News tagged with elephants
Tracking endangered elephants with satellite technology
A hundred years ago wild elephants on the Malay Peninsular could be counted in their thousands now there are less than 1500. Over the last century around 50 per cent of forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia ...
May 23, 2012 |
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Study highlights new mammal species for promoting conservation fundraising
Images of tigers and elephants are among the most common threatened mammals used by conservation organisations as flagships to promote fundraising but new research led by the University ...
May 17, 2012 |
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Rare elephant found dead in Indonesia
A critically-endangered Sumatran elephant has been found dead in Indonesia's Aceh province, an official said Wednesday, the second death from suspected poisoning within a month.
May 16, 2012 |
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Elephant seal tracking reveals hidden lives of deep-diving animals
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who pioneered the use of satellite tags to monitor the migrations of elephant seals have compiled one of the largest datasets available for any marine mammal species, ...
May 15, 2012 |
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The absence of elephants and rhinoceroses reduces biodiversity in tropical forests
The progressive disappearance of seed-dispersing animals like elephants and rhinoceroses puts the structural integrity and biodiversity of the tropical forest of South-East Asia at risk. With the help of Spanish ...
May 11, 2012 |
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Kenyan ranches relocating rhinos in fear of poachers
Claus Mortensen is a private Kenyan rancher with a passion -- endangered rhinos -- and now a mission: to save his herd from slaughter by ruthless poachers who sell their horns to Asia, where they are prized ...
May 11, 2012 |
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Mini-mammoths lived on Crete: scientists (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) -- The smallest mammoth known to have ever lived has been identified by Natural History Museum scientists, and is reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B today.
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
May 09, 2012 |
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WWF Indonesia calls for probe into elephant death
Environmental organisation WWF called on the government Wednesday to investigate the death of a critically endangered Sumatran elephant allegedly poisoned at an Indonesian oil palm plantation.
May 02, 2012 |
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Why bigger animals aren't always faster (w/ Video)
New research in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology shows why bigger isn't always better when it comes to sprinting speed.
Apr 30, 2012 |
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Kenya rangers gun down suspected elephant poachers
Kenyan rangers shot dead five suspected elephant poachers in a night-time firefight in the north of the country, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said on Saturday.
Apr 22, 2012 |
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Egg-laying beginning of the end for dinosaurs
Their reproductive strategy spelled the beginning of the end: The fact that dinosaurs laid eggs put them at a considerable disadvantage compared to viviparous mammals. Together with colleagues from the Zoological ...
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Apr 17, 2012 |
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Study suggests why some animals live longer
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a new method to detect proteins associated with longevity, which helps further our understanding into why some animals live longer ...
Mar 29, 2012 |
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Diet may be affecting rhino reproduction
Southern white rhinoceros populations, once thriving in zoos, have been showing severely reduced reproductivity among the captive-born population. San Diego Zoo Global researchers have a possible lead into why the southern ...
Mar 21, 2012 |
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Under the microscope #15 - Elephant fish embryo
Dr Andrew Gillis shows us an embryonic skate head and explains how the red denticles dotted all over it have very similar properties to human teeth.
Mar 13, 2012 |
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Wild brown bear observed using a tool
(PhysOrg.com) -- Because brown bears are so reclusive, not to mention dangerous to be around, not a lot is really known about their brain power. This is actually rather odd because bears have the largest brains ...
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals of the order Proboscidea and the family Elephantidae. There are three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant (also known as the Indian Elephant). Other species have become extinct since the last ice age, the Mammoths, dwarf forms of which may have survived as late as 2,000 BC, being the best-known of these. They were once classified along with other thick skinned animals in a now invalid order, Pachydermata.
Elephants are the largest land animals. The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kilograms (260 lb). They typically live for 50 to 70 years, but the oldest recorded elephant lived for 82 years. The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1956. This male weighed about 12,000 kilograms (26,000 lb), with a shoulder height of 4.2 metres (14 ft), a metre (yard) taller than the average male African elephant. The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were a prehistoric species that lived on the island of Crete during the Pleistocene epoch.
The elephant has appeared in cultures across the world. They are a symbol of wisdom in Asian cultures and are famed for their memory and intelligence, where they are thought to be on par with cetaceans and hominids. Aristotle once said the elephant was "the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind". The word "elephant" has its origins in the Greek ἐλέφας, meaning "ivory" or "elephant".
Healthy adult elephants have no natural predators, although lions may take calves or weak individuals. They are, however, increasingly threatened by human intrusion and poaching. Once numbering in the millions, the African elephant population has dwindled to between 470,000 and 690,000 individuals according to a March 2007 estimate. While the elephant is a protected species worldwide, with restrictions in place on capture, domestic use, and trade in products such as ivory, CITES reopening of "one time" ivory stock sales, has resulted in increased poaching. Certain African nations report a decrease of their elephant populations by as much as two-thirds, and populations in certain protected areas are in danger of being eliminated Since recent poaching has increased by as much as 45%, the current population is unknown (2008).
For more information about Elephant, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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