Elephants // Current

SUV sideswipes an Elephant...In Oklahoma.

An SUV driving down a rural Oklahoma highway sideswiped an Elephant that had escaped... more

LowShred
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18 days ago
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Cole Brothers Circus

Please follow linked page & let me know! THANK YOU! FACTS: Cole Bros.... more

julesrs007
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1 month ago
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Villagers demand to eat stranded elephant

The thought of a meat dinner sent a village into a frenzy on Monday, Locals who had... more

stupidy
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1 month ago
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41 comments

Wild Animals of Mala Mala, South Africa

Mala Mala, South Africa has one of the largest and most diverse populations of wild... more

Caliman28
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2 months ago
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5 comments

Psychadelic Pink Elephants on Parade

Yooouuutuuube.com proudly presents "Pink Elephants on Parade' from the Disney film... more

FishaHouse777
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2 months ago
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Drought kills 20 baby elephants in three months

Some 20 young elephants have succumbed to drought in the last three months, the Kenya... more

stupidy
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2 months ago
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Portland: Boycott Ringling Bros and cruelty to animals (Video)

As Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus rolls into Portland the compassionate and... more

locutus
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2 months ago
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5 comments

Drought, poaching kill 100 elephants in Kenya

"NAIROBI, Kenya - Poaching and drought-related hunger have killed more than 100 of... more

lookatmypix
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2 months ago
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Unusual trips and unique accommodations: Trip on a Deal Ep. 8

http://wwwtriponadeal.com: We scour the NY Travel Show for some of the most bizarre... more

triponadeal
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3 months ago
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Last of Africa's desert elephants ravaged by severe drought

A rare herd of desert elephants in Mali is being ravaged by one of the worst droughts in living memory, which has left water sources at lowest level in the past quarter of a century.

The 350 to 450 elephants of Gourma, the northernmost herds still alive in Africa, are being forced to trek extreme distances across the fringes of the Sahara to find scarce water. Juveniles are the most affected, as (unlike the bigger bulls) their trunks are not long enough to reach deep into wells - one of the only remaining water sources.

This year the water levels are extremely low in the Gourma region due to uneven rainfall in 2008. The most important of these lakes, Banzena, is the lowest it has been since 1983 when it dried completely.

On the 16th of May, Jake Wall, a scientist with Save the Elephants, returned from Banzena; he found it almost dry. Very few options now exist for finding water and we are witnessing erratic movements further and further afield as they desperately search for water and forage.

Over the last few years, The WILD Foundation and Save the Elephants (STE), in collaboration with the Malian Environment Ministry directorate for conservation - Direction Nationale de la Conservation de la Nature (DNCN), have monitored these last rare desert elephants using 9 collars fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. The collars transmit the hourly positions of the elephants three times daily via satellite link and give real-time information about the activities of the elephant herds.

Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants has been monitoring their range since the mid 1970s. He says: “In the Gourma region of Mali are the last elephants living in the Sahel and they are northernmost in Africa. Their range has shrunk drastically since the 1970’s due to climate change and overstocking of livestock which has degraded the habitat. These elephants have the longest migration route of any in Africa and move in a counterclockwise circle of about 700 km. At the height of the dry season there are only a handful of shallow lakes left to them until recharged by rains in July and August.” Our group of NGOs is launching an emergency appeal to save this unique herd.

Many elephants are now surviving with very limited and hard to access water supplies. At a dry lake bed 50 km to the east of Banzena, 6 bull elephants are surviving by getting on their knees and reaching for water with their trunks that is 3 meters beneath ground level and through a hole dug by the Touareg people. Younger elephants who are not as big or as skilled cannot possibly reach these hard to get at water points. The long distances, high temperatures and weakened condition will also take a heavy toll on the younger elephants.A rare herd of desert elephants in Mali is being ravaged by one of the worst droughts... more

pjacobs51
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3 months ago
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30 comments

Elephant calves lose mother; visit burial site daily

Madurai (TN): Despite becoming part of a new herd, love and affection for their mother... more

animalia_libero
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3 months ago
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2 comments

"This is the Only Level" Has More Recycled Stages (And Fun) Than You've Ever Seen

"This is the Only Level" is from the makers of "Achievement Unlocked" and features the... more

cikesef
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4 months ago
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Elephants Pass Self-Awareness Test

t was called the “red mark test”, or just the “mark test”, and it was first tried out on a Gorilla over two decades ago. Scientists applied a smudge of red powder to the forehead of a sleeping gorilla, then placed a large viewing mirror close by, and waited for the ape to awaken. To the surprise of all, after the gorilla first noticed its reflection (and reacted to it as a social response), it then began to recognize that it was looking at itself, somehow, and, noticing the smudge over its eyes, immediately began trying to wipe it off. Later, the gorilla would use the mirror to groom itself and even examine parts of its body.

The test is now referred to as mirror self recognition (MSR). The test indicates self-awareness of a higher, and formerly, distinctly human level. The test is also thought to correlate to higher brain behaviors such as empathy and altruism.

Most every animal in nature, when confronted with a mirror, will interpret the image therein as another animal, possibly a threat, and may attack the image, or, be scared away. After awhile, the animals habituate and ignore the reflected image entirely. But the gorilla–a “higher” ape–recognized the image as its own, a feat that require a degree of abstract thought and cognitive association.

Dolphins too recognize their image when confronted with a reflecting surface (the “mark test” was not performed with them, owing to their under water state) and have shown other remarkable abilities such as abstract reasoning (regarding object series recognition). and self-selected vocalizations with human trainers.

Now, we can add elephants to the very short list of animals besides apart form humans with self-awareness.

Researchers (Plotnik, et al, reporting in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Science ) working with Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at the Bronx zoo, conducted an MSR test. They applied “real” and “sham” marks to the rights sides of the pachyderms’ heads and waited to see how the elephants would respond to these when a large mirror was placed in their presence. Sure enough, the elephants demonstrated that they understood they were looking at themselves (and not another elephant) and begin touching the marks with their trunks. In all, their behavior during the MSR tests matched those of apes and dolphins. According to the paper’s authors: “These parallels suggest convergent cognitive evolution most likely related to complex sociality and cooperation. ”

The intelligence of elephants has long been known (though tribal lore, and from field observations) and established. They have complex social lives and relations and do indeed have excellent memories. Also, a full grown male’s brain may way 14 pounds. It is believed that the size and structure of our larger, more recently evolved brains enables higher states of conscious perception (such as self awareness). The animals tested here all possess large brains–some, like the dolphin and elephant, larger than our human ones. Each has a cerebral cortex (the outer-most layer of brain matter, known as the neomammalian brain), although this is quite small in the gorilla as compared to the humans.

But we humans are not just self aware, we are aware that we are aware. We express this “higher” form of awareness primarily through speaking (e.g., Isn’t this a strange conversation that we’re having?) or through symbolic manipulation and recursion (e.g., “This statement is false.”) This is called meta-awareness, and so far, it has not been found outside of our species.

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I think that's pretty fantastic. Should animals with this quality have a more acknowledged distinction than those that don't?t was called the “red mark test”, or just the “mark test”, and it was first... more

JamesAJanisse
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4 months ago
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Baby Elephant Makes Debut in Whipsnade

Photographs of a still unnamed baby Asian elephant at the Whipsnade Wild Animal Park... more

ebindelglass
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4 months ago
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PETA: Elephant abuse at Ringling Brothers

PETA has video of elephant abuse at Ringling Brothers Circus. In 2009, PETA went... more

locutus
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4 months ago
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Jet Set Elephants

Hanging from their flying saucers lol!

cheerlessorange
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4 months ago
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Help Elephants (IDA) - Tina, Jewel and Queenie News

Tina, Jewel and Queenie are three Asian elephants who have endured a lifetime of abuse in by the circus industry. For years the USDA has stood by and watched as these elephants have been subjected to chronic Animal Welfare Act violations, including abusive and unsafe handling practices, failure to provide adequate medical care to the elephants, and negligent treatment of the animals.

On May 1, 2009, a shockingly emaciated Jewel appeared at the Mehla Shrine Circus in Springfield, Massachusetts. Along with Tina and Jewel, she was trucked 1,700 miles, a journey that exacted untold stress and suffering on this obviously ailing elephant. When she arrived, Jewel was so sickly looking that the Massachusetts SPCA advised the Shriners to bar her from performing. As a result, she spent the weekend chained inside the tent.

And now comes even more alarming news. IDA has just received USDA documents indicating that all three elephants have experienced serious weight loss, two for the second time in two years. Jewel is noted to be “poor body condition and very underweight.”

The USDA has repeatedly cited handler Will Davenport for lacking the training and ability to safely and humanely handle and care for the elephants. Yet the USDA refuses to hold him accountable. Investigations have hit dead ends in the USDA bureaucracy, with no action being taken despite years of well-documented and chronic violations of federal law.

Not only has USDA ignored Davenport's chronic animal welfare violations, but also the agency has allowed this "act" to continue to perform despite the repeated and well-documented public safety transgressions Not surprisingly, in March 2009, the elephants were involved in an "accident" while giving elephant rides, injuring a dozen children.

Enough is enough. IDA has written to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging him to order the USDA to confiscate these elephants before someone -- elephant or human -- dies.

The severe weight loss in all three elephants again raises the specter of Tuberculosis and contagion between the elephants and possibly to the public.

On May 1, 2009, IDA discovered all three elephants at the Melha Shrine Circus in Springfield, MA, a destination to which they had been trucked 1,700 miles from their home base in Texas. An emaciated Jewel, who did not perform at any show, spent the four days chained by two legs: under a tent, on pavement, bobbing her head incessantly.Tina, Jewel and Queenie are three Asian elephants who have endured a lifetime of abuse... more