To witness an injured or dying baby elephant at the hands of poachers can turn ones life around. Their work at HERD, Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development Elephant Orphanage, is meant to save the lives of elephants not watch them slowly fade away. But sometimes the little elephants are too badly hurt and they are … Continue reading »
“We must urgently put an end to poaching and ensure that sufficient suitable habitat for both forest and savanna elephants is conserved.” This piece of cautionary advice was delivered by Dr Bruno Oberle, Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that compiles the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species which brings … Continue reading »
Location of abused elephants: Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh, India Indian Elephants Abused by: “Whippings… and beatings### with 5 foot bamboo canes” leaving the pachyderms ‘screaming in agony’. Starvation & Confinement: Skeletal* baby elephants either chained or placed in cages to detain them. Elephants being forced to give rides** to humans. Mahouts allowing as … Continue reading »
This bull elephant, Karnan, who had once worked as a temple elephant in Thrissur, Kerala, Indiais safe now thanks to the elephant charity Voice For Asian Elephants Society (VFAES). But the suffering he has endured at the hands of humans (mahouts) that domination, will, for Karnan or any Asian elephant, never be forgotten. To watch … Continue reading »
The young African elephant looks almost angelic as if peacefully asleep until one is jarred into reality by the small bullet hole, trickling blood, in a direct center hit on her face. Almost immediately one’s attention is focused on the awkward position of her body, front legs tucked under and head butted up against a … Continue reading »
Villagers in the town of Bishnupur, India have been photographed hurtling firebombs at confused herds of elephants . (Elephants who recently roamed these areas as part of their natural habitat.) This in an effort to keep the massive pachyderms from destroying crops and creating havoc on their encroached land. Humans are seen chaotically standing side-by-side, shouting … Continue reading »
“Dozens of Sumatran elephants have been killed in recent years,” the result of human-elephant conflict. In July 2018 another female elephant, age 10, was discovered dead in the “Jambo Reuhat village in North Aceh” in Sumatra (again on a palm oil plantation, the deforestation of which continues to deplete an elephant’s natural habitat & at … Continue reading »
To picture the magnificence of an elephant one need only look to the beauty of the African bull elephant known as a Tusker. They are remarkable not only for their massive size but for their “impressive tusks” which all but touch the ground. For this reason Tuskers have become the iconic symbol of the elephant, even … Continue reading »
It was only a year ago when a photograph was circulating around the world wide web; that of an elephant standing in the wild sporting bright pink tusks. This stirred the senses, of course, and required a double take. It also begged the question; was this really happening as an elephant conservation effort? Was this … Continue reading »
For those of us who have been a part of the Elephant Family family, and receiving their “e-news” letters, one can only reveal that a recent email shocked us to the core. Asian elephants in the country of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) are now not only the target of poachers for their ivory. Asian … Continue reading »