18 years ago. She was born at 3.30 pm on February 11, weighed 70 kilograms and measured 90 centimetres at the shoulder. She was quickly feeding and sleeping and within a few days was j...
2008-03-14 - Ruskin, United States.
Anonymous said: Is there 36 elephants or are there more? Buckles said: At this point there were 51 elephants in quarters, no reason they wouldn't all be in this picture. The men in blue uniforms were Arky Scott, Smokey Jones, Hugo Schmitt and Louie Reed.
2008-03-14 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
Did you know that elephants ate eggs? Well, most of the zookeepers from across the country who took part in the mahout training programme also did not. They saw the jumbos being given a feed of dates and eggs at the elephant camp at Guruvayur. This was just one of the many elephant camps they visited as part of their training programme in elephant management and all of them in one voice said it was a great learning experience. They also had many tales to recite at the concluding session of the p...
2008-03-14 - Chiang Mai , Thailand.
Doung, an11-year-old autistic boy, enjoys playing and touching an elephant’s trunk. The occupational therapists said it was miraculous because he used to isolate himself from others. Doung was among four autistic children who participated in a three-week elephant therapy programme, created by the Occupation Therapy department of Chiang Mai University and the Elephant Conservation Centre in northern Lampang province.
2008-03-14 - Louisville, United States. Ken Neuhauser
For your pachyderm pleasure, pack up your kids and head over to the Louisville Zoo for Scotty the African elephant's first birthday. Thanks to Coca-Cola, admission is only $1 (free for zoo members). The wingding will begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow with the elephant staff weighing and measuring Scotty and treating him to a slice, er, a whole elephant-sized cake. Scotty, who weighed 285 pounds at birth and loves playing on logs and in the mud, will show off some of the training and behavior techniques ...
2008-03-14 - Los Angeles, United States.
Horton Hears a Who! is a 2008 CGI animated film based on the 1954 book by Dr. Seuss. It is set to be released on March 14, 2008. One day, Horton the elephant (Jim Carrey) hears a cry for help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can't see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who ...
2008-03-13 - Perris, United States.
Thai the elephant is days away from being surrounded by a bubble. Here is raw video of Thai and other elephants having a midday snack.
2008-03-13 - Bangkok, Thailand. Karen Emmons
The Kingdom of Thailand – a country that has long revered the elephant for its royal and religious significance – is home to some 4,000 of the fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) still surviving. Compared to the relatively enduring population of African elephants (currently estimated to number about 500,000), the rapidly dwindling Asian population was a major cause of concern. In 1975, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)...
2008-03-13 - Ruskin, United States.
Buckles, here is another elephant on leash at Circus Knie. The calf tied to the mother is pretty common, but elephant man Ruppert Bemmerl seems to leading both by whip and leash. Thanks. Joey
2008-03-13 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Elephants enjoy a "buffet" of fruit and vegetables during Thailand's National Elephant Day in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya, 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, March 13, 2008. Thais honoured the elephant on Wednesday with special fruit and Buddhist ceremonies across the country to pay homage to their national animal.
2008-03-13 - Lampang, Thailand. BARBARA WALTON
Sampran,6, a wild bull elephant who was caught in a poachers snare has his badly infected foot x-rayed by Thai vets trying to save his life, at the Lampang National Elephant Institute hospital in Lampang, northern Thailand, 06 March 2008. Badly dehydrated and thin, the young elephant has about a 50 percent chance of survival and was bought into the hospital for emergency care after the infection, monitored over the past two years by Thai rangers in the Khao Ang Rue Nai wildlife sanctuary where h...
2008-03-13 - Lampang, Thailand.
Veterinarians on Thursday ruled out surgery for Sampran, the 6-year-old elephant whose forefoot has swollen to a monstrous size after being injured in a hunter's trap two years ago. "We can't operate on the foot because there would be too much blood loss," said Dr Sittidej Mahasawangkul after taking an x-ray of Sampran's damaged foot at Lampang National Elephant Institute hospital in the North. Sampran, a wild elephant, was finally brought to the hospital for treatment Thursday after suffering f...
2008-03-13 - Coimbatore, India.
To prevent elephants being hit by speeding trains, the ministries of environment and forests and of railways are considering setting up barbed wire fencing along several hundred kilometres of rail tracks in the Western Ghat forests straddling the borders of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The move comes after the death of a pregnant elephant, along with two other elephants, when they were hit by a train passing between Pothanur and Madhukkari stations, about 20 km from the textile town of Coim...
2008-03-13 - San Diego , United States. Erin McCarthy
Jeffery Zuba, head veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, believes there is a way for African animal parks to preserve the environment without resorting to killing members of their resident herds. Along with colleagues at Disney's Animal Kingdom and Colorado University, Zuba has proposed using laparoscopic surgery—a minimally invasive procedure utilizing fiberoptic instruments—to permanently sterilize free-ranging elephants.
2008-03-13 - Hohenwald, United States. Patricia Feurer
In the early hours of yesterday morning while her sisters and caregivers slept, Delhi made her transition. Her passing was silent and peaceful, she passed without waking. We are all spending the day honoring our last precious hours with her; caregivers are still fussing around her, whispering quiet goodbyes. Misty carefully touched all over Delhi's body and then gently stepped over her, sheltering her dearly departed friend. We are honored to have been Delhi's caregivers, thankful to be loved by...
2008-03-13 - Tel Aviv, Israel. Ofri Ilani
A few months ago, when he was traveling in the border region between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Prof. Jeheskel Shoshani found the corpse of a large elephant that had been shot by hunters. "It was a large male, and the poachers wanted its ivory, so they sawed off its head," he says. "When I saw that, I thought about the last moments in the life of this elephant. Elephants have language - they talk to one another with sounds that we can't hear. I asked myself what sound he made a moment before he died....
2008-03-12 - Little Rock, United States.
CURATOR (HOOFSTOCK AND ELEPHANTS) Provides supervision to assigned Zoo personnel, ensuring the proper care of animals and facilities in a designated section of the Zoo; determines dietary, environmental, and psychological needs of animals and species. PREFER: EXPERIENCE WITH ELEPHANTS AND HOOFSTOCK. Completion of a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology, Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Medicine, or related area, two (2) years of experience in the care of birds, carnivores, elephants, great apes, reptiles o...
2008-03-12 - Ely, United States.
White Pine High School hosted the Kerak Shrine Circus of Reno on Monday for the first time in four years. Two rings on the gym floor offered entertainment for children of all ages. The circus had performed at White Pine Middle School each of the last three years. Sponsored by the Kerak Shrine Center of Reno, the circus comes to Ely nearly every year.
2008-03-12 - Nagaon, India.
It is another David and Goliath battle where the former prevails again. A string, and just that, has been able to play a role in halting the onslaught of the biggest of land animals. In parts of Nagaon district, strategically deployed strings in the path of wild elephants have resulted in reducing human elephant conflict to an unexpected degree, to the extent that some people have called it sheer magic. However, there actually is no magic involved. The promoter of the idea, Shimanta Goswami of N...
2008-03-12 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
Today the breeding bull Chiang Mai in Copenhagen were transfered to the newbuilt facility. Tomorrow the cows will be transfered. Visitors will be welcome in the new house from 10th of June. watch the film when the bull takes the first steps into his new stable.
2008-03-12 - Des Moines, United States.
Rosie will return to Des Moines this summer. And this time, she'll bring her baby. The 7,300-pound elephant drew large crowds when she visited Blank Park Zoo in 2000. Zoo officials have tried for three years to bring her back. "I'm amazed at the number of people who come to the zoo and say, 'Is Rosie coming back?' " said Terry Rich, chief executive officer of the zoo at 7401 S.W. Ninth St. Rosie has gained about 900 pounds since her last trip to Iowa. She is just short of 8 feet tall. Her 1,000-...
2008-03-12 - Sequim, United States. Avani Nadkarni
Helen Haller Elementary fifth-graders Austin Allen, Bailey Boyce and Rory Roberts crowded around a giant white mammoth tusk, a piece of ivory that is more than double their height, seven times their weight and about a thousand times their age. “That’s awesome!” Allen exclaimed, petting the fossil. The tusk was found almost exactly four years ago, when Rick and Linda Guenthner were taking a mid-January stroll on Port Williams beach with their Brittany spaniel, Belle. Belle spotted the strip...
2008-03-12 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
A wild elephant strayed into a village in east Nepal and trampled three people to death including a nine-year-old boy, forest officials said on Wednesday. "It first threw the boy...and then trampled him to death," forest official Tadhi Kandel said by telephone from Jhapa, 275 km (170 miles) southeast of Kathmandu. "We are trying to drive it back into the forest so that it does not cause further human losses." There are about 250 elephants in Nepal, including about 100 domesticated ones that are ...
2008-03-12 - Berhampur, India.
Recovery of a decapitated elephant calf near Nimisola village in Palanga panchayat in Ganjam block has put the forest officials in a fix. The reason behind the death is still a mystery. A herd of about 15 elephants migrated from Chandaka forest to the Barbara jungle of adjoining Khurda-Ganjam area in January and created a havoc in Khallikote, Purushottampur and Ganjam block. The herd laid waste to standing crops, cashew plantation, coconut trees besides attacking villagers.
2008-03-12 - Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times, United States.
Artist plans to encase Tai the elephant in a soapy sphere. Some call the stunt cruel. Tai the elephant is no stranger to fame. The 39-year-old female has a long resume: TV commercials, corporate parties and 20 movie credits. "She has such a reputation that people ask for her by name," said Kari Johnson, a co-owner of Have Trunk Will Travel. The company operates a ranch in Perris for nine endangered Asian elephants, which often work in show business. Tai is the most famous, she said. But as with ...
2008-03-12 - Carlsbad, United States. MARGA KELLOGG, North County Times
The tusk and molars of a giant prehistoric mastodon that were found in Carlsbad last year, will get new life Wednesday night. The rare finds, which are on display at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Discovery Center through July, will be the centerpiece of a lecture by Tom Demere, curator of paleontology for the San Diego Natural History Museum. The lecture starts at 7 p.m. at the discovery center, 1580 Cannon Road, Carlsbad. The event is free.
2008-03-11 - Toronto, Canada. DAVID NICKLE
More room for the elephants, a new education learning centre and funding for research into the lives and possible longevity of polar bears are some of the things that $250 million could buy the Toronto Zoo. The money will go to several projects within and outside the zoo. The largest sum, $107.8 million, will go to redeveloping the north zoo site, the animal health centre and increasing the size of the elephant paddock. The zoo wants to spend $21.5 million on an education learning centre and $24...
2008-03-11 - Baltimore, United States. Ron Matz
You were not hallucinating Tuesday morning if you saw some elephants walking the streets in Downtown Baltimore. The greatest show on earth is stepping into town and everyone wants a close up look. The animal walk is a Baltimore tradition. The walk is a little over a mile long and it takes about 25 minutes, from the B&O Railroad Museum to the 1st Mariner Arena. "I feel like a little kid today. I'm going to watch the elephants march down the street, it's very unique" said Brad Hungerford, spectato...
2008-03-11 - Sebastopol, United States. Steve Rubenstein
Nancy Fiddler is cleaning out her garage in Sebastopol these days, which is the thing to do if your garage has a mastodon in it. Not just any mastodon, but a full-grown one. It's among the finest examples of a fossilized mastodon in North America, and certainly the finest example of one in a Sebastopol garage. Fiddler wants it gone. It's been in the family for 11 years, and that's long enough for the relationship to have run its course. "This," she said, pointing to the creature that fills half ...
2008-03-11 - Las Vegas, United States.
Popular “bubble scientist” Fan Yang, who has a show in Las Vegas, will attempt to set a world record March 18 by enclosing an 8,800-pound Asian elephant inside a bubble at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. Yang will use a customized wand to create a bubble large enough to enclose Tai, a 7-foot, 6-inch elephant that will be provided by Have Trunk Will Travel, a conservation and education group whose animals have appeared in many movies and TV shows.
2008-03-11 - Cologne, Germany. Dan Koehl
Tuesday morning a stillborn asian elephant calf was found by the elephant keepers in Zoo Cologne. The birth was sceduled for late April. This was the first baby for the mother, 13 year old Shu Thu Zar, and Cologne veterinarians belive that the baby was dead for over half a year in the mothers uterus.
2008-03-11 - , United States. Sarah Dobbs
Why do filmmakers spend so long creating scary sets for horror movies? Animals are scary. Horror movies (and books, and TV shows) said so. Here's your handy cut-out-and-keep guide to all the evil animals out there: E = Elephant. Four letters into the alphabet, and already I'm cheating. Elephants are one of the most obviously scary animals - they're huge!! - but there don't seem to have been many films about them killing people. Probably because it's expensive. An elephant did, however, get some ...
2008-03-11 - Jhapa, Nepal.
Two persons were trampled to death by a wild elephant in Jhapa district on Tuesday morning. Aasame Tamanag was crushed at Haldaar Chowk in Damak at 6:30 this morning and one hour later Mahendra Poudel was crushed in Dhukurpani by the same wild elephant. In December last year, two persons were killed and one critically injured in a similar attack in Siraha district.
2008-03-11 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
This year the elephant and buffalo census team, under the leadership of Dr Ian Whyte, who is conducting his 24th census, counted 13 050 elephants in the Kruger National Park (KNP). Although Ian retired earlier this year, he was contracted to conduct the census. The count indicates 623 individuals or five percent more than the 12 427 counted last year. Ian says in his report that only 338 calves were recorded which is considerably less than the 725 counted in 2006.
2008-03-11 - Bekesbourne, United Kingdom.
A baby African elephant has made her debut at an animal park. Uzuri - which means "Beauty" in Swahili - was born on February 17 at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent. The calf, weighing an estimated 70-80 kilos, is the third baby for mother Tammi who was brought to Howletts from Tel Aviv in 1988. She has an older sister, Jara, born in April 2005 and a much bigger brother, Jumar, who is now 10-years-old. He was the first African bull elephant to be conceived, born and reared in the UK.
2008-03-10 - Asheboro, United States.
Successful candidate will be assigned to the Watani Grasslands section, working with African Elephants and/or White Rhinoceros, a variety of African Antelope, and some African Birds, including Ostrich. Specific animal assignment will depend on the section needs and the skills and experiences of the candidate. Regardless of primary assignment, candidate will be expected to assist working with the care of other species within the work unit.
2008-03-10 - Kasungu, Malawi. WANANGWA TEMBO
KASUNGU Magistrate Court last week ordered two men to pay a fine of K60,000 each or in default serve three years imprisonment for poaching in Kasungu National Park. Fole Nkhoma, 27, and Vuntani Zintambira, 24, both from T/A Chulu in Kasungu were arrested late last month together with 16 other people for killing a lone antelope whose value was put at K60,000. Kasungu Police spokesman Andrew Gada said they arrested the 18 people in a joint operation with Wild Life officials late last month.
2008-03-10 - Chiang Mai , Thailand. Antoinette van de Water
Organization: Foundation Bring the Elephant Home is looking for a Thai freelance campaigner who shares our passion for creating a positive change for the environment and elephants. Date vacancy: 10/03/2008. Starting date job: a.s.a.p. Hours: Freelance, for approx 2 days a week. Period: until the end of 2008
2008-03-10 - Lucknow, India. Tarannum Manjul
As a part of the Government of India’s Project Elephant, the state will soon get its own elephant reserve in Bijnore district under the Nazibabad forest range. The reserve will be called Shivalik Elephant Reserve. The reserve will not only have an exclusive protected area for elephants, but will also see to it that crop raiding activities — which affect those living in these areas — are brought down.
2008-03-10 - Mumbai, India.
The crime branch of the Mumbai police arrested two persons and seized elephants tusks worth over Rs7 lakh from them on Friday in Dahisar. Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Raju Gawde alias Vishram, 24, and Aniruddh Sawant alias Kishore, 48, at the Nancy Colony bus depot while they were looking for prospective customers to sell the full-sized ivory tusks. According to the police, the duo was intercepted and the ivory tusks weighing 4.5 kg were found in their possession without any legal do...
2008-03-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Security forces armed with loud hailers were deployed in eastern Sri Lanka Monday to drive away wild elephants blocking access to polling booths, police said. Villagers in Wellaveli told the authorities that they were unable to vote at the first local elections in 14 years because a herd of elephants had blocked their polling booth, a police official in the area said. "We sent a team of commandos in armoured personnel carriers and loud hailers and sirens to drive away the elephants," the officia...
2008-03-10 - Kolkata, India. Soudhriti Bhabani
Its indeed a jumbo-sized wish. A businessman in West Bengal wants to adopt an elephant, prompting the state government to mull over a legal amendment to fulfil the 65-year-old’s desire. Jute mill owner Om Prakash Mal from Kolkata’s twin town Howarh is one of the two people who have evinced interest in elephant adoption. The West Bengal government, which spends quite a fortune on maintenance of elephants, seems game to the idea and even ready for a legal amendment to facilitate the same.
2008-03-10 - Naklua, Thailand.
On Sunday Afternoon, Police and rescue workers were called to a beach in Naklua after receiving reports of an out-of-control elephant which had attacked and injured someone. Arriving at the scene, rescue workers attended to Khun Ponoomar aged 25 who had sustained suspected spinal injuries. She explained that she was in the process of feeding the 2 year old male elephant outside the Jeyjook Restaurant when she dropped some of the food and was kicked by the elephant.
2008-03-09 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Garamba: “The Sudanese horsemen have killed almost 1,000 elephants in the past year and are on the verge of eliminating the last wild population of northern white rhinos.” (Norton. Interior Secretary of USA, 2004) Salonga: Large scale bushmeat hunting started rather recently (southern Salonga). Hunting with automatic weapons changed from mainly elephants for ivory to monkeys for the lucrative bushmeat trade… (reasearcher 2007), Virungas : “…four buffalo shot down, 14 colobus shot down,...
2008-03-09 - Pahang, Malaysia.
Next stop on my tour of “Wildlife Reserves That Are Located Conveniently Close To Places Where You Can Get A Decent Cocktail”, was the elephant sanctuary at Kuala Gandah, a couple of hours outside the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. These critically endangered giants have been rescued from around Malaysia. After a bit of training, they’re re-released into one of the country’s national parks — an operation which apparently involves not just a very big truck, but also a man whose job it ...
2008-03-09 - Lahore, Pakistan.
A business tycoon has adopted female elephant ëSuzií of the Lahore Zoo for one year after paying an amount of Rs 732,000. A colorful ceremony was held in this regard at the Lahore Zoo on Saturday, which was attended by students of various schools, civil servants and other notable personalities. Wildlife and Forests Secretary Naveed Akram Cheema was the chief guest. Javed Tariq Khan, who adopted 'Suzi', cut a cake on the occasion while students presented various programmes.
2008-03-09 - Kalpetta, India.
The tiger population in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is stable while there is a slight increase in the number of elephants, according to the just-concluded annual wildlife assessment. The 2006 census had found that the Wayanad sanctuary was home to about 500 elephants and the indications of the present study was that there could be an increase in elephant population. According to Mishra, poaching had been contained totally in the area. Based on direct sightings, pugmarks on ...
2008-03-09 - Anchorage, United States. William J. Tobin
Don't know if the folks at the Alaska Zoo noticed, but the government of South Africa says it will start killing elephants because their herds have so increased in size that the land can't support the burgeoning numbers. Well, now. Isn't this the perfect opportunity to save a couple of baby African elephants from slaughter by offering them a home in Anchorage? When Maggie was removed to an animal park in California a few months ago, one of the rallying cries was that she was lonely — the only ...
2008-03-09 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. S. BINU RAJ
The grace of an elephant is beyond words. B. Chandra Kumar, a photographer, has followed elephants for more than a decade. Elephants just happened to stray before his lens and thus dictated his frame. “It happened in 1995, during one of my assi gnments at the elephant training centre Kodanad. I was there to shoot the mischievous moods of little Parvathi, an elephant calf who had strayed into the camp from the forest. Those photographs were widely appreciated. After that I started following wil...
2008-03-08 - Cambridge, United States. Juliana Rotich
In this issue of Global voices environment, we check in with various blogs around the world. Lets begin with South Africa (SA), where Elephant culling may soon return as a way to control the population of elephants in National parks. This was a banned practice, and it is still banned in other countries like Kenya. Richard Leakey of Wildlife Direct explains his position on the question. Is culling imminent for South African elephants? Reducing elephant populations may therefore, be a necessary pa...
2008-03-08 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Kerala government on Saturday directed officials concerned to strictly implement laws under The Captive Elephant Management Rules following a rise in the number of incidents involving elephants participating in temple festivals becoming wild,causing hardship to people. The officials should ensure that elephants engaged for temple festivals were free of any disease and the Festival committees should obtain a certificate from a veterinary doctor, an official press release said here on Saturday...
2008-03-08 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. John Mackie, Canwest News Service
A catchy name is a key ingredient to success. As is a unique product. Mr. Ellie Pooh has both. Mr. Ellie Pooh is called Mr. Ellie Pooh because it offers paper products made of elephant dung in Sri Lanka. Honest. "It's about 70 per cent dung," explains company founder Karl Wald over the phone from frigid Grand Forks, North Dakota.
2008-03-08 - San Fransisco, United States.
The ancient fossilized remains of the famous Rustler Ranch Mastodon are currently up for auction. The 1997 discovery in California of the mastodon (a relative of the woolly mammoth as well as the African elephant) was heralded around the country as a rare opportunity for paleontologists to study an early example of this near-complete, pre-historic fossil. So unique was this unearthing that the Oakland Museum of California and its Chief Curator Tom Stellar had it excavated and put on exhibition a...
2008-03-08 - Hamburg, United States.
The best part, is if you come early, you get to get up close and personal with some of the performers, like Mikea here. She's a 3,000 pound African Elephant
2008-03-08 - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
February 2008. Contraception of female elephants in one South African game reserve began in June 2007, well ahead of the news this week that the government has put culling back on the table. The birth control method, developed over 10 years, hopes to slow down elephant growth rate to prevent having to use culling to reduce numbers. In 1995 pressure from the conservation and tourism lobby around the world forced the SA government to put a moratorium on culling in Kruger National Park.
2008-03-07 - Kwale, Kenya.
Residents of Kwale, Kenya, have called for the Kenya Wildlife Service to act after elephants crushed farmlands and attacked villagers in recent days. Parents said they have been keeping their children home from school to protect them from elephant attacks, the Daily Nation reported Friday. Villagers called for wildlife officials to help keep the elephants off their farms and compensate them for damage to their crops. Philip Mwakio, an assistant director for the service, said measures are being p...
2008-03-06 - Allen, United States. KARIN SHAW ANDERSON
That warm October day last year, Allison – then 8 years old – pulled on her bright yellow galoshes and headed off to Waters Creek at the Day Spring Nature Preserve. She was on a mission to find fossils. Mom, Dad and a friend were in tow. "It was two days after a big storm," Allison remembered. The creek was high, and water pooled in gullies around the steep banks. Resting just below the surface was a rock-shaped object with rippled edges. Allison saw it first.
2008-03-06 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Tourism can play a key role in restoring economic activity and employment in Kenya and in doing so play its part in bringing peace and stability to the East African country, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said today. Achim Steiner, UNEP's Executive Director was speaking in Berlin, Germany which this week is hosting one of the world's biggest tourism fairs. Mr Steiner said: 'Indeed it is an overall measure of KWS's success that elephant populations in Kenya have risen recently by...
2008-03-06 - Galt, United States. LACEY PETERSON
"I have no Jelly Bellys, I'm so sorry Minn..." Pat Derby said as she nuzzled the 9,500 pound Asian elephant, Minnie. Elephants love Jelly Bellys. That is just one of the million things Pat Derby knows about elephants — things she learned solely from experience. Derby, 65, is the founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, which has three sanctuaries — 30 acres in Galt, 100 acres (The Amanda Blake Wildlife Refuge) in Herald, Sacramento County, and 2,300 acres (ARK 2000) in San Andreas.
2008-03-06 - Los Angeles, United States. Jan Westmark, Celebrity News Service
Two new shows make their television debuts Thursday night, giving people who are not fans of "American Idol" or "Lost" something to watch. Animal Planet will begin airing a series called "Elephant Diaries" and A and E is offering "Crime 360." "Elephant Diaries" is set in an elephant nursery in Kenya and focuses on the struggles of a herd of orphaned calves in their first year away from their families. The show shares facts about the elephants, the largest land mammals, along the way. The show ai...
2008-03-06 - Mombasa, Kenya. ANTHONY KITIMO
Parents have stopped their children from going to school for fear of being attacked by elephants. They now want the Kenya Wildlife Service to intervene and ensure that the animals do not encroach on their farms. Those interviewed said the animals had destroyed crops and attacked villagers in the past one week. They demanded that KWS compensates them for their losses. Coast assistant director Philip Mwakio said KWS would put in place measures to ensure that the animals remained within the designa...
2008-03-06 - London, United Kingdom.
In 1989 the signatories of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) agreed to ban trade in ivory. Last year CITES, which now has 172 member countries, extended this ban for a further nine years, having sanctioned but two sales from stocks, of which only one has taken place. A stroll in Chinatown suggests that trade is thriving nonetheless. A sharp increase in ivory seizures in recent years also points to a flourishing trade. Meanwhile, rising we...
2008-03-06 - Arbroath, United Kingdom.
A trio of white elephants has found shelter in Arbroath. Miami-based sculptor Billie Grace Lynn has created three inflatable life-size elephants during her term as artist in residence at Hospitalfield House. Made from white rip-stop nylon, the display features two standing elephants mourning their dead family member. Ms Lynn has been working at the arts foundation and artists' residency for the past month. She said: "All art is political, in some context, and in the past my work has been concern...
2008-03-06 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A Bangkok restaurant is treating its biggest spenders to a 300,000-dollar meal prepared by Michelin-starred chefs, but only after they have jetted to an elephant camp to see how the other half live. "We're taking these people to Surin, to see how the poor people actually are living and are managing their elephants. They cannot even manage themselves and they cannot manage their elephants," he told AFP. After seeing the dwindling number of pachyderms and the impoverished lives of their handlers, ...
2008-03-06 - Mangochi, Malawi.
Communities along the lakeshore district of Mangochi, particularly in the areas of Chiefs Mpondasi and Nankumba, are living in great fear following the elephants that have gone on rampage there. However, authorities have said there is nothing they can do at the moment until June when the animals would be moved to Majete Wildlife Reserve in Chikwawa district. The animals are from Phirilongwe Forest Reserve. On Tuesday, an elephant killed 26-year-old man, Fanuel Monja, from Chigundo Village in Chi...
2008-03-06 - Rangamati, Bangladesh.
A herd of wild elephants killed an Octogenarian attacking his home situated at a remote hilly village of Chandraghona yesterday evening, police said. The victim was identified as Aminur Rahman, 80, of Hatimara village under Chandraghona Union of Kaptai Upazila in the district. The herd of wild elephants numbering 20 to 25, suddenly attacked the thatch house of the victim at around 6 PM on February 28 when he was sitting on the yard of the house, the police said. Sensing the presence of the wild ...
2008-03-06 - Carlsbad, United States.
A mastodon fossil unearthed last year in northern Carlsbad has been allowed to visit home, temporarily. The ancient mammal's tusk and jaw bones are on display at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Discovery Center, at Faraday Avenue and Cannon Road, through July. The fossils are owned by the San Diego Natural History Museum, whose team of paleontologists discovered mastodon bones June 14 when earth movers were grading land for a housing development at El Camino Real and Cannon Road in Carlsbad. “Literal...
2008-03-06 - Allen, United States. Jonathan Betz
A nine-year-old North Texas girl recently made an historic find while outside near her home. Alison Dodd was playing in a creek near her Allen home when she said she stumbled across what she thought was a rock. The item that caught her eye turned out to be something an archeologist would love to happen upon - a fossil. Dating back at least 10,000 years when prehistoric beasts roamed the area, the so-called rock turned out to be a wooly mammoth's tooth. "We've always kind of joked that she has a ...
2008-03-06 - Tesso Nilo National Park, Indonesia.
In Riau Province, the flying squad are four adult elephants and eight mahouts patrolling an area along the National Park boundaries, keeping wild elephants away from local communities and teaching villagers non-lethal ways to protect their crops. About 80 guests helped Nella celebrate her 1st birthday while Wan Abu Bakar, Vice Governor of Riau Province, officially conferred the name Tesso on the younger calf, born three months ago. It is a tradition in Indonesia to have a naming ceremony soon af...
2008-03-06 - St. Helena, United States. John Waters Jr.
Dr. Maryanne Kraft of Calistoga received sad news last week. A baby she met in 2007 while volunteering at a refuge facility in Thailand was killed. Poisoned. Her kind was unwanted. The baby in this case was a 2-year-old Asian elephant who had just begun to wander away from its mother when it was murdered. “While they’re young elephants never leave their mother’s side,” Kraft explained. “This particular baby was just getting old enough and curious enough to wander around a little. They ...
2008-03-06 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
In a case of alleged stealing of leopard claws, hair of elephant tails and peacock feathers from the zoo here, the zoo director has suspended a supervisor, pending an enquiry. The suspension was ordered yesterday, following an enquiry into a complaint by some medical college students from Nagpur, who had reported to authorities two months back that a staff member at the zoo had tried to sell leopard claws to them.
2008-03-06 - Silver Spring, United States. Debbie Olson
The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) today announced their support for 15 new elephant conservation projects for 2008, marking a record level of support. "Elephants all over the world need our help," said IEF President Michael Fouraker. "The grants made today by the International Elephant Foundation support critical elephant conservation programs." "Conservation projects supported by accredited zoos are essential to the survival of elephants," said AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy. "AZA-ac...
2008-03-06 - Calcutta, India.
“Our objective is to fight poaching and preserve endangered species and their habitat by extending financial assistance to the local people and helping them manage their resources better,” said Purnima Dutta, the secretary of the centre, which had recently organised a two-day camp on the Army Territorial Ground to spread awareness about the environment. “We have explained to the villagers the dangers of hula operation. Whenever elephants enter the villages, people light fires and burst cra...
2008-03-05 - Miami, United States.
This is a position within a progressive elephant management program consisting of 2.3 Asian and African elephants in a protected contact system. The position requires one year of related experience and/or a combination of related coursework and experience. Must be able to acquire and maintain a valid FL driver's license and work a varied work schedule in a tropical environment. All applicants must apply online at www.miamidade.gov and forward a copy of your resume to Miami Metro Zoo c/o Zoologic...
2008-03-05 - Honolulu, United States.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann is asking for millions of dollars to finish a new elephant exhibit at the Honolulu Zoo that's been in the works for over a decade. A large portion of the enclosure is finished and sits empty -- waiting for the funding to complete the job. KITV's Keoki Kerr reported that in his budget proposal last week, Hannemann asked for about $7 million to complete an elephant breeding facility here at the zoo
2008-03-05 - Kasane, Botswana.
A Kasane Magistrate Court last week fined two Chinese men P4 000 each or three months imprisonment for unlawful possession of elephant tusk and entering Botswana through an ungazetted point. Mr Mohutsiwa said the men were arrested after a tip off from Zimbabwean police that they cut tusk from a dead elephant. We confronted the men at Lesoma and we found the tusks, said Mr Mohutsiwa. The two men are Jian Hua Guo and Bian Hua Zahang of Shandong in BOPA
2008-03-05 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
Jambo the African Elephant, has left Colchester Zoo for BioParc Valencia in Spain. The brand new state of the art zoo is to be Jambo's new home where he will soon by joined his half brother Kito as part of a European Breeding Programme. To minimize the disruption to our herd, the decision was taken to move Jambo and Kito one at a time and Jambo was selected to go first as although the youngest he is the most confident and boisterous of the two.
2008-03-05 - Coimbatore, India.
A 20-year old cow elephant was found dead in Aliyar dam, near Pollachi on Tuesday. Sources said a herd of elephants entered the dam on Monday evening to drink water and one of them got trapped in the slush. The people, who saw the dead elephant on Tuesday morning, informed the forest officials. Forest officials recovered the carcass and conducted a postmortem.
2008-03-04 - London, United Kingdom. Ed Kemp Marketing
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is launching a direct drive to encourage supporters to lobby the government for a ban on legal elephant ivory trade with China. The mailing, which breaks on 14 March and has been created by direct agency DMS, asks supporters to send an action card to the minister for biodiversity, Joan Ruddock MP,... To access this article and take part in all of the content and community features of Brand Republic and its associated sites, you will need to regist...
2008-03-04 - Baltimore , United States.
When the circus comes to town, it's an exciting occasion in any city. But Baltimore gets an extra special treat every year: an elephant march and munch from 1st Mariner Arena to Lexington Market. Elephants at Lexington MarketWhen the circus comes to town, it's an exciting occasion in any city. But Baltimore gets an extra special treat every year: an elephant march and munch from 1st Mariner Arena to Lexington Market. The gentle giants of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, accompanied by ...
2008-03-04 - Orlando, United States. Courtney Gilmartin
University of Central Florida students will rebuild homes in New Orleans, make repairs to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee and assist in the rescues of abandoned border collies in Maryland during next week's spring break. More than 80 UCF students and 10 faculty and staff members will volunteer in six states as part of Alternative Spring Break, which allows students to help those in need and learn about important social issues during a time when many of their peers are relaxing on the beach. A...
2008-03-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources,
In Sri Lanka our Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance (1937) and National Policy on elephants (1996) strictly prohibited culling as a measure to control elephant population. Our culture is based on compassion to all living beings and this too does not permit such measures. Capturing and domestication measures too are being restricted by the law. Our Government signed the CITES (Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Animals & Plants) so that exportation and importation of...
2008-03-04 - Barcelona, Spain. Jessica Jeniu Perez
Alicia died on february 29, 2008 from an intestinal colic, 46 years old. Alicia arrived in Barcelona Zoo in 1963. African female Susi (arrived September 2002) is now the only elephant at the Barcelona zoo.
2008-03-04 - Bangkok, Thailand. KRITTIYA WONGTAVAVIMARN
It took Pattarapol Maneeorn five days trekking through the jungle in Chanthaburi province to find a 65-year-old wild elephant stuck in mud. By the time the wildlife vet arrived, the animal was breathing slowly, his eyes showing his fatigue; his heart, left lung and kidney were being pressed down on by his six-tonne body.
2008-03-04 - Nashville, United States. William Williams
The Nashville Zoos first attempt to artificially inseminate one of its female African elephants has failed. However, zoo officials say additional efforts to impregnate 21-year-old Kiba will be considered. Kiba is not, by any means, finished with the process, said Jim Bartoo, Nashville Zoo director of marketing and public relations. Any time an AI effort is unsuccessful, it limits the U.S. zoo communitys chances to add to its animal population ranks, Bartoo said. We knew it was going to be a 50-5...
2008-03-03 - Ruskin, United States. Buckles Woodcock
This film appears to have been made very early in the season, if not the opening day. Canvas looks band new and everyone is bundled up as tho in early spring. We were on the show the previous season (1948) and the biggest change I noticed was the panel banner line. The performance had changed from the Cristiani's and Hubert Castle to the Hannefords, Con Colleano and Barbette. My dad always said the Cole Show elephant acts were the worst he was ever associated with and with the exception of the w...
2008-03-03 - Chester, United Kingdom. John Burke
I see from the archives that 17 years ago on the 4th March we took our daughter Gillian to Chester Zoo. She was 4 at the time and by a coincidence so was the date and probably so was the temperature! So was the baby elephant that had been born in the Queen's Silver Jubilee year and was therefore named Jubilee. Ha - why did we not think of that. The elephant shown here is not Jubilee but a bigger one. In the language we used on the day probably either Mummy Elephant or Daddy Elephant.
2008-03-03 - Emmen, Netherlands.
The new born elephant in Emmen Zoo, Netherlands, now has a name: Ananda Yingthway, which means son of the greatest in burmese. Ananda is son to the asian elephant bull Radsch (Radza) who is indeed very big, and have unusually large and beautiful tusks. Anandas mother Htoo Yin Aye was born in Burma (Myanmar).
2008-03-03 - Louisville, United States. The Courier-Journal
The Louisville Zoo plans a celebration to honor the first birthday of its baby elephant, Scotty. Although he won’t officially be a year old until March 18, the zoo will celebrate the birthday on the previous Saturday — March 15, when zoo admission will be $1 in a Coca-Cola promotion. Zoo members can enter free.
2008-03-03 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
This is the biggest elephant I ever saw. Jim A. said: I believe his name was Samson at the L.A. Zoo. I visited Scott Riddle and somewhere have a photo with Scott, Samson, and myself. Strange feeling to look up to see an elephant's chin -- he was BIG.
2008-03-03 - Arlington, United States. Michelle Gadd, Program Officer, Africa Programs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dear Colleagues, I would like to encourage you to submit proposals for conservation projects to the 2008 USFWS African Elephant Conservation Fund as soon as possible. Proposals received by APRIL 1, 2008 will be fully evaluated for funding before the US Government fiscal year ends in September. Now is an ideal time to apply for any field work taking place in the second half of 2008 or commencing in 2009. This year, the multinational species conservation funds for Africa (Great Ape, African Eleph...
2008-03-03 - Pretoria, United States.
The Elephant Tourism Association (ETA) has welcomed the environmental affairs and tourism minister's terms of the norms and standards of elephant management, it said on Friday. "The ETA applauds the minister and his department on the exhaustive public process they recently completed leading to the issuing of the norms and standards for elephant management in South Africa," the association said in a statement.
2008-03-03 - Washington, United States. Michelle Gadd, Program Officer, Species Survival Network
The February issue of CITES Afrique is now posted on the English version of the Species Survival Network website - the French version will be posted shortly. This issue has as one of its features a story on the creation of the African Elephant Coalition. It can be found at http://ssn.org
2008-03-03 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
FANS of one of Colchester Zoo's most popular animals were out to say their farewells at the weekend after Jambo the young elephant's departure date was announced. Last year it was announced that Jambo and his half-brother Kito, both African bull elephants, were to travel to make a new home at a Spanish zoo where they would take part in a European Breeding programme. And now it has been confirmed that Jambo will be the first to leave the Stanway visitor attraction and begin the four day journey t...
2008-03-03 - Shillong,, India. Rahul Karmakar, Hindustan Times
It's not just militants that voters in Meghalaya have to contend with. As many as 194 polling booths in the state have been labeled sensitive due to the threat from marauding elephants. Meghalaya goes to the polls on Monday. Overall, 829 of the 1,599 polling booths to be set up have been labeled either hypersensitive or sensitive. Last month, state chief electoral officer P. Naik asked the forest department for guards to keep vigil around booths in West Garo Hills, South Garo Hills and Ri-Bhoi d...
2008-03-03 - Pretoria, South Africa.
The Government of South Africa says it will think about allowing some elephants to be killed as it says there are too many of the big beasts in the country. The plan to kill or 'cull' elephants has divided opinion in South Africa. African elephants have been protected since 1995, but the ban on hunting them will be lifted on 1 May. Press Packers Quintin and Erin both live in South Africa, but have different opinions on the matter.
2008-03-03 - Pretoria, South Africa. Kathleen Costello
Scientists discovered this trait after studying the mammals mourning dead relatives in their natural environment. They also know that elephants are highly intelligent, demonstrate empathy and live within complex social structures. (Young elephants need to be taught elaborate social behaviors by adults in order to survive.) These are just a few of the reasons why killing a herd of elephants is more humane than killing a few individuals, experts say. This theory will be tested in South Africa, sta...
2008-03-03 - Baltimore, United States. Melissa Harris
Signs that an elephant is about to go into labor: loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, and a pattern of "lying down, standing up, and lying down," says Colleen Baird of the Maryland Zoo, which is expecting its first elephant birth in its 132-year history any day. Baird, the zoo's assistant elephant manager, says "general agitation" is all she has to go on until Felix's water breaks. And to prepare for that, Baird and her colleagues are keeping a round-the-clock watch, memorizing "elephant birt...
2008-03-02 - Aalborg, Denmark. Zoologist Jens Lilleør, Aalborg Zoologiske Have
The african bull elephant Tembo in Ahlborg, Denmark, was euthanised on wednesday 27 february. He has been ill for some time, but until now, it was impossible to make a diagnosis, until postmortum. Decision to euthanise was taken on ethical reasosn since he was in poor condition, and could hardly walk or stand on his legs. Tembo was imported from Southafrica 1985 together with the females Bibi, Tanja and Mai.
2008-03-02 - London, United Kingdom.
In an effort to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade China has begun targeting online shops and auction sites, where parts of threatened and endangered animals are openly sold. While there were a wide variety of illegal animal products for sale, there were two particularly popular species. Elephant ivory and tiger bone products were the most popular sellers in China. Ivory is usually sold in carved souvenir form and bought by collectors, while the tiger bone products are usually bought for u...
2008-03-02 - Colchester, United Kingdom. Colchester Zoo
We have just received confirmation that Jambo the African Elephant, will be leaving for BioParc Valencia in Spain on Tuesday 4th March. This is a brand new state of the art zoo and we are very pleased that it has been confirmed that he will be moving along with his half brother Kito as part of the European Breeding Programme. We know that they will both be in very good hands. Unfortunately, his leaving date has only just been confirmed so we are sorry for the late notice but do hope that you wil...
2008-03-02 - Auckland, New Zealand. Mark, ZooBeat Forums
2008-03-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wasantha Chandrapala
The duel between man and beast does not seem to have an end and the situation seems to be worsening by the day. The result is that both man and beast die in the confrontation. While an elephant at Dighawapiya area in Ampara district was killed in early February, on the 26th of last month a wild elephant killed a farmer in Ruhunugama village. Other villages where the menace is rampant in this district are Kotavehera, Suduwella and Vijithapura where at sundown elephants stray into paddy fields des...
2008-03-02 - Kansas, United States. RON SYLVESTER
In 2006, John Epperly and his wife, Shea, were fourth-year students working at Tenwek Hospital, a 300-bed clinic in the rural village of Bomet in southwestern Kenya. The Maasai man had been out tending his cattle when an elephant pinned him against a river bank and gored him four times. He had several tusk wounds in his arms and a 10-centimeter hole through his thigh. Epperly spent hours just getting his wounds cleaned before treating him.
2008-03-02 - Tapaktuan, Indonesia. ANTARA News
Three of wild elephants were reported to have trampled down hundreds of hectares of plantation area belonging to the residents of Kapa Sesak and Naca villages in Trumon sub-district, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD). "Since the last one week, the wild giant animals have destroyed hundreds of hectares of residential plantation in some villages," head of the Trumon sub-district administration H Lahmudin said here on Sunday. According to him, a band of wild elephants destroyed hundreds of hectares of...
2008-03-02 - Boston, United States. James Sullivan
Anyone associated with Tufts University is well aware of the tale. The humble contents of an old Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar that sits in the office of the university's athletic director represents the remains of one of the 19th century's biggest international celebrities. Jumbo, the prized pachyderm of P. T. Barnum, inspired the nickname of the college's sports program when the famed showman donated the mounted hide of his main attraction to the school in 1889. Stuffed Jumbo stood proud...
2008-03-02 - Baltimore, United States. The Baltimore Sun
Felix the elephant is having a baby, and the newest addition to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore can't arrive soon enough. With new leadership, a strong base of state funding and reduced ticket prices, the zoo in Druid Hill Park is poised for resurgence. An infusion of corporate dollars would greatly help it along, even with a new pachyderm in the house. The zoo, which reopened this weekend for the season, is a 132-year-old institution that's been showing its age for some time; its facilities are m...
2008-03-02 - Chambéry, France. Wikipedia
The Fontaine des Éléphants ("Elephants Fountain") is surely the most famous landmark in Chambéry. It was built in 1838 to honour Benoît de Boigne's feats when he was in India. This statue, which represents the forelimbs of four elephants truncated in a column in the shape of the savoyan (savoyarde) cross was first hooted by the inhabitants, annoyed to see elephants in their city, but it appears that now, most of them have accepted. Witness of the previous dislike, the statue kept its nicknam...
2008-03-02 - Quad City, United States. Kay Luna
Scientists also have found fossils from long after the dinosaur era, the early part of what is sometimes referred to as the Age of Mammals — including the skull and tusks of a mastodon, which looked sort of like an elephant, that were found in 1968 in Prophetstown, Ill. That relic, along with fossilized mastodon and wooly mammoth teeth from the same era that were found in Rock Island County, is on display in the Fryxell Geology Museum at Augustana. It wasn’t until long after the age of dinos...
2008-03-02 - Pretoria, South Africa. Chris Barron
After a 14-year moratorium, the government has approved elephant culling to protect the environment. Chris Barron asked Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk. Q: Is there enough scientific evidence that elephants are threatening biodiversity? A: The science is evolving all the time, but I believe the scientific evidence we have now is adequate to defend the decision.
2008-03-02 - Kampala, Uganda.
2008-03-01 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Sheree Béga
China, one of the world's largest traders in illegal ivory, is vying to buy up South Africa's massive elephant ivory stock which has built up over several years as the result of a worldwide ban. But conservation authorities must first decide whether China is a suitable destination for the ivory, the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said this week. Last June, South Africa received permission from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flor...
2008-03-01 - Ruskin, United States.
Super Cuts said: For those unaware, the pretty girl standing next to her brother, the one with the bad hair cut, is Kenny's sister, Karen. Karen was once involved with Jack Cassidy, the father of David Cassidy and former husband of Shirley Jones (Partrige Family on tv when it had rabbit ears). For reasons unknown to us, Karen has been banished from KennyFeld Land. Buckles can confirm is the baby elephant Karen, named after the Party Girl herself? Buckles said: The baby elephant was indeed named ...
2008-03-01 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock, Ben Trumble, J Goodall
Ben Trumble said: JRN has that look of somebody who rather have been posed with something other than an elephant.
2008-03-01 - Zakouma, Chad. Sharon Begley, NEWSWEEK
The marauders galloped into Zakouma National Park in Chad, the last refuge of that country's once thriving elephant population. Rather than bother with the few remaining elephants, the attackers last May were after the 1.5 tons of ivory—worth as much as $1.3 million—that Chadian officials had seized from poachers over the years and stored in a strongroom at park headquarters. Neither the audacity of the attack nor its brutality—the raiders killed three park rangers—shocked wildlife offic...
2008-03-01 - Riau, Indonesia.
A Sumatran elephant gives his trainer a lift at an elephant preserve in Minas, Indonesia's Riau Province.
2008-03-01 - Baltimore, United States. Jewel Edwards-Waldo
Booties for this new baby might take a little more time to knit. The season opening of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore this weekend might be a great time to see their pregnant African elephant, Felix, before she has her baby — expected any day now. “Everybody’s just really excited about the impending birth and being very watchful,” said zoo spokeswoman Jennifer Ludwig. Last December, Felix and Tuffy transferred from Riddles Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Arkansas to join the zoo’s tw...
2008-02-29 - Beawiharta, Indonesia.
The Sumatran elephant, the smallest of the Asian elephants, is facing serious pressures arising from illegal logging and rapid forest conversion to palm oil plantations. As forests shrink, elephants are increasingly closer to fields and cultivated land, generating conflict with humans that often result in the death of the elephants by poisoning or capture, according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report in 2007. The Minas Elephant Training Centre protects more than 40 elephants from around 200 e...
2008-02-29 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Here are some photos of Dailey Bros. in Ames, Iowa in 1950. In the fourth picture, is the little bull Tommy? //Joey. "When I showed this picture to Barbara she immediately recognized the second elephant "Myrtle" from the first elephant act she ever performed in, she appeared in Ring 5 with "Myrtle", "Jenny" and "Jap", trained and presented by the celebrated Robert Jones.//Buckles. David said: I never realized that Dailey Bros. Circus was so large as to have 5 rings. I'm curious as to what...
2008-02-29 - Assam, India.
Two orphaned elephant calves and a rare 18-month-old rhino have been returned to the wild in northeast India. The animals were released into Manas National Park in Assam after they were found orphaned and then hand raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park.
2008-02-28 - New Delhi, India. Mudassir Rizwan
Two people have been arrested here for trying to sell 2.5 kg of ivory worth Rs.250,000, the police said Thursday. Trade in ivory is banned in India. Aishwarya Vardhan, a 25-year-old graduate of the Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra, and Raju Kanwar, a 24-year-old from Bihar, were arrested Wednesday from Shanti Path area in New Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) A.S. Cheema said Vardhan was earlier employed with an NGO and was now working with an import-export firm as an ex...
2008-02-28 - Pinellas park, United States. THOMAS MICHALSKI
Betty Jean Beck was 16 years old in 1942 when she ran away with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. She did everything from riding and training elephants to driving chariots. She even did some clowning thanks to her friend and world renown clown, Emmett Kelly who gained fame playing Weary Willie. “Elephants are just big puppy dogs,” Beck said. “They really are very gentle animals.” There are many tricks to riding elephants. When getting off of one, for example, a rider mu...
2008-02-28 - Pretoria, South Africa.
The Humane Society of the United States and its international arm, Humane Society International, today applauded new regulations on elephant management announced by the South African government on Monday. The new regulations will ban the capture of elephants for commercial exhibition facilities such as elephant back safari industries or circuses, prohibit the import and export of captive elephants and prevent intensive breeding of captive elephants, other than natural birth, beginning May 1, 200...
2008-02-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wasantha Ramanayake
"Asokamala" was born and bred in captivity and therefore could not be released to the wilderness, Wildlife Director General Ananda Weerasuriya stated in his objections to a Fundamental Rights Application before the Supreme Court. The Director General added that the elephant was born in the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala and rared in captivity. The rights application was filed by petitioner Vijitha Fernando of Mt. Lavinia, the treasurer of the organisation, Society for the Protection of Animal R...
2008-02-28 - Madikeri, India.
Deputy Conservator of Forests (Madikeri division), B B Mallesh expressed concern over the increasing wild elephant-human conflict in the district. Delivering the keynote address at a Rotary Misty Hills function on Wild Elephant- Human Conflict here recently, he said that the situation had reached its peak in the last one-and-half year due to which seven people had lost their lives. Speaking on crops and property loss, he said in the last ten years, 31 people were killed and 43 injured seriously ...
2008-02-28 - Mpumalanga, South Africa.
A 46-year-old game ranger was trampled to death by an elephant, Mpumalanga police said on Wednesday. Superintendent Abie Khoabane said two rangers at Manyaleti Game Lodge saw an irate elephant, and vultures in the sky. They went to investigate and the elephant charged them. The rangers ran in different directions. One did not return and a search was launched for him. The missing ranger was found dead on Tuesday near the place where the elephant charged. An inquest docket has been opened.
2008-02-28 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. T.N.Quyen
Police of Buon Me Thuot Town in the central highlands province of Dak Lak uncovered an illegal distillation of elephant bones by a local Wednesday. The offender, Vu Thanh Thiem, who was caught in the process of admixing the bones to create a type of medicinal glue, said the 231 kilograms of bones came from his younger brother Vu Thanh Tue who had purchased a dead circus elephant. Thiem, however, failed to present appropriate legal documents for the bones as requested.
2008-02-28 - Philadelphia, United States. Marianne Bessey, Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants
Just last month, the Philadelphia Zoo confirmed plans to breed its two younger African elephants as part of continuing "elephant-conservation efforts" and estimated costs of a new elephant exhibit at $27 million. This week, South African officials announced that thousands of African elephants would be killed starting May 1 to reduce an alleged overpopulation of elephants in that country.
2008-02-28 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Jocelyn Ford
Tomorrow's going to be a big day in Thailand. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is expected to return to Bangkok from exile. He was ousted in a coup two years ago, amid accusations of corruption. Out in the Thai jungles, a business tycoon is trying to bring back domesticated elephants. For generations they were used to haul timber, but they were left essentially unemployed when Thailand banned logging twenty years ago. Jocelyn Ford reports on how to make elephants relevant in a modern-day...
2008-02-28 - New Delhi, India.
Environmentalists and wildlife activists have pressed the panic button in the elephant corridor connecting Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where the Asian tusker is under siege. According to an estimate by the NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), more than 20 elephants have died between January 2007 and January 2008 in southern India as a result of man-animal conflict.
2008-02-28 - Doha, Qatar.
The Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR) yesterday announced its decision to host the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Doha.
2008-02-27 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
The South African government has decided to lift its moratorium on the culling of elephants in the country's national parks because populations in the country have risen from about 8,000 elephants to nearly 20,000 over the past decade or so. South Africa says, for instance, that there are some 5,000 more elephants living in the Kruger National Park, where numbers have almost doubled to 12,500, than can be sustained by the park's enclosed habitat. What are the arguments for culling elephants?
2008-02-27 - Los Angeles , United States.
David Hasselhoff is reclaiming an ivory tusk and an antique barber's chair from his ex-wife. The former 'Baywatch' actor has won a court order allowing him back into the family home in Los Angeles to collect possessions from ex-wife Pamela Bach. Among other items the former heartthrob wants to reclaim, are an elephant foot and two elephant stools, a statue of a dolphin, a model elephant and baseball memorabilia.
2008-02-27 - Baltimore, United States. Jessica Kartalija
Felix is a 24-year-old African elephant who left her old digs behind before packing her trunk for Maryland. "We knew she was pregnant when she came. She came from a facility in Arkansas. We felt like she would be a good fit here," said Mike McClure. The pregnant pachyderm has packed on the pounds. Elephants gain a ton of weight, literally, when they're expecting. "The only way to tell [Felix is pregnant] is by looking at her two front legs. She has milk and her breasts are swollen. That's t...
2008-02-27 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
Engineers at Fleetwood Trawlers solved a jumbo problem for Blackpool Zoo's Asian elephant, Crumple, who has had a specially designed protective boot made for her. It was discovered that four ton Crumple, who is 39, had been experiencing mobility problems which turned out to be due to an arthritic hip. Fleetwood Trawlers were contacted for their help to take pressure off her foot and after one unsuitable boot, Crumple is now wearing her designer footwear.
2008-02-27 - Amboseli, Kenya. Solomon Mburu
For ages, marauding elephants of Amboseli have given farmers sleepless nights and scientists have been testing ways of reducing the level of elephant crop damage and the threat to human life in the area. The human wildlife conflict that has persisted for years in Amboseli has left farmers reeling in losses of crops and even lives. The ecosystem in Amboseli National Park and its small size does not allow for complete fencing off to hold the jumbos inside the park making the already precarious ...
2008-02-27 - London, United Kingdom. Stuart Coles
Dr Stephen Blake has trekked hundreds of miles on foot with pygmies to study Congo forest elephants. He talks to Stuart Coles about these 'hidden giants'. 'How to catch an elephant' is perhaps not your average book chapter, but Stephen Blake and Andrea Turkalo are not your average authors. Between them, the pair have spent around 30 years' observing one of the planet's largest yet most elusive animals - the forest elephant.
2008-02-27 - Vermont, United States. Joshua E. Brown
For 27 years, civil war battered the African republic of Angola—ravaging not only its people, but also its national parks and wildlife. Combat and bushmeat hunters drove many spectacular species, including elephants, to local extinction. In 1994, South African wildlife scientist Wouter Van Hoven and others started an effort to restore these parks and their animals through the Kissama Foundation.
2008-02-26 - Riau, Indonesia.
Pekanbaru, Sumatra: Turning just one Sumatran province's forests and peat swamps into pulpwood and palm oil plantations is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than the Netherlands and rapidly driving the province's elephants into extinction, a new study by WWF and partners has found.
2008-02-26 - London, United Kingdom. Hugo Rifkind
Imagine if, here in Britain, we had too many elephants. Not just some elephants, (which is, you might think, a stretch in itself) but far too many of them. Elephants, everywhere. “This train has been delayed, due to elephants.” “Play was disrupted before the final whistle by elephants.” “Junction 15 is closed, and full of elephants.” Magical? Not for long. I throw that out there to help you to empathise with the anti-elephant lobby. It's easier, by far, to be pro-elephant. I forget (...
2008-02-26 - Lahore, Pakistan. Imran Shah
The Lahore Zoo continues to deprive the 26-year-old Suzi of her groom, while catering to other demands of entertainment for the public at large. Officials concerned maintained that the administration concerned had always neglected the pairing of animals at the Lahore Zoo, robbing them of their basic needs. The situation is the same for the three female crocodiles who since 1984 remain without a male partner while Suzi, brought to the Lahore Zoo in 1982 at the age of six, had been its strong sour...
2008-02-26 - Emmen, Netherlands. Martijn Fabrie
In Dierenpark Emmen in The Netherlands, an elephant has given birth to a male calf. His is name is not known right now. He was born on 25 February 2008. Mother: Htoo Yin Aye, Father: Radza. The newborn elephant weights 130 kg at birth. There's a video from him on the Internet, but it's in Dutch: http://nl.sitestat.com/regio-i/dvhnoorden/s?dvhn.video.dvhn-video20080226Olifantje_Emmen&ns_type=clickout&ns_url=http://wm1.streamzilla.jet-stream.nl/ndcvbk/20080226Olifantje_Emmen.wmv
2008-02-26 - Gamba, Gabon.
'Is that a jumbo on the runway?" I asked an expat in the passport queue next to me. We both squinted. It was! I had just arrived at Gamba Airport in Gabon and already I had spotted my first elephant. He was a handsome bull, with the straight tusks typical of the African forest variety, he emerged from the trees and began to career about the grounds, heading, unnervingly, towards the runway. A couple of officials rushed to sidetrack him but moments later the roar of another plane did the job. As ...
2008-02-26 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The unnecessary confinement and transportation of elephants for entertainment purposes has left the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) "seriously perturbed". The NSPCA was on Tuesday responding to the Norms and Standards for the Management of Elephants in South Africa, announced by Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Monday.
2008-02-26 - Pretoria, South Africa. The Born Free Foundation
Leading animal protection and conservation organization, The Born Free Foundation, expressed utter disappointment today after Environmental Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk announced that government-sanctioned elephant culling will become official policy on Friday 29 February, 2008. This would end the culling ban introduced in 1994, the year that free elections in the RAINBOW Nation ended apartheid for good.
2008-02-26 - St. Clair Shores, United States. Christy Strawser
Wendt, 37, of St. Clair Shores, is principal zookeeper at the Detroit Zoo's Arctic Ring of Life where two ferocious furry beasts are expected to visit in late winter or early spring. Wendt has plenty of experience dealing with the zoo's largest animals because he started his career 10 years ago in the elephant exhibit at the Detroit Zoo. He cared for popular elephants Wanda and Winky until they were shipped to an elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, Calif., to retire in comfort. Wendt said he miss...
2008-02-26 - Sydney, Australia. Kelly Burke
THONG DEE bypassed several birthdays over the weekend, as Taronga Zoo management revised her age from eight to 12. But yesterday an Australian National University expert emphatically relegated the pregnant elephant back to single digits. Professor Colin Groves, a biological anthropologist specialising in elephant taxonomy (classification) came to the conclusion based on information the zoo released on Friday. Its statement said "Thong Dee's fourth of six sets of teeth she will have during her li...
2008-02-26 - Pretoria, South Africa. Guy Rogers
A NEW policy for managing South Africa‘s elephants lifts the 17-year-old moratorium on culling jumbos – but emphasises that this measure will be approved only as a “last resort”. Announcing the final norms and standards for elephant management at a briefing in Pretoria yesterday, Environment and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said his department recognised the need to maintain culling as a management option. “But we have taken steps to ensure this will be the option of last r...
2008-02-25 - Palakkad, India.
An elephant which was brought for the festival at the Palabhadra Devi temple in Shoranur ran amok and created some anxious moments on Sunday. Cherpulassery Neelakantan which was taken to the Bharathapuzha river for bathing at 11 a.m. failed to obey the mahout and got into a deep pit inside the river bed. It began to run helter- skelter when it was brought out of the pit. It was with great effort that the mahout managed to tether the elephant.
2008-02-25 - Manas, India. International Fund for Animal Welfare
Today, IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare http://www.ifaw.org/) and its sister organization, WTI (Wildlife Trust of India) announced that 2 elephant calves and a one-and-a-half year-old greater one-horned rhino were successfully returned to the wild in Manas National Park. The animals, which were hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga National Park, were translocated yesterday, by truck, 450 kilometers to Manas National Park.
2008-02-25 - Pretoria, South Africa. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Elephant management in South Africa At approximately this time a year ago, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) published the Draft Norms and Standards for Elephant Management for public comment. Intense public interest was generated and we are now ready to publish a final version that has benefited significantly from the public commentary and consultative processes. It was to be expected that strong emotions would be part of this debate. There are few other creatures on earth ...
2008-02-24 - Sydney, Australia.
Throughout 2007, Taronga Zoo stated that Thong Dee was seven years old. This claim was included in a news release dated November 13 about a report to the Government on how the import conditions for the elephants had been met. Last week, the zoo said she was eight. Now, after international controversy around her pregnancy, a keeper has looked at her teeth and declared she is 11 or 12. The same keeper claims elephants can sometimes read his mind. (The Daily Telegraph, Saturday). We are also told T...
2008-02-24 - Sydney, Australia. Kelly Burke
RENEWED doubts over the legality of Taronga Zoo's importation of nine Asian elephants have been raised overseas, with documents from Thailand suggesting that up to half may have been snatched from the wild. Moreover, the registration certificate for one elephant, the now pregnant Thong Dee, shows she is just six years and nine months old - despite an animal welfare requirement that the zoo not use any elephant under the age of 12 for breeding.
2008-02-24 - Stanford, United States. Sam Aola Ooko
The pounding feet of the 15,000 pound African Bush Elephant make protective crevices in the savanna grasslands that help the geckos hide from their predators and the hot, penetrating African sun, according to Robert Pringle, an ecologist and conservation biologist at Stanford University in California, who conducted his research at the Mpala Research Center in Kenya. Significant numbers of geckos have been reported in the aftermath of an elephant’s feeding - the vertebrates often finding breedi...
2008-02-24 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo hopes to breed its first Asian elephant to help stocks of the endangered species. There are only 25,000 Asian elephants left in the world as human population growth in their native environment puts pressure on their food supply. Blood tests reveal a 15-year-old female called Dokkoon will be able to fall pregnant next month, one of only three times each year. Senior elephant keeper Steve Blanchard said the zoo's only male, Bong Su, had continued to warm to his new female counterpart...
2008-02-23 - St Andrews, United States. Bates LA, Sayialel KN, Njiraini NW, Poole JH, Moss CJ, Byrne RW. University of St Andrews
Monitoring the location of conspecifics may be important to social mammals. Here, we use an expectancy-violation paradigm to test the ability of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) to keep track of their social companions from olfactory cues. We presented elephants with samples of earth mixed with urine from female conspecifics that were either kin or unrelated to them, and either unexpected or highly predictable at that location.
2008-02-23 - Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.
Plai Khai Heed, an elephant that injured a villager in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Phrom Khiri district on Wednesday, died yesterday from multiple gunshot wounds, prompting criticism of the villagers' excessive use of firearms. Meanwhile the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department warned the public to be cautious when travelling through Tab Lan, Khao Yai, Khao Ang Reu Nai, Kaeng Krajan and Kui Buri national parks, where they were likely to encounter wild elephants.
2008-02-22 - Petrolia, United States. JASON HRIBAL
Janet was a female elephant born in 1965. She had been taken from the jungles of Southeastern Asia. Stripped from her mother and extended family, she was ultimately shipped to the United States. After arrival, she was put to work in the circus, and it was in the circus where she remained for the rest of her life. Her main job was to give rides to children and adults. And it was one day, while providing just such an amusement, that this elephant reached her breaking point.
2008-02-22 - Kochi, India. Ajayan
If elephants were stocks their price to tail-hair multiples would give a good indication of whether they are over-valued or not. Some revel in the prestige of owning an elephant but all talk of numbers is avoided because Indian laws do not allow animals to be used for commercial purposes
2008-02-22 - Guwahati, India.
The Gauhati High Court today admitted a public interest litigation (PIL) on protection and conservation of wild elephants arising out of frequent human-elephant conflicts and for protection of human life and property from elephant depredations in the State.
2008-02-22 - Salt Lake City, United States. Derek P. Jensen, The Salt Lake Tribune
After 20 years of traversing the world in the Navy, Earl Gowin has seen a little bit of everything. But it took retirement on a family ranch near Fillmore for Gowin's grandest discovery. In November 2004, a bulldozer operator hit something hard in Gowin's sand and gravel pit, which he had leased to a contractor. "My first thought was, 'That looks like a mammoth tusk,' " Gowin recalled saying about the six-foot fossil. "I didn't know mammoths were in this part of the world, but evidently they wer...
2008-02-22 - Kinshushe, Kenya.
Elephants and baboons have been raiding fields in one district in Kenya, destroying crops and putting at least 3,000 people at risk of starvation. One man was killed by an elephant while standing guard and another man was seriously injured by baboons that showed up while he was harvesting maize, The Nation, a Kenyan newspaper, reported. "Residents guard their farms in shifts to protect crops from baboons during day time while others take over and guard against elephants at night," Joseph Meso, t...
2008-02-22 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Animal Rights Africa (ARA) has threatened boycotts, protests and legal steps if South Africa legalises culling to control elephant numbers. Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk is expected to announce the national norms and standards for elephant management (NNSEM) on Monday. ARA said on Friday that promoting international tourist boycotts, public protests and legal challenges were among the measures it would resort to if the NNSEM persisted in legalising culling as...
2008-02-22 - Sydney, Australia. Garry Linnell
IT began as a sordid tale of steamy and illicit underage sex in a leafy North Shore suburb of Sydney. But yesterday it sounded like a typical encounter in the affluent but ageing suburb of Mosman - just another lustful romp among consenting adults with lots of wrinkled grey skin. Thong Dee is the first elephant to fall pregnant in Australia. But just how old the Taronga Zoo attraction really is remained mired in controversy yesterday amid claims she could be as young as six - or as old as 12.
2008-02-22 - Pattaya, Thailand.
A nice story now from the Million Year Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm located on the Eastern Outskirts of Pattaya. On Thursday Afternoon, staff at the farm welcomed a new arrival in the form of a newly born male elephant. The dramatic birth involved Gaesorn a 16 year old elephant who gave birth to her new son after a 21 month gestation period. We understand that the elephant park will run a competition involving Tourists, who will decide the name of the new-born.
2008-02-22 - Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
Wild elephants killed one Buddhist monk and seriously injured another in Thap Lan national park in Nakhon Ratchasima province yesterday. The two were members of a group of 11 monks who had gone to meditate in Khon Buri forest reserve, within the park boundaries. Phra Natthaporn Kittiyano, 38, was trampled to death and Phra Wichian Khemmako, 43, sustained multiple broken bones and was rushed to a local hospital. The other monks in the group were unharmed.
2008-02-21 - Nanyuki, Kenya.
On January 24, six crop-raiding male elephants were de-tusked on Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The exercise was carried out by Ol Pejeta and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). De-tusking means trimming of the tusks. Its ultimate goal is to prevent the elephants from breaking the fences and venturing into the surrounding communities, where they become a threat to humans and their crops.
2008-02-21 - Dublin, Ireland.
A zoo's not-so-little latest arrival made his first public appearance on Thursday. The four-day-old baby elephant - which weighs in at 80kgs (176lbs) - was revealed to visitors to Dublin Zoo with his mother Yasmin. The bouncing boy, who has not yet been named, is thriving since his delivery early on Sunday morning. The natural birth was observed by zoo staff through several infrared cameras, with the calf walking after just 30 minutes. The jumbo delivery is the latest addition to the facility's ...
2008-02-21 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Two punks collared to big elephants for spec. The African is "Diamond", trained by Hugo Schmitt the following winter in Sarasota and well remembered from his latter days in the Knoxville Zoo.
2008-02-21 - Dubbo, Australia.
A FORMER circus elephant that killed her handler has found a permanent home at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. After undergoing health and behavioural assessments at the Dubbo zoo, Arna, who crushed her handler, 57-year-old Ray Williams, in December last year, and her companion Gigi will stay there together permanently. Taronga Conservation Society Australia Director Guy Cooper said it was important to make sure the ex-circus elephants were both healthy before a decision was made about where they wo...
2008-02-21 - Longford, Ireland.
A Longford man recently sued an Irish circus for ¤20,000 damages, after he alleged that he had been head-butted by an elephant. The circus owners claimed that the man had fallen against the elephant's forehead. The case was settled out of court and all parties agreed to forgt about the incident... with the possible exception of the elephant.
2008-02-21 - Warsaw, Poland. Aviva Lori
Antonia Zabinska saw it all on September 15, 1939, two weeks after Nazi Germany invaded Poland: Kasia the elephant was killed by a shell. Her daughter, Tuzinka, was orphaned, but remained alive and well. Some of the monkeys and antelopes were killed by rifle fire; the others scattered across the city. The chimpanzee and the exotic birds disappeared. One giraffe was shot to death. The seals escaped, though it is not clear to where. Camels, llamas and deer wandered along the banks of the Vistula R...
2008-02-21 - Norwich, United States.
TIME is running out for aspiring artists who want to help create a public art trail across Norwich this summer. Up to 50 baby elephant sculptures will go display across the city from June 23 to August 31 as part of Go Elephants!, billed as Norwich's largest ever outdoor art event. The deadline for submissions is tomorrow. Artists who want to take part should contact The Forum Trust for guidance and submission forms by e-mailing events@theforumnorwich.co.uk or calling 01603 727907. Further inform...
2008-02-21 - Sauraha, Nepal. Anand Gurung
It was late spring but Chitwan was already very hot. There were no people on the road where a little while ago a jeep had driven past lifting a huge cloud of dust. The rickshaw-man who had brought me to Sauraha was red in the face and perspiring profusely through all the cycling. “You’ll just be making a round of jungle,” the rickshaw-man said as we sat in the restaurant patiently waiting for the elephant to arrive. “There are rhinoceros, leopards, chital and many other animals in the ju...
2008-02-21 - Vlaardingen, Netherlands. Antoinette van de Water
Award award winning Bring the Elephant Home documentary “Return to the Wild” will have its European première on Animal Planet. The documentary shows Antoinette’s journey with the rescued elephants Sri Nuan and Douk Ngern, which was the start of the Bring the Elephant Home foundation. As of yet we can’t give a full schedule for all of Europe, as soon as it is available to us we will put it up here, but we can give these times and dates: United Kingdom: Sun Feb 24 - 21:00 The Nethe...
2008-02-20 - Woburn, United Kingdom. Lisa Santer, Woburn Safari Park
With the completion of Woburn’s progressive new elephant facility in the Spring of 2008, and a desire to expand the size of Woburn’s herd, a vacancy has arisen for an elephant keeper to help look after Woburn's three Asian Elephants. The elephant section at Woburn currently operates a hands-on system for its two cows and a protected contact system for its bull. Experienced applicants are preferred, but non-experienced applicants may be considered to join one of the most progressive el...
2008-02-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. George Obulutsa
Hungry refugees in Tanzania are eating chimpanzees and other endangered species in order to supplement their meager diet, international conservation group Traffic said on Tuesday. It said refugees living near national parks in northwestern Tanzania were also illegally hunting buffalo, topi, eland, elephant and waterbuck. In neighboring Kenya, aid and conservation groups said refugee camps housing thousands of people who fled violence after disputed December 27 were damaging the environment, as d...
2008-02-19 - Guwahati, India.
For a team that spends most part of the year chasing elephants from human habitats, the forest department knows without even counting that the number of homeless pachydrems has increased in the past year. What it hopes to find out during the weeklong elephant census that begins in Assam tomorrow is whether this homelessness has affected the jumbo count. Most fear that the elephant count is going the tiger way — the National Tiger Conservation Authority has pegged the tiger figure at 70 followi...
2008-02-19 - Cincinnati, United States.
Big Bone Lick foreshadows a warming Earth filled with condemned species. Bones of numerous Ice Age mammals are entombed at the Kentucky salt lick, which yielded the world's first identified mastodon remains in 1739. President George Washington owned a mastodon tooth from Big Bone Lick. William Henry Harrison, a future U.S. president, gathered 13 large barrels of remains from the lick in 1795. Two hundred years ago, on March 7, 1808, President Jefferson received 300 bones from the lick and had th...
2008-02-19 - Salt City, United States. Rebecca Palmer
Utah's Hogle Zoo announced Monday that its 22-year-old African elephant is expecting a calf, due sometime in summer 2009. Christie was artificially inseminated in October by a team of German scientists, said zoo spokeswoman Holly Braithwaite. It was their third attempt at impregnating Christie, who was chosen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as a good breeding candidate. She has been at Hogle Zoo for most of her life. "I'm ecstatic. I'm even still almost speechless,...
2008-02-18 - Nairobi, Kenya. Elizabeth Miranda
International bans on the ivory trade and efforts to control poaching have helped Kenya's elephant population rebound, wildlife authorities say. In the Tsavo/Mkomazi area a conservancy in the larger Tsavo area in southern Kenya the elephant population grew from 10,397 in 2005 to 11,696 in 2008, according the Kenya Wildlife Service.
2008-02-18 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
2008-02-18 - New Delhi, India. Rajesh Sinha
In an unheard of incident, a wild elephant killed and devoured a man who came in the way of the herd in the Garo hills of Meghalaya. Elephants are herbivores. Though they’ve been known to go on the rampage, trampling or battering humans to death or destroying hutments and crops, there are no records of a pachyderm feeding on a human being. Confirming the incident which took place nearly a month ago, principal chief conservator of forests of Meghalaya VK Nautiyal, who was in New Delhi for a co...
2008-02-18 - Calgary, Canada. MICHAEL PLATT
There are parents in Calgary with more mouths to feed, but at 25 litres of milk a day, there's no baby with an appetite like this 242-kg toddler. Such greedy guzzling has Malti the elephant gaining up to a kilogram of mass a day and half of that milk now comes directly from the baby's mom. Its a breast-feeding victory that's made Family Day all the more significant for keepers at the Calgary Zoo, who've been hand-raising Malti since her birth on August 9. "Each day we have another success and ea...
2008-02-18 - Dublin, Ireland.
A male elephant has been born at Dublin Zoo - the second elephant to be born at the zoo in the past year. The calf, who has not yet been named, was born to mother Indian elephant mother Yasmin at 5.27am in the zoo's elephant enclosure. The birth was unassisted but was observed by zoo staff through several infrared cameras. Mother and baby are both doing well. The other four elephants at the zoo, all female, are smelling and touching the new arrival. Last May, a female elephant, Asha, was born.
2008-02-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Of all the illegal activities that animate the streets of Bangkok - the vendors who hawk pirated DVDs and fake watches, the brothels that call themselves saunas one stands out more than others. Elephants are not supposed to saunter down the city's streets as they do almost every night. For at least two decades the giant grey beasts have plodded through this giant grey city, stopping off at red-light districts and tourist areas where their handlers peddle elephant snacks of sugar cane and bananas...
2008-02-17 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
Elephants in Myanmar have long been invaluable labourers in the country's timber industry, nimbly finding their way through forests and dragging heavy fallen trees to rivers for shipping. But as Myanmar's ruling junta expands logging in the country's teak forests, more wild elephants are being captured and trained for clear-cutting operations that destroy the very habitats in which they roamed freely, activists and industry insiders say.
2008-02-17 - Gastonia, United States. Teri Walley
Larry Agenbroad, modern-day woolly mammoth hunter, was part of an international team of scientists who, in 1999, chipped the Jarkov mammoth out of the permafrost, extracting from the ice an elephant-sized popsicle. The Fossil Fair and Agenbroad's talk fit in with the Schiele's featured exhibit, "TUSKS! Ice Age Mammoths and Mastodons," which presents the skulls of American lions, saber-tooth cats, cave bears and 10-million-year-old shoveltuskers. Agenbroad will tell stories about his famous Russi...
2008-02-17 - Manila, Philippines. Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
The United Republic of Tanzania in Africa is willing to donate giraffes and elephants to the Manila Zoo in exchange for Philippine crocodiles. The Philippines has more than enough crocodiles, said Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim who proposed the exchange to a 13-man delegation from Tanzania. An animal-for-reptile exchange had earlier been proposed by Lim so the city could address its surplus of crocodiles and add to its animal collection. Lim said he was willing to exchange 20 of its more than 40 croco...
2008-02-17 - Dublin, Ireland. Christina Park
ELEPHANTS can stand on tiptoe -- they can run on tiptoe and hardly make a sound. And they can use their sensitive feet to hear through the ground. You would think such behaviour would have drawn attention before but, as the writer Henry David Thoreau (quoted in this book) points out, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see". And Irish-American scientist Dr Caitlin O'Connell, author of The Elephant's Secret Sense, has a keen eye. Employed in 1992 by the Namibian government to s...
2008-02-17 - Yala, Sri Lanka. Rohan Abeywardene
A wild female elephant freely roaming the jungles surrounding the historic Sithulpauwa Raja Maha vihara complex in the Yala National Park is also a welcome guest at the temple day and night thanks to the loving kindness practised by its chief incumbent Ven Mevaramba Hemaratne Thera to all living beings. The only problem is that for this friendly creature anytime is meal time and you will find him poking his trunk through any opening in the monks’ living quarters to satisfy its voracious appeti...
2008-02-16 - Knysna, South Africa.
One lucky elephant has a new calling: contributing to the process of winemaking, writes Lesley Beake. Harry the elephant tossed his trunk and ran away to the wine farm. If one thinks at all of elephants and the delights of drink, it will be an image of marula fruit and elephants enjoying sundowners deep in the bush where nobody can report them for drunken lumbering. But a recent experiment has shown that the great grey beasts are also useful in the pressing of grapes for wine. Probably not comme...
2008-02-16 - Berhmapur, India.
Large tracts of cultivated land in several villages of Ganjam have been destroyed by an elephant herd that strayed into Barbara forest from Chandaka last week. The herd consisted of 11 female elephants, a tusker and four calves. In certain places, the herd has even reportedly attacked villagers creating panic in the region. Beguniapada, Khallikote, Purushottampur and Rambha areas are the worst affected. The herd was last located near Bagdevi mound at Purushottampur-Khallikote border and was chas...
2008-02-16 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Patti Flynn
Yesterday, we went back to the mae sa elephant camp, about 40 mins out of chiang mai. we visited there 6 years ago and could hardly believe how the place has changed. the first indication was the piles of enormous chinese tourist buses lined up outside....six years ago, it was a rough little camp with maybe 20 elephants. nobody spoke a word of english. there were a few thatched raised platforms here and there for alighting onto elephants. you got onto an elephant and you were taken for a 60 minu...
2008-02-16 - Kalpetta, India. Jose Kurian
The proposed Nilambur-Nanjangod railway line across the Nilgiri biosphere, which passes through various wildlife sanctuaries would prove death-knell for the Asiatic elephant population, a major share of which is living in the Wayanad plateau, fear wildlife enthusiasts. Their fear is justified considering the fact that hundreds of elephants were killed on track in the last few years while crossing rail lines. According to the data available with the Wildlife Protection Society of India as many as...
2008-02-15 - Los Angeles, United States. Callie Miller
Despite claims from former zoo employees and animal activists that LA zoo elephant handlers have a history of abusing the elepehants, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reginald A. Dunn said the claims were baseless. The Daily News cites Dunn's ruling: "This is a ... public policy dispute between the plaintiffs and the defendants on how to run the L.A. Zoo," Dunn stated. "Moreover, there does not seem to be any illegal activity currently ongoing that an injunction should be imposed to stop."
2008-02-15 - New Delhi, India.
After the grim news on the tiger this week, here is something positive. The Indian population of elephants in the wild has jumped by more than a thousand. As per the latest 2007 survey, it stands at between 18,663 and 18,713. This is excluding figures from the N-E states for which the numbers are yet to be compiled. Last survey conducted in 2002 had pitched the figure for the country, excluding the population east of Chicken Neck at 17,170. The total population of elephants was 26,413. The bigge...
2008-02-15 - Yangoon, Myanmar.
First, the civil servants were transferred to Myanmar's newly built capital deep in the countryside. Now, it's time for the rhinos and elephants to move. The military government this week began using cranes and trucks to relocate scores of animals , including elephants, monkeys, birds, rhinos, bears and deer , out of the Zoological Garden in the biggest city, Yangon. Fourteen trucks filled with animals, many stuffed into small cages, were scheduled to depart late Friday for the new capital, Nayp...
2008-02-15 - Brisbane, Australia. Paul Larter
So long as you don’t feed the animals, zoos might be considered the epitome of wholesome entertainment. Or at least that was until the new family in Sydney’s Taronga Zoo reached puberty. Gung, a boisterous young Asian bull elephant, has been playing the field. There have been rendezvous with his four female companions under the waterfall, in the rainforest and the open fields. Now there are rumours of an underage pregnancy after Thong Dee, a formerly emaciated Bangkok street elephant aged 8 ...
2008-02-15 - Yunnan, China.
In addition to sharing a border – and the Mekong River – with Laos, Yunnan province also shares Chinas last herd of Asian elephants, which in recent years has dwindled to only 400 elephants. The herd lives in nature reserves near the border between China and Laos. This week the Yunnan Provincial Forestry Department met with their counterparts from Laos in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture to discuss ways to protect the endangered Asian elephant, which falls under China's grade-one prot...
2008-02-15 - Kolkata, India.
Alarmed over the killing of elephants by speeding trains in Dooars area of North Bengal, the Union Forest and Environment ministry has formed a seven-member committee to study and recommend steps to check such incidents. "At least 10 elephants were killed by speeding trains on railway tracks in the Dooars region since 2006. Union Forest and Environment ministry was approached to look into such incidents, following which it formed a seven-member committee," Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) ...
2008-02-15 - Kollam, India.
The Elephant Lovers Association (ELA), Thrissur, has urged the Forest Department to seize the three elephants now under the custody of former Minister R Balakrishna Pillai and his son and MLA K B Ganesh Kuamar. Association secretary V K Venkitachalam said in a statement that Balakrishna Pillai and Ganesh Kumar had no relevant documents to claim custody of the elephants. The Association had received a reply from the Divisional Forest Office, Punalur, that Balakrishna Pillai has two elephants and ...
2008-02-15 - Coimbatore, India. GC Shekhar, Hindustan Times
Conflict for space between man and elephant has led to a poignant situation where the villagers of Madukarai, near Coimbatore, will soon build a temple in memory of three elephants killed by a train near their village on January 4. Two male elephants and a pregnant female elephant were run over by a passenger train during the early hours, as the engine driver was unable to spot them due to heavy fog. In the trauma the female elephant delivered the baby, which was born dead.
2008-02-15 - Paklay, Laos.
the Elephant Festival has been organised to raise awareness of the need for action to protect the Asian elephant as part of the vital cultural and natural heritage of Laos and the countries of the region. Sayaboury Province welcomes you back to pay tribute to its elephants and enjoy great cultural activities and entertainment.
2008-02-14 - Richmond, United States. Karri Peifer
Ringling Bros.' "Over The Top" circus is going on now at the Richmond Coliseum. The Free All Access Pre-Show is open to all ticket-holders and starts an hour before each show. For 138 years, Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey has brought the exotic attractions of the circus to cities and towns across the country. This week, its "Over The Top" show rolls into Richmond for six days of spectacular, extraordinary, high-flying family fun. Elephants standing on two legs, trapeze artists swinging thr...
2008-02-14 - Paklay, Laos.
A mahout scrubs his elephant in a river Paklay, Laos, where the annual pachyderm festival is under way. The event draws attention to the plight of domestic and wild elephants in Asia. Laos once had more than a million of the beasts; now there are fewer than 2,000.
2008-02-14 - Sydney, Australia.
A row has erupted in Australia after Sydney's zoo announced a nine-year-old Asian elephant was pregnant. Animal rights groups say the elephant, Thong Dee, is too young to fall pregnant, and that the zoo is "irresponsible" in letting it happen. But keepers at Taronga Zoo say they took expert advice and acted on this. "We took our advice from the experts in elephant reproduction," says Lucy Melo, senior keeper at the zoo.
2008-02-14 - Los Angeles, United States.
A judge has ruled that work on a new elephant building at the Los Angeles Zoo can continue and that the zoo's lone elephant can remain, thwarting efforts by Robert Culp to close the exhibit and stop another from being built, according to court papers released Thursday. Superior Court Judge Reginald A. Dunn wrote in his four-page ruling that there were no grounds for issuing an injunction sought by the actor while he and another man pursue a lawsuit seeking to keep elephants out of the zoo becaus...
2008-02-14 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The ongoing man-elephant conflict had its echo in the Orissa assembly on Thursday with nearly two dozen members cutting across party lines expressing concern over the growing jumbo menance in different parts of the state. The issue was raised during zero hour with members, both from the ruling BJD-BJP and opposition Congress, CPI and JMM, demanding amendment in the relief coDe for giving adequate compensation to tHe affected people, mostly farmers.
2008-02-14 - Yunnan, China.
China and Laos reached an agreement to protect wild endangered Asian Elephants that live along the border between the two countries, during their annual meeting, held currently in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Xinhua reported yesterday. According to the Yunnan Provincial Forestry Department, the two countries agreed on four items -- to promulgate animal protection knowledge to villagers; to tighten controls over hunting guns and their activity; to plan an agenda for c...
Taronga Zoo has officially announced the pregnancy of one its Asian elephants. Eight-year-old Thong Dee is five months pregnant and expected to give birth in June 2009. There was concern that Thong Dee, one of four female elephants brought to Taronga Zoo from Thailand in 2005, was too young to be sexually active. News of the pregnancy was leaked to the media yesterday, when Greens MP Lee Rhiannon expressed concern the zoo had put the animal at risk by allowing her to get pregnant before reaching...
2008-02-13 - Sydney, Australia. Simon Benson
LOVE is in the air at Taronga Zoo - or at least it was five months ago. More than 15 months after arriving under a cloud of controversy from Thailand, Sydney's Asian elephants have conspired to grow their number by one. An ultrasound image has confirmed that eight-year-old Thong Dee has made history and is now 20 weeks pregnant. A successful birth, expected sometime in mid-2009, would mark the first captive elephant breeding success in Australasia. Tests conducted last week revealed a healthy fo...
2008-02-13 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The proprietor of an elephant camp in Thailand's northern province of Chiang Mai has purchased insurance for her elephants to show to the kind and clever animals on Valentine's Day. Wassana Thongsuk, owner of the Maetaeng Elephant Camp, bought insurance coverage from the Thai Insurance Public Company Limited for his camp's 48 elephants. Thai Insurance Pcl is the first insurance company in Thailand which offers coverage for pachyderms. If elephants sicken, or die from an accident or during a perf...
2008-02-13 - Sydney, Australia.
The Greens say they have received information that an underage Asian elephant at Sydney's Taronga Zoo has become pregnant, which they say could put the animal's health at risk. The Greens say they have received information that an underage Asian elephant at Sydney's Taronga Zoo has become pregnant, which they say could put the animal's health at risk. Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says she understands the eight-year-old elephant is six months pregnant, which goes against the zoo's captive management pl...
2008-02-13 - Somerset, United States. VICKI ROCK
Chicago has cows. Pittsburgh has dinosaurs. Somerset may soon have elephants. Public sculptures of animals, decorated by artists, can be a draw for tourists, said Somerset Inc. Executive Director Stephanie Williams. “We had been talking about public art for several years and discussed possibly having deer,” she said. “Henry Cook suggested elephants. We sat down and discussed it and have applied for a $13,000 grant.” 20 large fiberglass elephants would be 3 feet high, 4 feet long and 2 fe...
2008-02-12 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom. Mick King
Elephant keepers at Whipsnade Zoo are celebrating the birth of a second calf to mum Azizah. The male arrived on January 11 at 1.10pm after a short labour in what was the first daytime delivery of an elephant calf at the zoo. He weighed in at a healthy 220lbs and was up on his feet within 20 minutes. Whipsnade press officer, Christine Drabwell, said: "He is now ready to enjoy some time outdoors with his mother, but also likes his daily nap." Keepers had been expecting the birth and were keeping d...
2008-02-12 - Seattle, United States. HECTOR CASTRO
A group opposed to the elephant-breeding program at Woodland Park Zoo has asked the federal government to investigate the death of Hansa, a 6-year-old Asian elephant who died in June. The elephant died from a previously unidentified strain of herpes virus, and it remains a mystery how the virus was transmitted. In a letter sent Monday to the Agriculture Department, the Northwest Animal Rights Network asked the agency to investigate the death and order the zoo to freeze its elephant-breeding prog...
2008-02-12 - Phuket, Thailand.
Sixteen decorated elephants parading together on one theatre stage is all part of FantaSea, a spectacular night's entertainment in Phuket. Thailand's national animal, a vehicle of war in olden times and still a beast of burden in the logging industry, is better known today in the tourism and showbiz industries. Elephant rides figure in most visitors' itineraries, and they're also on show at places such as the Maesa Camp near Chang Mai in the north where the jumbos frolic with each other in a riv...
2008-02-12 - Woodland, United States. ROBIN HINDERY
In September 2004, the discovery of a mammoth fossil bone at a Capay mining facility captured the attention of local residents - and Daily Democrat staff. But after an initial flurry of headlines and conversation, the story of the fossil was buried by other news. No more. In January, the Daily Democrat began digging and unearthed the tale of what happened to the bone, what researchers learned about it, and where it is now.
2008-02-12 - Sydney, Australia. Jonathan Dart
Taronga Zoo is keeping mum about whether one of its Thai elephants is pregnant. Rumours about the elephants surfaced yesterday following an effort by the zoo to make Gung - the only male of the group - impregnate one of his companions. It is understood the zoo was considering whether to begin a program of artificial insemination. Either way, it will be the first time an Asian elephant has conceived on Australian soil. Eight Thai elephants were imported in to Australia in November 2006 - of which...
2008-02-11 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
This well known 50 elephant picture appeared in 1933, the Ringling's 50th Anniversary 1884-'33. The only problem was that the show only carried 41 elephants at the time so Roland Butler gets credit for increasing the herd. This came to light some years ago in Bandwagon Magazine when it was proved that an additional row of elephants had been added to this 1932 Grant's Park photo. I always knew this was the case since the male "Sammy" can be seen at right in both rows 1 and 2.
2008-02-11 - Quitman, United States. Christine Fuller Lucas
Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary,located in Quitman, celebrated the birth of Miss Bets ,an African elephant,on December 8, 2007. Lucky for me, I had already planned a January internship there, and the 263 pound baby did not disappoint. In fact, she grew to nearly 400 pounds before I left a month later. While working there I saw how desperately things like rakes,shovels,and new wheel barrows are needed. With nine elephants at the sanctuary, one can understand how quickly such items wear o...
2008-02-11 - Portland, United States. ANDY DWORKIN
Is the average Beaverton homeowner more likely to buy new green space for her kids or for Rose-Tu, the Oregon Zoo's pregnant elephant? Might she splurge for both, despite the struggling economy? These are the multimillion-dollar questions governments are asking across the metro area and the rest of Oregon for a November ballot quickly filling with requests for new taxes to fund schools, streets and public safety.
2008-02-11 - Nairobi, Kenya. Philip Mwakio
Seventeen African countries, including Kenya, have signed a document for the establishment of a coalition to save the elephant. It was also agreed that a global elephant action plan that will fight illegal killing and trade in ivory be implemented. It also paved way for an elephant conservation fund to be known as the African Elephant Coalition, says Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Assistant Director for Biodiversity, Research and Planning, Mr Patrick Omondi. He said Mali, where the meeting was hel...
2008-02-11 - Zemio , Central African Republic. Karl Ammann
Once smoked the meat would fetch about CFA 35 000 (US$60) per 100 kg basket. The meat from this one carcass would have fetched a little over US$200. Each tusk weighed around 2 kgs (4 kg in total) and fetched about CFA 8,000 (US$14) per kg (big tusks can fetch a maximum of around CFA 12,000 (US$19) per kg). The total value of the meat (about US$200) was therefore about 4 times that of the ivory (US$50). The hunter confirmed that this was the usual scenario - elephants are hunted for their meat an...
2008-02-11 - Dhenkanal, India.
Though rampaging elephants are damaging cash crops in the district frequently, there is no compensation package for farmers. Farmers said on the one hand government is encouraging farmers to grow cash crops on the other it is not providing insurance to them in case of destruction. According to divisional forest office sources, population of elephants in Dhenkanal forests has increased to 180 against 80 two years back. As many as 25 persons were killed and more than 40 seriously injured in eight ...
2008-02-10 - Coimbatore, India.
The villagers of Karumbapalayam, on the city outskirts, today paid a 'traditional homage,' to three elephants, including a pregnant one, which were recently crushed to death by a train. About 100 residents, majority of them women, carried flowers, incense sticks and pots of milk and performed pooja at the site, where the carcasses were burnt. The priest performed pooja for nearly one hour, as women poured milk on the 'site,' said forest department sources , who attended the 'ritual' done traditi...
2008-02-10 - Cleveland, United States. Damian G. Guevara
Art dealer Tania Siyam sits in a Medina jail cell because prosecutors say the woman tapped her African background and contacts to traffic in forbidden ivory tusks taken from endangered elephants. The Canadian citizen was indicted in U.S. District Court in Cleveland in 2004 after she shipped more than 125 pounds of ivory to an Elyria artisan in 2002 and 2003. Siyam didn't know that the Elyria craftsman was working as an informant for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
2008-02-10 - Lampang, Thailand.
With a fantastic performance about to start, local and foreign tourists were waiting to view the elephant show and give the stars their favorite food as rewards. The elephants greet the audience and gather things for the mahouts. They might sometimes be lazy but they never go on a rampage and disappoint new mahouts because these friendly animals have been well trained since they were young.
2008-02-10 - Hugo, United States. Bill Hankins
“Our workers are going to have to double up and do triple time on the work load until we can get the exemptions back,” said Traci Cavallini of Carson & Barnes. “We have a good show this year and it is about ready to go on the road.” Carson & Barnes will have many new performers for this year’s show, and a new baby elephant, Val, born in April to show off to the world. Another young elephant born to the 29-member herd a few years ago — 4-year-old Obert — will perform. “He’s alwa...
2008-02-09 - Chuncheng , China.
An elephant has killed a man in a Chinese nature reserve where an American tourist was earlier severely injured, the state news agency Xinhua said. The animal attacked Zeng Shaoping on Wednesday as he returned home after celebrating the Lunar New Year with friends, the agency said, quoting the local Chuncheng Evening News. Two of his friends raced to the scene when they heard trumpeting noises, and found him lying on the roadside. An American living in China was severely injured by an elephant i...
2008-02-09 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Wild elephants straying into a Bangladesh village killed a man, injured another and trampled several homes on Saturday, forest officials said. The incident occurred at a village near Ramu, about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka, said an official of Bangladesh Forest Department. Villagers, who were caught off guard, fled their homes, but later returned with drums and firecrackers to scare off the herd of around six elephants. The elephants also devoured rice stocks, fruits and so...
2008-02-09 - Palakkad, India.
The Wildlife Protection Society of India has demanded an inquiry into the death of three elephants after being hit by a train in Kurumbanpalayam near Madukkarai. The society said that the Railways should create an awareness among its drivers and co-pilots to drive at a speed of 20km per hour on the Walayar forest stretch. In a statement here on Friday project officer and coordinator of the Wildlife Protection Society of India Guruvayurappan said that eco-development committees should be constitu...
2008-02-08 - Houston, United States. The National Elephant Center news release
A new model for excellence in elephant care and conservation is a reality today as The National Elephant Center announced plans to create a national elephant conservation center in central Florida made possible, in part, by Waste Management’s involvement. The facility will be under construction for several months with the first elephants expected to arrive in 2009. “Elephants are among our most endangered animals in the world, and their future depends on innovative programs that integrate sc...
2008-02-08 - Vizianagaram, India. B Rajarao
Cutting across party lines, elected representatives of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts have expressed reservations about the proposal to set up an elephant sanctuary in the Andhra-Orissa Border in the two districts. It may be recalled that Forest Minister S Vijayarama Raju, while reviewing ‘Operation Gajendra’ announced that the State Government would set up an elephant zone and the tribals inhabiting the areas affected by rogue elephants would be relocated. However, the proposal was m...
2008-02-08 - Okeechobee, United States. Derek Simmonsen
Herds of elephants soon will be replacing cows on an empty expanse of land in the far western part of the county. Construction on the National Elephant Center, an organization formed by zoos from around the country, will begin this summer, and the first elephants should arrive by October 2009, according to Jeff Sabin, a Waste Management spokesman. The center's creation was announced during a press conference at the Houston Zoo on Thursday, during which a female elephant dipped her trunk in ink a...
2008-02-08 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A shimmer of light over much of the gloom shadowing Kenya at the moment is the heart warming news that elephant population in the country has been on the rise in the last several years. Breaking the news early this week, the Kenya Wildlife Service said a four per cent growth of elephant population was an indication that the state of the country’s wildlife is healthy. This follows successful anti-poaching measures and internationally supported bans on ivory trade.
2008-02-08 - Washington, United States. Alexandra Viets, IGSD/INECE Secretariat
BBC World presents "The Ivory Poaching Wars," an Earth Report documentary that tracks illegally poached elephant ivory on its journey from Africa to Japan and the United States, with the help of an African enforcement agency and DNA analysts from the United States. Treaties such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) have been introduced over the years to protect wildlife against illegal poaching, but the elephant ivory trade remains a very...
2008-02-07 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
The senior elephant keeper at Whipsnade Zoo describes the arrival of the latest addition to their herd of rare Asian elephants
2008-02-07 - Coimbatore, India.
The tragic end of three elephants on a railway track near Kurumabapalayam here has once again underlined the threat to the elephant corridors in this region. The increasing number of man-animal conflict recently is a result of vanishing private lands, the migratory paths once used by these pachyderms, into huge constructions. According to researchers, the upsurge in constructions on the foothills has hindered the migratory paths of elephants forcing them to take alternative routes and enter huma...
2008-02-07 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Andy Brouwer
The domestic elephant population of Mondulkiri province is facing an array of threats ranging from habitat destruction, physical abuses, and a widespread lack of facilities providing proper medical supervision and treatment, so an Englishman by the name of Jack Highworth has stepped in to fill the void. He has formed an environmental NGO called ELIE (Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment), with the primary aim of improving the medical and welfare condition of domesticated elephants, most of...
2008-02-07 - Okeechobee, United States. Jeremy Ashton (Contact), Derek Simmonsen
Chimpanzees and tigers are among the exotic animals that have called St. Lucie County home over the years. Now the elephants are coming. The county is set to become home to the National Elephant Center, an organization formed by zoos around the country to offer assistance to one another in the areas of elephant breeding, research, training and conservation. Officials with the Houston Zoo and Waste Management, which owns the land the center will be on near the Okeechobee County landfill, will ann...
2008-02-06 - London, United Kingdom. Ren L, Hutchinson JR. University of London
We examined whether elephants shift to using bouncing (i.e. running) mechanics at any speed. To do this, we measured the three-dimensional centre of mass (CM) motions and torso rotations of African and Asian elephants using a novel multisensor method. Hundreds of continuous stride cycles were recorded in the field. African and Asian elephants moved very similarly. Near the mechanically and metabolically optimal speed (a Froude number (Fr) of 0.09), an inverted pendulum mechanism predominated. Wi...
2008-02-06 - Dunstable, United Kingdom.
A baby elephant has made his first appearance longside his mother at a Bedfordshire zoo. The unnamed calf, born on 17 January, weighs about 103kg (220lbs) and was born after a 630-day gestation period. He is the second calf born to mother Azizah following a short labour at Whipsnade Zoo, near Dunstable. The calf, who was up on his feet within 20 minutes, is feeding well and enjoys spending time with his mother, a spokesman for Whipsnade Zoo said.
2008-02-06 - Bamako, Mali.
Elephant conservation and anti-ivory trade initiatives are the focus of a meeting that opened today here with delegates from 17 African elephant range states. Organizers say there is potential for the formation of a coalition of like-minded states that will work towards strengthening elephant conservation. The gathering is hosted by the governments of Mali and Kenya and facilitated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW. The meeting grew out of an informal agreement last June at the ...
2008-02-06 - Minneapolis, United States. Katherine Kersten
Last Friday, Minneapolis City Council Member Ralph Remington was on his animal rights soapbox, declaring at the council meeting that banning elephant rides was a moral imperative. As inspired orators often do, Remington reached for a prop an elephant guide, or bull hook, and waved the supposed instrument of punishment about. But Remington has an adversary who knows bull hook bull when he hears it. He's the circus cop: Sgt. Tim Davison of the Minneapolis Police Department, a Shriner who has repre...
2008-02-06 - Maun, Botswana.
Komana residents have been advised to try other means of chasing away elephants from their village and farms. Addressing residents at the village Vice President Seretse Khama Ian Khama said one other option of chasing elephants away was to plough pepper in their fields. That measure, he said was reported to be working in places where it was practiced. General Khama was in Komana to greet residents after holding a kgotla meeting in Nxaraga. The residents complained about elephants which threaten ...
2008-02-06 - Kampala, United States.
The elephant population in Uganda's wildlife reserves and game parks has been growing steadily to about 5,000 since the near depletion of the gigantic mammals under the regime of late dictator Idi Amin, a top conservation official said Wednesday. Ecologists say during the late 1960s, jungles in the east African country's wilderness were teeming with over 30,000 elephants, in both gazetted areas and elephant migratory corridors.
2008-02-06 - Knysna, South Africa. Timothy Twidle
IT was all smiles when three schools in Knysna received books and stationery from a trust set up in memory of a woman and her child who were killed by a stampeding elephant in Zimbabwe last year. British citizens Kelvin Parker, his wife Veronica and daughter Charlotte were on a guided walk in Hwange National Park last March when they were mistakenly led to within 30 metres of a male elephant in musth. A game ranger and Parker narrowly escaped with their lives when the elephant charged in a frenz...
2008-02-06 - Okeechobee, United States. JIM REEDER
As many as 1,000 acres near the Okeechobee-St. Lucie County line may become a home for elephants brought there for training and rehabilitation, officials in both counties said Tuesday. The plan will be unveiled Thursday by officials with Waste Management, which operates a landfill in Okeechobee County just outside the St. Lucie County line, officials said. "There's a possibility of something like that on the east side of the landfill," said Ray Domer, vice chairman of the Okeechobee County Commi...
2008-02-06 - Chennai, India. P. Oppilli
The death of four elephants in Coimbatore on Monday has shocked wildlife enthusiasts and Forest Department officials. Raman Sukumar, professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences in the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said the Centre had already set up a committee to look into train accidents in which elephants were killed. The committee would visit all the places where elephants got killed while trying to cross the track.
2008-02-06 - Tbilisi, Georgia.
A few weeks have passed since the birth of the first elephant ever to be born in Georgia, but he still hasn't been named yet. Zoo workers plan to organise a children's contest to choose the best name. The Indian elephant has just had his first photo shot but he won't be able to get to know too much of his new surroundings yet. He isn't allowed to walk outside his enclosure because right now it's too cold in the country's capital. The newborn drinks his mother's milk and sleeps quite a lot but w...
2008-02-05 - San Diego, United States.
Three elephant keepers at the San Diego Wild Animal Park have been sickened by the same superbug that killed an Encinitas boy and sent a high school coach to the hospital last month. County public health officials are closely monitoring cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. A 13-year-old Diegueno Middle School seventh-grader died on Jan. 19 from the superbug and a 50-year-old Fallbrook High School wrestling coach was briefly hospitalized with it two weeks ago. The keeper...
A baby elephant was euthanized on Monday at the Wild Animal Park after failing to grow, and officials said the animal had the same superbug infection as at least three park employees. According to Dr. Wilma Wooten, of the Heath and Human Services Agency, three other cases at the park are pending. The three employees infected with the superbug had all helped feed the elephant. County health officials said the baby elephant developed a lesion on its ear but that the latest cases originated from pe...
2008-02-05 - San Diego, United States. COLLEEN MENSCHING
A baby elephant with multiple health problems has been euthanized at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park east of Escondido, park officials said Tuesday. The elephant calf, born in November, recently tested positive for a drug-resistant strain of the staphylococcus skin infection, but park spokeswoman Christina Simmons said that infection was not the reason for Monday's euthanasia. "Our baby elephant ... had (a) compromised immune system," Simmons said. "That calf was suffering from malnourishme...
Health officials are investigating a group of workers at the San Diego Wild Animal Park with confirmed cases of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA is a staph infection that is resistant to certain antibiotics. The so-called "Superbug" has apparently made its home for several weeks inside the zoo, health officials said. The elephant exhibit turned into an incubator for the bacteria. Officials said it likely began when a worker transmitted MRSA to a sick baby elephant.
2008-02-05 - San Andreas, United States.
Maggie is ready to join the gang. And the gang is ready for her. Now if it would just stop raining. Mud is the only thing keeping the fence up between Maggie and the four other African elephants at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in northern California. Pat Derby, founder of the sanctuary, said near-record rainfall in San Andreas has soaked the grounds where Maggie and the other elephants hang out during the day. Generally, that's not bad for the elephants, which according to upd...
2008-02-04 - Santa Clara County, United States.
On February 12, 2008 starting at 9:30 AM, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will hold an advisory hearing considering a ban of rodeos and circuses that use animals in the entire county. A second and final meeting will be held around the end of March. Your attendance is important for the opposition of this ordinance as the number of people will influence the outcome. It is very important to call/fax/email/write to each and all the Supervisors in opposition to the ban at the addresses be...
2008-02-04 - Chiba, Japan.
An elephant at a Japanese zoo has joined in the fun of an age-old New Year tradition of throwing beans to fend off bad luck. Mammy, a ten-year-old female from Ichihara Elephant Kingdom Zoo, used her trunk to hurl beans at performers dressed as ogres for a packed audience of children. The performance was said to be a very difficult one, as only one out of nine elephants at the zoo were able to be trained to defy the temptation of eating the beans before throwing them. "This elephant can restrain ...
2008-02-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A state of the art ultra modern aquarium and a naturalistic elephant enclosure was inaugurated by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Nandankanan Zoological Park near here on Monday. The education materials are displayed in form of 30 nos. of trans-slides display boards. It covers the all types of aquatic ecosystem. There is a special section which depicts the uniqueness of the marine ecosystem of Orissa. The new elephant enclosure has been developed over an area of 5 acres to provide a near...
2008-02-04 - Kota Kinabalu, Brunei Darussalam.
It was a busy week at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park with the birth of a Proboscis monkey and a Borneo Pygmy elephant. The monkey was born on Wednesday and the elephant on Friday. The two births were also a milestone for the park as it was the first time in the world that a pygmy elephant had been born in captivity and the second time for a Proboscis monkey. Both newborns are in good health with staff keeping an eye on them round the clock for the next two weeks.
2008-02-04 - Coimbatore, India.
A pregnant pachyderm was killed along with two elephants when they were hit by a train passing between Pothanur and Madhukkari Station, about 20 kms from the city, in the early hours of Monday. A Railway official said the Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) was on way to Palakkadu from Erode, when it ran into the herd at 0130 hrs between Pothanur and Madhukkari. In the impact, the pregnant elephant delivered a calf which, too, died on the spot.
2008-02-03 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sanath Weerasuriya
Tranquil Footsteps, the dream book of Srilal Miththapala, was launched last week Srilal is a serious wildlife and nature enthusiast with a penchant for elephants. 'Tranquil Footsteps' a long awaited dream of Srilal Miththapala which tells the story about the elephants of Udawalawe National Park and it traces the life of a female elephant and her family, living in the Uda Walawe National Park during the period of 1998-2002.
2008-02-03 - Kingston, Jamaica. KERRY MCCATTY
IT may not be a lot of them, but Thai elephants paint. And one really should not be surprised, says Thai ambassador to Jamaica Snanchart Devahastin, who recently presented his credentials. After all, the elephant is the national animal of the country that is one of the world's major exporters of textiles, jewellery, footwear, handcrafts, home decorations and souvenir gift items.
2008-02-03 - Kunming, China. Yao Minji
Yunnan Province is renowned for its breathtaking natural beauty where rolling mountains covered in large colorful tropical flowers provide a picturesque backdrop for tourists keen to discover the area's unique history and culture. But visitors should not expect to be awestruck on first arriving in Yunnan's provincial capital of Kunming. A typical medium-sized Chinese city going through rapid economic development, Kunming's characteristic historic architecture has been knocked down to make way fo...
2008-02-03 - Mombasa, Kenya.
Kenya's population of elephants _ both a tourism drive and a measure of the state of the East African country's wildlife _ is increasing, after successful anti-poaching measures and bans on the illegal ivory trade, wildlife officials said. In Tsavo, Africa's second-largest game reserve, 11,700 elephants were recorded during a five-day aerial census,
2008-02-03 - , United States.
Colbecks film gives us a glimpse into the complex world of elephant society. We meet Echo and begin to understand the importance of such a majestic matriarch to her devoted clan. He shows us their language and ways of communication. And he captures remarkable scenes such as the rare birth of a crippled calf that the family desperately and collectively tries to help to its feet. The film causes us to question if this could be about more than simply survival. Is there a deeper emotion we have just...
2008-02-03 - Merseyside, United Kingdom.
This week Danny (Stephen Tompkinson) has an elephant problem: there is not enough space for their growing numbers at Leopard's Den. The elephants have eaten all the available foliage and are beginning to fight over food, and injure each other. If Danny can't solve this problem, Du Plessis (Deon Stewardson) tells him, the only humane thing to do will be to cull some of the elephants.
2008-02-02 - Golden Triangle, Malaysia. LIM CHEE WAH
The Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle and the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation recognise that in rescuing street elephants, it is important to take the mahouts off the streets as well. “Until there’s another alternative provided, people still have to go to the cities,” said John Roberts, the foundation’s elephant director. “If all your village has ever done is raise elephants and produce mahouts, that’s all you want to do. OK, people can be re-educated, but that’s n...
2008-02-02 - Jorhat, India.
The district has been reeling under the threat posed by a marauding herd of elephants which has been foraging in the riverine areas along the Brahmaputra river for the past one month. Due to the failure of the Jorhat Forest Division to chase away the wild jumbos from human-inhabited areas so far, the situation has turned tense in vast localities in north Jorhat. As rumours of the elephants veering towards the town spread last evening, there was panic among residents of Kokilamukh, Neamatighat, J...
2008-02-02 - Vallejo, United States. RICH FREEDMAN
Word on the street has it the camel was traded to a zoo to be named later, the giraffe was on the injured reserve list with a muscle twitch in his neck, and the walrus had a dentist appointment. So up stepped Tava, a 9,200-pound African elephant with, apparently, a golden toe. And Six Flags Discovery Kingdom had its kicker to showcase Friday in taking pre-Super Bowl hype to a new level. With two available footballs - each with a logo representing big game foes New England and the New York Giants...
2008-02-01 - Minneapolis, United States.
You once again ride an elephant in Minneapolis after the City Council made last-minute changes to a proposed set of regulations for circus animals. The council considered an outright ban on wild circus animals during its Friday meeting, but opted instead for increased requirements for the animals care. The new requirements were approved 11-2 and require city inspectors to check how a circus treats its animals in another city before it arrives in Minneapolis.
2008-02-01 - Minneapolis, United States. Nicole Muehlhausen
The circus may not come to the Twin Cities for much longer if the Minneapolis City Council votes to place heavy restrictions on the shows. On Friday, the council votes on a plan to increase animal regulations at circuses. The Shriners have threatened to cancel it’s circus show at the Target Center in October. At about eight to 10 dollars each, elephant rides bring in a lot of money for circuses. A new City Council measure could ban those wild animal rides.
2008-02-01 - Clearwater, United States. TERRI BRYCE REEVES
He's the television host with boyish good looks, a vast knowledge of wild animals and apparently no fear of teeth, claws or poisonous stingers. On Saturday, the 2004 Emmy winner will take a break from the cameras and man-eating lions to venture into the Clearwater Main Library, where he'll present a 45-minute talk, "Tales from the Field." Cambodian elephants once numbered in the thousands. Now there are "less than 150 in the wild in that part of the world," he said. Poachers and loss of natural ...
2008-02-01 - Calcutta, India.
Wild Asian Elephants are among the largest animals walking the face of the earth, but their size is not saving them. In Northern India, dozens are being slaughtered, but not for their ivory. The elephants are locked in a deadly conflict with humans over living space. For centuries, elephants have been migrating from forest to forest. But now their migration patterns are bringing them into direct confrontation with India's expanding human population, more than one billion people who are chopping ...
2008-01-31 - Balasore, India. Hemant Rout
The fear of jumbos for the residents of Malyani village under Nilagiri area in Balasore is manifold. People here are forced to stay indoors as elephants from Swarnachuda hill have been terrorising them. The problem is not just limited to Malyani. Border villages of different elephant corridors have been frequently experiencing the problem. Besides terrorising people, the marauding elephants have been ravaging thousands of acres of crops affecting the economic condition of farmers. The man-elepha...
2008-01-31 - Khurda, India.
A wild bull elephant had to be killed earlier this week after it strayed into the Madhupur Village of Orissa's Khurda District. The jumbo, believed to be around 50 years of age, was shot down by a village elder Purnachandra Baliar Singh at night after it came too close to his residence and damaged the paddy stored outside his house. Seventy-eight-year old Purnachandra described the killing as an action taken in self-defense, said forest officials.
2008-01-31 - Amber Fort, India.
Animal protection groups have demanded a ban on elephant rides in Rajasthan's famous Amber Fort after two tourists were injured when the pachyderms they were sitting on tussled with each other. Amber Fort, around 12 km from here, is among the most famous hilltop forts in India. The 16th century fort built by Raja Man Singh is a perfect blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture and stands as a proud reminder of the building skills of yesteryears. Tourists usually take elephant rides to get into Ambe...
2008-01-31 - Rourkela, India.
A five-year-old girl, Purnima Nayak lost her life in an elephant attack at Ganua village in Koira. A male elephant had strayed into the residential area and destroyed six houses. The kid was crushed to death when a wall collapsed after the pachyderm went on the rampage. Irate villagers gathered near the accident spot after the elephant had left. On being informed, a team of police and forest department officials reached the area. They were detained for over six hours by the agitated villagers.
2008-01-31 - Udzungwa, Tanzania.
In a rare discovery of a new species of mammal, zoologists on Thursday said they had identified a shrew-like creature called a grey-faced sengi living in a small community in remote Tanzania. Sengis, small, furry, insect-eating mammals that live on forest floors, are also called elephant-shrews. Ironically, recent molecular tests showed that they are more closely related to elephants than to shrews, being members of a mammal group called Afrotheria, which evolved in Africa more than 100 million ...
2008-01-30 - Minneapolis, United States. TERRY COLLINS, Star Tribune
Minneapolis' attempt to protect circus animals may run them out of town. A new ordinance would allow elephants in circuses, but kids would no longer be able to ride or touch them. If that happens, the show may not go on. "We'll seriously consider leaving the city if we can't do elephant rides," said Tim Davison, the Minneapolis Shriners' assistant circus chairman. Elephant rides are a highlight and a moneymaker of the annual fall circus shows at Target Center, which are the group's principal fun...
2008-01-30 - Shillong, India.
Election officials in Meghalaya face an elephantine problem to ensure that voting for March three polls is not disrupted by marauding pachyderms. Playing safe, election authorities are marking several booths as "sensitive" not from a communal angle or law and order factor but being vulnerable to possible attacks from elephants in the light of previous experience. Officials on wednesday said a scenario like a herd of drunk wild elephants moving dangerously near an election booth, chasing away ele...
2008-01-30 - Minneapolis, United States. Mike Nizza
A childhood rite of passage may be banned in Minneapolis on Friday, when according to The Minnesota Star Tribune, the city council is expected to vote on an unusual issue: elephant rides. Leading the charge is a council member named Ralph Remington, who failed to push through a tougher measure last year that would’ve banned wild-animal circuses from the city. In both cases, public safety and animal cruelty were cited, two worries brought to him by an advocacy group based in Minnesota called Ci...
2008-01-30 - Mamfe, Cameroon. Vincent Gudmia Mfonfu
Three dealers in protected wildlife species have been arrested in Mamfe, Manyu Division in the South West Province and are to appear in the Court of First Instance in Mamfe on January 30, 2008 on charges stipulated under the 1994 wildlife law. The dealers were caught trying to sell some parts of elephants including 14 elephant tails, 4 elephant tusks and an elephant tooth. The 14 elephant tails simply mean 14 elephant killed through illegal hunting and related trade. It is difficult to estimate ...
2008-01-29 - Bayanga, Central African Republic.
This is an interview with Andrea Turkalo, who has spent over 20 years in Africa. For the last 18 of them, she has observed wild forest elephants in a jungle clearing called Dzhanga Bai. The elephants come in great numbers to dig out minerals found below the surface. Turkalo drove for an hour down a muddy logging road to get to Bayanga, the only village in the area. In Bayanga, she agreed to be interviewed in order to help spread new research findings about these unique elephants. The bai is foun...
2008-01-29 - Dzhanga Bai, Central African Republic.
2008-01-29 - Tbilisi, Georgia.
Living condition for the two elephants Bachu and Manki has become better. The animals used to live on concrete area, now they have natural surraoundings.
2008-01-29 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
A tusker was shot dead at Madhupur village near Khurda today. Forest officials said that they had seized a gun from a person called Purnachandra Baliarsing. He claimed that he had shot the elephant in self defence. Investigations are on as the forest and police officials doubt Baliarsing’s version. The 68-year-old said that the elephant chased him. The animal had strayed from Chandaka forest in search of food and was feeding on the harvest of Purnachandra. These officers never come to ...
2008-01-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Incidents of elephants running amok have been on the rise in Kerala over the last few years. Violent pachyderms have killed several people and damaged property. Animal lovers have often attributed the unruly behaviour of captive elephants to ill-treatment or neglect at the hands of mahouts. But a recent study suggests that climate change may have something to do with the disruptive behaviour of pachyderms. The study by T.S. Rajeev of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Wayanad, P.J. R...
2008-01-29 - Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Klaus Wünnemann
We are looking for an experienced elephant keeper who shares our ideas and wants to develop the future of our program with us. We care for Elephants. The Heidelberg Zoo has developed from an outdated system of elephant keeping to an institution giving the welfare of our elephant the utmost importance. We believe in the importance of an ever challenging enrichment program for the physical and mental health of elephants. Our enrichment program for elephants fits to the highest standards.
2008-01-29 - Washington, United States.
The eating habits of elephants have a strong influence on the habitat choices of lizards, says a researcher. Robert M. Pringle of Stanford University says that his findings are based on an examination of the connections between elephants and lizards, for which he worked at the Mpala Research Center in Kenya between 2004 and 2007. He observed that Kenya dwarf geckos (Lygodactylus keniensis) showed a strong preference for trees that had been damaged by browsing elephants (Loxodonta africana).
2008-01-28 - Washington, United States.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has announced it will award $1,277,921 in grants to 15 African countries to assist in the protection of African elephants. Combined with matching contributions from private-sector partners, the total U.S. commitment to elephant conservation will exceed $4 million.
2008-01-28 - Atlanta, United States. Suzanne Fields
Not so long ago, our parents and teachers were forever admonishing us not to act like animals. Now our candidates for president are showing us how they think they can profit by imitating animals, especially the brainy ones. Like the elephants, for example. Hillary can take heart. "Among elephants, it is the females who are the born politicians," writes Natalie Angier, a science writer, in The New York Times. An elephant typically cultivates robust and lifelong social ties with at least 100 other...
2008-01-28 - Gola Block, India.
A killer elephant that had frequently been on a rampage in two villages of Ranchi district was found dead on Saturday. The elephant’s body was found on the borders of Purabdih and Nausadih villages. Villagers of the terror-stricken area had named the elephant as “Laden”. Villagers, who had stopped going out of their homes due to the elephants terror, said they were not happy with its death.
2008-01-28 - Beijing, China.
A wild elephant in southern China attacked an American tourist by tossing him with its trunk, causing the man to suffer from fractured ribs and stomach injuries, an official said Monday. Jeremy Allen McGill, who teaches English in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, was found unconscious by a security guard around dusk Thursday at the "Wild Elephant Valley" nature reserve in the Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan province.
2008-01-27 - Tsavo, Kenya.
Where has all the time gone? I can’t believe that it’s already more than two weeks since I last updated this journal, and now I have an overwhelming amount to catch up on, not least to record the successful conduct and conclusion of the Tsavo Aerial Elephant Count. What a week that was! During a time when some pockets of Kenya were experiencing trauma and troubles, and our politicians could not decide amongst themselves from one day to the next, here in Tsavo we witnessed, and participated i...
2008-01-27 - Deopara, India.
In yet another instance of man-animal conflict arising out of dwindling vegetation, a herd of rampaging wild elephants killed one person and caused massive destruction to property in Deopara in Assam. The pachyderms also destroyed standing crops, apart from decimating houses on Saturday. Locals said that a herd of about 170 wild elephants is roaming in the forests of Assam. The elephants have become more active since Bihu (harvest festival) and in spite of repeated complaints by the villagers no...
2008-01-27 - Knoxville, United States. JANE CARLSON
After spending three weeks in Thailand caring for elephants, Sara Pool isn’t used to sleeping without the sounds of the jungle. It’s the strangest thing to be back here and not hearing random elephant trumpets at night. I really loved it over there and I miss it every single day,” said Pool, a Knoxville native and budding animal rights activist who is studying animal science at the University of Illinois.
2008-01-27 - Kunming, China.
An American tourist was seriously injured after he was apparently attacked by wild Asian elephants roaming in a nature reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Thursday, officials confirmed on Sunday. Jeremy Allen McGill, who teaches English at Huazhong Agricultural University in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and arrived in Xishuangbanna for sightseeing on Wednesday, was under intensive care at the central hospital in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, the foreign affairs...
2008-01-26 - Krishnagiri, India. S. Prasad
Incidents of wild elephants straying into human habitats and destroying crops have been on the rise in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts. In 2007-08, 200 cases of crop damage caused by elephants were reported. According to an estimate, crops worth Rs. 7 lakh are damaged every year by elephants in the Dharmapuri forest circle. Of late, depredations by the elephants have been going on unabated, almost every day, especially from October to February in Thally and Pennagaram areas. With the result...
2008-01-26 - Gastonia, United States. Bernie Petit
The countdown began at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning. That’s when the massive semi-trailer truck containing almost 20 crates filled with 80 fossil specimens, replicas and artifacts for a new exhibition pulled into The Schiele Museum’s loading dock area. It gave the Schiele employees setting up the museum’s latest temporary exhibition, “TUSKS! Ice Age Mammoths and Mastodons,” 72 hours to have everything ready for Saturday’s premiere. Shortly after the exhibition arrived from Gainesville, W...
2008-01-26 - Jorhat, India.
A 75-year-old man was killed by a herd of wild elephants at Kokilamukh in Upper Assam's Jorhat district where the pachyderms have been creating havoc in the area since early January, Forest department sources said on Friday. The elephants trampled the person at Spur number eight of Kokilamukh and damaged several houses and and graneries there on Thursday night, sources said. The herd had come from Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Nematighat area and had lost direction, and was moving downstream i...
2008-01-25 - Nairobi, Kenya. Charles Wanyoro
Residents of the larger Meru Central region, many of them farmers, live under fear of elephants. While the beasts pose a general security threat to all locals, the farmers have been affected more since the animals have been feasting and trampling on acres of crops just before harvest. The lush green farms in Ruiri Division of Imenti North District suggest bumper harvest this season but the presence of destructive elephants dictate otherwise. The farmers have for a long time been grappling over m...
2008-01-25 - Dallas, United States. JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News
A 40-year-old Asian elephant named Babe died Thursday morning from labor-related complications at the Fort Worth Zoo, officials announced Friday. Babe was the oldest female in the zoo's herd of seven Asian elephants. Zoo officials said Babe went into labor Sunday afternoon, but the calf failed to move into the birth canal. Babe died while sleeping about 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Zoo officials said the unborn calf also died. "I can't remember a more difficult time for our elephant staff," Ron Surratt, ...
2008-01-24 - Pittsburgh, United States. Gene J. Puskar
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008. Moja is one of two elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo expected to deliver in late May after a 24 month gestation.
2008-01-24 - COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh. Mohammad Nurul Islam / David Fogarty
One man was killed and another injured in attacks by wild elephants that strayed into villages and trampled homes and crops in Bangladesh, police said on Thursday. They said the elephants stormed into different villages near a forest about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka on Wednesday. The victims were working in their fields when the elephants came out of the forest, witnesses told police. Attacks by elephant have become frequent in recent years, as their forest habitats shrink...
2008-01-24 - Philadelphia, United States. GLORIA CAMPISI, Philadelphia Daily News
Maybe they can come home again. And the Philadelphia Zoo is hoping its two young African elephants, scheduled to be moved in the spring to a conservation center in southwestern Pennsylvania for breeding, will do just that - accompanied by elephant babies, called calves. The zoo's president and chief executive officer, Vikram Dewan, said yesterday that the idea of a new elephant enclosure at the Philadelphia Zoo is still a gleam in the eye of zoo planners.
2008-01-24 - Hyderabad, India.
Even as the tribals are living in a state of fear with the jumbos straying again into the agency areas of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, the government has dropped a bombshell by saying that people of nearly 100 girijan villages may have to be vacated once the Centre gives the green signal for the development of a sanctuary exclusively for the tuskers in the area.
2008-01-23 - Bankura, India.
The kunki (trained) elephants brought from the West Midnapore division have finally driven out the jumbo herd that had been rampaging the Bankura district for the past one month. Out of the 72 that had been on the rampage, only a few remain to be driven out. Senior forest division officials of Bankura and Bishnupur are, however, optimistic that the remaining few would be driven out in the next couple of days. Elephant herds from Dalma range in Jharkhand had intruded into the Bankura district and...
2008-01-23 - Murchison, United States. John P. Meyer
The title of the two-event series is "Opera Without Elephants," in reference to the familiar Verdi opera, Aida, which includes elephants in the story line (I think). Clearly my metaphor is ridiculous and inappropriate, so let's just stick to the facts. his Friday (Jan. 25) the University of North Texas Opera presents the first of two programs featuring small bite-sized portions of famous operatic works - the theory perhaps being similar to an inoculation that introduces a small portion of the ge...
2008-01-23 - Tokyo, Japan. Shigeki Tao / Yomiuri Shimbun
Organized by The Yomiuri Shimbun and others, an exhibition of the mammoth is being held until Feb. 3 at the Marunouchi Building in front of Tokyo Station. Since the end of last year, Naoki Suzuki, director of the Institute for High Dimensional Medical Imaging, has been conducting 3-D computer mapping of a frozen baby mammoth that was discovered in May in permafrost in Russia's western Siberia. The institute, which is part of Jikei University, is located in Komae, Tokyo. With body hair on its fro...
2008-01-23 - Monta Carlo, Monaco.
As a child Princess Stephanie's daughter Pauline loved the circus so much she was included in one of the acts performed by mother's elephant trainer boyfriend. And the pretty youngster - now 13 - has clearly lost none of her enthusiasm for the big top. Pauline, whose father is Stephanie's former bodyguard and husband Daniel Ducruet, accompanied her mum to the closing ceremony of Monte Carlo's world-famous Circus Festival.
2008-01-23 - Oxford, United Kingdom.
An elephant: someone's probably mating behind his back When it comes to the mating game, it seems youthful opportunism may trump brash experience. While the alpha males run around trying to impress the girls, young hopefuls should hang back and await their chance. Well, it works for elephants... Dominant bull elephants may be losing out to cheeky young whipper-snappers in the baby-making stakes, it seems. The cunning youngsters use sneaky tactics to sire calves while their elders' backs are turn...
2008-01-23 - Manila, Philippines. Tina G. Santos
An animal-for-reptile exchange has been proposed by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim so the city can address its surplus of crocodiles and add to its animal collection. Lim Tuesday said he was willing to exchange 20 of the Manila Zoo’s more than 40 crocodiles for animals like elephants, zebras and giraffes. The Manila Zoo continues to expand its collection of animals both locally and from other parts of the world. We are willing to swap animals with other zoos, Lim said. He said city veterinarians wer...
2008-01-23 - Tokyo, Japan. Kaori Bell
When we mention zoos, Japanese people first think of elephants. Many of us know an old song for children in which mentions their long trunks. According to the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums latest database, we have already more than 50 elephants in captivity.
2008-01-23 - Melbourne, Australia. Cameron Houston and Royce Millar
Concern about the Toorak soiree follows an investigation by The Age into allegations of abuse and neglect at Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, including the stabbing of an elephant with a marlin spike. Zoos Victoria acting chief executive Matt Vincent said senior keeper Pat Flora had taken "appropriate action" when Thai elephant Dokkoon failed to respond to a command. He said no formal complaint was lodged against Mr Flora, and he continued to work at the zoo as head keeper of many of the...
2008-01-22 - Calgary, Canada. David Parker, Calgary Herald
The zoo's annual budget is $26 million and, of that, Harper's group brings in approximately $17 million -- $10 million of which is from admissions. This year, he is expecting a big boost to the visitor count as well as memberships, thanks to a couple of big attractions: Malti, a baby elephant, and a new stingray tank. Malti is a joy to watch as she kicks ball, throws around cardboard or takes her snack from the keeper's bottle. Directly across from the interior elephant enclosure, a big tank is ...
2008-01-22 - Los Angeles, United States.
An actor and a real estate agent want answers now about the elephants. They may get them in a hearing in three weeks. Actor-and-animal activist Robert Culp and Real Estate Agent Aaron Leider sued Los Angeles and its zoo-director in August, over the conditions for elephants there. They want a preliminary injunction now that would shut down the elephant exhibit. They also want to shut down construction on its expansion, which they say is inadequate. There's one elephant on display now, 21-year old...
2008-01-22 - Ruskin, United States. Buckles Woodcock / Raffaele de Ritis
Awards (maybe too much) of this year's Monte Carlo. And this is just the official jury awards: dozens of special awards have been given too from donors, as usual. GOLD: Pellegrini bros. - handstands, Florian Richter - equestrian acrobat Li Wei - slack wire
2008-01-22 - New Delhi, India.
Jungle law prevailed inside Delhi zoo on Monday as a mob of around 25-30 people - claiming to be the owners of elephants brought in for the Republic Day parade - attacked the zoo staff, including its director, D N Singh. According to sources, the elephant-keepers were waiting to hit back at the zoo authorities since last year, as they had complained against the mahouts for having misused the animals. Every year, elephants are brought in by the Delhi government from private owners for the R-Day p...
2008-01-21 - Kartik Chaori, India.
Continuous depredation by a herd of wild elephants in and around Kartik Chapori of the west Jorhat area, about 20 km off Dergaon has caused immense damage to the villagers in terms of destruction of houses and agricultural land. About 100 elephants have damaged as many as 150 houses in the past few months and vegetable farms etc, compelling the villagers to take shelter at Nahatia HS School and Nahatia Namghar and spend sleepless nights.
2008-01-21 - Houston, United States.
Can a special event for a baby elephant add ingenuity to your next marketing campaign? Here’s the scoop from DMNews’s January 14 edition. As the Houston Zoo prepared to celebrate the Mac the Elephant’s first birthday, they decided to get the public involved through a birthday card contest. The marketing campaign was launched on the zoo’s Web site, on their blog, and through an opt-in Email list. This contest’s components explain how to create a winning campaign, and each step is achiev...
2008-01-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Sir, you can't beg for coins here, put your trunk away! The New York Times reports on the phenomenon of domesticated elephants begging on the streets of Bangkok. It's technically illegal to sell elephant treats to tourists, but the rewards are great: In four nights of begging an elephant handler can make the same amount of money the typical Thai worker makes in a month.
2008-01-21 - Melbourne, Australia.
The Victorian Government has asked Melbourne Zoo to respond to claims of animal neglect. Melbourne Zoo has denied claims that animals have been mistreated, saying a widely reported incident involving an elephant was a case of a keeper protecting himself. The reports said a former zoo staff member saw an elephant being repeatedly jabbed in the foot by a trainer. Victorian Premier John Brumby says the Government is expecting to receive a written response from zoo management soon.
2008-01-21 - Coimbatore, India.
Four wild elephants, which strayed into human habitation at Chettypalayam, were guided back into the forest by forest officials here on Sunday. The pachyderms entering human habitation and the forest officials guiding them back into forest is not new here. On January 18, the elephants, which were earlier guided back into the forest, were spotted again at Chettypalayam. They had crossed Madukkarai, Neelambur bypass, Podanur and reached Chettypalayam. When the forest officials tried to guide them ...
2008-01-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. THOMAS FULLER
Of all the illegal activities that animate the streets of Bangkok — the vendors who hawk pirated DVDs and fake watches, the brothels that call themselves saunas — one stands out more than others. Elephants are not supposed to saunter down the city’s streets as they do almost every night. For at least two decades the giant gray beasts have plodded through this giant gray city, stopping off at red-light districts and tourist areas where their handlers peddle elephant snacks of sugar cane and...
2008-01-20 - Dallas, United States. JOANNA CATTANACH
Lone Star, the world's largest four-tusk mastodon skull discovered in a gravel pit in La Grange, sold for $191,200 at auction Sunday. Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries featured the impressive pre-historic piece at its Natural History Auction along with several hundred other items including a golden nugget from Mexico dubbed the Boot of Cortez. The nearly-foot-long gold deposit sold for $1.6 million. But Lone Star was by far the star of the auction. Including skull and tusks, the mammoth pi...
2008-01-20 - Sindhudurg, India. Ashwin Aghor
The misery of elephants in Maharashtra may soon end as the state forest ministry has decided to set up a village exclusively for elephants and use this village as an eco-tourism attraction. The ambitious project will be first of its kind in the world. The state forest ministry is expected to soon enter into a memorandum of understanding with Earth Matters Foundations in this regard. The elephant village will most likely be developed at Tilhari Dam in Sindhudurg district. Pachpute said, It is the...
2008-01-20 - Melbourne, Australia. Kellie Cameron
MELBOURNE Zoo has hit back at claims an elephant was stabbed and animals mistreated on their grounds. Zoos Victoria Life Sciences director Matt Vincent said the merlin spike, carried by keepers to care for elephants' feet, did not break the animal's skin and was used only when two keepers were at risk. Reports accused a handler of stabbing an elephant, Dokkoon, more than 12 times with a sharp metal spike to restrain it. Mr Vincent rejected outright all claims of animal abuse and cruelty.
2008-01-20 - Crosbyton, United States.
The mastodon skull is called the Lonestar Mastodon and it was found in LaGrange, Texas, near San Antonio. As it turns out, this mastodon wasn't alone in the Lone star state when he died. "Why are so many buried in Texas, I don't know. I've been 40 miles that way and 40 miles all around this area and I can tell you that there are a dozen mammoths buried in a half square mile," said Taylor. There's one other unique characteristic about the Lonestar Mastodon. "This particular one has tusks coming o...
2008-01-20 - Oxford, United Kingdom.
The average tusk size of African elephants has halved since the mid-19th century. A similar effect has been spotted in the Asian elephant population in India. Demand for ivory has seen Africa’s elephant population more than halved since the late 1970s. Researchers say it is an example of Darwinism in action, caused by the mass slaughter of dominant male elephants - but whereas evolution normally takes place over thousands of years, these changes have occurred within 150 years. Zoologists at Ox...
2008-01-20 - Orissa, India. D N Singh
There is a raging debate throughout the country over the increased conflict between man and animal. And, there is no denying the fact that the mysterious disorder in the climatic regime has pushed the problem of ecological imbalance back to the centre stage. Many instances in the past and the recent past should have served as a reminder for the planners and people in general to assess as to where things have gone wrong. But the fact remains that some wrongs can be corrected, while others are inc...
2008-01-20 - Madikeri, India.
A seminar on Man-elephant conflict organised by the World Wildlife Fund and the Coorg Wildlife Society was held at the Kannika International Hotel in Kushlnagar on Saturday. In his chief guest address, the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, I B Sreevatsav said that the department would send a proposal to the state government to tranquilize the rogue elephants, for which the locations had already been identified by the district forest officials. The deputy conse...
2008-01-19 - Washington, United States.
It's a bit early to decorate the nursery, but officials at the National Zoo are hoping that Shanthi the elephant will have another baby in 2009. Veterinarians conducted two artificial insemination procedures on Shanthi this week. Scientists will now monitor her hormones. If the level of progesterone in her blood remains high after 10 weeks, then she's most likely pregnant. An Asian elephant's gestation period ranges from 20 to 22 months. In 2001, Shanthi gave birth to Kandula - the fifth elephan...
2008-01-19 - Nagercoil, India.
A dwarf variety of elephant has been identified in a recent census conducted by the District Forest Department in Kanyakumari wild life sanctuary limits. Kallaana, so-called in local parlance of Kanni tribals, would be a new discovery, if ascertained by wild life experts. Noting that the dwarf breed of elephants attains a maximum height of 1.5 metres, the District Forest Officer Sundarajan said that they do not inter-breed with common Indian elephants. The department has enumerated 21 elephants ...
2008-01-19 - Dunstable, United Kingdom. Dan Koehl
The elephant Azizah gave birth to a 103 kgs male calf in the afternnon of 17th of January. Father is Emmet, born in Syracuse Zoo (Rosamond Gifford Zoo) U.S.A.
2008-01-19 - Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne Zoo is at the centre of an animal abuse scandal after allegations that an elephant was stabbed by a zookeeper more than a dozen times with a sharp metal spike. But the Zoo claims the trainer's actions were justified. The elephant was jabbed with a small implement used normally for foot care, but the animal was not harmed, stated Melbourne Zoo Director, Matt Vincent. He believes labelling the stabbing as cruelty is an over exaggeration. RSPCA has described the behaviour as 'utterly shoc...
2008-01-19 - Charara, Zimbabwe. Rebekah Price
Animals and alcohol do not mix. One would think this is a no-brainer. One does not normally drink a six-pack and get on a horse; but, there are those who do. The person is usually hurt and the animal is confused and frustrated. The lives of the person and the horse are placed in imminent danger as the drunk rider tries to exert control over 1200 pounds of sober muscle and brain. Where in our society is this acceptable behavior?
2008-01-19 - Muscatine, United States. Jennifer Meyer
A group of local volunteers wants to bring back the elephant, buffalo, monkeys and reptiles, in plant form, that once inhabited Weed Park. Master Gardener Maryrose Peterschmidt initiated plans for a Weed Park Zoo Garden after picking up a fluorescent green brochure at the Iowa State University Extension office in Muscatine. Two honey bears donated in 1921 launched the Weed Park Zoo, which over the years housed Bengal tigers, African antelope, peacocks, monkeys, deer, foxes, raccoons, reptiles, ...
2008-01-19 - Melbourne, Australia. Royce Millar and Cameron Houston
Former senior zoo curator and now zoo consultant Peter Stroud was in charge of the elephant program in the early 2000s and also party to discussions about the Thai elephants. Stroud now says he questions why, if purchase of the elephants was for conservation and animal welfare, neither Melbourne nor Taronga sent the animals to their respective open-range zoos. "Clearly the box office is an issue," he says. "It's preposterous to pretend that breeding elephants in Australia is some type of contrib...
SENIOR zoo experts, staff and the RSPCA have accused the Melbourne Zoo of abuse and neglect of animals, including one incident where an animal trainer stabbed an elephant more than a dozen times with a sharp metal spike. A confidential internal memo from zookeeper Bryan Welch to then zoo director Matt Vincent reported the stabbing in May last year of a 13-year-old elephant, Dokkoon, with a marlin spike ¡ª a large, needle-like implement used to untie rope knots. In the memo, Mr Welch says anima...
2008-01-18 - Luton, United Kingdom.
Noah may have counted the animals in two by two, but they need to add up a little more quickly than that at Whipsnade Zoo this week. Of course, there have been some newcomers to add to the tally over the past year. There's Leelee the Asian elephant, who will be celebrating her first birthday on January 19. A little male Asian one-horned rhino calf was born, too, on November 5. Dominic, the gorgeous sea lion pup, made a big splash when he arrived in June. Not forgetting four two-humped Bactrian c...
2008-01-18 - Springfield, United States. KSPR News
The Dickerson Park Zoo got off to a good start this year with a surprise. An anonymous donor gave the zoo $10,000 dollars for its elephant program. A local member of Friends of the Zoo gave the donation along with a letter recognizing the zoo’s staff and elephant program. Along with the donation the zoo was also happy to learn that the attendance from last year broke a record. It was the fourth year in a row it had more than 200,000 people.
2008-01-18 - San Diego, United States.
The Wild Animal Park's latest baby elephant is sickly. Born Nov. 28, the African elephant calf is not gaining weight as she should, said officials at the San Diego Zoo, which operates the park near Escondido. Zookeepers are feeding the youngster by bottle and intravenously, but her condition is still considered guarded. Veterinarians and keepers are watching around the clock, the zoo said Friday. The calf's mother, Lungile, is also on sick watch due to complications from the birth.
2008-01-18 - Cincinnati, United States. JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has launched a project that will turn one of its most abundant natural resources into energy. Poop. There are no specific numbers on how much it will save the zoo in energy costs, but the team working on the project says it will be tens of thousands of dollars annually at the outset and more as the program progresses. In about two years, when the plan is fully implemented, the elephant and giraffe houses will be heated, cooled and lit by animal waste convert...
2008-01-18 - Oklahoma City, United States.
When Mayor Mick Cornett announced that the city was going on a diet, he did it in front of the elephant exhibit at the city zoo. Fittingly, The Oklahoman will monitor the city's weight loss by printing the number of elephants that represent the city's weight loss every day on Page 2A beginning Saturday. Zoo officials say a female Asian elephant (like the ones at the zoo) can weigh up to 6,500 pounds. Good luck, Oklahoma City! "Everywhere I go, people are offering me food, and I was gaining over ...
2008-01-18 - Salt Lake City, United States. Alyssa Farley
Visitors to Utah's Hogle Zoo recently got a chance to feast with the beasts. The feeding tour gave visitors a chance to see the animals exhibit some of the foraging, hunting and other feeding behaviors normally seen only by zookeepers. At the Elephant Encounter arena, a 624-pound pumpkin sat propped up against a supporting beam. The crowd fell quiet as the first elephant, Misha, emerged, walked over to the pumpkin, felt it with her tusk, and daintily broke off a piece and placed it in her mouth....
2008-01-18 - Coimbatore, India.
Pongal celebrations in Coimbatore have something special to offer to its participants. Elephants are included in the celebration and they have become the main attraction here. Pongal is celebrated at a place called Top Slip at Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. Over 5000 people from all over the State participated in the celebrations. Tourists from abroad also attended the event. The participants were very enthusiastic to take part in the traditional festivities. “I think it is a good thing for...
2008-01-18 - New York, United States.
John M. Kistler is the author of War Elephants. That’s right, war elephants. Kistler tells John J. Miller, “I’ve always loved elephants, but I also love ancient history. And when I found out that elephants were used for thousands of years in armies around the world, I couldn’t help but wonder why no one had written a book about it. So I did.”
2008-01-18 - Zuerich, Switzerland.
Engaged by Zoo Zürich AG, the Amt für Hochbauten Stadt Zürich [Office for Building and Construction, City of Zurich] launches an anonymous open design competition (stage 1), followed by a study commission (stage 2, with 3-5 teams) in order to obtain projects for a new elephant facility at Zoo Zurich. The objective of the design competition is a new attractive and identity-establishing elephant park that fits well into the zoological garden and complies with the present company philosophy of t...
2008-01-17 - Sunsari, Nepal.
Locals of Shivpur area at the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) inside the Thursday obstructed the East-West highway demanding compensation as wild elephants once again went on a rampage destroying half a dozen houses and crops in the village overnight. Demanding compensation, the locals have called a chakka jam in the area affecting the traffic from Inaruwa to Koshi barrage stretch of the busy highway. For the last two decades dispute regarding the compensation, for the losses caused by the w...
2008-01-17 - Santa Barbara, United States.
The Santa Barbara Zoo is seeking a keeper for our elephant team. This position will carry out all basic aspects of the daily care of the animals, including, but not limited to: training, enrichment, maintenance of exhibits, and enhancing the guest experience. This position is part of a dynamic and progressive Animal Care team. The position may be filled at the apprentice keeper, keeper, or senior keeper level depending on experience.
2008-01-17 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Like any good rockstar, Liam Finn travels with an entourage. But when he made two new friends at Auckland Zoo yesterday, it was decided they might be a tad too unwieldy to join his posse. Finn, who is signed up to play a ZooMusic concert next month, got to meet some of the zoo's residents up close and personal yesterday, including Burma and Kashin the elephants. Finn spoke to nzherald.co.nz about the experience and shared some tips for tomorrow's Big Day Out.
2008-01-17 - Dallas, United States.
The skull of a four-tusked mastodon believed to be 1 of the nation's largest is going up for auction Sunday. The 40-inch-long skull was found in 2004 in a La Grange gravel pit. Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas expects the skull to fetch as much as $160,000 during its natural history auction. The skull had been housed at the Mount Blanco Fossil Museum near Lubbock. Museum founder and curator Joe Taylor says he needs the money to pay back investors who financed the excavation of the skull afte...
2008-01-17 - Ontario, Canada. African Lion Safari & Game Farm Ltd., Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
The "4th International Workshop" hosted by the African Lion Safari in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute of Zoo- and Wildlife Research holds the unique opportunity to learn first hand about reproductive biology, management, pathology and assisted reproduction technologies in the 3 Megavertebrate species; elephant, rhinoceros and giraffe:
2008-01-16 - Kolkata, India. Mudassir Rizwan
An elephant calf died after it was mowed down by a goods train near Rajabhatkhawa range in West Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve. Local reports here said the elephant calf was found dead near Shikari gate level crossing Tuesday. It had been run over by a Guwahati-bound train from Siliguri. "We have alerted railway authorities repeatedly to slow down the trains passing through the Buxa Tiger Reserve. Now, we will request chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to take up the matter with the centre," Wes...
2008-01-16 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. R Ayyappan
Once again the same old elephant story. For the third year running, the State is being converted into a mass grave for captive elephants and their mahouts. During the Oct 05’-March 06’ festival season, a shocking 216 captive elephants and 54 mahouts were killed. Last season was no less shocking. 152 elephants died of torture and 68 mahouts were gored or crushed to death. Not even half way into the festival season, this year too seems no different. At least 17 elephants and seven mahouts had ...
2008-01-16 - Dubbo, Australia. KEELY BELL
Arna, the so-called ‘killer’ elephant, yesterday was “cool, calm and collected” as she and her companion Gigi made their debut at Western Plains Zoo. Senior elephant keeper Roger Brogan said the new arrivals were very relaxed despite a tearful farewell with their circus handlers on Monday. “Arna is cool, calm and collected. She and Gigi are busy getting to know their surroundings,” he said. Arna and Gigi arrived early Monday morning after a 14-hour drive from the north coast.
2008-01-15 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Thitaram C, Brown JL, Pongsopawijit P, Chansitthiwet S, Wongkalasin W, Daram P, Roongsri R, Kalmapijit A, Mahasawangkul S, Rojansthien S, Colenbrander B, van der Weijden GC, van Eerdenburg FJ. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University
Better breeding strategies for captive Asian elephants in range countries are needed to increase populations; this requires a thorough understanding of their reproductive physiology and factors affecting ovarian activity. Weekly blood samples were collected for 3.9 years from 22 semi-captive female Asian elephants in Thai elephant camps to characterize LH and progestin patterns throughout the estrous cycle. The duration of the estrous cycle was 14.6+/-0.2 weeks (mean+/-S.E.M.; n=71), with follic...
2008-01-15 - Bangalore, India. Jayalakshmi K
The single largest global population of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) can be found in Bangalore's backyard. In a stretch extending from Bannerghatta to MM Hills and further across BRT, Bandipur to Nagarhole and Wayanad (part of what is called Mysore Elephant Corridor), one can find over 6,000 elephants. But foolishly, we fail to see them as we eye the jungles as potential real estate to build our homes and lay our crops.
2008-01-15 - , Australia. Justin Huntsdale
She’s Australias most notorious elephant, and as of today, the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo New South Wales is home. Last month, Asian elephant Arna trampled her 57-year-old handler Ray Williams to death at Yamba. After years of touring with the circus, Stardust has donated the 53-year-old elephant and her companion elephant Gigi, 50, to the Western Plains Zoo. It all went very smoothly, elephant keeper Roger Brogan said. We had the elephants turn up at 10.30am Monday morning. We unloaded them ...
2008-01-15 - Tzaneen, South Africa.
Isn’t it incredible how a picture taken out of context can have such a detrimental impact. That’s what I was concerned about when writing this article, but nevertheless I’m going to post it as i’d love to hear your point of view on this subject. The subject being training wild African elephants. This post is a follow up to my last post where I mentioned I visited EFAF (definitely in need of website re-design!) - Elephants For Africa Forever - near Tzaneem in Mpumalanga just after Christm...
2008-01-15 - Dublin, Ireland.
Over 900,000 people visited Dublin Zoo last year in what was a 20 per cent jump on 2006 and the highest number in its 176-year history, it was announced today. Officials cite the birth of Ireland's first ever baby elephant and a litter of kune kune pigs - a domestic breed rarely bred successfully in Ireland - as some of the highlights that contributed to the record numbers. Zoo director Leo Oosterweghel said they were hoping for similar success in 2008 with a number of new animal arrivals expect...
2008-01-15 - Rajabhatkhawa, India.
A baby elephant was dragged 900 metres and cut to pieces by a speeding goods train here last night. The driver was allegedly not following the rules laid down for trains passing through forests, which include speed limits. An FIR has been filed against him. Around 1.55am, an elephant herd was roaming the area, part of the Buxa Tiger Reserve, when the train heading towards Assam from Siliguri sucked in the 10-month-old animal standing next to the tracks.
2008-01-15 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Wild elephants killed five people, including one woman from Burma, and injured 20 others in the Bangladesh border township Teknaf, opposite Maundaw Township in Burma, according to a local official report. The Burmese victim who was killed was identified as Khadija Begun, 35 years old, who was living in a slum near the Naff River in Teknaf Township. The incident took place on 10 January when Kadija Begun went into the forest to collect firewood along with her two young sons. When the family reach...
2008-01-15 - Miami, United States.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is reporting that an elephant named P.T. attacked Ringling Bros. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey trainer Joe Frisco Jr. while the circus was at Miami's America Airlines Arena on January 7. Ringling Bros. issued a statement Wednesday stating the Frisco "received minor injuries after falling while walking with a juvenile elephant in the elephant barn in Miami."
2008-01-15 - Wuppertal, Germany. Filipe von Gilsa
Tamo was born on Sunday 13 January after 641 days. He was 97 kg heavy and 90 cm high. The birth went well and he was drinking after 30 minutes.
2008-01-14 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Robyn Dixon
Samson, otherwise known as Elephant No. 1, is twisting his trunk around tufts of grass and throwing them into his mouth. He is aware that David Powrie has sneaked up on him but is willing to ignore him for now. The tall, blond, sunburned ranger knows each one of the 120 elephants here in Welgevonden Game Reserve, identifying them by nicks in their ears, tusks and the patterning of their tails - almost like a fingerprint. He sniffs the air for the bulls in must (they exude an oily secretion when ...
2008-01-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Despite government efforts, mahouts continue to illegally bring elephants into the Thai capital Bangkok. Though elephant owners face fines for bringing their animals into the city, the International Herald Tribune reported that large numbers of them continue to do so due to problems of enforcement and the potential earnings from tourists. Since 2006 Bangkok has operated a Stray Elephant Task Force, but a member of the group told the newspaper that the role offered numerous problems, making it un...
2008-01-14 - Rameswaram, India. C. Jaishankar
A five-year-old ‘princess’ from Bihar will soon don the role of the official elephant of Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram. While temple authorities have begun preparations to conduct a grand ceremony, the ‘Pattathu Yanai’ is also getting ready to bless devotees and lead all temple ceremonies and festivals. The elephant, donated by noted industrialist Ramasubramania Raja of Rajapalayam, succeeds Bhavani which has completed nearly 45 years of service to the temple and was donated by...
2008-01-14 - Dubbo, Australia.
Two circus elephants have arrived at their temporary new home at Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo in far western New South Wales, after one of them crushed its 54-year-old handler on Boxing Day. The Stardust Circus handler was tending to the two asian elephants, Arna and Gigi, at the Yamba Showground on the NSW North Coast when he was killed. The circus donated the elephants to the zoo after the tragedy. Western Plains Zoo's senior elephant keeper, Roger Brogan, says the animals are settling into thei...
2008-01-13 - London, United Kingdom. Vincent Moss
Anne, the last circus elephant, has been given fresh hope of being released from captivity to spend her retirement in freedom. Government ministers have drawn up new plans to ban performing animals. It following our long campaign - backed by £25,000 in donations from readers - to let 55-year-old Anne spend her retirement in an animal sanctuary. Although Anne, who tours the UK with Bobby Roberts' Super Circus, doesn't perform tricks any more, she is still taken into the big top to pose for pictu...
2008-01-12 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Gavin du Venage
ZIMBABWE plans to kill hundreds of elephants and turn them into biltong, a local dried meat snack usually enjoyed with a beer in front of a game of soccer or rugby, officials here have said. "It is in our plans. We plan to start this year," Zimbabwe National Parks director-general Morris Mtsambiwa was quoted as saying in the state-owned Herald newspaper. At least 500 elephants will be shot, skinned and their flesh dried and processed. Biltong is made by cutting raw flesh into thin strips, which ...
2008-01-12 - Rangpur, India.
A wild elephant killed a man and injured another at a frontier village in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat district yesterday, official sources said. They said the male elephant from the hills in India strayed into village Ufarmara Guriadaho in the morning and ran amok damaging houses, standing crops and property indiscriminately and attacking villagers. At one stage, Aminur Rahman, 30, of the village was trampled to death by the elephant that also injured co-villager Azgar Ali, 40. Azgar was rush...
2008-01-12 - VietNamNet Bridge, Vietnam.
Three wild elephants that escaped from Vu Quang national park have been causing concern among hundreds of households in the two communes of Huong Dien and Huong Quang in the central province of Ha Tinh. A residential house destroyed by wild elephants in the central province of Binh Thuan. Since 1999, the elephants appeared on more than 100 occasions, killing 10 people and destroying 20 houses and 200ha of vegetables. The elephants have crushed motorbikes in their path and stormed into residentia...
2008-01-12 - Hassan, India.
A forest mobile squad along with officials of the Sakleshpur Forest Department and Sakleshpur police arrested three persons in the early hours of Friday and seized two elephant tusks together weighing 38 kg. Acting on a tip off, the sleuths intercepted a car near Yebbusale village on Mudigere- Sakleshpur road at 3 a.m. and seized the ivory. The names of the arrested have been given as Ansari, Nassir and Arun. Two other accused, Subbaraya Gowda and Raghu, escaped even as the police stopped the ve...
Two people were killed and at least 60 houses were damaged by a wild elephant at Uparmara village under Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat district yesterday. The dead were identified as Aminur Rahman, 30, and Azhar Ali, 48. The officer-in-charge of Patgram Police Station said Aminur and Azhar were trampled to death by the elephant that entered the village at around 6:15 am. The people of Uparmar left their houses and took shelter at the nearby village as soon as the elephant entered the village. Ma...
2008-01-11 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham
Zoo President Donna M. Fernandes rejected all charges by In Defense of Elephants, especially noting that “the elephants are never made to lie in their feces and urine. That’s ridiculous.” Less than two months after animal rights activists put the Buffalo Zoo on the defensive over a series of polar bear deaths, it has become the target of charges that its elephants live in cramped, inhumane conditions. The zoo issued a swift denial.
2008-01-11 - London, United Kingdom.
Colonel Wallace Pryke , who has died aged 92, had an adventurous Army career which took him to the North-West Frontier, the jungles of Burma and behind enemy lines in wartime Italy. They were assisted by Lt-Col JH Williams, who was famous as "Elephant Bill", who was dropped by parachute with two Harley Street surgeons. They organised the rounding up of stray elephants and used them to transport substantial quantities of medical personnel and equipment. After the end of the war, Pr...
2008-01-11 - Guwahati, India.
A beat officer of Kaziranga National Park was critically injured and a bleeding guard spent the entire night tied to a tree after villagers incensed by a woman’s death in an elephant attack chose to vent their anger on forest staff. Beat officer Debanga Bhusan Das and his men were least expecting the usually friendly residents of Neejgarpal, located on the fringes of the national park, to react so violently when they went to the village to help chase away an elephant herd that had strayed into...
2008-01-11 - Ha Thin, Vietnam.
Three wild elephants that escaped from Vu Quang national park have been causing concern among hundreds of households in the two communes of Huong Dien and Huong Quang in the central province of Ha Tinh. The elephants have crushed motorbikes in their path and stormed into residential houses, according to local authorities. Villager Nguyen Thi Phuong from Kieu hamlet of Huong Dien Commune said two elephants rushed towards her in the evening. My husband was out and I just managed to take the childr...
2008-01-11 - Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ruma Paul and Anis Ahmed
A wild elephant straying into a village trampled a man to death and injured at least 15 people in Bangladesh on Friday, police and forest officials said. The incident occurred at a village in Lalmonirhat district, 350 km (215 miles) north of the capital near the Indian border. The elephant apparently broke from its herd and lost its way and entered the Bangladesh village from nearby Indian forest, one Lalmonirhat police official said.
2008-01-11 - Sydney, Australia.
This week a high-level meeting of the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) decided Arna would undergo a psychiatric-style assessment in a protective enclosure at Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo, in central-west NSW. Arna, aged 53, will be housed there temporarily, along with her companion elephant Gigi, 50, while animal experts assess their behaviour. ARAZPA executive director Kevin Johnson announced Arna and Gigi would initially be accommodated the Western Plain...
2008-01-10 - Kota Tinggi, Malaysia.
EVERY year, from October to December, the villagers of five kampungs in Sedili Besar, Kota Tinggi lose thousands of ringgit to marauding elephants. This is when the pachyderms usually make their annual jaunt to the orchards of Kampung Perpat, Kampung Teluk, Kampung Simpang, Kampung Kampung Kambau and Kampung Semayong to feed on the fruits. But this is expected to end soon once the government approves a special allocation to the Wildlife Department to fund the capture of wild elephants that stray...
2008-01-10 - London, United Kingdom. Roger Highfield
Biologists have often complained conservation efforts are focused too much on charismatic big animals to the exclusion of vast numbers of insects, plants and other small creatures. Now a study has shown that if elephants, giraffes and other picture-postcard animals disappear from the eastern African savanna, the ecological damage may extend, ironically, to the acacia trees they eat and cascade all the way to down to affect ants too. The study is a cautionary tale about the rapid and unanticipate...
2008-01-10 - London, United Kingdom. Lester Haines
We believe that every child in the UK would benefit from owning an elephant. It was my dream as a child to care for these magnificent creatures but at the age of twelve I find that nobody takes me seriously. We would like to make it legal to import african/indian elephants from africa/india to sell in pet shops across the UK. Elephants are creatures that children could learn about better by owning their own and keeping them in easily and cheaply converted sheds. Please take my idea into account....
2008-01-09 - Guwahati, India.
The army is fighting its “largest” adversary yet with a weapon “hotter” than the AK-47. Constantly harassed by wild elephants, the army is planting the world’s hottest chilli in its camp adjoining the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Mariani to ward off straying herds. “Everything else has failed. We are hoping that the Naga jolokia (Naga chillies) will do the trick,” a senior army officer said. Elephants are known to detest the smell of the Naga jolokia and the army hopes they will st...
2008-01-09 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Here's a couple of pictures of Miss Zerbini and Luke from the '07 Gold Unit. Good to see she is back for 2008 but I agree she needs a bigger act for her talents. //Joey. Unfortunately this is unlikely to happen since for one reason or another, of the 50 or so elephants in storage at Williston and Polk City, none are road worthy. That's the reason outside elephants had to be hired in the first place. //Buckles
2008-01-09 - Hyderabad, India.
The Hyderabad district administration has decided to take assistance of animal trainers from Tirupati and Srikakulam for training elephant, Rajni, to carry the historic ‘Bibi-ka-Alam’ during the Muharram procession on January 19. Reviewing the arrangements to be made for smooth conduct of Muharram here on Tuesday, Minister for Energy and Minorities Welfare Mohd Ali Shabbir said a mock procession with the Nehru Zoological Park elephant, Rajni, would also be organised as a precautionary measur...
2008-01-09 - Silver Spring, United States.
The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) today announced their support for 15 new elephant conservation projects for 2008, marking a record level of support. Conservation projects supported by accredited zoos are essential to the survival of elephants “Elephants all over the world need our help,” said IEF President Michael Fouraker. “The grants made today by the International Elephant Foundation support critical elephant conservation prog...
2008-01-09 - San Francisco, United States. SAVANNAH BLACKWELL
IN EARLY 1997, the San Francisco Zoo had a serious public-relations problem. The zoo wanted San Francisco voters to approve a $48 million bond measure to overhaul the facilities. But the Asian elephant exhibit was making the zoo look bad. Tinkerbelle the elephant had been living alone since April 1995, when her longtime companion, Pennie, was put to sleep. Animal activists had been complaining that, for an animal that herds and has complex social interactions in the wild, life alone was cruel an...
2008-01-09 - Sydney, Australia.
The future of two elephants, one of which killed a circus worker, remains up in the air with experts to assess the elephants' behaviour before a final decision is made. Stardust Circus worker Ray Williams, 57, was found dead in the elephant's enclosure at Yamba, in northern NSW, on December 27. An interim post-mortem examination found Mr Williams suffered a broken back and a ruptured aorta and died from "severe blunt trauma" caused by elephant Arna. Following the findings, the circus decided to ...
2008-01-08 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Tusker, a towering 50-year-old bull elephant who had become a favorite for safari camp visitors, was shot dead after New Year's party-goers provoked the animal into trampling several cars, conservationists said Monday. Tusker was executed Sunday by rangers at the Charara camp on the shores of Lake Kariba, 230 miles northwest of Harare, parks officials and independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said. Rangers said that Tusker had become a danger to people and was classified as a "problem ani...
2008-01-08 - Erwin, United States. Betty B. Chandler
I was checking out our news partner, WEMB’s news headlines recently, only to learn that there have been two more productions dealing with the demise of “Murderous Mary,” the elephant that was hanged on September 13, 1916 at the Second Street railroad crossing in Erwin. According to the news story on WEMB's Web site, one play written in Nashville by Mathew Carleton, sticks to the basics, more or less, in a theatrical setting. The other, according to the WEMB clip, is another story. The Aust...
2008-01-08 - Phoenix, United States.
The Phoenix Zoo is accepting applications for a part-time regular Keeper working in our Elephant Sanctuary. Essential duties involve interaction with both the animals and visiting publics. Keepers will observe assigned animals on a daily basis, reporting any abnormalities; perform routine husbandry and environmental maintenance; feed proscribed diets; perform assigned and approved animal enrichment activities and trainings; assist in the restraint and treatment of animals; participate in non-rou...
2008-01-08 - , United States.
An exhibition of Gothic ivory carvings, none more than 12 inches in length, opens at the Courtauld Gallery in London's Somerset House on Thursday. Though small in size, the exhibition is of momentous interest not only to scholars but to the art world in general. The Dormeuil Diptych from the collection of Lord Thomson. The carvings are part of the little-known collection formed by the publicity-shy Canadian businessman, Kenneth Thomson, the second Lord Thomson of Fleet and Northbridge, who died ...
2008-01-08 - Dublin, Ireland. Anne-Marie Walsh
IT will be the ultimate in Zoo TV. Special cameras are set to capture the birth of an elephant at Dublin Zoo with the live images available on the internet. Officials have installed hi-tech CCTV cameras in the elephant enclosure in the Phoenix Park to follow expectant Indian elephant Yasmin's labour and delivery in March . Technology company DNA IT solutions, based in Ireland, has been employed to put two cameras in her enclosure to deliver high quality images. The new cameras have replaced trad...
2008-01-08 - Seattle, United States.
Comforted by buckets of fresh cantaloupe, apples and carrots, the Woodland Park Zoo's 29-year-old Asian elephant, Chai, was artificially inseminated over the weekend. Zoo officials said they performed the 20-minute procedure with the help of a leading expert in elephant reproductive physiology, Dr. Dennis Schmitt, professor of animal science at Missouri State University. The sperm donor was a 36-year-old bull at the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma.
2008-01-08 - Crosbyton, United States.
In something of a no-win situation for science a creationist fossil hunter is selling of a massive – and massively rare – fossil mastodon for tens of thousands of dollars. So either a valuable specimen disappears into private hands or public research money goes to a man whose museum proudly declares it is “Digging up the facts of God’s Creation: One fossil at a time.” The fossil in question is a four-toothed mastodon head of a size never before uncovered - roughly a metre on each side....
2008-01-07 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
A herd of wild elephants on Indonesia's Sumatra has repeatedly outsmarted efforts to stop them stealing crops, wising up to attempts to chase them off with burning torches, a report said Monday. The head of Way Kambas natural reserve in Lampung province, Hudiono, told the state-run Antara news agency that a herd of 25 to 30 elephants had been nightly roaming out of the reserve to raid crops since Thursday. The elephants, previously only occasional visitors, have managed to clamber over earthen e...
2008-01-07 - New York, United States.
Chembio Diagnostic, Inc. (OTC BB:CEMI.OB – News) announces that it has been issued an United States Department ofAgriculture (USDA) license for its ElephantTB STAT-PAK Assay designed to rapidly (<20 minutes) detect tuberculosis (TB) in both Asian and African elephants. Chembio’sother rapid serological TB assay – PrimaTB STAT-PAK received USDA licensure earlierthis year. Both products belong to a larger family of rapid immunochromatographicassays currently under development at Chembio for t...
2008-01-07 - Guwahati, India.
After two days of trying, Forest personnel today managed to rescue an elephant calf from inside the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city. The calf, a one-month-old female, is now recuperating at the Assam State Zoo. The calf, together with her mother, was apparently abandoned by the herd after the mother had suffered a serious leg injury, resulting probably from an accidental fall. The calf had no signs of injury but was extremely weak as it had not been able to feed on mother...
2008-01-07 - Kolkata, India.
West Bengal has finally woken up to the call of wildlife activists who have been voicing concern over the high incidence of elephant deaths on railway tracks - around nine since 2004 - in the state's northern parts. The West Bengal forest department has formulated a proposal and submitted it to the union ministry of environment and forests. The proposal has been accepted and handed over to the Railway Board, West Bengal principal chief conservator of forests Atanu Raha told IANS.
2008-01-07 - Seattle, United States.
2008-01-07 - Dublin, Ireland.
Network cameras from Axis Communications, the global leader in network video, have been installed by one of Ireland's premier network integrators, DNA IT Solutions, inside the Kaziranga Forest Trail Habitat at Dublin Zoo. The birth, which is due to take place within the next few weeks, will be the second elephant birth ever caught on camera in Europe. Traditional analogue-based CCTV cameras have been replaced by Axis network cameras, because the old ones were not delivering the high quality im...
2008-01-06 - Yamba, Australia.
ARNA the elephant, who crushed a 54-year-old circus worker at Yamba recently, may be relocated to a zoo. Co-owner of Stardust Circus Janice Lennon said yesterday that the circus family had made a decision after lengthy discussion that a retirement to a zoo for Arna would be best for everybody. Stardust Circus contacted the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) to investigate the possibilities. ARAZPA executive director Kevin Johnson said appropriate zoos of w...
2008-01-06 - ROURKELA, India.
Close on the heels of the death of an old man in Lathikata block, after he was attacked by an elephant, two women were seriously injured in the district in two separate incidents. According to reports, Dulari Kandulina, of Jamsora village was attacked when she was busy harvesting kolath. She was attacked from behind by an elephant which strayed near the human habitat. Fortunately, the villagers came to her rescue. In the second incident, Rasmi Bare, had ventured into the Pahadtoli forest to coll...
2008-01-06 - GUY, United States. STACY HUDSON
Miss Bets is the newest addition to Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary and probably the most recent baby elephant born in captivity in the United States, said Scott Riddle, the sanctuary’s owner and operator. The calf was named after chemist L. Elizabeth L. “Bets” Rasmussen, a longtime colleague and friend of Riddle who studied chemical communication between elephants at Oregon Health & Science University’s OGI School of Science and Engineering in Beaverton, Ore., (formerly the O...
2008-01-06 - Raipur, India. IANS
The Chhattisgarh government has paid over Rs.76 million ($1.9 million) compensation in the past four years to forest dwellers for loss of life and property due to attacks by wild elephants, a statement said Sunday. The state's forest department paid the amount between financial years 2003-04 and 2006-07. A forest department official told IANS Sunday that about 90 percent of the compensation was paid for damage to standing crops and demolition of homes by wild elephants in the state's northern fo...
2008-01-06 - Columbus, United States.
METTLER TOLEDO takes pride in proving their competence in making laboratory balances safer and easier by offering innovations that will provide solutions in both routine and special laboratory practices and needs. So, to prove the durability of their 64 kg precision balance they put it to the test by inviting an elephant to stand on it. As you can see on the video, a 3 ½ ton-elephant did not damage our XP precision balance thanks to Overload Protection, a feature that protects from excess weigh...
2008-01-06 - PALAKKAD, India.
All the owners of captive elephants have been requested to produce their elephants for verification , micro-chipping and issuing of health card at the following venues. On January 8, at the district veterinary centre on VH road from 10 am to 1 pm and at the Divisional Forest Office at Mannarkad from 2 pm to 4 pm. On January 9, venue will be at the M A Parameswaran and Company at Mangalamkunnu from 10 am.
2008-01-06 - Kolkata, India.
Four persons were injured and around 40 mud houses damaged in Bankura district by a herd of elephants, Forest department sources said today. According to sources, a herd of 72 elephants has entered Bankura from Dalma forest. While 50 elephants are roaming in the Barjora jungle, another 22 entered Beliatore and injured the villagers. Early this morning, several elephants entered the Chakurdanaga village under the Barjora police station area and created panic among the villagers.
2008-01-06 - Munster, Germany.
Munster Zoo is searching for a Zookeeper with interest in elephant management. Munster Zoo keeps On-Hand six Asian elephant cows and a bull. If you are educated Zookeeper with Elephant experience, Munster Zoo offer you the chance to develop further.
2008-01-05 - Agra, India.
on an Agra street - as captured in haste from the bus
2008-01-05 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Here are a couple of Harry Quillen photos, my dad wrote on the back of this one, "Pasadena, Cal. taken from Suicide Bridge.".
2008-01-05 - Kodanad, India. Juhan Samuel
An elephant camp located here in the Malayatoor Forest Division is under Herpes virus threat, which has already taken lives of two young baby calves. The camp, which was once a hot tourist destination in the Kerala map for being a unique elephant orphanage, is facing tough time with the outbreak of the viral disease. Forest officials have started transferring elephants to nearby areas to avoid worsening of the situation, and have sprinkled bleaching powder and phenol to control the infect...
2008-01-05 - Jomtien, Thailand.
Thai people hold Elephants in high regard and there comes a time in an Elephants life when its health begins to fail. Wassana, a female elephant aged 80 fell to the floor on Saturday Morning, just off the Tepprasit Road in Jomtien, where the animal and its keepers live. They refuse to accept that her time to depart this world may have come. They brought in a JCB Digger and managed to life the Elephant to its feet so it was able to feed. A Vet was called in who confirmed that the Elephant is clos...
2008-01-05 - PALAKKAD, India.
The Elephant Lovers’ Association submitted an eight-point recommendation at the meet convened at the Collectorate conference hall here on Friday by the district administration to check the harassment of elephants by mahouts and owners during the coming festival season. Elephant Lovers’ Association president V.K.Venkatachalam suggested the setting up of pandals when the elephants are made to stand for long hours for ezhunnellippu in the sun.
2008-01-04 - Ruskin, United States. William Buckles Woodcock
Wayne Jackson: Somewhere in my library I remember reading about the three bulls and about Fritz being shot in France, most likely because he was just too much to handle (possibly in musth)? That may also be the reason for the second bull’s death, the third bull was dumped over board before they landed back in the U.S., possibly for the same reason? Bob Cline: If this helps any, I have the following information listed. NICK - Stoke on Trent, England Nov.12, 1898, FRITZ - Tours, France June 11, ...
2008-01-04 - Tokyo, Japan. Hiroko Tabuchi
Frozen in much the state it died some 37,500 years ago, a Siberian baby mammoth undergoing tests in Japan could finally explain why the beasts were driven to extinction -- and shed light on climate change, scientists said Friday. The 6-month-old calf, unearthed in May by a reindeer herder in northern Siberia's remote Yamal-Nenets autonomous region, is virtually intact and even has some fur, though the tail and ear of the animal dubbed "Lyuba" were apparently bitten off. "Lyuba's discovery is an ...
2008-01-04 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
It is estimated that there are more than 100,000 elephants in Zimbabwe, a figure three times more than the carrying capacity of the protected areas. The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe plans to produce biltong from elephant meat to sell in retail outlets throughout the country "as part of sustainable utilisation of the animals," the Herald online said. Parks director-general Dr Morris Mtsambiwa said the project began last year after the Ministry of...
2008-01-04 - SOMWARPET, India.
A wild tusker was found dead in the paddy fields belong to SJM Mutt in Gudugur under Somwarpet Forest Range limits on Wednesday night. The elephant died due to bullet injuries. It is said that the elephant entered into the village on Wednesday night in search of fodder from nearby forest. Unidentified persons shot the elephant on its forehead by using gun. According to forest officers, the elephant was aged about 30 years. The forest officials recovered the tusk from the cadaver and cremated it ...
2008-01-04 - Calcutta, India. SUBHAJOY ROY
Sourav Ganguly has a rival in popularity — that, too, on home ground — who is a good two feet taller and 2,450 kg heavier than Bengal’s biggest hero. Emblazoned on her grey-black jersey is the name children and adults call out to her by — Sabitri. The female elephant that not so long ago trumpeted out of the Olympic Circus tent in Ranigunj — responding to a tusker’s call — and romanced in the wild for a week before returning, is now the star of a circus in Sodepur, drawing thousand...
2008-01-04 - Sonitpur, India.
Putul Baruah and his family haven’t slept a wink in the past 48 hours. Neither have Birbahadur Dorji, Bolbahadur Karki, Ratan Das and Gyan Devi’s families. You can sleep only when you have a roof over your head, Putul said today, the anguish in his voice reflecting what he and the other villagers have had to endure since Wednesday. All five families watched helplessly as a herd of elephants rampaged through their paddy fields at Bokabeel near Sootea that night. The herd came calling again la...
2008-01-04 - Coney Island, United States.
On this very day 105 years ago Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant meant to give rides and carry heavy items on Coney Island...all in the name of science! His science. He came to Coney to prove George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla's alternating current (AC) was dangerous, whereas his competing direct current was completely safe. In fact, Edison was the one who convinced New York to use the dangerous and deadly AC for their electric chair.
2008-01-04 - Sydney, Australia. Rhett Watson
ARNA the circus elephant is a killer with forensic evidence showing she crushed a worker to death. Ray Williams had spent up to three years feeding and watering the Asian elephant, which has become synonymous with her owner the Stardust Circus. An interim post-mortem examination report has revealed the 57-year-old's previous heart complaint did not contribute to his death at Yamba, on the North Coast, last week. Instead, it found Mr Williams' injuries - a broken back and a ruptured aorta - were ...
2008-01-04 - Geldern, Germany. Dan Koehl
The attraction at Circus Alberti in Germany, the giant elephant Shenka, is dead. The five ton heavy elephant did not only impress in the ring, but also as walker on streets and helper when building up the tents, died in heart failure, says Marcel Frank from Circus Alberti. He was very old, 49 years, and grandfather to many babies.
2008-01-03 - Madurai, India.
An 11-year-old she-elephant of Sri Meenakshi temple on Wednesday ran amok after witnessing a fight between two street dogs. According to the Executive Officer of the temple B Raja, Parvathy who was bringing water for pooja, got scared on seeing the two dogs barking and attacking each other ferociously and ran into a hotel near the temple. The mahout managed to persuade the elephant to come out of the hotel and told it that there was no need to get scared. He also chased away the dogs and brought...
2008-01-03 - Shillong, India.
A herd of wild Asiatic elephants trampled to death a woman and her son in a village in West Garo Hills on Wednesday night, a wildlife official said today. The elephants entered Darugre village in West Garo Hills on Wednesday night and destroyed crops and several houses. The victims, Aprillish D. Sangma, 50, and her 13-year-old son Jakrik died after the elephants destroyed their house, the official said.
2008-01-02 - Tampa, United States.
The Rev. Jerry Hogan, chaplain to the nation's circuses, blessed the Ringling Brothers elephants before the opening of the circus's Tampa run tonight. Hogan, who works under the auspices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, sprinkled the beasts with holy water and said a prayer in the plaza outside the St. Pete Times Forum. The half-dozen elephants were treated to a meatless feast of fruit, bread and vegetables. Circus clowns rolled watermelons to the animals, who made a show of ...
2008-01-02 - Rotterdam, Netherlands. Martijn Fabrie, Netherlands
The unborn child of elephantmother Irma of Zoo Blijdorp isn't likely to live anymore. Employees of the zoo in Rotterdam were counting of a birth around the Christmas and New Year days, but they think the calf is dead by now. Last Friday the the membranes of Irma broke. Normally the delivery will begin and within 48 hours the calf is born. The contractions however didn't start, even after the vetenarian had given her stimulating medicines and massaging the birthchannel.
2008-01-02 - Tokyo, Japan.
The fossil baby mammoth named Lyuba that was found in May 2007 on Yamal has been delivered from Moscow to Tokyo for research purposes. A refrigerating chamber with the well-preserved 50 kilogram body of the baby mammoth has been transferred from the Narita international airport to Jikei University in Komae, a suburb of Tokyo. Scientists assume that Lyuba died at the aged of 6 months and its body lied in permafrost for about 37 thousand years. According to Professor Naoki Suzuki, the head of the ...
2008-01-01 - Vienna, Austria. Egger GF, Witter K, Weissengruber G, Forstenpointner G. University of Veterinary Medicine
Knee joints of one adult and three juvenile African elephants were dissected. The specific features of the articular cartilage with particular reference to matrix components were studied by light and electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. The elephant knee joint cartilage contains an unusually low concentration of proteoglycans resulting in rather eosinophilic staining properties of the matrix. The very thick collagen fibers of the cartilage possibly represent collagen I.
2008-01-01 - Tampa, United States. SHERRI ACKERMAN, The Tampa Tribune
Little Sara, at 5 feet and 3,000 pounds, seemed puny next to her gargantuan wrinkly aunts as they got off the train, locked trunks to tails, and began to march in a straight line down Nuccio Parkway. Children from nearby Tampa Park apartments raced on bikes alongside the pachyderms on parade from Union Station to downtown Tampa, a tradition known as the Elephant Walk, which marks the official start of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. "They're very friendly," said animal handler Gle...
2007-12-31 - Cuttack, India. LALMOHAN PATNAIK
Orissa is facing a Catch-22 situation over elephant conservation, as more pachyderms are moving into human habitats due to destruction of elephant corridors. Wild elephants lumbered into Athagarh, a sub-divisional headquarters in Cuttack on December 25. The presence of a big herd of 40 wild elephants in areas near Chilka Lake, earlier in the month, was also unprecedented. The presence of elephants in Athagarh and Chilka, experts believe, is symptomatic of the alarming fallout of man-made disturb...
2007-12-31 - Sauraha, Nepal.
Nepal has hosted the fourth annual International Elephant Race. Hundreds of specatators gathered in Sauraha in Chitwan National Park in Narayani for the Elephant Extravaganza. Organisers said they hope to draw the attention of tourists to Nepal's wildlife and show that it is so much more than just a land of mountains. The keepers, known as mahouts across Nepal, spend hours washing their animals and dressing them so they are in tip top shape for the race. This year 20 national and international c...
2007-12-31 - Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand.
A herd of wild elephants trampled a Karen man to death and injured his friend near a road in Hua Hin district yesterday. The dead man was identified only as Bird. He died of head injuries and multiple broken bones. Haepo, 19, also a Karen, was treated in hospital for less serious hand and leg injuries. Mr Haepo told police he was driving a motorcycle with Bird riding pillion. They were on their way home after a night out when they came across the elephants, which were blocking the Hua Hin-Ban Hu...
2007-12-31 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka. B. W. Eheliyagoda
The elephant 'Suranimala' of the renowned Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in the outskirts of Kegalle town created a scene when it was taken by its mahouts for a bath in the 'Maha Oya' just by the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on December 24. While bathing 'Suranimala' became restless and started to run amok threatening the many visitors to the elephant orphanage on this Christmas eve. There were both foreign and local visitors watching the elephants bathing. The efforts of the mahouts to bring the ...
2007-12-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Yerevan Zoo in Armenia was in the news last year as animal rights activists battled Sri Lankan authorities in the Supreme Court to stop nine year old Asokamala, born at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage from being exported to that zoo. Rights activists say the Yerevan Zoo which boasts of 2,300 animals is in a deplorable state. Recreational Minister, Gamini Lokuge who was the mover and shaker of the proposed gift reportedly denied to media, claims by animal rights activists that there was a co...
2007-12-30 - NARAYANI, Nepal.
A big race for some big guys is turning into tradition in Nepal. For the past four years people have been getting together for the "Elephant Race" Jockeys climb on the backs of the giant mammals and race them as excited villagers look on. The event was organized to boost tourism and to draw attention to Nepal's elephant population. In all, 20 elephants competed in this year's race. The winner took home a trophy shaped like an elephant.
2007-12-30 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Kerala government on Sunday ordered a probe into the death of two baby elephants at a camp for the pachyderms at Kodanad in Ernakulam district. Talakkad Chief Forest Conservator (Wildlife) would conduct the probe, an official release said here today. The elephants Aswathi and Niranjan had died recently after showing symptoms of 'herpis virus' infection. But the real cause behind the death could be determined only after getting final laboratory report, the release said. However, the officials...
2007-12-30 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
AN elephant never forgets, and we won't either. Since Kito and Jambo were born at Colchester Zoo thousands of adoring visitors have enjoyed watching them play, eat and grow. And The Evening Star has followed their progress closely too, reporting on their development and training. But now the duo are off to pastures new to take part a European breeding programme. So from early next year five-year-old Kito and Jambo, who will turn four in March, will be in Valencia in Spain.
2007-12-29 - Subrahmanya, India. Daijiworld Media Network
Now on, pilgrims to Kukke Shri Subrahmanya temple here will have a friendly animal to greet them when they arrive at this religious centre. A baby elephant named 'Yashaswi' has been donated by B S Anand Singh, a businessman from Hospet in Bellary district of northern Karnataka. The three-and-a-half-year-old pachyderm had been originally brought from Gopalganj near the Nepal border and purchased from the elephant 'mela' held in Assam.
2007-12-29 - UDHAGAMANDALAM, India. B Ravichandran
The Tamilnadu Green Movement (TNGM) has alleged clearing of forest area for constructing a resort. An extent of about 12 acres of green lands in Madhugatta at Bokkapuram, an elephant corridor, which comes under the purview of Supreme Court’s definition of forests is being cleared, presumably for the purpose of constructing resort, the movement said and threatened to move the apex court against the District Forest Officer (DFO) of Nilgiris North Division.
2007-12-29 - Tokyo, Japan. Gwen Thompkins
Sometime early next year, tons of African ivory will be sold at auction to Japan. Despite the international ban on the trade, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia will be allowed a one-time purge of their stockpiled ivory. Conservationists hope the sale won't reignite widespread demand for elephant tusks.
2007-12-29 - Tokyo, Japan.
The frozen carcass of a 37 000-year-old baby mammoth unearthed this summer in Siberia arrived in Japan on Saturday for tests that researchers hope will shed new light on the internal structure of the ancient beasts, an official said. The 1.2m grey-and-brown carcass arrived at Tokyo International Airport on Saturday afternoon, said Mitsuyoshi Uno, an official with the joint Russo-Japanese mammoth-study project that is overseeing the research.
2007-12-29 - YAMUNANAGAR, India.
Haryana forests minister Kiran Chaudhry on Friday laid the foundation stone for an elephant rescue centre (ERC), first of its kind in India, at Bansantour forest here. The ERC was earlier planned in Chakbala Sahib area but it could not be realized due to land constraints. Centre has already released Rs 50 lakh for the Rs 90-lakh project. Construction of ERC is expected to be completed within a few months.
2007-12-29 - TEMERLOH, Malaysia. LISA GOH
Sanom may be just a baby but she is a fighter. Despite wounds all over her body, believed to be from a tiger attack, the four-year-old elephant is still on her feet. When she was first brought to Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre on Monday, Sanom was covered in maggot-infested puncture wounds on her back, and had gaping wounds on the soles of both hind feet. Where her tail should be, there is another open wound. “The orang asli in Kg Sanom (in Sungai Siput, Perak) found her n...
2007-12-28 - Yamba, Australia. Rhett Watson
A CIRCUS worker, possibly trodden on and killed by an elephant on the NSW north coast, had suffered a minor heart attack three weeks before he died. News of Ray Williams's medical problems were revealed yesterday as the possibility emerged that the 57-year-old's crush injuries were caused by the elephant, Arna, trying to nudge him awake after his heart stopped. Mr Williams has spent the past two to three years caring for Arna and her friend, Gigi, at the Stardust Circus.
2007-12-28 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
COLCHESTER Zoo's two young African Bull Elephants, Jambo and Kito, will be transferring to a new zoo in Spain in February or March to take part in a European breeding programme, it has emerged. The two young elephants are particularly important genetically, so have been selected to take part in a breeding programme at BioParc Valencia in Spain. Zoological Director of Colchester Zoo, Anthony Tropeano, said they would be “extremely sad” to see the elephants go. He said: “We have always known...
2007-12-28 - Yamba, Australia.
Initial reports said the man had been crushed to death by an elephant that fell off a plank while being unloaded, but police later said the man had been found dead in an enclosure with the elephants. He is believed to have been the elephant's handler for the past two years. Ambulance officers who arrived at the scene yesterday said it appeared the man had suffered a cardiac arrest. The Stardust Circus was making its first appearance at Yamba with a show due to start tonight, and the circus has t...
2007-12-28 - Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
A group of wild elephants, came down from the hilly terrain, today killed four people including a mother and two children at Eidgaon area of Sadar Upazila under the district. The angry elephants also damaged eight households in Satgharia Para of West Gazalia of Islamabad union in the same Upazila. The elephants were hungry and became mad, according to the experts of the Department of Forest. Police and the local residents said the elephants at first attacked the house of Mojaher Mia and his wife...
2007-12-28 - Yamba, Australia. Evelyn Yamine
SHE has entertained millions of circus-goers but Arna the elephant's illustrious career spanning more than 40 years has not been without scandal. The 50-year-old Asiatic elephant is regularly at the centre of a tug-of-war between her owners and animal activists over her alleged treatment. But tragedy hit close to home yesterday, with police and WorkCover officers today continuing investigations into the freak death of Arna's handler. Paramedics said the man died of a heart attack and had suffere...
2007-12-28 - Yamba, Australia. PETER ELLEM
THE close-knit Stardust Circus community is in mourning after one of its two star performing elephants crushed a handler to death at Yamba late yesterday. A police spokesman last night confirmed that the unidentified man, aged in his sixties, was found by a fellow male handler lying facedown with a serious back injury in an elephant exercise enclosure about 5.15pm. While WorkCover has been called in to investigate the fatality, police who attended the scene are still unsure whether the victim ha...
2007-12-27 - Masai Mara, Kenya. Jane Wheatley
A little after dawn on a matchless morning in Kenya’s Masai Mara a group of riders and horses stood quietly in the first warming rays of the sun watching a herd of cow elephants with their young browsing a tree covered ridge. Five minutes later we were galloping for our lives, hearts pounding, crouched low over our horses’ necks as a dozen angry elephant charged down the slope towards us, trumpeting their displeasure. They moved at an astonishing speed, not stopping until they had thoroughly...
2007-12-27 - Mangochi, Malawi.
A woman, who thought could save her maize and other farm produce by confronting and scaring away the marauding elephants, only ended up cutting short her own life. 35-year-old Alausi Missi, from the lakeshore district of Mangochi, has died after a looting elephant trampled one her last week, police and close sources have confirmed the incident. The woman heard an elephant was in her maize garden early in the morning so she set off to the field, which was about a kilometer away from her home, Ric...
2007-12-27 - St. Louis, United States.
Raja, the St. Louis Zoo's male Asian elephant, turns 15 today, and the zoo is having a special party for him at 11 a.m. The event will take place at the elephant exhibits at River's Edge at the zoo. Raja, the first Asian elephant born at the zoo, will be partying with his daughters, Maliha and Jade.Raja will get special presents and visitors are invited to sing "Happy Birthday" and sign a giant birthday card for him. The Zoo is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily with free admission. U.S. Bank Wild Ligh...
2007-12-27 - Sydney, Australia.
Mystery surrounds the death of a circus worker originally believed to have been crushed by an elephant at Yamba on the NSW north coast. It is not yet known if the elephant's handler, aged in his 60s, died of a heart attack today before suffering an injury to his back, or even if an elephant caused the injury. Early police reports said one of The Stardust Circus elephants fell on the handler as it was being unloaded from a truck at the Angourie Road Sports Reserve about 5.15pm. An ambulance spoke...
2007-12-27 - Sydney, Australia. Rhett Watson and Evelyn Yamine
A CIRCUS handler died - believed to have been crushed by an elephant on the state's North Coast. Authorities are investigating the mysterious death of the Stardust Circus handler at Yamba at 5.15pm. The man, aged in his 60s, was found lying face down in an exercise enclosure with the 50-year-old circus elephant Arna nearby. Paramedics said the man died of a heart attack and had sustained a serious back injury. WorkCover investigators will today try to determine whether the injury contributed to ...
2007-12-27 - Kolkata, India.
The violent, erratic behaviour of an elephant at a city circus about a week ago has triggered debate on the treatment meted out to animals in captivity. Animal rights activists are saying the circus authorities were not taking proper care of Bhola, the tusker of Nataraj Circus, which created a flutter, smashing furniture, ripping iron rods and damaging the ticket counter before being tranquilised by forest officials. "Wild animals cannot be tamed fully," said People for Animals (PFA) member Deba...
2007-12-27 - Chester, United Kingdom.
A marketing campaign for Chester Zoo which attracted a record number of visitors was the mastermind of North East creative agency, Robson Brown. Stunning images were displayed high up on the lamp posts and were wrapped around the poles themselves. The unusual adverts included a giraffe and an elephant (pictured), and also delivered a variety of interesting facts.
2007-12-27 - Jaldapara, India.
Two elephants, Rahul and Devi, were ferried to Yokohama zoo from Calcutta on Wednesday by Air India’s ‘combo’ flight (passenger and cargo aircraft). The two elephants were brought to Calcutta airport on Tuesday from Jaldapara sanctuary. The aircraft landed at the airport around 6am and took off at 10am. The flight, usually from Delhi to Tokyo via Bangkok, was diverted through Calcutta on Wednesday for carrying the elephants.
2007-12-27 - Blackpool, United Kingdom. LIZ HULL
It was a marriage proposal guaranteed to stick in Emma Morgan's memory - since it was delivered by a six-ton Asian elephant. Her boyfriend Oliver Thompson persuaded zoo bosses to let him use one of their animals to help him pop the question. Fortunately, the 23-year-old didn't hesitate to say Yes when the chosen pachyderm, named Marcella, extended its trunk and handed her a ribbon with a ring attached. Miss Morgan, an optical assistant, said yesterday that she was surprised but delighted when th...
2007-12-26 - Ranchi, India.
Jharkhand forest department officials are seeking to execute a rampaging wild tusker, an official has said. The 20-year-old elephant, called Laden, has killed 17 people in the past one year in Silli block of Ranchi district and neighbouring Purulia district in West Bengal. If Laden is not executed, more human beings could be killed by the tusker in the area. To save human beings the rampaging tusker must be executed, a forest department official told IANS.
2007-12-26 - Chandigarh, India.
The Haryana government Wednesday announced that a centre for rehabilitation of elephants would be set up in the state shortly. The new rehabilitation centre for the tuskers will be set up in Chhachhrauli block of Yamunanagar district in the state, 150 km from here. The centre will be spread in over 20 acres. A Haryana forests department spokesman said only those elephants illegally kept by people would be rehabilitated at the centre. He said that Haryana's forest minister will lay the foundation...
2007-12-26 - DHENKANAL, India.
Attacks on wild animals besides elephants have been on the rise in the forest areas of Dhenkanal district. The poachers, mainly jobless villagers, attack these animals for their valuable tusks and flesh. They make local bombs from the waste products of goat belly, gun powder and fire cracker powder to shoot at the jumbos the moment they strike. In one such incident in a forest near Bhagabanpur village, an elephant sustained serious injuries after coming in contact with a bomb. The wounded elepha...
2007-12-26 - Baltimore, United States.
The elephants - from Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary near Greenbrier, Ark. - are Tuffy, a 23-year-old male, and Lil' Felix, a 24-year-old female. They join Anna and Dolly, the zoo's two female African elephants. Zoo officials say the elephant exhibit is in the midst of a $1 million renovation, and the four animals are expected to go on public display together in March. The zoo will be closed for January and February, as has been the case in recent years.
2007-12-25 - Sydney, Australia. Saffron Howden and Kelly Ryan
IF there is any truth to the rumour that weight gain is associated with happiness, Taronga Zoo's Thai elephants are positively ecstatic one year after moving into their new home. Thong Dee has piled on a whopping 1400kg in the three years since being rescued from begging on the streets of Bangkok.
2007-12-25 - Central Highlands, Vietnam. Tran Ngoc Quyen
Amidst century-old tamarind trees in the quiet village of Jang Lanh in the Central Highlands, 95-year-old Ama Kong is as busy as ever. He is truly a living legend thanks to a 40 year career as Vietnam's most famous elephant tamer.
2007-12-25 - SOMWARPET, India.
The Kodlipet citizens would organise a meeting at Kodlipet bus stand on December 27 to protest the government's inaction in not helping the victims who have been facing problems due to wild elephants menace. They also formed a committee to seek help from the government. Speaking to newspersons here on Monday, committee Convener and Kirikodlimutt Pontiff Sadashivaswami said that everyday wild elephants enter human habitats in Niluvagilu, Kyathe, Dodda bhandara, Besur, Kattepura, Janardanalli, Nee...
2007-12-25 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Robyn Dixon
Rising elephant numbers in South Africa has been a cause for concern for the authorities concerned. They fear this jumbo overpopulation might have disastrous consequences on other animals. Samson, otherwise known as Elephant No. 1, is twisting his trunk around tufts of grass and throwing them into his mouth. He is aware we have sneaked up on him but is willing to ignore us.
2007-12-24 - Surin, Thailand. Gillian Murdoch
Sucking up sugarcane with their trunks and circling busy traffic roundabouts, the elephants that roam Thai towns at festival time seem as much at home in the city as in the forest. Shows that feature elephants painting pictures, playing polo and whirling hoola hoops on their trunks have become an economic lifeline for more than a thousand domesticated elephants, who lost their incomes when Thailand banned logging in 1989. But entertaining locals and tourists has become a life or death business f...
2007-12-24 - DHENKANAL, India.
Government may have implemented a number of projects for the rehabilitation of poor and physically challenged people, but it has turned a blind eye towards the sick and ailing elephant population of the state. With the increasing number of elephant rampage, the man-animal conflict has not only troubled the villagers, but also forest officials. The condition has further been aggravated by the local poachers, who have evolved strategies to target wild animals including elephants who continue to ra...
2007-12-24 - Tesso Nilo National Park, Indonesia.
On Dec. 11, 2007, "World News with Charles Gibson" correspondent Nick Watt introduced us to the World Wildlife Fund's Flying Squad — a group of five trained elephants that are working to help save the endangered Asian elephants in Tesso Nilo National Park in central Sumatra. We are happy to report that, since then, the Flying Squad welcomed its sixth member — a baby elephant named Saree, born just in time for the holidays.
2007-12-24 - Jharkhand, India. Amarnath Tewary
Forest officials in eastern India have advised villagers to stock tiger urine and excrement to scare away a killer elephant and his marauding herd. The elephant, named after al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, and his herd have trampled seven people to death in the past three months in Jharkhand. Forest officials say elephants stay away from areas frequented by tigers.
2007-12-24 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Sangduen "Lek" Chailert plays with ex-working elephants at her rescue centre for domesticated elephants in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand on November 19. 2007. Elephant conservationists such as Chailert worry that captive elephants, considered beasts of burden in Thailand, have little protection from abuse if their owners work them all day to bring in more tourist dollars.
Sucking up sugarcane with their trunks and circling busy traffic roundabouts, the elephants that roam Thai towns at festival time seem as much at home in the city as in the forest. Shows that feature elephants painting pictures, playing polo and whirling hoola hoops on their trunks have become an economic lifeline for more than a thousand domesticated elephants, who lost their incomes when Thailand banned logging in 1989.
2007-12-24 - Kobe, Japan. Katsunori Sotari
A male baby at Oji Zoo, Kobe, Japan, was named on 15 December 2007. The name is "Ouji". Ouji (o-wu-ji) is the same pronunciation as Oji, the name of zoo. And the Japanese 'ouji' means 'Prince' also, peples wish the baby grow to be a prince-like young. Ouji is now fed by bottle, because of not succeeded to back to his mother.
2007-12-23 - Guwahati, India. PULLOCK DUTTA
After a brush with infamy last week when two royal Bengal tigers ripped off an overly keen amateur photographers arm, Guwahati zoo has gone into overdrive to project a friendlier face. If the zoo has Govardana and Divya — the two tigers who killed Jayprakash Bezbaruah — it also has Madhavi, an elephant that has played “surrogate mother” to at least six of the nine elephants in the zoo and “adopted” a seventh a few days ago. Madhavis enclosure is just a few paces from that of Govardan...
2007-12-23 - Bangalore, United States.
More than one thousand wild elephants have been given a right of passage today, with the safeguarding of a wildlife corridor that links two reserves in Karnataka, Southern India. The land was handed over by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to forest officials in a ceremony in Bangalore – the first time land has been bought by a non-profit wildlife organisation and signed over to the government to prootect the habitat of the endangered Asian...
2007-12-23 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Zoo is calling on gardeners to help supply fresh vegetation for its two elephants, Kashin and Burma, because feed supplies are running low. Zookeeper Andrew Coers says the two female elephants chew their way through about 100 kilograms of food a day. He says if anyone is cutting down un-sprayed bamboo, sugar cane, banana palm and willow plants during the summer, the zoo would appreciate the extra supplies. However, he says the plants need to be delivered to the zoo on the same day they ...
2007-12-22 - BHUBANESWAR, India. Siba Mohanty
What Sansar Chand had done to tigers of Sariska, Asfaque and Ram Thapa are doing to the elephants of Orissa. Slowly but surely, the jumbos are being hunted down, their tusks fetching millions in wildlife trade circuits across the country. Thapa was nabbed by police last fortnight but Asfaque continues to evade arrest till date. One of the better elephant habitats in India, with over 1,600 pachyderms, the State is fast becoming an operating ground for organised groups, some of which have had nexu...
2007-12-22 - Luang Prabang, Laos. VanderWoodzanden
What an amazing experience to ride on the back (actually closer to the head) of an elephant and just trek through the jungle. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to experience the life of a mahout (elephant keeper and trainer) and join them in their daily activities. The elephant camp has been established outside of Luang Prabang. There are seven female elephants and one baby male elephant. The females were all rescued from their former life of logging and the male was purchased from Siam Rea...
2007-12-22 - Kolkata, India.
The circus elephant Bhola, whose tantrums had forced police to suspend all shows, was tranquillized and ferried to Domjur in Howrah on Friday. The authorities of Nataraj Circus at Tallah Park in north Kolkata used a crane to haul Bhola on a truck, which took him to a Domjur farmhouse. Veterinarians agreed that shifting the elephant will help change its behaviour. They added the pachyderm will turn normal after effects of the tranquilliser wears off in 36 hours. The decision was taken as Bhola wa...
2007-12-22 - Bangalore, India.
All the States that come under the centrally sponsored Project Elephant scheme will henceforth have to submit an action plan about conservation and other measures to get the annual financial assistance, Inspector-General of Forests and Director of Project Elephant A.N. Prasad has said. Mr. Prasad said the action plan to be submitted for a period of five years should contain “monitorable” targets. “For example, a scheme related to elephant corridors should have the number of corridors to be...
2007-12-22 - Springfield, United States. Michael Crocker, superintendent of Dickerson Park Zoo
Our guests tell us elephants are their favorite animals at Dickerson Park Zoo. Elephants are magnificent, intelligent creatures that form strong bonds among the individuals in the herd and with their human caretakers. Following the death of our Asian elephant calf, 16-month-old Nisha, many of you conveyed your sympathies to our staff. You related how much you enjoyed watching Nisha grow, play and interact with the adults and how she was your child or grandchild's favorite. You recognized the obv...
2007-12-21 - Ontario, Canada. Locke M. University of Western Ontario
Profiles with all orientations have been used to visualize the 3D structure of ivory from tusks of elephant, mammoth, walrus, hippopotamus, pig (bush, boar, and warthog), sperm whale, killer whale, and narwhal. Polished, forming, fractured, aged, and stained surfaces were prepared for microscopy using epi-illumination. Tusks have a minor peripheral component, the cementum, a soft derivative of the enamel layer, and a main core of dentine = ivory. The dentine is composed of a matrix of particles ...
2007-12-21 - Calcutta, India.
Bhola, the 42-year-old male elephant of Nataraj Circus, shook off the effects of the tranquilliser that was administered to him on Wednesday evening and tore down a part of the big top on Thursday. He remained restless all day, prompting police to ask the circus management to cancel all shows until he was shifted off the premises.
2007-12-21 - Lahore, Pakistan.
The Lahore Zoo has planned special Eid programmes including puppet and other entertainment shows to attract children and visitors during the Eid holidays. The tiger, lion and monkey cages are expected to attract the maximum number of visitors. Children may also look forward to ride Suzi the elephant.
2007-12-21 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
An elephant entertains children at a school in Ayutthaya province in northern Bangkok
2007-12-21 - Bangalore, India.
ELEPHANTS will get a clear run between two forest reserves in southern India after an "elephant corridor" is set up. More than 1000 elephants will gain passage through the corridor linking the Edayargalli and Doddasampige reserves when land deeds are handed over to the Karnataka state forest department yesterday. India is home to an estimated 25,000 wild elephants, the most in Asia, but their numbers have been vastly depleted by poaching and habitat loss.
2007-12-20 - Columbia, United States. Joey Holleman - McClatchy Newspapers
Riverbanks' new elephants must mesh with the old-timers before they go public. The two new African elephants at Riverbanks Zoo didn't appear at the Ndoki Forest exhibit magically, even if they do have Disney heritage. It's been a major undertaking to get the new girls - 37-year-old Robin and 34-year-old Petunia - to Columbia from Disney's Animal Kingdom and get them used to their new situation at Riverbanks, said mammal curator John Davis. "Moving elephants is quite an operation," Davis said. Si...
2007-12-20 - Bangalore, India.
An "elephant corridor" linking two forest reserves is being opened in southern India, giving the endangered animals unrestricted movement to feed and breed in the region, officials say. More than 1,000 elephants are set to gain right of passage through the corridor linking the Edayargalli and Doddasampige reserves when land deeds are handed over to the Karnataka state forest department on Thursday. India is home to an estimated 25,000 wild elephants, the most in Asia, but their numbers have been...
2007-12-20 - St. Louis, United States. TERI MADDOX
The zoo is inviting the public to celebrate Raja's 15th birthday at 11 a.m. Dec. 27 by singing "Happy Birthday" and watching him pose for pictures and receive gifts. Raja made history in 1992 as the first Asian elephant born at the St. Louis Zoo. Fifteen years later, he's still living up to his name, which means "king" in Hindi. One of his mates recently gave birth to his second daughter. "The situation for Asian elephants is pretty bleak," said Cory Nordin, zoological manager for the River's Ed...
2007-12-20 - Changchun, China.
At the beginning of this year, Mr. Ren, a citizen of Changchun City in northeast China's Jilin Province, found an extraordinary stone while working in a sandpit near Dong'antun. His workmates thought that it was just an ordinary stone and suggested throwing it away. However, Ren was convinced that it was a fossilized bone. The stone is about the size of a man's palm and it was cracked in two places. "At first, when I saw the lower part of the stone, I thought that there should be an upper part j...
2007-12-19 - Cardiff University, United Kingdom. Johnson MB, Clifford SL, Goossens B, Nyakaana S, Curran B, White LJ, Wickings JE, Bruford MW.
Our data do not support the separation of African elephants into two evolutionary lineages. The demographic history of African elephants seems more complex, with a combination of multiple refugial mitochondrial lineages and recurrent hybridization among them rendering a simple forest/savannah elephant split inapplicable to modern African elephant populations.
2007-12-19 - Kolkata, India. Kumar Sarkar
A giant male tusker on circus Natraj in Kolkata went on the rampage on Wednesday uprooting poles, tearing apart tents, flinging aside tin sheets and scaring circus employees out of their wits. The police, the fire brigade, forest department officials and wild life experts rushed to Tala Park where the Natraj Circus is performing.
2007-12-19 - Bangalore, India.
More than 1,000 wild elephants have been given a corridor that links two reserves in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, wildlife officials say. The land was handed over by the animal welfare groups to forest officials in a ceremony in Bangalore. They say that it is the first time that land bought by non-profit wildlife groups has been handed over to a state government to protect wild elephants. They say the corridors are vital to ensure their survival.
2007-12-19 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
A lone elephant attacked a rice farm, killing at least four members of the same family in southern Bangladesh, media reports said on Wednesday. The daily Bangladesh Observer said the wild elephant left its herd and entered a village Tuesday near the resort district of Cox's Bazar, 300 kilometres south of the capital Dhaka, and demolished a mud and straw hut where the family was asleep. The dead included a six-month-old girl, the newspaper said.
2007-12-19 - ANCHORAGE, United States.
Putting a pachyderm amongst stories about war, corruption and environmental woes may seem crazy. Unless the elephant is named Maggie. Maggie captured the attention and hearts of people throughout the state and the Lower 48 this year when she became ill and collapsed. The event increased the pressure on the Alaska Zoo to find Maggie a new home in a warmer climate. After spending most of her 25 years in Alaska, the zoo decided it would best for the elephant to go some place warmer. Officials chose...
2007-12-19 - Los Angeles, United States. Carla Hall
The elephant researcher stood in the living room of the sleekly modern Pacific Palisades home perched high on a hill. Slides of an African preserve flashed by on a screen. Elephants "are so social, so communicative, so intelligent," said Joyce Poole, who has dedicated her life to documenting and protecting pachyderms. It is a task that takes money, and the admiring audience was ready to help. "I'd like to put up $25,000," businessman Gil Michaels said. His condition: The rest of the room had to ...
2007-12-19 - Riverbanks, United States. JOEY HOLLEMAN
Riverbanks’ new elephants must mesh with the old-timers before they go public. The two new African elephants at Riverbanks Zoo didn’t appear at the Ndoki Forest exhibit magically, even if they do have Disney heritage. It’s been a major undertaking to get the new girls — 37-year-old Robin and 34-year-old Petunia — to Columbia from Disney’s Animal Kingdom and get them used to their new situation at Riverbanks, said mammal curator John Davis. “Moving elephants is quite an operation,...
2007-12-18 - Tokyo, Japan. Irie-Sugimoto N, Kobayashi T, Sato T, Hasegawa T., University of Tokyo
The present study explores to what extent Asian elephants show "means-end" behavior. We used captive Asian elephants (N = 2) to conduct four variations of the Piagetian "support" problem, which involves a goal object that is out of reach, but rests on a support within reach. In the first condition, elephants were simultaneously presented with two identical trays serving as the "support", with the bait on one tray and the other tray left empty. In the next two conditions, the bait was placed on o...
2007-12-18 - Bhubaneswar, India.
About 40 elephants have fled the Chandaka Sanctuary here and were on the rampage. This is described as a "winter phenomenon". The forest authorities came to know about the "sanctuary-break story" late Monday when reports reached them that a herd of jumbo inmates trampled a 62-year-old farmer to death. They also injured seven people and destroyed huge crops in a village called Tartua, which is about 50 km from here.
2007-12-18 - St. Louis, United States.
Raja's daughters Maliha and Jade are throwing their father a birthday party! Their "#1 Dad" will receive special presents at 11 a.m. on Thursday, December 27 in River's Edge at the Saint Louis Zoo, weather permitting. Visitors are invited to sing "Happy Birthday" and cheer for Raja who turns 15 this year.
2007-12-18 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
A wild elephant trampled to death three members of a family in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, 310 km southeast of the capital Dhaka, early Tuesday. Locals were quoted by the private news agency UNB as saying that the victims were asleep when the animal attacked the house before dawn. A group of wild elephants coming down from the hills also demolished a number houses and standing crops.
2007-12-18 - VietNamNet Bridge, Vietnam.
The Central Highlands are very beautiful in spring, with white pansies blooming along the streams, rivers and forests. The villages in this region are already preparing for the holiday season in the spring that will last until the dry season. For the ethnic people, this is a relaxing time of year, with many leisurely activities to enjoy during the days and nights. The sounds of the gong and the drum invite everyone to join. Tourists from all over the country will be attracted to the numerous fes...
2007-12-18 - Ranchi, India.
Tribals in the remote villages of Jharkand have launched a massive hunt in the State's dense forest areas to end the mayhem and carnage unleashed by a 'killer' elephant. The killer elephant has become synonymous to a terrorist and the villagers have named the jumbo as 'Laden,' after the al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
2007-12-18 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
There is such an acute food shortage in Zimbabwe that people are resorting to shooting elephants to stave off the hunger. Johnny Rodrigues, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said game poaching had increased in the past three months. A recent report noted that 900 elephant carcasses had been seen from the air over Chisarira Park in the northwestern region of Zimbabwe.
2007-12-18 - Indore, India. Rajni Khaitan
An elephant walking around with designer shoes in the town has turned a big attraction for people, especially the kids. Radha, the female elephant, was gifted designer shoes for its front foot by Raju Sagar, who is a neighbour to her. The brown shoes are about two feet in length and shaped to suit the elephant's foot. It has thick leather at the bottom. "It took me a lot of time, almost six months to make these shoes. Though the shoes are now ready, I want to make more modifications for a better...
2007-12-17 - DHENKANAL, India.
With loss of lives and property escalating day after day due to the ongoing man-elephant conflict, the wildlife and top forest officials directly interacted with the villagers to know their plights for the first time. Suggestion were also given for an action plan to the locals. The direct interaction programme and information, education and communication [IEC] programme started yesterday at Mahavir road. Wildlife conservator, Mr PK Mohan, the former additional principal chief conservator, Mr Sur...
2007-12-17 - , United States. Terry Weber
As I was watching television the other day, the commentator talked about the elephants of Africa. One of things he said was: “Elephants are probably the most intelligent creatures on earth.” As I thought about his statement, it dawned on me that he was probably right. Why? Well, in the first place, have you ever noticed how big an elephant’s ears are? They are huge! Elephantine! Jumbo! Immense! Another thing I’ve noticed is that elephants have a rather limited vocabulary – they don’t...
2007-12-17 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
One person B Chhotray was killed and four others injured when a herd of seven elephants which had moved out of the Chandaka forests entered a village near Nirakarpur last night. Forest officials said the herd had moved to stretches of wild grassland close to Chilka and since yesterday they had entered Aridi village of Nirakarpur. The injured have been admitted to SCB Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack, the Capital Hospital at Bhubaneswar and the Khurda Hospital. Five squads headed by div...
2007-12-17 - Fresno, United States. Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee
Both sides in a dispute over the future of Fresno Chaffee Zoo said Monday that they have worked out their differences and have a plan to proceed with the zoo's $80 million expansion plans at Roeding Park. By 2014, zoo officials want to create an entry plaza, add a predators habitat with lions and hyenas, create a grasslands area with giraffes and pygmy hippos, and expand the elephant exhibit. A cafe would overlook the grasslands.
2007-12-17 - , United States. Timothy Simelane
A Swazi female elephant calf born at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park has been named “Phakamile”. Phakamile was born to a Swazi elephant named Umoya this year, Zoo officials told a San Diedo newspaper on Monday. They said the name ‘Phakamile’ was selected because they understood it to mean ‘noble’. However, the name actually means “the one who has risen high”. The calf was born Sept. 19 this yeat to 17-year-old Umoya, becoming the third pachyderm born at the Wild Animal Par...
2007-12-17 - Saigon, Vietnam. Ngoc Minh
The Central Highlands is the land of elephants, with troupes of both tamed and wild elephants, and tourists can witness exciting elephant races every year on March 26 organized by the M’nong people, who are famous for their ability to tame wild elephants.
2007-12-17 - Surin, Thailand. Gillian Murdoch
2007-12-16 - Tulsa, United States. ALTHEA PETERSON
A statue of the late Maverick, a 7-year-old Asian elephant, remains at the Tulsa Zoo's Elephant Encounter area, 14 years after his 1993 death. One animal protection organization worries that the disease that Maverick died from also remains at the zoo. In Defense of Animals, an organization based in San Rafael, Calif., named the Tulsa Zoo at "high risk" for spreading Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus, or EEHV, this month.
2007-12-16 - Fresno, United States. Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
An ambitious expansion plan at Fresno Chaffee Zoo has been stalled by City Hall, zoo officials say. By 2014, zoo officials want to create an entry plaza, add a predators habitat with lions and hyenas, create a grasslands area with giraffes and pygmy hippos, and expand the elephant exhibit. A cafe would overlook the grasslands.
2007-12-16 - Angul, India.
After a lull of one year, elephant poachers in Satkosia wild life Sanctuary have awaken to activity again. According to a report a tusker is running wild in Kadalikhola area under Majhipara reserve forest of Satkosia with a bullet lodged in its head. Blood stains were also found which proved the fact that the tusker was indeed hurt. Local residents suspect the poachers are on the look out for the injured tusker.
2007-12-16 - Jeli, Malaysia. Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah
Wildlife rangers have captured a bull elephant which strayed into Kampung Kalai here on Friday. The elephant, which have been nicknamed "Awang Kalai", is believed to have been separated from the main herd while moving to higher grounds to avoid rising flood waters. Jeli wildlife chief Mohd Hazlin Qozek Alladdin (correct) said the elephant, aged between 10 and 15 years, was found by a villager who alerted the department.
2007-12-16 - Yerewan, Armenia.
The zoo in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, has marked the wedding of two elephants Grand and Candy. Hundreds of guests attended the ceremony, complete with traditional Indian dances. The bride came all the way from Moscow. She was a star of Moscow's Animal Theatre, but abandoned her career to be with the elephant she loved. New living quarters were built at the zoo especially for the newlyweds. To watch the story click the VIDEO button.
2007-12-16 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Gillian Murdoch
Lily is an ex-drug addict, BK's tusks were sawed off by poachers and Max was a streetwalker. The wrinkled residents of Thailand's Elephant Nature Park make Babar and Dumbo look like lightweights. While they may sound like the cast of a soap opera, the trio are some of the 30 stars of an elephant conservation project that draws thousands of visitors, curious to hear their stories and see the world's largest land mammals up close. Unlike other tourist attractions involving elephants, the Nature Pa...
2007-12-16 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Eleanor Momberg
Four of the 12 juvenile elephants captured in Hwange in November 2006 by Shearwater Adventures for its elephant-back safari operations have died in captivity. One escaped, and the ZCTF is investigating reports of cruelty towards the pachyderms.
2007-12-16 - Arkansas, United States. Scott Riddle
Here is Amy and Miss Bets. She was born Dec.8 at 5:18am, weighed 263lbs. 35 inches tall, she is very sweet and Amy is doing a great job of taking care of her. She is a natural Mother which makes life much easier on everybody.
2007-12-16 - Livingstone, Zambia.
After some hiatus in the regular supply of Elephant Pepper products, we are proud to announce the grand re-opening of our revamped website http://www.elephantpepper.com See our new range of grinders and other cool stuff! Importantly the Trust is growing, and we are working with farmers in many countries where elephants raid crops. Thank you for your interest and support. The Elephant Pepper Team
2007-12-15 - Kolkata, India. Rajib Chakraborty
Savitri, a circus elephant who made headlines a few months ago after she went off with a tusker in Ranigunj, is expected to give a New Year's gift to the circus company she is working with. The gift will be a calf, as she became pregnant. The elephant spent 10 days in the jungle with the tusker in August. The circus company found the elephant 20 days ago on the city's northern fringes, where people in their thousands thronged daily with food, including banana and coconut leaves, cabbages and cau...
2007-12-14 - Yerevan, Armenia. Marianna Grigoryan
Armenia’s bachelor elephant, who has been desperate for a wife already for several years, has finally found his match. The “wedding of the year” between Grand and Masha from Russia took place at Yerevan’s Zoo on Sunday and proceeded in a pompous atmosphere in the presence of hundreds of guests.
2007-12-14 - INDIANAPOLIS, United States.
Dan Buesching still remembers the day he stumbled across the bones of a mastodon while working at the family peat bog in northeastern Indiana. When he hit the skull entombed in the soil of an ancient lake in 1998, he thought it was a tree stump. But then he saw the white enamel of the fist-sized teeth. “I was just kind of shocked,” Buesching said.
2007-12-14 - WAUCHULA, United States. Linda Lee
If the thought of spending a holiday slathered in mud conjures images of a spa - well, you probably haven't been fossil hunting in Florida lately. That's how I spent part of a recent visit, and somewhat to my surprise, I found it as relaxing as a massage and a lot more stimulating.
2007-12-14 - Tezpur, India.
Wild elephants are giving sleepless nights to farmers in the Helam revenue circle near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Sonitpur district. The man-elephant conflict has assumed an alarming proportion in this area with the increasing incidents of the tuskers damaging houses and destroying crops. The menace is taking a toll on the already distressed economic condition of the villagers.
2007-12-14 - Brooklyn, United States. Sabine Heinlein
In my initial investigations I discover that there is indeed an animal clinic and holding facility in the middle of JFK. Michael Jackson’s elephant once spent a night here. Vetport is run by Dr. Weinstein, who leases the building from the Port Authority. It takes in any animal that gets sick on a plane or is found dumped in the airport’s vicinity. It cares for thoroughbred horses that are about to fly around the world to compete in shows and races. Every once in a while, a crate with a tiger...
2007-12-13 - Tacoma, United States.
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium of Metro Parks Tacoma is seeking an Animal Care Technician to perform a variety of skilled duties involved in the care, observation, maintenance, propagation and management of assigned animal species. This position will be initially assigned to the Southeast Asia area (e.g. tapirs, anoa, small clawed otters, gibbons, siamangs, tigers, crested porcupines and fill in for elephants) and will be tasked with the care, breeding and operant conditioning/training of the ani...
2007-12-13 - DHENKANAL, India.
With food and water becoming scarce in the forests, wild animals like elephants, monkeys and bears continue to change their habits. It has become a cause of concern for the people who live in rural areas of the district. Instances of crops being damaged by elephants have become quite common. The locals have to spend sleepless nights as a result of this.
2007-12-13 - Waco, United States.
Cameron Park Zoo’s new elephant, Tanya, is now on exhibit. Tanya, who is a 28-year-old female African elephant, arrived from the Abilene zoo in late October. She and Tembo are now on exhibit together. Cameron Park Zoo, in conjunction with the Elephant Species Survival Program (SSP), sent one of the zoo’s African elephants, Zoe, to the Kansas City zoo. The Kansas City zoo has the largest herd of African elephants within the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Zoe is on breeding loan to the Kan...
2007-12-13 - Waterberg, South Africa. Robyn Dixon
Samson, otherwise known as Elephant No. 1, is twisting his trunk around some succulent young tufts of grass, tugging them up and throwing them into his mouth, perfectly aware we have sneaked up on him but willing to nonchalantly ignore us, for now. We crouch on a rock about 40 yards away -- about as close to a wild bull elephant as it is safe to get on foot. Even though Samson shows no signs of irritation, it's nice to be with David Powrie, who is something of an elephant whisperer.
2007-12-13 - , United States.
Animal lovers can do their bit for conservation with a virtual gift that will help some charismatic species, including the Asian elephant. The zoo has launched its Wildest Wishes range, offering gift-buyers the chance to pick up a range of gifts that will help animals. From £15 upwards, people can pick from gifts including The Spice of Life or the Purrfect gift for Cat Lovers. To help people who have left their Christmas shopping to the last minute, Wildest Wishes can now be bought through the ...
2007-12-13 - COIMBATORE, India.
The State has allocated funds to acquire 400 acres of elephant corridors, encroached in Tamil Nadu, said Forest Minister N Selvaraj here on Wednesday, after visiting forest watcher R Perumal, hospitalised following an attack by an elephant. A sum of Rs 2.68 crore has been allocated to make elephant corridors free of encroachments, the Minister told reporters.
2007-12-12 - California, United States. Rex Dalton
Bullet-like pieces of what is thought to be an ancient meteorite shower have been found embedded in mammoth tusks and bison bone. The discovery of the 2–5 millimetre holes left by meteorites opens a window into a impact event thought to have happened over Alaska and Russia tens of thousands of years ago. And it could provide a whole new way to chart impacts from space.
2007-12-12 - Coimbatore, India.
The Tamil Nadu government was taking steps to acquire the land encroached by private parties along the forest fringes across the state, in a bid to curb straying of wild elephants to human inhabited areas. State Forest Minister N Selvaraj said today that the Government had already identified 400 acres of such encroached land. The government has allocated Rs. 2.68 crores for the purpose. Selvaraj was talking to reporters here, after visiting a forest official, injured in an elephant attack, at a ...
2007-12-12 - Singapore, Singapore. Melanie Lee, Neil Chatterjee and Miral Fahmy
Sexy Manolos or Jimmy Choos may top the wishlist of many women this Christmas, but huge waterproof boots were the ideal festive gift for two jumbo females at Singapore's zoo. Vets on Wednesday fitted Asian elephants Tun and Jamilah with specially-made protective boots made from a durable, breathable fabric in a bid to relieve their chronic foot lesions. Tun, 20 years old, has one front leg longer than the other. Her problems started when a male elephant in the same exhibit mounted her and caused...
2007-12-12 - COIMBATORE, India.
A man was injured following an attack by one among the herd of elephants which strayed into the Chettipalayam region on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday. The forest department personnel were trying to chase the herd comprising one tusker, two cow elephants and a calf, when one of them stamped Perumal, a forest ranger. According to District Forest Officer I Anwardeen, District Collector Neeraj Mittal has been contacted and arrangements have been made to admit the injured to a private hospital...
2007-12-11 - Francistown, Botswana.
Many government officials believe there are too many elephants in Botswana and they would like to be able to make a bit of cash from regular sales of ivory and other cull by-products. It stands to reason then that they wouldn't be too upset if the proposed sugar plantation in Kasane were to create a need to shoot 'problem' elephants that tried to break through the fence to feast on the sweet plants.
2007-12-11 - Tesso Nilo National Park, Indonesia. Adam Tomasek, World Wildlife Fund
The World Wildlife Fund inspects damage to a village home in Sumatra. A woman was asleep in the bedroom with her husband and baby son when a wild elephant crashed into their kitchen. Here villagers clear land for palm oil and food crops. But in other areas farmers have burned much of the elephants' habitat to make coffee sold in Europe and North America. The elephants must struggle to survive alongside humans, who see them as a dangerous nuisance.
2007-12-11 - Bhopal, India.
Re-emergence of wild elephants in Madhya Pradesh's forests is ironically both exhilarating as well as a cause for concern. Lately, pachyderms have been observed roaming in the jungles of Sidhi and Shahdol districts adjoining Chhattisgarh while isolated cases of elephant poaching were also reported, Forests Department officials informed.
2007-12-11 - Francistown, Botswana. Martha Makwates
Our government wisely wishes to diversify the economy. A carrot is dangled by underscoring job opportunities - more than 3000 jobs at a minimum wage of P600 per month - by cultivating 10,000 hectares of sugar cane and harnessing the water of the Zambesi River. But count the cost -10,000 hectares of Kasane forest reserve replaced by sugar cane! In a country with a land surface consisting largely of Kalahari Desert, every tree is precious.
2007-12-11 - San Diego, United States.
A female African elephant calf born at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park late this summer has been named Phakamile, which means "noble" in the African language of siSwati, zoo officials announced Monday. The calf was born Sept. 19 to 17-year-old Umoya, becoming the third pachyderm born at the Wild Animal Park over the previous 12 months.
2007-12-11 - Munich, Germany. Michaela Rehle
German actress Wolke Hegenbarth and elephant trainer Rene Casselly perform on an elephant's back during the charity circus gala night with VIPs as participants in Munich's circus Krone December 1, 2007. The well-known TV gala 'Stars in der Manege' will be broadcasted on December 26 on German television.
2007-12-11 - DHENKANAL, India.
Elephants are found everywhere, along the road, in rural and urban habitations and even in places of tourist interest. Fearing that presence of elephants in large numbers would lead to decline in tourism, the forest officials here launched an awareness campaign,'Be aware of elephants' to educate tourists about the alarming situation. As thousands of tourists throng places like Kapilas, Saptasajya, Deer Park, Science Centre, Ganesh Khola and many other areas of importance the forest division aler...
2007-12-11 - Tshering Palden, Bhutan.
A herd of 24 elephants, the biggest herd seen so far in Samtse, ravaged several acres of paddy, millet and potato fields in Chargarey on December 3. The elephants also trampled on and destroyed several doma (betel nut) trees on their rampage. Villagers told Kuensel that it took more than seven hours for about 150 people, including soldiers, 17 foresters and the villagers, to chase the elephants from the fields. Villagers suspect that the elephants entered Bhutan via Thaljora in India and moved u...
2007-12-11 - COIMBATORE, India.
A herd of four wild elephants- a calf, one tusker and two cows-strayed into Chettipalayam region causing a flutter on Monday. A forester sustained minor injuries after he was given a `gentle’ kick by an elephant, while another officer sustained bruises following a chase by the animals. The forest officials received information about the wild elephants on the rear side of the government employees’ residential quarters at around 5 am. Around 7.30 am, Forester Natarajan, gone in search of the h...
2007-12-10 - RANI, India. Kishore Talukdar
The man-elephant conflict has assumed an alarming proportion here at the remote rural parts bordering Meghalaya with the incidents of killing as well as colossal destruction of standing crops by the herd of jumbos becoming the order of the day. The ill-fated farmers are reportedly on the receiving end as the menace has taken heavy toll on their already distressed economic state. Yet the Government is far from taking the matter seriously.
2007-12-10 - Orissa, India.
A canal project in Indias Orissa state has hampered the movement of the areas elephant population, resulting in the local government being forced to draw up a conservation plan to protect both the movement and welfare of the animals. Construction of the Rengali canal, and an irrigation project in particular, has directly affected the movement of over 600 elephants, the New India Press reported.
2007-12-10 - Berhampur, India.
Andhra Pradesh may have to wait for a few more days before taking any steps for driving away a herd of wild elephants back to their natural habitat at Lakhary Valley elephant reserve in Orissa. This was recommended by a high-level expert committee, constituted by the central government to resolve the row between the two neighbouring states over translocation of the pachyderms which had strayed into Andhra Pradesh from Orissa, official sources said today.
2007-12-09 - Jakarta, Indonesia. Kurniawan Hari
Save Our Species (SOS) is an educational campaign for elementary to high school students grouped in the WWF Junior Conservationist program. This year, the campaign centers on efforts to save the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatrensis) and Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), two endangered, indigenous species. About 120 students from several schools took part in the Nov. 24 event.
2007-12-08 - Coimbatore, India. V.S. Palaniappan
The forest department in Coimbatore district is initiating a series of measures to mitigate man-animal conflicts in the fringe areas of the reserve forests during the coming summer beginning from end of January 2008. The measures include provision of solar fencing in man-animal conflict-prone pockets, deployment of anti-depredation squads, installation of high power search lights to scare away pachyderms and habitat improvement programmes in the reserve forests.
2007-12-08 - Goshen, United States. Chris McKenna
Sure, it's December, so you expect to see a manger and menorah amid the bureaucratic humdrum of the Orange County Government Center lobby. But, gee, what's that other exhibit squeezed between the holiday displays? Why, of course: A large brown mastodon skull. Enclosed there in a glass case, pointing its tusks at all the bored homo sapiens waiting at the motor vehicles counter, is a life-sized replica of the noggin of the famous Warren Mastodon, prehistoric pride of Orange County.
2007-12-08 - Nagercoil, India.
With the onset of the pilgrim season in Sabarimala hill shrine, elephants in the nearby jungles were moving to the adjacent forests of Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district, forest officials said on Saturday. According to District Forest Officer of Kanyakumari, Sundar Raju, around 60 elephants have entered the forests in Kaliyal, Kulasekaram and Azhagiyapandipuram of the district. Speaking to reporters, he said that the elephants were terrified by the huge flow of pilgrims to the hill shrine.
2007-12-08 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Michele Hofmeyer
Elephants are hefty herbivores and are well known for their destructive feeding behaviour, which has been shown in areas around Africa to change the look of the landscape. But how does this affect the smaller creatures further along the food chain? This is a question that is being tackled by an ambitious research programme being led by the Organisation for Tropical Studies (OTS) who are currently working in the Kruger National Park (KNP).
2007-12-07 - Toronto, Canada. Randy Boswell
A Canadian zoo is at the centre of a bizarre cross-border controversy after animal-rights advocates in Washington state urged American wildlife officials to halt a planned U.S.-bound shipment of semen from a Canadian elephant suspected of having bad seed. Biologists at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle are seeking sperm from 39-year-old Rex, an Asian elephant at the African Lion Safari west of Toronto to impregnate 29-year-old Chai, who recently lost her six-year-old daughter Hansa to a newly discove...
2007-12-07 - San Diego, United States. Imperial Valley News
In a year that has already seen the birth of two African elephants at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, the birth of one more of the threatened species is icing on the proverbial cake. And it is sweet, as Lungile (Loon-gee-lee), a 16-year-old elephant, gave birth November 29, to a female calf. "This birth is a culmination of quite a successful year for African elephant births at the Wild Animal Park, with three births in 2007," said Jeff Andrews, San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park animal care ...
2007-12-07 - London, United Kingdom. Gillian Hargreaves
Today few circus goers find it palatable to watch tigers jump through hoops or elephants dance. A ban on circus animals looked inevitable... then the experts delivered their verdict. Once the spectacle of seeing a lion, tiger or elephant performing under the Big Top was commonplace. Now, only one British circus keeps big cats, and fewer than 50 wild animals perform in four UK-owned circuses including seven tigers, eight camels, five lions, several zebras and a retired elephant called Anne who to...
2007-12-07 - , United States. Pam Vetter
Tom Rider, a former employee of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is on a mission to save elephants from cruelty. Early next year, a lawsuit filed on behalf of Rider, the Animal Welfare Institute, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Animal Protection Institute, and the Fund for Animals, will get a trial date. The lawsuit, which was filed in 2000, has taken a long path toward trial.
2007-12-07 - BARIPADA, India.
The elephants have struck once again, and this time they have damaged standing crops of over 24 acres of land in Pal, Dhansul, Kasdihi, Ghanghana and Tadki villages during the last couple of days. According to agitated villagers, a herd of 30 elephants had crossed over from Chapaban forest of West Bengal and destroyed crops as well as seven huts in Kasdihi village. From then on, they are on the move, trampling crops at will, alleged the locals. The villagers have urged the administration to sanc...
2007-12-07 - San Diego, United States.
In October 2007, construction began on the San Diego Zoo’s newest exhibit, The Harry and Grace Elephant Odyssey, a seven-acre habitat that will house a variety of animals which inhabited Southern California more than 10,000 years ago. The $44-million project, slated to open in spring 2009, will be the Zoo’s largest multi-species habitat in its 91-year history, bringing together a herd of nine Asian elephants, lions, wild horses, California condors, and sloths.
2007-12-06 - Springfield, United States.
Dickerson Park Zoo has suspended elephant breeding for the time being. This week a California group called “In Defense of Animals” called on the Springfield Zoo to stop breeding Asian elephants because of the frequency of the herpes virus. Herpes caused the death of Springfield’s 16 month old elephant calf, Nisha, a few days ago. Zoo Director Mike Crocker said the suspension has nothing to do with the criticism. Instead, the zoo is without a reliable male breeding elephant.
2007-12-06 - San Antonio, United States.
2007-12-06 - Fort Worth, United States.
The Fort Worth Zoo has an open keeper position working with Asian elephants, Asian rhino, and Nile hippopotamus. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing animal care, monitoring animal health, maintaining cleanliness of animal areas, providing enrichment and training, and making minor exhibit modification. The position requires a high school diploma or equivalent, one-year experience working with elephants preferably in a zoo setting, good communication/organizational skills, a...
2007-12-06 - Guwahati, India. PULLOCK DUTTA
Assam is having a lean season not only in terms of winter tourists but migratory birds, too. If violence is keeping tourists away this winter, migratory birds are staying away from one of their favourite seasonal habitats in the state because of the man-elephant conflict. For the past three months, the forest department and residents of villages in Jorhat district have been bursting crackers regularly to keep rampaging elephant herds at bay. The cacophony may not have scared the elephants away f...
2007-12-06 - Siliguri, India.
Wild elephant trampled a 60-year old lady to death at Mongpong Bhanga Basti under the Rambhi police station in Kalimpong subdivision last night. The deceased, Guma Devi Khadke was trodden by the tusker after she failed to escape the foray into her house at about 11 pm. The wild elephant also ravaged three hutments at the village before going back into the nearby forest from where it had arrived. The death of the aged lady sparked off an agitation in the area as no police or forest officials reac...
2007-12-06 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
The 80-year-old elephant, Arundhati, who succumbed to her injuries at Rajaji National Park in Dehradun in October due to multiple fractures in her right leg wouldn’t have undergone such an agonising end if she had been given the right pain killing drugs at that time. The incident has forced officials to formulate a policy on ‘problematic elephants’.
2007-12-06 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Gillian Murdoch
The Thai Elephant Orchestra is about to release a third CD and, like all real artists, the world's only non-human musical ensemble doesn't give a thump about the critics or the charts. The 14-member group at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampung, northern Thailand, plays simple woodwinds, harmonicas, a few string instruments and drums under the guidance of maestro Dave Soldier, the orchestra's composer and co-founder.
2007-12-06 - Bangalore, India. Team Mangalorean
The outskirts of Bangalore city today resembled an African Safari. A large herd of pachyderms roamed about freely trampling on the gardens, fields and chasing curious onlookers who came out of their houses. There were some calves also which were found in a bamboo grove near the village Jigani of Anekal Taluk in Bangalore Urban area. The herd lingered there for more than six hours since Thursday morning.
2007-12-06 - Rockton, Canada. Randy Boswell
A Canadian zoo is at the centre of a bizarre cross-border controversy after animal-rights advocates in Washington state urged American wildlife officials to halt a planned U.S.-bound shipment of semen from a Canadian elephant suspected of having bad seed. Biologists at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle are seeking sperm from 39-year-old Rex - an Asian elephant at the African Lion Safari west of Toronto - to impregnate 29-year-old Chai, who recently lost her six-year-old daughter Hansa to a newly disc...
2007-12-06 - BERHAMPUR, India.
The high level committee appointed by the Centre to resolve the row between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh over translocation of elephants is scheduled to meet on Wednesday at Visakhapatnam. The committee, headed by a retired forest official from Karnataka, was appointed by the Centre following mounting pressure from Andhra Pradesh when the State Government strongly opposed forcible translocation of elephants from their territory to Orissa.
2007-12-06 - COAL VALLEY, United States. Kristy Mergenthal
An animal rights group is attacking zoos who house Asian elephants, saying they're not taking proper care of them. The group called In Defense of Animals released a report saying zoos with Asian elephants aren't doing enough to protect the endangered species from a virus. It's a form of herpes found in Asian elephants. Niabi zoo says its elephants do have the virus but there's no risk of it spreading.
2007-12-05 - Guwahati, India.
A delegation of wildlife NGOs of the Northeast and the World Wildlife Fund today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop the killing of elephants in Assam and ensure conviction of people who intentionally kill them. Citing Assam’s Sonitpur district as an example where the problem is at its worst, members of the delegation requested Singh to generate political will at the state level to protect the forests and wildlife in the state.
2007-12-05 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
The memories of Kalinga - the nine month- old baby elephant of Chandaka Dampara Sanctuary which met with a sudden death after 40 days of ‘captivity for a cause’ - could now come through a documentary film to reveal the real story and more. The real life story will be transformed into the digital documentation with the active support of the sanctuary authorities who are producing the film and a team of volunteers who have come forward to contribute their efforts to make the venture a lifetime...
2007-12-05 - Kaziranga, India.
A 60-year-old tamed Asiatic tusker which killed an American tourist as well as the elephant she was riding in 1999 at the Kaziranga National Park has died of old age, but not without leaving behind some fond memories for park rangers. The nearly 10-foot elephant, named Godapani, died Sunday at the park, 220 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati, bringing tears to the eyes of many officials and forest guards at Kaziranga.
2007-12-05 - Los Angeles, United States. Pam Wetter
Melya Kaplan is a teacher and an activist. As the Founder and Executive Director of Voice for the Animals Foundation, Kaplan speaks out on behalf of the elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo. “The tide is turning. Elephant exhibits are being phased out all over this country. The Bronx Zoo is phasing out their elephant exhibit.
2007-12-05 - Seattle, United States. Amy Rausch
An animal rights group criticized U.S. zoos for breeding and transferring Asian elephants despite the known risks of a deadly virus, but a local zoo official said facilities are handling the risk appropriately. In Defense of Animals distributed its report Tuesday and claimed U.S. zoos are putting Asian elephants at risk for spreading Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus. This weekend, a young Asian elephant died from the virus at a Missouri zoo.
2007-12-05 - Budapest, Hungary.
A real estate developer has paid half million forints (about 2,000 euros) to adopt a female elephant in the Budapest zoo and asked a popular actor to serve as stepfather, it was announced on Wednesday. Actor Sandor Csanyi said he would be delighted to be pachyderm Zitta's stepfather on behalf of Elephant Holding and stated that he had loved babar as a child and had written to Santa Claus asking for an elephant when he was eight years old.
2007-12-05 - London, United Kingdom. Helen Briggs
Elephants keep track on up to 30 absent relatives by sniffing out their scent and building up a mental map of where they are, research suggests. Herd members use their good memory and keen sense of smell to keep in touch as they travel in large groups, according to a study of wild elephants in Kenya.
2007-12-05 - London, United Kingdom. Lewis Smith
Members of an elephant family may be out of sight but they are always in the minds of the herd’s matriarchs, reseachers have found. Tests have found that female elephants are able to remember the whereabouts of at least 17 family members simultaneously and perhaps as many as 30. They can keep mental tabs on which of their relations are ahead of them when the herd searches for food, which of them are lagging behind and which are travelling in separate groups.
2007-12-04 - Memphis, United States.
We have an opening for a Keeper in our Elephant area. This position requires a minimum of two years of experience in exotic animal care, including knowledge of training concepts and philosophies needed to work with pachyderms and a varied collection of hooved animals and birds, and a college degree in zoology, biology or a related field (or the equivalent combination of education and experience). Prefer significant experience with operant conditioning. One to two years experience working in a pr...
2007-12-04 - Orlando, United States.
2007-12-04 - St Andrews, United Kingdom. Bates LA, Sayialel KN, Njiraini NW, Poole JH, Moss CJ, Byrne RW. University of St Andrews
2007-12-04 - Royal Bardia, Nepal.
Raja Gaj, a bull (male) elephant who stands nearly 12 feet tall at the shoulder, has not been seen for a year in Nepal's Royal Bardia National Park, Japan Today reported Tuesday. Raja Gaj was the subject of scientific speculation several years ago, as his sheer size and peculiarly domed head led some to wonder if he might be a genetic throwback to extinct species such as the mammoths and mastodons. But a DNA test later confirmed he was a regular Asian elephant.
2007-12-04 - Surin, Thailand. Gillian Murdoch
Trudging the city streets with a hungry four-tonne elephant at your heels is not a job for everyone. But add a cute baby, and tourists flock to pet and feed the grey-brown giants, making the plodding pachyderms more of an investment than a curse for modern mahouts working in Thailand, one of Asia's top holiday destination. With logging banned in 1989, more babies are hitting streets and trekking camps to meet tourism-driven demand for docile, good-looking animals, said the director of the Thai E...
2007-12-04 - Las Vegas, United States.
“In the USA, only one person dies per year as a result of attacks by captive big cats, 1.5 by captive reptiles, 0.81 by captive elephant, 0.125 by captive bear and 0 by captive non-human primate. In comparison, 45,000 people die each year in traffic accidents, 47 by lightning, and 1,600 by falling from stairs. We have detailed information on our website http://www.rexano.org about our ongoing fight against uninformed legislators and animal rights (AR) activists,” says Scott Shoemaker, a co-f...
2007-12-04 - LAHAN, Nepal.
Five persons were killed and a woman was injured in an attack by a mad wild elephant in Siraha, Saptari and Udayapur districts. Ram Kripal Mochi,45, Tulai Mahato,45, and Manbir Yadav,55, were killed by the elephant in a place called Ekartiya Haripur of Taregana Govindapur VDC of Siraha district while the same elephant killed one person each in Manpur of Saptari and Hadiya of Udayapur. Their identity is not known. Likewise, Malwa Paswan,55, of Laxmipur-5, Siraha was injured when she was attacked ...
2007-12-04 - Syracuse, United States.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is ready to make a major upgrade to its Zoo program. Tuesday afternoon, Onondaga County lawmakers okayed a $7.7 million project at the zoo for the elephants. The elephants just need more space and that´s what the project will create. Most importantly a bigger indoor facility also part of the project is a pavilion for people to watch the elephants when they’re in the day yard.
2007-12-04 - New York, United States. C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Q. How keen is an elephant’s sense of smell, and where in the trunk is it handled? A. The sense of smell is very keen indeed, said Pat Thomas, general curator of the Bronx Zoo. “In fact it has been reported that elephants can smell water several miles away,” he said.
2007-12-04 - Indianapolis, United States. Rob Schneider
Six conservationists recognized for their work on behalf of animals have been named finalists for the 2008 Indianapolis Prize and its $100,000 cash award. The 2008 finalists are: Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Rodney Jackson, K. Ullas Karanth, Laurie Marker, Roger Payne, George Schaller. The Indianapolis Zoo, which bestows the award biennially, selected the finalists from 29 nominees. The winner will be announced next summer, and the $100,000 and Lilly Medal will be formally presented at a gala in India...
2007-12-04 - Onondaga County, United States. Meghan Rubado
Major projects in downtown Syracuse, Fayetteville and at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo received a big boost last week from a state grant fund. The Environmental Protection Fund will supply the recently announced zoo enhancement project with $400,000. That will cut to $6.3 million the sum that Onondaga County will need to borrow for the $7.7 million upgrade to expand the zoo's Asian elephant exhibit.
2007-12-04 - western ghats, India.
Illegal electrification of farm fences has resulted in the death of many elephants due to electrocution in the western ghats. Shivakumar Kanasogi assesses the jumbo problem. Recently, in the western ghat region, a baby elephant died when it came in contact with the electrified fences of a paddy field. It had come in search of food along with its mother, when it was struck by death. The grieving mother ran amuck and ransacked the nearby village. It destroyed a cow shed and even attacked a calf.
2007-12-04 - Kotdwar, India.
One person was killed in an elephant attack at Sigaddi in Uttarakhand on Sunday night. Bharat Singh, 68, was trying to chase the tuskers away from his field. One of the elephants caught and crushed him to death. The district forest officer has declared an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5,000.
2007-12-03 - Kolkata, India.
Frequent deaths of elephants due to collision with trains in north Bengal have finally forced the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to sit up and take notice of the situation. In a significant step, the ministry has identified four vulnerable elephant corridors in the area and has accordingly given recommendations to the Railway Board.
2007-12-03 - Chennai, India. T.S. SUBRAMANIAN & DESIKAN KRISHNAN
STANDING on the beach, Yevgeniya watches wide-eyed as Vijayakumari, a seven-year-old elephant, hauls logs of wood up a slope and on to a platform from where they are rolled down. The young Ukranian had come on a tour of the island archipelago with her husband Indranil Chaudhury from Kolkata. And the deserted beachfront of Havelock Island, where young elephants are being trained by mahouts in logging operations, provides just the right kind of entertainment.
2007-12-03 - DHENKANAL, India.
Presently elephants are found everywhere in Dhenkanal district. They rule the road, forest, rural and urban communities. Forest officials have launched awareness campaign to educate tourists and picnickers to be aware of elephants. As December arrives the thousands of tourists throng to tourist places and places of importance like Kapilas, Saptasajya, Deer park, Science center , Ganesh Khola and many other places of importance. In addition to these visitors take a lot of interests to visit art a...
2007-12-03 - SPRINGFIELD, United States. Melinda Arnold, Dickerson Park Zoo News Release
The 16-month-old elephant calf, Nisha, at Dickerson Park Zoo died in the early hours of Saturday morning from elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Animal care staff administered medications last night at 8 p.m. and remained with the elephants throughout the night. Nisha first showed signs of EEHV on Thursday afternoon when elephant keepers recognized initial symptoms: tongue discoloration and a lesion on the roof of Nisha's mouth.
2007-12-02 - Springfield, United States. Michelle Sherwood
Veterinarians at Springfield's Dickerson Park Zoo are studying the death of Nisha, she’s the 16-month old elephant that died yesterday morning at the zoo. Officials say she was treated for a herpes virus that usually kills elephants in just five days. Zoo officials say Nisha received aggressive treatment and good care, but now one California-based animal group called In Defense of Animals, is calling for the zoo to stop breeding. The group claims that the facility is contaminated.
2007-12-02 - Guwahati, India.
Kaziranga National Park today lost its loveable rogue, a 78-year-old tusker who ferried tourists through the grasslands of the rhino habitat for 30 years before a mid-safari joust with a rival elephant killed an American woman and forced it into premature retirement. “We will miss him,” divisional forest officer Bankim Sarma said of Gadapani.
2007-12-02 - Kolkata, India.
Frequent deaths of elephants due to collision with trains in north Bengal have finally forced the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to sit up and take notice of the situation. In a significant step, the ministry has identified four vulnerable elephant corridors in the area and has accordingly given recommendations to the Railway Board. In a span of seven years, 26 elephants have been killed in North Bengal. Nine elephants have been killed in the last two years alone.
2007-11-30 - Asheboro, United States.
Successful candidate will be assigned to the Watani Grasslands section, working with African elephants and/or white rhinoceros, a variety of African antelope, and some African birds, including ostrich. Specific animal assignment will depend on the section needs and the skills and experiences of the candidate. Regardless of primary assignment, candidate will be expected to assist working with the care of other species within the work unit. Responsibilities include daily assessment and care of exh...
2007-11-29 - New York, United States. Les C. Stutzman
Chembio Diagnostic, Inc. (OTC BB: CEMI.OB – News) announces that it has been issued an United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) license for its ElephantTB STAT-PAK Assay designed to rapidly (< 20 minutes) detect tuberculosis (TB) in both Asian and African elephants. Chembio’s other rapid serological TB assay – PrimaTB STAT-PAK received USDA licensure earlier this year. Both products belong to a larger family of rapid immunochromatographic assays currently under development at Chembio...
2007-11-29 - Guangdong, China. Liu Fang
Ivory carving is a time-honored craft for centuries in south China's Guangdong province. The craft reached its acme during the Ming and Qing dynasties. For many years the ivory trade was brisk. Then in the late 1980's that trade came to an end as an international ban was imposed on trading ivory. Then, local craftsmen began seeking a new medium for their artistic creations. Zhang Minhui in Guangzhou, chose ox bones.
2007-11-29 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Seizure of ivory, weighing about 42 kg in Rayagada, has once again pointed at a strong illegal wildlife trade in the State. Police on Wednesday seized the ivory from Rayagada district’s Muniguda area and handed them over to forest officials. Two persons have been arrested in this connection. The value of the tusks could be several lakhs since the average price per kilogram now depends on what a smuggler quotes, a forest official said.
2007-11-29 - SILIGURI, India.
The villagers of Dabgram, Salugara, Fabri and Bedgara villages adjacent to Eastern Bypass in Siliguri, are spending sleepless nights because of a scattered herd of 22 wild elephants. The pachyderm raids are keeping the forest officials deputed in these localities wide awake as well since they are finding it difficult to keep the beasts at bay. Last night, a group of four wild elephants, entered the village of Fabri and ravaged three huts. They also destroyed a sizeable volume of crops. No one wa...
2007-11-28 - Wendy Edelstein, United States.
Among her colleagues at the Tang Center, primary-care nurse Julie Barnett is known as “elephant girl.” Barnett earned her nickname because she’s committed to aiding Asian elephants, a cause she came to several years ago after visiting a sanctuary for the abused mammals in northern Thailand. Julie Barnett rides Pang Lom, a 4-year-old elephant who was malnourished and frightened before being rescued from the streets and moved to an elephant sanctuary.
2007-11-28 - New York, United States.
Paris Hilton was on "Ellen" today, and Ellen asked her about the rumors circulating a few weeks ago that Paris was embarking on a "Global Elephant Campaign" to save drunk elephants in India. The AP originally published the story, but then they killed it, leaving us very confused. Now, Paris sets the record straight:
2007-11-28 - DUN, India.
A female elephant has gone missing from the Rajaji national park of Uttarakhand. Mamata was roaming in Chilla range of the park along with two other elephants yesterday when a wild tusker approached them. While the other two, Ragini and Radha, went back to their training camps, Mamata decided to follow her ‘date’ and is missing since then.
2007-11-28 - PALAKKAD, India.
Animal lovers have demanded that the government take action against the Elephant Welfare Trust of India for organising a Gajamela here on November 25. The Wildlife Protection Society of India, in a complaint sent to the Forest Minister and the Chief Wildlife Warden on Tuesday, said that the Elephant Welfare Trust of India organised a Gajamela and a march on the city roads on Sunday. It was organised with the support of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Forest and Police Departmen...
2007-11-28 - KOLLAM, India.
Health cards issued by the Animal Husbandry Department have become mandatory for elephants to participate in temple rituals and gaja melas. At a camp organised at Kottiyam on Tuesday, 35 tuskers were issued the health card. The camp was organised by the department in association with the Forest Department, the Kerala Elephant Owners Federation, and the Kollam unit of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Senior veterinary surgeon of the AHD B. Aravind said that the tuskers wer...
2007-11-27 - New Delhi, India.
PARIS HILTON has denied claims that she’s been helping drunk elephants sober up. In the last few months there have been a number of cases in Northwest India where wild elephants have caused themselves harm after becoming inebriated by drinking homemade rice beer. It was reported that socialite Hilton had spoken up after hearing about six deaths in the elephant community which occured after they drank the potent brew. Conservationists applauded Hilton’s interference in the matter, hoping her ...
2007-11-27 - Calcutta, India.
Villagers in Teldhala had heard the same blood-curdling cries a year ago. This time, it was Kanchi Marak. The cornered fifty-year-old could do little to save himself as rogue elephants trampled him to death in his village on Dalangiri hills under Mancachar police station last week. In October last year, rampaging elephants killed four persons in the same village, located on the state’s border with Meghalaya. Months before that, four people, including a newborn, were trampled by a wild herd of ...
2007-11-27 - Washington, United States.
An underwater archaeologist has found what may be an etching of a mastodon at the bottom of Grand Traverse Bay in Lake Michigan. Members of a local tribe believe that there is a spear in the mastodon, which would be hard evidence that humans hunted the prehistoric elephant-like animals. Tom Kramer of Interlochen Public Radio reports.
2007-11-27 - San Andreas, United States. BETH BRAGG
About the only thing keeping Alaska's favorite ex-pat from mixing it up with those elephants on the other side of the fence is a little muscle. With that fitness goal in mind, we bring you Maggie's 10-minute workout video. It's not quite Carmen Electra on a pole. But fans of Maggie will crack a smile, if not break a sweat, watching the latest video from the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in San Andreas, Calif., where Alaska's lone elephant took up residency at the beginning of the m...
2007-11-26 - Montgomery, United States.
Tina, an African elephant, stands with her baby, a male elephant weighing 247 pounds, at the Montgomery Zoo in Montgomery, Ala., earlier this month. The baby was born on Friday, Nov. 9, 2007.. (AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Mickey Welsh)
2007-11-26 - Srikakulam, India.
One more elephant of the group of nine which had been moving in these parts died, reportedly of electric shock, in Gopalapatnam village in Veeraghattam mandal on Sunday. With this, the death toll of elephants had risen to three. It may be recalled that this group of rogue elephants had been moving in these parts for the last two months and a journalist Nagaraju was one of its victims.
2007-11-26 - Tokyo, Japan.
This Christmas, elephants are all set to bring some cheer to Japan. Three Asian elephants have been practicing intensively over the last few weeks to learn "Jingle Bells" to mark the holiday season. The elephants use their trunks to beat, or ring the bells while the Christmas song is played. The Christmas show, in which the elephants will perform, will officially open to the public on December 2.
2007-11-26 - PARALAKHEMUNDI, India.
One of the elephants belonging to the jumbo herd, that sneaked into Andhra Pradesh recently, died of electrocution in AP on Sunday. The herd from Lakhari forest entered the AP limits recently and had caused extensive damage following which ‘Operation Gajendra’ was started. On Sunday, a herd of eight elephants was reportedly seen near K Gopalpuram village in Birgotam mandal, AP. Receiving information, a team of forest officials reached the village and found an elephant dead near a power trans...
2007-11-26 - PALAKKAD, India.
The gajamela-2007 organised by the Elephant Welfare Trust at the BEM high school ground here on Sunday was witnessed by hundreds of people. Fourty-one elephants were paraded during the show. More than 50 foreign tourists were brought to witness the show. Every elephant was brought to a specially erected platform and three foreign tourists were assisted to get on top of each elephant. A bed sheet was spread over the back of each elephant and two ropes were tied on each side for the tourist to hol...
2007-11-26 - Surin, Thailand. Gillian Murdoch
2007-11-26 - Surin, Thailand. Antoinette van de Water
Only a few minutes after we sent out the urgent call for help last week, the responses came in. Thank you so much for all your support and sympathy! It is special to notice how much involved everyone is. Together we were able to rescue Faa Sai! I’m so proud of Bring the Elephant Home. Beneath you will find a report about the rescue of Faa Sai.
2007-11-26 - Washington, United States. David Chircop
During the most recent Ice Age, this slice of North America was a prime stomping ground for mammoths. The giant elephant-like beasts were heavily concentrated in the central and northern Puget Sound lowlands. Why they became extinct is still a mystery. Molars of the Columbian mammoth are the most common mammoth remains found in Washington. In fact, the Columbian mammoth — which foraged grasses along meadows, bogs and ponds 1.6 million to 10,000 years ago — is the state fossil.
2007-11-25 - London, United Kingdom. Susie Boniface
Environment minister Hillary Benn is to rule on whether Britain's last circus elephant - Anne - can go free. Campaigners had hoped that the new Animal Welfare Bill would mean she had to be released from captivity. But an 18-month inquiry into the treatment of circus animals was said to be inconclusive. A spokesman for environment department Defra said: It will have to be a political decision.
2007-11-24 - CHETOPA, United States. COLLEEN SURRIDGE
Life science teacher Tim Blankenship was elated to find part of a mammoth tooth along the banks of the Neosho River near Chetopa two years ago. His excitement mounted last summer when he discovered a second, larger mammoth tooth within 30 meters of the first. “I found the first one in the summer of 2005,” said Blankenship, who teaches at Chetopa Grade School. “I went to Wyoming looking for dinosaur fossils and mammoth fossils (in 2006). Then I found this tooth this year, and I didn’t eve...
2007-11-24 - Nandarbuni, India.
Villagers in West Bengal’s Birbhum District continue to be affected by elephants’ intrusion in human populated areas. In last five days, the Nandarbuni village in the District has witnessed two incidents of elephants running amok causing severe damage to standing crops and houses. On Friday, a herd of 15 elephants entered the village and damaged standing crops. Tuskers often come out of their natural habitat due to dwindling forests and enter human inhabited areas in search of food, r...
2007-11-24 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
An elephant has been taken to court, not just any court but the highest in the land, the Supreme Court. Asokamala, born and bred at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, has kicked up dust being in the centre of a controversy over whether she should be “exported” as a gift from Sri Lanka to Armenia. While animal rights activists battle the authorities in the Supreme Court, in a fundamental rights case, Asokamala, oblivious to being in the eye of the storm is following her routine. Her fate will ...
2007-11-24 - Melbourne, Australia. Siggyg
I have a great-great uncle who was killed by an elephant. Yes, I am telling the truth. He was an elephant keeper at the Melbourne Zoo here in Australia, and he was crushed by one of his charges. The coroner's report discusses the places, the layout and daily routine of a zoo that I know well, but from 50-60 years later. I have found that being able to access coroner's reports through my State's Public Records Office has allowed me to find some fascinating stories that can then lead to a better u...
2007-11-24 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gerald Durrell once said: "Anyone who has got pleasure from Nature should put something back. Life is like a superlative meal and the world is the maitre d'hotel.What I'm doing is the equivalent of leaving a reasonable tip." Photo-journalist David Paynter has left more than a resonable tip in this stunning coffee table book depicting the lifetime of a young bull elephant named Tempo Ndhlovu.
2007-11-24 - MIDNAPORE, India.
Farmers in the Chandra range in West Midnapore have been spending sleepless nights over the last few days because of the presence of 22 elephants, including two tuskers, in the region. These elephants - now on their way back to the Dalma habitat after spending three months in Bankura - had wreaked havoc there.
2007-11-23 - VIZIANAGARAM, India.
The Central Elephant Board is likely to depute a team soon to tackle the vexed elephant menace, which has badly affected the two districts of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam during the last four months. As many as 10, including a journalist of a vernacular daily, were killed and standing crops in hundreds of acres in both the districts were damaged by the jumbos.
2007-11-23 - Kasese, Uganda. Michael Karugaba
A Herd of Elephants from Queen Elizabeth National Park has invaded Kisinga, Lake Katwe and Kyalhumba sub-counties in Bukonzo East, destroying several acres of crops. speaking to the press on Tuesday, the LC 1 Chairman for Rwentutu village in Lake Katwe Sub-county, Mr Semu Bwambale, said the most hit villages are Kabirizi, Rwentutu and Kighenge, where crops have been destroyed causing fear of a famine out break in the near future.
2007-11-23 - Vallejo, United States.
Responsible for the feeding, cleaning and maintenance of Elephant Encounter area and for entry level training of elephants and behaviors. Key Duties and Responsibilities: · Feed, brush and bathe animals as directed by Supervisor or Asst. Supervisor. Give commands to ask elephant to lay down, move. If needed, brush elephant from atop their back and head. · Perform night feeds as assigned. · Clean animal enclosure areas including log show, elephant theatre, rides, yard, pool and barn. Hose down...
2007-11-23 - Mumbai, India. B K Sharma
The author, Inspector General of Police and head of the State Crime Branch of Orissa, has an abiding interest in wildlife and is recognised as one of India’s leading experts on the illegal wildlife trade. It will come as no surprise to readers of Sanctuary that the world’s largest terrestrial mammal continues to be besieged from all sides. In addition to threats to its habitat throughout Africa and Asia, smuggling and illicit trade in ivory pose major challenges to law enforcement authoriti...
2007-11-22 - JORHAT, India.
The riverine areas of the district have been reeling under the impact of the depredations caused by a huge herd of wild elephants since the last fortnight. Villagers in Neamati, Meleng and Jhanjimukh areas along Brahmaputra river in northern Jorhat have been perturbed by the presence of the herd which has been devouring standing crops at random. The marauding jumbos are believed to have crossed over Brahmaputra from Majuli subdivision in search of food reserves.
2007-11-22 - London, United Kingdom.
An innovative Chester Zoo project that uses smoke bombs comprising chilli powder to ward off marauding elephants from human habitation and crops in Assam was awarded the field conservation award at this year's annual BIAZA awards on Wednesday evening. Charles Walker, MP, presented the prestigious conservation and wild life awards at the Marwell Zoological Park in Hampshire on behalf of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA).
2007-11-22 - Auckland, New Zealand. Alanah May Eriksen
After almost 40 years in the circus, Tony Ratcliffe is hanging up his clown shoes and sending his beloved elephant Jumbo to Australia. The Whirling Bros Circus owner is retiring and giving the star of his show, a 35-year-old, 8ft, four-tonne African elephant to the Western Plains Zoo near Dubbo, New South Wales. Mr Ratcliffe, 62, and his wife Vicki will take the animal across the Tasman by ship and stay in Australia "as long as it takes" for her to settle in.
2007-11-22 - Gauhati, India.
Four wild elephants were electrocuted after becoming entangled in low-strung power cables while foraging for food in the forests of India's northeast, officials said Thursday. The deaths, following the electrocution of six elephants last month, prompted conservationist to call for shifting the cables out of the elephants' shrinking habitat.
2007-11-21 - Chester, United Kingdom.
2007-11-21 - London, United Kingdom. James Randerson
Sinbad and Zebedee will be pounding the sawdust under their big top for a while longer thanks to a government-backed report which concluded there was no evidence that circus animals were kept in worse conditions than animals in other captive environments
2007-11-21 - Mangaldihi, India.
Two persons were injured in a village in West Bengals Birbhum District while chasing away a herd of elephants, that went on rampage in paddy fields. Mangaldihi villagers said these types of incidents are common in the area. Tuskers are forced by their dwindling natural habitat to emerge from time to time in search of food, and therefore, come into conflict with the village population. “I saw an elephant around 6.30, it was drinking water in the pond, I informed others about it, a...
2007-11-20 - Guruvayur, India.
The elephants of the Sri Krishna temple here were taken in a solemn procession to pay tribute to their "legendary peer" Guruvayur Kesavan on his 31st death anniversary on Tuesday. The pachyderms, sans their glittering caparisons, stood before the statue of Kesavan in the temple premises for a while, raised their trunks and the team leader 'paid floral tributes' to the tusker.
2007-11-20 - Surin, Thailand.
A mahout, or elephant keeper, sits on the back of his elephant while waiting for the show to start during the 47th annual Elephant Roundup in Surin province, northeastern Thailand, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007. The festival, which attracts thousands of tourists to the small city of Surin, celebrates the elephant as both a noble patriotic symbol and a longtime companion of local tribal minorities.
2007-11-20 - Atlanta, United States.
Zoo Atlanta may soon hear the stomping of little feet. One of the zoo's three elephants, Dottie, is pregnant. If all goes as expected, the zoo's first newborn Loxodonata african should arrive in April 2009. The baby could weigh up to 300 pounds and measure 3 feet tall at birth. A team of specialists from Berlin artificially inseminated the 25-year-old Dottie in June after plans to mate her with a male elephant at the North Carolina Zoo fell through.
2007-11-19 - Lampang, Thailand.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has named the King’s Cup Elephant Polo as one of Thailand’s “Seven Amazing Wonders” in a new promotional campaign aimed at capturing the nation’s unique attractions. The King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament is the sixth largest event on the TAT calendar. Organised by Anantara Resorts, the tournament was first introduced in 2001 as a charitable endeavour to assist country’s National Elephant Institute in Lampang, Northern Thailand. The event has rais...
2007-11-19 - Montgomery, United States. Bill Rice
On Friday, November 9, 2007 at approximately 8 p.m., a female African elephant was born at the Montgomery Zoo. The calf weighed in at 247 lbs. This birth marks the first African elephant born in the state of Alabama, ever; and the third known birth this year to U.S. Zoological facilities.
2007-11-19 - Hong Kong, China. Nishika Patel
Growing consumer spending power in south China has been fueling the illegal trade of endangered Southeast Asian pangolins and African ivory, making Hong Kong a crucial strategic hub. Statistics obtained by The Standard from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department show that the amount of imported ivory seized in Hong Kong rocketed from 26.8 kilograms to 4,027.9kg between 2004 and last year, while pangolin seizures jumped from 1,005.5kg, or 939 carcass heads, to 2,037kg, or 6,478 ca...
2007-11-18 - PALANI, India.
Herds of wild elephants from the Ayakudi and Ponnimalai jungle ranges near Palani in Dindigul district have started entering the plantations once again. The herds have moved towards the plains from the hilly terrains of Kodaikanal because of the extreme cold in the area. One herd, which had entered the plantation of Marudhamuthu at Ayankulam near Ponnimalai, uprooted the coconut palms and banana trees there.
2007-11-18 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Myrtle Ryan and Peta Thornycroft
This week three Zimbabwean elephants proved that rhinos and elephants can form close bonds, and that elephants do mourn. Gruesome pictures flashed around the world this week of the three black rhinos shot by members of the Zimbabwe Army, dressed in camouflage uniforms and carrying AK-47 rifles. Each rhino had had a guard, but they were assaulted during the attack at Imire Safari Ranch in Wedza last week.
2007-11-18 - Kent, United Kingdom.
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, situated in the south of Kent near Folkestone, is an established wild animal park with significant success in the captive breeding of rare and endangered animals. We house four African Elephants, one bull and three cows who form a breeding group and use protected contact methods to which the herd responds well.
2007-11-17 - San Diego, La Jolla, United States. Moore J., University of California
Perhaps the most important 'decision' made by any animal (or plant) is whether to disperse leave kith and kin, or remain with the familiar and related. The benefits of staying at home are obvious, so dispersal requires an explanation--and the most popular is that dispersal functions to avoid inbreeding depression. Strong support comes from the observation that dispersal is so often sex biased. Simply put, all else being equal members of both sexes should prefer to remain philopatric, but this wo...
2007-11-15 - Washington, United States.
I've heard that one since I was a little kid. So to check it out, we went looking for some elephants. We found them at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where the head clown let me ask the audience. The resounding answer from the audience: "Mice. Mice. Mice." Many people, however, learned about elephants fearing mice from cartoons like "Dumbo." But why would a big animal fear such a small one? Well, it seems logical to us or at least plausible because if you think about it, as adult...
2007-11-15 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
Saba, who had been alone elephant in Zoo Le Pal for many years, and in PC the last three years, had difficulties to adapt to the newcomers, there was fights between the elephants and she missed the contact with humans. In 2007 it was decided to bring her to Kolmarden Zoo in Sweden, where the two asian elephants belonging to the swedish king are worked in free contact. She was transfered at 7th of November, and was traight away worked hands on in free contact. She is now happier, and gets a lot o...
2007-11-15 - Nairobi, Kenya.
IT SOUNDS too cute to be true — orphaned elephants learning to love again under the gentle guidance of Kenyan keepers on the plains of Nairobi. And while there's plenty to coo over in Elephant Diaries (baby elephants playing football, chasing wart-hogs and nuzzling their keepers), the program doesn't shy away from the reality of wildlife in peril. Co-presenter Michaela Strachan, who hosts a variety of British wildlife and children's programs, says the adorable antics of the show's stars are an...
2007-11-15 - Montgomery, United States.
Tina and Studla will be given some time to bond with their newborn - a 247-pound female African elephant - before visitors to the Montgomery Zoo view them outdoors. The newborn arrived Friday and has not yet been given a name, zoo spokeswoman Sarah McKemey said Sunday. She said the community will be involved in naming her.
2007-11-13 - Maputo, Botswana. Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique
Mozambique earns more than 17.6 million meticais (about 700,000 US dollars) a year in the export of wild animal trophies, particularly elephants and leopards. According to the National Director for Conservation Areas, Bartolomeu Soto, hunters are allowed to kill 80 elephants a year and, as from this year, also 120 leopards, and then export the trophies.
2007-11-13 - GAUHATI, India.
Paris Hilton is being praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India. Activists said a celebrity endorsement such as Hilton's was sure to raise awareness of the plight of the pachyderms that get drunk on farmers' homemade rice beer and then go on a rampage. The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them,'' the 26-year-old socialite said in a report posted on World ...
2007-11-12 - Palakkad, India. A Satish
Brothers M.A. Haridas and M.A. Parameswaran of Mangalamkunnu in the district who chose to rear elephants for the sheer love for them and who went on to become the largest individual owners after the Guruvayur Devaswom have begun to feel the heat of venturing into one of the riskiest business. From 18 elephants, they have begun to reduce their herd which now stands at 12. They had donated a 30-yearold elephant, Gajendran, to the local Pariyanampatta temple last year.
2007-11-12 - Hamburg, Germany.
The First European Elephant Management School is a practical orientated course on different elephant management tactics. Free contact as well as protected contact management technics and procedures will be trained.
2007-11-08 - Colchester, United Kingdom. James Hore
ONE of Colchester Zoo's favourite elephants has been put down after suffering from serious health problems. Rosa had been part of a circus but came to the zoo in 1998 where she quickly became popular with both staff and visitors. The African elephant gave birth to Jambo in 2004 but since then showed signs of severe discomfort. A team of experts carried out a series of investigations into her condition, but concluded surgery was not a viable option.
2007-11-07 - Kolmården, Sweden.
Saba, who had been alone elephant in Le Pal for many years, had difficulties to adapt to PC and newcomers, there was a lot of fights between the elephants and she missed the contact with humans. In 2007 it was decided to bring her to Kolmarden Zoo in Sweden, where the two asian elephants belonging to the swedish king are worked in free contact. She was transfered at 7th of November, and was traight away worked hands on in free contact. She is now happier, and gets a lot of attention and care.
2007-11-05 - Montgomery, United States.
Zookeeper I (Elephants) provide animal care to the elephants housed in the Montgomery Zoo. Major work functions include observing elephant collections and exhibits, maintaining elephant exhibits, performing building and grounds maintenance, feeding elephants, and communicating with others. The Elephant Zookeeper I may be asked to work with other animals or in other animal areas as deemed necessary by the department. Visit our job website at www.montgomerypersonnel.com for additional information ...
2007-11-03 - Kodanad, India. Naveen Nair
One and a half year old Bharti is still struggling to stand up. She was found by the caretakers at the elephant training camp at Kodanad in central Kerala last year with severe injuries. The baby elephant was apparently carried by the currents of the rain-swollen Chaliyar River in Nilambur district. Caretakers at the centre have now switched to ayurvedic treatment. In a few days we hope she will get up and walk, says Bharti's caretaker, Subramanian.
2007-11-03 - Robin Miller, United States.
What was arguably the United States Air Force's largest passenger ever arrived at Travis Air Force Base in the wee hours of Friday morning. Maggie, an 8,000-pound, 25-year-old African elephant, was flown from Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base to Travis on a C-17 cargo aircraft, arriving shortly after midnight. Maggie then was transferred to a flat-bed truck for delivery to her new home - Ark 2000, an elephant sanctuary in San Andreas owned and operated by the Performing Animals Welfare Society (...
2007-11-02 - Chester, United Kingdom.
It has been another mad week here in Manchester. The above photograph was taken 7 days ago on a trip to Chester Zoo. I wasn’t able to post this photo due to the Apple event in the evening, then being in Lincolnshire at the weekend and posting photographs over Halloween it has been really intense. It was my first visit to Chester Zoo with my digital SLR camera and although I was able to capture better images because of the fast burst mode, the zoom still isn’t really good enough to get really...
2007-11-02 - Central Florida, United States.
The world renowned Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey® Center for Elephant Conservation located in central Florida is pleased to announce a unique training opportunity in Elephant Care. Three training programs will be offered in 2008. Interns will be exposed to the combined talents of some of the worlds’ most capable trainers, handlers and veterinarians in a free contact environment. The curriculum will include twelve (12) weeks of both classroom and hands-on instruction with some 25 Asian ...
2007-11-02 - Bedfordshire, United Kingdom.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo seeks an experienced Elephant Keeper to join their world renowned elephant section. This is a fantastic opportunity to become involved in one of the most exciting and challenging elephant programmes in Europe. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of elephant handling, training and management; they will be able to demonstrate a range of skills and knowledge in this field. The positions would be well suited to someone looking to develop further. In return, we ...
2007-11-02 - FAIRFIELD, United States.
After living nearly her whole life in Alaska, Maggie the elephant on Friday made her way to a new home in California. The 25-year-old African elephant arrived at Travis Air Force Base here bound for the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in the northern California town of San Andreas 85 miles away. The Air Force agreed to transport Maggie — for years Alaska's only elephant — as part of a training mission after officials with PAWS and the zoo discovered she was too big for a commercial ...
2007-11-02 - Orlando, Florida, United States.
This important symposium presented by the International Elephant Foundation and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation will concentrate on the research and conservation needs of captive and wild populations of elephants. We invite researchers from around the world to present conservation projects and research results on human-elephant conflict, population management, health, nutrition, reproduction and behavior. Papers specifically addressing in situ and ex situ ...
2007-11-01 - Sofia, Bulgaria. Sapundzhiev E, Pupaki D, Zahariev P, Georgiev G, Ivanov I., Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Forestry
The result of the histological diagnosis from postmortal investigation of the Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) uterus structure is presented in the current study. The rare anatomical finding showed altered nodular part from the uterus wall. Through conventional and histochemical staining neoplasmatic formations were determined and diagnosis Fibroleiomyoma was established, which should not be accepted as the prime cause for the animal's death.
2007-11-01 - Kodanad, India.
The traditional ayurveda treatment has become the last resort for the female elephant calf Bharati, which is struggling hard to survive from arthritis at the Kodanad Elephant Orphanage in Kerala. When other inmates of the Kerala's famous elephant orphanage so far a morning with their mahouts on the road sides of Kodanad Forest range, the dilemma of the baby elephant Bharati and its Mahout Subramaniam are make to do so.
2007-10-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Supreme Court today issued an order not to transfer nine-year-old female elephant "Asokamala" to the Yerevan Zoo in Armenia. The court made this order following a lawsuit filed by an animal rights activist Vijitha Fernando who protested that the cold climate in Armenia does not suit the animal.
2007-10-31 - Kobe, Japan.
a male baby was born at Oji Zoo, Kobe on 21 Oct. 2007. The father is Mac (Boy), born at Circus Knie in Switzerland and mother is Zuzanna, born in Riga Zoo in Latvia. The elephant calf is presently bottle fed, but the zoo is trying to back him to the mother Zuze.
2007-10-30 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
A judge has ruled that Robert Culp's lawsuit alleging that the Los Angeles Zoo mistreats elephants can go forward. Judge Reginald A. Dunn rejected arguments by the city that the complaint filed by the 77-year-old actor and real estate agent Aaron Leider lacks a legal basis. Robert Culp arrives at NBC's 75th anniversary celebration in this May 5, 2002, file photo in New York. Culp's lawsuit alleging that the Los Angeles Zoo mistreats elephants can go forward. Judge Reginald A. Dunn has rejected a...
2007-10-29 - Waco, United States.
The Cameron Park Zoo in Waco has some new residents. The zoo has three new animals, including a brand new baby jaguar. The female cub was recently born at the zoo, and made her first public appearance Monday. There’s also a new elephant, Tanya on-loan from the Abilene Zoo. And zoo keepers are also caring for a 2-month-old East African Kori Bustard, hatched in Waco from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The zoo says new animals are always good for business.
2007-10-29 - Los Angeles, United States.
Robert Culp's lawsuit alleging that the Los Angeles Zoo mistreats elephants can go forward. Judge Reginald A. Dunn has rejected arguments by the city that the complaint filed by the 77-year-old actor and real estate agent Aaron Leider lacks a legal basis.
2007-10-29 - Asheboro, United States.
Three African elephants arrived at the North Carolina Zoo this past weekend, bringing the zoo's elephant collection to seven, the largest in its history. Artie, a 24-year-old male, arrived Friday. Tonga, a 29-year-old female, and her 5-year-old female calf, Batir, were delivered Sunday, according to a news release. All three traveled to Asheboro via truck from Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary near Greenbrier, Ark.
2007-10-28 - VIZIANAGARAM, India.
Operation Gajendra is in full swing with officials trapping one more rogue elephant near Seemavanivalasa in Jiyyammavalasa mandal on Saturday. They shot tranquilisers at the herd found grazing under palm trees near the village. But as they hurried on to trap the wild pachyderms, three of the four tranquilised animals managed to escape. The latest success comes close on the heels of the taming of three rogue elephants. Nonetheless, five more are still at large.
2007-10-28 - Anchorage, United States. MARY PEMBERTON
Alaska's only elephant is getting a one-way ticket out of town. After months of a tug of war between those wanting Maggie to stay and those advocating for a warmer climate where she could be in the company of other female elephants, the 25-year-old African elephant at The Alaska Zoo is heading to sunny California on Thursday. Her new home will be at the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in San Andreas.
2007-10-24 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Authorities in a northern Vietnamese province are seeking government permission to shoot a domesticated elephant that has killed two handlers this year, an official said Wednesday. The Forestry Department of Thanh Hoa province sent a request to the Ministry of Agriculture last week asking for the go-ahead to kill the rare Asian elephant, which is more than 30 years old, according to Le Quoc Viet with the department. The elephant is very angry now and it may kill anyone getting close to it, Viet ...
2007-10-24 - Bangalore, India.
Karnataka hosts a healthy population of the gentle giants. That's the finding of the agency which recently conducted a study of the elephant population in the state. The census carried out by the state forest department in May deduced that Karnataka has an estimated elephant population of 4,035. This is less than the 4347 in the 2005 census. Experts state that this is not a cause for worry, for the numbers tend to vary as elephants migrate from one state to another continuously. Also, this figur...
2007-10-23 - BRIDGEPORT, United States. Tracy Deer-Mirek
The circus didn't roll into town this morning, it jogged. Six elephants, some clasped trunk-to-tail to keep up the brisk pace, bounded beneath the railroad underpass at Water Street and Stratford Avenue on the last leg of a two-mile journey from the Union Avenue rail yards to the Arena at Harbor Yard.
2007-10-23 - London, United Kingdom.
Officials in the African country of Sierra Leone have expressed concerns that recent elephant killings could highlight an upsurge in poaching activity. According to the AFP news agency, ten elephants have been killed in the west African nation in the past two months. Senior wildlife official Kailie Bangura explained that most of the deaths occurred in two wildlife parks in the remote northern Outaba Kilimi and Loma Mountain parks, fuelling speculation that foreign nationals were behind the new w...
2007-10-23 - Gauhati, India.
Six Asiatic wild elephants were electrocuted as they went berserk after drinking rice beer in India's remote northeast, a wildlife official said Tuesday. Nearly 40 elephants came to a village on Friday looking for food. Some found beer, which farmers ferment and keep in plastic and tin drums in their huts, said Sunil Kumar, a state wildlife official. They got drunk, uprooted a utility pole carrying power lines and were electrocuted in Chandan Nukat, a village nearly 150 miles west of Shillong, t...
2007-10-23 - Nhan Dan, Vietnam.
Quang Nam Central Province’s People’s Committee has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to approve a plan on the establishment of two new elephant and Sao La deer (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) preservation zones. Accordingly, the elephant preservation zone is to be located in a lowland area with an area of 18,765 hectares in Que Phuoc and Que Lam communes of Que Son district. This zone contains wild elephants, five special kinds of birds (only existing in this zone) and turtl...
2007-10-23 - Karnataka, India. Ashwin Aghor
Wild elephants from Karnataka regularly stray into these villages and damage crops. Following the ever-increasing incidence of crop damage, and at times of human killings, by wild elephants on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border has led the state forest department to consider domesticating the rampaging tuskers. Tired of compensating the farmers for deaths and trampled crop, the department is trying to explore the utility of the wild animals for proposed eco-tourism which includes elephant safaris ...
2007-10-23 - HYDERABAD, India. Ravi Reddy
Andhra Pradesh has sought the assistance of neighbouring Orissa and Karnataka forest officials to tackle the elephant menace causing untold misery to the people of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts for the past few weeks. With the death toll mounting to eight and panic-stricken people in the rural areas spending sleepless nights, forest department has chalked out an action plan to drive back the nine-strong herd of elephants into the Lashkari wildlife sanctuary in Orissa.
2007-10-22 - San Andreas, United States. LENORE RUTHERFORD
More than 500 people paid $100 each to watch elephants play and tour Ark 2000, the 2,300-acre exotic animal sanctuary complex near San Andreas. A silent auction and an outdoor market featuring donated items were also held. The fourth annual Elephant Grape Stomp was a fundraiser for the sanctuary, which is home to more than 100 exotic animals, including elephants, tigers, primates and bears, said Tamara Wilder, organizational development director for Performing Animal Welfare Society.
2007-10-22 - Mysore, India. Krishna Kumar
A slice of the royal orient unfolded to a sea of humanity as the caparisoned elephants led the Jamboo Savari or the Vijayadashmi procession to mark the grand finale of the 10-day Dasara festivities here on Sunday.Bringing the curtains down on the “Naada Habba,” the Vijayadashmi procession, symbolising the triumph of good over evil and a tradition inherited from the Vijayanagar emperors, rolled out of the palace premises complete with ensemble of folk troupes and caparisoned elephant Balarama...
2007-10-21 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Isuri Kaviratne
The Cabinet has approved the gifting of an elephant to Armenia while Wild Life officials were still studying the suitability of the weather and other conditions for the animal. The move has drawn angry responses from various groups closely following the issue of gifting the elephant Asokamala. Environment Minister Champika Ranawaka told The Sunday Times that the Ministry is still considering the suitability of the weather and the condition of the zoo before issuing the permission to send the nin...
2007-10-21 - Paola Cavalieri, South Africa.
One of the consequences of the culling of elephants in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s was the breakdown of elephant societies. After the destruction of their patterns of attachment and of their stored knowledge, elephants started to display symptoms associated with the human post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) observed in Kosovo and Rwanda - a disorder including abnormal-startle response, loss of emotions, depression and hyper-aggression.
2007-10-21 - Srikakulam, India.
Rogue elephants continue to wreak havoc in north coastal Andhra Pradesh bordering Orissa, killing one more person on Sunday, taking the toll to eight since last week. The tuskers, which entered from neighbouring Orissa, trampled one tribal to death in Srikakulam district, about 600 kms from Hyderabad. Forest officials said the tusker menace has so far claimed 17 lives since Aug 13, when the first attack was reported in the district.
2007-10-21 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Ronna Sweeney, KUAM News
The national symbol of Thailand is proudly the elephant. In fact, a strong bond exists between the Thai people and the gentle creatures. And this special union was evident as we had the chance to visit the Maesa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai. Having been open for nearly 30 years, the camp is home to one of the largest herds in the Northern Thailand. The organization's philosophy is to create a natural and healthy environment for the elephants, while working to conserve and breed them due to the dw...
2007-10-21 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Akhel Mathew
Elephants in Kerala are set to enjoy a brighter future thanks to a new set of Forest Department rules aimed at ensuring their general welfare. Elephants are often forced to participate in religious festivals in a bid to add colour to the proceedings. The Sivagiri Mutt and the St. George Malankara Orthodox Christian Church in Thrissur have already vowed not to parade elephants during temple and church festivals.
2007-10-21 - Khao Sok National Park, Thailand. Cindy Loose
Its a risky business, choosing a no-brand, family-owned lodging in Thailand a tent lodging, no less based solely on pictures on the Internet. I decide to take a chance, though, because it seems a potential solution to my trip-planning dilemma: I want the sandy white beaches of southern Thailand but also yearn to see the jungle-like rain forest and elephants for which northern Thailand is famous. And I don't want to be rushing and spending limited time flying between the two.
2007-10-19 - Fairhope, United States.
Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium officials broke ground on Friday on construction of a new 10,000 square-foot building at the International Conservation Center in Somerset County. The building is the first of several that will be the cornerstone of elephant breeding and other conservation management programs. The first building will provide housing for at least four elephants and will be ready in time for the arrival of the Philadelphia Zoo's three elephants: Petal, 51; Kallie, 24; and Bette, 24,...
2007-10-19 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan animal rights activists have made a strong plea to the government to follow India and stop the practice of gifting animals to foreign countries as this is not only cruel, but depletes Sri Lankas fauna. It is time we took India as an example and stopped the practice of gifting animals to foreign countries as a diplomatic gesture, said Sagarica Rajakarunanaike, President of Sathva Mithra, about the Sri Lankan cabinets decision to gift an elephant to an ill-equipped zoo in cold and inhos...
2007-10-19 - Guwahati, India.
About 100 wild elephants converged on a river island in northeast India and were demolishing homes, feasting on sugar cane and panicking residents, officials said Saturday. Thousands of villagers were using firecrackers and bonfires in an attempt to scare away the rampaging animals, the officials added. Dozens of houses have been destroyed in the past three days by adult elephants entering human settlements to look for their wandering calves, said the local magistrate, L. S. Changsan.
2007-10-19 - Lusaka, Zambia.
The Zambia Wildlife in Livingstone has detained a CR Carrier Bus and Six Staff together with a Passenger for being in possession of some Ivory Tusks. The tusks are worth more than K120 million. Those arrested include two drivers, two loaders, a conductor and a Bus Washer. The Bus, coming from Sesheke enroute to Lusaka was intercepted by ZAWA Officers at one of its checkpoints in Livingstone. Area Warder, Stephen Malungo said the suspects were arrested, Thursday.
2007-10-19 - Bangkok, Thailand. PLOENPOTE ATTHAKOR
The Siam flag, featuring an image of a white elephant on red-coloured cloth, will fly at the top of the Siam Flag Museum from Tuesday. Decades after it was decommissioned and disappeared from public sight, the flag of Siam or thong chang _ a red flag with the image of a white elephant at the centre _ will be flown permanently at a private museum in Lat Phrao district from Tuesday onwards.
2007-10-18 - Vallejo, United States.
Responsible for the feeding, cleaning and maintenance of Elephant Encounter area and for entry level training of elephants and behaviors. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Feed, brush and bathe animals as directed by Supervisor or Asst. Supervisor. Give commands to ask elephant to lay down, move. If needed, brush elephant from atop their back and head. Perform night feeds as assigned. Clean animal enclosure areas including log show, elephant theatre, rides, yard, pool and barn.
2007-10-18 - Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Authorities in Sierra Leone on Thursday expressed concern at the upsurge in elephant poaching after at least 10 jumbos were killed in the past two months in the west African country for meat and illicit ivory trade. Senior wildlife official Kailie Bangura said the animals were killed in two wildlife parks in the remote northern Outaba Kilimi and Loma Mountain parks near the border with Guinea. He suspected the elephants fell prey to foreign hunters.
2007-10-18 - Anchorage, United States. Jason Moore
The Alaska Zoo is ready to say goodbye to Maggie the elephant and it's asking you to join in the send off. Maggie is preparing for her trip to an elephant park in California and a two-day going away party happens the weekend after next. The zoo says it doesn't know for sure when she will leave but expects the trip south will happen within the next few weeks. The going away part will feature a banner for signing, a Maggie slide show and an original Maggie painting will be raffled off.
2007-10-18 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Forest officials in Mayurbanj district have seized ivory worth Rs. 150,000 from a smuggler. The tusk weighing 21.9 kg and cut into five pieces, was seized from the accused Wednesday by forest officials at Malapada village in Mayurbanj district, about 350 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar. Acting on a tip-off about the smuggling of ivory by a tribal, we laid a trap early Wednesday to catch him red-handed, said Range Officer Jitendra Kumar Mohanty.
2007-10-18 - London, United Kingdom. Michael Kahn
Elephants can literally smell danger, according to a study on Thursday that shows the animals can sniff out whether humans are friends or foes. The study in Kenya found elephants detected both the scents and colours of garments worn by Masai tribesman who often come into conflict with the animals when herding cattle. When detecting the scent of a Masai, the elephants turned up their trunks to orient themselves to the smell and then stampeded away until they reached cover in the tall grass.
2007-10-18 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
If the Ministry of Environment and Forests has its way, movement of trains along the lines running through wildlife corridors would be stopped during night hours in Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and Uttaranchal, till preventive measures are put in place. Reliable sources said the Union Secretary has written to Rail Board on the same line after receiving feedbacks from states like Orissa and West Bengal over inadequate accident prevention measures made available along tracks in the vulnerable zones.
2007-10-18 - Anchorage, United States. Steve Mac Donald
The Alaska Zoo took delivery this morning of a specially-made shipping crate that will house Maggie, Alaskas lone African elephant, during her trip to California. Maggie is being relocated to an elephant sanctuary there after twice being unable to stand up on her own earlier this year. The 10,000-pound steel crate is designed specifically for shipping elephants and contains restraining bars and heaters. The crate is currently attached to Maggie's outdoor pen. Zoo officials hope shell grow accust...
2007-10-18 - Gagani Weerakoon, Sri Lanka.
Despite strong protests by various animal rights activists against the sending of the nine-year-old cow-elephant ‘Asokamala’ to a zoo in Armenia, the government is to proceed with its ‘donation’ to the Armenian government. Asokamala is from the Pinnawala elephant orphanage and has been transferred to the Dehiwala zoo prior to being sent to Armenia, sources said.
2007-10-17 - Stockton, United States. C. Johnson
There was an unusual discovery Wednesday morning at a downtown Stockton construction site. Workers came across the bones of a mammoth. The remains - tail and femur bones - were unearthed about 80 feet down at the corner of east Weber Street and north San Joaquin Street. Dr. Gregg Anderson, an assistant professor of biology at UOP, said a large auger was drilling at about 8 a.m. when tailings revealed bones. Workers called the county coroners office whose representative came out and said the big ...
2007-10-17 - Mendon, United States. Ira Kantor
Elephant trainer Phil Schacht says his pachyderm Dondi is more child than wild animal. Among her tricks, Dondi can cluck like a chicken, roar like a lion, and play a harmonica. She also enjoys giving spectators rides and posing for photos at Southwick's Zoo in Mendon, according to her handler. But Schacht, 74, says he's endured repeated threats from animal rights groups that claim his Asian elephant is being mistreated. Now that state Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, has re-filed legislation ban...
2007-10-17 - Coimbatore, India.
Forest officials in Tamil Nadu have initiated a drive to regularize and register captive pachyderms in the State by implanting microchips into their skin. The technique, officials said, will give the elephants a unique identification number that will help prevent manipulation of records, check elephant poaching and further domestication of wild animals. The concept will also help the forest authorities in making periodical assessments of the status of the elephants, as well as formulating polic...
2007-10-17 - Denver, United States.
Halloween came early today at the Denver Zoo. Elephants Mimi and Dolly got their pumpkins this morning. The pachyderms stomped on the giant gourds one 660 pounds and the other 425 pounds — to get at the flesh inside. The elephants are only two of the 3,500 animals to be showcased at the annual Boo at the Zoo event, held this year on Oct. 27 and Oct. 2, from 10 a.m. — 5 p.m. The trick-or-treat event is free with regular zoo admission.
2007-10-17 - Guwahati, India.
Launched by the forest department, the 150 specially trained mahouts and a few kunkis (leader elephants) will combat the growing depredation of wild tuskers by driving them away from human habitats without or little collateral damage. Elephant catcher Parbati Baruah has trained these commandos. Divisional forest officer of Kaziranga National Park Bonkim Sharma said, Earlier, domesticated elephants and their mahouts were used to catch wild tuskers. Now we have developed a special training module ...
2007-10-17 - Bhubaneswar, India.
After its role in managing natural resources, disaster management and more recently of malaria in the State, geo-information system (GIS) applications have come as a great help in another key area of wildlife management, i.e. reducing man-animal conflicts. As per a study by Chandaka Dampara Sanctuary authorities, the movement pattern of specific elephants, its flagship species, can now be known through proper GIS mapping over the years with the help of annual and seasonal data interpretation so ...
2007-10-17 - Anchorage, United States. Rich Jordan
Trainers at the Alaska Zoo have been working daily with Alaskas only african elephant tp prepare her for the trip to her new home in California
2007-10-17 - Purulia, India.
A tusker was killed after being hit by a goods train early this morning in Purulia today. The incident is the first of its kind in the southern districts of the state. There were several incidents of elephants being run over by speeding trains in north Bengal. The incident occurred between Torag and Suisa stations of the Ranchi division of South Eastern railway in Purulia around 1 am when a herd of 14 elephants was crossing the railway line.
2007-10-17 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka will donate a she elephant to Armenia in response to a request by the Armenian Government to consolidate bilateral friendly relations between the two countries. The Cabinet has approved a memorandum submitted in this connection, the Government Information Department said. Director General National Zoological Gardens H. Dissanayake said accordingly a nine-year-old she elephant named 'Asokamala' from the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage will be sent to Armenia shortly.
2007-10-16 - Pune, India.
EVEN as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) continues its campaign against the entry of elephants in urban areas, the problem continues to be rampant in Pune, with yet another elephant found being used for begging by three men in the Loni Kalbhor area. The three men, clad in sadhu robes, have now been taken into custody and a complaint has been lodged at the Loni Kalbhor Police Station under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Bombay Beggary Ac...
2007-10-16 - Chitwan, Nepal.
A wild elephant named Ronaldo was found dead at the gate of the Elephant Breeding Farm at Khorsor in the Chitwan National Park (CNP) on Monday, Rajendra Panohar of the farm said, adding that the elephant might have died due to shock from an electric wire. Chief conservation officer at the CNP Megh Bahadur Pandey declined to comment on the matter. Locals said the elephant died due to shock from the high-voltage electric wire. Ronaldo had attacked and killed a four-month-old child of Dil Bahadur T...
2007-10-16 - BHUBANESWAR, India. Siba Mohanty
Orissa and Andhra Pradesh have long been fighting over a host of issues - from sharing river water to ownership of border villages. Now, the two governments have a common ‘elephantine’ problem. This is not over ownership. Rather, it is about a group of elephants AP badly wants to get rid of from its territory, but has been unsuccessful till now. Orissa, too, wants them back but does not know how to.
2007-10-15 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
The People’s Committee of Central Highlands Dak Lak province has decided to spend more than VND 8.5 billion (531,250 USD) from now until 2010 on preserving and developing its tame elephant population. Under the project, an elephant keepers’ club and a tame elephant herd preservation and development centre will be set up in the province. Measures to use elephants for tourism purposes, ensure a sustainable environment and prevent diseases for elephants as well as to reproduce elephants will al...
2007-10-15 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nimal Wijesinghe
About 160 elephants and 50 persons die from the elephant-human conflict, Environment Minister Patali Champaka Ranawaka said. With the Environmental Development Ministry embarking on a full-scale environmental development plan islandwide, the Minister has declared a “Green month” from today.
2007-10-15 - KURUPAM, India.
Tribals caught in the cross-fire between Maoists and police have run into another danger. Along the Andhra-Orissa border, during monsoons, elephants and other animals move downstream. Besides, increased mining in the neighbouring Orissa is forcing the animals to move south to safety. Their arrival is giving sleepless nights to the tribals. In the past four months, 11, including five in the Andhra Pradesh side of the border, have been crushed to death in stampede caused by the rampaging animals.
2007-10-15 - Lao dong, Vietnam.
The central province of Quang Nam has submitted a project to establish two endangered animal reserves to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for approval, the provincial People’s Committee said last Friday. The elephant reserve, covering an area of 18,765 ha in Que Son District, will be a habitat for elephants, five species of endangered birds, and endangered turtles and gray-shanked doucs.
2007-10-14 - Rangoon, Myanmar. MICHAEL CASEY
Truckloads of illegal timber cross the Myanmar border to sawmills in China, while markets along the Thai border openly sell bear paws, tiger skins and elephant tusks. Further inland, the repressive military regime plans to dam one of Asia's purest rivers, and allows gold and gem mines to tear up hillsides and pollute groundwater for quick cash. Myanmar has become notorious in the region for ignoring international and its own environmental laws in a single-minded effort to make the money that env...
2007-10-13 - Golaghat, India.
Its tail had been cut and was hanging loosely from its outer skin. There were spears stuck on its head, back and leg. And its body bore deep cuts. Those who saw the elephant before it died could have sworn that it was begging for mercy. How the 13th elephant to be killed in Assam in northeast India this year - either by humans or in accidents - met its death is a story that animal lovers would hate to hear.
2007-10-13 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
A herd of Sumatran elephants (Elephas Maximus Sumatranus) recently again encroached on a residential area and attacked plantations at Patek, Sampoiniet, Aceh Jaya District, Aceh Province. Rahmatullah, a settler in the Patek transmigration area, said here on Tuesday the elephants` attack happened around a week before the Idul Fitri Islamic festivity. A herd of around eight elephants almost every evening approached the resettlement area, he said.
2007-10-13 - Cincinnati, United States. Val Nastold
The conference will be at Drawbridge Inn Oct 13th-16th, with a pre-trip to the Indianapolis Zoo on Oct 13th and a post-trip to the Louisville Zoo on the 17th. There will be more information about the conference coming soon.
2007-10-12 - Richmond, Canada.
British Columbia received a $9,000.00 fine yesterday after pleading guilty in Richmond Provincial Court to illegally importing over 30,000 pieces of African elephant ivory. Mr. Ho was also ordered to pay a further $9,000.00 to TRAFFIC, (a division of the World Wildlife Fund,) to support programs for the conservation of the African elephant, and to forfeit all of the ivory seized during the investigation which wildlife officers have estimated to be worth ...
2007-10-11 - San Antonio, United States.
The Oakland Zoo manages a herd of 1.3 African Elephants in a progressive protected contact program. This is an opportunity for a highly motivated, hardworking individual to learn about captive elephant management. Apprentices will learn about elephant behavior, research, reproduction, training, husbandry and enrichment. He/she will participate in daily cleaning, food preparation and delivery.
The San Antonio Zoo currently has a need for a Zoo Keeper in our Elephant Department. Duties include daily cleaning, feeding, and maintenance of animal exhibits. Zoo Keepers observe, evaluate, and report animal behavior and condition to their supervisor on a daily basis. They assist in treating Zoo animals in accordance with instructions from their supervisor or veterinarian. Minimum qualifications include ability to work weekends, holidays, and occasional after-hours assignments
2007-10-10 - Sydney, Australia. Jeremy Drake
Polo is the preferred sport of princes and the Packers, but when you replace the horses with elephants it becomes a whole new ball game. The 26th annual World Elephant Polo Championships will begin in Nepal on November 18. Among the 12 teams will be the first fully Australian contingent. A group of 10 average blokes braving the backs of unusually large mammals in the name of international sport.
2007-10-10 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Two elephants at Chiang Mai's Night Safari died last month, while three others have fallen ill due to bad digestion resulting from eating the wrong kind of grass, resident veterinarians said Tuesday. Suphoj Maythaphirat, a senior official, said Night Safari animal keepers were partly at fault for not screening the feed bought from villagers, adding that elephants should not eat too much old grass in a single sitting. Phang Joi and Phang Grandma died late last month after succumbing to extremely ...
2007-10-10 - New Delhi, India.
Seven captive elephants in the Delhi have been micro-chipped by an NGO as part of efforts to regulate the trafficking and exploitation of the animals. By micro-chipping the elephants, we can monitor and control the illegal trade and trafficking of captive elephants. Elephant traders and owners resort to capturing elephant calves from the wild and separate them from their herds. said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of the NGO Wildlife SOS.
2007-10-10 - Moscow, Russian Federation.
A nervous female elephant at Moscow zoo killed its handler on Wednesday with a hit of its leg while being moved onto a truck. Elephant handlers at Moscow city zoo had been trying to load three African elephants onto a specially designed truck to transfer them to a zoo in Spain when the elephant killed the 40-year-old woman. It was a most unfortunate death of a dedicated zoo keeper who had worked with these animals for many years, a spokeswoman for the zoo said.
2007-10-10 - BERHAMPUR, Zimbabwe.
The elephantine row between Andhra Pradesh and Orissa is close to a solution but authorities hope that a herd of pachyderms which strayed would return to their natural habitat on their own without having to use any force. An action plan to trans-locate the herd finalised by a high-level central expert committee suggested that Andhra Pradesh wait for at least a fortnight before taking any steps to drive away the six wild elephants back to their natural habitat at Lakhary Valley Elephant Reserve i...
2007-10-09 - Portland, United States. RICHARD L. HILL
Change is uncaged at the Oregon Zoo. Lions will be heard roaring again at the Washington Park facility, joined by speedy cheetahs and African wild dogs. The zoo has broken ground on a 50,000-square-foot "Predators of the Serengeti" exhibit, which will open in 2009. The zoo also has unveiled a strategic master plan that proposes expanding the elephant area, building a three-story parking deck to deal with its chronic parking shortage and increasing summer admission prices.
2007-10-08 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. Hoang Thien Nga
The People’s Committee of Dak Lak Province in the central highlands has approved a VND8.5 billion (US$528,500) project to preserve domesticated elephants in the region. Under the project, the province will establish reserve areas and found an association for elephant tamers and breeders, along with other agencies concerned with preserving the animal.
2007-10-08 - London, United Kingdom. Charles Clover
Elephants flee the sound of angry bees, with the vast majority turning to run within seconds of hearing the sound of buzzing, scientists said. The findings are surprising because elephant skin was thought to be so thick that bee stings do not make any impression. The sound of angry bees caused elephants to move away within about 10 seconds. However, bees are known to be attracted to the water around elephants' eyes and when they get up their trunks, elephants can go berserk, say researchers from...
2007-10-08 - Munich, Germany.
The elephant cow Penang in Munich Zoo (born 1989 in Zuerich) gave birth yesterday to a stillborn bull elephant calf, several months before expected birth. Munich Zoo (Hellabrunn Tierpark) will probably provide more information on their website tomorrow.
2007-10-08 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
The restoration of Ayutthaya's ancient kraal, the elephant-trapping pen, began yesterday. All 980 ageing logs in the fence surrounding the enclosure are due for replacement. The sao talung are the major component of the pen, or paniad klong chang, which wild elephants were driven into for elephant-trapping ceremonies in the Ayutthaya period. All the old timber is to be replaced under the 16-million-baht restoration project, which was launched to mark His Majesty the King's 80th birthday in Decem...
2007-10-08 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The symposium on the managing of health and reproduction of elephant populations in Asia will be held at Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand from 8th to 10th October 2007. The members of the local organizing committee are pleased to welcome everyone interested in the scientific programs organized for the participants. The purpose of this international congress is to develop and up to date the understanding of health care and reproductive system management of A...
2007-10-07 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Sometimes I am a sucker for animal tricks and here is a perfect example. At night in Bangkok, there are baby to large-size elephants that roam the streets with a handler. There are never large groups of elephants on the streets, but rather one elephant here, another there. For a dollar, you can feed the elephant baby cucumbers, baby bananas or sugarcane and it is fantastic. The elephants trunk comes right up to you and grabs the food. They have a very strong trunk, it is truly impressive. When y...
2007-10-07 - Buffalo, United States.
Lots of money and family fun filled the afternoon Saturday at the Buffalo Zoo, where HSBC Bank held its annual Halloween gathering for bank employees and presented the zoo a $90,000 check that helped it get accredited. Last month, a year after the Buffalo Zoo's five-year accreditation was delayed, the zoo launched a campaign to collect more than $2 million and win its reaccreditation.
2007-10-06 - T’PURAM, India.
Captive elephants can be traded only with prior permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden and based on conditions that he sets, the Forest Department said here on Friday. The department came out with a clarification on the point following statements in the media by the Kerala Elephant Owners’ Association that no legal hurdles existed in the sale of elephants.
2007-10-06 - Juba, Sudan.
South Sudan will invite bidders to run its first game park hotel set in the elephant-rich area of Nimule on the border with Uganda, the Wildlife Ministry's director-general for tourism said. Joseph Oroto said they had almost completed the renovation of a 42-bed lodge set on a hill with views over the White Nile's sweeping entrance from Uganda to Sudan where some 50 herds of elephants drink.
2007-10-06 - Kusheswor Mandal, Nepal.
Two wild elephants sneaking from Koshi Tappu Wild Santuary have caused huge damage to paddy crops in Prakashpur, Madhuban, Western Kusaha and Shreepur VDC area. According to the victimized farmer, elephants have damaged paddy crops cultivated in each 4 to 7 katthas of land belonging to Kusheswor Mandal, Kapleswor Mandal, Rajender Majhi, Shiv Raj Rawat, Baijanath Mandal, Umesh Mandal, Baldev Mandal, Parsuram Mandal, Sukan Ram, Ajhyya Sardar.
2007-10-06 - Bangalore, India.
It will be all about elephants on the third day of the wildlife week celebrations at the Bannerghatta Biological Park on Saturday. Children can debate, meet wildlife experts and also interact with villagers who encounter these animals often. As part the elephant day, the Forest Department is organising programmes to generate awareness about the animal. Programmes include pick-and-speak competition, quiz contest and question-and-answer session. The Forest Department has made arrangements at Arany...
2007-10-06 - Portland, United States.
The Metro Council at the Oregon Zoo heard testimony to expand the elephant exhibit. Bottom line, most of the people with the organization In Defense of Animals simply want the exhibit moved out of the Zoo to give the animals more living space. These elephants, because they're the largest land animal, need more space and adding a couple of acres to their already small space is not enough. Deputy Zoo Director Mike Keele disagrees. The sadness is that these armchair extremists don't realize that wh...
2007-10-06 - Bokakhat, India.
Chilli-bombs and firecrackers, these are the simple but effective weapons that wildlife activists are encouraging people to use to chase away marauding elephants in villages near here. The aim is to ward off man-animal conflict situations as far as possible. Bokakhat town in Golaghat district is about 10 km from the famous Kaziranga national park in northeast India. Villages that fall on the Rajabari-Lokhowjan-Borsapori region near here have been witnessing elephant raids for the past several mo...
2007-10-06 - Melbourne, United States.
LOADS of face paint will be slapped on today as the Melbourne Zoo celebrates its 145th birthday. Elephants Numoi, 6, and Kulab, 8, got right into the spirit of the bash with the anniversary numerals painted on their foreheads. They and another elephant, Dokkoon, are among the zoo's newest residents and are enjoying the extensive Trail of the Elephants area in its Malaysian-themed setting.
2007-10-06 - El Paso, United States.
Pack your Trunks for a positively pachydermic experience! Come visit the El Paso Zoo to support conservation of the world’s largest land mammal. You’ll touch neat bio-facts from elephants or buy your ticket for the opportunity to actually walk into the elephant exhibit area and hide produce to feed our own Conservation Ambassadors – Savannah and Juno the El Paso Zoo’s Asian elephants. RSVP quickly to reserve your space at the special “Breakfast with the Elephants.” Did you know eleph...
2007-10-05 - Budapest, Hungary.
A German pharmaceuticals company from Hamburg has saved a baby elephant born in the zoo of Nyiregyhaza, N Hungary, last month by supplying a special milk replacement feed after the mother was unable to feed the calf, a spokesperson said on Friday. The baby was the first African elephant born in Hungary, on September 4. The mothers milking glands got inflamed after giving birth and so the baby elephant had to be hand-fed at hourly intervals with the special milk supplied from the German company f...
2007-10-05 - Bhubaneswar, India.
BHUBANESWAR, Oct. 5: The Nandankanan Zoological Park in collaboration with the Chandaka Wildlife Division, Nature and Wildlife Conservation Society, Orissa, WWF Orissa and CEE, eastern regional cell, will observe elephant day on 7 October and a Wildlife Week too. To mark the day, the zoo authorities have decided to organise the naming ceremony of the recently- rescued elephant calf, besides adorning the elephants and fixing a huge hoarding.
2007-10-05 - Leggett, United States. http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou071004_ac_elephants.13a4a2d89.html
Some things, you expect to see in Texas. But in the town of Leggett, about 80 miles north of Houston, there are two things you dont. Tina and Jewel are rare Asian elephants. With fewer than 50,000 and remaining in the wild, they are an endangered species and share the Leggett property with a third elephant named Boo when shes not on the road with handler, Will Davenport.
2007-10-04 - Fairhope, United States.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium will announce its plans for an elephant conservation center in Somerset County later this month. Details of the $1.5 million International Conservation Center will be announced at the Oct. 19 groundbreaking. The 724-acre Glen Savage Ranch was once a private hunting preserve. The zoo bought it and is turning it into the first breeding ground for endangered African elephants in North America.
2007-10-03 - , United Kingdom.
A WALK on the beach with his dog Daisy lead pensioner Dennis Smith to make a fascinating discovery among the flotsam and jetsam - the leg bone of a giant mammoth. Nature lover Mr Smith, from Witham, has been visiting Dunwichs Cliff House Holiday Park with his wife Barbara for more than 20 years, and often takes part in the annual BeachWatch clean up, but this is the first time the 69-year-old has come across such an exciting find on the seashore.
2007-10-03 - Jaipur, India.
Along with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jaipur's elephants are all set to show their acting skills in Ashutosh Gowarikars historical epic Jodha Akbar. More than 10 elephants from Jaipur would soon be transported to Maharashtra for taking part in the film's shooting. These elephants would be used by Gowarikar for filming the final shots of his historical movie Jodha Akhbar, Shyam Gupta, president of the Jaipur elephant owners association told IANS here Wednesday.
2007-10-03 - Chhatarpur, India.
The Panna tiger reserve here is making all out efforts to get the name of Vatsala, the oldest living elephant on the planet, included in the Guinness book of world records. Brought from Neelambur forest division in Kerala in 1993, the 92-year-old Tusker, steals the show at the reserve forest, attracting tourists inquisitive to know more about her. The Guinness book of world records mentions an 86-year-old elephant of Thailand as the oldest tusker on earth. But Vatsala has crossed the age under a...
2007-10-02 - Dehradun, India.
Arundhati, an ageing elephant suffering for long due to a fractured leg, died Tuesday night even as forest officials were planning to put the pachyderm to sleep despite initial protests from wildlife lovers. Veterinarians attending the animal were set to administer a lethal dose of anaesthesia ahead of the mercy killing when the 70-year-old breathed her last. Arundhati broke her front left leg about three weeks ago while she was being taken for a walk by her keeper in the Chilla forest range, ab...
2007-10-01 - Western Plains Zoo, Australia. Portas TJ, Bryant BR, Göritz F, Hermes R, Keeley T, Evans G, Maxwell WM, Hildebrandt TB.
2007-10-01 - Kasese, Uganda.
Elephants and monkeys from the Queen Elizabeth and Kibaale National parks have destroyed crops in the district. The crops include cassava, maize, pineapples and paw paws. The affected areas are Nyakiyumbu, Kisinga, Lake Katwe, Kichwamba and Muhokya villages. “The Elephants have also left many cotton fields destroyed. The cases were reported but the Government has not yet helped the people whose gardens were destroyed,” said Xavier Muhindo, the district production coordinator. He was addressi...
2007-10-01 - London, United Kingdom.
DNA Solutions based in London, UK, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to work together with Fauna & Flora International, the worlds oldest conservation organisation, in using DNA fingerprinting to monitor elephant populations in Cambodias Cardamom Mountains with the help of our scientists. Elephant dung is being collected by field biologists and trackers, and transported to DNA Solutions, an accreditated DNA testing laboratory, where the DNA will be extracted and analysed.
2007-10-01 - Dehradun, India. Swati Thiyagarajan
The debate has ended and sadly so. Everybody agrees now that Arundhati, the ailing 72-year-old elephant, has to be put to sleep. Even the NGO and locals who had protested earlier seem to have reconciled with the situation. But the hitch is, forest department officials are still waiting for the drug required for the lethal injection. Sodium Pentathol, commonly used to put dogs to sleep is required in a large quantity by the officials, which is not available at the moment.
2007-10-01 - Portland, United States.
The Oregon Zoo announced today that its 13-year-old Asian elephant, Rose-Tu, is pregnant and should deliver a calf between Sept. 4 and 24, 2008. Zookeepers figure she conceived between Dec. 4 and 6, 2006, when she was allowed to roam the elephant yard with Tusko, a 36-year-old bull the zoo acquired on a breeding loan in 2005. A baby, said Mike Keele, signifies a major impact on the life of the herd. Its incredibly enriching.
2007-09-30 - Asheboro, United States.
In June, the N.C. Zoo, in Asheboro, struck a deal with the Valley Zoo in Edmonton, Alberta, to send Samatha south on a breeding loan. She arrived at the N.C. Zoo shortly after sunrise Sunday after a four-day truck ride. One of her Edmonton zoo keepers, Jackie Buck, accompanied her and will stay for five days to help Samantha acclimate.
2007-09-30 - Mysore, India.
The elephants which take part in the Jumboo Savari every year are no different from your kids at home for the mahouts and kavadis and for their family members. Cajoling these 'special kids' is no different from cajoling your own kids at home, after you punish them, whenever they go out of way. If you give sweets and chocolates to cajole your children, the jumbos are given jaggery and sugarcane.
2007-09-30 - London, United Kingdom.
THE photographic archive of London Zoo, one of the world’s most important such collections, is to be published for the first time, with the pictures offered for sale to fund conservation, writes Holly Watt. From tomorrow, the Zoological Society of London will place photographs on its website. These will include elephants walking through docks in Camden, north London, and a tiger cub pictured in 1914 with a disgruntled-looking peccary, a pig-like animal from South America. In another photograph...
2007-09-30 - Dominguez Hills, United States. Shelly Leachman
It was an odd experiment, to be sure: An enormous Asian elephant 5 tons large buried on a southeast section of a college campus, while yards away, near a baseball diamond, a rare black rhinoceros got similar treatment. But it happened right here in the South Bay, at Carson-based California State University, Dominguez Hills, back in 1979. The brainstorm of elephant-obsessed, then-psychology professor Jack Adams, the experiment's goal was retrieval of the beasts' bones for a comparison study aimed...
2007-09-29 - Muskogee, United States. Elizabeth Ridenour
When Hi-Bi the clown waved at Grace Hiseley with both hands, his pants fell down, bringing squeals from Grace and dozens of others Saturday in the Muskogee Civic Center. The three-ring Bedouin Shrine circus, along with cotton candy, snow cones, popcorn and balloons, filled the civic center Saturday afternoon. Spectators clapped in time with a drumming elephant to the tune of “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Two more shows will be held today.
2007-09-29 - Dehradun, India. S M A Kazmi
By now, arundhati should have been dead. Killed by the needle that would have ended the agony of a multiple fracture on her massive, right foot. But Arundhati, 80, is alive. Arundhati, the elephant. Her life, scheduled to end today, has been kept on hold by the tears of an entire city, her mahout, the man who runs the park in which she lives, and the man who signed the death order. This leafy city has never come across anything like this before — the first mercy killing case of a domesticated ...
2007-09-29 - San Diego, United States. Jeanette Steele
The San Diego Zoo has started demolishing 7 acres of old exhibits there to make way for Elephant Odyssey, the blockbuster $44 million project that will house elephants, lions and jaguars. In total, 10 percent of the zoo's display area is off limits while bulldozers take out 50-year-old exhibits that once held giraffes, zebras and antelope. Construction will start early next year and last 18 months.
2007-09-29 - Mysore, India.
In the midst of hectic election process, the second batch of Dasara elephants arrived silently at Doddakere Maidan here on Friday. Elephant Harsha and Vikrama from Dubare, Sri Rama, Abhimanyu, Sarala and Kanti from Sunkadakatte, K. Gudi and Thithimathi forests arrived at Doddakere Maidan. Deputy Conservator of Forest and veterinary doctors welcomed the elephants which were later taken to the camp at Palace Complex. The first batch of the elephants were welcomed on a grand scale and were taken in...
2007-09-29 - Hattiesburg, United States. REUBEN MEES
John Kamper was not a resident of Hattiesburg, but theres still plenty of evidence of the Meridian businessmans influence on the Hub City. In 1902, what is now called the Hattiesburg Zoo at Kamper Park opened with an elephant called Mrs. Hattie, according to a poetic history of the zoo written by Angela Hayes and recorded in the "History of Forrest County, Mississippi."
2007-09-29 - Palakkad, India.
A 12-year old elephant was killed when it was hit by a running train near the Walayar forests between Chullimada and Kanjikode on Friday. The elephant, which descended from the forests, was hit by the Kochi-Tiruchirapalli Tea Garden Express at around 2.30 am in the wee hours of Friday. The elephant, after being hit, was dragged over a distance of half km. Only the skin, trunks and the legs were recovered while all the internal organs laid scattered over a distance. A post-mortem was conducted on...
2007-09-29 - New Orleans, United States.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates wild populations which are scattered throughout India, Nepal, Indonesia, China and a few other countries is between 25,600 to 32,750 individuals. That represents a stark decline over the last few decades and the results of habitat loss due to increased agriculture and related shootings as well as some ivory poaching. Perhaps the single great obstacle facing Asiatic elephant recovery however is a lack of publicity. African elephants are the darlings of the ...
2007-09-28 - Augusta, United States. Emily Sapienza
The tusk of a prehistoric mastodon that a Cushing family donated to the Maine State Museum in August has been officially accepted to the museum's collection. Museum registrar and zoology curator Dr. Paula T. Work sent documents to the Winchenbach family on Sept. 14 that confirm the transfer of legal title for the prehistoric tusk from the family to the museum. Work also included a letter to Michelle and Timothy Winchenbach thanking them for their generous donation.
2007-09-28 - Knysna, South Africa.
The Knysna elephants, made famous through the books written by Dalene Matthee, were thought to be on the verge of disappearing from the forests around the Southern Cape Town. But recent research indicates that a small elephant population still occupies the area and their numbers are increasing. DNA that was extracted from the dung left behind in the forests has been tested and five females have been identified. The research project is conducted by Gareth Patterson and conservation geneticist, Lo...
2007-09-28 - Orlando, United States. Henry Pierson Curtis
Orlando is safe from rampaging pachyderms now that the Orange County Sheriffs Office has bought 14 elephant guns. The newest weapon in Sheriff Kevin Bearys armory fires a half-inch-diameter bullet with sharpshooter accuracy. The sole purpose for this weapon is large or exotic animals, sheriffs spokesman Jim Solomons said Thursday.
2007-09-28 - Los Angeles, United States. Karen Kaplan
Scientists seeking to decode ancient DNA from woolly mammoths and other Ice Age beasts have found an abundant new source of unsullied genetic material: ordinary hair. Using samples of fur from mammoths that roamed Siberia 17,000 to 50,000 years ago, the researchers were able, they say, to reconstruct the complete mitochondrial genomes of 10 animals, even though some of the hair had been stored at room temperature for 200 years.
2007-09-27 - New York, United States.
The artwork above, you're not going to believe this, was painted by elephants. Thats right: The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project, a nonprofit organization, gives elephants paintbrushes, paper, paint, and an easel, and let's them do their thing. Most of the artwork is abstract, but some of the paintings are unbelievable! The AECP is based out of New York City, and its purpose is to raise money and awareness about the plight of the elephants of Southeast Asia.
2007-09-27 - Miami, United States. RACHEL MONAHAN
Shes not the flying elephant with whom the DUMBO neighborhood shares a name. But she is a painting pachyderm. Dondi, 33, will exhibit her artwork at a neighborhood festival tomorrow and Sunday. Its a natural movement of the trunk, explained Zannah Mass, cultural affairs director for developer Two Trees. The real estate company is expected to bring the 8,000-pound artist, originally from Thailand, for an appearance at the 11th annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival this weekend.
2007-09-27 - Keonjhar, United States.
The recent death of two elephants in the rail accident and another one due to electrocution in Keonjhar district has brought to forefront the threat faced by the pachyderms of this area. Sources said that there were 112 elephants in Keonjhar in 2002. In 2005 the number came down to 69. In 2007 the number of elephants in this district is only 51. While there are eight males, 14 females,and six calves in the Keonjhar forest division, in the Anandapur wild division there are 18 elephants, including...
2007-09-27 - Los Angeles, United States. Randolph E. Schmid
Attacking several tons of woolly mammoth with stone-tipped spears must have taken extraordinary courage — and ancient people left paintings to prove they did it. Now, scientists are approaching mammoths in a different way, extracting DNA from their dense coats in an effort to learn more about them. Mammoths are extinct, of course. No one knows if the cause was climate change, hungry Neanderthals or something else — but they left behind remains, often frozen in the tundra.
2007-09-27 - Knoxville, United States. Sam Watson
More shovel-tusked elephant remains have surfaced at the Gray Fossil Site seven years after scientists first identified portions of the fossilized behemoth in the early days of the sites discovery. Having searched in vain in previous digs, East Tennessee State University researchers struck gold this week after getting a better idea of where an elephant pelvis and other fragments were found from some of the original investigators.
2007-09-26 - Edmonton, Canada.
The Valley Zoo said goodbye to Samantha the elephant as she left to be a mom in her new home in North Carolina. The 19-year-old elephant will be part of the breeding program at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, which recently expanded its elephant enclosure to include seven acres in a naturalized habitat. The Valley Zoo has been Samantha's home since 1988. Staff stroked and petted Samantha before she boarded the moving truck Tuesday night. Zoo operations manager Dean Treichel said they're sad ...
2007-09-26 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
Zoo keepers at Colchester Zoo have become extremely concerned about the health of one of its elephants. Keepers at the zoo are worried about the progress of Rosa the elephant, who has been under a pioneering drug treatment for several months now with no improvement. In May Rosa was examined under anaesthetic to assess her condition which was causing her obvious discomfort and compromising her welfare. The procedure confirmed scarring to her vagina which was affecting the nerves in the pelvic are...
2007-09-25 - Vallejo, United States.
Responsible for the feeding, cleaning and maintenance of Elephant Encounter area and for entry level training of elephants and behaviors. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Feed, brush and bathe animals as directed by Supervisor or Asst. Supervisor. Give commands to ask elephant to lay down, move. If needed, brush elephant from atop their back and head. Perform night feeds as assigned. Clean animal enclosure areas including log show, elephant theatre, rides, yard, pool and barn. Hose down and sque...
2007-09-25 - Nairobi, Kenya. Karen Allen
British soldiers training in Kenya, accused of frightening wildlife, say they did not overfly the game reserves. The soldiers, it was claimed, had been flying helicopters so low that they were scaring off the wild animals. Game wardens in the Samburu district complained that the British forces were hampering Kenya's conservation efforts. The allegations sparked an urgent investigation and the British High Commission now says none of the alleged incidents took place.
2007-09-24 - Stavropolsky, Russian Federation.
Skeleton of a southern elephant, who lived millions of years ago, was discovered in Stavropolsky region by workers in an open pit. To date scientists know only four such skeletons. One of said skeletons was discovered in the same region in 1960 and is now exhibited in regional museum, Three more elephants found home in Paris, Saint Peterburg and Tbilisi.
2007-09-24 - Miami, United States. MONICA HATCHER
You think you've got to deal with a lot of crap at work? You aint got nothin on Tarah Bedrossian. As Miami Metro Zoos elephant manager and enrichment coordinator, Bedrossian and her team of four are responsible for removing hundreds of pounds of elephant dung each day. Its just one of the many daily chores of elephant husbandry. We use rakes, shovels, pitch forks and wheelbarrows. We wheelbarrow it out twice a day, Bedrossian, 31, said. The staff, in fact, once weighed a single elephant's output...
2007-09-24 - Boston, United States. Andy Nelson
A friend of mine in Oregon, Michael Wilhelm, is a nature photographer, and he once told me, I don't want to just take pictures of animals, I want to capture their behavior. His words rang in my head when I was recently in South Africa and encountered a young elephant and his family. I think elephants are amazing and shot plenty of pretty pictures of this animal and of the herd as they were walking.
2007-09-24 - Gulu, Uganda. David Kilama
Several elephants have invaded IDP camps in Amuru District destroying crops threatening peoples lives and forcing many to flee to safety. The elephants, which came from Murchison Falls National Park, are said to be searching for food. The most affected areas are Koch Goma Sub-county, Amar and Alero parishes and Ongako Camp.
2007-09-23 - Jackson, United States. Tracie Simer
A fossil skeleton stands at 19 feet, the tusks are 8 feet long and its more than 12,000 years old. Its the only display of its kind in West Tennessee. A woolly mammoth skeleton is on exhibit at the Obion County museum through June. The county has it on loan from Russia.
2007-09-23 - Chennai, India.
Giving details of the world famous Thrissur Pooram, organised for the first time in the city, at a press conference here, Association President M Nanda Govind said the city police had firmly denied permission to bring elephants from Kerala. Some of them would be mechanised elephants, operated remotely. They will raise their trunks and even bless the visitors, he said, addding the caparisoned life-like elephants would be displayed with full decorations, including silk umbrellas, peacock fans and ...
2007-09-23 - Sammanturai, Sri Lanka. Wasantha Chandrapala
The menacing wild elephant is today the oft talked about subject in almost every village which is close to forest areas. Hardly a day passes sans some incident involving this animal. It appears that the attempts made by the Wild Life authorities are hardly able to control this hazardous situation. Ampara district figures more prominently in such episodes where confrontation between man and beast is most common. The most recent incident happened last Tuesday when a two year-old girl became a vict...
2007-09-22 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Wildlife Department sources say that 117 wild elephants died so far this year. The majority of the elephant deaths were reported from the Northwestern Wildlife Zone which inhabits the most number of elephants. Fifty four elephants were killed there. In the Mahaweli zones 37 elephants were killed. Twenty were killed in South and two killings each were reported from Central, Yala, Bundala and East Wildlife zones.
2007-09-22 - Sacramento, United States. Dixie Reid
The 51-year-old Baby appears to be dozing off while six members of the circus crew shampoo and scrub her with wire brushes. The elephants are bathed daily with a vegetable-based shampoo to keep their hides clean and exfoliated, says Carrie Coleman, a veterinary technician with a degree from Purdue University who travels with the show. While the others wait for Baby to be done with her shower, 46-year-old Siam, who is a little impatient, uses her trunk to snort up soap suds making their way to th...
2007-09-21 - Minneapolis, United States. DAVID HANNERS
With a council chamber packed by zealots, schoolchildren, executives in fezzes and a guy with a sign saying the president should be impeached, the Minneapolis City Council on Friday declined to ban circuses from the city. The council spent two hours debating the proposed ordinance, then decided to send alternative legislation, which would regulate, not ban, circus animals, back to a committee for more tweaking. As debate and time dragged on, discussing motions, amendments, alternative motions, e...
2007-09-21 - Birmingham, United States. Walter Bryant
The Birmingham Zoo unveiled plans for a major new exhibit Thursday night, a $15 million, 14-acre showcase for African beasts and birds that officials hope will transform the 52-year-old zoo as a tourist destination. The Trails of Africa exhibit will also mark the return of elephants to Birmingham, something that has been missing since the zoos beloved Mona died in June. The new exhibit, which will push the zoo into a portion of the wooded property surrounding the current zoo proper, will include...
2007-09-21 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Veterinarians at a zoo in eastern India struggled Friday to save an orphaned baby elephant who was injured when a train killed its mother, officials said. The 4-month-old elephant was brought to the Nandankanan Zoo in the city of Bhubaneswar with slight injuries, but its chances of surviving without its mother were estimated at 50 percent, said zoo director Ajit Patnaik. The Nandankanan zoo earlier had the opportunity to take care of more than 20 orphaned wild baby elephants and nearly 50...
2007-09-20 - Waco, United States. R.A. DYER
Not far from modest suburban homes in the middle of some thick Texas woods lies a secret boneyard. Surrounded by a tall chain-link fence and covered by what looks like a red-and-white circus tent, the site contains the remains of towering monsters. Remains of at least 25 mammoths, signs of a big saber-toothed cat and a long extinct camel have been found at the site.
2007-09-20 - Dehradun, India.
An adult elephant was found dead in Barkot forest range of Doiwala area in the state, the official sources today said. The pachyderms death came to light last evening when villagers informed the forest guards patrolling the area about the animals body lying there. The sources, however, have ruled out any foul play behind the mammals death as his tusks and other vital organs were found to be intact. A postmortem is being conducted to ascertain the cause of the elephant's death.
2007-09-20 - Keonjhar, India. Swati Thiyagarajan
Two female elephants were killed when a goods train rammed into them in Orissas Keonjhar district. Two other elephants of the herd trying to cross a railway track have been injured. The track falls on the usual migratory route of the herds. A big male bull with injuries is still at large while two female elephants were killed outright. A baby elephant injured and shocked after the accident has now been removed to the Nandakanan zoo for care.
2007-09-20 - Agoura, United States. Ian Manning
In June, 1969, I came back to the Luangwa to hunt for Luangwa safaris, first flying up to Fort Jameson where Norman Carr, one of the partners, ran the business. The field operations were run by his partner, Peter Hankin, from a bush headquarters at Chanjusi in the Luangwa. I arrived at Chanjusi, feeling a little like the once successful actor attempting a comeback after a period of absence, for I had left for Canada fully two dry seasons ago. To return again and see the vistas of Cathedral mopan...
2007-09-20 - Kochi, India.
Film personalities, including Dilip Kumar and John Abraham, have taken up the cause of elephants by urging all states to ban the entry of the animals into urban areas. Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu, Abraham, Raveena Tandon, Yana Gupta, Rahul Khanna and Celina Jaitley are among those who have signed a petition of the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals that asks all chief ministers not to allow elephants to enter urban areas.
2007-09-20 - Gumare, Botswana.
A 75-year-old woman of Beetsha has been killed by elephants. Gumare-based Senior Game Warden, Mr Phepa Babopi, said the woman was killed last week while cutting trees in her field to prepare for the ploughing season. He said the woman was accompanied by her daughter who ran away. Mr Babopi said the elephants were incensed by dogs that barked at them earlier during the day. The woman was buried over the weekend in Beetsha.
2007-09-20 - New Bedford, United States. Pamela Marean
Find out what its like to have a curious elephant reach out to touch you with its powerful trunk. Get up close and personal with New Bedfords resident pachyderms, Emily and Ruth, and help the giant and gentle creatures of their kind around the globe at the same time. Elephant appreciation and fundraising is the focus behind a whole host of exciting activities at Buttonwood Park Zoo on Sunday. Those who come will enjoy behind-the-scenes experiences with these unique endangered animals that are us...
Not far from modest suburban homes in the middle of some thick Texas woods lies a secret boneyard. Surrounded by a tall chain-link fence and covered by what looks like a red-and-white circus tent, the site contains the remains of towering monsters. Remains of at least 25 mammoths, signs of a big saber-toothed cat and a long extinct camel have been found at the site. This is the Waco Mammoth Site, a collection of prehistoric fossils embedded in the dirt not far from the Bosque River. The site cou...
2007-09-19 - Santa Barbara, United States.
The Santa Barbara Zoo is seeking a keeper for our elephant team. This position will carry out all basic aspects of the daily care of the animals, including, but not limited to: training, enrichment, maintenance of exhibits, and enhancing the guest experience. This position is part of a dynamic and progressive Animal Care team. The position may be filled at the apprentice keeper, keeper, or senior keeper level depending on experience, with wages ranging from $11 to $15/hr.
2007-09-19 - Philadelphia, United States.
The Philadelphia Zoo said Wednesday it now plans to say goodbye to its three remaining elephants by early next year. The move had been planned for the fall. The African elephants will be moved to the Pittsburgh Zoos International Conservation Center, which is in Fairhope, Somerset County, Pa. At the earliest, the elephants would be moved late this year. A fourth elephant was moved earlier this year to the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn.
2007-09-19 - Lira, Uganda. Julius Ocen
Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army has reacted with fury to plans for a joint Ugandan-Congolese military attack on its main base in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rebels have based themselves in the DRC's Garamba National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inhabited by the world's last few northern white rhinos, the only known population of Congo giraffe and elephants, buffalos, and hippopotamus.
2007-09-19 - San Diego, United States.
While the San Diego Zoo still celebrates the recent birth of a baby girl panda, the Wild Animal Park has something to celebrate too. The 17-year-old African elephant, Umoya (oo-MOY-ah), gave birth Wednesday to a healthy bouncing baby girl. The female calf was born at 12:23 a.m. She is the third elephant born at the park in the past 12 months. Umoya, which meansspirit in the SiSwati language, and her calf will be slowly introduced to the rest of the herd. Keepers and researchers are monitoring th...
2007-09-19 - Dublin, Ireland. Robert Cox
If you're thinking of getting a closer look at Dublin Zoo's latest addition, - the baby Indian elephant recently christened Asha, be sure to admire the gates of the elephant enclosure when you're there. And when you come back you can congratulate local company, Globe Metalworks, based in Rooskey, who designed and installed the 12 gates between the enclosure and the elephant house.
2007-09-19 - Keonjhar, India.
Two female elephants were killed on the spot and two others sustained injuries when a goods train ran over a herd in this mineral-rich district early on Wednesday. The train accident leading to death of two elephants was said to be the first major accident in the state. The accident took place about 10 km away from Joda town. Forest department personnel rescued one of the two injured elephants from the spot after the locals informed them about the mishap. The injured baby elephant, which lost it...
2007-09-19 - Louisville, United States. Sheldon S. Shafer
Scotty, the Louisville Zoo's pride and joy, can raise each of his legs on command and, at least sometimes, can hold on to the tail of his mother, Mikki, with his still-developing trunk. In addition to learning a trick or two, the baby African elephant is learning to be calm around people and to show some patience, said Dave Campbell, the zoo's elephant-area supervisor.
2007-09-18 - Bardiya, Nepal.
The wild elephants have demolished 26 houses of freed Kamaiyas in Neulapur VDC-4, Khimarhawaphant, last night. The wild elephants from Bardiya National Park ate the food grains and damaged all the clothes and utensils in the house. The administration of national park has not shown any interest towards preventing the elephant rampage in Neulapur, Nagnaha, Gaula, Thakurdara and Shivapur VDCs of the district. Necessary human resource has been sent to various areas of the district as to prevent the ...
2007-09-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Colombo University Senior Professor on Ecology Sarath Kotagama says that through the estimates in the past 100 years and the records on man – elephant conflicts, he can prove that the countrys elephant population grew despite the popular belief of decline. He points out that the elephant population was less than 1,000 according to 1953 estimations. The 1973 estimates accounted the elephant population between 1600 – 2200. According to an estimate conducted by Dr. Nandana Athapattu and Man...
2007-09-18 - San Diego, United States.
The San Diego Zoo has received a nearly $1 million state grant to help build a new elephant exhibit. The zoo is weeks away from breaking ground on the $45 million project. AdvertisementThe funds come from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment Board, which distributes money from a state infrastructure bond that voters approved in 2002. The exhibit, to be called Elephant Odyssey, qualified for the public money because it will show how modern-day animals, such as elephants and jaguars, a...
2007-09-18 - Virginia, United States. LIA RUSSELL
Cita, a 38-year-old African elephant, displayed her creative talents while Kristen held a board with a painting canvas. "Cita, paint!" was the command. Holding a brush with her trunk, the talented pachyderm alternately swooshed ribbons of pink, green and blue paint (colors specially selected by Kristen) on the canvas. Her reward? Bananas and corn, offered between brush strokes. Note: she also eats the skins and the cobs. And painting isn't Cita's only artistic accomplishment. Before coming to Vi...
2007-09-18 - St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. Irina Titova
At least five elephants, a herd of zebras and thousands more animals from St. Petersburg’s zoo will find a new spacious home near the Yuntolovsky reserve by 2011. A decision on the construction of the new zoo in the Primorsky district was announced by Governor Valentina Matviyenko last week at a meeting of City Hall. It should be done in such a way that the animals will be living not in ‘communal apartments’ [cramped multi-family residences common in downtown St. Petersburg] but in luxurio...
2007-09-18 - Maputu, Mozambique.
The Mozambican government on Monday authorised soldiers to gun down wild animals who are seen as a threat to human beings after a new report highlighted an increase in the number of deadly attacks. The number of people killed by wild animals keeps increasing, said the government-sponsored report which found that around 300 people had been killed in the last decade. Elephants and crocodiles were responsible for most of these deaths, said government spokesman Luis Covane. The government has theref...
2007-09-17 - Bangalore, India.
The book, Elephant Kingdom (published Aug 2007, Mapin) was launched last week in Bangalore. Elephant Kingdom traces the myriad stories and symbolisms behind India's much-loved animal throug its depictions in architectural sculpture. At the heart of the study is a collection of over sixty color photographs from a diversity of antique sett ings, many of them in remote parts of the sub continent.
2007-09-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Animal Planets Kingdom of the Elephants is a 60-minute documentary special filmed entirely on location in Southeast Asia that explores the complex bond between elephants and the people of Thailand. Catch the trumpeting on 9th September at 8pm, on ASTRO Channel 51.
2007-09-17 - Mysore, India.
Mahouts looking after the Dasara elephants are literally on the streets as the make-shift tents erected for their temporary stay have been damaged due to the incessant downpour of the last three days. More than 50 members of the mahout families, including children are taking shelter in the Mysore Palace grounds as it is impossible to live in the temporary tents in the prevailing rainy conditions. Adding to their woes, the food materials they had kept in the tents have also been ruined.
2007-09-17 - Sydney, Australia. Andrew Dunkley
Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon is asking that the six Thai elephants at Taronga be relocated to Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo as soon as possible. She sites a situation in Alaska where an elephant is due to be moved from a small environment to an open range zoo and believes the same should apply here. M/S Rhiannon went on to say that evidence gathered by a former Melbourne Zoo employee shows that the Sydney based elephants have only one fifth of a hectare to live in which is hardly adequate.
2007-09-16 - Sydney, Australia. Greg Hassall
How do you masturbate an elephant? Very carefully, you might think. Actually, no - it turns out the kinky devils are best stimulated by repeatedly thrusting an arm up their backside. Best left to the experts, methinks.This BBC documentary follows the efforts of scientists to save animals such as elephants, rhinos and cheetahs from extinction by means of artificial insemination, IVF and even cloning.
2007-09-16 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Ganesh Chathurthi meant holiday for the seven elephants of the Jumbo Circus. Special poojas were conducted for the pachyderms and they were treated to specially-prepared food. Circus artistes wearing traditional Kerala sarees applied tilak on the foreheads of the kneeling elephants as other artistes looked on. Elephants are among the few animals which are currently allowed in circuses after the Central Government banned wild animals like tiger and lion.
2007-09-16 - Nhon Hoa, Vietnam. Tien Phong
When I was young, Nhon Hoa had hundreds of elephants. Every village had elephants, from several to dozens of elephants. In 1993, Nhon Hoa had 16 elephants but now the number is zero, said Mr. Nay Tor, a village patriarch in Nhon Hoa. Nguyen Tan Thanh, Director of the Gia Lai Tourism Service Company, is one of the builders of the famous brand “Nhon Hoa elephant village”, which is widely known by local and international visitors who come to the Central Highlands.
2007-09-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
C-Pack members were discussing Big-Houses proposal to gift an elephant to Romania. But Mano said they could gift more elephants after November once the remaining Em Pees quit Green leader after their move to topple G-ment fails with the budget vote.
2007-09-15 - Mysore, India.
The VIPs, from the ministers to the commissioner of police, Mysore, were all there. So were the hosts of priests and senior officials, to greet them with the traditional nadaswaram, to offer special prayers and to invoke divine blessings for their welfare. For Balarama, Bharata, Varalakshmi, Gajendra, Arjuna and Revathi, this pampering, however, is not new. They go through this ritual, enjoying every minute of it, once a year. Balarama and his five friends comprise a batch of 12 elephants that w...
2007-09-15 - Seattle, United States. Mailand C, Wasser SK. University of Washington
This protocol describes a method for the extraction of DNA from elephant ivory. These techniques are being used to assign geographic origin to poached ivory by comparing the ivory genotype to a geographic-based gene frequency map, developed separately. The method has three components: ivory pulverization, decalcification and DNA extraction. Pulverization occurs in a freezer mill while the sample is deep frozen in liquid nitrogen, preventing degradation of DNA during the process. Decalcification ...
2007-09-15 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Nandagopal Nair
A Vinayaka Chaturthi with a difference was celebrated in Kerala where the Gods came alive at a circus in Thiruvananthapuram. NDTV has an exclusive report. The Gaja Puja on Ganesh Chaturthi is an annual event and is a thanks giving to the animals that draw in the crowds all year round. Usually on Ganesh Chaturthi we do this puja. We worship our elephants, said Ajay Shankar, partner, Jumbo Circus. A 57-year-old Zulban Ali has been taking care of the elephants at the circus for thirty years. A fift...
2007-09-14 - Chester, United Kingdom.
A vacancy has arisen to join the Elephant Team in developing our Elephant care programme and manage our growing herd. Candidates should have proven experience of working with a mixed herd in both free and protected contact. This is not a post for a trainee. This vacancy may be filled at either keeper or senior keeper level dependent upon the previous experience and qualifications of candidates. Ideally candidates will have a higher education qualificatio...
2007-09-14 - Guanzhou, China.
China has wrapped up an historic five-day exchange with law enforcement officers from five ASEAN countries to address one of the region’s major crime issues jointly. The China-ASEAN Wildlife Law Enforcement Co-operation exchange in Guangzhou and Shenzhen aimed to strengthen regional co-operation in the fight against wildlife crime. Eight officials representing police, Customs and environmental agencies from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines joined Chinese counterpart...
2007-09-14 - Fairhope, United States. TIFFANY WRIGHT
Residents who will soon be neighbors to African elephants attended an informal gathering to discuss the effect the animals may have on the community. Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium officials addressed residents' questions and concerns at Glen Savage Ranch Thursday night regarding the development of the International Conservation Center. The center is located on the 724-acre property and will focus on African elephant breeding. There are also plans to construct shelters, stalls and an indoor arena...
2007-09-13 - Livingstone, Zambia.
A Lone Elephant has destroyed property worth over $30,000 on an Island on the Zambezi River in the tourist capital Livingstone. The property belongs to Tongabezi Safaris. This is the third time this week that property has been destroyed by the same elephant. The beast is alleged to have strayed from neighbouring Zimbabwe. A check by ZNBC news found the island’s makeshift tents, fridge and stove destroyed. Some Zambia Wildlife Authority game rangers were also on the island to access the damage ...
2007-09-13 - Anchorage, United States. Steve Mac Donald
Maggie the elephant will soon be a California girl. The Alaska Zoo Board of Directors chose to send its beloved elephant to a sanctuary run by the Performing Animal Welfare Society, also known as PAWS. The board made the decision during a closed-door meeting last night, but the board didn't make that choice public until this afternoon. For nearly all of her 25 years, Maggie has called a pen at the Alaska Zoo home, but not much longer. After months of research, debate and pressure, the Zoo's boar...
2007-09-13 - Pittsburgh, United States. Kellie B. Gormly
Macys Elephant Day activities at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium will make a party of ginormous proportions for elephants Victoria and Callee, who were born on Sept. 12 and 19, respectively. The elephants are a year apart in age: Victoria will be 8, and Callee will be 7.
2007-09-13 - Cleveland, United States. Charles Cassady
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and RainForest, celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2007 with “Zoobilee,” a day-long celebration with music and fun on Saturday, with extended Zoo hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. “We’ve never had a Zoobilee before,” said Tom O’Konowitz of the Zoo’s marketing department. “Because of our 125th anniversary we wanted to have a special party like none we’ve ever had before.”
2007-09-12 - Bangalore, India.
Ivory worth lakhs of rupees was recently recovered from an antique dealer in Bangalore. CNN-IBN Special Investigation team along with the Karnataka Police unearthed one link in the illegal trade in ivory. On Monday morning, the teams managed to get a confessional statement out of one of the accused Murthy. “I was selling the ivory on someone else's behalf,” he said. Murthy was arrested by the Karnataka Police's Wildlife cell on Wednesday morning. Just a day before, he was accosted by CNN-IBN...
2007-09-12 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Wildlife Department office of the Trincomalee district of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka announced that 40 wild elephants were killed so far in this year in Trincomalee district alone. Meanwhile, in the adjacent Sigiriya area Wildlife officers and villagers were working round the clock to rescue two wild elephants that had fallen into a cultivation well near Indugaswewa on Monday night.
2007-09-12 - Minneapolis, United States. Brandt Williams
The Minneapolis City Council takes up an issue not usually on its agenda: the safety of circus animals. A proposal before the council would ban wild animal circuses in the city. While some say its the way to prevent animal cruelty, other council members say the move is misguided. The proposed circus animal ban will face opposition on the council. Councilmembers Paul Ostrow and Betsy Hodges are pushing a substitute ordinance that forgoes an all-out ban in favor of tighter restrictions for circus ...
2007-09-12 - Bangalore, India. Raghava M.
Flouting well laid-out guidelines enunciated by the Supreme Court, forest officials at the Bandipur National Park have left the carcasses of wild elephants as food for other animals, an official inquiry has revealed. Eight elephants were found dead at the park between June 2006 and June 2007. The State Police (Forest Cell), which is inquiring into the elephants deaths, found that the carcasses were left in the forest without either being buried or cremated.
2007-09-11 - Vanderbijlpark, South Africa. Elise Tempelhoff, Beeld
An elephant cow in the Pilanesberg nature reserve first chased a game warden for 100 metres, then tore his pants open with her tusk. Later she played a bit of soccer with him. When he landed on his back next to her she stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then shook her head and ambled off back to the matriarch, young cows and calves. Eugene le Roux, 29, chief game warden at Bakubung Bush Lodge said while he was lying staring into the elephants eyes, he hoped his death would be quick.
2007-09-11 - San Diego, United States.
The San Diego Zoos Wild Animal Park hosted a special birthday celebration for an elephant that turned 1-year-old Tuesday. Khosi was treated with a cake, which she celebrated with family and friends. Most of the time, her mother Umngani was by her side. Khosis mother was one of seven elephants rescued from Swaziland and brought to the park. Zoo officials said Khosi weighs in at almost 850 pounds. When she was a newborn, she tipped the scales at 209 pounds.
2007-09-11 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Culling elephants could cost South Africa's fast-growing tourism industry dearly, MPs heard on Tuesday. A substantial number of tourists would not come to the country if culling was reintroduced, Animal Rights Africa trustee Steve Smit told members of Parliament's environmental affairs and tourism portfolio committee. This assessment was based on discussions held with local tourism operators and tourism marketing agencies, as well as international animal rights organisations, he said.
2007-09-11 - SELEBI-PHIKWE, Botswana. ONALENNA MODIKWA
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) councillor for Motlhabaneng ward in Bobirwa constituency escaped with minor injuries after hitting an elephant last Saturday evening. Councillor Joseph Madome was travelling from Lentswe le Moriti to Motlhabaneng village when the accident happened, damaging his vehicle beyond repair. Madome said he was travelling along the gravel road when suddenly the elephant run in front of his car, giving him no time to stop.
2007-09-11 - Sydney, Australia.
THEY were the DNA tests that had onlookers wondering if there had been some monkey business in the elephant enclosure. But, as Taronga Zoo keepers were quick to point out yesterday, there was an innocent explanation for the decision to take cheek swabs from the massive animals. The results will be subjected to DNA analysis and then studied by researchers hoping to establish a genetic map of wild elephant populations in their native Cambodia.
2007-09-11 - Windhoek, Namibia.
Namibia's environment and tourism minister Willem Konjore called Tuesday on Namibians to exercise greater care in regions where elephants abound following the death of four people in the past six weeks in run-ins with the giant animals. People in the Caprivi and Kavango regions in the north-east Erongo and Kunene in the west and north-west should to more careful in the wild and avoid walking around at night, Konjore in a press release sent to international media Tuesday. Both locals and tourists...
2007-09-11 - Windhoek, Namibia. Petronella Sibeene
A protracted wrangle between humans and elephants in the Caprivi, Kavango, Kunene and the Erongo regions will only come to an end once the Human Management Policy is approved by Cabinet and put into effect, says the Minister of Environment and Tourism Willem Konjore. The policy will consist of mechanisms that should reduce the level of human-wildlife conflict, ensure that the benefits of conservation management outweigh the costs and build on the significance of successes already achieved. The p...
2007-09-11 - Tzaneen, South Africa. Fiona Macleod
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk is having a rough ride after he spent time at a Limpopo outfit that captured young elephants from the wild for elephant-back safaris. Wildlife groups are furious after Van Schalkwyk visited Elephants for Africa Forever (Efaf), an elephant training outfit that caused an outcry in April last year when it "kidnapped" six elephants aged between six and 12 in the Selati private game reserve.
2007-09-11 - Daklak, Vietnam. Tuoi Tre, Tuong Nhi
A herd of over 20 elephants has been destroying large tracts of paddy and corn fields in Daklak province in Vietnam’s central highlands with authorities unable to find a way to chase the animals away. Since last week more than 20 hectares belonging to some 25 families had been destroyed, officials in La Lop commune said. Several structures put up as guardhouses too have been destroyed. Vi Van Binh, one of the officials, said the herd was different from the ones that had wreaked havoc in previo...
2007-09-11 - Calgary, Canada.
Elephant-keeper David Percival walks one-month-old Malti to meet the public for the first time yesterday at the Calgary Zoo.
2007-09-11 - Nagaland, India. S.Nsemo Tungu
A herd of wild elephants continues to create havoc in Yanmhon Old village area for the past several years.Several appeals have been made to higher agencies for attention even in the past. Above all, for the last few days they have been aggressively disturbing the villagers, destroying paddy fields around the village and even destroyed few houses and a granary on the foot hills of the village, endangering human life causing untold fear psychosis to the villagers.
The Calgary Zoos newest all-star attraction made her public debut Monday in front of several hundred adoring fans. Just one month old and wearing a down coat to keep away the autumn morning chills, baby Asian elephant Malti sauntered up and down the paddock with zookeepers on either side like a movie star with her security guards. Head elephant keeper Bob Kam says while Malti is starting to gain more than a kilogram daily, the zoo is still concerned about her bonding with mom, Maharani.
2007-09-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The zoo accommodates a number of primates, some in larger areas than the big cats. But the most distressing sight is that of the elephants, five of them, all chained to the ground. Thankfully, Alipore zoo now has them in open spaces surrounded by moats, although it still cannot stop visitors from feeding them all kinds of rubbish. Yet the elephants are the USP of the Colombo zoo which, together with the famous elephant orphanage in Pinnawala and the farm at Gonapola, form the National Zoological...
2007-09-10 - La Grange, United States. Joe Sinopoli
Hundreds of excited students, teachers, children and parents came to St. Cletus School Wednesday to watch Viola do her stuff. The 35-year-old female Asian elephant was brought out to help raise the Big Top at St. Cletus School for the sold-out Kelly Miller Circus show Wednesday. As a special treat, students at the school were allowed to take time out of class to come and watch as the tent was raised. The tent, made in Italy from a fire-proof material, measures 160-feet by 160-feet and can accomm...
2007-09-10 - Fairbanks, United States. ROBINSON DUFFY
Ten-year-old J.P. Post was walking home from Woodriver Elementary School last week when he came face to face, or rather face to tooth, with a giant woolly mammoth that roamed his neighborhood more than 10,000 years ago. The boy was traveling home on Aug. 22 along a well-worn path through a wooded area off Amherst Drive directly north of the school when he saw what looked like a jagged rock sticking out of the ground.
2007-09-09 - Mankarai, India. Jehovah. G
An ailing elephant, known for its notoriety for long in the villages on the outskirts of Coimbatore, has been saved from living with excruciating pain, courtesy forest rangers and wildlife officials' timely help. The jumbo, believed to be around 13 years of age, is said to often enter the villages and habitats in Mankari in search of food for the past couple of years. Often it devoured and damaged the crops. A few days ago, the villagers noticed the elephant ailing in the fringed reserve forest ...
2007-09-08 - Bangkok, Thailand. ZACK YUSOF
There’s a well-known saying among film directors that one should never work with children or animals, let alone on the same project. But that’s exactly what director, producer and cinematographer Joseph Pontecorvo has had to do on his documentary, Kingdom of the Elephants, which premières tomorrow on Animal Planet at 8pm. Kingdom of the Elephants is an hour-long documentary filmed entirely on location in South-East Asia. It explores the complex bond between the elephants and the people of T...
2007-09-08 - Salt Lake City, United States. Brandon Griggs
In Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II, two resourceful keepers of the citys bombed-out zoo rescued Jews by smuggling them into empty animal enclosures. The Zookeepers Wife details how Jan Zabinski helped the Polish resistance by storing explosives in the elephant enclosure, a fact he even kept secret from his wife, and sneaking Jews from the Warsaw ghetto into the zoo, where he gave them animal code names and hid them successfully for years. His wife, Antonina, meanwhile, used her rare cha...
2007-09-08 - Buttala, Sri Lanka.
A Sri Lankan eco-lodge built in the shape of an elephant has been nominated for a top slot at the World Travel Awards, its operators said. KumbukRiver, in Okkampitiya in the Buttala is about 250 kilometres away from the capital Colombo and are among the eight lodges nominated for Leading Eco-Lodge in the World at the World Travel Awards to be held later this year. The first time Sri Lanka figures among the world’s leading classifications at the showpiece annual event which also includes awards...
2007-09-08 - Sabah, Malaysia.
Scientists from Cardiff University are planning to set up a field centre in Borneo to research and conserve the smallest and rarest elephants in the world. The Bornean Elephant is the focus of a three year study by a group from the School of Biosciences, led by Professor Michael Bruford. From a base in the Malaysian state of Sabah the team are exploring conservation and management strategies for the species. Now the group is in discussions with the Sabah Wildlife Department about the possibiliti...
2007-09-07 - Xuancheng, China. He Shan
Sealed away from the outside world for millions of years, a mountain cave located in Xintian Town, Xuancheng City, southern Anhui Province has recently been excavated and classified by archeologists as a prehistoric cave. It harbors a trove of animal fossil bones and vessels. A huge crescent fossil bone weighing two kilograms was unearthed during the discovery. Experts have verified it as an Asian elephant tooth, the first one of its kind to be excavated from southern Anhui Province.
2007-09-07 - Bridgeport, United States. Jack Kelly
In the lobby of the museum theres a stuffed baby elephant named Baby Bridgeport, which was the second elephant ever born in captivity. Its emblematic of another of Barnums passions. Among the many elephants he owned was the six-and-a-half-ton Jumbo, which he imported in 1882 to display in his circus. He generated a Jumbo-mania so widespread that the animals name entered the language.
2007-09-07 - Nghe An, Vietnam.
The central province of Nghe An has taken measures to protect wild elephants and ensure safety for local people and their properties that are threatened by the big animals. According to local rangers, two herds of wild elephants with around nine heads in the province in recent years have attacked residential areas and destroyed crops in Anh Son, Thanh Chuong, Con Cuong, Tuong Duong and Que Phong districts.
2007-09-06 - Jaipur, India.
Elephant owners in Rajasthan are miffed over the delay in getting their licenses for elephants renewed as it has led to the jumbos sitting idle and their owners being financially hurt in the busy tourist season. Dozens of elephants are used to ferry tourists to the Amer fort, on the outskirts of Jaipur, and the September month marks the beginning of the tourist season here.
2007-09-06 - Everett, United States. David Chircop
Last month, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., denied an attempt by Ringling Bros. to throw out a lawsuit accusing trainers of abusing elephants with sharpened bull hooks, inhumanly chaining the animals and separating babies from their mothers in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit was filed in 2000 by the Alexandria, Va., Animal Welfare Institute. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other groups later joined on. Ringling Bros. says the charges ar...
2007-09-05 - Hamilton, United States. Natalie Miller
Green Meadows Farm had an unusual visitor this past weekend — a live Asian elephant named Minnie. Minnie was brought to Hamilton from Connecticut to carry the weight of tradition during the wedding ceremony of Cambridge couple Rahul Bhargava and Emily Rosenberg. The couple was married on the grassy spread in the middle of the Hamilton farm on Sunday, Sept. 2 with all the traditional fixings of a dual-cultural couple. Bhargava is of Indian decent and his bride is Jewish American.
2007-09-05 - Durgapur, India.
Naughty Sabitri has returned home after a whirlwind romance with the tall, dark bloke she bolted with a week ago. The couple were a fair distance from each other this morning, possibly after having made love. A forest team stepped in and created a din, which drove the hunk away. Forest officers said the tusker had got what he wanted. Sabitri, too, had had the moment of her life. She responded to her mahout today after giving him the cold shoulder for days.
2007-09-05 - Dublin, Ireland.
There were jumbo celebrations in Dublin Zoo today as its first baby elephant was officially named. Asha, meaning hope in Hindi, was chosen for the bouncing baby girl who arrived almost four months ago weighing in at 80kg (176lb). Zookeepers trumpeted Asha’s arrival in the early hours of May 7 when she became the first elephant to be born in Ireland. Infrared cameras capture the natural birth and showed her taking her first steps within eight minutes. Asha can be seen with her mother Bernhardin...
2007-09-05 - London, United Kingdom.
Two of 13 new life-size elephants made from willow at London's Hyde Park. The works were made by Suffolk topiary expert Steve Manning and commissioned by the charity organisation Elephant Family to help support elephant habitat projects.
2007-09-05 - Crook, United Kingdom.
THE first man ever to film a Malaysian tiger in the wild has been trampled by an elephant in an Asian jungle. Wildlife cameraman Stephen Hogg, from Crook, County Durham, a friend of Sir David Attenborough, who faces tigers, crocodiles, spiders and other dangers on a regular basis was almost killed when he came face to face with the female elephant and her calf. Mr Hogg, 50, who works as a photographic consultant for the Malaysian World Wide Fund for nature, and who worked with Sir David on the T...
2007-09-05 - Budapest, Hungary. Pestiside Staff
You may have read over on Caboodle that Hungary's first ever African elephant was born in captivity at Nyíregyháza Zoo yesterday. However, reading about it is nothing compared to seeing the supercute MTI snaps (the one above with a not-so-cute handler) via the supercute Cukiság, Index's blog dedicated to all things that make you want to go Awwww. However, when the baby bull's time comes to pack his trunk, government tightening of the animal labor market may leave him jobless.
2007-09-05 - Sostoi ut, Hungary.
An elephant has been born in Hungary for the first time in 50 years at the Nyíregyháza Zoo Tuesday afternoon. Zoo Director László Gajdos said that this is also the first African elephant to be born in the country, as all previous elephant babies were Indian. The mother elephant, Yoki, arrived at the zoo from Israel last year. A few months ago, her pregnancy was revealed in a laboratory in Berlin. Yesterday afternoon, Yoki was walking in her runner when an attendant noticed that her water had...
2007-09-05 - Traverse city, United States.
They arent certain, but underwater archeologists say they may have discovered a boulder with a prehistoric carving in Lake Michigans Grand Traverse Bay. The granite rock has markings that resemble a mastodon, an elephant-like creature that once inhabited parts of North America, with what could be a spear in its side, say divers who have seen it. They came across the boulder at a depth of about 12 metres while searching for shipwrecks in June, said Mark Holley, a scientist with the Grand Traverse...
2007-09-05 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Tamed elephants are a dwindling breed in Sri Lanka that has posed a problem for the conduct of the numerous Peraheras, Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said. According to the Minister, there are only 137 tamed elephants in the country and it has posed a major obstacle in conducting of nearly 72 annual peraheras throughout the country. Ranawaka said tuskers too are a rapidly dwindling species with only 17 of the breed found in Sri Lanka. This is a substantial decrease and is bound to...
2007-09-04 - Washington, United States. Archie EA, Hollister-Smith JA, Poole JH, Lee PC, Moss CJ, Maldonado JE, Fleischer RC, Alberts SC. Smithsonian Institution
Here we combine 28 years of behavioural and demographic data on wild elephants with genotypes from 545 adult females, adult males, and calves in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, to test the hypothesis that elephants engage in sexual behaviour and reproduction with relatives less often than expected by chance. We found support for this hypothesis: males engaged in proportionally fewer sexual behaviours and sired proportionally fewer offspring with females that were natal family members or close gen...
2007-09-04 - London, United Kingdom.
Today, hundreds of Asian elephants are marooned in pockets of habitat, cut off from food and water sources by our busy roads and railways. Here in London, our own (much smaller!) wildlife residents would be stranded in the city if The Royal Parks could not provide safe passage across the urban sprawl. Make your way to Hyde Park from 4th-18th September and celebrate elephant trunks and tree trunks with us.
2007-09-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The 46th elephant cub born in Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka recently was ceremoniously named today as Vidula. The elephant cub received the name after a children’s radio channel initiated by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) recently. The elephant cub got the name Vidula on the request of the pioneer of the radio channel, Sunil Sarath Perera, the Director General of SLBC. Vidula was born to Sapumalee last week. He is the 82nd member of the elephant family in captivity a...
2007-09-04 - Rotterdam, Netherlands.
One of some 30 elephant sculptures embellishing the centre of Rotterdam was badly vandalised late Sunday night. As yet unidentified persons pulled the painted elephant from its pedestal causing the legs to break. Holes were also made in the elephant’s body. “We assume that they have been dancing and jumping on the elephant,” said Mike Spits, the person who took the initiative for the art project on Monday.
2007-09-04 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Efforts to save Sumatran elephants and tigers from extinction gathered steam in Indonesia on Friday, with government officials and experts vowing to find ways to protect the species' dwindling habitat from loggers and farmers. More than 100 people were taking part in the three-day meeting that wraps up Friday. There is a very real danger that Sumatran elephants (and tigers) could become extinct in our lifetime if we don't come to agreement at this workshop, said Christy Williams of the World Wil...
2007-09-04 - Bangalore, India.
The Forest cell of Karnataka police has stumbled upon evidence of poachers luring elephants to swallow bombs, concealed in their food. The tectic is aimed at killing them. According to Superintendent of Karnataka police’s Crime Investigation Department (Forest Cell) S.D. Jawaharlal, the post-mortem report of at least two elephants, who were found dead under mysterious circumstances in the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary, had revealed that the jumbos had chewed explosives that had exploded in their...
2007-09-03 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
THE Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is spending about US$25 000 per month on water game supply for elephants alone at the Hwange National Park as the species' population increases, it has been learnt. Hwange National Park, which is the third biggest in Africa, is the only park in the region providing artificial water supplies. According to experts, neighbouring Botswana does not provide water points at all. In an interview on Friday, Parks director general Dr Morris Mtsambiwa confirmed t...
2007-09-03 - Jalpaiguri, India.
A female elephant died due to illness in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri District. Workers of a tea garden found the elephant lying sick and alerted forest officials, who called in veterinary doctors in an attempt to save the jumbo. Despite the efforts of the veterinary doctors, the female elephant succumbed on Sunday. Animesh Bose, the coordinator of a voluntary organisation, said over 15 elephants has died in north Bengal, this year. According to the 2005 national census, there are between 25,000 to...
2007-09-03 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
The Central Highlands village of Buon Don is renowned throughout the country for importing the ancient Lao practice of elephant taming to the area centuries ago. Located nearly 50 km northwest from the city of Buon Ma Thuot in Dak Lak province and between the two branches of the Serepok River, Buon Don is home to the M’Nong, J’rai, Ede, Lao and Thai ethnic minority groups and for the last two centuries has been the centre of all elephant hunting and taming in Viet Nam.
2007-09-02 - Bangalore, India.
It's the season of jumbo love, and the elephants in the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) are celebrating it with a rare candour. If West Bengal's Ranigunj saw elephants eloping, BBP reported two overactive cow elephants missing for three full days - they returned to the park on Saturday morning, only after an extended honeymoon with wild tuskers. Jumbo romance is not uncommon at the park, located 22 km from Bangalore. Six cow elephants have turned the park into a happy hunting ground for wild ...
2007-09-01 - Berlin, Germany. Hermes R, Göritz F, Streich W, Hildebrandt T., Leibniz Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research
Over the last few decades, rhinoceroses and elephants became important icons in the saga of wildlife conservation. Recent surveys estimate the wild Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) elephant populations to be, at most, 50 250 and 637 600 respectively. For the five rhinoceros species, black (Diceros bicornis), white (Ceratotherium simum), Indian (Rhinoceros unicornis), Javan (Rhinoceros sondaicus) and Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus Sumatrensis), the population estimates ...
2007-09-01 - McMinnville, United States. LAUREN L. DILLARD
A team of archeologists gathered to recover part of a Columbia mammoths upper jawbone from a longtime dig site of his on the South Yamhill River. Ignoring the sound of planes taking off and landing at the adjacent McMinnville Airport, the team carefully uncovered and removed a 34,200-year-old section of maxilla, including one food-grinding molar still in place.
2007-09-01 - Sabah, Malaysia.
Scientists helping protect the smallest and rarest elephants in the world are hoping to set up a fieldwork centre on the island of Borneo. The Bornean elephant is only found in the northern part of the island and was recognised as a new subspecies in 2003. Cardiff University has also studied orang-utans in the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo, for several years. The rainforest where both species live has been damaged by logging and the growth of oil palm plantations.
2007-09-01 - UDAGAMANDALAM, India.
Deaths of a tiger and an elephant on a single day, at Mudumalai wild life sanctuary have shocked the forest officials and the wild life lovers alike. In the first incident, forest officials found the carcass of a tiger near the elephant camp, with its hind leg injured. Adding to the shock, a 15-year-old female elephant was found dead in a case of suspected electrocution. Officials said the pachyderm might have come into contact with charged fences near tourist lodges.
2007-08-31 - Yunnan, China.
The China Daily is reporting that a bull elephant from Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan has recovered from a serious heroin addiction it picked up as a victim of illegal elephant trading. The elephant, nicknamed "Big Brother", was fed heroin-laced bananas in order to make it easier to control him and his herd, which they led westward to Dehong, near China's border with Myanmar.
2007-08-31 - San Diego, United States.
A relic of San Diego's prehistoric past was carefully removed from its excavation site Friday. A Columbian Mammoth tusk was found recently during construction at 16th and Market streets, at a depth of 30 feet below sea level. The tusk weighs between 100 and 200 pounds and measures 8 feet long. It was preserved in burlap and plaster prior to Friday's move, and then hoisted by crane and placed in a truck for delivery to the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.
2007-08-31 - Jeli, Malaysia.
They may be wild and feared by local farmers, but in the spirit of Merdeka, the state Wildlife Department has named them Awang Malaysia and Awang Merdeka. They are two male rogue elephants from a herd of three that have been terrorising orchard and farm owners near Jalan Malaysia, Lakota here. They were given the names after an operation by the Kelantan Wildlife and National Park Department rangers yesterday. Awang Malaysia, a 15-year-old, was shot with a tranquilliser dart, but it died after it...
2007-08-31 - Calcutta, India. Ranigunj
Their trunks slung around each other, Sabitri and her mate can savour a few more days of bliss. The forest department has decided to leave the lovers alone through the mating season. This is the time for them to mate and it may take as much as a week or even three days for them to lose interest in each other, said Kumar Vimal, the Durgapur divisional forest officer. A 26-year-old wild tusker from Jharkhand had broken through the fence of a circus in the middle of last night, found his 20-year-ol...
2007-08-31 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Champika Ranwaka says that the Ministry needs Rs. 10 billion per year for the management of wild elephants in the country. However, the Ministry receives only Rs. 3 billion for all its work, the Minister says. The Minister also pointed out that the shortage of tamed elephants would be a problem in future since there are only 137 tamed elephants while there are 72 famous cultural pageants per year countrywide.
2007-08-31 - Windhoek, Namibia. Absalom Shigwedha
The ministry of Environment and Tourism has urged people in the Kavango, Caprivi and Erongo regions to beware of elephants when moving around at night. Colgar Sikopo, the Deputy Director for Parks and Wildlife Management, told The Namibian that drought has forced elephants to be active during the night in search of food. The plea was made after a 47-year-old woman was trampled to death by an elephant at Ngonga village, about 200 km outside Katima Mulilo on August 19.
2007-08-31 - Bandarlampung, Indonesia.
The population of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in 2007 is estimated to reach between 2,400 and 2,800 heads, or a decrease by 35 percent from the figure in 1992 when there were 5,000 heads, according to an NGO activist. Some factors which caused the elephant population to drop included deforestation, poaching and human encroachment to the animal`s habitats, Elisabet Purastuti, coordinator of the Elephant Conservation Program of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature)-Indonesia, sa...
2007-08-30 - Durban, South Africa.
This years Roscar awards in South Africa for wildlife movies included a memorial award honoring filmmaker Rick Lomba, killed on location by a Bengal tiger. Nicky Lomba, the filmmakers 18-year-old daughter, presented a statue of a hippo Wednesday to Evert van den Bos of Nature Conservation Films, based in Holland and Tanzania, for his movie about a woman who saved the street elephants in Thailand, the Durban Daily News reported Thursday. Van den Bos work also earned a rhino Roscar, the wildlife e...
2007-08-30 - Beijing, China.
A once drug-addled elephant fed heroin-laced bananas by illegal traders will soon return to the wild after being weaned off his addiction through methadone and round-the-clock care. Big Brother, a bull elephant that once lived peacefully with his herd near the China-Myanmar border in Yunnan province, was caugh by traders in 2005, the China Daily said on Thursday. To control it so that it could lead the herd to where they wanted, the traders kept feeding it bananas laced with drugs, the paper sai...
2007-08-30 - San Diego, United States.
Mammoths roaming down Market Street? An ancient fossil unearthed in downtown San Diego has revealed a clue to the city's prehistoric past. A mammoth tusk was found recently during construction at 16th and Market streets. The tusk weighs between 100 and 200 pounds and could be as old as 500,000 years, according to paleontologists. It measures 8 feet long.
2007-08-30 - Williamsburg, United States.
Prince George Art & Frame will exhibit more than two dozen paintings drawn by Asian elephants through Sept 22. Pachyderm Painters: Paintings by Asian Elephants, features the works of 16 elephants from Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. The show features acrylic works on paper in abstracts and fauna designs. All of the artwork is for sale. Fred Miller, who owns the gallery, said he got interested in the art form when he saw a painting done by an elephant that a client brought in to be framed.
2007-08-30 - Mysore, India.
A three-day old female elephant calf rescued from the flood waters in Dhobara forest range in Kodagu district, was handed over to the Mysore zoo on Wednesday. Forest officials said the calf was rescued on Tuesday and brought to the zoo, where it was under veterinary care. Its condition was satisfactory. The new arrival has a 'friend' in the five-day old male elephant calf, which the forest officials had rescued from mandya district and handed over to the zoo anothorities. It was also under treat...
2007-08-30 - Guwahati, India. Sushanta Talukdar
The Assam Forest Department has clamped a ban on use of private elephants for begging in the State in response to an appeal made by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In his order, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Chief Wildlife Warden of Assam M.C. Malakar, said private elephants were made to beg on roads by performing tricks and manoeuvres, especially in front of temples. There were instances of the animals going berserk, injuring and killing innocent peop...
2007-08-30 - RANIGANJ, India. Debajyoti Chakraborty
A huge tusker, straight out of the jungle, raided a circus in the wee hours of Wednesday, freed a female elephant and eloped with her to make a cosy home by a pond in Raiganj. This tale of untamed love has yet another bizarre twist: a second female elephant, said to be "very attached" to the one that fled the circus, has broken down and is grieving for her "mate".
2007-08-29 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Department and the All Lanka Tamed Elephant Owners' Association are planning to sign a Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to the welfare and safety of the tamed elephants. The MOU now being prepared will be signed in September, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources said. The government aims to interact positively with the tamed elephant owners to protect the dwindling elephant population in the country.
2007-08-29 - West Bengal, India.
A man was trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants while retuning home through a forest in Bankura district of West Bengal, claim villagers. Bantul Lohar, 59, a day labourer, was Monday night crushed by wild elephants at Hurahur forest range near Sonamukhi, about 150 km from here, local media reports said. His body, which literally turned into a lump of flesh, was recovered Tuesday morning.
2007-08-29 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
More than 100 experts and officials met in Indonesia on Wednesday to try to draft an action plan to save Sumatran elephants and tigers threatened with extinction. Satellite images show large areas of lowland tropical forests, the primary habitat for elephants and tigers, have been cleared on Sumatra island mainly due to farming and logging, the WWF conservation group said. Between 1990 and 2000, a total of 8 million hectares (20 million acres) of lowland forests have been lost to development, th...
2007-08-29 - Dodoma, Tanzania. SOSTHENES MWITA
THE five stray elephants, one of which killed a soldier with the Msalato camp of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF), Mr Paschal Chiwaligo, have walked back into Mtungutu Forest without further harm to humans. A spokesperson of the Regional Wildlife Department said a team of armed game wardens followed the tracks of the retreating herd of elephants to Zuzu in Bahi District but failed to continue as they lost the tracks. The spokesperson said, however, that the jumbos are likely to have...
2007-08-28 - Orissa, India. Sampad Mahapatra, Jay Mazoomdaar
Two years ago, the Orissa government was all for elephants. Now, two years after the Centre cleared their proposals for two new elephant reserves, the state government has mysteriously changed its mind. Not surprisingly, the Centre is puzzled. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has written to the state: The sudden decision of the state government to not notify the elephant reserve is puzzling. In case the state governments feels that any further rationalization of boundaries of the pr...
2007-08-28 - Hartbeespoort, South Africa. SHARMILA NAIR
IT HAS been almost two decades since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) banned international shipment of ivory, yet the African elephants have not found themselves off the endangered list. Brought into action in 1989 after more than half of African elephants had been slaughtered for their tusks, Cites is still unable to completely protect the animals from illegal hunting. Almost 23,000 elephants are poached every year to support the ivory trade. This revelation ...
2007-08-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Forty sixth elephant cub was born in Sri Lanka’s Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage recently. An elephant named Sapumali gave birth to the new cub. The officials said that the cub is in good health. The orphanage originally founded in order to afford care and protection to the many orphaned elephants found injured in various accidents in the jungle has its own generation born in captivity now. Pinnawala, the largest herd of captive elephants in the world with 81 elephants in total is a major tourist...
2007-08-26 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
A wild elephant rampaged through a village in Bangladesh's Chittagong district, 264 km southeast of capital Dhaka, early Saturday, killing a girl and injuring two others. Locals was quoted by private news agency UNB as saying the elephant came down from a nearby hill and tore through the house of Omar Faruq at Chunati village around 6 a.m. when the victims were asleep.
2007-08-26 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka.
2007-08-26 - Calgary, Canada.
Nearly three years ago, when the Calgary Zoos baby elephant Keemaya was sick and dying, Nora Libin tried to help save the pachyderm's life. The 13-year-old took $5,000 raised at her bat mitzvah, combined that with money from her philanthropic grandfather, Alvin Libin, and presented Calgary Zoo officials with $25,000. But it was too late to save the elephant. A combination of infection and rejection by her mother Mahrani took her life at three weeks old.
2007-08-25 - Meshoppen, United States. JOSH MROZINSKI
Janice and Dutchess, a pair of Asian elephants, will be on hand at the fair, which begins Wednesday and lasts through Sept. 3. In this part of the state you don’t see elephants walking around too much, so this is kind of a unique sight, fair president Charles Pirone said. We’ve had tigers, lions and monkeys but I don’t think we’ve had elephants before. B&C Ranch, of Missouri, is showing the elephants, as well as three camels, three horses and seven ponies. Brett Carden, who owns B&C Ranc...
2007-08-25 - San Francisco, United States.
In North Luangwa National Park there once roamed great herds of elephant making up a population of a hundred thousand – by the end of the 1980s there were virtually none left, except fragmented families, wary inexperienced and young, the majority of the elders of the Elephant families killed for their tusks. In this exclusive Safaritalk interview with Jude Price, Hammer Simwinga opens the window on life in the Luangwa Valley, his work, the people who live in the villages, previously sustained ...
2007-08-25 - VIZIANAGARAM, India.
Forest Department officials have reached Puttajammuvalasa village in Gummalakshmipuram mandal, near where a herd of elephants was sighted moving. The trackers, mahouts and trained elephant Jayant from Chittoor district are expected to reach the affected places on Friday night and start drawing up an action plan to curb the menace the wild herd poses to human habitations, District Forest Officer BV Ramanababu told this website’s newspaper. Meanwhile, according to reliable sources, seven persons...
2007-08-25 - Kantale, Sri Lanka.
Three more wild elephants including two calves were mowed down by the Colombo bound express train at Kitulkotte in Kantale yesterday morning, raising this year’s death toll of wild elephants to 71. Kantale police said a herd of elephants were crossing the railway line when the accident occurred at the 153rd milepost, killing the three elephants aged one, six and 25. Two more elephants were also badly injured and wild life officers who were summoned to the scene treated the injured elephants, a...
2007-08-25 - Villisca, United States. Tom McMahon
Curtis Blank vacuums the large, stony structure on his living room coffee table. On first look, the hulking figure is the type of thing any mother would order out of their house pronto. But Blank said, and experts confirm, the coffee table centerpiece is the skull of a mastodon. Its at least 10,000 years old. Blanks brother, Kenny, discovered the head while searching for fossils in the Nodaway River. Blank didnt want to disclose the exact location for fear other diggers would descend on the area...
2007-08-25 - Miami, United States.
Florida researchers are studying the remains of an ancient mammoth found on the Seminole Tribes Big Cypress Reservation. The remains were found last month by Willard Steele, the head of the Tribal Historic Preservation Office at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, The Miami Herald said Friday. Workers digging in a canal uncovered the mammoth's teeth. Steele and other archaeologists found nearly 100 more mammoth bones within a few days. Steele estimates the bones are more than 10,000 years old, the newspap...
2007-08-24 - Windhoek, Namibia. Petronella Sibeene
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has advised residents of the Caprivi and Kavango regions to desist from wandering around at night and in the early hours of the morning to avoid being trampled by marauding elephants. The warning, particularly to villages prone to wild animal attacks, comes in the wake of an upsurge in elephant attacks on human beings. Environment officials estimate that there are over 20000 elephants in the Caprivi Region alone while in Kavango Region, the elephant popula...
2007-08-24 - Brazzaville, Congo. Christian Tsoumou
Herds of elephants are trampling crops and polluting water sources in eastern Republic of Congo, threatening to force thousands of villagers out of their homes, the forestry minister said on Friday. Around 10,000 people in Ingouni-Moke and Olounou I, 250 km (155 miles) north of the capital Brazzaville, have been in a stand-off for more than a week with the elephants which have laid waste their manioc fields. There is a proliferation of pachyderms. Today we have nearly 30,000 whereas in the 1980s...
2007-08-24 - Anchorage, United States. JAMES HALPIN
A proposal is on the table to get Alaskas only elephant out of the state, and for the first time this summer the Alaska Zoo and animal rights groups could have something to agree on. The Performing Animal Welfare Society, located in Galt, Calif., has offered to take Maggie and pay for her relocation costs, including air transportation, veterinary evaluations and professional training to prepare her for crate travel, zoo officials said Friday. The facility would also pay for Maggie's keepers to t...
2007-08-24 - Calgary, Canada. KATIE SCHNEIDER
The Calgary Zoos latest 308-pound bundle of joy now has her own name. A two-week old Asian elephant calf, born at 3:23 a.m. on Aug. 9, has been named Malti. Zoo donor Nora Libin gave the little one its Hindi name, which means moonlight, to be brilliant, or small fragrant flower, said zoo spokeswoman Laurie Herron. Libin chose the name from a list of Sri Lankan and Hindi names the zookeepers gathered before the baby was born, and Herron said it fits the calf perfectly because she was born during ...
2007-08-24 - Indianapolis, United States. Julie Patterson
Happy birthday to the city's youngest African elephant. Zahara will be one year old on August 31st. She was about 260 pounds when she was born. The heaviest baby born here at the zoo, said elephant trainer Tim Littig. She weighs 718 pounds as of yesterday morning. In honor of Zaharas first birthday August 31, the zoo is hosting a party. Join them Saturday for elephant bingo, prizes and cupcakes.
2007-08-24 - Buffalo, New York, United States. Eileen Buckley
The Buffalo Zoo will be throwing a big birthday bash this Sunday for one of its long-time residents. The Buffalo Zoo will be throwing a big birthday bash this Sunday for one of its long-time residents. A female elephant is celebrating her 50th. Buki's birthday Bash at the Zoo starts at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. It begins with a "bath time with Buki". Children can make birthday cards. New Era has made an elephant size ball cap for Buki. At 3 o'clock there will be a Buki Parade.
2007-08-24 - Taipei, Taiwan.
Fossil remains of a newborn mastodon were recently discovered in the dry riverbed of Dajia River near Shih-kang village in Taichung County, sources at the Taichung Mountainview Community University reported yesterday. They also noted that the discovery marks the first time that local archaeologists have found proof that Taiwan was once home to the prehistoric elephant species, which is estimated to have existed from about 28 million years ago to 10,000 years ago.
2007-08-23 - New York, United States.
After seven years of legal fighting, a U.S. judge rejected efforts Thursday by the United States foremost circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, to derail a lawsuit alleging cruel treatment of its elephants. Its a fantastic result, said attorney Jon Lovvorn of the Humane Society of the United States, one of several animal welfare groups which have pursued the lawsuit. He estimated a trial date would be set for early next year.
2007-08-23 - New York, United States. DAVID CRARY
After seven years of legal wrangling, a federal judge rejected efforts Thursday by Americas foremost circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, to derail a lawsuit alleging cruel treatment of its elephants. Its a fantastic result, said attorney Jon Lovvorn of the Humane Society of the United States, one of several animal welfare groups which have pressed the suit. He estimated a trial date would be set for early next year. Judge Emmet Sullivan of U.S. District Court in Washington issued a serie...
2007-08-23 - Guwahati, India.
A newborn elephant abandonded by its mother in a reserve forest has found a new home and a foster mom in the Assam State Zoo here. The baby jumbo was heard trumpeting in the Rani Reserve Forest, on the outskirts of Guwahati, two days ago by residents of nearby villages who informed forest officials, said the zoo's Divisional Forest Officer Narayan Mahanta. The next day, the villagers found the calf wandering about in the area and informed the nearby forest beat office. Forest authorities immedia...
2007-08-23 - Madikeri, India.
The Karnataka Forest Department has submitted a project report to the state government to shift wild elephants from Kodagu district as they faced problems due to severe loss of habitat, shortage of food and depleting forest. Deputy Forest officer Mallesh told newspersons here today that the project, costing Rs 15 crore, would also help solve the conflict between wildlife and the human beings. Due to erosion of its habitat the elephants had been entering villages and had killed five people in the...
2007-08-23 - Waikato, New Zealand. DENISE IRVINE
Its not often you see an African elephant grazing on the side of Hamiltons Rifle Range Rd. But yesterday lunchtime, 40-year-old Jumbo was having a grassy snack under the watchful eye of owner Tony Ratcliffe while carloads of mums, dads and kids stopped to take photographs. Jumbo was oblivious to the fuss she was causing, with one driver doing a u-turn in front of oncoming traffic in the rush to see the big beast.
2007-08-23 - Mawanella, Sri Lanka. Sarath Samaranayake
The Gannoruwa elephant, known to be the tallest elephant in Sri Lanka who has been featured in the annual Kandy Esala Pageant consecutively for over 60 years died after a prolonged illness at Pamunuwa, Mawanella while receiving treatment from Veterinary Surgeon Dr. Asoka Dangolla and traditional physicians of Miyanapalawa. The elephant owned by Lucky Bandaranayake was 80 years at the time of its death. The elephant was buried in Mawanella yesterday. Secretary, tamed elephants owners association ...
2007-08-22 - Berlin, Germany.
A female african elephant was born in Berlin wednesday morning, 92 centimeter and 95 kilo heavy. The 22 years old mother Bibi was mother for the second time, the father Tembo has now sired seven babies.
2007-08-22 - Vijaynagaram, India.
Three people were trampled to death in an Andhra Pradesh village when elephants went on the rampage. A horde of elephants late Tuesday strayed into Vadabai village in Vijaynagaram district, bordering Orissa and about 700 km from here, and went berserk. There was panic as they killed the three tribals and caused widespread damage to the crops in the area, officials said. Forest officials have reached the area to try and push the animals back to their forest abode.
2007-08-21 - Syracuse, United States. DICK CASE
The last time I was at Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park I stopped at the elephant pen and had a talk with Siri. She's the Asian elephant who had that fine ritual of passage over the weekend: She turned 40, officially. She's also, by age and temperament, "top dog" in the elephant pen, which is inhabited by four females and one bull. I got that from Chuck Doyle, the zoo director, who came of age in that pen back when he was the senior elephant keeper. Chuck admitted Monday Siri being 40 is a gu...
2007-08-20 - Bankura, India.
A boy was trampled to death by wild elephants at Chhatna area in Bankura district on Monday. The 14-year old unfortunately fell before an elephant herd that strayed from Dalma forest in search of crops, forest department sources said. Local people alleged there had been numerous depredations by elephant herd in the area in past but the forest department did little to save the villagers.
2007-08-20 - Pune, India.
Wild life lawyer Mahendra Kacchava, who was instrumental in getting actor Salman Khan convicted for poaching a black buck, will be in the city to fight for two elephants Lakshmi and Poornima rescued in June after they were found walking the city roads begging for their mahouts. While a criminal case was lodged under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) against the two mahouts, the elephants were taken to Katraj zoo. Kacchava, who has been hired by Maneka Gandhi’s organisation People for Animals, ...
2007-08-20 - Stanford, United States. O'connell-Rodwell CE., Stanford University
This review explores the mechanisms that elephants may use to send and receive seismic signals from a physical, anatomical, behavioral, and physiological perspective. The implications of the use of the vibration sense as a multimodal signal will be discussed in light of the elephant's overall fitness and survival.
2007-08-20 - Vienna, Austria. Brigitta Schmid
Bernd Lötsch, the director general, and my team are looking forward to welcoming you at the Natural History Museum in Vienna. You will get the first Newsletter from ICOM-Austria in autumn. However, we succeeded in making some special arrangements for the members of ICOM-NATHIST, therefore an early information may be useful in advance.
2007-08-19 - Nashville, United States.
The Nashville Zoo is accepting applications for the position of elephant keeper. The responsibilities of this position include all aspects involved in the daily care and management of 0.3 African elephants and their facilities in a free contact system. The Nashville Zoo elephant department encourages and supports all of its members to initiate or participate in projects involving research, education, training, conservation and general elephant management.
2007-08-19 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Marisa de Silva
A private agricultural farm that is coming up in a major elephant corridor between the Wasgamuwa and Maduru Oya national parks could precipitate the human-elephant conflict in the future, environmentalists have warned. Environmentalist Samantha Suranjan said there is an important elephant pathway crossing the Nilgala, Maduru Oya, Wasgamuwa, Floodplain National Park and the Somawathiya National Park. He said this had been identified by a Mahaweli Environment Report (Tippetts Abbett McCarthy Strat...
2007-08-19 - Anchorage, United States.
The controversy over Maggie the elephants health was set aside today as the Alaska Zoos lone pachyderm celebrated her 25th birthday. The zoo threw a little party to allow admirers to see Maggie. The birthday girl munched on treats full of hay, popsicles made with sugar-free Kool-Aid and her favorite fruit. Zoo officials said knowing that Maggie may move away next spring motivated them to make her birthday a special one.
2007-08-19 - KEONJHAR, India.
Poachers have become effective with the cancellation of the Baitarani Elephant Reserve Project. A tusker was killed in Banamahuladiha forest in Patna and the tusks were taken. The forest department came to know about the incident on 17 August while the carcass indicated that the crime was committed a week ago. While the forest department could not investigate the matter due to incessant rain the villagers said that there is sufficient proof to establish that it is a handiwork of the poachers. Mr...
2007-08-19 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
NO youngster likes the idea of a trip to the dentist, but for Kito, the first elephant to be born at Colchester Zoo, the dentist came to him. The four-year-old elephant somehow broke his tusk about six weeks ago - probably on a rock in the elephant enclosure - and after inspection it was decided he needed the help of a specialist. So zoo bosses called in Peter Kertesz, who while having a dental practice for humans in the West End of London, also has a sideline in exotic animals.
2007-08-19 - Deogarh, India.
A herd of wild elephants on Saturday entered Kadamdhar village here and ran amok after the villagers tried to chase it away. In the melee, an elephant injured one Pachindra Sahu. He suffered a fracture in the leg and had to be admitted to Deogarh Hospital. Last week, another herd of wild elephants went on the rampage in Cheplipali and Suguda gram panchayats under Tileibani block, a few km from the Deogarh town area.
2007-08-19 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
No festival in Kerala is complete without the majestic spectacle of caparisoned elephants swaying to the frenzied beat of drums and the blare of trumpets. To the casual observer, the pachyderm seems to be relaxed and completely at peace with itself. Very few realise that, behind the visage of calm and poise lies a tale of misery and suffering inflicted by man.
2007-08-18 - Calgary, Canada. Suzanne Goldman
A nervous new mom is getting around-the-clock support from a team of dedicated zookeepers anxious to see Calgary's latest baby elephant form a tight bond with her hulking mama. Working in shifts, the group of eight charged with the calf's care have set up cots and air mattresses in order to stay in close contact with the animals. We're getting very tired," laughed elephant keeper Scott Russell. "It's a lot of work, absolutely.
2007-08-18 - Burdwan, India.
Two wild elephants created a scare in West Bengal, as they frolicked in a river close to human habitation before vanishing back into the woods. The pachyderms, which presumably got separated from a heard migrating across the forest in Purulia district, were spotted frolicking in the Damodar River near Maithon dam in Burdwan district. The residents feared that the elephants might run over their fields and pull down their dwellings but the harmless animals made merry in the river waters before van...
2007-08-18 - Meru, Kenya. Alexis Okeowo
Kenya has begun a great migration of 2,000 animals to a popular game park devastated by crime and poaching, wildlife officials have announced. In the 1970s Meru National Park, located in central Kenya, was "overrun" by bandits and poachers, leading to a drastic loss of wildlife, the officials said. Now the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is wrapping up a campaign begun in 2001 to repopulate the wildlife of the 1,930-square-mile (5,000-square-kilometer) park.
2007-08-18 - Bangkok, Thailand. APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
A new regulation on the export of live elephants and body parts will be put into force soon to protect Thai pachyderms from illegal trading. Drafted by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, the regulation is aimed at strengthening control on the export of elephants, particularly for entertainment purposes at foreign zoos. The new regulation follows last years controversial animal exchange programme under which the government sent eight elephants to Taronga zoo in Austral...
2007-08-17 - Godibari, India.
An elephant, after escaping from a sanctuary, went on rampage and died of chocking here on Friday. Motilal, a fifty-year-old trained elephant of the Chandaka sanctuary, situated about 10 kilometres from Bhubaneshwar, broke free from the sanctuary and went on a rampage at nearby Godibari village. This male elephant escaped from the sanctuary at midnight and entered in a nearby village. Two teams from our division followed him to avoid human casualties, but they failed to control him. Then we call...
2007-08-17 - Calgary, Canada.
Only a week old, and the Calgary Zoos latest edition is proved she will be a force to be reckoned with. The female baby elephant is healthy, fun and cute for being over three-hundred pounds. Head elephant keeper Bob Kam says all is well with both mother and child. He says the yet-to-be named pachyderm is fine when she has a full stomach. Kam says it will still be a while before Calgarians get to see the baby elephant, as she still needs to get a little closer to her mom. The last baby elephant b...
2007-08-17 - Bristol, United Kingdom.
Noahs Ark Zoo Farm has announced plans to introduce elephants, lions, zebras and bears to its collection of animals. The elephant enclosure will comprise seven acres of rich grassland, 7000 sq feet of heated housing plus an outdoor sandy area with a water pool, said owner Anthony Bush. Were looking to keep four elephants, three females and one male, who will hopefully breed and help the dwindling numbers of elephants in the wild.
2007-08-17 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Chamikara Weerasinghe
The Environment and Natural Resources Ministry has stepped up action to implement a pilot project to arrest the human-elephant conflict in Yala and Lunugamwehera through its recently established Elephant Conservation Trust Fund. Environment and Natural Resources Minister Champika Ranawaka said yesterday that bureaucratic red tape had been overcome to carry out the project. The Government has decided to allocate Rs. 100 million to the fund from the Treasury to be returned once sufficient funds ar...
2007-08-16 - Augusta, United States. Rhonda Erskine
Thursday, a Cushing fisherman donated the mastodon tusk he found while dragging for scallops on Georges Bank to the Maine State Museum. Tim Winchenbach uncovered the tusk back in January. The tusk is a very rare find, and likely dates back more than 13,000 years. The museum has to do a lot of work to preserve it. The tusk is dark in color because of all the years it spent in salt water. It will be slowly dried out, so it doesn't fall apart, and then preserved.
2007-08-16 - New Delhi, India.
Wildlife groups have created individual photo identification cards for Asian elephants in southern India in a bid to help track the effects of poaching on wild elephant populations, conservationists said Thursday. By being able to specifically identify animals, researches get a better idea of elephant numbers and movements in an area. It can also help law enforcement in the event that an elephant carcass is discovered, said a statement from the New-York based Wildlife Conservation Society, which...
2007-08-16 - Guruvayur, India.
Tusker Keerthi owned by the Guruvayur Devaswom turned violent and killed its first mahout Gopalakrishnan, 45, of Changanassery at Chettuva near on Wednesday. The tusker had been taken to the Anayoottu ritual at the Ganesamangalam temple near Chettuva along with four other jumbos of the devaswom. Keerthi first attacked its second mahout Sadasivan of Ponnani on the way to Punnathur Anakotta. Sadasivan has been admitted to the West Fort Hospital, Thrissur. After the attack the tusker had turned cal...
2007-08-16 - Gauhati, India.
Two domesticated elephants went on a rampage through several villages in northeastern India, killing eight people and injuring five before being shot dead by police, officials said Thursday. Police were searching for the owners of the elephants and trying to establish what caused the violent behavior, rare among tamed elephants. Angry villagers protesting the lack of protection burned down the local forestry office. The rampage occurred Wednesday in an area bordering India's Assam and Mizoram st...
2007-08-15 - London, United Kingdom.
Coral, ivory and snakeskin souvenirs brought home by unwitting British tourists are helping to push endangered species closer to extinction, environmental group WWF said on Thursday. British customs officials confiscated more than 163,000 illegal wildlife trade items during the last year, many made from endangered species, WWF said.
2007-08-15 - Stanford, United States. Bouley DM, Alarcón CN, Hildebrandt T, O'connell-Rodwell CE. Stanford University School of Medicine
Both Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) elephants produce low-frequency, high-amplitude rumbles that travel well through the ground as seismic waves, and field studies have shown that elephants may utilize these seismic signals as one form of communication. Unique elephant postures observed in field studies suggest that the elephants use their feet to 'listen' to these seismic signals, but the exact sensory mechanisms used by the elephant have never been characterized.
2007-08-15 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
A renowned conservationist recounted on Wednesday how he and his friends narrowly escaped an attack by an enraged bull elephant. Lawrence Anthony and his two friends were on a night drive at Thula Thula Game Reserve near Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday night when the animal attacked them. He came at us from nowhere in a full-blooded charge, hammering the front of the Land Rover station wagon and driving us backwards into the bush for about twenty yards, said Anthony.
2007-08-15 - Sydney, Australia. Kelly Burke
THE RSPCA has refused to release the results of its investigation into animal deaths at Taronga and Western Plains zoos. The investigation was ordered in June, after the deaths of a greater one-horned rhinoceros and a female African elephant. The RSPCA's chief inspector, David O'Shannessy, said yesterday that no action would be taken against the zoos because no evidence of cruelty had been found in the animals' veterinary records or in keeping standards.
2007-08-14 - San Fransisco, United States.
Two animal rights activists today won a federal magistrate's recommendation that they be allowed to videotape animals being brought into the Ringling Brothers Circus at the Oakland Coliseum this week. U.S. Magistrate Edward Chen recommended that U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel issue a preliminary injunction allowing the videotaping by Joseph Cuviello and Deniz Bolbol. The circus is holding performances at the Oracle Arena portion of the coliseum Aug. 16 through 19.
2007-08-14 - Tshwane, South Africa. Shaun Benton
Culling elephants would only be considered as a last resort, after contraception or translocation, a senior official in the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism told MPs on Tuesday. Leseho Sello, a chief director in the department, was briefing the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism on national norms and standards for management of elephants. Translocation and even contraception, she explained, are the preferred ways of managing South Africa's growing elephant po...
2007-08-14 - Polk City, United States. Yi Suli
The Asian elephant is believed to be one of the most intelligent animals on Earth. It is also one of the most endangered. But a sanctuary in the southern state of Florida is hoping to save this large animal and ensure its existence for generations to come. For producer Yi Suli, VOA's Elaine Lu has more on the Center for Elephant Conservation.
2007-08-14 - Pretoria, South Africa.
South Africa has received the go-ahead to sell its stockpiled elephant ivory stocks to Japan, but has not done so because it is waiting for provinces to tell government how much they have for sale. “We are writing to the provinces to verify how much ivory... is in their possession, and come up with a total,” environmental affairs biodiversity and heritage chief director Leseho Sello told MPs on Tuesday.
2007-08-14 - Pittsburgh, United States. Lillian Thomas
The man in charge of mowing the grass, building elephant breeding stalls and helping to raise a few million dollars for the Pittsburgh Zoo's new Somerset County facility has close ties to top management. Dayton Baker, husband of zoo president Barbara Baker, has been named farm manager for a former hunting ranch that's to become a breeding facility for African elephants, the zoo announced yesterday. The 724-acre International Conservation Center is to become home to up to 20 elephants.
2007-08-13 - Abilene, United States.
A stressed-out elephant that had been treated with the anti-anxiety drug Xanax died Monday morning at age 49 in Abilene Zoo in Texas, according to a media report. Tanzy was believed to have been the second oldest African elephant in North America, the Abilene Reporter-News reported. An elephants average lifespan is 33 years. In 2005 after zookeepers at the Abilene zoo noticed that Tanzy was grumpy and subdued, they started mixing Xanax into her feed twice a day, along with some ibuprofen to ease...
2007-08-13 - Aberdare, Kenya.
OUR WALKING SAFARI Began with a comprehensive demonstration of how to behave when encountering wild animals, especially elephants. Elephants, we were informed, are among the world’s most potentially dangerous animals capable of crushing and killing any other land animal, from humans to lions and even rhinoceros. In addition, elephants can experience unexpected bouts of rage, and can be vindictive. “In case you encounter a rogue elephant, stand still and watch its ears. If they are out, chan...
2007-08-13 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
Construction workers, ballplayers and postal carriers: Don't complain to Bud about the heat. He lives and works in this weather 24 hours a day. Of course, as an African elephant, Bud is genetically built to handle 100-degree temperatures. Bud resides at Grant's Farm, where four times a day he demonstrates elephant behaviors to cheering kids. His reward: Kool-Aid and fruit frozen in a bucket.
2007-08-13 - Guwahati, India.
Wild Asiatic elephants trampled to death four sleeping villagers of a family in Assam, the latest in a series of attacks on humans, wildlife officials said yesterday. A forest official said a herd of about a dozen elephants on Saturday entered Uttarkuchi village in Baksa district, about 90km west of Guwahati. "The elephants went berserk, smashed a village hut, and killed the entire family of four, including two children," the official said.
2007-08-12 - Dehradun, India.
After the decline in the tiger population, Uttarakhand has now reported a sharp drop of 10 per cent in the number of elephants, mainly tuskers, in the state. The latest census report of 2005-07 has revealed that the number has come down to 1,346 from 1,510 recorded two years ago. The population of elephants stood at 1,582 in 2003 which clearly indicates that the situation has worsened during the past four years. But the Uttarakhand Wildlife Department, which conducted the census, is not worried ...
2007-08-12 - Udhagamandalam, India.
As many as 12 tamed elephants have been shifted to the Theppakadu camp from the Bombax Elephant camp, following heavy rains and the overflowing of the Moyar river in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctury area. With the new arrivals, there are now 24 elephants at the Theppakadu camp. The event turned out to be a reunion of the tamed elephants at the sanctuary with others when the outbreak of anthrax near the camp occurred some six months ago.
2007-08-12 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
Fortunes of mahouts all over the country may soon change if Project Elephant officials’ proposal of shifting elephants along with their mahouts to wildlife sanctuaries and parks across the country is accepted by the ministry of environment and forests. Project Elephant officials are brainstorming over the idea and will soon send an official proposal to the ministry. The director, Project Elephant, Mr AN Prasad said: Yes, we are contemplating a proposal to shift elephants and mahouts to wildlif...
2007-08-11 - London, United Kingdom. Tom Tyler
The burgeoning field of animal studies has sought to address what Linda Kalof and Amy Fitzgerald call ‘the animal question’: how shall we ‘rethink, rebuild and recast our relationships with other animals’ in the light of this new research? Kalof and Fitzgerald present 35 carefully chosen texts. Especially intriguing entries include Pliny the Elder’s description of spontaneous popular protest against elephant slaughter in ancient Rome.
2007-08-11 - Carlisle, United Kingdom.
ANNIE the Elephant packed her trunk but couldnt say goodbye to the Lake District. Thanks to the foot and mouth restrictions the 54-year-old veteran circus performer was stranded in the county. World-famous jumbo Annie, who has officially retired but still travels with the rest of the performers, had arrived in the South Lakes with the Bobby Roberts Circus on a leg of their latest tour of Cumbria and the UK. But when the restriction on the movements of animals came into force last week it was rea...
2007-08-10 - Pakenham, United Kingdom. LISA CLEVERDON
WITH their large ears, imposing frames and long trunks, Asian elephants are undoubtedly among the biggest and most majestic mammals in the world. So when Suffolk topiary expert Steve Manning was asked to make 12 life-size models of the creatures, it was little wonder he felt slightly daunted by the mammoth challenge. But six months later, Mr Manning is now the proud, albeit temporary owner, of his very own herd of Asian elephants made entirely from willow.
2007-08-10 - Gauhati, India.
Two wild elephants were killed when they were hit by a freight train in India's remote northeast Friday, officials said. The elephants were knocked down while crossing the tracks along with a herd of nearly 20 pachyderms near Gauhati, Assam's capital, said M.C. Malakar, the state's chief wildlife warden. An adult elephant and a calf took the maximum impact of the train and were killed, Malakar said. The train engine was derailed by the impact of the collision, said T. Rabha, a rai...
2007-08-10 - Calgary, Canada. BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA
Zoo officials hope an elephant calf delivered yesterday wont meet the sad fate of an earlier newborn. Its hoped 17-year-old Maharani will bond with her 308-lb. daughter, nearly three years after the Asian elephant mom rejected infant Keeyama, which was suffering a digestive infection and died in December 2004. Mom and daughter are in isolation and the zoo's new Elephant Crossing complex is closed to the public, said Kevin Strange, manager of conservation and education. We're all holding our brea...
2007-08-10 - Madikeri, India.
A Gram Panchayat Secretary was seriously injured when a wild elephant attacked two people at Nanjarayapatna in this hilly district. The incident occurred last evening when Nellihudikeri Gram Panchayat Secretary B E Veeraraju and another person were walking home when a jumbo charged at them from behind the thick foliage of trees at once. While Mr Veeraraju was seriously injured when the pachyderm pierced its ivory into his stomach, the other person ran to safety in time. Thinking that he must be ...
2007-08-10 - Kaliningrad, Russian Federation.
Russian authorities rejected an international petition for an elephant being held in cramped conditions in Kaliningrad Zoo to be moved to the U.S., insisting the animal was in good health. The elephant was born at the Kaliningrad Zoo, in Russia's exclave on the Baltic, in 1970, and has lived there ever since. A spokesman for the local mayor's office said Friday: "Pregolja is the only Ceylon elephant in Russia, and this is one of the reasons why she will stay in the zoo," she said.
2007-08-10 - Jerusalem zoo, Israel. Benny Ziffer
It was a veritable human jungle at the Biblical zoo. Here was a plus-size American woman in a pink suit licking a diet popsicle and declaring aloud, "This is delicious." And in front of the elephant cage, a family of French Jews points to the elephantine turds floating on the water. The French word is the same in Hebrew, only the emphasis is on a different syllable.
2007-08-09 - Anchorage, United States. Bianca Slota
The Alaska Zoo Board of Directors says financial concerns and weather will likely keep Maggie the elephant in Alaska until spring. The board met last night to hear recommendations from zoo staff about potential new homes for the elephant. The list of homes apparently includes a mix of five zoos, wildlife parks and animal sanctuaries. Zoo officials won't release the names or locations of potential new homes for Maggie, but says more work needs to be done before a move can happen.
2007-08-09 - Calgary, Canada. Laurie Herron, Media Relations, Calgary Zoo
Following a 22-month pregnancy, the Calgary Zoo’s 17-year-old Asian elephant Maharani delivered a female calf early this morning at 3:20 a.m. The newest member of the herd weighs 308 pounds, and sired by the bull Spike. Our elephant team has long-awaited the arrival of this baby, says Bob Kam, lead elephant keeper at the Calgary Zoo. Every Asian elephant born is significant in the conservation efforts to save these wonderful animals from extinction. Today we are very proud to be part of that g...
2007-08-09 - New Bedford, United States. Lauren Daley
Attention art lovers: the latest Ruth and Emily originals will be released this weekend, and that new artist, Sally, is making her debut. That's Ruth and Emily the elephants and Sally the otter, of course. But the animals paintings are just a few of the items to be auctioned off at the Buttonwood Park Zoos eighth annual fundraiser, the Rock n Roar Gala, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. You'll even be greeted at the door by Ruth and Emily themselves.
2007-08-09 - Ulu Semong, Indonesia. EIKI YANO
Elephants are renowned for their gentle characters. But they become brutal under certain conditions. That is how 50-year-old Mujarianto, from the farming village of Ulu Semong on Sumatra Island, is likely to remember them for the remainder of his days. In late May, the coffee farmer fled his house with his eldest daughter, 17, as a herd of rampaging elephants stormed toward the cabin. But his 35-year-old wife and 3-year-old daughter were unable to escape. The elephants caught the pair with their...
2007-08-09 - Sabah, Malaysia.
A new WWF study tracking pygmy elephants by satellite shows that the remaining herds of these endangered elephants, which live only on the island of Borneo, are under threat from forest fragmentation and loss of habitat. Borneo pygmy elephants depend for their survival on forests situated on flat, low lands and in river valleys, the study found. Unfortunately, it is also the type of terrain preferred for commercial plantations.
2007-08-09 - Emmen, Netherlands. Emmen Zoo News article
A female asian elephant calf was born yesterday to the bull Radza (imported 2003 from Riga Zoo) and the female Htoo Kin Aye from Burma. The baby was 80kgs, and already has a name; Swe Zin. During the latest 15 years Emmen Zoo had 17 elephant births.
2007-08-08 - Kampala, Uganda. Chris Ocowun
THE internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps bordering Murchison Falls National Game Park in Amuru district have petitioned President Yoweri Museveni over the actions of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). The IDPs want the authority to drive back the elephants that invaded their area. The locals said this in a meeting with the special presidential advisor for the north, Richard Todwong, last week. Todwong assessed the destruction caused by over 400 elephants that have invaded the vi...
2007-08-08 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
A stalemate over the reserve price on more than two tonnes of ivory which was supposed to go under the hammer last week resulted in the auction being abandoned after the buyers decided not to take the available stocks. Those at the auction said buyers did not like the high reserve price, a minimum price, set by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. They said up to May the Parks Authority was selling a kilogramme for $225 000 and the price went up to $1 million in June.
2007-08-08 - Osaka, Japan. The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry is pondering whether to destroy or preserve 3 tons of smuggled ivory, an amount equal to the tusks of about 100 African elephants, seized by the Osaka Customhouse. As trade in ivory is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and Wild Fauna and Flora, informally known as the Washington Convention, smuggled ivory is usually incinerated. But the amount of ivory seized was so large that some officials at the ministry voiced o...
2007-08-08 - Dunstable, United Kingdom.
The Zoological Society of London is currently looking for an Elephant Keeper to join their world class Elephant Team based at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire. The successful candidate will: preferably have a proven track record of working with Elephants, Be familiar with all aspects of animal management. Have good communication skills.Be flexible and totally reliable, and be able to work effectively within a well disciplined team. Need a full driving licence.
2007-08-08 - Louisville, United States. Britney Tabor
Elaney Pickering loves animals so much that she's been known to ask birthday party attendees to bring supplies for the Humane Society instead of gifts for her. She has a big heart for animals, said the 13-year-old's stepfather, John Conrad. Yesterday, that big heart brought Elaney from her home in Eudora, Kan., to the Louisville Zoo, where the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Kentucky and Southern Indiana helped fulfill her wish of taking care of animals and visiting Louisville's new baby African eleph...
2007-08-08 - Lampang, Thailand.
Her Majesty the Queen has donated Bt300,000 from her personal fund to assist a month-old elephant whose mother cannot produce milk at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (TECC) in Lampang's Hang Chat district. Her Majesty granted Bt300,000 to buy milk powder for the baby elephant. Donations for the baby elephant from the public had reached about Bt400,000. The TECC will hold a ceremony to receive the donation on Friday.
2007-08-07 - New York, United States. WILLARD SPIEGELMAN
Good things come in small packages, especially when they are made of ivory. "Incisive Images: Ivory and Boxwood Carvings, 1450-1800" (at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until Nov. 25) gathers about 100 exquisite postmedieval pieces from the museum's holdings, and displays them to advantage in beautifully lighted vitrines. Some of them, like the luxurious ivory, fruitwood and cane chair à la Chippendale, which belonged to Warren Hastings, India's first governor general (c. 1780), or the mid-17th-...
2007-08-07 - ASHEBORO, United States. Amy Guyer
Captive elephants are smart. But they aren't reproducing, and captive elephants are becoming extinct."We've been scratching our heads trying to (figure this out)," said Tom Gillespie, the North Carolina Zoo's public relations specialist. What the elephants needed was family. Six years and $8.5 million later, the plan is finally being realized. The expansion will be ready come spring 2008, and the zoo is in talks to bring in new elephants. If the zoo reaches its carrying capacity of 10 elephants,...
2007-08-07 - Ulster, Ireland. Victoria OHara
The USPCA last night confirmed they were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an elephant which was part of a circus touring Ulster. It is understood Kenya, an African elephant, died from a heart attack after being harassed by dogs recently. It is unclear exactly where the incident occurred, but it is understood the animal died within the last two weeks. Mr Wilson said a post-mortem was carried out by a local vet after the elephant had died from a heart attack. "The explanati...
2007-08-07 - Kolkata, India. Bappa Majumdar
Authorities in eastern India have dropped plans to set up two new elephant reserves, enraging conservationists who say the decision threatens wildlife and is aimed at helping mining firms operate in the area. "The area for the two proposed elephant reserves was too big and that was why we withdrew the proposals," said P.N. Padhi, a senior official in Orissa's forest and environment department. "Multi-nationals can now carry out mining easily and get all the environmental clearance without any im...
2007-08-07 - Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. TAN CHENG LI
By fingering differences in animals’ genetic make-up, wildlife scientists can establish the geographic boundaries of animal populations and determine migration patterns. In 2003, the elephant in Sabah was confirmed as a subspecies and named pygmy elephant. Mohd Farouk and colleagues are now analysing elephant dung provided by Perhilitan, which hopes to distinguish between various herds, their numbers and geographical origins.
2007-08-06 - New York, United States. Sewell Chan
A sculpture depicting a tearful elephant in chains that was designed in New York and became the center of a federal lawsuit in Washington was put on display in Union Square Park today, with the blessing of New York City officials. The fiberglass sculpture, Ella PhantzPeril, shows a circus elephant with its front left leg in shackles. In 2002, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal welfare group, tried to place the sculpture on view as part of the Party Animals exhibition, a summ...
2007-08-06 - West Bengal, India. Soudhriti Bhabani
The unnatural death of 11 wild elephants within a span of three months in West Bengals northern region has left the state forest department stumped as the wildlife tragedy is being blamed on an increasing man-elephant conflict arising out of urban encroachment in forestlands. We are highly concerned about the frequent deaths of elephants in north Bengal forests and we have already taken necessary steps to find some solutions, West Bengal Chief Wildlife Warden V.K. Yadav told IANS.
2007-08-06 - Lusaka, Zambia.
A 40-year-old man in Chiawa area of Zambia's Lusaka Province has been killed by an elephant. The incident happened Saturday morning when the man was in his maize field, reported Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) Sunday. Chieftainess in the area said the matter has been reported to Chirundu Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to trace the elephant. She appealed to the ZAWA head office to re-enforce wildlife personnel in Chiawa and crop the animals on the loose, said the report.
2007-08-05 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Faced with criticism for withdrawing proposals of two new elephant reserves, the State Government has tried to put up a brave face by going on record that it had already prepared a master plan to protect the jumbos. The plan, according to Forest Department, has been placed before the Centre for its approval. There is, however, more to it than meets the eye. The Rs 52-crore master plan that the Forest Department is talking about now is actually an Elephant Management Plan the Wildlife Wing had pr...
2007-08-05 - London, United States. Greg Struthers
Indias cricketers were without a victory in England for 39 years when they started their seventh visit in the summer of 1971. Then they brought an elephant to the match and won. Bella, a three-year-old Asian elephant from Chessington Zoo in Surrey, took to the field wearing a white cap with the words “Chessington Zoo XI”. It proved a good omen. India bowled over the home side in the afternoon and went on to record their first victory in England. Bella was born in the wild in 1968. Chessingto...
2007-08-05 - Lucknow, India. Shailvee Sharda
Meet Sumit, a 40-year old elephant and his 50-year old mahaout-friend Kishen. When Kishen walked down the railway track opposite Sumit's enclosure, he started swinging his trunk in excitement. "Kaisa hai tu..ha?" asked Kishen patting his back. The animal saluted his friend trunk-up, telling he was fine. Kishen asked "Khana khayega??" and Sumit shook his head and blew its trumpet crying with authority 'yes I am hungry'. The conversation went on till Sumit's stomach was full. "I have known him for...
2007-08-05 - Portsmouth, United States. Ellen Albanese
Green Animals Topiary Garden is remarkable in the degree to which it reflects the vision of the Portuguese immigrant who designed it more than 100 years ago. There are 80 pieces of topiary throughout the gardens, including 21 animals and birds in addition to geometric figures and ornamental designs, all sculpted from California privet, yew, and English boxwood. The oldest part of the garden features an elephant, camel, lion, and giraffe, all planted from 1910 to 1912. Gardener Joseph Carreiro, s...
2007-08-05 - Kandy, Sri Lanka.
These are the first pictures of the two tuskers gifted by the Government of Myanmar to the Government of Sri Lanka, with the Myanmar Ambassador and veterinarian Dr. Kmin Maung Tsu of the Myanmar Forestry Ministry. President Mahinda Rajapaksa inspected the two tuskers and fed them when they were brought to the Janadhipathi Mandiraya in Kandy about two weeks ago. The official handing over of the two tuskers would be on the last day of the Perahera or on the following day. The elephant keeper from ...
2007-08-05 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The conservation of a species necessitates the provision of all resources (habitat, security, food, water etc.) necessary to maintain a stable population into the long-term future. Conservation has two aspects; one is the protection of the species and the other, scientific management of the species and the resources necessary for its conservation. The continued existence of the Asian elephant in the wild is threatened not only by the actions of some but also due to others not taking any action.
2007-08-05 - Stanford, United States. O'connell-Rodwell CE, Wood JD, Kinzley C, Rodwell TC, Poole JH, Puria S. Stanford University School of Medicine
In a series of experiments, familiar and unfamiliar alarm calls were transmitted seismically to wild African elephant family groups. Elephants respond significantly to the alarm calls of familiar herds (p=0.004) but not to the unfamiliar calls and two different controls, thus demonstrating the ability of elephants to discriminate subtle differences between seismic calls given in the same context. If elephants use the seismic environment to detect and discriminate between conspecific calls, based...
2007-08-05 - Vienna, Austria.
The ICEE is a meeting for the exchange of ideas about both theoretical and applied research on enrichment for animals under human care. The conference is held every two years in internationally diverse locations. Deadline for the receipt of abstracts for paper, poster and video submissions is March 1, 2007. Authors will be notified of the results of the review process by April 1, 2007.
2007-08-04 - Rebecca O'Halloran, United States.
They are similar in appearance, but mammoths had tusks that grew downward and feasted on plants at ground level, according to experts at Friday's dig. The mastodon, which weighed about four to six tons, had upward tusks and usually found its meals in the trees, said Jessie Dorsz, 17, a senior at Bartlett High School. The extinct relative of the elephant existed from about 1.6 million to 10,000 years ago, according to The Field Museum.
2007-08-04 - Jalpaiguri, India.
At least three rhinoceroses and 30 elephants have been causing havoc in the Jadavpur tea garden in Jalpaiguri district, destroying tea bushes. The animals have put a complete stop to work in the garden as panicked workers refused to report for duty, the manager of the tea garden, Pradip Ghosh said today. More than 200 tea bushes have been destroyed by the frenzied herd of elephants in the garden, which is located close to the Gorumara National Park, Ghosh said.
2007-08-04 - Dublin, Ireland.
I was born at the Dublin Zoo on 9 May, 2007. My wonderful keepers tell me that I am the first elephant ever born in the Republic of Ireland. My timing was perfect as I get to stomp around the new Kaziranga Forest Trail with the rest of my ‘family’ Bernhardine, Yasmin and Anak. The problem is: I still don’t have a name. So I need your help. Find out details for the ‘Name the Baby Elephant (me!)’ contest below and check out my baby photos and video of my birth. Send me your suggestion fo...
2007-08-04 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
A week after withdrawing a proposal for setting up of two elephant reserves, the Orissa government has prepared a master plan for protection of the pachyderm population in the state. "We have chalked out a Rs 52 crore master plan for protection of elephants. The state government has sent it for the Centre's approval," said Forest Department Special Secretary Priyanath Padhi.
2007-08-04 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Representatives of four Southern African countries who were given the nod to conduct a one-off sale of stocked ivory during the 14th Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference will next week converge in Pretoria, South Africa, to map modalities on how the sales will be conducted. The countries: Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, won the right to conduct a one-off sale mainly to Japan during the Cites meeting that was held in The Hague, the Netherlands, in June ...
2007-08-03 - Dallas, United States. NANCY CHURNIN
With its new show, Circus of Dreams, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the last bastion of busy-is-better, has reinvented itself as a single-stage Cirque du Soleil for the kiddie channel, complete with a giant circular high-definition screen suspended so audiences can alternately see close-ups of the action, pre-filmed skits including backstage mayhem and elephant commentary on "those cute little humans." And the appreciative crowd of light-twirling kids liked what they saw on opening night at...
2007-08-03 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Tamed Elephant Owners Association laments that the number of tamed elephants have dropped gradually. The Association figures point out that only 137 tamed elephants are now in the country. About 110 of them are over 50 years of age. There are only 18 tuskers among them and seven belong to the sacred Temple of Tooth in Kandy. The Secretary of the Tamed Elephant Owners Association Damsiri Karunarathna says that the number of tamed elephants did not increase after the licenses to capture ...
2007-08-03 - London, United Kingdom.
A gun used to kill more than a thousand African elephants has sold for £66,000 at auction in London. The .577 double-barrelled rifle was used by infamous professional hunter James Sutherland to claim the tusks of 1,200 bull elephants on his safaris in Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. His book, The Adventures Of An Elephant Hunter, published in 1912, painted hunting as an impossibly glamorous adventure.
2007-08-03 - Melbourne, Australia. Chee Chee Leung
IT'S a big job but someone's got to do it. Melbourne scientists are to run DNA tests on elephant dung sent from Cambodia to help work out numbers and monitor wild populations in the formerly war-torn nation. Rangers have collected almost 600 elephant dung samples from the Cardamom Mountains in the country's south-west, a former stronghold of the Khmer Rouge. The specimens have been packed in test tubes and are due to arrive next month in Melbourne, where they will be analysed by biologists at Wa...
2007-08-03 - Givskud, Denmark. Dan Koehl
BonsRee died on friday 13th of June, probably of Cerebral hemorrhage during anesthesia for a foot operation. Bons Ree was Denmarks oldest elephant, and the last animal with origin from Vejle Zoo, from where the founder of Givskude Zoo Jacob Hansen, moved his animal collection in 1971. The oldest danish elephant in Denmark is now the 48 year old breeding bull Chieng Mai in Copenhagen Zoo.
2007-08-02 - Dallas, United States.
Nicole, an Asian Elephant from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, enjoyed the pampered life Wednesday in preparation of her Dallas debut. The circus, performing the 136th edition of The Greatest Show on Earth, runs through Aug. 12 at American Airlines Center. An avocado facial, pedicure and bath for an elephant from Bliss Spa: if we could all be so lucky.
2007-08-02 - Los Angeles, United States.
A history of abuse and neglect at the Los Angeles Zoo resulted in the premature death of 13 elephants, actor Robert Culp and another man claimed in a lawsuit filed today seeking to close the facility. In the lawsuit filed against the zoo and city of Los Angeles, Culp and real estate agent Aaron Leider accuse zoo officials of abusing elephants by withholding medical care, keeping the animals confined in a small area and using bull hooks and electric shock to control them.
2007-08-02 - St. Louis, United States.
One of the St. Louis Zoo's most popular occupants celebrates her first birthday today. The Asian elephant Maliha was 341 pounds at birth on August second of last year. Now, she weighs 720 pounds. Keepers will chat with visitors from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in front of the center yard at the River's Edge area of the zoo. The birthday girl herself is expected to be available for viewing during much of the day. Maliha is the second baby born to Ellie and the first to proud papa Raja, who was the...
2007-08-02 - Jharkhand, India.
Thursday 02nd of August 2007 Juhi and Anarkali dislike being overworked. They also loathe going out in the noon or in the afternoon. Faced with the recalcitrance, the bosses of these two female elephants are feeling helpless. Any remonstrance meets with a resounding shriek and stamping off the feet. Such disobedience has not gone down well with the authorities of the Betla National Park. But they do not know how to deal with these disobeying elephants, who take tourists on a ride at the sanctuar...
2007-08-02 - Kolkata, India. Marcus Dam
The death of an adult female elephant from suspected electrocution in the Gorubathang area of West Bengal’s Kalimpong subdivision early on Wednesday has raised questions over the efficacy of joint-monitoring by officials of the State’s Forest and Power Departments against illegal methods employed by locals to prevent depredation and elephant attacks in the region. An average of 50 persons die each year in elephant-human conflicts in north Bengal — among the highest in the country.
2007-08-01 - Erzurum, Turkey. Demir Y, Nadaroðlu H, Demir N. Faculty of Education Atatürk University
Four isoenzymes of carbonic anhydrase (CA) were purified from Elephas Irogontherii (steppe elephant) bone (approx 0.3-0.5 million years old) from different locations (outer peripheral, cytosolic, inner peripheral and integral) using Sepharose 4B-L-tyrosine sulphanilamide affinity chromatography and their kinetics properties were investigated and compared with known CA isoenzymes. The purification degree of CAs was monitored by SDS-PAGE. Purification fold for outer peripheral, inner peripheral, c...
2007-08-01 - Washington, United States.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has approved the re-authorization for an additional five years of conservation programs for African elephants, Asian elephants, rhinos and tigers. The Senate Committee adopted H.R. 465 and H.R. 50, which were passed by the House of Representatives on July 23. There were no amendments and the two bills are expected to be adopted by the Senate by unanimous consent and then head to the President’s desk for signature.
2007-08-01 - Kolkata, India.
An elephant was electrocuted Wednesday in a north Bengal tea garden after it touched a live wire with its trunk, forest officials told the Indo-Asian News Service. A herd of 15 to 20 elephants wandered into the tea garden at Jalpaiguris Malbazar, about 370 miles from Kolkata, looking for food, when one that strayed from the herd felt a live wire with its trunk and died instantly, reported the news service.
2007-07-31 - Pernem, India.
The Forest Department has failed to drive out the elephants, which have strayed into the State, to Maharashtra as the four tuskers are still seen around Khutwal village of Pernem taluka, destroying paddy fields and plantation. A small group of men, using firecrackers, drums and other percussion instruments, have been trying to drive out the animals without any success, for the last four days.
2007-07-31 - Vallejo, United States. MATTHIAS GAFNI and J.M. BROWN
City Manager Joe Tanner decided late Monday night that Vallejo cannot afford to exclude four elephants from todays sale of Discovery Kingdom to Six Flags. Tanner met for two hours Monday with animal rights activists, who asked him to remove the elephants, long owned by the city, based on allegations that the park has treated the animals inhumanely.
2007-07-30 - Bamondangi, India. Pinakpriya Bhattacharya & Prithvijit Mitra
Her cries pierced the morning air in Bamondangi forest. As villagers peeped out of their homes in fear, the mammoth animal appeared from behind the trees and bushes, hobbling on three legs and desperately trying to keep moving. It kept lashing its trunk on the ground in pain. After struggling for more than an hour, it collapsed and bled to death. A few miles away, her death was ‘avenged'. The dead elephant's herd - at least a dozen of them also bleeding from bullet injuries - went berserk in a...
2007-07-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The animal, whose name is Chooti Mahattaya, meaning Little Master, damaged a pair of three-wheeler taxis bringing traffic, and the festivities to an abrupt halt after something in the crowd disturbed him. As hundreds watched him, the 3m (10ft) beast then set off down the road with a team of mahouts – elephant drivers giving chase. However, Chooti proved to be no Dumbo, slinking off to the shops to try to get them off his tail in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
2007-07-30 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
Nepal's dwindling population of endangered Asian elephants, already under threat from expanding human settlements, is faced with danger from tuberculosis, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said Monday. The warning came during a workshop on 'Disease Diagnosis and Treatment of Elephants' attended by experts from several national and international organizations working for the protection of the animals.
2007-07-29 - Guruvayoor, India.
After a month-long rejuvenation treatment during the monsoon, 64 elephants of the Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayoor, are all set to take up their various tasks at the shrine. The elephants have to perform various rituals in the temple every day including 'seeveli' (the temple idol placed atop the pachyderm and taken round the shrine). At least five elephants are deputed for the temple tasks everyday.
2007-07-29 - Jalpaiguri, India.
At least 33 houses were damaged by an elephant herd at Turturi in Dooars area of Jalpaiguri district triggering panic in the area. The pachyderms, which strayed into human habitation for the past seven days after dusk, devoured paddy resulting heavy loss to standing crops, official sources said. The herd damaged 19 houses in the labourer settlement of Chuniajhora Tea Estate alone.
2007-07-28 - Kolkata, India.
Minister in-charge of the state forest department (SFD) Ananta Roy, in the state Assembly on Friday said that 48 people were killed during elephant attacks in the state in 2006. The figures re-confirm the growing human-animal conflict in in the state. Roy further said that at present, a compensation of Rs 4,000 per hectare is paid for damage done to crops by elephants. Rs 50,000 is offered as compensation for death due to elephant attack.
2007-07-27 - Cachar, India.
Indian police have shot dead two elephants after they rampaged through villages in northeast India killing eight people and injuring nine. The elephants, used for moving logs in the timber industry, ran amok in Cachar district in Assam state, destroying dozens of bamboo and straw houses. Villagers say the animals destroyed whatever was in their way, either trampling people or dashing them to the ground with their trunks.
2007-07-27 - Hyderabad, India.
It maybe just another walk for Vanaja, a forty-year-old elephant that has seen many a procession since the last three years. But with the Bonalu procession day drawing nearer, officials are a worried lot. Vanaja, which participated in the Moharrum procession last year, got a little panicky causing alarm among the processionists and officials. Mahouts are sparing no efforts to train Vanaja not to react in different situations. For the past few months, special efforts are being made to get it accu...
2007-07-26 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Patrick Kisembo, Judica Tarimo
Police in Dar es Salaam are holding a person they say was found in possession of 223 elephant tusks. Kinondoni Regional Police Commander Jamal Rwambow yesterday named the man as Hamidu Hassan, saying the arrest was made on Tuesday at Kimara Kirungule on the city`s western outskirts. The development came as legislators now assembled in Dodoma for the National Assembly`s annual Budget meeting spat fire over reports of gross violation of hunting laws by both Tanzanians and foreigners and called for...
2007-07-26 - Ahmedabad, India.
The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) is planning a brand new house for Ashok and Roopa. Like their friends Ganesh, Raja, Seema, Danny and others, these two teenagers too will be proud owners of a sprawling one-acre estate soon. Ashok (17) and Roopa (15) are elephants at the Kamla Nehru Zoo in Kankaria. Ever since they were brought to Ahmedabad from Banerghatta National Park in Karnataka in 1992, they have lived separately in modest houses of 225 sq ft, having merely enough...
2007-07-26 - Mumbai, India. Nitya Kaushik
The Forest department on Tuesday decided to ban elephants on the city roads, ‘confiscate’ them from their owners and order the latter to leave the city precincts with immediate effect. However, with no strategy in place, no rescue or rehabilitation centres, and no sanctuary in the city to send the animals to, the ban appears headed nowhere.
2007-07-25 - Silchar, India. Partha Sarkar
Eight persons, including five women died on the spot when two domesticated elephants attacked their houses yesterday night at Hawaitang , Tulatal, Bagawala , Kooliechera and Siggarbasti, which are located atleast 40 kms away from the city. The area falls under the reserve forest of Dholai Range. Irate local residents in the meatime torched the Hawaitang Forest Beat Office today afternoon.
2007-07-24 - Stockholm, Sweden. Dan Koehl
The Elephant News archive has now over 2 500 articles in the database (Some of the original articles already deleted at the origial website) which you can search through from the searchfield in the upper left corner. You can even search the database from YOUR website, placing a searchbox there. Make use of the resource!
2007-07-24 - Leipzig, Germany.
Scientists say they have calculated the date at which the African and the Asian elephant went their separate ways. The two elephant species diverged from a common ancestor some 7.6 million years ago, experts working in the US, Germany and Switzerland say. They came to their conclusion after comparing a genetic analysis of the two species with material derived from the extinct woolly mammoth and mastodon.
2007-07-24 - Anchorage, United States. LESLIE ANNE JONES
Alaska Zoo officials say they continue to narrow down possible new homes for Maggie. They won't name the contenders, but one sanctuary run by the PAWS foundation and known to be under consideration has offered to foot the shipping bill for the zoo's only elephant. Zoo director Pat Lampi said he's looking for the best possible place that can care for Maggie for the rest of her life. He's asked the places under consideration for daily-life video footage of their elephants, financial records and th...
2007-07-24 - Leipzig, Germany. Nadin Rohland, Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas,Joshua L. Pollack2, Montgomery Slatkin, Paul Matheus, Michael Hofreiter
We have sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of the extinct American mastodon (Mammut americanum) from an Alaskan fossil that is between 50,000 and 130,000 y old, extending the age range of genomic analyses by almost a complete glacial cycle. The sequence we obtained is substantially different from previously reported partial mastodon mitochondrial DNA sequences. By comparing those partial sequences to other proboscidean sequences, we conclude that we have obtained the first sequence of m...
2007-07-24 - Cleveland, United States.
Martika, Moshi and Jo were born in the African wilds, but they've grown close to Meghan Sharp, the keeper who welcomed all three to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo 10 years ago. They have even noticed her life milestones. Sharp relates some striking examples. Martika, age 23 You'd think a huge elephant wouldn't be enamored by a teensy diamond ring, but "When I came back from my wedding and honeymoon after two weeks off, Martika went immediately for my ring with her trunk. She was fascinated.
2007-07-24 - Meru, Kenya.
For many years, now just memories, the Meru National Park, was the gem that attracted tourists to the Mt Kenya Circuit. But poaching and virtual neglect turned the park into a desolate place and a trap to any would-be visitor. the park had lost all that glory for years including the 3,000 elephants that roamed it. It is a great triumph to see the park restocked with elephants in one of the largest translocations in the region and branded to start business. Also encouraging is the interest that i...
2007-07-24 - Grevena, Greece.
The remains of a prehistoric mastodon have been found in northern Greece, including intact long tusks. A Dutch scientist at the site, Dick Mol, says the find near Grevena should help explain why mastodons died out in Europe two to three million years ago. The mastodon's tusks measure 5m (16.5ft) and 4m, Mr Mol told the BBC. They are the longest tusks ever found on a prehistoric elephant-like animal. "It is spectacular," Mr Mol said.
2007-07-23 - Izmir, Turkey.
The elephant Pak Bahadýr at the Izmir Municipality Kulturpark Zoo died while undergoing an operation on his foot and leg. One Turkish and two German experts conducted the operation. Unfortunately the old elephant's heart could not handle the pressure. Sabah daily said the elephant had arrived from Pakistan in 1954 and had become the symbol of the city.
2007-07-22 - Ndola, Zambia.
THE Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has arrested a Lebanese for unlawful possession of 55 pieces of elephant tusks and 58 rounds of ammunition. DEC public relations and Press liasion officer, Rosten Chulu said Reda Khalil Fadlallal, 65, of flat L8, Lubambe Centre in Parklands, Kitwe, was arrested after a tip-off from members of the public. The suspect was allegedly caught with 55 pieces of ivory weighing an estimated value of K310 million and 58 rounds of ammunition.
2007-07-22 - Dallas, United States. KATIE MENZER
When the dog won't hunt, the bird won't spread its wings or the elephant won't get on the scale for a weigh-in, the Dallas Zoo calls Barbara Heidenreich. The nationally recognized animal trainer has worked with Disney World's Animal Kingdom theme park, Six Flags and the Birds of the World Show at the State Fair of Texas. Now a consultant at the Dallas Zoo, she's helping teach old zoo animals – from the rats to the red-tailed hawks – some new tricks."The science of behavior analysis is the sa...
2007-07-22 - Goshen, United States. Brian Hallenbeck
When they're not on the road, Bob Commerfords exotic animals roam over 40 rolling acres here in Litchfield County, grazing, strutting, plodding, as the case may be, characters in an unfettered menagerie, seemingly at peace with their surroundings and their human handlers. The elephants, Commerford has had as many as four at one time and six altogether, have long been the stars of his R.W. Commerford & Sons Traveling Petting Zoo. He aims to keep it that way, to preserve, he says, the business hes...
2007-07-22 - Springfield, United States. Dirk VanderHart
Dickerson Park Zoo held its first-ever ZooFest on Saturday. The centerpiece of the day was the birthday girl Nisha, who turned 1 on Wednesday. In spite of the festivities, the 1-year-old elephant just meandered near her mother like always, oblivious to the frequent "happy birthday" wishes of young children. Nisha might not have realized the party was in her honor, but she probably did notice a change in diet Saturday. In the elephant pen, the pachyderms roamed with trunks stained red, a memento ...
2007-07-22 - Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. Pushpakumara Jayaratne
A mahout at the annual Dalada Poson Perehera in Kurunegala was injured last Friday night when he was attacked by one of three elephants who ran amok. The victim has been admitted to Kurunegala base hospital. Two of the elephants belonged to the Dalada Maligawa while the third belonged to the Etkanda Viharaya in Kurunegala. Hospitals sources said the condition of the mahout was not serious and he had been attacked by one of the Maligawa elephants. As a result of the incident a commotion ar...
2007-07-22 - Thrissur, India.
Forest Minister Binoy Viswam said that a proposal to stipulate the retirement age for domesticated elephants and rehabilitate them in natural setting was under consideration of the state government. The Minister said that the government of Sri Lanka had implemented such a programme some years back and the centre where the aged elephants were rehabilitated in a natural setting had now become a major attraction for eco-tourists.
2007-07-22 - London, United Kingdom. Will Iredale
Scientists have worked out part of the genetic structure of the mastodon, a giant primitive elephant, after finding DNA preserved in the fossilised tooth of a beast that died up to 130,000 years ago. The creature is thought to have roamed the forests and plains of North America before dying and sinking into a swamp that preserved its tissues. The information obtained has shed new light on the ancestry of mastodons and mammoths, both now extinct, as well as on the origins of the three surviving e...
2007-07-21 - Kitwe, Zambia.
A Lebanese has been arrested in Zambia for unlawful possession of 55 pieces of elephant tusks worth nearly 80,000 U.S. dollars and 58 rounds of ammunition, Times of Zambia reported Saturday. The 65-year-old Lebanese was arrested in Kitwe, Copperbelt Province after a tip-off and then handed over to the Zambia Wildlife Authority for prosecution, Rosten Chulu, public relations and press liaison officer of the Drug Enforcement Commission, was quoted as saying.
2007-07-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
An angry circus elephant in eastern Thailand grabbed a man who had provoked him and then stomped on him until he was fatally injured, police said Saturday. Surat Kaenthip, a 30-year-old air conditioner repairman, had hit the six-year-old elephant while he was resting in an open field Friday in Rayong province, 140 kilometers (90 miles) east of Bangkok, said police Lt. Col. Thanit Saeniwong na Ayuddhaya. "The elephant then grabbed the man's body with his trunk and hurled him on to the ground befo...
2007-07-21 - Mysore, India.
A male orphaned elephant calf, aged about 25 days, was received by Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore on July 7. The calf was rescued from the flood waters at Dabbadka stream in Sampaje Range of Madikeri Forest Division. The calf is responding to treatment and hand-rearing methods. Except for some minor ailments the calf is healthy. Since the elephant is very young, the prognosis is for the next two months. Maximum efforts have been initiated towards hand-rearing of the elephant calf, ...
2007-07-21 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A state still struggling to strike a balance between industrialisation and ecology has witnessed a rise in the number of elephants even in the face of intense mining and deforestation activities. Add to that the growing menace of poaching. The latest elephant census has put the total number of elephants in Orissa at 1862. In 2002, when the last comprehensive census was carried out, their number stood at 1841. According to a WWF report, the elephant sex ratio in India varies from 1:26 to 1:46, an...
2007-07-21 - Detroit, United States. TINA LAM
The debate in 2004 over where the Detroit Zoo's aging elephants belonged got zoo Director Ron Kagan who said elephants shouldn't be kept in cold-weather zoos into trouble with a national zoo organization and with a colleague from another zoo who hit him during a professional meeting, according to documents obtained by the Free Press. Kagan was suspended for three months for violating an ethics rule of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association after he issued a news release saying he intended to ...
2007-07-21 - Guwahati, United States. PULLOCK DUTTA
Naga hoodlums are allegedly letting loose herds of wild elephants to scare away Assam villagers from their land and property in the disputed area in Sivasagar district along the Assam-Nagaland border. So much so that the Assam forest department has lodged a formal complaint with the Nagaland government to “stop the hoodlums” from disturbing the wild elephant herds at Geleki reserve forest, which straddles both sides of the border. Amal Sharma, divisional forest officer of Sivasagar, told The...
2007-07-21 - Taiping, Malaysia. CHAN AH LAK
I decided to pay a visit to have a closer look at this elephant. In the stall, not accessible to the public, a surprise awaited me. A female baby elephant, just a few days old, was trailing her mother. The proud mother, Jalung, allowed us to get close to her first calf and showed none of the bull elephant’s animosity. The newborn, Tepeng, was a picture of health as she followed her mother, occasionally suckling. She had a shoulder height of 90cm and weighed a hefty 90kg. This was not surprisi...
2007-07-20 - Aiken, United States. TONY BAUGHMAN
The biggest star in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is so big, he won't even fit in the new USC Aiken Convocation Center. Circus handlers have discovered that the Gold Unit's 23-year-old Asian elephant is just too tall for the arena's 10-foot-high service entrances. Thus, when the "Greatest Show on Earth" opened Thursday night, the 11-foot-tall pachyderm found himself standing outside.
2007-07-20 - Etosha, Namibia. Scott Calvert
The huge bull elephant nicknamed "Marlon Brando" loped over to the water hole, big ears flapping in the breeze. Buried in the sandy soil nearby, switched off at the moment, sat a device probably never before known in this remote stretch of southwest African wilderness: the same kind of ButtKicker subwoofer that gives many American home theaters their bone-rattling shake. Here, the device has led to groundbreaking discoveries about how Brando and his kind communicate. Not only can elephants find ...
2007-07-20 - Perth, Australia.
City Beach woman Janet Thomas is launching a campaign to better the lives of animals in a run-down zoo in Egypt. She has already persuaded keepers to unchain an elephant, Kareema, she says was tethered for show in a concrete cage for 35 years. Janet, a teacher, said she was appalled by the state of the animals and the conditions they lived in at the zoo in Alexandria. She was teaching English at a language school when friends told her about the zoo. In its heyday, Janet said, the zoo had been re...
2007-07-20 - Oklahoma City, United States. Brian Brus
Oklahoma City Zoo Executive Director Bert Castro believes offering the public the opportunity to perform a little sweaty work is an excellent way for people to appreciate what it takes to keep their zoo operating. Weve got two elephants and they probably generate half a ton of manure a day, said Castro, who began his own zoo career with a shovel in hand. Just to keep the area clean and the exhibit in good working order is a big job. … We try to have fun with it, and as they’re going through ...
2007-07-20 - Mombasa, Kenya. Patrick Beja
Elephants have migrated near Kinondo and Chale beaches on Mombasa’s South Coast, causing panic among residents. Fishermen have been forced to suspend night expeditions for fear of being attacked. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says it has not confirmed where the elephants came from. The animals have been roaming on the white beaches on the area dotted with luxury cottages. KWS Coast Assistant Director, Mr Philip Mwakio, said the animals arrived about three weeks ago. Mwakio said it was difficult...
2007-07-19 - Chandigarh, India.
After a lull of two years, the Chhatbir Zoo witnessed the birth of a baby elephant, Rajveer, in the wee hours of Thursday. The baby elephant was born to Hema and Rajmangal at 2.10 am. According to the zoo authorities, Hema had a normal delivery and the baby weighed 103 kg at birth. It was born after a gestation period of 22 months and nine days, a delay of nine days. Rajveer is the second elephant ever to have been born at Chhatbir zoo after Seema, his sister, who was born in 2000. However, Seem...
2007-07-19 - SILIGURI, India.
An elephant calf was found dead on the bank of the Reti river at Dalgaon in the Dooars today. Locals spotted the two-year-old female calf lying by the Reti riverbed early this morning and intimated the forest officials. Officials from the Dalgaon forest range rushed to the spot and they later declared the calf dead after a thorough check-up. Later, with assistance from the state veterinary department, forest officials conducted a postmortem of the carcass.
2007-07-19 - Osnabrück, Germany. Dan Koehl
Sikkim is dead. The elephant cow, which was confiscated from Circus Giovanni Althoff in 2003, was euthanised on tuesday. The apr. 30 year old african elephant was suffering from cronic joint problems, which gave her a lot of pain, and reduced her movements. Her last years with the herd in Osnabrück Zoo in Lower Saxony gave her social comfort, but in the end not even painkillers could reduce her pain.
2007-07-18 - Siliguri, India.
Villagers alerted forest officials this morning seeing the baby being split from elders by the Balason near Marianbarie Tea Estate. The baby was sent to the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, about 140km away, escorted by a veterinary surgeon. It would be kept at the pilkahana — where trained elephants are housed.
2007-07-18 - Jashpurnagar, India. Ajay Sharma
Driven to desperation by the frequent intrusion of elephants from forest areas in Jharkhand and Orissa, residents of over 100 villages in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur District are having sleepless nights over fears of another jumbo attack. Another 32 villages in Raigarh, Sarguja and Korba Districts are also at the mercy of these marauding pachyderms. Irrespective of day or night, these elephants tend to storm villages and catch villagers off guard.
2007-07-18 - Sydney, Australia.
Since Steve Irwins death, Bindi, her younger brother Bob and mum Terri have spent less than half of their time in Australia Zoo. Terri is particularly proud of the enormous elephant quarters called Elephantasia at Australia Zoo, which opened at Christmas. They now house three Asian elephants which can swim completely submerged underwater.
2007-07-18 - Heidelberg, Germany.
You have at least five years of experience working with elephants hands on. You have experience with health care, enrichment, and training of elephants. You are willing to work with elephants in protected contact as well. You are determined curious to shape and train our team in cooperation with our elephant program advisor Alan Roocroft. You are a team player, reliable, hard working and looking to work in a zoo where you can influence development.
2007-07-17 - Houston, United States.
If you’ve ever remodeled your home while you lived in it you’ll have a pretty good idea of what we’re doing with our elephant exhibit at the Houston Zoo. Construction is now underway on the most significant improvement to our elephant exhibit in the 85-year history of the Zoo, the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat. The expansion will be built in two phases. Phase One, a $5 million project, has just begun and will include an improved viewing area, a new 9,000 square foot elephant barn and addit...
2007-07-17 - BANGALORE, India.
A farmer was trampled to death by an elephant near Sathnur in Kanakapura taluk of Bangalore Rural district in the early hours of Monday. The police said that around 6.30 a.m. Range Gowda, 50, was working on his farm at M.T. Doddi, 5 km from Sathnur. An elephant strayed into the farm and trampled him, killing him on the spot, the police said. Later, the elephant destroyed crops in adjoining fields. People from the village burst firecrackers and beat drums and chased the elephant into the adjoinin...
2007-07-17 - Aiken, United States. MEGAN ELLIOTT
A gentle giant will roam through the USC Aiken Convocation Center's main arena with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The elephant is a 23-year-old Asian male. He works closely with his trainer, Patty Zerbini. The elephant is a product of the Ringling Brothers Center for Elephant Conservation, which is located in Polk County, Fla. The center is dedicated to the preservation of the Asian elephant as an endangered species. There are only 35,000 Asian elephants left in the world.
2007-07-17 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Vice President Moody Awori says Kenya will continue to oppose the trade in ivory products as a means to conserve the dwindling elephant population. Mr. Awori noted that in the past the elephant population in the country stood at about 100, 000, regretting that the number had since reduced to about 30,000 only. He said that to demonstrate its commitment to fight poaching and illegal ivory trade, Kenya burned thousands of ivory worth US $50 million that were confiscated from poachers.
2007-07-17 - Thrissur, India.
A hugely revered temple in southern India rested its herd of elephants from daily duties to give them a month-long restorative treatment. Vadakkunathan Temple at Trissur in southern Kerala has 45 jumbos, which are normally used for temple rituals. But during the Malayalam month of Karkidakom, when all temple festivals are over, these elephants are given a month-long restorative treatment called Aanayoottu (feeding the elephants).
2007-07-17 - Ayrshire, United Kingdom.
The last touring elephant in Britain has been banned from the big tent in Ayrshire after animal campaigners raised objections. Anne, who is aged 54 and suffers from arthritis, is believed to be one of the oldest elephants in Europe. East Ayrshire Council agreed with the Bobby Roberts Super Circus that Anne would not be used for commercial purposes during the run in Kilmarnock. Animal rights campaigners welcomed the decision.
2007-07-17 - ST. CHARLES, United States. GLORIA CARR
Bill Morris inherited Cora from his father, who owned 19 elephants at one time back in the 1960s when he ran a circus. The younger Morris' grandfather had seven elephants in the 1920s. The Morrises provide an educational program aimed at teaching people, among other things, the difference between African and Asian elephants. He also shows people how intelligent Cora and Shannon are. For example, they both play a musical instrument. The fair provides a rare opportunity for people to get close to ...
2007-07-17 - Stockholm, Sweden. Dan Koehl
Started in 1995, the elephant database had a slow start, but after intensive work this spring and summer it now contains over 3000 elephants from more than 800 location facilities from over 75 countries all over the world, ranging from Charlemagnes elephant Abul-Abbas in 802, to the latest births and deaths. Theres also graphical statistics and generation pedigree-tables.
2007-07-16 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Leon Marshall, National Geographic News
Elephants moving into war-ravaged southern Angola from neighboring countries appear to have developed the ability to avoid the land mines that litter the region, scientists report. Michael Chase, a biologist who has been studying the elephants for seven years, says he first detected the animals' apparent ability to avoid the mines from satellite-collar tracking images.
2007-07-16 - Montgomery, United States. Shaniquah Gabino, Times Herald-Record
Did you know that the first mastodon skeleton was found in Montgomery? The rib bones were found in 1793 and the Montgomery Mastodon excavation took place in 1801. There were two sites where mastodon skeletons were found: on Route 17K across from Valley Central School and in Coldenham. Joseph Devine, author of “The Montgomery Mastodon” (January 2007) knows a lot about this prehistoric mammal. His book has been distributed to fourth-grade students in the Valley Central School District.
2007-07-16 - Leipzig, Germany. Anwen Roberts
Last week, scientists announced the discovery of an almost perfectly preserved baby mammoth in the permafrost of Siberia. SPIEGEL spoke to evolution scientist Michael Hofreiter from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig about what the young female means for science. Researchers are falling all over themselves to examine the intact baby mammoth found in the permafrost of Siberia. Will scientists be able to clone it? Hofreiter: Cloning a mammoth isn't possible!
2007-07-15 - Mysore, India.
The elephant census from Chamarajanagara Wildlife Division in forest circle has indicated a rise in the male-female sex ratio of the pachyderm. The census has indicated that there is one male elephant for every four female elephants in the region and the sex ratio has been described as healthy. It used the block count, line transact and water hole count methods to examine family size, elephant structure and population trends.
2007-07-15 - Birmingham, United States. Stan Diel and Walter Bryant
Mona, the elephant beloved by her fans but pitied by animal rights activists before her death last month, will not be the Birmingham Zoo's last elephant. An ambitious zoo expansion plan to be unveiled in the fall will include a "much bigger" elephant exhibit, said Dr. Bill Foster, the zoo's chief executive officer. Foster declined to disclose specifics about the greater plan, but in broad strokes painted a picture of a zoo that puts animals in larger, more realistic habitats and focuses more on ...
2007-07-14 - New Delhi, India. Danish Shafi
The little, off-white elephant lines up behind another of his herd on Zameer Baig’s table. Zameer has done a good job of the bone carving but all his father Nazeer does is give him a dejected nod of approval. The father-son duo belong to a vanishing community of ivory artisans. “We are still called that but we don’t work on ivory anymore. We now carve on animal bones, that of camels and anything else that we manage to source,” said Nazeer.
2007-07-14 - Ranchi, India.
The population of elephants has declined sharply in Jharkhand with poaching and confrontation with human beings suspected to be the main causes for the decrease. Jharkhand has registered a sharp decline of 148 tuskers in the census conducted in May this year. According to the counting that took place between May 7 and May 12, the elephant population has declined to 624 from 772 reported in the last census conducted two years ago. According to forest department figures, in confrontation with elep...
2007-07-14 - Santa Barbara, United States. Gregory W. Griggs
Moorpark officials may have found a final resting place for the skeleton of a fossilized mammoth that roamed the area up to 1 million years ago. If the City Council approves the plan next week, the skeletal pieces will be donated to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Trevor J. Lindsey, the paleontologist who discovered the mammoth at the housing site, said this is probably the first time such fossils have been discovered in Moorpark.
2007-07-13 - Chiang Rai, Thailand. Jane Levere
A mahout course course takes place at the elephant camp at Anantara Resort Golden Triangle, near Chiang Rai, Thailand. Students are instructed by a qualified Thai mahout and English-speaking guide, and learn basic commands, daily care of an elephant, and how to mount an elephant—either up its side or by leap-frogging over its bowed head—among other other skills.
2007-07-13 - Asheboro, United States.
Years of poaching, a shrinking habitat, and trouble breeding in captivity have landed elephants on the endangered species list according to Rod Hackney at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. The 3-year, $8.5 million project includes a new state-of-the-art barn, twice the size of the last and more importantly space to do what comes naturally. The new elephant expansion should be complete by April 2008.
2007-07-13 - Naxalbari, India.
Fifty-three-year-old Kharananda Jaishi was killed by a berserk elephant in Naxalbari, in Darjeeling district this morning. The tusker attack came close on the heels of an elephant being shot dead in the Indo-Nepal border area on Tuesday after a herd strayed across the border. In 2002, a female elephant went on a rampage, killing 13 people in a row after she lost her calf. Similar accidents have been reported in the past. Herds of elephants, after being forced to retreat, had gone on a rampage in...
2007-07-13 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
A lower court in Delhi may soon have to arrange for a much larger witness box or conduct its proceedings in the parking lot. The case relates to a dispute over ownership. The elephants’ microchip numbers, inserted in the skin behind the ears, did not match the numbers mentioned in the ownership certificate. “Every elephant is marked and a record is maintained by inserting a microchip so that its identity can be verified. When we checked the numbers in the microchips, they did not matc...
2007-07-13 - Asheboro, United States. Adrianne Flores
The North Carolina Zoo wants to change the future by preserving the present. The number of elephants worldwide has dropped by 50 percent in the last century, and now the animal is on the endangered species list. Officials at the zoo hope a new $8.5 million expansion will save the species.
2007-07-13 - Surin, Thailand. Phoowadon Duangmee
The northeastern province of Surin pays homage to its traditional beasts of burden in celebrating the Buddhist Lent this year, with 80 elephants coming to town to take part in parades and spiritual ceremonies on July 28 and 29. The celebrations are being held two days before the start of the Buddhist Lent on July 30 to allow visitors to head to Ubon Ratchathani for the Candle Festival. "Eighty elephants will be joining a total of six processions," says Surin Governor, Pornsak Panuthonraphan.
2007-07-13 - Wuppertal, Germany.
In Wuppertal Zoo the female african elephant Tika was born on friday morning 02.40. The birth was rather long and complicated, but mother and the 75 kgs heavy baby are OK. Tika was drinking milk from her mother already after three hours.
2007-07-12 - Jefferson, United States. Steve Sharp
It's a laid-back situation here, Bill Morris said with a slight southern drawl Wednesday afternoon while he sat in the shade of his mobile home's awning at the Jefferson County Fair. And Morris' claim would be hard to dispute, because sprawled in front of him, enjoying a cool breeze while taking a nap, was his old friend, 48-year-old Asian elephant, Cora. Nearby, snacking on hay and green grass she yanked diligently from the ground, was her energetic 26-year-old counterpart, African elephant, Sh...
2007-07-12 - Padang, Indonesia.
The population of tiger and elephant in West Sumatra`s 21 conserved forests has continued to decrease due to illegal logging activities and human encroachment. We don`t have the exact number of their current population. However, we believe that the number has tended to drop over the last five years, Indra Arinal, the head of the West Sumatra Natural Resource Conservation Office, said here on Thursday. He estimated that the population of tiger in West Sumatra Province was currently about 50 heads...
2007-07-12 - Newmarket, Canada. Tamsyn Burgmann
They say an elephant never forgets. And it's likely York Regional Police and some startled early risers won't be able to forget what they saw in a Newmarket neighbourhood early Friday morning, three elephants wandering loose around the area. Cops responded to Yonge and Eagle Sts. around 2:30am, when some night owl residents spotted what appeared to be several pachyderms wandering around outside their doors.
2007-07-12 - Bhubaneswar, India.
In a bid to contain elephant intrusion into human habitations, the Orissa government has initiated a series of measures including easy availability of food and water inside jungles for the pachyderms. Elephants were mostly coming out of forests and entering human habitations in search of food and water, Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, said in the State Assembly last night.
2007-07-12 - Harare, Zimbabwe. ITAI DZAMARA
Three government ministers are involved in the illicit hunting of elephants and dealing in ivory through their concessions, investigations by The Zimbabwean have revealed. Minister of Policy Implementation, Webster Shamu dismissed as untrue allegations that the Hunting Safari he allegedly co-owns with Charles Davy was involved in illicit deals. Another minister, Obert Mpofu, of Industry and International Trade, also said that he wasn't involved in any illicit deals after highly-placed sources al...
2007-07-11 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
Colchester Zoo is very sad to report that “Rosa” one of Colchester Zoo’s female elephants has had to be put to sleep due to serious health problems. Rosa gave birth to Jambo, back in 2004 and since then had showed signs of severe discomfort, particularly whilst passing urine. Diagnosis of elephants is not an easy task, particularly due to their size so Colchester Zoo assembled a team of experts to investigate her symptoms. The team included the zoo’s consultant veterinary surge...
2007-07-11 - Bamandangi, Nepal. AVIJIT SINHA
The discovery of the mutilated carcass of a female elephant here — in Nepal’s Jhapa district — today has revived the spectre of organised poaching in the pachyderm corridor bordering India. The 25-year-old elephant had fallen to bullets near a bamboo grove close to the Mechi river yesterday. The spot is 20km from Panitanki, the last border town on the Indian side.
2007-07-11 - Anchorage, United States. Megan Baldino
The Alaska Zoo Board of Directors said it is a little closer to knowing where Maggie the elephant may end up when she leaves the zoo, but they said its going to take time. After their regular monthly meeting tonight, board president Dick Thwaites said the list has been narrowed from about 80 possibilities to six. The board meets again August 8. Thwaites said of the six options, all are located in California, Florida or the Midwest.
2007-07-11 - Pune, India.
A Month after the State forest department took two elephants into its custody after their owners were found using them for begging, one of the elephants, Lakshmi, was released by Judicial Magistrate First Class S J Ansari. Lakshmi, who is partially blind due to a cataract in both eyes, was released on a bond of Rs 2 lakh to be paid by her mahout Rameshchandra Pandey, after he furnished the legal ownership certificate issued by the Forest Department at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
2007-07-11 - Anchorage, United States. MEGAN HOLLAND
The next home for Maggie, the Alaska Zoo's lone elephant, may be chosen this week but that's not quick enough for those who want her moved out of Alaska pronto. Zoo director Pat Lampi said he plans to present a list tonight to the Alaska Zoo board of several options picked from eight institutions that have told the zoo they want the African elephant. "We are looking for the best possible situation for Maggie," Lampi said.
2007-07-11 - Louisville, United States.
During its last fiscal year, July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007, the zoo had 810,546 visitors, breaking the previous record of 798,282 that was set in 2002-2003, the opening year of the Gorilla Forest exhibit. The Louisville Zoo, a nonprofit organization and state zoo of Kentucky, is accredited by the American Association of Museums and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
2007-07-10 - London, United States. Stuart Coles
The World Wildlife Fund estimates up to 80 per cent of wildlife on reclaimed farms has been slaughtered since 2001, with little sign of the desire for bush meat and cash abating. They are killing everything and anything from a squirrel to an elephant, says Karen Paolillo, For food and for money. Karen Paolillo gives a talk to the Royal Geographical Society on Thursday July 12 at the Ondaatje Theatre, London, 7pm.
2007-07-10 - Caprivi, Namibia. Barbara J. King
In Caitlin O Connell’s The Elephants Secret Sense, I fell into the beauty of a natural Africa that felt at once strange and familiar, and learned new science about elephants in a way that maintained the groove of a good semester. Passages in O Connells book brought back the slow burning joy of coming to understand something of another creatures behavior: Eventually, once I learned to slow my own sense of time, adapting it to the deliberate, meditative pace of an elephant, I started to understa...
2007-07-10 - Tsavo, Kenya.
Poachers have killed seven elephants near Kenya's Tsavo National Park over the past month, wildlife officials said Tuesday. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the animals died in a migrating corridor near the Kenya-Tanzania border, where seven Tanzanian poachers and their Kenyan guide were arrested over the weekend. The elephants were killed in the nearby Koranze ranch, which serves as a corridor for the animals when migrating from Tsavo to Tanzania's northeastern Mkomazi Game Reserve.
2007-07-10 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
As many as 43 people have been killed in elephant attacks in the State’s tribaldominated Sundargarh district during the last seven years. Replying to a question from Prafulla Majhi (Cong), Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said of the 61 elephant attack deaths reported, 43 cases were confirmed and compensation had been paid in all these cases. Patnaik said the State Government had increased the ex gratia compensation amount from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh recently.
2007-07-10 - Siberia, Russian Federation. Paul Rincon
A baby mammoth unearthed in the permafrost of north-west Siberia could be the best preserved specimen of its type, scientists have said. The six-month-old female calf was discovered on the Yamal peninsula of Russia and is thought to have died 10,000 years ago. The frozen carcass is to be sent to Japan for detailed study.
2007-07-10 - Way Kambas, Indonesia. Oyos Saroso
Suffering is shared by both the dozens of wild novices in the Elephant Training Center (PLG) of Way Kambas in East Lampung regency as well as their tamers. The difference is that while most of the elephants are emaciated and sickly, the trainers are well excepting their meager pay. The elephant trainers have had to make do with a monthly salary of only Rp 550,000 in the last two years. Before that, they received just Rp 350,000 a month, which frequently came in very late.
2007-07-09 - Denver, United States. Sara Gandy
While other zoos have gotten rid of costly elephant exhibits in the face of new regulations, the Denver Zoo is planning a big expansion for its pachyderms. The zoo plans to build a $52 million, 10 acre park complete with a hot tub, scratching trees and running rivers. The zoo only has two elephants right now but the new park would have room for up to eight elephants.
2007-07-09 - Ahmedabad, India. Vikram Rautela
Shes tall, dark and graceful even at 60. Not only that, shes got a swinging gait. Mahants at the Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur will blow conch shells to welcome her on the morning of July 16. After all, she has the privilege of being the first one to bless Lord Krishnas rath yatra. We are talking about Gulab, one of the most revered elephants in the temple, who has been leading the rath yatra for the last 35 years.
2007-07-09 - Tumkur, India.
In a ghastly incident, an elephant trampled an eight-year-old boy to death while he was offering it a banana on the premises of Siddalingeshwara temple in Yadiyuru of Kunigal taluk on Sunday morning. The deceased is Sachin, son of an autorickshaw driver of Nandini Layout in Bangalore. Sachin’s elder brother Sanjay, however, managed to escape from the attack of the elephant. The temple was ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the parents.
2007-07-08 - New York, United States. MICHAEL FLEMING
Film rights to Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen’s Depression-era circus novel that has climbed atop the paperback bestseller lists, have been optioned by Andrew R. Tennenbaum, a producer of The Bourne Ultimatum. While Water for Elephants sold respectably in hardcover, the novel has become a word of mouth success in paperback, climbing to the top of the New York Times bestseller list the past two weeks.
2007-07-08 - Hampton, United States. Jaya Franklin
Kenny Welch has traveled to 40 different countries and visited about every state in the United States. He used to train African elephants at Lion Country Safari, formerly located in Stockbridge: I almost lost my life when I was attacked by one of the elephants, he said. Moja, a 3,000 pound African elephant became feisty while Welch was bathing the female pachyderm in a pond.
2007-07-08 - Exeter, United States. Barbara Rimkunas
When Teddie Higgins Smith brought in her Aunt Verna's photo album last year, she commented, "Oh, and here's one of the elephant on Water Street," as though everyone in town knew the story. Well, no one at the Historical Society had heard any particular tale about an elephant, but that didn't mean we couldn't uncover something. We copied the photo and the research began.
2007-07-08 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. MySriLankaTravel
The significance of this perahera dates to 310 AD when the tooth relic of Buddha was brought from India. For two weeks at the end of July and in to the first few day's of august, elephants parade the street at night, officials and chieftains wear traditional costume and dancers leap to the timeless rhythm of the drums. The elephants are decorated with ornate regalia and battery operated light, adding to the spectacle.
2007-07-07 - Mysore, India.
Elephant 'Balarama', which was carrying the golden howdah during the world famous Dasara festivities procession, was severely injured when it was attacked by another elephant at Moorkal elephant camp in Nagarahole National Park, near here. According to forest officials, 'Balarama' was released to the forest in the night along with another elephant 'Abhimanyu' a couple of days back for grazing. 'Abhimanyu', who went berserk, along with other elephants, gored him.
2007-07-07 - Moscow, Russian Federation.
A frozen mammoth found recently in Russia in unprecedented good condition is set to be sent to a Japanese university for examination, several experts said Friday. The mammoth, thought to be a 6-month-old female, was found in the best state of preservation among all frozen mammoths ever discovered, the experts said. The mammoth is expected to be sent to Naoki Suzuki, a professor at Tokyo's Jikei University, for CT scanning in December or later, according to the experts.
2007-07-07 - Grahamstown, South Africa.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has obtained a court order preventing a man from training and exhibiting elephants, the SPCA said on Thursday. The SPCA had opposed an application by one Yossuf Jeeva to train six African elephants and to exhibit them. He also wanted to train two Bengal tigers, six lions, cheetahs, African wild dogs and spotted hyenas.
2007-07-07 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A rehabilitation centre for aged elephants has been planned in Kerala, state Forest Minister Binoy Viswam said Thursday. An ideal forest spot would be identified soon for, Viswam informed the state assembly today. Taking note of incidents of elephants turning violent during festivals, a scheme to impart scientific training to mahouts has been drawn up, Viswam said in a written reply. The wildlife department had taken steps for effective implementation of Kerala captive elephants (management and ...
2007-07-06 - , United States.
Mastodon bones uncovered by the surprised crew of Dan's Excavating exactly one year ago near Adams Road and M-59 are returning home Saturday for a special exhibit. The bones are estimated to be those of a mastodon that roamed Oakland County about 12,360 years ago. Known to the Rochester Hills Museum staff as the Adams Road Mastodon, the now-extinct animal is a distant cousin of the elephant, which existed for at least 3.75 million years before dying off 10,000 to 11,000 years ago.
2007-07-06 - New Delhi, India.
The results of the five-yearly elephant census are pouring in and, unlike the tiger census results, project elephant officials are all smiles as the animal population is on the rise. Mr AN Prasad, inspector general of forests and director, project elephant, ministry of environments and forests, said, The elephant population has always been increasing but, in recent years, it has shown an amazing upward trend.
2007-07-05 - Wheaton, United States. Hank Beckman
The Wheaton Fourth of July parade normally doesn't celebrate royalty. But if the royalty is "Big Queenie," a 10,000 pound Asian elephant, exceptions can be made. Big Queenie, from Barnes and Bailey Circus, was sponsored by the Republican Party of DuPage County and one of 142 entries in "All the World's a Stage," the annual Independence Day celebration sponsored by the Wheaton Jaycees.
2007-07-05 - Bharatpur, India.
Orissa will build a memorial for a baby female elephant which was rescued by state wild life officials on May 5, but died a few days later after its reunion with its herd. The elephant named Kalinga, was kept in the Bharatpur wild life sanctuary for a month after it was rescued by the wildlife officials. But, its carcass was recovered on July 1 at Bharatpur on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The state forest and environment department will build the memorial at the spot where the carcass was recov...
2007-07-05 - Seattle, United States. Emma Marris, Nature
Samuel Wasser is a conservation biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, and an outspoken opponent of elephant poaching. He talks to Emma Marris about his genetic methods for tracing poached ivory. The secret is to pulverize the ivory without heating it up, which denatures the DNA. We use a freezer mill. It submerges a tube containing a small piece of ivory and a magnet into liquid nitrogen. This freezes the ivory and makes it brittle. We rapidly switch the magnetic field back and f...
2007-07-05 - Jerusalem, Israel.
While taking a pet for a walk might be a pleasant stroll for some, it takes on a whole different scale for elephant keeper Amar Obaidat and his charges at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. Every morning the herd of elephants are taken for a walk around the zoo to get their circulation going for the day ahead. The elephants, Tamar, Suzanne, Michaela, Avigail, Teddy and baby Gabby, are walked in two groups to keep their numbers manageable. First to go are usually two of the smaller females and Gabby.
2007-07-04 - Bhubaneswar, United States. Sulochana Das
The issue of man-elephant conflict is all set to come up for debate once again with a documentary film on the life and death of calf elephant Kalinga getting ready. Assimilating the video clips made by the officials of the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary on Kalinga's 40 day stay under human care and her death inside the sanctuary, Orissa Government's Forest Department has decided to make a 15 minute duration film.
2007-07-03 - Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa.
The death of Riccardo Ghiazza, who became infamous after a 2003 conviction for torturing baby elephants, will help to raise awareness about the wildlife trade in South Africa. This was the view of animal rights activists on Monday. Ghiazza, believed to have been on his way home, was killed on Saturday night when he crashed his black Mercedes SLK on the R512 near Hartbeespoort Dam. He died instantly from head injuries. Ghiazza made news headlines in 1998 when secretly filmed footage of mahouts e...
2007-07-03 - Champaign, United States.
With a circus set to come to Champaign on Friday and Saturday, an animal rights organization is urging city council members to enact an ordinance banning the use of devices that can cause pain or injury to elephants. But the mayor of Champaign says he doesn't plan to take up the issue. And the circus denies it harms its animals. Elephants born to the circus don't start performing until age 2, and when it's time for an elephant to retire, they "spend their 'golden years' with our herd in Choctaw ...
2007-07-03 - London, United Kingdom. DAVID LOWE
ONE-time wild child Jack Osbourne was ecstatic to be asked to film for the BBC’s Saving Planet Earth series. Having grown up with his mum Sharon’s spoilt dogs, Jack chose to highlight the plight of the 750 or so neglected elephants in Namibia. Here Jack, 21, reflects on his moving and inspirational trip and reveals his close call with a charging elephant.
2007-07-03 - Seattle, United States.
A previously unknown elephant herpes virus killed the Woodland Park Zoo's youngest Asian elephant in Seattle. Hansa, 6, who died last month, was one of 12 elephants fathered by a bull at a zoo in Missouri. Three of the others exhibited herpes symptoms in the past decade. Two of them died, while the third, Chandra, was successfully treated in 1997.
2007-07-02 - Guruvayur, India.
The month-long annual rejuvenation therapy for jumbos owned by Guruvayur Devaswom began at Punnathur Anakotta here on Sunday. Devaswom chairman Thottathil Raveendran formally inaugurated the rejuvenation therapy by giving the special diet food to Seshadri, the new member of the elephant family of the temple. Eldest elephant Gajaratnam Guruvayur Padmanabhan, Gaja Samrat Guruvayur Valiya Kesavan and other seven elephants are not included in the annual therapy owing to their masth period. They will...
2007-07-02 - Salinas, United States. SUNITA VIJAYAN
Although surrounded by gleaming classic cars and hot rods, “Butch,” a five-ton, 27-year-old African elephant retired from a circus, was undoubtedly the highlight of today’s fourth annual “Ears and Gears Car Show and Family Day.” More than 450 people showed up today the Elephants of Africa Rescue Society’s fundraiser held at Vision Quest Ranch, 400 River Road in Salinas.
2007-07-02 - Balatonlelle, Hungary. All Hungary News
An elephant owned by the Hungarian National Circus escaped from the company's tent in Balatonlelle on Saturday, one day after the circus premiered its new show in the town. Szandra, a 30-year-old female elephant who has starred in James Bond movies, pulled the poles of the "electric shepherd" from the ground, then stepped over the wires and left the camp. Early Saturday morning, she was seen grazing on a nearby field. The circus director was immediately notified, and did not have any problems he...
2007-07-01 - Bhubaneswar, India. Sulochana Das
Calf elephant Kalinga, which hogged the headlines for several weeks after it strayed into the Capital city and its subsequent return to the wild a fortnight ago, is no more. The seven-month-old elephant calf was found dead inside the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city on Sunday. The post-mortem report indicated that the elephant calf had not died due to starvation.
2007-06-30 - Corvallis, United States. Bechert U, Christensen JM. Oregon State University
The pharmacokinetic parameters of S(+) and R(-) ibuprofen were determined in 20 elephants after oral administration of preliminary 4-, 5-, and 6-mg/kg doses of racemic ibuprofen. Racemic ibuprofen administered at 6 mg/kg/12 hr for Asian elephants and at 7 mg/kg/12 hr for African elephants results in therapeutic serum concentrations of this antiinflammatory agent.
2007-06-30 - Thrissur, India.
An anonymous letter threatening the safety of Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple here has been received by the Devaswom administrator. Guruvayur Devaswom Committee Chairman, Thottathil Raveendran said today that a letter received by the administrator yesterday also said that all the 64 elephants in the temple's possession would be killed. The letter was handed over to the Crime Branch division of the police for necessary action, he said.
2007-06-28 - Dublin, Ireland.
Elephants will make their first appearance at Dublin Zoo for almost two years when a spectacular rainforest enclosure is opened. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is to unveil the sprawling Kaziranga Forest Trail habitat, which includes water pools and dense vegetation. It will be home to the zoo's two new adult Asian elephants, Bernhardine and Yasmin, which have been in quarantine since arriving from Germany earlier this year. A two-month-old baby elephant born at the zoo in May has yet to be named.
2007-06-28 - Doimari, India.
Six hand-raised elephant calves being readied for release in a wildlife sanctuary in Assam are raring to taste freedom as monsoon-induced fresh vegetation offers them a rare food extravaganza. As part of a unique plan to set them free, the calves were brought to Doimari in the Manas national park from their earlier home in Kaziranga, about 350 km away, in February. All of them were between one year and two years old when they were rescued from different parts of Assam. They were raised at the Ce...
2007-06-27 - Phoenix, United States. John Faherty
There is something particularly weird about the sight of 10 elephants making their way through downtown Phoenix. To see an animal whose natural habitat in Southeast Asia taking a right from First Street onto Jackson Street is jarring. The short walk from the train tracks to US Airways Center on Tuesday was part marketing ploy to announce that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is in town and begins performing tonight.
2007-06-27 - London, United Kingdom.
Elephants typically stroll along at a leisurely four kilometres per hour, but once they ramp up to just twice this speed they start to use their back legs "like pogo sticks" to drive their bodies forward, bouncing over their relatively stiff, vaulting forelimbs, said John Hutchinson of the Royal Veterinary College in London, author of the study.
2007-06-27 - Durban, South Africa.
Hyraxes are widely stated to be the closest living relatives of elephants. This is not so. Though both are within the cohort of mammals known as Afrotheria, the Hyrax is not the closest living relative of the elephant. Elephants (Proboscidea) and hyraxes (Hyracoidae) are both more closely related to manatees and dugongs (Sirenia) than they are to one another.
2007-06-26 - Topsham, United States.
Margaret Mast was watching the local news when she saw an upcoming story about a 90-year-old woman riding an elephant. "Oh my God," she thought. "I think it's my mother. Sure enough, there was my sister and my mother on an elephant." Yvonne Turcotte, 90, always wanted to ride one, a wish that came true Thursday at York's Wild Kingdom. But it wasn't her first stunt. In September 2006, Turcotte took a ride in a hot-air balloon to celebrate her birthday. And she taught water aerobics until last yea...
2007-06-26 - Ruskin, United States. Buckles Woodcock
While on the subject of the Beatty Show, Jim Elliot took these pictures 10 or 12 years ago of Fred Logan reorganizing the elephants for the one-ring format they were going to. Who would have thought that this would later become the benchmark the Ken & Nicole units are trying so unsuccessfully to accomplish?
2007-06-26 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Tererai Karimakwenda
Over the last few years Robert Mugabe has pursued the so-called Look East policy which increased trade between Zimbabwe and China. It has now been revealed that Interpol and the wildlife watchdog CITES are looking in all directions for evidence of illegal deals between the two countries, which involved tons of ivory and military hardware. According to The Zimbabwean newspaper this week, Zimbabwe has been secretly bartering tons of ivory with China in exchange for rifles, bullets, anti-riot gear ...
2007-06-25 - Manas, India.
The six hand raised elephant calves being readied for release in a National Park in the eastern Indian Assam state are enjoying the monsoons, frolicking in the swelling streams and eating the new shoots of grass that have sprung out of the wet earth. Conservation organizations, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) had built a night shelter for the elephant calves deep inside the Doimari forests to protect them from predators.
2007-06-25 - Bangalore, India.
A 40-year-old tusker was electrocuted at a private estate near Kaggalipura on Saturday. The elephant had strayed around 11 km from the forest area in Thalaghattapura and five km from Kaggalipura. The police said that it had come to the estate in search of food when it came in contact with a live wire and was electrocuted. The officials from both Bannerghatta forest division and BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) visited the spot. The incident occurred at around 11 p.m., sources said.
2007-06-25 - Gifu, Japan. Kusuda S, Wakimoto T, Sato T, Nishimura K, Kawakami S, Okuda K, Saito E, Shimada T, Sakamoto H, Yanagimoto H, Wada S, Nishio K, Fuji H, Suzuki T, Hashikawa H, Kusunoki H, Doi O. Biological Sciences, Gifu University.
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether changes in body temperature are related to the ovarian cycle in elephants. Rectal, tongue or fecal temperature was measured for 2 Asian and 5 African elephants using an electric thermometer. Evaluation of ovarian cycles was based on the changes in serum or fecal progestin. These results suggest that measurement of body temperature can be used to easily evaluate the ovarian cyclicity of an individual animal, although it might not be able to ...
2007-06-24 - Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Two tribal boys were killed in an attack by wild elephants from across the border at Panihata village under Nalitabari upazila of the country's central district Sherpur on Saturday, officials and locals said. A herd of eight wild elephants coming from the Indian state of Meghalaya entered the bordering area and attacked the house of Ilias Sangma at the village at around 4:00 a.m. (local time) when the family members were asleep. The elephants damaged the house and trampled Ilias two sons: Faruqu...
2007-06-24 - Puthenkulam, India.
Puthenkulam is becoming a popular tourist destination as it is home to the largest number of captive elephants in Kerala. The road to this village is not less travelled. But, it is a beaten track travelled by majestic elephants along with human beings. Bhoothakulam Panchayat in Kollam district has the largest number of captive elephants in Kerala and most of them are fr om the Puthenkulam village in this Panchayat.
2007-06-24 - Beijing, China.
Baby elephant Migara, a gift of friendship from Sri Lanka to China in February this year, celebrated his sixth birthday at the Beijing Zoo Saturday. With a red ribbon on head, the male elephant received birthday wishes from both Chinese and Sri Lanka children, as well as delicious bananas from its raiser. Migara was presented as gift by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to the Chinese people on Feb. 26 to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties of the two countries...
2007-06-24 - Hot Springs, United States.
Welcome to an "elite" club: Mammoth Hunters of North America. You will be welcomed by the community and have a chance to learn more about mammoths and mammoth fauna than you probably ever cared to know. You will become a part of the "dig," and if you are lucky, you may find a specimen that will be on public display. You can help Larry Agenbroad's continued investigation of the world's largest natural deposit of Columbian mammoth remains.
2007-06-23 - San Diego, United States. Michael Stetz
San Diego Zoo staff euthanized Carol, a 40-year-old elephant, Tuesday at the Wild Animal Park near Escondido because of severe and chronic foot and joint problems. In most cases, deceased zoo animals are put through a machine that uses enzymes to break down carcasses relatively quickly, expediting natural decomposition. But that wasn't the case with Carol. The machine, called a “tissue digester,” is 30 miles away at the zoo in Balboa Park. At about 3 tons, she was too big to transport. So Ca...
2007-06-23 - Calgary, Canada. SHANNON WOODWARD, SUN MEDIA
The Calgary Zoo's most prominent and largest residents were introduced to their new enclosure yesterday. Ganesha, Kamala, Swarna and Maharani, the zoo's four Asian elephants, stepped out of the great doors and into the sand-filled outdoor space that will become their playground for years to come. Elephant Crossing, part of the $35-million Project Discovery plan to rejuvenate the zoo, has expanded the elephants' outdoor living space by more than three times and more than doubled their indoor spac...
2007-06-22 - Seattle, United States.
Test results have eliminated some possible causes for the death of Hansa, a 6-year-old Asian elephant at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, but officials said Friday they still don't know the reason she died. Scientists in Washington and across the country have been studying tissue, organ and blood samples to discover why Hansa died June 8 after reduced activity and appetite. Conclusive results could take a few more weeks, the zoo said in a news release.
2007-06-21 - Orlando, United States.
2007-06-21 - Birmingham, United States. Walter Bryant
A necropsy was to begin late this afternoon on Mona, the Birmingham Zoo's elderly elephant who was euthanized this morning. The nearly 60-year-old Asian elephant had been under 24-hour watch by her keepers since Monday, when she was unable to get up from lying on her side in her exhibit. A crane was brought in Monday to help her back to her feet, and the elephant seemed to have made a rally and she had been eating well.
2007-06-21 - Calcutta, India.
Elephants have unearthed at least seven fresh human graves in eastern India, upsetting the nearby Muslim community and puzzling forestry officials. An elephant herd passed through a cluster of villages in the Bishnupur area last week, foraging for ripe fruit — and unearthing as many as seven recently dug graves, said Niranjan Ghosh, a forestry officer who visited the site.
2007-06-20 - Berlin, United States.
Archeologists have found a 35,000-year-old carving of a woolly mammoth in southwestern Germany. It is believed to be the oldest ivory carving every found, the newspaper der Spiegel said Wednesday. An archeology team from the University of Tubingen found the figurine in the Swabian Jura, a 722-foot-long plateau in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. Five mammoth-ivory figurines from the Ice Age have been found at Vogelherd Cave in southwestern Germany. The new finds include well-preserved remains of ...
2007-06-20 - Barton-Le-Clay, United States.
A British man has been arrested in Bedfordshire in connection with the illegal sale of ivory to the USA. Customs officers assisted by police detained a 43-year-old man at a property in Barton-Le-Clay on Wednesday morning. Items seized from one property included two raw elephant tusks, whale and hippopotamus teeth, and carved ivory.
2007-06-20 - Western Plains, United States. Jeremy Scott
Western Plains Zoo has again been forced to defend its record of animal welfare following allegations from a former keeper that neglect of the zoo's elephants is rife. Jason Kauntze-Cockburn, an American "elephant-care specialist" who resigned from Western Plains after only one year's service, yesterday alleged the elephant accommodation had been "neglected for years" and was cold and dirty.
2007-06-19 - Bloemfontein, South Africa. Osthoff G, de Wit M, Hugo A, Kamara BI. University of the Free State
Data are presented that indicate the dynamic changes of nutrients in milk from three free ranging African elephant (Loxodonta africana africana) cows during lactation. Electrophoresis and identification of protein bands showed that polymorphs of one whey protein may be present in elephant's milk similar to polymorphs of alpha-lactalbumin found in cow's milk. During these lactation times the content of short chain fatty acids, capric and caprylic acids increased, while fatty acids lauric acid and...
2007-06-19 - San Diego, United States. Jeanette Steele
A 40-year-old Asian elephant at the Wild Animal Park was euthanized this morning because of foot and joint disease, San Diego Zoo officials said. Carol has been an icon of the zoo and Wild Animal Park since 1968, when she arrived from Thailand. She appeared with Joan Embery on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, in addition to performing in shows at the Wild Animal Park.
2007-06-19 - Calgary, Canada. Laurie Herron, Media Relations, the Calgary
The official opening of the much-anticipated Elephant Crossing will take place on Friday, June 22, 2007. Elephant Crossing is the exciting new home for the Calgary Zoo's elephant family and will present state-of-the-art technology and learning opportunities that will enhance the zoo visitors' experience. The new indoor and outdoor amphitheatres will showcase interpretive programs and provide animal encounters that will inspire people to protect this fascinating endangered species.The exhibit hal...
2007-06-19 - Sukhothai, United States. Megan Reynolds
Katherine Connor, 26, started helping elephants after her first trip to Thailand around four years ago. She started fundraising, and set up Boon Lott's Animal Sanctuary with her new husband, Anon, who has been her partner for three years. The couple celebrated their wedding at the sanctuary, each riding their elephants towards each other from opposite ends of the park.
2007-06-19 - Des Moines, United States. Tom Alex
Bill Marnin of Stuart was looking for peace and quiet, not a piece of history, when he launched his kayak for a trip on the Middle Raccoon River. Instead, he stumbled on a tooth from an elephant-like creature that disappeared from North America about 10,000 years ago. Bill Johnson, curator of the State Historical Museum of Iowa in Des Moines, said Marnin's discovery, made last month on a sandbar near Redfield, is a very good example of a molar from a young to middle-age adult mastodon that lived...
2007-06-19 - Abardeen, United States. Jennifer Sullivan
Hansa, Woodland Park Zoo's beloved elephant, shares a final resting place with an unknown number of dogs, cats and other creatures behind one of the state's busiest animal crematoriums. The 6 ½-year-old Asian elephant was cremated there after her death June 8, and her remains were buried in an unmarked mass grave behind Petland Cemetery in a residential neighborhood in Aberdeen.
2007-06-19 - Sydney, Australia. Kelly Burke
An American elephant-care specialist head-hunted by the Zoological Parks Board little more than a year ago has resigned, citing animal neglect as the reason. Jason Kauntze-Cockburn has terminated his four-year contract after only one year at Western Plains Zoo, saying inadequate staffing was putting the elephants health and well-being at risk.
2007-06-18 - Itahari, Nepal.
Conservation of Itahari district Sunday night. The male elephant that had remained in the conservation area for the last 15 days suddenly entered to the village last night and demolished the houses of Dev Narayan Raut, Kuk Mani Devi Shah and Ram Yadav. The elephant also demolished a guesthouse of Aqua Resort Guesthouse and the office of the local consumer committee.
2007-06-18 - New York, United States.
This could represent the biggest migration of large mammals on Earth, said conservationist J. Michael Fay in amazement while flying over Southern Sudan earlier this year. The scientists report seeing an estimated 8,000 elephants, mainly in the Sudd, the largest freshwater wetland in Africa. They found evidence of even larger numbers of elephants in Boma and in the Jonglei landscape. According to IUCN-World Conservation Union's African elephant database, there were no reliable records of elephant...
2007-06-18 - Birmingham, United States.
Staff and vets used slings this morning to help raise the Birmingham Zoo's remaining elephant to her feet. Mona, a nearly 60-year-old, 8,000-pound elephant, was found off her feet and unable to stand this morning, said Katrina Cade, vice president of marketing. The elephant is now standing, eating and drinking, Cade said.
2007-06-18 - Vienna, Austria. Nicole Weissenböck
Thermogram of the front surface of the right pinna, 30 days after the injury. A regular medical evidence of the ear. The wound is healed.
2007-06-18 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. ARNE BIRKENSTOCK
The destiny of 16-years-old Chandani from Sri Lanka is closely bound to a little injured elephant, who has been taken in the elephant orphan hospital of the Pinnawela National Park. If she succeeds in feeding the animal, her father - the main mahout of the elephant hospital and known as elephant whisperer thoughout the whole country – will teach her to be the first female mahout in Sri Lanka. If she fails and the animal dies, she will have to bury her dream, not being able to fulfill the mahou...
2007-06-18 - Washington, United States. www.worldbank.org/lao
The Wildlife Conservation Society just finished a report on the elephant population size and distribution in the Nakai Plateau. The approach to count the elusive giants included the first-ever simultaneous use of DNA-based and conventional dung count surveys for an Asian elephant population. + Report - 6.2mb pdf
2007-06-17 - Pittsburgh, United States. Allison M. Heinrichs
Fathering offspring he's never met in multiple states probably won't earn Jackson a "world's best dad" coffee mug anytime soon. But he is getting recognition as one of the nation's biggest fathers. The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium's bull elephant holds the record for fathering the most calves at U.S. zoos. Just in time for Father's Day, the Louisville Zoo announced that paternity tests revealed Jackson, 28, to be the father of Scotty, a male elephant born at the Kentucky zoo in March.
2007-06-17 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A calf elephant from Chandaka Elephant Sanctuary, which was left behind in the city by a herd of wild elephants last month, is now back in the wild. The calf that was christened Kalinga as she had strayed into the Kalinga Studio complex of the Capital city was taken back to the sanctuary by a herd of four elephants on Saturday afternoon. The officials of the Chandaka Wildlife Division are now tracking the movement of the herd with which Kalinga was moving.
2007-06-17 - Punjab, India. Jaideep Sarin
The 'jumbo' wedding plans of many a groom in parts of Punjab now have a last minute hurdle with marriage palace owners at some places refusing to allow elephants inside their complexes. Owners of marriage palaces - where a majority of the weddings in Punjab take place given the vast covered and lawn area that they offer - say that allowing elephants, camels and chariots (raths) becomes a nuisance for them.
2007-06-16 - Sydney, Australia. Michelle Cazzulino
After undergoing a five-month training period, the matriarch of Taronga Zoo's herd of Asian elephants, Pornthip, has delighted her keepers by mastering the art of placing her feet on an X-ray machine, allowing them to record the structure of her foot and toes. Staff are hoping the other four elephants at the zoo will follow her example over the coming months, ensuring they will be able to keep tabs on the animals' health.
2007-06-16 - London, United Kingdom. Philip Whiteside
GRIEF-STRICKEN dad Kelvin Parker has told in shocking detail how a dream safari holiday exploded in terror as a rampaging elephant slaughtered his wife and daughter. Describing for the first time the full horror of the attack which destroyed his family, he revealed how he was convinced that HE would be the one to die when the five-ton beast suddenly went crazy.
2007-06-16 - Dehra Dun, India.
Two elephants and a tiger cub died after falling from the hill top at Sauphuti area in Kalagarh and Jhirana range of the park on Friday. Forest officials said the death of wild animals was caused apparently due to incessant rains lashing the area for the past two days.
2007-06-16 - Namsai, India. Biswajyoti Das
Wild elephants are being illegally captured from the jungles of northeast India and forced to work in temples and give tourists rides, conservationists say. About 70 to 80 of Assam's 5,000 wild elephants are smuggled out of the northeastern state every year, conservationists say, despite India's ban on the trapping of wild elephants in 1986. A smuggler typically earns 15,000 to 30,000 rupees per elephant.
2007-06-15 - Washington, United States. Librarylove.net
When 17-year-old Jade sees a curly-haired boy on a zoo Web camera a boy with a baby on his back she gets that “little feeling of knowing, this fuzzy, gnawing sense that someone will become a major something in your life.” After she volunteers to work with the elephants, she meets and falls in love with Sebastian, and is quickly drawn into his complicated life including his dangerous secret.
2007-06-15 - Seattle, United States. William Foster and James McGraw
When an elephant roams free, it gets shot; not just its tusks, but its whole face gets cut off to supply the illicit ivory trade; its feet are removed and made into ashtrays; its flesh is smoked and sold at market as a delicacy. Elephants are dying in the wild at the rate of 100 every day. What does the loss of one elephant in Seattle, Hansa, have to do with the wild elephants? Everything, because Woodland Park Zoo and accredited zoos everywhere are making the life of every elephant count in sup...
2007-06-15 - Nairobi, Kenya. Coastweek
In February an aerial wildlife count was undertaken in the Shimba Hills Ecosystem with special intrest on the pachyderms. The main aim was to counter check the elephant numbers still in the ecosystem in preparation for the forthcoming translocation, tentatively scheduled for August. Approximately 100 elephants, mainly problem bulls will be targeted for relocation.
2007-06-15 - Cherry Creek, Kenya. Cherry Creek News
Three wildlife rangers and four poachers were killed this past weekend in a pre-dawn shoot-out in Kenya's Tana River District. The gang of poachers was en route to Tsavo East National Park, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said, when they were ordered to stop, but instead opened fire. Rangers brought down four poachers in the ensuing gun battle but at the cost of three of their own, bringing to 23 the number of KWS rangers who have died in the line of duty since 1990.
2007-06-15 - Carlsbad, United States.
Fossilized mastodon tusks and other fragments believed to be as much as 220,000 years old were discovered at a construction site, according to the developer. Officials at Corky McMillin Cos. said Wednesday that two tusks, an upper jaw fragment with three teeth and vertebrae from a single animal were uncovered during grading for a new housing development. "This is the first mastodon to be found in Carlsbad, and we're excited to have uncovered two nearly complete tusks," said San Diego Natural His...
2007-06-15 - London, United Kingdom.
A KENYAN court yesterday decided a luxury lodge and a prominent landowner failed to give adequate warnings to a British tourist trampled by an elephant. Wendy Martin was gored and her pelvis crushed at Il Ngwesi lodge, one of Kenya's most exclusive safari destinations, beside a wildlife reserve set up by Ian Craig. Mrs Martin, who has claimed £800,000 compensation, said she was delighted.
2007-06-15 - London, United Kingdom. NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH
At least twice a week for the past seven years, Wendy Martin has woken from the same nightmare. In it she is being tossed into the air by a huge beast as a growing cloud of dust clogs her eyes and nose, and pain engulfs her every limb. Usually, Wendy, 46, wakes with a start, running out of her bedroom and on to the landing of her five-bedroom house in Godalming, Surrey. As her husband works abroad, it is often one of her children, hearing their mother's bloodcurdling screams, who takes her by th...
2007-06-14 - Tampa, United States. AZA
Operant conditioning, utilizing creative, positive reinforcement in one of the world's most behaviorally progressive, protected contact environments • Provide physical stimulation and mental challenges for our animals as a member of our elite team of elephant professionals • Daily cleaning and maintenance of rolling display area, state-of-the-art husbandry facilities, and multi-million-dollar barn • Husbandry training for veterinary and breeding program procedures
2007-06-14 - Longmont, United States. Pierrette J. Shields
An animal rights group’s claim that a traveling circus’s elephants were quarantined because of potential exposure to tuberculosis are false, say the circus’s owners and federal health officials. Barbara Byrd, co-owner of the Carson & Barnes Circus, said the elephants do not have tuberculosis and are not quarantined. The circus’s 28 elephants are tested for tuberculosis every year per federal regulations, and the elephants have never had a positive test, Byrd said.
2007-06-14 - Bukarest, Romania.
The most admired animal in the Bucharest Zoo, Gaya the Elephant, died in fall 2006, leaving behind a handful of commissions and discussion boards. According to the Analysis Commission report, Gaya was killed by the respiratory problems caused by the extreme stress she was submitted to. The report, based on the opinions of several foreign specialists, also proves that some Zoo animals were sacrificed and used as food for the reptiles.
2007-06-14 - The Hague, Netherlands.
Eighteen years after a United Nations-backed treaty banned the ivory trade, African ministers have for the first time achieved a regional consensus on how to address the highly charged issue. Eighteen years after a United Nations-backed treaty banned the ivory trade, African ministers have for the first time achieved a regional consensus on how to address the highly charged issue.
2007-06-14 - New York, United States. ETHAN WILENSKY-LANFORD
The hydraulic lift lurched up, bringing the back of an African elephant into full view. To Mike Peter Smith, who was cleaning the elephant yesterday, its spine took the form of a gently sloping mountain range with peaks behind the head and near the rear legs. That stuffed elephant and seven others at the American Museum of Natural History were getting their annual cleaning, a ritual that is repeated at least once a year for every bird, dinosaur, mammal and fish that is not behind glass in the mu...
A U.N. wildlife conference extended a 1989 ban on African elephant ivory exports on Thursday by nine years, after sales from stocks, in a pact hailed as a step to safeguard the giant mammals. CITES backed an African plan, agreed after overnight talks among ministers, to crack down on poaching while allowing Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to make one-off ivory sales. They say their elephant numbers are rising.
2007-06-11 - Knoxville, United States.
MUST HAVE PREVIOUS ELEPHANT HANDLER/KEEPER EXPERIENCE. This is a Zoo Keeper II position. It differs from the next lower level of Zoo Keeper (Keeper I) in that the lower level does not have the responsibility of training staff, team leading as requested, or serving on Zoo committees. A Zoo Keeper II is also demonstrating increasing knowledge and experience in the area species and related programs. It differs from the next higher level of Zoo Keeper in that a Keeper III has developed considerable ...
2007-06-11 - Dubbo, Australia.
Keepers at Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo, in western New South Wales, are mourning the death of a second animal in a week. Cheri, a 35-year-old african elephant, died from gut-related problems on Saturday night. She was one of only three african elephants in Australia and has been at the zoo since it first opened 30 years ago. A female greater one-horned rhinoceros which was about to be moved to Dubbo for a breeding program died at Sydney's Taronga Zoo last Monday.
2007-06-11 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
At least 10 elephants of Chitwan National Park (CNP) in central Nepal, suffering from tuberculosis (TB) for the last 18 months, are not getting treatment due to apathy of concerned authorities. As medication for each infected elephant costs no less than 50, 000 Nepali rupees (780 US dollars), curing them at the local level is not possible, said Rameshwor Chaudhary, chief of the section, adding, They need continuous medication for 18 months. This is not possible without help from the department, ...
2007-06-11 - Edmonton, Canada.
Samantha, the Valley Zoos African elephant, is leaving Edmonton. Zoo officials today said the 19-year-old elephant is headed to the North Carolina Zoo sometime this summer on a breeding loan. Shes expected to be joined by a growing herd that by the end of the year may include two males and five females. Samantha is of prime breeding age and is in excellent health, so we’re pleased to have found an accredited facility that has an approved breeding program, said Dean Treichel, Valley Zoo...
2007-06-10 - Sukhothai, United States. Megan Reynolds
2007-06-09 - Litte Rock, United States.
A group negotiating a $3.6 million deal with an elephant sanctuary in Arkansas to turn the refuge into a National Elephant Center says talks have fallen apart and the group is looking elsewhere. The zoo group was close to a deal with Scott and Heidi Riddle to turn their 330-acre Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary near Quitman into a national research, breeding and home for elephants.
2007-06-09 - Thrissur, India.
What is the best way to make Assamese and Bihari jumbos ‘permanent residents’ of Kerala? Gift them, and keep mum about the money that has changed hands. The Forest and Wildlife Department has now tracked down two such cases and initiated action. Existing laws do not prevent transfer of elephants across state borders if permission has been granted by the Chief Wildlife Wardens of the states in question. However, sale of captive elephants is banned by law.
2007-06-08 - Jacksonville, United States. AZA
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is currently seeking an experienced elephant keeper. Preferred qualifications include a degree in biology or related field, a minimum of 2 years experience in an AZA accredited zoo with previous experience working protected contact. Must be familiar with the AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care. Duties to include general animal husbandry, elephant training, and exhibit maintenance.
2007-06-08 - Seattle, United States.
Hansa, a 6-year-old Asian elephant who delighted visitors to the Woodland Park Zoo, was found dead Friday, about a week after she began displaying colic-like symptoms, the zoo said Friday. Hansa was born in 2000 after another of the zoo's elephants, Chai, was sent to the Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri, where natural breeding resulted in a pregnancy. Hansa was the first elephant born at the 100-year-old Woodland Park Zoo, which has no male elephants.
2007-06-08 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
Though four countries have signed agreements with the Nepal government to build new hospitals and the SAARC regional centre for tuberculosis (TB) research is located in Nepal, the disease has become a jumbo menace, stalking elephants doing tourist duty in the southern plains. Three elephants have died of TB and 10 more been found affected in the Chitwan National Park in the Terai plains, a major tourist attraction, Nepal's official media said Friday.
2007-06-08 - Amer, India. Lokendra Singh
The birth of an elephant baby in Amer, near Jaipur, has given cheer to a mahout's family and fellow villagers, most of whom believe the birth is a rare occurrence in Rajasthan in the last 100 years. Born this past week, to 25-year-old 'Lakkimala', the elephant calf has made its owner ecstatic. The newborn has been christened 'Muskan' (smile) by its owner Abdul Aziz. She weighed 70 kilograms at birth and is presently keeping well.
2007-06-07 - Longmont, United States. John Fryar and Rachel Carter
Randy Peterson, Carson & Barnes head elephant handler for the circus performing here, says he wishes people concerned about the welfare of the three elephants under his care would see for themselves how the animals are treated. Peterson said it’s unfortunate protesters don’t see what we do 24 hours a day. He has a three-person crew working with him to tend to the three female Asian elephants — Isla, Opal and Ila — that are part of the Carson & Barnes animal menagerie.
2007-06-07 - Pune, India. Pia Chandavarkar
Two elephants were taken into custody on Wednesday after they were found to be used illegally by two mahouts in the city. While a criminal case has been lodged under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) against the two mahouts, the elephants have now been taken to the Katraj Zoo for further investigation. The men were using the elephants for begging, which is banned under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act 1960
2007-06-07 - Asahiyama, Japan. JUNYA YOSHIDA
When an elephant named Indira arrived at Ueno Zoo in 1949, it sparked a zoo-building frenzy around the nation. People in charge of zoo projects came to Ueno and went home with blueprints of the facility. "A lot of the zoos around the nation were like facsimiles of the same facility," Kenichi Kitamura, executive director of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said. But with the arrival of Asahiyama Zoo, the zoos have begun implementing displays with their own innovations. So will Ueno...
2007-06-07 - Anchorage, United States.
Following an impassioned public outcry, the Alaska Zoo board has decided to relocate the state's only elephant to another state under certain conditions, the board president said Wednesday. Every effort will be made to expedite a move if and when all the factors for a successful move are favorably addressed, board president Dick Thwaites said in a prepared statement.
2007-06-06 - Davis, United States. Hart BL, Hart LA, Pinter-Wollman N. University of California
Among terrestrial mammals, elephants share the unique status, along with humans and great apes, of having large brains, being long-lived and having offspring that require long periods of dependency. Although focused neural cytoarchitecture studies on the elephant are needed, this comparative perspective on the cortical neural cytoarchitecture appears to relate to differences in behavior between elephants and their primate counterparts.
2007-06-06 - Cape Town, South Africa.
Stakeholders and authorities in South African nature conservation are preparing to discuss submissions received from the public regarding the management of the nation's elephant population. Delivering his department's budget vote speech in Parliament, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said they had received 700 pages of comments, from a wide range of individuals and organisations on the matter.
2007-06-06 - Nairobi, Kenya. CHRIS TOMLINSON
The markets in the Central African Republic offer all of the jungle's delicacies, including monkey, chimpanzee, antelope and, if you have the cash, even elephant. A typical forest elephant, which weighs 5,000 to 6,000 pounds and produces 1,000 or so pounds of edible meat, can earn a poacher up to $180 for the ivory and as much as $6,000 for the meat. The average income for an African in the Congo Basin is about $1 a day.
2007-06-06 - The Hague, Netherlands.
US-based online commerce site eBay said Wednesday it will ban international trade of elephant ivory on all of its sites around the globe, creating the first-ever online international trade ban of elephant ivory. eBay said the decision followed an eight-country investigation by IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) of ivory for sale on eBay sites.
2007-06-06 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A thousand rare black-mane lions and some 300 elephants are in danger after a swathe of forest in their sanctuary in eastern Ethiopia was cut down,a wildlife expert told Reuters. Flora EcoPower Holding AG,a German biodiesel producer based in Munich, cleared the forest after it was granted 10,000 hectares of land by the government
2007-06-05 - The Hague, Netherlands.
The international body here that regulates trade in endangered plants and animals approved the sale of 60 tons of ivory to Japan over the weekend. The committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), also known as the Washington Convention, agreed to allow Japan to import stockpiled African elephant ivory from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
2007-06-05 - The Hague, Netherlands. Anna Mudeva
The large quantity of illegal worked ivory entering the United States from China and Japan is a sign of the strong demand that is contributing to an alarming increase in elephant poaching in Africa. In 2006 alone, experts estimate as many as 23,000 African elephants were illegally killed. There is more worked ivory for sale in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world, except for Hong Kong.
2007-06-05 - Knysna, South Africa.
DNA analysis has revealed the existence of five previously unknown, female Knysna elephants in the Southern Cape region at the tip of South Africa. Researchers say the discovery is reason for cautious optimism that the worlds most southerly elephant population may have survived the onslaught of ivory hunters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
2007-06-05 - Stanford, United States.
Elephants can distinguish between friendly calls and those of strangers reports a new study covered in ScienceNOW Daily News. In 2004 Caitlin OConnell-Rodwell of Stanford University discovered that elephants use low-frequency, partially infrasonic ground vibrations to communicate with each other from miles away. The pachyderms press their trunks against the ground to detect the calls.
2007-06-05 - Anchorage, United States.
The Anchorage Zoo board of directors are meeting Tuesday night to decide what to do with Maggie, the elephant. Many of you know, board members are trying to decide if the elephant should stay at the zoo or be shipped to a more suitable facility Outside. Board members are also wrestling with how Maggie would make the move if she were to go. They need to determine if it would even be possible to fly her and if there is a plane that is big enough to hold her.
2007-06-05 - Hartford, United States.
A bill that would have drastically changed the way circuses control elephants has failed in the General Assembly, but the chief proponent said Tuesday she'll revive the controversial issue again next year. Rep. Diana S. Urban, D-North Stonington, said she had 55 votes — all Democrats — in the 151-member House, so she will abandon the bill that would have banned the use of stainless steel bars called bullhooks.
2007-06-05 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
The famous herd of elephants at Whipsnade Zoo are being put through their paces to show why their training is so important. Keepers will be hosting daily demonstrations of the training methods they use in the zoo's purpose-built elephant arena. Among the things elephants have to be trained to do is lifting their feet. This is so that they can be cleaned and vets can check them.
2007-06-04 - Santa Barbara, United States.
Part-time Seasonal, Up to 32 hours per week Great oppoturnity for a person who loves elephants and enjoys engaging an audience. You will promote the Zoo and its mission as an educator, serving as Ambassador to our natural world. Knowledge of current methods, principles, procedures and practices utilized in environmental education preferred (AZA/CEC conservation messaging and NAI interpretive methods). Considerable knowledge of biology and zoology necessary as well as ability to organize and impl...
2007-06-04 - Kasungu, Malawi.
Twenty-one armed game scouts have finally driven over 40 herds of elephants back into Kasungu National Park, about a month after Kasungu District Assembly put the district on high alert. The situation was now back to normal and people should now be able to do their daily business without any fear.
2007-06-04 - McMinnvile, United States. NICK BRADSHAW
A pair of McMinnville boys made a mammoth discovery along the Yamhill River last week, literally. According to the McMinnville News Register, the two 10-year-olds were out exploring when they stumbled upon a strange looking stone. The newspaper reports Charlie Gilpin and Bryant Ashton took their find to Geologist Bill Orr who recognized the specimen as a rear molar of the ancient elephant-like mammoth.
2007-06-04 - Highlands Ranch, United States.
The Carson and Barnes Circus rolled into Highlands Ranch on June 1 through June 3, erecting their big top tent filled with with a three-ring stage, acrobat wires and enough seats to pack in the anxious crowds toting hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy and children clutching light-up toys. Before the show, children could feed the numerous goats and llamas, take a ride on a camel or elephant or jump around an inflatable castle.
2007-06-04 - St. Louis, United States.
Jade, the youngest elephant at the St. Louis Zoo, will make her public debut this evening from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the River's Edge. The three-month old Asian elephant has been rejected by her mother Rani, but recently started to nurse from her grandmother Ellie, who also nurses daughter, Maliha. Jade will appear with a keeper, but no other elephants.
2007-06-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The man-animal conflict in Orissa has claimed 328 human and 90 elephant lives since 2000-01. During the past seven years, a total of 90 elephant poaching cases have been registered under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
2007-06-04 - NDjamena, Chad.
Chads President Idriss Deby Itno has detached 400 regular army soldiers to defend the remnants of a once-thriving elephant population decimated by poachers, the country's top conservation official said. The soldiers are taking positions in and around Zakouma National Park as we speak, Abakar Mahamat Zougoulou, who is in The Hague to attend a meeting of the international body that regulates the trade of endangered species, told AFP on Monday.
2007-06-04 - Islamabad, Pakistan.
A Pakistani zoo is appealing for donations to help feed its sole elephant, Suzi, which gets angry and beats its keeper with a stick when its meals are late. When Suzi is not fed on time it holds its masters cane in its trunk and starts beating him, an official at the zoo in the city of Lahore told the Daily Times.
2007-06-03 - Anchorage, United States. GEORGE BRYSON
Right now I feel very torn, said Seawell, speaking by telephone from her home in Anchorage. I'm not sure which way is right. And I don't want to be adamant on either side until I make up my own mind. But when she contemplates the danger of trying to truck an adult elephant such a long distance, she tends to change her mind. She knows of three instances in which elephants have died from panic and injury in the process of being transported far shorter distances. Unless they agree to ship her by a...
2007-06-03 - Anchorage, United States. ANTARA DAS
Dhritikanto Lahiri Chowdhury’s book on elephants throws light on these giants of the wild. The story of Harjit is one of the numerous poignant tales in Hatir Boi (The Book of Elephants) by Dhritikanto Lahiri Chowdhury, an academic who has had a lifetime association with elephants spanning more than seven decades. Engaging as well as endearing, they chronicle the traits of this gigantic creature of the wild, so fascinatingly simple yet one that obstinately refuses to submit to well defined cate...
2007-06-03 - Coimbatore, India.
To guide wild elephants, straying into human habitat, back to the forest, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department has brought two tamed elephants (Kumkis) to Periyathadagam region on the outskirts of the city. Forest officials said the two Kumkis - Kapil and Pallavan- would assist the forest staff to guide the wild elephant herd back to the forest. The two Kumkis, brought from Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, had been stationed at Periyathadagam region from yesterday.
2007-06-03 - Laikipia, Kenya.
Sir Richard Branson announced a new type of jumbo service yesterday – he is donating £125,000 to help build a corridor in Kenya's Laikipia game reserve to allow elephants to migrate safely. The £500,000 trunk road will preserve traditional migratory routes and includes tunnels which will allow elephants to cross busy highways safely.
2007-06-03 - The Hague, Netherlands.
2007-06-02 - Louisville, United States. Sheldon S. Shafer
Scotty is the name chosen for the Louisville Zoo's baby African elephant, zoo officials said yesterday. People who voted throughout May at the zoo preferred the name Scotty over Jonesy and Angus, the other names that were chosen as finalists by the zoo's elephant caretakers. About 7,000 names were suggested in the contest sponsored by Norton Healthcare.
2007-06-01 - Fresno, United States.
Responsibilities of this class include the care, feeding, maintenance and observation for the health, and reproduction of elephants and a variety of additional zoo animals; record keeping, assisting in the movement of animals as directed, interacting with zoo docents, and assisting zoo visitors with questions and their needs.
2007-06-01 - Vienna, Austria. AS Stoeger-Horwath, S Stoeger, HM Schwammer, and H Kratochvil
African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) have a complex acoustic communication system, but very little is known about their vocal ontogeny. A first approach in ontogenetic studies is to define the call repertoire of specific age groups. Twelve hundred calls of 11 infant elephants from neonatal to 18 months of age recorded at the Vienna Zoo in Austria and at the Daphne Sheldrick's orphanage at the Nairobi National Park, Kenya were analyzed. Six call types were structurally distinguished: t...
2007-05-31 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
Rejected by her mother, the youngest elephant at the St. Louis Zoo has found a new source of milk: her grandmother. Three-month old Jade gets about 10 bottles of elephant formula a day but recently started to nurse from grandmother Ellie, who also nurses her own 10-month-old daughter, Maliha.
2007-05-31 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Little Elephant (June 2) is set before the Pacific War. Japan’s first baby elephant is born in the Tokyo zoo. Caring for the calf is Shota Tanabe. As the war intensifies, the War Minister orders all the zoo animals to be put down, to ensure that none of them escape and terrorise the citizens of Tokyo. As each of the animals is killed, Shota desperately searches for an avenue to save the little elephant. Starring Tetsuya Takeda, Kurara Haruka, Midori Hagio and Toshiyuki Nagashima.
2007-05-31 - Leipzig, Germany. Harry Schwammer, EEKMA
For this meeting the board plans to reorganize EEKMA, involve regional members of different countries to establish news-network.
2007-05-30 - Mount Shasta, United States. Sibyl Walski
Holland Stafford wasnt sure what she wanted to explore for her Weed High School senior project and spent much of the summer pondering choices. Then she happened to see a documentary on Animal Planet about the Elephant Nature Park 60 kilometers north of Chiang Mai, Thailand and her childhood fascination with elephants surfaced, as well as a desire to go to Africa or Asia to help them. Accompanied by her father, Robert, the WHS senior flew halfway around the planet to spend a week at the nature pa...
2007-05-28 - Juba, Sudan.
International wildlife experts have located hundreds of wild elephants on a treeless island in the swamps of south Sudan, where they apparently avoided unchecked hunting during more than 20 years of war. Environmentalists are keeping the location of the island in the Sudd area secret to prevent poachers from killing the animals.
2007-05-28 - New Delhi, India.
A wild elephant in India's eastern state of Orissa has been waylaying motorists who complain that the animal refuses to let their vehicles pass unless they give it food, a media report said Monday. Witnesses told the Hindustan Times daily that the elephant has been scouting for food on a highway in the northern Keonjhar district, forcing motorists to roll down windows and get out of their vehicles.
2007-05-28 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Wild elephants trampled a woman and her child to death on Indonesia's Sumatra island, an official said on Monday. A herd of several elephants descended on a village just outside the Bukit Barisan Selatan national park on Saturday and attacked residents, said Lusman Pasaribu, the head of the park. Police and forest rangers later found the bodies of the woman and her three-year-old daughter.
2007-05-27 - Segamat, Malaysia. Junita Mat Rashid
An elephant crossing a railway line in Bekok early yesterday sustained two broken hind legs when it was hit by a train. The impact of the collision flung the animal, believed to be 10 years old and weighing about a tonne, into a 15m ravine near the tracks. It is understood it would be put to sleep if efforts to save it failed. The train, which started its journey from Kuala Lumpur, was heading for Singapore when the incident happened at 4.50am. On Nov 2, 2004, two 4.5 tonne female elephants die...
2007-05-25 - Taipei, Taiwan.
It is the first time fossils from the prehistoric elephant have been found outside the southern region of the country, the China Post newspaper said. The newspaper said the fossil belonged to a newborn mammuthus calf that lived in the area around Shih-kang village in Taichung County 1.6 million to 2.2 million years ago. Scientists say the discovery provides new evidence of the animal's possible distribution through Taiwan.
2007-05-25 - Pattaya, Thailand.
On 24th May 2007, just after midnight, a truck driver had to run for his life after his pickup truck was viciously attacked by a rampaging pregnant elephant in a field in Huay Yai. His truck was stomped on and wrecked. The mahout, Mr. Loon Jongjai-gnarm, (27) from Surin, told the police that he regularly brought the pregnant elephant from Nong Nooch village to eat the grass in the area, but she had never acted like this before. He assumed that “Phang Dao Rueng” was frightened and moody as sh...
2007-05-25 - Ranchi, India.
He is two- and-a-half years old, loves milk and Lactogen, and has kept the officials at the Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park dancing around him. He is Ramu, the baby elephant rescued from the Seraikela forests and being looked after by the zoo authorities. The other elephants at the zoo, Samrat and Lakhi, too had been rescued from different jungles of the state. Samrat was also brought to the zoo at a young age and has grown to be an obedient young tusker.
2007-05-24 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is considering culling a booming elephant population after a proposal is drawn up by Mali and Kenya that bans ivory trade. Mali and Kenya proposed to lobby for a complete ban on the ivory trade for 20 years at the upcoming Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) summit. "We will be in a dilemma if that proposal by Kenya and Mali goes through," Edward Mbewe, spokesman for the parks and wildlife management authority said on Wednesday.
2007-05-23 - Anchorage, United States.
The Anchorage Assembly wants the Alaska Zoo to make a decision on the future of Maggie the elephant. Assembly members Tuesday night approved a resolution telling the zoo board it should consider moving the elephant and making the decision soon. The resolution adds to the growing number of voices calling for the animal to be moved to a warmer climate where it could be with other elephants.
2007-05-23 - Berlin, Germany. Allan Hall
After his mother tried to trample him to death and drown him, an unnamed four-day old baby elephant is now reunited with its mother, Pori. The calf is suckling normally and enjoying all the re-found maternal affection that its three-ton mother Pori, 26, can lavish on him. "Mother and son are getting along magnificently now and the baby is able to stand up fully ," said Claus Pohle, deputy director of the animal park where the calf was born on Sunday.
2007-05-23 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Authorities are preparing to stop 99 elephants and thousands of villagers from entering Thailand's capital to protest the possible dissolution of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's political party, the military said on Wednesday. We have to use all means to stop the elephants from joining the political rally," said Prayuth Chanocha, commander of the 1st Army, which is responsible for peacekeeping in Bangkok.
2007-05-22 - Baltimore, United States. Ron Matz
How do you give an elephant a pedicure? The answer is very carefully. "Everything we do with the elephants is preventative maintenance. We want to make sure they stay healthy. We don't really have a lot of foot problems. We've been very fortunate," said Mike McClure, elephant collections manager at the Maryland Zoo.
2007-05-22 - Cox Bazar, Bangladesh.
Wild elephants trampled two people to death and destroyed 20 bamboo homes when they strayed into a Bangladesh village on Tuesday. The herd of some 10 elephants also uprooted trees and damaged crops in Mithachhari, near Cox's Bazar town, 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka. Police said some seven people have been trampled to death by wild elephants in the last two months at Cox's Bazar district alone.
2007-05-22 - Jaipur, India.
Elephants will have a new address in Jaipur, a village exclusively for them is being developed on the city's outskirts. The Amber Development Authority is going to begin construction of the boundary wall of the elephant village this week. Officials said the project would be completed within 18 months.
2007-05-22 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. Thien Truc
Deforestation and owners’ callousness have taken a toll on elephant populations both in the wild and in captivity in Vietnam’s central highlands, sending the giant animals to the brink of extinction. There are only a few hundred elephants left in the area compared with thousands a century ago, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources reports. Dak Lak province, once a pachyderm haven, now has just 50 elephants, mostly in captivity.
2007-05-22 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
So far, it's been a jumbo good year in Thailand. The Royal Elephant Camp has been blessed with nine calves since January and recently threw a huge party to celebrate. The camp, in the ancient city of Ayutthaya 75 km (45 miles) north of Bangkok, is one of the largest conservation centers in Thailand, a country whose elephant population is dwindling. Environmentalists estimate that only 5,000 Asian elephants are left in the wild, making the baby boom at Ayutthaya crucial to ensuring the future of ...
2007-05-22 - Providence, United States. Karen Lee Ziner
A well-publicized attempt in February to artificially inseminate Alice, one of the Roger Williams Park Zoos three African elephants, did not succeed. Tests have confirmed that Alice is not pregnant. Zoo staff gave it another try on Sunday, and time, specifically three months time will tell. Sperm collected on Sunday morning from a bull elephant at the Pittsburgh Zoo was flown to Providence in a special cooler, examined under a microscope, and deemed viable.
2007-05-22 - Tannowa, Japan.
In 2004, the park lost its two elephants, Izumi and Midori. Ever since, the old elephant stable had stood barren. Now the stable has been renovated. And Izumi has returned to her old home where she lived for 48 years, this time as a skeleton. The two female elephants had been at the park since it opened back in 1957. The two Indian elephants were extremely popular with visitors, entertaining them with various tricks, like climbing on tiny stools.
2007-05-21 - Mesa, United States. Jon Johnson
A 1,000 pound, 2.5-million-year-old Rhynchotherium skull has joined the rest of its bones at the Mesa Southwest Museum on May 9 and is now one of the museum’s largest pieces. A Rhynchotherium is an extinct mastodont relative of the elephant with four tusks. The rhynchotherium died out during the Pleistocene Epoch at the beginning of the most recent Ice Age.
2007-05-21 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
An elephant in northern Vietnam has killed two handlers who had worked with the animal for almost 20 years, a local official said Monday. Ha Van Hoang, 46, was killed on the spot and 42-year-old Le Van Lanh died in hospital after the elephant gored both of them with his tusks Saturday, said Ngan Van Thiep, chairman of the Son Ha commune in Thanh Hoa province.
2007-05-20 - San Andreas, United States. TINA LAM
Patti Miles stood in the sharp California sunshine next to the enormous, deeply wrinkled creature towering over her. I miss her more than anyone can imagine," Miles said. Miles was one of the keepers of the much-loved Detroit Zoo elephants Wanda and Winky, working with them for more than six years before the animals moved from Royal Oak to the hills of northern California. At the Detroit Zoo, white rhinos have taken Wanda and Winky's place, but the elephants are not forgotten. "Every weekend, we...
2007-05-20 - Sublangka, Thailand. Pasara Puthamat
After two years of careful training to prepare Pang Kham Mool Yai for life in the wild, the 35-year-old elephant was yesterday released into the Sublangka Wildlife Sanctuary. Kham Mool Yai is the first domesticated elephant to be introduced to the wild under a programme that will see a further 80 released over time by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation. However, many fear the animals may not be able to adjust.
2007-05-19 - Nairobi, Kenya. Bonny Apunyu
Kenya is being backed by some seven African countries on its proposal for a 20-year moratorium on ivory trade. However, southern African states, including Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa have opposed the proposal. Since the last Cites conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2004, more than 40 tonnes of ivory have been seized.
2007-05-18 - Anchorage, United States.
Zookeepers have put Alaska's only elephant in a sling until they find out why she's having trouble getting back on her feet after lying down. The sling is providing Maggie the elephant relief from her 8,000-pound bulk if she wants to get off her feet, said zoo director Pat Lampi. Zoo officials were awaiting results of a second round of blood work. The initial round, taken after the elephant was found lying on her side the first time, showed nothing abnormal, Lampi said.
2007-05-18 - Singapore, Singapore.
Acupuncture for a limping elephant? Herbal tea for a constipated orangutan? The Singapore Zoo has tried it all, and it works. Treating an elephant with acupuncture requires some industrial-size needles to pierce its 2.5 centimeter (one inch) thick hide and sometimes through 15 centimeters of muscles.
2007-05-17 - Norfolk, United States.
The city has bestowed one of its highest tourism honors upon three of its biggest residents. Cita, Monica and Lisa, a trio of elephants at the Virginia Zoo who weigh in at 7,800, 8,600 and 10,000 pounds respectively became the first nonhumans to be named Norfolks ambassador of the year on Wednesday. The popular pachyderms represent the big picture when it comes to hospitality and customer service as they happily go about their day performing their various crowd-pleasing assignments, including pu...
2007-05-17 - Coxs Bazar, India.
A Bangladesh safari park has called for urgent financial help from the government to feed nine elephants after their mahouts were detained by police last month after they used the pachyderms to illegally fell trees. Charges have been filed against the men and their principal employers. Keepers of the 900-hectare (2,250-acre) Dulhazara Safari Park said they lacked the food or money to feed the nine additional guests, which consume large amounts of paddy, rice and banana trees each day.
2007-05-17 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
The focus of the Conference will be symposia on the following topics: 1. Advances in reproductive technology 2. Aquatic bird medicine and conservation 3. Neonatology - rearing and disease 4. Nocturnal animals - husbandry, disease and conservation 5. Infectious disease of ungulates. Deadline for the submission of papers: 31 January 2007. In conjunction with the Symposium, the EAZWV Board Meeting and AGM will take place.
2007-05-16 - Jacksonville, United States. Grayson Kamm
Our Hidden Places series takes you to off-limits spots at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, including animal hurricane shelters, their high-tech hospital and feeding time with the lions. "You gotta get wet! Lean in!" called out animal keeper Jami Fletcher. And the massive elephant standing just feet away did exactly what she asked. Another keeper opened the nozzle on a spray hose and started treating Ali to a refreshing shower.
2007-05-15 - London, United Kingdom. MSNBC News Services
Illegal ivory trading flourishes on the Internet because online auction sites do too little to enforce laws aimed at protecting endangered wildlife, a wildlife advocacy group says. The International Fund for Animal Welfare, in a report published Tuesday, said Internet users often were able to offer goods such as ivory necklaces for sale without documentation to prove the items were lawful.
2007-05-15 - Los Angeles, United States.
Animal rights activists plan to gather outside the L-A zoo today to see Ruby the African elephant trudge off into retirement. The 46-year-old animal will spend her twilight years in a 70-acre enclosure that she'll share with three other elephants at a Northern California sanctuary.
2007-05-14 - Perth, Australia.
The youngest elephant at Perth Zoo has been put down after an exhaustive battle to save her life. Officials say 17 year-old Teduh has suffered from muscular skeletal weakness for years, making it difficult for her to lie down and get up. The condition also meant she lacked co-ordination in using her trunk. The Zoo's Chief Executive Susan Hunt says the muscular problem continued to get worse, and recently Teduh developed abdominal pain and lost her appetite.
2007-05-14 - Milwaukee, United States. Cheryl Sherry
Next time you're at the Milwaukee County Zoo, say hello to Ruth, a 28-year-old transplant from Brownsville, Texas. Ruth is an African elephant that came to Milwaukee from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville at year's end to make friends with zoo resident Brittany, also an African elephant, which lost its companion, Lucy, in September. They've become fast friends.
2007-05-13 - Los Angeles, United States. DANA BARTHOLOMEW
Keepers at the Los Angeles Zoo will say goodbye to Ruby on Tuesday, when one of their dearest friends heads off to retirement at a Northern California elephant sanctuary. Jeff Briscoe, the zoo's principal elephant keeper, had welcomed Ruby to the L.A. Zoo in 1987, when she arrived from Circus Vargas. At dawn Tuesday, she will be loaded into a temperature-controlled truck and hauled 350 miles to join three African elephants at the PAWS elephant sanctuary in the Sierra Foothills east of St...
2007-05-13 - Anchorage, United States.
Firefighters perform all sorts of heroics, from putting out blazes, to helping the injured, to dealing with car wrecks. Maggie, the Anchorage Zoo’s beloved African elephant, had lain down inside her indoor enclosure, and she wouldn’t get up. Zoo employees asked firefighters from Station 8 on O’Malley Road to help. All told, the pachyderm was down for some 12 hours, said Young Suenram, an Anchorage Fire Department battalion chief. Firefighters worked with urgency to raise her up, he said.
2007-05-13 - Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Asian-run organized crime syndicates based in Africa are behind the rising illegal trade in elephant ivory, reports TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network of WWF and IUCN-The World Conservation Union. The study found that the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and Nigeria are the primary sources for poached ivory.
2007-05-13 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The number of elephants that die from gunshot injuries in Sri Lanka has increased since automatic weapons were provided to home guards in villages under terrorist threat, Wildlife Department figures point out. Some 160 elephants died in the North Western Wildlife Zone last year, and 23 of them were victims of home guards’ guns. Over 200 elephants died last year in Sri Lanka due to human-elephant conflict.
2007-05-12 - Madurai, India.
A recent survey has spotted 86 elephants along with 23 other species of wild animals in the Palani forest range, Dindigul District Forest officials has said. According to District Forest Officer Nihar Ranjan, five tuskers, 30 female elephants and 19 calves were identified. However, the gender of 32 pachyderms could not be identified as they were spotted at a long range, Ranjan told reporters at Dindigul last evening.
2007-05-12 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
South African professional hunter Christo Kaiser has been killed by an elephant in Botswana. Kaiser, 40, the owner of Unico Hunting Safaris in Lephalale (formerly Ellisras), died on Friday, a close friend of his, Phillip Bronkhorst, said on Saturday. He was killed in the northern part of Botswana on Friday morning. He was killed by an elephant, said Bronkhorst.
2007-05-11 - ANGUL, India.
The elephant population in Satkosia wild life sanctuary, a part of Mahanadi Elephant Reserve, has gone up within a span of two years, according to the just concluded census conducted in the area. According a reliable source, there are 145 elephants in the sanctuary area now as against 98 found in 2005 special census. The elephant population in 2002 in this part was 155.
2007-05-11 - Rayagada, India.
The man-elephant conflict continues to grow in Orissa. A herd of wild elephants that has been creating havoc in Rayagada and neighbouring Gajapati district during the past one month killed a youth in Gunupur area on Friday. The herd, which has been outside their Lakhari forest habitat in Gajapati, has so far killed five persons. The latest incident occurred at Turkinguda village under Gunupur sub-division when the elephants trampled to death 18-year-old Dilip Bauri.
2007-05-10 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Kinahan AA, Inge-Moller R, Bateman PW, Kotze A, Scantlebury M. University of the Witwatersrand
The savanna elephant is the largest extant mammal and often inhabits hot and arid environments. Due to their large size, it might be expected that elephants have particular physiological adaptations, such as adjustments to the rhythms of their core body temperature (T(b)) to deal with environmental challenges. This study describes for the first time the T(b) daily rhythms in savanna elephants.
2007-05-10 - Thrissur, India.
Three elephants ran amok during the annual festival of the Koodalmanikyam Temple at Irinkjalakuda, near here, on Wednesday. The incident, which occurred around 10 a.m., delayed 'Arat' rites. About 10 persons sustained minor injuries. The police said that an elephant became violent after a mahout allegedly prodded it with a lance.
2007-05-09 - Sydney, Australia.
IT was girls' playtime at Taronga Zoo and a chance for one-on-one quality time with keepers for our resident Asian elephants in their $38 million enclosure this week. After six months the four females - Pornthip, Pak Boong, Tang Mo and Tong Dee - and male Gung have settled into their daily routine with ease and confidence. Keeper Lucy Melo, who has been with the group since August 2004, said the five elephants had at least eight carers dedicated to their health, quality of life, veterinary requi...
2007-05-09 - Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin Zoo has been trumpeting the arrival of the baby girl elephant who was up and walking just eight minutes after she was born. Zoo keeper Leo Oosterweghal said mum Bernhardine and baby are both well. The baby Asian elephant, which has not yet been named, was born in darkness while zookeepers kept watch by using a special camera.
2007-05-08 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Two residents were injured after they were trampled by two wild elephants that went on a rampage in Indonesia's eastern Sumatra province of Riau, a local media report said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Sunday in Palas village of Pelelawan district when two rubber farmers were trampled by a couple of wild elephants. The beasts have periodically gone on rampages through the farm lands, the state-run Antara news agency reported.
2007-05-08 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
An elephant trampled a 48-year-old man to death in western Zimbabwe while his wife and son looked on helplessly, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday. The attack occurred on Sunday near Mushumbi Pools in Zimbabwe's wildlife-rich Zambezi Valley, days after a buffalo gored three people to death in the same area. The man, Mendas Muzerengeni, was killed when he and his 17-year-old son tried to scare some elephants away from their fields, police spokesperson Michael Munyikwa was ...
2007-05-08 - Louisville, United States. Sheldon S. Shafer
The Louisville Zoo's new baby elephant will be named Jonesy, Angus or Scotty. Zoo staff members chose those finalists from the more than 7,000 entries in the zoo's name-the-baby-elephant contest sponsored by Norton Healthcare. "There were a ton of Jumbos and Dumbos, and even a Horton," said Dave Campbell, the zoo's elephant-area supervisor. A winning name will be announced June 1 after a vote by zoo visitors. Votes can be cast by donating coins through May 24 at a kiosk on the zoo's front plaza....
2007-05-07 - Bhubaneshwar, India. Jajati Karan
A herd of elephants went on a rampage at a studio on the outskirts of Bhubaneshwar last week. And when the dust settled, people were surprised to see a little baby elephant left behind. The one-year-old baby jumbo is injured, tired, and is missing her mother. She was one of the six elephants from the Chandaka elephant sanctuary in Orissa that entered the Kalinga film studio on Saturday. After some chaotic scenes, the five adult elephants retreated leaving this little one behind. Now, she has bee...
2007-05-04 - Maun, Botswana.
In preparation for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) conference slated for The Hague in June, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks held a national consultative meeting in Maun, last week. The one-day meeting was to lobby for support for the countrys proposals to The Hague CITES conference and to solicit ideas.
2007-05-04 - Atlanta, United States.
Zoo Atlanta is currently seeking an individual who is highly motivated, enthusiastic, and organized to fill the open Lead Keeper of Elephants position within the Large Mammal department. This full-time salaried position requires an applicant with the knowledge and experience of an advanced Animal Keeper including the interest and ability to handle additional team leader and supervisor responsibilities. A degree in a Life Science or related field is required in conjunction with a minimum of five ...
2007-05-04 - Kolkata, India. Poushali Mitra
At five in the evening, Ranaghat Swastha Unnati Maidans gates open to usher in a flood of visitors. Five-year-old Twinkle too jostles among the crowd to catch a rare glimpse of the new arrival — a month-old elephant calf left behind by a circus troupe. Baby Jonaki was born when the Moonlight circus company was camped at the Ranaghat maidan. But as she was too young to travel, the state forest department would not allow her to move out of town until she was at least three months old.
2007-05-04 - Hugo, United States.
An 8,300-pound elephant and her newborn, who was 280 pounds at birth, are doing well at a breeding compound and retirement center for elephants in Hugo. Val was born to Whimpy after nearly 12 hours of labor on April 27 at the Endangered Ark Foundation. This is the third birth at the center, which was founded by D.R. Miller, whose family started the first Hugo-based circus.
2007-05-04 - West Bengal, India.
At least five elephants were killed by lightning in a West Bengal wildlife reserve, officials said Friday. The animals died Thursday in a tea estate under the Buxa Tiger Reserve area in the state's northern region. Their carcasses were found by tea garden workers on the bank of a river near the New Lands Tea Estate in Alipurduar area of Jalpaigur district, 700 km north of Kolkata.
2007-05-04 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland Zoo elephant Kashin may well be New Zealand's biggest loser. The 38-year-old Asian elephant weighed in at 3251kg yesterday, having dropped a whopping 170kg in a year. Her stablemate Burma, 24, tipped the scales at a relatively svelte 3080kg, but had packed on 134kg since April last year and was expected to get bigger.The elephants' weights are in the healthy range.
2007-05-03 - Tulsa, United States. EAZA
The Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum is seeking qualified applicants for a Large Mammal zookeeper position specifically working with our facilities elephants, rhinos, and sea lions. Qualifications include: graduation from an accredited college or university with an associate’s degree in biology, zoology, wildlife management or related field & two (2) years of experience in the care of large mammals; preferably experience with elephants, rhinos and sea lions.
2007-05-03 - Jamshedpur, India. ANUPAM RANA
Man-elephant conflict looks inevitable this summer with water sources in Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary not having adequate store. A senior forester posted in the sanctuary said elephants could face water crisis due to the poor volume of water available in these sources. “If the elephants do not get enough water during the scorching summer, then they would sneak into the nearby villages looking for water. Man-elephant conflict could be inevitable this summer,” he said.
2007-05-03 - Hohenwald, United States. JENNIFER BROOKS
From the minute she arrived Tuesday afternoon, Dularys life changed. Three members of her new herd — Delhi, Tarra and Misty — were waiting impatiently to welcome her, trunks poking through the barn stalls. They drifted over as soon as they spotted her trailer pulling up the drive and remained nearby, calling out to her until she finally left the trailer, said sanctuary spokeswoman Kate Elliott.
2007-05-03 - Buffalo, United States.
Local indie-rock outfits Ice Cream Social, La Cacahouette, and the Grade Grubbers are herding forces on Friday (May 4) in an effort to “SAVE THE ELEPHANTS!” at the Buffalo Zoo... or at least to make them more comfortable. Proceeds from this concert event at Broadway Joe’s will be put toward the renovation of the Zoo’s Elephant House, current home to three gigantic mammals named Buki, Jothi, and Surapa.
2007-05-02 - Hohenwald, United States. JENNIFER BROOKS
Dulary the elephant slept under the stars on her first night at her new home. Initially leery of leaving the comfort of the trailer that carried her from the Philadelphia Zoo, Dulary finally ventured out Tuesday evening to explore The Elephant Sanctuary, a 2,700-acre preserve for retired zoo and circus elephants in Hohenwald. Dulary arrived at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, accompanied by her zoo caretakers and sanctuary staff. Since then, she’s had a hose bath and is playing with the hoses.
2007-05-02 - Shanghai, China.
A woman performs with an elephant during a show as part of the week-long May Day Holiday activities at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park in Shanghai May 2, 2007.
2007-05-02 - Rochester, United States. Victoria E. Freile
Monroe County and Seneca Park Zoo officials today will break ground to build a wading pool at the zoo for African elephants Lilac and Genny C. A new 50,000-gallon pool will be at the south end of the elephant yard, about 15 feet away from zoo visitors at the zoo, 2222 St. Paul St., said zoo Director Larry Sorel. It will feature a sloping entrance that resembles a watering hole in the elephants’ native environment.
2007-05-01 - Tennessee, United States. Kim Lengal, Philadelphia Zoo
Elephant keeper Jen Robertson called to report that Dulary had an excellent night. The elephant "caravan" stopped to give everyone a rest right across the Tennessee border. The trailer pulled over in a convenient parking lot where Scott, the driver, and Dulary camped out for the night. Before she settled in, Dulary had a full meal of elephant pellets, carrots, beets, potatoes, apples, hay, and lots of fresh water.
2007-05-01 - Highlands Ranch, United States. Valerie Miller
The Carson & Barnes Circus and the Miller-Byrd families have established the Endangered Ark Foundation to provide for endangered species, and operate a breeding program for the extremely endangered Asian elephant. This facility had its grand opening and dedication in 2003. Three and half year old baby elephant, Obert, is very special to the circus family, as one of the highlights of this breeding program.
2007-05-01 - Bangkok, Thailand. Itamar Eichner
An Israeli tourist, Yoram Ben-Hamo, was convicted last Saturday for kidnapping a baby elephant in Thailand and holding it hostage. During his getaway, he picked up a knife from a merchant, grabbed a baby elephant from a yard in the neighborhood and warned the police that if they did not leave him alone he would harm the elephant. Having called in a hostage-negotiation team, the police eventually offered Ben-Hamo a cigarette and he was then captured while lighting it. The elephant was returned ho...
2007-05-01 - Buffalo, United States. Tom Buckham, Buffalo News
During a 2006 review, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums said the landmark 1912 Elephant House and the hospital needed to be expanded to meet current zoo guidelines. Meanwhile, the “I Love Elephants” campaign, which seeks to raise $1 million to boost the Elephant House interior from 1,050 to 1,800 square feet, has generated considerable community support, the zoo said.
2007-05-01 - Bangkok, Thailand.
All eight Thai elephants now living at two Australian zoos are being treated well by zoo officials, Thailand's envoy down under said Tuesday. Ambassador Bundit Sothipalarit said five Thai elephants are now at Sydney's Taronga Zoo and another three at Melbourne Zoo. Zoo officials have been treating them tenderly, the envoy said, and are hard at work encouraging the large Thai guests to serve as unofficial Thai ambassadors.
2007-05-01 - London, United Kingdom. Joe Palca
The discovery of a skeleton of an enormous, prehistoric elephant on the coast of England is an example of this ancient cycle of warm and cold. The bones of the 10-ton elephant were found protruding from seashore cliffs after a winter storm. We then did a rescue dig, says geologist Anthony Stuart, and we recovered vertebrae from the backbone, the lower jaw, and almost all of the rest of the skeleton, including the skull and the tusks.
2007-05-01 - Colchester, United Kingdom. DANIELLE NUTTALL
A FEMALE elephant which was rescued from the circus seven years ago to begin a new life at Colchester Zoo is suffering from serious health problems, it has emerged. In a statement, Colchester Zoo said last night: “To put any animal to sleep is a hard decision but it becomes especially difficult when dealing with such a large, intelligent, and well-loved animal as Rosa.
2007-05-01 - Grahamstown, United States.
CAPTURED in the wild and trained for 18 months to cart wealthy tourists around an Eastern Cape game reserve, it is not just the future of five young elephants that hangs in the balance following SPCA objections to a permit application to use the animals for mounted game safaris. Ten Zimbabwean elephant trainers, who boast more than 50 years’ collective experience, could also face a bleak future if the permit is denied.
2007-05-01 - Baltimore, United States. M. Hirsh Goldberg
When the circus was in town earlier this year, I began to think back to my early days in public relations. I remembered the day, in pursuit of publicity for a client, I experienced one of the most potentially embarrassing occasions in my career, the time when I lost a circus elephant in downtown Baltimore.
2007-05-01 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. Michelle Reedy and Ewa Narkiewicz
The Royal Elephant Kraal in Ayutthaya celebrated its third elephant birth in three weeks this morning May 1st 2007. A baby boy born to Kamliphet. Her third baby and the Kraal's 28th baby elephant birth since February 2000.
2007-04-30 - TIRUCHI, India. Syed Muthahar Saqaf
The restive male elephant of Samayapuram Sri Mariamman Temple is likely to be shifted to the elephant camp at Top Slip. The authorities are reportedly awaiting a Government Order in this regard. The 18-year-old Mariappan has been portraying signs of `juvenile amuck' over the past few years, and the temple authorities recently sought the State Government's permission to hand it over to the Forest Department.
2007-04-30 - Dalma, India.
While the forest guards and the tribal hunters tried to outdo each other in Dalma wildlife sanctuary during Bishu Shikar, elephants emerged winners. The law-enforcers were out in full force to try and stop killing of animals. But tuskers did more damage to the revellers than the police. Several hunters gave up proceeding further after spotting tuskers with calves at the foothill.
2007-04-30 - Hohenwald, United States. Kate Elliott, The Elephant Sanctuary
On Tuesday May 1, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee welcomes Dulary, an Asian elephant who is being retired from The Philadelphia Zoo. Forty-three years old, Dulary has spent her entire captive life at the zoo. She will be joining the Sanctuary’s ‘founding herd’ in the newly expanded Asian habitat. They will be the first Asian elephants Dulary has seen in many years. This brings the sanctuary's population to 19 elephants, all retired from circuses or zoos.
2007-04-30 - EDAYURVAYAL, India.
More than 50 people here will move to alternative settlements to facilitate a six-km elephant corridor connecting Kerala's Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and Brahmagiri reserve in neighbouring Karnataka. Nine acres in the Tirunelli-Kudrakote area, where the Gowda community has been living for four generations, will be surrendered by the people to the forest department.
2007-04-30 - Mesa, United States. Jon Johnson
An Ice Age fossilized skull discovered 20 miles southeast of Safford has, after several efforts, been removed from its home for the past 2.5 million years. The skull belongs to a rhynchotherium, an extinct mastodont relative of the elephant with four tusks. The rhychotherium died out during the Pleistocene Epoch at the beginning of the most recent Ice Age.
2007-04-30 - Philadelphia, United States. Kim Lengal, Vice President of Conservation
Dulary is on her way to Tennessee! This morning after stretching her legs in her exhibit and taking a nice long morning drink, Dulary sauntered over to the open trailer and after a little hesitation, calmly walked up and into the trailer. Upon entering the trailer, she stood calmly eating her greens while her keepers said their good-byes and the rest of the staff bustled about getting everything in readiness for her departure.
2007-04-30 - New Delhi, United States.
After tigers and lions, it's the turn of elephants now. In the last three years at least 244 elephants were killed in the country, with around half of them falling to poachers. In 2003-04, poachers killed 53 elephants, they killed 25 the following year and 39 in 2005-06. Similarly, 52 jumbos were electrocuted in 2003-04, 54 in 2004-05 and 12 in 2005-06. Man-elephant conflict claimed seven elephants in the last three years and two were killed due to mining related activities in 2005-06. Orissa to...
2007-04-30 - New Delhi, India.
The Centre is planning to allow the sale of domesticated live elephants, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Following requests by Assam, Kerala, Bihar and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the government is considering making necessary amendments to the Widelife (Protection) Act, 1972, to relax the prohibition on the sale of domesticated live elephants, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply.
2007-04-30 - Kalpetta, India.
A Census on wild elephants will be undertaken in Nilgiris biosphere, considered the most favourable habitat of the pachyderms in Asia, from May 6-8. It would be under the joint auspices of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu Forest and Wildlife Departments. The census will be held simultaneously in the forest regions of Mudumala, Bandipur National Park, Nagarholla National Park and Wayanad Wildlife sanctuary.
2007-04-30 - PHILADELPHIA, United States.
After 41 years at the Philadelphia Aoo, Dulary the elephant will be leaving Monday. Friends came to sign a going away card for Dulary, who is headed for retirement, because the zoo is closing its elephant exhibit, reacting in part to pressure from animal rights groups who believe they suffer in cramped enclosures. The departure of Dulary, after 41 years, is symbolic. Philadelphia's zoo is the nation's oldest, and when it opened in 1874 its first exhibit was an elephant.
2007-04-30 - Henrico County, United States. Tammie Smith
With outdoor seating, colorful balloons, a menagerie of animals and the smell of food grilling, it was more like a carnival than a church service at Discovery United Methodist Church yesterday. And when the Rev. Jim Lavender and associate pastor Raymond Rowley, dressed in their clergy robes, rode in on an elephant to start the morning service, it seemed like a ringmaster was about to start the show.
2007-04-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. K. G. H. MUNIDASA
Over 50 years ago, this story concerning a she elephant at the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens was published in the local press. Meena was a very docile animal and her keepers had no problem looking after her. But one day, she started to behave in an unusual manner. She strained at her fetters in obvious excitement as if trying to free herself. The crowds of visitors gave her wide berth, thinking that something unforeseen had befallen the poor beast. Meena behaved in this manner for over 36 hours.
2007-04-29 - Thrissur, India.
The Elephant Lovers' Association on Saturday urged the Chief Secretary to conduct an investigation into incidents of elephants turning violent at the Thrissur Pooram. In a memorandum, the association alleged that Thiruvambadi Unnikrishnan, an elephant that ran amok, showed signs of musth.
2007-04-29 - Washington, United States.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will award more than $861,000 in international conservation grants that will help protect more than 15 species of animals in 18 countries, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Friday. Species that will benefit include African elephants and rhinoceros, chimpanzees and Cross River gorillas, five species of sea turtles, the quetzal, puma, jaguar, and the maned wolf.
2007-04-29 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
50 years after its birth, Vietnamese circus seems to have come to a cul-de-sac. Old items, which used to be popular but are now unable to keep audiences awake are still being performed. The animal stock of the biggest circus troupe in the south isn’t very impressive either. There are only an old elephant, 4 skinny and tiny monkeys, and 5 or 6 dogs. It is yet an impossible dream to own such animals as tigers, lions or crocodiles.
2007-04-29 - Kyodo, Japan.
Some 40 tons of illegally traded ivory was seized around the world in the two-year period through the end of 2006, Kenya and Mali said Saturday. The total includes some 3 tons confiscated at an Osaka port last year. While the amount implies the deaths of some 6,000 African elephants, the two countries estimate that nearly 40,000 elephants were killed during the two years; the seizures are seen as just the tip of the iceberg.
2007-04-28 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Phootson made sure everyone was kept awake while she groaned with labour pains. And no wonder her baby was a big one! The Royal Elephant Kraal is committed to breeding as many babies as possible. As of 28th April 2007 we have had 28 successful births since 2000. With more on the way. In the nursery right now we have 8 mothers and their babies that you can play with and care for.
2007-04-28 - Gauhati, India.
A wild elephant killed a villager in India's remote northeast while another of the animals chased fishermen in a swamp, authorities said Saturday, as habitat destruction forces the elephants to seek food in populated areas. The elephant had been feeding near a bamboo grove when suddenly turned and attacked a villager returning home on a bicycle Friday night near Chakradeo, a village on the outskirts of Assam state's capital, Gauhati, said wildlife official S. Nath.
2007-04-28 - Samburu, Kenya. Mike Pflanz
Ancient elephant trails and lion breeding habitats are under threat from a series of hotels being built in a remote Kenyan game park, claim conservationists. Already there are five hotels in the two parks, where lions hide from the midday sun under acacia thorn bushes and families of elephants amble to drink from the Ewaso Nyiro river, which separates the reserves. Saba Douglas-Hamilton, the BBC wildlife presenter, said yesterday that the building must be stopped.
2007-04-28 - Sragen, Indonesia.
A resident has discovered fossilized mammoth bones near where the fossil of a prehistoric crocodile was discovered at the Sangiran excavation site on Java on April 20. According to Gunawan, the fossilized mammoth (Stegodon trigonocephalus) was found by Daryanto, a resident of Dayu village in Gondangrejo district, Karanganyar regency. Gunawan, a staff member at the Sangiran Agency for the Preservation of Ancient Sites, said this latest discovery took place April 22, but was only reported to his o...
2007-04-27 - Peoria, United States. Rachel Stein
Elephants, pythons, motorbikes, trapeze, it took three semis to get them here. The day starts with a bath for the elephants. Susie the elephant is listening to her trainer and following his signals. Garden Brother's President and Producer of Ian Garden said, "These three old girls that we have they're Asian females. They understand probably over a hundred different English words, commands."
2007-04-27 - Thrissur, India.
Two elephants ran amok during Thrissur Pooram, a hugely popular elephant festival in Kerala. Tens of thousands of people had gathered in the temple city of Thrissur to witness the annual ''Pooram'' festival in which rival groups of 15 elephants were paraded amidst playing drums and mouth organs. However, all hell broke loose at around 4.30 pm (local time) when two elephants apparently became aggressive and ran about wildly, charging at frantic crowds that scattered to get out of their way.
2007-04-27 - KOLKATA, India.
Wildlife officials believe that the four-day elephant census that ended on Thursday will reveal a considerable increase in population in north Bengal where the elephant-human conflict is among the highest in the country. The last census in 2005 estimated the population at between 300 and 350, while it was around 280 in the one carried out two years earlier.
2007-04-26 - Guwahati, India.
He uproots bettlenut trees at one punt, razes down thatched hovels or even solid walls at ease and smashes exploding crackers and burning twigs with its feet. Ganesh, the robust 9-tonne tusker, has been a constant source of terror to the inhabitants in and around the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Jorhat district of upper Asom. The only succor to the people of this range is that Ganesh has never attacked a human directly.
2007-04-26 - Kolkata, India. Bappa Majumdar
A government study in India has shown elephants prefer food crops to forest fodder and often travel hundreds of miles to the same farmland every year, even remembering specific months of harvesting. Elephants were adapting to new foods as their traditional habitat was shrinking due to villagers encroaching in forests, experts said after a four-year study on Asian elephants in West Bengal state.
2007-04-26 - Philadelphia, United States.
Three African elephants from the Philadelphia Zoo will be moved to the Pittsburgh Zoo's new conservation center. The elephants: Petal, 51; Kallie, 24; and Bette, 23 -- will be sent to the International Conservation Center in the Somerset County town of Fairhope in the fall, the zoos announced Thursday. The two younger elephants are still able to breed, and officials hope that's what will happen after the move. The Pittsburgh Zoo houses an adult bull, who is one of only four breeding African bull...
2007-04-26 - Lunugamvehera, Sri Lanka. Tharuka Dissanaike
Another elephant death was reported the week before from Lunugamvehera. There is no real count of the number of elephants that have died in this area after several failed drives by the Department of Wildlife Conservation. The number can conservatively be put around 12 deaths both within and outside the park boundaries. Villagers in the area believe however that the number is much higher: We have lived for many centuries with elephants. We are not asking them to be driven away. But farmers need s...
2007-04-26 - Falls Church, United States. Nate Taylor
During a routine Google search for horse polo equipment in September 2005, Kimberly Zenz came across something entirely different: elephant polo. The future team captain called Falls Church resident Courtney Zenz, her younger sister and soon-to-be teammate, and informed her that they were starting an elephant polo team. In September 2006 the DC Pachyderms were playing their first tournament in Thailand. They placed second to last, beating the only other rookie team.
2007-04-25 - Philadelphia, United States.
The Philadelphia Zoo said Wednesday it will announce the new home for its three African elephants on Thursday. The fate of its four elephants has been hanging for more than six months since the zoo said it did not have the money to upgrade its pachyderm house. The African elephants were originally supposed to go to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, but last month Maryland officials said plans to build a new elephant exhibit had been delayed. The fourth, an Asian elephant, will go to a sanctuary in ...
2007-04-25 - Cologne, United States. Louisa Schaefer
Cologne's ego-centrism has won out. The "mini-phant" (as the city's Express readers had dubbed their little darling for the short term) is due to be christened "Ming Jung" on Wednesday, April 25. "Ming Jung," one might add, is the Cologne dialect expression for mein Junge, or "my boy." Only the people of Cologne could detect the symmetries between their city and the Orient.
2007-04-25 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
The local Government in Indonesia will move about 10,000 people living in Bukit Barisan National Park, a protected habitat for the animals whose numbers on the island are fast diminishing. Villagers in the past have co-existed with the elephants in the 363,000ha park which has been declared a World Heritage Site.
2007-04-25 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Hundreds of Buddhist monks led by at least nine elephants marched to parliament Wednesday to demand that Thailand's new post-coup constitution enshrine Buddhism as the national religion. "Buddhism is increasingly coming under threat," Thongchai Kuasakul, head of the Buddhists' Network of Thailand who led the march, said in a statement.
2007-04-25 - Nairobi, Kenya.
African states called on Tuesday for a 20-year ban on trade in ivory to protect the continent's elephants from poachers and possible extinction in the wild. Kenya and Mali, which spearheaded the moratorium along with Togo and Ghana, are seeking to have the measure adopted at the June meeting of the 169-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), their representatives said at a meeting in Paris.
2007-04-25 - Thrissur, India.
After prolonged legal battles and uncertainty the famed Thrissur Pooram, the festival of festivals, will be staged here on April 27 and 28 with all traditional fervour and scintillating firework displays. In the next two days, Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, will be in the grip of ''Pooram fever'' and each and every person, irrespective of caste and religion, will work together for the smooth conduct of the festival.
Dulary, the Philadelphia Zoo's Asian elephant, is almost ready to leave for her new home. This weekend (April 28 and 29) will likely be her last weekend in Philadelphia, so your family may want to visit her one more time to say good-bye. The Zoo staff will blog about her travels. Check out the first blog!
2007-04-24 - Paris, France.
African states have called for a 20-year ban on trade in ivory to protect the continent's elephants from poachers and possible extinction in the wild. Kenya and Mali, which spearheaded the moratorium along with Togo and Ghana, are seeking to have the measure adopted at the June meeting of the 169-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), their representatives said at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday.
2007-04-24 - Thiruvananthapuram, United States.
The third synchronised census of elephants roaming the forests of four southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka will be carried out from May 7 to 9. According to sources, there were about 21,300 elephants in India during the 2005 survey. Karnataka topped the list with about 4,500 elephants, followed by Tamil Nadu with around 4,000 and Kerala with 3,500.
2007-04-24 - Ranchi, India. Amitabh Srivastava & Namita Tewari
Jharkhand wildlife authorities are all set to begin a census of elephants in the wildlife sanctuaries across the State, starting May 1. The census is crucial for Jharkhand where the relations between elephants and humans have turned bellicose with almost 650 people trampled to death by elephants during the last six years. Humans have killed close to 67 elephants during the same period either by electrocution (caused by the illegal electric fencing) or shooting them with poison-tipped arrows or b...
2007-04-24 - HARTFORD, United States.
A bill aimed at protecting circus elephants from abuse is continuing to lumber through the legislature. Today, the Judiciary Committee voted 22-17 in favor of the legislation, which makes it a crime to use any "implement or device" on an elephant that "may reasonably be expected" to harm the animal.
2007-04-24 - Tulsa, United States. MIRANDA ENZOR
After nine long months of construction, the Tulsa Zoo opened its Elephant Demonstration Yard April 13. The Demonstration Yard was dedicated to Larry Nunley for his 32 years of service with the Tulsa Zoo. Besides giving the zoo a place to show off their Asian elephants, the Demonstration Yard also enhances compliance with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) standards, the governing body for Tulsa Zoo, as it allows the zoo to provide its elephants with additional reserve areas to roam.
2007-04-24 - Sydney, Australia.
LOCKING trunks in a warm embrace, two of Taronga Zoo's Asian elephants splashed around in Sydney's rain yesterday. Male Gung was spotted with the mystery woman at their bath and the tryst has set trunks wagging. Gung has been spoilt for choice since moving to Sydney with the lady pachyderms Pornthip, Pak Boon, Tang Mo and Thong Dee.
2007-04-24 - Boulder, United States. Marc Bekof, University of Colorado
One of the hottest questions in the study of animal behavior is, Do animals have emotions? The simple answer is, Of course they do. Marc Bekoff is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. All of this material is discussed in his book The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy—and Why They Matter (New World Library, California, 2007).
2007-04-23 - Baltimore, United States. Danielle Ulman
Even elephants need to pay attention to grooming now and then. That’s why Dolly and Anna, the African elephants at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, received pedicures last week. “Because they’re so big, their feet are more delicate. They hold so much weight that it’s important to maintain the health of their feet,” said Mike McClure, elephant collection manager at the zoo.
2007-04-23 - Udawalawe, Sri Lanka.
Ten elephant cubs who were brought up in Sri Lanka's 'Ath Athuru Sevana' interim elephant camp were released to the jungles today. The elephants were the seventh batch of their like to be released to the forest. The Ath Athuru Sevana interim elephant camp in Udawalawe has so far released 56 elephants into the jungle. All of them were orphan cubs who were found throughout the country and brought up there. The Wildlife Department monitors their lives even after they are released to the forest.
2007-04-23 - Antwerp, Belgium.
The Antwerp Zoo welcomed nine new elephants today, the wood and metal sculpture entitled "'You can buy my heart and my soul" that graced the beach at De Panne for six months last year as part of the Beaufort 2006 art project. The group will arrive at the Koningin Astridplein today, where they will point visitors the way to the zoo, as part of the zoo's "Year of the Elephant" theme. The sculpture will remain at that location until 30 September.
2007-04-23 - Luangwa, Zambia.
A Zambian man has won a prestigious Goldman Prize for helping to curb widespread elephant poaching by setting up economic projects for villagers. Hammerskjoeld Simwinga wins $125,000 for the award, sometimes called the Nobel prize for the environment.
2007-04-23 - Tucson, United States. BENJIE SANDERS
On April 23, 1982, Tucson got its first look at the Reid Park Zoo's new baby African elephant, a 585-pound, two-and-a-half-year-old female. Her name, chosen from over 400 entries submitted in a naming contest, was to be Shaba, the Swahili word for copper. Shaba, shown here with keeper Gale London, was replacing Sabu, who had to be put to sleep the previous year. After she got used to all her new surroundings, Shaba joined the zoo's other elephant, Connie, who is an Asian elephant.
2007-04-23 - South Beach, Oregon, United States. Opa's Antiques
4 bids; current bid: US $529.99. All pieces are damage free with no repairs. All original paint present except two tiny spots on boy's arms. Elephant has red eyes; Keepers left arm moves. Children fit into saddle. Not original box.
2007-04-22 - Denver, United States. Ann Schrader
An unusual first-ever project aims to recycle Denver Zoo's waste into energy. Inspiration came from the 75 tons of manure produced annually by elephants Dolly and Mimi. A gasification plant to superheat waste to generate electricity may cost $1.5 million. But it would cut the zoos overall electric use by 15 percent and heating bill by 17 percent, for an annual savings of $85,000 while reducing whats hauled to the dump by 450 tons.
2007-04-22 - Malacca, Malaysia.
The Malacca Zoo is waiting the results of samples taken during the post-mortem of elephant calf Amid. Amid was found dead in his paddock at 7.30am on April 10. Since the zoo does not have the facilities to analyse and identify viruses or bacteria, the samples were sent to Universiti Putra Malaysia.
2007-04-21 - West Palm Beach, United States.
Hilary Duff wearing a cute red dress and beige Christian Louboutins attended the "Night with the Raj" Polo Ball at International Polo Club Palm Beach, held on April 20, 2007 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Hilary seemes like she was having a lot of fun as she posed for photos with the elephants. One elephant reportedly even got a little frisky with her.
2007-04-21 - Anantara, Thailand. Tricia Welsh
The camp at the Anantara is the northern extension of the TECC and offers visitors a range of activities with the elephants. These include bathing, driving lessons and adventure treks of various lengths, which combine to create a one, two or three-day mahout course. Director of elephants at the camp is Englishman John Roberts, who has been working with elephants for five years. He's passionate about his jumbo charges, and they seem to appreciate his concern, as do the six mahouts under his care....
2007-04-20 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A love story is brewing in the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo where age it seems is no bar for a very special jumbo combo. The impossible love affair between 18-year-old Rajkumar and his 76-year-old sweetheart Maheshwari is blossoming into elephantine proportions. Rajkumar was sent to the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo by the Bombay High Court after it was found that his keepers in Mumbai could not manage him.
2007-04-20 - Cheyenne Mountain, United States. Stephanie Ross
They are known as extremely intelligent animals. It is also said that an elephant never forgets. That's because they have better memories than we do. Kimba lives at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and she is amazing, very curious, very smart and very talented. Every girl loves a pedicure, and Kimba is no exception. A daily pedicure is just part of Kimba's beauty regimen, she also gets a daily scrub. And in order to keep her girlish 5 ton figure, she is exercised daily by her trainers.
2007-04-20 - New York, United States. www.hoax-slayer.com
The story claims that, when she appeared on the quiz show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", Kathy Evans of Idaho "set a new standard for stupidity" when she could not answer a question that asked her to identify the largest item from a list comprising an elephant, the moon and a peanut. However, the incident described never happened. The article originates from BSNews.org, a satirical website that features fake news items on a variety of subjects.
2007-04-20 - Lucknow, India.
It is not just regular morning walk that Jaimala is enjoying these days. The elephant is also hogging all the attention and care in city zoo. And in toe follows the partner, Sumit. "Jaimala is due to deliver in June and we are trying from now on to make everything easy for her. Sumit and Jaimala are both taken out for morning walk around 7 am for an hour. We want the pair to be in the best of health", said Eva Sharma, zoo director.
2007-04-20 - Lampung, Indonesia. Oyos Saroso H.N
The Lampung provincial government has announced plans to relocate residents of villages that have been attacked by elephants from South Bukit Barisan National Park. Wild elephants have killed seven people in the West Lampung and Tanggamus regencies in the last year, as well as destroying villages and crops.
2007-04-20 - Altoona, United States. Jessica VanderKolk
Thad Graham and his girlfriend, Adrienne Ray, climbed the metal steps and onto an elephant’s back Thursday night in the Jaffa Shrine Circus ring, where Graham produced another, shinier ring. As the elephant circled the ring, circus administrator Bill Troxell handed Graham a microphone. “We’ve been together a long time now,” Graham, 19, began, turning around to look at Ray. “Our first date ever was at the circus.”
2007-04-20 - Cologne, Germany. Dan Koehl, Stephanie Wroben, Raesfeld, Germany
Today the young asian bulls Aung Bo and Aung Si, six and five yers old and both born in Emmen Zoo in Netherlands, left Cologne Zoo for Sevilla in Spain. Sevilla Exotic animals reserve Castillo de las Guardas in Spain has now 6 asian bulls between five and ten years, and no cows.
2007-04-19 - Guwahati, India.
Police confiscated a consignment of ivory from the cargo collection centre of Jet Airways near Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport today. Additional superintendent of police (city) Rajen Singh said elephant tusk weighing 1.8 kg was found inside a carton booked on a Calcutta-bound Jet Airways flight this morning. The accused were identified as Bikram Das and Mahabir Sharma. Sharma is the manager of Good Luck Courier Service while Das is an employee of Maruti Cargo Forwarder.
2007-04-19 - Charleston, United States.
The elephant wash has become a tradition on opening day of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which runs through Sunday at the Charleston Civic Center.
2007-04-19 - Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Jaime Ashworth
The Zimbabwe National SPCA is continuing its efforts to gain access to nine elephants being 'trained' by the travel company Shearwater Adventures. The nine are the survivors of a group of 12 captured from herds in the Hwange National Park in November 2006. In a January 2007 press release, Shearwater insisted that the ZNSPCA's claims that the elephants were being mistreated were untrue, claiming that their training methods were 'willing relationship[s] based on mutual trust and respect'.
2007-04-18 - Rotterdam, Netherlands. Dan Koehl
The bull Alexander born 1978 in Ramat Gan Zoo Israel (Motek x Warda) was relocated 17th April with police escort from Diergaarde Blijdorp in Rotterdam to three waiting females in Antwerp Zoo. All three cows are proven breeders, one even had twins.
2007-04-18 - Delft, Netherlands.
Scientists working for Royal Nedalco, the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and a firm called Bird Engineering have found a fungus in elephant dung that helped them break down fibres and wood into biofuel and produce a yeast which can efficiently ferment wood sugars. "We really see this as a technical breakthrough," business development manager Mark Woldberg from Royal Nedalco, a Dutch alcohol maker, told a biofuels conference on Wednesday.
2007-04-18 - COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh.
Wild elephants straying into a village trampled two nine-year-old children to death in southeastern Bangladesh on Wednesday, police and forestry officials said. The victims, a boy and a girl, failed to escape when a herd of elephants swooped on their village near a forest at Ramu, 430 km (269 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka. The elephants also destroyed five houses, uprooted trees and demolished standing crops.
2007-04-17 - San Diego, United States.
ESCONDIDO, Calif.- An African elephant born last month at the San Diego Zoo has been named Impunga, zoo officials said Tuesday. His name (pronounced im-POON-gah) means "experienced adviser" in Swati, the official language of Swaziland. Impunga was born March 11, marking the third birth for a herd of seven African elephants rescued from culling in Swaziland and brought to the zoo's Wild Animal Park in 2003.
2007-04-17 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
The Southern African Development Community's (SADC) parks authorities are to meet to discuss a proposed ban on international trade in ivory. Parks and wildlife management authority heads from the region will meet in Botswana from Wednesday to Friday, to discuss Kenya's proposals for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
2007-04-17 - Louisville, United States. Sheldon S. Shafer
Entries are open to name the baby male African elephant born on March 18 at the Louisville Zoo. "People stop me all the time bubbling with excitement and say they have a name for the baby elephant," zoo director John Walczak said. "Well, now is the chance to name our big bundle of joy."
2007-04-17 - Ranchi, India.
Jharkhand forest officials on Tuesday began a probe into the mysterious death of an elephant in the Bero Forests. Though veterinary doctors are conducting forensic tests, forest officials have refused to reveal details till the post mortem report comes.
2007-04-17 - Phalaborwa, South Africa. Nkosana ka Makaula
When an elephant charged an elderly couple on Saturday morning, the couple split up and ran in separate directions. The elephant chose to follow the woman, whose broken body was eventually found on Sunday afternoon. The attack took place at Grietjie near Phalaborwa, said Mopani area spokesperson Superintendent Moatshe Ngoepe.
2007-04-16 - Cologne, Germany. Dan Koehl
Sometime during the night to monday morning the 23 year old elephant Tong Koon gave birth to a male calf in Cologne Zoo. When the keepers left in the evening, there was no indication for birth, and next morning the 100 kgs heavy calf was there. Tong Koon was imported pregnant from Thailand.
2007-04-16 - MANAS, India.
Six translocated elephant calves in the national park here are facing a threat, not from poachers but from blood-sucking parasites, prompting the authorities to drug them for temporary relief. Tabanus flies are found in abundance during this time of the year in Manas and there is hardly any place for the calves to wallow without getting bitten, said Bhaskar Choudhury of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), who is monitoring the elephant rehabilitation project.
2007-04-15 - Front Royal, United States. Brown JL, Somerville M, Riddle HS, Keele M, Duer CK, Freeman EW., Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park
Concentrations of serum testosterone, cortisol, thyroxine (free and total T4), triiodothyronine (free and total T3) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured to assess adrenal and thyroid function as they relate to testicular activity and musth in captive elephants. Data were generally inconclusive as to a role for thyroid hormones in male reproduction, but the finding of discrete patterns in bulls showing clear testosterone cycles suggests they may facilitate expression or control of ...
2007-04-15 - BANGALORE, India.
An extensive census of elephants roaming the forests of South India will be carried out from May 7 to 9. According to Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Bangalore, Anur Reddy, forest officials of Karnataka along with their counterparts in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh will carry out a census of elephants for three days to estimate their numbers. Officials were carrying out a synchronised head-count of the pachyderms in view of their tendency to migrate across state borders.
2007-04-15 - London, United Kingdom. Laura Barton, THE GUARDIAN
The oldest known elephant reached the ripe old age of 86. Lin Wang was originally from Myanmar, and was captured in 1943 by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) army from Japanese troops, then transported to Taiwan in 1947. When he was captured, Lin Wang was nicknamed "the Beautiful", but in his later years the people of Taiwan knew him as "Grandpa Lin Wang." As his years increased, he developed arthritis in his left hind leg, and began to lose his appetite. One Wednesday morning in late February...
2007-04-15 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Joachim Kagiri, the Kenya Wildlife Service deputy director is in charge of wildlife and community conservation. Kagiri dedicated his MBA thesis to the graceful African elephant, an unusual expression of his admiration and respect for the African Jumbo, and Kagiri made his bones fighting renegade Somali soldiers fleeing a collapsing Siad Barre regime and militia outfits setting up banditry and poaching careers in the wild vastness of Meru National Park.
2007-04-14 - Oregon, United States.
The Oregon Zoo is busy getting ready for a big event this weekend, its Packy the elephants 45th birthday. On Friday morning the zoos executive chef Paul Warner had lots of help from kids preparing the cake. It will be served Saturday afternoon at two. View a 1962 film of Packys birth
2007-04-14 - TIRUPATI, India.
The news of a bomb disposal squad in the SV Zoological Park here on Thursday had mediapersons rushing to the zoo only to find the squad members running their metal detectors on an elephant. Zoo Curator Pillai said that TTD bomb disposable squad were helping them see if there were any metal fragments left in the injured shoulder of the pachyderm.
2007-04-14 - Tulsa, United States. ALTHEA PETERSON
Gunda, Sneezy and Sooky, the zoo's resident Asian elephants, will now roam the Elephant Encounters Demonstration Yard, as well as an expanded reserve. Jodi Koch, the zoo's public relations manager, said the the new yard gives the elephants 3,500 square feet more to explore. The reserve had 13,000 square feet added to accommodate the bull elephant, Sneezy. Overall, the project cost $550,000.
2007-04-13 - Atlanta, United States. EAZA
Zoo Atlanta is currently looking for an experienced, knowledgeable and enthusiastic individual who will compliment the current Elephant keeper staff. Keeper responsibilities include providing comprehensive animal care, animal training, enrichment, monitoring animal health, facilities and exhibit maintenance. Other responsibilities include, but are not limited to, formal and informal public presentations, special event programming, and assisting with behavioral research or conservation initiative...
2007-04-13 - Wiwatersrand, South Africa. Nondlela Maponya
WHAT makes an elephant hot? That apparently flippant question is the subject of a serious study by Wits masters student Philippa Hidden. Hidden, of the university’s Physiology Department, has completed a study of elephants thermoregulation (how they control their body temperature). The study was done on tame elephants in captivity. Using infrared pictures Hidden determined how elephants heated up and cooled down.
2007-04-13 - KENOSHA, United States.
Somewhere under John Hebior's 36 acres of cornfields rest the ancient bones of at least one woolly mammoth. But the 76-year-old retiree doesn't plan to excavate the fossils quite yet. "I'd like to sell this one first,'' he said, gesturing to about 20 boxes containing the carefully packed bones of a second mammoth unearthed from those fields 13 years ago.
2007-04-13 - Portland, United States.
Children gathered at the Oregon Zoo Friday to help make and decorate a cake for Packy the elephant, who is turning 45 years old. The celebration continues with Packy's son, Rama, getting a turn in the spotlight. Rama will receive his own cake in the indoor gallery at 1 p.m. to mark his 24th birthday. Earlier in the morning, visitors have a chance to learn more about Rama during an elephant feeding and training demonstration focusing on his painting activities.
2007-04-13 - Mesa, United States.
One of Mesa's newest residents is a 2.4 million-year-old prehistoric mammoth. The huge beast has been transported from Safford to the Mesa Southwest Museum. Once paleontologists haul its giant skull to Mesa, the skeleton will become one of the largest pieces to date at the museum. The Rhynchotherium is an extinct elephant relative with four tusks that died out around the start of the Ice Age.
2007-04-13 - Trivandrum, India.
Rajkumar, the new elephant in the City Zoo, found himself after travelling for the last six days among a group of elephant lovers, which included Minister M A Baby, and a host of mediamen when he arrived on Thursday. The happiest of the lot was perhaps Maheswari, the female elephant at the zoo who has been living alone for nearly 25 years now. Maheswari was left alone after Stanley, the male elephant in the zoo, was sent back to the forest a quarter century ago.
2007-04-13 - Kochi, India.
The Kerala High Court on Thursday modified its earlier order prohibiting parading of elephants from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in festivals with respect to the Thrissur Pooram and allowed the parading of elephants during the above timings during festivals on certain conditions. The court modified its order as it felt that the Pooram was not just a temple festival but a festival of all the people in Thrissur district. Besides, the secretaries gave the assurance that the elephants would be properly fed an...
2007-04-12 - Jacksonville, United States.
2007-04-12 - Beverly Hills, United States. Lourdes Salvador
Most people agree that human beings experience various emotions. Perhaps one of the most amazing expressions of emotion is that of an elephant remembering a deceased mother. Susan McCarthy (1995) stated in her book "When elephants weep":Elephants are indifferent to the bones of other species, but will stop and even detour to examine the bones of elephants, which they handle and look at carefully.
2007-04-12 - Philadelphia, United States. josh cornfield
Marianne Bessey claims it was only a poor attempt at satire when she made threats toward the director of the Philadelphia Zoo, saying in an Internet message board post that Alexander “Pete” Hoskins could die very soon. The zoo, however, wasn’t amused, banning the animal-rights activist from the premises and filing a police report against her. The leader of the Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants, which has campaigned for the relocation of the zoo’s elephants to a sanctuary in Tennessee, Bess...
2007-04-12 - Philadelphia, United States. Marianne Bessey, spokeswoman for Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants
IN HIS column "Save the Elephants!", Michael Smerconish expressed great concern about the animals' departure from the Philadelphia Zoo. Unfortunately, his concern is not about saving elephants, but about preserving his family's opportunity to view an elephant in a zoo. Mr. Smerconish is obviously a zoo-goer, and zoos like to claim they are educational, but Mr. Smerconish clearly hasn't been educated about elephants, or he'd know that elephants are very social and that family is everything to the...
2007-04-12 - Guadalupe, United States.
Paleontologists on the Central Coast unveil a rare pre-historic find. For the next three months, people can visit the Guadalupe Museum to view the fossil of a mastodon. The preserved remains were found in Arroyo Grande. Right now, a team of scientists continue to search for more remains.
2007-04-12 - Wilmington, United States.
The Cole Brothers Circus is in Wilmington for the Azalea Festival. One of the circus's feature attractions is Tina and Jule, two elephants that have performed with the circus for years. Elephant trainer William Jacobs says the twin giants have been a target for animal rights groups, who say the exotic animals do not belong in the circus. But Jacobs disagrees, saying, "You cannot judge people because of someone's misfortune.
2007-04-12 - VANCOUVER, Canada.
Environment Canada has laid 4 charges against Yuk Ming Ho of Richmond, British Columbia for alleged violations of the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA). It is alleged that in March 2005, Mr. Ho unlawfully imported into Canada African Elephant ivory which had been exported from Hong Kong without a permit, an alleged importation violation in contravention of WAPPRITTA. Mr. Ho also faces a charge of possession of African Eleph...
2007-04-12 - Arlington, United States. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Press Release 07-038
Scientists have confirmed the existence of protein in soft tissue recovered from the fossil bones of a 68 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) and a half-million-year-old mastodon. Their results may change the way people think about fossil preservation and present a new method for studying diseases in which identification of proteins is important, such as cancer.
2007-04-12 - Denver, United States. Todd Hartman
Zookeepers at the Denver Zoo have sustained 45 animal-inflicted injuries in the past five years, according to records provided Wednesday to the Rocky Mountain News. The injuries were delivered by an array of species, including an elephant, hogs, several types of birds, an otter, a bighorn sheep, a mongoose - even a small anteater. The injuries range from cuts, bruises and scratches to bites on fingers, hands and legs, to cases where animals struck keepers with horns or elbows.
2007-04-12 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
An elephant has trampled its longtime trainer Koidin, 40, who died of severe head of chest injuries, at a tourist resort in the Indonesian province of Central Java, local media reported Thursday. The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon at a resort in Tegal district, about 300 kilometres east of Jakarta, reported detik.com online news service.
2007-04-12 - Madurai, India.
Project elephant, a Central government-sponsored scheme to protect elephants, was formally inaugurated in Tamil Nadu last evening when veterinary doctors of Mudhumalai wildlife sanctuary planted a microchip on an elephant at the Sri Meenakshi temple here. Other elephants in the city, including those of the Sri Koodal Azhagar temple, Tiruparankunram and Kallazhagar temples and elephants in private hands would have microchips fixed behind their left ears.
2007-04-12 - Bukoba, Tanzania. MEDDY MULISA
At least one elderly woman, Salome Bebwa (70), was trampled to death at Rwensheke Village when a herd of about 200 elephants broke from the Burigi Game Reserve over the weekend and drove through Rujoka, Kabale and Omukaliro villages, destroying crops and raining mayhem over panic stricken villagers, the District Natural Resources Officer, Mr Rama Massele, said.
2007-04-12 - Salinas, United States. MEGHA SATYANARAYANA
Charlie Sammut own Vision Quest Ranch in Salinas, a 51-acre facility that houses everything from a pet kennel to an exotic animal sanctuary to a horse stable. Sammut's pride and joy are his four elephants, Buffy, Butch, Christy and Paula. They sleep in a barn at night, and after their morning bath, roam a large field. Christy and Paula are new additions from an East Coast circus, and Sammut is busy trying to raise money to keep them. He needs at least $250,000 for all four to live comfortably, a...
2007-04-12 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
District collectors have been directed to collect on an urgent basis all relevant information regarding elephants in each district. As part of this, collectors will soon issue notices to owners to present their elephants before the district magistrate and get it registered.
2007-04-12 - Hamburg, Germany. Dan Koehl
Elephant Lai Sinh delivered wednesday morning a female elephant baby, her first succesful after the stillbirth in 2003. Father is the 34 year old bull Hussein. Theres now altogether 11 elephants in Hagenbecks Zoo, celebrating 100 years.
2007-04-12 - Tiruvannamali, India.
The Annamalayar temple elephant, Rukku, was diagnosed for minor eye ailment, keratitis, by experts from Madras Veterinary College (MVC). Dr C Ramani, ophthalmic surgeon and Dr Jaya Thangaraj, Wild Life Sciences professor, both from MVC, checked the animal on Tuesday, along with Dr Pon Koothan, Regional Joint Director (Animal Husbandry) and Dr VS Ramachandran, Assistant Director (Animal Husbandry), Tiruvannamalai.
2007-04-11 - Mumbai, India.
Posing next to the tagline "Beaten, Shackled, Abused- Elephants Don't Belong in Zoos," actor Rahul Khanna stars in a brand-new ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India,. In the ad Rahul Khanna is shown shackled in chains, with bruises painted onto his body. The ad has been shot by top photographer Colston Julian.
2007-04-11 - SILIGURI, India. Statesman News Service
A bull elephant was killed in a hit-by-a-train accident near the Atiabari Tea Estate level crossing in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (West division) early this morning. It was the seventh pachyderm to die in similar circumstances ever since the stretch between Siliguri and Alipurdar underwent gauge conversion four years ago.
2007-04-11 - Kerala, India.
Kerala High Court asks the state government to strictly enforce Captive Elephants Management and Maintenance Rules 2003. It has also directed that elephants should not be made to participate in religious processions between 11 am and 3 pm. The High Court direction comes in the wake of the Thrissur incident on Sunday in which a mahout was killed by elephant at a temple festival.
2007-04-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Forest Minister Benoy Viswom has convened a high-level meeting in the wake of an elephant goring to death a mahout during a local festival at Chettuva near Thrissur on Sunday, as a person was taken into custody for allegedly pelting stones at the elephant during a parade by 11 tuskers at the festival.
2007-04-11 - Singapore, Singapore. Wong Mun Wai, Channel NewsAsia
Singapore Zoo's elephant Chawang has had his semen quality tested and results showed his sperm count is good. Chawang, the largest and heaviest animal at the zoo, is almost 3 metres tall and weighs 3,480kg. He has already sired three elephants. Zoos in Australia, like the one in Perth, have shown interest in taking samples of Chawang's semen to impregnate their female Asian elephants. But no plans have been confirmed yet.
2007-04-11 - Chettuva, India.
The owner of a rogue elephant that ran amok on Sunday killing a mahout and injuring over a dozen other people in Keralas Thrissur district has defended the animals sudden change of behaviour. The tusker's owner believes provocation was the only reason his pet reacted in such a manner. Its actually a very tame elephant... even a child can go near it. But it got violent the other day because another elephant provoked it.
2007-04-11 - Atlanta, United States. MARK DAVIS
No one knows that better than the people who greet each morning, shovel in hand, as they scoop up ...Call them the poop patrol, those bold souls who trail behind the three elephants at Zoo Atlanta, scraping up those smelly mounds that invariably trail a pachyderm's path. Three or more times daily, they shovel hundreds of pounds of elephant dung — nearly a ton a day, about 600 pounds per beast, an Everest of excrement. It winds up as compost, courtesy of a Carroll County businessman who recycle...
2007-04-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Stressed out elephants in Keralas Thrissur have become a cause for concern. An elephant ran amok and killed its mahout during an elephant show at a school near Thrissur district on Sunday, prompting state authorities to re-think where these elephants can now be used. While elephants have always been a part of temple traditions, authorities want their participation in political and social functions to be brought down. The elephant killed its mahout, TDM Unni and injured 24 persons during the show...
2007-04-10 - Philadelphia, United States. Carolyn Davis
The Philadelphia Zoo should keep two of its elephants, even if they are bored, even if they cannot roam the savannas, woodlands and forests of Africa or Asia, even if captivity means a shortened life. It's worth the trade-off if Kallie, Bette or Petal stay to fire the imagination of children and educate young and old about wildlife and the importance of conservation.
2007-04-10 - Guangzhou, China.
Hussein Yahya Al-Asri from Yemen went on trial in the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court in south China's Guangdong Province on Monday on charges of smuggling ivory. Al-Asri, an 27-year-old businessman, was charged after customs discovered 60.73 kilograms valued at 3.5 million yuan (0.45 million U.S. dollars) in his luggage at the Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou on June 7, 2006.
2007-04-10 - New Delhi, India. KUMARAN SATHASIVAM
The thorough research and compilation of data that has gone into the book makes it a valuable source of reference for all professionals involved in the study and upkeep of elephants. It has a lot of information on the fascinating animal for the general reader as well, though the writing style may slow down the reading. Foundation Books Pvt. Ltd., Cambridge House, 438/4, Ansari Road, New Delhi-110002.
2007-04-09 - Ramat-Gan, Israel.
A videofilm showing the african bull Yossi killing the female "matriarch" Atari 3rd of April in Ramat-Gan safari in Israel. It sure looks like he influenced by musth hormones.
2007-04-09 - Manhattan, United States. Brooklyn Eagle
Crowds of New Yorkers were at the docks on April 9, 1882 when a transatlantic steamer arrived from England. They were there to welcome P.T. Barnum’s newest “oddity” to the U.S. From the ship’s hold came Jumbo, probably the largest bush elephant ever held in captivity. At the age of 16, his height at the shoulder was estimated at 11'6'. He weighed 6½ tons. As Jumbo made his way from the New York docks to his new quarters at Madison Square Garden a large crowd of spectators joined the par...
2007-04-09 - THRISSUR, India.
Elephant Vinayan killed its first mahout Unni from Kuttippuram during the Chandanakkudam procession at Chettuva on Sunday afternoon. Police said that during the procession in which 13 tuskers were being paraded, elephant Vinayan attacked another tusker and ran amok. The frenzied tusker threw away Unni, while he was trying to bring the elephant under control. Unni died on the spot.
2007-04-08 - Pune, India.
An elephant, a rose-ringed parakeet, 38 doves and pigeons were rescued from the premises of Chokhi Daani, a resort run by the Goel Ganga group of builders on Pune-Ahmednagar road in a raid by forest officials and activists of People for Animals on Saturday night. The operation was co-ordinated by animal rights activist and former union minister Maneka Gandhi.
2007-04-08 - Cooch Behar, India.
Census of wild elephants in North Bengal will begin on April 23, a senior forest department official said here on Saturday. To protect the bio-diversity of the region, such exercises are crucial, the official said elaborating the need about the elephant census. In the 2005 census, the number of wild elephants was 350, against the number of 292 in 2000.
2007-04-07 - Galt, United States. Janice Clark, PAWS
Nicholas and Gypsy arrived on April 2nd, to their new home. Galt, California is noted for a unique adobe clay terrain which makes a mud that elephants love. PAWS photographer, Janice Clark, has been racing out of her office, camera in hand, when the elephant bath routine begins, trying to capture the grunts, trumpets and acrobatics as the two elephants tumble in the mud.
2007-04-07 - Mumbai, India.
Subsequent to the orders of the Bombay High Court, Rajkumar—the male elephant at Veermata Jijamata Prani Sanghralaya (Byculla Zoo), was dispatched on Saturday evening to the zoo in Thiruvanantapuram, Kerela. The eighteen-year-old elephant was in Byculla Zoo for the past eight years in forced celibacy, since the two female elephants the zoo houses are ageing.
2007-04-07 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gagani Weerakoon
Amidst reports of an unprecedented number of elephants dying of starvation at the Lunugamwehera National Park, the government yesterday launched a full scale probe into the death of a wild elephant due to negligence by wildlife officials. Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Daily Mirror it was reported that three officials had failed to take swift action to save the elephant stuck in a cesspit on Wednesday as they were ‘watching a world cup cricket match, despite continuous ...
2007-04-06 - Arlington, United States. Dr. Michelle Gadd, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dear Colleagues, I would like to encourage you to submit proposals for elephant conservation projects to the 2007 USFWS African Elephant Conservation Fund as soon as possible. Proposals received by MAY 31, 2007 will be fully evaluated for funding before the US Government fiscal year ends in September. Now is an ideal time to apply for any field work taking place in the second half of 2007 or any time in 2008. While we will continue to accept proposals on a rolling basis, we cannot guarantee tha...
2007-04-06 - Los Angeles, United States. Jennifer Steinhauer
Somewhere amid the rolling suitcases, plastic baggies filled with lip gloss, laptops, skis and other sundry items streaming through Los Angeles International Airport, there are, occasionally, rare butterflies, elephant tusks, sea turtle eggs and, in one case, a pair of pygmy monkeys, stuffed down the pants of an incoming passenger. Wildlife smuggling is the nation’s second-largest black market, just behind narcotics, accounting for $8 billion to $10 billion a year in sales, said Joseph O. John...
2007-04-06 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The middle-aged British couple hurt in a fall from an elephant in Hartbeespoort on Thursday have been transferred to the Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg. Lorna and Michael Denyard, both in their 50s, were transferred "on request", said Craig Saunders, the owner of The Elephant Sanctuary, where the incident occurred.
2007-04-06 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
THE Parks and Wildlife Management Authority this week lifted the temporary suspension on ivory sales and sold a tonne worth $225 million on Monday. The ban, effected last year, was meant to scrutinise operations of ivory dealers ahead of an inspection by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
2007-04-06 - PULPPALLI, India.
The Forest Department is providing treatment for a female wild elephant which collapsed in the farm of Neduthanath Anto, at Chamapara here. The animal is said to be seriously ill and was found on Tuesday morning. Veterinary expert Dr.Satheesh is treating the elephant which is about 60-years old.
2007-04-05 - Hartbeespoort, South Africa.
A British man and wife were critically hurt when they fell off an elephant at a sanctuary in Hartbeespoort on Thursday afternoon, said ER 24. The woman was sitting behind her husband on the elephant when it knelt to let them climb off after a safari, said spokesperson Werner Vermaak. "The lady and her husband then fell forward and plummeted from the elephant's back right onto the ground. "Both of them sustained multiple fractures and severe injuries," he said.
2007-04-05 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Akhel Mathew
One of them, Avittathur Murali, recently collapsed in Kumbalam near Kochi, which animal lovers say was because the animal was not given proper healthcare and also because it was made to walk for long on tarred roads, leading to dehydration. In an encouraging development, forest minister Binoy Viswam has said the government would be forced to take action if elephant owners and mahouts do not follow the conditions laid down for utilising animals for processions and other functions.
2007-04-04 - Amersfoort, Netherlands.
A newborn baby elephant in Amersfoort zoo has been trampled to death by its mother Indra. The incident was recorded live on webcam. Zoo officials said pain can make elephants aggressive.
2007-04-04 - Louisville, United States. Sheldon S. Shafer
When a 285-pound elephant calf breaks into a trot, his four legs look like they are going in four different directions. “He’s still trying to figure out how to use all his parts, including his trunk,” said Dave Campbell, the Louisville Zoo’s elephant area supervisor. Zoo Director John Walczak said the baby, who will get a name in a public contest to be announced soon, “will be a wonderful ambassador.”
2007-04-04 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Leon Marshall
Environment ministers from five southern African countries plan to turn a 110,833-square-mile (287,132-square-kilometer) chunk of land into a massive cross-border conservation zone. The proposed parkland—spanning an area about the size of Nevada—would vastly increase roaming space for Africa's biggest elephant herd.
2007-04-04 - Santa Barbara, United States. Mary Vanderpool
Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell (pictured), a research associate from Stanford University and elephant enthusiast, presents groundbreaking new evidence that earth’s largest land animal uses its feet to detect soundwaves that travel through the ground at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Fleischmann Auditorium tomorrow night, Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m..
2007-04-04 - Bahamas, United States. Juan McCartney
Circus Maximus elephant trainer Francine Schact is the keeper of a 33-year-old female elephant named Ghandi. "My father worked for the San Diego zoo, and loved animals and taught me to love them as well," Mrs. Schact said. "We got Ghandi from Thailand. Her parents were used for labour in a lumberyard. The yard had a surplus of offspring and if they did not sell her she would have been destroyed. She was nine months old."
2007-04-04 - Ramat-Gan, Israel. Reuben Weiss
Around 2 pm, toward closing time, Yossi, the 33-year-old male African elephant attacked 46-year-old Atari, brutally slamming her against the yards wall. The blow caused her to fall to the ground, and left her groaning for a few moments before dying. The elephant keepers quickly arrived at the scene and removed Yossi, making way for the safaris veterinarian Yigal Horowitz to approach Atari, only to pronounce her dead. It was a death in the family, elephant-keeper Izik Franko was quoted by Israels...
2007-04-03 - Brazzaville, Congo. Blake S, Strindberg S, Boudjan P, Makombo C, Bila-Isia I, Ilambu O, Grossmann F, Bene-Bene L, de Semboli B, Mbenzo V, S'hwa D, Bayogo R, Williamson L, Fay M, Hart J, Maisels F.
Most African savannah elephant populations are well known; however, the status of forest elephants, perhaps a distinct species, in the vast Congo Basin is unclear. We assessed population status and incidence of poaching from line-transect and reconnaissance surveys conducted on foot in sites throughout the Congo Basin. Results indicate that the abundance and range of forest elephants are threatened from poaching that is most intense close to roads.
2007-04-03 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The Thai National Elephant Institute (TNEI) plans to offer the country's elephant born as a result of artificial insemination to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej as a gift on his 80th birthday on December 5 this year. The female baby elephant – which is going to celebrate her one-month birthday this Saturday, was separated from her mother, because the mother showed some hostile signs against her first baby.
2007-04-03 - Srinagar, India. Bashaarat Masood
Seven years after an archaeological excavation found a 50,000-year-old mammoth skull near Srinagar, the fossil with its large tusk has gone missing. The mammoth skull has been stolen, said Prof Abdul Majeed, who first found the fossil during an excavation in 2000. I was shocked when I visited the site today. Both the skull and the tusk are missing. I fear it has been smuggled out to be sold in the international market, he said.
2007-04-02 - GALT, United States.
The Performing Animal Welfare Society, also known as “PAWS” is welcoming 3 big new animals to their facilities. 2 of the new elephants arrived in Galt on Monday and one more is on the way. Now these former big performing animals will have a big place to run free. It was a quick 3 day drive from Chicago to Galt for 13-year-old Nicklaus and 40-year-old Gypsy.
2007-04-02 - Bronx, United States. Natalie Bouaravong
A new study from Stephen Blake, Samantha Strindberg, Fiona Maisels, and colleagues warns that while savannah elephants may indeed be rebounding—in part because they live in countries with long histories of wildlife management, where protection is facilitated by open plains habitats and usually good infrastructure—their forest relatives, hidden in the Congo Basin rainforests, still face intense poaching pressure.
2007-04-02 - Rodriguez, Philippines. Carmie O. Carpio
The barely four-year-old Avilon Zoo can already pass for an authentic wildlife encounter. The natural wonderland holds a lot of promise. Right now, it is not yet 100% complete as more structures are still being built, including an amphitheater and a chapel. Bigger animals are yet to be accommodated: the giraffe, rhinoceros and zebra, but we heard that the elephant will soon be on its way.
2007-04-02 - Worcester, United Kingdom. Ellen Branagh
INQUESTS into deaths of a mother and daughter who were trampled by elephants in Zimbabwe are set to open in Stourport-on-Severn tomorrow. Worcestershire county coroner Victor Round will open inquests into the deaths of Veronica Parker, aged 47, and her daughter Charlotte Parker, aged 10, both of Forest Garden, Hunters Home, in South Africa.
2007-04-02 - Mahalapye, Botswana. MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Three elephants whose tracks were spotted in the Tswapong and Mahalapye areas last week may have followed their ancient route to their former habitat, according to the Central District Council (CDC) senior wildlife biologist, Balisana Marotsi. Consequently, two of the three jumbos were killed by game scouts of the Department of Wildlife on March 22, some 10 kilometres south of Mahalapye.
2007-04-02 - Phuket, Thailand. ROBIN PASH
A real elephant ride! And that's after a day-long speedboat sojourn, unlimited pool play, and thrice-daily bouncing, breezy tuk-tuk trips. We enjoyed boating and snorkelling around the gorgeous Phi-Phi islands and the hour-long ride through a rubber plantation on graceful Mali, the 27-year-old elephant, was enjoyed as much by father as it was by son.
2007-04-02 - South Shields, United Kingdom. Kaye Henry
A PAIR of veterinary nurses are taking a trip to Thailand to do voluntary work with rescued elephants. Caroline Dorney and Joanne Hughes, of the Blythman and Partners practice in Boldon Lane, South Shields, plan to head east next month. The animal lovers will spend two weeks at an elephant rescue centre near Cha Am on the south-east coast of central Thailand.
2007-04-02 - Kollam, India.
The birth of a baby elephant in Kollam district of Kerala is creating waves. Kerala has about 800 captive elephants but new arrivals among elephants are few and far between. Less than 24 hours after its birth, the baby elephant has become the cynosure of all eyes. Mother Lakshmi however is possessive about her little one. So, barring the owner, Shaji, no one else is allowed to go anywhere near the baby. Shaji, whose family owns 17 elephants, is elated over the new member in his elephant yard.
2007-04-02 - Washington, United States.
Officials at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park are hoping that the artificial insemination of an Asian elephant is successful. Scientists from the Smithsonian's Zoo and from Germany artificially inseminated one of the zoo's Asian elephants this weekend. They've performed two of three attempts.
2007-04-01 - Portland, United States. Katy Muldoon
The veterinarian drilled. The dentist chiseled. They both pried and pulled. Finally, after more than 3½ hours of surgery today on a beloved Oregon Zoo elephant, the two men rose to their feet and slapped their right hands in a bloody high five. Theyd just removed the final piece of a difficult puzzle: a 10-inch-long chunk of rock-hard tusk and dentin from high inside the pachyderms skull. At last, Tusko was tusk-free.
2007-04-01 - Sydney, Australia. Pia Akerman
In the shade of an acacia tree in Kenya 15 years ago, artistic inspiration came to Mario Andreacchio as he watched frolicking baby elephants. "Watching these elephants play, I thought, 'Hang on, there's a film in that'," Andreacchio said. These days, the Emmy Award-winning Australian filmmaker is the king of the baby animal genre after making his name with Napoleon, a 1995 film about a golden retriever puppy lost in the outback.
2007-04-01 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Mike Cadman
The report, Consuming Wildlife: The Illegal Exploitation Of Wildlife In South Africa, Zimbabwe And Zambia, also details increased elephant poaching in Zimbabwe and Zambia and quotes extensively from a document compiled by the governments of Kenya and Mali, which claims that more than 40 tons of ivory has been confiscated worldwide during the past two years. More than 13 tons of the ivory is believed to have come from Zimbabwe and Zambia.
2007-04-01 - Lunugamvehera National Park, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
Is the very move – relocating elephants in the national parks – aimed at protecting these majestic animals killing them? Several of the elephants, about 250 herded into the Lunugamvehera Park, under two phases of an elephant drive that began in 2005, may have died for lack of food, resulting in malnourishment and disease, The Sunday Times learns, after a visit to the area this week. What will be the fate of the remaining elephants, considering that the dry season is just starting?
2007-04-01 - KOLLAM, India.
An elephant on Saturday killed its second mahout at Sasthamcotta while it was engaged in removing timber. Podimon, 35, of Modioozhathil, Kidangannoor, Vallana, Aranmula, is the deceased. The incident took place on Saturday afternoon when the tusker was brought to remove timber for a private person near the Muthupilakkad Parthasaradhi temple near Sasthancotta.
2007-04-01 - Mumbai, India. Nitya Kaushik
Only two tuskers in the city have been digitally tagged, almost six months after the state forest department, Thane division, launched its grand plan to implant elephants with microchips in an effort to stop unlicenced entry. Their lackadaisical approach has prompted the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) to take matters into their hands.
2007-03-31 - Chicago, United States. Lacasse C, Terio K, Kinsel MJ, Farina LL, Travis DA, Greenwald R, Lyashchenko KP, Miller M, Gamble KC. , Lincoln Park Zoo
Mycobacterium szulgai was associated with mortality in two captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana) housed at Lincoln Park Zoo. The first elephant presented with severe, acute lameness of the left rear limb. Despite extensive treatments, the animal collapsed and died 13 mo after initial presentation. Necropsy revealed osteomyelitis with loss of the femoral head and acetabulum and pulmonary granulomas with intralesional M. szulgai. The second elephant collapsed during transport to another i...
2007-03-31 - Madurai, India.
The temple elephant, ailing for the past few days and undergoing treatment here, died today despite efforts of the doctors to save it. The elephant, Angayarkanni, belongs to the Sri Meenakshi Amman temple. Veterinary doctors, who treated the 41-year-old elephant for the past three days, said they did their best to save the elephant which suffered from a series of problems including liver and kidney failure, chronic osteo arthritis, and indigestion.
2007-03-31 - KOCHI, India. K.S. Sudhi
Kerala, the home to most number of captive elephants, is fast becoming their torture ground as well. Parading the animals in musth, stretching their working hours beyond reasonable limits, provocation by public and cruelty by mahouts are driving the elephants to madness. K.C. Panicker, secretary of the Elephant Welfare Association, said the incidents of elephants running wild could be controlled if the elephants in musth were not paraded.
2007-03-30 - Durban, South Africa. Delsink AK, van Altena JJ, Grobler D, Bertschinger HJ, Kirkpatrick JF, Slotow R. Amarula Elephant Research Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal
An immunocontraceptive programme was initiated in a small free-roaming population of elephants at the Greater Makalali Private Game Reserve in Limpopo Province in 2000 to determine whether the porcine zona pellucida (pZP) vaccine can successfully control population sizes. Further objectives were to determine implementation costs and efficiency through a multi-faceted approach. We have demonstrated that immunocontraception meets the objectives set by managers in the field.
2007-03-30 - Colchester, United Kingdom.
Unfortunatly, there is great concern surrounding Rosa the elephant at the moment. Rosa has been on treatment for the last two years for the pain that she has been suffering from inoperable problems with her vagina and urinary tract. Unfortunately, this pain relief is no longer proving effective and we are awaiting a decision from our veterinary consultants as to the best course of action.
2007-03-30 - Portland, United States.
The 6.75-ton, 35-year-old bull elephant spent 14 years with a broken tusk. Nearly all of the left tusk was removed during a February operation, but the team was unable to remove a chunk of compacted, hard dentin tissue in the deep part of the tusk cavity. Sunday, the last few inches of tusk will be removed. While the operation is risky, Finnegan says the risks are outweighed by Tusko's discomfort and the overall threat the chronic infection poses to his long-term health.
2007-03-30 - San Antonio, United States. EAZA
The San Antonio Zoo currently has a need for a Zoo Keeper in our Elephant Department. Duties include daily cleaning, feeding, and maintenance of animal exhibits. Zoo Keepers observe, evaluate, and report animal behavior and condition to their supervisor on a daily basis. They assist in treating Zoo animals in accordance with instructions from their supervisor or veterinarian.
2007-03-29 - Portland, United States. JIM DEVER
Northwest photographer Gerry Ellis has documented the rescue and rehabilitation of numerous baby elephants in his book, Wild Orphans. Its an extraordinary story that takes Gerry from the basement of his Portland, Oregon home to a remote wildlife orphanage in Nairobi, Africa, where he meets a group of motherless elephants he calls the Orphan Eight.
2007-03-29 - New Delhi, India. Aman Sharma
It is double windfall for elephant-owners in the Capital. With Bahaujan Samaj Party (BSP) fighting the Delhi MCD elections and the Assembly elections in UP, slated to start in another 10 days, BSP candidates have made a beeline for hiring elephants, their party symbol, as the crowd-puller during campaign. Elephant owners say they are booked for the entire next month and the charges for letting out elephants for election purpose has risen to as much as Rs 10,000 per day.
2007-03-29 - Little Rock, United States. Leslie Newell Peacock
The plans, which Little Rock Zoo Director Michael Blakely notes are only a draft, call for buying 320 acres of the 330 acres Scott and Heidi Riddle own, their buildings and equipment and the 13 elephants now kept there. The group would pay $800,000 immediately and the rest over seven years. The Riddles, who have operated the elephant refuge since 1990, would work with the Elephant Center for five months after the sale under contract. The continued involvement of Scott Riddle, a controversial fig...
2007-03-29 - Philadelphia, United States. Michael Smerconish
THERES an elephant in the room, and if we dont hurry up and talk about her, shell likely end up in the Volunteer State. Her name is Dulary. These must be her final days in Philadelphia because last week I received an invite to her Farewell Celebration at the Philadelphia Zoo. When I mentioned Dularys celebration to one of my sons, he said, Its not a zoo unless it has elephants. Hes right. We should exhaust every option before allowing the elephants to leave town.
2007-03-29 - Pittsburgh, United States.
Seing a pregnant elephant is one thhing. Seing inside an elephants womb is something completely different.
2007-03-28 - New York, United States.
It was a circus in the streets of New York City early Wednesday morning: Elephants from Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey Circus marched through the Queens Midtown Tunnel to Madison Square Garden. The elephants were taken on their cross-city walk for the circus, which begins performances this weekend.
2007-03-28 - Oregon, United States. KATY MULDOON
Veterinarians expect to take another crack at removing what's left of the elephant's infected tusk in an operation Sunday at the Oregon Zoo. About six weeks ago, they sawed, drilled and chiseled out perhaps 95 percent of his left tusk during an elaborate procedure lasting nearly five hours.
2007-03-28 - El Paso, United States. Monica Balderrama
Tuesday, the elephants Juno and Savannah slept in a barn at the zoo, where it seems they'll stay permanently. El Paso City Council voted 6-2 to keep them in the El Paso Zoo. On Tuesday, the new zoo director, Steve Marshall, told city council the zoo is fit to have two Asian elephants in its collection and it should continue to be involved with elephants in the future. He even said he's working on getting a third elephant.
2007-03-27 - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Two British tourists killed by a charging elephant in western Zimbabwe have been named. They were Veronica Parker and her 10-year-old daughter Charlotte, the British Foreign Office said. In Zimbabwe, the state Herald newspaper had incorrectly reported the family name as Poker. The 47-year-old woman's husband escaped unhurt, the Herald reported. Local tour guide Andy Privella, who had fired a shot at the elephant, is in hospital with serious injuries. He was believed to have wounded the elephant ...
2007-03-27 - Vienna, Austria. Witter K, Egger GF, Boeck P. University of Veterinary Medicine
Samples of the trunk wall of an adult African elephant (Loxodonta africana) were examined histologically using conventional staining methods, immunohistochemistry, and lectin histochemistry. Architecture of nerve plexuses and occurrence of Renaut bodies in the elephant trunk were compared with those in tissues surrounding the nasal vestibule of the pig. Prominent nerve plexuses were found in all layers of the elephant trunk.
2007-03-27 - Pittsburgh, United States. Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is looking for a Relief Keeper for the Elephant/Ungulates section of our Mammal department. This position is full-time and eligible for full employee benefits after a 90-day probationary period. The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is seeking an experience elephant keeper that would be interested in joining a progressive elephant management team, utilizing both free and protected contact.
2007-03-27 - Miami, United States. Miami MetroZoo
Responsible for the daily husbandry needs of 1.1 Asian and 1.2 African Elephants in a protected management system. Requires 1 year paid elephant experience in a protected or free contact system. Prefer experience with operant conditioning, a degree in animal technology or biology, and experience with bull elephants.
2007-03-27 - Washington, United States. Samantha L. Quigley
The general’s backstage experience wouldnt have been complete without photos with Army Sgt. Tom Davis and his family and, of course, Karen the elephant. Karen showed her patriotic appreciation by sporting an elephant-sized America Supports You dog tag. Kenneth Feld, chairman and chief executive officer of Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus, said supporting the troops is a part of the circuss culture now.
2007-03-27 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe plans to cull its growing elephant population to limit damage to the environment and reduce conflict with humans, state media said on Tuesday. The reports came after a rampaging elephant trampled to death a British woman and her 10-year-old daughter on Saturday in the Hwange national part in northwest Zimbabwe.
2007-03-27 - PHNOM PENH, Cambodia.
Thieves in Cambodia poisoned a 62-year-old domesticated elephant and sawed off its tusks to sell on the black market, officials said Tuesday. The male elephant was found dead Saturday, where its owner had left the animal chained to a tree near his home in Rattanakiri province, said Lee Sam Ol, a district police chief.
2007-03-27 - NEW DELHI, India.
Assam and Kerala, besides other states, have asked the Centre to help them take care of a jumbo-sized problem. They want the Union ministry of environment and forests to legalise and simplify rules for the sale of almost 3,500 captive elephants in the country. This would bring above board the illegal trade of elephants, which is taking a toll on domestic elephants as well as their owners. At present the transfer of elephants is governed by a complicated and cumbersome set of rules that has pushe...
2007-03-26 - Santa Barbara, United States. Santa Barbara Zoo
The Santa Barbara Zoo is seeking a keeper for our elephant team. This position will carry out all basic aspects of the daily care of the animals, including, but not limited to: training, enrichment, maintenance of exhibits, and enhancing the guest experience. Experience with Elephants in Protected Contact is preferred, but we are willing to train an enthusiastic individual.
2007-03-26 - El Paso, United States.
The Asian elephants Juno and Savannah are the reasons why a lot of people visit the El Paso Zoo. The elephants are one of the main attractions but one thats been controversial for the last two years. The last briefing we got in 2006 told us to increase the size of the enclosure to make it a humane enclosure for those elephants, it's going to cost us $15-$20 million, said Rep. Beto ORourke.
2007-03-26 - Yaoundé, Cameroon. Elizabeth Mosima
The Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, last Thursday visited the Mvog-betsi zoological garden in Yaounde. Minister Elvis Ngolle Ngolle announced the payment of 16 months salaries owed to the personnel of the Mvog-betsi zoological garden. He said measures have also been taken to ensure that new lions are brought to the zoo and an elephant as well.
2007-03-26 - Windhoek, Namibia. Wezi Tjaronda
Celebrations to mark a century of conservation by the Etosha National Park, were launched last Thursday by Environment and Tourism Minister, Reverend Willem Konjore. Konjore said that after the last elephant was shot at the fort in 1881, the elephant population was restored to the extent where the population has grown to 2500 in the park alone.
2007-03-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In October 1995 a group of Sri Lankans and Americans met at the Taprobane Sri Lanka restaurant in New York City, convened by Conservation Biologist, Ravi Corea to incorporate the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS). The project known as Saving Elephants by Helping People has been in operation for the past 10 years and has installed 41 Kilometers of electric fencing since its inception.
2007-03-26 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Two British tourists were killed and another seriously injured by a rampaging elephant in Zimbabwes Hwange National Park, reports said Monday. The attack by the elephant on the group of tourists happened Saturday while they were on safari in the park with a tour guide, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported. The injured person was taken to hospital in Zimbabwes southern city of Bulawayo, the paper said.
2007-03-26 - Philadelphia, United States. Julie Stoiber
Caught by surprise last week when the Maryland Zoo backed out of a deal to adopt its three African elephants, the Philadelphia Zoo is now searching for a home for the animals at institutions within a day's drive of here. The Pittsburgh Zoo and the North Carolina Zoo, which had been considered and are poised to open expanded African elephant habitats, seemed likely prospects.
2007-03-26 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.
Raymond Alfred, project manager for World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysias Sorel project said elephant corridors might be the answer to reducing conflicts with elephants. The latest case involved an adult male elephant caught at a plantation in Kinabatangan over the weekend. It was collared and released into the sanctuary.
2007-03-26 - El Paso, United States. David Crowder
A long-awaited report on recommendations about the El Paso Zoos two elephants is on City Councils Tuesday agenda along with a discussion about new safety measures in the area around North Mesa and Cincinnati Avenue. Also at Tuesday's council meeting, the new zoo director, Steve Marshall, is scheduled to deliver his report and recommendations on the fate of the zoo's elephant exhibit and elephants Juno and Savannah.
2007-03-25 - NEW YORK, United States. MARCUS FRANKLIN
The skull of a large carnivorous dinosaur and the tusk of a shaggy-coated mammoth from the Ice Age sold for a combined $372,000 at a natural history auction Sunday, auction officials said. The 10-foot tusk of a woolly mammoth found on the Siberian tundra was sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for $96,000, the most such an item has commanded at auction, Pitt said. The auction, which also featured a meteorite and other items, brought in a total of $1.55 million.
2007-03-25 - Salt Lake City, United States. John Hollenhorst
Getting pregnant doesnt usually require the help of Delta Air Lines, Federal Express and a team of experts from Germany. But thats exactly whats unfolding in Salt Lake City tonight. But the means to the end are distinctly unnatural. Experts from Germany flew in Sunday night, after a stop in Pittsburgh to visit a male elephant. He supplied a crucial ingredient. His contribution was carry-on baggage for the pros from Berlin.
2007-03-25 - New Delhi, India. Sushmita Choudhury
Pachyderm lover-hunter-conservationist Dinesh Choudhury's life comes a full circle. A hunter who is a staunch conservationist. Meet Dinesh Choudhury, elephant hunter. Yes, you read right. Choudhury is exactly that. But before you start calling up animal rights activists, let’s make it clear that this man is perfectly legal. He is actually a licensed professional hunter, one of the last few ones in the country. He is the man the government turns to when a rogue elephant has to be stopped.
2007-03-25 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Elephants are straying onto one of Malaysias main highways, prompting the government to warn drivers not to trigger a possible rampage by honking at the animals, a news report said Sunday. The warning came after a motorist claimed to have been chased for about 50 meters (160 feet) earlier this month by a herd of elephants that had been blocking part of the East-West Highway. No injuries were reported in the incident.
2007-03-24 - Davis, CA, United States. Yon L, Chen J, Moran P, Lasley B. University of California
During musth in bull elephants, the androgens testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and androstenedione all increase significantly. Given the unusual endocrine physiology that has been discovered in female elephants, it is also possible that bull elephants produce some unusual androgens. A cell-based androgen receptor assay was used to explore this possibility using two different methods.
2007-03-24 - Dharmapuri, India.
A female elephant died on the banks of Chinnar river in Pennagaram forests on Friday, apparently because of old age, forest department officials said. The elephant was found in distress by residents of Pannappatti village, about 43 km from here, they said. The elephant died in the afternoon. It was aged between 55 to 60 years, they said. Villagers performed poojas for the dead elephant.
2007-03-23 - Louisville, United States.
The African elephant born Sunday at the Louisville Zoo continues to bond well with his mother, Mikki, zoo officials said today. The baby is nursing every two hours and exploring his new surroundings more and more each day, they said, adding that he appears to be a quick learner. A naming contest will be announced when details are finalized.
2007-03-23 - St Albans, United Kingdom.
BOBBY Roberts Super Circus has hit back at critics, including an animal rights group, over the treatment of its 54-year-old elephant, Anne. The Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS) had urged the public to boycott the circus, which will perform at Herts County Showground, in Dunstable Road, Redbourn, this week, over its use of animals. The group slated the circus for being one of just eight circuses in the UK to use animals, including horses, camels and an elephant. It argued that Anne was t...
2007-03-23 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
A male elephant, estimated to be 55-60 years of age, was captured and collared in Gomantong Plantation, Lower Kinabatangan, last Sunday before it was released into Lot 6 of Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. This is the second elephant collared using the GSM collar done by the Sabah Wildlife Department and WWF-Malaysia as part of the Bornean Biodiversity and Ecosystems Conservation (BBEC) activities, which advocates sustainable approaches for the conservation of endangered biodiversity and ecosyst...
2007-03-22 - Kent, United Kingdom.
TRIBUTE has been paid to Mike Lockyer, the zoological director of Howletts and Port Lympne wild animal parks, who died on February 25 aged 75. In 1984 Mike moved to John Aspinalls Port Lympne and Howletts Zoo Parks in Kent. He was committed to the preservation of endangered animals and the promoting of successful breeding programmes. As zoological director he supported Mr Aspinall through the loss of two tiger keepers and an elephant keeper, after which he managed health and safety and staff mor...
2007-03-22 - Philadelphia, United States. TOM SCHMIDT
The Philadelphia Zoos three African elephants may eventually wind up in California. Pat Derby, director of PAWS, the Performing Animal Welfare Society, yesterday practically welcomed the elephants to the societys spacious sanctuary with open arms. Andrew Baker, vice president for animal programs at the zoo, said no one had approached him with a proposal that the elephants be placed at the PAWS sanctuary.
2007-03-22 - COXS BAZAR, Bangladesh.
A century-old elephant died after a rare fight with another elephant in a Bangladesh forest, officials said on Thursday. Forest officials retrieved the dead elephant, a male around 100 years old, and conducted an autopsy which suggested it died of injuries inflicted in a clash with another male. The other elephant was likely to be injured, and officials were trying to locate it.
2007-03-22 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
ZIMBABWE is sitting on more than 12 tonnes of ivory running into several billions of dollars, The Herald Business gathered this week. This follows the suspension of ivory trade in July last year by the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority pending the establishment of a monitoring system to oversee trade in the commodity.
2007-03-22 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
A team of officials from the city zoo will leave for Mumbai next week to bring over a male elephant. Over the next few months, the zoo is expected to get a variety of animals from different zoos across the country. Zoo superintendent S. Abu said these animals might not be brought at one go but rather in phases. The paperwork relating to the elephant and the giraffe are in the final stages. Talks are on for the rest of the animals.
2007-03-22 - VALLEJO, United States.
Beginning Saturday, animal aficionados over age 12 who have $400 can live out the fantasy of being an animal trainer for a day, according to officials at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to work closely with a group of extraordinary animals, this program is for you, Martin Lathrop, park president of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom said in a statement Wednesday.
2007-03-22 - Hyderabad, India.
As the mercury starts soaring hinting a long summer ahead, the Nehru Zoological Park has taken up initiatives to provide some respite for its inmates from searing heat. The elephants which recently acquired a separate home, where they retire during nights and also hide from the sun during day time, have been provided with facilities for a regular bath.
2007-03-21 - ANNAPOLIS, United States.
The Cole Bros. Circus is moving to Crownsville after the Naval Academy Athletic Association decided damage at the stadium grounds from the decades-long tradition was too expensive, circus sponsors said. Annapolis Optimist Club President Diann Turner said the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds - which are six miles away - will now host the circus May 2 and 3. Were just thrilled we were able to find a place and we can continue to bring it to town, said Turner.
2007-03-21 - PARALAKHEMUNDI, India.
A herd of elephants from the adjoining Lakhari forest reservoirs in the Mohona block destroyed the boundary wall of Ekalabya School at Chandragiri yesterday night. Fifty students sleeping in the school had a miraculous escape. The entry of the elephants to the town was noticed only today morning.
2007-03-21 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is one of the countries in the region whose elephant population is ballooning to unsustainable levels, owing to its sound wildlife management and conservation policies. This has presented headaches to the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, which has to juggle the numbers of jumbos against the damage to the environment. Zimbabwe should be allowed to cull its elephants to manageable levels and sell the ivory under strictly monitored supervised programmes.
2007-03-21 - Canterbury, United Kingdom.
Sixteen African elephants at a wildlife park will soon move into an extension on their enclosure now that 16 Gurkha soldiers have finished building it. The steel fence around the animals five-acre paddock at Howletts, near Canterbury, Kent, was needed because of the ever increasing size of the herd.
2007-03-21 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
Keralas temple festivals may no more see elephants, with their angry owners protesting against criminal cases the police slap on them whenever the animals run amok. The Kerala Elephant Owners Association has decided that with no proper set of rules to decide what needs to be done when elephants run amok, we will not send any elephants to take part in temple festivals, P Sasi Kumar, joint secretary of the group, said.
2007-03-20 - Stellenbosch, South Africa. Pardini AT, O'brien PC, Fu B, Bonde RK, Elder FF, Ferguson-Smith MA, Yang F, Robinson TJ. University of Stellenbosch
Despite marked improvements in the interpretation of systematic relationships within Eutheria, particular nodes, including Paenungulata (Hyracoidea, Sirenia and Proboscidea), remain ambiguous. Cross-species chromosome painting was used to delineate regions of homology between Loxodonta africana (2n=56), Procavia capensis (2n=54), Trichechus manatus latirostris (2n=48) and an outgroup taxon, the aardvark (Orycteropus afer, 2n=20).
2007-03-20 - Baltimore, United States.
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore said Tuesday it will delay a planned expansion of its elephant exhibit, scuttling plans to move three pachyderms from their Philadelphia home. Maryland Zoo officials made the decision after determining that they should pour $5.5 million in state funds into repairs that are needed at the 131-year-old zoo rather than the expansion.
2007-03-20 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hopes that governments proposed elephant management regulations will lead to elephant-back safaris being abolished. The draft rules, released for comment last week, propose stopping the capture from the wild of anything other than genuine orphan elephant calves.
Wits University has just completed studies on how elephants cope with high African temperatures and how that influences their behaviour. In African savannahs, elephants are exposed to high environmental heat loads during the day and low ambient temperatures at night and yet these animals are able to cope quite adequately.
2007-03-20 - London, United Kingdom. DEREK ROBINS
MASTURBATING an elephant in the cause of science isn’t an easy job – just ask wildlife expert Dr Thomas Hildebrandt. Dr Hildebrandt, a world expert on elephant and rhino reproduction demonstrates how it should be done in BBC2’s Horizon: The Elephant’s Guide To Sex screened on March 20. In the programme, he bids to help elephants Jackson and Christy – who lives in US zoos 1,200 miles apart – to produce a baby.
2007-03-19 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
KENYA and Mali have published proposals for a ban on ivory trade in Zimbabwe, which they are expected to present at this year's Cites meeting in The Netherlands in June. The proposal, besides being selective and hard against Zimbabwe solely, also states that South Africa, Botswana and Namibia should stop trading in ivory but that hunters in those three countries should be allowed to take their trophies.
2007-03-19 - Louisville, United States.
Louisville Zoo's 21-year-old African elephant Mikki gave birth to her first calf at 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, March 18. It is the first elephant born in the Zoo's 38-year history. The calf weighed in at a healthy 285 pounds and measures 37.5 inches tall. He will start gaining about 2 pounds a day. Mikki is the second African elephant this year in North America to give birth. Since April 2003, 12 of the last 14 elephant conceptions have been successful.
2007-03-19 - KARACHI, Pakistan. Jamil Khan and Maliha Rehman
The Karachi zoo has been unable to replace the widely loved elephant Anarkali who died in July last year at the age of 65. One of the main reasons is that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) banned the transport of live animals and the two major airlines capable of undertaking the task stopped flying to Pakistan, said Karachi Zoo District Officer Mansoor Qazi. There are only two elephants in zoos in the country: one is in Islamabad and the other at the Lahore Zoo came about two de...
2007-03-19 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The rules for proper upkeep of captive elephants in Kerala have set the retirement age for jumbos at 65, according to State Forest Minister Binoy Viswam. The quantum of food for jumbos was prescribed and the rules also insist that elephants should not be marched on tarred roads during the summer days, the maximum distance to be covered a day is 30 km, they should be rested when in 'musth', use of heavy and sharp shackles should be avoided and they should be kept at a safe distance from fireworks...
2007-03-19 - Washington, United States. Catherine Andrews
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Pachyderm Parade is in town today, starting up at 32nd and D Streets at 12:30 pm and finishing up at the Verizon Center this afternoon. You can expect crowds lining the street to catch the spectacle, as well as PETA protesters out in full force, protesting the circus's treatment of elephants and other animals they use in their show.
2007-03-19 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Field ranger Thomas Mathosi has stabilised in Polokwane Private Hospital after the vehicle in which he was a passenger was overturned by a group of elephants in the Kruger National Park last week. As they were watching the herd in front of them, a smaller group of elephants stormed them from behind and flipped their vehicle over, trapping Sandra Basson, the section ranger at Pafuri, and her driver in the vehicle.
2007-03-18 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Nguni is situated in the Nyathi concession of the malaria-free Addo Elephant National Park, just an hour’s drive from Port Elizabeth and we bounce along the bumpy path until we finally arrive at the headquarters of Addo Elephant Back Safaris. The three bull elephants, Mukwa, Duma and Taba, arrive minutes later, escorted by senior handler Elliot Mangaliso. The trio are all between 16 to 18 years old and are originally from Kruger Park where they were saved from being culled and then taken to th...
2007-03-18 - COIMBATORE, India.
The two tamed elephants or kumkis Nanjan (48) and Kalim (38) accompanied by six mahouts reached a settlement near Kovai Kuttralam from Top Slip in Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary on Thursday. The two kumkis will push the elephant herd, which has been entering human habitations in Perur for the last five years to deep inside the forests. The kumkis were brought following the orders of Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle P C Tyagi.
2007-03-17 - London, United Kingdom. Oni O, Sujit K, Kasemsuwan S, Sakpuaram T, Pfeiffer DU., Institute of Zoology, Regent's Park
Serum samples from Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai and Lampang provinces of Thailand were tested using the microscopic agglutination test against 22 serovars of Leptospira interrogans. A titre of more than 1:100 was used as evidence of infection. In northern Thailand, the seroprevalence was 58 per cent and the prevalent serovars were Leptospira interrogans serovar Sejroe, Leptospira interrogans serovar Tarassovi, Leptospira interrogans serovar Ranarum and Leptos...
2007-03-17 - London, United Kingdom. Oni O, Sujit K, Kasemsuwan S, Sakpuaram T, Pfeiffer DU. Institute of Zoology, Regent's Park
Serum samples from Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai and Lampang provinces of Thailand were tested using the microscopic agglutination test against 22 serovars of Leptospira interrogans. These results were similar to studies in domestic livestock and stray dogs in the Bangkok district.
2007-03-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.
In Kanchanaburi province, Pinan Chotiroseranee, president of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, blamed a mass exodus of wild elephants into the outside world on human encroachment on their natural habitat in the Salak Phra wildlife sanctuary, which is currently experiencing a serious shortage of water. In Surin, around 87 pachyderms kept at an elephant centre in Tha Tum district are facing a severe shortage of water, as a result of the drought which ravaged 1,594 villages in eleven districts a...
2007-03-16 - Zakouma, Chad. NED POTTER
Michael Fay grew up very far away from the wilds of Africa, in the relative safety of the New York suburbs. But he has become a passionate advocate of nature, one who knows intimately the wilderness he strives to protect. Now he has taken up the cause of the elephants of Zakouma, a remote region of southern Chad. Zakouma is now a wildlife refuge, and the elephants are safe there, largely, says Fay, because the guards have tacit permission to shoot poachers.
2007-03-15 - Kansas City, United States. Kansas City Zoo
The Kansas City Zoo is seeking a qualified elephant keeper. The qualified individual will have elephant experience and be a team player. The elephant team currently manages 6 African elephants in protected contact. The Kansas City Zoo offers excellent benefits. To apply, please send resume and cover letter to Liz Harmon, General Curator, lizharmon@fotzkc.org
2007-03-15 - Ndola, Zambia.
THE Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) has arrested six suspected poachers and confiscated 91 kilogrammes of assorted game meat worth K2.8 million. The suspects are four women and two men. They were arrested in Chiyunyi area in the lower Zambezi in Chongwe district last week on Thursday and are in police custody.
2007-03-15 - Bethlehem, United States. George Hrab
Faithful Elephants is a beautifully illustrated (via watercolor) picture book that apparently is based on a true story. During World War II, a zoo in Japan was forced to kill off all of their animals, because they were unable to care for them- and they were worried that allied bombs could destroy some holding areas and release these animals into the city, causing havoc. The staff painfully realized that their only option was to kill these creatures by starving them.
2007-03-15 - GRAND RAPIDS, United States. Rachael Recker
And as Nicholas Sal, 5 1/2, noticed, there's not only plenty to see and do but plenty to smell. It smells like elephant here, he blurted out near the third ring, where attendees could ride atop an elephant named Janice. Nicholas, with his 3-year-old sister, Kaitlynn, and 32-year-old mother, Sandra, of Allendale, were among the first audience members to settle into Janices red harness. Not a bit nervous and all smiles, they swayed around the ring. It's the one thing I always remembered (from chil...
2007-03-15 - Milwaukee, United States.
A 76-year-old Kenosha County man in whose cornfield the skeleton of a mammoth believed to be about 12,500 years old was dug up in 1994 is interested in selling it, and officials of the Milwaukee Public Museum are interested in it. "I'm just looking for some funds for my grandkids' college," John Hebior said the possible sale of the skeleton now in 15 large wooden crates and four plastic tubs in the basement of his farmhouse five miles west of Somers.
2007-03-15 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
OVER 110 000 elephants now inhabit Zimbabwe and the number is growing 5 percent annually although there is space and food for only 47 000. The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority did an elephant survey late last year at a cost of US$105 000. The money provided by the World Wildlife Fund. Up to 90 000 elephants were counted outside Gonarezhou National Park and it was established that the park held more than 20 000, said Parks spokesperson Retired Major Edward Mbewe yesterday. This led to the ...
2007-03-15 - Toronto, Canada. JACK BOLAND
Whether its fishing, camping, canoeing, hiking, rock climbing, flying wet dogs or elephant rides, going to the Toronto Sportmens Show has always been a Meinzinger family's annual tradition. Wearing the family's backpack, Howie Meinzinger, 52, took a break yesterday between scouting out a fishing trip for his curling buddies and checking out new fishing gear to watch his teenage daughter and son take a ride on Limba, a 44-year -old female elephant from the Bowmanville Zoo.
2007-03-14 - Sabisands, South Africa. Rhona Ganguly
With her honeymoon in South Africa quickly coming to an end, Deborah Smith had already ticked off six of the seven boxes on her list of must-see safari animals. But with one day remaining, the marketing and communications director for the NEC Group and her accountant husband Jon, were desperate to see an elephant. They asked a ranger at the Ulusaba Harbour game reserve in Sabisands if it would be possible to see one. Little did the couple realise just how much of an impact that request would hav...
2007-03-14 - BALTIMORE, United States. Richard Sher
The Greatest Show on Earth brought its seven magnificent elephants to the Lexington Market in Downtown Baltimore at noon Wednesday. As Richard Sher reports, hundreds of children brought their moms and dads to see the animals. Adam Murdoch, senior animal handler for Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus told Richard Sher, Forming a relationship with an animal, then having the public watch as you interact with it is impossible to describe to people.
2007-03-14 - SEATTLE, United States.
Once again, two German scientists have artificially inseminated a Woodland Park Zoo elephant in hopes of producing a second offspring from Chai, now 28. It's the fourth time over the past two years that Chai, an Asian elephant, has undergone insemination. She became pregnant last year, but lost the pregnancy at an early stage, the zoo said. The sperm sample used Tuesday night was collected from Rex, a 39-year-old bull elephant at African Lion Safari, in Cambridge, Ontario. He has sired three off...
2007-03-14 - Bhadrak, India.
A herd of wild elephants trampled to death at least two middle-aged men and injured six people after storming a village in Orissa's Bhadrak district Wednesday, official said. The elephants entered Kandaba village from the nearby Hadagada forest and started destroying orchards, local range officer Samir Sahoo said. The villagers faced the wrath of the elephants after trying to drive them out, he added.
2007-03-14 - CHIANG MAI, Thailand.
More than 70 elephants took part in the festivities, held at the Maesa Elephant Camp sanctuary in Chiang Mai since 1998, when the government declared March 13 National Thai Elephant Day.The elephant is Thailand's national animal and government officials hope events like National Elephant Day will make people revere them as it tries to conserve its elephant population, now around 4,500.
2007-03-14 - NEELESWARAM, India.
The district administration will erect 5-km long solar fencing in Athiyadukam in East Eleri grama panchayat to contain marauding wild elephants. P Karunakaran MP informed that Rs 2.84 lakh will be sanctioned from his MP fund for the fencing. A herd of elephants destroyed crops worth Rs 2.36 lakh in the area on Saturday. The villagers are in panic as they fear another raid is imminent. The elephant herds are there in the neighbouring areas and they will descend on the village any time, villagers ...
2007-03-14 - Garo Hills, India.
FOUR wild elephants drunk on beer were electrocuted when they stumbled into a power pole and brought it down on top of themselves in northeast India. A herd of up to 25 elephants rampaged in a remote area in the West Garo Hills district earlier this week, forcing villagers to run for cover and leave their freshly brewed beverage behind, BBC News online reported. After drinking the village dry, the elephants ran into a power pole, bringing it down. Their trunks bore the brunt of the shock from th...
2007-03-14 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
After recently celebrating a new elephant birth, the St. Louis Zoo will say goodbye to Clara, matriarch of its Asian elephant herd. Zoo veterinarians plan to euthanize her this morning. Clara is 54 and has been suffering from arthritis for several years. "She is not responding to any of her pain medications the way she used to," said Dr. Eric Miller, director of the Zoo's WildCare Institute. We have tried everything we can think of, but she is not comfortable. At some point, you have to say good...
2007-03-13 - Louisville, United States. Sheldon S. Shafer
What do you do to pamper someone who is pregnant? Pretty much anything she wants when the patient is an 8,500-pound African elephant. The 21-year-old elephant, who was impregnated by artificial insemination, could give birth any day and is under 24-hour watch by zoo staff. Zoo officials say they don’t know the gender of Mikki’s calf. It probably will weigh about 300 pounds at birth and stay close to its mother for several years
2007-03-13 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
A game ranger was seriously injured when a herd of elephants attacked his vehicle in South Africa's Kruger National Park, park officials said Tuesday. The ranger, named as Thomas Mathosi, and his group happened upon a breeding herd of elephants when they returned from a staff function in the north of the park, park spokesman Raymond Travers was quoted as saying by South Africa's SAPA news agency.
2007-03-13 - DHAKA, Bangladesh.
Suffering from a shortage of tools and heavy equipment, city chiefs recruited a circus elephant to come to the aid of workers in the city of Barisal. The animal rapidly reduced the illegal properties to rubble, carrying out the work of 10 men in a matter of minutes, reports say. Illegally built properties have become more commonplace over the last decade.
2007-03-13 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
A herd of wild elephants have killed two people and destroyed several homes during the past week in the south of Indonesia's Sumatra island, officials said Tuesday. Six pachyderms trampled to death one resident and destroyed several homes on Monday night in Suoh village in West Lampung regency, Edward Rahadian with the Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in Lampung province said. But Monday night's fatality was the second caused by the wild elephants in West Lampung regency in the past ...
2007-03-13 - ESCONDIDO, United States.
San Diego's Wild Animal Park has a new elephant in its herd. A 17-year-old African elephant The mother, Litsemba, gave birth at 9:14 p.m. to a male calf Sunday. View Images: Elephant Hours After Birth. Raw Video: Elephant Stumbles After Birth. Images taken by park staff Monday morning show the calf is healthy, but not too steady on his feet yet.
2007-03-12 - Tesso Nilo National Park, Indonesia.
Starting from February 23, the Flying Squad has had a new member since Lisa, one of Flying Squad female elephants had given a birth. Lisa and her baby are both fine. On that Friday morning, Lisa's mahout who was in charged to take Lisa to bath from the site where she was tied the night before, to his surprise saw Lisa was with a new companion, her cute baby. The scene was about 1.5 km away from the Flying Squad camp.
2007-03-12 - Los Angeles, United States. Fiona Hutton, Los Angeles Zoo Press release
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Zoo Director John Lewis today jointly announced that, after years of helping to educate the Southern California community about elephants, Ruby the elephant will be moved to the Performing Animal Welfare Society in Northern California (PAWS). The 46-year old African elephant has led a fulfilling life at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens (LA Zoo) where she has lived for nearly 10 active and healthy years.
2007-03-12 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Five men were arrested after being caught smuggling two elephants into Thailand from neighboring Myanmar, authorities said Monday. The men and beasts, a 1-year-old calf and a female adult, entered Thailand by boat Thursday after a trip across the Salween River from Myanmar. The suspects, identified as three Thais and two men from Myanmar, face up to 15 years in prison on charges of elephant trafficking said Preecha Chalermpichai, the head forest ranger in the border district of Mae Sariang, wher...
2007-03-11 - Minneapolis, United States. John Reinan
Lions and tigers and bears, no way. And no elephants, either, if Minneapolis joins about two dozen cities nationwide in banning wild circus animals. Bans on circus animals have been enacted in a number of North American cities, including Stamford, Conn.; Boulder, Colo., and Burlington, Vt. But proposed bans have failed in several larger cities, including Seattle, Denver, Winnipeg and Edmonton, Alberta. It's unthinkable to have a circus without wild animals, said Tom Albert, a spokesman for Feld ...
2007-03-11 - Nairobi, Kenya. Hadas Kroitoru
Retired Israel Air Force planes are being given a second opportunity to defend the countryside, but this time around, it’s in Africa and it's wildlife they are protecting. Two restored Israel Air Force planes are getting their second wind above the national parks of Kenya, fighting illegal poaching on the countrys porous border with Somalia. It is estimated that some 20,000 elephants are poached every year across the elephant-range countries of Africa, says Elizabeth Wamba, communications and ...
2007-03-11 - Los Angeles, United States. Carla Hall
The Los Angeles Zoo is expected to announce today that it is retiring its female African elephant, Ruby, to an animal sanctuary in Central California. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has expressed concern about the conditions for elephants at the L.A. Zoo, plans to discuss the decision to relocate Ruby at a news conference today.
2007-03-11 - Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. Eleanor Momberg
Zimbabwe's national parks and wildlife management authority is killing elephants near Lake Kariba to feed to crocodiles at a parks-owned commercial crocodile farm. Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), says the guardians of Zimbabwe's national parks have entered the lucrative crocodile breeding business and have allocated 50 to 100 elephants a year to feed the crocodiles. "They have shot three already. We are looking into allegations that other crocodile ...
2007-03-10 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Walter Jayawardhana
An army search operation found the eight bullet ridden bodies of two army officers, two army soldiers, the officer in charge of the Wilpattu Wild Life Park and three wild life rangers, believed tortured and killed by the rogue cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The men men were in the Wilpattu Park making a feasibility study of repairing the Ikiriyagolla Irrigation Tank which was the main source of water for the large herds of wild elephants in the park.
2007-03-10 - Sydney, Australia.
THEY'RE among Sydney's biggest consumers of water, churning through millions of litres a year for drinking, bathing and swimming. But now animals at Taronga Zoo, including the new Asian elephants, are to become better water savers under plans to increase the amount of recycled water they use. Zoo director and chief executive Guy Cooper said among the biggest users of recycled water would be the Asian elephants. All five of them are in the pool at least three times a day.
2007-03-09 - Chester, United Kingdom.
The elephants in Chester Zoo were given a trunk call after the highways agency were left with 200m of hawthorn bushes after a road clearance. Hawthorn is a favourite food for the elephants and with a 10-strong hungry herd, the keepers were keen to take it. The contractors, who were looking for a green solution, were happy to oblige.
2007-03-09 - Greeley, United States.
The Jordan World Circus will give away free elephant rides to the first 100 people who show up Saturday at Big R, 310 8th St., in Greeley. The event will be from 9 a.m. to noon, where 94.3 MAX FM radio will broadcast live; free popcorn will be available. Elephant rides start at 10 a.m. The event is in anticipation of the Jordan World Circus to be held at the Colorado State University Equine Center in Fort Collins.
2007-03-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Wild Life Conservation Department sources revealed that over the last 15 years, 1,850 elephants, 1,192 of them, male, have been reported killed. This has reduced the country's dwindling elephant population from 4000 to 2000. Wild Life Conservation Department points out that every year, around 150 elephants and between 50-70 human die because of man-elephant conflict. Data from Sri Lanka’s wildlife conservation department point to an increasing trend.
2007-03-08 - New Delhi, India. Tenzing Lamsang
An 11-year-old elephant, rescued last year from Kaithal in Haryana, died at the Delhi Zoo today a few hours after doctors had decided to put down the animal. The elephant was suffering from spastic paralysis on his forelegs and fluid in his lower jaws had caused swelling, said Dr S. Bahadur, retired NDMC vet. The Zoo decided in the afternoon to euthanise the elephant but by 4.30 pm the elephant expired.
2007-03-08 - Greenbrier, United States.
A group of 10 zoos, including the Little Rock Zoo, has expressed an interest in turning 330 acres in Arkansas Scott and Heidi Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary into a national research, breeding and home for elephants. The Riddles have 13 elephants and have been looking at ways to keep the sanctuary open, says Scott Riddle.
2007-03-08 - Viengkeo, Laos. YVONNE BOHWONGPRASERT
Senior mahout Thongpetch's eyes turn misty when he speaks about his feelings for Kham Peng, a 23-year-old elephant with lots of personality. Xayaboury has 500 domesticated elephants and a further 200 to 300 that live in the wild. Hongsa is the largest district in the province and Viengkeo has the elephant community. Actually Hongsa's human and elephant population are evenly matched, and the district holds a special place in elephant folklore because of the excellence of its mahouts who regard th...
2007-03-08 - Lampang, Thailand.
The 100-kilogram male baby Asian elephant was born late Wednesday at the Elephant Hospital at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in the northern town of Lampang, said Sittidej Mahasawangkul, head of the hospital. This is the first time that artificial insemination is successfully carried out in Thailand and in Asia, and first time ever with frozen sperma.
2007-03-08 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
Grandmother Pearl must be so proud: Voters have chosen Jade as the name for the St. Louis Zoo's new elephant calf. "This baby is this beautiful little jewel," said St. Louis Zoo President Jeffrey Bonner. "So Jade is a pretty nice name for a gem of a baby." Jade's father, Raja, was the only elephant present Wednesday as zookeepers unfurled a banner with the calf's name at the River's Edge. Jade and her mother, Rani, remain inside the elephant barn, where they continue to bond. After showing early...
2007-03-07 - Hongsa, Laos.
Ancient Laos was known as Lan Xang, the "Land of One Million Elephants" but today fewer than 2,000 of the animals survive and about half of them are driving the problem by helping log the country's last virgin forests. To raise awareness about the plight of the majestic animals, France-based non-profit group ElefantAsia last month organised modern Laos' first elephant festival in the remote northwestern district of Hongsa.
2007-03-07 - Cape Town, United States.
The government's proposed elephant-management regulations could hobble South Africa's "notorious" elephant-back tourism industry, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said on Wednesday. "Ifaw has long been calling for better legislation to manage the elephant-safari industry, and it seems that government is finally going to get tough on this awful blight on South Africa's tourism landscape.
2007-03-07 - Chennai, India.
The Tamil Nadu government Wednesday said it would acquire 398 acres of private land and create an elephant corridor through Coimbatore and Nilgiri districts. Speaking at the Biodiversity Conservation conference organised by the forest department, State Forest Minister N. Selvaraj said the corridor would be created this year. Expressing concern over the increasing human-animal conflict, the minister said: "Death of human beings and injury to humans due to wild animal attacks is a source of major ...
2007-03-07 - Calgary, Canada.
The City of Calgary has voted $30 million and the Province of Alberta $34 million toward the expansion of the elephant exhibit, upgrading of the conservatory and establishment of Arctic Shores. The zoo already received $3 million from the city for a feasibility study and preliminary design and was expecting the balance in June.
2007-03-07 - Irrawaddy, Myanmar. Shah Paung
Villagers living near the Pegu Mountains in central Burma have complained that an increasing number of elephants moving through their village has left several people dead, rice and bean crops destroyed, and villagers with no recourse to justice. Local residents say that earlier this week, a group of elephants came into Thayetgone village in Pegu Division and trampled a farmer. It’s not the first time the elephants have caused trouble in the area.
2007-03-07 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
After the banning of so-called 'canned' lion hunting, the South African government is now training its sights on elephant-back tourism, animal rights activists said Wednesday. Last week's draft recommendations on elephant management which listed culling as an option for controlling soaring herd numbers also recommended stricter controls on the capture of young elephants for use in tourism, the International Fund for Animal Welfare noted.
2007-03-07 - Kochi, United States.
Elephants in the Ernakulam district will wear microchips from today as part of an initiative by the State Forest Department. The microchips would be embedded in the skin behind the left ear of the elephants. Each elephant will be given a 10-digit code, which will serve as the e-ID of the animal. Elephant Care, an organisation engaged in `providing a decent environment and congenial life to the domesticated elephants,' is the facilitator. Forest Department veterinary surgeon E.K. Easwaran is lea...
2007-03-07 - Nashville, United States.
Some pudgy pachyderms have been packing on the pounds over at the Nashville Zoo. On Tuesday, the elephants weighed in with the help of the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The Nashville Zoo used portable truck scales from the Department of Safety to weigh their three large African elephants. The three elephants Sukari, Hadari, and Kiba weighed 9,500, 9,800 and 10,000 pounds, respectively.
2007-03-07 - BRAZZAVILLE, Congo.
Conservationists hope chillies and hi-tech geophones will help protect fields from elephants in Congo Republic, where villagers are fed up with pachyderms eating their crops. Forest elephants from the nearby Odzala-Koukoua National Park have eaten crops from dozens of fields in the area over the last few months, raising the possibility of a targeted cull to kill troop leaders which lead other animals into the fields in two problem areas.
2007-03-06 - Seattle, United States. Wasser SK, Mailand C, Booth R, Mutayoba B, Kisamo E, Clark B, Stephens M. University of Washington,
We extend an innovative DNA assignment method to determine the geographic origin(s) of large elephant ivory seizures. A Voronoi tessellation method is used that utilizes genetic similarities across tusks to simultaneously infer the origin of multiple samples that could have one or more common origin(s).
2007-03-06 - Nairobi, Kenya. Paul Redfern, The East African
International wildlife organisations say there has been a surge in elephant poaching across East Africa and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa over the past 18 months.At least 20 tonnes of ivory were smuggled into African and Asian countries this year by poachers, almost doubling the amount seized in previous years. Experts believe that as many as five per cent of Africa's elephants are now being killed for their ivory each year, amounting to around 23,000 elephants.
2007-03-06 - Washington, United States. LEE DYE
Scientists have turned to crime labs, Interpol, genetic testing, and even energetic dogs in a somewhat desperate attempt to curtail illegal poaching of endangered animals ranging from Africas elephants to baleen whales. These are urgent problems, says Samuel K. Wasser, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington, and leader of a multi-national research project that is fighting an explosive growth in the number of elephants slaughtered in Africa every year.
2007-03-06 - Kheonjhar, India.
Elephants in Orissas Kheonjhar district have been displaced from forests bringing them into direct conflict with the tribes and villagers. So far over 60 people have been killed and over 200 elephants have vanished from the official census lists. A few months ago irate villagers killed nine elephants. Starving elephant herds raid the crops escalating tension in the district. With rampant mining in the district destroying traditional elephant migratory routes and natural food sources they...
2007-03-05 - Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
A Taiwan zoo has become the laughing stock for having mistaken a female elephant for a male for 28 years, a newspaper said on Sunday. The Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan, received two baby African elephants from a US zoo in 1979, believing they were a male and a female, the Taipei Times reported. Since then, the Shoushan Zoo raised the two elephants, Ali and Annie, as a couple and even held a much-publicized wedding for them in 2002. Annie died in 2003. Although Annie never gave birth, z...
2007-03-05 - Kerala, India. T.K. Devasia, Khaleej Times Online
THE Malayalees age-old spiritual bond with elephants has come under test with the state witnessing a sudden spurt in elephant attacks. The animal has gored 15 people to death in the last two months. The latest victim is Babu (45), who was stamped by an elephant called Peroorkavu Sivan, during a temple festival at Quilon district on Thursday. Reports said Sivan, who was being taken to the temple along with several other elephants, turned violent following constant pricking by the mahout.
2007-03-05 - Philadelphia, United States. Julie Stoiber
The Philadelphia Zoo has begun a send-off celebration for some of its best-loved stars as it prepares to close the elephant exhibit this spring and send Petal, Dulary, Bette and Kallie to new homes, leaving the Philadelphia Zoo without elephants for the first time in its 133-year history. The zoo also has issued elephant trading cards, and plans to fete the sociable pachyderms with Elephun Days the last two weekends in March , offering photo ops and other farewell activities.
2007-03-04 - Jamshedpur, India.
The depletion of green cover in state forests has once again spurred elephants attack several Seraikela-Kharsawan villages for foodgrain last night. A villager was trampled to death by a wild elephant near Beritoli in Gumla district. Koka Munda, 35, was going on foot to his in-laws’ house at Maladone from his Kanarva-Bantatoli village on Saturday evening when he was trampled to death by the elephant, according to forest department sources. While three villagers were injured in the raid, the he...
2007-03-04 - Sofia, Bulgaria.
The cow elephant of the Sofia Zoo will have a bed by the months end, Dr. Ivan Ivanov, director of the zoo, told FOCUS News Agency. “The bed is in fact a wall, alongside which sand will be piled at a 45 degree angle and 65 degrees at some places. The elephant will lean upon the sand to rest”, Ivanov explained. At present the elephant doesn’t have a bed.
2007-03-04 - Bangkok, Thailand.
At least five Thai baby elephants have recently been smuggled to Germany, a senior official at the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department revealed yesterday. The transportation was carried out at the beginning of the year by people claming to represent officials in high places, said Dulasit Sanitwongsa na Ayuthaya, a wildlife expert at the department. In other incidents, 20 elephants, all younger than nine, were smuggled to China and another eight were shipped to Australia, Du...
2007-03-04 - Erwin, United States. FIONA SOLTES, The TENNESSEAN
Mary, the circus elephant who was notoriously hanged for murder in 1916 after trampling her caretaker Red Eldridge of St. Paul, became a black eye for the Sparks Traveling Circus and the town of Erwin, Tenn. But now, there's more to her story. In the hands of playwright Matthew Carlton, her hanging represents injustice, cruelty and discrimination of all sorts the kind that the thousands who stood and watched might not have considered.
2007-03-04 - Yala National Park, Sri Lanka. Kumudini Hettiarachchi
Startling new research indicates that the very humans, in many instances the much-maligned chena (slash-and-burn) cultivators, who come into conflict with elephants, could be made partners in the protection and conservation of these animals they consider their enemies. And this thinking, based on scientific research is about to be tried out as a pilot project in the south by the Department of Wildlife Conservation and scientists keen to see the elephant survive in a country that lays claim to be...
2007-03-03 - DHANGADI, Nepal.
Properties have been destroyed by the wild elephants in the eastern VDCs of Kailali district for the last two weeks. It is said nearly a dozen of elephants in each herd have come from Bardiya National Park (BNP). The elephants have demolished altogether 41 houses in various Ward Nos. of Patharaiya, Durgauli and Baliya VDCs of the district so far, and a Chaudhari woman from Patharaiya VDC, Ward No. 4 has been seriously injured on her leg while being chased by the elephant.
2007-03-03 - Johannesburg, United States. Chris Van Gass
Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk is expected to face a rocky ride over his decision to place back on the table the controversial issue of culling elephants to control their numbers. Van Schalkwyk announced yesterday that culling would be one of the five options, including the other contentious issue of contraception, in proposals to curb the population explosion of the mammals. The other options include range extension and translocation of SA's 20000 elephant population, 14000 which ...
2007-03-03 - OLEAN, United States.
Haley Mott, age 5, of Olean, and her mom Joy, are selling baked goods at the Olean Center Mall today from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. to raise money to save the elephant house at the Buffalo Zoo. According to a Feb. 2 WGRZ Channel 2 report, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has said the Buffalo Zoo could lose its accreditation because its elephant house enclosure is too small.
2007-03-02 - Guruvayur, India.
Crowds in hundreds cheered over two dozen elephants that took part in the hugely popular elephant race in Guruvayur town in Kerala. Nearly 30 elephants took part in the annual kilometer-long race running through the thoroughfares of the tiny town and up to the revered temple. To participate in the coveted race, lots are drawn, and only a lucky few elephants get to participate.
2007-03-02 - Daklak, Vietnam. Tran Ngoc Quyen
A tame elephant killed its master Thursday in Daklak province in Vietnams central highlands by scooping him up with its trunk and hurling him down. Y BHiu Mlo, 58, a resident of the remote Ea Wel commune in Buon Don district, was feeding the male elephant in a nearby forest when it suddenly broke free of its chains and began to chase after him.
2007-03-02 - BALTIMORE, United States. Billie Grieb, President and CEO of The Maryland Zoo
You’ve probably heard that The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will welcome three more African elephants to its grounds this year. Petal, Kallie and Bette will come to us from the Philadelphia Zoo. They will join Dolly and Anna, who’ve been long-time favorites of our guests. At the same time, we are beginning an exciting expansion of our elephant exhibit. It will eventually grow to six acres and include a number of features designed to give our elephants even more variety and stimulation in their ...
2007-03-02 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The man-animal conflict is acquiring a grave dimension in Kerala with at least 15 people dying in retaliatory violence by elephants since December 30. In all, 46 people (41 mahouts and five others) were killed by captive elephants in the State in 2006. The latest was the death of an innocent onlooker at a temple festival in the southern district of Kollam when a group of elephants, being herded from temple to the other, panicked and ran amuck after a mahout struck one of the animals with a sharp...
2007-03-02 - KAUFMAN, Texas, United States.
After a tiger mauling and the discovery of dead and mangled livestock, this East Texas gateway is reconsidering its historically relaxed approach to regulating exotic, and some say dangerous animals. Such a ban would force Doug Terranova and dozens of exotic animals off his ranch, where his elephants and camels are visible from the road winding in front of his property. The menagerie includes the University of Houston's official cougar mascot, an elderly timberwolf that appeared in "Walker, Texa...
2007-03-02 - MALACCA, Malaysia. MARSHA TAN
Elephant calves generally drink their mothers milk for up to two years or more, but being an orphan, three-month-old Amid will grow up on cows milk powder and bread at the zoo here. Orphaned baby elephants are usually nursed by other lactating female elephants in the herd but Amid has lost not only his mother but his entire herd. We have female elephants in the zoo but none of them are lactating. Even if they were, they might not accept Amid because he is not from their herd.
2007-03-01 - Vallejo, United States. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Responsible for the feeding, cleaning and maintenance of Elephant Encounter area and for entry level training of elephants and behaviors. Feed, brush and bathe animals as directed by Supervisor or Asst. Supervisor. Perform night feeds as assigned. Clean animal enclosure areas including log show, elephant theatre, rides, yard, pool and barn. Hose down and squeegee pathways and barn floor as directed, Rake log show and ride trail as directed.
2007-03-01 - OSAKA, Japan.
Local customs and police officials showed the press on Thursday three tons of ivory they had confiscated from smugglers. Osaka Customs and Osaka Prefectural Police released some 608 pieces of ivory measuring 30 to 40 centimeters in length and 17,928 smaller pieces that the smugglers had intended to sell for use as seals. The ivory pieces weigh a total of three tons and are worth about 1 billion yen. The ivory is believed to have been taken from about 130 African elephants, customs officials said...
2007-03-01 - MALACCA, Malaysia. LEE YUK PENG and MARSHA TAN
Amid was a neglected, malnourished three-month-old elephant calf tied up cruelly at a theme park when he was rescued earlier this month. Now, he has several caretakers at the zoo here who take turns feeding him milk, bread, oatmeal and glucose drinks many times a day. But it will take a year, at least, to get him back to normal. He is very much underweight compared to a normal elephant calf, Malacca Zoo director Mohd Nawayai Yasak told The Star yesterday.
2007-03-01 - LAMPANG, Thailand. Evan Osnos
Kod, a pioneering elephant, is not a born leader. The 3-ton, 25-year-old is known for neither bravery nor cleverness; she recoils from dogs and chickens. Her paintings are generously described as abstract. But if all goes well, Kod will make Thai history next month when she gives birth to the nation's first elephant produced by artificial insemination. A successful birth would be a milestone for a country scrambling to save its most treasured animals from an alarming decline.
2007-03-01 - Blackpool, United Kingdom. Joe Robinson
TWO intrepid Zoo employees are to jet off to Sri Lanka for some elephant education. Elephant enclosure boss Gary Hampson and Sarah Thomas from Blackpool Zoo are packing their trunks to spend two weeks travelling around schools teaching children and communities about elephants. The pair, who jet off on Saturday, will also visit an elephant orphanage and national parks as well as seeing how money raised by the zoo's Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust is spent.
2007-03-01 - Houston, United States.
Visitors to the Houston Zoo were treated to an unusual sight Thursday morning. They saw a 6-month-old playing basketball! The youngster stands nearly four feet tall and weighs almost 700 pounds. The fun and games were all part of Mac the elephant’s half-year birthday celebration. Mac was the elephant that the public got to name.
2007-03-01 - Thrissur, India. Naveen Nair
It really is a mammoth race. The aanayottam or elephant race at the Guruvayoor temple in Kerala is an annual event that marks the beginning of the 10-day-long temple festival. Says Guruvayur temple administrator, Ratheesh, There is a myth behind this race. Once when Guruvayoor temple did not have any elephants it is said that elephants from the adjoining temple raced to Guruvayoor to get the idol on their heads.
2007-03-01 - Cromwell, United States. Bob Gagen
Unearthed in Noble County during the winter of 1930-31, the remains of a 10,000-year-old mastodon were trucked to Buffalo, N.Y., where they remained wrapped in plaster and plastic for seven years before being reassembled and placed in a display at that city’s Museum of Natural Science.
2007-03-01 - San Francisco, United States. PRWEB
New York Times best-selling author of When Elephants Weep: Emotional Lives of Animals, Jeffrey Masson, Ph.D., talks in-depth with Internet radio host Ilene Dillon on Full Power Living (worldtalkradio dot com) Thursday, March 1 at 9 a.m. PT, discussing how animals show emotions and what animal emotions can teach us about being more powerfully human. Listen Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 9 a.m. PT, Dr. Jeffrey Masson reveals incredible tales of animals showing emotion, including an elephant working to...
2007-02-28 - Geneva, Switzerland.
The future of ivory trading hangs in the balance with African countries divided over restrictions, CITES, the standing committee on protecting endangered plants and animals said Wednesday. The ivory trade is on the agenda in June when the 169 governments signed to the CITES Convention meet in The Hague to reconsider wildlife trade rules. It is unlikely that we will find a solution then, CITES Secretary General Willem Wijnstekers told journalists in Geneva.
2007-02-28 - Miami, United States. Miami Metrozoo
Entry level zoo keeper position available working with 1.1 Asian and 1.2 African elephants in a protected management system. Responsible for daily husbandry, exhibit maintenance, operant conditioning, environmental enrichment, and minor medical procedures. Requires 1 year of paid elephant experience in either protected or free contact management systems.
2007-02-28 - Washington, United States. afrol News
While Southern African countries are seeking to re-legalise the ivory trade due to an abundance of elephants, researchers have conducted a study that reveals the source of illegal ivory in Africa. While elephants may face protection in the south of Africa, other African nations fear the legalisation of the tusk trade. African countries are divided over banning or controlling international ivory trading, but need to reach a common position if they are to ensure the survival of the continent's ele...
2007-02-28 - San Andreas, United States. Vanessa Turner
Well known game show host Bob Barker has pledged $500,000 for a new elephant habitat at a San Andreas sanctuary. Recently the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) made a deal to receive two new elephants from the Hawthorn Corporation in Illinois. The habitat will consist of a new barn and open space area featuring a lake, trees, grass and vegetation.
2007-02-28 - GENEVA, Switzerland. BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
African countries are divided over banning or controlling international ivory trading, but need to reach a common position if they are to ensure the survival of the continents elephants. David Morgan, chief scientific officer at CITES, said African countries have filed three ivory proposals before the U.N. sponsored conservation bodys conference this June in The Hague, Netherlands, where 169 nations will debate new bans and quotas for trade in endangered species.
2007-02-28 - ADDO ELEPHANT PARK, South Africa. CLARE NULLIS
The environment minister on Wednesday proposed a package of measures including limited culling and contraception to slow rampant elephant population growth but stressed there would be no mass slaughter. The elephant population of 20,000 is growing at a rate of more than 6 percent per year, disrupting the delicate biodiversity in the flagship Kruger National Park and other wildlife parks, Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said.
2007-02-28 - ST. LOUIS, United States.
St. Louis Zoos new Asian elephant mother, Rani, is experiencing difficulty adjusting to the role, according to a news release Tuesday. This kind of behavior is not uncommon with first-time mothers, said Martha Fischer, the zoos curator of animals. This is also similar to the situation we had when our male elephant Raja was born 14 years ago. His mother Pearl did not allow him to nurse for five days but became an excellent mother after he began nursing on a regular basis.
2007-02-28 - SEMINOLE, United States. BOB McCLURE
The first fossil artifact was discovered at the park in early February by Seminole High School student Sierra Sarti-Sweeney of North Redington Beach, who was photographing nature when she noticed an object sticking up out of a creek bed. It was later identified as the tooth and a portion of a jaw from a Columbian mammoth, an extinct species of elephant that inhabited North America between 9,000 and 100,000 years ago.
2007-02-27 - Wuhan, China. Donald
A young girl was injured at Wuhan Zoo in central China on Sunday when an African elephant, in retaliation to abuse from a group of tourists, hurled a stone towards the mob, striking the girl in the face. The 13-year-old elephant, named Ahai, was being subjected to taunts from tourists and was being pelted with stones, mud and plastic bottles, according to an unnamed spokesman with Wuhan Zoo. Ahai, who has lived in the zoo with his friend A'nan for seven years, curled up a stone in his trunk and ...
2007-02-27 - St. Louis, United States.
St. Louis Zoo's new Asian elephant mother, Rani, is experiencing difficulty adjusting to the role, according to a news release today, on Monday evening Rani appeared less comfortable around the baby elephant than she had been on Sunday. She The mother and calf were temporarily separated. This kind of behavior is not uncommon with first-time mothers, said Martha Fischer, the zoo's curator of animals.
2007-02-27 - TAIPING, Malaysia.
A zoo worker was injured when he was trampled by a male elephant at the Taiping zoo here on Tuesday. The worker, Mohd Hashim Ishak was subsequently warded at the Taiping hospital here for suspected fractures and internal injuries. Speaking from his hospital bed, Mohd Hashim,40 said he was cleaning a den where the elephant was kept at about 8am when the animal lunged at him from behind. “One of the elphant’s tusks hit the side of my chest and the next moment I was pinned down by his foot,” ...
2007-02-27 - Chicago, United States. Jeff Long
Left behind at a circus training facility after all their elephant pals departed, two pachyderms named Nicholas and Gypsy are heading to a new, sunny home in California, officials said Monday. More than a year after eight female elephants were shipped to Tennessee, Nicholas and Gypsy remained at the controversial farm near Richmond in McHenry County. No zoo or wildlife sanctuary, it seemed, wanted a potentially boisterous male.
2007-02-27 - Jambi, Indonesia.
Tens of wild elephants ran amuck and destroyed at least 30 farming huts and plantation areas at the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS), Kerinci District, Jambi Province, Sumatra, on Monday. The elephants were disturbed by human encroachment in their habitat in the national park, Amirsyam, a spokesman of the Kerinci District administration, said here on Tuesday.
2007-02-27 - Washington, United States. Roger Highfield
African elephants could eventually become extinct because they are being killed at a rate not seen since an international convention banning ivory trade almost two decades ago. The problem is now so acute, with more than 23,000 slaughtered in a single year, that conservationists are urging Western nations to renew their efforts which all but halted the black market trade of ivory after the ban was first enacted in 1989.
2007-02-26 - , United States. Robin Lloyd
The illegal trade in elephant ivory is growing again at an alarming pace due to organized crime, but new research estimating the geographic origin of "the Singapore seizure," 6.5 tons of contraband tusks, points to a plan to prevent African pachyderm extinction. Up to 5 percent of Africa's population of elephants [image] was killed by poachers for the year ending in August 2006, said University of Washington biologist Samuel Wasser. That amounted to more than 23,000 elephants, which yielded an e...
2007-02-26 - WASHINGTON, United States. RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
The complex science of DNA analysis is now helping protect elephants by showing police and conservationists the source of black-market ivory according to a report by Samuel K. Wasser of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Wasser and colleagues took samples of the confiscated ivory and compared it with baseline DNA collected from elephants across the continent over several year...
2007-02-26 - Beijing, China.
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa landed in China this morning for a six-day state visit that coincides with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The President presented a five-year-old Sri Lankan elephant, Migara, to the Chinese government as a gift to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The baby elephant is finding a new home at the Beijing Zoo.
2007-02-26 - St. Louis, United States.
The 236-pound elephant was born to Rani, the zoo's 10-year-old asian elephant.Advertisement. This is Rani's first baby and the second for the baby's father, Raja. Raja is also the father of little Maliha, who was born in August. It's the second baby elephant in a year at the zoo. Rani's mother, Ellie, had a baby last year that was named Maliha. That baby was also fathered by Raja.
2007-02-26 - Assam, India. International Fund for Animal Welfare
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and its partner, WTI (Wildlife Trust of India) today announced that six elephant calves have been successfully released to the wild in Manas National Park. The elephants, hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC)—were transported 450 kilometers from Indias Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park. In Manas the elephants will be reintegrated into a wild herd once they are familiarized with the area. It is the...
2007-02-25 - Beijing, China.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who left for China last night, will hand over a Pinnawela baby Elephant to China at a ceremony today to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and China. Here the baby elephant, named Migara, which is already at the China Zoo is seen attending a rehearsal yesterday prior to today’s ceremony.
2007-02-25 - BARIPADA, India.
Mayurbhanj district is one of the worst-hit areas as far as elephant menace is concerned and local people are distressed over the indifference shown by the government to their problem. Local MLA Mr Sambhunath Nayak, along with the people of six grama panchayats under the Josipur block, threatened to launch a dharna in front of the range office of Simlipal Tiger Reserver in Josipur. Mayurbhanj is the second worst-affected district after Keonjhar as far as elephant menace is concerned, al...
2007-02-25 - Dacca, Bangladesh. Sheikh Arif Bulbon
The number of elephants is alarmingly decreasing in forests of Cox's Bazar and Teknaf, where once one-third of elephant population of the country was found, due to undue pressure of deforestation and increasing of human activities in forest areas. According to the last census of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), there are only 30 to 35 elephants in forests of Teknaf and Southern Cox's Bazar regions.
2007-02-25 - Zakouma National Park, Chad. Mike Fay
Zakouma National Park, a preserve in southeastern Chad, is home to 4,000 elephants. Sadly, they're not safe from poachers. Mike Fay, who wrote the article "Ivory Wars" for National Geographic, describes the problem. (Listen to mp3 file)
2007-02-25 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. Stella Mapenzauswa
South Africa needs to consider restarting elephant culls because growing numbers of the mammal now threaten local habitats, the WWF conservation group has said. "What has happened in the last 10 years is that protected areas ... had elephant numbers grow to where they are actually suppressing the habitat, the vegetation," Rob Little, acting chief executive of WWF South Africa, told Reuters late on Friday.
2007-02-25 - LEWISTOWN, United States.
Artifact Identification Day is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 25 at Dickson Mounds Museum, Lewistown. At 3 p.m. Lincoln College student Judd McCullum and his zoology professor G. Dennis Campbell will give a presentation on their recent discovery of mammoth remains on a school field-trip. Colleague Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, curator of geology for the Illinois State Museum, will follow them with a presentation, "Tales Told by Elephants Found in Illinois," which will review scientific debate over mammoth speci...
2007-02-24 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A joint operation by the Forest Department and Crime Branch of Orissa police led to arrest of three persons and seizure of over 14 kg of ivory in Orissa on Saturday made it clear that the State was a soft target of poachers. One kg of ivory could fetch up to Rs 40 000 in international market. Orissa is home to more than 1800 elephants that were found in the forests of Satkosia, Nayagarh, Chandaka, Similipal, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Rairakhol and Sambalpur.
2007-02-24 - Guwahati, India.
Six elephant calves, rescued from different parts of Assam and raised in an animal farm in the Kaziranga National park, were Saturday relocated to a wildlife sanctuary in the first such conservation exercise undertaken by India. 'The elephants will be reintegrated to a wild herd after they are familiarised to the area. This will be the first exercise in India after Sri Lanka and Kenya too have successfully released hand-raised elephants into the wild,' a WTI statement said.
Elephants are known for their ability to work hard. But, when they have no work they are out to beg to appease their belly. According to Sahara Samay report, as cutting of trees has been banned in Assam, elephants which take logs of wood from one place to another have become jobless. Sujata Chaudhary, owner of one of the elephants, told the channel that they are compelled to go out to beg as they have no work to do. This is irony that this useful animal has suddenly turned a white elephant.
2007-02-24 - Windhoek, Namibia. Absalom Shigwedha
THE MINISTRY of Environment and Tourism in the Kavango Region has sent a team to Yikota village to investigate reports about problems caused by elephants. School children there are boycotting classes, claiming that they are afraid of encountering elephants on their way to school. Nkokwena Chrispin, the Acting Control Officer for Wildlife in the Kavango Region, told The Namibian that three wildlife officials were dispatched to the area on Wednesday.
2007-02-24 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
New Yorker Ashrita Furman looked around for a record he could break, and settled on doing the most squat thrusts in one minute. Then he decided on a place the back of an elephant in northern Thailand. He achieved both goals as he climbed onto a platform on the back of an obliging pachyderm in blazing heat and powered through 40 of the vigorous kicks in a minute.
2007-02-24 - Galle, Sri Lanka. Irangika RANGE
JUMBO FAIR: While creating an exhilarating, competitive and fun atmosphere for over 600 of foreign spectators and players and raising awareness of the plight of the Asian Domestic Elephants, SriLankan Airlines (SLA) sponsored the sixth Annual Ceylon Elephant Polo Association (CEPA) tournament which was concluded at the magnificent historical ramparts of Fort of Galle last week. The event comprising eight international teams including 50 foreign players and two local teams such as Sri Lanka Army ...
2007-02-24 - Ranchi, India. ARUN KUMAR THAKUR
Meet Tulsi Mahto, the head of the RIMS forensic department. Mahto also discovered that there had been an increase in deaths caused by wild elephants after the inception of the state. In 1999, the wild elephants had killed five persons, but 16 persons were killed by tuskers in 2002. Everyone, including forest department officials and rural folks, need to realise that the continued depletion of habitat for elephants because of rampant felling of trees in forest areas will lead to more and more ele...
2007-02-23 - New Delhi, India.
We've all heard of orphanages for children, but one for elephants is rather hard to believe. The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has set up a first-of-its-kind orphanage centre for elephants inside the Manas National Park in Assam. The Assam Elephant Orphanage Centre, which is to be inaugurated on Saturday, was established in wake of the increasing number of animals, particularly elephants, becoming orphan in the state.
2007-02-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nimal S.Bogahawatta
The successive governments since independence have failed to find a solution to the human elephant conflict that resulted in massive destruction of human lives, land and fields and the extinction of elephant population in the country, which is a national asset. 400 houses were among the property destroyed by wild elephants. The people in affected areas said the electric fence now being erected by Lunugamvehera Wildlife Conservation office is only a temporary measure.
2007-02-22 - Copenhagen, Denmark. Binladen J, Gilbert MT, Willerslev E. , Niels Bohr Institute and Biological Institute, University of Copenhagen
Poulakakis and colleagues (Poulakakis et al. 2006: Biol. Lett. 2, 451-454), report the recovery of 'authentic' mammoth DNA from an 800,000-year-old fragment of bone excavated on the island of Crete. In light of results from other ancient DNA studies that indicate how DNA survival is unlikely in samples, which are recovered from warm environments and are relatively old (e.g. more than 100,000 years), these findings come as a great surprise.
2007-02-22 - Lyon, France. Orlando L, Pages M, Calvignac S, Hughes S, Hanni C. , University Lyon
Pigmy elephants inhabited the islands from the Mediterranean region during the Pleistocene period but became extinct in the course of the Holocene. Pigmy elephants could be most probably seen as members of the genus Elephas. Poulakakis et al (2006) have recently challenged this view by recovering a short mtDNA sequence from an 800 000 year old fossil of the Cretan pigmy elephant (Elephas creticus).
2007-02-22 - New Delhi, India.
In the first-ever recorded case in India, six hand-reared elephants will be rehabilitated in the wild on Friday, in a bid to check the plummeting numbers of the animal in the North-East. The elephants, which have been rescued from various parts of Assam and reared at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation in Kaziranga National Park, will be tranquillised and taken on a 450 km overnight drive to Manas National Park.
2007-02-22 - FRANCISTOWN, Botswana. BOPA
Elephants are reported to be causing havoc in the northern part of Botswana, by destroying field crops and farm properties. Farmers are therefore calling upon government to act swiftly and protect their field crops and properties from the destructive elephants. The issue has caused heated debate in many of the kgotla meetings addressed by MPs and ministers in the northern parts of the country.
2007-02-22 - Sydney, Australia. AAP
SEEKING respite from Sydney's heat, two Asian elephants today played with their keepers under the waterfall in their newly built Taronga Zoo enclosure. Thong Dee and Tang Mo, two of five elephants that arrived in Australia in November last year, spent the morning splashing around in the water as part of their traditional daily routine. The five elephants, including today's absentees Pornthip, Pak Boon and Gung, arrived in Sydney from Thailand last year after a two-year legal battle to bri...
2007-02-22 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Like her mother, Ellie, Asian elephant Rani appears in no rush to deliver her calf. At the St. Louis Zoo, Rani is in the 23rd month of her pregnancy. While many elephants deliver after 22 months, Ellie waited almost two years before she delivered daughter Maliha on Aug. 2. She is expecting a female calf. Rani has gained about 1,000 pounds during her pregnancy and now weighs 6,500 pounds. Zookeepers check daily for a drop in her progesterone levels, the telltale sign that labor will commence soon...
2007-02-22 - Stillwater, United States. Duer C, Carden M, Tomasi T. , Oklahoma State University
Previous studies have analyzed total testosterone concentrations in maternal serum for a reliable method of fetal gender determination in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). The present study investigated the possibility that progesterone concentrations in maternal serum may reflect these testosterone patterns. Mean progesterone concentrations in maternal serum of elephants carrying male calves were greater than in those carrying female calves (P<0.01).
2007-02-21 - LOS ANGELES, United States. Associated Press
Animal welfare activists called on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to retire the city zoo's 46-year-old elephant to a sanctuary. In two letters to the mayor Tuesday, humane groups and former zoo workers demanded that Ruby the elephant be sent from "solitary confinement" at the Los Angeles Zoo to a 150-acre sanctuary in Northern California. Zoo officials are weighing whether to send Ruby to the refuge or to another zoo.
2007-02-21 - San Andreas, United States. Vanessa Turner, Calaveras Bureau
A deal has been reached to bring two elephants from the Hawthorn Corporation in Illinois to the Performing Animal Welfare Society in San Andreas. The society maintains a 2,300-acre animal sanctuary just off Pool Station Road in San Andreas. Nicholas, an adolescent Asian elephant and his companion Gypsy are the last elephants to live at the Illinois facility. The Hawthorn Corporation is donating the elephants along with a financial contribution for the animals' initial care.
2007-02-21 - HARTFORD, United States.
State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, and State Rep. Stephen Fontana, D-North Haven, will hold a press conference at 12:30 p.m. today in Room 1B of the Legislative Office Building to talk about a bill they've introduced to eliminate the mistreatment of captive elephants. Specifically, the bill would outlaw using bullhooks or chains on elephants. Joining the lawmakers will be former Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus animal provider Archele Hundley and other animal rights groups repr...
2007-02-21 - Raipur, India. Indo-Asian News Service
As many as 27 people have been killed by wild elephants in Chhattisgarh since April 2005, which includes 12 deaths this year, according to state Forest and Revenue Minister Brijmohan Agrawal. All the deaths were reported from three northern districts - Raigarh, Surguja and Jashpur - that have most of their area under forest cover
2007-02-21 - Sydney, Australia. Deborah Smith
HIGH on an extinct volcano in Africa the elephants of Kenya, after trekking long distances to a cave on Mount Elgon, begin to mine and eat salt from the rock. The Australian scientist Derek Denton discovered the link between salt and high blood pressure which he outlines in The Primordial Emotions.
2007-02-21 - Stanton Harcourt, United Kingdom.
A rare collection of fossils including a 6ft (1.8m) mammoth tusk was missing for months before its owner noticed it had been stolen. She told police the last time she had seen the £15,000 fossil collection was in October 2006. The 200,000-year-old relics included a mammoth tusk (curved and over 6ft long) and teeth, bison limb bones and reindeer antlers.
2007-02-21 - HODSON, Canada. MONICA GRAHAM
"I’m going to find a mastodon if it kills me," he said. "They found that one in Stewiacke — there’s got to be more. One of these days, I’m going to see a tusk sticking out of a bend in a river." Nova Scotia’s ancient past has a lot more to reveal through its fossils and other artifacts, Mr. Wayne Hronek said. Once upon a time, long before the first dinosaur, a giant sow bug crawled through some swampy muck in a place that some day in the far-off future would become the Pictou County ha...
2007-02-20 - Pittsburgh, United States. Allison M. Heinrichs
They already have trunks. The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium revealed a first glimpse of its elephant babies, more than a year before the new arrivals are expected to get their first view of the world. The zoo showed off ultrasound videos of the approximately 4-month-old elephant fetuses carried by its two pregnant elephants at a media event Tuesday morning.
2007-02-20 - Eastbourne, United Kingdom.
A ZOOLOGIST from Eastbourne who is currently carrying out research into wildlife in Kenya is looking for funds to aid her project. Lucy King, from Meads, travelled to Africa at the beginning of 2006 and is currently working with a research team called Save The Elephants. Lucy says her team, which is headed by elephant expert Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton, is interested in finding some crop protection methods that can be financed and managed by the farmers themselves.
2007-02-18 - Kariba, Zimbabwe. Johnny Rodrigues, Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
We have just received a very sad report from a gentleman named Dave who resides in the UK. In October last year, Dave came to Zimbabwe to do a walk through the bush from Kariba to Binga. On the Eastern shoreline of the Sengwa basin, Dave came across 2 baby elephants that appeared to have been abandoned. One was very thin but alive and the other had been speared and butchered to death.
2007-02-17 - PORTLAND, United States. Craig Edwards
Tusko the elephant was said to be doing fine after veterinarians at the Oregon Zoo wrapped up surgery to remove an infected tusk. However, they weren’t able to finish the job. So we left a little fragment of his tusk, said lead veterinarian Mitch Finnegan. It’s still up inside his head…we’re going to have to come back at a later date to remove it.
2007-02-17 - Hongsa, Laos.
The Hongsa 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 to pay tribute to its elephants and enjoy great cultural activities and entertainment. A unique 2-days cultural attraction for visitors to Laos!
2007-02-16 - Beijing, China. Xinhua
A total of 67.45 kilograms of ivory products was seized from the luggage of a female passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday. The female passenger, flying from Addis Abba to Beijing, chose to go through the nothing-to-declare lane of the customs upon her arrival in Beijing. She was found to be carrying half-finished mahjong sets, bracelets, necklaces and other ornaments made of ivory when customs officers examined her luggage. Anti-smug...
2007-02-16 - SEMINOLE, United States. LORRIE LYKINS
Sierra Sarti-Sweeney was practicing nature photography in a heavily wooded area of Boca Ciega Millennium Park in Seminole last month when a shiny black rock caught her eye. She took it home to show it to her 22-year-old brother, Sean, a geology student at the University of South Florida. After some Internet research, the siblings came to two conclusions: the football-sized rock was actually the tooth of a long extinct mammoth, and they were in over their heads. The family contacted area paleonto...
2007-02-16 - PITTSBURGH, United States.
The elephant population at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is about to get a little larger. On Friday, zoo officials confirmed that two of the zoo's elephants are pregnant. Nan and Moja are expected to give birth in May or June of 2008. Officials said the zoo's bull elephant, Jackson, is the father to both.
2007-02-16 - TAIPEI, Taiwan.
A Taiwanese theme park has dropped a plan to use a cable made of 320,000 human hairs to lift an elephant, a report said Friday. The United Daily News said the theme park made the decision after critics said the act could scare the animal. The Naughty Boy Theme Park had planned to attach the cable to a crane and use it to lift a 6-ton elephant to mark the opening of a wildlife zoo, the newspaper said.
2007-02-16 - PINNAWELA, Sri Lanka. Dharme Sri ABEYRATNE
"Migara", born on June 23, 2001, is the first baby of "Menika". His grandmother is "Komali" which was among the first five orphans when the orphanage started in 1975. Migara weighs 975 Kilos and his height is five feet five inches. Migara will be airlifted to China. His two keepers (mahouts), a veterinary surgeon and an assistant curator of the orphanage will accompany Migara and stay in China until he gets used to the Chinese language and food.
2007-02-16 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Finally, a frustrated Vinay Shankar had to ram into a lorry larger and heavier than himself and break his own head in front of the Sankarankulangara temple in Thrissur on Wednesday to make humans aware of the kind of atrocities he and his tribe are being subjected to in the name of festivals. Says elephant expert Dr Jacob Cheeran: “They transport elephants in trucks flouting all established norms. The elephant brokers are too eager to reach them as early as possible to as many festival venues ...
2007-02-16 - KOZHIKODE, India.
This time it was the turn of people of Cheliya in Chengottukavu panchayat near Koyilandy to get terrorised by ‘elephants on run’. Vikhnaraj, the tusker which ran amok, created panic in the area for almost an hour on Thursday morning before getting tranquillised by Dr K C Panicker, an expert in tranquillising raging elephants. The pachyderm had started showing symptoms of musth on Wednesday. Fortunately, no one was hurt and no loss of property was reported. The elephant, owned by K P Raveendr...
2007-02-15 - Guwahati, India.
An ailing female elephant abandoned by her herd died near Amchang wildlife sanctuary at Sonapur on the fringes of Guwahati, forest department sources here today said. The forest officials, along with a veterinary surgeon, rushed to the site but despite their best efforts, the elephant died yesterday, sources said. Guwahati wildlife division sources said the elephant was probably sick for quite a while, prompting her herd to abandon her. On Monday, the animal was spotted by villagers near Amchang...
2007-02-15 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
Very soon one of the zoo's beloved elephants could leave Los Angeles according to an NBC4 report. The question of where Ruby the elephant should go is an issue even Mayor Villaraigosa admits has divided the city. Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Mayor: Two very strong centers of influence in our community. One believes, like I do, that elephants belong in sanctuaries and not zoos. The others support a zoo and the elephants in our zoo.
2007-02-15 - Buffalo, New York, United States. TOM BUCKHAM
The elephants played leapfrog Wednesday in the Buffalo Zoo. That is, the expansion of their historic building hopped over other projects to the top of the to-do list in the zoo's $75 million reconstruction program. If $1 million can be secured over the next few months, the internal expansion of the Elephant House will be done this summer, Donna M. Fernandes, zoo president, said at a news conference kicking off fundraising. If not, the work will be done in the summer of 2008.
2007-02-15 - GALLE, Sri Lanka. Simon Gardner, Reuters
The four-ton elephant threw off his mahout and American rider as the island's sixth annual elephant polo tournament got under way, rampaging off the pitch and crushing the Spanish team's minibus with his head. Spanish horseback polo player and horse breeder Inigo de Arteaga, the Marquis de Tavara from north of Madrid, is used to injuries. "You can fall any time, it can be an elephant, pony, a horse. Last year I broke my wrist. Two years ago I broke two ribs," he said, looking at the remains of h...
2007-02-15 - Portland, Oregon, United States. Vince Patton, kgw.com
The patient is Tusko, a 37-year-old Asian elephant with a broken and chronically infected tusk. The infections have persisted so long, zoo officials have decided they must remove it in a risky surgery. An elephant cage will serve as the operating room and a giant waterbed as the surgical table.
2007-02-15 - THRISSUR, India.
An elephant that ran amok on Wednesday created tension for more than three hours in the Poonkunnam area until it was tranquillised. Bastian Vinay Shankar, the elephant owned by a timber company, was brought to Poonkunnam on Monday night after a festival in Kootikavu temple. It was chained at the ground owned by the Sankarankulangara temple along with six other elephants.Vinay Shankar dislodged his mahout and injured him while it was being taken for a bath.
2007-02-15 - Buffalo, New York, United States.
News 4 is teaming up with the Buffalo Zoo to help keep the three precious pachyderms at the zoo. The elephants need a bigger home, and the public is being asked to help raise the funds. The playful pachyderms are making a plea to animal lovers on Valentine's Day - they need help turning their elephant house into an elephant mansion. Buffalo Zoo President Dr. Donna Fernandes said, "If we were not to do the expansion, we would have two choices: we would either lose our professional accreditation o...
2007-02-14 - KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Davina Quarterman
Being female can be a risky business, especially if you are a Marula tree in Africa receiving the attention of elephants. The tasty, nutritious and vitamin C-rich Marula fruits are much sought after by both man and animals. It is a stable "wild food" and base for the popular Amarula liquor. But Marula has separate male and female trees so fruiting females attract browsing elephants, which cause damage to branches and bark.
2007-02-14 - BANGKOK, Thailand.
Thai couples marked Valentine's Day with weddings on elephant back and hanging off cliffs, while authorities warned young singles not to let the celebration of love lead them too far down the path of temptation. Twenty-eight couples — 22 of them including a foreign partner — celebrated their love by getting married on the backs of elephants in Surin province in northeastern Thailand.
2007-02-14 - Hampton roads, Virginia, United States. Lori Crouch
-"Its not just one bad trainers or handler its ringling's culture," says two former Ringling Bros. circus employees are joining forces with PETA to speak out about. Crystal Drake, public relations manager for the circus had this to say about the PETA's latest campaign: "This comes as no surprise to me that PETA is misrepresenting and malnipulating our dismissal of them for there own publicity."
2007-02-14 - Galle, Sri Lanka.
From the 14th – 17th February 2007, at least eight international teams will be fighting it out at the southern seaside town of Galle, Sri Lanka to participate in the 6th Annual International Elephant Tournament. The tournament is hosted by CEPA (Ceylon Elephant Polo Association).
2007-02-13 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The plight of Sri Lankan elephants has been thrown into the spotlight as the 6th Annual Ceylon Elephant Polo Association (CEPA) tournament opens tomorrow. As fears grow that the Sri Lankan elephant could become extinct by the end of the 21st century, Sri Lankan wildlife personality Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne has been speaking out. The tournament, which runs from 14 - 17 February, will hold a number of events to raise money for the Sri Lankan elephant.
2007-02-13 - FRANCISTOWN, Botswana. BOPA
Francistown Magistrate Court has fined 76-year-old Mbako Mongwa P2000 or three months imprisonment in default of payment for the unlawful possession of an elephant tusk. Mongwa who pleaded guilty was found in possession of an elephant tusk weighing 6.1 kg and valued at P2 300 on March 17, 2006 at his house in Area S in Francistown.
2007-02-13 - Mangalore, India. Dayanand Kukkaje Daijiworld Media Network
Joining this visitor was yet another quadruped was an elephant calf, found deserted by it mother in the Charmadi Ghat region, the Nisargadhama officials were approached by the locals. The calf has been brought to the biological park and is now well cared. According to the officials of the Nisargadhama, the calf is below one month of age and has average survival chances.
2007-02-13 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Malayali’s near-spiritual bond with elephants has deteriorated into a primitive game of survival as deadly and unpredictable as bull-fighting. In a span of just 40 days, from December 31 to February 10, elephants have gored or stomped 13 people to death in various parts of the state. The last four deaths took place in just three days. Even in 2004, said to be the bloodiest, the toll was only seven for the entire festival season – December to May.
2007-02-12 - Nanning, China.
A male elephant in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, traveled thousands of miles to marry a female elephant in Sichuan Province recently. Xing Xing, a 10-year-old male elephant at Nanning Zoo, was old enough to marry, but did not have a mate. The zoo posted advertisements looking for one on the websites of other zoos and finally received a response from the Bifengxia Zoo in Ya'an, Sichuan Province, which had an adult female elephant in need of a spouse.
2007-02-12 - Guy, Arkansas, United States. Heather Crawford
Across the United States, there are only about 600 elephants. But just 45 minutes outside of Little Rock, you can find a herd of endangered and threatened species and they don’t live at a zoo. (Scott Riddle, Riddle’s Elephant Sanctuary) "Our mission is to make sure elephants don’t disappear basically because they’re highly endangered all over the world."
2007-02-11 - Ranchi, India.
Farmers in Jharkhand are now keeping in mind the tastes of elephants while sowing crops to prevent the tuskers from rampaging their fields and killing people. In the last few years, the farmers have come to know the likes and dislikes of elephants that regularly enter the villages, damage standing crops and kill people too. They now prefer not to sow rabi: crops.
2007-02-11 - Ranchi, India. AMIT GUPTA
Elephants destroy crops and even trample human beings. But when an elephant got trapped in a well in the village, about 47 km from the state capital, after the clock struck 12 last night, the villagers could not but rescue it. The wild elephant calf, not more than a month old, fell into the well of one Maharaj Singh of Jamni village beside Bero forest between 1 am and 2 am. Before the little elephant fell into the well, a herd of six elephants caused havoc in the nearby villages destroying crops...
2007-02-10 - Chennai, India.
Irked by a two wheeler rider constantly sounding the horn of his vehicle, a temple elephant lifted the man and flung him to the ground, seriously injuring him, at Marthandam near Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district, police said. Reports from Nagercoil said the youth was riding the motorcycle behind the elephant which was taking part in a procession as part of the Mariamman temple festival in Marthandam town. He sounded his horn continuously, in a bid to get past the elephant and the crowd. Irritat...
2007-02-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. G. Anand
Illegal ivory trade seems to be flourishing secretly in the city. On January 17 this year, the Forest Department seized a pair of elephant tusks from the house of a suspected ivory dealer at Eenchakkal. The tusks, weighing 2.2 kg, were extracted from a young male elephant shot dead by poachers in the Adimali Forest Range recently.
2007-02-09 - Mayapur, India. Bhakti Caru Swami, Vrindavan Lila Dasi, HRIMATI Mataji, Gandharvika Devi Dasi, Vrindavan Lila Dasi,
I remember when Gulab was brought to Mayapur in early eighties. Sundar-kali, the grown up female elephant, was already there in Mayapur and it was felt that she needed a companion. So Bhavananda Prabhu asked Radhajivan to arrange for another elephant, and he suggested that this one should be a baby. Radhajivan went to a big animal fare in Uttar Pradesh and brought Gulab. She was just a little baby at that time, may be just about a few months old.
2007-02-09 - Springfield, United States. STAN FREEMAN
Evolution can be a long, strange road. For that symbol of the ice age, the woolly mammoth, it was stranger than for most. It was part of an order of animals, Proboscidea, that began small - about the size of pigs - then grew large. Some woolly mammoths, in fact, stood as high as 13 feet at the shoulder. But in the end, these cold-loving mammoths grew small again, belying their name. Like dinosaurs, woolly mammoths are creatures of myth. Both are huge, extinct and fascinating to kids.
2007-02-08 - BOWMANVILLE, Canada. Jennifer Stone
Mr. Hackenberger suggested ZooCheck, which has made previous allegations about both him and the zoo, releases these reports simply as a money-making venture. They have an anti-zoo agenda and have yet to prove an allegation against him, he said. "There's a process for ethics violations," said Mr. Hackenberger. "If these people think I'm doing something wrong, they have the opportunity to charge me with an ethics violation. They've tried before and lost. Our largest point of immigration today on a...
2007-02-08 - Washington, United States. BRETT ZONGKER
The 59-year-old elephant lost her appetite last month and showed signs of lethargy, and tests revealed a low red blood cell count. Veterinarians performed an ultrasound exam Wednesday and found excessive blood and a clot in Ambika's reproductive tract, likely caused by a ruptured vessel. The blood clot did not pose an immediate danger and could be serving as a "bandage" for the ruptured vessel, zoo officials said.
2007-02-08 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A British woman, trampled and left for dead by an elephant in Kenya, is suing the luxury lodge that she says failed to warn her of the dangers posed by wild animals. Il Ngwesi lodge stands amid the acacia dotted splendour of the Lewa Downs Conservancy, which is run by Ian Craig, a member of one of Kenya's most famous white families. Prince William is a frequent visitor after dating Jecca Craig, his daughter. Wendy Martin, 46, had to be airlifted to the UK after being gored by the elephant during...
2007-02-08 - Washington, United States.
Veterinarians performed tests on one of the National Zoo's Asian elephants yesterday in hopes of figuring out why she lost her appetite and grew lethargic last month. Zoo officials expressed concern about Ambika, one of three elephants at the animal park and, at 59, one of the oldest Asian elephants in the country. The symptoms appeared in late January, along with a low red blood cell count. Although Ambika has shown signs of improvement, the zoo wants to pinpoint what was wrong.
2007-02-08 - Mysore, India. RADHA H.S.
We were headed for the Dubbare Elephant Camp by the Cauvery, situated two hours from Mysore city. We went across the river, sparkling and beautiful, the trees on the banks, in bloom, adding colour to the already beautiful scene. And on the far side were the elephants in the water. The mahout began to scrub the elephant. He called out to us to `give Indra a good scrub'. He climbed onto the elephant's folded leg and scrubbed the top of his head and even behind the ears!
2007-02-08 - Madurai, India.
The Forest Department has set up watch towers and camps at different places to prevent hunting of elephants in Meghamalai Sanctuary, officials said here today. The measures were taken following complaints about elephants being poached in the forest area spread over 55,000 hectare, official sources said here today. According to estimates, there were 172 elephants, including four tuskers, 78 female elephants and 14 calves, in the area, they said.
2007-02-08 - Edmonton, Canada. MICHELLE MARK, SUN MEDIA
Valley Zoo officials are slamming a report that says their elephant enclosures are the worst in Canada. Valley Zoo spokesman Jan Archbold said the elephants are perfectly fine right where they are. She also said the Valley Zoo is accredited by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA). "When they were here recently, they found the enclosures were well within the needs of having two elephants and that the care and handling of the elephants was outstanding," she said, adding she doesn'...
2007-02-08 - EDMONTON, Canada. Lisa Arrowsmith, Canadian Press
Canada's cold climate and small zoo enclosures are making elephants sick, stressed and bored, according to a report released Wednesday by the animal rights group Zoocheck Canada. But people responsible for the animals quickly dismissed the group's calls to stop captive breeding programs and relocate elephants to sanctuaries in warmer parts of the United States.
2007-02-07 - Liverpool, United Kingdom.
African bull Nissim required emergency treatment to fix a broken tusk after trying to boss his future wives. One of them decided to let him know his attentions were unwelcome. Nissim, who is 12, required the equivalent of a human root canal filling after losing part of his tusk when he was pushed away.
2007-02-07 - Osaka, Japan. Alexander Joe
Japanese authorities have arrested two men for trying to import 2.8 tons of ivory, a record amount seized in the country which is a top black market for elephant tusks. The ivory, which came from African elephants, was found in a ship that came from Malaysia via South Korea, police said in the western port of Osaka. An official at the Osaka customs house said the amount of seized ivory was 2.8 tons, the largest since the ban went into effect. The second largest was a shipment of about two tons c...
2007-02-07 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
Look at the size of these babies! This little rhino calf and elephant calf made their public debut at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park yesterday. The Asian elephant calf was born on January 19 to mum Kaylee and dad Emmett. Both of the animal youngsters are female and their birth delighted Whipsnade keepers and staff. The baby elephant is Kaylee's second-born. The little jumbo weighed 170lbs at birth, and was just under one metre tall.
2007-02-07 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Pachyderm is a bi-annual international peer-reviewed journal that deals primarily with matters related to African elephant and African and Asian rhino conservation and management in the wild. It is also a platform for dissemination of information concerning the activities of the African Elephant, the African Rhino, and the Asian Rhino Specialist Groups of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC).
2007-02-06 - Calgary, Canada. Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald
An elephant that rejected her first baby immediately after giving birth two years ago is pregnant again. Maharani is about 16 months pregnant and expected to deliver this summer, Calgary Zoo veterinarian Sandie Black confirmed Monday. Vets have been unable to get a good ultrasound picture of the fetus because of its position, but Black said they expect to begin monitoring the level of pregnancy hormones in the next couple of weeks, as they will drop in advance of the birth.
2007-02-06 - El Paso, United States.
There have been continuous concerns about the elephants living in inhumane conditions. Today, the zoo's new director, Steve Marshal, asked the council for more time to review the issue. He says he wants to research two other zoos that have elephants and two that do not. Marshal promises to have a recommendation by late March.
2007-02-06 - Twycross, United Kingdom.
Two major Leicestershire attractions have joined forces this week in a mutually beneficial arrangement of quite an unusual nature. Snibston Country Park rangers were approached by staff from Twycross Zoo with a problem that they are happily able to solve. The rangers have been asked to help feed the giraffes and elephants at the zoo with the leftover cuttings from their land management of the park.
2007-02-06 - Amer Fort, India. Lokendra Singh
The hugely popular elephant rides at a centuries-old Amer Fort in Rajasthan are turning into a prime foreign exchange earner for the state. At a hefty US 12.5 per dollar ride according to local standards, it's actually too little a price to pay for something so uniquely Indian. At least, hoards of foreign tourists, who arrive at the Amer Fort, seem to think so.
2007-02-06 - Benidorm, Spain. valencialife.net
Petita, the loneliest elephant inside the Terra Natura theme park in Benidorm has now become a true star after being adopted by the Antiga de Campanar Falla Chapter. Petita had been scorned by her fellow elephants as she was unable to put on any weight, and she was left to her own devices by the group -much to the astonishment of staff at the park who admitted that they never thought that a herd of elephants could turn on one of its number.
2007-02-06 - PROVIDENCE, United States. Karen Lee Ziner
Under Schmitt’s direction, this weekend marked the Roger Williams Park Zoo’s first attempt at artificially inseminating an elephant, a method that in 2002 produced the first two elephant calves born in captivity in the world, at the Toledo Zoo. The team assembled, including Schmitt; his assistant, graduate student Kristy Marson; lead elephant keeper Jennifer Warmbold; and keepers Brett Haskins, Lisa Ruggiero and Tom Troy. In the wings stood French and chief veterinarian Cheryl Cullion.
2007-02-05 - El Paso, United States. David Crowder, El Paso Times
What to do about the El Paso Zoo's two elephants, Savannah and Juno, is back on the City Council's agenda Tuesday. The question is whether the zoo's elephant habitat is so inadequate that the aging elephants would be better off at a sanctuary in Tennessee and whether subjecting them to the journey and the stress would put them in greater danger than they are now, South-West city Rep. Beto O'Rourke said.
2007-02-05 - DHARMAPURI, India.
The Forest Department has asked people residing in villages adjoining forests in the district to protect themselves from elephants without injuring them. Elephants often stray into nearby villages in search of food and water frequently. To keep them away, the villagers spend sleepless nights with fire torches and crackers. According to sources, a herd of elephants strayed into the villages in Pennagaram, Neruppur, Pannanppatti, Chinnappanallur and Podupatti in search of water.
2007-02-05 - Wheeling, West Virginia, United States.
Trains students to be competent elephant managers. Course content focuses on the foundation necessary for developing comprehensive and proactive elephant management programs. Students will take away skills for creating self-sustaining elephant management programs. For elephant managers, zoo curators who oversee elephant programs and elephant handlers. Class size limited to 30.
2007-02-04 - Jamshedpur, India.
The depletion of green cover in state forests has once again spurred elephants attack several Seraikela-Kharsawan villages for foodgrain last night. While three villagers were injured in the raid, the herd also damaged many houses on their way to have crops, particularly paddy, piled up in Kochidih, Bansa and Dumkadih villages under Chandil block. The condition of the injured villagers undergoing treatment at Chandil hospital is reported to be stable.
2007-02-04 - Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. The Nation
Thailand Sunday saw the first ever birth of an African elephant in captivity at state-owned Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo. The male baby, whose name is pending a naming contest result, is the only third African elephant in Thailand. Born to his African elephant parents exactly at 4.09 am Sunday morning, he is fathered by Ap and mothered by Jaew, both 17 years old, which were brought to Thailand from Kruger National Park in South Africa in 1998.
2007-02-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Childers Jayawardhana
Eminent conservationist, intellectual, excellent administrator and lover of music, Lyn de Alwis passed away on November 22, 2006. The demise of Lyn de Alwis, who rendered a great service to both the Zoological Gardens and the Wildlife Service in Sri Lanka and in foreign lands is a loss to the nation and the world. His love of the wilderness, the natural environment was second nature to him from his younger days.
2007-02-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The streets of Colombo transform under the weight of 100 colourful elephants during February's full moon. The event usually has as many as 1000 performers. The Navam Perahera, which started in 1979, attracts more than a million spectators every year to the Gangaramaya Temple, at Hunupitiya on the banks of the picturesque Beira Lake.
2007-02-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. ColomboPage News Desk
Sri Lanka's Association of the Owners of Tamed Elephants has requested from the government to provide them elephants or to allow them to catch them. The Chairman of the Association of the Owners of Tamed Elephants, Nilanga Dela Bandara says that Sri Lanka now has only 150 tamed elephants and 120 of them are over sixty years old. He pointed out that only six elephants are eligible for carrying caskets in religious processions.
2007-02-02 - New York, United States. Mike O'Brian
There's been a discovery in Ithaca, New York, a place where people are discovering the history of the earth. The Museum of the Earth has a big attraction here is the Hyde Park Mastodon. Found in someone's back yard, it is one of the most complete skeletons ever found! The 40 foot Right Whale skeleton suspended in the lobby is also a favorite.
2007-02-02 - BISMARCK, Canada. ELOISE OGDEN
None of three mastodon teeth found in an attic in London, Ontario, belong to the Highgate mastodon which stands in the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck. John Hoganson, paleontologist for the North Dakota Geological Survey in Bismarck, told The Minot Daily News in an interview in November 2006 that he thought it was very likely at least one of the teeth found about a year ago in Ontario belonged to one of the elephant-like animals in the Heritage Center.
2007-02-02 - Nairobi, Kenya. Beatrice Obwocha and Winnie Chumo
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) plans to experiment with contraceptives to control a surging elephant population. KWS Director, Dr Julius Kipngetich, said the experiment would be conducted on elephants at Shimba Hills in the Coast. "The use of contraceptives on elephants has worked in South Africa and we will borrow the idea to control the number of elephants," he said.
2007-02-01 - GWETA, Botswana. Dikole di tlhoka motlakase, BOPA
In other kgotla meetings at Tsokatshaa and Zoroga, the residents said they were losing hope in farming because elephants always destroyed their crops. The Rresidents told MP Mfa that they tried to fence their fields but the elephants destroyed the fences as well. They said the wildlife officers had instructed them to shoot the elephants, but this was a vain effort because elephants continued to return to the fields. The residents asked government to erect an electric cordon fence to protect thei...
2007-02-01 - Sydney, Australia.
A row has broken out between the RSPCA and Sydney's Taronga Zoo over the care of one of its Asian elephants. Six-year-old elephant 'Gung' arrived from Thailand as part of a group three months ago. RSPCA spokeswoman, Jane Speechley, says they believe Gung has been separated from the others.
2007-01-31 - Hue, Vietnam. Bui Ngoc Long and Minh Phat
A 25-year-old elephant, a beast that has taken part in ritual processions in Hue ancient capital died last Saturday with a water pipe lodged in its gullet, said local authorities Wednesday. Nguyen Van Hung, head of Hue province’s animal health department, said the 4-ton animal had somehow gulped down two synthetic rubber pipes that then lodged in its esophagus.
2007-01-31 - Houston, United States. Houston Zoo Blog
That’s right; Mac’s new teeth continue to grow—along with his weight (he is now 644 pounds!) and his height - he now stands at 44 inches tall! Did you even know that elephants have teeth? Well, most elephants actually have six teeth—including their two tusks (which are actually teeth). They will go through six sets of the inside four teeth in their lifetime. (Mac will probably get his second set of teeth before he turns one.)
2007-01-30 - San Diego, United States. EAZA
Essential job functions for this position include the day to day management of animals, including cleaning, feeding and observing animals, administering medication and treatment as directed, providing training, enrichment, and participating in education programs. Animal husbandry knowledge as well as the ability to communicate observations orally and on written reports is required.
2007-01-30 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Forest rangers in Thailand have a new assignment, they're charged with patrolling a major highway to stop looters from attacking trucks carrying sugar cane. The robbers, wild elephants that live in the areas around the highway. Officials have imposed a night-time curfew on the highway used to transport sugar cane because of recent looting. Elephants have broken into dozens of trucks that have stopped along the route to eat the truck's sweat cargo.
2007-01-29 - SAPPORO, Japan.
A 60-year-old elephant at Sapporo Maruyama Zoo, the second oldest kept in captivity in Japan, died on Sunday, officials said. Hanako had been healthy until Saturday but suddenly died when she lost her balance and fell over, apparently squashing her internal organs. Hanako had been popular with visitors to the zoo since her arrival in July 1953. In 1999, Hanako briefly refused to eat following the death of an elephant at the zoo. But she eventually recovered and was the sole elephant at the zoo.
2007-01-29 - Boston, United States. Andrew Ryan
State Senator Robert L. Hedlund insists that he is not a crusader. Nor, the Weymouth Republican hastens to add, is he a "vegetarian or anything." "It's just the further I got into this thing, the more appalled I became," Hedlund said today in a telephone interview. Hedlund is talking about elephants. Since late 2004, he has been pushing a bill on Beacon Hill to toughen the training and cruelty standards for circuses that bring elephants to Massachusetts.
2007-01-29 - Colchester, United States.
It was on January 17 that Colchester Zoo discovered Zola was pregnant after tests were carried out by the German Primate Research Centre in Goettingen. A zoo spokeswoman said: “Keepers at Colchester Zoo were confident that she was indeed pregnant as she had not been in oestrus for some months. “A birth date is not yet known, however from several observed matings keepers at Colchester Zoo expect it to be around February or March 2008.”
2007-01-28 - Davis, United States. Yon L, Kanchanapangka S, Chaiyabutr N, Stanczyk F, Meepan S, Lasley B. University of California
The phenomenon of musth is a very stressful event, both behaviorally and physiologically. An ACTH stimulation test was conducted in four adult Asian bull elephants to investigate the possibility that the classical hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is active during musth, resulting in an increase in adrenally produced steroids. The pattern of results suggests that the adrenal steroid increase which occurs during musth results from some mechanism other than the classical HPA axis.
2007-01-28 - Rome, Italy. Raffaele De Ritis
A partial view of the 12 elephants. Costumes and harnesses glows in the dark. "I must say, this certainly puts things into proper perspective as compared to the crap Ken & Nicole keep cranking out these days." Buckles Woodcock
2007-01-28 - Kampala, Uganda. Gerald Tenywa
THE elephant population in Queen Elizabeth National Park has hit the level of three decades ago of about 3,000. According to a census report released by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the elephant population is about 2,959, up from 2,497 in 2004. The population doubled between 2000 and 2004 when it increased from 1,100. UWA’s head of research and monitoring Aggrey Rwetsiba attributed the growth to reduced poaching and increased migration of elephants from DR Congo. The park’s managemen...
2007-01-28 - Narok, Kenya. Nicholas Wadhams, Chronicle Foreign Service
Mary Sinigi hates elephants. In December, an elephant terrorized her village, chased her husband down a dirt path and ripped the roof off her home while she and her five children cowered inside. "Because of elephants, we never rest," Sinigi said, recalling the predawn invasion. "When the kids leave in the morning to go out to school, we are not certain they will come back until we see them again."
2007-01-28 - Houston, United States. SALATHEIA BRYANT, Houston Chronicle
Houston Zoo officials had their hopes dashed this week when an ultrasound determined the middle-aged elephant was not pregnant. For weeks now, some zoo officials suspected Methai was in a family way after she was bred with the zoo's lone adult male, Thai, last summer. "We wanted to find out: Is she is, or is she ain't? And we know she ain't," zoo spokesman Brian Hill said Friday.
2007-01-28 - Lusaka, Zambia.
Zambia has urged the US to rescind its decision not to allow their citizens to bring trophies from elephant-hunting safaris. Zambia maintains that the elephant trophy-hunting is key to the conservation of elephants. A Zambian delegation has met the US Fisheries and Wildlife Services authorities to argue that increased quotas for trophy hunting in selected areas with transboundary elephant populations are necessary, reported Zambia Daily Mail Saturday.
2007-01-27 - ROYAL OAK, United States.
Katherine Perlman believes the Detroit Zoo needs elephants and on Saturday she did her part to bring back pachyderms by drawing and painting a picture of an elephant on a ceramic tile. "I was very upset when the elephants left," the 9-year-old West Bloomfield youth said, referring to the elephants that left the zoo for a bigger home at a California sanctuary in 2004. "I like elephants. They are big."
2007-01-27 - KUANTAN, Malaysia. Shahrum Sayuthi
She was the ringleader, steering her cohorts on destructive rampages around several villages and signalling the retreat when things got too hot. Her year-long reign of terror ended yesterday. The female elephant, believed to be 20 to 30 years old, was caught after her latest exploit at Kampung Nadak Seberang last Thursday. For the past year she has led the raids of about 20 elephants on oil palm holdings and orchards here and in Panching, destroying crops and trees.
2007-01-27 - Karachi, Pakistan. Sidra Rafique Gooda
It has been almost six months since the death of “Anarkali,” who passed away on July17, 2006, and the Karachi Zoo still remains without an elephant, which is considered as a major source of attraction at any zoo. Anarkali the elephant was the heart of the zoo and there has, to-date, been no replacement after her death.After Anarkali, efforts have also increased in this regard. According to Mansoor Qazi, the Sri Lankan government is interested in donating a baby elephant to the Karachi Zoo.
2007-01-26 - St. Louis, United States. EAZA
Daily elephant care including but not limited to feeding, stall cleaning, foot and skin care and training of 1.1 African Elephants within a protected Contact Management System. Performs daily educational demonstrations. Position opening: Seasonal; starts as early as April 1st – position terminates 10/31/2007
2007-01-26 - Dallas, United States. DAVID SCHECHTER / WFAA-TV
The elephant barn at the Dallas Zoo was built almost 50 years ago, and it is not quite big enough to meet recently upgraded guidelines. Is it time to close the elephant exhibit? The Dallas Zoo may find out if it follows a national trend. New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco have already eliminated their pachyderm programs. The main reason is because elephants are expensive. It can cost about $65,000 a year to care for them, and they need a lot of space to roam. "I think the...
2007-01-26 - Chester, United Kingdom.
A vacancy has arisen to join the Elephant Team in Chester Zoo developing our Elephant care programme and manage our growing herd. Ideally candidates will have proven experience of working with a mixed herd in both free and protected contact. Keepers with substantial experience with other animals who are looking to move into elephant conservation may be considered This is not a post for a trainee. Candidates must already have or be prepared to obtain the ANC Management of Zoo Animals or an equiva...
2007-01-25 - Yala, Sri Lanka. THARUKA DISSANAIKE
Sri Lankas only known crossed-tusk elephant in the wild, known locally as Dalaputtuwa dies of paralysis caused by gunshot wounds in the periphery of a highly protected national park. The tusker, a rare sight in Sri Lankan jungles, was shot by 35-year old Punchi Banda Samarathunge as he stood guard over his war zone-bordering village on the outskirts of the National Park with a T-56 rifle.
2007-01-25 - Vallejo, United States.
Responsible for the feeding, cleaning and maintenance of Elephant Encounter area and for entry level training of elephants and behaviors. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Feed, brush and bathe animals as directed by Supervisor or Asst. Supervisor. Give commands to ask elephant to lay down, move. If needed, brush elephant from atop their back and head. Perform night feeds as assigned.
2007-01-25 - Nashville, United States.
The Nashville Zoo is accepting applications for the position of elephant keeper. The responsibilities of this position include all aspects involved in the daily care and management of 0.3 African elephants and their facilities in a free contact system. The Nashville Zoo elephant department encourages and supports all its members to initiate or participate in projects involving research, education, training, conservation and general elephant management.
2007-01-25 - HOHENWALD, United States. Kate Elliott, The Elephant Sanctuary,
One year ago, eight elephant veterans of the circus, Minnie, Lottie, Queenie, Debbie, Ronnie, Frieda, Billie and Liz were chained in a dark windowless barn. They had been that way for nearly two years. Today they spend their days roaming over 200 acres in middle Tennessee at The Elephant Sanctuary, enjoying the best life a captive elephant can have.
2007-01-24 - Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Matthew Williams, The Birmingham News
Nikolai Illie, an animal handler, waits with an elephant at the train yard Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007, before the walk through downtown Birmingham, Alabama, to the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center arena. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus will perform its show through Saturday.
2007-01-24 - Orlando, United States. EAZA
2007-01-24 - Santa Barbara, United States. Sheyla Molho
Thanks to their love for film, four Santa Barbara 17-year-olds—Freddie Weston Smith, Freddy Meyer, Bradley Lonson, and Spencer Spottiswoode—and one 18-year-old university student from Pasadena named Toby Eversole went to South Africa along with the Disney Studios vet team. Once there, they helped tackle the overpopulation of elephants problem in Africa in a somewhat controversial manner: they captured the first vasectomy ever performed on a male elephant!
2007-01-24 - San Andreas, United States. Mike Taylor
Good Samaritans have popped out of the woodwork to help people at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in San Andreas provide sweet treats for jumbo-sized retirees. African and Asian elephants that roam fortified compounds at Ark 2000 are thumping their trunks as volunteers have donated mulberry branches to the facility. The tree limbs are a popular and healthy snack for the animals.
2007-01-24 - Mananthavady, India.
Four people were sentenced to three years Rigorous Imprisonment and fines of Rs. 10,000 each for poaching an elephant in Kerala. Five others were given three years Simple Imprisonment and fined Rs. 10,000 each, while one person was given the benefit of doubt and let off.
2007-01-24 - BANGALORE, India.
Even after the death of brigand Veerappan, a few members of his erstwhile gang are still operating in M.M. Hills and surrounding jungles in Kollegal taluk of Chamarajnagar district. In the last one month, at least three male elephants were shot dead in Ponnachi Reserve Forest area in M.M. Hills. Alarmed by the death of the elephants, the staff of CID Forest Cell and Forest Department camped in M.M. Hills for over a fortnight and arrested seven people belonging to two gangs on charges of killing ...
2007-01-24 - Lampang, Thailand. Musings
But the best part about this leg of the trip was the elephants! We chose the hotel we did because they work in conjunction with the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, and have a dozen elephants on their grounds. Frederick and I took a one-day "Mahout Training Course" where we were each given an elephant and taught some basic commands. We learned a couple of different ways to get on and off the critters, got to ride the elephants around the camp, and at the end of the day, we (along with the maho...
2007-01-23 - Trissur, India.
Around 20 elephant experts from South and Southeast Asia would be given a two-week training on elephant management here in September. The free training programme, the first of its kind in India, is being organised by the Bangalore-based Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre. "There will be around 20 experts from countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Thailand besides India," Jacob Cheeran, a veteran elephant expert, told IANS.
2007-01-23 - Miami, United States. EAZA
Entry level elephant keeper position available working with 1.1 Asian and 1.2 African elephants in a protected contact system. 1 year of paid elephant experience required. Prefer experience with operant conditioning and environmental enrichment.
2007-01-23 - Florida, United States. Kellogg ME, Burkett S, Dennis TR, Stone G, Gray BA, McGuire PM, Zori RT, Stanyon R.
Sirenia (manatees, dugongs and Stellars sea cow) have no evolutionary relationship with other marine mammals, despite similarities in adaptations and body shape. Recent phylogenomic results place Sirenia in Afrotheria and with elephants and rock hyraxes in Paenungulata. Sirenia and Hyracoidea are the two afrotherian orders as yet unstudied by comparative molecular cytogenetics. Here we report on the chromosome painting of the Florida manatee.
2007-01-23 - Karimganj, India. SANTANU GHOSH
Alarmed by the death a 50-year-old woman in another raid by a herd of wild elephants on Friday night, the district administration has asked villagers to avoid the stretch between Sunagiri and Medli tea estate under Patherkandi block after dusk. The rampaging herd uses the corridor near Piplagool village to stray into tea gardens and human habitation in search of food, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
2007-01-23 - Houston, United States.
Mac is certainly a happy, noisy little elephant. But the one thing you don’t hear much from Mac are his footfalls. Did you know that elephants are actually very, very quiet walkers? Because of the way their feet are shaped (with a spongy “shock absorber†sole), and the fact that elephants essentially walk on their tiptoes (Asian elephants have five “hidden†toes on their front feet, four on the back), these huge animals can actually move quite silently.
2007-01-23 - HANOI, Vietnam.
Two young men drove motorbikes to the Lac Lake tourism area from Lam Dong Province on the morning of January 23. The guides there showed them how to ride elephants and instructed them on how to behave around the elephants. However, forgetting the instructions, one of the tourists, Tri, 22, ran toward an elephant after he had finished taking a picture and handed the camera to his friend who was sitting on the back of the elephant. At that moment, the elephant threw Tri to the ground and trampled ...
2007-01-22 - Monte Carlo, France.
The proclamation of winners took place last night. The only Golden Clown was awarded to a family of horse and animal acts: the Casartelli, of Circo Medrano. The award Gala Show and cermony will take place on Tuesday Evening. Golden awrd was won by Casartelli Family (taly) for the ensemble of their 4 presentations :Aladin » pantomime (elephants and exotics, including 2 giraffes and a rhino), equestrian « pas de deux »,Gipsy Fantasy » equestrian tableau
2007-01-22 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Stephhef
An elephant was walking through the round about directly in front of me. Now I have seen elephants before, but one in the city, walking down a road a block from my “home” was quite a new experience. The two men were trying to get people to give the young elephant food. (I say young but the elephant still toward over me as well as everyone else in the area.) I did feel rather sorry for the animal, but realize that elephants are work animals here in Thailand, much like a mule, or a horse. I wa...
2007-01-21 - Vitshumbi, Congo. Congo Rangers
Approximately 25 hippos and 3 elephants have been killed at Vitshumbi in the last few days. This is an area where we had estimated around 30 hippos to exist following our last aerial census of the park. The prognosis does not look good and by now it may well be too late to save the last few individuals. ICCN rangers are being prevented to carry out their legal mandate to patrol in the area and protect the wildlife due to the presence of these armed groups, and in the absence of respect for a rec...
2007-01-21 - Bandar Lampung, Indonesia.
Continuing illegallogging in South Bukit Barisan National Park in Lampung andBengkulu provinces has threatened habitats of rare animals likerhinos, tigers, and elephants. "If there is no concrete action to stop such illegalpractices, tigers, rhinos, and elephants in the park will comeinto extinction," said official of World Wildlife Fund for Nature(WWF) Indonesia di Lampung Nurcholis Fadhli Sunday.
2007-01-21 - San Diego, United States. CONNIE LEWIS
A state Assemblyman who is crafting a bill that would dictate how much space is needed for elephant enclosures at zoos across California, says the Wild Animal Park is on the right track, but the San Diego Zoo isn’t. At least not at present. Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, said he is still working on the details. But a bill he plans to propose likely would call for zoos, circuses and other organizations to keep no more than three elephants in 5-acre enclosures. For each additional elephant, the space...
2007-01-20 - Front Royal, United States. Brown JL, Somerville M, Riddle HS, Keele M, Duer CK, Freeman EW. Department of Reproductive Sciences, Smithsonian Institution
Concentrations of serum testosterone, cortisol, thyroxine (free and total T4), triiodothyronine (free and total T3) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured to assess adrenal and thyroid function as they relate to testicular activity and musth in captive elephants. In summary, a number of bulls did not exhibit musth despite being of adequate physical maturity.
2007-01-20 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
FOUR elephants, a band of gorillas, one lion and a giant tortoise were all put up for sale today. Blackpool Zoo is on the market - less than four years after the council handed it over to a private operator. Grant Leisure, who took over the running of the East Park Drive attraction in April 2003, has told the council that it is proposing to sell its lease for the zoo, along with two other attractions it owns, in order to focus on its core marketing services business.
2007-01-20 - TIRUVANNAMALAI, India.
Eight elephants, including two calves, noticed in the forests near Padavedu in the district over the last week, have damaged crops and caused flutter in the nearby villages. According to sources, elephants from the forests in Andhra Pradesh, which occasionally visit the forests in the Jawadu Hills and its adjoining areas, are now roaming in the Malayalam reserve forest area. Recently, the farmers in Shenbagathoppu, Ramanathapuram and Perumalpettai areas were complaining about these elephants cau...
2007-01-19 - Jinan, China.
"Altogether, seven endangered animals now have difficulties in finding a mate, and most of them are male," zoo manager Wu Kongju said. They include rhinoceros, black ape, musk deer, elephant, golden monkey and zebra. "If an elephant wants to go on a journey to mate, it is impossible to find a cage and truck big enough to transport it," Wu said as an example. Liya was brought from Beijing Zoo to mate with Yakun in May 2006. The two finally fell in love in September. According to Wu, the major rea...
2007-01-19 - Jakarta, Indonesia. ANTARA News
The Sumatran elephant (elephas maximus sumatrensis, sp) in Minas conservation area in Siak district, Riau province, gave birth to a female offspring last week, an official of Sinarmas Forestry conservation division said. "Malina (29)`s baby elephant born on January 9 is like a special New Year present. With the birth of the baby elephant named Bubu, number of the endangered animals in Minas area increased to 9. Bubu was conceived for 22 months.
2007-01-19 - Baraboo, United States. Scott De Laruelle
Circus World Museum lost its largest performer Tuesday morning when Moxie, a 25-year-old African elephant, passed away from a mysterious illness that quickly took his life, said trainer Doug Terranova. While Moxie was a performer to many, to Terranova he was an important member of his family. Terranova got him in 1997 and has worked with him every day since.
2007-01-18 - GIBSONTON, United States. Mitch Traphagen
This weekend, 13-year-old Felicia Frisco will introduce you to Dumbo and Gina, two elephants with whom she has literally grown up. The elephants are at home at the winter home of Terry Frisco. Frisco and his family travel, along with their elephants and tigers, several months out of the year working at circuses and performing educational shows around the country. This weekend, the elephants along with Frisco’s teenage daughter will perform in Gibsonton.
2007-01-18 - VALLEJO, United States. Patricia Yollin
A camel named Jake wore a bush hat with the company logo. Five elephants formed a reception committee. A sea lion called Odie reclined in a golf cart. The scene in Vallejo on Wednesday morning looked like a cross between Noah's Ark and "Jurassic Park." It wasn't. Instead, the occasion was a rebranding ritual: Marine World is now Discovery Kingdom. The name change is part of a $16 million renovation of the theme park that started out in Redwood City in 1968 and is now part of the shrinking Six Fl...
2007-01-18 - Williston, United States. JAY LEVIN
At the time of his death Jan. 7, Harry Locker, 52, was operations manager of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's 20-acre farm for retired circus elephants in Williston, Fla. He joined Ringling in 1997 as an elephant handler. Harry Locker's death was sudden, and his family is awaiting the autopsy results. A graveside service was held Jan. 10 in Florida. The tombstone will have an etching of an elephant, his father said.
2007-01-18 - Yunnan, China.
A herd of seven wild elephants are seen at the Wild Elephant Ravine in a forest park in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province January 17, 2006. Wild elephants are seen at the Wild Elephant Ravine in a forest park in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province January 17, 2006.
2007-01-18 - Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
Place: African Lion Safari. Instructors: Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt, Dr. Frank Goeritz, Dr. Robert Hermes, Dr. Peter Rich, Charlie Gray. Main topics of the workshop are the application of different Ultrasound Technologies (2D, 3D, Color-flow-Doppler etc), the methods of semen collection, and artificial insemination techniques.
2007-01-17 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Antoinette van de Water
For years the Elephant Nature Park has been searching for possibilities to expand the Park. Bring the Elephant HOME so far has been able only to buy a number of separate parcels of land close to the park to grow food for the elephants. To buy land adjacent to the current park to really expand it seemed impossible at a reasonable price. But now there’s a possibility!
2007-01-17 - JAKARTA, Indonesia.
Coffee beans exported to the West are being illegally grown inside an Indonesian national park, threatening the habitat of endangered tigers, elephants and rhinos, the WWF said Wednesday. "If this trend of clearing park land for coffee isn‘t halted, the rhinos and tigers will be locally extinct in less than a decade," Nazir Foead, WWF-Indonesia‘s Director of Policy and Corporate Engagement, said in a statement.
2007-01-17 - Koraput, India. KalingaTimes
Two children of a family were trampled to death by wild elephants in Kusumbhatta village of Orissa's Koraput district on Monday night sending shockwaves among the people in the region. Eight-year-old Kaushalya Santa and her brother Gupta Santa (7) died when elephants crushed near their house. This is the second such incident in Kusumbhatta. A woman of the village was killed by wild elephants in a similar fashion on January 5.
2007-01-17 - Coimbatore, India.
It was a different experience for elephants at the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in Pollachi as an unusual ritual was organised for them as part of the Pongal festival. As farmers across the state celebrated Mattu Pongal yesterday when poojas were performed for the cattle, Yanai (elephant) Pongal was organised at the sanctuary with the pachyderms being dressed up and adored.
2007-01-16 - Houston, United States. EAZA
The Houston Zoo Inc. is seeking an enthusiastic professional to join our Elephant Team. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of an evolving and maturing elephant program. With a new exhibit and barn construction right around the corner, a new born calf, and continued elephant breeding, the Houston zoo elephant program is well on its way to becoming a state of the art program and facility. This is a full time, year-round position and includes responsibility for the care, husbandry, and tr...
2007-01-16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. ColomboPage News Desk
Sixty-four wild elephants and twenty people died in Sri Lanka's North Western Wild Life Zone in 2006 as a result of human-elephant conflict, according to figures from the Department of Wild Life Conservation. Six of the 64 dead wild elephants were tuskers, the Department said. Hunting for tusks, shooting to avoid crop damage, railway accidents and poisoning were the major causes for the elephant deaths.
2007-01-16 - BOBONONG, Botswana.
The departments of Wildlife and National Parks and Agricultural Research have resorted to the use of chilli pepper to prevent elephants from eating crops. A Senior Wildlife Ranger, Mr Israel Nato, told BOPA that the trials were already in place in the Okavango area while in Bobirwa the chilli that they have is only for demonstration purpose.
2007-01-16 - MADIKERI, India.
Though Kodagu district has been bearing the brunt of wild elephant menace from Kutta to Shanivarashanthe, the government is paying scant attention to solve the problem. Recently, wild elephants destroyed five acres of paddy cultivation belonging to two people in Mekoor near Polibetta. Elephants descending from the forest have killed more than 20 and injured 30 people since 1999.
2007-01-15 - Jaipur, India.
Enthused by the good response from online booking of wildlife safari in Ranthambore national park, the Rajasthan government plans to have a similar facility for elephant rides at the famous Amber Fort here. The tourism department is preparing a record of all the 110 elephants to be used for riding. The database involves the name of elephants, mahouts and their rotation number.
2007-01-15 - Thrissur, India.
The elephant museum coming up at Konni in Pathanamthitta district has been designed as an entertainment-cum-information facility featuring pictures, clippings, books and information about Indian elephants and their use in Kerala's cultural context, Forest Range Officer of the district Jayakumar Sharma said.
2007-01-15 - Sunsari, Nepal.
Tetaru Chaudhari, 58, of Baklauri VDC in Sunsari district was trampled to death by a wild elephant on Sunday morning, said the Pakali area police office. The elephant attacked Chaudhari while he was washing his face at a nearby river along with his friends. The elephant attacked them and all but Chaudhari managed to run away, police said.
2007-01-15 - MYSORE, India.
In a joint operation, police and forest officials have arrested four persons, in connection with two elephant poaching cases on Male Mahadeshwara Hills recently. They have recovered a single barrel gun, four bullets and 200 gm of gun powder. The arrested are Santhre Madaiah, Belulli Madaiah and Kumara, residents of Ramagondanahalli and Karana Belligondana Halli, near Poonachi village on Mahadeshwara Hills.
2007-01-13 - Fort Wayne, United States. Kevin Leininger
A famous Fort Wayne native is coming home after nine years. Or maybe that should be 13,000 years. What’s left of Fred the Mastodon, who died in western Allen County millennia ago and was rediscovered while digging for peat moss in 1998, will take up permanent residence at Science Central sometime this spring. The museum is even offering the public a chance to sponsor one of his 275 bones – or a reasonable facsimile thereof. A rib is just $50, but a 9-foot tusk will fetch $2,000 and the massi...
2007-01-12 - Udhagamandalam, India.
The popular elephant ride for tourists was resumed today after a two-and-half-year gap at the famous Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, near here. Nilgiris district collector Santhosh K. Mishra inaugurated the elephant ride early this morning at Theppakkadu camp in the vicinity of the sanctuary. A British couple, who had the honour of taking the inaugural ride today, said they were very happy with the sojourn.
2007-01-12 - El Paso, United States. Elizabeth O'Hara/KFOX News at Nine Anchor
The El Paso Zoo's new director, Steve Marshall, is just three days on the job but already he has an idea of what the year will bring. "You gotta start somewhere, and I think the situation is going to clear itself up," Marshall said Friday.
2007-01-12 - West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Deborah Robinson
Jeff Long's story about Nicholas and Gypsy ("Giving away an elephant is as tough as it seems," Page 1, Jan. 5), elephants left with the Hawthorn Corp. for nearly a year now after their companions were confiscated, is emblematic of the problems of captive elephants in this country. Coming at a time when the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is ferociously defending its position that elephants belong in zoos and that they should be bred as much as possible, the zoos of this country are unwilling t...
2007-01-12 - Jamshedpur, India. ANUPAM RANA
The district forest wing seems to have taken up the task to improve the conditions at the Dalma elephant sanctuary. For, the wing has recommended to the state forest and environment ministry to invite wildlife experts to give suggestions to improve the issues, concerning elephant corridors, pollution and habitant.
2007-01-12 - Chachoengsao, Thailand. MANIT SNUBBOON
The chief of Khao Ang Rue Nai wants the road through the wildlife sanctuary closed at night after a herd of elephants held up and looted a string of cargo trucks. About midnight last Saturday a herd of 20 elephants blocked route No.3259 (the Ban Nong Kog-Ban Wang Nam Phon road) holding up 10 trucks, Yoo Senatham said.
2007-01-11 - Cushing, United States.
A fisherman who thought he hauled up an ancient wooly mammoth tusk on Georges Bank has received new information. An expert who examined the tusk at the Maine State Museum tells a Portland TV station that he believes it came from a mastodon, a slightly smaller creature. Tim Winchenbach of Cushing, Maine found the tusk while scallop fishing several weeks ago on the New Bedford-based dragger Celtic.
2007-01-11 - Nghe An, Vietnam. Ngọc Binh- Hoang Sang, VietNamNet Bridge
A huge elephant skeleton estimated to date back thousands of years has just been discovered in Khe Dinh River by a local farmer, Pham Van Dong, in Hamlet 4, Hong Son village, Do Luong district, Nghe An Province. Dong said that on December 14, 2006 while going to his rice paddy at around 1 o’clock, he saw what he thought was an upright iron wood log sticking out of the river. Finding it unusual, he dug around the place, and to his amazement, amongst layers of mud were more huge animal bones.
2007-01-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. ColomboPage News Desk
Sri Lanka will present an elephant calf to China next month to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Cabinet spokesperson Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said, “As a token of remembrance, an elephant-calf, ‘Migara’, would be presented to the people of China.”
2007-01-11 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Oil palm smallholders in the Kinabatangan and Segama areas have been advised not to shoot at elephants encroaching into their land to seek shelter, following the destruction of their habitat by floods. Sabah's Honorary Wildlife Warden, Datuk Wilfred Lingham, said the smallholders should contact the nearest wildlife officers as they know best how to prevent the elephants from causing further damage to their crops.
2007-01-10 - Nairobi, Kenya. Wittemyer G, Ganswindt A, Hodges K. Save the Elephants
This study investigates the relationship between Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), an ecosystem surrogate measure of primary productivity, and fecal progestin concentrations among wild female elephants. Matched fecal samples and behavioral data on reproductive activity were collected from 37 focal individuals during the two-year study.
2007-01-10 - WASHINGTON, United States. Steve Feldman of Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Comments filed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveal new data that demonstrates elephants in accredited zoos are in very good health. "Anti-zoo extremists should call off their orchestrated attacks against zoos. The facts are indisputable, elephants in accredited zoos are thriving," said AZA Executive Director Kristin Vehrs.
2007-01-10 - KOLKATA, India. Bappa Majumdar
When a herd of wild elephants rampaged through a school kitchen in India's West Bengal state, gobbling up rice and lentils, seven-year-old Suman Bera and classmates were left without lunch and lessons. The animals left a trail of destruction in their search for food, forcing officials to cancel classes.
2007-01-09 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has launched a massive security operation in its key nature reserves after poachers killed 17 elephants and two rare black rhinos during the holiday season, said state radio on Tuesday. The country's security forces and extra rangers have teamed up in a joint operation dubbed Operation Stronghold in the wildlife-rich northern Zambezi Valley and in the Hwange and Chizarira national parks, said the report.
2007-01-09 - New York, United States. BRENDAN BERNHARD
Last comes the relationship between a black man, Solomon James, and an Asian elephant, Shirley, in a Louisiana zoo. Shirley, 52, hasn't seen a member of her tribe in a quarter century, as the zoo can't accommodate a second elephant. But now she's being moved to a wildlife preserve where she'll rejoin an elephant she knew in her youth: They were in a circus together.
2007-01-08 - Dzanga Bai, Central African Republic.
Wildlife Conservation Society biologist Andrea Turkalo doesn't just study elephants—sometimes she lives with them too. Turkalo has spent the past 15 years researching the forest elephants of Dzanga Bai, a large clearing in the Central African Republic. Join Turkalo in the field as she works to unravel the mysteries of the elusive forest elephants, and learn what keeps the "elephant woman" coming back for more.
2007-01-07 - Beerwah, Australia.
Elephantasia is Australia Zoo’s newest exhibit, and it’s finally open. We are so excited! Not only is Elephantasia a luxurious, enriching and comfortable environment for our three elephant girls – Siam, Sabu and Bimbo – to spend their days in, it’s also an absolutely incredible and beautiful work of art that our guests really enjoy. You can even hand-feed our gorgeous girls twice daily for FREE, right here at Elephantasia!
2007-01-07 - Calcutta, India. Karimganj
It is an odd dilemma for forest officials of the district — torn as they are between the need to save human life and crops from marauding elephants and risking a decline in pachyderm population, as herds of them flee into neighbouring Bangladesh when chased away from the border district. The dilemma only deepens every winter.
2007-01-07 - Andaman Islands, India. BEN CLERKIN, Sunday Herald Sun
ON land, he lumbers through the dust, bowed by the burden of his 3.5-tonne bulk. But in the ocean Rajan is an elephant transformed: the cumbersome trundler becomes a creature of speed and elegance. The pictures were shot by wildlife photographer Steve Bloom in the Andaman Islands and appear in his new book, Elephant!
2007-01-06 - Guwahati, India.
Elephants participate in an elephant festival at the Kaziranga National Park, about 235 km (146 miles) east from Guwahati, the main city of India's north-east state of Assam, January 5, 2007. The festival is organised every year in January and February to create awareness among the people about the habits of the animal so that they can live together in peace.
2007-01-06 - Yerevan, Armenia. Rhyne
Hrantik is the only elephant in Yerevan's Zoo; his "real" name is Elbrus. Hrantik came to Armenia from Moscow Zoo in 1999 - his parents still live there - in the form of a gift. Being twelve, he has started noticing a need for something very special: a female elephant!
2007-01-06 - Cape Cod, United States.
Tim Winchenbach came home after 17 days aboard a New Bedford-based scallop boat with more than salt-crusted hair and fish tales for his wife and young daughters. "I told them I had a present. Then I said it was a woolly mammoth tusk," Winchenbach, 31 , said in a telephone interview yesterday from his home in Cushing, Maine. "My wife was like, 'Yeah, right.' "
2007-01-06 - Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. topi lyambila
Last week we carried a report from the National Council of SPCAs saying wild elephants in Zimbabwe are being captured and exploited for commercial purposes. Shearwater Adventures have denied the allegations and here appended is their response;
2007-01-05 - New Delhi, India.
Members of Parliament from Assam have sought the relaxation of Wildlife (Protection) Act, urging Delhi to allow elephant capture. The appeal was issued to-day in a memorandum from 20 MPs of the Northeast to minister of state for environment and forests Namo N. Meena. The memo urged the ministry to “specifically” allow Assam to capture wild elephants for domesticating th-em. The Indian elephant has been listed in Schedule I (the most protected species) since 1977
2007-01-05 - Dergaon, India.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi inaugurated the fifth Kaziranga Elephant Festival today. At the function, a pledge was taken to protect Kaziranga National Park’s ecosystem. During his speech at the inaugural function at Mihimukh at Kohora, Gogoi also observed that human-elephant conflicts can be reduced through public awareness. Gogoi said festivals like these, which entail massive participation of people, can go a long way in reducing the human-elephant conflict.
2007-01-05 - Chicago, United States. Jeff Long
A year after mistreatment allegations prompted a great elephant exodus from McHenry County, two of the pachyderms, Nicholas and Gypsy, remain at a controversial circus training farm without good prospects for a new home. They were left behind when eight other Asian elephants were moved last January and February from a farm near Richmond to an elephant sanctuary in the rolling hills of Tennessee. It was a 650-mile journey that began after federal investigators accused Hawthorn Corp., the farm's o...
2007-01-05 - Pahang, Malaysia. Joycey
Even as I'm writing this, my heart is bleeding for baby elephant, Mardos, which was put down one day after Christmas last year. Finally, Mardos can find mercy in death which has been eluding him all his life among uncaring humans. His story is so sad. He fell into a well and his mother presumably cried until she had no more tears, being helpless to get her baby out of the well. Imagine having to walk away from that well, it must have been the hardest thing she ever had to do.
2007-01-04 - Salt Lake City, United States.
Utah’s Hogle Zoo's animal management is announcing the immediate opening of a full time animal care position in our Elephant Encounter area. The Zoo is seeking qualified applicants for this keeper position. This is an exciting opportunity to work in a newly renovated facility. This is a full time, year-round position and includes responsibility for the care and husbandry of the resident African elephants and white rhinos, as well as other animals as assigned.
2007-01-03 - Dresden, Germany. Ted Chamberlain
Holiday leftovers aren't just for humans. "Elephants around the country will enjoy a delicious lunch today consisting of about five Christmas trees each," Ragnar Kuehne of Zoo Berlin told the Reuters news service on January 3 (Germany map). Unlike the pie, pudding, and honeyed ham that may be haunting your fridge, though, pine trees' unique oils may actually help some animals' digestion, Kuehne said.
2006-12-28 - Dubbo, Australia.
Australasias oldest male asian elephant has died at a zoo in central-western New South Wales. The one-tusked elephant affectionately known as Heman was found dead by his keepers at Dubbos Western Plains Zoo this morning. Heman moved from Sydneys Taronga Zoo in 2005 to a custom built elephant exhibit at the Western Plains Zoo with his long term partner, Burma. Believed to be just over 50, Heman came to Australia from Singapore in the 1960s.
2006-12-28 - Dhenkanal, India.
A wild elephant looking for food Thursday killed a villager in a forest in Orissa, an official said. The elephant attacked Udayanath Behera, 44, a resident of Sartentulia village in Dhenkanal district, in the forest where he had gone to collect firewood, district forest officer M.M. Panigrahi told IANS.
2006-12-27 - Boston, United States. Tom Ashbrook
When the poachers came into Zambia's Luangwa National Park, they were deadly effective and completely merciless. Then came a UN crackdown on the ivory trade and Mark and Delia Owens. The American zoologist couple had written "Cry of the Kalahari," and been thrown out of Botswana.
2006-12-26 - JAIPUR, India.
Riding an elephant to the top of the amber fort in India's desert state city Jaipur is a must-do tourist attraction, but city living is not ideal for the animals. Now domesticated, they work the tourist trade in a city where, in summer, temperatures peak at around 40 degrees Celsius. In the past, their treatment has been harsh, but UK-based charity Elephant Family has been on a mission to teach owners and riders to treat the elephants better. Giving both financial aid and education to improve co...
2006-12-25 - Calcutta, India. Mary K. Brunskill
A wild elephant killed three people by lifting them with its trunk one by one and throwing them on the ground in a forest range in eastern India on Sunday, police said. The three died on the spot and 10 others were wounded. The elephant was looking for food when it encountered the three villagers in the Purlia district.
2006-12-25 - Baltimore, United States. Nicole Fuller
Facing a record budget deficit, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is seeking an additional $4 million in state funding to maintain its operations. This spring, three elephants from the Philadelphia Zoo - Petal, Kallie and Bette - will make Baltimore their new home. An $11 million upgrade is planned for the elephant exhibit, adding 6 acres of space to its existing grounds. The state has pledged $5.5 million for the project.
2006-12-25 - Jalpaiguri, India.
After four elephants of West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district were killed on being hit by the train, railway trains drivers in the district worshiped an elephant. Forest department sources say the train drivers worshipped the elephant so that they could seek divine help in preventing any further elephant deaths.
2006-12-24 - Baikunthapur, India.
Forest officials in West Bengal on Sunday expressed concern over the rising number of elephant deaths in the region. On Saturday, an elephant's body was found in the Baikunthapur forest of the Jalpaiguri district. The pachyderm is believed to have died under mysterious circumstances.
2006-12-24 - Purulia, India.
Three men were dashed to death by a rogue elephant at Jhalda area in West Bengal's Purulia district today. Police said the incident occurred when villagers suddenly heard the elephant's movement in the area and rushed to investigate. The elephant killed a man from Pawara village and two from Kulma village in Jhalda's Begunkodor area.
2006-12-23 - Agartala, India. Pinaki Das
Forest officials in Tripura are concerned over the increase in elephant poaching cases. In one such case, five elephant tusks weighing over five kilograms were recovered from three poachers. Acting on a tip off, Agartala Police set a trap and nabbed the poachers who were attempting to smuggle the tusks to Bangladesh.
2006-12-22 - RATNANAGAR, Nepal.
The preparations for the International Elephant Race has been almost complete. The competition to be organized by the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan with the co-organizers, Bachhauli VDC, Mrigakunja Forest Users Commmittee Baghmara Buffer zone Community Forest, Chitrasen Buffer zone Community forest and Sauraha Tourism Entrepreneurs' Group, will be held for three days.
2006-12-22 - AYUTTHAYA, Thailand.
Santa Claus got some big helpers in Thailand this week, as pachyderm elves passed out gifts to school children. The elephants, dressed in Santa outfits complete with hats, lumbered through the streets of Ayutthaya, Thailand, and used their trunks to hand out stuffed toys and balloons to the children.
2006-12-22 - Guwahati, India.
Conservationists in Asom have lashed out at forest officials for shooting dead an elephant, mistaking it to be a killer. The forest officials resorted to the extreme step after an elephant named 'Osama bin Laden' ran amok, killing 27 people. However, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) officials said 'Osama' was not the actual one who created the havoc, but a look-a-like.
2006-12-22 - Bukit Tigapuluh, Indonesia.
Two Sumatran elephants were found dead near a community palm oil plantation in Kuantan Mudik sub district - Kuantan Singingi district Indonesia. The two elephants (a bull and a cow ) were discovered in an area adjacent to PT Artelindo Concession recently cleared by the community. The elephants were first discovered by the local community on 2 December following which a WWF team was deployed to field to investigate the deaths.
2006-12-22 - Gaighat, Nepal. THT Online
Two persons were killed when a wild elephant attacked them at Katari of Udaypur district this morning. One Nara Bahadur Magar, 38, of Dhikuwa of Khotang was killed on the spot when the wild elephant attacked him when he had gone to a local Tawa river for lavatory, police said. The same elephant also trampled Sita Gurung, 45, of Katari VDC to death while she was collection water from a tap.
2006-12-22 - Anchorage, Alaska, United States. Lauren Maxwell
It was more than a year ago when we first told you that Maggie, the elephant at the Alaska Zoo, was getting the first-ever elephant treadmill in the country. We wanted to bring you an update now. In the months since the treadmill was installed, Maggie has been getting used to it...very slowly. Her keepers have been working with her every day and say Maggie will now venture into the confined area that holds the treadmill and stand on top of it. Although, they have yet to actually turn it on.
2006-12-21 - , United States.
The world renowned Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey® Center for Elephant Conservation located in central Florida is pleased to announce a unique training opportunity in Elephant Care. Successful graduates of the program will be eligible for employment in the animal departments of one of Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey® circus traveling units or permanent elephant facilities. The next training program will begin in April 2007.
2006-12-21 - Memphis, United States. EAZA
We have an opening for a Keeper in our Pachyderm/Hooved Stock area. This position requires a minimum of two years of experience in exotic animal care, including knowledge of training concepts and philosophies needed to work with pachyderms and a varied collection of hooved animals and birds, and a college degree in zoology, biology or a related field (or the equivalent combination of education and experience).
2006-12-21 - JAIPUR, India. Prakash Bhandari
In a landmark judgment, the Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan High Court has treated an elephant as a "living being at par with a human being" and ordered payment of Rs 5,99,440 as compensation to the owner of the animal which died in a road accident near the historic Amber palace here in 1988.
2006-12-20 - Vienna, Austria. Weissengruber GE, Egger GF, Hutchinson JR, Groenewald HB, Elsässer L, Famini D, Forstenpointner G. Veterinary University of Vienna
The cushions in the feet of African elephants were examined by means of standard anatomical and histological techniques, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The micromorphology of elephant feet cushions resembles that of digital cushions in cattle or of the foot pads in humans but not that of digital cushions in horses. Besides their important mechanical properties, foot cushions in elephants seem to be very sensitive structures.
2006-12-20 - Monroe, United States. Victoria E. Freile
Seneca Park Zoo and Monroe County officials today announcd the outcome of the zoo's Experience Great Things fundraising campaign, and honored its campaign co-chairman, the late Gabe Dalmath. Both announcements were made during a morning news conference at the zoo, 2222 St. Paul St.
2006-12-20 - Calcutta, India. Soumen Dey
The news item “Death warrant out for rogue Laden” in The Telegraph northeast dated December 15, 2006, said “it should take one single bullet to fell a rogue”. So much ado over a “rogue” elephant! The statement itself sounded like a royal proclamation. As did the recent proclamation by the government to kill the rogue elephant that was, according to media reports, on a rampage in Sonitpur East forest division. (The elephant was killed on December 16).
2006-12-20 - Wayne, United States. JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY
Director/Producer, Dr. Paul Cahill shot his 30-minute Asian Elephant documentary, "The Long Goodbye" using JVC's GY-HD100. The documentary illustrates the conditions faced by 'domestic' elephants in Thailand and the importance of preserving this species. According to Cahill, "The GY-HD100 performed exceptionally well in all kinds of adverse conditions - it was knocked down by elephants, subjected to extreme temperatures and humidity of a tropical forest and launched from the cargo compartment of...
2006-12-19 - DHENKANAL, India. Statesman News Service
Thousands of officials, students and local peoplegathered today to watch the ‘soil bathe’ of eighteen elephants including two tuskers near Shyamcharanpur in the municipality area. The sight captivated the audience from 6 am to 6 pm. As evening approached the gathered crowd was beyond the control of the forest officials. The crowd affected the traffic on the way to Shyamcharanpur. According to forest officials the elephants strayed into the municipality areas from Saptasajya and Megha ...
2006-12-19 - Guwahati, India. Indo Asian News Service
A herd of about 100 wild elephants Tuesday went on a rampage in a town in the northeastern state of Assam, seriously injuring two people and damaging many houses and shops. A police spokesman said the elephant herd went berserk in the town of Hojai in Nagaon district, about 180 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati. The herd consisting of about 100 elephants marched through the main streets and alleys and damaged whatever came in their way - from houses to roadside shops- and also injured two...
2006-12-19 - Kuiburi National Park, Thailand. Chariya SENPONG
I have lost my crops due to elephants coming down to feed, hundreds of thousands of pineapples each night for the past ten years. It’s stressful, but if we hurt the elephants, it is our loss; we may forfeit the property our livelihood depends on; a much bigger loss than having the elephants feed on the crops.” Sing Suepsutta, a grey-haired, pineapple farmer expresses sadness about his experiences on his 30 rai farm and his encounters with the Kuiburi wild elephants.
2006-12-19 - Chirundu, Zimbabwe. Jani Meyer
Zimbawean elephants are under threat - not only from poachers, but also from game rangers who "execute" rogue animals. In the past few weeks at least two animals were shot dead, in full view of visitors, by National Park staff at Chirundu in the Zambezi Valley.
2006-12-18 - Brookfield, United States. John Biemer
Brookfield Zoo is planning to expand its elephant exhibit at least fivefold, build a state-of-the-art indoor house and increase the number of the pachyderms from two to six, zoo director Stuart Strahl said Monday. The improvements, which would cost tens of millions of dollars and be part of a sweeping master plan to modernize the entire zoo, is about seven years from realization and still in the early planning stages, he said. But it comes at a time when some institutions are shuttering their el...
2006-12-18 - Nghe An, Vietnam. Khanh Hoan – translated by Minh Phat
Four wild elephants have been on a rampage in Vietnam’s central Nghe An province for the last 10 days, seriously injuring a man and destroying dozens of hectares of crops. Over 100 households in Bai Lim village in Anh Son district are threatened by the giant animals that seem to be slowly losing their fear of man.
2006-12-18 - DHARMAPURI, India.
A herd of 14 elephants damaged the crops in Podupatti and surrounding villages in Pennagaram taluk on Friday night. According to farmers of Podupatti, the elephant herd has been damaging crops in the past three days during night. About seven acres of cultivated ragi, jowar and a few paddy crops were damaged, they said. They added that several memoranda had been submitted to the forest officials of the range concerned in this regard.
2006-12-17 - DAMAK, India.
Wild elephants have destroyed properties of three houses at Shantinagar-3 of Jhapa district. Five elephants synchronously entered Jhapa from Luhagadh of West Bengal of India Friday morning devoured the food grains and destroyed other properties worth millions of rupees at the houses of local Narad Poudel, Toyanath Bista and Ram Bahadur Gauli.
2006-12-17 - GAUHATI, India.
A killer elephant named after Usama bin Laden by fearful villagers was killed by sharpshooters, officials said Sunday. The animal was blamed for 14 deaths in the northeastern state of Assam. "A licensed shooter shot and killed the 10-foot tall bull near the Behali forest reserve in northern Assam," said wildlife warden Chandan Bora.
2006-12-15 - Bogota, Colombia. Katie Juhl, Reuters
Little baby Pablo (mother is Maggie) is the first African elephant to be born into captivity in Colombia. When he grows up he will literally be the size and weight of a small tractor - weighing some 7 tons (15,400 lbs) and standing at around 4 meters (13 feet) high.
2006-12-15 - CLEVELAND, United States.
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is taking on a project that will make it a leader in the effort to save African elephants from extinction. The zoo has unveiled ambitious plans to build a new world-class elephant habitat and conservation center. The $25 million project will create a five-acre space for the elephants quadrupling the space the animals currently have.
2006-12-15 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan wildlife authorities killed a notorious elephant poacher near one of its famed national parks, officials said on Friday, as neighbouring Uganda reported a huge seizure of illegal ivory. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said its wardens shot dead Somali poacher Hussein Ture in a fierce gunbattle at Tsavo East National Park late on Thursday after tracking him and two colleagues in the bush for three months. "We have been chasing him and his group for about 20 years," KWS spokesperson Connie...
2006-12-15 - Kampala, Uganda.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has impounded a large consignment of ivory valued at 227 million Ugandan shillings (126,000 U.S. dollars) in Kampala. Paul Kyeyune, URA's Public and Corporate Affairs officer, was quoted by local media Friday as saying the 99 pieces of ivory weighing about 250 kg were intercepted at a tip-off at Kabuusu Tuesday midnight on the outskirts of Kampala.
2006-12-15 - Berlin, Germany. Hildebrandt T, Drews B, Gaeth AP, Goeritz F, Hermes R, Schmitt D, Gray C, Streich WJ, Short RV, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
Hitherto, it has only been possible to estimate foetal ages from theoretical calculations based on foetal mass. The recent development of sophisticated ultrasound procedures for elephants has now made it possible to monitor the growth and development of foetuses of known gestational age conceived in captivity from natural matings or artificial insemination.
2006-12-15 - Colin Marshall, Germany.
A German idea of using animal dung to generate electricity is not about to be adopted in New Zealand where zookeepers say they will stick to using it to make fertiliser and compost. Muenchner Tierpark Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich has installed a biogas plant to be fuelled by manure from elephants, rhinos, buffalos and antelopes, and any left-over animal food.
2006-12-15 - GARDEN CITY, United States.
Lee Richardson Zoo is once again home to a pair of pachyderms. Two African elephants arrived here on Sunday from the Jacksonville (Fla.) Zoo, and Lee Richardson officials on Tuesday were prepping to release them into the outside yard for the first time. The newcomers, Missy and Kimba, replace Moki and Chana, who were sent to the Florida zoo in October for breeding after about 20 years here.
2006-12-14 - John C. Kuehner, United States.
This may be the last Cleveland winter for Martika, Moshi and Jo, the three African elephants at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The popular pachyderms will be shipped to new homes next year when the zoo prepares for construction of a new elephant exhibit. The exhibit, estimated to cost $25 million, will be four times the size of the pachyderm house, which dates from the 1950s. The building will be doubled in size, large enough to hold 10 elephants, including a male that will allow the zoo ...
2006-12-14 - Jaipur, India.
The Jaipur police have seized 46 kg of ivory, worth more than Rs one crore in the international market, from ivory traders in the city. The tusks were probably obtained in Arunachal Pradesh from poachers and brought to the city. Jaipur is one of the biggest centres for carving ivory in the country, from where carved products are usually smuggled to countries like Japan, China.
2006-12-14 - SANYATI, Zimbabwe. Wallace Mawire
Villagers in some parts of Sanyati District are living in fear of elephants. Villagers interviewed said elephants, which probably escaped from nearby game reserves, posed a danger to their lives. Two women from Dubugwani said nearby game reserves were not fenced. A young man from Chenjiri said he saw a herd of elephants in the area recently.
2006-12-14 - Yangzi, China.
The fate of the baiji reminds me of the recent book by Mark Elvin, The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China. For millennia, elephants roamed as far north as Beijing and throughout the Chinese heartland and in fact could still be found in regions south of the Yangzi basin as recently as the 14th century. Elvin argues that the 'retreat' of the elephants, "from northeast to southwest, was the reversed image in space and time of that of the economic development and environment...
2006-12-13 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, will conduct a town hall meeting Wednesday at which he and animal activists will discuss their concerns about conditions in which elephants are held in captivity and the reintroduction of his Elephant Protection Act, which would have a major impact in San Diego. During the meeting, longtime animal activist Bob Barker, the host of "The Price is Right," will announce a pledge of $300,000 in a drive to move an African elephant named Ruby from the Los Angeles Zo...
2006-12-13 - New Delhi, India.
A Sri Lankan firm which transforms elephant dung into beautiful, eco-friendly paper, has won a major global competition which rewards businesses and projects that put something back into their communities. ‘Maximus’, based in Kegalle at the foothills of Sri Lanka’s central mountainous region, beat more than 800 other projects from 120 countries to win World Challenge 2006 and a US$20,000 grant from Shell.
2006-12-12 - Indianapolis, United States. Diana Penner
Ashlee Kestler was amazed at how much her "baby,'' Zahara, had grown in a little more than two months -- from a shade under 300 pounds to solid 452 pounds. Kestler, 21, won the contest to name Zahara, born Aug. 31 at the Indianapolis Zoo, and today got her private, backstage meeting with the growing calf, her mother, Ivory, and Sophi, the matriarch of the zoo's herd. She had seen Zahara when she was barely a month old and up from her birth weight of 266 pounds.
2006-12-12 - Kovalam, India.
Tourists in India were invited to a rather strange wedding when two elephants became partners for life. Workers at a hotel in Kerala state organised the ceremony, which saw 12-year-old Raju marry his ten-year-old bride Rani. Both animals were dressed up for the occasion, with traditional golden headdresses, while music was played during the hour-long ceremony before a fireworks display signalled that the marriage had been finalised.
2006-12-12 - New Delhi, India.
Funds for conservation and checking poaching of tigers and several other wild animals have been increased this year, whereas for elephants the allocation has been slashed, according to Union Environment and Forests Ministry. The protection of pachyderms under project elephant received a jolt as its funding decreased from Rs 13.34 crore last year to Rs 11.51 crore this year, down by 13.7 per cent. Significantly, demands for funds from Assam for the project elephant has dropped from Rs 1.30 crore ...
2006-12-09 - London, United Kingdom. Daniel Kilkelly
Lucy-Jo Hudson was attacked by an elephant while filming for the new series of Wild At Heart. "I was attacked by a big male elephant called Bully. He threw me against a fence with his trunk and bashed me with his trunk and his tusks were in my back. It was very scary," Lucy-Jo told The Sun. "The wrangler said he was just playing, teasing me, but because he was big he did bruise me."
2006-12-08 - Mouadje Bai, Congo. Zeeya Merali, issue 2581 of New Scientist magazine
By the time Steve Gulick arrived, it was too late. The poachers had struck, and elephant carcasses carpeted the floor. "You could step from body to body without your feet touching the ground," he says. "Whole elephant families lay next to each other, gunned down for their tusks." The massacre had taken place in the Mouadje Bai rainforest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), at a spot well known among local poachers for the rich haul of ivory it can yield.
2006-12-07 - Guwahati, India.
Animal lovers are queuing up to get a glimpse of an injured baby elephant in Asom. Two-year-old, Rinki, who was hit by a bus, was brought to the Asom Veterinary College here by his owner for treatment.Veterinary officials said the elephant calf is suffering from a spinal chord fracture. The owner of the elephant, who has already spent 40,000 rupees, is now looking for financial support for the treatment.
2006-12-06 - BROWNSVILLE, United States. Associated Press
The 28-year-old elephant Ruth has been at the Gladys Porter Zoo since 1998. Her departure will mark the end of the zoo's elephant exhibit. Milwaukee County Zoo officials plan to begin displaying Ruth later this month. Zoo officials began discussing what to do with Ruth last year, after the death of her companion Macho. Ruth has been the only elephant on display at the zoo since then.
2006-12-06 - MELBOURNE, Australia. Emily Power
Females Dokkoon, Kulab and Num-Oi are thriving at Melbourne Zoo after two years in quarantine on the Cocos Islands. To the delight of keepers, resident cow Mek Kapah, who had not had contact with other female elephants for 25 years, quickly warmed to the arrivals. Keeper Manu Ludden, who has forged a strong bond with the elephants after accompanying them in quarantine, said Mek Kapah has had a settling influence on the youngsters.
2006-12-05 - ITAHARI, Nepal.
A wild elephant killed a girl treading upon her body in Sunsari. The wild elephant, which entered near the locality of Bharaul-3, Nadaha, Bichpani killed nineteen-year-old Narmaya BK, a local of the same place, said Forest Officer Murari Sharma. At least eight people so far have been killed from the rampage of wild elephant in the area. Those killed earlier from the wild elephant were from Itahari, Dharan, Panchkanya, Handposa and Pakani.
2006-12-05 - Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.
A she-elephant with a young cub collided with the night mail train from Colombo to Polonnaruwa yesterday. Both died on the spot, derailing the train and paralysing train services on the line for more than 24 hours. The Sri Lanka Wild Life Department says at least 13 elephants have died since January 2006 in railway accidents between the Minneriya and Galoya railway stations in the Polonnaruwa district of the North Central Province.
2006-12-02 - Calgary, Canada. SHAWN LOGAN, CALGARY SUN
Calgary zoo's massive Project Discovery expansion, which will include a new elephant enclosure and Arctic Shores exhibit, was originally given a price tag some 18 months ago. But Calgary's booming construction market has forced the zoo to rethink its plans, looking to shave costs by breaking the expansion into smaller phases and determine a more accurate price for the project, said Grahame Newton, the zoo's director of corporate affairs.
2006-12-02 - PERNEM, India. HERALD CORRESPONDENT
A herd of elephants went on a rampage and trampled a man to death at Khubarwadi-Pavshi near Goa on Thursday afternoon, besides destroying property and terrifying residents in the area. According to reports, a herd of tuskers strayed in Pavshi village in Kudal-Maharashtra, about 30 kms from Goa’s border.
2006-12-00 - Jaipur, India. Department of Dravyaguna, National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur
Ayurvĕda, the oldest existing medical science of India, which is not only responsible for the health of human beings but also, plays an important in Veterinary sciences. In India, history of traditional Veterinary medicine dates back to the era of Mahãbhãrata i.e.5000 B.C., recorded in the form of "Nakula Samhhitã". Hastãyurvĕda is a treatise on elephants, Palkãpya wrote this Samhitã. The present book is available as a complete Samhitã, edited by Pandit Shivadutta Sharma. Hastã...
2006-11-29 - La Crosse, United States. DAN SIMMONS, La Crosse Tribune
It was a true story about three elephants in Tokyo who died during World War II, and it captured the attention of about 30 first-graders at Franklin Elementary School on Tuesday. Amid the angry roar of enemy planes, bombs began to drop over Tokyo. Can you imagine how badly those zookeepers must have felt, having to sacrifice the elephants to save them from the bombing?
2006-11-29 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Buckles Woodcock and Ole Whitey
Apparently this was taken in Nashville the fall of 1938 when the Barnes-Sells-Floto show with RBBB Features played here. In the background is the old Broad Street viaduct and the flats are being unloaded out of sight to the right, in what we used to call the Kayne Avenue Yards. I had initially thought this an early 1940s pic but you pointed out that the heavily-loaded wagon sides suggested Barnes.
2006-11-29 - London, United Kingdom. John Plunkett, MediaGuardian.co.uk
The image of the 20-month-old elephant foetus, along with pictures of an unborn dolphin and golden retriever, will feature in a Channel 4 documentary due to be broadcast over the Christmas period. But what both the newspaper reports and Channel 4 omitted to mention was that the image of the elephant was a silicone model. "Somewhere along the line, someone appears to have decided it would make a better story if some of the details were glossed over."
2006-11-29 - Yunnan, China. Chuncheng, Evening News China Daily
A female tourist from Yunnan Province was badly injured when four elephants attacked her on a road neighbouring a nature reserve in Xishuangbanna over the weekend. The woman was resting with her tour group at the side of the road when the four elephants attacked. Experts said such attacks were rarely reported and that the elephants may have been frightened by someone else nearby.
2006-11-29 - New Delhi, India. Chetan Chauhan
Of the 40 elephants deaths reported in Orissa since April this year, half have reportedly been killed by poachers. Usage of new tools indicates the involvement of international ivory smuggling rings. In the last ten days alone, six elephant deaths have been reported, of which four are believed to be result of poaching. Professor Raman Sukumar of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said it appears an international smuggling ring has become active in Orissa.
2006-11-29 - Jambi, Indonesia.
Six wild elephants have devastated hundreds of hectares of oil palm trees belonging to local smallholders in Tebo regency, Jambi. Most of the damage to the farms, located near Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumay district, has been done at night, residents say. "The attacks usually start with the elephants 'crying' to each other. There is nothing we can do (to drive away the beasts)," said Bujang.
2006-11-29 - Sydney, Australia.
NSW opposition environment spokesman Michael Richardson claimed figures from the auditor-general showed paid attendance numbers were down almost 30,000 on 2004 figures and running six per cent below budget. But zoo spokesman Mark Williams rejected the claims, saying the enclosure only cost a fraction of the $13 million borrowed for the 12-year master plan refurbishment of the harbourside zoo site.
2006-11-28 - Hamburg, Germany.
At the Hamburg Zoo in Germany, elephant experts train zoo keepers on how to handle the giant animals, particularly on how to properly trim their toenails.
2006-11-28 - West Bengal, India.
In a programme implemented by the wildlife wing of the state forest department, all captive elephants in West Bengal will now have their own "identity cards". The 1 mm by 2 mm microchip will contain all details about the elephants, height, weight and a host of other parameters, inserted in the bodies of the elephants by a sub-cutaneous injection
2006-11-28 - RATNAGAR, Nepal.
The World Elephant Polo Competition began at the elephant polo ground, south of the Meghauli airport here today. Altogether eight teams from Britain, India, Scotland, Sri Lanka and hosts Nepal are taking part in the competition. The six-day competition is being held on a league cum knock-out and organised by the International Elephant Polo Association. The Competition began in Nepal 25 years ago.
2006-11-28 - CHICAGO, United States. The Associated Press
What do a T-Rex skull, two stuffed elephants and a meteorite from Australia have in common? They are among the more than 20 popular exhibits included in an adopt-an-artifact program begun this month by Chicago's Field Museum. The sponsorships start at $25,000 and run as high as $2.5 million for exclusive association with the two African elephants acquired by the museum in 1909.
2006-11-27 - Glasgow, United Kingdom. Ted Chamberlain
Throwing a bit of cold water onto the legend of Loch Ness, paleontologist and painter Neil Clark says the monster was perhaps a paddling pachyderm. Clark noticed similarities in the hump-and-trunk silhouettes of swimming Indian elephants and the serpentine shapes of 1930s Nessie descriptions and photographs, such as the famous 1934 image shown as an inset above.
2006-11-27 - SELEBI-PHIKWE, Botswana. Onalenna Modikwa
The number of people killed by wild animals in Bobirwa this year has risen to three after an elephant trampled a 39-year-old man to death last week. Like the other two deaths, the man met his fate in the evening when coming from work from farms in the area. The incident took place at Pont's Drift in Mashatu Game Reserve along the South African border.
2006-11-26 - Perris, United States. CAROL OLSON
I ARRIVED at Have Trunk Will Travel a half hour earlier than my appointment. There was a long driveway up to the entry gate, so I sat in my car and waited for the excess time to pass. I was at the Perris-based elephant preserve to realize a lifelong dream to ride an elephant. The ranch promotes the understanding and preservation of the endangered Asian elephant and profits from giving rides, doing shows, special events and movies and commercials. The funds are used to care for the elephants and ...
2006-11-26 - Nakuru, Kenya. Winnie Chumo
There was tension in Nakuru’s Kwa Ronda slum when a elephant strayed into the residential area. Residents found the stray elephant from the Mau Forest at around 7 am on Sunday when it started destroying crops and property. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers arrived a few hours later.
2006-11-26 - DHARMAPURI, India.
To protect the elephant population in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri forests, The State Government would take initiatives to establish Cauvery Elephant Sanctuary, covering both Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri forest areas, Forest Minister N Selvaraj said here on Saturday. He said to avoid any life loss and crop loss, the Forest Department had been working to erect solar fencing on the forest borders in the State.
2006-11-25 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Buckles Woodcock
This is a picture from my collection, taken the same day and presents a more detailed view of the show. Johnny: Just awesome, those photos of Bill Woodcock, Black Diamond and A.M. Cauble overland circus and amazing to me is this true story. Bear with me. A few years back I booked our family acts with a friend of mine who had a nice canopy type Wild West Show with bucking bulls, bronks, trick riding, etc.
2006-11-25 - Chesterbrook, United States. FlashPuzzleZone.com
Can you solve the daily jigsaw puzzle? Puzzle Description: Group of elephants including baby elephant. Daily Jigsaw Puzzle from the FlashPuzzleZone.com.
2006-11-25 - Buffalo, New York, United States. Worth1000
In this contest we want you to hide an elephant... hide an elephant as brilliantly shown in the themepost by BrettRobertson! Of course, you're free to show them hiding in urban areas - even silly areas - as well! Suprise us!. Voting until 11/25/2006
2006-11-24 - Agartala, India. Pinaki Das
The West Agartala Police today said that they have recovered five elephant tusk from poachers. Police said that acting on a tip-off, they arrested three poachers from whom the five tusks weighing more than five kilogram were recovered on Wednesday night. According to official record, there are around 50 elephants in Tripura and a proposal of Project Elephant is pending in New Delhi to protect the mammoths.
2006-11-24 - Pretoria, South Africa. Shakespeare A, Strydom S., Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria
A practical method was developed to assess the extent of burns suffered by elephants caught in bush fires. In developing this method, the surface areas of the different body parts of juvenile, subadult and adult elephants were first determined using standard equations, and then expressed as a percentage of the total body surface area. When viewed from a distance, the burnt proportion of all body segments is estimated, converted to percentages of total body surface area, and then summed to determ...
2006-11-24 - Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Johnny Rodrigues, Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
The news of the capture of 12 juvenile elephants by Shearwater Adventures from Hwange National Park is fairly widespread by now. I have just returned from a 3 week trip and was given the distressing information while I was out of the country. I released the story to the media while I was away and now that I am back, I would like to state that the ZCTF is disgusted and disappointed that this cruel practice has been allowed to take place.
2006-11-24 - Auckland, New Zealand. nzherald.co.nz
In Animals in the Womb, to be shown on the National Geographic Channel in the US next month and on Channel 4 in the UK next year, programme makers portray the extraordinary journey into life of an elephant, a dolphin and a dog - from a single cell to a baby mammal. The elephant shows signs its ancestors may not have lived on land, but in the sea. Images of a four-month old elephant embryo show how the baby develops kidney ducts most commonly found in freshwater fish and frogs. They are thought t...
2006-11-23 - DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania. George Obulutsa
Patrols in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park have cut poaching and increased the population of black rhinoceros, elephants and buffalo, a paper to be published on Friday in Science magazine shows. "The animals are 'telling' us poaching is down now that there are 10 to 20 patrols a day compared to the mid-1980s when there might be 60 or fewer patrols a year," said Hilborn, a professor at University of Washington in the United States, in a statement ahead of the paper's publication.
2006-11-23 - Vienna, Austria. Weissengruber GE, Egger GF, Hutchinson JR, Groenewald HB, Elsasser L, Famini D, Forstenpointner G.Department of Pathobiology, Veterinary University of Vienna
The uniquely designed limbs of the African elephant, Loxodonta africana, support the weight of the largest terrestrial animal. The micromorphology of elephant feet cushions resembles that of digital cushions in cattle or of the foot pads in humans but not that of digital cushions in horses. Besides their important mechanical properties, foot cushions in elephants seem to be very sensitive structures.
2006-11-23 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
It was a fight that even surprised the Forest officials of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR). A duel between a tiger and an elephant in which the big cat prevailed. The tiger reserve rarely has witnessed such incidents in the past although tigers are known to kill elephant calves. Every year, two or three calves are hunted by the tigers in the reserve.
2006-11-23 - Auckland, New Zealand. Press Release: Auckland City Council
An exhibition of paintings by Auckland Zoo elephants Kashin and Burma to raise funds to support conservation projects in the wild, is about to go on display at Auckland's Reef Gallery.All profits from the exhibition will go to the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund, which supports a range of overseas and local conservation projects.
2006-11-22 - Surin, Thailand. Bart
I took this one when I was myself riding an elephant! It's important to mention that these elephants are in the streets because of the Annual Round-Up Show. Else, Surin is a lot more quiet.
2006-11-22 - Quang Nam, Vietnam. Vu Hoang (translated by Hoang Bao)
Four elephants Wednesday morning destroyed over 15 ha of rice and crops in central Vietnams Quang Nam province, local authorities said. The Tra Doc commune government said three adults and one baby elephant also destroyed dozens of sentry boxes guarding the fields in the commune. Early this month, the elephants demolished one house, but its seven occupants luckily escaped unharmed. A sentry squad has been formed to keep guard against the rouge animals. Quang Nam has been plagued by similar eleph...
2006-11-22 - Luangwa, Zambia. I.P.A. Manning
Elephants continue to be poached for their ivory and meat in Zambia: last week in the West Petauke Game Management Area of the Luangwa Valley, close to my camp on the Luangwa river, a cow herd was all but obliterated by a poaching gang. The meat from these elephant, from hippo and our now decimated herds of buffalo, is carried to the villages of Rufunsa and Lukwipa on the Great East Road, which links Malawi with the capital, Lusaka, and sold openly to motorists; the ivory, we now know, follows t...
2006-11-22 - Los Angeles, United States. Carla Hall, Los Angeles Times
Remember Ruby? The 45-year-old female African elephant has lived more than half her life at the Los Angeles Zoo. She just hasn't been on exhibit for the last two years due to the logistics of moving elephants around to accommodate the slow, complicated process of constructing the new pachyderm exhibit. "I haven't dismissed anything," zoo Director John Lewis said in a brief interview before the meeting on zoo grounds, though he conceded it was "unlikely" that Ruby would remain in Los Angeles.
2006-11-22 - Spartanburg, United States. Associated Press
An Asian elephant who starred in TV commercials and music videos and was a star An Asian elephant who starred in TV commercials and music videos and was a star at Hollywild Animal Park has died. Donna was 48. The 8-foot, 9-inch tall elephant died suddenly Friday, her 8,000 pounds hitting the ground moments after she was running around and kicking up sand, said David Meeks, executive director and co-owner of the park in rural Spartanburg County.
2006-11-22 - SEATTLE, United States.
For the first time in four years Gary Larson is releasing a page-a-day calendar of some of his greatest hits, in stores now. All his earnings from the 3 million calendars printed, about $2 million according to publisher Andrews McMeel, will go to Conservation International for the organization's work to help end the illegal trade in Asian elephants, Indochinese tigers, Asiatic black bears, pangolins, freshwater turtles, and Siamese crocodiles in Cambodia.
2006-11-21 - Francistown, Botswana. Moses Maruping, allafrica.com
The Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, is currently grading accommodation facilities such as hotels and lodges according to acceptable world standards. Commenting on the problem that Botswana is currently faced with due to the high number of elephants and ivory stockpile, Mokaila said that at the WTM, he met with the Head of CITES policy team for UK, Trevor Salmon and compared notes and shared experiences on how to lobby other countries to note that the revenue generated through the ...
2006-11-21 - Jorhat, India.
Police officials in Jorhat district, one of the strongholds of the outlawed Ulfa, today confirmed that elephants had destroyed several makeshift camps of the militant group on the chaporis — Assamese for sandbank — off Neamati. “We had information about the rebels setting up camps on these small islands and were planning to take action. But the elephants did the job for us,” a senior police officer said.
2006-11-21 - DEHRADUN, India.
Three women were trampled to death by elephants in the Rajaji National Park in Haridwar district of Uttaranchal, police said here on Tuesday. Two women who had gone to collect fodder in Jattowali Bagh and Kadachh area near the wildlife reserve were trampled by a herd of elephants on Monday, they said. In another incident, a woman in Latowali area died after an elephant charged at here the same area of the park. The bodies of the women were later recovered and sent for post-mortem, police added.
2006-11-21 - Mongpong, India. dailyindia.com
A speeding train in Mongpong, North Bengal, has run another elephant, taking the pachyderm death toll in the state to five since May. This is the second time that an elephant has been killed in the area in the last week. About 300 to 350 of them are alive in Northern Bengal region. If it continues like this, such as the five elephants that died, and railway authorities do not take any steps to prevent such incidents, then people will stand in front of the trains to protest against this. This can...
2006-11-21 - Washington, United States.
At 12 months, an elephant fetus is an average of 18 inches long and weighs approximately 26 pounds. It can use its trunk, curling it right up into its mouth and over its head. From "In the Womb: Animals" CGI Artist, Steve Gomez
2006-11-21 - Jaipur, India.
Brightly painted elephants, spangled camels, dancing girls, fire-breathers and sword-wielding soldiers greeted guests at City Palace in Jaipur, India, on Friday in a traditional procession last performed for Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the city 42 years ago. A dinner in the dazzling royal apartments followed, hosted by HRH Bhawani Singh and HRH Padmini Devi, the maharaja and maharani of Jaipur, in honor of a Cartier-sponsored elephant polo match to benefit the local animal shelter, Help ...
2006-11-20 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Buckles Woodcock
This is a picture , taken at the Rochester, Ind. Quarters, of a second act being trained later for Mrs. Beatty. The elephant chosen was "Anna May", namesake of the elephant that was in our family for so many years. Eddie Allen later told me that this number was really "touch and go" and in fact, at the dress rehearsel the night before the Cole Show's indoor opening in Chicago, "Anna May" unloaded the cats and made an exit right thru the side of the arena.
2006-11-20 - JAIPUR, India. Natures Corner
Eighteen protesters from organizations across India were arrested Friday at Jaipur's polo ground as they demonstrated against a game of elephant polo, a sport they say is cruel to the elephants. The protesters say sharp steel hooks used to prod the elephants into obeying their riders cause open wounds, which become painfully infected and are slow to heal. Use of the hooks was not allowed during the actual polo match on Saturday after a campaign against them by animal welfare groups, Elephant Fam...
2006-11-20 - NEW DELHI, India. Rajesh Sinha
Nearly 300 persons are killed every year by wild elephants in India. The figure was as low as 200 till year 1999-2000 - an indicator of the growing human-elephant conflict. In India, elephant habitats have fragmented into 88 patches in the country, and this is increasing under pressure of human population. With their habitats under pressure, elephant herds have moved into areas they have not been seen in for decades.
2006-11-20 - CHANDIGARH, India.
The Centre has sanctioned an amount of Rs 90.75 lakh for setting up of an Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Haryana, Minister of State for Forests and Tourism Kiran Choudhary said here on Monday. A proposal for the establishment of such a centre was sent to the Central government which approved it and released Rs 50 lakh as the first instalment for the current financial year, she said.
2006-11-20 - San Antonio, United States.
The San Antonio Zoo currently has a need for a Zoo Keeper in our Elephant Department. Duties include daily cleaning, feeding, and maintenance of animal exhibits. Zoo Keepers observe, evaluate, and report animal behavior and condition to their supervisor on a daily basis.
2006-11-20 - Tamil Nadu, India. Natarajan Sivaganesan Ph.D Elephant Ecologist
Two female elephants, Palani Kovil (Sumathi - + 35) and Madurai Krishnan Kovil (Thanalashmi + 30)died in Tamil Nadu, South India. This unfortunate even occured within a week (1-10 November 06) due to serious ailments in both the cases, concluded by the expert who performed the postmortum. These elephants used by the temple authorities for daily pooja's over several years.
2006-11-20 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Guy Rogers
ELEPHANTS have been re-introduced into the Somerset East area where they used to occur in passing herds along the Little Fish River. The manager of Kamala Game Reserve, Dale Cunningham, said yesterday the release was the fulfilment of a dream for his father-in-law, Lud de Bruijn. The elephants were acquired from Shamwari through a deal which is facilitating the spread of game in the province. Shamwari carried the cost of the darting and Kamala the cost of transport, with no money required for th...
2006-11-20 - Seoul, South Korea. John M. Regan
No longer a combat soldier, I became a desk jockey in charge of a computer; a “chairborne ranger.” For a pleasant diversion I decided to volunteer at the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. My wife explained my pre-military experience with elephants which included some time with Jack Hanna at the old Central Florida Zoo and a brief apprenticeship with Bill “Buckles” Woodcock at Ringling Brothers.
2006-11-19 - Jaipur, India.
A polo match with players riding on elephant went undeterred in spite of the protest by animal lovers here. Prominent personalities from the corporate world and Bollywood were present to see the match as elephants went on a roll during the match at the Ram Bagh. Palace Polo grounds. Among these celebrities, the former Indian Cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin and his wife Sangita Bijlani happened to be the cynosure as they played in the match representing the opposite sides.
2006-11-19 - WASHINGTON, United States.
When you're young, not much beats your birthday and the National Zoo's baby elephant celebrated his on Sunday. Kids and adults turned out to watch Kandula, the zoo's youngest elephant, open presents for his fifth birthday.The celebration also featured scientist talks, crafts for kids, and a "cake".
2006-11-19 - CALCUTTA, India.
Speeding trains killed two elephants in separate collisions over the past week in India, officials said Sunday. A passenger train hit an elephant as it crossed a track in the northern Dooars region of eastern India's West Bengal state Saturday night, said Tapas Bose, a forest officer in the district. A few days earlier, another elephant died after a freight train knocked it over in a densely forested area also in the Dooars region, Bose said.
2006-11-19 - Kathmandu, Nepal.
A rouge bull elephant in Nepal's east was tranquilised and his tusks cut after 12 deaths were attributed to a three-month rampage by the endangered animal, a park ranger said. "On Saturday the team shot the elephant with tranquiliser darts. The elephant's tusks have been removed," said Shiva Kumar Budhatoki, a ranger from Sunsari district forestry office.
2006-11-19 - Guwahati, India. Indo-Asian News Service
Four members of a family, including an infant, were trampled to death Sunday by wild Asiatic elephants in Assam, the latest in a series of attacks on human beings, wildlife officials said. A forest official said a herd of about seven elephants entered village Borbhugia in Sonitpur district, about 270 km north from here. 'The elephants after entering the village tore apart a hut and killed the entire family of four who were sleeping. The dead include a seven month old baby boy,' Chandan Bora, a w...
2006-11-19 - Kathmandu, Nepal. Yahoo News
Nepalese hunters have captured a wild elephant that trampled to death at least 12 people and injured several others in the country's southeast. A team of 15 forestry officials found the elephant on Saturday after a two week search and shot it with a tranquilizer in the jungles of Sunsari district, about 310 miles southeast of the capital, Katmandu, said Ajit Karna, chief forest official in the area.
2006-11-19 - COIMBATORE, India.
The forest department is well into the job of developing an elephant corridor, by linking the rainforest patches within the private estates in Valparai and also linking these patches with the nearby Reserve Forest area, with the help of private estates in the region, as a permanent solution to the man-animal conflict. The plan is in the initial stage, wherein the forest department, this year, has been raising 10,000 rainforest seedlings. The project was expected to yield fruit in about 10 years.
2006-11-19 - Washington, United States. National Zoo
National Zoo's Asian elephant calf, Kandula, is turning five this month! Come celebrate with us. The birthday party will feature traditional Sri Lankan dances, a cake and presents for Kandula, scientist talks, crafts for kids, Sri Lankan tea, and much more. Come to the Zoo's Elephant House for all the festivities.
2006-11-18 - Surin, Thailand.
The Surin Elephant Round-up Show has been organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand since 1960 and has been well-received internationally. The everyday life of the Thai elephant and its keeper is the central theme of the world-famous Surin elephant round-up held annually. Tickets for The "Elephant Show": 500 Baht and 200 Baht.
2006-11-18 - Nyimba, Zambia. I.P.A. Manning
The recent killing of a herd of elephant and general contempt for the law in the Nyimba district of Zambia, suggest the collusion of Government officers in a commercial bushmeat and ivory poaching ring. On Sunday 12 November 06, a matriarchal herd of elephant was attacked in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley by an AK47 wielding poacher, accompanied by seven unarmed meat carriers; an adult female and a juvenile killed - possibly another killed, and one seen crossing the river with blood on its side.
2006-11-18 - JALPAIGURI, India.
An elephant was run over and killed by a train at Sevak in Kalimpong forest division today, forest officilas said. The incident occurred when the animal was straying over the track and did not move away seeing the approaching train, the sources said.
2006-11-18 - FORDLAND, MISSOURI, United States. Murray Hill
My name is Betty. I'm a retired circus elephant living in Fordland, Missouri. ARC rescued me before I was about to be euthanized. I love ARC. I spend my days playing in my backyard. There are a lot of acres for me to roam, but when I get tired I go to the home ARC built for me. Right now, ARC is looking for kind people to donate money, time, or equipment to help subsidize my expenses. Please, keep me in mind when you have a dollar or two to spare :) Please, check out my website http://www.aepif-...
2006-11-18 - Lampang, Thailand.
The Mission of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation is to realize the Vision of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, to solve the problems facing all elephants in Thailand through returning domestic elephants to the wild and restoration of the habitat of wild elephants, as well as promoting appropriate management of all elephants in Thailand.
2006-11-18 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Buckles Woodcock
For those of you astonished viewers who think I can identify these elephants from the rear, I must confess, my father wrote their names on the back of the picture:1. Blanche 2. Jean 3. Big Babe 4. Big Jenny 5. Louie 6. Little Babe 7. Tony 8. Katie 9. Nellie 10. Wilma 11. Tessie 12. Little Jenny 13. Carrie 14. Trilby.
2006-11-18 - Coventry, United Kingdom. Mary Dormer Harris
The elephant is seen, not only as a beast so strong that he can carry a tower - Coventry's castle - full of armed men, but also as a symbol of Christ's redemption of the human race. The animal, according to one of the "bestiary" stories, is supposed to sleep standing, leaning against a tree. Hunters sever the trunk, and he falls helpless to the ground, until a small elephant approaches and pulls him up with his trunk.
2006-11-18 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Party to mark birthdays of Auckland's 2 elephants called off because of poor weather. Auckland Zoo has postponed a birthday party for its two elephants today because of poor weather. Burma and Kashin were due to be painted in traditional Thai style to mark the occasion. An elephant sized cake was baked, but it has been put back in the pantry until tomorrow. Kashin is celebrating her 38th birthday and Burma is 24.
2006-11-17 - NEW DELHI, India.
Animal rights activists in India have called on the eve of a controversial tournament for the elite, centuries-old sport of elephant polo to be banned due to what they say is the pain and suffering it causes the animals. Privileged royals and the rich have been playing the game for hundreds of years in the desert state of Rajasthan, dotted with the fading palaces of once powerful royals, and still stage regular events.
2006-11-17 - PITTSBURGH, United States. Barry Newman, The Wall Street Journal
The Animal and Plant Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking advice from the public on what to do about problem feet in elephants. The deadline for sending in ideas is Dec. 11. Hundreds have already arrived. Such as: "Elephants' feet are being destroyed by their confined environment." "They should be able to walk on grass, not concrete." "Some elephants never need their toenails trimmed and some elephants need them continuously trimmed."
2006-11-17 - Chester, United Kingdom. Chester Chronicle
CHILDREN will get the chance to name the new baby elephant born at Chester Zoo last Sunday. The male Asian elephant calf was born at 4.19am on Remembrance Sunday inside the zoo's new elephant house, Elephants of the Asian Forest. Wiewers of BBC's flagship children's programme Blue Peter will be invited to enter a competition to name the calf and the programme will be broadcast live from the zoo on December 6.
2006-11-17 - , United Kingdom.
Bolton is a large town in the north of England, 53 degrees 34' North 2 degrees 26' West. In 1890, Major Ottley Perry incorporated the elephant into the former Bolton County Borough arms in respect of the (unproven) connection between Bolton and the ancient Diocese of Mercia, in the old county of Coventry, created by Lancastrian King Henry VI. The Diocese included Bolton, and for that reason a Lancashire Red Rose, and the elephant is shown in the Armorial Bearings, as in the Coventry coat of arms...
2006-11-17 - Bolton, United Kingdom. Saiqa Chaudhari
Cllr Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton Council, showed a model of what the new elephants would look like to Year Four pupils at St Osmund and St Andrew's RC School in Breightmet. The present herd of elephants that have stood in the pedestrianised area of Newport Street for the past 25-years are to be removed because they are past their best. Three new models, costing a total of £30,000, are to take their place.
2006-11-17 - Bowen Hills, Australia. Elizabeth Allen
THE first thing that strikes a reader about Steve Bloom's Elephants! is that it is quite simply a beautiful book. The South African-born photographer depicts elephants in almost every situation in this coffee-table tome: taking mud baths, swimming, fighting, holding trunks and even mating in the pink glow of sunset. Bloom, a highly successful wildlife photographer now based in Britain, gives an insight into the nature, or soul of the elephant – an animal once slaughtered for its ivory to make ...
2006-11-17 - EL CAJON, United States. Sharon A. Heilbrunn, UNION-TRIBUNE
The 60th annual Mother Goose Parade will march down the streets of El Cajon on Sunday. The popular parade will also feature “celebrity” elephants, said City Councilwoman Jillian Hanson-Cox, who also serves on the parade's board of directors. “These elephants have been used in commercials, TV shows and movies,” she said. “They've appeared in 'The Jungle Book' and 'Tarzan.' ”
2006-11-17 - Thekkady, India.
The very sound of the word Thekkady conjures up images of elephants, unending chains of hills and spice scented plantations. In the Periyar forest of Thekkady is one of the finest wildlife reserves in India, and spread across the entire place are picturesque plantations and hill towns that hold great opportunities for treks and mountain walks.
2006-11-17 - Kandy, Sri Lanka. Jamie Lorimers
There are about 3 000 wild elephants and more than 20 million people in Sri Lanka, an island the size of Ireland. Before the Brits arrived at the end of the eighteenth century there were less than a million people and many, many more elephants. We shot the majority of them, destroyed their habitat for tea and (perhaps indirectly) catalysed a human population explosion.
2006-11-17 - NEW DELHI, United States. Nita Bhalla
This weekend, the Elephant Polo Cup, sponsored by Swiss jeweller Cartier and co-organised by the brother-in-law of Prince Charles, Mark Shand, will be held in Jaipur, Rajasthan's capital. Animal rights activists in India have called on the eve of a controversial tournament for the elite, centuries-old sport of elephant polo to be banned due to what they say is the pain and suffering it causes the animals. Privileged royals and the rich have been playing the game for hundreds of years in the dese...
2006-11-17 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The Forest Department has virtually blocked the arrival of out-of-work North Indian, especially Bihar, elephants to the state. Chief Wildlife Warden V Gopinathan has asked his Bihar counterpart to get his no objection certificate and only then allow the transit of elephants from Bihar to Kerala. Says Gopinathan: ‘‘During the last few months an unusually large number of elephants have been transported to the state from Bihar. By law we cannot stop then from coming. But if it affects the well-...
2006-11-17 - BISMARCK, United States. ELOISE OGDEN
Paleontologist John Hoganson plans to find out if any of the three mastodon teeth that were found in an attic in London, Ontario, about a year ago belong to the huge Highgate mastodon that stands in the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck. After all, the skeleton came from the nearby area of Highgate, Ontario. But that was 116 years ago in the 1890s.
2006-11-16 - Puducherry, India.
A 45-minute "minor" surgery was conducted here today on an elephant to remove pus from an abscess that had developed on the back of the animal's tail. As soon as the abscess was noticed, the services of a retired professor of a veterinary college of Kerala, K C Panicker, were sought and he rushed here to treat the elephant, said a spokesman of Sri Manakula Vinayakar temple which owns the elephant.
2006-11-16 - EAST LONDON, South Africa. Mark Stansfield
AFTER an absence of almost 200 years, free-roaming elephants can once again be seen not far from the hub-bub of modern East London – and to witness these majestic creatures in their natural habitat is a thrill not to be missed. The elephants, consisting of two adult females, a sub-adult and two calves, have been released into the 2300-hectare Mpongo Private Game Reserve located about 30km outside the city on the road to Sutterheim.
2006-11-16 - Keonjhar, India. NDTV Correspondent
Elephants in Orissa face extinction if they continue to die or be killed at the current rate, according to official and unofficial counts. Spreading mining activity in the region is blamed for man's conflict with the elephant. At least 60 elephants have been killed in the past two years, official estimates say - and unofficial reports say 200 elephants died during the same time.
2006-11-16 - Washington, United States. http://news.sawf.org/
With her wedding to beau Arun Nayar fast approaching, British beauty Elizabeth Hurley is determined that no matter what, she’s going to be the epitome of elegance, and has thus started taking elephant riding lessons. The Bedazzled star is to arrive on the back of an elephant for the couple’s Hindu wedding ceremony and thus is nervous that she won’t know how to sit atop the giant mammal on her big day.
2006-11-16 - Helsinki, Finland.
A mammoth bone was found when the sea bed in front of Helsinki was dredged. The bone is at least 40,000 years old but it is expected to be 120,000 years old. It is 11th finding related to mammoths in Finland. The finding is somewhat weird because the sediment attached to the bone is not typical to the area but to Karelia. Additionally similar findings have not been done earlier from the same era. Thus the origin of the finding will be checked carefully.
2006-11-16 - Houston, United States. SALATHEIA BRYANT
As Houston Zoo officials unfurled a banner to display the newly selected name for its baby elephant, the precocious pachyderm was putting on a show of his own, bulling his way through the thick cables surrounding the elephant exhibit and rumbling after the adult females. Since his Oct. 1 birth, he has gained 91 pounds, tipping the scale at 474 pounds. Officials say Mac is the largest Asian elephant born at a U.S. zoo.
2006-11-16 - Washington, United States. Daya Gamage, US National Correspondent for Asiantribune.com
A cultural and educational program about Sri Lanka is being held at the National Zoo in Washington on 16 and 19 November jointly sponsored by the Sri Lanka embassy, Smithsonian National Zoological Park and Friends of National Zoo. The highlight of the program is the celebration of the fifth birthday of the Sri Lankan baby elephant ‘Kandula.’
2006-11-15 - Washington, United States.
The National Zoo's only giraffe Randle is gone. The National Zoo moved Randle in preparation for the renovation and expansion of its Asian elephant exhibit, where the giraffe has lived since 2003. Although construction isn't scheduled to begin until the spring, zoo officials say they relocated Randle now so that he could avoid D.C.'s winter weather. Other animals at the zoo's elephant exhibit also will be moved over the next year, including a hippo, two pygmy hippos and two capybaras.
2006-11-15 - Bristol, United Kingdom. New Scientist
Anecdotes about African elephants going on alcohol-fuelled rampages after eating the fermented fruit of the marula tree or drinking alcohol are probably incorrect, says Steven Morris at the University of Bristol, UK. It is more likely that "drunk" bulls are just defending a prized food source, says Morris. The study will be published in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology next year.
2006-11-15 - Jaipur, India. Rajan Mahan
The elephant polo cup on Saturday in Jaipur was to be a highlight of the current polo season. But a petition by animal rights activists claims the jumbos are trained with ''brutal methods'' that inflict a lot of pain. "Our big objection is that the elephant is a Schedule 1 animal in the Wildlife Act and yet the jumbos will be misused for this game for commercial reasons.
2006-11-15 - Vienna, Austria. JR Minkel
Researchers have unearthed the graves of three Stone Age infants that may ultimately bear on the question of whether humans interbred with Neandertals. The rare find, from a 27,000-year-old site in Austria, includes two bodies that might be twins sheltered under a mammoth's shoulder blade. The twins had been protected from the elements by the mammoth bone and were very well preserved, says team member Christine Neugebauer-Maresch of the Prehistoric Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences ...
2006-11-15 - Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Darren Naish
Episode 2 of the BBC’s series Planet Earth included amazing footage of the elephant-killing lions of Savuti in Chobe National Park, northern Botswana. In 1990 Jouberts were estimating that about 20% of the Savuti lion’s diet was made up of elephant. And if you’re wondering: YES, the Savuti lions have been recorded attacking and killing adult elephants, and in 1997 Jouberts published The Lions of Savuti: Hunting with the Moon which records something like 15 years of observations covering th...
2006-11-15 - London, United Kingdom.
A woolly mammoth has been placed in Trafalgar Square to highlight the effects of climate change. The 11.5ft (3.5m) replica was unveiled by the Natural History Museum to warn how life in Britain could undergo radical change in the next 50 years."The British way of life and Homo britanicus could go the same way as the woolly mammoth," the museum warned.
2006-11-15 - Little Rock, United States.
Laura came out to the zoo six or seven years ago. She came out and we toured her around the facility with the elephants with the staff and at that point really became supportive of the zoo and of the mission, zoo director Mike Blakely says.
New Line Cinema has launched development of a feature based on the life of Daphne Sheldrick, a pioneer in efforts to save orphaned baby elephants, reports Variety. Sheldrick was named a dame by Queen Elizabeth II earlier this year for her work, the first such honor to be awarded in Kenya since the country became independent in 1963. New Line is finalizing a life rights deal with Sheldrick, whose work was the focus of a "60 Minutes" report in April as well as 2005 BBC documentary "Elephant Diarie...
2006-11-15 - New Delhi, India. Peter Foster
Mark Shand, the elephant conservationist and brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, is facing protests from eminent animal welfare experts over plans to stage an elephant polo match in the Indian city of Jaipur this weekend. Mr Shand, author of the best-selling Travels on my Elephant, said he organised the match, sponsored by the jewellers, Cartier, to give dignity back to the elephant. A host of international celebrities will take part in the match before being encouraged to put pressure on govern...
2006-11-15 - Madurai, India.
A Rs three crore plan to provide a concrete roof for a 725 metre path used by elephants to the Palani Sri Dhandayudhapaniswamy temple, 120 km from here, has been sent for government approval, officials said. Officials said the total length of the path is 886 metres. There are 45 'four pillared' mandapams along the pathway which cover/provide shelter for 161 metres. The remaining distance is uncovered.
2006-11-15 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
St. Louis Zoo elephant Sri still carries a dead fetus a year after it died in utero. The Asian elephant's calf died on Nov. 19, 2005, after a 22-month pregnancy. It was to have been Raja's first offspring. Keepers still don't know why the calf died, but Zoo health chief Randy Junge suspects it never positioned itself properly. Still, officials say she is healthy and requires no medical intervention. "Her health is very good," said Martha Fischer, who manages the Zoo's elephant program. "Her bloo...
2006-11-14 - Sydney, Australia. ABC News online
Rebecca McKeough worked as an elephant keeper at the zoo for most of the 1990s, and has told the ABC's 7.30 Report a black rhino died after running into a steel fence and a female Komodo dragon suffered injuries during repeated violent mating sessions. Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says the Government must investigate the allegations. Taronga's media spokesman Mark Williams says Ms McKeough's information is outdated. He says the zoo fully reviewed the incidents and learned from them, and revised its pr...
2006-11-14 - New Delhi, India. Desmond Boylan
An elephant loaded with tree branches walks down a busy road in New Delhi November 14, 2006. Yahoo! News Photo. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan (INDIA)
2006-11-14 - ELLENSBURG, United States.
Archaeology students and their professor are waiting on lab results to find out more about the mammoth bones they found in the Wenas Valley. They spent the summer digging, and made some interesting discoveries. Doctor Patrick Lubinski says he hopes the bison bone they found turns out to be just as old as the mammoth. They won't know until carbon dating results come back.
2006-11-14 - Jalpaiguri, India.
A wild elephant was crushed to death when it came in the way of a moving goods train in West Bengals Jalpaiguri District. Wildlife activists claimed that such incidents keep taking place in the absence of any precaution by the railway staff. Our complaint is that one after another such incidents keep repeating. The railway staff said that they are following orders of the expert committee but there is an immediate need to do something to put a check on it, otherwise these elephants will keep dyin...
2006-11-14 - Guwahati, India.
Three members of a family, including a four year-old child, were trampled to death and one wounded by wild Asiatic elephants in Assam, wildlife officials said Tuesday. A herd of about 24 elephants went amok after drinking rice beer Monday in Teok Kathoni, a tribal village surrounded by tea gardens, about 370 km from here, a forest official said. The elephants, after entering the village, first guzzled locally made rice beer kept in drums and then went on a rampage killing three people, including...
2006-11-14 - Durban, South Africa. Elise Tempelhoff, Beeld
Interim legislation was urgently needed to stop elephant calves from being removed from herds for use in the safari and film industry and as working animals. This was the opinion of a working committee, consisting of provincial conservation agencies across the country, as formulated in a document compiled by the KwaZulu-Natal department of agriculture and environmental affairs.
2006-11-14 - THRISSUR, India.
The Elephant Lovers' Forum has urged the state government to check alleged traffic of captive elephants. In a statement here yesterday, the forum alleged that there were moves to transport captive elephants from Bihar to Kerala without valid documents, such as no-objection certificates from the Chief Wildlife Warden. "Such moves violate provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972." (Available from Amazon)
2006-11-13 - Sarasota, United States. Jennifer Kay, Associated Press
Back in 1902, a scientist examining the smooth, grapefruit-size brain of a manatee remarked that the organ's unwrinkled surface resembled that of the brain of an idiot. But Hugh, a manatee in a tank at a Florida marine laboratory, doesn't seem like a dimwit. When a buzzer sounds, the speed bump-shaped mammal slowly flips his 1,300 pounds and aims a whiskered snout toward one of eight loudspeakers lowered into the water. Nosing the correct speaker earns him treats.
2006-11-13 - Chicago, United States. RaeLeann Smith, PETA
Three former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus employees, including two who worked on the animal crew, will speak out for the first time about how Ringling’s elephants live in fear, are cruelly hooked and beaten, and spend the majority of their time in chains. The three whistleblowers will reveal shocking details about their experiences and will offer commentary on PETA’s video footage taken at Ringling this year—which shows that handlers were abusing elephants with bullhooks and c...
2006-11-13 - Atlanta, United States. MARK DAVIS
Victoria, Zambezi and Starlet, don't pack those trunks just yet. You're not leaving as originally planned to mate up with some handsome bull. Instead, you'll be treated Tuesday to a pachyderm pile of produce to celebrate two decades' worth of heavyweight entertainment at Zoo Atlanta. Tuesday marks the 20-year anniversary of the day that Victoria and Zoo Atlanta's other African elephants, Zambezi and Starlet, came together.
2006-11-13 - Dhanbad, India. RESHAM MUKHERJEE
A herd of 13 elephants entered the coal capital a few days ago from Dumka via Jamtara. They travelled across the Barakar near Tundi-Nirsa border of Dhanbad and came into the forest areas of the tribal Tundi block. The forest department is trying to create a “corridor” for elephants in Dumka, Chatra, Hazaribagh and Koderma forest divisions apart from six others in Singhbhum and Kolhan, but they are increasingly straying outside their territories like errant schoolchildren.
2006-11-13 - Limpopo, South Africa. Press release SanWild
In a daring and courageous elephant capture operation that started on Saturday morning a group of so-called "problem elephants" were captured and relocated to their new home in a wildlife sanctuary in Limpopo Province. Described by many as dangerous, crazy and damage causing, the small family herd of elephants browsed peacefully in their new home this morning unaware of the controversy their rescue had caused with a number of unsympathetic individuals that would rather have preferred to see them...
2006-11-13 - Sydney, Australia. Mark Bannerman, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Until now, zoo insiders have stayed out of the debate but one former Taronga Zoo employee has decided to speak out about the decision to display and breed elephants, pointing out the zoo doesn't have a great track record when it comes to breeding endangered species. Mark Bannerman reports.
2006-11-13 - Nyahururu, Kenya. JOHN MBARIA
IT IS LATE AT NIGHT IN Kiandege, four kilometres from Nyahururu town in Kenya's Central Province. Suddenly, women can be heard screaming. Men rush out of their houses armed with various weapons and congregate at a junction about a kilometre from the commotion. I join the men who are on a mission to drive away a herd of elephants that have been terrorising local residents.
2006-11-13 - Sydney, Australia.
IN the middle of the sea of smiles that swamped Taronga Zoo's new elephant enclosure is a story to break your heart. The four Thai mahouts, or elephant handlers, who accompanied the zoo's newest stars every step of the way through their arduous two-year journey to Australia, said goodbye to their charges to return home to Thailand, leaving the elephants to their new life. For 36-year-old Sunthon Sonsok, saying goodbye to female elephant Tong Dee was like losing a member of his family.
2006-11-13 - Sonitpur, India.
Three Asiatic wild elephants have died of electrocution after a high tension wire fell on a herd in Assam, wildlife officials said Monday. A forest warden said an elephant herd Sunday strayed into the Behali tea plantation, about 230 km from here, and tripped over an electric pole. "The high tension wire first electrocuted a full-grown female elephant and immediately two of her calves tried to rescue her and in the process all the three died," Chandan Bora, divisional forest officer, told IANS b...
2006-11-12 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Tom Cockrem
It was more than 40,000 years ago that on the continent of Africa two species emerged to vie with each other for the title of ruler of the land: the elephant and man. Drought, disease and war saw these two protagonists experience alternating cycles of dominance. It took the advent of the gun for the two-legged hunter to finally take charge. The African elephant has lost the battle of the species. There are only 600,000 left on the continent today. There used to be at least 15 million.
2006-11-12 - London, United Kingdom. Sandy Auden
Penguin publishers have notified us that: "A life-size woolly mammoth will visit Trafalgar Square, London on Wednesday November 15 2006 to warn us that Britain may soon be set to suffer a peculiar and very savage climate change. "Chris Stringer will be on hand in Trafalgar Square too, bringing with him a hippo's tusk found in Trafalgar Square, a mammoth's tooth and a stone tool used by Neanderthals to butcher Norfolk mammoths 60,000 years ago."
2006-11-12 - Colorado Springs, United States. BILL RADFORD
Elephants are remarkably intelligent. Maybe too intelligent. Groups such as the Humane Society of the United States say elephants, with their large brains and sophisticated social groups, suffer from confinement and should not be displayed in zoos. But some say zoo elephants have never had it better. More than half the 78 U.S. zoos that exhibit elephants plan to construct bigger homes, says Kris Vehrs, executive director of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
2006-11-12 - Chester, United Kingdom. Pressrelease Chester Zoo
24-year-old Chester Zoo elephant Thi became a mum today - (12 November 2006) – with a little help from the local hospital.The male Asian Elephant calf was born at 4.19 am today inside the zoos new elephant house, Elephants of the Asian Forest. The elephant team was prepared for the new arrival as Thi´s hormone levels had been analysed three times a week by experts at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
2006-11-12 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Vindya Amaranayake
The Wildlife Conservation Department has temporarily halted plans to capture and auction two rogue elephants in the Galgamuwa-Maho area, upon protests by the environmental activists, The Nation learns. The department was planning to anaesthetise and capture the two elephants, and auction them on the site on November 9 and 10, and sell them to the highest bidders.
2006-11-12 - Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Mike Cadman
During the capture operation in the 14 000 square kilometre Hwange National Park, game-capture specialists working for Victoria Falls-based tourism operator Shearwater Adventures isolated 12 elephants from family groups, darted the animals and removed them to holding bomas to be trained for use in captivity.
2006-11-12 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Buckles Woodcock
Standing room only at Jenda's funeral today and attended by the absolute cream of Sarasota circus society. This followed by an exquisite catered meal at the Club. The bombshell of this afternoon's soiree came when an announcement was made that the Kelly-Miller Circus had been purchased by none other than John Ringling North III, himself.
I received this very interesting material from Mr. Von Gilsa via Deutsche Post.
2006-11-12 - New York, United States. HERBERT LOWE AND SOPHIA CHANG
A Manhattan woman fatally stabbed her husband during a domestic dispute in which she also struck him with a nearly foot-tall ceramic elephant in their apartment bedroom early Saturday, police said. Police sources said Kevin Cobb had been trying to leave the fifth-floor apartment after being stabbed. Police said they found the elephant intact inside the apartment -- and also found a small knife.
2006-11-11 - Singapore, Singapore. xinwei
Two elephants escaped from their quarters at Golden Mile Complex yesterday, causing no distress to Singaporeans as they ambled along the streets. Nonetheless, responding to complaints of public disturbance, authorities quickly disposed of the offending pachyderms. The Kentang speaks to Lieutenant Colonel Perempuan Phua, the Officer tasked with settling the incident.
2006-11-11 - Los Angeles, United States. DANA BARTHOLOMEW
Forty years ago, four elephants lumbered trunk to tail from the dilapidated Griffith Park Zoo to their home at the new Los Angeles Zoo. Their milelong trek, taken by 2,200 other animals in every type of truck, ended decades of controversy over cramped quarters at Griffith Park. Now critics say that $40 million earmarked for a 3.6-acre pachyderm exhibit is too much money to be spent on too little space. Zoo officials call plans for the new exhibit above and beyond the industry standard.
2006-11-11 - TEMERLOH, Malaysia. LISA GOH
After 33 years of service to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, it's finally time for Thai elephant Mek Bunga to retire. Mek Bunga, 68, who has gone blind in both eyes since almost two months ago, is in need of a proper shelter to protect her from the environmental elements. Conservation centre volunteer Mohd Razali Mohd Noor said Mek Bunga arrived at the centre in the 1970s from Thailand, and has been serving the centre since.
2006-11-11 - SARASOTA, United States. MARK ZALOUDEK
Smaha, who was born Jan Vinicky but adopted his family's stage name as a performer, died in his sleep of heart failure Oct. 27, 2006, while on one of his many photo safaris in Africa. He was 74. Memorial donations to create a watering hole for elephants in a national park in Botswana can be made to the Center for Rehabilitation of Wildlife, P.O. Box 53007, Yellowwood Park, 4011, South Africa, Attn: Dr. Helena Fitchat.
2006-11-11 - Hamilton, Ontario, United States. Jeff Hecht
AFTER a tantalisingly successful run at sequencing parts of the extinct woolly mammoth's genome, the project is now stalled for lack of funds. The team now needs about $500,000 to pay for 100 more runs on the sequencing machine and is applying for grants, Ross MacPhee of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City says. "We accept cheques in any convertible denomination."
2006-11-11 - Sarasota, United States. BILL STRONG
The Circus Community has been deeply saddened by the passing of Elephant Trainer Jenda Smaha. The services will be held at The Palms, located at Fruitville Road, and Honore, this Saturday,(Nov. 11), at 11 AM. The information I have is that the reception will follow at Showfolks of Sarasota Clubhouse.
2006-11-10 - Benidorm, Spain. JASON QUINN
This week, the Spanish Media has devoted a lot of space towards Petita, a female Asian elephant in Benidorm's Terra Natura. Petita seems to fall short of the current elephantine standards of beauty. Weighing in at just 2,900 kilos, in a world where the average female elephant weighs 4,000 kilos, Petita is too waif-like for any self-respecting elephant. Her clearly visible jaw line and long thin legs seem only to provoke displeasure among her peers who evidently have no time for 'heroin-chic'.
2006-11-10 - Sydney, Australia. JANE IGOE
SIGNED, sealed and finally delivered, Taronga Zoo's new Thai elephants have made a triumphant appearance in their new $38 million Asian enclosure. After more than two years of legal wrangling, the five elephants settled effortlessly into their luxurious Mosman abode. The male elephant, Gung, arrived at Taronga about noon on Sunday. Zoo officials said he hopped off the truck and was also out having fun an hour later.
2006-11-10 - Jaipur, India.
A bull elephant, Ramu, in 'musth' today went berserk after seeing a she elephant Shyama walking ahead on Galta Road, injuring her, damaging roadside tinsheds and halting traffic near Ghat-ki- Balaji temple here until it was tranquilised by zoo officials. A veterinary doctor and forest officials from Jaipur zoo were rushed there and a tranquilizer gun used on Ramu, who then fell asleep in a sandy bed, he said.
2006-11-10 - Thrissur, India. Sanu George
A group of veterinarians in India have initiated a unique project that aims at providing free health check-ups to captive elephants through mobile clinics. Conceptualised by a team of veterinarians under the guidance of Jacob V. Cheeran, the project is supported by two Bangalore based NGOs - Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF) and Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA). The Elephant Welfare Association, Trissur, and the Elephant Study Centre at Kerala Agricultural University are also as...
2006-11-09 - Theni, India.
The DMK Government in Tamil Nadu is exploring possibilities of holding the annual rejuvenation camp for temple elephants in different places instead of Mudumalai forest area alone, according to HR and CE officials. A team of officials, who visited one of the proposed sites near Manjalaru Dam in the district, said they inspected the facilities available at the big garden of Sri Moongilanai Kamatchi Amman temple, located in a forest area, for conducting the camp for the pachyderms from Madurai, Di...
2006-11-09 - London, United Kingdom. Ham
This rather unusual dancing Ganesh is in the British Museum and dates from 750 AD. It was pillaged brought back from Uttar Pradesh and can now be seen amongst the entirely wonderful Indian collection. You may find it interesting to know that Ganesh, one of the favourite Hindu gods is the lord of beginnings and the placer and remover of obstacles.
2006-11-09 - DHAKA, Bangladesh.
A herd of wild elephants rampaged through a northern Bangladeshi village, damaging crops and homes, and killing one elderly man. The victim died instantly after elephants crushed him. About three dozen people have been killed over the past few years by wild elephants in the district, which is close to the forested border with India. About 250 wild elephants make their homes in Bangladesh's tropical forests, but their habitat has been reduced in recent years due to human development, occasionally...
2006-11-09 - Buffalo, New York, United States. TOM BUCKHAM
Evolving animal care standards have thrown a monkey wrench into the Buffalo Zoos $75 million reconstruction program. The changes mandated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which set a one-year deadline, caught zoo leaders off guard. President Donna M. Fernandes said she knew the 1912 elephant house and aging veterinary facilities were out of compliance with AZA standards, but expected to be given more time to correct the problems.
2006-11-09 - Sparks, United States.
Trained and presented nightly by Jenda Smaha in the International Follies at the Nugget Casino in Sparks (East Reno) Nevada. Overall Condition: Excellent Bends or Creases: None. Corner Wear: Minor Handwriting/Other markings: E60 is neatly written on the back. $6.50 postpaid to a US address, or $8.00 postpaid to anywhere else.
2006-11-09 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thai mahout practice elephant fighting in Bangkok November 9, 2006. The practice was held in preparation for celebrations for Thailand King Bhumibol Adulyadejs 60th anniversary on the throne. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
2006-11-09 - New York, United States. James Pressley
The day Thomas Edisons men electrocuted an elephant. Edison sent his men to Coney Island in 1903 to use AC to execute Topsy, a rogue elephant that had killed handlers. Bombarded with 6,000 volts, Topsy crashed to the ground, dead in 10 seconds. A new Edison invention, the movie camera, captured the moment for posterity. Both episodes are recorded in crisp detail in "The Money Men" and "AC/DC," lively new accounts of brawls that shaped two keystones of American enterprise: the dollar and electric...
2006-11-09 - Goreshwar, India.
Afternoon siesta is a luxury that people living in Goreshwar village in Assam cannot indulge in. Elephants emerge from the jungle every year to take advantage of the paddy harvest while others have discovered a taste for local liquor, and drink everything they can lay their trunks on. As their traditional habitats are taken over by man, elephants have been raiding military depots, drinking liquor, terrorising and killing villagers, destroying their farm houses and leaving a trail of destruction ...
2006-11-08 - Washington, United States. Office of Human Resources, Smithsonian Institution
The incumbent performs routine duties in the care and maintenance of elephants and other mammals many of whom may be exotic, rare and endangered. The incumbent performs daily schedule of cleaning assigned areas, exhibits, enclosures, glass, acrylic, filters, and adjacent areas; prepares and distributes food in species specific manner; removes unconsumed food and debris; reports deviations from normal food consumption, unusual behavior, symptoms of illness or injury, unsafe or unusual conditions;...
2006-11-08 - Toledo, United States. JENNI LAIDMAN
COSI Toledo's levy request was too close to call early today, but it appeared the Toledo Zoo elephants are going to get a little breathing room with the projected victory of the zoo's second bid to pass a capital improvement levy. "We're happy with the way it looks thus far,'' said Anne Baker, the zoo's executive director, late last night with a substantial portion of Lucas County votes remaining to be counted. "I'll be happier when 100 percent of the vote is in.''
2006-11-08 - Philadelphia, United States. Mitchell Gordon
Am I the only one who feels a sense of outrage that Baltimore — the city that showed us how to build stadiums and waterfronts — will now acquire the elephants of America's first zoo, and thereby leave thousands of kids in this region with nothing but a video memory of these stupendous giants?
2006-11-08 - BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, United States.
An emotional debate is raging over the future of the Birmingham Zoos only remaining elephant. For almost 50 years, Mona the elephant has been the darling of the Birmingham Zoo. At 59, shes the oldest living Asian elephant in North America, and the poster child for a growing national debate over what zoos should do with aging elephants, groups want the Birmingham Zoo to allow Mona to the elephant sanctuary outside Nashville.
2006-11-08 - London, United States.
Under cover of darkness, a pride of lions launch themselves on a desperate kill. Leaping upon the back of an elephant five times their size, they maul and gnaw until they finally succeed in running their prey into the ground.
2006-11-08 - Bonanza, United States.
Cherry's grandfather, William Stamps Cherry, was explorer and the owner of the largest collection of antique African artifacts of its kind in the world and brought back the tusks, weighing 332 pounds together, measuring more than eight feet long and appraised at $835,000, to the U.S. from Africa in the late 1800s. Most of the collection has been in archive at the Los Angeles museum for more than 75 years.
2006-11-07 - London, United States. Adrian Searle
Douglas Gordon's eyeless portraits and De Niro doubles haunt his retrospective. But it's one performer's nifty trunk-and-foot-work that steals the show. The animal gets down on his knees and rolls on to his side, trunk extended like a dead man's arm - playing dead. The camera circles. If you follow it, walking between the screens, you begin to get the measure of this circus elephant, doing his party trick. An elephant, then, in a ballet class.
2006-11-07 - JELI, Malaysia. Sharifah Mahsinah Syed Abdullah
The nine-year-old elephant hit by a lorry on the East-West Highway in Batu Melintang has been sent to an the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Pahang. Named Mat Lawar, the pachyderm will receive treatment for the wound on its right leg. It took park rangers, who were assisted by two adult female elephants, two hours to coax Mat Lawar out of the Gunung Basor forest reserve onto a lorry.
2006-11-07 - Amboseli, Kenya.
Torrent added Tue 07 Nov 2006 16:17:20. Category: Movies » Documentary. Size 746.87 MB. Elephant expert Cynthia Moss is your guide to the daily dramas in the lives of grand matriarch Echo and her elephant herd that Moss has studied for more than 20 years in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park. Two classic Nature episodes, Echo of the Elephants and Echo of the Elephants: The Next Generation tell this remarkable story that includes mating struggles, difficult births, a baby elephant’s first steps,...
2006-11-07 - Ranchi, India.
With human efforts failing to prevent the depredations caused by rampaging elephants, tribal people in Jharkhand have instead turned to praying to the animals for protection. The various methods adopted by the forest department have failed to protect the people from the tuskers, which regularly venture into villages, kill humans and destroy crops. Tribals in several parts of the state have started worshipping the elephants to appease them, villagers say. Elephant images are made and natu...
2006-11-06 - SUNSARI, Nepal.
The elephant menace that claimed seven lives in five days during the last week of October continued in Sunsari as a wild elephant killed a local woman here Sunday evening. A rogue elephant killed 37-year-old Lila Devi Pandey in Itahari, Sunsari yesterday evening while she was returning from the jungle near Tal Talaiya carrying firewood. Pandey is the eighth victim of the rogue elephants in the eastern Terai region in the last two weeks.
2006-11-06 - Vallejo, United States. Dale Arnold
In this photo submitted by Six Flags Marine World, Tava, an African elephant, and Sister, a miniature donkey, remind all parties to go vote on Election Day as they demonstrate their way of stuffing the ballot box on Monday, Nov. 6, 2006, at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, California. (AP Photo/Six Flags Marine World, Dale Arnold)
2006-11-06 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States.
Just for Elephants, a children’s book by Carol Buckley detailing the everyday life of elephants on a 2,700 acre sanctuary in Tennessee, is scheduled to be released by Tilbury House on November 15. On the heels of her award-winning book Travels with Tarra, which detailed the raising of and traveling with an elephant, Buckley has written a book that describes what everyday life is like for the many elephants that live at The Elephant Sanctuary located near the small town of Hohenwald, Tennessee.
2006-11-06 - Auckland, New Zealand. Press Release: Auckland Zoo
Auckland Zoo is putting on one of its biggest ever birthday parties for two very special girls, elephants Burma and Kashin, and all zoo visitors are invited. Animal Planet Elephants Birthday will celebrate Burma and Kashins combined birthdays, and to mark the occasion the elephants will be painted up in traditional Thai style, but its also an opportunity to highlight to our visitors the issues facing elephants in the wild, and how we can help.
2006-11-06 - Denpassar, Indonesia.
An Australian woman is recovering in Royal Darwin Hospital after being gored by an elephant in Bali. Western Australian woman Robyn Paki says she is lucky to be alive after she was picked up by an elephant she had been riding on and flung into the air last Thursday. Her two children saw the attack. Mrs Paki was resuscitated by a family friend after she stopped breathing.
2006-11-06 - MELBOURNE, Australia.
MELBOURNE'S three new elephants Dokkoon, Kulab and Num-Oi have finally arrived after two years, a legal wrangle, protests, two quarantine camps and a lot of flying. A Russian Ilyushin cargo plane delivered at Avalon airport. The three females were placed on tray trucks and driven to Melbourne Zoo, and were last night settling in to the Trail of the Elephants enclosure.
2006-11-06 - Gland, Switzerland.
Contact Information: IUCN - The World Conservation Union, Council Affairs Unit, Mrs. Fiona Hanson, Fax: 0041 22 999 0020
2006-11-06 - Hamburg, Germany.
2006-11-05 - Shimba Hills, Kenya. Tia Goldenberg
The field behind John Saidi Bodwe's house in the lush green hills near Shimba Hills National Reserve once yielded maize, cassava and bananas, but is now a sickly pale brown on which nothing grows. The attackers are marauding elephants that constantly invade surrounding farms and have become unstoppable. In a bid to address these grievances, a massive 3 million dollar operation is underway to move 400 elephants from Shimba Hills to nearby Tsavo Park.
2006-11-05 - Washington, United States. KRISTIN L. VEHRS, executive director of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (left in photo)
There is no place on the planet where elephants are not in contact with humans. On increasingly shrinking territory, elephants in Africa and Asia face poaching, predation, hunger and disease - their wild state. If we abandon elephants to their fate, in a few short years the only place you'll be able to see them is in a museum. But this is where high-quality, accredited zoos come in, offering a vital link to elephant conservation.
2006-11-05 - San Rafael, California, United States. ELLIOT M. KATZ, veterinarian and president and founder of In Defense of Animals (left in photo)
News that elephants recognize themselves in a mirror and are thus self-aware was trumpeted worldwide this week. Yet every day elephants needlessly suffer in too-small zoo enclosures.
2006-11-05 - Sydney, Australia.
Four more elephants have arrived in Australia today, bound for local zoos after a controversial journey from Thailand. The elephants touched down this morning in Sydney, where one will be transferred to the city's Taronga Zoo, before their chartered Russian plane heads to Avalon Airport near Melbourne, to drop off another three this afternoon for Melbourne Zoo.
2006-11-05 - RAPID CITY, United States.
The Rushmore Plaza Civic Center will have a wild feel to it on Saturday, Nov. 4. Thats because magician Jay Owenhouse plans to bring not only his 8,500-pound elephant Tai onto the stage, but his Bengal tiger Shere Khan as well. Owenhouse´s tour, "Magic on the Edge," incorporates his wild kingdom, but also includes audience members. Owenhouse promises to float audience members, be sawed in half and predict the future.
2006-11-05 - PHILADELPHIA, United States. ROBERT STRAUSS
Over the ensuing 132 years, elephants have been a big part of the zoo’s attraction. Instead of expanding the space for the exhibit, the zoo’s board of directors has decided to put the money elsewhere. In Philadelphia, meanwhile, there is a slim hope that elephants will eventually return to the zoo, since the board said it could not come up with proper financing at this point.
2006-11-05 - Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. Ignatius Stephen
Thirty-six-year-old Saba Douglas-Hamilton, BBC's famous Holiday Programme presenter and daughter to elephant expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton, is said to have had a "whale" of a time while in the Sultanate although she did not find any elephants here. Saba Douglas-Hamilton was introduced to her first elephant when she was six weeks old, and thinks of elephants as part of the extended family. She is to feature Brunei in BBC's longest running travel holiday programme which is expected to give a big bo...
2006-11-04 - Kapama, South Africa.
In South Africa, a unique team of elephants is being trained to track down their most deadly enemy - the poacher. Watch as elephant expert Saba Douglas-Hamilton puts the specially-trained elephants through their first real test and joins former big game poacher Magic, now a conservation officer, in an attempt to elude scent-tracking elephants.
2006-11-04 - Calcutta, India. JAYANTA BASU
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said railway officials and the forest department will meet to discuss ways to minimise accidents involving elephants on railway tracks in north Bengal. the accidents took place because gauge conversion had led to an increase in the speed limit of trains.
2006-11-04 - Memphis, United States. Allison Martin
Elephants are some of the most beloved animals at the zoo, but some worry the massive animals don't have enough room to roam. The Memphis Zoo is one of at least 40 zoos across the country expanding the space it gives its elephants. The elephants live in a recently expanded space and play in a new, 80,000 gallon pool. It's part of a national trend toward elephant conservation, amidst some concerns the animals may be better served roaming free.
2006-11-04 - Gainesville, United States. Isaza R, Davis RD, Moore SM, Briggs DJ. College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida
Objective-To evaluate the humoral immune response of Asian elephants to a primary IM vaccination with either 1 or 2 doses of a commercially available inactivated rabies virus vaccine and evaluate the anamnestic response to a 1-dose booster vaccination. Animals-16 captive Asian elephants. A 2-dose series of rabies virus vaccine should provide an adequate antibody response in elephants, and annual boosters should maintain the antibody response in this species.
2006-11-04 - Sydney, Australia.
THE arrival of four Asian elephants from Thailand has not been a walk in the park, but the animals took to the stage like pros in their first public appearance at Taronga Zoo yesterday. The new enclosure, part of a $25 million project to bring the elephants from Thailand, consists of several paddocks, an elephant barn and two wading pools, one with its own waterfall.
2006-11-04 - SILIGURI, India.
A group of 17 elephants walked into the Atal Tea Estate plantation on the outskirts of Siliguri last night without signs of moving out. Although the elephants have not caused any damage so far, their presence has robbed the locals of their sleep. On 23 October, a group of 13 elephants had ambled into the same plantation causing serious concern among the workers. Forest department officials, after a lot of effort, managed to drive away the pachyderms to the nearby forests on that occasion.
2006-11-03 - PORTLAND, Oregon, United States.
A Portland-area foster mother yesterday became the Oregon Zoo's 40 millionth visitor since the 1962 birth of Packy, the zoo's famous elephant. They boarded the "Zoomer" shuttle vehicle and were chauffeured to the elephant barn for a behind-the-scenes tour and face-to-trunk meeting with Packy. Packy, the oldest and largest Asian elephant in the United States, stands 10 feet, 4 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs about 14,020 pounds. He is the only second-generation captive bull to breed succes...
2006-11-03 - MADURAI, India.
Sumathi, a 39-year-old elephant of Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple, died at Palani on Wednesday night. The pachyderm, which was ailing due to a bacterial attack since October 31, had lost movement of both its hind legs and was treated by a team of veterinary doctors drawn from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The end came around 10.20 p.m.
2006-11-03 - Asmara, Eritrea. Shoshani J, Walter RC, Abraha M, Berhe S, University of Asmara
We report on a late Oligocene proboscidean species from Eritrea, dated to 26.8 +/- 1.5 Mya. This "missing link" between early elephantiformes and Elephantimorpha is the oldest known nongomphothere proboscidean to probably display horizontal tooth displacement, typical of elephants. Together with the newly discovered late Oligocene gomphotheres from Chilga, Ethiopia, the Eritrean taxon points to the importance of East Africa as a major area for the knowledge of the early evolution of Elephantimor...
2006-11-03 - JAKARTA, Indonesia.
Twenty-one wild elephants on Indonesia's Riau islands have died in the first 10 months of this year, raising further concerns of rapid declines of the animal, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) conservation group has warned. Of the total, 15 died of poisoning and gunshot wounds resulting from "conflicts with humans in residential areas," said Dudi Rufendi, program manager for WWF in Riau.
2006-11-03 - DHARMAPURI, India.
An elephant was found dead near Thakkatty tribal village in Anchetty forests in Krishnagiri district. The sex and cause of death of the pachyderm is yet to be ascertained. Whether the elephant was killed by poachers or it died a natural death remained a mystery, said Forest officials. A post-mortem would be conducted on the spot on Thursday, they added.
2006-11-03 - Knoxville, Tennessee, United States.
Four murder charges were formally dropped in Knoxville against an accused serial killer known as the "Zoo Man." Thomas Dee Huskey is a former elephant trainer who got his nickname from prostitutes who said he took them to the Knoxville Zoo to have sex. He remains in jail serving a 66-year prison term for raping four other women in woods near the Knoxville Zoo in 1992.
2006-11-03 - Sydney, Australia. Mark Baker
Two of the four new arrivals at Sydney's Taronga Zoo, Asian elephants enjoy a swim in their pool as their keepers look on during their first public appearance at the zoo Friday, Nov. 3, 2006. The Elephants from Thailand are part of the first-ever Cooperative Conservation Program designed to help arrest the rapid decline of wild Asian elephant across their 13 range states in Asia from India to Vietnam. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
2006-11-03 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
A horse ride in the Addo Elephant Park became a nightmare for Australian tourist Margaret Davies, 48, after she fell off a horse in the Nyati wilderness area 10:00 on Thursday and had to be airlifted to Greenacres Hospital with back injuries and a fractured femur. The trumpeting of the elephants apparently frightened the horses, which bolted and threw three people, one of them Mrs Davies.
2006-11-02 - Dubbo, Australia. LYNTON GRACE, Milton - Ulladulla news and Dubbo Daily Liberal
The discovery that elephants can recognise their own reflection comes as no surprised to Western Plains Zoo's (WPZ) keeper Linda Gardiner. Ms Gardiner said WPZ's elephants - 'Yum Yum', ‘Cherry' and ‘Cuddles' - had performed similar tasks. "Often they will pick up their hay and eat it beside the water," she said. "They are likely to encounter their own reflection in water quite often." Working with elephants revealed another level of their perception every day, she said.
2006-11-02 - Munich, Germany. PR Munich Zoo
On the 28.10.06 the young elephant cow "Temi" arrived in Hellabrunn with a special transporter. She was placed here by the zoo Berlin Friedrichsfelde. She was accompanied by her animal keeper, Mr Thomas Günther, who will stay with us until Sunday in order to help "Temi" (Burmese "daughter") settle in. Before that two of our elephant keepers went to Berlin for 14 days to get to know the animal.
2006-11-02 - CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh.
A herd of wild elephants rampaged through a remote, hillside village in southeastern Bangladesh, killing one boy, villagers said Thursday. Last month, a herd of wild elephants killed five members of a family in the same district. Delwar Hossain said the villagers tried to scare the elephants away by beating drums and using firecrackers and then left the area, which borders Myanmar. A 10-year-old boy who lingered behind, however, was crushed to death by the elephants, Hossain said.
2006-11-02 - Thrissur, India.
The elephants of Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple, employed specifically to serve the Lord, will be for the first time in history, rented out to pose as showpieces in a lavish marriage ceremony to be held in Tamil Nadu on January 7. Guruvayur Padmanabhan, considered to be the state’s most majestic tusker and employed exclusively to carry the ‘thidambu’ of the Lord, is among the five elephants offered on rent.
2006-11-02 - Sydney, Australia.
The RSPCA says it is disappointed that the first of a group of Thai elephants have arrived in Australia destined for zoos in Sydney and Melbourne. Animal welfare groups took legal action to stop them being imported and delayed their arrival for 18 months. The RSPCA's Jane Speechley says the groups are not taking any further action, but are calling on the public to look for signs of stress when they are visiting the elephants in the zoos.
2006-11-02 - Sydney, Australia. Jano Gibson
Four female Asian elephants flown in from the Cocos Islands today will go on public display at Taronga Zoo tomorrow morning. The four - Pak Boon, Tang Mo, Tong Dee and matriarch Porn Thip - arrived at the zoo this afternoon after a 14-hour flight aboard a giant Russian Illyushin. They arrived at their new harbourside multi-million dollar enclosure after a speedy, police-escorted trip across the city, through the Harbour Tunnel.
2006-11-01 - Thula Thula, South Africa. Roy Watts
After watching a savage Carte Blanche documentary on the brutal taming of the Tuli elephants, Lawrence Anthony made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire some of these unfortunate animals, but they had already been placed in various game reserves. The Elephant Manager and Owners association learned of his need and came to light with a herd of seven jumbos from Mpumalanga, and they were darted, loaded on trucks, sedated and sent on a nine hour road trip.
2006-11-01 - WASHINGTON, United States. Liz Szabo
Some say zoo elephants have never had it better. Anna and Dolly of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will enjoy a new outdoor walking track and three additional companions. At the National Zoo, Kandula, Shanthi and Ambika will have four times as much room as in their current exhibit. More than half of the 78 zoos that exhibit elephants plan to construct bigger homes, says Kris Vehrs, executive director of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.
2006-11-01 - Crosbyton, Texas, United States. GERALD E. MCLEOD
Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum in Crosbyton is a "must see" for anyone even mildly interested in dinosaurs. Also in the museum is the complete skeleton of a mastodon sticking its head through the acoustic tiles in the ceiling of a former furniture store. So is the skull of a rare four-tusked mastodon found in a gravel pit near La Grange. The giant tusk on a polished wood stand is one of Taylor's creations.
2006-11-01 - Itahari, Nepal.
A team of experts is arriving in Sunsari on Wednesday to tame a wild elephant, which has killed eight persons in Sunsari and Morang districts so far, at the direction of National Park Department. The experts will look for the elephant that is terrorising villagers and find out the cause of its behaviour. The law allows shooting down of the elephant if it goes mad, Sharma said.
2006-11-01 - Negev, Israel. Zohar Blumenkrantz
Kibbutz Nahal Oz and the Tourism Ministry are planning a NIS 6 million elephant park in the agricultural areas near the kibbutz. Between 20 to 30 female Asian elephants will roam the park freely. Females are considered more friendly to people than males. Visitors will also be able to ride the elephants. Details of the wildlife park, which hopes to open in 2008 to 400,000 annual visitors were revealed for the first time yesterday during a tour of the southern region by Tourism Ministry director g...
2006-11-01 - Windhoek, Namibia. Absalom Shigwedha
ABOUT 22 000 head of livestock have been vaccinated against anthrax in the Caprivi Region in the last week. Dr Chitate said 20 zebras, 10 elephants and two buffaloes had died of suspected anthrax in areas bordering Botswana's Chobe National Park. Only two of the elephants were confirmed to have died of anthrax, he said. Government has imported 180 000 doses of anthrax vaccine from South Africa at a cost of N$108 000 for the vaccination campaign, which started last week Tuesday.
2006-11-01 - Devon, United Kingdom.
Local people have been giving keepers their unwanted pumpkins, which can be used as feed as well as playthings. The zoo's Phil Knowling said: "We will even take them with scary faces cut into them." The zoo is well-known for its environmental enrichment work which helps occupy animals such as primates, elephants and big cats.
2006-11-01 - Sydney, Australia.
Eight Asian elephants destined for zoos in Sydney and Melbourne are expected to arrive in Australia on Thursday. They passed crucial quarantine checks on October 31. News Ltd said the elephants would arrive in Sydney early on Thursday evening. But Taronga Zoo spokesman Mark Williams could not confirm their arrival. "It will be sooner rather than later but their arrival relies on us chartering a big Russian freight plane and until we have that confirmed we can't say when they will be here," Mr Wi...
2006-10-31 - Washington, United States.
Parts of a fossil jawbone discovered by a farmer in Eritrea might belong to a "missing link" species that connects modern elephants to their ancient ancestors. The lower jaw fragments, about 27 million years old, were found in the Dogali fossil site, said Jeheskel Shoshani, the lead author of elephant evolution and professor of biology at the University of Asmara in Eritrea. The new species is named Eritreum melakeghebrekristosi, by the researchers, according to a paper that appears in the onli...
2006-10-31 - PEKANBARU, Indonesia.
Indonesia Wild rampaging elephants trampled a farmer to death and destroyed several houses in a village on Indonesia's Sumatra island, witnesses said Tuesday. The people of Lubuk Embut, a village on Riau province 900 kilometers (600 miles) northwest of the capital Jakarta, have been terrorized over the last few days by a herd of around 20 starving elephants in search of food, said Jayok, a village chief who goes by a single name.
2006-10-30 - SPRINGFIELD, Missouri, United States. MARCUS KABEL
Riverbluff Cave is slowly yielding its fossil treasures:Lead paleontologist Matt Forir said every discovery raises new questions. Mammoth bones and a juvenile tooth dated around 630,000 years ago came from one of two species and it will require more adult remains to tell which one it is. "We either have the oldest wooly mammoth in North America or the youngest Meridian mammoth.
2006-10-30 - Atlanta, United States. Plotnik JM, de Waal FB, Reiss D., Emory University
We exposed three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to a large mirror to investigate their responses. Here, we report a successful MSR elephant study and report striking parallels in the progression of responses to mirrors among apes, dolphins, and elephants. These parallels suggest convergent cognitive evolution most likely related to complex sociality and cooperation.
2006-10-30 - Baraboo, United States. Scott De Laruelle
The man who brought some of the first animals acts to Circus World Museum passed away Friday while on safari in Africa, studying the elephants he loved so much. Jenda Smaha, 74, was brought to Baraboo in 1960 by Chappie Fox and Wilbur Deppe and worked here for several years before embarking on a career that would take him around the world, said his brother Tony Smaha.
2006-10-30 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
At least 12 wild elephants ran amuck in two villages in Trumon Timur sub-district in Aceh Selatan district recently, an official said. The wild elephants trampled down paddies and plantations, and also damaged clean water pipes in Naca village, Trumon Timur sub-district chief Said Azhar said in Trumon on Monday.
2006-10-30 - ATLANTA, United States.
Elephants have joined a small, elite group of species, including humans, great apes and dolphins, that have the ability to recognize themselves in the mirror, according to a new finding by researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York.
2006-10-29 - London, United Kingdom. Hutchinson JR, Schwerda D, Dale RH, Fischer MS, Kram R., The Royal Veterinary College
We analyzed the locomotor kinematics of over 2400 strides from 14 African and 48 Asian elephant individuals (body mass 116-4632 kg) freely moving over ground at a 17-fold range of speeds, from slow walking at 0.40 m s(-1) to the fastest reliably recorded speed for elephants, 6.8 m s(-1). These data reveal that African and Asian elephants have some subtle differences in how size-independent kinematic parameters change with speed.
2006-10-29 - Okavango, Botswana. Bob Harris
Bob Harris of Clairemont was in the Okavango Delta in Botswana when this young male elephant charged his safari vehicle. “Our guide spoke softly and calmly to him and he quieted down, thank goodness,” Harris recounted. “The entire trip was a wonderful experience.”
2006-10-29 - PHILADELPHIA, United States. PETER JACKSON
One panelist asked the candidates whether they thought the state should step in to help the zoo in Pennsylvania's largest city complete an expansion of its elephant exhibit, which was canceled because of rising costs and fundraising problems. Swann said "he would work to find a way to "get some elephants back in there", Rendell stopped short of promising help for the elephants in his home city's zoo
2006-10-29 - Bridgeport, United States. KEN DIXON and AARON LEO
Animal rights activists won a small victory this weekend when a federal judge ruled city police had to allow them closer to the Arena at Harbor Yard. In particular, the rights activists were underscoring the plight of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus elephants, highly social animals that are chained up for most of the day before they perform.
2006-10-29 - BALTIMORE, United States. Julie Stoiber
As the Philadelphia and Maryland Zoos' plans to merge their African elephant collections in Baltimore coalesce, the Maryland Zoo elephant manager will take a messy but important step in building bonds before the big move, which is scheduled for the spring. He will collect dung and urine from Dolly and Anna in Maryland and, with permission, deliver it to Philadelphia, giving Petal, Bette and Kallie the opportunity to "get used to smelling our girls," and paving the way for an acclimation in which...
2006-10-28 - Baraboo, United States.
Make a donation to the circus museum in Baraboo and you can drive away with a trunk full of elephant manure. Weekday mornings from Monday to Nov. 17 the museum will let anyone who makes a donation haul away the dung, which according to the release is a "bonanza" for home gardeners. The museum will have a skid loader on hand for gardeners who want to take away a truckload.
2006-10-28 - Hanover, Germany.
One-year old elephant "Tarak" (2nd R) enjoys his first birthday cake made of rice and cereals with his mother Khaing Hnin Hnin and his aunts Dunja and Manari 28 October 2006 at the zoo in Hanover. (Photo by Jochen Luebke/AFP/Getty Images)
2006-10-28 - Mumbai, India. Aditya Ghosh
"Learning to live with elephants" is now the mantra of the Maharashtra forest department and in that, they are now been told by the Centre to prepare the areas in Kolhapur for elephant habitation. With funds under Project Elephants promised for the state, the forest department is trying desperately to reduce man-animal conflict and make the area a safe home for the pachyderms.
2006-10-28 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. thailandrox.
ok so moving along, we go down to the elephants. we get on the back of a tempermental bitch. our elephant didnt listen to shit the trainer was saying lol. i guess when your five tons you do whatever the hell you want. so our elephant would go the wrong direction, stop and eat some grass.
2006-10-28 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
A rampaging herd of rare wild elephants is terrorizing two villages in central Vietnam, destroying crops and ignoring villagers' efforts to ward them off, local media reported Friday. No one has been hurt but the elephants have trampled and destroyed 50 hectares of cashew, rice and corn in the villages. It was the second incidence of crop-destroying elephants in Vietnam this year.
2006-10-27 - Terai, Nepal.
As the autumnal harvest of maize and rice ripens in the fertile plains of the Terai, human-elephant conflict increases. On 22 October, a wild elephant killed five and injured five others in eastern Nepal. Migratory herds of elephants often raid crops resulting in widespread damage and even loss of life.
2006-10-27 - Lincoln, Illinois, United States.
Scholars thought the tusk was about 22,000 years old, but a laboratory in New Zealand, using accelerator mass spectrometry dating, has determined that the Sugar Creek mammoth apparently died about 11,600 years ago.. Illinois State Museum curator of geology Jeffrey Saunders, an expert on the Ice Age elephants, calls that "a surprisingly late date." It also is relatively close to when North American mammoths became extinct about 11,000 years ago.
2006-10-27 - St. Louis, United States. BRANDI SPELBRING
Students presented a basket of goodies to the zoo's newborn elephant, Meliha. The basket included bottles of ketchup, bottles of bubbles, jello boxes, and baby rattles; items requested by the zoo to stimulate the baby with different tastes and experiences. These gifts will help the staff recreate situations and behaviors in the wild for Meliha as she grows.
2006-10-27 - MIAMI, United States. JESSICA GRESKO
Now on display is a 5,000 square foot exhibit on excrement titled "The Scoop on Poop," an educational exhibit filled with photos of animals and faeces. Elephant keepers were charged with weighing the amount of elephant poop one of the zoo's Asian male elephants, Dahlip, produces in a 24-hour period. The turd total: 540 pounds.
2006-10-27 - Philadelphia, United States. PATRICIA TALORICO
There are lions and tigers and bears. But, very soon, no elephants. Now -- and for just a few months more, is your last chance to catch the elephants in Philly. The cash-strapped zoo, the first in the country, could not afford to expand the 1,800-square-foot, 1940s era barn and quarter-acre yard where the pachyderms now live.
2006-10-27 - London, United Kingdom. Elli Leadbeater
Rifle-toting tourists hunting exotic animals could actually help protect Africa's vulnerable species, a leading conservationist has suggested. Elephant populations had benefited from a permit system that allowed sport hunters to kill a limited number of the beasts, according to Eugene Lapointe.
2006-10-27 - Ontario, Canada. Jennifer Viegas
Battle scars on male mastodon tusks reveal they fought in brutal combat each year during seasonal phases of heightened sexual activity and aggression. The discovery, announced at a recent Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting in Ontario, counters the view that now-extinct mastodons were peaceful, passive creatures that rarely engaged in battles. It also strengthens the link between mastodon and modern elephant behaviour, since male bull elephants also fight seasonal, hormonally-charged batt...
2006-10-27 - SERONGA, Botswana.
The President of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), Valli Moosa, says something needs to be done to reduce the Botswana elephant population. Botswana is still debating a workable elephant management plan while ecologists say the country is overstocked with the animals which cause �a serious ecological concern that needs to be addressed.�
2006-10-27 - New Delhi, India. Zafri Mudasser Nofil
A doorbell can be an effective tool to check marauding elephants from entering into human territory, according to a wildlife expert who has successfully implemented the method in Assam. "Every time an elephant trips on the fence while trying to cross, the bell rings. This gives the people enough time to thwart the animal," Goswami told IANS. "The technique involves a cell, switch and a bell connected to a high fence built with nylon strings," said Shimanta Goswami, a member of the Emergency Reli...
2006-10-26 - Darjeeling, India.
A herd of 15 wild elephants has been destroying crops in tea estates across Darjeeling.The elephants, which inhabit the forests nearby, often come out of the thick vegetation into fields and tea estates in Darjeeling. Pushed back into the ever-smaller pockets of jungle and with limited access to their traditional habitats, elephants have been coming into daily conflict with plantation workers.
2006-10-26 - Miami, United States.
Ron Magill, communications director for the Miami Metro Zoo, holds elephant dungn 12 October 2006 during a press preview for "The Scoop on Poop" travelling exhibition which is on a book by Canadian author and photographer Wayne Lynch about the way animals and humans use fecal matter.(AFP/File/Robert Sullivan)
2006-10-26 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The framed image of Embun@Siput is placed at the reception at Legend Hotel Hotel by Awareness and Preservation of Elephants (APES) spokesman Chwen Zeng and Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary assistant wildlife officer Mohammad Rizal Paimin to create awareness and let people know about the project. It is a high traffic area so tourists can see it while checking in and this will help spark interest in the project,” said Chwen.
2006-10-26 - Lincoln, Illinois, United States. ANN KLOSE
A 22,000 year-old woolly mammoth tusk is eased very gently into the McKinstry Library on the Lincoln College campus Wednesday afternoon. The prehistoric artifact is now much drier and more intact than when student Judd McCullum found it in two parts in Sugar Creek a little more than a year ago. It's the largest mammoth tusk found in Illinois.
2006-10-26 - Bridgeport, United States. AARON LEO
The circus' opening night Wednesday at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport wowed spectators and drew animal rights protesters, leading to another first: nine activists were arrested after trying to get past police-placed barriers blocking the entrance. Those arrested were issued court summonses charging them with criminal trespass, breach of the peace, interfering with police and inciting to riot, said Derek V. Oatis, a lawyer from Glastonbury, who was himself charged.
2006-10-26 - TUALATIN, United States. Jennifer Clampet
Grasping the molars with his fingers, Dr. John George rolled a set of 11,300-year-old mastodon teeth in his hands. George and Portland State University classmate Ron Sund excavated the mastodon from a Tualatin field in 1962. George, who now lives in Raleigh Hills, is loaning the tusk and teeth for permanent display to the Tualatin Heritage Center.
2006-10-26 - Itahari, Nepal. Somnath Banstola
With the death of a person due to an attack of a wild elephant in Sunsari this morning, the death toll from attacks of wild elephants in Sunsari and Morang in eastern Nepal has reached seven in five days. Rahim Miyan, 50, a resident of Pakali VDC-2, Sunsari, was trampled to death by a wild elephant this morning. Miyan had come out of the house in the morning to urinate when the wild elephant attacked him, according to the in-charge of the Area Police Office Pakali, Prem Subba.
2006-10-26 - Berlin, Germany.
The elephants at the Berlin Zoo celebrated Halloween Tuesday with a special treat: wheelbarrows full of pumpkins. Some of the elephants like to roll the pumpkins before breaking them with their feet, but all of them ate the gourds. The pumpkins are a perfect treat for the animals. They are rich in fiber but have a high sugar content.
2006-10-25 - Tualatin, United States.
A mastodon tusk and two molars excavated in 1962 in Tualatin will go on exhibit at the Tualatin Historical Society's Heritage Center. The items were kept by the retired Portland dentist who dug them up. Now, for the first time, they will be displayed in the city where they were discovered. Dr. John George, who excavated the bones from a swampy swale where Fred Meyer now sits, says the items will be making a rightful return.
2006-10-25 - BRIDGEPORT, United States. CHARLES WALSH
This year, the emphasis of the demonstrations will shift from past accusations of ill treatment and occasional abuse of circus elephants to the broader issue of how circuses are "robbing" elephants, tigers and other animals of their "freedom and dignity," said Pricilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals. "P.T. Barnum is remembered for saying 'a sucker is born every minute,' " Feral said. "By using nonhuman performers, circuses really do suck the free spirit out of these animals."
2006-10-25 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Manshark
I was watching a tv prog today about Sri Lankan Elephants. And what did I learn from it? I really don’t know for it left me asking more questions at the end than I had at the beginning. At the end of the day, which ones are the best? Those born in shelter who knows not the ways of the world? OR Those born in the wild who knows not common decency and self-respect?
2006-10-24 - WASHINGTON, United States. Jim Rogers, Jerry Redding
The U.S. Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is extending the public comment period regarding the In Defense of Animals petition on elephants and request for comment to Dec. 11. Specifically, APHIS invites responses to the following questions: What are the causes of arthritis in elephants? What, if any, foot care practices have been used on captive elephants to maintain healthy feet?
2006-10-24 - London, United Kingdom.
A leading London gentleman's barber was fined £10,000 after 24 grooming accessories made from ivory were found on its premises during a raid by police. Officers from the Metropolitan's Wildlife Crime Unit seized 24 items including shaving brushes - stamped with "real ivory" - on sale for up to £1,100 each, as well as ivory hairbrushes, glove stretchers and an elephant's tusk when they raided the company's shops in Mayfair and Piccadilly.
2006-10-24 - Beaverton, Oregon, United States.
Friends, family, and colleagues of L.E.L. "Bets" Rasmussen, Ph.D. a long-time OGI professor best known for her research on mammalian chemocommunication, will gather for a memorial service in her honor on Saturday, October 28, in OGI's Wilson Clark Center dining hall, from 12 - 2:00 p.m. Dr. Rasmussen died in at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle on Sunday, September 17, at the age of 67.
2006-10-24 - Luanda, Angola. CHRISTOPHER THOMPSON
Despite a shrinking population of elephants, Angolas share of the trade in ivory tusks has doubled in the past year, according to a report by wildlife organisations TRAFFIC and WWF International, who surveyed the volume of elephant ivory available in curio markets in Luanda. Angola was also reported to be the country of origin in 53 major seizures of ivory in some 12 countries between 1990 and 2003.
2006-10-24 - Providence, United States. Joe Robillard
Roger Williams Zoo, the country’s third oldest zoo, is looking to gather a total of $35 million to complete its renovations. Plans for the $35 million include upgrading the polar bear and elephant exhibits, and the creation of an interactive New England Trail and children’s zoo. The Rhode Island Zoological Society (RIZS), which is a nonprofit organization which runs the zoo, is heading the effort to raise the money.
2006-10-24 - Siliguri, India.
A herd of over 100 elephants went on a rampage in the Terai and Dooars region of North Bengal killing a girl and injuring two others, officials said here today. The elephants also partly demolished a heritage temple and destroyed standing crops, they said. A 19 year girl was trampled to death by a wild elephant while she was returning home from a Kali puja pandal on Saturday. Her friend who was accompanying her was also attacked by the elephant. She has been admitted to the North Bengal Medical ...
2006-10-24 - Indianapolis, United States.
A one-year birthday bash for a member of the Indianapolis Zoo on Saturday. Baby elephant Kedar turned one year old today. The pachyderm celebrated with a fruit medley of watermelon, strawberries, pears, and apples. The Zoo tells us Kedar is growing fast. Kedar isn't the youngest elephant at the zoo. That title belongs to Zehara born just a couple months ago.
2006-10-24 - ST. LOUIS, United States.
The baby elephant at the St. Louis Zoo is finally gaining weight. Zoo officials say Maliha, the Asian elephant born Aug. 2, now weighs 343 pounds. That's only two pounds more than she weighed at birth, but the zoo had been concerned because the elephant had been losing weight. Zoo officials say Maliha has steadily put on weight since her mother, Ellie, started to take a hormone to stimulate milk production.
2006-10-24 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo is counting on your vote to help name the newest member of its elephant family. Zookeepers have provided 5 potential names for the 384-pound pachyderm — just vote on this page. And, when you vote, make sure you fill out the form so you'll be eligible to win a great prize from the zoo: a Pachyderm Prize Pack which includes a one-year Houston Zoo Family Membership, a Keeper of the Animals Adopt Kit for Thai (the baby’s proud father) and a private behind-the-scenes tour of the z...
2006-10-24 - Windhoek, Namibia.
ABOUT 32 wild animals have died of anthrax in the Caprivi Region since the end of last month. Of the 20 Namibian elephants, two died in Mudumu National Park. 20 zebras, 10 elephants and two buffaloes had died of the disease in areas such as Masikili - which borders Botswana's Chobe National Park, where the disease is believed to have originated. According to conservation officials in Botswana, about 170 wild animals had died of anthrax in Chobe National Park since last month.
2006-10-24 - Mumbai, India. Aditya Ghosh
While the Government of Maharashtra has been allowed to add elephants in its variety of wildlife 'officially' after a century of no records of the animal in the state, the forest officials are busy inviting experts from different states to teach them and the villagers how to tackle these creatures.
2006-10-24 - SEOUL, South Korea.
Disgraced South Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk said on Tuesday he spent part of private donations for research to pay the Russian mafia for mammoth tissues to clone extinct elephant species. Hwang, once celebrated as a national hero, was indicted in May on charges of fraud and embezzlement after prosecutors said he was the mastermind of a scheme to make it look like his team had produced stem cells through cloning human embryos.
2006-10-24 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Three people were trampled to death by elephants in different incidents in Kwale and Laikipia districts at the weekend. Villagers claimed the elephants is among those that the Kenya Wildlife Service was moving from Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary. In Laikipia, Thuo Kariuki, who was driving away a herd of about 20 elephants which had invaded their village, was attacked and killed.
2006-10-23 - Sunsari, Nepal.
At least three persons were killed and three others were severely injured when a wild elephant went on a rampage in two places in Sunsari district within the last 12 hours. The elephant crushed a man to death in Panchakanya village Sunday night and killed two women in Dharan Municipality-15 this morning, reports said. Three villagers were injured in the elephant’s attack.
2006-10-23 - GERIK, Malaysia. Hah Foong Lian
Motorists along the East-West Highway must not honk or switch on the car headlights when they come across elephants on the road. Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department director Shabrina Mohd Shariff said the advice was among other tips put up on a signboard to inform motorists on what to do in such a situation. "By honking, the elephants will get agitated and may attack the motorists," she said on Monday.
2006-10-22 - Kansas, United States.
"He was in here every night after the circus," Holland says. "They drank me out of every bottle of tequila I had, all the good stuff. He told me some stories about some bars in Hamburg that were pretty crazy," Holland says. "They had to do with some very nice-looking females that were not females. He had lime but no salt," Holland says. "So thats like half a training wheel. Salt and lime are called training wheels."
2006-10-21 - AKITA, Japan.
Hanako, a 17-year-old African elephant at Akita Municipal Omoriyama Zoo, is struggling with a torn trunk, zoo officials said. The injury, as disruptive for elephants as serious hand injuries can be for humans, is making it difficult for Hanako to eat and drink, but is not expected to lead to other health problems. Zookeepers have her taking regular doses of antibiotics, while keeping close watch over her condition.
2006-10-21 - Copenhagen, Denmark. Harald Schwammer, Debbie Olson
The International Elephant Foundation and the Copenhagen Zoo are pleased to announce the International Elephant Research Symposium October 21-22, 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark. This important symposium will concentrate on veterinary issues, including the Endotheliotropic Elephant Herpes Virus (EEHV), reproductive, physiological, and behavioral research and in situ elephant conservation issues. In addition, the symposium will host a special poster session of elephant facility design.
2006-10-20 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. Moyiga Nduru
Concern about ivory sales in Southern Africa is persisting among environmental groups, this after CITES granted Japan stockpile buyer status earlier this month. "We are extremely concerned by CITES giving Japan their blessing," Jason Bell-Leask, Southern African director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), told IPS. "Its difficult to distinguish between illegal and legal ivory in Japan...We do not believe that Japan has done enough to prevent the (illegal) trade in ivory."
2006-10-20 - Toronto, Canada. Loops666
Elephants at the Toronto zoo! This was a behind-the-scenes tour for employees, as part of our Bush Camp I don't know if it works the same way for the public.
2006-10-20 - Udawalawe, Sri Lanka. Ranil Amarasuriya
A Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) ponders an incursion by photographers while having a light snack in the Udawalawe National Park. Captured on August 14th 2006 with a Canon EOS 30D (EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III) on aperture priority (f/5.6) with a resultant shutter speed of 1/1250th of a second at ISO 400
2006-10-19 - Virunga, Congo.
Lake Edward in the centre of the park in the Democratic Republic of Congo was once home to Africa's greatest concentration of these magnificent beasts. But during the last fortnight alone, more than 400 hippos have been slaughtered as well as a number of buffalo, elephants and other animals. Conservationists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) say that a Congolese militia group is understood to have killed half the hippo population in the park since setting up a base there two weeks ago.
2006-10-19 - CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh.
A herd of wild elephants rampaged through Jangalgunagari village, 350 km (220 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka, in southern Bangladesh on Thursday, killing five members of a family. Two children were among those trampled to death by the herd of about 10 elephants. The elephants also destroyed five bamboo huts and damaged crops before they were chased away by police firing blank shots. Villagers also torched bushes and lit firecrackers to scare the animals away.
2006-10-18 - Dublin, Ireland.
There used to be two Asian Elephants in the Dublin Zoo (Judy and Kirsty from Chester zoo in 1991) but they have been moved to Neunkirchen zoo in Germany. A new enclosure was built in Dublin, 50% bigger than the old one, which is now the new home for the dutch elephants from Rotterdam.
2006-10-18 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States.
After months of continual personal care and non-stop supplemental feedings, our dear Jenny has passed away. Over the past two years countless tests were conducted in an attempt to determine what was causing Jenny to lose weight. The illness that eventually claimed Jenny's life continues to go undiagnosed. All known tests were conducted with inconclusive results.
2006-10-18 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwean security forces have seized ivory from suspected Zambian poachers who killed eleven elephants in northern Zimbabwe, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Two of the suspected poachers were arrested in the Chizarira National Park, and a rifle and 22 tusks of ivory worth 54 million Zimbabwe dollars (216,000 US dollars) were confiscated, said the state-controlled Herald.
2006-10-18 - Portland, Oregon, United States.
The Oregon Zoo may enlist the skills of one of the nation's leading veterinary dentists to extract a bull elephant's infected tusk, a difficult and uncommon surgery. A 33-year-old Asian elephant named Tusko broke his left tusk 13 years ago at a private California elephant ranch. At the time, a California veterinarian sawed off the fractured portion of tusk flush with the elephant's lip, hoping it would scar over and heal.
2006-10-18 - HARARE, Zimbabwe. ANGUS SHAW
The economic chaos engulfing Zimbabwe is decimating the country's once teeming wildlife, according to a conservation group, poorly trained rangers cruelly kill the animals they are meant to protect. In one case, rangers pumped at least 40 bullets into an elephant suspected of encroaching on a settlement in remote northwestern Zimbabwe, said the independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force in a report released Tuesday.
2006-10-18 - Taipei, Taiwan. Danburg Murmur
Asian elephants with Zookeepers in Taipei Zoo. Photo by Danburg Murmur, taken on October 15, 2006, with a Canon PowerShot S2 IS.
2006-10-18 - Voorhees, United States. Nancy Gentile
It was upsetting to learn that the elephants will be leaving the Philadelphia Zoo because of lack of space and funding. The elephants do deserve bigger, better accommodations, but a zoo without our elephants is a tragedy that could be avoided. I seem to recall that the city of Philadelphia and the state used public funds to help build the Linc. I have to wonder why no such funds are forthcoming to help the oldest zoo in the nation keep its elephants.
2006-10-17 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Daily Express
The Sabah Zoological and Botanical Park in Lok Kawi, 25km from here, is expecting the first birth of a Borneo pygmy elephant by a captive jumbo in 16 months. State Wildlife Department Deputy Director, Laurentius N. Ambu said the cow elephant was now into her sixth-month of pregnancy. "We have to monitor the progress of the elephant pregnancy. God willing, if she is healthy we will have the first captive born baby elephant in 16 months," he said at a mock cheque presentation-cum-launching of the ...
2006-10-17 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
Foster and Partners’ first zoological building – the new Elephant House at Copenhagen Zoo - marked its’ groundbreaking today in an official ceremony attended by the His Royal Highness the Prince Consort of Denmark. The event incorporated burying a time capsule with Lord Foster’s signed sketches, which will serve as a unique reminder of the project for future generations.
2006-10-17 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Sue Lenz
These are pictures taken of my mother in the 1930's, the elephant she used to present was called "Rosie". After the family finished with the circus, she was sold to the Bristol Zoo where she gave elephant rides for many years. Mother also had a dog and pony act, as well as an act with geese.
2006-10-17 - JHAPA, Nepal.
Maiya Shrestha of Mangalbare VDC-1 of Shantinagar died after a wild elephant crushed her to death on Monday evening. She came under the wild beast's attack when she was returning home after collecting animal fodder at the near by forest, where she had gone with her son and husband. Both her son and husband were lucky to escape the elephant's attack, but another woman received serious injury.
2006-10-17 - Sambalpur, India.
Three elephants died in the Polagada forest under Rairakhol sub-division, after they had come in contact with high voltage electric wire yesterday night, forest officers in Rairakhol said. Out of the three, two were reported to be females. “Whether the elephants died after having come in contact with electricity lines or during the preventive measures by farmers to save their crops is yet to be discovered,” said Mr Raju Kumar, the conservator of forests.
2006-10-17 - Bangalore, India.
A herd of around 35 elephants strayed into villages on the periphery of Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on Sunday night, creating panic among villagers. The elephants strayed into Begehalli, Ramasagara and Nallasandra villages near Jigani in Anekal taluk, three km from the BNP. The Forest Department staff burst firecrackers and chased the animals back into the BNP around 11.30 a.m.
2006-10-17 - ANN ARBOR, United States. Nancy Ross-Flanigan
The American mastodon, a massive, tusk-bearing relative of elephants, inhabited much of North America until its extinction just 10,000 years ago. New studies of bone damage on fossil remains of mature mastodon males—aided by 3-D computer graphics—indicate that some died of wounds inflicted by the tusks of other males. University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher will discuss the results at a news conference Oct. 16 during the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in...
2006-10-17 - JAKARTA, Indonesia.
Indonesia Brush fires that have sent a gray haze over neighboring Malaysia and Singapore scattered rare elephants in an Indonesian forest Tuesday, as the government prepared to have soldiers fight the blazes, officials said. The fires on Tuesday continued to ravage more than 200 hectares (500 acres) of conservation area for Sumatran elephants at the Tesso Nilo National Park and had forced some of the animals to wander on lands bordering with settlements.
2006-10-16 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Two elephant tusks were recovered from an imam of a local mosque, by forest department personnel at Chuniajhora tea garden area of West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. Anwar Ansari was arrested yesterday, the last day of the wildlife week, an oppurtunity he had used to procure the tusks, forest department sources said. Buying or selling of elephant tusks is banned in the country.
2006-10-16 - Chiang Saen, Thailand. Jonathan Thompson
It started life on the back of a beer mat. But 25 years on, elephant polo boasts corporate sponsorship and competitions that draw teams from across the globe. This is the sixth year of the Cup, which takes place annually with royal consent - a valuable commodity in Thailand - organised by the Anantara resort group. This year it has relocated to the elephants' natural habitat, the Golden Triangle, having transferred from its usual home, the southern beach resort of Hua Hin.
2006-10-16 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Captive elephants in Kerala are being given 'registration numbers' - in the form of a microchip device planted under the skin - in order to put an end to frauds committed by unscrupulous owners. "Microchip is one centimetre in length and has a diameter comparable to that of a grain of rice. This is encased in a glass pellet and has a unique code number," veteran elephant expert Jacob Cheeran told IANS.
2006-10-15 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
A South African scientist has expressed concern over the apparent high number of elephants maimed apparently by wire snares laid by poachers to trap game in the northern parts of the country. Professor Rudi van Aarde, head of conservation ecology research at the University of Pretoria, has seen at least seven elephants with parts of their trunks missing during a recent visit to the Mapungubwe National Park.
2006-10-15 - Albuquerque, United States. Albuquerque Biological Park (Rio Grande Zoo)
The 2006 Elephant Managers Assocation Conference host is the Albuquerque Biological Park. This year’s theme is “Elephant Breeding and Births.”
2006-10-14 - KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia.
Malaysia Wild elephants rampaged through a Malaysian plantation district, trampling more than 1,000 banana and rubber trees, a news report said Saturday. At least four elephants believed to be foraging for food ventured out of a jungle Friday and tore through a rural plantation in the northern state of Kedah, shocking villagers whose livelihood depends on the crops, The Star newspaper reported.
2006-10-13 - Pondicherry, India. Ingmar Lee and Krista Roessingh
We are appealing for your immediate help to protect South India’s last significant herds of Wild Elephants! The most seemingly insurmountable obstacle to the protection of the elephants is, quite tragically, rampant bureaucratic inertia. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourselves with the predicament of these magnificent animals!
2006-10-13 - Shimoga, India. Rajesh Kamath/Darius Taraporvala
It was a very special day for the elephants of Sakkare Bele Camp. All their months of training was tested on the annual sports day for elephants. It was the day when all the elephants came out to play. "On this Elephant Day we have arranged competitions like banana and sugarcane eating and pure simple commands from mahouts that elephants can follow," said Melochago, DCF, Wildlife Department, Shimoga.
2006-10-13 - Ayutthaya, Thailand. APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Continuing floods in Ayutthaya have made life difficult for elephants. The management of the Ayutthaya Elephant Park has had to move over 12 elephants under its care onto a road near Wat Maheyong in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district as the site has been submerged since early this month. ''We have never faced such a crisis before. Water came very fast and the current was so strong that we had to move the jumbos from the park,'' manager Kannapoj Tipwong said yesterday.
2006-10-13 - New York, United States.
Does "violent retaliation" sound like anthropocentric overstatement? How, then, to describe an elephant's goring of a tourist or farmer who had done nothing, personally, to annoy? Or a herd's selective trampling of crops and huts on the edge of its shrinking reserve? Or routine blocking of roads, and charging of vehicles that come too close?
2006-10-13 - Moshi, Tanzania. PETER TEMBA
ABOUT 150 hectares of food crops in the newly created Siha district in Kilimanjaro region have been destroyed by elephants for the past 18 months, District Commissioner Anna Nyamubi has revealed. Briefing the Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office (Environment), Professor Mark Mwandosya, while on tour of Kilimanjaro region, she said game rangers had been alerted about the marauding jumbos which have also destroyed three hectares of trees.
2006-10-13 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Two elephants were found dead in a paddy field in Lahanda under Keonjhar districts Joda police limits on Thursday. The pachyderms, both juvenile females, are believed to have been poisoned. There was no sign of any external injury nor was there any electricity supply line in the vicinity to suggest that the two could have been electrocuted, sources in the department said.
2006-10-12 - Washington, United States.
A census of elephant populations in Zimbabwe, equipment for scouts in a game management area in Zambia, and research on re-establishing a viable population of tigers in southwest China are just a few of the wildlife conservation projects around the world receiving support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Almost $750,000 in grants is being awarded to projects in Asian, Caribbean and African nations to aid in the conservation of creatures such as rhinos, elephants, gorillas, chimpa...
2006-10-12 - BEIT BRIDGE, South Africa. Vishnu Naidoo
In this past week members of the Beit Bridge border post, under the command of Director Joseph Makushu, arrested ten foreign nationals for attempting to smuggle drugs and jewellery made from Ivory through the Beit Bridge border post. The suspects are likely to be charged with Dealing in Drugs and they are expected to appear in the Musina court before the end of tomorrow.
2006-10-12 - Monrovia, Liberia.
Reports emanating from Lofa County speak of elephants invading villages and farms, as well as destroying crops before returning into the forest. Although the situation is being investigated, several aid workers and residents of the county who claim to have returned from some of the affected villages and towns, told The Analyst in Monrovia that the repeated attacks on crops by the animals have caused massive displacement of villagers in several villages around the provincial city of Voinjama.
2006-10-12 - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
A stampede of four wild elephants have destroyed more than 10ha of crops and hundreds of ha of forest in the central province of Quang Nam’s Tra Doc Village over the past few days. No casualties have been reported. The elephants arrived in the area early last month and are still roaming the forests and mountains of Tra Doc Village.
2006-10-12 - Luanda, Angola.
Although the elephant population is on the rebound in east and south Africa, elephants in Angola may soon become a thing of the past because of the thriving illegal ivory trade. There were about 12,400 elephants in Angola in 1981, but that number dropped during the former Portuguese colony's war. The number of elephants in Angola has been reduced to no more than 246, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
2006-10-12 - Delhi, India. Justin Huggler
Attacks by elephants on humans, both in Africa and India, have been increasing dramatically in the past five years. As villagers tell of 'revenge raids', scientists argue that loss of habitat and social structure is seriously destabilising these magnificent creatures.
2006-10-11 - Opuwo, Namibia. Michael Liswaniso
So-called problem animals - but more especially elephants - are regarded a danger to members of the community as they cause havoc in most parts of the Kunene. Recently, a villager at Otuani village endured a broken leg and is still recovering in the Oshakati Hospital as a result of an elephant attack. A homestead was destroyed by an elephant at Okahua, while a chain of tombstones were destroyed recently.
2006-10-11 - Manila, Philippines. Mark Ivan Roblas
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Monday filed criminal complaints against 21 persons, including 13 personnel of the Bureau of Customs, for their involvement in the pilferage of elephant tusks seized last year by government operatives. Facing charges for violating the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Antifencing Law, qualified theft/robbery and gross neglect of duty
2006-10-11 - LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States. STEPHEN MAJORS
At Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom, head veterinarian Mark Stetter demonstrates the 5-foot contraception tool for a procedure that he hopes will help control Africa's elephant population: vasectomies. The theme park's plan is the latest attempt to deal with what African officials say is overpopulation, although conservationists dispute that. While those who live far from elephants may think they are endangered, thousands of them have been killed in Africa because of concerns that they had ove...
2006-10-11 - Brownsville, United States. SARA INÉS CALDERÓN
Reports of an elephant crossing the river or people trying to smuggle an elephant across were rampant Tuesday while an elaborate political stunt was taking shape near the mouth of the Rio Grande. The elephants came from Shrine Circuses, said James Plunkett, who produces the circus. They arrived in Brownsville on Monday and were scheduled to be on their way to Maybank on Tuesday afternoon. The elephants and the crew were at the Rio Grande for less than an hour, Plunkett said.
2006-10-11 - CAPE TOWN, South Africa.
A herd of elephants and a church are caught up in the South African government's efforts to redistribute land to black communities evicted under white rule and right one of the great wrongs of the apartheid era. Local authorities agreed earlier this year that professional hunters should be brought in to kill the mighty mammals. Animal rights activists protested and on Tuesday announced that they had raised enough funds to move the elephants to a wildlife sanctuary called SanWild in the Limpopo p...
2006-10-11 - BANDA ACEH, Indonesia.
Wild elephants who are losing their natural habitat are encroaching on residential areas in Trumon Timur, southern Aceh, destroying hectares of crops, when three elephants came down on a rice field and destroyed the crops. The frequency of elephant incursions into human settlements has increased over the past two weeks after the Leuser International Foundation withdrew two trained elephants that had been used to scare away the local elephants.
2006-10-11 - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
A group of four wild elephants on Tuesday ravaged a mountainous village of farmers in Vietnam’s central province Quang Nam, reported local authorities. Luckily, no one has been injured or killed, but the elephants – including three mature and a young one – devastated over ten hectares of crops in the 5th village of Tra Doc commune in Bac Tra My district. The group appeared in the evening, apparently scavenging for food and vegetables, chasing locals around in the process.
2006-10-10 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Kudzanayi Shumba
Precious Nyoni, 35, resident of the Gokwe district in southwest Zimbabwe, surveys his garden. The vegetable and sugarcane stalks are flattened, and half-eaten crops lie all around. This was his only livelihood, and in one night, it is all gone. "They are too many and I believe they should be reduced through a culling exercise. Just recently, elephants destroyed 50 hectares of maize crop belonging to some villagers. It means that all of us need food assistance even before we have harvested," Nyon...
2006-10-10 - Limpopo, South Africa.
TWELVE elephants in KwaZulu-Natal that were to have been shot have been reprieved and will be moved a wildlife sanctuary in Limpopo, Animal Rights Africa said today. Due to a successful land restitution claim, the entire Thukela Biosphere Reserve, near Weenen, now has new owners who do not want the elephants on their newly returned land. The elephants, orphaned by culling in the Kruger National Park, were taken to Thukela Biosphere Reserve in the early 1990s.
2006-10-09 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Wild elephants dragged two women and a seven-year-old girl out of their huts and then crushed them to death in a village in eastern Sri Lanka, plocal police officer AWA Gafar said on Monday. The elephants entered the village of Mohinipuram in Ampara district at dusk on Sunday, charging at residents and creating panic among villagers. He said the elephants pulled the victims from their homes then killed them.
2006-10-09 - Philadelphia, United States.
THE NEWS that Philadelphia will be losing Kallie, Bette and Petal, the three African elephants that the Philadelphia Zoo is transferring to Baltimore because it can't afford a necessary expansion, surely has us sad, but also concerned. Maybe it's selfish, but we can't help wondering: How can you be a world-class city without elephants?
2006-10-09 - Ranchi, India.
Fear of revenge by a herd of elephants has forced people in a Jharkhand village to flee from their homes following the death of a baby elephant after it fell into a well. A baby elephant fell into a well in Banta village Saturday night, about 70 km from here after it got separated from the herd. The elephant finally succumbed to injuries Sunday morning despite a valiant rescue bid by the villagers and forest department officials.
2006-10-09 - Grand Rapids, United States. Buckles Woodcock
This just in from KLSDAD who saw the Ken & Nicole Show in Grand Rapids on Sept. 30. He said he enjoyed the show thoroughly, especially after having seen the other unit earlier in the Garden. There are obviously some good acts on the show, Bello Nock is probably the most famous circus personality in America but this picture tells another story, I only count around 20 performers styling, not enough people for a good fist fight.
2006-10-09 - Tamil Nadu, India.
Two women and a child were crushed to death by some wild elephants when they entered the village Alimnagar in Akkaraipattu in Amparai district Sunday night around 09:30 p.m. Marauding elephants Sunday evening entered after dusk charging residents and damaged several huts. Elephants had dragged the victims out of their huts and dashed them on the ground.
2006-10-09 - LUANDA, Angola.
The Cafe del Mar looks like any other expensive restaurant on Ilha de Cabo, the fashionable beach playground for foreigners and rich Angolans in Luanda. But it has a special attraction: a small but well stocked curio kiosk with neat rows of ivory carvings, a popular but now illegal souvenir for tourists in much of Africa. "Yes, we're very popular," said the shop's owner. "Here is our Angolan ivory," she said, waving her hand toward a cluster of white statues. Despite a shrinking population of el...
2006-10-08 - Los Angeles, United States. CHARLES SIEBERT
Were not going anywhere, my driver, Nelson Okello, whispered to me one morning this past June, the two of us sitting in the front seat of a jeep just after dawn in Queen Elizabeth National Park in southwestern Uganda. We’d originally stopped to observe what appeared to be a lone bull elephant grazing in a patch of tall savanna grasses off to our left. More than one “rogue” crossed our path that morning — a young male elephant that has made an overly strong power play against the dominant...
2006-10-08 - Philadelphia, United States.
The elephants at the Philadelphia Zoo have fascinated kids and former kids around here for generations. Many of us remember staring in awe at the magnificent animals, waiting for them to lift their trunks and trumpet. They were our wide-eyed introduction to the wonders of wildlife. But times and attitudes change. Whether elephants should be in zoos at all is a controversy. But just about everyone agrees that the confined spaces of old zoos and freezing temperatures in northern states are bad for...
2006-10-08 - Geneva, Switzerland.
Japan meets the requirements to take part in a limited one-off sale of elephant ivory, according to a U.N.-sponsored group. Members of the 1989 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species agreed Friday that Japan has established sufficiently strong domestic controls on the sale of ivory to qualify as a trading partner. However, for the time being Japan cannot buy the consignment of 60 tons of ivory from three southern African countries because CITES decided Thursday to postpone a vot...
2006-10-08 - Melbourne, Australia.
THREE young Asian elephants bound for a breeding program in the Melbourne Zoo are expected to arrive before Christmas. The three — 12-year-old Dokkoon and five-year-olds Kulab and Num-Oi — will be used in Australia's first elephant breeding program. The Melbourne Zoo's Judith Henke confirmed that the animals would arrive before Christmas, but there was no firm date yet. "They are thriving and have been enjoying their time on the Cocos, rolling in the sand and eating coconuts," she sa...
2006-10-07 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Buckles Woodcock
Hi Buckles, I saw on the Blog that some people thought we filmed those commercials on Blue Screen and added the girl after, let me assure you we did not. The shots were all done with the little girl right there and George was a little soldier. Here are some of the photos from the shoot. We filmed the beach scene up on Lake Huron and we had to swim George out to a platform and when they shot we had to duck under the water. Lake Huron is cold and it is deep too. Charlie
2006-10-07 - Cocos Islands, Australia. BETH AARON
Congo supposedly won't forget me and I certainly won't forget her. Sitting on an animal that stands about 8 feet tall, I wanted to hold on, but her rough, gray skin didn't make the best handrail. I grasped at her ears and tried to steady myself between them. Congo moved her 5,460-pound body in small circles in the parking lot of the Science Spectrum with me wobbling on top of her.
2006-10-07 - Houston, United States.
Martina Stevens, 27, is the Houston Zoo's elephant manager. A graduate of Western Michigan University, where she majored in biology and minored in chemistry, she is an animal lover who owns three dogs and a bunch of frogs. She has worked at the zoo for four-and-a-half years, always with elephants. Since the arrival of the zoo's new elephant calf Oct. 1, Stevens has been one of the keepers watching over the delicate bonding process between Shanti, a 15-year-old Asian elephant, and the calf.
2006-10-07 - Philadelphia, United States. Mitch Lipka
It turns out that moving elephants is a lot less complicated than it might seem - and fairly common. Sure, they're big. And, yes, it takes quite a bit of preparation. But, in the end, the 8,000-pound elephant walks into the back of a semi-trailer and is driven to its destination. Circuses and zoos do it all the time. And elephants - for those worried about the four leaving the Philadelphia Zoo by the spring - are pretty good travelers.
2006-10-07 - Sydney, Australia.
EIGHT Asian elephants on their way to new homes in Australia have passed crucial quarantine checks, paving the way for their arrival in December. The elephants began their controversial journey from Thailand in June and have been held in quarantine on the Cocos Islands, 2750km north-west of Perth in the Indian Ocean. Four female elephants and one male will be housed at Sydney's Taronga Zoo, while the remaining three elephants will go to Melbourne Zoo.
2006-10-07 - Houston, United States. Daryl Hoffman
The latest addition to the Houston Zoo collecion was born Oct. 1 at 4:40 AM, he's 40" tall, 40" long and a massive 384 pounds. Mother and calf are doing great. The Dam is Sahanti. This is her second birth at the Houston Zoo. She was born at the Lincoln Park Zoo in 1990. She then wove her way through the Buffalo Zoo and Murray Hill's farm before going to the Houston Zoo in 2001. The Sire is Thai. Most of you know him from being in Eloise Berthtold's act. After Morgan Berry passed away, Thai went ...
2006-10-07 - Philadelphia, United States. Julie Stoiber
The Philadelphia Zoo announced yesterday that it will close one of its most popular and enduring exhibits - the elephant habitat - at a time when many zoos are launching elephant expansions and breeding programs as part of a nationwide push to reinvigorate the captive population.
2006-10-06 - Plettenberg Bay, South Africa.
The Elephant Sanctuary is located about 20 miles outside of Plettenberg Bay. We had the opportunity to learn about, feed and stroke the elephants. Bill, Keith, Barbara and I were fiercely brave and rode the elephants. The views on top of the elephant were great but it was a little scary getting on and off.
2006-10-06 - Coimbatore, India.
A thirsty elephant looking for water drank fermented wash and died yesterday at Anaikatti forest area, about 45 km from here, along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, Forest department sources said today. The pachyderm had strayed from its herd in search of water and run amok in Sholayar in Kerala a few days back. It had consumed the wash, containing ammonium sulphate and battery acid, from a reserve forest area in that state where illicit distillation activities were going on, the sources said.
2006-10-06 - Jacksonville, United States.
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has added two female African elephants from a Kansas zoo as part of a transfer of breeding animals. A pair of 24-year-old elephants recently arrived at the zoo from Lee Richardzon Zoo in Garden City, Kan. The animals had been at the Kansas zoo since 1986. Jacksonville Zoo has one of only a few reproductive-age African bull elephants in North America.
2006-10-06 - MUMBAI, India.
Elephants in India's financial capital are to be microchipped to make sure unlicensed pachyderms don't give authorities a jumbo-sized headache. "A microchip is like a voter identity card: if an elephant doesn't have one, we'll know it's in the city illegally," said Sarfaraz Khan, deputy conservator of forests for Mumbai's Thane district and the driving force behind the initiative.
2006-10-06 - Baltimore, United States.
Elephants Dolly and Ana have long reigned as a major attraction at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Petal, 50, Kallie, 24, and Bette, 23 - who reside at the Philadelphia Zoo - will join Dolly, 30, and Ana, 32, in an effort to ramp up breeding possibilities at the zoo, an important aspect of the zoo's missions of conservation and ecology. The species has dwindled in recent years.
2006-10-06 - Waco, Texas, United States.
The Waco Mammoth Site tells an amazing story of the prehistoric elephant's natural parenting instincts. Although not currently open to the public, the site is being considered for inclusion into the National Park Service. The archeology site is unique because it preserves a herd killed by natural causes, and it includes adults and juveniles, says Russ Whitlock, superintendent of the LBJ National Historic Park and state coordinator for NPS. "We can learn a lot about the period from the bu...
2006-10-06 - Guruvayur, India. S. Chandrasekhar
Thirupathi, Sabarimala and Guruvayur are the three major temples in South India visited by crores of devotees, all through the year. If there is some attractive magnetic force which differentiates Guruvayur from other temples, it is the temple owned elephant home, popularly known as Aanathavalam or Punnathur Kota. As per records of Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, it is the only temple-owned domesticated elephant home in the whole world.
2006-10-05 - Geneva, Switzerland.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has decided not to allow exports of elephant ivory from Botswana (20 tonnes of ivory), Namibia (10 tonnes) and South Africa (30 tonnes) to proceed at this time. This issue will now be considered at the next meeting of the Standing Committee, which will take place in late May 2007 in The Hague, The Netherlands.
2006-10-05 - PHILADELPHIA, United States. Vernon Odom and Bob Monek
As first reported by Action News on 6abc.com, the Philadelphia Zoo has decided to part ways with its elephants. The announcement that the elephant exhibit would be closed came at a news conference this afternoon. The African elephants - 50-year-old Petal, 24-year-old Kallie and 23-year-old Bette - will be moved to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. 42-year-old Dulary, an Asian elephant, will go to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.
2006-10-05 - Mysore, India.
The Dasara elephants, after discharging their duty, have embarked on their return journey to the forests along with the mahouts and their families, from the Palace premises this morning. The jumbos Harsha, Vikram and Vijaya will return to Dubare elephant camp in Kushalnagar while Abhimanyu and Srirama will return Murkal in Nagarahole forests and Mary to Sunkadakatte camp.
2006-10-05 - Helsinki, Finland.
Finlands most recent mammoth bone finding was made in an unusual place, namely in the garage of Professor of Genetics Marja Simonsuuri-Sorsas home in the Espoo suburb of Tapiola. A piece of a bone, a humerus from a mammoths left front leg, lay hidden in a cardboard box for over 40 years. Simonsuuri-Sorsa was a young biologist in 1960, when she found a large piece of bone in a summer cottage potato patch in Suomusjärvi. She had just finished a course in paleontology and wondered excitedly whethe...
2006-10-05 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
Maliha, the St. Louis Zoos 2-month-old Asian elephant, will remain off display through the weekend and perhaps longer, as keepers try to boost the calf's weight. Maliha had lost about 30 pounds during the past several weeks and was taken off display last week. Curator Martha Fischer said the calf's weight is now stable, but keepers want to continue to observe Maliha and her mother, Ellie. Keepers have been pumping formula through a stomach tube and are trying to teach Maliha to nurse from a bott...
2006-10-05 - Bijnor, India.
Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two men in Bijnor and recovered from them an elephant tusk, worth thousands of dollars in the international market. "My informer told me that some people are involved with elephant tusk smuggling. I went to the spot along with my informer and other officials. One of the three ran away, but we arrested two and recovered an elephant tusk," said, Javed Khan, a police officer.
2006-10-04 - Vallejo, United States. AZA.org
Job Duties: Clean animal enclosure areas including: log show, elephant theatre, rides, yard, pool and barn. Hose down pathways, theater seats, Arena, back staging area, barn floor and squeegee or sweep puddles as directed. Rake log show sand and rides trail as directed. Sweep theatre and pathways ensuring that the area is clean and free of all debris and puddles as directed. Shovel elephant waste and soiled hay into wheelbarrow and empty into waste dumpster.
2006-10-04 - Geneva, Switzerland.
The sale of a huge cache of ivory is due to be given the go-ahead this week, in only the second legal sale since CITES banned the trade in 1989. At the time of going to press, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora was expected to approve the shipment of 60 tonnes of ivory from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa for sale in Geneva on Wednesday.
2006-10-04 - San Andreas, United States. Maveric Vu
Minnie the elephant has been performing in circuses for the majority of her 51 years. With arthritis and a host of other health problems, Minnie retired from show business and spends her time relaxing on the quiet acres of an animal sanctuary. “These animals have seen enough people in their lifetime,” said sanctuary co-founder Edward Stewart.
2006-10-04 - Savute, Botswana. Damian Whitworth
Lions are among the animal kingdom’s most brutal and efficient predators but no one had heard of them hunting elephants before. These two big beasts of the savannah have plenty of mutual respect and normally give each other a wide berth. The BBC’s Natural History Unit decided to send a film crew to try to capture a hunt on film and invited The Times to join them.
2006-10-04 - Bangkok, Thailand.
In Ayutthaya province, gradually rising waters forced mahouts to relocate all elephants in the ancient royal elephant corral to higher ground after barriers installed by the labour of the elephants themselves failed to withstand the strong currents. Most residents have been forced to travel by boats or have evacuated to other areas.
2006-10-03 - Cameroon, South Africa. Mike Loomis
We have not been able to collar an elephant in southern Cameroon. We have had a couple of shots, but the heavy vegetation and bad weather have made it impossible to accomplish what we hoped to accomplish; we had a very hard time getting out of the forest and back to Yokadouma. I'll be working next in Waza National Park and northern Cameroon.
2006-10-03 - Windhoek, Namibia. Absalom Shigwedha
ANIMAL rights groups continue to oppose requests by Namibia and two other southern African countries to be allowed to have a one-off ivory sale. One such group is the Survival Species Network (SSN). On Sunday, a Namibian delegation headed by Environment and Tourism Permanent Secretary Dr Malan Lindeque left for Geneva, Switzerland, to attend the 54th Standing Committee meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).
2006-10-03 - Madrid, Spain.
The 23rd Annual Conference of EAZA will be hosted by Zoo Aquarium Madrid, Spain from 3 to 7 October 2006. The Conference itself will take place at Palacio Municipal de Congresos, a highly modern conference centre, conveniently located at only one metro stop away from the international Madrid Barajas airport.
2006-10-02 - Loxahatchee, Florida, United States. Ivette M. Yee
After 25 years at Lion Country Safari, the peaceful pachyderms are moving to other elephant-friendly places in the United States. They've been the only African elephants for the public to see in Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties, but now they're leaving. Until this summer, the island, located on a mock African plain, was also home to Bulwagi and Ladybird. Bulwagi is now at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, and Ladybird is at the Greenville Zoo in South Carolina.
2006-10-02 - KOLLAM, India.
The programme of implanting electronic identity cards in the form of microchips on captive elephants was inaugurated here on Monday by Kerala Forests Minister Binoy Viswam at the start of the Wildlife Week celebrations in the state. About 800 captive elephants would get the device under the programme. The chip will be implanted through a minor procedure by a veterinary surgeon, the sources said.
2006-10-02 - Masai Mara, Kenya.
Patrick Smith, 34, from London, was trampled to death in the Masai Mara game reserve on Sunday while on a honeymoon nature trail with his wife Julie. It is understood the couple, both employed by the global media group Reuters, had been married for just one week before Mr Smith's death. In 2000, another Briton was trampled to death by an elephant in the Masai Mara reserve, when he ventured out of a secure compound to take a photograph of it.
2006-10-02 - Glasgow, United Kingdom. Samantha Booth
DID you know that bees can recognize individual human faces? Or that Dracula ants suck the blood of their young? Or that rats can learn the difference between Dutch and Japanese? No, neither do most people, but scientists have been discovering these bizarre facts for years. Now they have been compiled in a fascinating collection by animal lover Matt Walker called Moths That Drink Elephants Tears and Other Zoological Curiosities.
2006-10-02 - Nairobi, Kenya. Philip Mwakio
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has embarked on the second phase of the elephant translocation programme. Mr Patrick Omondi, the KWS Head of Species and Management Conservation, told The Standard that yesterday a family of five elephants and one bull were moved from the Shimba Hills National Reserve to Tsavo East National Park on Saturday.
2006-10-01 - Houston, United States. CYNTHIA GARZA
The Houston Zoo's Asian elephant Shanti delivered a male calf early this morning after a 22-month pregnancy. The yet-unnamed baby weighed in at 384 pounds and is 40 inches long and 40 inches tall — making him the largest elephant calf ever delivered in a zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Houstonians will help pick the new baby boy's name by voting for one among a list on the zoo's Web site.
2006-10-01 - Mysore, India.
A slice of the royal Orient of yore will be seen on Monday when majestic elephants take centre stage to add lustre to the Vijayadashami procession to mark the grand finale of the Mysore Dasara celebrations. Balarama, who is 48 years old and a veteran of 12 Dasara processions, will carry the Golden Howdah with the idol of the goddess Chamundeshwari. He was captured in 1987 in the Kattepura forests and succeeded Drona who was electrocuted in 1998 in the forests of Nagarahole.
2006-10-01 - Berlin, Germany. Ehlers B, Dural G, Marschall M, Schregel V, Goltz M, Hentschke J. . Robert Koch-Institut Berlin
Endotheliotropic elephant herpesvirus (elephantid herpesvirus 1; ElHV-1) is apathogenic for African elephants (Loxodonta africana), but causes fatal haemorrhagic disease in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). This is thought to occur through transmission from African elephants in places where both species are housed, such as zoological gardens. The virus has caused considerable losses in North American and European zoological gardens and thus severely impedes breeding of the endangered Asian elep...
2006-09-30 - Washington, United States. US Senate Committee: Majority Press Release
Senator Inhofe writes: The Senate last night provided law enforcement the tools they need to adequately combat radical animal rights extremists who commit violent acts against innocent people because they work with animals. This bill is an important step in the effort to combat animal rights extremists increasingly violent tactics. We can no longer tolerate criminally based activism regardless of the cause it allegedly advances. This is terrorism and must be stopped.
2006-09-29 - Yarmouth Port, United States.
The fate of the world's elephants could be decided next week at an international meeting discussing controversial ivory stockpile sales. Sixty tonnes of ivory could be approved for auction, putting elephants across Africa and Asia under renewed threat of poaching for their tusks, despite an international ivory trade ban introduced 17 years ago.
2006-09-29 - CORVALLIS, Oregon, United States. Stephen Swanson
Providing safe, effective pain control for ailing elephants has frustrated zoos and sanctuaries for decades, but researchers at Oregon State University have zeroed in on relief for the colossal creatures. The OSU team found the effective dose of ibuprofen is six milligrams per kilogram of weight for Asian elephants and seven milligrams per kilogram for African elephants, given every 12 hours. It isn't much different than the standard human dose, except humans metabolize the drug much faster, Chr...
2006-09-29 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya's biggest elephant relocation resumed on Friday after it was suspended last year because of heavy rains. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) began the translocation of 250 elephants from a crowded coastal reserve to the country's biggest nature park, Tsavo National Park, in the country's ongoing attempt to reduce confrontations between elephants and humans.
2006-09-29 - Ayutthaya, Thailand.
The Royal Kraal celebrated their 25th elephant birth just after midnight on the 29th September 2006 with Princess MC Rangsinoppadol Ukol present to witness the extraordinary event.
2006-09-28 - Mysore, India.
The threat of mahouts managing the Dasara elephants, the main part of jumboo savari, to boycott the procession has put the organisers in a piquant situation as the demand of regularisation of mahouts' jobs awaits Government nod while the final day of procession is hardly a few days away. "When the Government has insured the golden howdah, why not the mahouts, who take utmost care of the elephant that carries it"? they asked.
2006-09-28 - ST. LOUIS, United States. Jeremy Kohler
Maliha the celebrated Asian elephant calf, daughter of Raja and Ellie, was born at 341 pounds. She had thousands of cameras aimed at her since her birth Aug. 2 at the St. Louis Zoo, but has to the alarm of Zoo veterinarians, lost weight. She hit a high of 349 but weighed in Tuesday at just 317. She gained back 4 pounds after two days of powdered formula supplements. On Thursday, the Zoo announced that Maliha has moved indoors - out of sight of her human fans - while Zoo officials watch her aroun...
2006-09-28 - Tampa, Florida, United States. EAZA
Tampa is committed to becoming a world-class zoo. Join our growing team of professionals as we raise standards of physical care and behavioral stimulation for our animals, and offer exciting interactive experiences for our guests. Looking for a stimulating work environment with great pay, fantastic benefits, and a strong leadership team dedicated to your professional development? Then bring that positive attitude to Busch Gardens Tampa!
2006-09-28 - Jaipur, India.
Rajasthan plans to set up a home for elephants rescued from all over the country. The centre is expected to come up in an area of about 80 hectares where as many as 50 elephants would be housed, according to the forest department here. "The centre will be run by Help In Suffering, an NGO working for the welfare of animals in Jaipur," a forest department official said.
2006-09-28 - Hwange, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's wildlife continues to suffer terrible atrocities. Snaring is reported to be rife, with the country's larger, stronger animals (such as the elephant) sometimes managing to break free of these deadly wire traps, and later seen with hideous wire injuries. Conservationists do what they can, destroying snares, immobilising and treating suffering animals, arresting poachers and pushing for harsher penalties for their criminal acts.
2006-09-27 - Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic.
Bone fragments from a mammoth, along with the remains of another prehistoric animal were found, along with the remains of an auroch (prehistoric cow) or of a prehistoric horse," during excavations to build a commercial centre said Paleontologist Martin Holub, following Sunday's discovery in the city of Usti-nad-Labem. Stone-age hunters who lived in the area between 30,000 and 20,000 BC likely killed the mammal, Holub said.
2006-09-27 - Maharashtra, India. Raul Dias
After actor Rahul Khanna's charged-up letter to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, urging him to ban the entry of elephants into the city of Mumbai following the tragic death of the injured elephant Roopkali, the denizens of Bollywood and the fashion world have joined hands to take this very message — that elephants belong in the wild, not in cities — across India.
2006-09-27 - Mayu, Myanmar.
Yesterday authorities from Buthidaung Township held a meeting at the Forest Department's office to discuss searching for white elephants in the Mayu Range, which is located among Buthidaung, Maungdaw, and Rathidaung Townships, said an official report. White elephants are exalted by the Burmese community, and Burmese junta has a belief that the presence of a white elephant will bring prosperity and wealth to a country.
2006-09-27 - Indianapolis, United States. Rob Schneider
The zoo's elephant staff selected the name from among more than 10,000 entries submitted for the name-the-elephant contest sponsored by The Indianapolis Star and WTHR (Channel 13). The name is believed to be of Arabic origin and is an African word meaning flower, flowering or shining, said Jill Sampson, senior elephant trainer. Zahara was born Aug. 31 at the zoo.
2006-09-26 - Samburu, Kenya. David Daballen, Save the elephants
Twins are a rarely encountered in elephant populations- said to form only 1%. Twins have only rarely been recorded in areas where the research of elephants is established. Amboseli, which is one of the oldest elephant research projects in Africa, is known to have recorded a case only once in a population and they have been researching for over thirty years. This is the first case recorded in Samburu.
2006-09-26 - Edmonton, Canada.
Life is returning to normal with mud baths and sugar cane snacks for injured zoo elephant Samantha. On Aug. 27, the 16-year-old African elephant lost 20 cm off the end of her trunk while exploring a gate latch. She panicked when her trunk got stuck. It tore when she instinctively yanked it back. Now, earlier than expected, she is back wooing the public from her zoo enclosure.
2006-09-26 - Assam, India. Joanna Benn and Jan Vertefeuille
When an elephant calf was found dead on the Sesar tea estate last year in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, workers there buried the body and erected a small temple to Ganesha over the grave. They hoped this tribute to the popular elephant-headed Hindu god would appease a nearby herd of elephants that had been wreaking havoc on their crops. The elephants, however, trampled the temple soon after it was erected.
2006-09-26 - Guwahati, India. Syed Zarir Hussain
Wildlife authorities in India's northeastern state of Assam will soon play recorded sounds of horses neighing to scare away hungry wild Asiatic elephants currently locked in deadly turf wars with humans. This was among other measures devised at an emergency meeting of experts, officials, elephant owners, and locals that concluded Monday at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam to ease the alarming man-elephant conflict in the region.
2006-09-25 - MOUNT KENYA, Kenya. Muthigani Kiama
Naftali Marungo was outside his house guarding his maize crop one cold August night when he heard a resounding thud coming from his neighbour's compound. A rogue elephant, that had been keeping him awake for months, had fallen into a septic tank as it reached for succulent banana plants near the fence between both properties.
2006-09-25 - Tampa, Florida, United States.
This year you can visit three AZA institutions during the conference. All three of your hosts will be holding events designed specifically for our Conference. The Florida Aquarium will be hosting the Ice Breaker, Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo will present Zoo Day and Busch Gardens Tampa will offer an evening of animals, thrill rides and entertainment.
2006-09-24 - GUWAHATI, India.
Deadly turf wars between humans and hungry elephants in India's northeast have reached alarming proportions, say experts who plan an emergency meeting this week to tackle the problem. Elephants have killed 239 people in Assam state in the past five years while 265 elephants have died during the same period, said a wildlife department report released on Friday ahead of the meeting.
2006-09-24 - Kochi, India.
'We will give free insurance cover for 500 mahouts on Nov 18 - the first day of the Tripunithura Temple festival' said E. Nandakumar, secretary of Elephant Care. The society hopes that in due course they will be able to extend the insurance cover to all mahouts in the state. There are around 700 captive elephants and nearly 1,400 mahouts in Kerala.
2006-09-24 - Mumbay, India. Anand Giridharadas
She traveled perhaps a thousand miles from India's bleak, lawless heartland to this steaming metropolis. And now, lying listless on the bed of a truck with a rope circling her feet, the migrant quit this alleged city of dreams. Before dawn on Friday, Lakshmi died in a heap of hay and sugar cane at a veterinary hospital in the heart of Mumbai. She was a part-time elephant entertainer, doing weddings and religious festivals, and she had been struck by a vehicle, whose driver was said to have been ...
2006-09-24 - Lynchburg, United States.
The circus has left town, and one act may not be coming back. The elephants have been a part of Cole Brother Circus of the Stars for more than 100 years. And this was their first year back to the area after a two-year break. But it may be their last. Circus organizers say animal rights activists have made complaints in several cities, which makes it difficult for business. Now they are reconsidering which animals to use.
2006-09-23 - Seneca, United States. Victoria E. Freile
Seneca Park Zoo and Monroe County officials Friday unveiled a viewing atrium — the latest addition to the new elephant habitat at the zoo. The $4.4 million exhibit, which opened to the public in April, is about five times larger than the elephants' former habitat and includes a 10,000-square-foot shelter that can house up to five elephants, and a 20,000-square-foot yard.
2006-09-23 - Maun, Botswana. Masunga GS, Department of Wildlife & National Parks, P.O. Box 11, Maun
In order to understand the impact of habitat changes on ecosystem processes caused by increased populations of elephants, elephant dung decomposition was studied in semi-arid Botswana. Dung decomposition rates were studied with and without the presence of arthropods, using pairs of exposed dung and dung enclosed in nylon-mesh bags, respectively.
2006-09-22 - Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
The DNA sequence from the Cretan sample falls clearly within the mammoth clade. Thus, the name Mammuthus creticus rather than Elephas creticus, seems to be justified for this form. Our findings also suggest a need to re-evaluate the evolutionary history of the Sicilian/Maltese species, traditionally included in the genus Elephas.
2006-09-22 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. FAUSTINE KAPAMA
THE police in Dar es Salaam are holding a resident of Tanga and two Dar es Salaam residents allegedly for being in unlawful possession of government trophies. Kinondoni Regional Police Commander (RPC) Jamal Rwambow told reporters yesterday that the trio was found with 35 illegal elephant tusks on Wednesday afternoon at Ukoroto Street near Shekilango areas.
2006-09-22 - Guwahati, India.
Wildlife authorities in Assam have warned that the human-elephant conflict has reached alarming proportions with the pachyderms straying into towns and cities looking for food. ‘The battle between humans and elephants is very serious with the beasts killing people and destroying properties and locals attacking the pachyderms and causing heavy casualties,’ said Assam’s chief wildlife warden M.C. Malakar.
2006-09-22 - Mumbai, India.
Veterinarians and animal lovers at the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) hospital at Parel bid farewell to Roopkali, the 33-year-old female elephant who was injured in a truck accident on Tuesday. She died at 4.30am on Friday, BSPCA Secretary Colonel JC Khanna said.
2006-09-22 - Leicestershire, United Kingdom. EAZA.net
We have a vacancy for an Elephant keeper to join our team of 3 caring for our Asian elephants - a group of 4 females with the youngest born here at Twycross. We have a close contact approach to elephant management and train them to obey commands, enabling healthcare maintenance to be carried out.
2006-09-20 - Beerwah, Australia.
Bindi Irwin, daughter of 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin, touches the trunk of an elephant during a memorial service for her father at Australia Zoo in Beerwah September 20, 2006. Bindi Irwin is to wait a year before starring in a new TV nature series amid fears her childhood could disappear emulating her father's animal exploits.
2006-09-20 - Seattle, United States. RICHARD L. HILL
L.E.L. "Bets" Rasmussen, an Oregon biochemist renowned for her discoveries of how elephants chemically communicate, died Sunday in a Seattle hospital. She was 67. Rasmussen, a research professor with the OGI School of Science and Engineering at OHSU, was being treated for myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow disorder. She was diagnosed with the disease in January.
2006-09-20 - Seattle, United States.
King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector dismissed a lawsuit Monday brought by local animal-rights activists against Woodland Park Zoo and the city of Seattle. The Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN) and two private citizens sued in June, accusing the zoo of violating the federal Endangered Species Act and the State Environmental Policy Act with its treatment of elephants at the zoo.
2006-09-20 - GARDEN CITY, United States. Tim Vandenack
Moki and Chana, female African elephants that have been tenants of Lee Richardson Zoo since 1986, will be transferred next month to Florida's Jacksonville Zoo for breeding. Officials here had a public send-off of sorts for them Tuesday. "We'll sure miss them because they have a lot of idiosyncrasies we know and love," said Kathy Sexson, director of the Lee Richardson Zoo.
2006-09-20 - Angkor, Cambodia.
A tourism official proposed to prohibit elephants from entering Cambodia's Angkor Park, right after the government enforced a ban of dog at the heritage last week to ensure its peace and cleanness, local media said on Wednesday. Moeung Sonn, managing director of Eurasie Travel and president of the National Association of Tourism Enterprises, was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying that the pachyderms carrying visitors to the temples might be a hazard to the daily 2,000 to 3,000 walking touris...
2006-09-19 - Detroit, United States. Moti Nissani, Donna Hoefler-Nissani. Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
To date, one investigation failed to find mirror self-referential behavior in Asian elephants while another reported positive results, a contradiction which could, among other things, be ascribed to the poor visual acuity of elephants. To resolve this contradiction, the present study of mirror self-referential behavior in two captive Asian elephants bypasses the traditional mark test, relying instead on the elephants’ response to a far more visually conspicuous object. In this study, neither...
2006-09-19 - Derdepoort, South Africa.
A 34-year-old ranger has allegedly been killed by an elephant at Madikwe Game Reserve near Derdepoort border post between South Africa and Botswana. David Vorster, an emergency spokesperson, says man was found dead on their arrival. He says apparently the elephant crossed the fence and reached a different camp where it met the ranger and killed him.
2006-09-17 - London, United Kingdom.
NO. Elephants are used to mice both in captivity and in the wild. Full-grown, healthy elephants face few pre dators, with the exception of man, and fear only unfamiliar sights and sounds. This is thought to be the cause of the myth. In Roman times, when elephants were used in war, they fled squealing pigs. This gave rise to the legend of the mouse that roared.
2006-09-15 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Thitaram C, Pongsopawijit P, Thongtip N, Angkavanich T, Chansittivej S, Wongkalasin W, Somgird C, Suwankong N, Prachsilpchai W, Suchit K, Clausen B, Boonthong P, Nimtrakul K, Niponkit C, Siritepsongklod S, Roongsri R, Mahasavankul S. Chiang Mai University
A 32-year-old nulliparous female Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) showed signs of parturition 8 months later than predicted from the breeding records. However, while serosanguineous fluid, necrotic tissue and pieces of amnion were expelled, second-stage labor did not progress. It is suggested that serum progestagens concentrations should be monitored regularly in mated elephant cows to verify the establishment of pregnancy and to better estimate the expected timing, and the onset of calving.
2006-09-15 - Calcutta, India. Subir Bhaumik
Elephants in the Indian state of West Bengal are to undergo a birth control scheme due to a lack of funds for their upkeep, the state government says. Of West Bengal's 400 elephants, nearly 70 are tame and in service to private owners or the state forest department. Forest guards use them to patrol the many wildlife sanctuaries. But wildlife conservation groups have been angered by the proposed introduction of such birth control methods for the elephants.
2006-09-14 - nairobi, Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service has begun moving 150 elephants from a small reserve to its largest national park because of overcrowding with rhinos, a spokesman said Wednesday. The first 40 elephants were tranquilized and moved by truck earlier this week from the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, about 185 miles east of Nairobi, under the program. The remainder were to be moved by Friday.
2006-09-14 - seoul, South Korea. Helen Long
The 15-year-old Asian elephant called Koshick began mimicking words used everyday by his South Korean keeper. Over the past two years, the elephant's diction has improved to the point that he can reproduce discernible phrases and words. Scientists are now hoping to establish whether Koshick can actually understand language.
2006-09-13 - Osaka City University, Japan. Uni S, Bain O., Agatsuma T, Katsumi A, Baba M, Yanai T, Takaoka H.
A new onchocercid species, Loxodontofilaria caprini n. sp, found in subcutaneous tissues of 37 (33%) of 112 serows examined in Japan, is described. The new parasite appears to clearly illustrate a major event in the evolution of onchocercids: the host-switching. This might have occurred on the Eurasian continent, where elephantids and the lineage of rupicaprines diversified during the Pliocene-Pleistocene, or in Japan, into which some of these hosts migrated.
2006-09-13 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Melissa Wray
What does the management of elephants have to do with abortion, cloning, HIV/Aids, stem cell research and the distribution of medicine during disease outbreaks? All of these issues are of ethical concern to South Africans and were all on the agenda at the Ethics Society of South Africa’s third annual conference held from September 11-13, 2006.
2006-09-13 - Portland, Oregon, United States. EAZA
This position will work full-time as an Elephant Keeper and will provide basic care and handling of the Zoos large elephant collection. Performs educational presentations about the animals in their care. Supervision is received from the Elephant Supervisor. Application deadline: 10/12/06. Entry: $15.28; six months: $17.97; one year: $20.66/hour.
2006-09-12 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. Press Release, Dickerson Park Zoo
Eight weeks after her birth, Dickerson Park Zoo's newest bundle of joy has a name. The 320-pound calf will be known as Nisha (pronounced NEESH-ah), an Indian word for “night,” a reference to her overnight birth (1:35 a.m.) on July 18. Nisha's birth was the first elephant calf born at Dickerson Park Zoo since Haji in 1999 and the sixth successful birth for the zoo's herd. She is the third calf born to 25-year-old Moola and the first offspring from Sabu, the zoo's 18-year-old bull.
2006-09-10 - CHIANG SAEN, Thailand. Anthony Faiola
During America's debut in the extra-wide world of elephant polo last week, frustrated U.S. captain Kimberly Zenz nearly screamed herself hoarse. Zenz overcame the Thong Kao curse and scored, almost upsetting one of the top British teams with a riveting 5-3 finish. "This year, we're here to learn," Zenz said. "But look out in Sri Lanka. We won't be the rookies anymore."
2006-09-10 - Copenhagen, Denmark. Bojesen AM, Olsen KE, Bertelsen MF. Dept. Veterinary Pathobiology uni Copenhagen
Two cases of fatal enteritis caused by Clostridium difficile in captive Asian elephants are reported from an outbreak affecting five females in the same zoo. Post mortem examination including histopathology demonstrated fibrinonecrotic enterocolitis. It is speculated that the feeding of large quantities of broccoli, a rich source of sulforaphane, which has been shown to inhibit the growth of many intestinal microorganisms may have triggered a subsequent overgrowth by C. difficile.
2006-09-08 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
One of Southern Africa's most noted conservationists, Clem Coetzee, died after suffering a heart attack at his farm in southern Zimbabwe, family members and friends said on Thursday. He was 67. Coetzee developed methods to move elephants in family groups by darting them with sedatives from a helicopter and lifting them via heavy-duty rubber conveyor belts into truck containers or freight train cars, where they were revived and fed and given water for journeys of hundreds of kilometres.
2006-09-08 - Fordland, Missouri, United States. Murray Hill, founder of Animal Education Protection Information Foundation
That so called terrible beating that was administer to Sissy may have just saved a life. In her previous location she killed a man and got away with it. When she made attempts to repeat this action she was taken to task and lo and behold for the next year she attacked no one and fit into the herd. There is a difference between abuse and discipline as each is individual. I think that Ms. Buckley, Mr. Scott and all those that work around the elephants at TES should thank the El Paso Zoo elephant p...
2006-09-06 - Pollachi, United States. M. Gunasekaran
The herd of 14 elephants continues to stay in tea estates near Valparai. They have been there for over the last one week and the forest department has sent four kumkis (tamed elephants) from its elephant camp at Kolikamuthi to drive the herd into reserve forests.
2006-09-06 - Vienna, Virginia, United States. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey(R) today announced that a second male elephant has tested positive and is being treated for tuberculosis (TB) at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation(R). While all other elephants at the Ringling Bros. Center and on our traveling circus units have tested negative for TB, the State of Florida, following USDA guidelines, has issued a quarantine notice for the remaining elephants at the Ringling Bros. Center, with the exception o...
2006-09-06 - Indianapolis, United States. Kevin Rader
This is a very exciting time at the Indianapolis Zoo. Four days ago the zoo brought a new baby elephant into the world. On Tuesday, Eyewitness News got a firsthand look at the new addition to the family. The elephants are kicking up their heels at the Indianapolis Zoo over the birth of a second baby calf in less than a year. Last October Kedar was born. Four days ago a baby girl was added to the herd. She is vocal, active and curious and she craves attention from the trainers who are spending 24...
2006-09-06 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Ashleigh Sim
I am in Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary for rescued jumbos where there are no rides, performances or work for the wrinkly ones in the 30ha grassy valley. It is the start of my 10-day stay as a volunteer at the park founded by Sangduen Chailert, 44, in 1996. Deep in the mountains 60km north of Chiang Mai, dawn breaks with not the cockerel's crow but the trumpeting of elephants.
2006-09-06 - Thrissur, India.
In a novel initiative, the elephant owners and mahouts in Kerala have joined hands by forming a cooperative society to handle various issues related to their trade and healthcare of the elephants. The organisers--Society of Elephant Owners, the city's Municipal Corporation and the District Tourism Promotion Council--distributed safety gears made of fluorescent material, which would reduce accidents on roads while transporting animals from one place to another.
2006-09-05 - El Paso, United States.
All eyes are on the El Paso Zoo after new allegations of elephant abuse surfaced. Last week, we reported on allegations that a long-time zoo employee beat Juno the elephant. This is not the first time Allen Seidon has been connected to animal abuse. He was caught on tape beating Sissy the elephant in 1999. After much heated debate last year, Council voted unanimously to keep the elephants in El Paso, rather than send them to a sanctuary in Tennessee.
2006-09-05 - Moscow, Russian Federation.
Two residents of a village in Russia’s Siberia found unique remnants of a mammoth, stole the tusk and threw the rest away. The dismantled skeleton, discovered several days later, proved to be a sensational find with well-preserved not only bones, but muscular tissue and sinew, as well as fragments of a brown-yellowish coat, RIA Novosti reported. After that they continued the digging, throwing what they found in a pile aside.
2006-09-04 - UKHIA, Bangladesh.
Deep in the forests of southeastern Bangladesh, a battle rages between herds of endangered elephants and villagers. Every year, about 30 people and five elephants die in this struggle in the hills where humans are encroaching on the forests to rebuild their lowland villages washed away by seasonal floods. "Sometimes we win. Sometimes the elephants win. This is an ongoing battle," said Abdus Shukur, a 45-year-old father of three.
2006-09-04 - Thrissur, India.
The elephant fair in Thrissur is an inseparable part of Kerala's culture and tradition and attracts thousands of people as well as protests. Animal lovers feel the fair violates the rules for elephants in captivity. They are moving the Kerala High Court against the organisers, which include ministers, the district administration and forest officials. More than 100 elephants from different temples participated in the fair, which was witnessed by thousands of people.
2006-09-04 - Chiang Saen, Thailand.
The tournament takes place at the Anantara Resort, located approximately an hour from Chiang Rai where guests can lodge in comfort with private balconies overlooking scenic mountains. Sept. 1-3 are practice days leading up to a 30-elephant parade through Chiang Saen on Sept. 4. The tournament ground is a school play yard in town. Entry to the tournament is free; donations go to the National Elephant Institute which provides medical care, sustenance, employment and welfare to Thailands elephant p...
2006-09-03 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Deborah and Jonathan Smith
We filmed this whilst on honeymoon at Ulusaba private game reserve in South Africa. Its very rare to see an elephant birth in the wild. We were very lucky. Elephants are in the womb for 22 months and can walk within an hour of being born.
2006-09-03 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia. Aloysius Wisnuhardana
The residents of Pekanbaru, capital of Riau, a province in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra, were in an uproar after two wild male elephants entered the city last Thursday night. Two-and-a-half hours later, and after much effort, the two elephants were evacuated and taken to the Elephant Training Center in Minas, Riau. It is hoped the giant animals will adapt to the new environment.
2006-09-02 - Raipur, India. Jay Mazoomdaar
A unique solution to resolve the elephant-human conflict, that could serve as a model for conservation elsewhere, is taking shape in Chhattisgarh. Under this, different forests will be linked by revitalising existing corridors and creating new ones in a three-phase project to protect affected tribals and earmark biologically sustainable forests for an elephant reserve.
2006-09-02 - Washington, United States.
The Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is requesting comment on foot care for captive elephants. In a Feb. 2 petition, In Defense of Animals claimed that captive elephants suffer from chronic foot and joint problems because of inadequate space and living conditions. The group asked APHIS to issue an interpretive rule or policy to clarify conditions adequate for captive elephants.
2006-09-01 - Milwaukee, United States.
Lucy the elephant, believed to be the world's fourth-oldest African elephant in captivity, was euthanized Friday morning after staffers found her lying down in her stall, the Milwaukee County Zoo said. The medical staff had recently decided that if the 46-year-old elephant were found lying down again, she would be euthanized, spokeswoman Jennifer Diliberti said. In June, Lucy became ill and was unable to stand up in the African exhibit yard. A crane was brought in to lift the 9,000-pound animal ...
2006-09-01 - Wroclaw, Poland. Elzanowski A, Sergiel A. Department of Zoology, University of Wroclaw
This study recorded daytime behavior of a female Asiatic elephant at the Municipal Zoo, Wroclaw, Poland, in both an indoor pen and an outdoor paddock as continuous scan sampling for 140 hr, over 35 days in 1 year. Stereotypic sequences involved bouts of highly repetitive stereotypic movements and much more variable interbout behavior.
2006-09-01 - Ruskin, Florida, United States. Buckles Woodcock
Just received this from Dave Price. This picture is new to me.
Lucy the elephant, believed to be the worlds fourth-oldest African elephant in captivity, was euthanized Friday morning after staffers found her lying down in her stall, the Milwaukee County Zoo said. The medical staff had recently decided that if the 46-year-old elephant were found lying down again, she would be euthanized, spokeswoman Jennifer Diliberti said.
2006-09-01 - Indianapolis, United States. Vic Ryckaert
Ivory, the zoo’s 24-year-old African elephant, gave birth to a 266-pound female calf at 9 p.m. Thursday, zoo spokeswoman Judy Gagen said this morning. Debbie Olsen, the zoo’s director of conservation and science programs, said the birth is exciting to staff, visitors and is a boost to the national organizations that monitor the elephant-breeding program.
2006-09-01 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenyan wildlife rangers in choppers killed a pair of rogue elephants this week after a series of fatal attacks on people in incidents highlighting growing human-animal conflict, officials said on Thursday. The rampaging bulls, blamed by locals for leading larger groups of jumbos onto farms to raid crops, were shot dead on Sunday and Wednesday near the famed Maasai Mara National Reserve and a ranch in central Kenya, the officials said.
2006-09-01 - Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Steve Bush
Elephant research at the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire could have important implications for heavy lifting robots. “There are benefits from using bouncing limbs that can be exploited even at larger sizes,” researcher Dr John Hutchinson told EW. “They use the least amount of energy per kilogramme per metre of any animal,” he said.
2006-08-31 - El Paso, United States.
The El Paso Zoo is under fire again for alleged mistreatment of elephants. Back in 1999 trainers were caught on tape abusing Sissy the elephant.That tape forced the city to send Sissy to a elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Ironically, this latest allegation also involves Allen Seidon, one of the men videotaped beating Sissy. City officials say Seidon reportedly slapped one of the remaining two elephants during an incident.
2006-08-31 - Darfur, Chad.
The remains of 100 African elephants killed for their tusks have been found in Chad not far from Sudan`s troubled Darfur region, conservationists said on Wednesday. "A team discovered five separate elephant massacre sites totaling 100 individuals during a survey made August 3-11 from their small plane," Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement.
2006-08-30 - Edmonton, Canada. MAX MAUDIE
After 20 centimetres of an elephant's trunk was torn off in a "freak accident" at the Valley Zoo, a national animal watchdog is calling for an end to elephant captivity in Edmonton. About 8:30 a.m. Sunday, before the zoo opened to the public, Samantha, a 16-year-old African elephant, reached with her trunk through a gate to a gate handle. "Her trunk got stuck and I think she panicked and pulled,"said Dean Treichel, the zoo's operations manager. "It's a freak accident.&qu...
2006-08-29 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant at Kamla Nehru Zoo, which went berserk this morning and threw off its Mahout injuring him severely, broke open the shed where he was locked at about 7.30 pm and started wandering around its open paddock, trumpeting loudly. The elephant, Moti, had to be given three tranquiliser shots to calm him down, but he seemed unaffected and went about eating grass.
2006-08-29 - Lampang, Thailand.
Thai veterinarians have succeeded in impregnating an elephant by artificial insemination for the first time in Thailand. The baby elephant is expected to be born in March next year. The artificial insemination was carried out by implanting fresh sperm into a female elephant named "Pangkod". Dr Sitthidej Mahasawangkul, head of the Elephant Hospital at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre said that the Thai veterinary team is attempting to develop an artificial insemination technique usin...
2006-08-27 - Leipzig, Germany. Leipzig Zoo
Conference theme: Sustainable management of flagship species for conservation. Agenda - Global elephant management issues - Relationship between WAZA and regional associations - Prioritisation of field projects - Conservation psychology - Global standards/ substandard zoos - Amphibian crisis - ZIMS demonstration in English - ZIMS demonstration in German - Focus on aquariums - Marketing (questionnaire) -...
2006-08-26 - Kaniyanpura, Karnataka, India.
The Kaniyanpura elephant corridor in Karnataka is Asia’s largest with 6,500 elephants using it to move from one forest to another. However, CNN-IBN has found out that the state’s booming tourism industry is preying on the space reserved for the wild. CNN-IBN Special Investigation Team has in its possession some revealing satellite images that show that the elephants, while crossing from the Mudumalai Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu to the Bandipur Forest, will now come up against a holiday resort.
2006-08-24 - Santa Barbara, United States.
Michael Jackson has axed plans to sell his Neverland Ranch, and opted to get rid of his collection of zoo animals instead. A source tells the magazine, "Jackson's elephant sold to a big wheel (circus) near Los Angeles. It's also true that Jackson has four giraffes up for sale. His asking price: $35,000 a pair."
2006-08-24 - Toronto, Canada. Barbara Gowdy
Remember Patsy? She's the African elephant matriarch who was euthanized a month ago at the Toronto Zoo. As described by the media, hers was a touching and inevitable death. She was 40, after all, and according to zoo CEO, Calvin White, "40 is fairly old for an elephant." Which makes you wonder: Considering that zoos tend to be poacher-free, drought-free zones, why don't zoo elephants live longer?
2006-08-23 - Durban, South Africa. Shannon G, Page BR, Duffy KJ, Slotow R., Amarula Elephant Research Programme, School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal,
Elephants (Loxodonta africana) exhibit pronounced sexual dimorphism, and in this study we test the prediction that the differences in body size and sociality are significant enough to drive divergent foraging strategies and ultimately sexual segregation. Males had longer feeding bouts, displayed significantly more destructive behaviour (31% of observations, 11% for females) and ingested greater quantities of forage during each feeding bout.
2006-08-23 - Odessa, United States. Daniel Skolfield
George Carden Circus International elephant trainer Larry Carden gives his Asian elephants Bo, left, Cindy and Betty a drink of water Tuesday as they wait for that night’s performance at the Ector County Coliseum. After the house lights went down Tuesday night, things came alive as the 2006 El Maida Shrine Circus kicked off in the Ector County Coliseum.
2006-08-22 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom. Pressrelease Whipsnade Animal Park
A new Asian elephant has joined the thriving herd at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park. Karishma arrived this month from Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, where she was born and raised. Keepers say Karishma is settling in extremely well with the rest of the herd, which includes fellow females Kaylee, Azizah, Maya and Lucha and youngsters Euan and Anneena.
2006-08-22 - Accra, Ghana.
The Ghana Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission has through a pilot project reduced elephant crop raiding activities around the Kakum National Park, Mr Moses Sam, a Director of the Division said on Tuesday in Accra, at the opening of a three-day international symposium on "African Elephant Conservation," being attended by about 40 participants from 20 African countries.
2006-08-22 - Mysore, India.
Five elephants, including Balarama, the howdah elephant, arrived in Mysore city yesterday evening. Bharatha, Gajendra and Prashantha along with Balarama travelled in separate trucks from Veeranahosahalli Forest Area and reached Aranya Bhavan at about 7.45 pm.
2006-08-22 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yongyut Tiyapairat is checking the details on sending five Thai elephants and chimpanzees to China. According to the deal, Thailand will deliver five Thai elephants and chimpanzees, while China will bring in white tigers and 14 other species of animals to the Night Safari in Chiang Mai Province
2006-08-22 - FORT ROBINSON, United States.
University of Nebraska Museum Director Priscilla Grew said the new Columbian Mammoth exhibit in the Trailside Museum at Fort Robinson State Park will put the western Nebraska museum on the map. It depicts the fossils of two Ice Age mammoths who died more than 15,000 years ago, tusks interlocked, during a prehistoric battle. The fossils were discovered in 1962 by a crew of students from UNL, including Mike Voorhies, who was there for the unveiling of the exhibit.
2006-08-21 - Lampung, Indonesia.
Wild elephants ran amok and trampled to death four farmers on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The farmers were killed in Lampung province, about 200km (125 miles) northwest of Jakarta, the capital. Waktre, an elephant conservationist at the Lampung Wildlife Conservation Society, said that the cause was a shortage of food for the elephants and more human encroachment into wilderness set aside for the animals.
2006-08-21 - Jagiroad, Assam, India.
Captive elephants in Assam, which literally turned to begging for a living on the roads, are back at work, with scores of them engaged in timber transport. As part of the four-lane express highway project in Assam, we are first clearing forests and cutting down trees before actual construction work begins. The elephants do the job of clearing the felled trees really fast. Manually it would have taken hours and there would have been a severe traffic jam, a contractor said.
2006-08-21 - NYERI, Kenya.
Kenyan villagers have tasted sweet revenge, feasting on a marauding elephant that slipped into a septic tank as it tried to eat bananas from a local farm. Farmers killed and carved up the animal with machetes as dancing residents from nearby villages at the foot of Mount Kenya joined in celebration. Kenya wildlife authorities came to remove the elephant's tusks, but did not stop the villagers' celebration.
2006-08-21 - Tshwane, South Africa. Veronica Mohapeloa
The world's leading elephant scientists will meet in Cape Town on Tuesday to submit their views on the need for further research into the ecology of elephants in the country. The elephant population in the Kruger National Park alone is said to be increasing at seven percent every year, and doubling roughly every ten years. And by 2012 there may be as many as 20 000 elephants in the Kruger National Park alone, and by 2019 as many as 30 000.
2006-08-19 - Bangkok, Thailand. ROGER CRUTCHLEY
The popular King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament is moving north to the Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai this year and promises to be the most entertaining and competitive contest so far. After being held the past five years in Hua Hin, chief organiser of the tournament and vice president of Anantara, Christopher Stafford, felt the time had come to hold the event on the northern border in Chiang Rai ''the home of elephants''.
2006-08-19 - LONDON, United Kingdom.
It's not quite up there with uncovering the theory of everything, but answering whether elephants can run has huge potential for robotics. Researchers in Britain, after more than 100 years of debate and experiment, now say: "Yes, because they bounce like Groucho Marx." A creature used to be considered to be running if all its limbs were off the ground at the same time while moving forward. But so many exceptions were discovered that the definition had to be reassessed.
2006-08-18 - Lusaka, Zambia. Susan Brown
A trail of DNA has helped investigators trace the largest shipment of contraband ivory ever seized to African savanna elephants from Zambia (Zambia facts, maps, more). Ample roughage in the elephants' diets helps slough off plenty of cells from the intestines, making DNA easy to extract from dung. The size of the shipment more than 500 whole tusks and thousands of individual pieces means that elephants from a single region have been hit hard.
2006-08-17 - GIRIYONDO, South Africa. Itumeleng Seakamela
South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique opened a key border crossing for an expanded international wildlife park on Wednesday, boosting regional hopes of a major new global eco-tourist destination. "It amounts to more than allowing our wild animals to roam freely," South African President Thabo Mbeki said at a ceremony at Giriyondo, a border post which links the three countries.
2006-08-16 - LONDON, United Kingdom.
An elephant has been captured on film as she struggled to help another who lay dying from the effects of a snakebite. The astonishing pictures reveal the depth of compassion the creatures feel for each other. Scientists at the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya recorded footage of Eleanor as she fell to the ground after being bitten. Another elephant, Grace, was seen calling out in distress and trying desperately to get the stricken elephant to her feet.
2006-08-16 - Ibaraki, Japan. Kimberly Fu
After an experiment that brought frozen mice back to life, Japanese scientists are now testing the same methods on ancient woolly mammoth remains. Researchers from the RIKEN Bioresource Centre in Ibaraki, Japan worked with sperm from frozen mice and mice organs in the experiment with mice. Now, fully intact woolly mammoth bodies have been excavated from Siberian permafrost in order to perform the same procedures.
2006-08-15 - Nashville, United States. EAZA
The Nashville Zoo is accepting applications for the position of elephant keeper. The responsibilities of this position include all aspects of the daily husbandry and management of 0.3 African elephants and their facility in a free contact system. The Nashville Zoo encourages and supports participation in projects involving research, education, training, conservation and general elephant management.
2006-08-14 - Seattle, United States. Mike Penprase
As visitors to Dickerson Park Zoo watch an infant elephant darting in and out of a forest of looming adult elephant legs, they may not notice the baby proofing going on at the zoo's elephant exhibit. Head keeper Jeff Glazier and other zoo employees have been busy making sure the baby pachyderm, temporarily named "Calf," stays safe and secure. Elephant keepers are just thinking ahead, something that has to be done with the zoo's largest animals, also among its smartest, Glazier said.
2006-08-12 - Chiang Mai, United States. Lek Chailert
On 26 August 2006. Elephant Nature Park invited and welcomed the children from Love Children International Club (LCIC) to visit the herd at the park. Every year Elephant Nature Park provides this open day complimentary program for under-privileged Thai children (from young age to University age) to come to learn about the elephant in the park
2006-08-09 - Budapest, Hungary.
A fossilized mammoth skull, including a meter-and-a-half section of a tusk and several teeth, was discovered in Zok, a village near the city of Pecs in South Hungary, a spokesman for Pecs University said on Wednesday. Initial digs suggested that the mammoth had been hunted and killed by humans, which makes the find even more interesting. Mammoth fossils were last found in July, when a calf and an adult were unearthed at the shore of Lake Balaton in W Hungary, while constructing a road.
2006-08-09 - Dong Nai, Vietnam.
The Dong Nai forestry watch team has warned inhabitants not to stay late in forest areas as many wild elephants were sighted. A herd of eight to ten elephants was continuously sighted in Dinh Quan District, Dong Nai Province for over a week. The elephants often came in search of food in the mountain fields close to the forests or Gia Canh and Thanh Son communes.
2006-08-09 - KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia. Elizabeth John
Biologists and wildlife rangers are using a new method to estimate the number of elephants, a national elephant survey that began in June in one of the country’s largest protected areas, Taman Negara National Park. Using a rather unlikely and unsightly indicator, elephant dung, the experts can accurately estimate herd size and the distribution of elephants within the park.
2006-08-09 - Massachusett, United States.
A landmark bill that would protect elephants from abusive use of cruel and inhumane devices, such as bullhooks and chains, passed the Massachusetts Senate yesterday. The bill makes it illegal to use a bullhook or similar device on an elephant, and would also prohibit the use of chains to restrain an elephant, unless for medical treatment.
2006-08-09 - Bangkok, Thailand. Jutarat Tongpiam
Leading academic and animal rights activists yesterday called for educational, social and legal reform to protect Thai elephants and return them to their former dignity. Their demands came at a seminar titled The Future of Thai Elephants: Nearing the End? organized by the Thai Environment Network following the controversial export of eight Thai elephants to Australia last month.
2006-08-08 - St. Louis, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
2006-08-08 - LONDON, United Kingdom.
Elephants pay their respects to lost loved ones and venerated leaders in a way that suggests a human-like capacity for compassion, scientists have said. In a paper to appear in a scientific journal this month, researchers said Tuesday they came to this conclusion after watching how elephants on a Kenyan game reserve behaved towards a matriarch who fell ill and died.
2006-08-08 - NEW YORK, United States.
In the summerheat, tourists head north to cooler climes. This year, a manatee has joined the crowd, cruising past the nightclubs of Manhattan and continuing north, spotted in the Hudson River at least three times in the last week, first off the Chelsea and Harlem sections of Manhattan, then north. ''When we saw it surface, its back was just mammoth", said Randy Shull, Last month, trackers saw the manatee as it swam north, first near Delaware, then Maryland, then New Jersey. By Saturday, it was s...
2006-08-08 - KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa. Craig Timberg
The baobabs, which can live for thousands of years, are victims of Kruger National Park's burgeoning population of elephants, whose growing destructiveness has sparked an emotional national debate over whether to return to the controversial practice of culling. That would mean shooting entire families and butchering them for their meat, practices that animal rights activists denounce as barbaric and unnecessary.
2006-08-08 - FAIRHOPE, United States. KECIA BAL
The 724 acres might look like a curious wilderness, "but I see it more as a revolution on how you manage elephants," said Barbara Baker, CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. The zoo’s International Conservation Center will be North America’s first breeding grounds for the endangered elephants and may serve as the U.S. base for elephant experts from the Institute of Berlin.
2006-08-06 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Lek Chailert
By Medo has been at the park since July 2006 and the young female elephant took a time to find her feet and adjust herself to her new home. Medo was familiar with loneliness for more than ten years and she will often walk away from the herd and long periods alone by the river. Some times she lets herself float and sleep in the river for many hours.
In January 2005 we rescued two mature elephants. Mae Mai arrived at the park on the 25th and, on the 30th,we welcomed Thong Bai. Thong Bai became seriously ill in July with a sickness lasting for over two weeks. Mae Mai never left her side. Mae Mai snatched the grass and placed it in front of Thong Bai. Thong Bai passed away on 12 August. Mae Mai was devastated. She became nervous, agitated and confused. A moment before Thong Bai passed away Thong Bai urinated a very dark and unusual colour.
2006-08-06 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
We rescued Thong Bai from a trekking camp in January 2005. She was more than 90 year old and had no teeth. When she arrived the park she could hardly eat the grass we provided and she was so tiny. We started to make new food recipes for this old elephant, recipes she loves.
2006-08-05 - Thukela, South Africa.
A small family group of elephants are presently finding themselves in dire straits and urgent financial assistance is needed to save their lives for a second time. In an ambitious rescue project the three wildlife charity organisations have joined forces to raise the substantial funding that will be needed to launch Operation Jumbo Journey by the 1st September 2006. For this purpose at least $20.000 has still to be raised before this date.
2006-08-05 - KHAO ANG RUE-NI, Thailand.
Judging from the fresh dung on the jungle floor, the tracker knows his prey can't be far away, maybe 12 miles. This is no hunt, though. It's a mission of mercy. The tracker is Suriya Pongsuwong, a veterinarian who has been curing wild elephants for 22 years. He's hot on the trail of a five-ton male elephant that at age 50 has only one tusk and is partly lame.
2006-08-05 - Syracuse, New York, United States.
Despite recent hardships, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo celebrated their Asian elephant collection in a big way Saturday. The annual Elephant Extravaganza, which runs all weekend gives people the opportunity to see the zoos four Asian elephants. One of them on display was Romani, who is still recovering from surgery she underwent to remove her baby elephant from the birth canal earlier this year. The breeding program at the zoo has long been considered one of the most successful in North America.
2006-08-04 - Syracuse, New York, United States.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo says 29-year-old Romani is recovering well after undergoing surgery almost two months ago. Veterinarians were trying to remove Romani's baby, who had become stuck in her birth canal. The baby elephant was dead at birth. Romani did give birth to three healthy baby elephants in the past, in 1991, 1995, and 2002.
2006-08-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A wild elephant crushed a man to death in Orissa for pulling its tail. The elephant appeared at Badabil in Keonjhar district at about 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the Oriya daily Dharitri. The deceased, a driver, pulled the tail of the elephant out of curiosity. The elephant became furious, caught the driver by its trunk and crushed him, the report added. Police later got the man's body, whose identity is yet to be established.
2006-08-04 - WARSAW, Poland.
A Polish city has appealed to Indian industrial giant Mittal Steel to find a new elephant for its zoo after its previous Indian elephant died. Though Burma, a 40-year-old crowd-puller, died in July, trade restrictions on zoo elephants and long waiting lists mean it can take years for zoos to find replacements. "Everyone in the city is waiting for a new elephant, especially the children," said Krystina Paluchowska, a spokesperson at Krakow city hall. "It could take a long ti...
2006-08-03 - Bangkok, Thailand. APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
A group of activists opposing the government's export of eight elephants to Australia plans to file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for transporting elephants overseas in alleged breach of the law. Pinan Chotiroseranee, president of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, said the suit, to be filed with the Administrative Court, will name as defendants the ministry, the Department of Natural Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, and the Zoological Park Organisat...
2006-08-02 - St. Louis, United States.
It’s a 341-pound girl for Ellie, the Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo. Ellie gave birth early today after a short labor. The calf will soon have a new playmate and niece. Ellie’s daughter Rani is expecting her first calf in February, 2007. Raja is the father of both calves.
2006-08-01 - Phnom Penh, United States.
In rural Cambodia where doctors and hospitals are scarce, poor villagers are turning to a magic elephant which is believed to cure illnesses ranging from typhoid to high blood pressure. A few times a month, Yey Proheu, a 70-year-old female elephant goes around to villages to offer relief to the sick with mahout, Pang Hy, and his assistants.
2006-08-01 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2006-08-01 - Sydney, Australia.
Eight endangered Asian elephants have left Thailand bound for new homes in Sydney and Melbourne. Animal rights protesters delayed the elephants' departure from Thailand last month. The elephants have arrived in the Cocos Islands where they will spend three months in quarantine before taking part in a regional breeding program in Australia.
2006-08-01 - POLK CITY, United States. Eric Pera
Two elephants are under quarantine for tuberculosis at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Elephant Conservation Center in Polk City. The quarantine was issued June 9 by the Department of Agriculture following routine testing of the animals by their handlers, a spokesman for the agriculture department said. Spokesman Terry McElroy said he didn't think the potentially fatal disease had spread beyond one of the elephants. A second elephant which had close contact with the sick animal was qu...
2006-08-01 - St. Louis, United States.
Veterinarians and the elephant management team at the St. Louis Zoo are monitoring Ellie, the pregnant Asian elephant, around the clock as she gets closer to giving birth. Through daily hormone analysis of Ellie's blood, the endocrinologist at the zoo has determined that Ellie's progesterone levels have dropped significantly in the last two days.
2006-07-31 - OSPREY, United States. HILDEGARD SCHEIBNER
Logan, who was 80 when he died of heart disease July 12, 2006, was born Oct. 14, 1925 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, and had been with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Carson & Barnes Circus, the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus, Terrell Jacobs, and the Kelly-Miller show. He never retired from circus work. He was a night watchman for the Hanneford Circus in Osprey when he died, said his daughter, Mary Zebrini of Sarasota. He came to Osprey eight years ago from DeLand.
2006-07-31 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand. PIYARAT CHONGCHAROEN
Eight elephants were finally flown out of the country to Australia yesterday, despite ongoing protests by animal rights activists demanding proof they were not caught in the wild. They left the naval airport at U-tapao, in Chon Buri, aboard a huge Russian-made Antonov transport plane yesterday on a five-hour flight to Australia's Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. They will be quarantined there before going to Melbourne Zoo or Taronga Zoo in Sydney.
2006-07-30 - Shimla, India.
Environmentalists who have been celebrating the first entry of wild elephants into Himachal Pradesh in decades have something more to cheer about: a baby elephant has been born to the herd. The birth is being described as the first in the hill state where wild elephants have made their presence felt after a long time. The six elephants entered Himachal Pradesh’s Poanta valley earlier this month by crossing the Yamuna from neighbouring Uttaranchal.
2006-07-29 - Toronto, Canada. CURTIS RUSH
Patsy, the 40-year-old African elephant who had arthritis so bad it was tough for her to walk, was put to sleep Monday night, and buried in an unmarked grave Tuesday at a remote location at the Toronto Zoo. The last time an elephant died at the Toronto Zoo, the bones ended up at the Royal Ontario Museum. With no room left at the ROM for Patsy, her grave will be left undisturbed.
2006-07-28 - Washington, United States. Cassie Duong
Ambika, Shanthi and Kandula, the Asian elephants at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park in Washington, will have more room to roam under the zoo's plans for a $60 million "Elephant Trails" exhibit that will expand and renovate their current facilities beginning in the spring of 2007.
2006-07-27 - PORTLAND, Oregon, United States. Oregon Zoo Press release
Pet, the Oldest Asian elephant, is experiencing a health crisis, and zoo veterinary and keeper staff have run out of medical treatment options. The 51-year-old elephant and herd matriarch has degenerative arthritis and other age-related conditions, which are not responding to medication any longer.
2006-07-27 - Livingstone, Zambia.
In Africa, farmers use the spicy chemical in locally grown chilis to keep elephants away from other crops. And in a unique marketing campaign designed to help farmers and save elephants, a line of Elephant Pepper chili products is now being sold in the United States.
2006-07-26 - Anaheim, California, United States.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey crews say they have several ways to help elephants deal with heat record. They're not the "high-tech" variety, but the bag of tricks includes giant ice blocks the elephants can stand on and hit with their trunks, and frozen watermelons, said circus publicist Lucia Singer. Southland heat wave as the circus prepares to begin an 11-day run at the Arrowhead Pond.
2006-07-26 - Panaji, India.
Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane said Goa would seek the assistance of Maharashtra government to drive away the three elephants that are causing havoc in Pernem. He said every time the elephants are driven away, they return causing much damage to plantations in Bicholim and Pernem talukas. “We drove them out at a heavy cost and we also had to pay compensation to the affected persons”, Rane said.
2006-07-25 - MASON CITY, United States.
Its been fifty years since the North Iowa Fair started in Mason City. And for this special year, fair goers will be able to see a few special animals. Bill Bill Morris of Elephant Encounters tells NewsChannel, its a show that goes across the country entertaining and educating people about elephants. "I grew up, my father had 19 elephants when I was growing up, my grandfather before him has seven elephants, we've had elephants in our lives, that all we know is elephants."
2006-07-25 - Madison, Wisconsin, United States. SUSAN LAMPERT SMITH
Some kids are scared of clowns, but I grew up fearing elephants. I'm sure I'm not the only one who vividly recalls the death of little Ruth Ellen Freedman, the 3-year-old girl who ducked under the fence at Vilas Zoo to feed Winkie the elephant some marshmallows. Winkie grabbed the little girl, pulled her through the bars and stomped her to death. It happened in 1966, but I remember it like yesterday.
2006-07-25 - Seoul, South Korea. Jack Kim
Hwang Woo-suk, once celebrated as a national hero, was indicted in May on charges of fraud and embezzlement. Disgraced South Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk said he spent part of private donations for his research in failed attempts to clone mammoths, extinct members of the elephant family.
2006-07-25 - Toronto, Canada. Anne Winstanley
Patsy the elephant has died at the age of 40. The matriarch of the Toronto Zoo's elephant herd for 33 years, CEO Cal White says she was euthanized after a period of failing health due to long term degenerative arthritis.
2006-07-25 - LAWRENCE, Kansas, United States.
A University of Kansas doctoral student hopes his study of an elephant named Tembo will yield clues about dinosaurs and the environment in which they lived. Brian Platt said Tembo made a natural guinea pig because an elephant is the closest living creature in terms of size, gait and the arrangement of bones in their feet to sauropod dinosaurs.
2006-07-25 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States. KRISTIN M. HALL
The death of Joanna Burke who was knocked down and crushed by an elephant has been ruled an accident, and the animal will not be destroyed. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Sheriff's Department investigated, found that the sanctuary was in compliance with all regulations and called Burke's death an accident.
2006-07-25 - Manchester, United Kingdom. Chris Arnot
Elephants held in zoos and safari parks tend to have trouble with their feet. The hard concrete floors of enclosures bring on cracks, like athletes foot on a large scale, needing foot care. "And the English countryside doesn't really suit them," says Charlotte Miller, a research student at the Royal Veterinary College of London University. "They like mud and softer, swampier ground."
2006-07-24 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
As the U.S. Department of Agriculture investigates the June death of an elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo, an animal rights group asked Monday that the probe include the 2004 death of another elephant. In Defense of Animals filed a second complaint with the Department of Agriculture asking that its investigation include the death of Tara, an African elephant found dead in December 2004 shortly after being found in a downed position.
2006-07-24 - Nairobi, Kenya.
African savannah elephants avoid climbing even minor hills because it costs them so much energy, say scientists. A four-ton elephant that climbs 100 metres would have to forage for food for an extra half-hour to replace the energy it burned, the study indicates.
2006-07-24 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has suspended the sale of its stockpile of nine tonnes of ivory to dealers for as long as no proper monitoring system has been put in place, officials said on Monday. The halt in ivory trade on the southern African countrys local market will remain in place until a committee finishes drafting a working document to be used as a guide, based on international regulations, said National Parks spokesperson Edward Mbewe.
2006-07-24 - Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Even in the distant past, when Hannibal was confronting the Roman military might in the 300 AD, African elephants were catholic as this war lord demonstrated a train of the domestic gigantic beasts, which were numbered in tens of million across the African continent. The expansion southward of the Sahara Desert was another blow to the survival of the beasts. Beyond these reasons was the increased demand for ivory.
2006-07-23 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Vietnamese authorities are establishing reserves for the country’s wild elephant population, which has been left without a stable source of food and shelter due to the destruction of their natural habitats. Nguyen Anh Tuan reports.
2006-07-23 - HOHENWALD, Tennessee, United States. MICHAELA JACKSON
There is no word yet on the fate of Winkie, the Asian elephant that attacked two handlers at The Elephant Sanctuary here Friday, killing one and injuring the other. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has stated that it will not require the animal to be euthanized, but the ultimate decision belongs to the Sanctuary's board, said Doug Markham, TWRA information and education coordinator.
2006-07-23 - Lansing, United States. Stacey Range
Looking bored, Isla swung her tail and munched on a twig she had swiped from a tree. But once her name was called, the 8,000-pound Asian elephant responded: With three quick steps forward, Isla used her full force and the harness around her massive shoulders to pull the circus tent to its peak. "The tent is up," said Ben Trumble, spokesman for the Carson & Barnes Circus.
2006-07-23 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States.
A deadly elephant attack in Hohenwald is getting national attention, and the agency investigating is urging the elephant sanctuary to come clean about what happened. The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald is a virtual island. People in Hohenwald are shocked and intrigued by the sanctuary that seems to pride itself on privacy. But, Fridays deadly attack on a handler could thrust the Lewis County preserve into the national spotlight.
2006-07-23 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States. Elephant sanctuary press release
For eight years, 36-year-old Joanna Burke was the primary caregiver for the The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee’s herd of rescued Asian elephants. Joanna died on July 21 following a tragic accident involving Winkie, one of her elephants. More information regarding Winkie and the circumstances surrounding this tragic accident will be released shortly.
2006-07-23 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Phichaiyong Mayerkoo
Thai scientists are one step closer to being able to breed elephants from frozen sperm, and if an artificial insemination project continues its success, the Thai elephant will be saved from possible extinction, a researcher said yesterday. "If we are successful, Thailand will be the first country ever do artificial breeding from frozen sperm," he said.
2006-07-22 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States. Leon Alligood
36-year-old Joanna Burke was attacked and killed, and Scott Blais who handles the 22 Asian and African elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary was injured and hospitalized, by Winkie, a 40-year-old female Asian elephant who has been at the sanctuary for six years. Fridays death at the compound is the first at the facility, which is licensed as a Class I exotic animal facility by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
2006-07-21 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
Preliminary construction on a disputed 3.7-acre elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo will move forward after receiving the backing Friday of the citys Board of Public Works. The board approved $2.1 million for the General Services Department to demolish part of the existing elephant exhibit and start construction of the zoos new Pachyderm Forest.
2006-07-21 - Seattle, United States. Mike Keele and Nancy Hawkes
Bamboo and the other elephants at Woodland Park Zoo are healthy and thriving, and people should come see for themselves. The Northwest Animal Rights Network is simply wrong about what is best for Bamboo. What Bamboo does need is expert care, which she gets. She also needs daily, frequent interaction with humans, because she is highly bonded to people.
2006-07-21 - Vienna, Austria. Vienna Zoo Press release
The 5-year old Abu, born with artificial insemination in Vienna Zoo, and his mother Sabi, owned by Munich Zoo but living in Vienna since 1992, arrived early morning the 20th in Halle Zoo in German Sachsen-Anhalt, after a nightly transport performed by the company Interzoo.
2006-07-20 - LOS ANGELES, United States. Valerie Kuklenski
No three rings. No big cats. And just maybe, by next year, no elephants. Ringling's own research shows that its strongest attraction is its trained elephants, but they also cause public-relations problems for the company. Currently, Ringling has 55 elephants, around 20 of them touring with three circus units.
2006-07-20 - Luanda, Angola.
Herds of elephants have destroyed tuber, corn, banana, potato, beans and peanut plantations in the Angolan province of Bengo. Bengo Governor Jorge Inocencio Dombolo said elephants raided several farms in the towns of Pango, Aluquem, Bula, Tumba and Dembos. Dombolo said many of these pachyderms were tagged and had escaped from natural parks in Bengo.
2006-07-20 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom. KRISTINA PEDERSEN
The elephants have been trained to paint in a bid to raise cash, from tourists, for their own upkeep and the conservation villages of Mae Sa and Lampang. Experts believe that the elephants memorize the image which they can then 'paint by rote' over and over again. Their works are being exhibited at Dundas Street Gallery in Edinburgh.
2006-07-20 - Windhoek, Namibia. MARK SCHULMAN
In Namibia's north-eastern Caprivi Strip, where Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe all meet, there are thousands of elephants crossing borders at any given time.In northern Botswana alone there are an estimated 100 000-plus elephants growing at a rate of five per cent a year, and are damaging the vegetation in protected areas such as Chobe National Park at a record pace.
2006-07-20 - Temerloh, Malaysia. SIMON KHOO
The National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, about 40km from Temerloh, is gaining popularity. From 4,909 visitors in 2002, 11,463 in 2003 and 26,894 in 2004, and last year, a record of 38,863 visitors (26,555 locals and 12,308 foreigners) visited the elephants. Presently, 1,200 wild elephants roam jungles of Peninsular Malaysia.
2006-07-19 - Salmon Arm, United States.
They might not be the greatest shows on earth, but they’re entertaining nonetheless. The Jordan World Circus, which performed at the Sunwave Centre recently, did so without its trained elephant or elephants. Circuses make their way around North America while several towns, including Salmon Arm, have an exotic animals bylaw that prohibits the businesses from bringing in animals such as elephants, lions and bears.
2006-07-19 - Cape Town, South Africa. R.W.Johnson
Under the CITES, (controls the worlds ivory trade) Robert Mugabes Zimbabwe has a concession to sell lots worth $660 or less. "Elephants are now being poached across the border from Botswana and other neighbouring countries to fulfil the demand, which seems to be bottomless, said one game ranger." Two months ago Zimbabwe police caught Chinese dealers with seven tonnes of ivory, of which four tonnes came from illegal sources.
2006-07-19 - Springfield, Missouri, United States.
A 238-pound female elephant calf was born in the early morning hours at Dickerson Park Zoo. The mother, 25-year-old Moola, sired by the 18-year-old bull Sabu, delivered the calf outdoors at the zoos new cow barn after a brief labor. This is the sixth successful elephant birth at Dickerson Park Zoo, and the first since 1999.
2006-07-19 - Malindi, Kenya. Paul Gitau, Renson Mnyamwezi
A heard of 10 elephants from the Arabuko Sokoke Forest have forced residents of Kaliapapo and Mongotini villages to retreat to their houses before dusk. Last year, elephants killed five people in the area and destroyed acres of maize plantations. The KWS and the European Union have constructed a 20-km solar fence from Mida to Kakuyuni and are looking for funds to do another 20km.
2006-07-18 - Giyani, South Africa. Riot Hlatshwayo
Spokesperson Moses Tseli said the original plan was to try and herd the elephants back to the Kruger, but that it was then agreed to rather kill them, following discussions with South African National Parks (SANParks). "We have to consider the safety of the people, which is why we have no alternative but to put the elephants down."
2006-07-18 - BICHOLIM, India.
If wild elephants have struck terror in Pernem taluka, they have now turned their attention to Bicholim taluka. Three tuskers on Tuesday strayed into the border villages of Bicholim taluka, including Menkurem, Kadsal and Dhumashem, destroying property in the area. It may be recalled that wild elephants had entered Bicholim last year and had killed a resident, Yeshwant Phadte of Revora-Bardez.
2006-07-18 - Concord, United States. SARAH LIEBOWITZ
Queenie was never an ordinary elephant. She water-skied, a talent that eluded her to Venezuela, Florida and New York City, where she appeared on The Tonight Show. In October, 38 years after Concord resident Elisabeth Dane bid her childhood pet a tearful goodbye, she tracked Queenie to a Valdosta, Ga., theme park. When Mercury Motors settled on a new slogan -"pulls an elephant, runs on peanuts"- Queenie was the model. She even found time to cultivate her artistic side; in her youth, she mastered ...
2006-07-18 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Mark Schulman
Unlike many populations in Africa which remain endangered as a result of years of poaching and habitat loss, elephants in Kruger National Park are growing at a rapid rate. Since the park stopped culling elephants about a decade ago as a result of international pressure, numbers have gone from 7,000 to over 12,000. According to local officials, the park’s habitat can only sustain about 7,000 over a long period. Any more and it will add pressure to an already fragile and carefully managed enviro...
2006-07-18 - Chennai, India.
Left to the mercy of fate after the untimely death of his mother, a six-month-old baby elephant is now the much-loved inmate of a zoo in Chennai. The calf was recently rescued from the dense forests of the Tamil Nadu's Hosur division by villagers and handed over to the state Forest Department.
2006-07-18 - Limpopo, South Africa.
Two of more than 20 elephants that broke out of the Kruger National Park have been shot dead in the Giyani area, SABC radio news reported on Tuesday. It said rangers from the park in the Limpopo environmental affairs department killed the elephants because they were a threat to the local community. The other elephants were believed to have gone back to the Kruger National Park.
2006-07-17 - ST. LOUIS, United States. Diane Toroian Keaggy
Asian elephant Ellie still is waiting for the stork to visit the St. Louis Zoo: Two weeks after her due date, Ellie shows no signs that labor is imminent. Meanwhile, elephant Sri continues to carry a dead fetus. She was expected to deliver a female calf last November. Her progesterone levels did drop, but labor never started.
2006-07-17 - Dodoma, Tanzania. CONSTANTINE MUGUSI
TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, reports that, Taiwanese customs officials on Tuesday discovered 744 pieces of ivory, including whole tusks, weighing a total of 3026kg hidden in wooden boxes found unattended in Kaohsiung harbour for three weeks. The confiscation took place two days after Kaohusiung customs officials seized two and half tonnes of ivory also from Tanzania, in a raid that uncovered 18 wooden boxes with ivory.
2006-07-17 - Caxito, Angola.
Elephants have been destroying cassava, banana, potatoes, maize, beans and peanuts plantations, in the districts of Pango-Aluquem, Dembos and Bula-Atumba, in Angola`s northern Bengo province. Since last June, elephants have destroyed about 200 fields belonging to small farmers, which may lead to a food crisis, warned the peasants.
2006-07-17 - Giyani, South Africa. Riot Hlatshwayo
Women in a village neighbouring the Kruger National Park are too afraid to collect firewood and water after 26 elephants escaped from the reserve in the past week. Residents of Nsavulani village east of Giyani have seen some of the jumbos in their area. "The other day we saw a herd of about 15 of the elephants," said Madali Maswanganyi on Monday. "We can no longer go and fetch firewood because of the elephants.
2006-07-16 - , Malaysia.
The National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Pahang is in the news again after a mishap involving an elephant under its care, and the public are demanding better work practices among staff of the centre, reports HILARY CHIEW. Managed by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), the sanctuary houses some work elephants used in its translocation assignments as well as provides a home for orphaned elephants.
2006-07-15 - Seattle, United States. MARY ANDOM
About 80 animal rights activists and community members protested outside a Woodland Park Zoo fundraiser Friday, asking that the 39-year-old Asian elephant Bamboo be moved to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Protesters young and old stood at the north entrance of the zoo, passing out fliers to donors, holding signs and chanting, "Tell the zoo, to free Bamboo."
2006-07-15 - Vancouver Island, Canada. Aaron Bichard
It was the lure of lures that had local Terry Hill snorkeling in the Stoltz Pool waters last month during his holidays. But it was finding a piece of a 22,000-year-old elephant that registered as his catch of the day. Hill took the tusk to the Royal B.C. Museum where curator of archaeology Grant Keddie verified that it was from an elephant, but couldn't say whether it was a mammoth or a mastodon.
2006-07-15 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The skeleton of a huge tusker that killed two persons before its death in the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary near Bhubaneswar is being put up for display at the Regional Museum of Natural History. It appeared that it had suffered pellet wounds which were not healing. Wildlife personnel and vets even tranquilised it in the wild to treat its wounds, but it did not survive and died on May 17.
2006-07-15 - Chennai, India. Jai Kumar
An orphaned baby elephant found in Tamil Nadus Hosur region, has found a new home at the Vandalur Aringna Anna zoo in Chennai. The baby elephant, which recently lost its mother to an unknown infectious disease was found by villagers who handed it over to local forest rangers. The calf is being fed grass for the time being, Ananth Samy, the director of the zoo, said.
2006-07-15 - Chanthaburi, Thailand.
An elderly wild elephant that became a Thai media star after being stuck in the mud for a week died today despite the best rescue efforts of scores of volunteers, an official said. The 50-year-old pachyderm called Plai Khun Song was rescued yesterday from a mud hole in a sanctuary in Chanthaburi province, east of Bangkok, but could not stand up due to his lame leg. "He died peacefully at 4am. We will conduct a Buddhist ceremony to pray for him," district chief Viwat Chantanurak said.
2006-07-14 - KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia.
The Wildlife and National Parks Department will improve procedures involving the catching and moving of elephants following the death of a calf elephant and the injury of another under its care recently. Since it was established in 1974, the department's unit to catch and relocate elephants had caught and relocated 342 elephants including 20 calf elephants that got separated from the herd.
2006-07-14 - Shimla, India. Baldev S. Chauhan
A herd of eight elephants entered Himachal Pradesh's Poanta Valley some days ago by crossing the Yamuna from neighbouring Uttaranchal. The animals are now grazing peacefully in the forests of the valley, located in Sirmaur district some 175 km from here. Environmentalists are celebrating the first entry of wild elephants into Himachal Pradesh in several decades, though farmers are a little worried over the guests
2006-07-13 - KHUN SONG, Thailand. APICHART WEERAWONG
An animal medical rescue team succeeded Thursday in hauling a partially lame elephant out of a mud hole in which he was stuck, but the five-ton beast was unable to stand up or be moved further. The medical team, unsure what to do next, decided to construct a care station around the beast, and called for some elephant trainers, or mahouts, to come survey the situation on Friday.
2006-07-13 - Seattle, United States. Anne Kim
The asian elephant Bamboo has become the focus of one of the most heated and bitterly debated controversies the Woodland Park Zoo has seen in years. What started as a citizens note of concern has escalated into a letter-writing campaign, public rallies and even a lawsuit accusing the Seattle zoo of harming an endangered species. Zoo officials say the critics are uninformed and using Bamboo as a pawn in a larger debate over whether zoos should keep elephants at all.
2006-07-12 - Chu Prong, Vietnam.
A herd of about 15 wild elephants, seen for the first time in Central Highlands Gia Lai province, have destroyed 24ha of crops in Ia Pior commune, Chu Prong district since June 30. From 1975 to the 1980s, Vietnam had 2,000 wild elephants; but by 2005, only 150 remained, mainly in the Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia border provinces. An urgent plan of action has been developed to preserve wild elephants, under which three special elephant sanctuaries will be set up, a state report said.
2006-07-12 - New York, United States. Lyashchenko KP, Greenwald R, Esfandiari J, Olsen JH, Ball R, Dumonceaux G, Dunker F, Buckley C, Richard M, Murray S, Payeur JB, Andersen P, Pollock JM, Mikota S, Miller M, Sofranko D, Waters WR.
Tuberculosis (TB) in elephants is a re-emerging zoonotic disease caused primarily by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Current diagnosis relies on trunk wash culture, the only officially recognized test, which has serious limitations. To characterize the humoral responses in elephant TB, we tested 143 serum samples collected from 15 elephants over time. In addition to MAPIA, serum samples were evaluated with a recently developed rapid test (RT) based on lateral flow technology (ElephantTB STAT-PAK). S...
2006-07-11 - Riverdale, California, United States.
William McEntee, director of permits and concerns for the Road Commission, said a tooth was used to identify the remains as those of a mastodon and not a mammoth, which also lived in the area. John Zawiskie, geologist for the Cranbrook Institute of Science, said the bones will be taken to Cranbrook, where a scientific study would begin. Zawiskie said mastodons haven't been around in at least 12,000 years, but the discovery isn't as rare as people think."About every summer, something pops up," Za...
2006-07-11 - Guruvayur, India.
All the 62 elephants of the famed Sri Krishna temple here will now enjoy a month-long rest from today with the annual restorative treatment for the pachyderms getting underway. "Guruvayur Devaswom is perhaps the only place where such a restorative treatment is given to such a large number of elephants. Over the years, the treatement, sukha chikitsa in Malayalam, has proved to be good not just for their physical vigour but also for mental health," temple authorities said.
2006-07-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Is Sethulakshmy pregnant? This is a big question which is bothering the Kerala police after they arrested the owner of the 38-year-old captive elephant. Just last month, Prasanthan Guruji, the previous owner of the elephant, is now cooling his heels in jail. He has been arrested by the Thiruvananthapuram police for torturing his two mahouts. His claims about his elephant being pregnant are also suspect. Prashant claims that the elephant is pregnant. His mahout says it's not.
2006-07-10 - Cochin, Kerala, India. Juhan Samuel
Caparisons that were once used to adorn elephants during traditional religious processions, now are decoration pieces in homes and offices in Kerala. The huge, three piece ornamental set, consisting of a headgear, an umbrella, decorative fans and a bunch of yak fur is traditionally made of copper and gold, and costs thousands of dollars. Entrepreneurs in Kerala have now devised a way of making the jewellery of High Impact Polymer (HIP), a synthetic organic compound, bringing down the cost ten ti...
2006-07-10 - TRIVANDRUM, India.
An elephant owner in Kerala, who sold an elephant for a hefty price by feeding a fabricated story to the media, has landed in the police net. Prasanth alias Guruji, who lives on the outskirts of the state’s capital city of Trivandrum, sold the elephant called Sethulakshmi for Rs1.1 million after he planted stories in the media that the animal had become pregnant and would bring big fortune.
2006-07-10 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A senior Thai veterinarian said every elephant in the country should be implanted with a microchip to help protect the troubled pachyderm population. The Bangkok City authority wants to crack down on the hundreds of elephants and their panhandling mahouts who descend on the capital every year. The effort will be quickly abandoned because the authorities will soon despair of dealing with the heavyweight vagrants, predicted Alongkorn Mahannop, a vet sponsored by the Royal Household.
Claims by international animal rights groups that there is widespread opposition to the export of eight Thai elephants to state-owned zoos in Australia are a “breathtaking exaggeration,” one of the Australian zoo directors said yesterday. Taronga Zoo Director Guy Cooper said the claims were just a publicity stunt and insisted Australian zoos remain committed to elephant conservation.
2006-07-09 - Panaji, India.
As Regards to the wild tuskers coming back in Pernem, the deputy conservator of forests, North Goa, Mr S T d’A Henriques said that in case the tuskers reappear the people should keep calm, maintain safe distance and immediately intimate their presence to the forest officials. In a statement he said the wild tuskers having migrated from Karnataka into Maharashtra and then strayed into Goa last year, caused damage to crops including loss of a human life.
2006-07-09 - TEMERLOH, Malaysia. SIMON KHOO
Seventeen-month-old elephant Mardos is showing signs of recovering from his fractured legs. Mardos has been eating and sleeping well despite being put on drips and his legs supported by a splint, said Department of Wildlife and National Parks veterinarian Dr Abraham Mathew. Mardos slipped and fractured its legs while being transported with an adult elephant for a show at a school on July 1.
2006-07-09 - Sydney, Australia.
ANIMAL rights activists who jeopardised the transfer of eight Asian elephants to Australia are endangering the elephants' lives, experts say. As zookeepers remained hopeful the elephants would be in Australian zoos by Christmas, Environment Minister Ian Campbell labelled the behaviour of a group of protesters who prevented the importation as "outrageous". And he said yesterday the Federal Government was prepared to launch legal action to ensure the elephants come to Australia.
2006-07-09 - Rochester Hills, Michigan, United States. DAN CORTEZ
Excavators in Rochester Hills dug up a bit of Michigans past Friday while building a road for the future. Crews working with the Road Commission for Oakland County unearthed what they think are the remains of a mastodon, a tusked mammal that grazed in the Great Lakes area for thousands of years before becoming extinct 10,000 years ago.
2006-07-09 - MUNISING, Michigan, United States. JOHN PEPIN
The Carson and Barnes Circus is in Munising Sunday. Lisa Wathne from PETA, (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) wanted to meet with Mayor Rod DesJardins. DesJardins dismissed Wathnes PETA organization as radical extremists with a bizarre philosophy that considers the life of an insect equal to the life of a human being, and he would not dignify the request.
2006-07-08 - Sullia, Kerala, India.
A mahout was trampled to death by an elephant at Mittur of Ubaradka near here on Friday July 7. The deceased has been identified as Somanathan (45) of Kerala. He was the mahout of this particular elephant which was brought from Cochin in Kerala. The elephant was summoned from Cochin to pull trees in one Mohan Bhats plantations at Ubaradka.
2006-07-07 - Leipzig, Germany. Rompler H, Rohland N, Lalueza-Fox C, Willerslev E, Kuznetsova T, Rabeder G, Bertranpetit J, Schoneberg T, Hofreiter M.. Molecular Biochemistry, Uni Leipzig
By amplifying the melanocortin type 1 receptor from the woolly mammoth, we can report the complete nucleotide sequence of a nuclear-encoded gene from an extinct species. This finding suggests that mammoths may have been polymorphic in coat color, with both dark- and light-haired individuals co-occurring.
2006-07-07 - London, United Kingdom. James Owen, for National Geographic News
The 400,000 year old remains of a massive elephant discovered near London was a male straight tusked elephant, a member of the extinct species Palaeoloxodon antiquus, weighed about 9 tons (9.1 metric tons), twice as large as elephants living today. Workers unearthed the remains in 2004 in the town of Ebbsfleet, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of London, during construction of a new railway line to the Channel Tunnel.
2006-07-07 - QUEENS, New York, United States.
Forest Hills antique dealer Marc Pine, 59, has been charged with illegally selling approximately $15,000 worth of elephant ivory figures and jewelry. Elephants are an endangered species and the sale of more than $1,500 worth of products made from ivory without having first obtained a DEC license or permit is illegal commercialization of wildlife, a Class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
2006-07-07 - Calcutta, India. Mamoni Raisom Goswami
My forefathers were the adhikars of the Satra (Vaishnavite monastery) and it was a tradition to keep many elephants, both for work and travelling. We had several elephants and I remember the dhuri (cow) with the single tusk, which my grandmother used to take out for grazing to our backyard. Whenever we visited Amranga, we were given an elephant for joy rides and to play with.
2006-07-07 - Perumbavoor, Kerala, India.
Mr Prakashan (42), a mahout accused of pouring acid into the left eye of an elephant under his care in 1999, has been acquitted by a lower court here, about 40 km from Kochi, for lack of sufficient evidence. Prakashan allegedly poured the acid into the left eye of the tusker, "Arun Kumar", on Oct.15, 1999 fearing that the owner was trying to sell the elephant and that he would lose the job.
2006-07-07 - Kochi, India.
A two-month old baby elephant which was being washed away in a river has been rescued by tribals and brought to the Elephant Care Centre at Kodanad near Perumbavoor, about 40 km from here. The animal had accidently wandered away from a herd of wild elephants in Nilambur forests and fallen into the river. Senior veterinary surgeon, Dr S Salim, examined the elephant yesterday. She is being fed milk, tender coconuts, glucose and complan, the sources said.
2006-07-07 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Vet Alongkorn Mahannop said Friday the government should amend laws to control movement of the animals to prevent them from being exploited by their mahouts, and criticised authorities related to the issue for failing to permanently prevent mahouts and elephants from roaming streets of Bangkok to beg. He estimated over 350 baby elephants have been made to roam streets to beg nationwide, and each year some 175 street elephants were reported injured in Bangkok.
2006-07-07 - Los Angeles, United States. Dana Bartholomew
A night zookeeper at the Los Angeles Zoo who failed to report that Gita the elephant was resting in a life-threatening position has been allowed to resign. Officials say the woman had learned from a security guard that the 48-year-old elephant was sitting like a dog and failed to report it. The 8,000-pound elephant Gita at the zoo since 1959, had arthritis and a history of chronic foot ailments. She died at 9:40 a.m. after toxins from her muscles led to vascular distress.
2006-07-06 - Leipzig, Germany. Michael Hopkin
An analysis of 43,000-year-old DNA from these prehistoric creatures suggests that some of them were blondes. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, took samples from a 43,000-year-old bone found in Siberia, and extracted the portion of DNA containing a key pigmentation gene, Mc1r. They publish the results in this week's Science.
2006-07-06 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Australia has postponed the delivery of koalas to Thailand until disputes over the true origins of eight Thai elephants to be sent to that country are settled. Sopon Damnui, director of the Zoological Park Organization, said four koalas were earlier scheduled to arrive in Bangkok yesterday but Australia has postponed the shipment until problems concerning the eight elephants can be solved.
2006-07-06 - Sydney, Australia.
Australian zoos should reconsider their plans to import eight Asian elephants from Thailand, given widespread opposition to the idea, animal welfare groups say. RSPCA Australia, International Fund for Animal Welfare and Humane Society International say they have offered to find a solution that is in the best interests of the elephants.
Officials in the Thai capital Bangkok rolled out big trucks today as they prepared to seize elephants brought in from the countryside to illegally roam the citys streets at night. The crackdown was the latest effort to keep the animals from blocking traffic, as well as to keep them and pedestrians safe as they wander the unfamiliar urban surroundings.
2006-07-05 - Kochi, India.
The Kerala High Court today dismissed a PIL seeking a probe into the capture and subsequent death of the rogue elephant 'Kolakolli', which had spread terror in the Peppara Wild Life Sanctuary near Thiruvananthapuram last month. The petitioners, People for Animals, Thiruvananthapuram, Wild Life Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, Bangalore, India Projects for Animals and Nature, Tamil Nadu, had sought appropriate action against those responsible, including Chief Wild Life warden and other forest of...
2006-07-05 - Ortonville, Minnesota, United States. CHRISTINA SMITH
Ortonville, located about four miles west of Waukee, was named after Hiram Orton, who moved to the site in 1866. But Ortonville wasn't just any town, it was home to a traveling circus show that started in 1852. Orton purchased nearly 200 acres as the winter headquarters for the circus.
2006-07-05 - PITTSFIELD, United States. Patrick G. Rheaume
Audience members were delighted with the performance yesterday by Cole Bros. Circus at Pittsfield Common. But outside, more than a dozen protesters held their applause as well as signs that criticized the treatment of circus animals. Both organizers and protesters were largely concerned with a proposal under consideration in the state Senate that would restrict the chaining of elephants and devices "that may reasonably result in harm to an elephant."
2006-07-05 - Sydney, Australia.
Sydney and Melbourne zoos say legal action will only be taken as a last resort to prevent animal rights activists blocking the delivery of eight Asian elephants to Australia. About 30 activists prevented the elephants leaving a quarantine station near Bangkok in June, claiming the animals would suffer in their new homes at Sydney's Taronga Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.
2006-07-05 - Nairobi, Kenya. Nancy Akinyi
A Nairobi court has indefinitely put on halt the Governments intended plan to export elephants to Thailand pending the hearing and determination of a case filed by the Nairobi CBO consortium. The NGO opposed the intended move terming it a waste of the countrys few natural resources.
2006-07-05 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Kenya and Australia have halted controversial wildlife deals with Thailand amid protests here and abroad. A Nairobi court has put a stop on the Kenyan Government's plan to export animals to Thailand pending the hearing of a case filed by a local non-government group. And Australian zoos have held up delivery of four koalas here after the transfer of eight Thai elephants to the country was blocked by protesters.
World Wildlife Fund Thailand (WWFT) warns Thailand can be boycotted by other countries if it fails to make things clear about the status of eight elephants set to be shipped to an Australian zoo. The shipment has been suspended in the wake of protests by conservation groups which suspect the elephants are not domesticated but are from the wild. They demand the examination of DNA of those elephants but so far no action has been taken.
2006-07-05 - Manila, Taiwan. Rich Chang
Kaohsiung Harbor officials yesterday discovered a large amount of ivory in cargo that had originated in Tanzania. The Kaohsiung Customs Office found an estimated 350 tusks in two containers, weighing around 2,500kg and valued at more than NT$100 million (US$3,100,775). "The two containers entered Kaohsiung Harbor on June 11 and June 15, respectively, from Tanzania.
2006-07-05 - TAIPEI, Taiwan.
Taiwan custom officials have confiscated more than two tonnes of elephant tusks from Tanzania in what they said could be the largest illegal shipment of ivory uncovered on the island. The ivory, which included 350 tusks and some cut pieces, was discovered in two containers bound for Manila from the eastern African country via Taiwan's southern Kaohsiung harbour, Kuo Shih-hsien, spokesman for Kaohsiung customs told reporters.
2006-07-04 - Hyderabad, India. Gupta SK, Thangaraj K, Singh L. Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad
We have developed a technique based on molecular markers to determine that the carcass is an elephant and that it is a male. Using DNA sequence information from Genbank, we have developed two primer pairs: one for the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the other for the sex-determining region of Y chromosome (SRY) gene of the Indian elephant.
2006-07-04 - EREGLI, Turkey.
A 2.5-meter mammoth tooth fossil was unearthed in Eregli town of central city of Konya, said Erksin Gulec, a lecturer at the Anthropology Department of Ankara University. After examining the fossil tooth, predicted to be about 2 million years old, Gulec said that scientists thought that there were swamps and lakes in this region at the age of the mammoths.
2006-07-04 - Sydney, Australia.
OUR Thai elephants face yet another hurdle on their long, slow journey to Taronga Zoo. Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation want proof the eight Australia-bound elephants are domestic-bred and not wild. They submitted a petition to the Australian Ambassador asking that shipment be suspended on the grounds that the doubts over the pachyderms' geographic origin have yet to be resolved.
2006-07-04 - North Wales, United Kingdom. Eryl Crump, Daily Post
Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS) last night demanded a boycott of a mid Wales circus starring an elephant. The circus, the only one touring the UK with an elephant, is one of just eight circuses still to use animals. CAPS spokesman Paul Thomas said in addition to using horses, ponies and dogs in its acts, the circus also features an elephant, Anne.
2006-07-04 - Bangkok, Thailand. KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI
Protesters yesterday urged the Australian government to respect the right of Thai people to know the origin of eight Thai elephants being transferred to Australian zoos. About 50 conservationists and students from Kanchanaburi province, where the elephants have been kept, rallied at the Australian embassy in Bangkok to protest the export of the animals to Taronga Zoo in Sydney and Melbourne Zoo.
2006-07-03 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand's National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department on Monday reconfirmed its earlier rejection of requests for DNA testing to verify the demographic status of eight Thai elephants earmarked for Australian zoos, saying it will carry out the export of the pachyderms as planned. The elephants have certificates issued by Interior Ministry to prove they were bred in captivity and did not come from the wild.
2006-07-03 - Zagreb, Croatia.
Suma, a 45-year-old elephant and long-time resident of the Zagreb Zoo, was bereaved and inconsolable after her pachyderm partner of 10 years died of cancer. Until she heard Mozart. "Suma became very depressed after her roomie Patna died in early May," the head of Zagreb Zoo, Mladen Anic, said.
2006-07-02 - Pahang, Malaysia.
The death of the 18-month-old baby elephant affectionately called Mat Chepor has struck a chord in the heart of many who are puzzled by the whole incident. K. S. USHA DEVI reports. THE death of Mat Chepor, an 18-month-old baby elephant, came as a shock to many people because a day earlier, it had seemed to be in a healthy condition. The orphaned calf, which was found wandering around in the Piah Forest reserve apparently searching for its mother which had been shot by hunters, was in the process...
2006-07-02 - CONWAY, United States.
Laura Broederdorf of Mountain Home is combining manual labor with in-depth research while working with elephants at Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary this summer. Her work involves feeding and cleaning the elephants as well as helping with their medical treatment such as drawing blood and working on their feet. She also walks baby elephants to learn about the management of such large animals.
2006-07-02 - Balule, South Africa.
Environmental affairs officials are still hunting for a wounded elephant that was shot at the junction of the tar road between Phalaborwa and Hoedspruit and the road to Gravelotte. The elephant, believed to be a young bull, was shot in the small hours of the morning of June 8, 2006 with a .375 calibre rifle.
2006-07-02 - London, Canada. JAMES REANEY
Jumbos myth looms large these days at Museum London. Still, the truth about the big, dead elephant is so elusive that any hunter in pursuit of the pachyderm risks being captured by the game. That is no problem for wily Dundas artist and curator Andrew T. Hunter, who is presenting Jumbos Remains at the museum.
2006-07-02 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The Thai non-governmental organization Friends of the Asian Elephant, working to protect elephants plans to petition the Australian embassy in Bangkok Monday, asking for its suspension of importing eight Thai elephants on an exchange programme until it can be proved that the Australia-bound elephants are home-bred, not from the wild.
2006-07-01 - HA NOI, Vietnam.
Three men accused of involvement in a smuggling case involving 276 elephant tusks and 400kg of hawksbill turtle shells were sentenced in a Ha Noi Court yesterday. The smuggling ring was first uncovered by authorities in late 2004.
2006-07-01 - Lilongwe, Malawi. Charles Mkoka
Patricio Ndadzela, coordinator for African Parks Foundation (APF), confirmed last week that the elephant translocation from the Liwonde National Park to the Majete wildlife reserve will take place. Majete used to have a population of over 300 elephants in the 1980s but they were all wiped out following the influx of firearms and AK 47s in particular from across the border in neighboring Mozambique during the 16 year civil war in the that country.
2006-07-01 - BEIJING, China.
Twenty years ago, Xishuangbanna had only 80 wild elephants compared to some 300 today. Last year three villagers were killed by elephants around nature reserves in Xishuangbanna in the southwest province of Yunnan. Crops belonging to 12,000 families were also destroyed. Wildlife officials are planning "dinner halls" of banana plantations and sugarcane planted several kilometres from villages to entice the animals away, So far, 70 ha (170 acres) have been set aside.
2006-07-01 - Los Angeles, United States.
The keepers of a 48-year-old Asian elephant that died did not begin emergency procedures for more than eight hours after the animal was discovered in a sitting position, a Los Angeles Zoo investigation has found. Keepers did not begin emergency procedures until the following morning, it said. The 8,000-pound female named Gita died on June 10.
2006-06-30 - Ranchi, India.
The tuskers attacked six women workers who were returning to their homes in the Angada block. The elephants immediately returned back to the jungles. Two women died on the spot, while the other four got sustained injuries. In the past five years, more than 320 people have been trampled to death by elephants in the state.
2006-06-30 - Shimba Hills, Kenya.
Phase Two of the elephant translocation from Shimba Hills to Tsavo East was planned for January/ February 2006, but has postponed to June/ July this year, due to the dry conditions in Tsavo at the time. Kenya Wildlife Service Kwale Senior Warden Moses Litoroh: "Taking elephants from the relatively green Shimba Hills to Tsavo during the dry season is not advisable as this would make them vulnerable to losses. "Elephants would wander for long distances in search for browse and water ther...
Two women were trampled to death by rampaging elephants on the outskirts of this Jharkhand capital, police said Friday. The incident took place Thursday night when the tuskers attacked six women workers who were returning to their homes in the Angada block, 40 km from here. The elephants immediately returned back to the jungles. Two women died on the spot, while the other four sustained injuries.
2006-06-30 - Jaipur, India.
Uttaranchal is seeking trained elephants from Jaipur for its two national parks. The Uttaranchal forest department has made the request to introduce safaris at the Rajaji and Jim Corbett national parks. A Jaipur zoo official told IANS: 'We have informed elephant owners about it and it is for them to decide.'
2006-06-30 - Guwahati, India.
Herds of wild elephants are running amok in Assam, damaging vast swathes of crops and also mud and thatch huts as they move out of their jungles to look for rice beer in human settlement areas in northeastern India. The raids by the pachyderms have resulted in at least five people losing their lives during the past two months.
2006-06-30 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand. PIYAPORN WONGRUANG
The Australian government will speed up the export of eight Thai elephants to Australian zoos, without DNA testing to prove the animals' origin as demanded by conservation groups, an embassy official said yesterday. Australian officials have been preparing a new air freight schedule to transfer the elephants to Taronga Zoo in Sydney and Melbourne Zoo after protests stopped them airlifting the animals earlier this month, said the source.
2006-06-29 - Kent, United Kingdom.
Bones and tusks dating back 400,000 years are the earliest signs in Britain of ancient humans butchering elephants for meat, say archaeologists. Remains of a single adult elephant surrounded by stone tools were found in northwest Kent during work on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Scientists believe hunters used the tools to cut off the meat, after killing the animal with wooden spears.
2006-06-29 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Officials had found Motilal, a 15-year-old tamed elephant, abandoned on the national highway in the western district of Dhenkanal in Orissa in 2004. Officials brought the animal, which had been left by its mahout, to the Chandaka elephant reserve, using it for patrolling to check poaching and timber smuggling. On June 23, Chilu, its new mahout, attacked it with metal tools used to control elephants. Chilu was allegedly drunk and injured the animal in several places, including its trunk, mouth ...
2006-06-28 - Berlin, Germany. Reid CE, Hildebrandt TB, Marx N, Hunt M, Thy N, Reynes JM, Schaftenaar W, Fickel J.. Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin
Since 1995, 4 suspected cases of Endotheliotropic Elephant Herpes Virus (EEHV) infection, i.e. based on clinical presentation, have occurred in Asia without resulting in epidemic outbreaks, which brings many of the traditional theories into question. Herpes is still ramped in captive elephant populations worldwide, devastating particularly the neonatal and weaning-age population.
2006-06-28 - PARIS, France. James Mackenzie
Babar the Elephant, a timeless figure of children's literature, turns 75 this year, his trademark crown and green suit unmarked by changing fashions and criticism that his jungle realm is a relic of colonialism. Babar was created one evening in 1931 when Cecile de Brunhoff, a piano teacher, told her two small sons the story of an elephant whose mother is killed by hunters and who flees to a town where he learns to dress as a human.
2006-06-28 - Ashanti, Ghana.
Prekesease, a farming community near Anyinofi in the Sekyere East District of the Ashanti region has been plunged into a state of fear as a result of the destructive activities of elephants in the area. The animals are destroying farms and farm produce, causing much panic and indignation among the people.
2006-06-28 - Johor, Malaysia. SEE JU VERN
AFTER a bumpy ride from Kahang, Johor, the 24 participants of the One For The Elephant Expedition arrived at the Nature Education and Research Centre (NERC) at Endau Rompin. This part of the trip started off with a boat trip along Sungai Endau to track for elephants. We were taught to read elephants’ footprints we encountered along the banks of the river.
2006-06-28 - Jaipur, India.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, on a 15-day tour of Britain and the US, has promised that the states pachyderms would be properly cared for in an elephant village at Amber near here. Raje made the assurance Tuesday at a charity show organised by Elephant Family, an NGO in London that works for the welfare of Asian elephants, as also in Rajasthan, reports reaching here Wednesday said.
2006-06-28 - BANGKOK, Thailand.
A Kanchanaburi wildlife conservation group announced that it won't negotiate with the government and waits for the result of DNA testing to verify whether the Australia-bound elephants are home-bred or from the wild. The Kan Conservation Group has blocked the shipment of eight elephants to Australia on the grounds that the elephants may have been captured from the wild and may have difficulties adjusting to life in captivity.
2006-06-27 - Lenggong, Malaysia. Shoba Mano
The Remembering Sheena Campaign (RSC) is shocked and distressed over the death of Mat Chepor, the orphaned elephant calf that was found at Kampung Chepor, in Lenggong. The needless death of this elephant calf once again highlights the fact that our Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) officers and others entrusted with the care and protection of wildlife and domestic pets do not have the most basic knowledge to do the job.
2006-06-27 - Taiping, Malaysia.
Abandoned by the herd after its mother's death, Taiping Zoo came to the rescue of an 18-month-old elephant calf. But while being taken to the zoo, the calf, called Mat Chepor, keeled over and died, soon after being given an antidote. The animal had been sedated before it was taken from the Piah Forest Reserve in Perak, where it had been captured last week by rangers.
2006-06-27 - London, United Kingdom. Tom Reed
Toyota has withdrawn a TV spot to be edited after coming under fire for using a 53-year-old arthritic elephant in the ad. The campaign for the Toyota Yaris car, created by Clemmow Hornby Inge, featured an Asian elephant called Anne, the last remaining UK circus elephant, which animal welfare groups claim has been in poor health for many years.
2006-06-27 - London, United Kingdom. By Neil Tweedie
A consignment of elephant dung large enough to fertilise the average suburban garden for a year will be auctioned tonight at a gathering of Britain's Asian business elite attended by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. The dung is expected to raise between £5,000 and £10,000 at a charity "durbar" being held in Richmond, west London, in aid of the Indian elephant.
2006-06-26 - Ipoh, Malaysia. The Star
IPOH: Mat Chepor, the orphaned 18-month-old elephant who died on Friday while being transported to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Translocation Unit in Pahang, would have been alive if hunters had not shot its mother.
2006-06-26 - Loango, Gabon. Rhett A. Butler
We are in the rainforest of Loango National Park in the Central African country of Gabon.The five of us - local guides, Patrick and Ghislan; Flip, a veteran safari guide from Zimbabwe; Francesco, a fellow traveler from Italy; and myself - have quietly approached a family of forest elephants: a bull, a cow, and her calf.
2006-06-26 - Washington, United States. Smithsonian Magazine
The worlds biggest land animals can pose a big challenge for zoos. In light of research showing that elephants are social, intelligent creatures which need companionship and room to roam, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association mandated in May that elephant facilities allot at least 1,800 square feet for one elephant outdoors plus 900 square feet for each additional animal.
2006-06-26 - Chiang Rai, Thailand. TEERAWAT KHAMTHITA
The craze for the animated film Khan Kluay, about the adventures ofa young elephant searching for his father,has led to mahouts bringing more baby elephants onto the streets of Chiang Raiprovince, where they beg for food and money.
2006-06-25 - Nashville, United States. EAZA
The Nashville Zoo is accepting applications for the position of elephant keeper. The responsibilities of this position include all aspects of the daily husbandry and management of 0.3 African elephants and their facility in a free contact system.
2006-06-24 - Bangkok, Thailand. Connie Levett
OLE, a two-year-old Thai elephant, stands side-on to traffic in the middle of a four-lane street in central Bangkok, trunk swinging erratically as buses, taxis and motorbikes whiz past on either flank. For eight hours each night he walks through choking fumes, stopping only when a customer, Thai or tourist, buys a 20 baht (60 cent) bag of sugarcane to feed him and snap a photo. For the next few months, this will be his life.
2006-06-24 - Salt Lake City, United States. Ellen Fagg
Sara Gruen's just-published Water for Elephants, a charming page-turner of a historical novel about a 93-year-old former veterinarian who recalls how he fell in love - with an animal tamer as well as an elephant named Rosie - when he ran away to join a traveling circus during the Depression.
2006-06-24 - Seattle, United States. KATHY MULADY
Woodland Park Zoo officials "vigorously dispute" claims that they are not providing sufficient care for Bamboo, a 39-year-old Asian elephant who grew up at the zoo, was transferred to Tacoma last summer and returned to Seattle this month. Lawyers for Woodland Park Zoo announced Friday that they have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an animal rights group that claims the elephant should be placed elsewhere.
2006-06-23 - Seattle, United States.
Today, attorneys for Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) filed a Motion to Dismiss a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a local animal rights group, Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN), and two private citizens. In its lawsuit, NARN is attempting to force transfer of the zoo’s Asian elephant Bamboo
2006-06-23 - Santa Barbara, United States. EAZA
The Animal Care Department is seeking a keeper to become an active member of the elephant program team. This position will carry out all basic aspects of the care of the animals, including, but not limited to: training, enrichment, maintenance of exhibits, and the guest experience.
2006-06-23 - St. Louis, United States.
The St. Louis Zoo is now expecting two female baby elephants. Tests show that Asian elephant Rani is carrying a female calf. She is due in February. Rani's mother, Ellie, is in the final weeks of her 22-month pregnancy. Zoo officials expect her to deliver a 250-pound female around July 5. She is being monitored 24 hours a day.
2006-06-22 - Miami, United States.
Entry level position, responsible for all aspects of daily husbandry, medical procedures, maintenance, and operant conditioning and environmental enrichment with 1.1 Asian and 1.2 African Elephants in a protected contact management system.
2006-06-22 - AYUTTHAYA, Thailand.
It was Man vs. Elephant on a soccer pitch in Thailand on Thursday, as World Cup fever took on a decidedly local flair. Eleven elephants, each one's back painted with different national flags and carrying a rider, faced off against 11 human players for an afternoon designed to convince fans that soccer is about fun and not gambling. Sports gambling is illegal in Thailand but widespread nonetheless.
2006-06-22 - Shashe River, Botswana. Richard Davies
A pact for a new transfrontier game park straddling the borders between Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe was signed on Thursday. The environment ministers of the three countries endorsed the agreement in Botswana on the dry bed of the Shashe River. Once proclaimed, the Limpopo-Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) will cover 4 872 square kilometres, almost a quarter the size of the Kruger National Park.
2006-06-21 - LENGGONG, Malaysia. CLARA CHOOI
For more than a month, an 18-month-old male elephant had been desperately searching for his mother, not knowing that she had died of gunshot wounds to her head at Kampung Pulau Cheri near here last month. Hungry and alone, the 300kg calf foraged for food and fed on wild banana shoots near the villages where he had last seen his mother.
2006-06-21 - Los Angeles, United States. Lynn Doan
The director of the Los Angeles Zoo told the Zoo Commission on Tuesday that he was conducting a full investigation into Gita the elephant's recent death, which animal rights activists call premature and blame on mistreatment. Members of the group In Defense of Animals protested outside the commission meeting and demanded that federal officials launch an independent investigation.
2006-06-20 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
Eight Asian elephants earmarked for Australian zoos are in good condition at a quarantine station in Thailand, but there is still no firm date for their arrival. The elephants remain in quarantine at Kanchanaburi, in western Thailand, after an attempt to transport them to Bangkok Airport on June 6 was blocked by animal rights protesters.
2006-06-20 - Virunga, Congo.
Large mammals are recovering after years of decline in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers said today. Virunga is the most species-rich park in Africa. Civil war and poaching in recent years had reduced the elephant population from 4,300 in the 1960s to just 265 three years ago. In a new census, the population was up to 340.
2006-06-20 - WASHINGTON, United States.
The National Zoo kicked off a $60 million campaign to save the Asian elephant from extinction. Only about 30,000 Asian elephants remain in the entire world, but the National Zoo's three Asian elephants are getting an impressive new habitat. The habitat will include four acres outdoors and a new indoor elephant house that's five times the size of the current elephant house.
2006-06-19 - Milwaukee, United States.
Lucy, the ailing 46-year-old elephant at the Milwaukee County Zoo, is improving, an official said Monday. The African elephant fell on Friday and had to be lifted back up with a crane.
2006-06-19 - Sydney, Australia.
Sydney's Taronga Zoo is appealing for public donations to help fund the upkeep of five Asian elephants being imported from Thailand. The elephants are still in Bangkok, where they have been in quarantine for 18 months, after protesters blocked their move to Australia on June 6. No date has been confirmed for their flight, with Taronga Zoo spokesman Mark Williams quoted in News Limited newspapers as saying the delay had cost the zoo money.
2006-06-17 - New York, United States. Megan Driscoll
Zoo officials said we will see more of the elephant breeding program for some time to come. Despite recent hardships, zoo representatives said the program will go on. "I think it kind of started out as a little bit of a rumor that the elephant program was suspended at the zoo for a year, which is completely inaccurate. The program is still strong as ever," said zoo spokesperson Sarah Fedele.
2006-06-16 - Kerala, India.
Sethulakshmy, a 38-year-old captive elephant is 18 months pregnant and the talk of Thiruvanantapuram. Owner Prashantan Guruji, who has five elephants, is very nervous. "I am happy but also worried. Even veterinary doctors are not saying anything clearly. So, I am quite concerned and keeping my fingers crossed," said Guruji.
2006-06-15 - SYRACUSE, New York, United States.
An upstate zoo famous for its elephant-breeding program will not be able to breed endangered Asian elephants unless it expands, officials said. Rosamond Gifford Zoo officials in Syracuse told Onondaga County legislators that the zoo will likely need millions of dollars and more land. The zoo will temporarily stop breeding elephants until a decision is made, Zoo Director Chuck Doyle said.
2006-06-14 - Casper, United States. LAURIE CREASY
Casper College presents Dee the Mammoth, named for Dee Zimmerschied, the bulldozer operator who found him, a new fossil find about 40 miles north of Casper and what may be one of the largest mammoth fossils around. The center of one of his vertebrae is nine inches in diameter. Compare that with the six-inch center of the largest specimen at South Dakota's Mammoth Site, a 50-year-old male, and you've got one enormous animal. Dee munched his last grass in the Powder River Basin between 10,000 to 2...
2006-06-14 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka.
AN elephant named 'Kiri' gave birth on Friday at the Pinnawela to a male calf weighing 75kilo. This was the 36th elephant birth in the orphanage's 31-year history, Veterinary Surgeon Samanthi Mendis said. The Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage was started in 1975 by the Department of Wildlife. The newborn has taken the number of elephants at the orphanage to 76.
2006-06-14 - New York, United States. David Spett
With support from animal-rights organizations, Councilmember Rosie Mendez introduced a bill Tuesday to ban wild animal acts from the circus, a move Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey said would force them to stop all of their New York City performances. If passed, the law would ban all wild and exotic animals — including elephants, chimpanzees, tigers and lions — from circuses, carnivals and other live performances in New York City. The law would not affect domesticated animals like cats...
2006-06-14 - Sydney, Australia. Tanya Plibersek
THE OUTCRY about eight endangered Asian elephants from Thailand being offered brand-new, state-of-the art homes in Australian zoos is bizarre, considering the human rights and environmental challenges Thailand faces. Poverty in parts of Thailand has led to a booming sex trade, exploitative working conditions and the environmental destruction that threatens the survival of elephants in the wild.
2006-06-13 - Denver, United States. Raetta Holdman
With the Denver Zoo's largest fundraiser of the year just days away, the animals are getting in on the fun. Asiatic elephants Dolly and Mimi and a black rhinoceros named Mshindi were hard at work Tuesday painting their masterpieces. Zookeepers said the animals all love painting because picking up sticks is a natural behavior for them and using a paintbrush is just an extension of that behavior.
2006-06-13 - EAST MANATEE, United States. RICHARD DYMOND
Hugh Schmitt rode on the back of an elephant in a German circus, performed before Nazi soldiers during World War II and ran from Allied bomb blasts in his hometown of Hamburg. Schmitt, who now leads a quiet life on State Road 62 in Parrish with his wife, Louise, was the son of internationally known German animal trainer Hugo Schmitt, who worked for Hamburg's Circus Hagenbeck and later would be called upon by President Dwight Eisenhower to supervise elephants in his inaugural parade in 1953.
2006-06-12 - SEATTLE, United States.
A female Asian elephant, Bamboo, returned yesterday to the 92-acre Woodland Park Zoo. The 39-year-old elephant was transported from Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Wash. in an air conditioned vehicle driven by one of the nation’s most highly regarded animal movers. Zoo veterinarians and zookeepers accompanied her on the short trip to Seattle.
2006-06-12 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
Animal rights activists have called for the resignation of the director of the Los Angeles Zoo, holding him responsible for the death of a 48-year-old Asian elephant named Gita. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals faxed a letter Sunday to Director John Lewis, saying Gita's death was caused by poor living conditions at the zoo.
2006-06-11 - Lampang, Thailand. Soraida Salwala, Friends of the Asian Elephant, FAE's Elephant Hospital
Mogae-Grey, a thirty-year-old cow was hired to haul logs across the Thai border. She walked with her baby alongside her when the baby stepped on a landmine. Her injuries are quite severe.
2006-06-11 - Los Angeles, United States. Carla Hall
Gita, the Los Angeles Zoo's female Asian elephant who had become the focus of a highprofile controversy over whether the giant animals should stay in zoos, died Saturday morning in her yard after several hours of attempts to save her life. Gita, who turned 48 this month, had lived at the zoo since 1959.
2006-06-09 - Shanghai, China.
A 46-year-old animal keeper was killed accidentally by an elephant in a safari park in Shanghai, east China, on Thursday, sources with the safari park confirmed on Friday. Li Guohua, the animal keeper, was suddenly thrown away by an Asian elephant using its trunk when he was helping veterinarians to treat this ill elephant at about 8:00 p.m. Thursday.
2006-06-09 - Gaborone, Botswana.
Residents of Mmadinare village are still reeling in shock after an incident in which an elephant trampled to death, a 76 year old man on Wednesday in Sasau cattle posts. The deceased had gone to the cattle posts to round up his cattle for Foot and Mouth vaccination when he met his fate. The deceased is reported to have left his home last Tuesday with his children to assess the damage that the elephants had caused to his farm after having heard their noises when they invaded the farm the previous...
2006-06-09 - Abington, United States. Max Bowen
After a two-year hiatus, Jewel and Tina are packing their trunks and heading back to Abington. The decision to bring back the two elephants is part of the Cole Bros. Circus continuous goal to make each years performance fresh and new, according to Renne Storey, vice president of administration for the circus. Since the elephants were removed from the roster in 2004, the circus has received much feedback from patrons who wanted them to come back."People were saying they really missed the ele...
2006-06-09 - Manila, Philippines. Blanche S. Rivera
THE IVORY tusks seized last year in the Philippines account for the biggest shipment of smuggled elephant tusks being investigated by the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF), an international team monitoring the illegal trade of African wildlife all over the world. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the total 6,758 kilograms of tusks seized at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in September and the South Harbor in November last year were 200 kilograms more than th...
2006-06-09 - Syracuse, New York, United States. MICHELLE YORK
She had been in labor since Sunday, but the contractions remained weak. So on Wednesday night, experts from Missouri and Florida flew to Syracuse to assist in a rare emergency surgery on the 29-year-old patient - an Asian elephant named Romani. An eight-member team gathered on Thursday morning to perform the procedure, similar in concept to an episiotomy in human births but much rarer - with only an estimated seven previously performed in the world, a zoo spokeswoman said. Employe...
2006-06-08 - Central Florida, United States. Tammy L. Carter
Mary has lived a full life. She worked with a circus in the 1950s, retired to Dallas, lived in New York and moved to Central Florida in 1983. She enjoys taking baths and eating sugar cane. She has shared housing with her best friend, Maude, for about 23 years. That's good for an Asian elephant that just turned 60. If Mary is in good health and in good spirits, why does anyone want to shake up her world?
2006-06-08 - Lusaka, Zambia. Angel Tabe
Roaming elephants in Zambia are said to be destroying food crops, property and even human lives. The countrys wildlife authorities say they are working to resolve the problems, but villagers blame the continuing rampage on what they see as the governments reluctance to take action.
2006-06-08 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
Animal rights protesters who blocked the transfer of eight Asian elephants from Thailand to Australia placed the animals under "horrific stress," Environment Minister Ian Campbell said yesterday. He said it could be some weeks before the animals are brought to Australia. A group of protesters stopped trucks carrying the elephants from leaving a quarantine station in the western Thai province of Kanchanaburi late Monday, bound for Bangkok's airport.
2006-06-07 - Conway, United States. Schulte BA, Rasmussen LE. Department of Chemistry, Hendrix College, Conway, AR
Using automated solid-phase dynamic extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, our search for urinary chemical signals from ovulatory female African elephants (Loxodonta africana) has revealed the bark beetle aggregation pheromones frontalin, exo-brevicomin, and endo-brevicomin, as well as their precursors and the aphid alarm pheromones (E,E)-alpha-farnesene and (E)-beta-farnesene.
2006-06-07 - Lake Monroe, FL, United States.
The Central Florida Zoological Park is looking for a team oriented keeper to join the Hoofstock Department in an entry level position. Responsibilites include animal husbandry, enrichment, training and exhibit maintenance for 0.2 Asian elephants (free contact), red kangaroos and emus, and domestic animals in a childern's zoo setting.
2006-06-06 - Dallas, United States.
This position will supervise a section with elephants, giraffes, carnivores and mixed mammals with 7+ keepers. Must be proficient in Protected Contact training and will participate in design of new and large naturalistic exhibits for elephants, giraffe, lions, etc.
2006-06-06 - Manila, Philippines. Joel E. Zurbano
A special team of agents will be tasked to investigate pilferages of cargoes and other irregularities at Customs warehouses. The Bureau of Customs made the move after a shipment of elephant tusks worth P50 million seized at the Port of Manila disappeared in the custody of the Asian Terminals Inc. at South Harbor.
2006-06-06 - Kampala, Uganda. Charles Akena
OVER 100 people in Kamdini village have given up poaching wild game and handed over an assortment of hunting implements to the authorities. A delegation of 245 poachers led by Mr Patrick Odongo handed over spears, traps, wire snares, cooking pots and other tools to the Senior Conservation Officer of Murchison National Park, Mr Stonewall Kato, at Kamdini Parish last week. They revealed that they used to hunt animals in the park and later sell the meat to hotel proprietors in Kampala and other are...
2006-06-03 - NEW YORK, United States. DAVID CRARY
With their colorful headgear and repertoire of tricks, they're top-billed stars of The Greatest Show on Earth. But away from the arena, the Asian elephants used in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are at the heart of perhaps the most bitter animal-care fight around, one that's dragged through court for six years already and is inching toward a trial. It's a heavyweight bout, pitting America's biggest circus against some of the most influential animal-welfare groups. Ringling insists...
2006-06-03 - NEW YORK, United States.
The Asian elephants used in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are at the heart of perhaps the most bitter animal-care fight around, one that's dragged through court for six years already and is inching toward a trial, America's biggest circus against some of the most influential animal-welfare groups. Ringling insists that its elephants receive state-of-the-art treatment and it's determined to keep them in its cast.
2006-06-01 - LOUISVILLE, United States.
The Louisville Zoo is expecting a new attraction come next spring. Mikki, a 20-year-old African elephant, is pregnant by artificial insemination. Zoo officials have not determined the 150-to 200-pound calf's gender and believe the insemination last June did the trick. "We've been working on this for years," said Zoo Director John Walczak. This was the zoo's second try at artificial insemination. The zoo verified Mikki's pregnancy by sonogram last November.
2006-05-31 - Murchison, Texas, United States. EAZA
The majestic Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, Texas is in need of an Elephant Keeper to maintain responsibility for total care of elephant(s) residing at the Ranch, to include providing proper and clean environment(s), food preparation and feeding, supplies maintenance, enrichment provisions and strategiesmedical care and training.
2006-05-29 - New Delhi, India.
The Wildlife SOS Elephant Welfare Project in India has just launched a new street elephant rescue programme. Illegally caught captive elephants in India are estimated to number more than 5000. Delhi is one of the most populated and polluted cities in the world, where 40 of these elephants are subjected to terrible living and "working" conditions.
2006-05-29 - Lampang, Thailand. Soraida Salwala, Friends of the Asian Elephant. FAE's Elephant Hospital
Manguay-low, who shared tragic injuries from landmines in 2003, collapsed Tuesday 23rd May at 5.30. We tried to help her get up but she had lost all her strength. I had to decide to let her go peacefully
2006-05-29 - Cambridge, United Kingdom. Allen WR. Dep. of Vet.Med. Equine Fertility Unit, Univ. of Cambridge, Suffolk
The African elephant reproduces so efficiently in the wild that overpopulation is now a serious problem in some game parks in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. The female reaches puberty between 10 and 12 years of age in the wild and, when in captivity, shows oestrous cycles of 14-15 weeks duration. She readily conceives a singleton in the wild yet her uterus has the capacity for twins. She shows a gestation length of 22 months and, in the wild, shows a population density and feed dependent i...
2006-05-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. JOHN MARY
When forest officers failed to catch a rogue elephant, some tribals decided to hold them captive. Officials from Kerala and Tamil Nadu were locked inside a building in the Peppara forest range, around 50 km from here, for nearly three hours today by the group that included women and children. They demanded immediate capture of the elephant that has killed their kin and eaten their crops.
2006-05-28 - Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. EAZA
The Knoxville Zoo is looking for an experienced, motivated, team oriented individual who wants to work elephants. We work both free and protected contact with 1.3 African Elephants. The program is early in its building phase with the ultimate goal of breeding within the next year. There are promotional opportunities available within the elephant team.
2006-05-25 - Baringo, Kenya. Alex Kiprotich
Two people were on Wednesday morning killed by a stray elephant in Kapluk centre, Baringo District. The elephant, which is believed to be from Lake Kamnarok Game Reserve, wreaked havoc in the villages around Kapluk and caused panic among the residents. Baringo police boss, Peter Njenga, who led a security team to comb the area, confirmed the dead as David Sumukwo, 40, and David Samoei.
2006-05-25 - Dhaka, Bangladesh. Nazrul Islam
Marauding elephants have trampled down three people in Bangladesh's south-eastern Banderban and Cox's Bazar districts while a crocodile has taken away one fisherman from southern Sundarbans on Thursday and Tuesday, according to sources in the district administrations.
2006-05-24 - Pahang, Malaysia. DEBBIE CHAN
CONTINUING their fight for elephants, APES (Awareness and Preservation of Elephants) and The Star BRATs (Bright, Roving, Annoying Teens) have decided to adopt a baby from the Kuala Gandar Elephant Sanctuary in Pahang. APES is excited about working with the young journalists again in spreading awareness on elephant conservation, APES spokesman Chwen Zheng.
2006-05-21 - Guwahati, India. Utpal Borpujari
A Supreme court ban on logging has led to the problem of elephants and their mahouts in Assam having to pace the streets, begging for a living. Mrinal Talukdar’s film focuses on this issue. A small film on a jumbo problem is Assam is creating waves. In Search of a Job, a 14-minute film by an Assamese journalist on the heart-rending issue problem of domesticated elephants begging on the streets after being made “jobless†due to the Supreme Court ban on logging brought under foc...
2006-05-21 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The man-animal conflict in the Agasthyar forests has entered its climactic phase. After weeks of indecision, the government has decided to set up an elaborate trap to capture the wild elephants that are creating havoc in the 27 kani settlements spread deep inside the forests.
2006-05-20 - Beitbridge, Zimbabwe.
Police in Beitbridge have arrested two South African immigration officials and a Zimbabwean for attempting to smuggle 100 pieces of ivory and 400 bricks of cigarettes worth several billions of dollars. A South African Home Affairs Ministry official truck was used to smuggle the contraband. Following interception of the truck, the police arrested two South African immigration officers and a Zimbabwean for allegedly conniving to smuggle the contraband through Beitbridge using the official truck.
2006-05-20 - Los Angeles, United States. PERRY CROWE
On April 19, the L.A. City Council approved a nearly $40 million expansion of the L.A. Zoos elephant exhibit. The plan includes waterfalls and bathing holes and lush greenery spread over 3.7 acres. Its definitely a step up from the current 2-acre exhibit, which is broken into two small enclosures, one of which is Billys daytime home. And the size of the elephant barn in the citys expansion plan suggests an eventual population of 10 elephants as L.A.s elephants become a breeding herd, with Billy ...
2006-05-19 - LAKELAND, Florida, United States.
The center was funded by the Ringling Brothers Circus 1995. It serves as a place for their older elephants to retire or, start a family. It is the most diverse gene pool in North America, and the only self-sustaining elephant herd in North America. Some of the elephants born at the center will follow in their parents' footsteps and join the circus.
2006-05-19 - Windhoek, Namibia. Christof Maletsky
THE community of Ozondjorukwena farm, 42 km west of Kalkfeld, say they live in fear because of roaming elephants that destroy their fences and water points. On Wednesday, seven elephants were spotted 800 metres from the homesteads while moving in a northern direction after destroying fences and water points.
2006-05-19 - Dak Lak, Vietnam.
With bears now micro-chipped to protect them after release, elephants are being sized up for a similar program. The Prime Minister has approved a plan the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Forest Protection Department devised to micro-chip elephants as a measure to protect their dwindling numbers.
2006-05-19 - Anchorage, Alaska, United States. Blake de Pastino
You can lead an elephant to a treadmill, but you can't make her walk. That's the lesson zookeepers are learning in Anchorage, Alaska, where they have been struggling to get the zoo's resident elephant to exercise. Maggie, a 23-year-old African elephant (pictured here on May 16), is the only pachyderm at the Alaska Zoo, where she is kept indoors much of the time to protect her from the cold.
2006-05-18 - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka.
Some of Sri Lanka's wildest, most destructive elephants will be getting a reprieve despite their bad behaviour - but they'll have to spend some time in rehab first. Elephants that rampage through villages, destroying crops or killing people, will be caught, tamed and put to work in the conservation department, an official said Thursday.
2006-05-17 - Kigali, Rwanda.
Mutware, the famous elephant in Akagera National Park, is on the rampage. It escaped from the park recently and is now destroying properties and gardens around Nasho Sector in Kirehe District. Residents are also in constant fear for their dear lives. Those talked to Monday May15, say that many people have abandoned their daily work and homes in fear of being attacked by the elephant.
2006-05-17 - Toronto, Canada.
Michael Hackenberger, director and part owner of the Bowmanville Zoo were acquitted Wednesday on a charge of breaking a Toronto bylaw by having two elephants appear at a fundraiser in October. Had he been convicted of having prohibited animals within city boundaries, Hackenberger could have faced a fine of $10,000 per elephant or six months in jail. "We're just delighted with the decision," said Hackenberger, just after Justice of the Peace Kevin Madigan ruled for their acquittal at the Toronto ...
2006-05-17 - Auckland, New Zealand.
Leading television network Animal Planet, in conjunction with SKY TV, today announced the sponsorship of the Animal Planet Elephant Clearing at Auckland Zoo, New Zealand. Home to Asian elephants Kashin and Burma, two of the zoos most popular residents, Animal Planet will support the internationally recognised elephant management program at New Zealand�s largest zoo as part of the networks ongoing commitment to assist ethical zoos across Australia and New Zealand.
2006-05-17 - Seattle, United States.
Seattle's elephants receive great care, but that's not enough. They deserve more space. A controversy over the future of one of the zoo's elephants, Bamboo, provides a window into the questions Seattle's political leadership needs to face at Woodland Park Zoo. Amid a host of zoo changes, city government has paid far too little attention to how well the planet's largest land animals may fit there for the long term. In the 1980s (with help from a Seattle P-I campaign), the zoo built a new elephant...
2006-05-14 - Tesso Nilo, Indonesia. WWF
On 14 May eight endangered Sumatran elephants were released into Tesso Nilo National Park, seven weeks after they were found chained to trees without food or water in central Riau, Indonesia. Local forestry officials had captured the elephants after they had damaged crops and homes near Libo Forest. WWF, which provided daily care and medical treatment for the elephants after their discovery, accompanied the authorities as they released the elephants to ensure that the release was done safely.
2006-05-14 - Nairobi, Kenya. Philip Mwakio
The historic elephant translocation exercise that was stopped last December is expected to resume in July. The exercise, billed the largest ever in the world, seeks to move 400 elephants from the Shimba Hills National Reserve to Tsavo East National Park. The second phase of the translocation exercise hopes to move 250 jumbos. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Head of Elephant programmes, Mr Patrick Omondi, told The Sunday Standard that plans were still on for the exercise.
2006-05-13 - Rotterdam, Netherlands. Mafootje
On may 13 at 11:30 a female elephant was born in Rotterdam. She was up on her feet in 3 minutes and was born in between the elephant group. For the mother Douanita this is the first living young she has had, but it's the tenth birth of an elephant in this Rotterdam Zoo. The elephant is named Trong Nhi after a famous Vietnamese female leader.
2006-05-12 - COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh.
One child was killed and 30 people were injured on Thursday when two wild elephants wrecked parts of a refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh, police said. They said the elephants strayed into the camp for Myanmar Muslim refugees from the nearby forest and destroyed dozens of bamboo shelters. Police fired blank shots to chase the elephants back to the forest from the camp that houses 8,000 Muslim refugees, who are among the tens of thousands who crossed into Bangladesh more than a decade ago al...
2006-05-11 - San Diego, United States.
Keepers at the San Diego Zoos Wild Animal Park have seen the heartbeat, ribs and vertebrate of an African elephant fetus through ultrasound. Umgani is expected to give birth sometime around August to her first calf, after a 21-month gestation period. This will be the first calf Mabhulane, the Wild Animal Parks adult male, has sired.
2006-05-10 - Hong Kong, China.
Elephant tusks smuggled in a shipping container have been seized by customs officials in Hong Kong. The 3.9 tonnes of tusks from Cameroon, worth about 8 million Hong Kong dollars (about €805,500), were the largest such seizure “in recent years,” Hong Kong Customs said in a statement. Officials couldn’t say when the last big seizure was. Officers found the tusks in a concealed compartment in a shipping container that was declared to be carrying timber from the West African nation of Camer...
2006-05-10 - Stockholm, Sweden.
Motorists approaching the Swedish capital on Tuesday were met with the unlikely sight of three elephants grazing by the freeway. Swedish radio reported on Wednesday that the elephants had escaped from a circus van, towed by a lorry which had overturned on a sharp bend just north of the capital. The animals had dispersed across the field, reported the radio.
2006-05-08 - London, United Kingdom. Malcolm Moore
The co-founder of the Italian Blumarine fashion house has been trampled to death by an elephant while on a hunting trip in Zimbabwe, Italian media reported yesterday. Gianpaolo Tarabini, 67, was on safari with Claudio Chiarelli, a professional hunter, and Aldo Castoldi, a photographer, when they were charged by two elephants. His two friends escaped. Mr Tarabini co-founded Blumarine with his wife, the fashion designer Anna Molinari in 1977.
2006-05-08 - Auckland, New Zealand.
New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where people can have breakfast with elephants. Several Aucklanders were given the opportunity to breakfast in the enclosure of Auckland Zoo's Asian elephants Kashin and Burma at the weekend. The proceeds from the event will go towards helping senior zookeeper Andrew Coers attend a conference in America, where he will talk about the Auckland elephant programme. Mr Coers says the free-contact programme run at Auckland Zoo is unique. He says at ...
2006-05-08 - Arusha, Tanzania. Arusha Times
Some elephants are reported to have been killed by gangs of people, believed to be 'commercial' poachers. According to village sources they have of late set up their camps within the Sinya forest of the new Longido district, a former precinct of Monduli but anti-poaching authorities have denied the reports. The Sinya village chairman, Mbakuli Ole Nasiang'a said that ten giant jumbos have been gunned down by a well organized gang of ivory poachers who use automatic fire weapons and rifles. Accord...
2006-05-08 - Buea, Cameroon. Pegue Manga
Dr. Michael Loomis, a Veterinarian working for the North Carolina Zoological Park, has been working with the World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF and Cameroon's Ministry of Environment, tagging elephants for nine years now. Loomis, 56, in this exclusive interview with The Post, explains what elephant tagging entails, its importance and how it can help the government fashion policy decisions on conservation. The Veterinarian, however, regrets that, in spite of efforts to check elephant poaching, this ...
2006-05-07 - Thrissur, India.
Kerala is celebrating Thrissur Pooram on Sunday. It is one of the biggest temple festivals in the state. The two-century-old festival is also known as Thrissur Pooram named after the place where it is held. Pooram is marked by a spectacular procession of elephants and percussion performances called panja-vadiam. Close to 200 artists will take part in the festival this year.
2006-05-06 - Durban, South Africa. LEW ELIAS
ELEPHANTS are set to become a part of the East London private game reserve at Inkwenkwezi after nature conservation authorities gave it permission to let the public take walks with the pachyderms. The approval is subject to the reserve building suitable accommodation and providing for their needs such as adequate facilities for food and water, reserve owner Graham Stanton said yesterday.
2006-05-05 - SYRACUSE, New York, United States.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo plans to loan two of its Asian elephants to a Canadian wildlife park. Targa, 22, and her daughter, Mali, 9, will be transported early next week by tractor-trailer to African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Ontario which currently boasts the continent's most prolific Asian elephant breeding program.
2006-05-04 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Wild Life Department sources reveal that the number of deaths in human-elephant conflicts in Sri Lanka has increased rapidly. Today an average of 150 elephants are killed annually by people, while the elephants kill an average of around 40 people per year. These averages rose from 50 elephant deaths and 12 human deaths per year at the end of the 1980s.
2006-05-04 - Santa Barbara, United States. Chris Wilcox
Elephants in the Santa Barbara Zoo may soon have to pack their trunks and move, pending an upcoming decision by the California State Legislature. On April 25, a California Assembly committee passed the Elephant Protection Act, which will go to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for approval May 10. The bill, CA AB 3027, would require California’s zoos to expand their elephant enclosures to at least five acres and to stop using certain elephant handling tools, or risk losing their eleph...
2006-05-04 - Siavonga, Zambia.
Zambia Wildlife Authority, ZAWA, has shot dead two Elephants which have been terrorising villagers in the area. The move by ZAWA to kill the jumbos is an effort to control the beasts that have been a menace to the villagers. And Siavonga district commissioner, DC, Emily Striedl has said ZAWA will not manage to effectively control the big population of elephants in the district if adequate transport is not provided to them.
2006-05-02 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
Just 76 wild elephants roam in Vietnam now, and scientists warn that if harsh measures are not taken, Vietnamese forests will have none of the beasts within 30 years. From 1975-1980, Vietnam had an estimated herd of 1,500-2,000 wild elephants, living in various regions of the country. These majestic beasts contributed not only to human endeavours, but to the biodiversity of Vietnam’s natural environment. Since 1980, the number of wild elephants has fallen rapidly as thousands of hectares of fo...
2006-05-01 - ARUSHA, Tanzania.
On April 17th, 2006 Mr. Emmanuel Muyengi, District Game Officer of Simanjiro District in northern Tanzania, was shot by poachers and died. Mr. Muyengi was leading a raid on elephant poachers in Simanjiro on April 16th. The poachers were reportedly in possession of two vehicles, elephant tusks, firearms and ammunition. In the course of apprehending the poaching gang, Mr. Muyengi was targeted and shot in the leg. The poachers used the ensuing confusion during the shoot-out to escape on foot into t...
2006-04-29 - Bhubaneswar, India. The Hindu
The Orissa Government has turned a `mute spectator' to the unabated poaching of tuskers in the State for illegal ivory trade, Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) secretary Biswajit Mohanty said on Friday. He claimed that in the last 12 months as many as 14 elephants were killed in Orissa's forests. In April alone two elephants were shot dead, one at Chandaka and the other at Satkoshia Wildlife Sanctuaries, both considered as the ideal habitat for elephants in Orissa.
2006-04-27 - Rochester, New York, United States.
The next time you go to the zoo there's a new exhibit to check out. Rochester's African elephants, Genny C and Lilac, now have a new place to call home. On Thursday Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and the zoo SpokesKids cut the ribbon for the opening of the new African elephant exhibit. “I think the elephants will love it hear and have a happy home just like in the wild,” said Seneca Park Zoo SpokesKid Jacob Reynolds.
2006-04-24 - Cape Town, South Africa.
Six young wild elephants were forcibly removed from their herd last week and condemned to lives of abuse as safari elephants - with the full approval of South Africa's conservation authorities. The elephants have been taken to the training facility of Elephants For Africa Forever (EFAF), a centre which notoriously supplies "tamed and trained" elephants to elephant-back safari tourism operations throughout South Africa.
2006-04-18 - Asmara, Eritrea. Shoshani J, Kupsky WJ, Marchant GH. Department of Biology, University of Asmara
We report morphological data on brains of four African, Loxodonta africana, and three Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, and compare findings to literature. Brains exhibit a gyral pattern more complex and with more numerous gyri than in primates, humans included, and in carnivores, but less complex than in cetaceans.
2006-04-17 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
Environmentalists have urged the Indonesian Government to investigate irregularities in elephant catching procedures which have caused a number of elephants had died in the past few years.According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia, the Riau Administration had caught 201 wild elephants since 2000, and at least 46 of the animals had been killed due to inappropriate procedures in relocating them, Media Indonesia daily reported here on Monday.
2006-04-06 - Orlando, Florida, United States.
Save The Elephants (STE) announced today that founder Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Ph.D. was honored by the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund as a leading wildlife advocate for his work to preserve endangered animals. Douglas-Hamilton was one of five conservationists receiving this Disney honor. The others include international actress and model Isabella Rossellini, Dr. Jane Goodall, actor John Cleese and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai.
2006-04-06 - Vienna, Virginia, United States.
Today, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® announced that it will fund a reproductive research study conducted by scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park. The $135,000 commitment will be distributed over the next three years in support of the National Zoo’s efforts to increase the captive population of the endangered Asian elephant.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation® (CEC) proudly announced today the birth of a healthy female Asian elephant – marking the twentieth birth in what is already one of the most successful Asian elephant breeding programs. The calf, born on April 6, 2006, 9:08 p.m. at 295 pounds, is a rare second-generation offspring of eleven-year-old Shirley and thirteen-year-old Romeo, who were also born into the Ringling Bros.® conservation program.
2006-04-05 - Luanda, Angola.
Doubling of volume over a year shows serious rise in elephant poaching. War-battered Angola itself has only about 250 elephants. Elephant populations elsewhere are on the rise -- in part because of an almost complete global ban on the ivory trade. The World Conservation Union says elephant numbers in east and south Africa are rising. It says surveys showed elephant numbers in the two regions rose to 355,000 from 283,000 in the five years to 2002, a growth rate of 4.5 percent per year.
2006-04-05 - Cooch Behar, India.
A herd of wild elephants damaged 17 houses in areas adjacent to Kadambini Tea Estate and Kunjanagar Eco-Park in Dooars area of West Bengal, a senior Forest official said today. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Cooch Behar, M N Biswas said that wild elephants came from Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary and ransacked 17 houses on Tuesday night.
2006-04-05 - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Vin Diesel has chosen the Dominican Republic as a location for his movie Hannibal, an epic about the 3rd century conqueror who led an army riding elephants across the Alps in an assault on Rome. Diesel plans to direct and star in the title role of the film based on British author Ross Leckie's fictionalized memoir of the Carthaginian leader.
2006-04-04 - Yangon, Myanmar.
Elephants that once roamed the mangrove swamps of Myanmar's vast Ayeyarwaddy Delta are headed for extinction, with only two of its kind still alive, a local newspaper said Monday. The two survivors live in the delta's Meinmahla island wildlife sanctuary about 130km south-west of Yangon, the Flower News weekly newspaper said.
2006-03-31 - Sauraha, CHITWAN, Nepal.
Is there an alternative way to train a domestic elephant to learn faster, be more obedient and decrease a risk to people? The answer is yes, according to the ‘positive reinforcement’ training being discussed and demonstrated at the Elephant Breeding Center at Sauraha,Royal Chitwan National Park. The first phase of the training concludes on 5 April 2006. Based on the outcome of this training, a follow-up session will be scheduled. Finland has been supporting conservation efforts in Nepal for ...
2006-03-30 - Moscow, Russian Federation. Vinogradov IV, Kochneva GV, Shchelkunov SN, Riabchikova EI.
Electron microscopy was used to study the reproduction of cowpox virus strain EP-2 from elephant in the cells of a primary fibroblast cultures (PFC) and chorion-allantoic membrane (CAM) of chick embryos (CE).
2006-03-27 - Hoedspruit, South Africa. Zinkie Sithole
The fate of a "tame" elephant has yet to be decided, three weeks after she trampled her handler Edias Makore to death when he used a prodder on her. Master elephant trainer Paul Coetzee said: "I have not made a final decision about her fate, but for now we have isolated the elephant and will not use her for future rides."
2006-03-24 - Letaba, South Africa.
The Elephant Hall at Letaba Main Camp in the Kruger National Park (KNP) reopened today. The museum covers elephant evolution, biology, behaviour, ecology and research. It also showcases the ivory of eight of Kruger's greatest tuskers include a full-size elephant skeleton and the impressive tusks of Mandleve.
2006-03-23 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
There must be something in the water at the Copenhagen Zoo - at least in the elephant house. The 11th elephant born in captivity in the zoo came to the world on Monday, at precisely 21.40. Copenhagen Zoo's 11 elephant births are among the most of any zoo, officials stated on Tuesday. The newest addition to the flock is a healthy, 130kg calf who, with a little help from his mother, Ida, was on his feet less than 10 minutes after being born.
2006-03-22 - Brighton, United Kingdom. McComb K, Baker L, C. Moss, University of Sussex School of Life Sciences
Here, we use systematic presentations of object arrays to demonstrate that African elephants show higher levels of interest in elephant skulls and ivory than in natural objects or the skulls of other large terrestrial mammals. However, they do not appear to specifically select the skulls of their own relatives for investigation so that visits to dead relatives probably result from a more general attraction to elephant remains.
2006-03-06 - SAKHIGOPAL, India. Prafulla Das
A wild elephant, which was caught and chained after it strayed into Biraramachandrapur village in Orissa, is under severe stress. With the authorities clueless on how to handle the pachyderm, its return to the forest seems difficult. The 30-year-old tusker covered about 60 km from the Chandaka forest, near Bhubaneswar, crossing several villages, before straying into Sakhigopal.
2006-03-06 - Hoedspruit, South Africa.
The Zimbabwean elephant trainer Elias Makori has died after being trampled by an elephant at Jabulani Camp near the Kruger National Park on Monday morning. Superintendent Moatshe Ngoepe, Limpopo police spokesperson for the Mopane district, said the trainer had been trying to herd an elephant that had strayed from a herd back towards the others when it attacked him at the camp in Hoedspruit.
2006-03-03 - Washington, United States. National Zoo Press Release
Continuing two decades of elephant conservation and research, Smithsonian’s National Zoo elephant experts and a team of German veterinary scientists last night completed the first of what may be two artificial insemination procedures on Shanthi, one of the Zoo’s Asian elephants. Shanthi is approximately 30 years old, and is the mother of Kandula, the Zoo’s four-year-old male, who was conceived by artificial insemination conducted by the same team of scientists in February 2000.
2006-03-03 - WACO, Texas, United States.
A 25-year-old woman climbed past barriers and into an elephant's zoo exhibit, then crawled out with minor injuries after the 6,000-pound animal smacked her with its trunk. "That's how an elephant reacts to something they would perceive as a threat," said Cameron Park Zoo director Jim Fleshman. After saying she wanted to play with the elephant, the woman climbed over a 3-feet-high wood-and-wire fence, scaled an 8-foot-tall artificial rock structure and bypassed an electric wire before jumping int...
2006-03-02 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Six wild Sumatran elephants found dead with blackened mouths on the jungle floor of Mahato, Riau province, on Indonesia's Sumatra island, were believed to have been poisoned, a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) official said on Thursday. "We have a strong belief that they were all poisoned," Desmarita Murni, WWF communications officer for species programmes, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, adding that the WWF planned to perform an autopsy later on Thursday to find out exact details on how and who migh...
2006-03-01 - New York, United States.
Why do you have to walk through the Midtown Tunnel? Our circus train is too long and we are allowed to take up only so many feet of commuter train track. We would take up so many of the tracks that it just wouldn’t work out. How long is the trek? It’s about two and a half to three miles. The elephants already walk three miles daily to keep in shape, so this is no problem. Our oldest elephant, Mysore, is 58 years old, so even though she gets her daily exercise, we’ll d...
2006-03-01 - Livingstone, Zambia.
One of the two elephants that killed three people in southern Zambia has been shot dead by officers of Zambia Wildlife Authority. ZAWA PR officer Maureen Mwape said it is important to kill elephants that kills human beings because they will continue killing people.
2006-03-01 - PURI, India.
Wild elephants killed two persons and injured one today in Biraramachandrapur village near Sakhigopal. They were heading for the paddy fields. To their shock, they found two elephants moving in the area and ran for cover. Two of them stumbled and fell as the agitated elephants advanced towards them. Bulu Bhoi and Buddhia were killed as they stumbled and fell and the animals trampled them.
2006-02-25 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom. CLAIRE SMITH
ANIMAL welfare organisations have condemned Edinburgh Zoo's plans to add elephants and manatees to its collection and continue keeping polar bears. The zoo, which is one of Scotland's top tourist attractions, announced the £58 million expansion plan this week, which will see the park divided into four "biome" zones, joined by a railway. Included in the redesign are plans to introduce new animals, including several endangered species
2006-02-24 - PHILADELPHIA, United States.
An animal-rights activist was banned from the Philadelphia Zoo for online comments directed at the facility's chief executive. Marianne Bessey, leader of Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants, wrote in an Internet chat room called the Elephant Connection about Dulary, an elephant kept in a concrete barn since August. She said zoo director Alexander L. "Pete" Hoskins might suffer nightmares about Dulary, a 42-year-old, injured elephant in his care, and might indeed be past his own life expectancy, the ...
2006-02-24 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
At least 51 wild elephants destroyed a number of villagers houses and over tens hectares of palm oil plantation area at Balai Raja, Bengkalis District, Riau in the past two days. Two villagers were hurt in the attacks by wild elephants, Balai Raja Village Head Samudji AMP told ANTARA News here Friday. In the past two months, at least five times the wild elephants ran amok, he said.
2006-02-24 - Mysore, India.
Three employees of Mysore Zoo have been dismissed from service for their alleged role which resulted in the unnatural death of two elephants in the zoo in October 2003, a senior official said today. The dismissal was ordered after an inquiry by a retired civil judge, the Zoo Executive Director, Manoj Kumar, said in a statement here.
2006-02-23 - Chicago, United States. Leah Hope
Chicago is the city that works and one alderman wants this city to be the one that works for elephants. An ordinance proposed by 48th Ward Alderman Mary Ann Smith to protect the animal attracted global attention at City Hall Thursday. As elephants roam at a sanctuary in Tennessee and visitors stop in awe of the elephants at Brookfield Zoo, a debate rages about what's best for elephants in captivity.
2006-02-22 - AMSTERDAM, Netherlands.
Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam announced on Wednesday that three of its elephants will be moved to Ireland this year. The herd in Rotterdam zoo is so large the management decided on a 'vertical' split of the group. The three females - Bernhardine, Jasmine and Anak, who is almost three - will be placed in a new enclosure Dublin Zoo is constructing. Bernhardine, 12, was the first elephant to be born in a Dutch zoo. All three elephants are ready to be mothers.
2006-02-22 - CHICAGO, United States.
In an effort to force passage of a city-wide ordinance that would effectively ban elephants from zoos and circuses, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is parading a steady stream of elephant "experts" in front of Chicago reporters. What the media won't hear, however, is PETA's own dismal record regarding the welfare of elephants and other animals.
2006-02-22 - Kolhapur, India.
Four elephants were found dead near Jelugude village in Chandgad tehsil of the district today. Police and forest sources said the death of the elephants was possibly because of their coming in contact with broken live electric wires lying in a field close to a minor irrigation project near the village. The incident came to light when the farmers went at the site for work and found the tuskers dead. They then informed the police and forest offcials about the tragedy.
2006-02-22 - Seattle, United States. Marisa McQuilken
In 1990, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association deemed Woodland Park Zoo's elephant forest "best new exhibit." Today, Seattle's seemingly plush pachyderm quarters have garnered a much different title. The animal-rights organization In Defense of Animals has named Woodland Park Zoo one of the country's 10 worst for elephants.
2006-02-20 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Kerala Forest Minister A Sujanapal today said the government has taken stern action against cruelty to elephants. He told the State Assembly that the government was taking stern action under the Wildlife Proection Act of 1972 and Kerala Captive Elephant (Management and Maintenance) rules of 2003. According to a survey conducted in 2005, there were 5,135 wild elephants in Wayanad, Nilambur, Anamudi and Periyar Elephant Reserve Forests in the state.
2006-02-20 - Gaborone, Botswana.
The Elephant Management Plan has recommended that the Central District should be an elephant-free zone, Minister for Environment, Wildlife and Tourism told Parliament on Friday. However, Mokaila told Parliament that removing the elephants was not easy. "Removing the elephants from this area is a mammoth task, which will require a lot of consultation with the international community because of sensitivities surrounding the killing of elephants," Mokaila observed.
2006-02-18 - Sydney, Australia.
Zoos in Sydney and Melbourne have agreed to send 40 Australian native animals to a safari park in Thailand at which it is alleged many animals have died, Fairfax newspapers report. In exchange Melbourne Zoo and Taronga Zoo will import eight Asian elephants. The plan is detailed in a memorandum of agreement between the Thai government and the Victorian and NSW government signed in June 2004, the newspapers are reporting.
2006-02-17 - Moscow, Russian Federation.
Approximately 10,000 years after the last mammoths used to roam across the North American and Eurasian spaces, they still remain an exciting subject of inquiry for researchers. Mammoths and elephants belong to the most ancient group of mammals, therefore, when studying mammoths the researchers reveal secrets of evolutionary origin of contemporary species. Discussions continue about genetic kinship of mammoths and contemporary elephants.
2006-02-17 - Tsavo, Kenya. Karen Allen
Kenya's worst drought in a decade is having a devastating effect on national parks as humans and animals compete for increasingly scarce natural resources. Wildlife is straying out of the parks, and cattle and herdsmen are straying in as each tries to search wherever they can for food and water. In Tsavo East, half the national park's elephants have broken the boundaries. Three people have been killed in as many months by the animals desperately foraging for food.
2006-02-17 - Cape Town, South Africa. Sarah Lockwood
Two hundred and fifty years after the last elephants were hunted out in the Breede River Valley near Worcester, the giants have returned to roam their traditional territory. Two bull African elephants called Letaba and Klaserie are the latest additions to the Fairy Glen Game Reserve in the Breede River Valley near Worcester, making the reserve the closest park to Cape Town able to offer visitors the "Big Five" experience.
2006-02-16 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Cooped up in just 5% of its former living space, the future of Asia's elephants is looking increasingly bleak. Latest estimates suggest that with the wild population down to fewer than 50 000 animals, the Asian species is now outnumbered 10 to one by its distantly related African cousins. However, at a recent meeting in Malaysia, elephant custodians from 13 Asian elephant range states came together for the first time to discuss similar problems and to prepare long-term plans to protect a species...
2006-02-16 - Saigon, Vietnam.
Ban Don, a M’Nong village by the Srepok River, is well-known throughout Southeast Asia as the native land of elephant hunters and trainers. Since the 18th century, locals have caught and tamed elephants here. Now Ban Don, or Don Village, some 36 kilometers west of Buon Ma Thuot City in the Central Highlands province of Daklak, is still famous for training elephants… so that tourists can ride on them! The elephants take visitors through villages, paddy fields and jungles, and visitors can lea...
2006-02-16 - Bunyaruguru, Uganda. Thair Shaikh
THEY say that elephants never forget, and it could be that they are using their memories to exact revenge on people who make their lives a misery. A new study says that the usually gentle giants may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) brought on by frightening experiences at an early age. In parts of Uganda they have raided villages, demolished huts and destroyed plots, not in an effort to get at food but to scare the people living there.
2006-02-15 - Seneca, United States.
A national animals rights group is calling for the end of elephant breeding at the Seneca Park Zoo. The group called "In Defense Of Animals" says breeding elephants in zoo conditions endanger their lives. Last week, Genny C lost her baby during delivery after 21 months of pregnancy. Genny C is doing fine. The Seneca Park Zoo says it takes pride in its animal treatment and says this group has a much larger agenda, shutting down zoos altogether.
2006-02-14 - Seattle, United States. Njoki Kibanya
On 14th February 2006, Jazz musician Kenny G & actor Pierce Brosnan came together and held a "Save the Elephants" Valentine's Day benefit whose proceeds went to the Save the Elephants Trust. Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Founder, Save the Elephants attended the benefit and said it was "just sensational".
2006-02-13 - Nairobi, Kenya. JEFF OTIENO
Kenya has been singled out as one of the leading transit points for the illegal animal trade destined for Europe and Asia. According to a recent report titled Ivory Markets of Europe, most of the ivory originates from war-torn countries of sub-Saharan Africa where laws against the killing of wildlife are almost non-existent.
2006-02-13 - Paignton, United Kingdom.
A GIRAFFE just six days old and its mother died in a fire at a zoo last night. A male giraffe and two elephants were led to safety at Paignton Zoo in Devon. The fire was believed to have started in bedding hay in the elephant house. A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said an investigation was under way to establish the cause of the blaze.
2006-02-12 - Nairobi, Kenya. RODRIQUE NGOWI
Elephants, buffaloes and other wild animals drink water on one side of a swamp. On the other, Maasai warriors watch hundreds of cattle graze as the tropical sun sears the parched land of this wildlife sanctuary. Balancing the needs of both sides is becoming more complex, and environmentalists fear the wildlife are gradually losing out.
2006-02-11 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Dozens of captive elephants raised funds for their upkeep Saturday by running races, and playing tug-of-war and dancing to the rhythm of traditional drums, during an elephant show in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Elephant trainers maneuvered their animals - draped in bright colored cloths - through a lively game of polo amid loud cheers from the boisterous crowd, most of whom were children.
2006-02-11 - Dresden, Germany. Dan Koehl
After 629 days of pregnancy Dresden Zoos first elephant baby was born on saturday 4th of February. The mother, the 16 year old african elephant Drumbo, had a fast birth, which is germanys first elephant birth through artificial insemaniation. Father is Tembo, an elephant bull from the zoo in Colchester, England. The baby was 87 cm tall and weighed 107 kg.
2006-02-11 - PENANG, Malaysia. SIOW YUEN CHING
Five elephants made their debut at the Thaipusam celebrations here making this year's festival even more meaningful. Devotees were seen bowing their heads before the elephants at the carpark of the Penang Municipal Park to seek blessings from Lord Ganesh often referred to as the Hindu Elephant God. The one bull and four cow elephants were brought in from Thailand by NS Cempaka Resources, a Negri Sembilan-based company that organised elephant shows.
2006-02-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Kerala Government will start an elephant rehabilitation centre at Kottoor, near here, State Finance Minister Vakkom Purushothaman said today. The government will also be introducing a ''Gajaraja Award'' for the best domesticated elephant and separate awards given to the most caring owner and mahout, he said while presenting the Budget in the Assembly.
2006-02-10 - Woburn, United Kingdom.
Experienced and non-experienced applicants are invited to apply to join one of the most progressive elephant sections in the UK to help look after Woburn's three Asian Elephants. The elephant section at Woburn operates a hands on policy in order that the elephants can be given the freedom to enjoy the surrounding lakes and woodland in safety. Full training in elephant handling will be given.
2006-02-09 - Seneca, United States. Marketta Gregory
The baby elephant expected at Seneca Park has died during delivery, county officials announced today. The elephant's 28-year-old mother Genny C went into labor at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, but it was determined by 10 a.m. today that the calf was not responding. "Our baby elephant has died," said County Executive Maggie Brooks. "Our concern now shifts to Genny C and her well-being."
2006-02-09 - New York, United States.
Rosamond Gifford Zoo will be paying a $10,000 fine to the USDA after their plan to use the money for something else was rejected. The zoo was fined after the death of the four-day-old elephant baby Kedar, who died on August 4th, hours after he fell into a swimming pool in the zoo's elephant exhibit.
2006-02-08 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. Don Sebastian
If pedantics have their way, captive elephants in Kerala would soon be deprived of their sex life. Citing ancient scriptures pertaining to elephant care, a handful of elephant lovers at least think that breeding elephants would spell doom for its owners. Experts beg to differ.
2006-02-07 - Sirsi, Karnataka, India.
Captive elephants in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have reason to smile as a scientific study to check its health is on, perhaps for the first time in the country. Based on the study, conducted by the Wildlife Protection and Rehabilitation Centre, Dehradun, and Health Assessment and Infectious Disease Screening of Captive Asian Elephants of Southern India Project, each owner would be given a 'Health Card', detailing the health condition of the jumbos.
2006-02-07 - Bronx, United States. JOSEPH BERGER
Elephants have never lost the capacity to astonish and delight. But in New York City in the not-so-distant future, they will not be doing their astonishing and delighting at a zoo. The Bronx Zoo, the only zoo left in the city that keeps elephants, said yesterday that it planned to shut down its exhibit after the death of two of its three elephants, or even one.
2006-02-07 - MELBOURNE, Australia. Sarah Wotherspoon
Zoo will welcome three Asian elephants this year after a tribunal yesterday approved their entry. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal imposed 18 conditions. The three female elephants -- Num-Oi, Dokkoon and Kulab -- will join cow Mek Kapah and bull Bong Su in the zoo's $13.5 million Trail of the Elephants enclosure. Five other Thai-reared elephants will go to Taronga Zoo in Sydney. The Sydney Zoo has been told the elephants will be moved to Dubbo if 22 conditions are not met.
2006-02-06 - Sydney, Australia.
EIGHT Asian elephants destined for zoos in Sydney and Melbourne have been cleared to enter the country after a commonwealth tribunal approved their importation from Thailand. However, the licence to import the endangered animals means the zoos will have to meet a number of conditions to ensure their welfare, including appropriate flooring and the installation of closed circuit television.
2006-02-06 - Masterton, New Zealand. NATHAN CROMBIE
Circus for sale – one iconic New Zealand travelling extravaganza with lions and clowns, monkeys and poodles, horses, acrobats and the only working African elephant this side of the equator - $1m or near offer. Wairarapa will see the last of the Whirling Bros Circus with owner and founder Tony Ratcliffe cracking the whip, following their final Masterton show at Queen Elizabeth Park tomorrow night.
2006-02-06 - Wheeling, West Virginia, United States.
Trains students to be competent elephant managers. Course content focuses on the foundation necessary for developing comprehensive and proactive elephant management programs. Students will take away skills for creating self-sustaining elephant management programs.
2006-02-05 - LUSAKA, Zambia.
Poor villagers and wild elephants are engaged in an increasingly bitter battle for space and food in Zambia, with animal conservation authorities accused of doing little to end the conflict. The elephants have claimed lives and destroyed property and vast fields of maize and cassava in the landlocked country. Terrorized people say Zambia's estimated 25,000 elephants have pushed the hungry and helpless deeper into poverty.
2006-02-04 - Lusaka, Sri Lanka.
Three wild elephants which have sustained injuries from landmines buried in Ganshapuram along Sri Lanka Government controlled Mannar-Vavuniya Road Wednesday morning have crossed over into the jungles at the Madhu side. Wild Department officials and veterinary surgeons are reported to have refused to enter the forest located in the Liberation Tigers controlled area to treat the elephants, sources said.
2006-02-04 - Kolhapur, India. Sachin Diwan
Last Sunday, 60- year- old Umaji Lingappa Gurav was fatally assaulted by a wild elephant in Kaliwade village of Chandgad taluka —the third victim since last year. Around 14 villages in Chandgad are now infested by wild elephants that have created havoc in the lives of the villagers — earlier it was the bison menace that harrassed them.
2006-02-03 - Leesville, United States. WILL TUBBS
Nearly five tons of living, breathing pachyderm awaits visitors at the American All-Star Circus this weekend. Queeny the Elephant will perform in the three-ring circus and will be available for adults and children to ride. Queeny, who is 38 and lives outside Houston with her trainer, Will Davenport, hails from India and tips the scales at a svelte 9,860 pounds
2006-02-03 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
A 47-year-old man was gored to death by an elephant at Chirayinkeezhu early on Thursday morning. The incident occurred shortly after the conclusion of the festival at the Mukkaluvattam Devi temple, Puthukkari, Chirayinkeezhu. The man, who has been identified as Mani of Paravur, had gone near the elephant to receive the ‘thidambu’, which was handed down by the second mahout Udayakumar, Chirayinkeezhu police said.
2006-02-02 - Detroit, United States.
The non-profit group In Defense of Animals filed a petition today claiming U-S zoos are violating the federal Animal Welfare Act in their treatment of elephants. The petition cites the Detroit Zoo’s decision last year to close its elephant exhibit and send its animals to a sanctuary in California.
2006-02-02 - Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
The Citizen Petition filed today with the U.S. Department of Agriculture by an animal rights group is yet another transparent attempt to generate controversy where there is none, said the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. These extremists have targeted elephants as the first, but not the last, species they want to ban from zoos. In fact, they have plainly stated that their goal is to close all zoos.
2006-02-01 - ASUNCION, Paraguay.
A 13-year-old boy who entered an elephant's open-air cage to feed it a mango was crushed to death on Tuesday. Guillermo Gonzalez got past a rock wall and two metal fences to reach the 4 1/2 -ton elephant, named Maia, but the animal reacted violently, stomping the teenager to death before a trainer could intervene. "Maia understood that its territory had been invaded by a stranger, which is why the elephant trapped Guillermo with the trunk, taking him by the legs and then crushing him with one of...
2006-01-31 - Lusaka, Zambia. Freddie Phiri
HERDS of elephants have invaded maize and cassava fields in Mukungule chiefdom in Mpika district of Northern Province. One of the affected people, Emelda Mulenga of Kabungo village said herds of elephants had eaten their crops. "Jumbos have left the park and are destroying our crops and plunging us into further poverty" complained Mulenga. Mulenga, who said the most affected village was Kabungo, appealed to government to send game scouts to get rid of the animals before crops are entirely destro...
2006-01-30 - Sofia, Bulgaria.
One of the symbols of Sofia's Zoo the elephant Sivitri passed away Monday morning aged 58, which is equal to 100 human years. The elephant named after an Indian goddess was first transported to Sofia from India at the age of 7. Sivitri was first transported to Sofia back in 1955. In India she "worked" at a school for lumbermen. Sivitri was the eldest animal at Sofia Zoo.
2006-01-30 - Richmond, Illinois, United States. Jeff Long
Two Asian elephants began a 650-mile journey Monday from a troubled circus training farm near far north suburban Richmond to a sanctuary in Tennessee, where operators have promised them a life of ease and comfort. "The biggest difference for them will be that the barn's more open," said Scott Blais, the sanctuary's co-founder. "It's a lot brighter, with natural light."
2006-01-28 - Galle, Sri Lanka.
The 5th Taprobane Trophy Elephant Polo Championships heralded the welcome return of international sport to the South Coast of Srilanka for the first time since the tsunami. The coastal towns and villages along the south & western seaboards of Sri Lanka have worked resiliently in the quest to successfully rise & rebuild from the destruction of Dec 26 2004.
2006-01-27 - Washington, United States. Daniel Engber
Veterinarians at the National Zoo put down two animals this week: an arthritic, 40-year-old elephant named Toni and a 13-year-old cheetah with kidney problems named Wandu. What happens to zoo animals when they die? First, a necropsy is performed, and then the remains are cremated.
2006-01-27 - WASHINGTON, United States.
A memorial service will be held outside the National Zoo Saturday to mourn an Asian elephant. Toni, a 40-year-old Asian elephant, was euthanized Wednesday, after suffering for years from a leg injury and arthritis. Monks from the Wat Thai center in Silver Spring will offer a Buddhist blessing. Event organizers will hand out stickers that read, "I'm a friend of Toni, are you?" to shine light on the issue of large animals held in captivity.
2006-01-27 - Guwahati, India.
Elephant football match, catwalk and films shows are some of the few events of the hugely popular Kaziranga Elephant Festival-2006, the curtain of which will be opened on Sunday. Festival committee sources today said that Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and some of his cabinet colleagues like Rural Development minister Ripun Bora, Minister of Forests Pradyut Bordoloi would address during the festival.
2006-01-27 - Kochi, India.
Five leading elephant experts and 100 mahouts in Kerala will be honoured for the first time - and the latter will also get free insurance. Balakrishna Shenoy, vice president of Elephant Care, an NGO, told IANS: "The function is unique because this is being jointly organised by the Kerala forest department, the Elephant Owners Welfare Association and us." The event will take place Saturday.
2006-01-27 - Richmond, Illinois, United States.
Two of the eight elephants leaving a troubled circus-training facility near Richmond in McHenry County are tentatively scheduled to depart Sunday for a sanctuary in Tennessee, a sanctuary official said. But the owner of the elephants, who agreed to give them up after allegations of animal cruelty were made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said a Monday departure is more likely.
2006-01-27 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
All nations with wild populations of Asian elephants have met as a group for the first time to discuss the species' future survival. The aim of the meeting in Kuala Lumpur was to reach a consensus on the best way to tackle threats facing the continent's largest mammal. Delegates agreed that transboundary cooperation was necessary to protect the creatures' dwindling habitat.
2006-01-26 - WASHINGTON, United States.
An animal rights group on Thursday appealed to the U.S. National Zoo in Washington to send its three remaining Asian elephants to an animal sanctuary and close its elephant exhibit. The appeal came a day after the zoo put down an arthritic Asian elephant who was said to have been in worsening pain. The elephant named Toni was 40. Elephants can live to be 60 or older.
2006-01-25 - WASHINGTON, United States. Vera Cohn and Karlyn Barker
An ailing National Zoo elephant, whose worsening arthritis made her the flashpoint of a debate over whether her species belongs in zoos, was euthanized yesterday after her condition deteriorated dramatically. Toni, an Asian elephant, was 40 years old, about two decades short of the typical expected lifespan. She had been at the Smithsonian Institution animal park since 1989.
2006-01-25 - Cincinnati, United States. KRISTIN L. VEHRS
Regarding the Enquirer the Your Voice opinion piece of 15 January 2006, "The Cincinnati Zoo lags in humane elephant care": the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) challenges the authors' comments and misrepresentation of the Zoo, its dedicated employees and volunteers. The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden was recently accredited for the fifth time since 1978 by the AZA, which accredits only those zoos and aquariums meeting the highest standards in animal care, conservation, science and ...
2006-01-25 - LINCOLN, Nebraska, United States.
Representatives of the producers of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus plan to speak out against a bill targeting elephant cruelty. The measure is one of the most talked about bills introduced this year. It would prohibit the use of bullhooks, electrical prods, ax handles and other devices on elephants in Nebraska. The bill would not ban elephants at circuses and zoos in the state.
2006-01-25 - Panaji, India.
A joint meeting of senior wildlife officials and experts from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa was held here to deliberate on ways to tackle the elephants' menace. The meeting, chaired by Goa Chief Secretary J K Dadoo, resolved to undertake a study on the habitat, migration and extent of damage caused by elephants in the three states, and evolve a joint action plan to tackle the same.
2006-01-25 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Brett Adkins
A NEWBORN elephant rejected by its inexperienced mother at the Bloemfontein Zoo last week has been “adopted” by the Knysna Elephant Park, which is giving the baby pachyderm 24-hour care to ensure its survival in its new Garden Route home. The female calf, which has been named Ashanti, was driven through the night and arrived at the park, situated between Plettenberg Bay and Knysna, in the early hours of Saturday after its birth just four days previously, when the injured animal was discovere...
2006-01-24 - Nashville, United States.
The yearly arrival of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus brings one very strange sight to downtown Nashville – a parade of elephants. Every year when the elephants in the circus arrive, they get off a train at Union Station and march down Broadway to the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Children line up every year to watch the pachyderm parade, and this year was no exception.
2006-01-23 - Lampang, Thailand.
Elephants at an elephant sanctuary in Maetang district in Chiang Mai have fallen sick with bloated stomachs, and veterinarians suspect the cause to be from changing of their diet. Veterinarians at "elephant friend" foundation in Lampang province have evacuated the bowels of 30-year-old Khamdee to help him excrete waste after the elephant had not eaten for days due to constipation. Prior to Khamdee, the foundation had treated 6 elephants all from the same elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai's Maetan...
2006-01-23 - Washington, United States. Jennifer Viegas
In a female elephant gang, few animals bother the oldest and biggest of the group because they know she will not put up with any nonsense, according to a new study that found age and size determine wild female elephant hierarchies. The study, published in the current issue of Animal Behavior, presents some of the first data on dominance and the social lives of adult, wild female elephants, Loxodonta africana. Females of this species hang out together in family groups for most of their lives.
2006-01-21 - Rochester, New York, United States. Victoria E. Freile
Genny C may be weeks away from giving birth, but she'll move into the Seneca Park Zoo's new elephant habitat in a matter of days. Those who want to see Genny C and the zoo's other South African Bush elephant, Lilac, better visit soon. The animals are expected to move to the new habitat Monday, but it won't be open to the public until spring, said zoo Director Larry Sorel.
2006-01-19 - Dompierre-sur-Besbre, France. EEKMA Elephant Journal
This workshop is primarily oriented to allow keepers to share their experiences and to gain knowledge and practice through presentations. The conference langauge is english. A wise range of topics will be discussed, such as: foot care, medical training, enclosure design, safety, management methods, and emergency situations as a "down elephant".
2006-01-19 - GAUTENG, South Africa. Moagisi Letlhaku
The Brian Boswell Circus, SA's own touring circus, started its season in Centurion this week and will be in town until February 4. The Boswell Circus has been around in South Africa for 24 years and has travelled to neighbouring countries like Botswana and Swaziland. "But our season always starts up here," said Robin Tapinos, the circus' marketing and promotions manager.
2006-01-19 - Tipilikwani, Kenya. Mike Pflanz
The worst drought for 22 years in Kenya's lowlands is forcing wild animals out of game parks and on to farmland, where they risk being shot to protect scant crops. At least two villagers and dozens of head of cattle have died in wildlife attacks since November. Aid agencies say that up to four million people face starvation in north-eastern and coastal regions after rains failed again, in some places for the fourth year running.
2006-01-19 - CAPE TOWN, South Africa.
Leading South African scientists have advised the government against culling elephants, saying there is no reason to lift a 10-year ban. The government has been considering an end to the ban, amid fears that a rapid increase in the elephant population is threatening the ecological balance. But a panel of 10 experts told the environment minister it was not clear the elephant population was too large.
Ten of the world's leading elephant scientists began a conference in Cape Town on Wednesday to debate the future of South Africa's elephants. They are expected to determine whether there are too many elephants, whether they are causing damage to biodiversity and whether action is needed to reduce their population.
2006-01-18 - Bangkok, Thailand.
The Thai government plans to publish a handbook on elephant care in collaboration with a UN agency, the state-run Thai News Agency (TNA) disclosed. The guide, which will initially be published in Thai and English, aims at instructing mahouts (elephant minders) and zoos how to better diagnose pachyderm diseases and quickly seek appropriate veterinarian treatment for problems such as stomach aches. The project, a joint effort of Thailand's Forest Industry Organisation and the United Nations Food a...
2006-01-18 - GUWAHATI, India.
A herd of wild elephants trampled to death a woman and three of her children, including a newborn, in Assam, a forest official said on Wednesday. The elephants entered Theldhala village in Dhubri district bordering Bangladesh, about 320 kilometers west of Assam's main city of Guwahati on Tuesday.
2006-01-17 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The state capital witnessed a rare reception with the chief minister, a former chief minister and a minister among those attending the ceremonial welcome of Guruvayur Padmanabhan, the famed pachyderm who has held pride of place at the Guruvayur temple for over 50 years. Guruvayur Padmanabhan, the tallest tusker among all the elephants in Kerala temples, was making his first trip to the capital.
2006-01-17 - COX´S BAZAR, Bangladesh.
A herd of wild elephants crushed a Bangladeshi villager to death, the eighth such killing over the past month in the southeast of the country, an official said on Tuesday. Another man was injured in the clash in forests near Cox's Bazaar town, 400 km (250 miles) from Dhaka, where officials say a dwindling natural habitat is forcing elephants to overrun villages.
2006-01-16 - Neverland, United States.
Michael Jackson has been accused of animal cruelty at his all-but abandoned Neverland ranch. Animal rights activists have demanded an urgent probe into conditions at the sprawling estate. They claim giraffes, elephants and other creatures are imprisoned in squalid and cramped surroundings. Shocking photographs appear to reveal animals surrounded by their own faeces.
2006-01-16 - Sydney, Australia.
Actor Jessica Napier today joined Greens MP Lee Rhiannon in calling on the NSW government to turn its $40 million rainforest enclosure at Taronga Zoo into a home for retired circus elephants rather than bring wild elephants from Thailand. Ms Napier, who has starred in The Alice and McLeod's Daughters, said, "Taronga Zoo should use its newly built rainforest elephant enclosure to house Australia's old circus elephants.
2006-01-16 - London, United Kingdom. Dea Birkett
WHEN WERE you so close to an elephant that you could touch its trunk? Where did you see a horse racing around just inches away, mane and tail flying? Where have you patted the tufty hair of a camel? The only place you could have done all these things is at a circus. I’ve worked in a circus. I’ve pulled on my fishnet tights, tied up my tassles, adjusted my white feather headdress and ridden into the ring on the back of Julia, my elephant.
2006-01-15 - Cincinnati, United States. Les Schobert
The Cincinnati Zoo's approach toward elephants is about as outdated as its elephant building, which was built in 1906 ("Elephant exhibit poses care issues," Jan. 2). The zoo ignores the wealth of scientific knowledge gained about elephant behavior and biology over the past several decades that should guide the care of elephants in captivity today.
2006-01-14 - HOSUR, India.
The Hosur forest division has formed four special teams with adequate communication equipment to check elephant menace in the Denkanikotta forest region, according to District Forest Officer S Paulraj. The move comes in the wake of two farmers being trampled to death by elephants in separate incidents within a span of six days. The pachyderms also injured six persons, besides damaging crops worth several lakhs in Denkanikotta and Anchetty regions recently.
2006-01-14 - Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
Circus show of animal trainer Taisiya Kornilova “Around the world” has arrived in Yaroslavl recently. The show includes three elephants, and to save them from frosts, the trainers have to give them some vodka. “Such sharp frosts are critical weather conditions for our animals, animal trainer Andrei Kornilov said to a REGNUM correspondent. It's a climatic shock, so we have to warm them by alcohol. Yesterday we gave a bucket of vodka to one of the elephants, and after drinking it...
2006-01-13 - Chitwan, Nepal.
As wild elephants spread terror in Patpani village of western Chitwan, a dozen of families here have fled their homes for fear of their lives. A 51-year old Kampari Tamang, a local resident is reported to have been killed by wild elephant yesterday. Fatally injured, she died while being rushed to Bharatpur hospital.
2006-01-13 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Ramesh Babu
It's going to be a feast fit for a king. And the guest list is just as impressive — ministers (three of them), royalty, movie stars and famous personalities. The star of the show: Padmanabhan, the elephant king of the Sree Krishna temple in Guruvayur. It's been 50 years now that Padmanabhan has been carrying the thidamabhu (miniature of the presiding deity). And on Sunday, Thiruvananthapuram will honour him with gold, silver and aana oottu (elephant feast).
2006-01-13 - Mombasa, Kenya.
A herd of elephants temporarily blocked the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway on Thursday morning after a Mombasa-bound bus knocked down a calf. Police said the calf was knocked down as it was crossing the road at Man Eaters, a few kilometres from Manyatta in Voi division. According to an official of Mombasa Liners, the bus that hit the animal at around 5.30am, other elephants to charge on the road, where they surrounded the carcass.
2006-01-12 - NAIROBI, Kenya.
Elephants in Kenyan national parks and reserves are leaving their drought-stricken sanctuaries to search for water and food near human settlements, where they have attacked starving people trying to protect their crops. U.N. agencies have warned of hunger across the region because of drought and say the situation in eastern Kenya is particularly serious. People reportedly have died of hunger during what officials say is the country's worst drought in 22 years.
2006-01-10 - , United States. Linda Wilson Fuoco
African elephants will live and breed at a 724-acre International Conservation Center in Somerset County in the not-so-distant future. The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is acquiring the land in Fairhope and Allegheny townships with $2.2 million from The Conservation Fund, an environmental nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Va.
2006-01-10 - Dang, Nepal. TRIBHUWAN NAGAR
Local people of Koltara village of Satbariya VDC-9 of Deukhuri valley of Dang district are living in state of panic as the wild elephants are going on rampage in the village. A group of 6 wild elephants have destroyed standing wheat crops of Tara Bahadur Kunwar and Hemant B.K cultivated on one bigha of land, Tara Bahadur said. Earlier, the resident of Deukhuri was troubled many times by the wild elephants.
2006-01-10 - Somerset Co., United States.
Glen Savage Ranch, just north of Fairhope in Somerset County, is well known for it's hunting and beautiful scenery, but in just a few years you can add elephants, rinos, and even cheetahs to the mix. The land is being purchased by the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium to be a one of a kind conservation and breeding center for endangered African elephants.
2006-01-10 - Nilpara, W.Bengal, India.
Her diminutive frame seems hardly any match for a one-tonne jumbo but put her in front of any pachyderm and you know who's in command. At an ongoing training camp in West Bengal, mahouts are making use of Parboti Barua's inherent talents with the largest living mammal on earth. Popular as perhaps India's only woman mahout trainer, Barua is currently holding the reigns at a seven-day camp in the Nilpara range of the state's Cooch Behar Forest division.
2006-01-10 - VALLEJO (BCN), United States.
It stinks to be an elephant at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo but not for the usual reasons, according to Mill Valley-based In Defense of Animals, a non-profit animal advocacy group. The group included the local amusement park and zoo in its second annual "Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants" list, according to In Defense of Animals spokeswoman Suzanne Roy. The zoo was also included in the inaugural list last year.
2006-01-10 - Toronto, Canada. ERIC REGULY
Angus, the world's biggest captive elephant, has died only a month before he was to be flown from Canada to South Africa, his homeland, and set free in a game reserve. The 27-year-old elephant, who weighed more than seven tonnes, or as much as six small cars, was found dead on the floor of his heated barn on Sunday evening by his trainer and owner, Michael Hackenberger. Angus was the star attraction of the Bowmanville Zoo, just east of Toronto, where he had lived for 20 years and given rides to ...
2006-01-10 - ATLANTA, United States.
Starlet, Victoria and Zambezi, female elephants at Zoo Atlanta, will be leaving the zoo for good next winter to breed at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. The three, all in their early 20s, are not expected to return to Atlanta and will be replaced by two older female elephants from Disney's Animal Kingdom: Robin, 34, and Petunia, 32. Because Zoo Atlanta has neither male elephants nor adequate space to breed the animals and raise the calves, the trio in prime breeding age must go elsewhere.
2006-01-10 - Brighton, United Kingdom. Alice Wignall
The myth of the elephants' graveyard is one of the most enduring in natural history. Although large collections of elephant remains in one place seemed to support the idea that elephants go to a specific site to die, that idea has been disproved. "The bones have other explanations," says Dr Karen McComb, of the University of Sussex, "such as mass die-offs because of disease."
2006-01-09 - Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
Exciting things have been happening for elephants in zoos since January 2005. That's when directors of the 78 American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) accredited zoos that exhibit elephants endorsed an aggressive new elephant conservation vision. Progress since that meeting includes new babies, new elephant habitats and more conservation programs. These and other advancements made the "AZA Top 10 Elephant Success Stories" list for 2005.
2006-01-09 - Pittsburgh, United States. Jennifer Antkowiak
KDKAs Jennifer Antkowiak reports that at least 20 elephants will be moving in to a big ranch. Elephants are critically endangered in the wild and in captivity. The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium hopes to turn things around by banking on their own world renowned success with the care and breeding of African elephants. The zoo is ready to set up a conservation center on a 724 acre ranch off of Route 31 in Somerset County.
2006-01-07 - London, United Kingdom. Will Hide
Prince William is to become patron of The Tusk Trust, the African conservation charity (01747 831005, www.tusk.org), which supports 25 projects in 12 African countries. One success story is the Mokolodi Nature Reserve in Botswana, supported by Tusk for 11 years, where more than 12,000 children a year attend three-day bush camps. But the Prince’s interest in conservation might be on hold — he enters Sandhurst for military training tomorrow.
2006-01-07 - Richmond, Illinois, United States.
Authorities say it could take several weeks for a necropsy to determine whether disease killed a 40-year-old Asian elephant last week at a circus-training facility in the McHenry County town of Richmond. Carol Buckley, executive director of The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, said Sue the elephant fell down December 19th after receiving a tranquilizer before a blood test.
2006-01-04 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. PREEYANAT PHANAYANGGOOR
The profitability of the Night Safari is still in doubt without the wild animals from Kenya, but the government is already embarking on a 700-million-baht elephant park as the second stage of its multi-billion-baht Chiang Mai World megaproject. The park, tipped as the biggest of its kind with more than 200 elephants, will cover 6,000 rai of land in the Doi Suthep-Pui national park, which already houses the 1.2-billion-baht Night Safari park.
2006-01-04 - NEW DELHI, India.
For an elephant, south India is the place to be. If it can sidestep poachers, there are good chunks of habitat and even better, 65% of the corridors which link these habitats and allow herds to move freely in protected areas or reserve forests. But in other parts of the country, its nomadic cousin is in trouble. India now has less than 30,000 elephants, most of them running out of space to feed and live in far away from the spotlight focused firmly on the tiger.
2006-01-03 - Santa Barbara, United States.
The Animal Care Department is seeking a keeper to become an active member in the elephant program team. This position will carry out all basic aspects of the care of the animals, including, but not limited to: training, enrichment, maintenance of exhibits, and the guest experience. This position is part of a hard working, progressive animal care team. Although focused on the Zoo's elephants, members of the team also work with other species.
2006-01-03 - OAKLAND, United States. Guy Ashley
Osh, the massive bull elephant who recently completed his first year at the Oakland Zoo, is making friends. And that's downright thrilling news for zookeepers looking to the hulking adolescent to jump-start Oakland's elephant breeding program and rebuff critics who say spotty success shown by zoos worldwide in spawning new generations of the massive pachyderms is but one signal that elephants don't belong in captivity.
2006-01-03 - Los Angeles, United States. Ian Sample
Elephants roaming the parched plains of Africa's national parks can get up to half their food by risky midnight raids into crop fields, according to scientists who tracked a herd by satellite monitoring. Conservationists working for Save the Elephants Foundation in Kenya hope that by understanding the elephants' behaviour, they can improve ways of protecting farmers against damage caused by the animals, and in turn protect the elephants from angered farmers. "When an elephant raids a crop field,...
2006-01-03 - Oregon, United States. HENRY FOUNTAIN
Like Christmas, musth comes but once each year. And for the male elephants that go through it, that's a good thing. For during musth, a period of heightened sexual activity marked by extremely high testosterone levels, males become very aggressive and can work themselves into a frenzy. (The term, first described in Asian elephants, is derived from a Persian word meaning "drunk.")
2006-01-02 - Erfurt, Germany.
Elephants at Erfurt Zoo in eastern Germany enjoy a seasonal diet, enriched by unsold Christmas trees.
2006-01-02 - Cincinnati, United States. Dan Klepal
Elephants have been a major draw at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for nearly a century. As the zoo embarks on a $2.6 million campaign to expand its elephant exhibit, a plan that includes bringing in a bull elephant so it can begin a captive breeding program, several other zoos have closed exhibits under public pressure after animal deaths or mistreatment allegations.
2006-01-02 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
The chemicals in tail hair discloses the secret of the African elephants' diet and movement, U.S. scientists reported on Monday. Analyzing specific tail hair chemicals, and tracking the subject elephants with radio collars, can help reduce human-elephant conflicts and determine where to establish sanctuaries to protect the endangered creatures, claimed the researchers. Their findings were published in the Jan. 3 online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
2006-01-02 - Lampung, Indonesia.
Illegal poaching claimed the lives of two elephants that were found shot and their tusks removed in Tanggamus regency in Lampung, just a few kilometers from the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. "The carcasses were left to rot and their tusks taken," said Andoyo, an environmentalist in Tanggamus, on Friday. It is thought the elephants were shot last week.
2005-12-31 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Kerala is still waiting for the central ministry of environment and forests to give the go-ahead for an international training centre for mahouts on the lines of similar ones in Thailand and Germany. The proposal for such a centre has been hanging fire for a year, says veteran elephant expert Jacob Cheeran. "It has been a longstanding demand for an international centre in India, similar to that in Thailand and Hamburg in Germany. Initially, it was to come up in Tamil Nadu but a year back this wa...
2005-12-31 - Surin, Thailand.
Bring the Elephant HOME, a Dutch organization founded by Antoinette van de Water has started her education tour. Together with two elephants the "elephant rescue team," which consists of 8 people, will make their way through the heart of Thailand (including Ayuthaya, Lopburi and Sukhothai). The group will stay at temples and hold workshops at local primary schools. Showing the beauty of the elephants and the Thai culture the team hopes to raise awareness about the importance of nature conservati...
2005-12-31 - Nairobi, Kenya.
The burial of a man killed by a rogue elephant in Kenya`s Tausa village on the country`s border with Tanzania, was Thursday disrupted by a herd of marauding jumbos, that invaded the ceremony forcing hundreds of mourners and residents to flee the scene. Kenyan news agency (KNA) reported that Haggai Kisombe, 79, who was trampled to death by the elephant last Friday while grazing cattle, was later buried after the charging jumbos had left the scene.
2005-12-29 - Theni, India.
In a bid to prevent wild elephants from damaging adjoining horticultural and agricultural fields near reserve forests in this district, the Tamil Nadu forest department is planning to raise elephant delicacies, including bamboo grass, in about 150 acres in the area. It was also planed to dig a two-km long ditch along the elephant path leading to the farms to divert them and prevent them from destroying crops, an official of the department told reporters here today.
2005-12-28 - PHILADELPHIA, United States. Robert Strauss
Some things haven't changed at the Philadelphia Zoo, America's oldest, founded in 1874. It is still open every day and, for the time being, it still has elephants. But in Philadelphia, as in zoos around the country, the question of whether elephants should be kept at all zoos -- or maybe even any zoo -- has almost abruptly become a sensitive one.
2005-12-28 - DHARMAPURI, India.
Three farmers were injured when a herd of elephants chased them at Elumalmanthai in Pennagarm taluk on Tuesday. According to police, the elephants entered the farmlands at Elumalmanthai in the wee hours of Tuesday. The farmers chased the herd carrying fire torch and bursting crackers into the forest. But all of sudden, the pachyderms started chasing the farmers, injuring three persons - Shanmugam (40), Murugan (45) and Arumugam (35).
2005-12-28 - DINOKENG, South Africa. Ed Stoddard
Tembo was a killer who faced the death sentence for his "crimes." But the six-tonne bull elephant won a reprieve after a vet approached animal trainer Rory Hensman and asked him if he could mend Tembo's wild ways. Now tourists are taking rides on Tembo's back in the bush at Dinokeng Game Reserve 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Johannesburg -- proving that grown elephants can learn new tricks.
2005-12-27 - Hwange, Zimbabwe.
Life-giving rains have brought temporary relief to the thirst-crazed animals of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe after a fierce drought which left the park littered with shrunken, rotting corpses. Pinetown conservationist John Davison, who has just returned from the park, said many dams and water pans were full to the brim again after nearly 230 mm of rain fell in less than a month.
2005-12-26 - Hudson, New Hampshire, United States. Scott Menns
Bensons Wild Animal Farm was founded in 1924 by John T. Benson. Benson was a famous wild animal trainer for circuss and Hollywood. He bought some land in what was then Hudson Centre (now Hudson), and started a wild animal farm and training business. In 1943, John Benson died and the park was purchased by a group of Benson's executives.
2005-12-26 - Toronto, Canada.
Scientists have sequenced part of the genome of a woolly mammoth that died 28,000 years ago, a discovery that raises the possibility of bringing the extinct ice age mammals back from the dead. Hendrik Poinar, a molecular evolutionary geneticist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, says ancient DNA obtained from the jawbone of a long-dead Siberian woolly mammoth could be used to create a modern version.
2005-12-25 - Assam, India. Jay Mazoomdaar
Manbahadur Vishwakarma is too soft-spoken a man for his profession. Sitting next to a pile of sickles, swords and kukris, the village blacksmith of Kalamati, in upper Assam, closes his eyes and touches his forehead before breaking into a muffled monotone: ‘‘Ganesh baba takes this alley to the village in the night. I peep through my door and pray: ‘Spare me and my hut, Ganesh baba, I never harmed you or anybody else’.’’ Till now, his prayers have been answer...
2005-12-25 - SAN ANDREAS, California, United States. ELLEN CREAGER
Wanda trundled down the hill from the elephant barn to meet her elephant friend, Annie. Then she drank from a pond. Then she wandered all by herself down a path to lie in the grass and snooze. The humans, when they came back from a walk, could not see her.
2005-12-24 - Sydney, Australia. Andrew Darby
Final approval for the controversial importation of eight Asian elephants to the Melbourne and Sydney zoos is being withheld in a wrangle over the animals' new living conditions. The zoos claimed victory in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal last month against welfare groups that opposed the importation from Thailand.
2005-12-23 - USTI NAD LABEM, Czech Republic.
The zoological garden in Usti nad Labem may become a new home for one or two elephants from "an elephant orphanage" in Sri Lanka, zoo veterinarian Vaclav Pozivil has told CTK. The elephants are to be a gift from the Sri Lankan government to the Czech Republic for its aid to remove the consequences of the natural disaster that hit this southeast Asian country last December.
2005-12-23 - Pittsburgh, United States.
Jackson, the 27-year-old, 11,000-pound bull elephant who lives at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, became a father again on Monday. Donna, an elephant at Disney's Animal Kingdom, gave birth to a 233-pound female calf conceived two years ago with Jackson. The calf is doing well, according to Disney officials. The new calf is the fourth of Jackson's offspring.
2005-12-23 - Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
African Lion Safari announced the birth of a healthy 242 pound, female Asian elephant on November 4, 2005. The calf was born to 11-year-old elephant Natasha after a 21 month pregnancy. The newborn is the first calf for both Natasha and father Rex. The calf has been lovingly named "Opal" - as she is considered a jewel among the park's herd of eleven elephants. The herd of ten other elephants are thrilled to welcome the new addition.
2005-12-23 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
In the northern province of Chiang Mai, the MAE SA (à¹à¸¡à¹ˆà¸ªà¸²) elephant home has acquired a new member; a male baby elephant. The baby elephant is the 2nd to be born this year to the elephant home, and the 13th to be born in the MAE SA elephant nursery project initiated in 1998.
2005-12-23 - Samburu, Kenya. Philip Mbaji and Michuki Ngamau
Kinango legislator Gonzi Rai wants the Kenya Wildlife Service to drive elephants out of the newly created Kinango District. Speaking in Samburu Town, Rai said the elephants were partly to blame for the famine facing his constituents. "The Government must drive these beasts back to their habitats because they have been disrupting our operations as they cause panic and worry, which has led to famine," he said.
2005-12-22 - Auckland, New Zealand.
OHSU, New Zealand study says exact molecular mixture in male-emitted pheromone during musth period dictates other elephants' interest. The exact chemical blend of a pheromone emitted by older male elephants in musth influences both a female elephant's interest in mating and how other surrounding elephants behave, a new study has found.
2005-12-21 - TAIPING, Malaysia.
An elephant calf was born in the Taiping Zoo on Saturday morning. Weighing 70kg, the calf was found by zoo keepers, suckling milk from Jaya, her 14-year-old mother, "Maybe we will call her Larut 2," said Taiping Zoo and Night Safari director Dr Kevin Lazarus. The calf’s sister, Larut, died 20 months ago of a bacterial infection at the age of 19 months, which left Jaya depressed for several months, Dr Lazarus said.
2005-12-21 - San Antonio, TX, United States.
The San Antonio Zoo currently has a need for a Zoo Keeper in our Elephant Department. Duties include daily cleaning, feeding, and maintenance of animal exhibits. Zoo Keepers observe, evaluate, and report animal behavior and condition to their supervisor on a daily basis. They assist in treating Zoo animals in accordance with instructions from their supervisor or veterinarian. Minimum qualifications include ability to work weekends, holidays, and occasional after-hours assignments; valid drivers ...
2005-12-21 - New Delhi, India. Gopal Sathe
Elephants at the Delhi Zoo are restless these days because of overcrowding, say zoo authorities. Zoo veterinarian Dr M Paneerselvam said the elephant enclosure has been facing a space crunch in the last two months as four elephants rescued from illegal ownership by the Wildlife Department have been transferred here.
2005-12-20 - Bangalore, India.
Researchers in India and from The Earth Institute at Columbia University have discovered that one of the few remaining populations of Asian elephants in India is actually two genetically distinct groups. The results of the study, which appear in the current issue of the journal Animal Conservation, could have far-reaching implications in conservation plans for the endangered elephants as well as other species on the Subcontinent.
2005-12-20 - CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh. Nazimuddin Shaymol
Asian elephant numbers are falling because of deforestation, road-building and expansion of farmlands and plans to protect remaining populations are crucial, wildlife experts meeting in Bangladesh said. The South Asian wildlife experts concluded a two-day meeting in southern Bangladesh on Tuesday with an agreement for joint collaboration to protect elephants, whose numbers across Asia are now 60,000, down from 150,000 two decades ago.
2005-12-20 - BRISTOL, United Kingdom.
Folk lore has it elephants can get drunk by eating fermented fruit rotting on the ground, but a study debunks that claim, despite "eyewitness" accounts. The study, to appear in the March-April issue of the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, says anecdotes of drunken elephants go back more than a century. Steve Morris, a biologist at the University of Bristol in England and a co-author of the study told National Geographic News, "People just want to believe in drunken elephants."
2005-12-19 - New South Wales, Australia.
As part of the redevelopment of the Zoological Parks Board of NSW, Taronga Zoo is looking for experienced Elephant Keeper/Trainers to oversee the introduction and ongoing management of the Elephant Management program at Taronga and Western Plains Zoos.
2005-12-19 - PHILADELPHIA, United States.
A grassroots organization is trying to convince the Philadelphia Zoo to send its elephants to a sanctuary where they will have more living space. Friends of the Philly Zoo Elephants this week took a petition drive to the Gallery, a downtown shopping mall. "The issue is heating up, and we think if we can get enough publicity, the zoo will do the right thing and send the elephants to the sanctuary," said Rowan Morrison, a member of the group. "The zoos don't have enough space."
2005-12-19 - Manas National Park, India.
Challenging the view that it is a trying task to control let alone train the earth's largest land mammal, Prabati Barua, an Assamese woman has been training elephants for the last decade at the Manas National Park in the state. Since her childhood, Parbati was interested in contributing to the cause of endangered elephants in some way. Today her childhood dream has come true. She is the only professional elephant trainer in her region and is eager to save the animal.
2005-12-18 - Leipzig, Germany. Krause J, Dear PH, Pollack JL, Slatkin M, Spriggs H, Barnes I, Lister AM, Ebersberger I, Paabo S, Hofreiter M. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
Our phylogenetic analyses show that the mammoth was more closely related to the Asian than to the African elephant. However, the divergence of mammoth, African and Asian elephants occurred over a short time, corresponding to only about 7% of the total length of the phylogenetic tree for the three evolutionary lineages.
2005-12-18 - Borneo, Indonesia.
The same satellite system used by the U.S. military to track vehicle convoys in Iraq is helping World Wildlife Fund shed light on the little-known world of pygmy elephants in Borneo. This week marks the six-month anniversary of the first pygmy elephant's being captured and outfitted with a collar that can send GPS locations to WWF daily via satellite. Now, for the first time, the public can track the movements of the elephants online through an interactive web map at www.worldwildlife.org/borneo...
2005-12-17 - San Jose, United States.
A star circus performer will rivet outraged animal lovers today when he goes on trial in San Jose for allegedly gouging an elephant with a hooked stick. While critics have long protested that circus animals endure miserable confinement and painful handling and training, the trial of Mark Oliver Gebel, an elephant handler at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is a rare criminal prosecution.
2005-12-16 - Louisville, United States. Joseph Gerth
If it's true that elephants never forget, yesterday will be one to remember for pachyderms in Louisville. The Metro Council voted last night to allow elephant rides to resume at circuses in the city, despite pleas from animal-rights activists. The ordinance was adopted 17-4 and could open the door for the Kosair Shriners to resume the rides at the group's annual circus in February, if it can comply with the ordinance's requirements.
2005-12-15 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
The three elephants at Los Angeles Zoo — Gita, Ruby and Billy — need three times more space than their current quarters but it comes with a price tag of $50 million, according to a report on the future of pachyderms at the zoo. The independent report was commissioned by Los Angeles' new mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, after years of debate about the keeping of elephants in captivity at the city-owned zoo.
2005-12-14 - Jashipur, Orissa, India.
On Monday, 12 December, 64 kg of ivory and two motor cycles used by the ivory traders were seized and four people arrested by police at Jashipur in Mayurbhanj District of Orissa with the assistance of the Wildlife Protection Society of India. Two months ago, WPSI received information that a group of traders in Orissa had stockpiled the ivory. Subsequent investigations were passed on to the police that resulted in the seizure.
2005-12-14 - HARARE, Zimbabwe.
Crocodiles dragged away and ate 13 people -- including children -- in the first 10 months of 2005, elephants charged and trampled 12 others, including some villagers trying to protect their crops from the giant herbivores, according to the Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources, known as Campfire, in its annual report.
2005-12-14 - Tokyo, Japan.
A male elephant knocked out a keeper with one of his tusks at a zoo in central Tokyo in what may have been a hormone-driven frenzy, the zoo master said Tuesday. Attie, a 2.2-ton (2.4-U.S. ton) Asian bull at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, struck his keeper Yutaka Kawaharabayashi in the forehead on Tuesday morning, zoo master Teruyuki Komiya told reporters.
2005-12-13 - Beijing, China. Meera Selva
Across China, new shops are opening for hundreds of thousands to buy items that only a generation ago were beyond their reach. Ivory is one of them. "On a recent visit to China, I found twice as many shops selling ivory products than I saw only a few years ago," said Esmond Martin, a conservationist who has tracked the global ivory trade. Chinese companies are making their mark, building roads in Ethiopia, buying up the Sudan's oil and relaunching Sierra Leone's tourism industry.
2005-12-13 - Sambalpur, India.
Dukhu Adabar (55) of Jharapada under Rairakhol police station, 80 km from here, died on Tuesday after being crushed by a herd of elephants. It is learnt that a number of elephants entered the village Jharapada. But villagers managed to drive them away with flames and fire crackers. The elephants returned without harming the villagers. However, on their way back to the nearby forest, they found Dukhu alone and crushed him to death.
2005-12-10 - Jerusalem, Israel. YAAKOV KATZ
A two year pregnancy and a 10-hour birth process made Israeli history on Saturday when a baby elephant was born at the Jerusalem Tisch Family Zoological Gardens after being conceived through artificial insemination. The male baby - who has yet to be named - was born to Tamar a Thai elephant brought to Israel ten years ago as a gift from the Thai government to then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. Saturday's birth was one of 10 births around the world of an elephant conceived through artificial inse...
2005-12-09 - Mae Ping, Thailand. Jan McGirk
They are scarred by years of abuse. Their forest domain has shrunk, and their numbers along with it. But one woman has taken on the task of protecting the animals Thailand once held sacred. Lek flings slices of sweet white bread into the maw of a frisky five-year-old male elephant she calls Hope, whom she has hand-reared from babyhood. Hope loudly kisses her cheeks and lips with his trunk.
2005-12-09 - Phoenix, United States. Katie Ruark
You wouldn't know it by looking at them, and it's certainly not something you'd see on the sign in front of their exhibit, but the Phoenix Zoo's elephants all have storied pasts. All three of the zoo's Asian elephants are former circus animals with at least one incident of hurting someone. Reba, the zoo's most aggressive elephant, killed a Ringling Brothers trainer in 1993 when she knocked him down and stepped on him.
2005-12-09 - HCM City, Vietnam.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Forestry Department is building three elephant reservations in a bid to save the mammal from extinction. The move is amidst the fact that the number of elephants in Viet Nam, one of the 13 Asian countries, where elephants habitat, has fallen dramatically over two and a half decades.
They are scarred by years of abuse. Their forest domain has shrunk, and their numbers along with it. But one woman has taken on the task of protecting the animals Thailand once held sacred. Lek Chailert flings slices of sweet white bread into the maw of a frisky five-year-old male elephant she calls Hope, whom she has hand-reared from babyhood. Hope loudly kisses her cheeks and lips with his trunk.
2005-12-08 - Sydney, Australia.
FIVE Asian elephants could be winging their way to Taronga Zoo as early as Easter after an appeal by animal welfare groups to overturn approval to import the animals from Thailand failed. The long-running saga of the Taronga Five, as the one male and four female elephants have been dubbed, was close to resolution yesterday when the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled, conditional on some improvements to the animals' enclosure, that the elephants could be flown from Thailand, where they have be...
2005-12-08 - Cardiff University, United Kingdom.
The world's smallest elephant species, the newly described Bornean elephant, will be the focus of a Cardiff University study in Sabah, Malaysia for the next three years. The Bornean elephant has recently been confirmed as a separate sub-species, dramatically increasing its importance for biodiversity. Bornean elephants are the world's most endangered member of the elephant family with an estimated 1,100 - 1,500 surviving in the wild.
2005-12-07 - Richmond, Illinois, United States. Michael Hartigan
After months of government negotiations to resolve charges of animal mistreatment, nine elephants from The Hawthorn Corp, Richmond, Illinois will pack their trunks and move to the 2,700-acre Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, where they will live in a free-roaming environment.
2005-12-01 - Greenbrier, United States.
Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary has become the first recipient of the Institution of Excellence Award given by the Elephant Managers Association (EMA). Additionally Heidi Riddle was presented with the EMA President’s Award for “Outstanding Service” to the Association. In the past, Heidi has served as President of the EMA, as a member of the Board of Directors and continues to be very involved in helping the organization through her position as Chair of the EMA Legislative Commit...
2005-11-29 - Sonpur, India. Nick Jenkins
IFAW helped micro-chip 77 elephants at the fifth consecutive health camp for captive elephants in partnership with the Bihar Forest Department at Sonpur in the eastern state of Bihar. Between November 12th and 16th, captive elephants from the northern and eastern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam were brought to the five-day long event to be micro-chipped.
2005-11-14 - Fort Worth, United States.
Christmas arrived early for the Fort Worth Zoo when a 5-ton gift arrived not by sleigh and nine tiny reindeer, but by an 18-wheeler featuring a 40-foot, semi-trailer specially designed to safely and comfortably transport elephants. An expert staff from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) delivered the gift of a 33-year-old bull elephant
2005-11-12 - Mooketsi, South Africa.
A routine training session with elephants at Elephants for Africa Forever (Efaf) in Mooketsi, near Duiwelskloof turned into tragedy for a young foreign student on Saturday November 12, 2005. Will Andrew, spending some of his ‘gap’ year at Efaf, had just returned from a leisure break in the Kruger National Park and was taking part in a training session with four elephants.
2005-11-08 - Pilanesberg, South Africa.
Eight elephants saved from a fire six weeks ago have been taken back to the Pilanesburg National Park in the North West - their place of origin. Wildlife specialists, who nursed the animals, are satisfied with the condition of the elephants. Sixteen elephants were admitted to a sanctuary outside Hamanskraal after being torched in a veldfire. Eight of them, including adults and calves, died at the sanctuary from various complications and trauma related to the burns.
2005-11-07 - Hamburg, Germany.
The First European Elephant Management School is a practical orientated course on different elephant management tactics. Free contact as well as protected contact management technics and procedures will be trained. Hagenbecks Tierpark currently houses eleven Asian elephants of all age groups and with a high training standard. Important elephant management procedures will be taught on and with the animal (e.g. foot trimming, transportation). The School is held in a nine-day-session.
2005-11-04 - KWAZULU-NATAL, South Africa.
A woman was killed when she was an attacked by an elephant in the Charters Creek game lodge in KwaZulu-Natal, lodge spokesperson Tony Conway said on Friday. The 51-year-old woman who worked at the lodge was returning from an operation with four other colleagues when they encountered a herd of elephants on Thursday night.
2005-11-03 - ROSEMONT, United States. Mike Parker
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus is in town, and the show knows it's being watched by animal rights activists, who are opposed to keeping big animals in circuses and zoos. "It doesn't bother me because these people for me, they don't know what they're talking about," said trainer Sacha Houcke.
2005-10-31 - Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Ostracized by her herd, La Petite is looking to pack her trunk and move to a new home. The 19-year-old elephant with a checkered past -- she killed her first baby and is suspected of killing a handler -- failed to fit in at a British zoo, and now is having trouble at an Israeli safari park. Until she can be moved, the former circus performer is isolated from the park's other elephants, and animal rights activists are up in arms.
2005-10-31 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwean authorities are considering moving elephants from the country's overburdened national parks to Namibia after at least 50 pachyderms starved to death, a state daily reported on Monday. Some 50 elephants died in separate incidents in the famous Hwange national park in Zimbabwe's dry southwestern region, prompting senior government officials to visit the area to investigate the cause of the deaths.
2005-10-25 - Bangkok, Thailand.
In a strategic move to address the persistent criminal activity targeting South-east Asia's unique biological diversity, representatives from the 10 Member Countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed last week to form a regional law enforcement network to combat the illegal trade in animals and plants.
2005-10-23 - Coimbatore, India.
The annual rejuvenation camp for captive and temple elephants in Tamil Nadu would begin at Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in neighbouring Nilgiris District, from November 21. About 75 elephants were expected to take 'rest' in the camp at Theppakkadu, being organised by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) for the third year in a row, Forest department sources said here today.
2005-10-23 - Indianapolis, United States. Diana Penner
Kubwa, the Indianapolis Zoo's 29-year-old, 7,500-pound new mother, and her baby bull are part of science that someday could save the lives of wild elephants. The mother and baby, and the Indianapolis Zoo's other five elephants, all are African elephants, and their cousins are so scarce in some parts of the African continent that they are considered threatened or endangered. But the massive mammals are so abundant in other areas that they have to be culled.
2005-10-23 - Pilanesberg, South Africa. Myrtle Ryan
The plight of the elephants burned in runaway fires in the Pilanesberg National Park at the end of last month has captured the hearts of South Africans. This week, as their fate hung in the balance with several calls for them to be humanely put down, a KwaZulu-Natal inventor rushed to their rescue and has literally helped saved their skins. On Thursday, members of the North West Parks and Tourism Board and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - which has said "where undu...
2005-10-23 - RANCHI, India.
With shrinking forest cover and human encroachment of elephant habitat leading to increasing confrontations between man and pachyderm, the Jharkhand forest department has proposed the use of helicopters to deal with rampaging tuskers in the state. The state's forest officials admitted that they do not have the requisite means to tackle the elephants when they enter human settlements. Hence they have taken a cue from South Africa, where choppers are used to drive tuskers away when they stray into...
2005-10-22 - Philadelphia, United States. Julie Stoiber
Philadelphia Zoo veterinarians are monitoring Dulary the elephant for kidney-function problems, a side effect of antibiotics she took after being injured in a fight in late summer with stablemate Bette. Doctors are not sure whether the 9,000-pound Asian elephant, who is 41, has a kidney infection or inflammation but have taken her off the medicine thought to have caused the problems, said Andy Baker, senior vice president for animal programs at the zoo.
2005-10-22 - New Delhi, India.
Two young elephants, being kept illegally here for use in religious festivals and weddings, have been seized and shifted to Delhi zoo. Acting on information from the Wildlife protection Society of India (WPSI), the Department of Wildlife Preservation (Government of India) and the Delhi Wildlife Department jointly raided two elephant owners in Yamuna Pushta area.
2005-10-21 - Bridgeport, United States. Jody Minalgo
Some kids dream of going to outer space. Some kids want to be movie stars. And some kids fantasize about joining the circus. Twenty-five-year-old Mike Hayward was no different. However, unlike the many children who eventually abandon their childhood fantasies, Hayward a native of Southwest England and a lifelong animal lover, made his a reality.
2005-10-21 - DHARMAPURI, India.
Though the North-East monsoon has brought heavy rainfall in most parts of India, the Dharmapuri district still faces a drought situation. Even forest areas in Dharmapuri are faced with acute water scarcity. Elephants and leopards have been spotted straying into human habitats in search of food and water. A few days ago an elephant herd, which strayed into a farm land in Pennagaram taluk, had damaged the crops there. At Soolagiri in Krishnagiri district, a leopard reportedly attacked villagers an...
2005-10-21 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. Carol Hills
A baby elephant was euthanised in a boma in Hammanskraal on Thursday when its organs failed almost a month after it was severely burnt in a wildfire at the Pilanesberg National Park in September. The elephant had survived on its own in the bush for more than two-and-a-half weeks before being spotted by tourists a week ago and taken to a trauma centre set up in bomas in Hammanskraal.
2005-10-21 - Philadelphia, United States. GLORIA CAMPISI
The pachyderms may be packing it in at the Philadelphia Zoo. Zoo officials could scrap plans for a costly new elephant exhibit within weeks, and decide to send away the zoo's herd. But that decision would have nothing to do with a recent clash between two of the pachyderms that may have blinded the right eye of one of them, they said. Dulary, 41, the zoo's only Asian elephant and the matriarch of the four-elephant herd, suffered a cut on her eyelid in a shoving match with a younger African eleph...
2005-10-20 - ANN ARBOR, United States. Nancy Ross-Flanigan
Details about the life of a young woolly mammoth that died thousands of years ago are emerging from a study of the animal's fossil tusk. One intriguing finding: the calf nursed from its mother six or more years, apparently depending on the calorie-rich milk to survive in harsh, arctic conditions. A research team from the University of Michigan, Wrangel Island State Preserve and the University of Minnesota will present the results of their tusk analysis Saturday (Oct. 22) at a meeting of the Soci...
2005-10-20 - Pilanesberg, South Africa. Nipho Magwaza
Two weeks after the outbreak of veld fires in various parts of the country, elephants are still feeling the pain the flames have left them in. Already four elephants which were severely burnt have been put down at the Pilanesberg National Park, near Sun City in the North West Province, and an 18-month-old calf that was severely burnt in the fires died on Sunday.
2005-10-19 - Angul, Orissa, India.
Sarat Pradhan of Burukina village finds it risky to venture out of his home after the sunset as a herd of elephants, not seen in five years, are on prowl in his village. This is the scenario in village Burukina and adjoining 5 villages situated in Samal-Pabitranagar areas in Angul district. All this attributed to the destruction of natural corridors of elephant population across the state, which compels the pachyderms to stray into human habitat areas, wildlife experts said.
2005-10-19 - RIVERSIDE, Calif, South Africa.
Life scientists have long maintained that, based on body size, small organisms are more metabolically active than large organisms. A new study shows that this is true only for organisms that are closely related evolutionarily and have body masses differing by no more than 6-7 orders of magnitude – about the difference in body mass between an elephant and a shrew.
2005-10-19 - Tampa, Florida, United States.
Surrounded by the zoos family of elephants, Ellie, a 20-year-old, African elephant at Tampas Lowry Park Zoo gave birth to the male calf before dawn Monday, October 17, in her night house maternity ward. The calf represents the first and only elephant born at Tampas Lowry Park Zoo. Upon arriving at the zoo early Monday, elephant keepers were greeted at the door of the maternity ward by the 205-pound baby elephant already standing on his own.
2005-10-18 - Jaipur, India.
All have heard of Polo played astride horse. Recently, polo lovers of Jaipur organised a polo match between the two teams from Pakistan and Germany with players riding elephants instead of the customary horses. The participating members teams were from Lahore Polo Club of Pakistan and the Amby Valley of Germany. Another interesting aspect of the event was that the Pakistan team comprised of three male players who vied with three female counterparts from Germany.
2005-10-18 - Samburu, Kenya.
A wild bull elephant strolls across the Kenyan countryside, ears flapping, oblivious to conservationist Ian Craig, creeping up behind him, gun poised. This is no ordinary hunt. The gun is not loaded with bullets, but tranquilliser darts. Mr Craig and his fellow conservationists hope to keep a track on the elephants in the Samburu National Park in northern Kenya, by using mobile phones, so they can send SMS messages giving their latest location.
2005-10-18 - Jharkhand, India.
Tree houses build on the top of strong, bushy trees with lush green pastures as the surrounding. This is neither a lavish spa center nor a page from the cartoon strip Phantom. This is the newest addition to Basadera village in west Singhbhum district of Jharkhand where tribals have moved in these houses to escape the menace of elephants. Elephants have recently been straying into the village in search of food and have been on a destruction spree, forcing villagers to build such tree houses to sa...
2005-10-18 - Pretoria, South Africa. Hanti Otto
Two elephant calves rescued from the Pilanesberg National Park after a horrendous veld fire in September have died of lung damage from inhaling smoke. A third elephant also has respiratory problems and is being monitored. This elephant has burns over 90% of its body. The two calves, aged 14 and 16 months, died within three days of each other.
2005-10-17 - HOSUR, India.
Two watchtowers had been set up on top of the hills of Sanjeevapuram and Erimalai in the Dharmapuri forest region recently to monitor the movement of elephants. At the Wildlife Week celebrations in Dharmapuri on Saturday, Information and Publicity Minister K P Anbazhagan said the towers had been constructed at a cost of Rs 3 lakh.
2005-10-15 - NAIROBI, Kenya. RODRIQUE NGOWI
The struggling parks where Kenya's largest elephant and rhino populations live will get trucks, communication equipment and better roads in a $1.25 million anti-poaching program. "The challenges are huge and they need help," said Elizabeth Wamba of the U.S.-based International Fund for Animal Welfare, which is funding the program.
2005-10-15 - Jaipur, India. Lokendra Singh
Tourists visiting Jaipur, which has the reputation of being a princely state, are irked over the shortages of elephants in the area, especially at a time when the elephant ride at prominent tourist spots in Rajasthan has been restored by the state government. Tourists gathering in the “Pink City†to enjoy an elephant ride, expressed their deep annoyance over the dilly-dallying attitude of the authorities, who had suspended elephant rides 20 days ago.
2005-10-15 - Audubon, United States. Steve Sabludowsky
While elephants from Audubon Zoo are helping with the cleanup efforts to remove the debris at Audubon Zoo, primarily by eating it, many former Audubon employees are being forced out of their jobs as Audubon is cleaning house due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The elephants are eating oak leaves and bark the former employees—many who have given their lives to the zoo are eating dirt and its, not paydirt
2005-10-14 - Pilanesberg, South Africa. Fiona Macleod
Fourteen badly burnt young elephants rescued from a wildfire in the Pilanesberg National Park are caught in a tug of war between conservationists about whether they should be put out of their misery. The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) sent a high-level delegation of five veterinarians to check on the elephants after one of them died of its injuries. They have been treated at a private quarantine facility north of Pretoria since the rescue late last month.
2005-10-14 - Xinhua, China.
Wildlife observers are being trained in southwest China's Yunnan Province to monitor and protect the critically-endangered Asian elephants that roam virgin forests in the western and southern parts of the province. The training program, scheduled for Oct. 10-15, is sponsored by MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants), an international environmental protection system that protects elephants from ivory poachers.
2005-10-12 - Sydney, Australia. John Huxley and Andrew Darby
They have not yet been cleared to come to Australia but the five Asian elephants earmarked for Taronga Zoo have already been signed up to lucrative, exclusive picture deals and assigned special, celebrity profiles. Recent requests to photograph the five - one male and four females - in quarantine at Kanchanaburi, west of Bangkok, were turned down because of a deal struck with a TV documentary maker, a zoo spokesman, Mark Williams, said.
2005-10-12 - Lampang, Thailand.
Two young female elephants, aged six and two years, were admitted to Lampang Elephant Hospital yesterday morning, a week after triggering a landmine in Burma. The explosion on Oct 5 mutilated six year-old Mojay's right hind leg and Motoo's left front leg. At the time they were following their mother to haul logs in the Burmese forest opposite Tak's Tha Song Yang district, said Soraida Salwala, founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant, which runs the hospital. The mother was not injured.
2005-10-11 - Manila, Philippines.
Philippine Customs Enforcement and Security Service director Nestorio Gualberto, 2nd from right, customs police Capt. Mariano Biteng, left, and customs collector Lourdes Kempis, right, inspect some of the more than 800 kilograms (1764 pounds) of seized elephant tusks which were illegally shipped to the country from Kenya at Manila's International Airport on Tuesday Oct. 11, 2005.
2005-10-11 - MANILA, Philippines.
Philippine customs officials on Tuesday seized almost a ton of elephant tusks worth more than $500,000 at Manila airport. Nestor Gualberto, head of customs security, said the 850 kg (1,800 lb) shipment had arrived from Kenya last month in seven metal boxes labelled "rough stones". Officials opened the unclaimed boxes on Tuesday.
2005-10-10 - Portland, Oregon, United States.
2005-10-10 - Narok, Kenya. Kipchumba Kemei
More than 19 people have been killed and 38 others injured in Narok by wild animals in the past one year, area DC Hassan Farah has said. Farah also said farmers have incurred more than Sh50 million loss in the past three months. Speaking yesterday, the DC asked KWS to drive away elephants from settlement areas. Farah accused KWS of doing little to contain the elephant menace.
2005-10-10 - RANCHI, India.
The conflict between human beings and elephants has killed a large number of men and elephants in Jharkhand. According to official data, 63 elephants have died in the last four years. Elephants have also wreaked havoc, killing hundreds of people. Eleven elephants died in 2001-02 and 18 in 2002-03. This figure rose to 20 in 2003-04 and came down to 10 in 2004-05. Till August in the current year, four elephants have died.
2005-10-07 - Chhattisgarh, India. Lemru Chhattisgarh
Faced with the problem of elephant intrusions from neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Orissa, the Chhattisgarh government is considering providing a natural habitat for pachyderms in the forests near here in Korba district. About 100 odd elephants, which strayed into the state in search of food and water, have unleashed terror in about 132 villages spread over Jashpur, Raigarh, Sarguja and Korba districts and the state government's efforts to check the elephant menace has been in vain for many...
2005-10-06 - Madurai, India.
A group of 50 elephants, which were send in to the deep forests returned last evening to the Ayakudi area near Palani Hills in Didigul District. The elephants, which caused extensive damage to crops, were sent to the forest along with trained elephants last week. Forest officials said the elephants killed three farmers within 15 days when they attempted drive them away from the fields. They said the elephants damaged crops and trees worth about Rs one crore.
2005-10-05 - Sydney, Australia.
Leading animal welfare and conservation groups Wednesday opposed plans by the Australian government to import eight Asian elephants for its zoos. The groups - International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Humane Society International (HSI) and RSPCA - in a joint statement said that they would appeal against the decision by the Australian Minister for Environment, Ian Campbell, to allow the elephants from Thailand to go to Taronga and Melbourne zoos in the country.
2005-10-05 - Belleville, Illinois, United States. ELIZABETH DONALD
What do you do with 8 cubic yards of elephant dung? That's the problem facing the Troy Chamber of Commerce -- so step right up and get yours. The Kelly Miller Circus is in town through today, and under the contract, it's the chamber's responsibility to get rid of the animals' excretions. With three elephants and a herd of other exotic animals, that's about 8 cubic yards, or two medium-sized Dumpsters -- of aromatic manure over the two days the circus is in town.
2005-10-05 - Guruvayur, India.
A colourful parade of elephants and a special feast were held here on the occasion of World Elephants' Day on Tuesday, while animal rights groups appealed to owners and mahouts to care for the animals. About 40 pachyderms led by Gajaratnam Padmnabhan marched from the 'Manjulaal' at the eastern corridor of the Sri Krishna temple to the statue of legendary tusker Guruvayur Kesavan to pay floral tributes.
2005-10-05 - Portland, Oregon, United States. Oregon Zoo
Elephant Managares Association (EMA), USA. The emphasis will be placed on bull management but all topics on elephant management are welcome. Pretrip to Point defiance Zoo, Post trip to Wildlife Safari, Winston, Oregon.
2005-10-04 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.
Two elephants which had been living in the forest next to a plantation in Tawau for the last three months were successfully relocated after a four-day operation. NstKiosk The two bulls were released three days ago at the Kuamut forest reserve in Kinabatangan. The relocation headed off a potential conflict between the elephants and humans. The elephants, one in its mid-teens and the other in its early 20s, had been foraging near houses.
2005-10-03 - Yangon, Myanmar. Khin Hninn Phyu
TWO elephants left Myanmar for Germany aboard a special chartered flight on September 27 under an exchange program between the Yangon and Cologne zoos. The two female elephants, Shu Thuzar and Aye Chan May, both about 12 years old, are being exchanged for a breeding pair of white rhinoceroses as well as a male and two female lions.
2005-10-02 - Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
A vast array of elephant collectables of the late WWF Founder-President HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands was auctioned by Sotheby’s at Het Loo Palace, a former royal residence of the Dutch House of Orange. The ¤379,250 raised from the auction will go to WWF conservation efforts in Borneo. “This auction has risen far more than we ever dared imagine,” said Niek van Heijst, CEO of WWF-Netherlands. “We are extremely pleased that so many people, by buying one of the pri...
2005-10-02 - Pretoria, South Africa.
I have been following the deliberations and statements on elephant culling with considerable interest. The minister of environmental affairs is quite right to consider options with caution. I was initially relieved when SanParks consulted scientists from outside in dealing with the problem of whether elephants reduce biodiversity within the Kruger National Park and, if so, whether to cull them. I gather from colleagues who attended these earlier meetings that there is not a shred of evidence in ...
2005-09-30 - Kinshasa, Congo.
LRA rebels are terrorising civilians and killing wildlife in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC officials said Thursday. A band of fighters led by the group's deputy chief Vincent Otti that fled to the DRC earlier this month have terrified the local population and have begun poaching elephants in Garamba National Park, they said.
2005-09-30 - Jakarta, Indonesia. Nani Afrida
It has been almost a month since Sakdani had a good night's sleep; before he began staying up into the early hours of the morning to protect his banana plantation from rampaging elephants. "If I fall asleep my entire banana plantation will be destroyed by the elephants," a weary Sakdani told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
2005-09-30 - Shankar Bennur, India.
Rehearsals for the grand Jamboo Savari have been intensified for the high-profile guests of Mysore Dasara - elephants. All 12 jumbos are undergoing training under the watchful eyes of mahouts, kavadis, forest personnel and officials of the veterinary department. The jumbos hold ‘mock march’ on the procession route twice a day. On an average, the jumbos travel 12 to 15 km a day in the form of ‘familiarisation exercise’.
2005-09-29 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya's biggest elephant relocation involving about 400 of the animals has been suspended until next January because of upcoming rains, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said on Thursday. "Apart from the short rains that have started, we will also take this opportunity to monitor the resettlement of the animals already in Tsavo and service our vehicles," said Patrick Omondi, who heads the KWS elephant programme.
2005-09-28 - Bankura, India.
With the onset of monsoon, the Dalma range migrants are back to strike the Bankura forests and villages. In three phases 69 wild elephants have reportedly reached Bankura in the past two weeks. The forest officials and the residents of villages falling under the coarse of journey of the elephants have further been struck with the return of the pachyderms.
2005-09-28 - Amber, Rajasthan, India. Lokendra Sing
The Rajasthan Government’s decision to ban elephant rides to the famous 16th century Amber Fort , has resulted in these pachyderms and their mahouts being without work. After a tourist escort was trampled to death by a visually-impaired elephant, the state’s tourism department stopped elephant rides to the fort. Till now, an elephant ride was seen as an integral part of a visit by tourists in Rajasthan. Elephant rides were introduced in 1953, and now, 120 of these animals have been left jobl...
2005-09-28 - Les Schober, United States.
The growing national debate over zoos' ability to adequately provide for elephants demonstrates wide public concern about current conditions for Earth's largest land mammal. Now the controversy has landed in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Zoo is planning to build a $16 million, two-acre elephant exhibit that, relative to zoo industry advances, is already outdated. The North Carolina Zoological Park built its three-acre enclosure 25 years ago, and is currently increasing to six acres. The Oakland Z...
2005-09-28 - London, United Kingdom. Maxine Frith
London has become one of the biggest markets in the world for the trade in ivory, according to a report. Campaigners are concerned that the thousands of ivory products available in Britain are fuelling the illegal poaching of elephants in Africa and Asia. Investigators who compiled the report strongly criticised Britain for having the weakest controls in Europe over the trade in ivory.
2005-09-28 - Ranchi, India.
Wild elephants killed one person and injured two others in Dumritand village under Silli police station area, police said today. Jibar Ram Mahto (55) was attacked by a herd of wild elephants, which came from the nearby forest last morning. The pachyderms dashed him against the ground, killing him on the spot. The herd also attacked Arun and Sohrai of nearby Marankiri village. Both have been admitted to a local hospital.
2005-09-28 - Hammanskraal, South Africa. Melanie Gosling
Sixteen young elephants, burnt in a raging veld fire which swept through Pilanesberg National Park in North West last week, have been darted and trucked to a private boma at Hammanskraal for treatment. One elephant, which had part of its trunk and ears burnt off, died at the boma from its injuries yesterday. Another was taken by lions in the park and four were put down because their burns were so severe.
2005-09-27 - ROYAL OAK, Michigan, United States.
Former Detroit Zoo elephants Wanda and Winky are making a good adjustment to their new home at an animal refuge in California, an official there says. "They've integrated very well with the rest of the elephants," said Pat Derby, founder of the Ark 2000 elephant sanctuary. Reports say that Wanda spent one night last week sleeping in dewy grass. Winky will swallow her medicine only if it is wrapped in French sourdough bread, while Wanda gets hers in Fig Newtons.
2005-09-26 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Three recreation projects with a combined investment of Bt3 billion are being developed in Chiang Mai under theme “Chiang Mai World”, designed to compete with man-made tourist destinations in Hong Kong and Singapore and to establish Chiang Mai as a new regional tourism hub. The projects are the Chiang Mai Night Safari, the Elephant Park and Bird Tunnel and the Cable Line.
2005-09-25 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
To say the issue of culling elephants in the Kruger National Park is emotive is a desperate understatement. The issue is so fraught that the government has sidestepped it for the past 10 years, putting a moratorium on culls that has seen the elephant population soar. The truth of the matter is that the image of the apartheid government was so odious that culls could be carried out to maintain the elephant population at the level of about 7 000 because the Nationalist government had no reputation...
2005-09-24 - Pilanesberg, South Africa.
Thirteen of the more than 20 elephants that got burned in a run away fire in the Pilansberg Game Park, in the North West, yesterday, have been rescued and taken to a safe facility. One elephant was put down. The inferno started on Tuesday outside the west fence of the park. Eighty percent of the grazing at the park has been destroyed. However, it is the damage to the elephant population that is hard to estimate.
2005-09-24 - BROWNSVILLE, United States. Lynn Brezosky
When it comes to smuggling animals across the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Wildlife Inspector Ed Marshall has seen it all. In 2001, an African elephant was smuggled across the Gateway International Bridge on a truck. "They call it the 'Dumbo Case,'" Marshall said, shaking his head. Exotic birds given Valium or tequila so they stay quiet through Customs inspections. Sleeves moving with hidden reptiles. Wildcats stashed in trunks. Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized two white t...
2005-09-23 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Twenty elephants were severely burnt and one was put down after a veld fire at Pilanesberg Game Park near Sun City in North West, reported SABC news on Friday. Medical rescue teams attended to the injured animals. Seven of the 20 injured elephants were transported to a place were they would receive special treatment. The park's manager, Peter Leitner, said the fire started outside the game park and then wreaked havoc among the animals.
2005-09-22 - Livingstone, Zambia.
A Waihi man has been killed by an elephant in Africa. David Beverley Jones, known as Bev, was holidaying in Zambia with his son Colin when he was charged by the stray elephant on Saturday. His son-in-law, Bruce Storrie, says the animal singled out Bev Jones and just went after him. Storrie says Colin Jones did his best to distract the animal. He says Bev Jones, a microbiologist who worked in Africa for 10 years with the United Nations, loved Africa and was no stranger to the environment. Jones' ...
2005-09-22 - NIAGARA FALLS, NY, United States.
Kelly-Ann, an 8,000 pound female Asian elephant from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Circus painted the breathtaking view of Niagara Falls today with children from a local school. Today (9/22) is National Elephant Appreciation Day, and was also proclaimed "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and Kelly-Ann Day" in Niagara Falls, N.Y. by the city's mayor.
2005-09-22 - NAIROBI, Kenya. RODRIQUE NGOWI
The struggling parks where Kenya's largest elephant and rhino populations live will get trucks, communication equipment and better roads in a $1.25 million anti-poaching program unveiled Thursday. "The challenges are huge and they need help," said Elizabeth Wamba of the U.S.-based International Fund for Animal Welfare, which is funding the program.
2005-09-22 - Victoria Falls, Zambia. ESTHER HARWARD
A Waikato microbologist has been killed by an elephant while on holiday in Africa. Bevan Jones, 75, was killed on Saturday by an elephant that strayed from its herd. Mr Jones, who lived in Hamilton for 20 years before retiring to Waihi with his wife Elaine, had been on a camping trip in Zambia with his oldest son Colin. Mr Jones had tried to hide from the elephant, his son-in-law Bruce Storrie said.
2005-09-22 - Los Angeles, United States. Dana Bartholomew
How big a yard does an elephant need? The answer could decide whether the city builds a $19 million pachyderm exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo or packs off its three elephants to an elephant sanctuary. Elephant experts argued for and against the two-acre exhibit this week before Los Angeles Zoo commissioners. Next week, the mayor is expected to review an independent study on elephant quarters at the zoo.
2005-09-22 - KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia. Ajitpal Singh
THE fruiting season and logging activities in the Setiu and Hulu Terengganu districts have drawn wild elephants out of their habitat in the interior areas. Elephants have ransacked villagers' plantations around the forest areas and one even attacked a ranger. Trucks carrying fruits have also not been spared. Villagers in both districts are now terrified to work in their orchards, fearing that the elephants would return.
2005-09-21 - Cincinnati, United States.
Name: Cecil Jackson Jr. Title: Elephant manager (trainer, head keeper). Residence: Owen County, Ky. Age: 44. Family: Single, three children. Years of service: 30 (began working with dad Cecil Sr., a trainer, at age 14). Best part of job: Being able to work day-to-day with such big, enormous animals as elephants, that are about to go into extinction and trying to help avoid that.
2005-09-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand's forests are among the most biologically diverse on earth, and such biodiversity is the origin of many of our foods and medicines. In fact, the interaction between flora and fauna, and the conservation of this interaction, is of the utmost importance for the social well-being of Thailand. So believes senator Kraisak Choonhavan, renowned throughout Thailand as the often candid senator for foreign affairs, and a well-known advocate of conservation and the protection of wildlife.
2005-09-21 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
UP TO 10,000 elephants are facing slaughter as South Africa prepares to end its ten-year ban on culling the beasts. The Government is expecting a global outcry from animal welfare groups, so there will be an 18-month “consultation period” before the cull — which would involve rounding up and shooting entire family groups begins.
2005-09-20 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
If you thought that the big kill was just for tusks, you are poorly initiated into the unfortunate world of captive elephants. For unscrupulous ‘trader owners’, killing captive elephants using the most inventive methods is the smartest way to extract lakhs by way of insurance money.
2005-09-20 - SEATTLE, United States.
Woodland Park Zoo officials hope that this time, the stork comes for the elephant. An ultrasound taken Sunday morning revealed that Woodland Park Zoo's 26-year-old Asian elephant, Chai, is ovulating, prompting scientists to try once again to inseminate her artificially. Fresh bull elephant semen was rushed to Seattle from the Oregon Zoo in Portland and the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma on Sunday, and the tricky business was performed that evening.
2005-09-20 - Pretoria, South Africa. Sky News
South Africa has said it wants to carry out culls to contain its elephant population.Officials said a final decision would be made early next year after public consultations.Such a move is sure to provoke a global outcry from animal welfare groups who view the practice, which involves the rounding up and shooting of entire family groups, as cruel.
2005-09-20 - Mysore, India.
Karnataka is the first in the country to notify an Elephant Corridor and two of them are already in place including the Kanniyanpura Corridor near Moyar River at the Bandipur National Park and the Bekkattur Arabikere Corridor that connects the Kollegal Reserve Forest division to Billigiri Ranga Sanctuary, Malini Shankar tells us.
2005-09-19 - BANGKOK, Thailand.
They don't have to be housebroken because these pets won't fit in your home. But not just anyone can own an elephant, says Laithongrian Meephan, 47, owner of the Ayutthaya Elephant Farm, 45 miles north of Bangkok, who is selling about 20 elephants between the ages of 1 1/2 to 3 years. Prices start at $48,700 apiece for the beasts, which he promises are well-bred, well-trained, well-behaved and a source of luck.
2005-09-19 - New Delhi, India.
Threat to pachyderm comes not only from poaching for ivory but also from rapid loss of its habitat. Saving the Asian Elephant - Hemendra Kothari, David Ferguson and Bittu Sahgal. Sanctuary Magazine together with DSP Merrill Lynch hosted an evening with American wildlife biologist David Ferguson to discuss the future of the Asian elephant in the country that worships the elephant God.
2005-09-19 - Jaipur, India.
In the wake of a tour guide being trampled to death by an elephant last week, Rajasthan has set up a committee to probe the causes of "unusual" behaviour of elephants that ferry tourists to the Amber Fort here. Thursday's incident - reportedly due to the animal's irritation at a camera flashlight and in which two Belgian tourists were also injured - sparked off safety fears at one of the three mightiest forts in and around Jaipur city.
2005-09-18 - SEATTLE, United States.
An ultrasound taken Sunday morning revealed that Woodland Park Zoo's 26-year-old Asian elephant, Chai, is ovulating, prompting two German scientists to try once again to inseminate her artificially. The scientists, Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt and Dr. Frank Goeritz, last tried to inseminate Chai in March. Zoo officials had to wait until June to learn that the procedure hadn't worked, and this is Chai's next cycle, said zoo spokeswoman Gigi Allianic. Elephants ovulate just three times a year.
2005-09-17 - Jaldapara (West Bengal), India.
India’s wildlife reserves plan to make elephants an integral part of eco-tourism to recover the whopping cost of maintaining them. On an average an elephant needs approximately 2,300 dollars annually for their upkeep. As elephants rescued from lumberyards and circuses add to the numbers, park authorities say they are left with no other option.
2005-09-16 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
Elephants and buffaloes are dying of starvation in a wildlife-rich area of western Zimbabwe, the state-controlled Herald reported on Friday. The paper said at least four elephant calves and several buffaloes have died recently in the Matetsi area near Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe's prime tourist resort. "I am aware that several buffaloes were reported dead in the last three weeks," Minister of Tourism Francis Nhema was quoted as saying.
2005-09-16 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Researchers in Kenya and South Africa are using cellphone technology to gather information on elephants, cheetahs, leopards and other animals. The relatively cheap tracking device includes a no-frills cellphone that is put in a weatherproof case with a GPS receiver, memory card and software to operate the system. The unit, placed on a collar, is then tied around the neck of a wild animal.
2005-09-16 - Jaipur, India.
In a startling revelation, a former tourist official Friday said that 20 of the 100-odd elephants engaged in carrying tourists to the famous Amber Fort near here are blind, leading to increasing cases of accidents. "It's shocking but 20 of the 117 elephants, ferrying tourists, are blind and one can easily imagine what a risky business it is," Daulat Singh Rajawat, former general secretary of Tourist Guide Federation of India, (TGFI) told a news conference here.
Zimbabwe is about to import four endangered Siberian tigers from China for captive breeding, officials say. Zimbabwe Tourism Minister Francis Nhema told the Herald newspaper China had received zebras, elephants and impala as part of an "exchange programme". Correspondents say the move shows President Mugabe is wooing China. He is trying to strengthen ties with the Asian giant as his country is increasingly isolated in the world because of a poor human rights record.
2005-09-15 - Jaipur, India.
An elephant trampled a man to death and injured two Belgian tourists seriously when it went out of control at Amber fort on the outskirts of this Rajasthan capital Thursday.Vinod Bambha, 45, the manager of a travel agency, was escorting tourists Whars Mausini, 74, and Louis Dominique, 49, who had come from Delhi, around the popular tourist site when the incident occurred.
2005-09-15 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Seven more elephants have escaped from the Kruger National Park (KNP) and are roaming through the Matsulu location near Nelspruit in Mpumalanga. This follows the escape of six elephants that were put down in Limpopo Province last week, because they could not be safely herded back into the park. Louw Stein of the Mpumalanga Parks Board says the reason why elephants are escaping from the park, is the shortage of edible vegetation. He says this is due to a large bush fire that swept through the par...
2005-09-14 - ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States.
A 16,000-pound treadmill specifically built to exercise Maggie the elephant arrived at the Alaska Zoo, but the question remains: Just how do you get a more than 4-ton animal fighting the battle of the bulge to use a treadmill? Zoo director Tex Edwards is optimistic she can do it. "Every time we've undertaken to teach Maggie something new she has always learned it faster than we anticipated," Edwards said Tuesday. "She seems to enjoy new challenges."
2005-09-14 - Windhoek, Namibia. Larry O'Hanlon
Namibian elephants really know the airwaves, say researchers who have discovered that the big mammals prefer to broadcast their very low-frequency calls at exactly the times of day when the air is best for carrying sound a long way. In a three-week study that incorporated a range of meteorological equipment and an array of eight microphones, 42 percent of all elephant calls were made during the stable air period three hours after sunset.
2005-09-13 - Mysore, India. Sharath S. Srivatsa
Preparations for the Dasara festivities and the famous "Jamboo Savari" (elephant parade) bring back painful memories for this soft-spoken mahout. Doddappaji, who once handled Drona, the elephant that carried the howdah, has refused to take part in the Dasara festivities after Drona was tragically electrocuted. A third generation mahout and an expert in taming wild elephants, Doddappaji is haunted by memories of Drona. After the death of Drona in 1998, he requested senior officials not to ask him...
2005-09-13 - Panaji, India.
The deputy conservator of forests (north), Mr R K Singh is keeping a watch over the north Goan villages and the forest area, even though three elephants disturbing the region for over past three months have already crossed the Goan border and are currently in the state of Maharashtra. Mr Singh told The Navhind Times that the chief conservator of forests, Mr A K Wahal had already instructed him to maintain a surveillance over North Goa, in this regard.
2005-09-13 - El Paso, United States.
It's been nearly two months since El Paso City Council voted to look into expanding the El Paso Zoo elephant exhibit. Tuesday Mayor John Cook told KFOX the plans for expansion could be bigger than first announced. As KFOX was first to report, animal rights activists say Juno and Savannah suffer captivity-induced health problems, allegedly because they are kept on too small a plot of land.
2005-09-11 - Hua Hin, Thailand.
The 5th King's Cup Elephant Polo came to a dramatic end on the 11th as the Chivas Regal Scotland team clinched the title from Mullis Capital after a sudden death play-off. The final match of this colourful tournament, hosted by the Anantara Resort and Spa, was played before the representative of His Majesty the King. Both teams fought hard in the first half, with Mullis taking advantage of a two-goal lead from handicap and soon extended the score to 4-1 with two goals from Khun Tat, playing for ...
2005-09-11 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Mike Cadman
D-Day is fast approaching for thousands of elephants in the Kruger National Park. A long-awaited report by South African National Parks (SANP) that proposes ways to manage the rapidly growing elephant population of Kruger Park will be presented to Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the environmental affairs and tourism minister, on September 20. The report will address the controversial option of culling.
2005-09-11 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States.
Responsibilities: The Sanctuary has immediate openings (2) for experienced elephant keepers. The qualified applicants will be charged with maintaining female African and Asian elephants in two separate multi-hundred acre habitats. Responsibilities include but are not limited to cleaning, food preparation, record keeping, behavior conditioning, construction, facility maintenance, keeper training and supervision.
2005-09-10 - Nagarahole, India. Bhushan Datta
The early morning mist rising off the Kabini Reservoir gives the land a surreal look. The elephant has spent the night browsing on the juicy bamboo leaves and needs a drink of water before retreating into the cool depths of the forest. The rising sun soon bums away the last tendrils of mist, beginning another hot day at the Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka.
2005-09-09 - Canningsmoore, Marite, South Africa.
Six elephants that escaped from the Kruger National Park have been shot dead. They first broke a fence two days ago but were chased back. The grass appeared greener on the other side and the elephants were lured to Canningsmoore, East of Marite. The parks officials were reluctant to risk chasing them back again as they were grazing in between small communities and could have endangered the residents.
2005-09-09 - Seattle, United States. David Hancocks
Usually, zoos seek publicity for major events, such as the arrival of a new elephant. But late last month, an Asian elephant named Bamboo was transported without fanfare from Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo to Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. It was a sad final chapter in a tragic story. The history of elephants in zoos is full of mental and physical pain. Wild elephants, astonishingly intelligent, perceptive and complex beings, live in caring and secure extended families that stay intact for life. But...
2005-09-09 - Laikipia, Kenya. Michuki Ngamau
For a long time residents of Laikipia District have been in conflict with elephants. The wild animals have killed, maimed and wrecked havoc on private farms. Now, the locals have resolved that enough is enough. The community is digging a 42km-long moat around their homesteads. The trench will cut off Bondeni, Siron, Mutamaiyu, Limunga and Kianugu in Rumuruti Division from the reach of the animals.
2005-09-08 - Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. Jane Ballentine
One of the largest gatherings of animal care experts in the country will take place in Chicago, from 13-18 September when the John G. Shedd Aquarium hosts the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's (AZA) Annual Conference. Experts in the arenas of veterinary care, education, wildlife conservation and animal training will meet to learn about their colleagues' latest research and best practices.
2005-09-07 - Kochi, India.
The Kerala High Court today directed the Travancore and Kochi Devaswom Boards to take necessary steps as required under the Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) rules, 2003 to protect the elephants under their control. A Division Bench comprising Justice R Bhaskaran and Justice J M James warned the Devaswom Boards that inaction in this regard would be viewed seriously and the Devaswom officers would be liable to answer for their lapses.
2005-09-07 - Mysore, India.
The 2005 edition of Dasara festival commencing next month in Mysore is expected to cost Rs 2 crore, Rs 10 lakh more than it cost last year. The State Government has sanctioned Rs 75 lakh for organising Dasara, while the organising officials have sought an additional Rs 75 lakh government support. The maiden programme - arrival of the elephants from their abode in the forests - was completed early this week. Half a dozen jumbos, including the howdah-carrier Balarama, received traditional royal we...
2005-09-06 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. Ed Stoddard
It has spiced up many a meal but now the fiery chilli pepper is being used to cool an ancient feud between farmers and wild elephants in Africa. In the Zambezi valley in southern Zambia, small-scale farmers are growing chilli peppers as a deterrent against elephants that raid their crops -- and marketing the end result. "Elephants simply don't like the smell of chilli," said Nina Gibson, project coordinator for the Elephant Pepper Development Trust.
2005-09-06 - Bengkulu, Indonesia.
A herd of 50 wild elephants destroyed around 500 hectares of oil palm and rubber plantations in Muko-Muko district, Bengkulu province, Indonesia, over the past week. The wild elephants attacked oil palm and rubber plantations at any time at night, Antara news agency quoted Maskur, a resident of Pondok Suguh village, as saying on Monday.
2005-09-06 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya's wildlife authorities said here Monday its rangers have seized 22 elephant tusks and arrested three suspects who tried to sell them in Garsen town in southeastern Kenya. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Communications Director Connie Maina said the trio who were looking for buyers were arrested by KWS rangers who posed as buyers following a tip-off on Monday.
2005-09-05 - Mysore, India.
The first batch of Dasara elephants — Balarama, Bharatha, Gajendra, Kanti, Revathi and Prashanth — which arrived at the Palace this morning were accorded a traditional welcome by Labour and District In-charge Minister Tanveer Sait and dignitaries. Amidst chanting of vedic hymns, an arathi was performed as the majestic jumbos entered the Jayamarthanda gate of the Palace. A mixture of paddy, sugarcane and jaggery was fed to the elephants.
2005-09-05 - Riau, Indonesia.
Expert has called on Indonesian government to step in to save Sumatra elephants whose population is dwindling in recent years. "Protection measures are urgent as the elephant population is decreasing rapidly in number," Wisnu Wardhana, a zoo and wild animal consultant from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), was quoted Monday by The Jakarta Post newspaper as saying.
2005-09-05 - NAIROBI, Kenya. TOM MALITI
Kenya has resumed its largest ever relocation of elephants, moving 50 of 400 pachyderms expected to make the trip on flatbed trailers from an overcrowded national park to a more secure reserve. The Shimba Hills park has 600 elephants, or three times what it can comfortably handle, so the animals move into populated areas, destroying crops and injuring people. Elephant-human encounters have been increasing as Kenya's population grows and more people move to once-empty land to farm, at times close...
2005-09-04 - PALAKKAD, India.
Elephant doctors of Kerala are in great demand for treating sick pachyderms and tranquillising them when they go berserk in musth. They are becoming increasingly sought after around the globe. One of the doctors, Jacob Cheeran, will appear as an elephant expert in a case, involving the government of Australia which intended to import eight elephants from Thailand for their zoos and non governmental organisations which opposed the decision, before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
2005-09-04 - KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia.
The tuskers are at it again. A herd of 30 elephants destroyed crops on a 2.6ha farm at about 3am in Kuala Jengai, Dungun today. Late last month, elephants destroyed crops on two occasions in the same village, and now villagers are scared to work in their orchards. Elephants foraging for food have also terrorised several villages in the Hulu Terengganu and Kemaman districts.
2005-09-03 - ALOR STAR, Malaysia.
A procession of 10 elephants bearing Malay "warriors" to depict the power of the ancient Malay empires will be among the highlights of the Merdeka Month closing ceremony to be held in Darulaman Park, Jitra, on Sept 16. Information Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said the elephants procession would also draw attention to the customs of the past. He said another attraction at the closing festivities would be a performance by pop diva Siti Nurhaliza and Akademi Fantasia 3 (AF3) champi...
2005-09-03 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Sebastien Berger
Cambodia's most wanted tiger hunter has been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for the killing of hundreds of endangered animals. Yor Ngun had taken 19 tigers, 40 leopards, 30 elephants, 40 sun bears and 500 gaur (wild cattle), according to the conservation group WildAid. Snaring and trapping them in the jungles, he sold them into the Chinese wildlife trade, where body parts fetch high prices for use in traditional medicines.
2005-09-01 - Sarasota, United States. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
If working with Elephants appeals to you, we have a great opportunity. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus has immediate openings for elephant handlers who aren't afraid to work hard caring for our elephants. Responsibilities include total animal care such as grooming, feeding, cleaning and exercising animals. You must be able to work flexible hours and must be able to lift/move up to 75 lbs. Prior experience working with Asian Elephants in a Free Contact environment is preferred.
2005-08-31 - MONROVIA, Liberia. Katharine Houreld (Reuters)
Thousands of squatters who were hunting elephants and mining gold in a Liberian national park have left under a scheme to save one of the country's few wildlife sanctuaries, conservationists said on Wednesday. Gunmen who ran riot during 14 years of civil war have fought for control of resources from iron ore to rubber, often turning their guns on wild animals for food and invading reserves such as Sapo National Park in search of gold.
2005-08-31 - San Andreas, United States. Raheem Hosseini
Ed Stewart tips a little white pill bottle sideways, dropping a fistful of blue and white capsules into a hunk of stale sourdough. It can mean only one thing: It’s time to give Winky her medicine. Winky is one of two Asian elephants to have recently come to the massive compound in San Andreas belonging to the Progressive Animal Welfare Society, a non-profit organization advocating wildlife causes.
2005-08-31 - HARARE, Zimbabwe. (Reuters)
Zimbabwe, home to thousands of elephants, has banned safari hunting in the western districts of Dete and Hwange to protect a "presidential" elephant herd, the official Herald newspaper said on Wednesday. "We have banned hunting activities in those areas where we find the presidential herd of elephants for sanity and order to prevail," the paper quoted Tourism and Environment Minister Francis Nhema as saying.
2005-08-31 - DELAND, United States. Etan Horowitz
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked the federal government on Tuesday to investigate Cole Bros. Circus after one of its elephants reportedly grabbed the arm of a woman at a Pennsylvania fair. The DeLand-based circus recently stopped using animals at its circus shows but continues to lease elephants to other circus operators. One of those elephants wrapped its trunk around an 18-year-old woman at a fair in Mount Pleasant Township, Pa., on Thursday, according to the Pittsburgh Tribun...
2005-08-29 - SHIMBA HILLS, Kenya. David Mwangi
Kenya began moving 400 elephants from an overcrowded reserve on its Indian Ocean coast on Thursday in an unprecedented transportation intended to protect the environment and reduce conflict with local people. The state Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the $3.2 million, eight-month operation from the Shimba Hills reserve would be the world‘s biggest translocation of live animals.
2005-08-28 - Los Angeles, United States.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently called for an independent review of three elephants' well-being at the Los Angeles Zoo. The study, anticipated to address housing and health needs, is to be conducted by the City Administrative Office and submitted to the mayor and city council by Sept. 30 of this year.
2005-08-28 - PHILADELPHIA, United States.
The Philadelphia Zoo may have to send some of its resident elephants packing if it can't secure millions of dollars from the state for a new elephant exhibit. The zoo's herd currently occupies a quarter-acre yard with an 1,800-square-foot barn, built in the 1940s. While the enclosure meets the current standards of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, some say it doesn't give the elephants the ability to forage or roam. Now, the zoo is urging the state to come forward with $7.2 million in c...
2005-08-27 - Arusha, Tanzania. William Kasembe
Enhanced wildlife protection activities have been credited for the current increase in elephants in Tanzania whose numbers have more than doubled within twelve years. The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Mrs. Zakia Meghji said recently that the protection activities, funded by the Tanzania Wildlife Protection Fund (TWPF) have benefitted the endangered animals, boosting their original populations that characterized the national wildlife scene 15 years ago.
2005-08-27 - Pittsburgh, United States. Dwayne Pickels, PittsburghLIVE.com
A North Huntingdon Township woman says her first trip to the Westmoreland Fair ended in pain after a four-ton circus elephant grabbed her wrist with its trunk. "I guess I was just the unlucky one," Ellisha Long said Friday, nursing a bad sprain. Long, 18, said she and her boyfriend, Steve Parsons, went to the fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township Thursday evening and stopped by Wambold's Circus Menagerie at 8:35 p.m.
2005-08-27 - Falcon Heights, United States. Jason DeRusha
Inside the grandstand you will find some beautiful paper. It's gorgeous. And it's made almost entirely from elephant poop. "And over here, this is my specialty paper," Karl Wald said to a customer. "This is what everybody likes." Wald, also known as "Mr. Ellie Pooh," is from South St. Paul and has a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Wald works with a group in Sri Lanka, where farmers often think of elephants as pests and kill them. Instead, Wald is trying to show the farmers how valuable the animals can be...
2005-08-26 - Tacoma, United States.
Bamboo, an Asian elephant, has arrived safely at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. She is settling into her new surroundings in the Asian Forest Sanctuary. The 38-year-old elephant was transported by air-conditioned truck Thursday night from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo. Bamboo is in good health and appears to have handled the move very well. Animal care staff and veterinarians from Woodland Park Zoo accompanied her during the short trip.
2005-08-26 - INDIANAPOLIS, United States.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it secretly recorded the video of a trainer working for Carson & Barnes Circus. It says the footage shows a trainer instructing someone else on how to use electric prods and bull hooks to train them for performances. The circus is performing at the Marion County Fairgrounds this weekend. Before the first event Friday afternoon, circusgoers were met by protestors with PETA.
2005-08-26 - Chicago, United States. ANDREW HERRMANN
Zoo elephants aren't educational -- they're entertainment for bored people, an animal expert testified before a City Council committee Thursday. Furthermore, children could learn more from watching a TV documentary than "two lonely female [zoo elephants] standing in a tiny area,'' said Joyce Poole, who has studied elephants in Africa for 30 years, including as head of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
2005-08-25 - CHICAGO, United States.
An animal behaviorist who has studied elephants for 30 years in Africa told a City Council committee Thursday she believes no zoo can adequately care for elephants without providing several miles of space for them to roam. Alderwoman Mary Ann Smith (48th) has introduced legislation that would require any zoo or other stationary animal exhibit to provide a minimum of 10 acres of space, five acres indoors and five outdoors, per elephant.
2005-08-25 - Khao Yai, Thailand. ALONGKOT CHUKAEW & PHILIPPA MITCHELL
Take the elephant for example. Nobody can call it a fussy eater _ its feeds on grass, leaves, fruits, vines, bark, roots and young shoots. The Wild Elephant Research and Rescue Fund (WERF) in Khao Yai has found that elephants eat at least 103 different species of plants, although they are known to have a preference for bamboo, most plants of the ginger family, banana trees and rattan. Finding enough food to feed an animal this large is no easy task _ about 300kg per day for a fully grown pachyde...
2005-08-23 - Dublin, Ireland.
It’s going to be an emotional farewell for Dublin Zoo’s two popular elephants when they head to a new home in Germany in a few weeks, the zoo’s assistant director said today. Elephants Judy and Kirsty, who have been at the zoo for a decade, will be moving to Neunkirchen Zoo in western Germany in mid September. Paul O’Donoghue, Dublin Zoo’s assistant director, said the decision to move the elephants was a difficult one, but the zoo was committed to an elephant breeding programme.
2005-08-23 - Bloomington, United States. Kris Kirschner
The Carson and Barnes Circus is a family-run operation that performs in smaller communities like Bloomington. In business more than 60 years, it's one of the last under the Big Top. But there are those who'd like to run this show out of town. "Some of the concerns are the methods of training the elephants." As Executive Director of the Monroe County Humane Association, Sarah Hayes cares about animals. Recently, her attention has focused on elephant training for the Carson and Barnes Circus. Vide...
2005-08-22 - Nairobi, Kenya. Tom Maliti
The Kenya Wildlife Service will relocate 400 elephants to Kenya's largest national park, from a smaller national reserve in the country's south-east that has too many elephants, a spokesperson said on Monday. The $3,2-million exercise will begin on Thursday and involve transporting elephants more than 350km to the northern part of Tsavo East National Park, from Shimba Hills National Reserve, said Edward Indakwa, a corporate communications officer with the Kenya Wildlife Service.
2005-08-21 - Hartebeespoort, South Africa. Arja Salafranca
An elephant's hide is curiously soft, wrinkled and folded over on itself, but also incredibly soft. That was a surprise; only having seen elephants in the wild from game drive vehicles, I had assumed the skin to be as tough and coarse as it looks from afar. Elephants also have their own personalities, and that weekend at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hartebeespoort, we all fell in love with our individual elephants.
2005-08-20 - Los Angeles, United States. Dana Bartholomew
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has called for an independent review of elephant quarters at the Los Angeles Zoo, a move that could determine whether to send the pachyderms packing to a wildlife sanctuary. The study puts on hold nearly $11 million requested to complete construction of the $19 million Pachyderm Forest, an exhibit already more than a year behind schedule.
2005-08-18 - DENVER, United States.
If a group of prominent ecologists have their way, lions and elephants could someday be roaming the Great Plains of North America. The idea of transplanting African wildlife to this continent is being greeted with gasps and groans from other scientists and conservationists who recall previous efforts to relocate foreign species halfway around the world, often with disastrous results.
2005-08-17 - Jacksonville, United States. Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is currently seeking an experienced elephant keeper. Preferred qualifications include a degree in biology or related field, a minimum of 5 years experience in an AZA accredited zoo with previous experience working protected contact. Must be familiar with the AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care.
2005-08-17 - Columbus, United States.
A jumbo-sized loss for the Columbus Zoo, which is reporting the death of a seven-year-old Asian elephant. The zoo says Ganesh was found dead in his stall this morning when his keeper arrived for work. The cause of death wasn't immediately known. The animal had been on loan from Cincinnati's zoo, where he was born in 1998. He was moved up the road to Columbus in 2003 after becoming difficult to handle. The Columbus zoo is said to have better facilities for male elephants. It also has four other ...
2005-08-16 - Borneo, Indonesia.
Newly discovered pygmy elephants in Borneo are being outfitted with transmitters to allow orbiting satellites to track them as they migrate through dense rain forest mountains. Experts use dart guns to tranquilise the pachyderms, which are then outfitted with tag collars, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) spokesman Stefan Ziegler. Each tag, a grey, brick-like device strapped around the elephant's neck, will transmit its whereabouts to a satellite three times a day for 18 months until the ba...
2005-08-16 - Kariba, Zimbabwe.
Marauding elephants have destroyed homes and sent residents fleeing in the Zimbabwean resort town of Kariba, a state daily reported yesterday. "A herd of stray elephants wreaked havoc in Kariba where it destroyed homes and forced a number of Nyamhunga township residents and others on the outskirts of Charara National Park to flee," the Herald newspaper said. The newspaper quoted a resident who said six "violent" elephants had been spotted on the rampage in the area bordering Zambia, trampling ve...
2005-08-15 - Jaipur, India. Qaiser Mohammad Ali
The Indian, Pakistani and English cricket teams, here for the Champions Trophy matches, have been invited to play elephant polo Monday - an entirely different ball game. Elephant polo, a traditional and elite sport, is quite popular in the state and particularly in the state capital. It is one of the several versions of polo played in India, the other being horse polo and cycle polo.
2005-08-13 - St. Norfolk, Virginia, United States. DEBBIE LEAHY
Regardless of how one feels about zoos and circuses, the proposed elephant protection ordinance makes good sense. The ordinance sponsored by Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) would prohibit the chaining of elephants and the use of the bullhook; would require zoos to provide 10 acres of space per elephant and circuses to provide 3,600 square feet for a single elephant and an extra 1,800 square feet for each additional elephant.
2005-08-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
India's wild elephant population has risen, if initial findings of an ongoing census are to be believed. "The census process is in its final stages and the sighting of more baby elephants is a strong indicator that when the final tally is arrived at, the population of wild elephants would have gone up," Jacob Cheeran, a steering committee member of Project Elephant, told IANS.
2005-08-10 - Honolulu, United States. Ron Mizutani
After more than a year of practicing, it was time for the real thing. Vaigai, a 20-year-old Asian elephant at the Honolulu Zoo, was artificially inseminated Wednesday morning, but the procedure came a day earlier than expected. Zookeepers were expecting her to ovulate in two days, but instead it happened some time last night, which meant the A-I procedure had to be done this morning.
2005-08-08 - Luangwa, Zambia.
Elephants have continued ravaging people’s winter gardens and granaries in Chief Mphuka’s area in Luangwa District threatening household food security for those depending on winter gardens for survival. Kabowo ward councillor, Foster Tembo revealed this to Luangwa District Commissioner, Kenneth Chipungu during a meeting held at Yapite Resettlement Scheme over the weekend.
2005-08-08 - Panaji, India.
Trained elephants from Shimoga in Karnataka have arrived in Goa to help the state’s forest department to drive away wild elephants. The government of Goa has requisitioned the services of these five trained tuskers to drive away three wild elephants -- two females and one male calf—which have terrorised the villages coming under the sub-districts of Bardez and Bicholim taluka in the state.
2005-08-07 - Panaji, India.
Nearly a fortnight after the three wild elephants struck terror among the people in villages of Bardez and Bicholim taluka, the government has finally brought five trained tuskers called ‘Kunki’, along with ten ‘mahouts’ from Shimoga district of Karnataka to drive them away so that they can reach to their habitation in Maharashtra.
2005-08-07 - BICHOLIM, India.
Five trained elephants from Shimoga, Karnataka, arrived at Amthane-Bicholim on Sunday to drive away the wild elephants who have created havoc in the villages of Bicholim and Bardez. At around 2.30 pm, the kunkis (trained elephants) entered Pirna village in five trucks. The elephant trainers, later, walked them to Amthane.The ‘kunkis’ include two male and three female elephants, whose names are Mayur, Geeta, Sagar, Ranga and New Tusker.
2005-08-05 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Bjorn Carey
A little bit of spicy chili peppers is all African farmers need to keep hungry elephants from stealing crops. By planting a few rows of chili peppers around the perimeter of their crops, farmers have created a buffer zone that's spicy enough to keep elephants, buffalo and other hungry mammals away. "Chili peppers are unpalatable to crop-raiding mammals, so they give farmers an economically feasible means of minimizing damage to their investments," said Loki Osborn, project director for the Eleph...
2005-08-04 - Thrissur, India. Sanu George
He is 63 and looks rather frail, but Jacob Cheeran is one man the mammoth temple elephants of Kerala fear. For, the elephant expert is always around with tranquillisers to tame them when they experience 'mast' - a condition of physiological breakdown during which the pachyderms practically go berserk. On Tuesday, Cheeran and his team might just have written themselves into the record books by firing a tranquilliser shot at their 500th elephant here.
2005-08-03 - Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Yesterday evening the first elephant baby ever was born in Amsterdam's Zoo, Artis. The baby, probably a girl, was born at 22.22 (10.22 pm) in the evening. It is the first elephant ever born in Artis. At this point, the baby can only be seen through the monitoring camera. If nothing happens, mother and baby can be visited on Thursday, between 11am and 1pm, and between 3pm and 5pm.
2005-08-02 - Panaji, India.
A team of Forest Department led by the assistant conservator of forest (ACF), Mr Pradeep Kundaikar from Ponda, today left for Shimoga in Karnataka to complete the formalities for getting five trained elephants ‘Kunki’ to deal with the wild tuskers in few villages of Bardez and Bicholim taluka.
2005-08-01 - Lilongwe, Malawi. Chikondi Chiyembekeza
The British Army is helping in giving anti-poaching skills to Game Rangers at the Kasungu National Park. Secretary for Defence, James Kalilangwe said the exercise would go a long way in saving the number of game in the park, numbers of which have been declining over the past years. Of all the game, elephants have suffered the most due to poachers who regularly invade the park.
2005-07-31 - SYRACUSE, New York, United States.
After a 20-minute labor, an Asian elephant gave birth to a jumbo baby who was up and walking 10 minutes after he hit the ground Sunday at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park. Kedar, whose name means "powerful" in Hindi, weighed in at 345 pounds and stood 38 inches tall. Baby elephants usually weigh between 250 and 300 pounds. He was born at 9 a.m. Sunday to Targa, whose 20-minute labor and delivery was the fastest in the zoo's history, according to zoo director Dr. Anne Baker.
2005-07-31 - Thrissur, India.
Spread of tuberculosis among captive elephants in Kerala is causing concern as eight pachyderms are reported to have died due to the disease last year. Overwork, lack of proper diet, unhygienic upkeep and absence of periodic health check-up are said to be the reasons for the spread of the disease. "The disease poses a serious threat to elephants. Last year there was an increase in tuberculosis cases," senior veterinarian and elephant expert Dr K C Panicker said.
2005-07-31 - JAMBI, Indonesia.
A group of elephants from Bukit Tigapuluh National park attacked nearby villages in the last six months, destroying some 15,000 hectares of rubber and oil palm plantations in the area. No one was injured in the rampage. "Around 30 elephants attacked the plantations because they can't find their food in the national park area," Warsi environment organization Bukit Tigapuluh program coordinator Dicky Kurniawan said on Thursday.
2005-07-29 - Sydney, Australia. Andrew Darby
Eight Asian elephants bound for Sydney and Melbourne zoos will have spent at least a year in quarantine in Thailand before their fate is known. An appeal against the Federal Government's decision to allow them into Australia will be heard from September 26, and the zoos yesterday agreed not to move the animals until it was completed.
2005-07-28 - New York, United States.
Key to Elephant Conservation is in The Sauce: Fiery chillies keep elephants out of crops and make a great sauce, say African entrepreneurs. What do hot sauce aficionados and African elephants have in common? They both feel the burn of chilli peppers, the key ingredient for resolving human-elephant conflicts in Africa while raising money for farmers and conservation.
2005-07-27 - Lincoln, Illinois, United States. ANDREW HERRMANN
A revised proposal to restrict the display of elephants will be introduced in the City Council today -- but critics say the new measure would still effectively prohibit pachyderms at zoos and circuses. Under the ordinance sponsored by Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th), Lincoln Park Zoo would need to devote 10 acres to every elephant. Zoos typically keep no fewer than three elephants at a time, making it impossible for the 35-acre Lincoln Park institution to host the animals.
2005-07-27 - Jon Humbert, United States.
Using logic, reason, science and a little heart, both sides of the Elephant debate in El Paso had their say today in the Council Chambers. After half hour presentations from the Zoo faction and Concerned Citizens for Savannah and Juno, the Council voted 8-0 to keep the Elephants in El Paso. Concerned Citizens made a plea to the Council to let the two elephants go to Tennessee to a sanctuary.
2005-07-26 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Environment Ministry has begun a project to move about 160 wild elephants, currently roaming the public roads in the Kurunegala district, back to protected areas. The action is meant to save the lives of both humans and beasts.According to Environment Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, the main goal of the project is to minimize conflict between man and elephant and save the lives of both. The wild elephants will be driven back to Wilpaththu and Thabbowa sanctuaries.
2005-07-26 - Syracuse, New York, United States. WILLIAM KATES
Keepers at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo _ already awaiting the birth of one new baby elephant this summer _ will be pacing the floor again next year when a second baby is expected. Romani, a 29-year-old Asian elephant, is due with her fourth calf in late spring or early summer of next year, Zoo Director Anne Baker said Tuesday. Any day now, 23-year-old Targa is expected to deliver her second calf, which will likely weigh between 250 and 300 pounds.
2005-07-25 - Vienna, United States.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® today announced it will fund ongoing research on endotheliotropic herpes viruses (EEHV) being conducted by the National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park. The $180,000 gift will be distributed over the next three years to support the National Zoo's efforts toward treating, and ultimately curing, this typically fatal disease in young Asian elephants.
2005-07-25 - Sydney, Australia.
A deal to bring eight Thai elephants to two Australian zoos has been met with a stinging rebuke from an English-language Bangkok newspaper. The Nation has slammed the transaction as shabby and corrupt. It says the sale has been condemned by wildlife groups in both countries - who say the animals should remain in their native habitat and not be sent abroad.
2005-07-25 - KINABATANGAN, Malaysia. TEOH TEIK HOONG
The 26,000ha Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Sabah, billed as Malaysia’s “Gift to Earth”, is facing massive destruction. In the last four years alone, 20% of the 100-million-year-old forest has been estimated to have been cleared, threatening endangered animal species like the Borneo pygmy elephants, orang utans, proboscis monkeys and hornbills.
2005-07-24 - BANGALORE, India.
In the wake of increased poaching incidents during monsoon, the forest department has decided to ban all forest trails during the monsoon. Till next order, all kinds of visits to forests by tourists, jungle trekking, core area hiking and other forest adventures, have been banned. The decision followed two encounters by the forest department with the poachers near Kalkere range in Bandipur tiger reserves, where six hard-core poachers from Kerala were arrested.
2005-07-23 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A crude bomb being carried in a lunch box to chase marauding elephants away from fields exploded in an Orissa village, killing one and injuring three. Five people from Kadua village in Dhenkanal district, 150 km from here, had gone to their fields on the outskirts of the village Friday night. To chase away elephants, one of them was carrying a bomb inside his lunchbox, which exploded, a district police official told IANS on telephone. While one man died instantly, three people were critically in...
2005-07-22 - Panaji, India.
The Chief Minister, Mr Pratapsing Rane today said that the Karnataka government has agreed to send five trained elephants to tame three wild elephants which had caused extensive damage to the plantations in Sal, Mencurem, Adval Pal, Latambarcem, Pirna and Nadora villages of Bicholim and Bardez talukas.
2005-07-21 - Chicago, United States.
A zoo association's investigation into why a 36-year-old African elephant collapsed while being trucked from a Chicago zoo to one in Utah where it died, identified "several concerns" but found no gross negligence by the animal's handlers. The animal, named Wankie, was among three African elephants that lived at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park outside Escondido until 2003, when they were moved to Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. The pachyderms still belonged to the Escondido animal park.
2005-07-21 - Gaborone, Botswana.
Citizen hunters have bought 10 elephants in the Mmadinare area after an offer by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP). A public notice from the department said the elephants to be hunted in a controlled area CT 27 within a radius of 40km of Mmadinare village were sold for P8, 000 each.
2005-07-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.
A SHOWCASE of work by young Thai artists - and elephants - will be unveiled in Edinburgh today. Vicky Khunapramot, a business graduate from Napier University, is pioneering the launch of the Capital's first Thai art exhibition. It will feature extraordinary abstract paintings by elephants from Northern Thailand's conservation parks. Ms Khunapramot said the elephants' contributions would reflect a "unique" aspect of Thai culture.
Eight elephants will stay in Thailand for at least another week while their fate is decided in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal(AAT). The AAT granted an interim order preventing the importation of the animals earmarked for Sydney's Taronga and Melbourne's zoos. The federal government gave the go-ahead for the beasts, who have been held in quarantine in Thailand for nine months, to be brought to Australia.
2005-07-20 - BEIJING, China.
A recent study predicts that more male Asian elephants in China will be born without tusks because poaching of tusked elephants is reducing the gene pool. Research by Zhang Li, an associate professor of zoology with the college of life sciences at Beijing Normal University, discovered that the gene for tusklessness is spreading among the endangered species in its habitat in Yunnan Province of southwest China, said China Daily.
2005-07-20 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Duncan Guy
Elephant conservation should be considered in much the same way humans consider plans for their own health and well-being, an elephant management workshop heard on Tuesday. Sociality, which is the conservation of social structures and processes, has largely been ignored in conservation, according to a paper by Gay Bradshaw of Oregon State University and Allan Schore of the University of California.
2005-07-20 - Sydney, Australia. Mark Bannerman
KERRY O'BRIEN: At nine o'clock this Sydney and Melbourne zoos popped the champagne corks when they got word that they had finally received government approval to import eight Asian elephants. They are, after all, an endangered species. The idea is to take these endangered elephants from Thailand and give them a new home in the hope that, with good treatment and scientific help, they will reproduce.
2005-07-19 - Sabah, Malaysia.
Electronic tagging of pygmy elephants aims to solve an ancient mystery, writes VIJAY JOSHI. CROUCHED in the vine-tangled forest of Borneo, where the brightest part of the day seems like dusk, Elis Tambing finally got the elusive animal in his laser sight and fired. The pink-quilled dart found its mark: the rump of the female pygmy elephant, a unique and endangered animal found only in Sabah.
2005-07-19 - Baripada, India.
Two wild elephants from Chandavilla forest range of West Bengal's Midnapore district have sneaked into Orissa's Mayurbhanj district and caused depredations in several villages under Deuli forest range. According to Acting Field Director of STR (Simlipal Tiger Reserve) Jitendra Kumar, the two migrant elephants- one adult bull and an adult cow elephant- have damaged eight houses in the three villages located on their migration route.
2005-07-18 - Beijing, China.
More male Asian elephants will be born without tusks because poaching of tusked elephants is reducing the gene pool, Chinese researchers say. The tusk-free gene, which is found in between 2 and 5% percent of male Asian elephants, has increased to between 5 and 10% in elephants in China, says zoology researcher Associate Professor Zhang Li, from Beijing Normal University.
2005-07-17 - Thrissur, India.
In a majestic spectacle, 47 elephants were today fed a sumptuous feast on the occasion of the annual 'Anayoottu' - feeding of elephants - on the premises of the Vadakkunnathan temple here today. Hundreds of devotees and others thronged the temple premises to witness the show since early morning as the jumbos, herded from different parts of the state, lined up to partake in the feast.
2005-07-16 - Hollywood, United States.
Teri Hatcher has reportedly been caught up in a terrifying elephant stampede. The former James Bond girl and her seven-year-old daughter were on safari in Africa when a herd of elephants charged towards them. The scared pair realised they were in trouble when their guide started their jeep and yelled 'stampede', according to Britain's Daily Sport newspaper.
2005-07-14 - Nairobi, Kenya. Jackson Mwalulu
Assistant Minister Danson Mungatana wants his constituents to kill all the rogue elephants straying into Garsen. This makes perfect sense. Wildlife should never take precedence over human beings. The importance of wildlife to this country cannot be gainsaid. Increasingly, however, it would appear the Government supports the Kenya Wildlife Service's antipathy towards striking a balance between taking care of wild animals and protecting people.
2005-07-13 - Panaji, India.
The deputy conservator of forests, Mr C D Singh today forwarded a proposal to the chief wildlife warden, Goa, requesting for hiring the services of Kunki elephants and organising joint operations with the forest departments of Goa and Maharashtra as well as the locals from both sides of the border, to guide the elephants which are currently disturbing the North Goa village of Nadora, back to their natural habitat.
2005-07-12 - BANKURA, India.
Three elephants went on a rampage in four villages near Bishnupur town last night. The forest officials of Panchet Soil Conservation Division rushed to the affected villages today to assess the extent of damages. The elephant herd had meanwhile fled to the jungle. The herd had entered Choukan village — about 12 km from Bishnupur town — about nine p.m last night.
2005-07-12 - Guruvayur, India.
A tusker's beauty is in its tusks but if it is lost, this “elephant dentist” has the answer. Sankaranarayanan, a mahout in the famous Sree Krishna temple, Guruvayoor in Thrissur district, has found a new way of adding beauty to a tusker by fixing artificial tusks. Balakrishnan, Lakshmanan, Rajasekharan and Chandrasekharan, and Umadevi, all jumbos of the Guruvayoor Devaswom, now have “duplicate tusks” affixed by Sankaranarayanan.
2005-07-12 - Nairobi, Kenya. Jonathan Manyindo
Tourism minister Morris Dzoro and his assistant, Mr Boniface Mganga, have differed over plans to move 400 elephants from Kwale to Tsavo East National Park. The minister said last Friday that the transfer would go on despite resistance from the local community. But Mr Mganga is opposed to the move without local people being consulted and being told how they would benefit from tourism earnings.
2005-07-11 - London, United Kingdom.
Listening devices developed more than three decades ago by the United States to monitor enemy troops movements through the jungle of Vietnam are being deployed to count elephants in the thick bushes of Namibia's Etosha National Park. Researchers under Jason Wood from Stanford University in California set up a test device called a geophone near a game path leading to a watering hole in the vast park.
2005-07-11 - Sydney, Australia. Andrew Darby
Doubts have been raised by animal welfare groups over the origins of some Asian elephants bound for Melbourne and Sydney zoos, with Environment Minister Ian Campbell still to approve their importation. The groups say there is reason for concern over papers showing the eight elephants are all captive-bred, rather than caught in the wild.
2005-07-09 - CHENNAI, India. P. Oppili
The month-old male calf elephant, rescued from Sathyamangalam Forest after it was abandoned by its mother, is not yet stable, P.C. Tyagi, Director, Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP), Vandalur, said here on Friday. Mr Tyagi said: "The animal is still bony but we have controlled the diarrhoea. It will take at least 15-20 days for its health to stabilise."
2005-07-07 - Nairobi, Kenya. Solomon Laboso and Isaac Ongiri
Suspected poachers have killed several elephants at Namnyak and Sarara wildlife conservancies in Wambaa and Waso divisions of Samburu District. An official, Tom Letiwa, said Kenya Wildlife Service rangers found some of the elephants without tusks. He blamed poaching in Samburu, Isiolo, Marsabit, Laikipia and Meru North districts on illegal firearms.
2005-07-07 - MALACCA, Malaysia. VINCENT TAN
Five young elephants, with metal chains around their necks, caused a stir at a housing estate in Malim Jaya when the residents saw the animals grazing at a nearby vacant lot. Officials from the Wildlife and National Parks Department and the Malacca Zoo quickly rushed to the area and found that the animals were part of a travelling show that recently performed at the San Pedro fest in the Portuguese settlement here.
2005-07-06 - Bollington, United Kingdom. Gavin Hird
A TEN-year-old boy from Bollington has launched a campaign to secure the release from captivity of the last performing circus elephant in the UK. Zac Rich was so disgusted when he read a national newspaper report describing the “horrific” conditions the elephant called Annie is forced to live in, that he decided to take action.
2005-07-05 - Vienna, Virginia, United States. Feld Entertainment, Inc.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) today announced the birth of a healthy 314-pound male Asian elephant on June 1, 2005. The calf was born to 29-year-old mother Alana after only four hours of labor. The newborn is Alana’s fourth calf, and was fathered by Charlie, an Asian elephant sire at the CEC.
2005-07-05 - Luanda, Angola.
A region made impassable by civil war in recent decades will be cleared of landmines to allow huge elephant herds to resume their normal spread in southern Africa, Roots of Peace (RoP) and Conservation International (CI) announced today. The U.S.-based non-profit organizations are partners in a project to remove landmines sown during Angola's 26-year civil war from critical access corridors used by elephants between northern Botswana and prime wildlife regions in Angola and Zambia. Once the land...
2005-07-03 - Skukuza, South Africa.
African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are mixed feeders, incorporating varying proportions of grass and browse into their diets. Disagreement persists as to whether elephants preferentially graze or browse, and the degree to which the consumption of these foods is a reflection of their local availability. We used stable carbon isotope analysis of feces to investigate seasonal and spatial variation in the diets of elephants from Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa.
2005-07-03 - Pittsburgh, United States. Linda Wilson Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
He walks amid giants without fear or trepidation. He doesn't bully or hit his charges, who are the six elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. The smallest, a bull calf named Calee, weighs about 3,000 pounds. The largest, a bull named Jackson, weighs more than 10,000 pounds. Willie Theison doesn't give orders. He makes polite requests. "Move up," Theison says, inviting elephants, one at a time, to line up for daily baths. His voice, soft and calm, is louder than a whisper, but not by muc...
2005-07-03 - Sumatra, Malaysia.
AT first glance, the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary almost seems like a theme park where visitors get a chance to ride the elephants and feed them with baskets of luscious fruits. There is even an opportunity to cool off with the elephants in the river during the heat of the day. These, however, are some of the eco-tourism activities that are meant to generate more awareness of the plight of these animals.
2005-07-02 - Okavango, Botswana. Sandi Groves, Grey Matters
Internship leading to the possibility of a Permanent Position in the wilderness area of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Elephant handling of one male and two female African elephants, husbandry and interpretation of elephant biology and behavior for international guests, camp maintenance and daily operations.
2005-07-01 - Chickmagalur, India.
The recently held census of elephants in the Bhadra reserve forest has thrown up some interesting facts. According the census report, the ratio of male and female is 1:2. That means the female population is twice that of the male population. Bhadra Wildlife Section, which completed the census process recently, has forwarded the report to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)in Bangalore.
2005-07-01 - Waterford, Ireland. David O’Mahony
A KERRYMAN is in a “stable but comfortable” condition in Waterford Regional Hospital after being gored by an elephant in Tramore. The animal was part of Circus New York, which has now left the area. Paul Dineen, 35, from Ballyheigue in Co Kerry, underwent emergency surgery on Sunday. He worked at the circus as a rigger, putting up the big top.
2005-06-30 - Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Madad insurance agency has insured two Asian elephants named Prince and Princess, which were delivered to Tashkent zoo from Malaysia. Taking into account the specific character of insurance object, specialists of the insurance company faced some problems when coming to an agreement with administration of the zoo and veterinary service.
2005-06-30 - Borneo, Malaysia. Vijay Joshi
Crouched in the vine-tangled forest of Borneo, where the brightest part of the day seems like dusk, Elis Tambing finally got the elusive animal in his laser sight and fired. The pink-quilled dart found its mark: the rump of the female pygmy elephant, a unique and endangered animal found only in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo Island. Two more shots and the gentle giant, nicknamed Taliwas after the forest where she lives, dozed off standing up, tranquilized for half an hour, ready to be electr...
2005-06-29 - KASANE, Botswana.
According to wildlife biologist Frederick Dipotso, the cause of death is yet to be diagnosed. He said in the past two months they have identified 20 elephant carcasses of which five were in the Chobe River. "We managed to pull out two which were nearer to the river bank." He said the surveillance team found less than 10 buffalo carcasses.
2005-06-29 - Kaziranga, India. Bano Haralu
In Assam, the government has licensed stone quarrying which involves noisy blasting in a reserve forest area that serves as an elephant corridor near Kaziranga National Park. This has resulted in elephants using tea estates as thorough fare, leading to inevitable man animal conflict – angry wild elephants have been attacking the locals.
2005-06-28 - Knysna, South Africa. Jo-Ann Bekker
The killing of an elephant minder at the Knysna Elephant Park raises questions about whether these mammals should be kept in captivity, particularly when they have survived the trauma of a culling. These are the views of Gareth Patterson, who has been studying the small herd of wild elephants in the Knysna forest since 2001. He said the job of elephant trainer or keeper was judged the most dangerous in America, according to statistics kept by the United States bureau of labour. Tobias Ndlovu, 32...
2005-06-27 - Borneo, Malaysia. Jan Vertefeuille, WWF
The collaring team from the Sabah Wildlife Department in Malaysia and WWF's Borneo office are used to the jungle. I was fortunate enough to spend a few days with them to collar five elephants in June. Putting collars on the elephants will be a huge step forward in scientists' understanding of the pygmy elephants and the collars will make keeping track of them much easier for WWF, the only conservation organization working to protect the population.
2005-06-27 - Geneva, Switzerland.
Unregulated markets are continuing to trade ivory openly throughout Africa, an international wildlife monitoring network said ahead of a meeting on Monday at the organisation regulating the global trade in elephant tusks. The network run by the environmental group WWF and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) called on the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) to toughen plans for a clampdown on domestic ivory markets.
2005-06-27 - Guwahati, India.
Two people were trampled to death by wild elephants and a pachyderm was brutally speared to death by angry villagers in Assam, wildlife officials Monday said. A wildlife warden said six elephants entered the Letukajan tea garden in Golaghat district, about 300 km east of the state's main city of Guwahati, on Sunday.
2005-06-27 - Hoedspruit, South Africa.
South Africa made veterinary history in the world by successfully conducting vasectomies on four elephants at Makalali near Hoedspruit in Limpopo. The operation was a second attempt by the local and foreign veterinary teams in about four months. There is a concern on elephant population increase in Africa where research has revealed a threat to the biodiversity of some national parks on the continent.
2005-06-26 - TRIVANDRUM, India.
After the hectic festival schedule, it is time for rejuvenation for the elephants in Punnathur Elephant sanctuary, which is one of largest captive elephant homes in the world. Veterinary doctors are ready to take charge of the 62 elephants with a strict health care regime for 30 days from July 1. A major feature of the annual health care given during monsoon, when elephants are mostly indolent, is Kerala's traditional rejuvenative or restorative therapy.
2005-06-26 - Metro Detroit, United States. JOHN GALLAGHER
Many people know that Hannibal was a Carthaginian general who led his army, including war elephants, across the Alps to attack Rome a couple of centuries before the Christian era began. But to get the feel of that campaign, to sit around the campfires of a multi-ethnic force teeming with rivalries and ambitions, takes more than a dry history.
2005-06-25 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The number of elephants taken from the wild and used in elephant-back safaris has reached a crisis level, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) said. The NSPCA is calling for the government to intervene, as applications from operators flood in, said Rick Allan, manager of the organisation's wildlife unit.
2005-06-23 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
An elephant handler was killed by a bull elephant at the Knysna Elephant Park on Tuesday during a morning excursion, the International Fund for Animal Welfare said on Wednesday. The incident at the park also raises questions regarding the safety of South Africa's burgeoning elephant-back safari and tourism industry, said Ifaw spokesperson Christina Pretorius in a statement.
2005-06-23 - Hugo, Oklahoma, United States.
A federal judge has cleared the way for four elephants to come to The Endangered Ark, a non-profit foundation. However, an appeal being considered by an animal rights group known for its publicity-generating stunts could be forthcoming. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ruled Tuesday that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has no legal standing to intervene in the move, which has not yet been scheduled.
2005-06-22 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) has called for South Africa's growing elephant-back safari and tourism industry to be stopped immediately. Jason Bell-Leask, Ifaw's director in Southern Africa, said: "It needs to be stopped, and it needs to be stopped now."
2005-06-22 - Tucson, United States.
Tucson City Council members say they want to keep the elephants at Reid Park Zoo. Now, they'll have to come up with a plan to expand their pen, so the elephants can be bred. It looks as though Connie and Shaba will see more Tucson summers. That means zoo-goers will be able to see them. "I read the brochure that they had that they were thinking of maybe sending her someplace else, and it's great to have her here," said Mimi Cosentino, a visitor to the zoo.
2005-06-21 - Nairobi, Kenya.
A Tourism assistant minister has opposed plans to transfer 400 elephants from Kwale District to Tsavo East National Park. "Both Tsavo East and West parks have about 10,000 elephants and adding some more will be adding insult to injury," Mr Boniface Mganga said yesterday. According to him, a leaders' meeting to discuss the transfer of the elephants failed to take place on Saturday because a Kenya Wildlife Service director did not inform the Ministry of Tourism on time.
2005-06-20 - Portland, Oregon, United States. PR Oregon Zoo
With no small amount of trumpeting and fanfare-on the part of the elephants, that is-the Oregon Zoo welcomed a new addition to its elephant herd today. Tusko, a 13,500-pound, 33-year-old male Asian elephant, arrived at 6 a.m. and joined Packy and Rama in the zoo's bull elephant group. Upon completion of his required quarantine period, Tusko will make his first public appearance in Oregon in about one month.
2005-06-20 - TOKYO, Japan.
Japanese scientists said Friday that DNA tests have shown that the prehistoric woolly mammoth is more closely related to Asian elephants than to their African counterparts, settling a long-running debate over the lineage of the giant animals that went extinct 10,000 years ago. Nagoya University professor Tomoo Ozawa and his team examined muscle tissue DNA taken from a woolly mammoth excavated in Siberia and determined that the animal and Asiatic elephants branched off from the same ancestor 4.8 ...
2005-06-19 - San Diego, United States. Jeanette Steele
They are a natural spectacle: elephants, with their flapping ears and loose skin like baggy trousers. Many people grew up watching these graceful giants at zoos. But recent controversies in several cities across the country – including the deaths of three elephants that once lived at the San Diego Zoo – spotlight an issue that animal rights advocates are rallying around: Is it humane to keep the largest land mammal on an acre or less, as many zoos do? That question is fast bec...
2005-06-18 - Etosha National Park, Namibia. Fiona Proffitt
American scientists have come up with a hi-tech method of surveying elephants, using military-designed seismic sensors to detect their footsteps. Researchers from the Geophysics Department at Stanford University used the sensors to monitor African elephants and other large mammals in Etosha National Park, Namibia.
2005-06-17 - Portland, Oregon, United States.
Packy, the beloved Asian elephant of the Oregon Zoo, has taken home the 2005 title of Zoo Father of the Year. The Zoo Father of the Year award is special for the pachyderm clan because Packy is the only second-generation captive bull elephant in the world to become a successful father. Two of his offspring, Rama and Sung-Surin, still live with him at the zoo. Oregon Zoo Director Tony Vecchio viewed the Zoo Father of the Year vote as an opportunity to educate the public about Asian elephants
2005-06-17 - Tucson, United States. Jim Becker
Shaba and Connie have been at home at the Reid Park Zoo since most of us can remember. The City of Tucson wants to keep the two elephants, and a lot of Tucson seem to agree. It seems Shaba and Connie are like family. Their handlers have gotten to know them pretty well. Visitors young and old alike know something about them.
2005-06-16 - Nairobi, Kenya. Margaret Oganda
Did you know that baby elephants like to play with sticks and stones? And that they can even play with rubber tubes and balls? These calves are also very friendly, and can become friends with girls and boys. Once one becomes your friend, it will remember you for a long, long time. One sunny morning, pupils from Rosamystica Academy in Mathare, in Nairobi had a special treat: A trip to a place where nine baby elephants live. Their names are Kora, nine months, Buchuma, 12 months , Ndomot, 17 months...
2005-06-16 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia. RUBEN SARIO
Sabah will continue losing its Borneo pygmy elephants unless it takes concrete measures to protect the animals. These steps, Sabah honorary wildlife ranger Datuk Wilfred Lingham said, included the establishment of a wildlife corridor by rehabilitating riverine forests along Sungai Kinabatangan, where the elephants’ habitats were shrinking as oil palm plantations continued to expand.
2005-06-15 - OKLAHOMA CITY, United States.
Former "Golden Girls" actress Rue McClanahan is trying to prevent four elephants from being transferred from Chicago to Hugo, Okla. because they were exposed to another animal with tuberculosis. McClanahan, an Oklahoma native, said she would prefer the four elephants be sent to the Elephant Sanctuary, a 2,700-acre preserve in Hohenwald, Tenn. McClanahan, an honorary director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), wrote a letter to state Rep. Ray McCarter, a Democr...
2005-06-14 - Söderkulla, Finland. Eirik Granqvist
The first mammoth skeleton to be mounted was that of "Adams mammoth" found at the shores of Lena in the late seventeen hundred. It got the left tusk to the right side and the right to the left! Looking very funny and giving model for plenty of very rongly drawed and reconstructed mammoths. Adams mammoth was shown like this in the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg until just after the second world war when the tusks where moved to their correct sides!
2005-06-13 - Salt Lake City, United States.
There are “big” things happening at Hogle Zoo this summer. The Zoo has opened its largest new animal exhibit in 25 years, the “Elephant Encounter” which brings a part of the Serengeti to Salt Lake City in the re-creation of an African plain featuring three African elephants and two white rhinoceros.
2005-06-12 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.
It may be necessary to relocate Sabah's pygmy elephants if they are to survive. Deputy State Wildlife Department Director Laurentius Ambu said such options could help reduce the number of elephants in certain "hotspots," hence allowing better control. Hotspots are where plantations or even villages are located close to wildlife reserves or forests.
2005-06-09 - Jaipur, India.
The city's elephants, especially those ferrying tourists, will soon be able to catch a breath and enjoy a leisurely bath in a pond that the state government plans to build near the Amber Fort. There are 105 elephants in the city, of which 50 are used to ferry tourists to and from the fort situated atop a hill on the outskirts of Rajasthan's historic capital.
2005-06-09 - Western Plains, Australia. Andrew Dunkley
They're awesome creatures and Western Plains Zoo is the only zoo in Australia that exhibits both African and Asian elephants. The new arrivals from Taronga, Heman and Burma are Asians and they've taken very well to their new surroundings. What's more they are sharing their new home for the first time. While in Sydney they were always housed separately.
2005-06-08 - AUGSBURG, Germany.
The addition of black actor in grass skirts to the elephant and rhino exhibits at a zoo in Augsberg, Germany, has sparked accusations of exploitation. Brochures for an upcoming 3-day promotion called "Discover the Dark Continent," the zoo plans to hire blacks to conduct traditional African activities such as basket-weaving, woodwork and various rituals such as tribal dancing, The Scotsman said Wednesday.
2005-06-08 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa.
Elephants are back in South Africa's semi-arid Karoo region for the first time in more than 150 years, adding new life to a harsh environment that saw much of its large wildlife exterminated long ago. The family group of 12 elephants was relocated from South Africa's Kruger National Park to Kuzuko, a 14,500 hectare (35,830 acres) nature reserve on the Karoo's southern boundary.
2005-06-08 - New Delhi, India. Peter Foster
Conservationists are using military-style tactics to protect one of the world's largest Asian elephant populations. An early warning system which uses trip wires, smoke bombs and ropes smeared in a pungent form of chilli that can make even an elephant's eyes water, aims to deter the animals from entering villages in search of easy food. The project in Assam, north-east India, is partly funded by Chester Zoo.
2005-06-07 - Jorhat, India. PULLOCK DUTTA
Hundreds of people from several villages in upper Majuli island are spending sleepless nights guarding their ahu crop from a marauding herd of elephants. Ahu is the main crop for the islanders, harvested just before the floods which hit the island every year. It has turned into a do-or-die situation for the islanders to protect the crop from the pachyderms. The villagers have set up generators on the embankments to prevent the beasts from crossing over them and entering the fields at night. The ...
2005-06-06 - Vienna, Virginia, United States. Feld Entertainment, Inc.
The 38-year-old mother, Mala, delivered a healthy 310-pound female Asian elephant calf at 9:40 p.m. on April 21, 2005, after just 40 minutes of labor. The newborn is Mala’s sixth calf, and was fathered by Charlie, an Asian elephant sire at the CEC. An unprecedented seventeenth birth for the Ringling Bros. CEC.
2005-06-06 - Guwahati, India.
An unsuspecting wild Asiatic elephant that had strayed onto a railway track was mowed down by a speeding passenger train in Assam, officials said Monday. A railway official said the accident took place Sunday near Patharkhula village in eastern Assam, about 160 km from the state's main city of Guwahati. "The Kamrup Express was travelling at a high speed when an adult elephant came on the track. The animal was sliced into two pieces and died almost instantly," B. Das, a railway official said.
2005-06-06 - El Paso, United States. Elizabeth O'Hara
Animal rights activists say it's a rare occasion to hear Juno trumpeting in her El Paso Zoo habitat. They say too often, she and Savannah, the area's only elephants, spend their days endlessly swaying out of the boredom and frustration they get from living at the zoo. "When you go down and see Savannah and Juno standing in their small enclosure with very little shade and not moving around a lot, I'm not sure that teaches children anything," said Marilie Sage, who heads up the local group, "Conce...
2005-06-06 - Houston, United States. SALATHEIA BRYANT
Two hours before opening, handlers at the Houston Zoo busily prepare Thai, Shanti and Methai — their Asian elephant herd — for another day on exhibit and another day in captivity. The pachyderms are on exhibit 365 days a year, in a 25,000-square-foot enclosure, with a wooden platform that allows visitors to watch them wander around.
2005-06-06 - Tucson, United States.
The star's view: The mayor and council will likely consider a resolution committing the city to an expansion of the elephant habitat at the zoo. It should pass. It appears Tucson's elephants could get the support they need to stay at the Reid Park Zoo. The City Council likely will consider a resolution that would pledge Tucson's commitment to expand and improve the elephant habitat by a July 1 deadline.
2005-06-05 - Meru, Kenya. Meera Selva
Animal lovers around the world will soon be able to go online and track their favourite elephants as they move around the Kenyan bush through mobile phone technology.Elephants in some national parks are being fitted with SIM card collars that send a text message telling wardens exactly where the elephants are every hour. That information will soon be available over the internet, and accessible to people who choose to sponsor an animal or make a donation to charity.
2005-06-03 - Palo Alto, United States. Brian Handwerk
Elephants are being pushed into smaller and smaller spaces. And increasingly, they're pushing back. According to the National Geographic Channel documentary Elephant Rage, some 500 people are killed by elephant attacks each year. Such attacks are becoming increasingly common, researchers say.
2005-06-02 - Illinois, United States. Martha Moore
The fate of a dozen elephants in Illinois has become part of the debate over whether wild animals in captivity are being cared for properly — and even whether they can be — far from their natural habitat. (Related story: Neglect claims hamper zoos) Elephants owned by Hawthorn Corp., which rents elephants and lions to circuses, have been bound for new homes since Hawthorn reached an agreement last year with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hawthorn in Richmond, Ill., admitted to 19 violati...
2005-06-02 - Salt Lake City, United States. Amelia Nielson-Stowell,Deseret Morning News
Misha, a 7,240-pound elephant, was the VIP (or "Very Important Pachyderm") to cut the ribbon on Hogle Zoo's new Elephant Encounter exhibit Wednesday.A 110,000-gallon swimming channel, varying terrain, three separate yards and a heated surface area are part of the $5.5 million naturalistic habitat for African elephants Misha, Christie and Hi-Dari and white rhinos George and Princess.
2005-06-01 - Lake Buena Vista, United States. Neiffer DL, Miller MA, Weber M, Stetter M, Fontenot DK, Robbins PK, Pye GW. Disney's Animal Programs, Walt Disney World
Standing sedation was provided for 14 clinical procedures in three African elephants (Loxodonta africana) managed by combined protected and modified-protected contact and trained through operant conditioning. An initial hand-injection of detomidine hydrochloride and butorphanol tartrate at a ratio of 1:1 on a microg:microg basis was administered intramuscularly, with a dosage range of 50-70 mg (12.9-19.7 microg/kg) for each drug.
2005-06-01 - Amboseli, Kenya.
Elephants learn to imitate sounds that are not typical of their species, the first known example after humans of vocal learning in a non-primate terrestrial mammal. The discovery, reported in today's Nature, further supports the idea that vocal learning is important for maintaining individual social relationships among animals that separate and reunite over time, like dolphins and whales, some birds, and bats. Researchers from the Amboseli Trust for Elephants in Kenya, the Woods Hole Oceanograph...
2005-06-01 - Lusaka, Zambia. Chansa Kabwela
THE government's introduction of elephant sport hunting is aimed at benefiting Zambians, tourism minister Patrick Kalifungwa has said. And Kalifungwa urged people involved in the movement of forest produce to follow the right procedures as requested by law. Announcing the introduction of elephant sport hunting in Chiawa, Rufunsa and Lupande game management areas yesterday, Kalifungwa said elephants were of very high economic value and should benefit the local community to compensate for the loss...
2005-06-01 - TUCSON, United States.
Reid Park Zoo needs money for a new elephant enclosure. If it doesn't get it, it will lose the two elephants it has. Sheba, one of the Tucson zoo's two elephants, is in her prime breeding stage. But the zoo's elephant enclosure is less than one-half-acre and isn't large enough to accommodate new residents. Zoo officials want to build a new seven-acre enclosure at a cost of eight (m) million dollars.
2005-05-31 - ASHEBORO, United States.
The North Carolina Zoo will soon have one of the nation's premiere elephant exhibits. In August, construction will start to double the size of the exhibit. The elephant population will also quadruple from three to 12. Many elephant exhibits are closing nationwide because there is not enough space for them to live properly.
2005-05-30 - Illinois, United States. Marc Kaufman
More than two years ago, federal officials concluded that 16 elephants owned by an Illinois circus-animal training business were being mistreated and had to be removed quickly. Facing the possible loss of his license to keep circus animals, the owner of Hawthorn Corp. formally agreed last year to give up his elephants as soon as a new home could be found. Fourteen months after that unprecedented agreement, however, most of the animals remain in an enclosed barn in rural Illinois, their future st...
2005-05-27 - El Paso, United States.
Zoo volunteers are now collecting signatures, petitioning city council to keep Juno and Savannah in El Paso. As we reported, animal rights activists say they've sent about 2 thousand postcards to the mayor's office in the last two and a half weeks asking council to remove the elephants and send them to a sanctuary in Tennessee.
2005-05-25 - ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast. Loucoumane Coulibaly
Terrified by war and hounded by poachers, many of Ivory Coast's remaining elephants have packed their trunks and trundled off to more peaceful neighbours. "Elephant populations have gone to Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana since the outbreak of war. Wildlife officials in those countries have told us so," said Denis Amani Kouame, head of wildlife at Ivory Coast's agriculture ministry.
2005-05-24 - Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. Frederick Philander
People love elephants, and according to a new national poll, most U.S. adults agree that seeing elephants and rhinos in real life fosters a greater appreciation of these majestic animals. According to opinion poll results released by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) today, 95 percent of U.S. adults agree that seeing elephants and rhinos helps people appreciate them more and encourages people to learn more about them and 93 percent agree that it is important that a marine life park...
2005-05-24 - London, United Kingdom.
BILLY SMART Jr, scion of the famous circus family, was a distinguished trainer of horses, but he will be most widely remembered for his ambitious elephant acts, which featured up to 20 full-grown Asiatic elephants. As the baby of the family, Billy Jr was the most indulged. It was said that it was on a whim that Billy Sr and Dolly Smart bought him a complete circus while out driving one Sunday — a costly yet typically big gesture of the showman to his youngest son.
2005-05-23 - ARUSHA, Tanzania.
Marauding elephants continue to cause havoc in northern Tanzania, where they have destroyed 80 hectares of crops and disrupted learning for children who now have to be escorted to school, an official told IRIN on Monday. "Some parents are even afraid to escort their children for treatment in clinics for fear of encountering the animals," said Anthony Malley, the district commissioner for Monduli, northwest of the region's main town, Arusha.
2005-05-23 - Seoul, South Korea. Park Su-ryon
The barbecue restaurant that got a surprise visit from three elephants last month has become a very popular place since reopening last week. The eastern Seoul eatery was closed for a month after the April 21 incident, in which three elephants that had escaped from a nearby zoo burst in, overturning tables and breaking windows. The restaurant's owner, Geum Taek-hun, used the 18 million won ($18,000) she received in insurance compensation to remodel the shop. She also changed the name to "Restaura...
2005-05-22 - Bandipur, India.
Wildlife guide Jayaram Harsha heaves a heavy sigh as he talks about his recent work counting male elephants in southern India. The numbers are down and, he fears, may one day be out. "It is alarming," says Harsha, who says poachers who still kill elephants for their ivory tusks may have decimated the population. This will be determined by the largest ever census of India's Asian elephant population which began recently.
2005-05-20 - Lucknow, India.
Alarmed by reports of the depleting tiger population in the country, Uttaranchal has begun a three-day census to count the elephants living in the state. The census was started on Thursday and would be completed by Saturday. The last census in 2003 estimated a population of 1,582 elephants in the state.
2005-05-17 - Woodbury, United States.
Police answering a complaint about parked vehicles blocking Schunnemunk Road outside Kiryas Joel Sunday night came across an unexpected scene at the unoccupied Achdus Summer Homes bungalow colony. There, at around 6:30 p.m., they found an elephant lumbering and prancing for the delight of 400 to 500 people as circus music played through loudspeakers, police Sgt. Cliff Weeks said. Parked in the vicinity were roughly 50 to 70 cars, a tractor-trailer truck, a dozen school buses and a Kiryas Joel fi...
2005-05-16 - Oregon, United States. AP
Chendra, a ton and a half of Asian elephant, strolls along paths usually busy with families of visitors to the Oregon Zoo. The zoo has six elephants, and she is one of three trained to walk the grounds before visitors arrive. That's important for an elephant program, but the program may be facing problems.
2005-05-15 - Brownsville, United States. KEVIN GARCIA, Brownsville Herald
Having worked with almost every animal at the Gladys Porter Zoo since before it opened in 1971, the 63-year-old general curator Jerry Stones has come to know the zoo’s residents as family. As a result, the March 10 death of 41-year-old African elephant Macho, and subsequent birth of a young male orangutan on April 15, were significant events in his life — something that can be said for anyone who spends enough time with animals.
2005-05-15 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Rosamma Jose
Appu the elephant, who had become closely identified as the celebrity mascot of the Delhi Asian Games in 1982, died at the age of 29 in Kerala’s famous temple town of Guruvayoor yesterday. The end, which came around 12 noon, put a closure to a decade of pain and suffering that the animal underwent since its tragic fall into a septic tank while being led to a temple festival in 1992.
2005-05-15 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Mike Cadman
Should we be capturing wild elephants in South Africa and training them to be ridden by people or to walk alongside them as part of our tourism industry? Some see nothing wrong with the idea and believe it promotes tourism and conservation, but others believe keeping elephants is captivity is cruel, potentially dangerous and merely a money-making exercise.
2005-05-14 - Oregon, United States. Katy Muldoon
Chendra's hips swing gracefully as she hustles along the edge of the concert lawn, past the snow cone stand and up a gentle incline an hour before the Oregon Zoo's gates open. With each step, she leaves enormous round footprints on the dewy pavement. The 2,820-pound Asian elephant trots along paths typically busy with moms pushing strollers and dads toting toddlers. Of the zoo's six elephants, Chendra is one of three trained to walk around the grounds before visitors arrive.
2005-05-14 - Chicago, United States. William Mullen and Jon Yate
Wankie, the last of three Lincoln Park Zoo elephants to die in a six-month period, had an undetected infection that reduced her lung capacity when she was shipped to Salt Lake City--a journey she did not survive. Zoo officials announced Friday that a preliminary pathology report showed Wankie had lung lesions that may have been caused by mycobacterium. Another of the zoo's elephants, 35-year-old Tatima, died in October of an infection of Mycobacterium szulgai, a rare, non-transmissable disease s...
2005-05-14 - Sydney, Australia.
The head of Sydney's Taronga Zoo has rejected allegations a new elephant enclosure will not be appropriate for breeding the endangered animal. The $40 million enclosure is almost complete. It contains hot and cold showers and overhead heating for the elephants, which are to be imported from Thailand.
2005-05-13 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
The elephants at the LA Zoo have always been popular with the public. But now the exhibit could be shut down if Antonio Villaraigosa is elected mayor,NBC4's Doug Kriegel reported. "I have believed for some time that a zoo is not an appropriate place for an animal as large as an elephant," Villaraigosa told Kriegel.
2005-05-12 - KOCHI, India.
The state Forest Department is considering to create a genetic database of elephant and tiger population in the state to counter the threat of poaching and secure sufficient scientific evidence for court convictions. The department has held talks in this regard with the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, the agency that premiered gathering of forensic evidence through DNA fingerprinting in the state.
2005-05-11 - Massachusett, United States. Jon Brodkin, Daily News Staff
Animal rights activists are pressuring lawmakers to ban circus acts involving elephants, bears, lions and other wild or exotic animals, saying the creatures are forced to endure long travel and violent training techniques. A bill supported by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would make this the first state to ban using wild animals for entertainment, the group said. "Attacking the circus is like attacking motherhood and apple pie," said group President Larry Haw...
2005-05-11 - Phoenix, United States. Dennis Wagner
The Phoenix Zoo has retained three independent experts to help resolve a dispute over who should have the final say on wildlife medical care and whether recent mistakes led to a series of deaths and health problems with animals. The controversy pits veterinarians against animal caretakers - keepers, curators and administrators - who are closest to the animals.
2005-05-09 - Jaipur, India.
Jaipur's majestic elephants, living symbols of Rajasthan's royal past, will soon see better days. Despite giving joy rides to tourists who flock at the historic Amber fort everyday, little has been done so far to take care of the jumbos. But now a special shelter is being made to save them from Jaipur's scorching heat, and an 'Elephant Village' will be created to cater to all their needs.
2005-05-08 - Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand.
For years, the sight of mahouts taking their elephants through urban areas in search of food and money has exasperated successive governments. But the solution to this and the illegal trade in elephants, according to the Wildlife Fund Thailand, could lie in new technology: DNA testing.
2005-05-08 - HOSUR, India.
The Forest Department kickstarted its elephant census work in Dharmapuri and Hosur forest divisions on Friday. It is after a gap of three years that a synchronised elephant census covering all southern states is being initiated, a top official in the department said. This is essential to avoid duplication of animal numbers due to result of migration to the neighbouring states, he added. For the first time, nearly 25 NCC cadets also joined the department in its census work this yea...
2005-05-07 - NEW YORK, United States. Jack Myers
Well known paleontologist and conservationist Robert Leakey says climatic changes in the wake of global warming and decreasing forest cover could threaten the existence of animals like elephants, tigers and the rhinoceroses. It could be larger threat than poaching, he adds. Leakey, a former director of Kenya's wildlife service, who has convened an environment conference at Stony Brook University, urged the setting up of a new global fund to protect wildlife.
2005-05-07 - New Delhi, India.
The estimated population of elephants in the country has shown an increase from 25,877 in 1997 to 26,413 in 2002 when the last census was carried out. Elephants have been included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 which prohibits their hunting and also trade in ivory. Export of ivory from the country is also banned. India is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which prohibits international trade in ivory an...
2005-05-06 - TRIPUNITHURA, India.
The beautification of the tusks of elephants owned by the Cochin Devaswom Board is paving way for another controversy with the Forest Department registering a case against the Devaswom officials. Forest Department has registered a case against three persons, including the expert who beautified the tusks. “Action was taken against the officials because the Cochin Devaswom Board did not seek prior permission of the Forest Department to cut the tusks of the elephants,” said Kamaluddin, Kodanad ...
2005-05-05 - Oslo, Norway.
A Polish man was rushed to hospital by helicopter after being squashed between two elephants in Oslo. The 46-year-old animal keeper at the Arnardo circus, which is currently on tour in Norway, was reportedly building a fence around the circus tent when he was suddenly squeezed between the two giant mammals. The man suffered serious injuries to his face and ribs as well as numerous fractures.
2005-05-05 - Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Blair Drummond safari park, Scotland, has an assistant keeper position open. Duties include looking after white rhino, giraffes, and 3 african elephants. Closing date is 20th may 2005.
2005-05-04 - Sydney, Australia. Kate Murray
Although the elephants' "visa" application has not yet been approved by the Federal Government, animal rights groups have said they will challenge the application in court if the elephants do get the go-ahead. Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell said that could mean an extra slug for taxpayers, who have already forked out $40 million for a new elephants' enclosure.
2005-05-03 - Zuerich, Switzerland. Zurich zoo
The Zurich zoo welcomes its new member of the elephant family: On Tuesday, 03 May 2005 at 8.55 am, an elephant baby was born. This new born female elephant shall be called Farha (luck, joy). The elephant cow Ceyla-Himali and the calf are fine: the young calf is the seventh Asian elephant born at the Zurich zoo.
2005-05-03 - Lincoln, Illinois, United States. ANDREW HERRMANN
A City Council hearing on elephant conditions at Lincoln Park Zoo has been postponed - but that doesn't mean the heat is off for zoo officials, an alderman said Monday. Mary Ann Smith (48th), chair of the parks and recreation committee, has reset the hearing for after the postmortem examination of the animal "so we can get to the bottom of this.''
2005-05-03 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
THE National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority yesterday said it is inviting new and old farmers to purchase wild elephants in a move aimed at decongesting elephant-concentrated areas. An official from the authority said the move was also aimed at encouraging new farmers to venture into wildlife production.The elephants are not for export but for wildlife farming by local farmers. The elephants have become heavily concentrated in Matabeleland region, and ecologists have recommended that th...
2005-05-02 - Uppsala, Sweden. SS Lewerin, SL Olsson, K Eld, B Roken, S Ghebremichael, T Koivula, G Kallenius, and G Bolske. National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala
Between 2001 and 2003, there was an outbreak of tuberculosis in a Swedish zoo which involved elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses and buffaloes. Cultures of trunk lavages were used to detect infected elephants, tuberculin testing was used in the giraffes and buffaloes, and tracheal lavage and tuberculin testing were used in the rhinoceroses. Five elephants and one giraffe were found to have been infected by four different strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
2005-05-02 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States. Carol Buckley, The Elephant Sanctuary
Responsibilities: The qualified applicant will be charged with maintaining female African and Asian elephants in two separate multi-hundred acre habitats.Responsibilities include but are not limited to cleaning, food preparation, record keeping, behavior conditioning, construction and facility maintenance. The chosen candidate will be trained (in-house) to manage the elephants using the non-dominance technique of passive control.
2005-05-02 - CHICAGO, United States.
After two African elephants died within months of each other, officials at Lincoln Park Zoo decided to move Wankie, their sole remaining elephant, to Utah so she could live in a habitat with others of her species. But Wankie's health deteriorated while she was en route to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City and officials there were forced to euthanized her before dawn on Sunday, officials said.
2005-04-30 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Basildon Peta
Fresh from his disputed victory in Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections, President Robert Mugabe has turned his sights on the country’s wildlife reserves in a bid to feed thousands of malnourished villagers. Zimbabwe’s national parks have been ordered to work with rural district councils to begin the wholesale slaughter of big game. National park rangers said they had already shot 10 elephants in the past week. The meat was barbecued at festivities to mark 25 years of independence. Four of t...
2005-04-30 - BANGALORE, India. Govind D. Belgaumkar
"Elephantine thanks to the PM"; "Veda saved from a cruel fate"; "Thank you, press." The banners said it all. Bangaloreans — schoolchildren and parents, as well as other animal-lovers — on Friday celebrated the decision of the Central Government to leave the six-year-old elephant, Veda, with its `family' in the Bannerghatta National Park here. The Centre had decided to gift Veda to Armenia to join the only male elephant in a zoo in that country. Animal-lovers here opposed it pointing at the c...
2005-04-29 - Jacksonville, United States.
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is currently seeking an experienced elephant keeper. Preferred qualifications include a degree in biology or related field, a minimum of 2 years experience in an AZA accredited zoo with previous experience working protected contact. Must be familiar with the AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care.
2005-04-28 - London, United Kingdom.
Anne is a 52-year-old Asian elephant - the oldest elephant in the UK and only elephant remaining in a UK circus. Although Anne no longer performs in the ring at Bobby Roberts' Super Circus, she's used as a photographic prop during the interval at £4 a photograph. Had Anne remained in Sri Lanka half a century ago, she would, in all probability, be a mother with calves of her own and be living in a large family group.
2005-04-28 - Orissa, India. Bibhuti Mishra
Orissa will soon use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to protect the state's elephants that are facing serious threat from poachers and human encroachments. By fitting GPS collars on elephants, experts will be able to track their movements, identify encroachments and monitor the movement of poachers too, officials of the Wildlife department said. The initiative is being funded by the Centre and will cover the Mayurbhanj elephant reserve, which includes the Similipal Tiger Reserve. Similipal i...
2005-04-28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Following a request from the Sri Lankan government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has decided to help protect the country's elephants. A proposal was submitted by the Sri Lankan government to the ADB asking for Rs. 51 million for this purpose. However, the funds have not been finalized yet.
2005-04-27 - Montgomery, United States. AZA
The Montgomery Zoo recently added a NEW Africian Elephant Exhibit and is in need of a Zoo Keeper II - Elephants. Here is your chance to get in on the Ground Floor and work in a Brand New, Technologically Advance African Elephant Exhibit. Minimum Qualifications: High school diploma or G.E.D. and two years professional animal care experience within the last 5 years or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
2005-04-27 - St. Louis, United States. AZA
Elephant Handler/Trainer Position Available. Grant™s Farm is a 281 acre wildlife preserve and historical site located just south of the city of St. Louis, Missouri. The Farm is the home of hundreds of exotic animals from around the world. Application Deadline: May 8, 2005.
2005-04-26 - SURAT THANI, Thailand.
National park officials in Thailand's southern province of Surat Thani today voiced fears that wild elephants might be shot by irate local farmers if they continued to encroach on agricultural land. Mr. Nattaphol Rattanaphan, head of the Tai Rom Yen National Park, expressed his concerns during a meeting of national park officials, noting that a herd of six elephants had recently encroached on land in tambon Klon Sa in a desperate search for food and water.
2005-04-25 - Siliguri, India.
The West Bengal Police have arrested one person and recovered six pieces of ivory worth more than 8,000 dollars from him. Bhushan Roy was arrested when police sent a decoy team to strike a deal on the outskirts of Siliguri town in Darjeeling district. Police said ivory pieces weighed 7.9 kilograms and would fetch more than 8,000 dollars in the international market.
2005-04-25 - ORLANDO, Florida, United States. Christina Ficara
Disney suffers a “profound loss” after an expectant mother at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom loses her baby at birth. The African elephant died in its mother’s womb Sunday afternoon. The mother elephant, Ibala, 26, went into labor early Saturday night after a 22-month gestation period. During the following hours, her contractions lessened, and a veterinarian had to induce labor. By late Sunday, veterinarians determined through an ultrasound that the baby elephant had died.
2005-04-25 - Assam, India.
Fifty elephants in colourful velvet robes and tinkle anklets marched into a remote village here at the launch of a week-long festival, aimed at ending conflict between the animals and locals. Lumbering their way into an open field, the elephants raised their trunks and their khaki-clad mahouts waved silk flags to salute hundreds of visitors at the festival.
2005-04-25 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
Park authorities in South Africa have delayed making a decision on ways to curb the exploding elephant population in the Kruger National Park as experts remain divided on the issue, according to a news report on Sunday. Scientists and managers at South African National Parks have asked for a delay in a report, due to be released at the end of this month, recommending methods to reduce the number of elephant in the park, the Sunday Independent said.
2005-04-24 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Mike Cadman, Sunday Independent (SA)
A least nine elephants were shot, four by Zimbabwean National Parks scouts, and used as meat for celebrations to mark the 25th year of Zimbabwe's independence. A least nine elephants were shot, four by Zimbabwean National Parks scouts, and used as meat for celebrations to mark the 25th year of Zimbabwe's independence, according to conservationists. Four elephants, part of a herd which is accustomed to people and easy to approach, were shot in full view of tourists close to the Bumi Hills Hotel, ...
2005-04-22 - HARARE, Zimbabwe. JANE FIELDS
FACED with worsening food shortages, president Robert Mugabe’s officials have resorted to killing elephants to pacify hungry Zimbabweans, it was claimed yesterday. Game rangers near the western resort town of Kariba were told to kill at least four elephants ahead of celebrations to mark Zimbabwe’s 25th anniversary of independence this week, said Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF).
2005-04-21 - Paignton, United Kingdom. Sam Marsden, PA
Two female elephants have been split up at night after a tussle left one of them injured, zoo staff said today. Keepers at Paignton Zoo in Devon acted after discovering that Gay, an Asian elephant, had wounds apparently caused by the tusks of Duchess, an African. The pair, who both weigh four tonnes and are aged about 35, have lived together happily since arriving at the zoo from Longleat Safari Park in 1977.
2005-04-20 - Kampala, Uganda.
An Indian tourist at a wildlife reserve in northern Uganda was killed by an elephant when he and several compatriots tried to get a close look at the pachyderm and her calf, officials said on Tuesday. The slain safari-goer was one of six Indian visitors in the Murchison Falls National Park on Sunday to have misjudged the distance between themselves and a group of elephants and were charged, the officials said.
2005-04-20 - SEOUL, South Korea.
Six elephants escaped from an amusement park Wednesday and injured a woman as they rampaged through the South Korean capital, officials said. All of the animals were eventually captured and returned to the park. One elephant charged into an alley near an elementary school and hit a 52-year-old woman, Roh In-sun, with its trunk, Yonhap news agency said. She was being treated at a hospital.
2005-04-19 - Houston, United States. SALATHEIA BRYANT
Shanti, the Houston Zoo's reluctant mother, is pregnant again. The Asian elephant who gave birth to baby Bella last August is expected to have her second calf in late 2006. The pregnancy may have occurred outside the breeding protocol to which members of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, or AZA, must adhere. The zoo first should have sought a recommendation for this second birth, according to the chairman of the advisory committee overseeing the group's elephant species survival plan.
2005-04-19 - Washington, United States. ROB CRILLY
A CONGOLESE botanist who stayed at his post to protect a nature reserve at the height of his country’s bitter civil war has won one of the world’s top environmental awards. Corneille Ewango negotiated with gunmen to stop them shooting elephants and gorillas for meat, and even found time to discover new species of trees. Yesterday, he was named one of the winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize, worth £65,000. "It’s my contribution to advancing science," he said. "Even if I die, I would...
2005-04-18 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo is currently seeking an individual for a keeper position working with elephants. This individual will carry out all aspects of the daily care of assigned animals including cleaning, feeding, grooming, and observing animals. Responsibilities include, but not limited to, observing and evaluating animal conditions, providing daily husbandry, enrichment, training, exhibit maintenance, and record keeping.
2005-04-18 - El Paso, United States. AZA
This individual supervises and participates in the care and management of the segment of the Zoo's animal collection consisting of elephants, non-domestic hoof stock, primates, marine mammals and other exotic animals and the associated maintenance of exhibits, animal facilities grounds and service areas.
2005-04-18 - Cabinda, Angola.
Undetermined number of elephants are destroying tillage of the peasants in the districts of Buco Zau and Belize in far northern Cabinda province, it was denounced today by the co-ordinator of a bio-diversity project, Alfredo Buza. Mr Buza said that the gravity of the situation jeopardises the communities' food sustenance. He added that there has arrived last week in the region a British expert in handling of elephants, to study the situation.
2005-04-18 - Wyoming, United States. Bjorn Carey
One million years ago, elephants and their cousins roamed the five major continents of the earth. Then humans came along. Today elephants can be found only in portions of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.There is a long-running debate over what drove elephants to extinction in some parts of the world and completely wiped other two other proboscideans, mammoths and mastodons. The two most argued hypotheses for their decline are climatic changes and over-hunting by humans. A recent archaeological...
2005-04-18 - KAMPALA, Uganda. GEOFFREY MULEME
The once-threatened elephant population in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park increased by more than 1,000 during the past three years, partly because of animals fleeing poachers and civil war in neighboring Congo, a government wildlife official said Monday. Thousands of elephants in the park were slaughtered in the 1970s by dictator Idi Amin's soldiers and in the 1980s by rebel armies. The area is now protected, and the elephant population is booming because animals are leaving adjacent Vir...
2005-04-17 - Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand.
Local officials in Prachuab Khiri Khan today made a desperate appeal to the government, urging them to permit the construction of low-voltage electric fences to prevent herds of elephants from encroaching on local pineapple fields. In a continuation of the long-running battle between man and beast in Kuiburi district, Mr. Chaliew Jermwongrattanachai, a member of the Hat Kham tambon administrative organization, told reporters that around 130 elephants living in the Kuiburi National Park we...
2005-04-16 - RANGOON, Myanmar.
As military-ruled Burma sinks deeper into economic stagnation, only the country's famed elephants may be assured of jobs. Eighty percent of Burma's 4,000 tame elephants work in the timber industry, moving 700,000 tons of teak and other precious wood for export, which annually brings in more than $300 million. As long as the country depends on the timber industry to get foreign currency, elephants will be crucial, U Aung Myint, an official of a government-owned timber company, recently told the M...
2005-04-15 - ST. LOUIS, United States.
Around the St. Louis Zoo living area of Raja the male elephant, there's big news these days - he's apparently going to have a daughter. Blood tests indicate that Raja's first offspring will be a female, due around the first week of November. Martha Fischer, curator of the zoo's mammals-ungulates, said the baby's gender won't be known for sure until its birth.
2005-04-15 - POLK CITY, United States. Amber Smith
An elephant handler who was kicked by an elephant Wednesday is expected to make a full recovery. David R. Mannes, 52, of Clermont, was airlifted to Lakeland Regional Medical Center at 9 p.m. Wednesday after being kicked by an elephant at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Elephant Conservation Center near Old Grade Road in Polk City.
2005-04-15 - HOUSTON, United States.
Officials with the Houston Zoo announced they were forced to put the zoo's baby Asian elephant, Bella, to sleep Friday morning, Local 2 reported. Bella was recovering from surgery to repair a fractured right femur. Zoo officials said the 552-pound elephant stumbled on the soft ground, fell and fractured her leg Tuesday. The elephant, whose mother rejected her after birth, underwent 2½ hours of surgery in which doctors used four pins and a rod to repair the broken leg.
2005-04-15 - POLK CITY, United States. STEVEN N. LEVINE
An Indian elephant that seriously injured its trainer late on Wednesday will most likely rejoin the herd in a few weeks, Ringling Bros. vice president said on Thursday. Bruce Read, Ringling Bros. vice president of animal stewardship, said Tova, a 36-year-old female pachyderm weighing 6-7 tons, exhibited normal elephant hierarchy behavior about 9 p.m. when it trampled David R. Mannes, 52, of Clermont.
2005-04-15 - Kollam, India. Ignatius Pereira
The 64-year-old tusker was adjudged the most handsome among domesticated elephants in the State last year. If elephants are animals with good memory, the celebrated tusker Gajaratnam Guruvayur Padmanabhan will never forget his maiden visit to Kollam on Wednesday. The warm receptions accorded to the mammoth dignitary right through the 25 km journey from Karunagapally to the Asramam Sri Krishna Swamy Temple in Kollam were rousing enough much to the envy of at least some human celebrities. ...
2005-04-15 - Kigali, Rwanda.
Kigali - The aggressive behaviour of a rogue elephant in a Rwandan wildlife preserve has prompted an unusual warning from the United States embassy in Kigali, normally more concerned with threats posed by humans. The embassy said visitors to Lake Ihema in northern Rwanda's Akagera Game Park should take extra security precautions because of the rogue beast that was becoming increasingly violent.
2005-04-14 - Indianapolis, United States. AZA
The Indianapolis Zoo is seeking a professional to join the staff of their progressive and internationally respected elephant program. The Indianapolis Zoo is known for its’ pioneering research in training, reproduction, and artificial insemination. We currently have 1.4 African elephants. The program will be expanding with the upcoming births of two calves. Experience with elephants is essential. Experience with elephant births and calves preferred.
2005-04-14 - Khao Yai, Thailand.
19 teenage bulls are the focus of this article. The researchers' observations show that they are currently forging out their personal home ranges _ each bull will need an area of about 120 square kilometres and herein lies the first issue. Is Khao Yai big enough for all of these boys? If each of the 23 identified bulls requires an area of 120 square kilometres, they will need a total area of 2,760 square kilometres. Khao Yai is only 2,168 square kilometres. And don't forget the bu...
2005-04-14 - POLK CITY, United States. Dana Willhoit, The Ledger
Paramedics airlifted a man trampled by an elephant shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. David R. Mannes, 52, was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center after the incident, which happened on Old Grade Road, near Polk City. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Elephant Conservation Center is located nearby.
2005-04-12 - Washington, United States. Steve Connor, Science
Elephants have been hunted to extinction on several continents and their global demise over the millennia is the direct result of human migration rather than climate change, scientists have found.
2005-04-12 - Nashville, United States. Judy Sarles, Nashville Business Journal
More than 6,600 people turned out April 9 to the official opening of the Nashville Zoo's Cal Turner Family Foundation African Elephant Savannah exhibit. The zoo was expecting 5,000 to 8,000 people and the turnout was 6,651. On average, Saturday attendance at the zoo ranges between 4,000 to 5,000. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $3.5 million, three-acre elephant habitat, the Turner family was presented with a framed poster of art created by the exhibit's African elephants, Kiba, Sukari and H...
2005-04-12 - Gauhati, India.
An elephant has gone berserk in a busy shopping area of a north-eastern Indian city, killing two people and injuring two others, a forest ranger said. People ran for their lives when its keeper lost control of the animal in Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, forest guard Narayan Mahanta said.
2005-04-11 - Ranchi, India.
Jharkhand has hired two elephants trained in helping control wild tuskers that have killed 250 people in the state in over four years. A forest department official said the elephants, called 'kunkis', have been acquired from Assam for 25 years with their mahouts at Rs.350,000. The official said that two kunkis hired earlier for a year had been found to be very handy in trapping wild elephants, which stray into the villages, damage crops and houses and even kill people.
2005-04-11 - Kaziranga, India. NISHIT DHOLABHAI
This is a piece of news that will warm the cockles of every conservationist’s heart. An elephant census at the Kaziranga National Park has revealed an increase in the population of the species by nearly 200, no mean feat given the intensity of the man-animal conflict in Assam. The encouraging report comes close on the heels of a grand centenary bash at the park.
2005-04-09 - LOS ANGELES, United States. Catherine Saillant and Gregory W. Griggs
Construction crews have uncovered the skeleton of a fossilized mammoth believed to be older than the ancient beasts found at the La Brea Tar Pits. Larry Agenbroad, one of the nation's foremost mammoth experts, called the find "spectacular," especially if, as he suspects, it turns out to be of the rare meridionalis species.
2005-04-08 - SAN ANDREAS, California, United States. HUGH McDIARMID JR.
The Detroit Zoo elephants, Wanda and Winky, arrived safety at the Ark 2000 elephant sanctuary today at about 8 a.m. Eastern time. It took about 15 minutes for workers to unload Wanda starting at about 8:30 a.m., and she has been making herself comfortable at the sanctuary in San Andreas, about 70 west of Sacramento. Scott Carter, director of conservation and animal welfare for the Detroit Zoo, said he called zoo director Ron Kagan this morning and told him that “Wanda is curious, active and do...
2005-04-07 - Memphis, United States. Memphis Zoo, Memphis, TN
We have an opening for a Keeper in our Pachyderm/Hooved Stock area. This position requires a minimum of two years of experience in exotic animal care, including one to two years of experience in a protected contact environment with elephants, and a college degree in zoology, biology or a related field (or the equivalent combination of education and experience).
2005-04-07 - Johannesburg, South Africa.
A campaign to oppose the removal of elephants from the wild for commercial purposes was launched this week by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and its partner organisation the Ethical Conservation Network. "Born to be Wild" was launched after IFAW and the ECN were concerned that, with growing numbers of elephants on private reserves, the temptation to sell off perceived excess stock of baby elephants to buyers in the tourism industry is great.
2005-04-06 - Nebraska, United States. PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI
The aging and arthritic Detroit Zoo elephants, Winky and Wanda, spent much of today rolling through Nebraska, munching on watermelon and sipping all the Gatorade they wanted in their specially-designed trailer that’s taking them to a California sanctuary. Once out of Nebraska, their trip will take them though Wyoming and Nevada. They’re expected to arrive at the sanctuary sometime Thursday.
2005-04-05 - ROYAL OAK, Michigan, United States. UPI
The Detroit Zoo's aging elephants left Tuesday morning for the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary near Sacramento, Calif. The 2,300-mile trek in a retrofitted moving van will take 52 hours, the Detroit Free Press reported on its Web site. Wanda, 46, and Winky, 51, have been on a new, more aggressive regimen of anti-inflammatory drugs for two weeks. Wanda, whose arthritis is more severe than Winky's, will be able to take weight off her hindquarters by sitting on custom-made barriers.
2005-04-05 - Singhbhum, India. Anupam Rana
For the first time, a scientific approach was adopted by the state forest and environment department when it conducted a census in the Singhbhum elephant reserve last month. Guidelines issued by the Government of India prompted the officials to carry out the survey. Chief wildlife warden U.R. Biswas, who was in Chaibasa for a foresters’ training programme, said the census was conducted at the lowest forest segment (sub-beat level) in each territorial forest division of the elephant reserve.
2005-04-04 - Jaipur, India. Anindita Ramaswamy, Sapa-dpa
If you own an elephant and don't know how to keep it happy, you could learn a few lessons from Parbati Barua, Asia's only female "mahout" (elephant handler). Did you know that elephants have a "sour tooth", with a particular liking for tamarind? Or that they enjoy a daily, hour-long massage, preferably in a circular motion with a pumice stone?
2005-04-03 - Sydney, Australia. Angela Cuming
Almost everything is ready for the opening of Taronga Zoo's Asian Elephant Rainforest enclosure - except for the elephants themselves. The $40 million enclosure is due to open midyear but the five elephants have not arrived on Australian soil because the Federal Government has not been granted an import licence.
2005-04-02 - NORFOLK, United States.
The Norfolk Zoo has a new addition, a 35-year-old African elephant named Cita. The elephant arrived this week to join Monica and Lisa, two other female elephants who have lived at the zoo for more than 30 years. The Indianapolis Zoo donated Cita to Norfolk to make room for the calves that two pregnant elephants are expected to bear later this year.
2005-04-01 - Jakarta, Indonesia.
Wild elephants trampled three farmers to death in a national park on Indonesia's Sumatra island, as the villagers scavenged for lumber left behind by illegal loggers, a government official said on Friday.
2005-03-29 - Sparks, United States.
Bertha was really special. We built her the Elephant Palace with a swimming pool. Jenda Smaha was a trainer from Czechoslovakia. One day he came in, and he said, “I quit.” Now what would you do with two elephants? I got on the phone and started calling all the circuses to find a trainer. We found T.J. Madison in Vermont. He was with Barnum and Bailey or some such. He was a very handsome man, six-three, a very, very nice person with a good personality.
2005-03-28 - WALNUT CREEK, United States. Chris Metinko, Knight Ridder Newspapers
In some people's minds, elephants are the ultimate symbol of strength and power. But on this particular Thursday morning, 36-year-old African elephant M'Dunda was more than content to stand in a restraint chute and eat carrots and potatoes. Oakland Zoo elephant manager Jeff Kinzley was scrubbing her feet. "The leading cause of death among elephants in captivity is foot problems," Kinzley said. "You have to look carefully."
2005-03-28 - Bangkok, Thailand. Connie Levett
Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been accused of elephant diplomacy in the war of words over nine elephants destined for export to Australian zoos. "Our Prime Minister promised the Australian government to give nine elephants; he has promised many countries," said Soraida Salwala, founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant.
2005-03-27 - Jaipur, India.
Dozens of elephants in colourful velvet robes, jewellery and anklets marched with pride and aplomb as hundreds of awe-struck foreigners and locals cheered the majestic animals in Jaipur. The city is holding a month-long festival to promote tourism.
2005-03-27 - Limpopo, South Africa. Leon Marshall
The great elephant herds of the Kruger National Park, under threat of culling, are migrating in growing numbers across the border into Mozambique's adjacent Limpopo Park. Flying by helicopter over Limpopo Park last Friday, we could see several herds and single bulls moving through the bush that had formerly been denuded of game by Mozambique's protracted war and by serving as a coutada, or hunting ground, under earlier Portuguese colonial rule.
2005-03-27 - HARARE, Zimbabwe. Xinhuanet
Residents in Hwange, some 800 km west of Zimbabwean capital Harare, are having sleepless nights following the invasion of the town by stray elephants that are destroying property and fruit trees, according to Sunday News. The elephants are running away from the nearby national park in search of drinking water. It is believed that green trees are now scarce in the parks and the jumbos were being attracted to the residential areas by green mango trees.
2005-03-26 - SAN FRANCISCO, United States. Patricia Yollin
In the final moments, she had a chain to play with and sugar cane to eat. And then Tinkerbelle was put to sleep -- a sad and quiet end to the life of an Asian elephant who had charmed San Francisco Zoo visitors for more than three decades before turning into one of the most political animals in the country. The 39-year-old pachyderm was euthanized early Thursday afternoon after collapsing at the Sierra foothills sanctuary she moved to in November. ...
2005-03-25 - Sydney, Australia.
More than $50 million has been spent to import an endangered species but the plan is unravelling, writes Andrew Darby. In the confines of a quarantine station in Thailand, nine Asian elephants are waiting to start new lives in Taronga, Melbourne and Auckland zoos. Their stay was supposed to last only three months but they have been in quarantine for nearly six months.
2005-03-24 - New York, United States. Johns Hopkins University school of medicine
Afrotheria - the theory, based on molecular evidence, that a superorder of mammals from aardvarks to elephants had its origins in Africa - could be in trouble before most people have learned to spell it. One of the groups embraced within the Afrotheria concept is macroscelideans, or elephant shrews. There are 15 of these small mammals and they all live in Africa. But, Shawn Zack of Johns Hopkins University school of medicine and colleagues report in Nature today, they may not have evolved in Afr...
2005-03-24 - Sukhothai, Thailand. JARUNEE TAEMSAMRAN
Sukhothai province, where two historical ruins that have been declared World Heritage sites by Unesco are located, is inviting visitors who want to witness and participate in a centuries-old tradition scheduled to take place next month. From April 7-12, the usually quiet Si Satchanalai historical park in Tambon Had Siao, Si Satchanalai district will be transformed into a festive venue where ancient religious and cultural ceremonies of the local Thai Phuan people will be staged.
2005-03-23 - Amboseli, Kenya. BRYN NELSON
For a bored adolescent elephant, the call of the wild can sound much like a truck. In a new study, researchers describe surprising evidence for vocal learning and imitation by an orphaned 10-year-old African savanna elephant named Malaika, who mimicked the sound of trucks rumbling within a few miles of her hillside enclosure in Tsavo, Kenya. Joyce Poole, research director for the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, said she didn't believe Mlaika -- who has since died -- was trying to call out to...
2005-03-23 - Hwange, Zimbabwe. Christopher Munnion
Horrified tourists have fled from Hwange national park, Zimbabwe's largest game reserve, after witnessing the "wholesale slaughter" of animals, part of what conservation groups fear is an officially sanctioned poaching ring. A collection of elephant tusks ‘Indications are that the country's game is being plundered’ Operation Nyama, or "Operation Meat", is ostensibly a campaign to feed starving villagers in northern Matabeleland. But indep...
2005-03-22 - The Crags, South Africa.
Elephants have been introduced to the Knysna area right next door to two major eco-tourism attractions. Elephants of Eden is located at The Crags - and its closest neighbours are Monkeyland and Birds of Eden. While there have been reports of sightings of wild elephants in deep forest areas near Knysna, these are rare. Efforts to reintroduce elephants in an area that once accommodated Africa's southernmost herd have only enjoyed modest success in the past. Elephants ...
2005-03-21 - Oakland, United States. Chris Metinko
In some people's minds, elephants are the ultimate symbol of strength and power. But on this particular Thursday morning, 36-year-old African elephant M'Dunda was more than content to stand in a restraint chute and eat carrots and potatoes. Oakland Zoo elephant manager Jeff Kinzley was scrubbing her feet. The change to protected contact was spurred on after an elephant killed his trainer in 1991. Ten years later, Smokey, the zoo's bull elephant, died unexpectedly.
2005-03-20 - Lusaka, Zambia. Brighton Phiri
ELEPHANTS have forced some people out of their villages in chief Nyalugwe's area. In an interview, chief Nyalugwe of the Nsenga people in Nyimba district confirmed the elephants' invasion, which had left many people without food in his chiefdom. "The majority of our people have lost their food because the elephants have destroyed both the maize fields and storages in the villages," chief Nyalugwe said. He said one of the villagers last week sustained a broken leg as he ran for his...
2005-03-17 - Jim Corbett National Park, India. India News
The world famous, Jim Corbett National Park, suffered a major loss when the park lost one of its Elephants after it was electrocuted. The elephant was killed due to electrocution on the outskirts of the national park. The elephants from the park venture out to the nearby fields, adjoining the national park, and at times destroy the crops of the villagers. This led to certain villagers putting up electrified fences to prevent the elephants from venturing into and des...
2005-03-17 - KHARTOUM, Sudan. MOHAMED OSMAN
International groups fighting the poaching of ivory accuse Sudanese officials of doing too little to stop a trade that is rapidly reducing the numbers of elephants in Africa. But in sprawling Sudanese markets where ivory curios are sold, merchants complain the wildlife authorities are too diligent, if anything. They accuse officials of harassment by carrying out checks to see if they are selling legal, antique ivory. They are wary of speaking to a reporter.
2005-03-16 - Toledo, United States.
Another controversy regarding animal care has surfaced at the Toledo Zoo, this time involving the African elephant, Renee. Zoo offcials say that while Renee was being treated for Colic this week, a keeper mistakenly injected her with mineral oil instead of pain reliever. The Zoo's press release indicates that the mistake was discovered immediately and that the injection site was lanced and flushed and that the 26 year old elephant is doing well. Renee is the mother of Louis who was born two y...
2005-03-16 - CAMP KOMBO, Cameroon. Andrew Gray
Desire Dontego is no longer an elephant poacher but he can still boast like one. "I was known as the killing machine," he declared after darkness fell in the Cameroon rainforest, the constant chirping of insects the only sound apart from his voice. Dontego, a 39-year-old father of three, now works on a project to protect endangered species rather than kill them. In densely wooded southeastern Cameroon, the authorities and global conservation organization WWF are try...
2005-03-16 - Beijing, China. People's Daily Online
A delegation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) recently completed a visit to China, during which they investigated the protection of Asian Elephants and trade of ivory in China. The delegation came to the conclusion that China had made great efforts at protecting Asian Elephant population and habitats, standardizing the management of ivory processing and trade, severely cracking down on illegal smuggling and trade of ivory etc. and had...
2005-03-15 - Kampala, Uganda. Chris Ahimbisibwe
Four elephants from Queen Elizabeth National Park invaded Rubengye village in Burere sub-county, Bushenyi district and left crop gardens destroyed. The area councillor, Ephraim Biraro, revealed this on Friday during a district council meeting.
2005-03-15 - Nairobi, Kenya. Tony Dennis
A RELIABLE SOURCE informs the INQ that conservationists in Kenya have been fitting elephants with mini mobile phones. The phone gives away the elephant's location via a text (SMS) message. The purpose of the exercise is to stop the elephants trampling valuable crops. When the elephants start to move towards the planted fields, the farmers are alerted and can head the herd off before any damage is done.
2005-03-15 - Nairobi, Kenya. Wangui Kanina
SUDAN'S army has illegally slaughtered thousands of elephants and exported the ivory to China, where it is made into chopsticks, a conservationist said today. The army was responsible for the slaughter of elephants in southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic before transporting the ivory to dealers in Khartoum and Cairo, said Esmond Martin, who is based in Kenya. Mr Martin said a 20-year civil war in southern Sudan had made it difficult to d...
2005-03-11 - BROWNSVILLE, United States.
A 41-year-old elephant believed to be the oldest of its kind in North America died Thursday. Macho, a male African elephant, died at the Gladys Porter Zoo where he had lived since the zoo opened in 1971. The cause of death had not been determined, but zoo officials said possibilities include stroke, blood clot, neurological deficit or infectious disease.
2005-03-10 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya's elephant population has jumped by about 10% in the past three years due to a strict clampdown on poaching in the east African nation, the country's wildlife authority said on Thursday. "In 2002, we estimated there were 27 000 elephants, now we estimate that the elephants have increased to about 30 000," Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesperson Edward Indakwa said. "Due to improved monitoring and surveillance, we have managed to cut down on poaching of eleph...
2005-03-10 - Chicago, United States. ANDREW HERRMANN
In a Democratic town like Chicago, the donkeys rule at City Hall. But elephants made an appearance Wednesday as an alderman called for the closing of Lincoln Park Zoo's pachyderm exhibit and for its last occupant to be shipped to a sanctuary. Aldermen have no direct jurisdiction over the zoo. But Alderman George A. Cardenas (12th) said he introduced his resolution in the hope that zoo officials will testify about conditions at the North Side facility. The resolution...
2005-03-09 - Gaborone, Botswana.
Botswana's president is seeking support from neighbouring Zambia for a proposal that would allow it to cull elephants and sell their ivory, officials said on Tuesday. President Festus Mogae is expected to ask visiting Zambian President Levi Mwanawasa for support to downgrade the status of elephants under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites, a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity. The official said Botswana ha...
2005-03-07 - Bhopal, India. India News
Forest personnel and mahouts will try and understand the sexual behaviour of elephants in an exercise that officials hope will help them tame the animals. K.C. Pannikar, an expert with the Elephant Institute in Kerala's Thrissur district, will conduct the training March 19 to 24. Around 100 mahouts and officials from the Satpura, Bandhavgarh and Kanha national parks of Madhya Pradesh will take part. "The workshop will teach the mahouts about elephant physiology and ...
2005-03-07 - BEIJING, China. Xinhuanet
China has taken measures to protect Asian, or Indian, Elephants and their wild habitats in thepast years, which helped stabilize the number of the species in the country. China now has 150 to 250 wild Asian Elephants living in Yunnan Province, the southwest of the country, according to the State Administration of Forestry.
2005-03-04 - KATIMA MULILO, Namibia. Peter Apps
Botswana's burgeoning elephant population is increasingly thundering across the border into neighboring Namibia and causing havoc, an environmental development group says. A crack down on poaching to boost tourism and years without culling and disease has allowed Botswana's elephant population to swell to over 100,000. But the group, a Namibian organization backed by the World Wildlife Fund, says there are now too many.
2005-03-04 - HARTFORD, Connecticut, United States.
They may appear to be passive pachyderms, but performing elephants can be deadly, say some lawmakers who want to ban them from traveling shows and circuses in Connecticut. Elephants are trained through pain, force and fear, they say. Such experiences, combined with the effects of captivity, drive some to go on rampages and trample human beings, sometimes to death, activists say. "When they're not in their little pens, they're chained up," said Tom Rider, a former ...
2005-03-03 - Paris, France. Régis Debruyne
Recent molecular phylogenies of the African elephants suggest that there is an evolutionary structure within Loxodonta africana. Some nuclear results (Roca et al., 2001) support the separation of the forest African elephant subspecies L. a. cyclotis as a species distinct from the savannah elephant L. a. africana, on the basis of the recognition of both forming highly divergent (reciprocally monophyletic) clades.
2005-03-03 - Tucson, United States.
Do Tucsonans want to keep elephants as an attraction at the Reid Park Zoo? Are they willing to pay part of the $8.5 million to do it? Those questions are very much up in the air, and reactions on the issue have been mixed. Zoo officials told the City Council Tuesday a new $8.5 million enclosure needs to be built by 2009 that would allow the zoo's 25-year-old African elephant, Shaba, to be bred. If the new enclosure isn't built, the zoo would likely lose Shaba to another zoo with facilities to br...
2005-03-02 - Seattle, United States. TOM PAULSON
It is no small feat to artificially impregnate an elephant. The basics of artificial insemination may be routine, but a glance into the elephant house at the Woodland Park Zoo yesterday evening should have been enough to convince anyone that this super-sized branch of animal husbandry poses some uniquely huge problems. The object of this attention is Chai, the zoo's 26-year-old Asian elephant. She is already a mother, having given birth to Hansa, now 4, by natural means. But this required the st...
2005-03-02 - TUCSON, United States.
Reid Park Zoo could lose its two elephants if the City of Tucson doesn't come up with the money for a new eight and a-half (m) million-dollar enclosure. Councilman Steve Leal (lay-AHL') is balking at the price, saying the city has limited resources for parks and recreation facilities. No formal request for funds has been made, however. The zoo says it'll have to ship one of its African elephants, Shaba, to another zoo for breeding if the elephant encl...
2005-03-02 - SEATTLE, United States.
A ticklish business, artificially inseminating an elephant. With the help of high-tech ultrasound and computer gear, special protective clothing, wheelbarrows and not a little cooperation from Chai, a 26-year-old Asian elephant, Woodland Park Zoo officials hope the complicated process led by two German scientists will result in the pachyderm giving again birth, as she did four years ago. Chai got pregnant by natural means last time around, but it wasn't all candy and flowers. She ...
2005-03-01 - Sydney, Australia. AAP
ANIMAL welfare groups want zoos in Australia and New Zealand to reveal their plans for the importation of nine elephants from Thailand. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), RSPCA Australia and the Humane Society International (HSI) say a consortium of zoos - led by Melbourne Zoo, Sydney's Taronga Zoo and Auckland Zoo - was refusing to reveal information it gave the Australian Government about its permit application. Despite repeated requests and an application made under the Freedom...
2005-02-28 - SINGAPORE, Singapore.
The Singapore zoo is using an old Asian remedy to treat sick animals: acupuncture. The latest patient is Tun, a 15-year-old Asian elephant whose right leg was crushed by a male elephant nine years ago. Zookeepers worried that Tun, who weighs 5,291 pounds, might not be able to settle her weight on her lame leg as she grew heavier. Veterinarian and acupuncturist Oh Soon Hock, who has poked and prodded giraffes, cheetahs and Komodo dragons in the name of medicine, started treating Tun a month and a...
2005-02-28 - KOTA BARU, Malaysia. Sharifah Mahsinah Syed Abdullah
THE Jeli district recorded the highest number of complaints on damages made by elephants with 185 cases over the past three years. Kelantan Wildlife Department director Pazil Abdul Patah said in the same period, villagers from the other districts including Gua Musang, Kuala Krai and Tanah Merah filed 325 reports. He said the department managed to capture four elephants in Gua Musang from 2002 to 2004 while the latest was captured in Kampung Legeh, Jeli early this mo...
2005-02-26 - DA PAM, India. AFP
Since his elephant Ramu died last week, a distraught Dharanidhar Bhumiz has been unable to sleep. “I didn’t have money to treat Ramu. I don’t feel like eating and while sleeping, Ramu continues to haunt me,” Bhumiz told AFP. Ramu was one of three bull elephants Bhumiz kept in the dusty village of Da Pam, 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of Guwahati, in northeastern India. He died after fracturing his hind leg and suffered a severe bout of a parasitic infection.
2005-02-25 - Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
Zoos to significantly increase support for conservation programs; 40 zoos plan to expand or build new elephant exhibits in the next 5 years. Directors of 78 American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) accredited zoos that care for elephants endorsed an aggressive new vision that focuses on ensuring elephants are part of the world's future. The commitment highlights plans for increased support for programs that aid in the conservation of elephants in Africa and Asia.
2005-02-24 - ALAMO, United States. Eric Louie, CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Elephants can't do homework, as much as Rancho Romero Elementary School second-grader Justin Anderson wishes they could. An elephant also won't spank classmate Laura Ennis' sister, as Laura would like to see. But the captive pachyderms provided important help in Thailand after December's Indian Ocean tsunami, as depicted in "A New Job for Lalana," a new fiction book created by Justin, Laura and their young classmates to raise money for victims of the disaster. "Elephants are special," sai...
2005-02-23 - AMSTERDAM, Netherlands.
Dutch customs police have seized a shipment of African elephant body parts, including 22 feet, eight tusks, eight ears, three tails, a skull and an entire hide, officials said Wednesday. The cargo, originating in Zimbabwe and bound for Germany, was halted at Schiphol airport in October without proper licenses. The find was announced this week following an investigation and will be permanently confiscated, spokeswoman Anita Douven said. African elephants are an endan...
2005-02-23 - Guruvayur, India.
A pranky 18-year-old tusker breezed past four dozens of heavyweight competitors earlier this week to clinch Kerala's most popular annual pachyderm race in the temple town of Guruvayur. Krishna was cheered on by thousands of frenzied devotees and tourists, many of whom were simply mesmerised by the agility and frolic of the elephants who seemed to enjoy the race as much as them. The race marked the beginning of a 10-day festival in the temple dedicated to Lord Kris...
2005-02-23 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. Reuters
An elephant has killed a ranger in South Africa's Kruger National Park, a rare fatality for those who work among dangerous animals in the reserve, the park said on Wednesday. The park said in a statement that field ranger Wilson Ndlovu was killed on Tuesday morning while on a bicycle patrol. It gave no details of the attack but said the area was surrounded by two-metre-high grass and the rangers wouldn't have seen the elephants "until the last possible moment".
2005-02-23 - New York, United States. Joan Hunt
Touching, thought-provoking, and beautifully told, the story of Noah, and that of mankind, is one that will linger in your heart and your mind for a very long time. In The Way That Elephants Do by David Kilpatrick is a deeply moving epic tale of one elephant's life. Although the story is told from the perspective of an inquisitive and nomadic pachyderm, you're drawn into his world with ease. Danger, love, history, the world, and the connection between humans and animals are deftly combined in th...
2005-02-22 - San Diego, United States. Lindsey
Taking care of a single eight-ton elephant may seem like a big job, but keepers at the San Diego Zoos Wild Animal Park must care for 14 elephants (six Asian and eight African). Jeff Andrews, animal care manager, who oversees many animals including elephants, let us jump right in and participate in one of the most time-consuming tasks of an elephant keeper, picking up poop. A single elephant can excrete nearly 100 pounds daily, giving their keepers plenty to do.
2005-02-22 - San Diego, United States.
Taking care of a single eight-ton elephant may seem like a big job, but keepers at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park must care for 14 elephants (six Asian and eight African). Jeff Andrews, animal care manager, who oversees many animals including elephants, let us jump right in and participate in one of the most time-consuming tasks of an elephant keeper, picking up poop. A single elephant can excrete nearly 100 pounds daily, giving their keepers plenty to do.
2005-02-21 - Calgary, Canada. Judi McLeod
Kamala, one of the Calgary Zoo’s four elephants, really DOES paint. And according to Canada Free Press business manager Brian Thompson who visited the Calgary Zoo, Kamala’s art is more Van Gogh than kindergarten. In the wild, elephants have been observed picking up sticks or rocks to draw in the sand or soil, proving that doodling is not just a human pastime. Those in the know say that giving an opportunity to paint provides Kamala with an interesting activity that stim...
2005-02-21 - Guwahati, India.
If you have always wondered about the traditional art of catching and taming wild elephants, your curiosity is about to be satisfied. An elephant village, modelled on the ones in Thailand and Singapore, is taking shape on the outskirts of Rani forest reserve, a stone’s throw from Guwahati, to house tamed elephants and host tourists. Besides showcasing the traditional way of catching and taming wild elephants, the village will have centres to train mahouts and dome...
2005-02-21 - Guruvayur, India.
Krishna, the 18-year-old tusker offered to Sri Guruvayurappan by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, won the elephant race marking the start of the 10-day annual festival of the Sri Krishna Temple here. Krishna raced past six other competitors covering a distance of over one km as a big crowd of devotees and fans cheered and applauded the pachyderms vying for honour along the eastern road of the temple town. Starting from Manjulal, the elephants ran to the easte...
2005-02-21 - Vienna, Austria. Press-information, Vienna Zoo
Yesterday, on Sunday Feb. 20th, 2005 around 10.40 am the head keeper of the elephant house, 39 year old Gerd Kohl was attacked and deadly injured by the young elephant bull “Abu”. Gerd Kohl was considered one of the most experienced elephant keepers in Europe and therefore was also the one who took care of and trained the 4 year old Abu (born on April 25, 2001) in Schoenbrunn. The accident occurred during the daily morning shower of the elephants. Unforeseeably, the 1.6-ton-e...
2005-02-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. Sapa-AFP
It's rare enough when living artists fetch outrageous fortune for their work. When those modern-day Matisses are Thai elephants, however, they charge into the record books. Eight elephants in northern Thailand have painted their way into the Guinness Book of World Records after an art lover living in the United States shelled out a jumbo 1,5 million baht (about R240 000) for their canvas creation - the highest price ever paid for elephant art. The four-legged artist...
2005-02-20 - Vienna, Austria. AP
An elephant crushed a keeper to death Sunday at the Vienna Zoo, police said. Zookeeper Gerhard Kohl, 39, was killed after he had showered the elephant, Abu, as part of the morning routine, the Austria Press Agency said, citing veterinarian Thomas Voracek. The elephant, an almost 4-year-old bull, pinned Kohl to the wall and speared him with his tusks, APA reported.
2005-02-18 - Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. Jane Ballentine
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) and the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) have entered into a new partnership to help identify and fund critical conservation and research projects that will benefit Asian and African elephants. Populations of both the African and Asian elephants continue to decline in the wild. Human encroachment, habitat loss, and poaching pose major threats to wild elephants.
2005-02-18 - Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) and the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) have entered into a new partnership to help identify and fund critical conservation and research projects that will benefit Asian and African elephants. Populations of both the African and Asian elephants continue to decline in the wild. Human encroachment, habitat loss, and poaching pose major threats to wild elephants. In 1970, biologists estimated 1.5 million African elephants in the...
2005-02-18 - Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. U.S. Newswire
2005-02-18 - Chicago, United States.
A McHenry County circus trainer who federal officials accused of improperly caring for a herd of elephants is negotiating a plan to send his remaining 12 elephants to a Tennessee sanctuary. Talks began this week among Hawthorn Corp., its owner, John Cuneo, and the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., about having the remaining elephants join others from the northeast Illinois farm at the sanctuary. The U.S. Department of Agriculture filed charges in April 2003 th...
2005-02-17 - NEW HAVEN, United States.
Elephants, of course. The Asian elephant, the African forest elephant, and the African Savannah elephant. Before evolution settled on the ultimate model, it experimented with different shaped tusks, teeth, skulls, trunks and size. Check them all out at an exhibit sensibly called "Elephants!" at Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History. The exhibit runs through July 31. Modern elephants were preceded by a succession of now extinct elephant-like animals called proboscideans (from ...
2005-02-17 - Kolhapur, India.
The entry of three elephants into the forest in Chandgad tehsil of this district on Monday, has caused anxiety and terror in the minds of the farmers of Tudiya village apprehending damage to their standing crops. Forest department officials said today that the elephants had strayed into the forest areas from the border areas of the neighbouring Karna-taka and have been wreaking havoc there. They have been monitoring the elephants’ move and will take necessary steps in this conne...
2005-02-17 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Chris Brummitt, Associated Press
Rachmat has a nasty gash on his leg from walking over broken glass. Marni has a forehead laceration from bumping up against things. Their fellow workers are also nursing cuts and scrapes. Since the Asian elephants began helping clear debris in Indonesia’s Aceh province after the Dec. 26 tsunami, they have picked up minor on-the-job injuries. Officials and trainers say none of the wounds are serious, but conservationists and animal welfare activists say the endangered elephants shouldn’t be w...
2005-02-17 - LAKELAND, Florida, United States. JOAN TUPPONCE
Asha and Rudy are as playful as any 3-year-olds. But they aren't your typical toddlers -- the two are Asian elephants, both born at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation. The Center for Elephant Conservation, celebrating its 10th anniversary in December, was founded by Kenneth Feld, chairman and chief executive officer of Feld Entertainment and president of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The center, which is just outside Tampa, Fla., has...
2005-02-16 - Kohora, India. Bano Haralu
In Kaziranga, celebrations to mark the park's 100 years are being dominated by serious issues like ways to prevent the man-elephant conflict (The state recorded 85 elephant killings by angry villagers and 96 human deaths by elephants between 1996 and 2004.) and putting an end to rhino poaching here. Home to the largest population of the endangered one horned rhino, Kaziranga National Park is facing serious environmental challenges.
2005-02-16 - HOT SPRINGS, United States. Cathy Nelson
More than 50 scientists from 15 countries have already registered to attend and present papers at the second International World of Elephants Congress to be held at the Mueller Center in Hot Springs, South Dakota this September. The conference is open to the public. The Congress allows persons engaged in research on elephants, mammoths, mastodons and related fauna of the Pleistocene and Holocene to gather and share the results of their research with colleagues, as well as w...
2005-02-15 - Alexandria, Virginia, United States. U.S. Newswire
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is charged with abusing endangered Asian elephants, and former employee Tom Rider has new videotape evidence -- obtained from Ringling Bros. itself -- to prove his case. Rider, who quit the circus in 1999 to speak out against its cruelty, is protesting the circus's Feb. 17 opening in Atlanta. Some of the gruesome footage shows the birth of Riccardo, an elephant who died at the age of 8-months last August, after he fractured both hind legs when he fell of...
2005-02-14 - Melbourne, Australia.
How the elephant got its ears has just become a more complicated story thanks to the discovery of a fossilised shrew-like animal that lived 115 million years ago. It was once thought that all mammals - from kangaroos to whales - developed the tiny auditory bones of the middle ear just once in their common evolutionary history. But a fossil jawbone of a primitive mammal that lived in Australia suggests that the middle-ear bones - which allow animals as diverse as shrews and humans to hear sounds ...
2005-02-14 - Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States.
After a six-year effort to help Lota, an aged Asian elephant diagnosed with tuberculosis, Lota was released to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. She died less than three months later. On November 17, 2004, after months of delays, Lota and Misty, one of her herd members who had also tested positive for tuberculosis, were released to the Sanctuary.
2005-02-13 - Kaziranga, India. India News
A mahout was trampled to death by an elephant at a national park in Assam, dampening the spirit of the sanctuary's centenary celebrations. A wildlife warden said a female elephant suddenly went berserk at the Kaziranga National Park in eastern Assam Saturday evening and trampled elephant keeper Gathia Munda, 35. "Two elephants and their keepers were taking rest beneath a tree inside the park when suddenly one of them attacked Munda. In seconds, the enraged elephan...
2005-02-13 - Vienna, Austria. Tiergarten Schönbrunn
The female africant Jumbo in Vienna Zoo is dead. When the elephant keepers came for work in the morning, she was dead. During the nights, the elephants are filmed on video, and the vido shows that the rest of the elephant herd tried without success, to push Jumbos 3.5 ton heavy body up, but she died in the early morning due to circulation problems and general weakness.
2005-02-13 - ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States.
The Daily News asked readers what they thought should happen to Maggie the elephant in Alaska Zoo. Here's a sampling of the many responses.
2005-02-12 - Ontario, Canada. ERIC REGULY
Zookeeper Michael Hackenberger has a problem, a really big problem: how to get all seven tonnes of Angus the elephant from Bowmanville Zoo, Ontario, to Kwandwe game reserve in South Africa. Angus, the world's largest elephant in captivity, is due to be returned to the wild after 24 years, but no one has quite figured out the logistics of moving the beast, who weighs as much as six Ford Focuses.
2005-02-12 - Ranchi , India. Indo-Asian News Service
Elephants are a major problem in some areas but they are also the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) election symbol - adding to a jumbo dilemma for the party as it campaigns in rural Jharkhand in areas terrorised by tusker attacks. And people in the affected areas of this state are driving away the BSP candidates just as they do the elephants. It all appears to be a cruel joke for the six contestants in Gumla and Simdega districts where people have been tackling tuskers rampaging their...
2005-02-12 - Nairobi, Kenya.
For over 10 years now, Salome Gachago has been counting elephants and finds few things in life as exciting. For her, writes Edward Indakwa, the thrill of being up in the air, the rush of adrenaline as the pilot navigates through aerial bumps is simply beyond description. On a normal working day, Gachago — the Kenya Wildlife Service’s tourism development manager — is all serious and businesslike. But once every other year, she trades her business suit for khaki pants and heads into Tsavo Na...
2005-02-12 - GUWAHATI, India.
Thousands of tourists flocked to a famed national park in India's northeastern state of Assam to watch a colourful elephant procession as part of the sanctuary's weeklong centenary celebrations. Thirty elephants, with visitors sitting atop, on Saturday marched along a two mile (1.25 mile) route inside Kaziranga National Park to the beat of drums and cymbals.
2005-02-12 - Indianapolis, United States. Dan McFeely
An elephant is pregnant, and pop icon Michael Jackson might just be a proud grandpa, sort of. Ivory, an African elephant at the Indianapolis Zoo, is expecting her second baby. And the father is . . . well, we don't really know. But there is a 50-50 chance that it's Ali -- once the proud pachyderm owned by Jackson, who tried to breed him at his Neverland zoo near Los Angeles before giving him away in 1997. Ali, who now resides at the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida, is o...
2005-02-11 - Limpopo, South Africa. SABC News
A vasectomy has been performed on two elephants at the Mabalingwe nature reserve outside Bela-Bela in the Limpopo province. The operation performed by a team of local and international veterinarians is the first of its kind in the world. It is hoped that the operation will help solve the problem of the overpopulated elephant family. The first operation succeeded without any complications and the young bull headed for its breeding herd. Its mate died of undetermined complications ...
2005-02-10 - SINGAPORE, Indonesia. DPA
Tetanus vaccines are being rushed from the Singapore Zoo to tsunami-battered Banda Aceh, Indonesia, where elephants helping in the cleanup are at risk of tetanus, a deadly muscle-stiffening disease, wildlife officials said on Wednesday. After more than a month spent clearing shattered homes and picking up belongings, the tired animals trudge back to camp daily after six- hour shifts often with wounds from nails, glass and mangled metal. Their veterinarian, Dr. Chris...
2005-02-09 - Kaziranga, India. PULLOCK DUTTA
The silhouette of the “elephant queen” juts out of the darkening sky in a unique settlement deep inside the Kaziranga National Park. Parbati Baruah, the lone woman elephant trainer in the country, is surveying the “mahout village” that will host one of the most-anticipated events of the park’s centenary celebrations. Speaking loudly over strains of Goalpariya folk songs in the background, she said the settlement at the Bagori range of the park would provide a must-see ca...
2005-02-05 - BRAZZAVILLE, Congo. BRYAN MEALER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Leaders of seven Central African countries signed a landmark treaty on Saturday to work together to help save the world's second largest rain forest. French President Jacques Chirac attended the ceremony, which concluded a two-day summit focusing on threats to the great forests of the Congo Basin. The forests make up very heart of Africa, encompassing 500 million acres stretching though 10 countries. They are also home to more than half Africa's animal species, incl...
2005-02-03 - Detroit, United States. HUGH McDIARMID JR.
Winky and Wanda, the Detroit Zoo's sanctuary-bound elephants, are still at least weeks away from their trip to a California retirement community. In the meantime, they're like many of us in the midst of a cold Michigan winter: staying indoors too much; enduring extra pain from arthritis and old athletic injuries; eating, eating and eating until we feel as big as ... well, you know. "The weather has not been kind to their arthritis," zoo Director Ron Kagan said Tuesd...
2005-02-02 - New Delhi, India. India News
How many times have you marvelled at a caparisoned Indian elephant without sparing a thought for its plight amid alien sights and sounds, far from its home in the wilderness? Now animal lover P. Balan has made a hard-hitting documentary highlighting the cruelty and hypocrisy towards the pachyderms, which are much loved even as they are subjected to unnerving human rituals. Balan, a programme executive at the All India Radio, Thrissur, in his Malayalam film "The 18t...
2005-02-01 - FORT WAYNE, Indiana, United States. Associated Press
The manager of a circus where an elephant trampled its trainer to death while being loaded into a truck said he believed the man's death was an accident. "We don't believe from the behavior of the animals it was a premeditated, aggressive killing," Larry Solheim, general manager of the Tarzan Zerbini Circus, said today. The trainer, Pierre Spenle, 40, of Texas, died Monday after he was taken to a Fort Wayne hospital with critical chest injuries. It was not clear whether Spenle fell or whether an...
2005-01-31 - Oakland, United States.
It was a cold 8 a.m. at the Oakland Zoo's elephant compound, but 36- year-old M'Dunda was enjoying a warm-water bath. Her feet got special treatment, as if she were a matron at a Napa Valley spa. A keeper cleaned them gently with a scrub brush and used an X-Acto knife to gingerly search for sticks and rocks, as M'Dunda was hand-fed fruit chunks while she stood in a restraint chute. "Keeping elephants in captivity is incredibly labor-intensive," said general curato...
2005-01-31 - Bangalore, India. Born Free Foundation
Born Free Foundation, the internationally recognised wildlife and animal welfare charity today expressed deep reservations concerning the proposed gift of a young Asian elephant from India to the Republic of Armenia. According to information received by the Foundation, the animal is due to leave Bangalore in southern India and is destined for Yerevan Zoo in Armenia. The exchange is in the form of a diplomatic gift consigned by the Prime Minister of India to his counter-part in Arm...
2005-01-31 - Fort Wayne, IN, United States.
A day at the circus turned tragic Monday in Fort Wayne, after an elephant crushed a circus worker. The accident happened Monday afternoon in the Memorial Coliseum parking lot. Workers for the Shrine Circus were loading the elephants onto a trailer, when Pierre Spenle, 40, fell beneath the elephants when a security bar he was leaning on gave way, and he got crushed by the elephants.
2005-01-31 - CHICAGO, United States. TARA BURGHART
The memorial service was held outside, with a few mourners, bunches of flowers and a framed photo of the 55-year-old deceased, an elephant named Peaches. She was the oldest African elephant in an American zoo when she died Jan. 17 at Lincoln Park Zoo. But her death - which came three months after a younger pachyderm named Tatima died at the zoo - has renewed complaints from animal-welfare activists that elephants do not belong in cold-weather zoos.
2005-01-30 - Pendang, Malaysia. EMBUN MAJID
Pepsi, a six-year-old show elephant that gored a rubber tapper in Pendang on Friday, has been “acquitted” of killing its victim. Pendang OCPD Deputy Supt Mohd Sukri Awang said police had classified the case as “sudden death” and found that no criminal action was involved. The Kedah office of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) also said no action would be taken against the elephant and classified the case as an accident.
2005-01-30 - Kilifi, Kenya. Caroline Mango
Close to 200 elephants have invaded five villages in Kenya, destroying crops and killing livestock. The elephants from the Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Ganze, Kilifi District have imposed curfews in the villages, and are leaving a trail of destruction in their search for food and water. Fearful villagers have had to keep in-doors from as early as 5.30 pm afraid of being attacked. Over the past few months, the situation has spun out of control following the killing of livestock by the elephants. In D...
2005-01-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A railway court has imposed a fine of Rs 1500 on a mahout for taking a tusker along the rail track as a short-cut to a temple near Perumon in Kollam district. The court at Kollam imposed the fine on the mahout for marching the elephant through the track endangering the safety of railways as well as the public, a divisional railway release said here today.
2005-01-29 - Kaziranga, India. India News
Mangal Karmakar may not have played football at the highest level, but he is busy training an "elephantine" team for a match at a famed wildlife sanctuary in Assam. The players are all bubbling with enthusiasm - they are all pachyderms after all! They are undergoing regular drills and practice sessions under the watchful eyes of coach Karmakar inside the Kaziranga National Park in eastern Assam.
2005-01-28 - Chicago, United States. Leslie M. Golden, Oak Park, Letters to Chicago Sun Times
The death of two elephants at the Lincoln Park Zoo should come as no surprise. While it is obvious that cold weather is bad for species that have evolved in tropical climates, understanding the death-inducing effect of confinement to concrete cells requires a rudimentary knowledge of physics (I have taught astronomy at the University of Illinois at Chicago). When animals take a step in their natural, sod environment, the concussion felt when the foot lands is muffled. When walking...
2005-01-28 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Mark Forbes
The elephants let out a mournful roar with each effort, clearing fallen trees and crushed cars, and exposing more bodies a month after the tsunami swept away much of Banda Aceh. Trained in basic circus tricks, they wrap their trunks around fallen trees or shift small trucks, one pushing, one pulling. Aceh's conservation chief, Andi Basrul, flew back to Banda Aceh the morning after the wall of water struck to find his house gone, along with his wife and son. He reali...
2005-01-27 - Nairobi, Kenya. Nixon Ng’ang’a
No deal has been agreed yet between Kenya and Thailand governments to donate a collection of wildlife species to the Asian country. Acting Tourism Minister Raphael Tuju dismissed reports that the Government had offered Thailand 300 animals, including some rare species as "speculation and rumours from busy bodies." The minister said the matter was still under consideration and details over the agreement would be made public when a decision is arrived at.
2005-01-26 - Lampang, Thailand.
The National Elephant Institute, patronage of Her Royal Highness princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra, with the Forest Industry Organization, Lampang, in co-operation with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Lanpang Tourism Association, presents the Valantine's Day Wedding Ceremony on Elephant-Back.
2005-01-26 - ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States. Mary Pemberton, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Alaska's only elephant should be moved to a zoo with better facilities and programs where she can enjoy the company of other female elephants, the head of a national zoo group said Wednesday. "In our view, the elephant could thrive better elsewhere," said Sydney J. Butler, executive director of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association in Washington, D.C. The AZA represents 214 accredited zoos and aquariums in the United States, Canada, Bermuda and Hong Kong. The...
2005-01-26 - Chicago, United States. William Mullen, Chicago Tribune
Preliminary laboratory tests have ruled out tuberculosis--a disease that can be transmitted between humans and animals--as cause of death for the two Lincoln Park Zoo elephants who died in recent months, according to results released Tuesday. Zoo officials had suspected that Tatima, a 35-year-old female African elephant, had been tuberculous because of lesions found on her lungs. Test results now show she died of a rare infection with a bacterium similar to TB, called Mycobacteriu...
2005-01-26 - NAIROBI, Kenya. Marc Lacey, The New York Times
Animal welfare groups have condemned plans by the Kenyan government to send 300 wild animals, including rhinos, cheetahs and lions, to Thailand, where they are to be placed in zoos and safari parks. Kenyan officials portray the transfer as part of an effort to increase tourism to Kenya and ultimately to help the country's animal population. Kenyan tourism has been on the rise over the last year, and Asia is viewed as an important source of new visitors. While it has...
2005-01-26 - Chicago, United States. ANDREW HERRMANN
With two of her pals now gone, the last remaining elephant at Lincoln Park Zoo is turning to TV for companionship. Cartoons, specifically. Dumbo, perhaps? Peanuts, maybe? Lincoln Park Zoo general curator Robyn Barbiers wasn't sure -- not that show selection matters. The value of TV for an elephant is in the novelty, the movement and the noise, she said. Zoo officials, attempting to keep Wankie sharp after the deaths of her two companions, are using a variety of what...
2005-01-24 - Clacton, United Kingdom. Metro
He might not have a worn a Burberry cap or driven an Escort XR3i - but Essex man was alive and well 500,000 years ago. Even then, he had a tough guy image and was fighting other tribes - and elephants. He might even have broken away from mainstream society by using tools similar to Stanley knives to slash prey to death. Archaeologists have found stone blades in Clacton near the remains of a giant elephant - one of a number of large species in ancient Britain's warm climate. 'The tools were like ...
2005-01-21 - Kinshasa, Congo.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's police and army have been accused of involvement in rampant poaching that threatens to wipe out the elephants in a world heritage site in the east of the country, a study has warned. An estimated 17 tons of ivory were smuggled out of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the volatile Ituri district during the last six months of last year alone, the investigation by the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature established. "Although a sig...
2005-01-21 - Phuket, Thailand. WASSANA NANUAM
More than 100 elephants and their mahouts have been put out of work by the Dec 26 tsunami. Elephant camp owners say they can not afford to keep the animals on the payroll because there are too few tourists paying to see the shows. Ten elephants and their handlers were laid off at the Phuket Elephant Ride camp alone. Before the tragedy the camp paid each mahout 12,000 baht per month.
2005-01-21 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Pygmy elephants in Kerala? Unlikely, says an expert disputing the claims of two people that they sighted such pachyderms in a state forest. Jacob Cheeran, one of India's foremost elephant experts, doubts the possibility of pygmy elephants being spotted near a wildlife forest at Peppara in the capital district. The claim was made by wildlife photographer Sali Palode and a local tribesman, Mannan, who said they saw a group of five elephants, all small in size but look...
2005-01-20 - Kinshasa, Congo. David Lewis
A new report on ivory poaching in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has picked out the country's fractious army and the police among those heavily involved. The study by Congo's national conservation body warns that if poaching continues at the current level, forest elephants will be threatened with extinction in the east of country. Congo's five-year war may have officially come to an end in 2003, but for conservationists working in the lawless east of the vast Afri...
2005-01-20 - Chicago, United States. William Mullen and Jon Yates
Having lost two of its three elephants in the last three months, Lincoln Park Zoo on Wednesday said it would send the last one to another facility while its staff re-examines the future of its elephant program. Wankie, 35, an African elephant who lost her two female companions, Tatima, 35, in October and Peaches, 55, on Monday, will move from Chicago as soon as an appropriate home can be found for her, zoo officials said.
2005-01-20 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. JARUNEE TAEMSAMRAN
Elephant painting is not new in Thailand but it is still amaziang to see the paintings by the pachyderms of Maesa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai. Instead of the usual, abstract-style paintings that you may have seen or imagine from elephant artists, the well-trained elephants at this camp astonish visitors with paintings of beautiful flowers and motifs that look so realistic that you wouldn't believe it's the work of elephants. Elephant painting is part of the elephant...
2005-01-20 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Environment Writer
Twin elephants have been born in Addo Elephant National Park near Port Elizabeth - only the third time that twins have been born in the history of the park. The baby elephants, now one month old, are both doing well so far, and staff are watching their progress anxiously. Megan Bradfield, the park's social ecologist, said yesterday the second month of life of elephant twins was critical. "Elephant twins are very rare. We've had two sets of elephant tw...
2005-01-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. The Daily Telegraph
Visitors to a Thai elephant camp were treated to a call of nature with a difference yesterday, as five-year-old Diew demonstrated how to use and flush an oversized toilet. The massive but immodest beast had no problem posing for the cameras as he went about his business. Handlers at the camp, in northern Thailand's Chiang Mai province, have previously taught their elephants to paint, dance and play musical instruments. But their latest feat is guaranteed to m...
2005-01-19 - SAN DIEGO, United States.
Several animal activists went to the San Diego Zoo Wednesday to call on the zoo industry to acknowledge that elephant enclosures are "deadly" and to take steps to move the animals to more natural sanctuaries. The plea follows the euthanization of a 55-year-old African elephant named Peaches on Monday at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.
2005-01-19 - Chicago, United States. ANDREW HERRMANN
North America's oldest captive elephant, brought to Lincoln Park Zoo amid protests that Chicago's climate was too cold, has died. The 55-year-old female African elephant named Peaches was found Monday morning collapsed on the floor of her indoor pen, her eyes unfocused and her breathing "labored,'' officials said. Veterinarians euthanized the animal Monday evening.
2005-01-18 - Rochester, New York, United States.
On Tuesday, the Seneca Park Zoo will show off its plans for the elephants' new digs. The session will be held at the zoo's Animal Health and Education Complex from 4:00 p.m. to 8 p.m. The new 27,000 square foot space will include a barn, a pool, and room for visitors. Last week, Monroe County lawmakers voted to borrow $4 million to build a new exhibit. There are currently two elephants at the zoo and one of them, Genny C, is expecting a baby in March ...
2005-01-18 - South Carolina, United States. www.thestate.com
Did you hear the one about the elephant that painted a picture and raised $7,000 for tsunami relief? No, Talk isn’t telling elephant jokes here. It’s true. A record $7,000 was bid for the latest artwork by Rasha, the Fort Worth Zoo’s painting elephant, with every cent going to the American Red Cross. The painting drew 51 bids from across the country on eBay, with the winning bid coming from a Texas car dealership. The Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada, liked the ...
2005-01-18 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. CHEEWIN SATTHA
The Chiang Mai night safari park will definitely open on April 13 as planned, Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop said. Construction work at the park was about 80% complete and some sections of the new zoo would be open to visitors during the Songkran festival, starting on April 13, as scheduled, he said. Mr Suwit, who oversees tourism, yesterday visited the safari park site at tambon Mae Hia in Chiang Mai's Muang district. He said Kenya had agree...
2005-01-16 - CHIANG MAI, Thailand.
The world’s largest night safari is scheduled to open in the northern province of Chiang Mai in April, following top level negotiations between the Thai and Kenyan governments on the exchange of Thai elephant mahouts for Kenyan wildlife. The national importance of the Chiang Mai Night Safari project, which the government hopes will prove a massive tourist draw, was highlighted today when Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop led a government delegation to the construction site...
2005-01-15 - Seattle, United States.
Bamboo, a 38-year-old elephant with no close friends at Woodland Park Zoo and a limited tolerance for the high jinks of baby Hansa, is packing her trunk and heading for the zoo in Tacoma, which welcomes prickly pachyderms. The 4-ton Bamboo, an Asian elephant, was born in the wild in Thailand. She has lived in Seattle since she was a year old. "She'd never been exposed to a calf" and has not done well with 4-year-old Hansa, daughter of 26-year-old Asian elephant Chai, Woodland Park...
2005-01-12 - New York, United States. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York City
Threatened by habitat loss, poaching, pollution and other factors, wildlife species across the globe are declining in number at an alarming rate. Scientists from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York City have been monitoring endangered wildlife populations for more than 100 years. For decades, traditional capture and tag methods have been a primary tool, but they are not the most efficient when dealing with large animals and animals in remote locati...
2005-01-12 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Melanie-Ann Feris
The little one kept on rolling in the mud, as if trying to disguise its strange colour with the dirt. The baby elephant, spotted among a herd in the southern part of the Kruger National Park, could be an albino or white elephant. The baby is believed to be about a month old, and an older sibling and its mother seemed very protective of it.
2005-01-12 - ROYAL OAK, Michigan, United States.
The Detroit Zoo's two aging, arthritic elephants are surviving a typically harsh Michigan winter, but it is taking its toll. "Every winter we have more problems, which is why we wanted to move them out of Michigan in the first place," said Ann Duncan, the zoo's chief veterinarian. "They have both developed new foot problems in the last few weeks."
2005-01-12 - Sumatra, Indonesia. Daniel Hoare
DEFORESTATION and an increase in ivory hunting will follow the Sumatran tsunami in the coming months as a displaced Aceh population searches for new forms of income. In Melbourne yesterday, southeast Asian wildlife experts Joe Heffernan and Matt Hunt arrived to highlight the urgency of wildlife preservation projects in the devastated region.
2005-01-12 - Anchorage, Alaska, United States.
There are African elephants and there are Asian elephants, but there is only one Alaskan elephant. To animal-rights groups, the national zoo-accreditation group -- and, probably, most anyone who thinks a modern zoo should not condone suffering -- that's one too many.
2005-01-12 - Garden City, United States. The Associated Press
A second animal-rights group is criticizing the Lee Richardson Zoo because of the habitat it provides for its elephants.In Defense of Animals, based in Mill Valley, Calif., made the Garden City zoo fifth on its list of "worst zoos for elephants," calling the barn the two elephants have a jail cell.
2005-01-12 - ST. LOUIS, United States. TERRY HILLIG, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Students at Principia College in Elsah don't have to trek hundreds or thousands of miles to participate in one of the country's most significant paleontological digs. In fact, they don't even have to leave campus. The 17,500-year-old bones of a woolly mammoth known affectionately as "Benny" (after the man who found him) are being carefully excavated in the middle of the Principia campus, only yards from dormitories and academic buildings.
2005-01-09 - New Delhi, India. Prerna Singh Bindra
Much before first light, tourists at Khao Lak resort in Thailand were woken up by wails. When they tumbled out in the bitter cold dawn of December 26, they were confronted by the strange sight of agitated elephants, trumpeting. Crying, insist the mahouts, who had never seen the pachyderms behave such. The elephants ran, hurrying, for higher ground and confused, the people followed.
2005-01-09 - ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States. Sarah Kershaw, New York Times
She played in the snow. She played the harmonica. She snacked on hot dog buns and hay, chewed on birch bark and snorted. Still, it was impossible to answer the question that is causing so much consternation: Is Alaska's only elephant happy? Maggie, the African elephant who has resided at the Alaska Zoo since 1983 -- a creature of the tropics amid snow leopards and polar bears -- is, after all, said to be rather moody and prickly. But whether Maggie, a...
2005-01-08 - POLK CITY, United States. Lauren Glenn
You can see her coming from across the open field. She's nearly half a mile away, all leathery gray, dust-covered, wrinkled skin, her hair encrusted in dirt, her long nose and dimpled knees that barely bend when she walks. From the street, and even as she approaches, it is impossible to tell that she is pregnant and has been for about 16 months. She's solid, with a chiseled appearance, so much so that she looks like she has been carved from a giant rock, until she slowly begins to...
2005-01-08 - Houston, United States. SALATHEIA BRYANT, Houston Chronicle
The Houston Zoo has made a national animal-protection organization's list of the country's 10 worst zoos for pachyderms because of the number of deaths from herpes virus. In Defense of Animals this week labeled Houston's elephant program a "breeding ground for misery," noting that five elephants born at the Houston Zoo over the last 15 years have either died there or at other facilities where they had been shipped.
2005-01-07 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.
Two Borneo pygmy elephants stuck in a mud hole at an oil palm plantation in the east coast Lahad Datu district for about four days managed to get out of their predicament. The weakened female elephants managed to extricate themselves out yesterday after the area around the mud hole was flattened, said Sabah Wildlife Department officer-in-charge for Lahad Datu Stephen Gibin Sira.
2005-01-07 - Shanghai, China.
A 53-year-old Shanghai resident thought he was rescuing cultural relics when he bought two Chinese ivory carvings at a Paris auction and brought them back home. But rather than thank him, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court yesterday sentenced Zheng Songqing to two years in prison with a probation of two years and fined him 15,000 yuan (US$1,807) for violating the country's laws on ivory trading.
2005-01-06 - Siliguri, India.
A 40-year-old female elephant was found dead in Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, which is situated in the outskirts of Siliguri in Dargeeling district. According to post mortem conducted, the elephant died due to a pathological disorder, which rules out the possibility of it being the victim of a hunting spree.
2005-01-06 - Kaziranga, India. India News
After the killer tsunami wreaked havoc in most South Asian tourist destinations, foreign and domestic visitors in their hundreds have been flocking to a wildlife sanctuary in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said. Authorities at the internationally renowned Kaziranga National Park said they were unable to cope with the sudden surge in tourist flow to the sanctuary that is home to the endangered one-horned Indian rhinoceros.
2005-01-06 - LOS ANGELES, United States. PRNewswire
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) Hollywood Office commends L.A. Superior Court Judge George H. Wu for pledging yesterday to reopen the Ruby the elephant lawsuit should the Los Angeles Zoo attempt to move the beleaguered female African elephant again in the foreseeable future. While dismissing the eighteen-month-old taxpayer lawsuit as moot, in light of 43 year-old Ruby's recent return to the Los Angeles Zoo, the decision provides plaintiff Catherine Doyle with the opportunity to se...
2005-01-06 - Khao Lak, Thailand.
Agitated and crying elephants in the Thai resort of Khao Lak reportedly felt the tsunami approaching, and in the process saved about a dozen lives. The elephants, who were giving rides to foreign tourists, began trumpeting around the time the earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra Island, according to their mahout. "I was surprised because the elephants had never cried before," said Dang Salangam, who operates an eight-elephant business on Khao Lak beach. ...
2005-01-06 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.
A rescue is underway for two Borneo pygmy elephants trapped in a mud hole at an oil palm plantation near Kunak in the east coast of Sabah. Ten state Wildlife Department rangers and a veterinarian assisted by plantation workers have been trying to extricate the two female elephants since Tuesday.
2005-01-06 - KHAO LAK, Thailand. Mark Bendeich
Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming, and their sensitivity saved about a dozen foreign tourists from the fate of thousands killed by the giant waves. "I was surprised because the elephants had never cried before," mahout Dang Salangam said on Sunday on Khao Lak beach at the eight-elephant business offering rides to tourists. The elephants started trumpeting -- in a way Dang, 36, and his wife Kulada, 24, said could only be described as crying -- at first ligh...
2005-01-05 - Los Angeles, United States.
A judge dismissed a case that might have resulted in another move for Ruby. She was relocated to the L.A. Zoo in November after spending more than one year in Tennessee. Ruby was moved from the Tennessee zoo after she did not integrate with a herd of African elephants. The case might be reopened if the zoo wants to move Ruby again. Zoo officials said Ruby is adjusting to her surroundings, but activists claim she should reside in an animal sanctuary.
2005-01-04 - Khao Lak, Thailand. Peter Alford
ALMOST a kilometre inland from the Khao Lak beachfront, where the shells of smashed tourist resorts have been meticulously combed by earthmovers and mechanical shovels, two elephants are helping the search for the overlooked victims. Sood Lho (Handsome) and Phrai Wang (Jungle Palace) are working the banks of a fetid, junk-filled swamp that until Boxing Day was an irrigation dam for surrounding vegetable gardens and rubber trees.
2005-01-03 - Banda Aceh, Indonesia. CNN
They may not carry the title "man's best friend," but elephants are providing priceless help as Indonesia struggles to recover from the tsunamis that killed more than 94,000 in that country alone and leveled entire towns. In Aceh province, Indonesia's ground zero, the gentle giants are doing the work of both man and machine. "The elephants help us evacuate survivors or bodies that could possibly be trapped under the rubble as heavy equipment has still not been able to get here," said Zaenal of t...
2005-01-03 - KHAO LAK, Thailand.
Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming, and their sensitivity saved about a dozen tourists in Thailand from the fate of thousands killed by the giant waves. "I was surprised because the elephants had never cried before," mahout Dang Salangam said yesterday on Khao Lak beach of the eight elephants who give rides to tourists.
2005-01-03 - Fang Nga, Thailand.
A year ago, they were filming battle scenes for the movie Alexander. Now six elephants are pitching in to help with the massive cleanup from the tsunami that devastated many of Thailand's prime tourist destinations. The massive waves, which killed 5,000 and left nearly 4,000 others missing, dumped debris up to two kilometres from the popular beaches of Aphotic island and Fang Nga province a week ago. While heavy machinery works on the tangled wreckage that used to be posh seafront resorts, some ...
2005-01-02 - PHUKET, Thailand. Karishma Vyas
Elephants joined the search for bodies in Thailand's tsunami-devastated coastal region on Sunday, clearing debris-strewn forests for rescue teams to retrieve rotting corpses. Six jumbos, who featured in Oliver Stone's recent blockbuster "Alexander", were trucked in from an elephant camp in the ancient capital Ayuthaya, 800 km (500 miles) north of shattered Phuket island, to help speed up the search operation.
2005-01-01 - Phuket, Thailand. UPI
Thai officials are using elephants to retrieve the bodies of the people who died in this week's deadly tsunamis, Sky News reported Saturday. Two dozen elephants are moving through the resort island of Phuket and the mainland beaches of Khao Lak in a search for bodies, many of which are buried beneath the rubble of buildings and tons of sand and debris.
2004-12-29 - Harare, Zimbabwe. UPI
Zimbabwe's wildlife management authority plans to cull some elephants to control the jumbo population. The authority says the problem has caused serious damage to the biodiversity, driving other smaller animal species to extinction, the Harare Chronicle reported.
2004-12-27 - Jashpur (Chattisgarh), India. India News
Several villagers in the Jashpur district of Chhatisgarh were rendered homeless when wild elephants created havoc and caused widespread damage recently. Only rubble remained after a dozen wild elephants created havoc, and the villagers had to abandon their homes in fear of their lives. The terror stricken villagers are now taking shelter in nearby villages, with some of them staying in open lands and others living in a cluttered room.
2004-12-25 - SAN FRANCISCO, United States. Jane Meredith Adams, Special to the Tribune
Convinced that elephants at the San Francisco Zoo have led a miserable existence, the Board of Supervisors here has approved a law that will make it difficult for the zoo ever to keep elephants again. The law, which requires the creation of a 15-acre habitat before elephants can return to the zoo, comes as animal welfare groups nationwide are questioning whether zoos can provide an adequate environment for the world's largest land mammals.
2004-12-24 - Auckland, New Zealand. Press Release: Auckland Zoo
What do Auckland Zoo’s elephants Kashin and Burma want to make their festive season complete? They want bamboo, and lots of it. Kashin and Burma chew through a trailer-load of bamboo every couple of days as part of their regular diet, and it is a challenge for zoo staff to keep up with demand.
2004-12-23 - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.
"A very tragic incident, but no one's fault" An express train has collided with a herd of wild elephants in Sri Lanka. One elephant was killed and two others badly injured in the accident in Anuradhapura district, about 160km (100 miles) north of the capital Colombo. The train's engine was derailed in the collision, but none of the 500 passengers was hurt.
2004-12-22 - Seneca, United States. Katrina Irwin, WROC-TV
Despite a controversial history, plans to expand the Seneca Park Zoo are moving ahead. There will be a new home for the elephants, including the baby elephant that's due in March of 2006. A new enclosed exhibit will create room for the calf Genny C is expecting and will also teach visitors more about elephants. Zoo Executive Director Rachel August says, "As part of the exhibit, we hope to build an interpretive education component. It's not only to provide the basics, like what...
2004-12-22 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Stuff Nwes
There are no easy answers when it comes to keeping the world's largest land mammal in check. A century ago, southern Africa's elephants were driven close to extinction by indiscriminate ivory hunting. Now there are so many of them that experts say they are threatening the environment. South Africa National Parks (Sanparks) says it may have no choice but to resume culling in the Kruger National Park, which is home to most of the country's roughly 17,000 elephants.
2004-12-20 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Florence Wickramage, Sri Lanka Daily News
Two more wild elephants met with a railway accident Friday morning at the 137 and a half mile post on the Habarana-Kantale Railway track. The she elephant was seriously injured while the young elephant died on the spot. This is the second accident to occur at the very spot which claimed the lives of two wild elephants nearly two months ago.
2004-12-19 - Brussels, Belgium. TRAFFIC
On 15 November 2004, the Minister of Environment of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) opened a four-day CITES training workshop in Kinshasa. It brought together 24 nationals including government officers, scientists and local wildlife trade stakeholders. The main aims of the workshop were to provide an overview of CITES and it mechanisms, explain in details the role and tasks of each authorities and increase awareness of wildlife trade issues in the context of CITES provisions. The w...
2004-12-19 - MBOMO, Congo. Khaleej Times
Ivory poaching is rife in a national park in the north of the Congo Republic because unemployment is rife here, too. Just out of jail after a three-month sentence for illicit ivory trafficking, Jean is already all set for his next elephant hunt in Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
2004-12-19 - Nairobi, Kenya. IPP Media
Since the pioneering behavioural studies of Iain Douglas-Hamilton in Tanzania and Cynthia Moss in Kenya, the Wildlife Conservation Society has provided major support to elephant research and conservation throughout Africa. WCS scientists have developed new techniques for elephant research and monitoring, including forest elephant census methods, aerial videography, genetics, acoustics, and the first satellite telemetry of forest elephants.
2004-12-18 - Bangkok, Thailand. The Associated Press
Elephants in a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Thailand are using their oversize bodies as road blocks, ambushing vehicles transporting sugar cane, tapioca and fruit, the sanctuary's chief says. The estimated 200 elephants in the Khao-Ang Rue-Ni sanctuary turn desperate and wily in the dry season, when water and food supplies shrink. It's then that the animals stage their heists, Yuo Senatham said.
2004-12-16 - Johannesburg, South Africa. World Bank Group
Achieving a balanced coexistence in southern Africa's Mid-Zambezi Valley between subsistence farmers and wild animals can be tricky. During the last 20 years elephants have been hemmed in by the increasing number of people moving into the area in search of arable land. As a result, the animals increasingly destroy crops as they roam and search for food.
2004-12-15 - Nairobi, Kenya. The East African Standard
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) yesterday advised farmers within the elephant migrating corridors to plant crops not preffered by wild animals. Laikipia deputy game warden Nixon Korir said farmers could also erect electric fences around their farms since it was impossible to control the movement of elephants during the migration season.
2004-12-11 - Hanoi, Vietnam. Channel News Asia
Vietnamese police have found some 730 kilogrammes of smuggled elephant tusks, which is banned for trading in the country. It was from a warehouse in Hanoi's Long Bien district that 276 elephant tusks were recovered. They had been chopped up and packed into 40 sacks, alongside dried fish, for easy transport. The haul is reportedly worth over 7.3 billion Vietnamese Dong, or about US$463,000. Police say it's the largest amount of smuggled tusks to ...
2004-12-08 - Calgary, Canada. CTV.ca News Staff
The three-week-old baby elephant rejected by its mother at the Calgary Zoo has died. The Asian elephant, who had yet to be named, had been fighting an infection and slipped into a coma Tuesday afternoon. "It's a tough time for us here at the Calgary Zoo," zoo president Alex Graham told a news conference Wednesday. "In a very short time, we became very fond of a very special little girl. And yesterday, we said good-bye," Graham said, tearing up. Late W...
2004-12-07 - Nairobi, Kenya. Isaac Ongiri, The East African Standard
Who is killing Africa’s elephants and encouraging the trade on ivory? With the global ban on ivory trade still in place, the precious elephant tusks are increasingly becoming marketable worldwide, further endangering the lives of the African elephant, mostly targeted for elimination by poachers. And with ready and secret markets in some Asian and European countries, the population of the African elephant is endangered today as it was when the ban was put in ...
2004-12-07 - Tuli Block, Botswana. Vivien Horle, Cape Argus
While questions regarding their fate need answering, the pachyderms have major champions in game guide Bashi Patane and ecologist Jeanetta Selier. Jeanetta Selier laughs in embarrassment. "No, I'm not an elephant whisperer," she says. "But I do talk to them. I talk to them all the time." We're in a game-viewing vehicle in a dry river bed in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve in eastern Botswana, and a group of about 15 elephants are going about their business just 20m away.
2004-12-07 - Khurda, Orissa, India. Sampad Mahapatra, NDTV.com
There was panic in the district town of Khurda, as a herd of wild elephants from the nearby Chandka sanctuary strayed into paddy fields. Khurda is barely 25 kilometres away from Bhubaneswar. The herd of elephants caused massive damage to the standing paddy crop. Worse still, the crowd that gathered on the spot obstructed the escape route for the elephants.
2004-12-07 - JOHOR BARU, Malaysia. The Malaysia Star
The Wildlife Department must capture and relocate elephants roaming in the Tenang constituency because the animals are a threat to the safety of villages in the area, said its assemblyman. Datuk Sulaiman Taha (BN – Tenang) said in recent months, a herd of seven to eight elephants were seen roaming in several Felda schemes and villages located near Labis.
2004-12-06 - Chitwan, Nepal.
Scotland are celebrating sporting glory after being crowned world champions of elephant polo. The Duke of Argyll captained the Chivas team to victory in the Elephant Polo World Championships in Nepal. They beat National Parks of Nepal 12-6 to regain the world title they last won in 2001. Arriving back in the UK, the jubilant Duke said: "No one can deny Scotland are one of the world's sporting heavyweights."
2004-12-06 - BALING, Malaysia. The Malaysia Star
A wild elephant was shot dead on Saturday after it destroyed several vegetable farms, orchards and two houses. However, its tusks were missing when National Forest and Wildlife Protection Department officers went to clear the animal's carcass at about 12.30pm yesterday. It was left unattended between 10am and noon yesterday, when the tusks were believed stolen. The elephant was said to be between five and six years old and weighed almost one tonne.
2004-12-06 - Ha Noi, Vietnam. Vietnam News Agency
Ha Noi (VNA) - Director of the Duc Minh Import Export Joint Stock Company Nguyen Duc Minh and his wife have been charged with the smuggling of 730 kg of elephant tusks, trade in which is banned in Viet Nam. Minh and his wife had fled right after the ivory was found at the company's warehouse on Nguyen Van Cu street in the Long Bien District, Ha Noi, early Dec. 4.
2004-12-06 - PARLIAMENT, Botswana. Botswana Daily News
The ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism in Botswana has sold 664 hunting licenses for elephants in the past five years and P10 358 000 has been realised from the sales. The minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Kitso Mokaila told parliament on Thursday that export levies for elephant trophies over the same period amounted P520 712.
2004-12-06 - JOHOR BARU, Malaysia. New Straits Times
The owner of the Royal London Circus has offered the Terengganu Government help to rehabilitate rogue elephants that have been destroying farms in the State. Paul L.B. Lee, who is the president and producer of the circus, said he had made the offer to the Terengganu Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan). Lee said he had the expertise to train the wild elephants so that they could be "useful" to the people.
2004-12-04 - Detroit, United States. TERESA MASK and HUGH McDIARMID JR.
Wanda and Winky -- two aging elephants at the heart of a bitter struggle between the Detroit Zoo and its accrediting organization -- will be headed to a sanctuary after all. In a pact Friday, the zoo, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the Columbus Zoo and the San Antonio Zoo, which owns Wanda, agreed the sanctuary would be best for both animals.
2004-12-02 - Lahad Datu, Malaysia. Daily Express
The Wildlife Department recovered a homemade buckshot believed to have been used in the gruesome killing of a pygmy elephant at Sungai Dewata, about Km 36 of the Lahad Datu-Kunak road here, mid November. District officer-in-charge, Stephen Sira Gibin, said the bullet was retrieved from the skull of the dead elephant early this week. "The bullet is similar to that of an ordinary buckshot but longer. We believe it is a homemade ammunition,"...
2004-12-02 - Nairobi, Kenya. Mail and Guardian
A project to clear landmines along paths used by elephants in a wildlife sanctuary in Angola during migratory periods was launched at a conference on landmines in Nairobi on Thursday. The project, to clear mines along the migratory paths in Luiana Partial Reserve in eastern Angola linking them to parks in Botswana and Zambia, was launched by Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams.
2004-11-30 - Chester, United Kingdom. Quentin Reade
Chester Zoo has been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £50,000 costs after a keeper was butted to death by an elephant in 2001. Richard Hughes was helping to move a 30-year-old female elephant between pens when the animal lashed out and then headbutted him three times. Yesterday at Chester Crown Court, professor Gordon Reid, director of the North of England Zoological Society, which runs the Zoo, admitted to breaching the Health & Safety Act.
2004-11-30 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. KELLY PROCTOR, Red and Black
A helicopter hovers low over the African savanna. Richard Fayrer-Hosken loads his gun and takes careful aim at his prey. A dart -- filled with a specially-developed contraceptive -- slams into the grey hide of a six-ton African elephant. Fayrer-Hosken, a professor and researcher of large animal medicine in the University's College of Veterinary Medicine, developed a contraceptive to control the elephant population in South Africa's Kruger...
2004-11-30 - Sydney, Australia. International Fund for Animal Welfare press release
International experts told a Sydney news conference on Tuesday how demand from zoos and theme parks is driving the illegal trade of endangered Asian elephants from countries such as Thailand. Representatives from Thailand and India have flown to Australia because a request by zoos is currently before the Federal Environment Minister, Senator Ian Campbell, to import nine new Asian elephants for a captive breeding program.
2004-11-29 - Fort Worth, United States. U.S. Newswire
The fate of elephants is the focus of an intensive weeklong international elephant conservation workshop December 1-5 hosted by the Fort Worth Zoo and attended by more than 100 participants from around the globe. Leading elephant biologists and experts gather during the conference to accomplish one heroic goal, saving elephants from extinction.
2004-11-28 - Sabah, Malaysia. Terra Daily
Poachers have killed a rare pygmy elephant on Malaysian Borneo and removed its tusks, according to a report citing a wildlife official. It is the second time in less than two months that a pygmy elephant in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island has been slaughtered by poachers. The New Sunday Times newspaper said the carcass of an adult male pygmy elephant was discovered near Lahad Datu on the east coast of the state some 10 days ago. I...
2004-11-27 - London, United Kingdom. By Cahal Milmo, THe Independent
First there were 14 shaving bowls with a tortoiseshell inlay worth £800 each. Then came the rest - 174 nailbrush handles, carvings and assorted accessories awaiting completion in cardboard boxes with a total value of £85,000. It may sound like the inventory of a high-class male grooming supplier, but these items represent part of the stockpile that is fuelling Britain's latest thriving trade in an illegal substance - ivory.
2004-11-27 - New Guwahati, India. Bano Haralu, NDTV.com
The callous manner in which four elephants were being transported out of Assam comes as a shocking instance of negligence. Especially for a state that has an Elephant Festival listed on its official calendar of events. For the last four days, the elephants were crammed in a parcel van parked at the railyard in New Guwahati. They were finally rescued by the railway police.
2004-11-26 - Guwahati, India.
Dispur today ordered a probe into allegations that four elephants, seized at the Guwahati railway station yesterday, were being cruelly treated. They were being taken to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The state government has also asked the forest department to look into allegations that the city was becoming a major transit point for smuggling of wildlife from the region, sources said.
2004-11-25 - Calgary, Canada.
The life of a nine-day-old Asian elephant at the Calgary Zoo is at risk after she was rejected by her mother. Born to first-time mother Maharani, the calf is being kept inside and out of sight for the next few days, until zookeepers determine whether her mother might change her mind. Maharani's nine-day-old baby Head elephant keeper Bob Kam says it's uncommon, but not unheard of, for first-time mothers to avoid their babies.
2004-11-25 - GUWAHATI, India.
A Task Force will be constituted in Assam to suggest ways to preserve the elephant habitat with a view to reducing the ever-increasing man-elephant conflict, protection of endangered species and other wildlife issues.
2004-11-23 - London, United Kingdom. Rachel STevenson, Independent Online
Police have seized illegal ivory worth more than R900 000 after a series of raids in London and Gloucester, proof that the banned trade is still thriving in the UK. About 80kg of raw, uncut ivory was found alongside 141 ivory products, making the raid one of the biggest seizures in recent years. Investigations by the Metropolitan Police and Traffic International, the global organisation dedicated to banning illegal trade in wildlife, led officers...
2004-11-22 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. Moyiga Nduru, Ijnter Press Service News Agency
Hope for the survival of many of Africa's unique animals lies in multinational cooperation initiatives like the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, although the challenges remain enormous, say conservationists. The park, situated on the South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe borders, is one of the world's largest, with an area of 35,000 square kilometres, almost the size of Israel. The treaty to create the parks was signed in Xai-Xai, Mozambique, in...
2004-11-22 - PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN, Thailand. MCOT News
National park officials in Thailand's southern province of Prachuab Khiri Khan Province are seeking urgent measures to ensure that wild elephants living in the Kuiburi National Park are not harmed by local pineapple farmers during the coming dry season. Mr. Boonlue Phoonnil, the park's head, warned today that the current drought conditions were likely to push the 150-plus elephants out of the jungle and into local pineapple fields in a desperate search for food.
2004-11-22 - Uttara Kannada, India. The Hindu
A herd of 12 elephants and a calf are causing havoc in Mundgod taluk in Uttara Kannada district. The elephants are wandering in Byanalli, Talakeri, Hanumpaur, Kurli, and Gunjavati forest areas. The Assistant Conservator of Forests, K.S. Naik, said that 85 cases of crop destruction had been reported. The loss had been estimated at around Rs. 3 lakhs. The forest staff and the villagers were trying to scare the elephan...
2004-11-22 - PARLIAMENT, Botswana. Botswana Daily News
Large concentration of elephant herds in the Ngamiland area has become dangerous to the eco-system hence the need to develop strategies to address the situation. MP for Maun West, Ronald Ridge told Parliament on November 18 that elephants in the area destroy trees that protect the Okavango Delta.
2004-11-22 - London, United Kingdom. BBC
Traders openly selling illegal animal products such as ivory in UK shops cannot be arrested because of a government "slip-up", it has emerged. Primary legislation banning the trade went through last year. But a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said "secondary legislation" was needed for it to be able to prosecute. The impasse emerged after £85,000 of ivory and tortoiseshell goods were seized in police raids last wee...
2004-11-19 - New Delhi, India. The Hindu
The Supreme Court today directed the Project Elephant Director to take note of the death of 77 pachyderms in the Nagerhole area of Karnataka between April and October this year and take remedial measures to prevent its recurrence.
2004-11-18 - Panaji, India. New kerala.com
Herds of wild elephants, straying into areas bordering Goa lured by the sugarcane crops and water reserves, are causing havoc to villages and residents have urged that the pachyderms be relocated to sanctuaries. Villagers living along the Maharashtra-Goa border areas have started using torches and sticks to frighten the elephants that trample crops, the only source of livelihood for most people.
2004-11-17 - Calgary, Canada.
The Calgary Zoo is delighted to announce the arrival of a 110 kg. (242 lb.) female Asian elephant calf born to parents Maharani (14 years) and Spike (23 years) at 11:42 pm on November 16, 2004, following a 21 month gestation period. Grandma Kamala (29 years) and Auntie Swarna (29 years) looked on when the baby emerged onto a soft bedding of wheat bran.
2004-11-17 - Cape Town, South Africa. Asiannews.it
The first load of Chinese-made armoured personnel carriers have arrived in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, with riot gear, mobile water cannons and other equipment soon to follow. China recently concluded a US$ 240 million arms deal with Zimbabwe in defiance of international sanctions against the troubled southern African nation.
2004-11-15 - Chhattisgarh, India. Central Chronicle
It was a sight straight out from the Jatak tales. An elephant crushes the wall of a well to rescue his pachyderm companions. Four wild elephants had accidentally fallen into a well while they were straying in Tendugudi village near Pathalgaon yesterday. One else of their group who was standing nearby ealised the seriousness of the situation and started pushing the wall of the well with his feet.
2004-11-15 - OMDURMAN, Sudan. Andrew England, Financial Times
All manner of trinkets and goods are available in the famous market here, just north of Khartoum: broken pocket watches from the colonial era, camel whips, Koranic charms and swords from Sudan's ancient tribes. But it is the ivory figurines of naked women and elephants' tusks carved into crocodiles with gaping jaws that dominate.
2004-11-14 - GAUHATI, India. Wasbir Hussain, The Associated Press
Wild elephant herds have been terrorizing India's remote northeast, killing people, flattening houses and even guzzling local rice-beer supplies, prompting villagers to retaliate against the pachyderms with firecrackers and bonfires. With an estimated 5,000 elephants, Assam state has the largest concentration of wild Asiatic elephants in India, said M.C. Malakar, Assam's chief wildlife warden.
2004-11-14 - Ranchi, India. New kerala.com
The recovery of 50 kg of ivory from a house in Jharkhand has led forest department officials to fear that ivory smuggling in the state is continuing on a large scale. Ranchi police raided a house in Khuti sub division, 30 km from the state capital, and recovered four pieces of ivory weighing 50 kg and arrested the son of a retired army man Saturday.
2004-11-07 - KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia. K. SUTHAKAR, The Star
The Wildlife Department may resort to culling of elephants in Terengganu if their population increases rapidly. State Wildlife Department director Ahmad Shamsuddin Shaari said culling was “standard practice” in wildlife management to prevent animals from becoming a pest. There are an estimated 120 elephants in Terengganu, including some that were relocated here from other states.
2004-11-04 - PETALING JAYA, Malaysia. The Star
Mystery surrounds the death of two elephants supposedly hit by a train along the railway track near Labis – only one of them was grazed by the train and it was still alive after that. One of the dead elephants was found with its trunk missing and an ear partially cut off.
2004-11-04 - Kariba, Zimbabwe.
I have recently returned from a trip to Kariba where I saw several elephants that had been unfortunate enough to wander into wire snares in Bumi Hills and Mapongola Hills. With the decline of the economy, more and more snares are being laid to capture animals for food and poaching is on the increase because the locals are starving and will do anything to obtain food. The snares are probably not intended for the elephants but they are causing great suffering and painful lingering deaths amongst t...
2004-11-03 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Chris Van Gass, Business Day
SANParks will have an elephant management plan in place by the end of October next year, designed to reduce the "exorbitant" number of elephants in SA, Parliament's portfolio committee on environment was told yesterday. David Mabunda, CE of the organisation that manages the country's 20 national parks, said a task team would be established soon to take the process forward and by the beginning of March a draft of the plan would be put before the SANParks board ...
2004-11-03 - SEGAMAT, Malaysia. MAIZATUL NAZLINA, The Star
Two female elephants crossing a railway track were hit and killed by a passenger train travelling to Johor Baru from Kuala Lumpur, here on Monday evening. They were with four other elephants, which escaped unhurt, and all six are believed to have come out from the Endau-Rompin part of Taman Negara in Sungai Karas, Labis.
2004-11-02 - Nairobi, Kenya. Peter Lemeteki, The Nation
An activist yesterday asked the Kenya Wildlife Service to control the killings of elephants. Saying the animals could soon become extinct, the Samburu Wildlife Forum chairman, Mr James Lenges, said last month, more than 100 elephants were killed by poachers in different areas of the district.
2004-11-01 - Houston, United States. SALATHEIA BRYANT, Houston Chronicle
Kimba, the beloved 13-year-old Houston Zoo elephant who died Labor Day, succumbed, as suspected, of elephant herpes virus, laboratory tests confirmed. Despite valiant attempts to save her, the Asian elephant died 25 hours after exhibiting signs of a diminished appetite, swelling around the temple area and depression -- all symptoms of the disease which quickly attacks blood vessels after invading the body.
2004-11-01 - Nairobi, Kenya. Muchiri Gitonga, The Nation
Government departments have been blamed for the delay in erecting an electric fence to ward off wild animals at Mt Kenya National Park. Aid Kenya, an NGO, called for an end to the delay, saying herds of elephants had destroyed acres of crops in Kieni, Nyeri, and as a result many residents were relying on relief food.
2004-11-01 - Beijing, China. Zhang Guanghua, Voice of America
Chinese officials have been unable to curb its flourishing illegal ivory trade, despite signing the International Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora in 1980, which bans killing elephants for trade purposes. Since 1990, China has held the dubious title of the world’s largest importer of illegal ivory. Their inability to stop importation coincides with a flawed record in domestic wildlife protection.
2004-10-30 - KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia. K. SUTHAKAR
An elephant drowned after it was shot with tranquilliser darts and fell into a river in Hulu Terengganu last week. State Wildlife Department rangers were trying to relocate the 15-year-old six-tonne pachyderm following reports that it was becoming a menace to villagers at Kampung Durian Bador.
2004-10-29 - Charleston, United States. NADINE PARKS
Bill Morris III didn't have to run away to join the circus. He had one right at home. Morris trains elephants, part of a family tradition that took root in the 1930s at his grandfather's farm near Springfield, Ill. Grandpa Morris sold tickets for visitors to see trained animals at his farm and later began a traveling circus show. The elephants were passed down to Morris' father, who later passed them down to Morris.
2004-10-29 - Sherpur, Bangladesh. Agencies
Angry villagers killed two wild elephants with electric traps on Monday and Tuesday as some 150 giant animals from across the Meghalaya State border of India ravaged several thousand acres of Aman crops and a number of households in the remote villages here.
2004-10-29 - LENGGONG, Malaysia. RASLAN BAHAROM
Villagers, especially those who tap rubber in and around Kampung Luat here, should be extra careful in view of the presence of a herd of wild elephants in the vicinity. Yesterday, a team of National Park and Wildlife Department rangers led by its director Jasni Abdul, cornered the 12-member herd, including four of their calves in a hilly area at the fringe of Kg Luat. One of the elephants, a bull which Jasni estimated to be about six or seven years old and weighin...
2004-10-29 - Flores, Indonesia. Anna Salleh, ABC Science Online
The newly discovered Hobbit-like humans were not intelligent enough to have made the tools found with them, or hunted elephants, says an expert in human evolution. And they behaved more like chimpanzees. Colin Groves of the Australian National University said so after studying pictures of the tools excavated with the newly discovered hominid Homo floresiensis.
2004-10-29 - Cape Town, South Africa. Tony Weaver, Cape Times
Our aim was to fit satellite collars onto six elephants in the Khaudum, one of the most remote game parks in southern Africa, a project largely sponsored by the Peace Parks Foundation, who had hired me as the photographer and writer. We were halfway through the desert when the chopper began to run out of air.
2004-10-28 - Dhaka, Bangladesh. Independent Online
An elephant was killed in Bangladesh by an electrified fence built to protect crops as he mourned the death of a herd member electrocuted by the same barrier, an official said on Thursday.
2004-10-28 - KOTA KINABALU, Indonesia. MUGUNTAN VANAR
The Sabah Wildlife Department has been ordered to give a full report on last month’s killing of an endangered Borneo Pygmy elephant to Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman.
2004-10-27 - LOS ANGELES, United States.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) Hollywood Office applauds yesterday's decision by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George H. Wu to retain continuing court jurisdiction over Ruby the elephant until a new status hearing on January 5, 2005.
2004-10-27 - Mysore, India.
The serial death of animals in the Mysore Zoo, which claimed another elephant Komala on Oct. 22 that was about to leave for Armenia, has taken a curious turn with the employees blaming the veterinary doctors in the Zoo for the deaths.
2004-10-27 - Mysore, India. Mysore Star
A shocking revelation that the female elephant Komala, which died in Mysore Zoo on Oct. 22, was given a kilogram of baking soda, a little while before it died, was made by the Zoo employees themselves who were witness to the incident.
2004-10-27 - Flores, Indonesia. Rex Dalton, Nature
A new human-like species - a dwarfed relative who lived just 18,000 years ago in the company of pygmy elephants and giant lizards - has been discovered in Indonesia. Skeletal remains show that the hominins, nicknamed 'hobbits' by some of their discoverers, were only one metre tall, had a brain one-third the size of that of modern humans, and lived on an isolated island long after Homo sapiens had migrated through the South Pacific region.
2004-10-27 - KOTA KINABALU, Indonesia. MUGUNTAN VANAR
A Borneo Pygmy elephant was shot dead and butchered for its ivory tusks a month ago near the Tabin Wildlife Forest reserve. The endangered bull elephant, weighing 2.5 tonnes and 2.6m tall, was shot thrice in the head and had its tusks, each weighing about 14kg, removed. The hind legs were also butchered for meat sometime between Sept 25 and 26.
2004-10-27 - Marongi, Guwahati, India.
Drunken wild elephants trampled to death three people and injured two in a tribal village in India's north-eastern state of Assam, wildlife officials said today.
2004-10-26 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. Vietnam News Agency
Thirty tamed elephants and 60 mahouts will participate in the 2004 Elephant Festival scheduled in Buon Don district of central highlands Dac Lac province on Nov. 6-7. Participating elephants will come from well known areas for elephant taming like the Yok Don national park, and Ea Sup, Buon Don, Lac and Krong Bong districts.
2004-10-25 - Mysore, India. Habib Beary, BBC
Komala was a darling of one of India's oldest zoos. But the seven-year-old elephant calf died in agony after what officials at Msyore zoo in southern India are calling a conspiracy by insiders. They suspect she could be the latest victim of poisoning by disgruntled employees, and, perhaps, a persistent campaign to discredit the zoo for reasons unknown.
2004-10-25 - Chester, United Kingdom. Sam Lister, Daily Post Staff
CHESTER Zoo defended itself against criticism from an animal welfare organisation last night which says it has breached RSPCA guidelines over the birth of an elephant. The 180kg male calf, who has not yet been named, was born at the zoo two weeks ago and is the second this year.
2004-10-25 - London, India. Hollywood News
Veteran Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn is reportedly on a trip to India to make a film on elephants. The Oscar-winning actress, who has already made a documentary titled "In the Wild", about saving elephants in 1966, is now being accompanied by Kurt Russell's son, Boston Russell, on the trip to India.
2004-10-25 - Pretoria, South Africa. Leon Marshall, Pretoria News
Massive elephant culling is on the cards for southern Africa to reduce the vast over-population that is causing havoc in many of the sub-continent's nature reserves. Proposals to this end were made this week at a major conference convened by South African National Parks to come up with solutions for the critical problem. It included parks managers, game rangers, conservationists, academics, community representatives and animal-rights groups.
2004-10-24 - Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Ravik Bhattacharya, The Statesman
Tamed pachyderms have become Bengal’s white elephants. There is a sudden glut in elephants bred in captivity in West Bengal, and the state’s cash-strapped forest department is finding it difficult to maintain them.
2004-10-24 - Johannesburg, South Africa. Fred Bridgland
Nobody wants to kill them, but 12 years without a cull in the Kruger Park has been a disaster for animals and humans, reports Fred Bridgland in Johannesburg.
2004-10-23 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Sonny Inbaraj
Every creature, from a louse to a lyrebird, is a marvel of nature. But some marvels are just more marvellous than others - and none more so than an elephant. Consider this animal again and all it shares with us. Elephants live sixty to eighty years, the same span as humans.
2004-10-23 - SURIN, Thailand.
Thailand's northeastern province of Surin plans to feed more than 300 elephants at the 44th annual elephant fair next month, the provincial governor, Kasemsak Sanpoj, told TNA on Friday. The elephant performance at the fair is aimed at attracting more tourists, he said. This year's elephant fair is scheduled to run from 12-23 November.
2004-10-23 - Mysore, India. India News
People in Mysore today took out a colourful procession to celebrate the Hindu festival of Dassera(Dussehra). Dussehra was celebrated on Friday in most parts of the country according to the Hindu calendar. However, the royal Mysore Dussehra, unique for its procession of folk dancers and caparisoned elephants, is keenly awaited.
2004-10-23 - Cape Town, South Africa. Gavin du Venage, The Australian
THE simplest way to kill a herd of elephants is to use assault rifles in fully automatic mode, firing armour-piercing bullets. Half a dozen men carrying military-issue guns stalk a selected group and, when they are as close as five metres away, pump magazine after magazine into the animals. There was an error in the article entitled 'A "just war" no one wants' ... Read more Tweet conservation Elephant Management Plan Proposed 2004-10-22 - Pretoria, South Africa. Dirk Nel, BuaNews The drafting of a national elephant strategy was one of several important proposals tabled at South Africa's Great Elephant Indaba, which ended in the Kruger National Park yesterday. In addition, several short- and long-term objectives for elephant management were suggested, for submission to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk. Read more Tweet circus Animal attraction at city circus 2004-10-22 - MANCHESTER, United States. MICHAEL COUSINEAU, Union Leader Staff Asia bent down on her left knee when hearing the word "knee" and raised the same leg when receiving the command "foot." No one, however, had to tell the 8,800-pound elephant to eat. She gobbled down an entire unsliced bread loaf from a reporter. Read more Tweet trade Tanzania to sell ivory to raise funds 2004-10-22 - Arusha, Tanzania. Mail and Guardian Tanzania plans to sell 99 tonnes of confiscated elephant tusks in government stores to raise funds for conservation efforts and development projects, a senior official on said Friday. The ivory was seized from poachers or extracted from carcasses of elephants that died of natural causes, said Zakhia Meghji, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism. Read more Tweet culling South Africa weighs killing off excess elephants 2004-10-21 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Gershwin Wanneburg, Reuters South Africa is weighing the option of killing off its excess elephants, 10 years after the practice known as culling was banned amid pressure from animal rights activists. Read more Tweet poaching King Poacher Hunted Down But Killing Raises Questions in India 2004-10-20 - NEW DELHI, India. Ranjit Devraj India's most notorious bandit and king elephant poacher, Koose Muniswamy Veerapan, might be history after he was shot dead by police on Monday. But conservationists still remain sceptical on whether the illegal ivory trade can be stemmed in the country, while a leading human rights group has called for an inquiry into his killing. Read more Tweet culling Kruger Elephants culling Debate Heats Up 2004-10-20 - Pretoria, South Africa. Dirk Nel, BuaNews The great elephant debate here today took an emotive turn, when animal rights groups passionately pleaded for the elimination of culling as a possible option to manage the country's oversized elephant population. Read more Tweet medical TUBERCULOSIS THREAT POSED BY CIRCUS ELEPHANTS: PETA ALERTS CANADA AG MINISTER 2004-10-20 - Ottawa, Canada. PETA With the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus scheduled to tour Ontario next month, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has sent an urgent letter to Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Andrew Mitchell, urging him to prohibit elephants belonging to U.S. circuses from entering Canada because of concerns about tuberculosis (TB). PETA points out that a human strain of TB has been infecting and killing captive elephants in the United States since as early as 1981. Read more Tweet conservation Asian elephant conservationists go to Kenya 2004-10-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. In an unprecedented move a group of Asian elephant conservationists were taken on a tour of the conservation and research sites in Kenya. The group consisted of thirteen individuals from eight Asian countries. Read more Tweet poaching Zambia: Turning Poachers Into Cultivators 2004-10-18 - Lusaka, Zambia. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks A World Conservation Society (WCS) project in eastern Zambia's game-rich Luangwa valley is helping to transform poachers into farmers and entrepreneurs. Read more Tweet trade Botswana"s 20 tonnes ivory trade on hold 2004-10-18 - GABORONE, Botswana. BOPA , Daily News online Botswana's sale of about 20 tonnes of ivory sanctioned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has been suspended because some countries have failed to meet one of the preconditions. Botswana, Namibia and South Africa were granted permission for a one-off sale of 60 tonnes of ivory in 2002. Read more Tweet death Tuberculosis Kills Lincoln Park Zoo Elephant Tatima 2004-10-18 - CHICAGO, United States. Jon Duncanson, cbc2chicago.com An elephant has died inside Lincoln Park Zoo, and now the health of animal keepers is being closely watched. Tatima, an African elephant, was found dead inside her habitat on Saturday. Zoo officials believe she died of tuberculosis. It will take 12 weeks to confirm whether the elephant had tuberculosis. Read more Tweet poaching India"s most wanted bandit, elephant poacher and ivory smuggler Veerappan, killed by the police 2004-10-18 - MADRAS, Tamil Nadu, India. AP India's most wanted bandit, accused of murdering police officers, killing over 130 innocent people and 2,000 elephants and smuggling millions of dollars of illegal sandalwood and ivory, was killed Monday night in a jungle shootout with police, an officer said. Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, who had eluded police for three decades, and three other suspects were shot to death in a 20-minute gunbattle with a special police task force just before midnight, in a jungle forest, said K. Sent... Read more Tweet conservation Elephants: Vets offer help 2004-10-18 - Johannesburg, South Africa. News 24 The Veterinary Association of SA offered its assistance in controlling elephant populations in South Africa's national parks on Monday. Unabated growth of the elephant population in the parks posed a serious threat to the habitat, wildlife and tourist potential of the country's parks, Jozeph van Heerden, spokesperson for the association, said in a statement. Read more Tweet event Balarama leads jumbo contingent 2004-10-18 - Mysore, India. The majestic Balarama, 46, will be leading the elephant contingent in the Dasara celebrations this October. He is already in town along with five other elephants, catching the admiring attention of the passers-by while on his routine walk every day morning and evening on the traditional Vijaya Dasami procession route in Mysore. Read more Tweet conservation Protecting the jumbo on elephant day 4th October 2004-10-18 - Kerala, India. K.S. Sudhi, The Hindu THE FORESTS and Wildlife Department has taken a leaf out of the song `Friends of the Elephant', for redefining and re-inventing the relationship between the mightiest animal and man. It is in the process of doing this that the Department has declared October 4 as Elephant Day for the first time and initiated steps to bring in focus the need for creating a new relation between the animal and man. Read more Tweet zoo Ling Wang on display at Taipei City Zoo 2004-10-17 - Taipei, Taiwan. A stuffed replica of the famous elephant, Ling Wang, is on display at the Taipei City Zoo. The eighty-six year old elephant is a common memory for many generations in Taiwan. After two years of construction, the life-sized specimen is now ready to greet the public today. Read more Tweet culling Great Elephant Indaba: Elephants face cull as numbers rise 2004-10-17 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Karen MacGregor, Times Online For years conservationists have fought to protect South Africa’s elephants from poachers and hunters, but now it seems that they may have been too successful. Experts claim that there are too many elephants in the country’s parks and thousands must be killed to preserve valuable habitats for other species. Read more Tweet welfare All for love Couple trumpet plight of Thailand"s domestic elephants. 2004-10-15 - San Francisco, Thailand. Karen Pierce Gonzalez, San Fransisco Chronicle After a vacation in Thailand, Santa Rosa couple work to save domestic elephants they could never forget. Blind at 38, Jokia had spent much of her life in Thailand's illegal logging operations. Forced to work long hours every day, the Asian elephant had been drugged with amphetamines to keep her productive. Today, thanks to the work of a Santa Rosa nonprofit called All for Elephants, Jokia lives near the town of Janghai in northern Thailand on land owned by elephant rescuer Lek Chailart of Thaila... Read more Tweet trade Cites okays trade in ekipas 2004-10-15 - Windhoek, Namibia. Absalom Shigwedha Althought Namibia failed to get Cites' permission for an annual export quota of 2 000kg of ivory, it got approval to allow local communities trade in ivory trinkets, known as ekipas. Read more Tweet trade Can fossil ivory save elephants? 2004-10-15 - WASHINGTON, United States. Guy Gugliotta, Washington Post Hunters find the ancient tusks clustered on sandbars near the Arctic Ocean, carried there by spring-melt waters flowing from the Siberian tundra. A pair of them, dried, polished and elegantly mounted for a trophy room or home museum, can weigh 400 pounds and cost up to $75,000. Read more Tweet conservation China mulls Asian elephant protection corridor along its border with Laos. 2004-10-14 - BEIJING, China. Xinhuanet The Asian elephant is the largest terrestrial mammal in Asia. Although many thousands of domesticated Asian elephants are found in Southeast Asia, this magnificent animal is facing extinction in the wild. China is trying to alleviate the situation by establishing an Asian elephant protection corridor in the south of the country, along its border with Laos. Read more Tweet trade 14th CITES conference finished in Bangkok: CITES takes action to promote sustainable wildlife management and combat illegal trade 2004-10-14 - Bangkok, Thailand. CITES A two-week meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will close here today after agreeing decisions to strengthen wildlife management, combat illegal trafficking and update the trade rules for a wide range of plant and animal species. Read more Tweet event Riding the elephants on a trip back through time 2004-10-14 - CHIANG MAI, Thailand. Ed Johnson, Canadian Press Hand-feeding a hungry elephant is an unnerving experience. At the first whiff of a banana, its leathery grey trunk snakes out, probes the air and sucks it from your hand with a squelch, much like shoving fruit into a wet vacuum cleaner nozzle. Read more Tweet culling Elephant Debate Not a Ploy to Reintroduce Culling, Says Mabunda 2004-10-14 - Pretoria, South Africa. Sharon Hammond BuaNews The upcoming Great Elephant Debate is not a ploy to reintroduce elephant culling, insisted chief executive of South African National Parks David Mabunda today. He said the event, scheduled for 19 to 21 October, simply aimed to open debate and identify ways in which to manage elephant populations. Read more Tweet circus Circus Mustang´s Elephants Trample Homeowner"s Yard in Sweden 2004-10-14 - Stockholm, Sweden. Mattias Karen, Associated Press A homeowner in southern Sweden filed a police complaint after four circus elephants broke loose from their trainers and ran into his back yard, trampling the hedge and the lawn, a police spokesman said Thursday. Read more Tweet birth Chester Zoo elephants trumpet a welcome for latest addition to family 2004-10-14 - Chester, United Kingdom. Daily Post Chester Zoo has welcomed its latest attraction - a 180kg baby elephant born just a few days ago. Read more Tweet medical Vets in Thailand Pull Aching Tusk 2004-10-14 - BANGKOK, Thailand. AP If a toothache is bad, just imagine what a tusk ache must feel like. So pity the poor three-ton bull elephant Kamsaen, whose four months of agony finally came to an end when veterinarians extracted a partially cut tusk which had become infected. Read more Tweet smuggle Online ivory, an elephant-size problem 2004-10-14 - Boston, United States. Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor Masquerading as Internet buyers, TRAFFIC investigators found that sellers of ivory on Internet "stores" regularly ship elephant ivory to the US via express-delivery services - often falsely labeling the shipment with such euphemisms as "bone carving." That exquisite little carved-ivory elephant for sale on eBay is described as a Chinese antique. Then again, it could be an illegal piece of tusk from an African elephant shot last year. That's the quandary Interne... Read more Tweet research Researchers Devise Potent New Tools To Curb Ivory Poaching 2004-10-13 - Washington, United States. Despite a long-standing international ban on ivory trade, African elephants continue to be killed in large numbers for their prized tusks. But a team headed by a University of Washington biologist has devised a new means of determining the geographic origin of ivory that could prove a potent tool in slowing elephant poaching and the illegal ivory trade by identifying hot spots where enforcement should be increased. Read more Tweet relocation Armenia"s only elephant to get an Indian companion 2004-10-13 - New Delhi, India. Sapa-DPA The only male elephant in Armenia's zoo will get an Indian female companion this week, a news report said on Wednesday. Armenian officials had asked the Indian government for a female pachyderm in 1999, for its sole male elephant originally from Moscow. Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee promised them an elephant during a visit to Armenia last year. Read more Tweet medical The nuts and bolts of elephant dentistry in Guruvayoor 2004-10-13 - Thrissur, India. Indo-Asian News Service He is a vet, a dentist, a mahout and a sculptor all rolled into one - and Sankaranarayanan needs every one of those skills when he carves out tusks from softwood and fits them on elephants with nuts and bolts. A mahout by profession, who has been working for the past 35 years with the famous Guruvayoor temple trust in southern India that owns 69 captive elephants, started on this particular job only eight years ago. Read more Tweet conservation A clarion call to conserve nature 2004-10-13 - Coimbatore, India. V.S.Palaniappan, The Hindu It was curtains down for the weeklong wildlife celebrations. The Coimbatore territorial forest division chose to celebrate the event in an unusual manner mobilising the school students to make them realise the importance of flora and fauna. Read more Tweet abstract Assigning African elephant DNA to geographic region of origin: Applications to the ivory trade 2004-10-12 - Washington, United States. Samuel K. Wasser, Andrew M. Shedlock, Kenine Comstock, Elaine A. Ostrander, Benezeth Mutayoba,and Matthew Stephens. The National Academy of Sciences Resurgence of illicit trade in African elephant ivory is placing the elephant at renewed risk. Regulation of this trade could be vastly improved by the ability to verify the geographic origin of tusks. We address this need by developing a combined genetic and statistical method to determine the origin of poached ivory. Our statistical approach exploits a smoothing method to estimate geographic-specific allele frequencies over the entire African elephants' range for 16 microsatellite loci, using ... Read more Tweet welfare Mysore Dasara Celebration of pain? 2004-10-12 - Mysore, India. Deccan Herald You might enjoy dasara but not these elephants, says RAGHUPATHY K P When dasara begins, it is the elephants that attract the crowd. People who come to witness the ‘Jambu Sawari’ are enthralled by the decorated elephants. And the legendary Balarama, a majestic animal which carries the golden howdah gets special attention. Read more Tweet trade Southafrica Votes to Lift 20 year Global Ivory Ban 2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Business Day Southafrica, along with the rest of the southern African countries at a global wildlife conference in Thailand, voted against Kenya's proposal to place a 20 year moratorium on ivory trading yesterday. Read more Tweet trade Whales, Elephants Saved From Commercial Killers 2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Ranjit Devraj The world's 'flagship species' on land and sea, whales and elephants, won a reprieve on Tuesday from commercial exploitation at a major conservation conference in Thailand's capital. Read more Tweet conservation Thais Face Jumbo Dilemma in Conserving Elephants 2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Sasithorn Simaporn, Reuters Elephants kicking soccer balls, painting flowers with their trunks, or twirling a hula-hoop are a common sight in Thailand, where the sacred warrior beasts perform in tourist shows or peddle fruits on the streets of Bangkok. Read more Tweet trade China Seen as Biggest Driver of Ivory Market 2004-10-11 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters Booming demand in China is the biggest driver of the illegal ivory market and there is no clear link between allowing regulated legal trade and a rise in black market supplies, a report to a U.N. conference said on Monday. Read more Tweet trade CITES RESOLUTE-NO IVORY TRADE 2004-10-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. Species Survival Network The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted in a late night session to deny Namibia an annual quota of 2,000kg of raw ivory and an unlimited quantity of worked ivory jewelry, known as “ekipas.” The decision could have serious, long-term, and positive implications for elephant conservation across Africa. Read more Tweet accident Elephant kills mahout 2004-10-10 - PATHANAMTHITTA, India. A 17-year-old mahout, Krishnakumar alias Sreekumar of Elavumthitta near Aranmula, was crushed to death by a domesticated elephant at Elavumthitta this forenoon. According to eyewitnesses, the pachyderm attacked the mahout without any provocation and his brain was smashed when he was fatally crushed against a wayside wall. Read more Tweet event Elephant encounter in Chiangmai 2004-10-09 - Chiang mai, Thailand. Pamela Phang Kooi Yoong THE first stroke went from the left to the middle, then straight down. The second stroke came from the right, and went down the middle of the paper as well. They were confident, sure strokes that eventually yielded something that looked like a tree. Then came the yellow patches, followed by red ones at the end of each branch. A painting of a tree with buttercup-like flowers soon emerged. It was simple, beautiful . . . and amazing. The artist: an elephant. Read more Tweet trade Plan for African Ivory Markets A Victory for Elephants, Says World Wildlife Fund 2004-10-08 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Jan Vertefeuille, Sarah Janicke - WWF World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC applaud African countries who today announced a continent-wide action plan to crack down on their domestic ivory markets, calling it a major victory for elephant conservation. Read more Tweet conflict Trained elephants go on the rampage in northeast India 2004-10-08 - DOOMDOOMA, India. Khaleej Times (Reuters) The phone rang, as Dinesh Choudhury was finishing dinner. A rogue elephant was on the loose in the jungles of northeastern India, and four people were already dead. Choudhury’s first move was to try to convince the tranquilliser team to make another attempt, but they had seen enough of Golap’s anger not to want to approach him again. “I found him after just 10 minutes and fired over his head,” he said later. “People were agitated, but I just pretended it was a miss.” O... Read more Tweet zoo Alaska Zoo to Build Elephant Treadmill 2004-10-07 - ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States. Mary Pemberton, Associated Press Writer Alaska zoo is to build what it believes to be the world's first elephant treadmill as part of plans to enrich its only elephant's life with better accommodation and activities. Read more Tweet conflict Indian Elephants Fight Losing Battle with Man 2004-10-07 - GUWAHATI, India. Simon Denyer, Reuters It is an unexpected headache for the Indian army, an unlikely embarrassment for the government and an unwelcome challenge for the railways department. Elephants in India are on the rampage, coming into conflict with man ever more frequently and ever more dangerously. It is a battle the normally gentle animals seem destined to lose. Read more Tweet trade Uganda Opposes Trade in Ivory but believes in the concept of sustainable utilisation 2004-10-07 - Kampala, Uganda. Gerald Tenywa, New Vision A TEAM of wildlife officials has left for a global meeting in Bangkok, Thailand to oppose the lifting of the ban imposed on ivory trade. "Uganda believes in the concept of sustainable utilisation. We recognise that Uganda's elephant population growth in the last 20 years is partly due to the ban on ivory. Uganda therefore, proposes that this ban should be upheld until such a time that mechanisms for regulating ivory trade and elephant produc... Read more Tweet trade A poachers" charter: Allowing "sustainable trade" in endangered species would make a few dealers rich, while wiping out Africa"s wildlife. 2004-10-07 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Leakey, The Guardian Fifteen years ago, the world's television screens relayed images of Daniel arap Moi, Kenya's then president, and myself setting fire to 2,000 elephant tusks. Kenya could have earned millions of pounds by selling the stockpile. But I believed we had to illustrate graphically the impact of the ivory trade, and show that the only way of saving Africa's elephants was to destroy the trade. Throughout the 1980s, ivory trading - most of it fed by ... Read more Tweet circus Elephants won"t join circus at Coral Springs shows 2004-10-07 - CORAL SPRINGS, United States. Sallie James, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Despite protests from animal rights activists, the circus will come to town next month for four days. Just don't expect to see any elephants. The DeLand-based Cole Bros. Circus, which this year dropped the name "Clyde Beatty" from its title, will perform Nov. 11-14 at the Sportsplex near the Sawgrass Expressway. Circus officials pulled the elephants because of complaints, said circus spokesman Bruce Pratt. Read more Tweet trade Kenya says ivory sales endanger poacher hunters 2004-10-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters Kenya is on the front line of the "wildlife wars" and says its men in the trenches will be at risk if a U.N. conference approves a Namibian bid to sell more ivory. Read more Tweet conservation Khao Yai gets SE Asia"s first wildlife protection training centre 2004-10-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News Khao Yai National Park is to become home to the first training centre for wildlife protection officials in Southeast Asia, the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment announced, Suwit Khunkitti, today. Read more Tweet abstract Fibrosarcoma with lung and lymph node metastases in an Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). 2004-10-06 - Taipei, Taiwan. Liu CH, Chang CH, Chin SC, Chang PH, Zhuo YX, Lee CC.. Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Bioresources and Agriculture, National Taiwan University A case of fibrosarcoma with lung and lymph node metastases in a 54-year-old female Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is described. After pododermatitis of 2 years duration in the right forefoot, a mass developed in the lateral toenail. At postmortem, metastasis to the right axillary lymph node and both lungs was noted. Microscopic examination of primary and metastatic sites revealed infiltrating bundles of spindle cells, with fairly distinct cell borders, variable amounts of eosinophilic cytoplas... Read more Tweet event Elephants Day at Topslip Wildlife Sanctuary 2004-10-06 - Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India. NO MORNING line-up or rides for tourists into the jungles on their backs! It was Elephants Day, part of Wildlife Week celebrations, at the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Topslip near Pollachi this Sunday, and the pachyderms were having a real holiday. The Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, T. Sekar, said that the elephants were brought to Topslip from their camps in Kozhikamudhi and Varagliyar tribal settlements. Read more Tweet trade Ivory ban spells doom for Namibian tribe"s tradition 2004-10-06 - WINDHOEK, Namibia. AFP Women from Namibia's Ukwanyama tribe proudly display the shiny pieces of carved ivory which dangle from their red leather belts, many of them decades old and handed down from mother to daughter. The carved pieces, called "ekipa", are important tokens in the traditional life of this tribe, which straddles northern Namibia and southern Angola. Read more Tweet trade Ivory from extinct mammoths in big demand 2004-10-06 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters Ivory from the tusks of extinct mammoths is being used as a legal substitute for the stuff provided by its living elephant kin, but poor quality and a finite supply means it will never replace it, experts say. Read more Tweet medical Living with jumbo handicaps -Sama at the Pinnawela orphanage 2004-10-06 - KEGALLA, Sri Lanka. R.K. Radhakrishnan It was eight years ago that Sama was brought to the Pinnewala elephant orphanage here. The cow-elephant had lost a leg when it stepped on a landmine in the northern jungles. It was about five then. Today, the orphanage veterinarian, Chandana Rajapaksa, is worried. Read more Tweet event Mysore City Palace under Siege! 2004-10-06 - Mysore, India. Star of Mysore The Palace acquisition proceedings have resurfaced curiously amidst the brisk preparations for the Dasara festivities which may trigger many more controversies during this Dasara. Read more Tweet trade EU opposes whaling, undecided on ivory at CITES 2004-10-05 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters The European Union looked set on Tuesday to harpoon a Japanese bid to resume commercial trade in whale products, but has yet to take a stand on a Namibian attempt to loosen restrictions on ivory sales. Read more Tweet conflict "To avoid confrontation, don"t worship elephants": 2004-10-05 - Ranchi, India. Indo-Asian News Service Don't store liquor. Don't go out into the forests drunk. Don't worship elephants. And move only in groups at night. These are among a list of do's and don'ts brought out by the forest department of Jharkhand in a bid to check the growing cases of man-elephant conflict that have resulted in the deaths of over 300 villagers here in the last four years. Read more Tweet event Whacky polo tees off jumbo fun 2004-10-05 - Hua Hin, Thailand. AP With the crack of clashing mallets and the thump of jumbo feet shaking the earth, the game is under way. Tense commands are shouted by pith-helmeted players tied firmly to their two-ton mounts. Soon there is a muddle in the middle. The beasts collide and the ball disappears in a forest of elephantine legs, raising some dust and much laughter. It’s a classic scrum in the whacky sport of elephant polo. Read more Tweet conflict Avoiding man-animal conflict has become wild-goose chase 2004-10-04 - BHUBANESWAR, India. Between man and animal, it is a conflict that is getting grimmer by the day. The more the human beings invade their habitations, the stronger becomes their resistance. And, same goes the retaliation from the man's side. As the State celebrates Wildlife Week, it is down to the basics for survival for both man and animal. Consider this. From 1998-99 to 2003-04, elephants killed more men than the other way round. In these six years, the pachyderms killed 228 human beings. Read more Tweet facility Elephant Conservation and Breeding Centre:More space for Pinnawela elephants 2004-10-02 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. Florence Wickramage The Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawela will be upgraded as the Elephant Conservation and Breeding Centre and the entire complex including the large extent of land will be redesigned to afford more protection and movement facilities for elephants. Read more Tweet trade 13th CITES meeting kicks off 2004-10-02 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News The 13th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES kicked off in Bangkok today. It is the first time that a CITES meetng is held in the Southeast Asian region. Read more Tweet smuggle Thailand"s legal ivory trade a smokescreen for smuggled African tusks 2004-10-01 - BANGKOK, Thailand. AFP In the heart of Bangkok's bustling Chinatown, shops filled with tourist trinkets and antiques hide an illegal multi-million dollar ivory trade that environmentalists warn is destroying global elephant populations. Inside a cluttered tourist gift shop, an AFP reporter posing as a buyer asked to see banned African ivory and after a heated debate between the shop's two owners was shown smuggled tusks apparently hacked from the head of a slaughtered elephant. Read more Tweet trade NGOs accuse Thai politicians of involvement in wildlife trade 2004-10-01 - Bangkok, Thailand. Conservationists yesterday took a stab at the Thai government, accusing senior national politicians of involvement in the illegal trade in endangered species, while calling for a ban on Thai elephant exports. Read more Tweet relocation Cologne welcomes Singapore Zoo"s most famous elephant 2004-09-30 - Singapore, Singapore. The Singapore Zoo's most famous elephant headed to Germany to be part of a conservation programme at the Cologne Zoo, its former keepers said. Read more Tweet zoo Elephants Leading Long Lives In Professionally Managed Zoos 2004-09-29 - Washington, United States. New research shows that elephants in professionally managed zoological facilities have life expectancies similar to elephants in the wild. The finding, published in the August edition of the journal Zoo Biology (Volume 23, Issue 4), refutes a 2002 study that claimed wild elephants typically live longer. The new research used a different testing methodology, which its authors say corrects these earlier findings. Read more Tweet research Using DNA to stop elephant poachers. UW researcher can trace ivory to its original region 2004-09-28 - SEATTLE, United States. CAROL SMITH It's like doing cold-case detective work on elephants, but University of Washington scientist Samuel Wasser has devised an innovative method for pinpointing the DNA fingerprints of poached elephant tusks. The method, reported yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could give conservationists their most powerful tool yet in the battle to hunt down the poachers who are decimating the African elephant population. Read more Tweet relocation Ilona from Hannover to Heidelberg Zoo 28 september 2004-09-28 - Heidelberg, Germany. Dan Koehl Because of Califa und Farina, the last elephant baby births in Hannover Zoo, peace was over, and the kindergarten became a little bit too much for Ilona. At the 29 of September 2004 she was transfered to Zoo Heidelberg, in a seventeen meter long vehicle, during eight hours journey at the german autobahn. Read more Tweet research New scientific methods to identify elephant DNA in ivory 2004-09-28 - Washington, United States. Washington - Using elephant dung and skin samples, researchers say they are able to make a map of elephant DNA that can help track down ivory poachers. Read more Tweet event Surin rally to raise funds for elephants 2004-09-27 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News The north-eastern province of Surin, famed for its annual elephant round-ups, is to conduct its second elephant rally this year to help raise funds for Thai elephants. Read more Tweet zoo Elephants find love at the zoo 2004-09-25 - Pittsburgh, United States. Michelle K. Massie, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Jack is back and he's looking for love. Jack, whose full name is Jackson, is a 10,400-pound African male elephant and the only naturally breeding bull in the United States. Due to his acclaim, Jack has made his rounds around the country, most recently at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, mating with willing adult female elephants. Since May, he's been back at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Read more Tweet medical Botswana anthrax "subsiding" 2004-09-24 - Gaborone, Botswana. The outbreak of anthrax in Botswana's Chobe National Park had claimed the lives of 265 animals, but was now subsiding, an assistant director in the Department of Wildlife said on Friday. Of the 265 animals found dead in Chobe, 248 were buffalo, and 12 were elephants. The carcasses had been disposed of. Read more Tweet conflict Farmers at Kakum assisted to protect farms against elephants 2004-09-23 - Brahabebome, Ghana. A 234,000 dollar- project, initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), last year, to protect farms in communities around the Kakum National Park from marauding elephants, has yielded positive results. For the first time in over 20 years, farmers at Aboabo camp, Nyamebekyere, Adubiase, Siriboekro, Brahabebome, Kasum and Alicekrom, have been able to harvest their food crops without any hindrance from the elephants. Read more Tweet accident Jen saves child from elephant 2004-09-23 - Thailand, Thailand. Jennifer Ellison saved a young girl from being crushed by an elephant in Thailand. She dashed to pick up four-year-old Stacey Young after she fell during an elephant ride, reports the Daily Star. Read more Tweet conflict Plan to catch rogue elephants cleared 2004-09-21 - Hassan, Karnataka, India. The Divisional Conservator of Forests, Hassan Division, S. Shekar, has said that the Government has given the green signal to catch and trans-locate two rogue elephants that are creating havoc in Alur, Sakleshpur and part of Arkalgud taluks. Read more Tweet medical Mysore zoo elephants poisoned, says report 2004-09-20 - Mysore, India. The susipicion of a foul play in the deaths of zoo elephants Ganesha and Roopa has proved right. The laboratory reports have confirmed that the elephants were killed using a strong chemical poison (zinc phosphide). The two elephants, which died on September 4 and September 7 respectively, had acute haemorrhagic enteritis and respiratory distress because of the poison. Zinc phosphide is normally used to kill rodents and it is a cheap poison available in the market. Read more Tweet death Two elephants electrocuted in Jharkhand, India 2004-09-19 - Ranchi, India. Indo-Asian News Service Two elephants died when they came in contact with a high-voltage power line near this Jharkhand capital, following which a herd of elephants ran amok and damaged several houses and other properties. While roaming in the Torpa area, 40 km from Ranchi, an elephant died when its trunk touched an 11,000-volt electrical line. Another elephant came to its rescue and met the same fate. Read more Tweet trade Row over Zimbabwe"s elephant numbers 2004-09-15 - Harare, Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe's cronies have apparently inflated Zimbabwe's elephant population to dupe the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (Cites) into allowing Harare to continue trading in ivory. Read more Tweet relocation One more elephant with Frankello 2004-09-12 - Platschow, Germany. The elephant trainer Sonny Frankello has bought yet one more elephant. A few months ago he received the female elephant Sandra and now he has bought a male elephant – Moritz. The elephant comes from the German Scholl family. Sonny has now 6 African elephants. 2 males Sahib and Moriz and four females Mala, Sandra, Kenia and Timba. Only 3 of the elephants have been on tour this year. Read more Tweet facility New elephant park opening in Cologne Zoo, Germany 2004-09-09 - Cologne, Germany. Barbara Brem On September 9th, the “Elephant Park” was officially opened in Cologne. Three bulls and two cows from Holland and England, as well as a six-year old bull from Singapore now live on 5,000 square meters interior enclosure and in a 15,000 square meters outdoor park. The 20,000 square meter facility takes up approximately ten percent of the overall zoo property. Read more Tweet death Sudden illness kills zoo elephant. Kimba, 13, was born in Houston"s exhibit in 1991 2004-09-07 - Houston, United States. Danny Perez, Houston Chronicle The Houston Zoo staff members tried feverishly to save Kimba's life, but the 13-year-old female Asian elephant died Monday afternoon after a sudden illness. Read more Tweet death Mysore Zoos Elephant Ganeshas death shocks animal lovers 2004-09-05 - Mysore, India. The death of an elephant in the Mysore zoo on Saturday has shocked animal lovers and the zoo authorities here. Ganesha, who was 30 years old, was reported to be dull since Friday. The Executive Director of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Manoj Kumar, said the elephant was suffering from severe abdominal pain and responded to treatment initially. However, it died at 8 a.m. on Saturday. Read more Tweet conflict Yala National Park in Sri Lanka closed as thirsty elephants see red 2004-09-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Reuters Sri Lanka has closed its biggest wildlife reserve because a severe drought has dried up watering holes and left wild elephants thirsty, angry and ready to charge, park officials say. Read more Tweet medical Michigan Elephant Gets Therapy for Arthritis 2004-08-24 - ROYAL OAK, Michigan, United States. TAREK EL-TABLAWY Like any patient, Wanda needs positive reinforcement to wrestle through her physical therapy. At 46, time and a few extra pounds have taken their toll on this Royal Oak resident's bones, and her eyes roam to the treats the needed incentive to overcome the pain during her workout. "Leg up," says Mary Wulff, who guides Wanda through the routines. "Good girl!" Read more Tweet birth Shanti Gives Birth At Houston Zoo 2004-08-18 - Houston, United States. Asian Elephant Births 338-Pound Baby GirlAfter 22 months of pregnancy, Shanti, a 13-year-old Asian elephant at the Houston Zoo gave birth to a baby girl Tuesday evening, August 17, 2004, at the Houston Zoo to a healthy female calf with the name Bella! Read more Tweet zoo Maggie the lonely elephant to stay in Alaska 2004-08-17 - Anchorage, Alaska, United States. America's and the world´s northernmost elephant is staying put, to the relief of many visitors at the Alaska Zoo and the consternation of some animal advocates who say the African-born pachyderm needs a warmer climate, more space and the company of her own kind. Read more Tweet death Shots killing elephant Tyke echo across a decade 2004-08-16 - Honolulu, United States. Rosemarie Bernardo A circus that includes elephant performances has not come to Hawaii since Tyke's rampage. However, there was an attempt last year by the Ringling Bros Circus. The organization filed for a permit to bring two Asian elephants for a February circus performance. There were no other requests to bring in elephants for circus acts, said Cravalho. An elephant, however, was brought to Honolulu for the filming of the Disney movie "George of the Jungle" in 1997 under strict safeguards. Read more Tweet welfare Shots killing elephant echo across a decade Activists favor outlawing elephant act 2004-08-16 - Honolulu, United States. By Rosemarie Bernardo, Starbulletin Makakilo resident Donna Wier remembers that horrible day 10 years ago when a man was trampled to death by an 8,000-pound elephant at the Blaisdell Arena. "It was pretty traumatic," said Wier, who took her sons Dillon, then 6, and Koa, 10 months, to the circus for the first time. "It's still in the back of our minds." Read more Tweet medical Elephant Tina"s heart failed 2004-08-10 - VANCOUVER, United States. Tests show the Tina, the elephant who was moved from B.C. to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee last summer, died of heart failure. Read more Tweet zoo Columbus Zoo: Baby Elephant Named to Bodhi! 2004-08-07 - POWELL, Ohio, United States. The winning name in the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Name the Baby Elephant Contest is Bodhi, entered by Alison Dutro of Dublin, Ohio. The announcement of the winning name was made today at 1 p.m. Read more Tweet medical German Specialists Make Ultrasound Examination of Pregnant Elephant at Jerusalem"s Biblical Zoo 2004-08-02 - Jerusalem, Israel. GCM/CRB A German team from the IZW, The Institute of Zoo Wildlife Research in Berlin, make an ultrasound examination of Tamar, a pregnant elephant, at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo July 31, 2004. Read more Tweet conservation White elephant spotted in Sri Lanka - Albino pachyderm may boost conservation efforts 2004-07-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Helen Pilcher A rare albino elephant has been spotted roaming Sri Lanka's Ruhunu National Park, the first recorded sighting in the country. The pale-skinned pachyderm, thought to be around 11 years old, lives with a 17-strong herd of adult females and youngsters. Tracking the herd's movements could help researchers devise new strategies for the protection and management of Sri Lanka's elephants. Read more Tweet wild MAPUTO ELEPHANT RESERVE RE-COUNT 21st July-26th July 2004 2004-07-26 - Maputo, Mozambique. Joe Holmes, University of Pretoria The initial count was done in October 2002 for CERU, the Conservation Ecology Research Unit of the University of Pretoria. We received a request from Dr Tim Jackson in the early part of this year to do a follow up count to enable comparisons to be drawn. Read more Tweet conflict Rogue elephants shot by rangers 2004-07-26 - Durban, South Africa. Chris Jenkins, Daily News Game rangers have shot three rogue elephants in Zululand's Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. The culling was in terms of a head office directive to control "delinquent" elephants to avoid possible fatal attacks on staff, neighbours or visitors. Read more Tweet death Tina the elephant dies 2004-07-23 - VANCOUVER, United States. Tina, the Asian elephant with the ailing feet, who moved from B.C. to Tenneessee has died. The 34-year-old pachyderm was transferred last August to the Elephant Sanctuary at Hohenwald, southwest of Nashville. Read more Tweet birth 69-year-old elephant gives birth to male calf 2004-07-21 - SHIMOGA, India. It was a day of celebration at the elephant camp at Sakrebylu, about 15 km from here, on Wednesday as an elephant calf was born within 15 days of another calf being born. Kaveri, a 69-year-old elephant, gave birth to a male calf this morning. It was the second delivery of Kaveri, the first one being in 1969. Read more Tweet relocation African elephant Ruby moved to Knoxville Zoo last year will return to Los Angeles 2004-07-20 - Los Angeles, United States. Lora LaMarca, Los Angeles Zoo Working with the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s (AZA) Species Survival Plan managers for elephants, the Los Angeles Zoo had been seeking a better and more social situation for Ruby, a 43-year-old African elephant. The decision was made to move Ruby from the Los Angeles Zoo to the Knoxville (Tennessee) Zoo in May 2003. Read more Tweet birth 230-Pound Baby Elephant Born At Disney"s Animal Kingdom 2004-07-07 - Lake Buena Vista, United States. An 18-year-old African elephant gave birth to a 230-pound baby at Disney's Animal Kingdom, according to Local 6 News. The elephant calf arrived Tuesday night to join its 18-year-old mother, Vasha, after 22 months in the womb, according to an official. The elephant's name is Kianga, which means "Sunshine" in Swahili. Read more Tweet accident Elephant tramples South Korean tourist in Cambodia 2004-07-03 - Ratanakiri, Cambodia. An enraged elephant in remote northeastern Cambodia has trampled a South Korean tourist who tried to take its photograph. The Cambodia Daily reports 29-year-old Chong Huisit, suffered broken ribs and other injuries when the beast turned on him, just before it was supposed to take him for a ride in jungle-clad Ratanakiri province. The victim was airlifted to Phnom Penh for treatment. Read more Tweet relocation Gorongosa National Park receives 500 elephants from Botswana 2004-06-28 - Maputo, Mozambique. Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique The Gorongosa National Park, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, is to receive 500 elephants from Botswana, during the second half of this year, as part of its restocking programme, reports Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias". Read more Tweet death Elephant calf dies at Vandalur zoo 2004-06-25 - CHENNAI, India. P. Oppili A three-and-half-month-old elephant calf died at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, on Wednesday. The calf, Ramu, was rescued last month from the forest area in Amirthi near Vellore after his mother died. Read more Tweet death Three Elephants killed by train in Guwahati 2004-06-23 - Guwahati, India. A goods carriage train hit a herd of elephants when they were crossing the railway line which passes through a dense forest area of Ajara on the outskirts of Guwahati, in the northeastern Indian states of Assam, resulting in the death of three elephants on Monday June 21, forest officials said. Read more Tweet zoo Baby elephant finds new home 2004-06-20 - MALACCA, Malaysia. Lee Yuk Peng, The Star A six-month-old baby elephant, which was separated from its mother in the Johor forest, will be bred in captivity in the Malacca Zoo.The male calf, named Rio, which still needs milk from its mother until it turns two, will now have to grow up on low-fat cow’s milk mixed with bread. Read more Tweet zoo GLOBAL ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD FOR ANIMALS: ISIS AND CGI TO BUILD A ONE OF A KIND GLOBAL SPECIMEN AND COLLECTION INFORMATION SYSTEM 2004-06-08 - Toronto, Canada. The International Species Information System (ISIS), a global organization that serves the institutional, regional and global animal management and conservation goals of more than 600 zoos and aquariums from 70 countries around the world, has selected CGI Group Inc. (CGI) (TSX: GIB.A; NYSE: GIB) to design, build and maintain a next generation data management system. This seven-year, multi-million dollar information technology (IT) contract will facilitate the real-time collection and tracking of... Read more Tweet accident Elephant trainer gored by elephant at Six Flags Marine World 2004-06-01 - Vallejo, United States. An elephant trainer at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo was in critical condition Tuesday after he was gored by one of the pachyderms, a fire department spokesman said. Patrick Chapple, 39, was standing next to 7,000-pound Misha, a 23-year-old female African elephant, at about 3:30 p.m. when the animal turned suddenly from grazing and knocked him to the ground. Read more Tweet conflict Elephants create havoc in Jharkhand villages 2004-05-30 - Ernakulam, Kerala, India. New Kerala Villagers in Jharkhand are a harried lot as they come under constant attacks by heards of wild elephants. According to official estimates nearly 29 people have been killed and many injured in the last two years in Ranchi district by wild elephants. Read more Tweet conflict Kidnapped elephant to undergo discipline training 2004-05-29 - Kushalnagar, India. A celebrity elephant is to undergo training in India after plantation owners kidnapped it for trampling over their crops. Harsha went on the rampage while leading a royal procession in Kushalnagar. Read more Tweet welfare PETA continues campaign to get Lee Richardson Zoo"s elephants in Kansas transferred to More Spacious Area 2004-05-29 - Garden City, United States. An animal rights group is continuing its campaign to persuade the Lee Richardson Zoo to send its two elephants to a more spacious sanctuary, despite the zoo's plans to expand the elephants' living quarters. Read more Tweet zoo Day in the life of an elephant keeper 2004-04-30 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom. I arrive at elephant house with the other elephant keepers at around 7.30am, and we are usually greeted by the female elephants who flap their ears at us. The first job of the day is to sweep the barn out before preparing a hearty breakfast for all the elephants. Breakfast usually consists of nutritional pellets with vitamins and bananas - breakfast is just as important for elephants as it is for people! Read more Tweet medical Breathalyser detects tuberculosis 2004-04-10 - London, United Kingdom. BBC Coughing into a breathalyser could be the new way to detect the most common form of tuberculosis. The portable device, developed by Rapid Biosensor Systems, would be quicker and easier to use than the current screening method, called the Heaf test. Read more Tweet birth Whipsnade Wild Animal Park celebrates its first Asian elephant birth 2004-03-30 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom. Whipsnade Wild Animal Park's new born Asian elephant calf will be making her first public appearance today, Tuesday 30th March. The female calf, born on Tuesday 16th March to 22 year old mother, Kaylee, weighed in at a whopping 149kg on arrival and will be an important addition to the breeding programme for this endangered species. Read more Tweet relocation Kenya plans massive relocation of elephants 2004-03-27 - Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya plans to move 400 elephants away from a reserve where jumbos are breaking down fences and trampling crops in its biggest animal relocation exercise, wildlife officials said on Friday. Read more Tweet accident An elephant"s casual shrug almost killed zookeeper Katie Hrynewich. 2004-03-25 - Calgary, Canada. BILL KAUFMANN As a group of Grade 3 students looked on, the pachyderm handler at the Calgary Zoo took a header from pregnant, 3,000 kg Asian elephant Maharani. "A flash went in front of my eyes and when I recovered my vision, I was lying at her feet -- I gave her two opportunities to finish me off," says Hrynewich, 41, of the March 25, 2004, incident. Moments before, Hrynewich had been rewarding Maharani with herbal cookies for a successful bath. "I had a really, really good rapport with that elephant and eve... Read more Tweet death Dynamite in fodder kills elephant calf 2004-03-24 - MYSORE, India. The Hindu A dynamite concealed in fodder exploded in the mouth of an elephant calf, ripping its face apart and leaving the hapless creature writhing in agony until it died on Wednesday. Read more Tweet death San Francisco Zoo euthanizes Calle after final controversy. Activists blamed for causing another elephant to push her down 2004-03-08 - San Francisco, United States. Demian Bulwa Calle the ailing elephant died at the San Francisco Zoo on Sunday morning, hours after another elephant attacked her, an attack that zoo officials are blaming on animal rights demonstrators who they say agitated the beasts. Zoo veterinarians quietly euthanized Calle, a 37-year-old female Asian elephant, at about 5 a.m., after she dropped to her belly and rolled on her side. Read more Tweet circus Hawthorn circus Elephants to leave McHenry County farm 2004-03-08 - Richmond, Illinois, United States. Jeff Long, Tribune staff reporter The owner of a circus-training facility in rural McHenry County has agreed to find new homes for his elephants under an agreement with federal authorities, officials announced today. The proposed agreement between John Cuneo, owner of Hawthorn Corp., and the U.S. Department of Agriculture would end the government's case against Cuneo and his company for dozens of alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act concerning the elephants' care. Read more Tweet death Hogle"s Kali the Elephant Euthanized 2004-03-08 - Salt Lake City, United States. (KSL News) Another animal has been euthanized at Hogle Zoo. The Zoo's grand dame, Kali the elephant was put down this morning. This morning zookeepers found Kali alert, but lying on the floor of her exhibit. She was unable to get up, due to her severe joint arthritis. Kali was 59, the third oldest living Asian elephant in the country. Read more Tweet death San Francisco Zoo losing a beloved pachyderm. Keepers plan to euthanize sick, injured Calle the Elephant 2004-03-05 - San Francisco, United States. Patricia Yollin The troubled life of Calle the Elephant, one of the San Francisco Zoos most beloved residents, will soon come to an end. The zoo has decided to euthanize the 37-year-old, 10,000-pound creature because her health has been declining since October. After Calle is euthanized, Tinkerbelle may be sent to another zoo. Read more Tweet welfare Therapy for stressed Indian elephants 2004-02-04 - Delhi, India. Adam Mynott BBC South Asia correspondent India's captive elephants are stressed, unhappy and need therapy, according to the Wildlife Trust of India. They have called in an expert - a sort of "elephant-whisperer" - from the United States to help them. Read more Tweet event Football festival aids elephants 2004-01-31 - Kaziranga, India. Almost 100 elephants have taken part in a football game in India as part of an annual festival aimed at encouraging locals to protect the animals Read more Tweet death Drunken elephants die in accident 2004-01-23 - Calcutta, India. Subir Bhaumik Four wild elephants drunk on rice beer have been electrocuted in the north-east Indian state of Meghalaya, wildlife officials report. The elephants are known to have a taste for rice beer brewed by tribal communities across north-east India. But this is the first time some of them have died after consuming the drink. A herd of about 20 to 25 elephants went on the rampage in a remote area in the West Garo Hills district earlier this week after getting high on the beer. Read more Tweet birth Keepers preparing for birth of African elephant 2004-01-23 - ESCONDIDO, United States. ANDREA MOSS The countdown has begun, even if nobody knows when it will end. Anticipation is mounting behind the scenes at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where keepers are closely monitoring a pregnant African elephant that is expected to give birth in the next month or two. Ultrasounds and hormone tests suggest the mother is about 21 months into a pregnancy that, if it follows the average, will last 22 months. Read more Tweet event Zoo plays host to Parade elephants 2004-01-23 - New Delhi, India. Prakriti Prasad The Delhi Zoo is extending its hospitality to the elephants that carry bravery award winners in the Republic Day parade. Visitors to the zoo are greeted by these elephants, brought from all over Delhi and domesticated by their private owners, right at the entrance, where they are putting up in the scooter parking lot. Every morning, they are taken to Rajpath for their training. Read more Tweet medical Patent for elephant denture 2004-01-18 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Pornprapa Rattanadang, The Nation The inventor of a denture fitted to an 80-year-old elephant, allowing it to eat normally, has applied for a patent for the device. "It has been a great success," said Somsak Jitniyom of the Mount Chayarat Centre for Research and Technology Transfer. Read more Tweet smuggle Four Arrested in Tanzania Over Ivory Haul 2004-01-14 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Reuters Four men were arrested in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam after they were found with 73 elephant tusks, police said Wednesday. Read more Tweet fossil Remains of 500-year-old elephant excavated in Orissa, India 2004-01-11 - Bhubaneswar, India. Jatindra Dash, Newkerala.com A team of archaeologists has uncovered the remains of an elephant believed to be 500 years old from a fort in Orissa. The team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) found the remains at the Barabati fort at Cuttack town, 26 km from here. The skeleton was found two metres below the surface during the excavation of the fort's 102 acres of land, said P.K. Dwibedi, in charge of the ASI's office here. Read more Tweet relocation Elephants to Be Moved 2004-01-08 - Shimba Hills, Kenya. Daniel Nyassy, The East African Standard Four hundred elephants in Shimba Hills Game Park, Kwale, are to get a new home starting next month. They will be moved to the Tsavo National Park, as ordered by President Kibaki in his tour of the Coast Province. Read more Tweet medical Toothless elephant gets set of dentures 2004-01-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok Post A toothless old elephant who was slowly starving to death has been fitted with a set of specially made dentures in what could be the first in the world. The U-shaped denture, 15cm wide and 15cm long, is made of stainless steel, silicone and plastic. It was developed especially for Morakot, an 80-year-old cow elephant at the Chang Phuan Kaeo elephant ground in Kanchanaburi province. Read more Tweet accident Elephant ride ends in horror 2004-01-04 - Livingstone, Zambia. Gudrun Heckl A South African couple's elephant-riding adventure turned into a life-threatening drama on the day of their 30th wedding anniversary. Schoolteacher Sue Pearson is recovering from serious chest injuries in a Johannesburg hospital after a dramatic rescue effort spanning three countries, dogged by power failures at a clinic and an airport. Pearson and her husband John, a Johannesburg businessman, were swept off a 24-year-old elephant which ran into a tree on the banks ... Read more Tweet death Newborn Elephant Dies At Houston Zoo 2004-01-01 - Houston, United States. The Houston Zoo is mourning the loss of it's newest addition. A new born Asian elephant died at the zoo Monday. The female calf died about 30 hours after her mother, Methai, gave birth. Zookeepers said the calf appeared to be very healthy right after labor but suspected something was wrong a few hours later. The zoo said the calf's mother is in good health and is now in an area visible to visitors. Read more Tweet people Local leader Steve Hirano put his heart into his work 2003-12-21 - Honolulu, United States. Mary Vorsino Steve Hirano, 57, died Friday evening at his Hawaii Kai home, less than two months after learning that he had pancreatic cancer. Steve Hirano made international news in 1994 when the rogue elephant tyke from a Blaisdell Center circus, for whom he was serving as publicist, charged and attacked him. The video of Tyke the elephant tossing Hirano out of the way as he tried to hold the animal behind a fenced gate is hard to forget. Read more Tweet poaching 50 Arrested After Jumbo Carcasses Are Found 2003-12-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. The East African Standard More than 50 people from Kinna Division in Isiolo District have been detained after suspected poachers killed five elephants. The tusks of the slaughtered animals, which were apparently shot with poisoned arrows, were all missing. Kinna, an agricultural area, borders Kora and Bisanadi game reserves and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)-managed Meru National Park. Read more Tweet research Asian Elephant Insemination Plan. Researchers Hope To Boost Dwindling Global Population 2003-12-16 - Bangkok, Thailand. Thai researchers will try to artificially inseminate a group of Asian elephants next month in a bid to boost numbers, a scientist working on the project said Tuesday. They will use samples stored at an experimental elephant sperm bank and are monitoring the beasts to work out the right time for conception in the northern towns of Lampang and Chiang Mai, said Mungkorn Damyang of Kasetsart University. Read more Tweet birth SECOND-GENERATION ASIAN ELEPHANT BIRTH UNDERSCORES SUCCESS OF RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY"S CONSERVATION PROGRAM 2003-12-05 - Vienna, Virginia, United States. Feld Entertainment, Inc. The new calf is the offspring of Ringling Bros.' bred elephants, expanding the largest gene pool outside of Asia. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® unveils white paper on the state of the Asian elephant in the 21st century. Vienna, VA-On December 5, 2003 at 9:25 a.m., Riccardo, a 232-pound male, Asian elephant, joined the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) family. This newborn's arrival is historic, as he is the first offspring from two elephants born in... Read more Tweet death Elephant Electrocuted in Thekkamukkiyur, India 2003-12-05 - Attappady, India. The Hindu A wild elephant was electrocuted at Thekkamukkiyur in Sholayur panchayat of Attappady today after it came into contact with an electric fencing put up by a farmer. Reports from Attappady said the cow elephant may have died due to the high voltage of current passed through the electric fencing directly from the main line. Read more Tweet abstract "Right-trunkers" and "left-trunkers": side preferences of trunk movements in wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). 2003-12-00 - Berlin, Germany. Martin F, Niemitz C., Freie Universität Berlin In this article, the side preferences of feeding-related trunk movements of free-ranging Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were investigated for the first time. It is hypothesized that a functional asymmetry of the trunk is necessary to perform skillful feeding movements more efficiently. This might be connected with a corresponding hemispheric specialization. Video recordings of 41 wild elephants provided frequencies and durations of the following trunk-movement categories: object contact, retr... Read more Tweet accident Circus trainer killed by elephant 2003-10-27 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. An animal trainer was fatally struck by an elephant just a week after getting the job with a circus in Malaysia, a news report said today. Read more Tweet relocation Emmen zoo struggling to cope with giant elephant Radza from Riga Zoo 2003-10-14 - Emmen, Netherlands. A Dutch zoo is struggling to cope after being sent the biggest elephant in Europe. Radza, a male elephant, has been loaned to Emmen Zoo to breed with its female elephants. But it is far bigger than the zookeepers expected and has been destroying the elephant cages. Razda, which is owned by Riga Zoo, Latvia, is more than 10ft high and weighs 7.2 tonnes. Read more Tweet relocation Two new arrivals at Elephant Nature Park in Thailand 2003-10-02 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Sangduen Chailert The Elephant Nature Park received two bulls in need of urgent medical treatment. Pookaew 18, had very serious foot problems, and Khum-min 46, a big abscess on his back. Read more Tweet event Scotland have lost 5-3 against Germany in the elephant polo world cup final. 2003-09-21 - Hua Hin, Thailand. The Scottish Chivas Regal squad and Germany's Mercedes Benz met in the King's Cup in Hua Hin, Thailand, on Sunday. The Chivas side disposed of local team Nokia Thailand 8-2 in the semi-final, while the Germans beat Australia's Sandalford Winery. Money raised from the tournament is being used for a new elephant conservation centre in Lampang. Read more Tweet people Local Personalities: former elephant keeper Martin Smith 2003-09-12 - Pattaya, Thailand. Dr. Iain Corness Martin Smith is Mein Host at the Old Speckled Hen Pub in Jomtien, and a man who has spent more than half his working life working with elephants. He was sent around the world by Aspinalls to study elephant management. This took him to the US, Singapore and Thailand to study handling methods and enclosures. The answer was total zero handling, with studies showing that male elephants would look upon the ‘keepers’ as rivals and would therefore eventually attack their adversary one day to gain s... Read more Tweet death Elephant dies at PAWS Sanctuary 2003-09-11 - Galt, California, United States. Diana Lambert Tammy, one of four Asian elephants living at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary, has died. The 53-year-old Asian elephant was euthanized Saturday at the sanctuary after staff members were unable to get her to her feet after she fell. Publicity surrounded Tammy's arrival at PAWS in 1990 when she and another elephant, named Annie, were retired from a Milwaukee zoo. Both elephants were captured in India in 1954. PAWS president and co-founder Pat Derby said both elephants had injuries s... Read more Tweet evolution Pygmy elephant in Sabah, Borneo, proven to be a new subspecies 2003-09-04 - PETALING JAYA, Malaysia. SUSAN TAM They are smaller, tamer and more mild tempered compared with other Asian elephants and were discovered in Sabah. Following DNA tests they have now been confirmed as a new subspecies of Borneo “Pygmy Elephants.” Yesterday, WWF-Malaysia chairman Tengku Zainal Adlin congratulated the Sabah Wildlife Department on the discovery of the new variety. Tengku Zainal said in a statement that the DNA tests confirmed that the elephants were a distinct subspecies and had different characteristics from th... Read more Tweet death Tara at Black Beauty Ranch dead 2003-08-16 - Murchison, Texas, United States. It is with great sadness that The Fund for Animals announces the passing of Tara, one of our beloved elephants at Black Beauty Ranch. Tara was 59 years old. Read more Tweet welfare Pension rights for Indian elephants 2003-07-24 - Kerala, India. Elephants employed by the state of Kerala in southern India are to be granted full retirement benefits at the age of 65. Read more Tweet people Dr. V. Krishnamurthy , an ardent conservationist and a pioneer in designing programmes for captive elephant care 2003-07-20 - Chennai, India. Dr. V. Krishnamurthy was a forest veterinary officer who served the Government of Tamil Nadu for over three decades, primarily concentrating on the health care of both domestic and wild elephants. Dr. Krishmurthy or Doc K, as he was fondly called, resurrected captive elephant health care and management to levels that have not been seen in Asia for the most of the last century. Read more Tweet zoo New elephants in Kolmarden don"t understand Swedish 2003-07-18 - Kolmarden, Sweden. When the Swedish royal couple visited Thailand earlier this year, they were presented with two elephants as a gift from the king of Thailand. But the giant mammals don't understand Swedish, so two zookeepers are traveling to Thailand to learn Thai. "The elephants must be able to understand commands in the languages they've been raised with, so that we don't have to teach them Swedish," Magnus Nilsson, chief executive of Sweden's Kolmarden safari park, Norrköping, told The Associated Press on Fr... Read more Tweet birth Newborn Elephant 2003-06-20 - Bogor, Indonesia. REUTERS/Supri Inul, a Sumatran elephant born early this morning at Taman Safari park south of Jakarta, stands close to her mother Linda in her pen at the park June 20, 2003. Inul was named after the famous Indonesian singer and dancer know for her wild gyrations during her performances. The wild population of the Sumatran elephant is estimated to be around 600, down from more than 3,000 10 years ago. Read more Tweet death Brookfield Zoo saddened by loss of elephant 2003-06-17 - Chicago, Illinois, United States. This afternoon, Brookfield Zoo staff was saddened to lose Mame, a 32-year-old African elephant. Mame sustained severe injuries during an encounter with another elephant. Following the encounter, veterinary staff closely observed Mame and determined she had suffered disabling injuries to both her front legs. In the professional opinion of the zoo's veterinary staff, the prognosis for a successful recovery in this type of injury is very poor. Vets and animal collection staff were concerned Mame ... Read more Tweet death Erin of the EB family in the Amboseli Elephant Research Project died 21 May 2003-06-13 - Amboseli, Kenya. Cynthia Moss, Amboseli Elephant Research Project One of the best known elephants in Amboseli, Erin of the EB family, died in May after a three week struggle for survival involving her family, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) team, a BBC cameraman, and the staff of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Read more Tweet people Vietnam"s famed elephant tamer 2003-06-04 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. Nga Pham Ama Kong is not an ordinary 88-year-old man. In a period of 40 years, he has captured and domesticated nearly 300 elephants - 298 to be precise. Descended from a Laotian tribal leader, who was believed to be the founder of the craft of elephant taming, Ama Kong reckons he has now captured and tamed more elephants than the Elephant King himself. Read more Tweet medical Malacca Zoo treating injured seven-year-old calf elephant Muadzam 2003-05-28 - MALACCA, Malaysia. LEE YUK PENG A young elephant, caught in a wild boar trap at a forest reserve in Rompin, Pahang, has been sent to the Malacca Zoo for treatment. The injured animal was spotted by villagers and rescued by wildlife officers last Thursday. It was brought here on Sunday where zoo officials were now nursing it back to health. Read more Tweet relocation Los Angeles Zoo Elephant Ruby Moved To Knoxville Zoo 2003-05-25 - Los Angeles, United States. Lora LaMarca, Los Angeles Zoo Ruby, a 42-year-old female African elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo, began her journey to her new home at the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee the evening of May 25. Read more Tweet birth Animal Kingdom celebrates birth of elephant 2003-05-23 - Orlando, Florida, United States. The Walt Disney World Resort's animal care team welcomed the first African elephant calf to be born at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park Thursday night. The 296-pound calf was born at 10:05 p.m. to its 22-year-old mother, Moyo. The first-time mother was in labor on and off for four hours before giving birth to the calf, which was conceived through artificial insemination on Aug. 25, 2001. Read more Tweet fossil The Shovel-tusker Amebelodon: A New Discovery 2003-05-12 - Cheyenne, United States. Bruce Bailey, University of Nebraska State Museum In June, we received a call from Mike Spaeth of Cheyenne County, reporting the discovery of a large fossil bone protruding from a stream bank. We arrived and uncovered not a dinosaur bone, but a complete lower jaw of the four-tusked elephant Amebelodon! This is the first skull, and only the second complete jaw (the first was collected in 1927) of Amebelodon known from Nebraska. Read more Tweet trade Groups File Suit to Stop Wild African Elephant Import by U.S. Zoos. Action Comes One Week after Federal Agency Questions Validity of Import Permits 2003-04-10 - Washington, United States. Aiming to stop what would be the first import of wild elephants to American Zoo Association (AZA) accredited zoos in the U.S. in more than a decade, a coalition of wildlife conservation and animal protection organizations today filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Read more Tweet birth Boras Zoo celebrates second elephant birth in Sweden 2003-03-29 - Boras, Sweden. Dan Koehl Boras second african elephant birth took place 29 march, 02.29 hrs, a female calf weighing abt 80 kgs. Read more Tweet people Ecologist Dr. Raman Sukumar won the Whitley Gold Award 2003-03-18 - London, United Kingdom. The endangered Asian elephant took a step closer to recovery March 14th when ecologist Dr. Raman Sukumar won the Whitley Gold Award of £50,000 at the annual Whitley Awards ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The Awards were presented by Princess Anne, patron of the Whitley-Laing Foundation. The Whitley Awards are among the most prestigious in wildlife conservation and popularly know as the "Green Oscars" Read more Tweet abstract Forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) stature in the Réserve de Faune du Petit Loango, Gabon 2003-03-17 - Cambridge, United Kingdom. Bethan J. Morgan and P. C. Lee. Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge The stature of forest elephants Loxodonta africana cyclotis was determined at the Petit Loango Reserve over 14 months from January to December 1998 and May to June 1999 using three measures: shoulder height, hind footprint length and boli diameter. The shoulder height of 53 identified elephants was measured using photogrammetric methods. The minimum estimated shoulder height was 69 cm from a young calf, and the tallest animal was 216 cm. Hind footprint length and boli diameter data were collecte... Read more Tweet accident Elephant keeper Perry Haans killed in Safari Beekse Bergen 2003-02-20 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands. Press release Wednesday morning the 19th of February 2003, Perry Haans (36), one of the elephant keepers at Safari Beekse Bergen, Hilvarenbeek, the Netherlands was injured badly by an elephant during his daily work. He was immediately taken to the nearby hospital where he died late that evening. Read more Tweet accident Taming tuskers, not a jumbo task 2003-02-10 - Ernakulam, Kerala, India. Though the recent incidents in Kerala have put pachyderms in poor light, it is not an elephantine problem to make the animal fall in line, if the mahout knows its moods and showers affection, writes PRINCE FREDERICK. Read more Tweet accident The elephant can never be fully domesticated 2003-02-07 - KOLLAM, Kerala, India. Ignatius Pereira The basic truth about elephants is that they can never be fully domesticated. The domesticated elephants always nurse a tendency to return to the wild and never return. Thus, they are wild though they appear tamed by obeying certain commands, according to Jacob V. Cheeran, a retired veterinary Professor, Read more Tweet welfare Kerala State to frame rules on upkeep of captive elephants 2003-02-06 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Alarmed by the frequent instances of elephants running amok and goring mahouts to death, the Kerala government proposed to shortly come out with a set of rules on management and upkeep of captive elephants which will include penal provisions to check maltreatment of the animal. "This is for the first time in the country such rules are being framed, addressing a whole of range of issues relating to ownership, upkeep and welfare of elephants," E K Bharat Bhushan, secretary, forests ... Read more Tweet welfare Elephant handler Wayne Stockigt says elephant abuse is not cruel 2003-02-04 - PRETORIA, South Africa. Student elephant handler Wayne Stockigt told a court on Monday that he did not think it was cruel to hit an elephant, whether it be with a stick or a fist. He admitted to a televised video showing him beating an elephant with a broken broomstick, but said he had been taught to do so by expert Indonesian handlers to discipline elephants. Stockigt was testifying in the Pretoria Regional Court where he is standing trial for allegedly maltreating 30 Tuli elephants bro... Read more Tweet event Elephant festival lures thousands to Indian park 2003-01-13 - Guwahati, India. MAHOUTS ride elephants decorated in traditional Indian garments during the Elephant Festival at Kaziranga National Park, about 220 km (125 miles) from Guwahati, the main city of the northeastern Indian state of Assam, Jan 11. Read more Tweet event Assam to hold elephant festival 2003-01-09 - GUWAHATI, India. Barun Das Gupta, The Hindu Assam will hold an Elephant Festival at Kaziranga on January 11 and 12. Over two hundred pachyderms have already arrived for the festival which will be attended by elephant experts from home and abroad. Read more Tweet death King Tusk, Ringling Bros. Asian Elephant Ambassador, Dies at 57 Years of Age 2002-12-22 - Vienna, Virginia, United States. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Press release King Tusk, a 57-year-old male Asian elephant living in retirement with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®, was humanely euthanized yesterday (Saturday, December 21). A magnificent and beautiful Asian elephant with 6-foot-long tusks, King Tusk was a star performer with Ringling Bros. in the 1980s and early 1990s. He passed away quietly at Ringling Bros. elephant retirement facility in northern Florida in the company of his pachyderm companions and human caretakers. Read more Tweet accident Elephant attacks, injures keeper Michael Embury at Miami zoo 2002-12-17 - Miami, United States. Jane Sutton A 6,000-pound (2,700 kg) elephant smashed a rookie zookeeper against a rockpile at Miami's MetroZoo, badly injuring the man in what a zoo spokesman described as an attack to test dominance in the herd. The injured zookeeper, Michael Embury, 31, was hospitalized in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery on Monday, zoo spokesman Ron Magill said. He suffered a broken arm, two broken shoulders, gashes to the head and bruising of the spleen and brain in the Sunday attack but was expec... Read more Tweet conflict Drunk elephants kill six people 2002-12-17 - Tinsukia, India. Drunken elephants have trampled at least six people to death in the northeast Indian state of Assam, local officials say. Police said four of those killed were children. The herd of wild elephants stumbled across the supplies of homemade rice beer after they destroyed granaries in search of food. The incident happened near Tinsukia, 550 kilometres (344 miles) from the Assam capital, Guwahati. Read more Tweet medical Swedish zoo Kolmarden to put down TB-infected elephants 2002-12-11 - Kolmarden, Sweden. Two elephants at one of Sweden's largest zoos may have to be put down after one of them tested positive for tuberculosis, health officials said on Wednesday. Three other elephants at the Kolmaarden zoo, located 150km south of Stockholm, have already been put down after succumbing to the disease. The two elephants, Sandai and Donkey, are 17 and 36-years-old respectively. Read more Tweet accident Pittsburgh Zoo:Elephant barn set to reopen 2002-11-29 - Pittsburgh, United States. David Conti Visitors to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Saturday will get their first chance to see the elephants since one of the animals killed a trainer earlier this month. Gatti, 46, of Butler, was crushed to death by a 6,200-pound mother elephant called M. on Nov. 18 as he led the animal and its calf on a routine walk around the zoo. The elephant exhibit has been closed since the incident as federal authorities and former elephant manager Theison investigated. Read more Tweet accident Elephant kills keeper Mike Gatti at Pittsburgh zoo. 1st human fatality at facility 2002-11-19 - Pittsburgh, United States. Ann Belser and Marylynne Pitz On mornings when weather permits, elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo are brought out of their enclosure to walk with their keepers around the grounds. Yesterday, two keepers were about halfway around the zoo with a 20-year-old mother elephant and her 3-year-old female calf when the mother elephant stopped near the Northern Shores Cafe building. When the keeper urged her to move along, the elephant butted him and pinned him to the ground with her head, crushing him. The trainer, Mike Gatti, 46, an e... Read more Tweet accident Pittsburgh Zoo worker Michael Gatti dies after being pinned by elephant 2002-11-18 - Pittsburgh, United States. An elephant keeper at the Pittsburgh Zoo died this morning after a 6,200-pound elephant pinned him to the ground, zoo officials announced. An autopsy is scheduled Tuesday on the body of Michael Gatti, 46, of Plank Road, Butler, authorities said. Two zoo keepers were taking the elephant and her calf on a routine walk through the Zoo grounds this morning, when the mother suddenly stopped. Gatti told the elephant to keep moving. But she knocked him to the ground with her head and then pinned him to... Read more Tweet smuggle New Evidence That Elephant Poaching and the Illegal Ivory Trade is Out of Control. Zimbabwe Loses Over 500 Elephants this Year Amid Renewed Slaughter. French Nationals Implicated in Demand for Ivory 2002-11-04 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Born Free Foundation The Born Free Foundation, one of the UK's leading wildlife charities, has shocking new evidence that poaching in parts of Africa is soaring, fuelled by the sale of ivory trinkets to French and other tourists. According to The Daily News (Harare June 17, 2002), the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management claims that, 'between 2000 and April this year (2002)…. 92 elephants had died either as a result of poaching, natural mortality, intraspecific fights or some unknown... Read more Tweet welfare Reporter"s Notebook: Elephants Heal at Thai "Heaven" 2002-10-17 - Chiang mai, Thailand. Jennifer Hile Jennifer Hile spent two and a half months in Northern Thailand investigating the plight of domestic elephants and elephant orphans and "Elephant Heaven", a sanctuary for abused elephants founded by Sangduen "Lek" Chailert. Chailert is a well-known Chiang Mai–based activist who runs Jumbo Express, a program bringing free veterinary care to elephants. Read more Tweet smuggle Illegal ivory trade driven by unregulated domestic markets, identified by new monitoring system 2002-10-04 - Geneva, Switzerland. CITES Despite a virtually continuous ban on international trade in ivory since 1989, a series of analytical reports from the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) has revealed that a significant illegal trade in ivory continues. Read more Tweet research Sniffing Out Secrets of Elephant Sex. Utah, Oregon Researchers Show How Proteins Help Pachyderms Procreate 2002-09-30 - Salt Lake City, United States. University of Utah The study began after Prestwich identified proteins involved in the action of insect pheromones. He heard Rasmussen deliver a lecture about elephant pheromone and decided to look for proteins that help the pheromone do its job. Rasmussen collected urine and mucus for the study primarily from 14 elephants at Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbriar, Ark. Read more Tweet misc Thai Elephant Orchestra 2002-09-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. Prentiss Riddle BoingBoing links to the website of the allegedly musical Thai Elephant Orchestra and says, "The elephants not only play with the instruments, they play together on them, jamming in what is clearly recognizable as music." Of course, if we accept John Cage's assertion that noise can be music, the question is not whether elephants can play music but whether elephants can play music that shows signs of (non-random) musical thought. Read more Tweet book Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell 2002-09-10 - Newcastle, Australia. To HTML by Russell Tayler He was dying, very slowly and in great agony, but in some world remote from me where not even a bullet could damage him further. ... It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there, powerless to move and yet powerless to die, and not even to be able to finish him. George Orwell, 1936. Read more Tweet zoo Free the elephants! Problems plague the Oregon Zoo"s pachyderms 2002-08-28 - Portland, Oregon, United States. The largest captive land mammal in North America ducks under the doorway. Behind him, a hydraulic steel door wheezes, then slams shut. Packy is isolated, but he is not alone. Outside the cage, attired in work boots and a blue polo shirt, Bob Lee crouches on a stool. Through the steel bars, Packy offers up his foot, and Lee goes to work. He is an elephant pedicurist. Read more Tweet medical LSD Related Death of an Elephant. Controversy surrounding the 1962 death of an elephant after an injection of LSD 2002-08-16 - Norman, United States. Erowid In 1962, three men at the University of Oklahoma, lead by the idiosyncratic, CIA-collaborator Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West, injected LSD into an elephant for the first time. Their stated intent was to determine if LSD would induce "musth", a naturally occurring condition in which elephants become violent and uncontrollable. After a series of events, the elephant died. There is some controversy and confusion surrounding the cause of death. Read more Tweet death Swedish Circus elephant Tuffie dead 2002-07-26 - Århus, Denmark. Roger Malmer, Ole Simonsen Tuffie died in 2 July during a tour with Circus Benneweis in Denmark. Tuffie, one of Diana Rhodin's two elephants died in 2 July 2002 in Århus, Danmark during the current tour of Danish Circus Benneweis. According to the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten did the lab test show that the cause of death was Samonella poisoning. Read more Tweet conservation China Plans to Build Asian Elephant Breeding Base 2002-07-19 - Yunnan, China. The Chinese government will spend 50 million yuan (6.02 million US dollars) on building an Asian elephant breeding center in southwest China's Yunnan Province, to better protect the wild creatures from extinction. China began breeding Asian elephants in 1994 in the zoo at Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. Six Asian elephants have been born there so far. Read more Tweet medical Condition of elephant Haji suffering herpesvirus worsens 2002-07-16 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. The health of an Asian elephant calf infected with a deadly herpesvirus appeared to worsen Tuesday as treatment with an experimental regiment of drugs continued. Officials at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield remained hopeful that the nearly 3-year-old elephant calf, named "Haji," would recover from endothelial inclusion body disease, a herpesvirus specific to elephants. It is generally fatal within five days, zoo spokeswoman Melinda Mancuso said. Read more Tweet smuggle Norway Prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik unwittingly smuggled ivory from Nigeria 2002-05-30 - OSLO, Norway. Reuters Norway's Prime Minister unwittingly smuggled two elephant tusks to Norway from Nigeria in violation of an international ban on trade in endangered species, officials said yesterday. Read more Tweet death Dickerson Park Zoo Mourns Death of Bull Elephant Onyx (Big Mac) 2002-05-23 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. Gigi Allianic, Dickerson Park Zoo The staff of Dickerson Park Zoo is mourning the death of the bull elephant, “Onyx,” who died Wednesday evening, May 22. Onyx is more familiarly know as “Big Mac” to everyone in southern Missouri. Preliminary necropsy results indicate mesenteric torsion with subsequent intestinal rupture as the cause of death. Read more Tweet welfare Elephant Arna wins court case 2002-05-17 - Sydney, Australia. AAP ARNA the elephant will continue her solo journey with the circus, a court has ruled. Magistrate Paul Lyon today ruled against Animal Liberation NSW claims of cruelty to Arna the Asiatic elephant by Stardust Circus. Mr Lyon cut the case short on the grounds there was no deliberate intent to cause pain to the elephant. "There is evidence that the elephant became distressed and suffered pain," Mr Lyon told the Downing Centre Local Court. "But on reading the legislation the court is of the view that... Read more Tweet research Collaring Elephants 2002-03-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, STE At Save the Elephants (STE) our mission is to secure a future for elephants, sustain the beauty and ecological integrity of the places they live, and foster a tolerant relationship between humans and elephants. We have pioneered a GPS tracking system that allows an almost continual stream of data on elephant movement. Read more Tweet accident Killed elephant keeper in Chester Zoo "gave warnings" 2002-03-18 - Chester, United Kingdom. A zoo keeper who was killed by a bad-tempered elephant had warned that such an accident was likely to happen, an inquest has heard. Richard Hughes, 34, was attacked by a four-ton Asian elephant named Kumara after he tried to move her in her enclosure at Chester Zoo. Read more Tweet smuggle 4,400 elephant ivory jewelry pieces seized 2002-02-15 - Halifax, Canada. Randy Jones / Crime Reporter, Halifax Herald An Ontario man has been charged in the seizure of almost 4,400 pieces of jewelry made from elephant ivory. The seizure on the Halifax waterfront is Canada's biggest ever involving ivory items. Mohamed Doost, a former German jeweler, is accused of failing to obtain proper permits for transporting from Germany items derived from an endangered species. Read more Tweet smuggle More than 1,000 elephant tusks seized in Tanzania 2002-01-18 - DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania. Reuters More than a thousand elephant tusks stolen by poachers have been recovered in the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, police said this week. Police said two Tanzanians had been arrested late last week following the seizure of 1,255 tusks in two suburban homes, but it was not clear where the tusks had originated. Read more Tweet event Dasara Elephants arrived in Mysore 2002-01-14 - Mysore, India. The first batch of five elephants for participating in the Dasara procession, Jamboo Savari, has arrived in Mysore. The elephants led by the chief tusker, Balarama, are undergoing training with daily acclimatization march along the procession route - Palace to Bannimantap Parade Grounds. The 43-year-old Balarama had recently escaped into the forest in Nagarahole forest area after developing 'musth'. Read more Tweet evolution Loxodonta cyclotis: How Do You Miss a Whole Elephant Species? 2001-12-17 - Washington, United States. Lee R. Berger, for National Geographic News How do you miss a whole species of elephant? But that's just what has happened. Up until recently, scientists believed there were two species of elephant: the African elephant and the Asian elephant. Geneticists conducting a comprehensive DNA sampling of elephants from across Africa recently found that there are in fact two species of African elephants. Until this announcement, most zoologists had lumped all African elephants together into a single species, Loxodonta Africana, with four widely r... Read more Tweet circus Elephant trainer on trial 2001-12-15 - SAN JOSE, California, United States. One of the biggest stars of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is going on trial Monday for allegedly abusing an elephant with a metal hook just before a show. Activists hope the trial of animal trainer Mark Oliver Gebel, son of the legendary circus showman Gunther Gebel-Williams, will lend more credibility to allegations against The Greatest Show on Earth. Read more Tweet zoo OREGON ZOO CELEBRATES PACKY, THE FAMOUS ELEPHANT"S 40th BIRTHDAY THROUGHOUT APRIL 2001-12-12 - Portland, Oregon, United States. PR Oregon Zoo 1962 On April 14th, Portland, Oregon became nationally renowned for the first Asian elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in more than 44 years. The baby elephant named Packy sparked a frenzy of celebration around the world - the famous pachyderm even graced the cover of LIFE magazine. Now, Packy is grown up and turning 40! Read more Tweet event Chivas Regal won annual Elephant Polo 2001-12-07 - CHITWAN, Nepal. Chivas Regal from Scotland are the new World Champions following their success in the final held on Friday 7th December at the 20th Annual World Elephant Polo Championships (WEPA). Read more Tweet relocation Elephants Leave London Zoo, End 170-Year Tradition 2001-11-02 - London, United Kingdom. Michael McCarthy, The Independent London Zoo is to give up its 170-year tradition of keeping elephants, in tacit recognition that it does not have a suitable place to house them. Abandoning its most recognizable symbols has clearly been a difficult decision for the zoo authorities, but it accords with a change in thinking about how wild animals should be kept in captivity. Read more Tweet welfare Life behind bars. Elephants on australian circuses 2001-11-01 - Taringa, Australia. Rebekah Van Druten In 1987 Australians watched in horror as graphic television reports showed the Ashtons Circus oldest elephant, Abu being gunned down after rampaging through shopping centers and houses in the western suburbs of Sydney. Witnesses to the tragedy claimed Abu picked up a 200-kilogram tree trunk and with the swiftness and ease of a world champion weightlifter threw it up against the bars that had imprisoned him and escaped into the concrete jungle. One person was killed and many were seriously injure... Read more Tweet accident Elephant keeper Jim Robson killed by elephant Geeta in London Zoo 2001-10-20 - London, United Kingdom. A keeper at London Zoo has died after being crushed by an elephant. Jim Robson, who was 44, is believed to have tripped and fallen in the elephant paddock. One of the three elephants he looked after then stepped on him. The accident took place on Saturday afternoon, as visitors walked around the enclosure. Read more Tweet death Killer elephant in Chester Zoo put down 2001-10-09 - Chester, United Kingdom. Kumara, the elephant which killed a keeper at Chester Zoo has been destroyed. The 34-year-old female Asian elephant killed senior keeper Richard Hughes last February. Kumara had been suffering severe episodes of colic in her gut and was also being treated for chronic foot and joint infections and arthritis. Read more Tweet relocation World"s biggest elephant relocation begins 2001-10-03 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Emma Young The world's biggest elephant relocation programme begins on Thursday, with the movement of 40 animals from the Kruger National Park in South Africa to an area just over the border in Mozambique. The move is also part of a plan to create a borderless, 21,600 square kilometre, wildlife park. This will encompass the Kruger, a similar area in Mozambique, and Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou Park, in April 2002. Read more Tweet research 2001-09-18 - Washington, United States. Scientists say African elephants that live in the forest and those that live in grasslands are different enough to be considered separate kinds, or species. Until now, scientists believed all African elephants were the same genetically. They have long recognized the clear differences between African and Asian elephants. Read more Tweet welfare Elephant Abuse Investigation Confirmed 2001-09-05 - SPRINGFIELD, Missouri, United States. KOMO Staff & News Services A southwest Missouri zoo is fighting federal allegations that workers abused a Seattle zoo's female elephant in its breeding program in 1998. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday that it's has filed a complaint alleging Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield violated the Animal Welfare Act in its handling of the Asian elephant, named Chai. The incident allegedly occurred on Sept. 23, 1998, three days after Chai arrived from Woodland Park Zoo to participate in Springfield's nationall... Read more Tweet birth Oakland Zoo is celebrating elephant birth 2001-08-30 - OAKLAND, United States. Julia Prodis Sulek, San Jose Mercury News For hours after the birth Thursday morning, zookeepers were concerned about whether mother and son would bond: The mother, Lisa, was aggressive and swinging her trunk and the baby was desperately clutching the veterinarian's jacket, the mother's knee and the barn wall, looking for a teat. Read more Tweet accident Two Knoxville Zoo workers hurt when elephant breaks loose 2001-08-24 - Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. AP Two Knoxville Zoo handlers were injured Thursday when Mamie, the zoo's painting African elephant, broke loose during a morning walk.Keepers Tom Troy and Mike Gaugler were taking Mamie on a daily get-acquainted stroll to a new exhibit space when she decided to make a run for some tasty tree leaves, zoo executive director Jim Vlna said. Troy had a cut on his head and Gaugler injured a rib.Both were treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, while Mamie went back to her pen and calmed d... Read more Tweet research DNA Tests Show African Elephants Are Two Species 2001-08-24 - Washington, United States. Hillary Mayell, National Geographic News Genetic fingerprinting shows that Africa's forest and savanna elephants are as different from one another as lions and tigers and should be considered as two genetically distinct species, an international group of researchers reports. Read more Tweet birth African elephant born in Carbaceno, Spain 2001-08-14 - Cantabria, Spain. Alexander Haufellner, EEG About 06.00 in the morning), was again a birth of a female African elephant in Europe. Location was Carbaceno in Spain, the mother was Csambi and the father Cisco. This was Csambis 3:rd baby, and Carbacenos 8:th. With 8 births in the last ten years since its opening, this Zoo has the best records of african elephant breeding in Europe (Ramat-Gan in Israel not counted) The baby and the mother joined the herd the very same day. Read more Tweet birth The first elephant ever born in Sweden 2001-08-14 - Borås, Sweden. Dan Koehl, Mia Rapp and Joergen Gustafsson The african female Kwanza (meaning the first one in Swahili) was born at the 13th of August, in Boras Zoo in Sweden. 85 cm high, and 80 kgs. Mother is Dudu, (WB South Africa) 11 years, father is Kibo (born in Hannover Zoo, Germany) 24 years old. This is not only the first elephant born in Sweden, but also the first second generation African elephant in Europe. Read more Tweet accident Elephant kills Czech zoo employee 2001-08-06 - Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic. BBC A zoo-keeper in the Czech republic has been killed after being attacked by an elephant. The man - who worked in a zoo at Dvur Kralove in eastern Bohemia - died of throat injuries, which where inflicted when he gave the sick female elephant an injection. Read more Tweet smuggle Doctors "smuggled $1m of ivory" 2001-08-06 - Brussel, Belgium. Colin Blane Ivory is still highly prized in some parts of the world Fifteen Chinese doctors who had been working in West Africa have been charged with smuggling ivory after they were detained by police at Brussels airport. Customs officials intercepted a shipment of elephant tusks in a consignment disguised as personal effects. Read more Tweet birth Elephant-sized fertility treatment 2001-07-03 - , United States. An elephant in Essex has become the first in Britain to become pregnant through artificial insemination (AI). Tanya the African elephant, at Colchester Zoo, is almost three months pregnant. The insemination was carried out by experts from the Berlin Institute of Wildlife Medicine and Research. If the calf is born, it will be only the fifth elephant in the world to have been produced as a result of AI. The zoo decided to use artificial insemination after natural matings between Tanya and the zoo'... Read more Tweet death Meenakshi temple elephant dies 2001-06-18 - MADURAI, India. The she-elephant of the Meenakshi Sundereshwarar temple, which served the temple for more than five decades, died on Sunday night after a prolonged illness. The 70-year-old pachyderm, Meenakshi, was down with fever yesterday evening. The temple administration brought veterinary doctors to revive her. But despite their efforts, she failed to respond to the treatment. Old age and its associated symptoms of illness were said to be the main reason for the death. Read more Tweet abstract Snorkel breathing in the elephant explains the unique anatomy of its pleura. 2001-05-15 - La Jolla, United States. John B West It has been known for over 300 years that the anatomy of the elephant lung is unique among mammals in that the pleural cavity is obliterated by connective tissue. Recent studies suggest that the elephant has an aquatic ancestry and the trunk may have developed for snorkeling. Read more Tweet smuggle Macau police nab elephant tusks 2001-05-11 - MACAU, China. CNN Macau marine police have seized nearly 92 kg of ivory, including tusks believed to have come from a baby African elephant. Five full tusks and five pieces of tusk, weighing a total of 91.95 kg, were discovered in a wooden crate at Macau International Airport, a marine police spokesman said. Read more Tweet accident Elephant accidentally kills handler 2001-04-17 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. A handler was killed by an elephant cow which was being used on a film set in Broederstroom on Sunday. Circus owner Brian Boswell said Tandy was among seven elephants used as background animals for the filming of three movies and a commercial. Read more Tweet workshop DOMESTIC ASIAN ELEPHANTS FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE WITH FOREST INDUSTRY DECLINE Elephant experts meet in Bangkok to find solutions 2001-01-31 - Portland, Oregon, United States. PR Oregon Zoo Oregon Zoo’s Assistant Director, Mike Keele, will attend the International Workshop on the Domesticated Asian Elephant, February 5-10, in Bangkok, Thailand. Keele serves as the coordinator of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s (AZA) elephant species survival plan and holds the studbook for all North American Asian elephants. He hopes to identify ways that North American zoos can contribute to the effort to reverse the decline of domesticated elephants in Asia. Read more Tweet abstract Ultrasonography of the urogenital tract in elephants (Loxodonta africana and elephas maximus): An important tool for assessing male reproductive function 2000-11-30 - Berlin, Germany. The success rate of captive elephant breeding programs worldwide is poor. Along with undiagnosed reproductive disorders in females and fatal diseases such as the newly discovered herpesvirus infection, male infertility now is considered a major contributing factor in the failure to maintain self-sustaining captive populations. Read more Tweet birth Woodland Park Zoo is celebrating its first-ever elephant birth. 2000-11-03 - Seattle, United States. Woodland Park Zoo- PRESS RELEASE The mother, 21-year-old Asian elephant Chai, gave birth today on November 3, to a female calf. The newborn elephant weighs 235 pounds. In September 1998, the zoo sent Chai on a breeding loan to Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri. Her intended mate, Onyx, a 36-year-old Asian bull (male elephant), sired the calf. Read more Tweet medical Tuberculosis emerges as new threat to elephants 2000-10-31 - Seattle, United States. Nina Pellegrini, The Seattle Times Human tuberculosis, one of the leading infectious diseases in the world, has emerged as a threat to North America's aging Asian elephants, a species that already is inching toward extinction because of its increasing proximity to humans. Researchers think the animals - most of them born in the wild - were exposed in their homelands or while in close contact with infected handlers in zoos and circuses in North America. Read more Tweet abstract Temporary ovarian inactivity in elephants: relationship to status and time outside 2000-10-11 - Providence, United States. Schulte BA, Feldman E, Lambert R, Oliver R, Hess DL. Dept Biology, Providence College, Providence The captive elephant population in North America is in reproductive decline and, without importation from the wild, may cease to be viable within the next several decades. The estrous cycle of three captive, reproductive-age African elephants was monitored for 3 years by measuring serum progesterone concentrations. Each elephant experienced one or more episodes of extended low progesterone (>12 weeks), analogous to supposed terminal cessation of estrous cyclicity or 'flatlining' that has been de... Read more Tweet birth Woodland Park Zoo and Puget Sound Blood Center team up to prepare for elephant birth 2000-09-25 - SEATTLE, United States. Woodland Park Zoo- PRESS RELEASE The Puget Sound Blood Center joined Woodland Park Zoo today to draw the final of 15 units of blood from the zoos pregnant Asian elephant, 21-year-old Chai. The first-time expectant mother is due to give birth late October. The milestone event will mark the first-ever elephant birth for Woodland Park in its 100-year history and also the first in all of Washington state. Read more Tweet fossil Elephant fossil found in Kashmir 2000-09-07 - Srinagar, India. Indian geologists say they have unearthed the 50,000-year-old fossil of an elephant in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The fossil was discovered in a field of saffron at Gallander, east of Srinagar, the state's summer capital, by geology students who immediately called in experts. Read more Tweet birth Indianapolis Zoo"s New Star Shines, Thanks to Science 2000-07-17 - Indianapolis, United States. CARL H. LAVIN The elephant baby Amali made elephant history with her birth on March 6: she is the first African elephant conceived using artificial insemination. But on a recent afternoon, the 400-pound was grabbing a visitor's shirt with her trunk and chewing on the seam. ''She's a toddler,'' Lesley Mackie, an elephant keeper at the Indianapolis Zoo said. ''Everything goes in the mouth.'' Read more Tweet fossil Asian Elephant Fossils Found in Guangxi 2000-07-14 - Guangxi, China. Chinese archaeologists have discovered well-preserved fossils of the Asian elephant dating back about 50,000 years to 100,000 years in a mountain cave in Pubei County of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The archeologists believe that the fossils were those of Asian elephants that lived in the late period the Pleistocene. Read more Tweet smuggle Egypt seizes 78 pieces record ivory haul:value of over $200,000 2000-03-29 - Cairo, Egypt. Frank Gardner Egyptian police have seized a record haul of ivory with a street value of over $200,000. On Wednesday, Egypt's environment ministry announced that 78 pieces of elephant tusks has been seized from a warehouse in the town of Aswan. Read more Tweet medical Toxic Plant May Be Behind Elephant Trunk Disease 2000-02-19 - WASHINGTON, United States. A baffling disease that causes elephants to lose control of their trunks, making it hard for them to eat and communicate, is probably caused by a toxic plant. Kurt Hostettmann of Lausanne University in Switzerland said his group -- which usually searches for natural sources of new drugs -- believes a poisonous plant could be responsible and he has narrowed the list of potential culprits down to two or three. Read more Tweet Elephant"s death raises suspicions 2000-02-06 - Tampa, United States. DAVID PEDREIRA, St. Petersburg Times Lance Ramos knew something was wrong when Kenya wouldn't eat the usual Friday dinner -- a batch of grain mixed with vitamins. An hour later, his concern turned to horror as the seemingly healthy elephant fell over, struggled to get up, and toppled again. Within minutes, the 21/2-ton elephant was dead. Read more Tweet birth Dickerson Park Zoo hosts first birth of artificially inseminated elephant 1999-11-30 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. AP In an important milestone for an endangered species, an Asian elephant has given birth through artificial insemination. Weighing in at 378 pounds, Haji was born Sunday at Dickerson Park Zoo. It was the world's first birth through artificial insemination of an Asian elephant, which are estimated to number only35,000 worldwide. Read more Tweet death Captive Singapore Elephant Dies 1999-07-24 - Singapore, Singapore. AP Online The first elephant born in Singapore's zoo died suddenly 15 months after it miraculously survived breaking its leg and undergoing surgery, the zoo said Saturday. Zookeepers are baffled as to what caused the death. A post-mortem should give results next week, said Priscilla Yim-Stacey, spokesman for the Singapore Zoological Gardens. Sri Utama, which means First Lady in Tamil, was one of the worlds endangered Asian elephants, often used as beasts of labor. There are fewer than 30,000 in the wild. Read more Tweet abstract Elephant herpes virus, a problem for breeding and housing of elephants. Report Kiba Berlin Zoo 1999-06-01 - Berlin, Germany. Burkhardt S, Hentschke J, Weiler H, Ehlers B, Ochs A, Walter J, Wittstatt U, Goltenboth R. Institut fur Lebensmittel, Arzneimittel und Tierseuchen This is a report on the case of 'KIBA', an eleven year old male elephant at the Zoological Garden Berlin, infected with the endotheliotropic elephants herpesvirus. 'KIBA' was born at the Zoo in Houston, Texas, and raised within his herd. In June 1998 he already serviced three females of his new herd several times. In August 1998 he died after passing a peracute progression of the disease after residenting in Berlin for only 9 months. Read more Tweet accident Elephant Betty kills Leonardo Circus worker Shayne Gressett 1999-05-16 - Timmins, Canada. Zoo-Check, Canada On May 14, 1999, Shayne Gressett, a 23 year old Leonardo Circus employee was fatally injured by Betty - a 35 year old female Asian elephant - in the area of the MacIntyre Arena in Timmins, Ontario. The incident occured in the rear parking lot at 5:40 pm. between shows. Gressett, a native of Texas, died from injuries sustained when Betty lifted her leg and kicked him in the head. The Timmins Police Service and the Ontario Ministry of Labour are now investigating. Read more Tweet death Elephant Damini dies of grief in Lucknow Zoo 1999-05-05 - Lucknow, India. Despite the temptations of her favorite foods -- bananas, sugarcane and grass -- and the efforts of modern veterinary science, Damini, a 72-year-old elephant, died last Wednesday of a broken heart. After being confiscated from owners who were illegally transporting her, Damini was brought to the Prince of Wales Zoo in Lucknow, India, last year. She was alone for five months until September, when a pregnant younger elephant named Champakali joined her. Read more Tweet circus Travels with Tarzan 1999-04-03 - Webb city, United States. Robin Rosenthal and Bill Yahraus, The Pennsylvania Gazette Before we met her, Patty was described to us as the son Tarzan never had. Not only is she a well-respected big-cat and elephant trainer, but she can drive a semi, weld, do basic truck repair and execute a neat split between the heads of two lumbering beasts. She is raising her two boys alone after the death of her husband in a Ringling train derailment just a couple of years earlier. She has an edge you could cut meat with. When I point my microphone down into a first-day conversation between he... Read more Tweet death Whatever happened to the elephant Tyke? ‘Tyke’ was buried in isle landfill 1999-03-24 - Honolulu, United States. What ever happened to the body of Tyke, the 21-year-old female circus elephant whose rampage through Kakaako in 1994 was finally stopped by police gunfire? How was the body disposed? -When Tyke died, the city parks department moved the body to the animal quarantine station at Halawa, where state personnel did an animal autopsy, said city spokeswoman Carol Costa. Read more Tweet medical Deaths of Zoo Elephants Explained -- New Virus Identified 1999-02-18 - Washington, United States. Johns Hopkins, Baltimore and National Zoo Researchers at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., have discovered the cause of death of nearly a dozen young North American zoo elephants -- fatal hemorrhaging from a previously unknown form of herpesvirus that apparently jumped from African elephants to the Asian species. Read more Tweet trade Ivory ban lifted 1999-02-10 - Geneva, Switzerland. Richard Wilson,BBC Game hunters will pay thousands of dollars to kill an elephant The 10-year old ivory ban has been lifted. The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has agreed to a one-off sale of nearly 60 tonnes of stockpiled ivory. The money raised by the sale will pay for conservation programmes in Africa. The decision was made after pressure from three southern African members at a meeting in Geneva. Read more Tweet abstract First reported case of elephant rabies in Sri Lanka 1999-01-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wimalaratne O, Kodikara DS.Department of Rabies Diagnosis and Research, Medical Research Institute Wimalaratne O, Kodikara DS. Read more Tweet death Elephant death devastates Chinese town Zhengzhou 1999-01-22 - Zhengzhou, China. The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou is mourning the death of a much-loved elephant, called Luwen, at the local zoo. The BBC's Carrie Gracie in Beijing: "Daily health bulletins made top news on local television" Thirty keepers and vets from across China struggled to save her, but the 25-year-old Burmese elephant died of stomach problems after lying on her side for a month. Read more Tweet birth Rare elephant birth creates sensation at Friedrichsfelde Zoo in Berlin 1999-01-19 - Friedrichsfelde, Berlin, Germany. A tiny, 4-day-old elephant was introduced to an entirely different species at Berlin's Friedrichsfelde Zoo on Tuesday: a herd of television and still cameras accompanied by a pack of journalists. The infant female African elephant, one of only seven born in captivity in Germany, appeared a little shaky on her legs as she was presented to the media. Read more Tweet accident Zookeeper Leslie Mackie attacked by elephant Cita in Indianapolis Zoo 1998-11-08 - Indianapolis, United States. A 29-year-old female elephant, Cita, bludgeoned a zookeeper with her trunk, breaking the woman's ribs. Leslie Mackie was bathing four elephants at the Indianapolis Zoo when Cita, who had been aggressive toward other elephants, raised her head in a threatening manner toward another one of the animals. When Ms. Mackie told Cita, "No," the animal turned and struck the woman several times with her trunk, Ms Mackie lost consciousness briefly, and when she came to she called for help to other keepers. Read more Tweet welfare Elephant trainer admits mistakes in cruelty case - Ruling due in South African custody suit 1998-11-06 - BRITS, South Africa. Accused of cruelty to the 30 young elephants he owns, Riccardo Ghiazza insists the animals are in good condition. But the South African trainer acknowledges that mistakes have been made while domesticating them for future homes in zoos and safari parks. Ghiazza, owner of African Game Services, an animal export farm near Pretoria, summoned reporters to the training facility on Wednesday to tell his side of a story that has ignited an international outcry. Read more Tweet abstract Manual collection and characterization of semen from Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). 1998-10-01 - Springfield, United States. Schmitt DL, Hildebrandt TB., Southwest Missouri State University The implications of collecting semen from elephants for use in artificial insemination programs are profound in the context of propagating captive elephants. Using a manual manipulation technique, semen was collected and characterized from five adult Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and ejaculate fluid was obtained from one castrated elephant bull. The penis was stimulated to protrusion and erection by rectal massage of the pelvic portion of the urethra. During an ejaculatory response, massage ... Read more Tweet circus Dr. Richard "Doc" Houck, veterinarian for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, retired in Iowa. 1998-05-01 - Iowa, United States. Phyllis Peters, Veterinary Medicine His mother was in labor for more than two days, but Doc was up and standing within eight minutes of his birth. The 250- pound baby Asian elephant was born in Florida in June 1997 and named in honor of the ISU alumnus who contributed to his birth. Dr. Richard "Doc" Houck, who earned his DVM from ISU 40 years before his namesake's birth, developed the elephant breeding program for the owner of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Ringling Brothers owns the largest colle... Read more Tweet circus Ringling circus charged in young elephant"s death 1998-04-22 - Washington, United States. CNN Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus forced a sick elephant to perform in two shows, leading to its death, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. The agency filed a legal complaint against the circus, charging it with violating the Animal Welfare Act. The complaint says the circus failed to properly look after Kenny, a 3-year-old Asian elephant, when he performed twice in Jacksonville in January. Read more Tweet evolution Motty the elephant crossbreed. Loxodonta africana x Elephas maximus 1998-01-17 - Chester, United Kingdom. Derek Lyon when the Asian elephant cow "Sheba" in Chester Zoo, England, 1978 gave birth to a calf with an African elephant bull" Jumbolino" as father the scientists became puzzled. The staff had observed several matings between the elephants, but since a cross was impossible, noone expected a delivery. This sensational elephant died two weeks after the birth. It was an early birth and Motty had stomach problems. Read more Tweet people Rolf Knie, 75, Elephant Trainer And Swiss Circus Family Leader 1997-08-24 - Rappersvil, Switzerland. Rolf Knie, a master elephant trainer who led Switzerland's foremost circus family for 50 years, died on Monday. He was 75. The cause of death was heart failure, said a Knie Circus spokesman, Hans Rathgeb. Mr. Knie, who was billed as the man who spoke to elephants, headed the... Read more Tweet welfare JOHN CUNEO AND HAWTHORN CORPORATION FACE USDA ANIMAL WELFARE CHARGES 1997-08-13 - Riverdale, California, United States. Jim Rogers, Jamie Ambrosi The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently charged licensed animal exhibitors John Cuneo and the Hawthorn Corporation, doing business in Grayslake, Ill., with violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Read more Tweet people A family with a yen for elephants 1997-07-07 - Palakkad, India. A Satish Though jumbo-sized problems and risks are part of rearing elephants, for brothers M A Parameswaran and Haridas of Mangalamkunnu they are family pets. They have got 14 elephants, making them the largest individual owners in Kerala after the Guruvayur Devaswom. The duo are averse to deputing their jumbos for pulling logs of wood, usually done by female elephants. So only tuskers form part of their brigade. Of the 42 elephants with the Guruvayur Devaswom, only 33 are tuskers. Read more Tweet circus Making elephants graceful at Big Apple Circus no big task for trainer Bill "Buckles" Woodcock 1995-11-28 - NEW YORK, United States. Sherry Dean (CNN) Anna Mae, Ned and Amy are three giant performers who, with their nimble antics, regularly tug the mouths -- and hearts -- of spectators at Manhattan's Big Apple Circus. All it takes to make this elephant trio spry and graceful, say their trainers. While most children grow up with a family dog, Bill Woodcock was raised petting elephants, prompting him to follow in his father's footsteps and become an elephant trainer. Anna Mae was trained by the senior Woodcock almost 50 years ago, and she is sti... Read more Tweet abstract An outbreak of encephalomyocarditis-virus infection in free-ranging African elephants in the Kruger National Park. 1995-06-01 - Skukuza, South Africa. Grobler DG, Raath JP, Braack LE, Keet DF, Gerdes GH, Barnard BJ, Kriek NP, Jardine J, Swanepoel R. at National Parks Board, Skukuza, South Africa A cluster of four deaths in late December 1993, marked the onset of an outbreak of disease of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa, which has an estimated population of 7,500 elephants. Mortalities peaked in January 1994, with 32 deaths, and then declined steadily to reach pre-outbreak levels by September, but sporadic losses continued until November. During the outbreak altogether 64 elephants died, of which 53 (83%) were adult bulls. Archival... Read more Tweet accident In Honolulu, Hawaii, during a circus international performance, a female elephant named Tyke goes mad and crushes her trainer Allen Campbell to death before hundreds of horrified spectators, at the Neal Blaisdell Arena 1994-08-20 - Honolulu, United States. Alan Campbell (1953-August 20, 1994) was an elephant trainer for The Hawthorn Corporation. Campbell was crushed to death on August 20, 1994 at the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, after attempting to save fellow co-worker Dallas Beckwith from the performing elephant "Tyke" who had run amok. Read more Tweet accident Axel Gautier, 51, Elephant Trainer With Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Dies 1993-05-07 - Williston, United States. GLENN COLLINS Axel Gautier, a leading trainer of elephants who had been a performer with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for 35 years, died on Wednesday in Shands Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He was 51. One of the elephants he was working with at the Ringling Elephant Farm in Wiliston, Fla., knocked him down and stepped on him, said Rodney Huey, a Ringling spokesman. Besides his sons, Michael, 28, and Kevin, 23, he is survived by his wife, Donna, three sisters and a g... Read more Tweet people Attendant On Hunger Strike In Zoo, Demands Better Conditions For Animals 1991-11-15 - Stockholm, Sweden. A fired zoo attendant has refused to leave the elephant quarters and started a hunger strike to protest the animals´ living conditions, news reports said. ´´I will not leave (the elephants) Nike and Shiva voluntarily. The police will have to carry me away,´´ Dan Kohl told the national news agency TT on Thursday. If someone wanted to separate you from your kids, how would you react?,´´ he said. Read more Tweet abstract Nature: Isotope fingerprints in elephant bone and ivory 1990-08-23 - Pretoria, South Africa. J. C. Vogel, B. Eglington & J. M. Auret, Nature 346, 747 - 749 In theory, we have a way of pinpointing the origin of elephant ivory, which may be of value in conservation. Here we report that by analysing the isotope ratios of these elements, a clear distinction between several different populations of the African elephant can be made. Read more Tweet facility Dangerous Elephant To Get Bigger Quarters 1982-11-25 - San Diego, California, United States. Cindy, an elephant with a reputation as a dangerous animal after staying 17 years alone in cramped quarters, will be able to roam free, play in the dirt and take a dip in a pool at a new home here in the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The elephant keeper at the park says the new quarters will provide enough distraction so Cindy will lose interest in using people as toys. The elephant, 19 years old, will move here from Point Defiance Zoo, Tacoma, Wash. She had been called ''possibly the most dangero... Read more Tweet death Elephant Norma Jean dead, killed by lightning 1972-07-17 - Oquawka, Illinois, United States. Norma Jean was a 6,500-pound elephant and the star attraction of the Clark and Walters Circus. That ended abruptly on the morning of July 17, 1972, when she was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning. Her trainer, "Possum Red," was knocked 30 feet by the blast. With no elephant, the Circus went out of business a year later. Norma Jean was buried where she fell -- which, conveniently, was in Oquawka's town square. Read more Tweet death The worlds largest elephant 1955-11-13 - Cuando River, Angola. The largest elephant on record was an adult male African elephant hunted by Jose Fenykovi from Madrid in Angola in 1955. Read more Tweet accident Elephants Stampede At Dailey Brothers Circus 1949-04-07 - Gonzales, United States. Murray Montgomery and The Gonzales Inquirer Eighteen bulls out of the circus herd of 21 elephants went on a rampage and stampeded out the winter quarters of the circus to roar across the southeast end of Gonzales for more than two hours before all were rounded up and corralled in their barn to quiet down. Two men were slightly hurt in the stampede, Rex Williams, 26, former Marine, a head elephant man with the circus, was bumped by a bull and sent flying probably 20 feet. He was cut and bruised. Read more Tweet death Ringling brothers first elephant: Death of Babe at Washington Zoo 1937 1937-08-23 - Washington, United States. Behind the Zebra House at the Washington, D. C. Zoo last week, laborers, dug a number of large holes. Then, sombrely, they carted into them, piece by piece, some 8,500 pounds of elephant flesh. Thus to her last resting place went Babe, described in the eulogistic Washington press as not only the oldest, but the most celebrated elephant on earth. No elephant since Phineas Taylor Barnum's Jumbo has had a legitimate claim to the distinction of being more famous than all others of the species. Read more Tweet abstract Orissa: Elephant Shankar"s home return! villagers under fear 0000-00-00 - Angul, India. Sangram Ranjan Nath When Shankar arrived at Tikarpada Sakakosia wildlife forest, the villagers protested him. Shankar is now a well discussed elephant not only at Angul but also in Keonjhar area. Shankar a pet elephant who was enged for drive away the other wild elephant, and eco truism project at Telkoi Keonjhar district. Read more Tweet fossil A mammoth history: the extraordinary journey of two thighbones. 0000-00-00 - Turku, Finland. Dahlbom TH. University of Turku Since the renaissance, specimens have been central tools of knowledge production in zoological endeavours. The biographies of CN86 and CN87 of the Zoological Museum of the University of Copenhagen--specimens formerly known as hip-bones of giants--have travelled through 300 years of human history, a journey that reveals how the accumulation of objects and changes in scientific methodology can give rise to radical reinterpretation. Although the material form of these specimens has hardly changed, ... Read more Tweet fossil Arctic youth finds woolly mammoth bone - Anchorage, United States. Jenna Kunze Twelve-year-old Quinton Barnes was out playing by the river when he found something more than 1,000 times his age: a mammoth leg bone, found lying on the eroded ground of a ledge on the Nigiliq River, which connects to the Colville River, in Nuiqsut. "I thought it was a rock and then I got closer and saw what I think is a dinosaur bone," Barnes told The Sounder this week. "I just picked it up and started walking with it." Read more Tweet zoo 7-month-old rescued elephant calf finds a mother in Champakali - Darjeeling, India. Read more Tweet 4 Headlines about Elephants from Darjeeling2012-09-09 - Darjeeling, India - Joint Indo-Nepal task force to curb movement of elephants 2009-11-02 - Darjeeling, India - Darjeeling farmers erect fence to save crops from wild elephants 2006-10-26 - Darjeeling, India - Wild elephants spread havoc across Darjeeling tea estates - Darjeeling, India - 7-month-old rescued elephant calf finds a mother in Champakali 20 years on Internet!ELEPHANT NEWS was created on 2001 in Munich, and relaunched in Phnom Penh in 2020, with almost 8 000 links to news articles about elephants on the InternetA number of articles now also have a cross reference to the elephant database, either for individuals elephants and/or to an article about the location holdingIn the right column, you can also see if an elephant has birthday today, and follow the link to more facts! birth Blackpool Zoo confirms 2 elephants are expecting babies 2024-04-26 - Blackpool, United Kingdom. The latest round of pregnancy tests at Blackpool Zoo has revealed that two of its elephants are expecting babies. Mother and daughter Noorjahan and Esha are both pregnant and due to give birth in late... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Noor Jahan in the Elephant Database Read about Blackpool Zoo in the Elephant Database death RIP 2 year old “Chi Pich” 2024-04-02 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia. There was sad news from Mondulkiri Province, with the death of 2 year old elephant “Chi Pich” being announced. Sources from the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment Organization (ELIE) said ... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Chi Pich in the Elephant Database Read about Elephant Valley Project Cambodia in the Elephant DatabaseExtern relevant Links (external link which opens in new window):EEHV (Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus)Extern relevant Links (external link which opens in new window):EEHV (Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus) death Popular tusker Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan dies 2024-03-26 - Kochi, India. Popular tusker Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan, 55, 55, died at Mangalamkunnu in Palakkad on Monday. The elephant owned by M A Haridasan had been under treatment for the past few months. Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan in the Elephant Database Read about Mangalamkunnu brothers in the Elephant Database birth Pinnawala Orphanage sees birth of 76th calf 2024-03-23 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka. The 76th elephant calf was born at the Rambukkana Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on March 20.This baby elephant was born to 32-year-old she-elephant Shanthi and 19-year-old Pandu at the Pinnawala Elepha... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Unnamed in the Elephant Database Read about Pinnawala elephant orphanage in the Elephant Database organisation SANParks partners with neighbouring nations to benefit communities 2024-03-23 - Pretoria, South Africa. In the ongoing efforts to curb poaching and snaring of animals within the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, South African National Parks (SANParks) is working to create more partnerships with neighbour... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Kruger National Park in the Elephant Database event Toledo Zoo Shares the Name of Precious New Baby Elephant 2024-03-15 - , United States. After weeks of voting and thousands of submissions, the Toledo Zoo has officially chosen the name of their precious baby elephant and we're personally thrilled about the news! Ladies and gentleman, Ki... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Kirk in the Elephant Database Read about Toledo Zoo in the Elephant DatabasePress Release: The Toledo Zoo is thrilled to announce the birth of a healthy baby elephant, born to African elephant, Renee.Press Release: The Toledo Zoo is thrilled to announce the birth of a healthy baby elephant, born to African elephant, Renee. birth Reid Park Zoo welcomes new baby elephant 2024-03-09 - Tucson, United States. A baby elephant was born at Reid Park Zoo. The zoo said Semba, the facility’s African elephant matriarch, gave birth to a 265-pound calf around 3:31 a.m. Friday, March 8. Reid Park Zoo said the calf... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Unnamed in the Elephant Database Read about Reid Park Zoo in the Elephant Database event Baby elephant in Copenhagen named after Thai river 2024-03-04 - Copenhagen, Denmark. A female baby elephant in Copenhagen Zoo has been named Chin after the Tha Chin river in central Thailand. The elephant was born last week in the Danish zoo. The zookeepers, who take care of the young... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Chin in the Elephant Database Read about Copenhagen Zoo in the Elephant Database conflict This elephant misses his mahout, authorities seek police help 2024-02-29 - Alappuzha, India. Evoor Kannan, the elephant known for his murderous rage and with a history of killing two mahouts is in a bad mood these days. He had been gentle under the care of his former Mahout Sharath Parippally... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Evoor Kannan in the Elephant Database Read about Evoor Major Sri Krishnaswamy Temple in the Elephant Database birth Third elephant calf born in Beekse Bergen 2024-02-20 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands. African elephant Punda has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf after a 22-month pregnancy. This is the third calf born in the Safari Park Beekse Bergen k in four months. Never before have thr... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Tendai in the Elephant Database Read about Beekse Bergen Safaripark in the Elephant Database death Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium’s elephant calf dies at age 2 2024-02-15 - Pittsburgh, United States. The zoo said Tsuni died Thursday after a sudden, brief battle with elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Her EEHV was detected through routine blood testing on Feb. 8, even though she presente... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Tsuni in the Elephant Database Read about Fairhope Conservation Center in the Elephant DatabaseExtern relevant Links (external link which opens in new window):The Elephant endotheliotropic herpes virusExtern relevant Links (external link which opens in new window):The Elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus death Farewell to Seoul"s oldest elephant passing at age of 59 2024-02-15 - Seoul, South Korea. The oldest female elephant in South Korea passed away Tuesday at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age of 59, zoo officials said Thursday. The female elephant, named Sakura, had suffered fr... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Sakura Jjang in the Elephant Database Read about Seoul Grand Park Zoo in the Elephant Database birth A star is born: Baby elephant debuts 2024-01-30 - Bangalore, India. The Bannerghatta Biological Park is brimming with excitement as it welcomes a delightful new addition—a baby boy elephant calf. This adorable arrival brings the elephant count in the Bannerghatta zo... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about unknown in the Elephant Database Read about Bannerghatta Biological Park Zoo in the Elephant Database death Guruvayur Kannan, nine-time winner of elephant race, dies at 62 2024-01-27 - Guruvayur, India. Elephant Kannan, of the Guruvayur Devaswom Elephant Camp, a nine-time winner of the festival-related elephant race, has passed away. His demise was around 5:30 pm on Saturday. The tusker's age at the ... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Guruvayur Kannan in the Elephant Database Read about Guruvayur Devaswom elephant camp in the Elephant Database poaching A baby elephant is found dead 2024-01-27 - Koh Nhek, Cambodia. Villagers found a baby elephant dead in Koh Nhek district, Mondulkiri province in the middle of the forest on January 26, 2024, suspected of being shot. Mondulkiri Provincial department of environm... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! evolution Discoveries: The Evolutionary Edge of Elephant Trunks and Ancient Giants 2024-01-13 - Beijing, China. A recent study published in the journal eLife has uncovered new findings on the development of dextrous trunks by indigenous elephants. According to Dr. Shi-Qi Wang, a senior author of the research, t... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! poaching Alleged poaching kills 46-year-old Sumatran elephant in Riau park 2024-01-13 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia. The Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan District, Riau Province, again lost one of its Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) after a poacher allegedly killed it for its tusks. The 46-year... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Rahman in the Elephant Database Read about Tesso Nilo WWF-BKSDA Flying Squad camp in the Elephant Database fossil Celebration of Elephants: A Must-see New Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History 2024-01-11 - New York, United States. In a narrow but sprawling curatorial space at the uptown museum, The Secret World of Elephants, now opened, tells the story of elephant species and their relatives through life-size models, videos, gr... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about American Museum of Natural History in the Elephant Database conflict Workshop On Handling Human-Wildlife Conflicts 2024-01-11 - Mysore, India. In response to the escalating threat posed by leopards, elephants and other wild animals in the Mysuru region, specialised task forces have been established to address the situation. A dedicated Leopa... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! death Los Angeles Zoo mourns loss of 53-year-old Asian elephant Shaunzi 2024-01-04 - Los Angeles, United States. The Los Angeles Zoo is grieving the death of 53-year-old Asian elephant Shaunzi. Zoo staff observed that Shaunzi was unable to stand up in her exhibit at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, according t... Read more But Share with Tweet first, please! Read about Shaunzi in the Elephant Database Read about Los Angeles Zoo in the Elephant Database Back in history: 1 » »» [Start-Latest elephant news] [Latest headlines] [Archive 1995-2014]
2004-10-22 - Pretoria, South Africa. Dirk Nel, BuaNews
The drafting of a national elephant strategy was one of several important proposals tabled at South Africa's Great Elephant Indaba, which ended in the Kruger National Park yesterday. In addition, several short- and long-term objectives for elephant management were suggested, for submission to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
2004-10-22 - MANCHESTER, United States. MICHAEL COUSINEAU, Union Leader Staff
Asia bent down on her left knee when hearing the word "knee" and raised the same leg when receiving the command "foot." No one, however, had to tell the 8,800-pound elephant to eat. She gobbled down an entire unsliced bread loaf from a reporter.
2004-10-22 - Arusha, Tanzania. Mail and Guardian
Tanzania plans to sell 99 tonnes of confiscated elephant tusks in government stores to raise funds for conservation efforts and development projects, a senior official on said Friday. The ivory was seized from poachers or extracted from carcasses of elephants that died of natural causes, said Zakhia Meghji, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism.
2004-10-21 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Gershwin Wanneburg, Reuters
South Africa is weighing the option of killing off its excess elephants, 10 years after the practice known as culling was banned amid pressure from animal rights activists.
2004-10-20 - NEW DELHI, India. Ranjit Devraj
India's most notorious bandit and king elephant poacher, Koose Muniswamy Veerapan, might be history after he was shot dead by police on Monday. But conservationists still remain sceptical on whether the illegal ivory trade can be stemmed in the country, while a leading human rights group has called for an inquiry into his killing.
2004-10-20 - Pretoria, South Africa. Dirk Nel, BuaNews
The great elephant debate here today took an emotive turn, when animal rights groups passionately pleaded for the elimination of culling as a possible option to manage the country's oversized elephant population.
2004-10-20 - Ottawa, Canada. PETA
With the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus scheduled to tour Ontario next month, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has sent an urgent letter to Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Andrew Mitchell, urging him to prohibit elephants belonging to U.S. circuses from entering Canada because of concerns about tuberculosis (TB). PETA points out that a human strain of TB has been infecting and killing captive elephants in the United States since as early as 1981.
2004-10-18 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In an unprecedented move a group of Asian elephant conservationists were taken on a tour of the conservation and research sites in Kenya. The group consisted of thirteen individuals from eight Asian countries.
2004-10-18 - Lusaka, Zambia. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
A World Conservation Society (WCS) project in eastern Zambia's game-rich Luangwa valley is helping to transform poachers into farmers and entrepreneurs.
2004-10-18 - GABORONE, Botswana. BOPA , Daily News online
Botswana's sale of about 20 tonnes of ivory sanctioned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has been suspended because some countries have failed to meet one of the preconditions. Botswana, Namibia and South Africa were granted permission for a one-off sale of 60 tonnes of ivory in 2002.
2004-10-18 - CHICAGO, United States. Jon Duncanson, cbc2chicago.com
An elephant has died inside Lincoln Park Zoo, and now the health of animal keepers is being closely watched. Tatima, an African elephant, was found dead inside her habitat on Saturday. Zoo officials believe she died of tuberculosis. It will take 12 weeks to confirm whether the elephant had tuberculosis.
2004-10-18 - MADRAS, Tamil Nadu, India. AP
India's most wanted bandit, accused of murdering police officers, killing over 130 innocent people and 2,000 elephants and smuggling millions of dollars of illegal sandalwood and ivory, was killed Monday night in a jungle shootout with police, an officer said. Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, who had eluded police for three decades, and three other suspects were shot to death in a 20-minute gunbattle with a special police task force just before midnight, in a jungle forest, said K. Sent...
2004-10-18 - Johannesburg, South Africa. News 24
The Veterinary Association of SA offered its assistance in controlling elephant populations in South Africa's national parks on Monday. Unabated growth of the elephant population in the parks posed a serious threat to the habitat, wildlife and tourist potential of the country's parks, Jozeph van Heerden, spokesperson for the association, said in a statement.
2004-10-18 - Mysore, India.
The majestic Balarama, 46, will be leading the elephant contingent in the Dasara celebrations this October. He is already in town along with five other elephants, catching the admiring attention of the passers-by while on his routine walk every day morning and evening on the traditional Vijaya Dasami procession route in Mysore.
2004-10-18 - Kerala, India. K.S. Sudhi, The Hindu
THE FORESTS and Wildlife Department has taken a leaf out of the song `Friends of the Elephant', for redefining and re-inventing the relationship between the mightiest animal and man. It is in the process of doing this that the Department has declared October 4 as Elephant Day for the first time and initiated steps to bring in focus the need for creating a new relation between the animal and man.
2004-10-17 - Taipei, Taiwan.
A stuffed replica of the famous elephant, Ling Wang, is on display at the Taipei City Zoo. The eighty-six year old elephant is a common memory for many generations in Taiwan. After two years of construction, the life-sized specimen is now ready to greet the public today.
2004-10-17 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Karen MacGregor, Times Online
For years conservationists have fought to protect South Africa’s elephants from poachers and hunters, but now it seems that they may have been too successful. Experts claim that there are too many elephants in the country’s parks and thousands must be killed to preserve valuable habitats for other species.
2004-10-15 - San Francisco, Thailand. Karen Pierce Gonzalez, San Fransisco Chronicle
After a vacation in Thailand, Santa Rosa couple work to save domestic elephants they could never forget. Blind at 38, Jokia had spent much of her life in Thailand's illegal logging operations. Forced to work long hours every day, the Asian elephant had been drugged with amphetamines to keep her productive. Today, thanks to the work of a Santa Rosa nonprofit called All for Elephants, Jokia lives near the town of Janghai in northern Thailand on land owned by elephant rescuer Lek Chailart of Thaila...
2004-10-15 - Windhoek, Namibia. Absalom Shigwedha
Althought Namibia failed to get Cites' permission for an annual export quota of 2 000kg of ivory, it got approval to allow local communities trade in ivory trinkets, known as ekipas.
2004-10-15 - WASHINGTON, United States. Guy Gugliotta, Washington Post
Hunters find the ancient tusks clustered on sandbars near the Arctic Ocean, carried there by spring-melt waters flowing from the Siberian tundra. A pair of them, dried, polished and elegantly mounted for a trophy room or home museum, can weigh 400 pounds and cost up to $75,000.
2004-10-14 - BEIJING, China. Xinhuanet
The Asian elephant is the largest terrestrial mammal in Asia. Although many thousands of domesticated Asian elephants are found in Southeast Asia, this magnificent animal is facing extinction in the wild. China is trying to alleviate the situation by establishing an Asian elephant protection corridor in the south of the country, along its border with Laos.
2004-10-14 - Bangkok, Thailand. CITES
A two-week meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will close here today after agreeing decisions to strengthen wildlife management, combat illegal trafficking and update the trade rules for a wide range of plant and animal species.
2004-10-14 - CHIANG MAI, Thailand. Ed Johnson, Canadian Press
Hand-feeding a hungry elephant is an unnerving experience. At the first whiff of a banana, its leathery grey trunk snakes out, probes the air and sucks it from your hand with a squelch, much like shoving fruit into a wet vacuum cleaner nozzle.
2004-10-14 - Pretoria, South Africa. Sharon Hammond BuaNews
The upcoming Great Elephant Debate is not a ploy to reintroduce elephant culling, insisted chief executive of South African National Parks David Mabunda today. He said the event, scheduled for 19 to 21 October, simply aimed to open debate and identify ways in which to manage elephant populations.
2004-10-14 - Stockholm, Sweden. Mattias Karen, Associated Press
A homeowner in southern Sweden filed a police complaint after four circus elephants broke loose from their trainers and ran into his back yard, trampling the hedge and the lawn, a police spokesman said Thursday.
2004-10-14 - Chester, United Kingdom. Daily Post
Chester Zoo has welcomed its latest attraction - a 180kg baby elephant born just a few days ago.
2004-10-14 - BANGKOK, Thailand. AP
If a toothache is bad, just imagine what a tusk ache must feel like. So pity the poor three-ton bull elephant Kamsaen, whose four months of agony finally came to an end when veterinarians extracted a partially cut tusk which had become infected.
2004-10-14 - Boston, United States. Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor
Masquerading as Internet buyers, TRAFFIC investigators found that sellers of ivory on Internet "stores" regularly ship elephant ivory to the US via express-delivery services - often falsely labeling the shipment with such euphemisms as "bone carving." That exquisite little carved-ivory elephant for sale on eBay is described as a Chinese antique. Then again, it could be an illegal piece of tusk from an African elephant shot last year. That's the quandary Interne...
2004-10-13 - Washington, United States.
Despite a long-standing international ban on ivory trade, African elephants continue to be killed in large numbers for their prized tusks. But a team headed by a University of Washington biologist has devised a new means of determining the geographic origin of ivory that could prove a potent tool in slowing elephant poaching and the illegal ivory trade by identifying hot spots where enforcement should be increased.
2004-10-13 - New Delhi, India. Sapa-DPA
The only male elephant in Armenia's zoo will get an Indian female companion this week, a news report said on Wednesday. Armenian officials had asked the Indian government for a female pachyderm in 1999, for its sole male elephant originally from Moscow. Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee promised them an elephant during a visit to Armenia last year.
2004-10-13 - Thrissur, India. Indo-Asian News Service
He is a vet, a dentist, a mahout and a sculptor all rolled into one - and Sankaranarayanan needs every one of those skills when he carves out tusks from softwood and fits them on elephants with nuts and bolts. A mahout by profession, who has been working for the past 35 years with the famous Guruvayoor temple trust in southern India that owns 69 captive elephants, started on this particular job only eight years ago.
2004-10-13 - Coimbatore, India. V.S.Palaniappan, The Hindu
It was curtains down for the weeklong wildlife celebrations. The Coimbatore territorial forest division chose to celebrate the event in an unusual manner mobilising the school students to make them realise the importance of flora and fauna.
2004-10-12 - Washington, United States. Samuel K. Wasser, Andrew M. Shedlock, Kenine Comstock, Elaine A. Ostrander, Benezeth Mutayoba,and Matthew Stephens. The National Academy of Sciences
Resurgence of illicit trade in African elephant ivory is placing the elephant at renewed risk. Regulation of this trade could be vastly improved by the ability to verify the geographic origin of tusks. We address this need by developing a combined genetic and statistical method to determine the origin of poached ivory. Our statistical approach exploits a smoothing method to estimate geographic-specific allele frequencies over the entire African elephants' range for 16 microsatellite loci, using ...
2004-10-12 - Mysore, India. Deccan Herald
You might enjoy dasara but not these elephants, says RAGHUPATHY K P When dasara begins, it is the elephants that attract the crowd. People who come to witness the ‘Jambu Sawari’ are enthralled by the decorated elephants. And the legendary Balarama, a majestic animal which carries the golden howdah gets special attention.
2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Business Day
Southafrica, along with the rest of the southern African countries at a global wildlife conference in Thailand, voted against Kenya's proposal to place a 20 year moratorium on ivory trading yesterday.
2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Ranjit Devraj
The world's 'flagship species' on land and sea, whales and elephants, won a reprieve on Tuesday from commercial exploitation at a major conservation conference in Thailand's capital.
2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Sasithorn Simaporn, Reuters
Elephants kicking soccer balls, painting flowers with their trunks, or twirling a hula-hoop are a common sight in Thailand, where the sacred warrior beasts perform in tourist shows or peddle fruits on the streets of Bangkok.
2004-10-11 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters
Booming demand in China is the biggest driver of the illegal ivory market and there is no clear link between allowing regulated legal trade and a rise in black market supplies, a report to a U.N. conference said on Monday.
2004-10-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. Species Survival Network
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted in a late night session to deny Namibia an annual quota of 2,000kg of raw ivory and an unlimited quantity of worked ivory jewelry, known as “ekipas.” The decision could have serious, long-term, and positive implications for elephant conservation across Africa.
2004-10-10 - PATHANAMTHITTA, India.
A 17-year-old mahout, Krishnakumar alias Sreekumar of Elavumthitta near Aranmula, was crushed to death by a domesticated elephant at Elavumthitta this forenoon. According to eyewitnesses, the pachyderm attacked the mahout without any provocation and his brain was smashed when he was fatally crushed against a wayside wall.
2004-10-09 - Chiang mai, Thailand. Pamela Phang Kooi Yoong
THE first stroke went from the left to the middle, then straight down. The second stroke came from the right, and went down the middle of the paper as well. They were confident, sure strokes that eventually yielded something that looked like a tree. Then came the yellow patches, followed by red ones at the end of each branch. A painting of a tree with buttercup-like flowers soon emerged. It was simple, beautiful . . . and amazing. The artist: an elephant.
2004-10-08 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Jan Vertefeuille, Sarah Janicke - WWF
World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC applaud African countries who today announced a continent-wide action plan to crack down on their domestic ivory markets, calling it a major victory for elephant conservation.
2004-10-08 - DOOMDOOMA, India. Khaleej Times (Reuters)
The phone rang, as Dinesh Choudhury was finishing dinner. A rogue elephant was on the loose in the jungles of northeastern India, and four people were already dead. Choudhury’s first move was to try to convince the tranquilliser team to make another attempt, but they had seen enough of Golap’s anger not to want to approach him again. “I found him after just 10 minutes and fired over his head,” he said later. “People were agitated, but I just pretended it was a miss.” O...
2004-10-07 - ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States. Mary Pemberton, Associated Press Writer
Alaska zoo is to build what it believes to be the world's first elephant treadmill as part of plans to enrich its only elephant's life with better accommodation and activities.
2004-10-07 - GUWAHATI, India. Simon Denyer, Reuters
It is an unexpected headache for the Indian army, an unlikely embarrassment for the government and an unwelcome challenge for the railways department. Elephants in India are on the rampage, coming into conflict with man ever more frequently and ever more dangerously. It is a battle the normally gentle animals seem destined to lose.
2004-10-07 - Kampala, Uganda. Gerald Tenywa, New Vision
A TEAM of wildlife officials has left for a global meeting in Bangkok, Thailand to oppose the lifting of the ban imposed on ivory trade. "Uganda believes in the concept of sustainable utilisation. We recognise that Uganda's elephant population growth in the last 20 years is partly due to the ban on ivory. Uganda therefore, proposes that this ban should be upheld until such a time that mechanisms for regulating ivory trade and elephant produc...
2004-10-07 - Nairobi, Kenya. Richard Leakey, The Guardian
Fifteen years ago, the world's television screens relayed images of Daniel arap Moi, Kenya's then president, and myself setting fire to 2,000 elephant tusks. Kenya could have earned millions of pounds by selling the stockpile. But I believed we had to illustrate graphically the impact of the ivory trade, and show that the only way of saving Africa's elephants was to destroy the trade. Throughout the 1980s, ivory trading - most of it fed by ...
2004-10-07 - CORAL SPRINGS, United States. Sallie James, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Despite protests from animal rights activists, the circus will come to town next month for four days. Just don't expect to see any elephants. The DeLand-based Cole Bros. Circus, which this year dropped the name "Clyde Beatty" from its title, will perform Nov. 11-14 at the Sportsplex near the Sawgrass Expressway. Circus officials pulled the elephants because of complaints, said circus spokesman Bruce Pratt.
2004-10-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters
Kenya is on the front line of the "wildlife wars" and says its men in the trenches will be at risk if a U.N. conference approves a Namibian bid to sell more ivory.
2004-10-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News
Khao Yai National Park is to become home to the first training centre for wildlife protection officials in Southeast Asia, the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment announced, Suwit Khunkitti, today.
2004-10-06 - Taipei, Taiwan. Liu CH, Chang CH, Chin SC, Chang PH, Zhuo YX, Lee CC.. Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Bioresources and Agriculture, National Taiwan University
A case of fibrosarcoma with lung and lymph node metastases in a 54-year-old female Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is described. After pododermatitis of 2 years duration in the right forefoot, a mass developed in the lateral toenail. At postmortem, metastasis to the right axillary lymph node and both lungs was noted. Microscopic examination of primary and metastatic sites revealed infiltrating bundles of spindle cells, with fairly distinct cell borders, variable amounts of eosinophilic cytoplas...
2004-10-06 - Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India.
NO MORNING line-up or rides for tourists into the jungles on their backs! It was Elephants Day, part of Wildlife Week celebrations, at the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Topslip near Pollachi this Sunday, and the pachyderms were having a real holiday. The Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, T. Sekar, said that the elephants were brought to Topslip from their camps in Kozhikamudhi and Varagliyar tribal settlements.
2004-10-06 - WINDHOEK, Namibia. AFP
Women from Namibia's Ukwanyama tribe proudly display the shiny pieces of carved ivory which dangle from their red leather belts, many of them decades old and handed down from mother to daughter. The carved pieces, called "ekipa", are important tokens in the traditional life of this tribe, which straddles northern Namibia and southern Angola.
2004-10-06 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters
Ivory from the tusks of extinct mammoths is being used as a legal substitute for the stuff provided by its living elephant kin, but poor quality and a finite supply means it will never replace it, experts say.
2004-10-06 - KEGALLA, Sri Lanka. R.K. Radhakrishnan
It was eight years ago that Sama was brought to the Pinnewala elephant orphanage here. The cow-elephant had lost a leg when it stepped on a landmine in the northern jungles. It was about five then. Today, the orphanage veterinarian, Chandana Rajapaksa, is worried.
2004-10-06 - Mysore, India. Star of Mysore
The Palace acquisition proceedings have resurfaced curiously amidst the brisk preparations for the Dasara festivities which may trigger many more controversies during this Dasara.
2004-10-05 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters
The European Union looked set on Tuesday to harpoon a Japanese bid to resume commercial trade in whale products, but has yet to take a stand on a Namibian attempt to loosen restrictions on ivory sales.
2004-10-05 - Ranchi, India. Indo-Asian News Service
Don't store liquor. Don't go out into the forests drunk. Don't worship elephants. And move only in groups at night. These are among a list of do's and don'ts brought out by the forest department of Jharkhand in a bid to check the growing cases of man-elephant conflict that have resulted in the deaths of over 300 villagers here in the last four years.
2004-10-05 - Hua Hin, Thailand. AP
With the crack of clashing mallets and the thump of jumbo feet shaking the earth, the game is under way. Tense commands are shouted by pith-helmeted players tied firmly to their two-ton mounts. Soon there is a muddle in the middle. The beasts collide and the ball disappears in a forest of elephantine legs, raising some dust and much laughter. It’s a classic scrum in the whacky sport of elephant polo.
2004-10-04 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Between man and animal, it is a conflict that is getting grimmer by the day. The more the human beings invade their habitations, the stronger becomes their resistance. And, same goes the retaliation from the man's side. As the State celebrates Wildlife Week, it is down to the basics for survival for both man and animal. Consider this. From 1998-99 to 2003-04, elephants killed more men than the other way round. In these six years, the pachyderms killed 228 human beings.
2004-10-02 - Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. Florence Wickramage
The Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawela will be upgraded as the Elephant Conservation and Breeding Centre and the entire complex including the large extent of land will be redesigned to afford more protection and movement facilities for elephants.
2004-10-02 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News
The 13th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES kicked off in Bangkok today. It is the first time that a CITES meetng is held in the Southeast Asian region.
2004-10-01 - BANGKOK, Thailand. AFP
In the heart of Bangkok's bustling Chinatown, shops filled with tourist trinkets and antiques hide an illegal multi-million dollar ivory trade that environmentalists warn is destroying global elephant populations. Inside a cluttered tourist gift shop, an AFP reporter posing as a buyer asked to see banned African ivory and after a heated debate between the shop's two owners was shown smuggled tusks apparently hacked from the head of a slaughtered elephant.
2004-10-01 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Conservationists yesterday took a stab at the Thai government, accusing senior national politicians of involvement in the illegal trade in endangered species, while calling for a ban on Thai elephant exports.
2004-09-30 - Singapore, Singapore.
The Singapore Zoo's most famous elephant headed to Germany to be part of a conservation programme at the Cologne Zoo, its former keepers said.
2004-09-29 - Washington, United States.
New research shows that elephants in professionally managed zoological facilities have life expectancies similar to elephants in the wild. The finding, published in the August edition of the journal Zoo Biology (Volume 23, Issue 4), refutes a 2002 study that claimed wild elephants typically live longer. The new research used a different testing methodology, which its authors say corrects these earlier findings.
2004-09-28 - SEATTLE, United States. CAROL SMITH
It's like doing cold-case detective work on elephants, but University of Washington scientist Samuel Wasser has devised an innovative method for pinpointing the DNA fingerprints of poached elephant tusks. The method, reported yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could give conservationists their most powerful tool yet in the battle to hunt down the poachers who are decimating the African elephant population.
2004-09-28 - Heidelberg, Germany. Dan Koehl
Because of Califa und Farina, the last elephant baby births in Hannover Zoo, peace was over, and the kindergarten became a little bit too much for Ilona. At the 29 of September 2004 she was transfered to Zoo Heidelberg, in a seventeen meter long vehicle, during eight hours journey at the german autobahn.
2004-09-28 - Washington, United States.
Washington - Using elephant dung and skin samples, researchers say they are able to make a map of elephant DNA that can help track down ivory poachers.
2004-09-27 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News
The north-eastern province of Surin, famed for its annual elephant round-ups, is to conduct its second elephant rally this year to help raise funds for Thai elephants.
2004-09-25 - Pittsburgh, United States. Michelle K. Massie, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jack is back and he's looking for love. Jack, whose full name is Jackson, is a 10,400-pound African male elephant and the only naturally breeding bull in the United States. Due to his acclaim, Jack has made his rounds around the country, most recently at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, mating with willing adult female elephants. Since May, he's been back at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.
2004-09-24 - Gaborone, Botswana.
The outbreak of anthrax in Botswana's Chobe National Park had claimed the lives of 265 animals, but was now subsiding, an assistant director in the Department of Wildlife said on Friday. Of the 265 animals found dead in Chobe, 248 were buffalo, and 12 were elephants. The carcasses had been disposed of.
2004-09-23 - Brahabebome, Ghana.
A 234,000 dollar- project, initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), last year, to protect farms in communities around the Kakum National Park from marauding elephants, has yielded positive results. For the first time in over 20 years, farmers at Aboabo camp, Nyamebekyere, Adubiase, Siriboekro, Brahabebome, Kasum and Alicekrom, have been able to harvest their food crops without any hindrance from the elephants.
2004-09-23 - Thailand, Thailand.
Jennifer Ellison saved a young girl from being crushed by an elephant in Thailand. She dashed to pick up four-year-old Stacey Young after she fell during an elephant ride, reports the Daily Star.
2004-09-21 - Hassan, Karnataka, India.
The Divisional Conservator of Forests, Hassan Division, S. Shekar, has said that the Government has given the green signal to catch and trans-locate two rogue elephants that are creating havoc in Alur, Sakleshpur and part of Arkalgud taluks.
2004-09-20 - Mysore, India.
The susipicion of a foul play in the deaths of zoo elephants Ganesha and Roopa has proved right. The laboratory reports have confirmed that the elephants were killed using a strong chemical poison (zinc phosphide). The two elephants, which died on September 4 and September 7 respectively, had acute haemorrhagic enteritis and respiratory distress because of the poison. Zinc phosphide is normally used to kill rodents and it is a cheap poison available in the market.
2004-09-19 - Ranchi, India. Indo-Asian News Service
Two elephants died when they came in contact with a high-voltage power line near this Jharkhand capital, following which a herd of elephants ran amok and damaged several houses and other properties. While roaming in the Torpa area, 40 km from Ranchi, an elephant died when its trunk touched an 11,000-volt electrical line. Another elephant came to its rescue and met the same fate.
2004-09-15 - Harare, Zimbabwe.
President Robert Mugabe's cronies have apparently inflated Zimbabwe's elephant population to dupe the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (Cites) into allowing Harare to continue trading in ivory.
2004-09-12 - Platschow, Germany.
The elephant trainer Sonny Frankello has bought yet one more elephant. A few months ago he received the female elephant Sandra and now he has bought a male elephant – Moritz. The elephant comes from the German Scholl family. Sonny has now 6 African elephants. 2 males Sahib and Moriz and four females Mala, Sandra, Kenia and Timba. Only 3 of the elephants have been on tour this year.
2004-09-09 - Cologne, Germany. Barbara Brem
On September 9th, the “Elephant Park” was officially opened in Cologne. Three bulls and two cows from Holland and England, as well as a six-year old bull from Singapore now live on 5,000 square meters interior enclosure and in a 15,000 square meters outdoor park. The 20,000 square meter facility takes up approximately ten percent of the overall zoo property.
2004-09-07 - Houston, United States. Danny Perez, Houston Chronicle
The Houston Zoo staff members tried feverishly to save Kimba's life, but the 13-year-old female Asian elephant died Monday afternoon after a sudden illness.
2004-09-05 - Mysore, India.
The death of an elephant in the Mysore zoo on Saturday has shocked animal lovers and the zoo authorities here. Ganesha, who was 30 years old, was reported to be dull since Friday. The Executive Director of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Manoj Kumar, said the elephant was suffering from severe abdominal pain and responded to treatment initially. However, it died at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
2004-09-02 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Reuters
Sri Lanka has closed its biggest wildlife reserve because a severe drought has dried up watering holes and left wild elephants thirsty, angry and ready to charge, park officials say.
2004-08-24 - ROYAL OAK, Michigan, United States. TAREK EL-TABLAWY
Like any patient, Wanda needs positive reinforcement to wrestle through her physical therapy. At 46, time and a few extra pounds have taken their toll on this Royal Oak resident's bones, and her eyes roam to the treats the needed incentive to overcome the pain during her workout. "Leg up," says Mary Wulff, who guides Wanda through the routines. "Good girl!"
2004-08-18 - Houston, United States.
Asian Elephant Births 338-Pound Baby GirlAfter 22 months of pregnancy, Shanti, a 13-year-old Asian elephant at the Houston Zoo gave birth to a baby girl Tuesday evening, August 17, 2004, at the Houston Zoo to a healthy female calf with the name Bella!
2004-08-17 - Anchorage, Alaska, United States.
America's and the world´s northernmost elephant is staying put, to the relief of many visitors at the Alaska Zoo and the consternation of some animal advocates who say the African-born pachyderm needs a warmer climate, more space and the company of her own kind.
2004-08-16 - Honolulu, United States. Rosemarie Bernardo
A circus that includes elephant performances has not come to Hawaii since Tyke's rampage. However, there was an attempt last year by the Ringling Bros Circus. The organization filed for a permit to bring two Asian elephants for a February circus performance. There were no other requests to bring in elephants for circus acts, said Cravalho. An elephant, however, was brought to Honolulu for the filming of the Disney movie "George of the Jungle" in 1997 under strict safeguards.
2004-08-16 - Honolulu, United States. By Rosemarie Bernardo, Starbulletin
Makakilo resident Donna Wier remembers that horrible day 10 years ago when a man was trampled to death by an 8,000-pound elephant at the Blaisdell Arena. "It was pretty traumatic," said Wier, who took her sons Dillon, then 6, and Koa, 10 months, to the circus for the first time. "It's still in the back of our minds."
2004-08-10 - VANCOUVER, United States.
Tests show the Tina, the elephant who was moved from B.C. to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee last summer, died of heart failure.
2004-08-07 - POWELL, Ohio, United States.
The winning name in the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Name the Baby Elephant Contest is Bodhi, entered by Alison Dutro of Dublin, Ohio. The announcement of the winning name was made today at 1 p.m.
2004-08-02 - Jerusalem, Israel. GCM/CRB
A German team from the IZW, The Institute of Zoo Wildlife Research in Berlin, make an ultrasound examination of Tamar, a pregnant elephant, at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo July 31, 2004.
2004-07-30 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Helen Pilcher
A rare albino elephant has been spotted roaming Sri Lanka's Ruhunu National Park, the first recorded sighting in the country. The pale-skinned pachyderm, thought to be around 11 years old, lives with a 17-strong herd of adult females and youngsters. Tracking the herd's movements could help researchers devise new strategies for the protection and management of Sri Lanka's elephants.
2004-07-26 - Maputo, Mozambique. Joe Holmes, University of Pretoria
The initial count was done in October 2002 for CERU, the Conservation Ecology Research Unit of the University of Pretoria. We received a request from Dr Tim Jackson in the early part of this year to do a follow up count to enable comparisons to be drawn.
2004-07-26 - Durban, South Africa. Chris Jenkins, Daily News
Game rangers have shot three rogue elephants in Zululand's Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. The culling was in terms of a head office directive to control "delinquent" elephants to avoid possible fatal attacks on staff, neighbours or visitors.
2004-07-23 - VANCOUVER, United States.
Tina, the Asian elephant with the ailing feet, who moved from B.C. to Tenneessee has died. The 34-year-old pachyderm was transferred last August to the Elephant Sanctuary at Hohenwald, southwest of Nashville.
2004-07-21 - SHIMOGA, India.
It was a day of celebration at the elephant camp at Sakrebylu, about 15 km from here, on Wednesday as an elephant calf was born within 15 days of another calf being born. Kaveri, a 69-year-old elephant, gave birth to a male calf this morning. It was the second delivery of Kaveri, the first one being in 1969.
2004-07-20 - Los Angeles, United States. Lora LaMarca, Los Angeles Zoo
Working with the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s (AZA) Species Survival Plan managers for elephants, the Los Angeles Zoo had been seeking a better and more social situation for Ruby, a 43-year-old African elephant. The decision was made to move Ruby from the Los Angeles Zoo to the Knoxville (Tennessee) Zoo in May 2003.
2004-07-07 - Lake Buena Vista, United States.
An 18-year-old African elephant gave birth to a 230-pound baby at Disney's Animal Kingdom, according to Local 6 News. The elephant calf arrived Tuesday night to join its 18-year-old mother, Vasha, after 22 months in the womb, according to an official. The elephant's name is Kianga, which means "Sunshine" in Swahili.
2004-07-03 - Ratanakiri, Cambodia.
An enraged elephant in remote northeastern Cambodia has trampled a South Korean tourist who tried to take its photograph. The Cambodia Daily reports 29-year-old Chong Huisit, suffered broken ribs and other injuries when the beast turned on him, just before it was supposed to take him for a ride in jungle-clad Ratanakiri province. The victim was airlifted to Phnom Penh for treatment.
2004-06-28 - Maputo, Mozambique. Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique
The Gorongosa National Park, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, is to receive 500 elephants from Botswana, during the second half of this year, as part of its restocking programme, reports Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
2004-06-25 - CHENNAI, India. P. Oppili
A three-and-half-month-old elephant calf died at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, on Wednesday. The calf, Ramu, was rescued last month from the forest area in Amirthi near Vellore after his mother died.
2004-06-23 - Guwahati, India.
A goods carriage train hit a herd of elephants when they were crossing the railway line which passes through a dense forest area of Ajara on the outskirts of Guwahati, in the northeastern Indian states of Assam, resulting in the death of three elephants on Monday June 21, forest officials said.
2004-06-20 - MALACCA, Malaysia. Lee Yuk Peng, The Star
A six-month-old baby elephant, which was separated from its mother in the Johor forest, will be bred in captivity in the Malacca Zoo.The male calf, named Rio, which still needs milk from its mother until it turns two, will now have to grow up on low-fat cow’s milk mixed with bread.
2004-06-08 - Toronto, Canada.
The International Species Information System (ISIS), a global organization that serves the institutional, regional and global animal management and conservation goals of more than 600 zoos and aquariums from 70 countries around the world, has selected CGI Group Inc. (CGI) (TSX: GIB.A; NYSE: GIB) to design, build and maintain a next generation data management system. This seven-year, multi-million dollar information technology (IT) contract will facilitate the real-time collection and tracking of...
2004-06-01 - Vallejo, United States.
An elephant trainer at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo was in critical condition Tuesday after he was gored by one of the pachyderms, a fire department spokesman said. Patrick Chapple, 39, was standing next to 7,000-pound Misha, a 23-year-old female African elephant, at about 3:30 p.m. when the animal turned suddenly from grazing and knocked him to the ground.
2004-05-30 - Ernakulam, Kerala, India. New Kerala
Villagers in Jharkhand are a harried lot as they come under constant attacks by heards of wild elephants. According to official estimates nearly 29 people have been killed and many injured in the last two years in Ranchi district by wild elephants.
2004-05-29 - Kushalnagar, India.
A celebrity elephant is to undergo training in India after plantation owners kidnapped it for trampling over their crops. Harsha went on the rampage while leading a royal procession in Kushalnagar.
2004-05-29 - Garden City, United States.
An animal rights group is continuing its campaign to persuade the Lee Richardson Zoo to send its two elephants to a more spacious sanctuary, despite the zoo's plans to expand the elephants' living quarters.
2004-04-30 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
I arrive at elephant house with the other elephant keepers at around 7.30am, and we are usually greeted by the female elephants who flap their ears at us. The first job of the day is to sweep the barn out before preparing a hearty breakfast for all the elephants. Breakfast usually consists of nutritional pellets with vitamins and bananas - breakfast is just as important for elephants as it is for people!
2004-04-10 - London, United Kingdom. BBC
Coughing into a breathalyser could be the new way to detect the most common form of tuberculosis. The portable device, developed by Rapid Biosensor Systems, would be quicker and easier to use than the current screening method, called the Heaf test.
2004-03-30 - Whipsnade, United Kingdom.
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park's new born Asian elephant calf will be making her first public appearance today, Tuesday 30th March. The female calf, born on Tuesday 16th March to 22 year old mother, Kaylee, weighed in at a whopping 149kg on arrival and will be an important addition to the breeding programme for this endangered species.
2004-03-27 - Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya plans to move 400 elephants away from a reserve where jumbos are breaking down fences and trampling crops in its biggest animal relocation exercise, wildlife officials said on Friday.
2004-03-25 - Calgary, Canada. BILL KAUFMANN
As a group of Grade 3 students looked on, the pachyderm handler at the Calgary Zoo took a header from pregnant, 3,000 kg Asian elephant Maharani. "A flash went in front of my eyes and when I recovered my vision, I was lying at her feet -- I gave her two opportunities to finish me off," says Hrynewich, 41, of the March 25, 2004, incident. Moments before, Hrynewich had been rewarding Maharani with herbal cookies for a successful bath. "I had a really, really good rapport with that elephant and eve...
2004-03-24 - MYSORE, India. The Hindu
A dynamite concealed in fodder exploded in the mouth of an elephant calf, ripping its face apart and leaving the hapless creature writhing in agony until it died on Wednesday.
2004-03-08 - San Francisco, United States. Demian Bulwa
Calle the ailing elephant died at the San Francisco Zoo on Sunday morning, hours after another elephant attacked her, an attack that zoo officials are blaming on animal rights demonstrators who they say agitated the beasts. Zoo veterinarians quietly euthanized Calle, a 37-year-old female Asian elephant, at about 5 a.m., after she dropped to her belly and rolled on her side.
2004-03-08 - Richmond, Illinois, United States. Jeff Long, Tribune staff reporter
The owner of a circus-training facility in rural McHenry County has agreed to find new homes for his elephants under an agreement with federal authorities, officials announced today. The proposed agreement between John Cuneo, owner of Hawthorn Corp., and the U.S. Department of Agriculture would end the government's case against Cuneo and his company for dozens of alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act concerning the elephants' care.
2004-03-08 - Salt Lake City, United States. (KSL News)
Another animal has been euthanized at Hogle Zoo. The Zoo's grand dame, Kali the elephant was put down this morning. This morning zookeepers found Kali alert, but lying on the floor of her exhibit. She was unable to get up, due to her severe joint arthritis. Kali was 59, the third oldest living Asian elephant in the country.
2004-03-05 - San Francisco, United States. Patricia Yollin
The troubled life of Calle the Elephant, one of the San Francisco Zoos most beloved residents, will soon come to an end. The zoo has decided to euthanize the 37-year-old, 10,000-pound creature because her health has been declining since October. After Calle is euthanized, Tinkerbelle may be sent to another zoo.
2004-02-04 - Delhi, India. Adam Mynott BBC South Asia correspondent
India's captive elephants are stressed, unhappy and need therapy, according to the Wildlife Trust of India. They have called in an expert - a sort of "elephant-whisperer" - from the United States to help them.
2004-01-31 - Kaziranga, India.
Almost 100 elephants have taken part in a football game in India as part of an annual festival aimed at encouraging locals to protect the animals
2004-01-23 - Calcutta, India. Subir Bhaumik
Four wild elephants drunk on rice beer have been electrocuted in the north-east Indian state of Meghalaya, wildlife officials report. The elephants are known to have a taste for rice beer brewed by tribal communities across north-east India. But this is the first time some of them have died after consuming the drink. A herd of about 20 to 25 elephants went on the rampage in a remote area in the West Garo Hills district earlier this week after getting high on the beer.
2004-01-23 - ESCONDIDO, United States. ANDREA MOSS
The countdown has begun, even if nobody knows when it will end. Anticipation is mounting behind the scenes at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where keepers are closely monitoring a pregnant African elephant that is expected to give birth in the next month or two. Ultrasounds and hormone tests suggest the mother is about 21 months into a pregnancy that, if it follows the average, will last 22 months.
2004-01-23 - New Delhi, India. Prakriti Prasad
The Delhi Zoo is extending its hospitality to the elephants that carry bravery award winners in the Republic Day parade. Visitors to the zoo are greeted by these elephants, brought from all over Delhi and domesticated by their private owners, right at the entrance, where they are putting up in the scooter parking lot. Every morning, they are taken to Rajpath for their training.
2004-01-18 - Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Pornprapa Rattanadang, The Nation
The inventor of a denture fitted to an 80-year-old elephant, allowing it to eat normally, has applied for a patent for the device. "It has been a great success," said Somsak Jitniyom of the Mount Chayarat Centre for Research and Technology Transfer.
2004-01-14 - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Reuters
Four men were arrested in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam after they were found with 73 elephant tusks, police said Wednesday.
2004-01-11 - Bhubaneswar, India. Jatindra Dash, Newkerala.com
A team of archaeologists has uncovered the remains of an elephant believed to be 500 years old from a fort in Orissa. The team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) found the remains at the Barabati fort at Cuttack town, 26 km from here. The skeleton was found two metres below the surface during the excavation of the fort's 102 acres of land, said P.K. Dwibedi, in charge of the ASI's office here.
2004-01-08 - Shimba Hills, Kenya. Daniel Nyassy, The East African Standard
Four hundred elephants in Shimba Hills Game Park, Kwale, are to get a new home starting next month. They will be moved to the Tsavo National Park, as ordered by President Kibaki in his tour of the Coast Province.
2004-01-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok Post
A toothless old elephant who was slowly starving to death has been fitted with a set of specially made dentures in what could be the first in the world. The U-shaped denture, 15cm wide and 15cm long, is made of stainless steel, silicone and plastic. It was developed especially for Morakot, an 80-year-old cow elephant at the Chang Phuan Kaeo elephant ground in Kanchanaburi province.
2004-01-04 - Livingstone, Zambia. Gudrun Heckl
A South African couple's elephant-riding adventure turned into a life-threatening drama on the day of their 30th wedding anniversary. Schoolteacher Sue Pearson is recovering from serious chest injuries in a Johannesburg hospital after a dramatic rescue effort spanning three countries, dogged by power failures at a clinic and an airport. Pearson and her husband John, a Johannesburg businessman, were swept off a 24-year-old elephant which ran into a tree on the banks ...
2004-01-01 - Houston, United States.
The Houston Zoo is mourning the loss of it's newest addition. A new born Asian elephant died at the zoo Monday. The female calf died about 30 hours after her mother, Methai, gave birth. Zookeepers said the calf appeared to be very healthy right after labor but suspected something was wrong a few hours later. The zoo said the calf's mother is in good health and is now in an area visible to visitors.
2003-12-21 - Honolulu, United States. Mary Vorsino
Steve Hirano, 57, died Friday evening at his Hawaii Kai home, less than two months after learning that he had pancreatic cancer. Steve Hirano made international news in 1994 when the rogue elephant tyke from a Blaisdell Center circus, for whom he was serving as publicist, charged and attacked him. The video of Tyke the elephant tossing Hirano out of the way as he tried to hold the animal behind a fenced gate is hard to forget.
2003-12-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. The East African Standard
More than 50 people from Kinna Division in Isiolo District have been detained after suspected poachers killed five elephants. The tusks of the slaughtered animals, which were apparently shot with poisoned arrows, were all missing. Kinna, an agricultural area, borders Kora and Bisanadi game reserves and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)-managed Meru National Park.
2003-12-16 - Bangkok, Thailand.
Thai researchers will try to artificially inseminate a group of Asian elephants next month in a bid to boost numbers, a scientist working on the project said Tuesday. They will use samples stored at an experimental elephant sperm bank and are monitoring the beasts to work out the right time for conception in the northern towns of Lampang and Chiang Mai, said Mungkorn Damyang of Kasetsart University.
2003-12-05 - Vienna, Virginia, United States. Feld Entertainment, Inc.
The new calf is the offspring of Ringling Bros.' bred elephants, expanding the largest gene pool outside of Asia. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® unveils white paper on the state of the Asian elephant in the 21st century. Vienna, VA-On December 5, 2003 at 9:25 a.m., Riccardo, a 232-pound male, Asian elephant, joined the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) family. This newborn's arrival is historic, as he is the first offspring from two elephants born in...
2003-12-05 - Attappady, India. The Hindu
A wild elephant was electrocuted at Thekkamukkiyur in Sholayur panchayat of Attappady today after it came into contact with an electric fencing put up by a farmer. Reports from Attappady said the cow elephant may have died due to the high voltage of current passed through the electric fencing directly from the main line.
2003-12-00 - Berlin, Germany. Martin F, Niemitz C., Freie Universität Berlin
In this article, the side preferences of feeding-related trunk movements of free-ranging Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were investigated for the first time. It is hypothesized that a functional asymmetry of the trunk is necessary to perform skillful feeding movements more efficiently. This might be connected with a corresponding hemispheric specialization. Video recordings of 41 wild elephants provided frequencies and durations of the following trunk-movement categories: object contact, retr...
2003-10-27 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
An animal trainer was fatally struck by an elephant just a week after getting the job with a circus in Malaysia, a news report said today.
2003-10-14 - Emmen, Netherlands.
A Dutch zoo is struggling to cope after being sent the biggest elephant in Europe. Radza, a male elephant, has been loaned to Emmen Zoo to breed with its female elephants. But it is far bigger than the zookeepers expected and has been destroying the elephant cages. Razda, which is owned by Riga Zoo, Latvia, is more than 10ft high and weighs 7.2 tonnes.
2003-10-02 - Chiang Mai, Thailand. Sangduen Chailert
The Elephant Nature Park received two bulls in need of urgent medical treatment. Pookaew 18, had very serious foot problems, and Khum-min 46, a big abscess on his back.
2003-09-21 - Hua Hin, Thailand.
The Scottish Chivas Regal squad and Germany's Mercedes Benz met in the King's Cup in Hua Hin, Thailand, on Sunday. The Chivas side disposed of local team Nokia Thailand 8-2 in the semi-final, while the Germans beat Australia's Sandalford Winery. Money raised from the tournament is being used for a new elephant conservation centre in Lampang.
2003-09-12 - Pattaya, Thailand. Dr. Iain Corness
Martin Smith is Mein Host at the Old Speckled Hen Pub in Jomtien, and a man who has spent more than half his working life working with elephants. He was sent around the world by Aspinalls to study elephant management. This took him to the US, Singapore and Thailand to study handling methods and enclosures. The answer was total zero handling, with studies showing that male elephants would look upon the ‘keepers’ as rivals and would therefore eventually attack their adversary one day to gain s...
2003-09-11 - Galt, California, United States. Diana Lambert
Tammy, one of four Asian elephants living at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary, has died. The 53-year-old Asian elephant was euthanized Saturday at the sanctuary after staff members were unable to get her to her feet after she fell. Publicity surrounded Tammy's arrival at PAWS in 1990 when she and another elephant, named Annie, were retired from a Milwaukee zoo. Both elephants were captured in India in 1954. PAWS president and co-founder Pat Derby said both elephants had injuries s...
2003-09-04 - PETALING JAYA, Malaysia. SUSAN TAM
They are smaller, tamer and more mild tempered compared with other Asian elephants and were discovered in Sabah. Following DNA tests they have now been confirmed as a new subspecies of Borneo “Pygmy Elephants.” Yesterday, WWF-Malaysia chairman Tengku Zainal Adlin congratulated the Sabah Wildlife Department on the discovery of the new variety. Tengku Zainal said in a statement that the DNA tests confirmed that the elephants were a distinct subspecies and had different characteristics from th...
2003-08-16 - Murchison, Texas, United States.
It is with great sadness that The Fund for Animals announces the passing of Tara, one of our beloved elephants at Black Beauty Ranch. Tara was 59 years old.
2003-07-24 - Kerala, India.
Elephants employed by the state of Kerala in southern India are to be granted full retirement benefits at the age of 65.
2003-07-20 - Chennai, India.
Dr. V. Krishnamurthy was a forest veterinary officer who served the Government of Tamil Nadu for over three decades, primarily concentrating on the health care of both domestic and wild elephants. Dr. Krishmurthy or Doc K, as he was fondly called, resurrected captive elephant health care and management to levels that have not been seen in Asia for the most of the last century.
2003-07-18 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
When the Swedish royal couple visited Thailand earlier this year, they were presented with two elephants as a gift from the king of Thailand. But the giant mammals don't understand Swedish, so two zookeepers are traveling to Thailand to learn Thai. "The elephants must be able to understand commands in the languages they've been raised with, so that we don't have to teach them Swedish," Magnus Nilsson, chief executive of Sweden's Kolmarden safari park, Norrköping, told The Associated Press on Fr...
2003-06-20 - Bogor, Indonesia. REUTERS/Supri
Inul, a Sumatran elephant born early this morning at Taman Safari park south of Jakarta, stands close to her mother Linda in her pen at the park June 20, 2003. Inul was named after the famous Indonesian singer and dancer know for her wild gyrations during her performances. The wild population of the Sumatran elephant is estimated to be around 600, down from more than 3,000 10 years ago.
2003-06-17 - Chicago, Illinois, United States.
This afternoon, Brookfield Zoo staff was saddened to lose Mame, a 32-year-old African elephant. Mame sustained severe injuries during an encounter with another elephant. Following the encounter, veterinary staff closely observed Mame and determined she had suffered disabling injuries to both her front legs. In the professional opinion of the zoo's veterinary staff, the prognosis for a successful recovery in this type of injury is very poor. Vets and animal collection staff were concerned Mame ...
2003-06-13 - Amboseli, Kenya. Cynthia Moss, Amboseli Elephant Research Project
One of the best known elephants in Amboseli, Erin of the EB family, died in May after a three week struggle for survival involving her family, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) team, a BBC cameraman, and the staff of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
2003-06-04 - Dak Lak, Vietnam. Nga Pham
Ama Kong is not an ordinary 88-year-old man. In a period of 40 years, he has captured and domesticated nearly 300 elephants - 298 to be precise. Descended from a Laotian tribal leader, who was believed to be the founder of the craft of elephant taming, Ama Kong reckons he has now captured and tamed more elephants than the Elephant King himself.
2003-05-28 - MALACCA, Malaysia. LEE YUK PENG
A young elephant, caught in a wild boar trap at a forest reserve in Rompin, Pahang, has been sent to the Malacca Zoo for treatment. The injured animal was spotted by villagers and rescued by wildlife officers last Thursday. It was brought here on Sunday where zoo officials were now nursing it back to health.
2003-05-25 - Los Angeles, United States. Lora LaMarca, Los Angeles Zoo
Ruby, a 42-year-old female African elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo, began her journey to her new home at the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee the evening of May 25.
2003-05-23 - Orlando, Florida, United States.
The Walt Disney World Resort's animal care team welcomed the first African elephant calf to be born at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park Thursday night. The 296-pound calf was born at 10:05 p.m. to its 22-year-old mother, Moyo. The first-time mother was in labor on and off for four hours before giving birth to the calf, which was conceived through artificial insemination on Aug. 25, 2001.
2003-05-12 - Cheyenne, United States. Bruce Bailey, University of Nebraska State Museum
In June, we received a call from Mike Spaeth of Cheyenne County, reporting the discovery of a large fossil bone protruding from a stream bank. We arrived and uncovered not a dinosaur bone, but a complete lower jaw of the four-tusked elephant Amebelodon! This is the first skull, and only the second complete jaw (the first was collected in 1927) of Amebelodon known from Nebraska.
2003-04-10 - Washington, United States.
Aiming to stop what would be the first import of wild elephants to American Zoo Association (AZA) accredited zoos in the U.S. in more than a decade, a coalition of wildlife conservation and animal protection organizations today filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
2003-03-29 - Boras, Sweden. Dan Koehl
Boras second african elephant birth took place 29 march, 02.29 hrs, a female calf weighing abt 80 kgs.
2003-03-18 - London, United Kingdom.
The endangered Asian elephant took a step closer to recovery March 14th when ecologist Dr. Raman Sukumar won the Whitley Gold Award of £50,000 at the annual Whitley Awards ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The Awards were presented by Princess Anne, patron of the Whitley-Laing Foundation. The Whitley Awards are among the most prestigious in wildlife conservation and popularly know as the "Green Oscars"
2003-03-17 - Cambridge, United Kingdom. Bethan J. Morgan and P. C. Lee. Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge
The stature of forest elephants Loxodonta africana cyclotis was determined at the Petit Loango Reserve over 14 months from January to December 1998 and May to June 1999 using three measures: shoulder height, hind footprint length and boli diameter. The shoulder height of 53 identified elephants was measured using photogrammetric methods. The minimum estimated shoulder height was 69 cm from a young calf, and the tallest animal was 216 cm. Hind footprint length and boli diameter data were collecte...
2003-02-20 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands. Press release
Wednesday morning the 19th of February 2003, Perry Haans (36), one of the elephant keepers at Safari Beekse Bergen, Hilvarenbeek, the Netherlands was injured badly by an elephant during his daily work. He was immediately taken to the nearby hospital where he died late that evening.
2003-02-10 - Ernakulam, Kerala, India.
Though the recent incidents in Kerala have put pachyderms in poor light, it is not an elephantine problem to make the animal fall in line, if the mahout knows its moods and showers affection, writes PRINCE FREDERICK.
2003-02-07 - KOLLAM, Kerala, India. Ignatius Pereira
The basic truth about elephants is that they can never be fully domesticated. The domesticated elephants always nurse a tendency to return to the wild and never return. Thus, they are wild though they appear tamed by obeying certain commands, according to Jacob V. Cheeran, a retired veterinary Professor,
2003-02-06 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Alarmed by the frequent instances of elephants running amok and goring mahouts to death, the Kerala government proposed to shortly come out with a set of rules on management and upkeep of captive elephants which will include penal provisions to check maltreatment of the animal. "This is for the first time in the country such rules are being framed, addressing a whole of range of issues relating to ownership, upkeep and welfare of elephants," E K Bharat Bhushan, secretary, forests ...
2003-02-04 - PRETORIA, South Africa.
Student elephant handler Wayne Stockigt told a court on Monday that he did not think it was cruel to hit an elephant, whether it be with a stick or a fist. He admitted to a televised video showing him beating an elephant with a broken broomstick, but said he had been taught to do so by expert Indonesian handlers to discipline elephants. Stockigt was testifying in the Pretoria Regional Court where he is standing trial for allegedly maltreating 30 Tuli elephants bro...
2003-01-13 - Guwahati, India.
MAHOUTS ride elephants decorated in traditional Indian garments during the Elephant Festival at Kaziranga National Park, about 220 km (125 miles) from Guwahati, the main city of the northeastern Indian state of Assam, Jan 11.
2003-01-09 - GUWAHATI, India. Barun Das Gupta, The Hindu
Assam will hold an Elephant Festival at Kaziranga on January 11 and 12. Over two hundred pachyderms have already arrived for the festival which will be attended by elephant experts from home and abroad.
2002-12-22 - Vienna, Virginia, United States. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Press release
King Tusk, a 57-year-old male Asian elephant living in retirement with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®, was humanely euthanized yesterday (Saturday, December 21). A magnificent and beautiful Asian elephant with 6-foot-long tusks, King Tusk was a star performer with Ringling Bros. in the 1980s and early 1990s. He passed away quietly at Ringling Bros. elephant retirement facility in northern Florida in the company of his pachyderm companions and human caretakers.
2002-12-17 - Miami, United States. Jane Sutton
A 6,000-pound (2,700 kg) elephant smashed a rookie zookeeper against a rockpile at Miami's MetroZoo, badly injuring the man in what a zoo spokesman described as an attack to test dominance in the herd. The injured zookeeper, Michael Embury, 31, was hospitalized in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery on Monday, zoo spokesman Ron Magill said. He suffered a broken arm, two broken shoulders, gashes to the head and bruising of the spleen and brain in the Sunday attack but was expec...
2002-12-17 - Tinsukia, India.
Drunken elephants have trampled at least six people to death in the northeast Indian state of Assam, local officials say. Police said four of those killed were children. The herd of wild elephants stumbled across the supplies of homemade rice beer after they destroyed granaries in search of food. The incident happened near Tinsukia, 550 kilometres (344 miles) from the Assam capital, Guwahati.
2002-12-11 - Kolmarden, Sweden.
Two elephants at one of Sweden's largest zoos may have to be put down after one of them tested positive for tuberculosis, health officials said on Wednesday. Three other elephants at the Kolmaarden zoo, located 150km south of Stockholm, have already been put down after succumbing to the disease. The two elephants, Sandai and Donkey, are 17 and 36-years-old respectively.
2002-11-29 - Pittsburgh, United States. David Conti
Visitors to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Saturday will get their first chance to see the elephants since one of the animals killed a trainer earlier this month. Gatti, 46, of Butler, was crushed to death by a 6,200-pound mother elephant called M. on Nov. 18 as he led the animal and its calf on a routine walk around the zoo. The elephant exhibit has been closed since the incident as federal authorities and former elephant manager Theison investigated.
2002-11-19 - Pittsburgh, United States. Ann Belser and Marylynne Pitz
On mornings when weather permits, elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo are brought out of their enclosure to walk with their keepers around the grounds. Yesterday, two keepers were about halfway around the zoo with a 20-year-old mother elephant and her 3-year-old female calf when the mother elephant stopped near the Northern Shores Cafe building. When the keeper urged her to move along, the elephant butted him and pinned him to the ground with her head, crushing him. The trainer, Mike Gatti, 46, an e...
2002-11-18 - Pittsburgh, United States.
An elephant keeper at the Pittsburgh Zoo died this morning after a 6,200-pound elephant pinned him to the ground, zoo officials announced. An autopsy is scheduled Tuesday on the body of Michael Gatti, 46, of Plank Road, Butler, authorities said. Two zoo keepers were taking the elephant and her calf on a routine walk through the Zoo grounds this morning, when the mother suddenly stopped. Gatti told the elephant to keep moving. But she knocked him to the ground with her head and then pinned him to...
2002-11-04 - Harare, Zimbabwe. Born Free Foundation
The Born Free Foundation, one of the UK's leading wildlife charities, has shocking new evidence that poaching in parts of Africa is soaring, fuelled by the sale of ivory trinkets to French and other tourists. According to The Daily News (Harare June 17, 2002), the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management claims that, 'between 2000 and April this year (2002)…. 92 elephants had died either as a result of poaching, natural mortality, intraspecific fights or some unknown...
2002-10-17 - Chiang mai, Thailand. Jennifer Hile
Jennifer Hile spent two and a half months in Northern Thailand investigating the plight of domestic elephants and elephant orphans and "Elephant Heaven", a sanctuary for abused elephants founded by Sangduen "Lek" Chailert. Chailert is a well-known Chiang Mai–based activist who runs Jumbo Express, a program bringing free veterinary care to elephants.
2002-10-04 - Geneva, Switzerland. CITES
Despite a virtually continuous ban on international trade in ivory since 1989, a series of analytical reports from the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) has revealed that a significant illegal trade in ivory continues.
2002-09-30 - Salt Lake City, United States. University of Utah
The study began after Prestwich identified proteins involved in the action of insect pheromones. He heard Rasmussen deliver a lecture about elephant pheromone and decided to look for proteins that help the pheromone do its job. Rasmussen collected urine and mucus for the study primarily from 14 elephants at Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbriar, Ark.
2002-09-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. Prentiss Riddle
BoingBoing links to the website of the allegedly musical Thai Elephant Orchestra and says, "The elephants not only play with the instruments, they play together on them, jamming in what is clearly recognizable as music." Of course, if we accept John Cage's assertion that noise can be music, the question is not whether elephants can play music but whether elephants can play music that shows signs of (non-random) musical thought.
2002-09-10 - Newcastle, Australia. To HTML by Russell Tayler
He was dying, very slowly and in great agony, but in some world remote from me where not even a bullet could damage him further. ... It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there, powerless to move and yet powerless to die, and not even to be able to finish him. George Orwell, 1936.
2002-08-28 - Portland, Oregon, United States.
The largest captive land mammal in North America ducks under the doorway. Behind him, a hydraulic steel door wheezes, then slams shut. Packy is isolated, but he is not alone. Outside the cage, attired in work boots and a blue polo shirt, Bob Lee crouches on a stool. Through the steel bars, Packy offers up his foot, and Lee goes to work. He is an elephant pedicurist.
2002-08-16 - Norman, United States. Erowid
In 1962, three men at the University of Oklahoma, lead by the idiosyncratic, CIA-collaborator Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West, injected LSD into an elephant for the first time. Their stated intent was to determine if LSD would induce "musth", a naturally occurring condition in which elephants become violent and uncontrollable. After a series of events, the elephant died. There is some controversy and confusion surrounding the cause of death.
2002-07-26 - Århus, Denmark. Roger Malmer, Ole Simonsen
Tuffie died in 2 July during a tour with Circus Benneweis in Denmark. Tuffie, one of Diana Rhodin's two elephants died in 2 July 2002 in Århus, Danmark during the current tour of Danish Circus Benneweis. According to the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten did the lab test show that the cause of death was Samonella poisoning.
2002-07-19 - Yunnan, China.
The Chinese government will spend 50 million yuan (6.02 million US dollars) on building an Asian elephant breeding center in southwest China's Yunnan Province, to better protect the wild creatures from extinction. China began breeding Asian elephants in 1994 in the zoo at Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. Six Asian elephants have been born there so far.
2002-07-16 - Springfield, Missouri, United States.
The health of an Asian elephant calf infected with a deadly herpesvirus appeared to worsen Tuesday as treatment with an experimental regiment of drugs continued. Officials at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield remained hopeful that the nearly 3-year-old elephant calf, named "Haji," would recover from endothelial inclusion body disease, a herpesvirus specific to elephants. It is generally fatal within five days, zoo spokeswoman Melinda Mancuso said.
2002-05-30 - OSLO, Norway. Reuters
Norway's Prime Minister unwittingly smuggled two elephant tusks to Norway from Nigeria in violation of an international ban on trade in endangered species, officials said yesterday.
2002-05-23 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. Gigi Allianic, Dickerson Park Zoo
The staff of Dickerson Park Zoo is mourning the death of the bull elephant, “Onyx,” who died Wednesday evening, May 22. Onyx is more familiarly know as “Big Mac” to everyone in southern Missouri. Preliminary necropsy results indicate mesenteric torsion with subsequent intestinal rupture as the cause of death.
2002-05-17 - Sydney, Australia. AAP
ARNA the elephant will continue her solo journey with the circus, a court has ruled. Magistrate Paul Lyon today ruled against Animal Liberation NSW claims of cruelty to Arna the Asiatic elephant by Stardust Circus. Mr Lyon cut the case short on the grounds there was no deliberate intent to cause pain to the elephant. "There is evidence that the elephant became distressed and suffered pain," Mr Lyon told the Downing Centre Local Court. "But on reading the legislation the court is of the view that...
2002-03-20 - Nairobi, Kenya. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, STE
At Save the Elephants (STE) our mission is to secure a future for elephants, sustain the beauty and ecological integrity of the places they live, and foster a tolerant relationship between humans and elephants. We have pioneered a GPS tracking system that allows an almost continual stream of data on elephant movement.
2002-03-18 - Chester, United Kingdom.
A zoo keeper who was killed by a bad-tempered elephant had warned that such an accident was likely to happen, an inquest has heard. Richard Hughes, 34, was attacked by a four-ton Asian elephant named Kumara after he tried to move her in her enclosure at Chester Zoo.
2002-02-15 - Halifax, Canada. Randy Jones / Crime Reporter, Halifax Herald
An Ontario man has been charged in the seizure of almost 4,400 pieces of jewelry made from elephant ivory. The seizure on the Halifax waterfront is Canada's biggest ever involving ivory items. Mohamed Doost, a former German jeweler, is accused of failing to obtain proper permits for transporting from Germany items derived from an endangered species.
2002-01-18 - DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania. Reuters
More than a thousand elephant tusks stolen by poachers have been recovered in the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, police said this week. Police said two Tanzanians had been arrested late last week following the seizure of 1,255 tusks in two suburban homes, but it was not clear where the tusks had originated.
2002-01-14 - Mysore, India.
The first batch of five elephants for participating in the Dasara procession, Jamboo Savari, has arrived in Mysore. The elephants led by the chief tusker, Balarama, are undergoing training with daily acclimatization march along the procession route - Palace to Bannimantap Parade Grounds. The 43-year-old Balarama had recently escaped into the forest in Nagarahole forest area after developing 'musth'.
2001-12-17 - Washington, United States. Lee R. Berger, for National Geographic News
How do you miss a whole species of elephant? But that's just what has happened. Up until recently, scientists believed there were two species of elephant: the African elephant and the Asian elephant. Geneticists conducting a comprehensive DNA sampling of elephants from across Africa recently found that there are in fact two species of African elephants. Until this announcement, most zoologists had lumped all African elephants together into a single species, Loxodonta Africana, with four widely r...
2001-12-15 - SAN JOSE, California, United States.
One of the biggest stars of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is going on trial Monday for allegedly abusing an elephant with a metal hook just before a show. Activists hope the trial of animal trainer Mark Oliver Gebel, son of the legendary circus showman Gunther Gebel-Williams, will lend more credibility to allegations against The Greatest Show on Earth.
2001-12-12 - Portland, Oregon, United States. PR Oregon Zoo
1962 On April 14th, Portland, Oregon became nationally renowned for the first Asian elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in more than 44 years. The baby elephant named Packy sparked a frenzy of celebration around the world - the famous pachyderm even graced the cover of LIFE magazine. Now, Packy is grown up and turning 40!
2001-12-07 - CHITWAN, Nepal.
Chivas Regal from Scotland are the new World Champions following their success in the final held on Friday 7th December at the 20th Annual World Elephant Polo Championships (WEPA).
2001-11-02 - London, United Kingdom. Michael McCarthy, The Independent
London Zoo is to give up its 170-year tradition of keeping elephants, in tacit recognition that it does not have a suitable place to house them. Abandoning its most recognizable symbols has clearly been a difficult decision for the zoo authorities, but it accords with a change in thinking about how wild animals should be kept in captivity.
2001-11-01 - Taringa, Australia. Rebekah Van Druten
In 1987 Australians watched in horror as graphic television reports showed the Ashtons Circus oldest elephant, Abu being gunned down after rampaging through shopping centers and houses in the western suburbs of Sydney. Witnesses to the tragedy claimed Abu picked up a 200-kilogram tree trunk and with the swiftness and ease of a world champion weightlifter threw it up against the bars that had imprisoned him and escaped into the concrete jungle. One person was killed and many were seriously injure...
2001-10-20 - London, United Kingdom.
A keeper at London Zoo has died after being crushed by an elephant. Jim Robson, who was 44, is believed to have tripped and fallen in the elephant paddock. One of the three elephants he looked after then stepped on him. The accident took place on Saturday afternoon, as visitors walked around the enclosure.
2001-10-09 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Kumara, the elephant which killed a keeper at Chester Zoo has been destroyed. The 34-year-old female Asian elephant killed senior keeper Richard Hughes last February. Kumara had been suffering severe episodes of colic in her gut and was also being treated for chronic foot and joint infections and arthritis.
2001-10-03 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Emma Young
The world's biggest elephant relocation programme begins on Thursday, with the movement of 40 animals from the Kruger National Park in South Africa to an area just over the border in Mozambique. The move is also part of a plan to create a borderless, 21,600 square kilometre, wildlife park. This will encompass the Kruger, a similar area in Mozambique, and Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou Park, in April 2002.
2001-09-18 - Washington, United States.
Scientists say African elephants that live in the forest and those that live in grasslands are different enough to be considered separate kinds, or species. Until now, scientists believed all African elephants were the same genetically. They have long recognized the clear differences between African and Asian elephants.
2001-09-05 - SPRINGFIELD, Missouri, United States. KOMO Staff & News Services
A southwest Missouri zoo is fighting federal allegations that workers abused a Seattle zoo's female elephant in its breeding program in 1998. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday that it's has filed a complaint alleging Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield violated the Animal Welfare Act in its handling of the Asian elephant, named Chai. The incident allegedly occurred on Sept. 23, 1998, three days after Chai arrived from Woodland Park Zoo to participate in Springfield's nationall...
2001-08-30 - OAKLAND, United States. Julia Prodis Sulek, San Jose Mercury News
For hours after the birth Thursday morning, zookeepers were concerned about whether mother and son would bond: The mother, Lisa, was aggressive and swinging her trunk and the baby was desperately clutching the veterinarian's jacket, the mother's knee and the barn wall, looking for a teat.
2001-08-24 - Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. AP
Two Knoxville Zoo handlers were injured Thursday when Mamie, the zoo's painting African elephant, broke loose during a morning walk.Keepers Tom Troy and Mike Gaugler were taking Mamie on a daily get-acquainted stroll to a new exhibit space when she decided to make a run for some tasty tree leaves, zoo executive director Jim Vlna said. Troy had a cut on his head and Gaugler injured a rib.Both were treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, while Mamie went back to her pen and calmed d...
2001-08-24 - Washington, United States. Hillary Mayell, National Geographic News
Genetic fingerprinting shows that Africa's forest and savanna elephants are as different from one another as lions and tigers and should be considered as two genetically distinct species, an international group of researchers reports.
2001-08-14 - Cantabria, Spain. Alexander Haufellner, EEG
About 06.00 in the morning), was again a birth of a female African elephant in Europe. Location was Carbaceno in Spain, the mother was Csambi and the father Cisco. This was Csambis 3:rd baby, and Carbacenos 8:th. With 8 births in the last ten years since its opening, this Zoo has the best records of african elephant breeding in Europe (Ramat-Gan in Israel not counted) The baby and the mother joined the herd the very same day.
2001-08-14 - Borås, Sweden. Dan Koehl, Mia Rapp and Joergen Gustafsson
The african female Kwanza (meaning the first one in Swahili) was born at the 13th of August, in Boras Zoo in Sweden. 85 cm high, and 80 kgs. Mother is Dudu, (WB South Africa) 11 years, father is Kibo (born in Hannover Zoo, Germany) 24 years old. This is not only the first elephant born in Sweden, but also the first second generation African elephant in Europe.
2001-08-06 - Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic. BBC
A zoo-keeper in the Czech republic has been killed after being attacked by an elephant. The man - who worked in a zoo at Dvur Kralove in eastern Bohemia - died of throat injuries, which where inflicted when he gave the sick female elephant an injection.
2001-08-06 - Brussel, Belgium. Colin Blane
Ivory is still highly prized in some parts of the world Fifteen Chinese doctors who had been working in West Africa have been charged with smuggling ivory after they were detained by police at Brussels airport. Customs officials intercepted a shipment of elephant tusks in a consignment disguised as personal effects.
2001-07-03 - , United States.
An elephant in Essex has become the first in Britain to become pregnant through artificial insemination (AI). Tanya the African elephant, at Colchester Zoo, is almost three months pregnant. The insemination was carried out by experts from the Berlin Institute of Wildlife Medicine and Research. If the calf is born, it will be only the fifth elephant in the world to have been produced as a result of AI. The zoo decided to use artificial insemination after natural matings between Tanya and the zoo'...
2001-06-18 - MADURAI, India.
The she-elephant of the Meenakshi Sundereshwarar temple, which served the temple for more than five decades, died on Sunday night after a prolonged illness. The 70-year-old pachyderm, Meenakshi, was down with fever yesterday evening. The temple administration brought veterinary doctors to revive her. But despite their efforts, she failed to respond to the treatment. Old age and its associated symptoms of illness were said to be the main reason for the death.
2001-05-15 - La Jolla, United States. John B West
It has been known for over 300 years that the anatomy of the elephant lung is unique among mammals in that the pleural cavity is obliterated by connective tissue. Recent studies suggest that the elephant has an aquatic ancestry and the trunk may have developed for snorkeling.
2001-05-11 - MACAU, China. CNN
Macau marine police have seized nearly 92 kg of ivory, including tusks believed to have come from a baby African elephant. Five full tusks and five pieces of tusk, weighing a total of 91.95 kg, were discovered in a wooden crate at Macau International Airport, a marine police spokesman said.
2001-04-17 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa.
A handler was killed by an elephant cow which was being used on a film set in Broederstroom on Sunday. Circus owner Brian Boswell said Tandy was among seven elephants used as background animals for the filming of three movies and a commercial.
2001-01-31 - Portland, Oregon, United States. PR Oregon Zoo
Oregon Zoo’s Assistant Director, Mike Keele, will attend the International Workshop on the Domesticated Asian Elephant, February 5-10, in Bangkok, Thailand. Keele serves as the coordinator of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s (AZA) elephant species survival plan and holds the studbook for all North American Asian elephants. He hopes to identify ways that North American zoos can contribute to the effort to reverse the decline of domesticated elephants in Asia.
2000-11-30 - Berlin, Germany.
The success rate of captive elephant breeding programs worldwide is poor. Along with undiagnosed reproductive disorders in females and fatal diseases such as the newly discovered herpesvirus infection, male infertility now is considered a major contributing factor in the failure to maintain self-sustaining captive populations.
2000-11-03 - Seattle, United States. Woodland Park Zoo- PRESS RELEASE
The mother, 21-year-old Asian elephant Chai, gave birth today on November 3, to a female calf. The newborn elephant weighs 235 pounds. In September 1998, the zoo sent Chai on a breeding loan to Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri. Her intended mate, Onyx, a 36-year-old Asian bull (male elephant), sired the calf.
2000-10-31 - Seattle, United States. Nina Pellegrini, The Seattle Times
Human tuberculosis, one of the leading infectious diseases in the world, has emerged as a threat to North America's aging Asian elephants, a species that already is inching toward extinction because of its increasing proximity to humans. Researchers think the animals - most of them born in the wild - were exposed in their homelands or while in close contact with infected handlers in zoos and circuses in North America.
2000-10-11 - Providence, United States. Schulte BA, Feldman E, Lambert R, Oliver R, Hess DL. Dept Biology, Providence College, Providence
The captive elephant population in North America is in reproductive decline and, without importation from the wild, may cease to be viable within the next several decades. The estrous cycle of three captive, reproductive-age African elephants was monitored for 3 years by measuring serum progesterone concentrations. Each elephant experienced one or more episodes of extended low progesterone (>12 weeks), analogous to supposed terminal cessation of estrous cyclicity or 'flatlining' that has been de...
2000-09-25 - SEATTLE, United States. Woodland Park Zoo- PRESS RELEASE
The Puget Sound Blood Center joined Woodland Park Zoo today to draw the final of 15 units of blood from the zoos pregnant Asian elephant, 21-year-old Chai. The first-time expectant mother is due to give birth late October. The milestone event will mark the first-ever elephant birth for Woodland Park in its 100-year history and also the first in all of Washington state.
2000-09-07 - Srinagar, India.
Indian geologists say they have unearthed the 50,000-year-old fossil of an elephant in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The fossil was discovered in a field of saffron at Gallander, east of Srinagar, the state's summer capital, by geology students who immediately called in experts.
2000-07-17 - Indianapolis, United States. CARL H. LAVIN
The elephant baby Amali made elephant history with her birth on March 6: she is the first African elephant conceived using artificial insemination. But on a recent afternoon, the 400-pound was grabbing a visitor's shirt with her trunk and chewing on the seam. ''She's a toddler,'' Lesley Mackie, an elephant keeper at the Indianapolis Zoo said. ''Everything goes in the mouth.''
2000-07-14 - Guangxi, China.
Chinese archaeologists have discovered well-preserved fossils of the Asian elephant dating back about 50,000 years to 100,000 years in a mountain cave in Pubei County of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The archeologists believe that the fossils were those of Asian elephants that lived in the late period the Pleistocene.
2000-03-29 - Cairo, Egypt. Frank Gardner
Egyptian police have seized a record haul of ivory with a street value of over $200,000. On Wednesday, Egypt's environment ministry announced that 78 pieces of elephant tusks has been seized from a warehouse in the town of Aswan.
2000-02-19 - WASHINGTON, United States.
A baffling disease that causes elephants to lose control of their trunks, making it hard for them to eat and communicate, is probably caused by a toxic plant. Kurt Hostettmann of Lausanne University in Switzerland said his group -- which usually searches for natural sources of new drugs -- believes a poisonous plant could be responsible and he has narrowed the list of potential culprits down to two or three.
2000-02-06 - Tampa, United States. DAVID PEDREIRA, St. Petersburg Times
Lance Ramos knew something was wrong when Kenya wouldn't eat the usual Friday dinner -- a batch of grain mixed with vitamins. An hour later, his concern turned to horror as the seemingly healthy elephant fell over, struggled to get up, and toppled again. Within minutes, the 21/2-ton elephant was dead.
1999-11-30 - Springfield, Missouri, United States. AP
In an important milestone for an endangered species, an Asian elephant has given birth through artificial insemination. Weighing in at 378 pounds, Haji was born Sunday at Dickerson Park Zoo. It was the world's first birth through artificial insemination of an Asian elephant, which are estimated to number only35,000 worldwide.
1999-07-24 - Singapore, Singapore. AP Online
The first elephant born in Singapore's zoo died suddenly 15 months after it miraculously survived breaking its leg and undergoing surgery, the zoo said Saturday. Zookeepers are baffled as to what caused the death. A post-mortem should give results next week, said Priscilla Yim-Stacey, spokesman for the Singapore Zoological Gardens. Sri Utama, which means First Lady in Tamil, was one of the worlds endangered Asian elephants, often used as beasts of labor. There are fewer than 30,000 in the wild.
1999-06-01 - Berlin, Germany. Burkhardt S, Hentschke J, Weiler H, Ehlers B, Ochs A, Walter J, Wittstatt U, Goltenboth R. Institut fur Lebensmittel, Arzneimittel und Tierseuchen
This is a report on the case of 'KIBA', an eleven year old male elephant at the Zoological Garden Berlin, infected with the endotheliotropic elephants herpesvirus. 'KIBA' was born at the Zoo in Houston, Texas, and raised within his herd. In June 1998 he already serviced three females of his new herd several times. In August 1998 he died after passing a peracute progression of the disease after residenting in Berlin for only 9 months.
1999-05-16 - Timmins, Canada. Zoo-Check, Canada
On May 14, 1999, Shayne Gressett, a 23 year old Leonardo Circus employee was fatally injured by Betty - a 35 year old female Asian elephant - in the area of the MacIntyre Arena in Timmins, Ontario. The incident occured in the rear parking lot at 5:40 pm. between shows. Gressett, a native of Texas, died from injuries sustained when Betty lifted her leg and kicked him in the head. The Timmins Police Service and the Ontario Ministry of Labour are now investigating.
1999-05-05 - Lucknow, India.
Despite the temptations of her favorite foods -- bananas, sugarcane and grass -- and the efforts of modern veterinary science, Damini, a 72-year-old elephant, died last Wednesday of a broken heart. After being confiscated from owners who were illegally transporting her, Damini was brought to the Prince of Wales Zoo in Lucknow, India, last year. She was alone for five months until September, when a pregnant younger elephant named Champakali joined her.
1999-04-03 - Webb city, United States. Robin Rosenthal and Bill Yahraus, The Pennsylvania Gazette
Before we met her, Patty was described to us as the son Tarzan never had. Not only is she a well-respected big-cat and elephant trainer, but she can drive a semi, weld, do basic truck repair and execute a neat split between the heads of two lumbering beasts. She is raising her two boys alone after the death of her husband in a Ringling train derailment just a couple of years earlier. She has an edge you could cut meat with. When I point my microphone down into a first-day conversation between he...
1999-03-24 - Honolulu, United States.
What ever happened to the body of Tyke, the 21-year-old female circus elephant whose rampage through Kakaako in 1994 was finally stopped by police gunfire? How was the body disposed? -When Tyke died, the city parks department moved the body to the animal quarantine station at Halawa, where state personnel did an animal autopsy, said city spokeswoman Carol Costa.
1999-02-18 - Washington, United States. Johns Hopkins, Baltimore and National Zoo
Researchers at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., have discovered the cause of death of nearly a dozen young North American zoo elephants -- fatal hemorrhaging from a previously unknown form of herpesvirus that apparently jumped from African elephants to the Asian species.
1999-02-10 - Geneva, Switzerland. Richard Wilson,BBC
Game hunters will pay thousands of dollars to kill an elephant The 10-year old ivory ban has been lifted. The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has agreed to a one-off sale of nearly 60 tonnes of stockpiled ivory. The money raised by the sale will pay for conservation programmes in Africa. The decision was made after pressure from three southern African members at a meeting in Geneva.
1999-01-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wimalaratne O, Kodikara DS.Department of Rabies Diagnosis and Research, Medical Research Institute
Wimalaratne O, Kodikara DS.
1999-01-22 - Zhengzhou, China.
The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou is mourning the death of a much-loved elephant, called Luwen, at the local zoo. The BBC's Carrie Gracie in Beijing: "Daily health bulletins made top news on local television" Thirty keepers and vets from across China struggled to save her, but the 25-year-old Burmese elephant died of stomach problems after lying on her side for a month.
1999-01-19 - Friedrichsfelde, Berlin, Germany.
A tiny, 4-day-old elephant was introduced to an entirely different species at Berlin's Friedrichsfelde Zoo on Tuesday: a herd of television and still cameras accompanied by a pack of journalists. The infant female African elephant, one of only seven born in captivity in Germany, appeared a little shaky on her legs as she was presented to the media.
1998-11-08 - Indianapolis, United States.
A 29-year-old female elephant, Cita, bludgeoned a zookeeper with her trunk, breaking the woman's ribs. Leslie Mackie was bathing four elephants at the Indianapolis Zoo when Cita, who had been aggressive toward other elephants, raised her head in a threatening manner toward another one of the animals. When Ms. Mackie told Cita, "No," the animal turned and struck the woman several times with her trunk, Ms Mackie lost consciousness briefly, and when she came to she called for help to other keepers.
1998-11-06 - BRITS, South Africa.
Accused of cruelty to the 30 young elephants he owns, Riccardo Ghiazza insists the animals are in good condition. But the South African trainer acknowledges that mistakes have been made while domesticating them for future homes in zoos and safari parks. Ghiazza, owner of African Game Services, an animal export farm near Pretoria, summoned reporters to the training facility on Wednesday to tell his side of a story that has ignited an international outcry.
1998-10-01 - Springfield, United States. Schmitt DL, Hildebrandt TB., Southwest Missouri State University
The implications of collecting semen from elephants for use in artificial insemination programs are profound in the context of propagating captive elephants. Using a manual manipulation technique, semen was collected and characterized from five adult Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and ejaculate fluid was obtained from one castrated elephant bull. The penis was stimulated to protrusion and erection by rectal massage of the pelvic portion of the urethra. During an ejaculatory response, massage ...
1998-05-01 - Iowa, United States. Phyllis Peters, Veterinary Medicine
His mother was in labor for more than two days, but Doc was up and standing within eight minutes of his birth. The 250- pound baby Asian elephant was born in Florida in June 1997 and named in honor of the ISU alumnus who contributed to his birth. Dr. Richard "Doc" Houck, who earned his DVM from ISU 40 years before his namesake's birth, developed the elephant breeding program for the owner of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Ringling Brothers owns the largest colle...
1998-04-22 - Washington, United States. CNN
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus forced a sick elephant to perform in two shows, leading to its death, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. The agency filed a legal complaint against the circus, charging it with violating the Animal Welfare Act. The complaint says the circus failed to properly look after Kenny, a 3-year-old Asian elephant, when he performed twice in Jacksonville in January.
1998-01-17 - Chester, United Kingdom. Derek Lyon
when the Asian elephant cow "Sheba" in Chester Zoo, England, 1978 gave birth to a calf with an African elephant bull" Jumbolino" as father the scientists became puzzled. The staff had observed several matings between the elephants, but since a cross was impossible, noone expected a delivery. This sensational elephant died two weeks after the birth. It was an early birth and Motty had stomach problems.
1997-08-24 - Rappersvil, Switzerland.
Rolf Knie, a master elephant trainer who led Switzerland's foremost circus family for 50 years, died on Monday. He was 75. The cause of death was heart failure, said a Knie Circus spokesman, Hans Rathgeb. Mr. Knie, who was billed as the man who spoke to elephants, headed the...
1997-08-13 - Riverdale, California, United States. Jim Rogers, Jamie Ambrosi
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently charged licensed animal exhibitors John Cuneo and the Hawthorn Corporation, doing business in Grayslake, Ill., with violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
1997-07-07 - Palakkad, India. A Satish
Though jumbo-sized problems and risks are part of rearing elephants, for brothers M A Parameswaran and Haridas of Mangalamkunnu they are family pets. They have got 14 elephants, making them the largest individual owners in Kerala after the Guruvayur Devaswom. The duo are averse to deputing their jumbos for pulling logs of wood, usually done by female elephants. So only tuskers form part of their brigade. Of the 42 elephants with the Guruvayur Devaswom, only 33 are tuskers.
1995-11-28 - NEW YORK, United States. Sherry Dean (CNN)
Anna Mae, Ned and Amy are three giant performers who, with their nimble antics, regularly tug the mouths -- and hearts -- of spectators at Manhattan's Big Apple Circus. All it takes to make this elephant trio spry and graceful, say their trainers. While most children grow up with a family dog, Bill Woodcock was raised petting elephants, prompting him to follow in his father's footsteps and become an elephant trainer. Anna Mae was trained by the senior Woodcock almost 50 years ago, and she is sti...
1995-06-01 - Skukuza, South Africa. Grobler DG, Raath JP, Braack LE, Keet DF, Gerdes GH, Barnard BJ, Kriek NP, Jardine J, Swanepoel R. at National Parks Board, Skukuza, South Africa
A cluster of four deaths in late December 1993, marked the onset of an outbreak of disease of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa, which has an estimated population of 7,500 elephants. Mortalities peaked in January 1994, with 32 deaths, and then declined steadily to reach pre-outbreak levels by September, but sporadic losses continued until November. During the outbreak altogether 64 elephants died, of which 53 (83%) were adult bulls. Archival...
1994-08-20 - Honolulu, United States.
Alan Campbell (1953-August 20, 1994) was an elephant trainer for The Hawthorn Corporation. Campbell was crushed to death on August 20, 1994 at the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, after attempting to save fellow co-worker Dallas Beckwith from the performing elephant "Tyke" who had run amok.
1993-05-07 - Williston, United States. GLENN COLLINS
Axel Gautier, a leading trainer of elephants who had been a performer with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for 35 years, died on Wednesday in Shands Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He was 51. One of the elephants he was working with at the Ringling Elephant Farm in Wiliston, Fla., knocked him down and stepped on him, said Rodney Huey, a Ringling spokesman. Besides his sons, Michael, 28, and Kevin, 23, he is survived by his wife, Donna, three sisters and a g...
1991-11-15 - Stockholm, Sweden.
A fired zoo attendant has refused to leave the elephant quarters and started a hunger strike to protest the animals´ living conditions, news reports said. ´´I will not leave (the elephants) Nike and Shiva voluntarily. The police will have to carry me away,´´ Dan Kohl told the national news agency TT on Thursday. If someone wanted to separate you from your kids, how would you react?,´´ he said.
1990-08-23 - Pretoria, South Africa. J. C. Vogel, B. Eglington & J. M. Auret, Nature 346, 747 - 749
In theory, we have a way of pinpointing the origin of elephant ivory, which may be of value in conservation. Here we report that by analysing the isotope ratios of these elements, a clear distinction between several different populations of the African elephant can be made.
1982-11-25 - San Diego, California, United States.
Cindy, an elephant with a reputation as a dangerous animal after staying 17 years alone in cramped quarters, will be able to roam free, play in the dirt and take a dip in a pool at a new home here in the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The elephant keeper at the park says the new quarters will provide enough distraction so Cindy will lose interest in using people as toys. The elephant, 19 years old, will move here from Point Defiance Zoo, Tacoma, Wash. She had been called ''possibly the most dangero...
1972-07-17 - Oquawka, Illinois, United States.
Norma Jean was a 6,500-pound elephant and the star attraction of the Clark and Walters Circus. That ended abruptly on the morning of July 17, 1972, when she was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning. Her trainer, "Possum Red," was knocked 30 feet by the blast. With no elephant, the Circus went out of business a year later. Norma Jean was buried where she fell -- which, conveniently, was in Oquawka's town square.
1955-11-13 - Cuando River, Angola.
The largest elephant on record was an adult male African elephant hunted by Jose Fenykovi from Madrid in Angola in 1955.
1949-04-07 - Gonzales, United States. Murray Montgomery and The Gonzales Inquirer
Eighteen bulls out of the circus herd of 21 elephants went on a rampage and stampeded out the winter quarters of the circus to roar across the southeast end of Gonzales for more than two hours before all were rounded up and corralled in their barn to quiet down. Two men were slightly hurt in the stampede, Rex Williams, 26, former Marine, a head elephant man with the circus, was bumped by a bull and sent flying probably 20 feet. He was cut and bruised.
1937-08-23 - Washington, United States.
Behind the Zebra House at the Washington, D. C. Zoo last week, laborers, dug a number of large holes. Then, sombrely, they carted into them, piece by piece, some 8,500 pounds of elephant flesh. Thus to her last resting place went Babe, described in the eulogistic Washington press as not only the oldest, but the most celebrated elephant on earth. No elephant since Phineas Taylor Barnum's Jumbo has had a legitimate claim to the distinction of being more famous than all others of the species.
0000-00-00 - Angul, India. Sangram Ranjan Nath
0000-00-00 - Turku, Finland. Dahlbom TH. University of Turku
Since the renaissance, specimens have been central tools of knowledge production in zoological endeavours. The biographies of CN86 and CN87 of the Zoological Museum of the University of Copenhagen--specimens formerly known as hip-bones of giants--have travelled through 300 years of human history, a journey that reveals how the accumulation of objects and changes in scientific methodology can give rise to radical reinterpretation. Although the material form of these specimens has hardly changed, ...
- Anchorage, United States. Jenna Kunze
Twelve-year-old Quinton Barnes was out playing by the river when he found something more than 1,000 times his age: a mammoth leg bone, found lying on the eroded ground of a ledge on the Nigiliq River, which connects to the Colville River, in Nuiqsut. "I thought it was a rock and then I got closer and saw what I think is a dinosaur bone," Barnes told The Sounder this week. "I just picked it up and started walking with it."
- Darjeeling, India.
The latest round of pregnancy tests at Blackpool Zoo has revealed that two of its elephants are expecting babies. Mother and daughter Noorjahan and Esha are both pregnant and due to give birth in late...
There was sad news from Mondulkiri Province, with the death of 2 year old elephant “Chi Pich” being announced. Sources from the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment Organization (ELIE) said ...
The 76th elephant calf was born at the Rambukkana Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on March 20.This baby elephant was born to 32-year-old she-elephant Shanthi and 19-year-old Pandu at the Pinnawala Elepha...
In the ongoing efforts to curb poaching and snaring of animals within the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, South African National Parks (SANParks) is working to create more partnerships with neighbour...
2024-03-15 - , United States.
After weeks of voting and thousands of submissions, the Toledo Zoo has officially chosen the name of their precious baby elephant and we're personally thrilled about the news! Ladies and gentleman, Ki...
A baby elephant was born at Reid Park Zoo. The zoo said Semba, the facility’s African elephant matriarch, gave birth to a 265-pound calf around 3:31 a.m. Friday, March 8. Reid Park Zoo said the calf...
A female baby elephant in Copenhagen Zoo has been named Chin after the Tha Chin river in central Thailand. The elephant was born last week in the Danish zoo. The zookeepers, who take care of the young...
Evoor Kannan, the elephant known for his murderous rage and with a history of killing two mahouts is in a bad mood these days. He had been gentle under the care of his former Mahout Sharath Parippally...
African elephant Punda has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf after a 22-month pregnancy. This is the third calf born in the Safari Park Beekse Bergen k in four months. Never before have thr...
The zoo said Tsuni died Thursday after a sudden, brief battle with elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Her EEHV was detected through routine blood testing on Feb. 8, even though she presente...
The oldest female elephant in South Korea passed away Tuesday at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age of 59, zoo officials said Thursday. The female elephant, named Sakura, had suffered fr...
The Bannerghatta Biological Park is brimming with excitement as it welcomes a delightful new addition—a baby boy elephant calf. This adorable arrival brings the elephant count in the Bannerghatta zo...
Elephant Kannan, of the Guruvayur Devaswom Elephant Camp, a nine-time winner of the festival-related elephant race, has passed away. His demise was around 5:30 pm on Saturday. The tusker's age at the ...
Villagers found a baby elephant dead in Koh Nhek district, Mondulkiri province in the middle of the forest on January 26, 2024, suspected of being shot. Mondulkiri Provincial department of environm...
A recent study published in the journal eLife has uncovered new findings on the development of dextrous trunks by indigenous elephants. According to Dr. Shi-Qi Wang, a senior author of the research, t...
The Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan District, Riau Province, again lost one of its Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) after a poacher allegedly killed it for its tusks. The 46-year...
In a narrow but sprawling curatorial space at the uptown museum, The Secret World of Elephants, now opened, tells the story of elephant species and their relatives through life-size models, videos, gr...
In response to the escalating threat posed by leopards, elephants and other wild animals in the Mysuru region, specialised task forces have been established to address the situation. A dedicated Leopa...
The Los Angeles Zoo is grieving the death of 53-year-old Asian elephant Shaunzi. Zoo staff observed that Shaunzi was unable to stand up in her exhibit at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, according t...
