(via holdYourHeadUp)
Showing posts with label elephants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elephants. Show all posts
N. America's oldest Asian elephant dies
VALLEJO, Calif. -- North America's oldest Asian elephant has died at a Northern California theme park at the age of 71.The average life expectancy for Asian elephants is 44.8 years.
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.
AP Photo
Source
There really ARE pink elephants
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, said: "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river.
Source
Elephants on vacation
The elephant family packed up their trunks and headed off to Samburu National Reserve, in remote northern Kenya - a 65 square mile area of rough highlands and rivers.
The kids played in the water and splashed ...
Everyone rolled in the mud ...
They played follow the leader ...
And built sand castles.
Source: Mail Online
The kids played in the water and splashed ...
Everyone rolled in the mud ...
They played follow the leader ...
And built sand castles.Source: Mail Online
Heroin addicted elephant clean after rehab
Referred to as 'Big Brother' or 'Xiguang' in Chinese media reports, the elephant was captured in 2005 in southwest China by illegal traders who fed him heroin-laced bananas.The traders used the spiked bananas for several months to control him before they were arrested by police.
Xiguang was released back into the wild but was soon sent to animal protection center after his behavior appeared to suggest he was suffering withdrawal symptoms from heroin, Xinhua news agency reported.
A year of methadone injections at five times the human dosage helped wean the elephant off heroin.
Gradually, the dosage was reduced until he was completely weaned off the drug.
Now clean, Xiguang is expected to move to a wildlife park in Kunming - the capital of the elephant's home province of Yunnan on the mainland.
Source: Telegraph
Elephants: traumatized by humanity
According to researcher Gay Bradshaw, "There are things about elephants that seem so similar to us. Their family life, their emotional life, the fact that they grieve. They stand out from other animals." Elephants are able to recognize themselves in a mirror, a trait shared with humans, apes and dolphins.Field scientists have studied the special bonds of elephant herds for decades. Family members mourn their dead, even gently caressing the jawbones of their ancestors during grieving rituals.
"I think the real shock right now, in terms of the mirror self-recognition tests and their intelligence and their emotions is, they're like us. It's not that they're way up there. It's that they're on level footing with us," said Bradshaw.
But even as science holds a mirror to our similarities, in recent years researchers have observed a violent change in elephant-human relations after decades of peaceful coexistence.
"Humans are regarded as the enemy. You must never, ever be cruel to an elephant because they have an amazing memory. They will remember that for life. And they bear grudges," said Daphne Sheldrick, a renowned wild elephant expert and director of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Creatures who seem to share the best of what makes us human are now revealing they are also capable of the worst.
Source: ABC News
A herd of elephants
A new baby African elephant, Uzuri, was born on February 17 at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent. Keepers at the Park are delighted because African elephants are very difficult to breed in captivity.At the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, keepers and veterinarians are posting a close and anxious watch over Felix, an African elephant, who is poised to deliver the first elephant ever born at the 132- year-old zoo. Their 7,490-pound patient, whom they describe as "kinda petite," is due any day now.
Villagers in Wellaveli, Sri Lanka had a difficult time recently when trying cast votes in the first local elections in 14 years as a herd of wild elephants blocked the polling booths. (Might have been a Republican tactic.)
Residents of Kwale, Kenya, have called for the Kenya Wildlife Service to act after elephants crushed farmlands and attacked villagers in recent days. Local children are staying home from school to protect them from elephant attacks. (A much better excuse than "The dog ate my homework.")
An infuriated wild elephant trampled two persons to death, when a group of people, who gathered to watch the rescue of another pachyderm that fell into an irrigation well at Muthampatti near Rayakottai, pelted stones at it. Concerned over the damage caused by the elephants to crops farmers have blamed the Forest Department for failing to take any action in chasing the elephants back into the forests.
Elephants are evolving smaller tusks
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.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 Oxford University fear that poaching and hunting of the largest male elephants, which also have the largest tusks, has changed the natural breeding behaviour of these animals. Their research has shown that the hunting of these large males for their ivory allows smaller males with shorter tusks to produce more calves. Over time the average tusk size decrease
Source: Telegraph
Pinnawela elephant orphanage
Pinnawela orphanage is situated northwest of the town Kegalla, halfways between the present capitol Colombo and the ancient royal residence Kandy in the hills of central Sri Lanka. It was established 1975 by the Sri Lanka Wildlife department. This 24 acres large elephant orphanage is a also breeding pace for elephants, twenty elephants were born since 1984, and it has the greatest herd of elephants in captivity in the world.
Cute Baby Elephant
A newborn 238 pound female African elephant calf stays close to her mother Umoya just hours after her birth at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park on September 19, 2007 at 12:23 a.m. This is the fourth African elephant calf to be born at the Wild Animal Park since 2003. Another calf is expected by early 2008.
UPI Photo/Tammy Spratt/Zoological Society of San Diego
Scientists map elephant evolution
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.
Mac's Houston Zoo Blog
Houston Zoo has a blog dedicated to baby elephant, Mac, who was born October 1, 2006.
At birth, he weighed 384 pounds, measured 40 inches from his head to his rump, and stood 40 inches tall.
When Mac was born on October 1st, he already weighed 384 pounds—the biggest Asian elephant born in an AZA Zoo. His growth has continued and today he weighs 764 pounds! Here’s a weighty issue - when will he weigh 1,000 lbs?
Video: Rare elephant birth captured on camera
Elephants are secretive about giving birth in the wild and witnessing such an extraordinary event is rare even for conservationists.
The extraordinary moment an elephant gave birth in the wild has been captured on camera by a couple on honeymoon.
The thrilling amateur footage was recorded by newlyweds Debbie and Jon Smith at Ulusaba private game reserve in the Kruger national park in South Africa.
The extraordinary moment an elephant gave birth in the wild has been captured on camera by a couple on honeymoon.
The thrilling amateur footage was recorded by newlyweds Debbie and Jon Smith at Ulusaba private game reserve in the Kruger national park in South Africa.
Elephant Turns Highwayman In India
The Hindustan Times reports an elephant bandit is holding up motorists in the eastern state of Orissa. His modis operandi is to stand in the middle of the highway until a car stops. He won't move until drivers wind down their windows and get out of the car, whereupon he uses his trunk to find, and grab, the food inside.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
