In a “landmark” ruling, Bangladesh’s High Court has suspended all licenses for the adoption of critically endangered wild elephants, meaning they can no longer be legally taken into captivity or exploited, reported the BBC. The ban to protect the approximately 200 wild elephants remaining in Bangladesh was welcomed by animal rights groups. Nearly half the […]
Despite their iconic status and long association with humans, Asian elephants are one of the most endangered large mammals. Believed to number between 45,000 and 50,000 individuals worldwide, they are at risk throughout Asia due to human activities such as deforestation, mining, dam building and road construction, which have damaged numerous ecosystems.
Amidst the glitz and glamor of the Oscars Sunday night came a surprisingly earnest reminder of the importance of protecting the natural world and Indigenous rights. This reminder came when “The Elephant Whisperers,” a moving true story about the relationship between an Indigenous Indian couple and two orphaned elephants, won the Oscar for Best Documentary […]
In Malawi, 250 elephants are being moved one at a time from the overcrowded Liwonde National Park to the Kasungu National Park, located about 380 kilometers (236 miles) north. At least 40 elephants have already been relocated. To move the elephants, experts must first sedate them with darts, then hoist them onto trucks that transport […]
The highly social and endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) lives in matriarch-led groups and, in addition to foods that can be found in the wild like grasses and the roots, bark and leaves of trees, enjoys foods cultivated by humans like rice and bananas, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Unfortunately, remnants of these […]
The gentle and expressive African forest elephant is a critically endangered species due to habitat loss and poaching. But according to a survey conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the National Parks of Gabon, these rare, non-predatory pachyderms have one “last stronghold offering a large quasi-continuous habitat” in Gabon, in the Congo River Basin. […]
Anyone who has ever spent a cozy afternoon in the presence of a beloved grandparent knows that the wisdom of age can have a calming influence. It turns out that this is true for elephants as well. A new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B in December found that male elephants […]
A pair of extremely rare twin African elephants have been born in Northern Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve. The baby elephants were discovered by guides from Elephant Watch Camp, who had been trained by Save the Elephants (STE) — a UK charity based in Kenya — to recognize individual elephants and elephant families in the reserve, […]
By Malaka Rodrigo UDAWALAWE, Sri Lanka — Environmental activists in Sri Lanka have slammed a court order releasing endangered elephants into the custody of individuals suspected of involvement in their illegal capture and trade. Thirty-eight captive Sri Lankan elephants (Elephas maximus maximus) were taken into the custody of the state in 2015 following an investigation […]