Conflict elephant rescued from death sentence

Authorities ordered tusker be put to sleep

February 2012: 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.

17 deaths
Human elephant conflict has resulted in 17 deaths in the area over the past two years and, after complaints about this tusker, the authorities ordered the animal be put to sleep. But analysis of casualties revealed that most of the killings were accidental and as a result of people venturing inside the forest area or were on roads that are in an elephant corridor. Simultaneously, other options were explored that involved capture and translocation to similar habitat to reduce conflict.

Four-tonne elephant has now been moved across riverIt took three attempts to sedate the elephant - capturing had been unsuccessful on two previous occasions because of unfavourable terrain and conditions. The four-tonne tusker was loaded on a truck and moved 20km across the river Ganga to the pre-selected site.

‘This site has been identified as a rich elephant habitat,' said NN Pandey, Divisional Forest Officer, Narendranagar. ‘It is separated from the capture site by the Chilla Power Channel and its steep embankments and also the river Ganga, minimising chances of the animal returning there. Our task, however, does not end here and the animal shall now be monitored closely by the team.'

Dr Anil Kumar Singh, WTI has been working on human-elephant conflict mitigation for the past 18 years. He feels there is a need to educate and sensitise people to respect wildlife and give it space. Building of physical barriers and deterrents, such as electric fences and trenches, will reduce incidents of elephants entering human habitation.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/elephant-rescue2012.html

Trumpets of outrage in the outback

An Australian biology professor is causing a rumble in the academic jungle by suggesting that his country should import elephants and other foreign species into its wild interior.

Rhinos and even giant Komodo dragon lizards could be imported, David Bowman suggests in an article in Nature.

He says Australia is just not managing its most pressing ecological problems, and something radical is needed.

But some fellow scientists say it is just a bad and dangerous idea.

Others, however, are supportive, seeing potential for helping beleaguered Aboriginal communities and reducing the risk of forest fires, as repairing some damaged ecology.

The problems Prof Bowman proposes solving with his radical zoological armoury stem from the huge changes wrought by the two waves of human arrival - the first by forebears of the Aborigines about 50,000 years ago, and the second by European settlers a few hundred years ago.

The first initiated the slow demise of the spectacular megafauna that once bestrode the giant continent.

They included the marsupial lion, a metre and a half long and a powerful predator; the diprotodon, a wombat bigger than a cow; giant birds such as the Dromornidae family that once boasted Stirton's Thunder Bird, three metres high; and crocodiles, lizards and turtles bigger than any still walking this Earth.

Take so many big species out of an ecosystem, and there are bound to be changes all the way down to its bottom.

If you throw in land clearance across enormous swathes of the continent and the subsequent introduction of rabbits, camels, cane toads, rats, pigs and everything else that came with the European settlers, you have an ecology in profound turmoil.

Attempts have been made to control rabbits, pigs, buffalo and lots of other alien species; but they haven't really worked.

"We have a very unbalanced ecology and it's all just spiralling into a trajectory," lamented Prof Bowman when I spoke to him earlier in the week.

"We're not managing actively, we're just managing bits of the problem - so it's a big mess."

So the root of his idea is that if you can't restore the animals themselves, bring in something that can fulfil a similar ecological role.

Continued:   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16843096

Human-elephant conflict escalates in Sri Lanka

Call for a long-term focus - not electric fences

January 2012: 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.

‘According to reports it seems the only solution that is still advocated by the Department of Wildlife to address the intensifying human-elephant conflict island-wide is to erect hundreds of kilometers of electric fencing.

Fences can stop elephants reaching vital resources

‘With the country on a development drive it becomes vitally important that we address issues such as human-elephant conflict and elephant conservation with a long-term focus, goals and objectives in mind.'

The SLCS argues that palliative efforts, such electric fences, are not a long-term solution especially if they are used to fence elephants in areas.

‘While electric fences can be effective there are limitations to their application and they are also hampered with issues in regard to their maintenance, operations and effectiveness,' said Ravi. ‘If an electric fence is not properly maintained it quickly becomes unoperational. Most importantly, if an electric fence is not properly planned and erected it could unnecessarily obstruct elephants from accessing vital resources.'

70 per cent of Sri Lanka's wild elephants are not in protected areasHuman-elephant conflict has transcended from just being a wildlife management problem to one of the worst environmental and rural social economic crises in Sri Lanka's Dry Zone. Seventy per cent of the island's wild elephant population live outside the Wildlife Protected Area network and so share land with rural people.

‘Unregularised land tenure has fragmented vast tracts of forests making it a nightmare to address environmental and socio-economic issues and concerns such as human-elephant conflict, poverty alleviation and rural youth unemployment,' said Ravi. ‘The Northwestern Province is a prime example.

'The elephants live in fragmented forests amidst a sea of humanity. Unfortunately, today many other areas are also quickly moving towards a similar situation.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/elephant-lanka2012.html

Elephant's sixth toe

Researcher Re-Discover Elephant’s Long-Lost Sixth Toe

London’s Royal Veterinary College has recently re-corrected a long-standing error in elephant anatomy. According to a study recently published in the science journal RVC elephants have a sixth toe, a previously unknown and underrated digit that is critical in helping the enormous mammals ambulate.


Ironically, when the first detailed study of an elephant cadaver was carried out over 300 years ago by the Scottish physician Patrick Blair, he wrote in his notes that the massive pachyderm had six toes. But subsequent studies ‘corrected’ Dr. Blair’s observations, noting that the supposed ‘sixth toe’ was actually a prepollex, or a cartilaginous rod, not a bone.

However, some three centuries later the Royal Veterinary College has vindicated Blair’s original assessment, stating that the dubious prepollex is, in fact, an elongated bone just like those used to secure tendons in other mammals.

In massive mammals like elephants, these typically small structures known as ‘predigits’ take on elephantine proportions and are almost as large as their true toes.

In the case of the elephant’s sixth toe, what has so long thrown experts in animal anatomy for loop is the bizarre development of the structure.

Professor John R. Hutchinson who led the research team at Royal Veterinary College explained that these curious sixth digits first begin developing as cartilaginous rods–just like those described by most previous studies–but that they eventually transform into bone later in the elephant’s adult life.

Other mammals are known to have analogous anatomical structures which usually serve significant evolutionary functions. The giant panda, for instance, is known to have an extra thumb which helps it grab bamboo branches, and moles also have small finger-like appendages that have been adapted to help them dig.

Professor Hutchinson’s team was initially perplexed as to the function of the extra elephant digit–than is until they did a scan of the pachyderm’s huge feet and realized that the sixth toe is critical in helping the enormous mammals to balance their weight, which can be up to 20,000 lbs. in some species.

The researchers explained that the toe helps to redistribute some of the weight from the animal’s foot into its leg bone and ankle joints. The team examined the fossil record as well and believes that the toe evolved around 40 million years ago, when the elephant’s ancestors began growing larger and spending less time in the water.

“As far as we know, elephants are the only animals to use enlarged sesamoid bones in this new supportive role,” a spokesperson from the RVC told the Daily Mail Online.

“Other large land mammals have lost them and correspondingly never developed a large fatty foot pad or other features unique to elephant feet.”

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112445753/researcher-re-discover-elephant%e2%80%99s-long-lost-sixth-toe/

Elephant causes safari park traffic jam after taking a nap in middle of road

The 20-year-old African elephant laid across one of the roads at the safari park, much to the amazement of park visitors who were forced to sit in their cars until Five was ready to move.

The out-of-season warm October temperatures are believed to be the main cause of Five's relaxation stunt. However it was not too long until the elephant, weighing in at 11,000Ibs, went on his way to find somewhere less gravelly to rest.

Safari head keeper Andy Plumb snapped Five in his moment of bliss, telling the Daily Mail: 'When I arrived there was a queue of traffic forming and it just got bigger - he's a bit of a character so I'm not surprised he decided to crash out on a road.

'When he eventually woke up I don't think he knew what all the fuss was about. There was a big cheer and he just wandered off looking for somewhere else to sleep.

'We all had a good laugh about it for the rest of the day.'

Elephants have a reputation for causing traffic jams. The US football team were delayed for training during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after one elephant decided to snack on tree leaves.
The team suffered a second incident when another elephant strolled along the road, leaving the team's bus slowly following behind. The players therefore missed the first moments of the World Cup's opening game.
It was reported that the sign outside the team's hotel read: 'Elephants that come close to our fence keep a distance of 30 meters and please be quiet'.


Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/877779-elephant-causes-safari-park-traffic-jam-after-taking-nap-in-middle-of-road#ixzz1aHxfQSPD

How elephants could solve the biofuel problem

When it comes to weaning the world's motorists off their addiction to fossil fuel, few would have bet on finding part of the solution in the pungent depths of elephant droppings and a Swiss compost heap.

A biochemical cocktail based on enzymes and micro-organisms found in elephant faeces and in rotting vegetable matter has the potential to revolutionise biofuel production by making it possible to mass-produce eco-friendly gasoline for the first time without relying on food crops, say the scientists.

A Dutch technology giant, DSM, has signed deals to introduce its new fermenting technique in test plants across Europe and the US, meaning ethanol, which currently makes up 4 per cent of all petrol in Britain, derived from crop waste and wood chips, could be available at the pump by 2015.

Research shows the new technology, along with other second generation or "2G" biofuels, could produce up to 90 billion litres of bio-ethanol in Europe by 2020 and displace more than 60 per cent of conventional petrol use as well as reducing reliance on crops such as maize, which has been blamed for fuelling the global food crisis.

But scientists warn there is a lack of political will across Europe to provide the support and subsidy for large-scale production. Environmentalists also question whether the hundreds of millions of tonnes of "bio-mass" required can be produced without encroaching on land used for food production.

But researchers believe that after decades of false dawns for the biofuels industry as it seeks to produce products which can compete on grounds of price and energy content with fossil fuels, they are on the cusp of a commercially viable method of production that converts vegetable matter previously considered to be unusable waste into ethanol, which must form 10 per cent of all road transport fuel by 2020 in Europe.

Inspiration for one half of the technique, which is being tested in demonstration-scale refineries due to come on line in 2014, came from analysis of mechanisms in the intestines of elephants which allow them to digest not only "ordinary" sugars such as glucose, but other sugars which normally remain locked up in the cellulose structure of plant cells. American researchers have also found bacteria in the droppings of bamboo-chomping pandas which could be similarly effective in biofuel production.

When the elephant enzymes were combined with another enzyme found in an analysis of a compost heap in Switzerland, tests showed the resulting cocktail could convert 90 per cent of bio-mass, such as maize stalks or wheat straw, into ethanol – about double the rate until now.

One analysis calculated that widespread take-up of 2G biofuel could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by more than 40 per cent by 2020. Volkert Claassen, DSM's head of strategy in biotechnology, said: "From the technology point of view, we are very confident that this will work. But we are at the point where we need to take this to a very different level ... If you want to make these kinds of tremendous changes in the world, then you need the right political environment."

By Cahal Milmo, Chief Reporter
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/how-elephants-could-solve-the-biofuel-problem-2345863.html

Woolly mammoth may have interbred with elephants

A model of a wooly mammoth stands at the exhibition
'Ice Age Giants' in Garding, Germany, on May 31.

Newscom

Woolly mammoth 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.

By Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience Contributor / June 2, 2011

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.

Although woolly mammoths lived in the cold of the tundra, the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) preferred the more temperate regions of southern and central North America. The Columbians were much larger than woollies, with Columbian males reaching one-and-a-half to two times that of woolly males.

Gallery: African elephants

"We are talking about two very physically different species here," said researcher Hendrik Poinar, an evolutionary geneticist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. "You have roughly 1 million years of separation between the two, with the Columbian mammoth likely derived from an early migration into North America approximately 1.5 million years ago, and their woolly counterparts emigrating to North America some 400,000 years ago."

Poinar and his colleagues investigated the evolution of Columbian mammoths by analyzing DNA retrieved from the tusks, bone and teeth of two approximately 11,000-year-old fossil specimens, one found in the Huntington Reservoir in Utah and the other found near Rawlins, Wyo. The researchers concentrated on the genomes of the mitochondria, the "powerhouses" of the cells, which have their own unique DNA and are inherited from the mother.

Surprisingly, they discovered the mitochondrial genome of the Columbian mammoth was nearly indiscernible from that of its northern woolly counterparts. [Album: 25 Amazing Ancient Beasts]

"At first I thought, 'Oh crap, there's contamination of some sort,'" Poinar said.

However, any minor contamination they found could not explain the extensive genetic evidence they uncovered, and they replicated their results in an independent lab. "I think we were very lucky," Poinar told LiveScience.

"We think we may be looking at a genetic hybrid," said researcher Jacob Enk, a graduate student in the McMaster Ancient DNA Center.

When glacial times got nasty, woollies likely moved to more pleasant conditions southward, where they came into contact with the Columbian mammoths.

"Living African elephant species hybridize where their ranges overlap, with the bigger species out-competing the smaller for mates," Enk added. The offspring are perfectly fertile, Poinar added.

Since woollies and Columbians overlapped in time and space, it is not unlikely that they interbred in much the same manner.

"It reminds me a bit of high-school days — the larger males are more successful at meeting women across the dance floor than the rest of us," Poinar said.

These findings could explain why some mammoth fossils had features intermediate between woollies and Columbians, although the genomes of both species should be sequenced to tell for sure. The researchers also want to look at Columbian mammoth specimens from farther south where no woollies ever ventured, to get an idea of what nonhybrid samples might look like.

The scientists detailed their findings online May 31 in the journal Genome Biology.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/0602/Woolly-mammoth-may-have-interbred-with-elephants

Bones of elephant ancestors discovered in Oman

Fossil discovered in Dhofar region in south of Oman.

Omani Barytherium was found in Dhofar by a joint team from the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, Stony Brook University, US, and Sultan Qaboos University

Staff Report
Published: 17:13 May 21, 2011

Muscat: A team of geologists from the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) have confirmed discovery of remains of the oldest ancestors of elephant (Barhtyerium), according to a press release from the university Saturday.

The Omani Barytherium, the first one to be found in Oman, was discovered in Aidum area in Dhofar by a joint team of archaeologists from the Ministry of Heritage and Culture and Stony Brook University, US, and geologists from SQU.

The archaeological team was led by Dr Erick Seifert from the Stony Brook University.

The SQU team of geologists, including Prof Dr Sobhi Nasir and Dr Abdulrahman Al Harthy joined the Heritage Ministry consultant at the site in south of the country and assisted in establishing the discovery.

The joint team found a huge area of elephant bones, known as elephant grabs, and collected large quantities of bones to be identified in a laboratory at the SQU.

The group of researchers from SQU, SBU and the Ministry of Heritage are still working on these bones and are expecting new discoveries in the area.

The team has said that this finding is extremely important as it gives the first evidence of the oldest ancestor of elephant found in the world.

The scientists named the new finding as Barytherium Omansi.

Barytherium (meaning heavy beast) is a genus of an extinct family (Barytheriidae) of primitive proboscidean that lived during the late Eocene and early Oligocene in North Africa. The Barytheriidae were the first large size proboscideans to appear in the fossil records and were characterised by a strong sexual dimorphism.

The only known species within this family is Barytherium grave, found at the beginning of the 20th century in the Fayum, Egypt.

More complete specimens have been found since then, at Dor el Talha Libya. In some respects, these animals would have looked similar to a modern Asian Elephant, but with a more slender build.

Eight tusks

The most visible difference, however, would have been the tusks Barytherium had eight very short tusks, four each in the upper and lower jaws, which resembled those of a modern hippopotamus more than those of an elephant. The upper pairs were vertical, while the lower pairs projected forwards from the mouth horizontally. Together, these would have created a shearing action for cropping plants.

Palaeontologists know a lot more about Barytherium's tusks, which tend to preserve better in the fossil record than soft tissue, than they do about its trunk.

This prehistoric elephant had eight short, stubby tusks, four in its upper jaw and four in its lower jaw, but to date no one has unearthed any evidence for its proboscis (which may or may not have looked like that of a modern elephant).

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/bones-of-elephant-ancestors-discovered-in-oman-1.810855

Zimbabwe Expert: The Truth About Killing 'Problem' Elephants

Apr 1, 2011 – 2:13 PM

Zimbabwe's premier conservationist, a 62-year-old man who says he's endured assassination attempts for trying to preserve wildlife in one of Africa's poorest and most repressive countries, can't watch the video showing Bob Parsons, the billionaire CEO of GoDaddy.com, shooting and killing an elephant.

"I've seen so many of the atrocities against elephants and other wildlife here that it sickens me to the bottom of my soul," Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told AOL News today on the telephone from Harare.

"But I have read what Parsons said, and he is totally misinformed about what is going on here. I wish he knew the truth."

Parsons, whose video sparked outrage when it circulated Thursday, is shown shooting a bull elephant on a recent hunting trip in Zimbabwe and then posing triumphantly next to the carcass. He called the animal a "problem elephant" that was in a herd attacking local crops and houses.

Some villagers, sporting GoDaddy caps, are also shown in the video carving up the dead elephant and eating the meat, as AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" plays on the soundtrack.

Parsons brushed off criticism in interviews and said that only a few animal rights groups like PETA were upset.

The villagers "are on the brink of starvation," he told CBS News. "They need their crops and need to eat. Elephants are not endangered and probably there are too many of them. A lot of people are up in arms about this. Their hearts are in the right place, but they don't understand the situation. If they'd go on one of my trips to Zimbabwe, they'd understand."

But Rodrigues, who grew up on a farm in Zimbabwe, said hunters like Parsons don't understand the level of government corruption in the country, how it's led to the collapse of the economy and how it's affected the wildlife.

AOL News spoke with Rodrigues about the plight of elephants in a country that was once a top destination for tourists who could enjoy wildlife protected by strong environmental policies -- but has deteriorated under an increasingly lawless regime.

AOL News: Bob Parsons said killing the elephant was justified because there are too many of them in Zimbabwe and they're attacking farmers and their crops who have no way of getting rid of them. True?

Johnny Rodrigues: No. For one thing, the government deliberately inflates the number of elephants so they can allot a certain number to be killed. Last year they said 500 elephants could be killed. They say there are 100,000 elephants. From what I have found, the figure is more like between 30,000 and 35,000. They lie about the number so they can allow hunters to kill them. They use the income generated to pay the wages to the park staffers and to keep the parks running because they have no money. The villagers don't see a penny. [Park authorities] just sell them the meat.

Illegal poaching occurs all over Africa. How is the situation different in Zimbabwe?

The problem in Zimbabwe is the guardians of the wildlife are the perpetrators. We're the only country in Africa that shoots game to pay wages to national park guardians and ration meat to their staff. It's sick. You wouldn't tolerate it. Zimbabwe is the only country where some of the park guardians are politically connected and don't care about the animals. They're the ones benefiting economically from their killing, even though they are the ones who are supposed to protect them.

Are elephants actually killed in the national parks?

They are not supposed to be, but they are. The government uses claims that elephants are destroying crops and attacking villagers to allow them to be hunted in national parks and safari areas.

Why are the elephants coming into villages and threatening the farmers?

Elephants are the most traumatized animals in Zimbabwe. They are being shot even in supposedly safe areas. Elephants travel in family units, and when one of their loved ones are shot and killed, the rest of the family remembers and they are traumatized and they will attack. They are very intelligent animals with phenomenal memories. When they see humans now, they remember.

What do they remember?

They remember it is humans who have caused all their stress, who have taken away their family members. They either attack or run away when they see a vehicle. It's very sad because we could co-exist. But humans, especially in Africa, are encroaching on land reserved for the animals, and the animals are running out of land.

What would you say to Bob Parsons if you could speak to him?

I would tell him he is supporting a terrible system that is not helping the poor people on the ground. Coming here with all his wealth for these unethical hunts and killing elephants is not helping anyone. It's perpetuating a horrible cycle in this country of traumatized animals and desperate people. And by telling them to eat meat the way he did and giving them his caps is like treating them like slaves.

What would you tell him about the bull elephant he killed, based on what you know about them?

Elephants are all part of families. The bull elephant Parsons killed has a family. It's the same as a robber coming into Parsons' house and shooting him in front of one of his kids. Parsons should look at some of the incredible research on elephants and elephant family behavior. He'd be shocked. Elephants are among the smartest, most sensitive animals alive.

How many elephants were there, say 100 years ago in Zimbabwe. Do you even know?

There were at least 700,000 to 800,000, but there's no comparison to today. They roamed all over. Man has totally encroached on their territory.

Can you report illegal poaching crimes to officials in Zimbabwe?

You will see some illegal poaching in Zambia, say, but it is a country with law and order. The authorities will do something about it. Here when you bring in a dossier of documents about illegal poaching to the attorney general, nothing happens. Even if you get to see a police investigator once, you'll never see them again. They disappear. It's what happens when there is no democracy and a breakdown of law and order.

People get killed in Zimbabwe for speaking out. Why do you take the risk?

It's very dangerous, but I've been exposing what's going on in this country for 12 years. I have death threats and attempts on my life. Strange things happen here to people like me.

What kind of strange things?

People coming around, beatings, being locked up, disappearing for a few months. But somebody has to speak out. I fought for this country in the war, so I feel I have a right to be a voice for the voiceless. I am trying to preserve our wonderful wildlife in this beautiful country. That's more important than anything that happens to me.

Have international wildlife groups reached out to Zimbabwe?

Unfortunately not really. The political situation is so difficult that it keeps people away.

What about those who believe that man comes first and while it's unfortunate that animals suffer, we are more important and this is a bit of a non-issue?

Preserving our wildlife and our flora and fauna is not only part of our heritage in Zimbabwe -- it was also the biggest foreign currency earner. The government is destroying a self-sustaining industry that all the people here benefit from. The communities that live around the wildlife areas benefit from selling their wares. No tourists want to come here and see all this bloodletting and miserable animals. 

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/01/zimbabwe-conservationist-responds-to-godaddy-ceos-elephant-hunt/

University archaeologists to dig for Tregaron elephant

10 March 2011

Archaeologists are to dig up the garden of a Ceredigion pub in the search for a legendary Victorian circus elephant.

The Tregaron Elephant has long had its place in local folklore - a beast that died while on tour rumoured to be buried behind the town's Talbot Hotel.

A small-scale excavation in April will search for clues in the hope of revealing its final resting place.

The elephant was said to have fallen ill after drinking contaminated water in the town in 1848.

It is believed to have been part of Batty's Travelling Menageries, a circus troupe which entertained widely in the area that year.

The dig is part of a wider project by the University of Wales Trinity St David's archaeology department.

Dr Jemma Bezant of the School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology is heading it up.

She said: "This story belongs to the community of Tregaron and the project will involve local people in gathering local evidence and histories as well as providing the opportunity to engage in some pilot archaeological excavation.

"This project is about celebrating the story of the Tregaron Elephant and less about 'finding out the truth'."

She added that it was likely the effort would generate more questions than answers.

"The main aim is to engage the local community in the construction and telling of their own stories and histories."

'Poisoned'

Dr Bezant is hoping the public contribution will add to the area's history and provide content for the community web-site

Michael Freeman, curator of Ceredigion Museum, said he was delighted the dig was going ahead.

He told BBC Wales: "It would be fabulous if the story was confirmed as true - it is such a great local story.

"To have seen a live elephant in 1848 walking through Tregaron must have been astounding."

John Watkin, part-owner of The Talbot, said the legend was "very important" to local people.

He said: "We don't know if the elephant is here but it's a lovely hypothetical question.

"But even if it was once, the acid water here may mean the proof has disappeared.

"We are looking forward to finding out."

The elephant was believed to have been poisoned by lead-contaminated water, later dying in stables next to the pub.

An extract from The History of Tregaron by D C Rees reads:

"An Elephant. On the 10th July 1848, 'Batty's Menagerie' visited Tregaron.

"One of the elephants quenched its thirst at Bronmwyn, which proved fatal owing to lead poisoning. It died in the Ivy Bush stable.

"Its burying place was in the field at the rear of the Talbot Hotel."

Local poet Iorwerth Glyndwr is said to have written an "englyn" - a short Welsh poem - on the death, which read: "Oh vain man, neither you nor I can avoid death. The grave is the end of us all."

The excavation will take place from Saturday 9 April for approximately five to seven days.

Local people are encouraged to visit the site during the weekend.

Further information will be available at a later date on the university's website and on twitter/trinitystdavid

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12697207

Elephants know how to co-operate

Monday, 7 March 2011
By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

Footage of an oversized experiment has revealed that elephants understand when they need help from a partner.

In the test, two animals had to work together - each pulling on a rope in order to tug a platform towards them.
Elephants' apparent grasp of the need to co-operate shows, scientists say, that they belong in an "elite group" of intelligent, socially complex animals.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge built the apparatus, which was originally designed for chimps.

The team published their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Study leader Dr Joshua Plotnik from the University of Cambridge said it was exciting to find a way to study elephant behaviour in such detail.

"It's so hard to work with elephants because of their size," he said.

"We see them doing amazing things in the wild, but we can see from this that they're definitely co-operating."

Helping trunk

The Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) involved in the study had already been taught that pulling on a rope brought a platform towards them, and a food reward on that platform within reach.

But this apparatus, set up at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang province, presented them with a new twist on that simple task.

One rope was threaded all the way around a platform - like a belt through belt loops - so if one end was tugged, the rope simply slipped out and the platform did not budge.

But if two elephants each took an end of the rope and pulled, the platform moved and that could claim their treats.

"When we released one elephant before the other, they quickly learned to wait for their partner before they pulled the rope," Dr Plotnik told BBC News.

"They learnt that rule [to wait for the other elephant to arrive] quicker than chimps doing the same task.

And one elephant - the youngest in the study - quickly learned that it did not have to do any pulling to get a treat.

"She could just put her foot on the rope, so her partner had to do all the work," said Dr Plotnik.

Many scientists, photographers and film-makers have documented remarkable behaviour by wild elephants, including "targeted helping" of other elephants that become stuck in mud.

There have even been reports of elephants appearing to mourn their dead.

"As humans, we like to show that we're unique," said Dr Plotnik, "but we're repeatedly shot down.

"One thing that remains is our language. But amazingly complex behaviours - culture, tool use, social interaction - we see all of this in the animal kingdom."

Dr Karen McComb from the University of Sussex, who studies animal behaviour, agreed that the study enhanced "our understanding of the cognitive abilities of this intensely social animal".

Dr Plotnik also hopes that his findings will help with the conservation of these endangered animals.

"The more we can understand about their intelligence, the better we can develop solutions to things like human-elephant conflict," he explained.

"So when the animals are raiding crops, we need to think of solutions that are based on the reasons why, and that benefit elephants as well as people."

Tina Dow from US-based Elephant Research International said the findings could also "have positive effects on captive elephants, allowing keepers and mahouts to develop better enrichment tools that can stimulate both mental and physical health".

"Elephants are caring, sentient beings," she added.

See video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9417000/9417308.stm
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)

Elephant calf reunited with mother after ditch rescue

Happy ending for displaced wild elephant calf reunited with mother - Courtesy of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)

December 2010. 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.

Two month old calf
"The two month old male calf must have fallen into the trench when its herd was crossing the Bogapani tea estate. He was struggling to get out, and even the mother made several attempts to rescue the calf," said Forest Officer Siva Kumar. "The mother was very determined to stay with her calf, which made it difficult for us to carry out the rescue. We darted her to moderately sedate her, but she remained close to the calf, and it grew dark, so we could not complete the rescue operation on the first day."

The operation was resumed early the next day. The mother had moved away and the calf was hurriedly removed from the trench. The rescuers feared that the mother had left the calf and moved on, but she was sighted approaching the site soon after the calf was freed. The calf was walked to an open area towards its mother and released.

Second rescue

"The calf was unsteady and as it headed to its mother, it fell into another hole. Thankfully, this time the mother pulled the calf out! She began feeding it and soon the mother and the calf walked back to the forest," said Dr Abhijit Bhawal, IFAW-WTI veterinarian, who assisted in the rescue. "This is perhaps the first recorded reunion of an elephant calf separated from its herd from this area. We have attended to several cases involving displaced elephant calves earlier too, but these calves had to be admitted to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga," he added.

Releasing orphaned elephants
In another recent rescue, a calf that was found alone was admitted to the IFAW-WTI run CWRC, after reunion attempts proved unsuccessful. "Generally, when these calves are found alone, local people in their goodwill attempt to pet and touch the calf seeking blessings, as elephants are considered an embodiment of Lord Ganesha. In that case, the people had applied mustard oil and vermillion on the calf out of devotion. The calf was introduced to a herd that was nearby (which may or may not have been its natal herd), but it was abandoned and left behind," said Dr Rathin Barman, Coordinator, WTI.

This calf is currently being hand-raised at CWRC along with ten other elephant calves rescued from various parts of Assam. A few of the older calves will be relocated to Manas National Park early next year, where they will undergo a prolonged acclimatisation in the wild for reintegration with wild herds.

Five elephant calves hand-raised at CWRC have already been released in Manas NP, as part of this Elephant Reintegration Project.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=1&listitemid=9201

Elephant calf reunited with mother after ditch rescue

Happy ending for displaced wild elephant calf reunited with mother - Courtesy of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)

December 2010. 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.

Two month old calf
"The two month old male calf must have fallen into the trench when its herd was crossing the Bogapani tea estate. He was struggling to get out, and even the mother made several attempts to rescue the calf," said Forest Officer Siva Kumar. "The mother was very determined to stay with her calf, which made it difficult for us to carry out the rescue. We darted her to moderately sedate her, but she remained close to the calf, and it grew dark, so we could not complete the rescue operation on the first day."

The operation was resumed early the next day. The mother had moved away and the calf was hurriedly removed from the trench. The rescuers feared that the mother had left the calf and moved on, but she was sighted approaching the site soon after the calf was freed. The calf was walked to an open area towards its mother and released.

Second rescue

"The calf was unsteady and as it headed to its mother, it fell into another hole. Thankfully, this time the mother pulled the calf out! She began feeding it and soon the mother and the calf walked back to the forest," said Dr Abhijit Bhawal, IFAW-WTI veterinarian, who assisted in the rescue. "This is perhaps the first recorded reunion of an elephant calf separated from its herd from this area. We have attended to several cases involving displaced elephant calves earlier too, but these calves had to be admitted to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga," he added.

Releasing orphaned elephants
In another recent rescue, a calf that was found alone was admitted to the IFAW-WTI run CWRC, after reunion attempts proved unsuccessful. "Generally, when these calves are found alone, local people in their goodwill attempt to pet and touch the calf seeking blessings, as elephants are considered an embodiment of Lord Ganesha. In that case, the people had applied mustard oil and vermillion on the calf out of devotion. The calf was introduced to a herd that was nearby (which may or may not have been its natal herd), but it was abandoned and left behind," said Dr Rathin Barman, Coordinator, WTI.

This calf is currently being hand-raised at CWRC along with ten other elephant calves rescued from various parts of Assam. A few of the older calves will be relocated to Manas National Park early next year, where they will undergo a prolonged acclimatisation in the wild for reintegration with wild herds.

Five elephant calves hand-raised at CWRC have already been released in Manas NP, as part of this Elephant Reintegration Project.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=1&listitemid=9201

Elephants trample man to death

A herd of elephants trampled a fruit picker to death in a remote Malaysian jungle in the first such case in years.


Pazil Abdul Patah, director of the Wildlife Department of northern Kelantan state, said five men looking for fruit were surprised by a herd of up to nine elephants.

The others managed to run away but 26-year-old Muhamad Adnan Iberahim was trampled and died instantly.

Mr Patah said this was the first such death recorded with the department in six years, even though wild elephants roam freely in the forest reserve.

Sightings of elephants in populated areas of Kelantan are rising because of habitat destruction.

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=155465822

Elephants trample man to death

A herd of elephants trampled a fruit picker to death in a remote Malaysian jungle in the first such case in years.


Pazil Abdul Patah, director of the Wildlife Department of northern Kelantan state, said five men looking for fruit were surprised by a herd of up to nine elephants.

The others managed to run away but 26-year-old Muhamad Adnan Iberahim was trampled and died instantly.

Mr Patah said this was the first such death recorded with the department in six years, even though wild elephants roam freely in the forest reserve.

Sightings of elephants in populated areas of Kelantan are rising because of habitat destruction.

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=155465822

Elephants on drunken rampage kill three people

Village left reeling after around 70 elephants destroyed 60 homes after feasting on hooch produced locally for a festival


Binge-drinking elephants, drunk on local hooch, have killed three people and destroyed 60 homes in a four-day rampage in east India.


Yesterday they were reported by local officials to be sleeping off hangovers as shocked communities tried to clear the wreckage left by the 70-strong herd in remote villages on the borders of the states of Orissa and West Bengal.

With a local festival approaching, villagers had stockpiled the fermented-rice based drink which is stored in earthenware vessels and, according to Bijay Kumar Panda, a local administrator, the elephants found and drank it.

They then staggered through the surrounding area and began "to fall asleep hither and thither, throwing life completely haywire".

According to the Pioneer newspaper, the "jumbos" are known "for their love of local country-made brews" which they "gulp down and make merry at the expense of the villagers".

Elephant experts say such incidents are becoming more common. With pristine forest increasingly rare, especially in the area where this latest incident occurred, Indian elephants no longer avoid contact with humans, said Dr Amirtharaj Williams, Asian rhino and elephant programme co-ordinator for the World Wildlife Fund. "These herds are effectively semi-urbanised. There are elephants who are getting a taste for food that humans prepare because it is tastier, stronger-smelling and often more nutritious and that includes rice- or molasses-based drinks. Some go looking for it."

Around 400 people are killed each year by elephants in India and nearly a million hectares of farmland damaged.

Around 100 elephants are killed by villagers each year.

India's booming population and economic growth have placed the historic grazing lands of elephants under enormous pressure. To avoid exhausting fodder in one area, the herds migrate. Attempts to create safe corridors for the animals' travel have foundered on bureaucratic sloth and lack of enforcement.

In September seven elephants were killed by a speeding goods train.

Latest estimates put India's elephant population at around 21,000 – the largest in Asia. About half of these are found in north-eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.


Jason Burke guardian.co.uk,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/03/elephants-drunken-rampage-india

Elephants on drunken rampage kill three people

Village left reeling after around 70 elephants destroyed 60 homes after feasting on hooch produced locally for a festival


Binge-drinking elephants, drunk on local hooch, have killed three people and destroyed 60 homes in a four-day rampage in east India.


Yesterday they were reported by local officials to be sleeping off hangovers as shocked communities tried to clear the wreckage left by the 70-strong herd in remote villages on the borders of the states of Orissa and West Bengal.

With a local festival approaching, villagers had stockpiled the fermented-rice based drink which is stored in earthenware vessels and, according to Bijay Kumar Panda, a local administrator, the elephants found and drank it.

They then staggered through the surrounding area and began "to fall asleep hither and thither, throwing life completely haywire".

According to the Pioneer newspaper, the "jumbos" are known "for their love of local country-made brews" which they "gulp down and make merry at the expense of the villagers".

Elephant experts say such incidents are becoming more common. With pristine forest increasingly rare, especially in the area where this latest incident occurred, Indian elephants no longer avoid contact with humans, said Dr Amirtharaj Williams, Asian rhino and elephant programme co-ordinator for the World Wildlife Fund. "These herds are effectively semi-urbanised. There are elephants who are getting a taste for food that humans prepare because it is tastier, stronger-smelling and often more nutritious and that includes rice- or molasses-based drinks. Some go looking for it."

Around 400 people are killed each year by elephants in India and nearly a million hectares of farmland damaged.

Around 100 elephants are killed by villagers each year.

India's booming population and economic growth have placed the historic grazing lands of elephants under enormous pressure. To avoid exhausting fodder in one area, the herds migrate. Attempts to create safe corridors for the animals' travel have foundered on bureaucratic sloth and lack of enforcement.

In September seven elephants were killed by a speeding goods train.

Latest estimates put India's elephant population at around 21,000 – the largest in Asia. About half of these are found in north-eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.


Jason Burke guardian.co.uk,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/03/elephants-drunken-rampage-india

Two tuskers killed in Sri Lankan centre of human / elephant conflict

Left to suffocate under his own weight

December 2010: These shocking pictures capture the moment an elephant suffocated to death in Sri Lanka, after a disastrous attempt to move it - the first of two untimely elephant deaths in the country in just a few days.

The area has long had problems with human/elephant conflict - and although normally peaceful, the tusker had behaved violently two days previously, killing two people and wounding two more, one of whom is in serious condition.

It was under these circumstances that the Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) felt compelled to act, by translocating the elephant to an area further away from towns and villages.

Having been captured in the town of Thabuttegama in Sri Lanka's central province, the animal fell as it was manouevred into the truck, with its right leg breaking the floor of the vehicle. The elephant, known as Deerga Dantu - literally translating to ‘Long Teeth' - because of its impressive tusks, fell on its left fore limb. His own weight caused huge pressure to thoracic cavity.

He should have been freed immediately
Although the immediate response would normally be to cut the rope and free him, this was in the heart of the town, and, concerned about safety, the DWLC decided to drive the elephant to a nearby reservoir, without moving him from the truck or releasing the pressure on his body. It was not until he reached the reservoir that the ropes were finally cut. However, trapped by the truck and unable to free his leg, the elephant still couldn't stand and eventually died, suffocated by his own weight.


Srilal Miththapala, the man masterminding the search for Walawe Raja, the missing tusker from Udawalawe National Park, says the death is an outrage. ‘In spite of repeated calls from renowned elephant scientists that translocation is not a solution to the human elephant conflict, the Department of Wildlife and Conservation continues with this short-sighted quick-fix solution.

A very gruesome and untimely death
‘With inadequately trained personnel, and poor resources, translocation of such large animals are always fraught with danger and in this case resulted in a very gruesome, untimely and totally unwarranted death of one of the already rapidly dwindling tuskers in Sri Lanka.

‘We have a rapidly dwindling wild elephant population of a distinct sub species elephas elephas maximus found only in our country, with a very minute percentage of that being tuskers. Very soon the available gene pool will be lost, and there will be no tuskers, and after that, in a short space of time, no wild elephants.'


He added: ‘There are many vets in the DWLC who are working under very trying circumstances with meagre resources. But this tusker was arguably the finest animal in the wild and should have been handled with much more care and importance.'

Elephant electrocuted and set on fire
Just as Wildlife Extra was preparing to post this story, Srilal sent through another picture - this time showing the body of an elephant being burnt.

‘This is another tragic death in the Gomagala/ Hambegamuwa area.' he says. Although mystery surrounds the cause of the animal's death, Srilal adds: ‘The carcass of a mature bull elephant had been hastily set on fire, raising suspicions of how the elephant really died. It is reported that the animal had been electrocuted by a home-made contraption carrying 230 volts instead of the low voltage.'

Wildlife Extra attempted to contact the DWLC for its comments on the deaths, but was unable to get a reply.


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/elephant-kill.html

Two tuskers killed in Sri Lankan centre of human / elephant conflict

Left to suffocate under his own weight

December 2010: These shocking pictures capture the moment an elephant suffocated to death in Sri Lanka, after a disastrous attempt to move it - the first of two untimely elephant deaths in the country in just a few days.

The area has long had problems with human/elephant conflict - and although normally peaceful, the tusker had behaved violently two days previously, killing two people and wounding two more, one of whom is in serious condition.

It was under these circumstances that the Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) felt compelled to act, by translocating the elephant to an area further away from towns and villages.

Having been captured in the town of Thabuttegama in Sri Lanka's central province, the animal fell as it was manouevred into the truck, with its right leg breaking the floor of the vehicle. The elephant, known as Deerga Dantu - literally translating to ‘Long Teeth' - because of its impressive tusks, fell on its left fore limb. His own weight caused huge pressure to thoracic cavity.

He should have been freed immediately
Although the immediate response would normally be to cut the rope and free him, this was in the heart of the town, and, concerned about safety, the DWLC decided to drive the elephant to a nearby reservoir, without moving him from the truck or releasing the pressure on his body. It was not until he reached the reservoir that the ropes were finally cut. However, trapped by the truck and unable to free his leg, the elephant still couldn't stand and eventually died, suffocated by his own weight.


Srilal Miththapala, the man masterminding the search for Walawe Raja, the missing tusker from Udawalawe National Park, says the death is an outrage. ‘In spite of repeated calls from renowned elephant scientists that translocation is not a solution to the human elephant conflict, the Department of Wildlife and Conservation continues with this short-sighted quick-fix solution.

A very gruesome and untimely death
‘With inadequately trained personnel, and poor resources, translocation of such large animals are always fraught with danger and in this case resulted in a very gruesome, untimely and totally unwarranted death of one of the already rapidly dwindling tuskers in Sri Lanka.

‘We have a rapidly dwindling wild elephant population of a distinct sub species elephas elephas maximus found only in our country, with a very minute percentage of that being tuskers. Very soon the available gene pool will be lost, and there will be no tuskers, and after that, in a short space of time, no wild elephants.'


He added: ‘There are many vets in the DWLC who are working under very trying circumstances with meagre resources. But this tusker was arguably the finest animal in the wild and should have been handled with much more care and importance.'

Elephant electrocuted and set on fire
Just as Wildlife Extra was preparing to post this story, Srilal sent through another picture - this time showing the body of an elephant being burnt.

‘This is another tragic death in the Gomagala/ Hambegamuwa area.' he says. Although mystery surrounds the cause of the animal's death, Srilal adds: ‘The carcass of a mature bull elephant had been hastily set on fire, raising suspicions of how the elephant really died. It is reported that the animal had been electrocuted by a home-made contraption carrying 230 volts instead of the low voltage.'

Wildlife Extra attempted to contact the DWLC for its comments on the deaths, but was unable to get a reply.


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/elephant-kill.html

Elephant ultrasound

Elephant maternity image

November 2010. With a tiny trunk already visible, this incredible image of an elephant in utero shows George, ZSL Whipsnade Zoo's new arrival, 19 months before he was born. Seen here at approximately 3 months into its 22-month pregnancy, the elephant embryo is clearly visible using 3D ultrasound scanners.

Ultrasound scans are carried out throughout the pregnancy, much like with humans, to monitor the health and well-being of mum and baby.

Now 6 months old, George weighs around 60 stone and is a boisterous member of the herd of Asian elephants at the Zoo in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/elephant-ultrasound.html