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Tag: Elephant

  • Satao The Elephant Killed By Poachers

    The Tsavo Trust, a not-for-profit organization located in Kenya, informed the public on Friday that one of their largest and oldest bull elephants was killed by poachers.

    The elephant’s name was Satao, and he was thought to have been born in the 1960s. Satao had tusks that weighed nearly 100 pounds each, which made him a target for ivory poachers. The Trust revealed that Satao was shot with a poisoned arrow on May 30, and his carcass was found on June 2. However, it wasn’t until Friday that the group made the official identification.

    The Tsavo Trust released the following statement regarding Satao’s death:

    With great sadness, we report the death of Satao, one of Tsavo’s most iconic and well-loved tuskers. This magnificent elephant was widely known in Tsavo East National Park, where he was observed with awe by many thousands of Tsavo’s visitors over the years.

    No longer will Tsavo and Kenya benefit from his mighty presence. Satao was shot dead by poisoned arrow on 30th May 2014. The arrow had entered his left flank and he stood no chance of survival. We spotted his carcass on 2nd June but to avoid any potential false alarms, we first took pains to verify the carcass really was his. Today it is with enormous regret that we confirm there is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far off countries. A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket on their mantelpiece.

    Satao was previously the target of poachers when they attempted to kill him with another poisoned arrow in March. Wildlife filmmaker Mark Deeble believed Satao knew that he was a prime target, and tried to keep his tusks out of view as much as possible.

    “I wondered if my interpretation of his behavior was fanciful, just a filmmaker’s frustration at not being able to get a clear view,” Deeble said, “but whenever we saw him, he tried to hide his tusks and I am convinced that it was deliberate.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Circus Elephant Returns After Being Shot

    Circus Elephant Returns After Being Shot

    Carol the elephant was shot by an unknown assailant in 2013. She has since recovered and returned to the circus to entertain and delight children and adults of all ages.

    The circumstances of Carol’s shooting are somewhat mysterious and there have been no arrests or suspects named in the crime. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots at 2 a.m. on April 9, 2013, then saw a white SUV speed away from the parking lot.

    When it was discovered that Carol had been shot, the police were notified and a $33,750 reward was and is still being offered for any information about the shooting or shooters that leads to an arrest.

    The shooting has caused the Circus to take better security precautions. The elephants were once kept out in an open pen at night and when they were not performing in the circus. The circus now pulls semi-trucks around the pen to keep the animals hidden from view and to make it harder for intruders to harm them.

    Carol has recovered well and a small scar near her shoulder is the only sign that the elephant was shot. Although Carol has recovered, the case is still open and police officers are hoping they will find the person responsible for harming the elephant.

    “The case is still being investigated,” Tupelo Police Lt. Jerry Davis said. “Detectives are still working on it; we just do not have any new information to follow up on at this time.”

    Carol enjoys performing at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus and her caretakers believe that she has no memory of the shooting or injury.

    “She doesn’t understand that somebody tried to maliciously hurt her; she doesn’t understand that. She just had a little boo-boo; we fixed it right away,” her handler Cathy Carden said.

    The police are asking anyone with information related to the shooting to come forward.

    Why do you think someone would shoot a circus elephant?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Paul McCartney & PETA Work to Rescue Elephant

    Paul McCartney headed a campaign to rescue an elephant from a temple in India after a trip there in 2012.

    He saw 14-year-old Sunder being obviously mistreated at Jyotiba temple and, with the help of Maharashtra State’s forest department and India’s Project Elephant, arranged his transport to a sanctuary.

    It would have been really nice for Sunder who already suffered from numerous scars, an eye injury and a hole in his ear, if all had gone as planned. But it didn’t.

    Investigation by an animal rights group in February yielded video of Sunder being treated worse than before. He had apparently simply been moved to a chicken shack with no bedding and insufficient shelter to keep out the harsh sun during the day and the cold night wind. He was also shackled so tightly that he couldn’t lay down, according to Yahoo.

    A following investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals provided video to back up those claims. They also gathered photos and video showing the still-young elephant in a malnourished state, being beaten and severely mistreated by his handler.

    The video shows Sunder “writhing in pain and struggling to stand as the mahout (handler) strikes him repeatedly,” said PETA director of veterinary affairs, Dr. Manilal Valliyate. “Sunder visibly recoils in fear from the weapon-wielding mahout, who continues to threaten him with violence after he has stood.”

    You can see PETA’s video here, but please be aware, it’s hard to watch:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BOWXPyQiMw&noredirect=1

    In August, he made an angry escape attempt including pulling down a heavy pillar to which he was tied with strong ropes and ransacking local retail shops, according to PETA’s website. They say it was a desperate flight to try to gain his freedom to enjoy what is remaining of his life.

    Hopefully India, a country ironically noted for holding the elephant as sacred, will be spurred to do more to see that this poor elephant is put somewhere safe and far away from the handlers and temples which have treated him so cruelly.

    Image Via PETA

  • Paul McCartney: Elephant Not Rescued After All

    An elephant that was believed to be rescued by ex-Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, has been found abused in a shack.

    In 2012 McCartney made a trip to India. While on that trip he met Sunder, an elephant that had been abused by his handlers at Jyotiba Temple south of Mumbai. McCartney was so moved by the 14-year-old Sunder that he organized a campaign to rescue the elephant.

    By the time McCartney met Sunder, the elephant had an eye injury, a hole in his ear, and multiple scars all over his body. Sunder had spent six years in the city of Kolhapur at the temple after being donated by a local politician.

    After working and making agreements with the Maharashtra State’s forest department and an Indian government organization called Project Elephant, McCartney believed Sunder would be moved to a sanctuary, but a recent investigation found Sunder living in a shack.

    Not only did an animal rights group investigation find Sunder living in a chicken shack being shackled in chains that were so heavy he couldn’t lay down to sleep, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) captured video of the elephant being beaten by his handlers and looking malnourished. You can see for yourself in the video below.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BOWXPyQiMw

    PETA director of veterinary affairs, Dr. Manilal Valliyate said Sunder had been seen “writhing in pain and struggling to stand as the mahout (handler) strikes him repeatedly. Sunder visibly recoils in fear from the weapon-wielding mahout, who continues to threaten him with violence after he has stood.”

    The investigation performed by PETA found that the shack Sunder has been confined to is open on three sides, allowing the harsh heat of the sun during the day and the cold wind and weather at night to abuse the elephant. They also found that there is no bedding for Sunder in the shack.

    Image via YouTube.

  • Elephants Run Rampant in St. Louis

    Elephants Run Rampant in St. Louis

    During a Shriners Circus show Saturday at a multipurpose arena near St. Louis, Missouri, three elephants were spooked by a loud noise, and took off into the parking lot.

    The three female pachyderms escaped their handlers during the “ride-an-elephant” segment of the Moolah Shrine event at the Family Arena in St. Charles, though no one was on top of any of them when the incident occurred.

    Witness Sally Schmiz commented, “Things started shaking, When I looked up I saw three elephants coming toward us. These huge elephants litterally went through these huge RVs. Then they went through two trucks breaking mirrors off, and panels off and breaking the windows.”

    No one was injured during the escape, and the elephants’ handlers were quickly able to corral them. Dennis Kelley, President of Moolah Shriners Circus, said, “The elephants were loose for a brief period. The handlers were able to occupy the animals and they are resting comfortably at this time.”

    Circus elephants tend to like to make a run for it, and the St. Louis incident is not at all unprecedented. Here an elephant takes off from a gig in Ireland:

    The use of elephants in circuses has been a controversial subject – the United States Humane Society has accused circuses of abusing and traumatizing their animals. During his testimony to a U.S. federal court in 2009, Barnum & Bailey Circus CEO Kenneth Feld admitted that circus elephants are beaten behind their ears, under their chins and on their legs with bull hooks. Feld explained that these practices are in place to protect the trainers.

    In a statement a Shriners spokesperson commented, “The elephants were loose on the parking lot for a brief period. And they are resting comfortably at this time. That’s the only statement I have.” The circus continued, and the errant elephants were back to work on Sunday.

    Witness Schmiz added, “Thank God no children were on top of them for rides, or adults too. You could tell they were upset.”

    Image via YouTube.

  • Thai Elephant Attack, Tourist Trampled To Death

    Authorities in Thailand continue their investigation into the death of a woman whose body was found by Thai park rangers on January 18th. The woman has since been identified as Lily Glidden of Freeville, NY. She was 24-years-old.

    Glidden was a 2012 graduate of Tufts University where she majored in Biology. She was known for her interest in animals and the outdoors.

    Representatives of Tufts University said the institution was, “saddened to learn of the death of Lily Glidden.”

    “We extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of this talented young woman.”

    Glidden was last seen at the campground in Kaeng Krachan National Park, located in the Phetchaburi province. Her body was found five days later.

    Given the severity of the injuries to her body, authorities in Thailand felt that elephants were likely responsible. Police Col. Woradet Suanklaai said that police felt that she had gone to look for elephants to photograph.

    “Looking at the pictures she took in her camera, we see a lot of animals, birds, snakes, lizards. We assumed she wanted to take pictures of elephants because that’s what the Kaeng Krachan National Park is famous for.”

    In a statement reported by NBC News, the family of Glidden said that she was, “very aware of the dangers of working with wildlife and not a person to court foolish risks, particularly where animals were involved.”

    Whether this statement implies the belief that foul play was involved has not been determined, though those who knew her do not believe she would take an encounter with an animal as unpredictable and potentially dangerous as an elephant lightly.

    Glidden was an experienced hiker and reportedly knew how to respond to chance encounters with dangerous animals. Says her family, “[Glidden had] an educated and dedicated respect for the natural world”.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Zimbabwe Elephant Poacher Sentenced to 15 Years

    A Zimbabwe court sentenced a poacher to more than 15 years in prison on Wednesday, for poisoning and killing elephants with cyanide. The conviction was the fourth concerning the poisoning in a month, and the accused still faces charges for cyanide possession and for contravening environmental laws.

    The Hwange court also found Akim Masuku, 26, guilty of illegal possession of ivory, handing down a total jail term of 15-and-a-half years, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority said in a statement. Zimbabwean poachers had poisoned roughly 100 elephants in Hwange national park, which holds one of the world’s largest herds.

    “One hundred elephants have died in Hwange National Park due to cyanide poisoning and 12 people have since been arrested and four have been convicted and sentenced,” a representative of Hwange national park said in a statement.

    A Masuku accomplice, Norma Ncube, 18, is set to stand trial on October 30. The three other poachers also convicted in the poisoning were also sentenced to at least 15 years, and were fined $600,000.

    Park officials have given area villages until the end of October to hand over any cyanide that’s laying around, or possibly risk arrest themselves.

    Many cyanides are highly toxic, though the most hazardous compound is of the hydrogen variety. People have used hydrogen cyanide on other people for ages, and fisherman around the world use it in the controversial practice of cyanide fishing. Essentially, it’s extremely nasty stuff.

    Zimbabwean environment minister Saviour Kasukuwere stated, “we are declaring war on the poachers – We are responding with all our might because our wildlife, including the elephants they are killing, are part of the natural resources and wealth that we want to benefit the people of Zimbabwe.”

    Elephant tusks and other body parts are highly sought after in Asia and the Middle East for ornamental and traditional medicine use.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Elephant Kills Zookeeper In Missouri

    Elephant Kills Zookeeper In Missouri

    An elephant has reportedly showed its aggression and killed the zookeeper that was working with her, in a zoo in Missouri. Patience, an elephant that has a history of aggression toward handlers, attacked and crushed her keeper on Friday morning. The keeper was a veteran at the zoo, and died in an unavoidable incident, when Patience decided to charge at him and crushed him to death. The shocking event happened in a matter of seconds.

    John Phillip Bradford was the keeper working with the group of elephants at the time, and as the manager of the elephants at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri, when Patience charged at him, for an unknown reason. Other zookeepers working with Bradford quickly worked to pull the elephant away from him, whose actions were consistent with zoo policies, stated Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for the city, which runs the zoo. Scott also reported that Patience had been showing actions that were “hesitant and submissive” since the death of the herd’s matriarch, who died on October 4th, after suffering from kidney disease.

    The zoo officials have said that the elephant will not be punished for the incident. Working with wild animals of any kind can always be aa challenge, and especially with a big animal like an elephent, the danger is always there. In fact, according to a report that Time Magazine put out in 2007, more than 500 people die from elephant attacks worldwide each year. This is not the only incident in elephant related aggression in zoos that has occurred recently, following an attack by a mother to her newborn baby at a zoo in China in September.

    Bradford was 62 years old, and attacked by an older elephant, 41 years of age. Patience is an Asian elephant who has been at the zoo since 1990. He had worked at the zoo for 30 years, and the news of his death came as a huge shock to all of his colleagues, after such a long career there. The Chicago Tribune mentions that since 1984, 13 people have been injured in incidents involving elephants at zoos and other facilities nationwide, 10 of them fatally. However, this is the first incident that has involved the Dickerson Park Zoo.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpY5sJh40RY

    Image via Youtube

  • Kenya Seizes Ivory, Cuts Off Terrorist Funding

    Kenyan customs officers in Mombasa have seized almost four tons of elephant ivory in two separate shipments Wednesday, amid a spike in poaching of the animals. The illicit ivory trade on the black market has been discovered to help fund terrorism.

    Kenya Revenue Authority official Fatma Yusuf said that one cache of ivory weighing roughly 4,200 pounds was found Friday, under a bag of sesame seeds in the port city of Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean. On Tuesday, another 4,400 pounds was found disguised in a similar manner. Both stockpiles were scheduled to be shipped to Turkey.

    Ivory poaching has been on the rise – Zimbabwean poachers recently poisoned 87 elephants with cyanide in Hwange national park, which holds one of the world’s largest herds. Zimbabwean environment minister Saviour Kasukuwere said that park rangers and police have recovered 19 tusks, cyanide and wire snares, while searching villages close to the park.

    The Kenyan seizures are indicative of the poaching of several, if not hundreds, of elephants. Also found in the Mombasa raid was 1,000 pounds of pangolin scales. Pangolins are anteaters and the only mammal known to be covered in armor made of keratin. The scales are used in Chinese traditional medicine, similar to the way rhinoceros horns are used, and as fashion accessories in Asia.

    Kenya Wildlife Service director Arthur Tudor said searches at Mombasa were being increased in a bid to stop smugglers. “We want to ensure that our port is not used as a transit point of ivory,” he said, adding, “We have to step up the war on poachers to completely wipe out the ivory trade – it is threatening elephant populations in the country and entire region.”

    Ivory trade is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Black market ivory generates up to $10 billion a year, and is mostly fostered by clients in Asia and the Middle East. It’s also been suggested that poaching has helped to fund the terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Zimbabwe Poachers Poison 87 Elephants

    Zimbabwean poachers have poisoned 87 elephants with cyanide in Hwange national park, which holds one of the world’s largest herds. Zimbabwean environment minister Saviour Kasukuwere said that park rangers and police have recovered 19 tusks, cyanide and wire snares, while searching villages close to the park. The poachers went after the ivory while authorities were preoccupied with the general election in Zimbabwe on July 31, and the elephants have been dying in the past few weeks.

    Many cyanides are highly toxic, though the most hazardous compound is of the hydrogen variety. People have used hydrogen cyanide on other people for ages, and fisherman around the world use it in the controversial practice of cyanide fishing. Essentially, it’s extremely nasty stuff.

    Kasukuwere states, “we are declaring war on the poachers – We are responding with all our might because our wildlife, including the elephants they are killing, are part of the natural resources and wealth that we want to benefit the people of Zimbabwe.” Hwange holds roughly 80,000 elephants, and the recently elected Kasukuwere is calling for stiffer penalties for ivory poaching.

    African bush elephants are of the genus Loxodonta (Greek for ‘oblique-sided tooth’), with ancestors who developed during the middle Pliocene Epoch. The bush variety is the largest living terrestrial animal, and the largest individual on record stood 13.1 feet at the shoulder, and weighed 10 tons. African elephants are highly intelligent – among the world’s most intelligent species. Their brains are larger than that of any other land animal, and elephants display behaviors associated with learning, grief, cooperation, self-awareness, art and compassion, on a level considered to be equal to that of primates and cetaceans.

    Zimbabwe, which once had a booming tourism industry, is trying to bounce back after years of decline due to destructive economic policies at the hand of long-standing president Robert Mugabe. Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party were again re-elected in July, so Zimbabwe will likely have to wait a little while for its proposed “Disneyland in Africa.”

    Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

  • Baby Elephant Cries After Being Rejected By Mother

    A baby elephant was recently attacked and abandoned by his own mother at a zoo in China, causing him to cry for hours. Who knew that was even possible? No one is able to tell why, but it appears that the mother was trying to kill her baby, and the zookeepers were forced to keep it away from its mother.

    In this case, it is good that the elephants were in the safety of a zoo, because if they were in the wild, who knows what would have happened to the baby elephant. Several pictures were taken showing tears streaming down from his eyes and down his face.

    The elephant’s name is Little Zhuangzhuang and he seems to be doing much better now. It was originally thought that what the mother did was an accident, which would be the hope if something like this happens shortly after a baby’s birth. They were unfortunately wrong and figured out this sad fact after cleaning up Little Zhuangzhuang and treating his injuries, before returning him to his mother. She was having none of this, and continued to stomp on him, injuring the elephant further, says the NY Daily News. The mother refused to comfort her baby in a surprising act, which is scary to see. The keepers were forced to step in once more and permanently remove the baby from his mother.

    There were a number of pictures taken of the elephant as it continued to cry, after being abused by its mother. He was stepped on just after being born at the Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Nature Reserve in Rongcheng, China. He was recently adopted by an employee of the nature reserve and is doing better now.

    The University of California, Santa Barbara has been studying the question of whether elephants can actually cry and that it seems to depend on what definition we are using for crying. The main part of their finding involves whether or not elephants are able to express emotions and with this instance especially, it appears that they can. According to The Huffington Post, elephants are able to express joy when playing and greeting others by trumpeting and flapping their ears. They have also been known to mourn the dead by touching the bones or circling the body.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-PmeDeaBZU

    What a tragedy, let’s hope something like this does not happen again.

    Image via Youtube

  • Nike Elephant Shoe is the Company’s Largest Ever

    It’s a given that the seven-foot-tall stars in the NBA have Nike shoes that are huge. None of them, however, compare to the largest shoe that Nike ever made.

    Early this month, Nike PR Director Heidi Burgett tweeted out a couple of pics of the shoe, which she stated belonged to an elephant. Nike made the shoe, which has both buckles and laces, as a corrective shoe for an elephant that had one short leg. There was a pink version of the iconic Nike ‘swoosh’ on the side of the shoe, but the elephant quite obviously wore the shoe out:

  • Baby Elephant Rescue Is Your Who’s Chopping Onions Video of the Day

    What did you do today? Because these people pulled a baby elephant out of a well and reunited it with its mom.

    The group is the Amboseli Trust for Elephants and this is the best animal-related video you’ll see all week.

    “We rescued this young eight months old calf early this week. Luckily the report came in early in the morning and we were able to get there quick before the mother was forced to leave by herders arriving to water their cattle. It was a happy ending as we were able to reunite the calf with her mother,” says ATE.

    Check it out:

    According to their site, the ATE “aims to ensure the long-term conservation and welfare of Africa’s elephants in the context of human needs and pressures through scientific research, training, community outreach, public awareness and advocacy.” You can make a donation to their cause here.

    [Amboseli Trust for Elephants via reddit]

  • Elephant Plays With A Samsung Galaxy Note [Video]

    The intelligence of elephants never ceases to amaze me. How they seem to grasp things that only humans do is unimaginable. In these sets of videos, we see Peter the elephant playing with a widely popular Samsung Galaxy Note. The video shows Peter playing some piano, choosing music to listen to, even going as far as to draw a picture of another elephant with the stylus pen.

    Samsung wanted to make sure that people don’t start to doubt that any of this video is real, so they also released 2 other ‘behind the scenes” videos showing a little bit of Peter playing the drums and playing the piano. These extra videos are unedited and fairly raw. I think the main video is cool and the only part i doubted was the drawing, but then they panned out and dang, this is real!

    Here is the “commercial’:

    Here is the unedited piece with Peter playing drums:

    Here is the unedited piece with Peter playing piano:

    (image)@ANshrikant
    AN SRIKANTH    Watch Peter the Elephant playing with apps on Samsung galaxy Note! View the videos at http://t.co/oQoC5vom(image) 39 minutes ago via Su.pr ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@KevinGilmartin
    Kevin Gilmartin    I can’t decide if this video of an elephant using a Samsung Galaxy Note is fake or not: http://t.co/I1s2rYFb(image) 32 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@thisiswafiy
    Abdul Wafiy Baha    peter the elephant plays with the samsung galaxy note! 😀(image) 13 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto