Elephant numbers are surging in southern Africa, with fewer natural predators, reduced hunting pressure and feeding by farmers and tourist operators. While this is good for elephants, it’s making life harder for humans who live near them. These huge herbivores can raid crops and destroy large trees in national parks with impunity, causing problems for […]
Tag: forest elephant
World’s smallest living elephants listed as Endangered on Red List
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 […]
Certified timber harvesting of tropical forests proves beneficial for gorillas and elephants
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified timber harvesting areas in Gabon and Congo boast a greater abundance of larger mammals, such as leopards, gorillas, and elephants, than non-FSC forests. Utrecht University researcher Joeri Zwerts and colleagues conclude this based on 1.3 million camera trap images gathered in fourteen commercially exploited forests. The researchers’ analysis reveals the effectiveness […]
A New Species…
The African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) has only been considered to be a separate species for just over two years. Initially thought to be a sub-species of Loxodonta africana, the African Bush Elephant, several features distinguish the two. Straighter, harder ivory; a longer mandible; rounder ears; a longer tail; and an additional toenail on each […]
Pink Ivory…
The distinctive yellow/pink ivory of this Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is just one of the differences within the three species of elephant still surviving on the planet. Somewhere in the forests of the Republic of the Congo.