2021-12-04 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
The latest Add-On on website elephant.se, a section with elephant persons, has now over 500 persons, who are interlinked with locations of work. Among the last is Vietnamn most famous elephant trainer Y Thu Knul, who captured and tamed 400-500 elephants and founded Buon Don elephant village in DakLak.
2021-11-13 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
The latest addition to the Elephant Database, presenteation of elephant people is growing, now over 300 names of legandary Circus trainers, Asian Mahouts, and head elephant keepers in Zoos.
2021-10-03 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Lately, I have noticed that Zoos Facebook Pages slowly more and more are taking over Zoos educational role. The latest example is about the elephant Mala in Parc Paradisio. Mala has colic, and hundreds of comments on the zoos Facebook has put the attention to Mala. People upload pictures with candles, pray for her recover etc, as if she was a human relative or a person they had a close social connection to.
2021-04-05 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Ministry of Environment has called on residents of Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province to not disturb the wild elephants there as well as participate in their protection. The call came after a herd of 38 wild elephants was spotted and photographed by residents at the sanctuary on March 31.
2020-11-10 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Soth Koemsoeun
Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra said the Asian elephant is being severely threatened in world sanctuaries. Airavata Elephant Foundation president Chenda Clais said on November 10 that wild elephants face trapping, a lack of proper shelter and daily food in the dry season. Population growth has also fuelled the human demand for land.
2020-09-10 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Good News! The Elephant News website is working again, so far just the latest news from this year, but over 7 000 old news are stored and searchable. You can also click on the links for country, location, category, or specific year to list archived news.
2016-03-15 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Its time to step forward and give a balancing report of one of the largest scams I have witnessed in Asia, in no way, a paradise for elephants or the staff, although it has according to sources, an estimated annual income between $US 3. 650. 000 and $US 5. 475. 000 dollars.
2014-06-09 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sambo the elephant will not be allowed to return to work in Phnom Penh, because both City Hall and the Forestry Administration oppose the idea, the FA’s director-general said yesterday. The 54-year-old Sambo left the city in 2012 after decades of entertaining and giving rides to tourists at Wat Phnom, a job that left her painfully lame and in need of serious rehabilitation.
2014-05-29 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Every day, hundreds of pilgrimages to Angkor Wat come to an end without a single glimpse of a centuries-old secret, one that long ago faded into the ancient temple walls. By using digital photography and computer analysis, researchers recently discovered elaborate depictions and murals of elephants, trees, boats and Buddha that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye, erased from plain sight by years of weathering.
2014-05-28 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Two years after she was walked out of the city in the middle of the night to a quiet life of retirement on the outskirts of the capital, Sambo, Phnom Penh’s iconic and much-beloved elephant, might soon be back at work entertaining tourists. With funding for her recently concluded rehabilitation program now gone, her owner is insisting he has little choice but to begin showcasing her once more at Wat Phnom, a decision contested by the elephant rescue organisation that bankrolled her two-year sa...
2013-12-01 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
From 26 November 2012 to 27 November 2013 elephant.se had almost 500 000 visitors, and totally since 23 Nov 2009 over 1,500,000 visits. Thank you for supporting the website, and promoting it during its 13 years on Internet.
2013-05-08 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Some sources state that Pat Derbus first elephant died in a barn fire. Other Sources state Neena was in a truck and it was freezing cold and they lit a fire underneath the trailer to warm her up and the trailer caught on fire. On the link below you can ask on PAWS Facebook what happened?
2013-05-07 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I found an interesting link on Circus Fans Association of America where you can read, among other things regarding Animal Rights Activists and PAWS: "Derby rarely mentions how in her days as a trainer and operator of a roadside zoo in Buellton , CA, an elephant in her care died in a barn fire." The last line, about Neena surprised me, because for sure, it seems really like Mrs Derby doesnt want to speak about this elephant Neena. Searching through PAWS documents, and googling, it was like Neena...
I have documents (download here) stating Pat Derbys poor competence as animal trainer, critizising her total lack of welfare for animals in her posession, as well as privately taking money away from shared bank accounts with other persons os companies.
2012-08-29 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
On August 27th, the crate was lifted on to a truck and the team set off for Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, which is to be Sakor’s new home. He joins 5 other rescued Asian elephants who reside there, including Chhouk, the elephant with a prosthetic foot, whose previous rescue enclosure Sakor has now moved into.
2012-08-27 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Not long to go now!! Kiri and Seila’s new enclosure is near completion. We need funds to buy trucks of earth and sand so they can have earth between their toes and sand and mud to throw all over themselves - like real elephants should! Each truck of sand is USD 50 - a donation of any amount is greatly appreciated. Please donate today.
2012-01-31 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
On Monday 30th January 2012, Louise Rogerson from EARS, Mr Sin Sorn’s son and their mahout, walked Sombo throughout the night when the roads were quiet to her new home in Sen Sok district, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. This was her walk to freedom… her last journey for a long time… she will now live a peaceful life receiving daily medical treatment whilst her feet begin to heal.
2012-01-12 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Poor Sombo has been forced to pound the pavements for 30 years. Her feet are so deformed and infected after performing for tourists she can barely support her 5,000lb weight. And yet four days a week the 51-year-old elephant limps four kilometres through the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. And that’s BEFORE she gets to the temple where she gives rides to tourists for nine hours a day.
2012-01-06 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
Does Sambo have Tuberculosis? Tuberculosis is a medical problem which is a sleeping bomb in regards to captive elephants in Asia. TB is airborne and spreads through tiny droplets in the air. Besides people and elephants, tuberculosis also affects primates, cattle, horses and other animals.
2012-01-06 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ou Mom
Sambo’s health has become a matter of controversy which has brought her owner into negotiations with the Forestry Administration of Cambodia and wildlife NGO Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival Foundation (EARS) to find a solution to the suffering elephant’s medical problems.
2011-12-31 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
During 2011 submissions in the elephant database: There was 66 elephants born 2011 in the database, 32 males, 20 females. 49 were born in captivity, 22 males, 17 females. 64 records of elephants deaths in the database during 2011. 105 transfers of elephants during 2011 in the database. In The Elephants News, 359 headlines about Elephants was recorded during 2011.
2011-12-28 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
There is between 400 and 600 wild elephants in Cambodia. There is today around 120 captive elephants in Cambodia. Most of Cambodias captive elephants are privately owned by tribal peoples in eastern Cambodia.
2011-12-17 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Of course noone wants Sambo to suffer anymore, including her owner, Sin Sorn in Phnom Penh. What can be done for Sambo? I want to stress, that she can not be viewed only as an elephant, shes a vicitm of so many pathological issues, that shes in need of intensive medical care. And her feet are in such a bad condition, that they have to be priority over general management issues.
Went to the area opposite the Australian Embassy and met Sin Sorn and Sambo, it looks almost idyllic. When you get close, the picture changes. Numerous abcesses, and she keep the worst foot lifted all the time. Her nails had really been shortened, but the laength of the nails is now a secondary problem, as can be seen here and on close-ups.
Dr Paolo Martelli, Chief Veterinarian, Ocean Park, Hong Kong: His Conclusion states that she is painfully lame as a result of pododermatitis, osteitis, ostoelysis, deep sepsis and other lesions. Furthermore, if the lameness is not improved drastically it will lead to degeneration of all joints in all limbs.
2011-12-16 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I had already from Internet collected information about the female asian elephant Sambo, which were used daily for tourist rides around the temple Wat Phnom, by her owner, Sin Sorn since 1993. Sin Sorn also claims a romantic story, about him finding her again, after being separated from her during the years of Khmer Rogue.Now I should see her myself.
2011-12-15 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan Koehl
An albino elephant has been born by the wild elephant Jemima around the 10th of December 2011, in Amboseli National Park. A rare sight, and probably the first albino elephant born in Amboseli. In 27th of October 2011 a captive white elephant was born in Naypyidaw Zoo (Nay Pyi Taw Zoo) in Burma, most probably the first captive bred one documented.
2011-02-16 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sambo, the aggressive bull elephant that rampaged through a Kampong Speu village in December, tragically died on Monday during a routine veterinary procedure at Phnom Tamao Zoo in Takeo province, said forestry officials and NGO representatives. “I’m absolutely devastated by this loss … I was directly involved in all of it,” Nick Marx, wildlife rescue director at Wildlife Alliance, said today. “The Forestry Administration wanted to sedate him so that the chains around his legs could be...
2010-08-01 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
A Cambodian man was killed by an angry elephant when he was trying to approach the animal with an improper manner, a police office said Saturday. Khut Sophal, a district police chief said the man who was killed by an elephant was identified as Yang Mark, 52, living in Taing Krasaing Village, Samraung Tong district in Kompong Speu province.
2009-10-13 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Guy DeLauney
Conservationists in Cambodia have brokered an agreement which should see elephants living more peacefully alongside their human neighbours. Villagers living near elephant habitats have promised not to harm the animals - or disturb their environment.
2009-08-20 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Nigel Wild
The story behind how Chhouk the baby elephant gained his artificial foot is one of hope and salvation following the desperate years of his troubled homeland. It is also a story of how Cambodian medical students found themselves using techniques developed to create prosthetic limbs for mine victims to help a wild animal. Cambodia is now politically stable and tourism a major growth industry, but the legacy of war, genocide and political upheaval has left the country as one of the poorest of the d...
2008-04-09 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Suzy Khimm
Once plentiful in the Cambodian countryside, elephants like Sambo were historically fixtures at the royal palace. While the animals still evoke the nation's ancient legacy of kings and warriors, Sambo also represents a more recent piece of Cambodian history. Having survived the machetes of the Khmer Rouge she has become one of the capital city's most visible cultural icons – a magnet for tourists, children, and those who venerate her as a sacred beast. For Sin Son, a fourth-generation elephan...
2008-03-26 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Two Cambodian men have been arrested for allegedly poisoning an elephant and sawing off its tusks to sell on the black market, officials said Wednesday. The male elephant, which was chained to a tree by its owner in Rattanakiri province, about 200 miles northeast of the capital Phnom Penh, was found dead in March 2007. Police at the time said the alleged killers had doused jack fruit, a tropical fruit eaten by elephants, with rat poison. The tusks of the 62-year-old elephant, measuring almost 3 ...
2008-02-07 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Andy Brouwer
The domestic elephant population of Mondulkiri province is facing an array of threats ranging from habitat destruction, physical abuses, and a widespread lack of facilities providing proper medical supervision and treatment, so an Englishman by the name of Jack Highworth has stepped in to fill the void. He has formed an environmental NGO called ELIE (Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment), with the primary aim of improving the medical and welfare condition of domesticated elephants, most of...
2007-03-27 - PHNOM PENH, Cambodia.
Thieves in Cambodia poisoned a 62-year-old domesticated elephant and sawed off its tusks to sell on the black market, officials said Tuesday. The male elephant was found dead Saturday, where its owner had left the animal chained to a tree near his home in Rattanakiri province, said Lee Sam Ol, a district police chief.
2006-08-01 - Phnom Penh, United States.
In rural Cambodia where doctors and hospitals are scarce, poor villagers are turning to a magic elephant which is believed to cure illnesses ranging from typhoid to high blood pressure. A few times a month, Yey Proheu, a 70-year-old female elephant goes around to villages to offer relief to the sick with mahout, Pang Hy, and his assistants.
2006-08-01 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2005-09-03 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Sebastien Berger
Cambodia's most wanted tiger hunter has been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for the killing of hundreds of endangered animals. Yor Ngun had taken 19 tigers, 40 leopards, 30 elephants, 40 sun bears and 500 gaur (wild cattle), according to the conservation group WildAid. Snaring and trapping them in the jungles, he sold them into the Chinese wildlife trade, where body parts fetch high prices for use in traditional medicines.
2024-07-10 - Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin Zoo has confirmed that a third elephant has tested positive for a virus which has left two other elephants dead over the last ten days. Eight-year-old Avani and seven-year-old Zinda died from E...
2024-06-18 - Houston, United States. Houston Zoo
Tess, a 40-year-old Asian elephant at Houston Zoo, has been given the first-ever dose of an mRNA vaccine created by virologists at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) to prevent the deadly elephant endot...
2024-04-26 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
The latest round of pregnancy tests at Blackpool Zoo has revealed that two of its elephants are expecting babies. Mother and daughter Noorjahan and Esha are both pregnant and due to give birth in late...
2024-04-02 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia.
There was sad news from Mondulkiri Province, with the death of 2 year old elephant “Chi Pich” being announced. Sources from the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment Organization (ELIE) said ...
2024-03-26 - Kochi, India.
Popular tusker Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan, 55, 55, died at Mangalamkunnu in Palakkad on Monday. The elephant owned by M A Haridasan had been under treatment for the past few months.
2024-03-23 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka.
The 76th elephant calf was born at the Rambukkana Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on March 20.This baby elephant was born to 32-year-old she-elephant Shanthi and 19-year-old Pandu at the Pinnawala Elepha...
2024-03-23 - Pretoria, South Africa.
In the ongoing efforts to curb poaching and snaring of animals within the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, South African National Parks (SANParks) is working to create more partnerships with neighbour...
2024-03-15 - , United States.
After weeks of voting and thousands of submissions, the Toledo Zoo has officially chosen the name of their precious baby elephant and we're personally thrilled about the news! Ladies and gentleman, Ki...
2024-03-09 - Tucson, United States.
A baby elephant was born at Reid Park Zoo. The zoo said Semba, the facility’s African elephant matriarch, gave birth to a 265-pound calf around 3:31 a.m. Friday, March 8. Reid Park Zoo said the calf...
2024-03-04 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
A female baby elephant in Copenhagen Zoo has been named Chin after the Tha Chin river in central Thailand. The elephant was born last week in the Danish zoo. The zookeepers, who take care of the young...
2024-02-29 - Alappuzha, India.
Evoor Kannan, the elephant known for his murderous rage and with a history of killing two mahouts is in a bad mood these days. He had been gentle under the care of his former Mahout Sharath Parippally...
2024-02-20 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands.
African elephant Punda has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf after a 22-month pregnancy. This is the third calf born in the Safari Park Beekse Bergen k in four months. Never before have thr...
2024-02-15 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The zoo said Tsuni died Thursday after a sudden, brief battle with elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Her EEHV was detected through routine blood testing on Feb. 8, even though she presente...
2024-02-15 - Seoul, South Korea.
The oldest female elephant in South Korea passed away Tuesday at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age of 59, zoo officials said Thursday. The female elephant, named Sakura, had suffered fr...
2024-01-30 - Bangalore, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park is brimming with excitement as it welcomes a delightful new addition—a baby boy elephant calf. This adorable arrival brings the elephant count in the Bannerghatta zo...
2024-01-27 - Guruvayur, India.
Elephant Kannan, of the Guruvayur Devaswom Elephant Camp, a nine-time winner of the festival-related elephant race, has passed away. His demise was around 5:30 pm on Saturday. The tusker's age at the ...
2024-01-27 - Koh Nhek, Cambodia.
Villagers found a baby elephant dead in Koh Nhek district, Mondulkiri province in the middle of the forest on January 26, 2024, suspected of being shot. Mondulkiri Provincial department of environm...
2024-01-13 - Beijing, China.
A recent study published in the journal eLife has uncovered new findings on the development of dextrous trunks by indigenous elephants. According to Dr. Shi-Qi Wang, a senior author of the research, t...
2024-01-13 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
The Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan District, Riau Province, again lost one of its Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) after a poacher allegedly killed it for its tusks. The 46-year...
2024-01-11 - New York, United States.
In a narrow but sprawling curatorial space at the uptown museum, The Secret World of Elephants, now opened, tells the story of elephant species and their relatives through life-size models, videos, gr...