DHAKA, Bangladesh — In the early hours of July 19, a herd of wild elephants came down from the hills to a crop field located in Rangunia, in Bangladesh’s Chattogram district, in search of food. The elephants soon began damaging crops and banana orchards planted close to the forests as they foraged for food. Abdul […]
Tag: Asian Elephant
Asian Elephants Are Ingesting Large Amounts of Plastic From Landfills in India
The highly social and endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) lives in matriarch-led groups and, in addition to foods that can be found in the wild like grasses and the roots, bark and leaves of trees, enjoys foods cultivated by humans like rice and bananas, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Unfortunately, remnants of these […]
Elephant trainer lost his job after beating elephant’s head with a sharp metal rod
In a new viral video from Thailand, a teenage elephant keeper is seen striking an elephant with a spiky metal stick. His manager then grabbed the adolescent by the neck and forced him to kneel in front of the elephant. At the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace in Thailand, a worker was getting ready to give tourists […]
Elephants dying after eating plastic trash on open garbage dumps
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The issue of trash-foraging elephants in Sri Lanka was brought to national attention thanks to a tweet by Hollywood icon Leonardo DiCaprio. Local conservationists, on the other hand, have long been warning about the problem, which they claim is caused by “short-sighted, politically motivated” planning that continues to harm elephants and […]
In Sumatra, a snare trap costs a baby elephant her trunk, then her life
ACEH BESAR, Indonesia — A Sumatran elephant calf has died days after conservation officials in Indonesia amputated half of her trunk due to severe injuries from a suspected snare trap. The female calf had been found alone and severely wounded by locals in Aceh Jaya district, in northern Sumatra, and handed over to the provincial […]
The Cruelty Behind Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
When you first hear the name “Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage” it’s easy to assume it’s exactly that — an orphanage. However, Pinnawala, located in Sri Lanka, has been breeding and holding elephants captive for entertainment purposes, rather than for the welfare of the animals. A sanctuary or orphanage’s role is to hold animals captive for their […]
Giant pandas no longer endangered in the wild, China announces
Giant pandas are no longer endangered in the wild, but they are still vulnerable with a population outside captivity of 1,800, Chinese officials have said after years of conservation efforts. The head of the environment ministry’s department of nature and ecology conservation, Cui Shuhong, said the reclassification was the result of “improved living conditions and […]
Tiger habitat threatened by Malaysian royals’ mining plans
An environmental report has revealed the Malaysian royal family is requesting permission from the Department of Environment for a new iron ore mine in the middle of one of the few remaining habitats of 15 threatened animals, including the critically endangered Malayan tiger. The proposed project involves the deforestation and excavation of 60.75 hectares (150 […]