A newly confirmed elephant subspecies is already at risk of extinction. Bornean elephants have wider faces and smaller bodies than other Asian elephants. Standing just 2.5 meters tall, they narrowly beat the African forest elephant to the title of the smallest living elephant. Though they were first named in 1950, disagreement over whether these mammals […]
Tag: Asian Elephant
Elephant calves have been found buried – what does that mean?
The myth of elephant graveyards has pervaded popular culture, and recent observations of buried Asian elephant calves may finally give that legend some credence. In the research published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, two scientists describe five instances where elephant calves have been found buried in a legs-upright position within irrigation trenches of tea […]
First-of-Its-Kind Handbook Helps Protect Endangered Asian Elephants From Roads and Railways
At the beginning of the 20th century, more than 100,000 Asian elephants were living in the wild. Now, it is estimated that just 52,000 remain. Among the reasons for their decline — in addition to poaching and human-elephant conflict — is the boom of newly built roads and railways, which lead to collisions, habitat loss […]
Wildlife Road Kills On The Rise in India, Shows Official Data
According to official data released by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in India, at least 10 tigers and 36 Asian elephants were killed by speeding vehicles or trains in the country during the three year period from 2014. These figures raise serious concerns as the wild population of tigers and elephants in […]
Western Ghats – 3rd December (Day 9)
We were up at 05:45, loaded the car and then drove to Cairn Hill Park just outside of Ooty to get better views of a couple of the endemics to be found here after our last visit on 1st December when the weather was terrible. As we entered the park there were three Black-and-Orange Flycatcher […]
Birds and Elephants
During the crazy times of flooding in Bangkok, our family decided to spend some time in higher ground and what could it be better than Khao Yai, with the National Park of the same name which is a World’s Heritage Site from Unesco and a paradise of wildlife and with my good friend Guide A, […]