Coerced by a human trainer perched upon their backs (& adamantly “tugging on their ears“) female Asian elephants at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chon Buri, Thailand are forced to perform in swimming tanks. With the crowds cheering them on the elephants dive, completely submerging themselves underwater. Upon surfacing the elephants bob their heads … Continue reading »
Despite what Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny has to say (that Happy is happy) Happy the elephant, brought up in the confines of The Bronx Zoo since 1977, cannot possibly express that sentiment regarding her enclosure which provides the pachyderm with “far less than even 1 percent of the space she would roam in the … Continue reading »
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how narrow or shallow the ditch, if you’re stuck, you’re stuck. Fortunately this little Asian elephant found that there are still kind humans left in this world to lend support to send one on its way. A recent elephant rescue in India, on video, proved just that. Distraught at the inability to … Continue reading »
Memorable Moments First Encounter Initiated by the Elephants, As Nana and Baby Mandla Stood at the Boma Fence. “…suddenly I felt sheathed in a sense of contentment. Despite standing just a pace from this previously foul-tempered wild animal who until now would have liked nothing better than to kill me, I had never felt safer. … Continue reading »
DON’T MISS THIS: ch. 14 Frankie & the Four Wheeler “I involuntarily sat down on the bike and looked up at the crinkled underside of Frankie’s throat in petrified wonder.” ch. 17 Nana’s & the Herd’s First Visit to the House, at 2am! Of Nana: “I doubt whether many people have had a ten-foot five-ton … Continue reading »
Of Urgent Concern: A resurgence of interest, in the past couple of years, in lifting the ivory ban, has been voiced among 3 southern African countries (Namibia, Zimbabwe & South Africa), partly in response to Asia’s continuing call for ivory (used for meaningless trinkets). This is just one of the threats (including global warming & … Continue reading »
Even as Dame Daphne Sheldrick so bravely fought against the breast cancer that would take her life on 12 April 2018 at age 83, she was always thinking of her elephants and how she could make it better for them. In a 14 October 2017 facebook message she spoke of the newest addition to the … Continue reading »
In the many years that Dr. Joyce Poole has spent researching & observing elephants she has always had elephant conservation utmost in her mind. Now her catalog of African elephant “signals & gestures” can be used not only to entertain but to save the lives of the endangered species as well. Together with The David … Continue reading »
It doesn’t take much for an African baby elephant to look cute, especially when they are starring in a wildlife PSA video. Add in a level of naughty playfulness by that same orphaned baby elephant and you have got an image on film that could never have been scripted (to help bring in donations), especially … Continue reading »
When you think of her beginnings as part of a group of 63 orphaned African elephants (a cull was ordered by the government of Zimbabwe) who were “rescued” by “eccentric millionaire Arthur Jones ” it seems fitting that Mundi should be flying on a transport plane once again. Only this time her “rescue” will be real, … Continue reading »