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New research from a team of Canadian anthropologists is suggesting a famously debunked story about drunken elephants may have a kernel of truth in it after all. The researchers investigated a number of mammals for the presence of a genetic mutation linked to enhanced ethanol metabolism, finding very few animals actually have the ability to quickly process alcohol. Back in 2005 a team of biologists from the University of Bristol purported to debunk a common amusing anecdote. The oft-told story recounted African elephants seeking out fallen fruit from the malura tree. The naturally sweet fruit is known to ferment quickly...

Across the world there are now 200,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 - but a herd of elephants in China found a very fun way to make the most of people putting themselves in self-isolationSNIP And at one farm in the Yunan province, elephants too full advantage of the situation. The herd of 14 majestic beasts broke into a village in a bid to find food. However, they got a cheeky extra for their efforts when they came across a huge 30kg of corn wine. After drinking the lot the elephants were somewhat the worse for wear. Two males passed out,...

Across the world there are now 200,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 - but a herd of elephants in China found a very fun way to make the most of people putting themselves in self-isoltion Click to view Image SNIPChina was the first country to be hit by coronavirus with tens of millions placed in lockdown while authorities worked to halt its spread.And at one farm in the Yunan province, elephants took full advantage of the situation.The herd of 14 majestic beasts broke into a village in a bid to find food.However, they got a cheeky extra for their efforts when they...

Researchers in Germany have unearthed 400,000 year old wooden spears from what appears to be an ancient lake shore hunting ground stunning evidence that human ancestors systematically hunted big game much earlier than believed. The three spears, each carved from the trunk of a spruce tree, are 6 feet to more than 7 feet long. They were found with more than 10,000 animal bones, mostly from horses, including many obviously butchered. That indicates the ancient hunters were organized enough to trap horses and strong enough to kill them by throwing spears, perhaps ambushing herds that showed up for water. “There’s...

Botswana is a landlocked country which is situated in Southern Africa. It is my favourite country in the world. It is a "Wildlife Paradise" in more ways than one. It is home to the "Big Five" namely Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Elephant, and Rhino. They are called the "Big Five" because they were difficult to hunt on foot in the past. Botswana has reserved 40% of its land exclusively for wildlife. Botswana is home to many famous "National Parks" and "Game Reserves". The most famous are Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve. Chobe National Park in Northern Botswana is globally...

On Friday, actor Tom Arnold tweeted a death threat against Donald Trump Jr. Arnold had previously challenged President Donald Trump to a fistfight. Since Arnold has 250,000 followers, Secret Service warned him that this kind of inciting tweet could encourage his followers to engage in real violence. How much more so a bona fide death threat! Arnold began his attack by tweeting out a picture of Trump Jr. holding the tail of an African elephant he had killed while on safari in 2011. "This is Donald Trump Jr. He is holding the tail of a beautiful African elephant he murdered...

At around 8.15pm on September 15, 1885, Jumbo, the celebrity elephant in P.T. Barnum’s circus had finished his evening performance early in Ontario, Canada. Matthew Scott, Jumbo’s lifelong trainer began the arduous process of loading the enormous animal back into his ornate boxcar that was lacquered with crimson and gold paint and featured massive double doors in the middle to facilitate easy access for the seven ton animal celebrity. The circus handlers were under strict orders from the Grand Trunk Railroad depot not to begin loading the elephants until 9.55pm, long after a westbound express freight train was due to...

A group of Sri Lankan military and wildlife officials staged the daring rescue of two drowning wild elephants this week off of that nation’s eastern coast.

Chaminda Walakuluge said the navy mounted the 12-hour rescue after spotting the elephant struggling to stay afloat around eight kilometres (five miles) off the island's northeast coast. Divers aided by wildlife officials approached the distressed animal and tied ropes to it before towing it gently to shallow waters near the coast, where it was released late on Tuesday. Walakuluge said the animal had likely got swept into the sea while crossing the Kokkilai lagoon, a large stretch of water that lies between two areas of jungle. "They usually wade through shallow waters or even swim across to take a short...

KOCHI: The swirling multicolour LED lights that give dance floors their zing have found a totally different use in Kerala’s Wayanad district. The forest department has deployed .. Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/67016900.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst ..

Early in September, international news was awash with the claim that 87 elephants had been “killed by poachers” in Botswana. The story originated from the NGO Elephants Without Borders, which received massive publicity – and presumably donations – as a result. Even the beleaguered UK Prime Minister tweeted the story, while a petition calling for wildlife guards to be re-armed surpassed 150,000 signatures. I know a little of Botswana. A few years ago, I was declared “public enemy number one”, threatened by a government spokesman on television, and banned from the country. This was because Survival International was instrumental in...

People in Mayilattumpara, a village in southwest India, could not sleep at night. Because of habitat loss, wild elephants would enter their village to look for food, destroying crops and farmland. The villagers tried to keep the wild elephants out with electric fences, deep holes and plants believed to keep the animals away. They even tried beating drums. Nothing worked! The repeated destruction of crops led some villagers to stop farming. But the situation turned around last year. That is because residents have finally found what keeps the elephants away: honey bees. Elephants, it turns out, are afraid of loudly...

The petition to grant three Goshen elephants legal rights as “persons” was denied by a judge at Superior Court in Torrington on Tuesday, court records show. In a memorandum of decision, Judge James Bentivegna called the petition “wholly frivolous on its face in legal terms.” The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) had filed the lawsuit on Nov. 13, arguing that Beulah, Karen and Minnie — three elephants captured in the wild and now living at the Commerford Zoo in Goshen — are legal “persons” with fundamental rights and they must be released into a sanctuary. “‘Person’ is not a synonym for...

Big-game trophy decision will be announced next week but will be very hard pressed to change my mind that this horror show in any way helps conservation of Elephants or any other animal.

It’s not often that President Trump’s Twitter feed is the voice of reason and compassion, but on the issue of trophy hunting it makes more sense than his own Department of Interior. Trump put on hold the department’s initial decision to reverse an Obama-era ban and allow the importation of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. In a tweet, the president referred to trophy hunting as a “horror show.” He said he would be “very hard pressed” to conclude that such hunting advances the cause of conservation, the justification for the decision. Trump, who has publicly dissented in the past...

Conservationists who have a visceral emotional reaction to words like “carbon emissions” and “TransCanada” and “Rick Perry” rarely find themselves closely allied with President Trump’s opinions on the proper stewardship of the planet. Trump has consistently dismantled Obama-era environmental protections, using the common refrain that his administration desires to “better balance conservation strategies and policies with the equally legitimate need of creating jobs for hard-working American families.” So, some who’ve criticized Trump might have done a double take when they read one of his tweets Friday morning. The message effectively put the brakes on a new administration policy that would...

Why the elephant's survival should be important to everyone. Consider this sobering statistic: In less than a decade, the African elephant may be extinct. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in a statement Wednesday, argued that the large fees collected from permits to hunt would help fund conservation efforts—but we think there's a better way forward. Pilar Guzmán, editor in chief of Condé Nast Traveler, sat down with Chelsea Clinton last year to learn more about the Elephants Action Network—a conservation group formed by the Clinton Global Initiative in 2013—and why the elephant's survival should be important to everyone. Their...

The Trump administration plans to allow hunters to import trophies of elephants they killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia back to the United States, reversing a ban put in place by the Obama administration in 2014, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official confirmed to ABC News today. Even though elephants are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, a provision in the act allows the government to give permits to import these trophies if there is evidence that the hunting actually benefits conservation for that species. The official said they have new information from officials in Zimbabwe and Zambia...

Mali’s elephants, Africa’s northernmost herd and adapted to life in the country’s harsh desert, were in desperate need of protection. The animals live in an unforgiving landscape southeast of Timbuktu, enduring sandstorms and blistering temperatures. To survive, they trek in search of food and water across what is thought to be the biggest migratory range of their species, more than 12,400 square miles. But it wasn’t only climate change endangering the elephants. It was also poachers. They were being slaughtered in staggering numbers as ivory traffickers took advantage of a security vacuum in the region, with 163 killed since 2012,...

New Delhi (AFP) – India’s top hunter on Friday led a shoot-to-kill pursuit of an elephant whose murderous rampage through villages has left 15 people dead. The government has turned to sharpshooter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan ahead of World Elephant Day on Saturday to hunt the animal who crushed four victims in the eastern state of Bihar in March before crossing into neighbouring Jharkhand and killing 11 more. Jharkhand’s chief forest and wildlife conservator L.R. Singh said the decision to kill the animal was made after a team failed to tranquilise and capture the elephant during a week-long mission. Singh...