Elephant News
The Philadelphia Zoo's two remaining elephants, Kallie and Bette, are being moved to the Pittsburgh Zoo's 724-acre International Conservation Center. Despite the protests, this seems like a good move, or at least a step in the right direction.
Follow-up to the reports of poisoned Sumatran elephants in my last update: the Sumatran government estimates that fifteen elephants have died of cyanide-laced fruit in the past year.
CITES (The International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species) has authorized an increase in the number of elephants Mozambique is allowed to kill annually.
Paleontologist Emmanuel Gheerbrant has discovered a 4-5kg (about the size of a rabbit) elephant ancestor, called Eritherium azzouzorum. It's one of the oldest ungulates (i.e. hoofed mammals) related to elephants. Eritherium lacked a trunk, but it had an enlarged front incisor which presaged the tusks of its modern descendants.
Follow-up to the reports of poisoned Sumatran elephants in my last update: the Sumatran government estimates that fifteen elephants have died of cyanide-laced fruit in the past year.
CITES (The International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species) has authorized an increase in the number of elephants Mozambique is allowed to kill annually.
Paleontologist Emmanuel Gheerbrant has discovered a 4-5kg (about the size of a rabbit) elephant ancestor, called Eritherium azzouzorum. It's one of the oldest ungulates (i.e. hoofed mammals) related to elephants. Eritherium lacked a trunk, but it had an enlarged front incisor which presaged the tusks of its modern descendants.