2001-12-17 - Washington, United States. Lee R. Berger, for National Geographic News
How do you miss a whole species of elephant? But that's just what has happened. Up until recently, scientists believed there were two species of elephant: the African elephant and the Asian elephant. Geneticists conducting a comprehensive DNA sampling of elephants from across Africa recently found that there are in fact two species of African elephants. Until this announcement, most zoologists had lumped all African elephants together into a single species, Loxodonta Africana, with four widely r...
2001-12-15 - SAN JOSE, California, United States.
One of the biggest stars of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is going on trial Monday for allegedly abusing an elephant with a metal hook just before a show. Activists hope the trial of animal trainer Mark Oliver Gebel, son of the legendary circus showman Gunther Gebel-Williams, will lend more credibility to allegations against The Greatest Show on Earth.
2001-12-12 - Portland, Oregon, United States. PR Oregon Zoo
1962 On April 14th, Portland, Oregon became nationally renowned for the first Asian elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in more than 44 years. The baby elephant named Packy sparked a frenzy of celebration around the world - the famous pachyderm even graced the cover of LIFE magazine. Now, Packy is grown up and turning 40!
2001-12-07 - CHITWAN, Nepal.
Chivas Regal from Scotland are the new World Champions following their success in the final held on Friday 7th December at the 20th Annual World Elephant Polo Championships (WEPA).
2001-11-02 - London, United Kingdom. Michael McCarthy, The Independent
London Zoo is to give up its 170-year tradition of keeping elephants, in tacit recognition that it does not have a suitable place to house them. Abandoning its most recognizable symbols has clearly been a difficult decision for the zoo authorities, but it accords with a change in thinking about how wild animals should be kept in captivity.
2001-11-01 - Taringa, Australia. Rebekah Van Druten
In 1987 Australians watched in horror as graphic television reports showed the Ashtons Circus oldest elephant, Abu being gunned down after rampaging through shopping centers and houses in the western suburbs of Sydney. Witnesses to the tragedy claimed Abu picked up a 200-kilogram tree trunk and with the swiftness and ease of a world champion weightlifter threw it up against the bars that had imprisoned him and escaped into the concrete jungle. One person was killed and many were seriously injure...
2001-10-20 - London, United Kingdom.
A keeper at London Zoo has died after being crushed by an elephant. Jim Robson, who was 44, is believed to have tripped and fallen in the elephant paddock. One of the three elephants he looked after then stepped on him. The accident took place on Saturday afternoon, as visitors walked around the enclosure.
2001-10-09 - Chester, United Kingdom.
Kumara, the elephant which killed a keeper at Chester Zoo has been destroyed. The 34-year-old female Asian elephant killed senior keeper Richard Hughes last February. Kumara had been suffering severe episodes of colic in her gut and was also being treated for chronic foot and joint infections and arthritis.
2001-10-03 - Kruger National Park, South Africa. Emma Young
The world's biggest elephant relocation programme begins on Thursday, with the movement of 40 animals from the Kruger National Park in South Africa to an area just over the border in Mozambique. The move is also part of a plan to create a borderless, 21,600 square kilometre, wildlife park. This will encompass the Kruger, a similar area in Mozambique, and Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou Park, in April 2002.
2001-09-18 - Washington, United States.
Scientists say African elephants that live in the forest and those that live in grasslands are different enough to be considered separate kinds, or species. Until now, scientists believed all African elephants were the same genetically. They have long recognized the clear differences between African and Asian elephants.
2001-09-05 - SPRINGFIELD, Missouri, United States. KOMO Staff & News Services
A southwest Missouri zoo is fighting federal allegations that workers abused a Seattle zoo's female elephant in its breeding program in 1998. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday that it's has filed a complaint alleging Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield violated the Animal Welfare Act in its handling of the Asian elephant, named Chai. The incident allegedly occurred on Sept. 23, 1998, three days after Chai arrived from Woodland Park Zoo to participate in Springfield's nationall...
2001-08-30 - OAKLAND, United States. Julia Prodis Sulek, San Jose Mercury News
For hours after the birth Thursday morning, zookeepers were concerned about whether mother and son would bond: The mother, Lisa, was aggressive and swinging her trunk and the baby was desperately clutching the veterinarian's jacket, the mother's knee and the barn wall, looking for a teat.
2001-08-24 - Washington, United States. Hillary Mayell, National Geographic News
Genetic fingerprinting shows that Africa's forest and savanna elephants are as different from one another as lions and tigers and should be considered as two genetically distinct species, an international group of researchers reports.
2001-08-24 - Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. AP
Two Knoxville Zoo handlers were injured Thursday when Mamie, the zoo's painting African elephant, broke loose during a morning walk.Keepers Tom Troy and Mike Gaugler were taking Mamie on a daily get-acquainted stroll to a new exhibit space when she decided to make a run for some tasty tree leaves, zoo executive director Jim Vlna said. Troy had a cut on his head and Gaugler injured a rib.Both were treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, while Mamie went back to her pen and calmed d...
2001-08-14 - Borås, Sweden. Dan Koehl, Mia Rapp and Joergen Gustafsson
The african female Kwanza (meaning the first one in Swahili) was born at the 13th of August, in Boras Zoo in Sweden. 85 cm high, and 80 kgs. Mother is Dudu, (WB South Africa) 11 years, father is Kibo (born in Hannover Zoo, Germany) 24 years old. This is not only the first elephant born in Sweden, but also the first second generation African elephant in Europe.
2001-08-14 - Cantabria, Spain. Alexander Haufellner, EEG
About 06.00 in the morning), was again a birth of a female African elephant in Europe. Location was Carbaceno in Spain, the mother was Csambi and the father Cisco. This was Csambis 3:rd baby, and Carbacenos 8:th. With 8 births in the last ten years since its opening, this Zoo has the best records of african elephant breeding in Europe (Ramat-Gan in Israel not counted) The baby and the mother joined the herd the very same day.
2001-08-06 - Brussel, Belgium. Colin Blane
Ivory is still highly prized in some parts of the world Fifteen Chinese doctors who had been working in West Africa have been charged with smuggling ivory after they were detained by police at Brussels airport. Customs officials intercepted a shipment of elephant tusks in a consignment disguised as personal effects.
2001-08-06 - Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic. BBC
A zoo-keeper in the Czech republic has been killed after being attacked by an elephant. The man - who worked in a zoo at Dvur Kralove in eastern Bohemia - died of throat injuries, which where inflicted when he gave the sick female elephant an injection.
2001-07-03 - , United States.
An elephant in Essex has become the first in Britain to become pregnant through artificial insemination (AI). Tanya the African elephant, at Colchester Zoo, is almost three months pregnant. The insemination was carried out by experts from the Berlin Institute of Wildlife Medicine and Research. If the calf is born, it will be only the fifth elephant in the world to have been produced as a result of AI. The zoo decided to use artificial insemination after natural matings between Tanya and the zoo'...
2001-06-18 - MADURAI, India.
The she-elephant of the Meenakshi Sundereshwarar temple, which served the temple for more than five decades, died on Sunday night after a prolonged illness. The 70-year-old pachyderm, Meenakshi, was down with fever yesterday evening. The temple administration brought veterinary doctors to revive her. But despite their efforts, she failed to respond to the treatment. Old age and its associated symptoms of illness were said to be the main reason for the death.
2001-05-15 - La Jolla, United States. John B West
It has been known for over 300 years that the anatomy of the elephant lung is unique among mammals in that the pleural cavity is obliterated by connective tissue. Recent studies suggest that the elephant has an aquatic ancestry and the trunk may have developed for snorkeling.
2001-05-11 - MACAU, China. CNN
Macau marine police have seized nearly 92 kg of ivory, including tusks believed to have come from a baby African elephant. Five full tusks and five pieces of tusk, weighing a total of 91.95 kg, were discovered in a wooden crate at Macau International Airport, a marine police spokesman said.
2001-04-17 - JOHANNESBURG, South Africa.
A handler was killed by an elephant cow which was being used on a film set in Broederstroom on Sunday. Circus owner Brian Boswell said Tandy was among seven elephants used as background animals for the filming of three movies and a commercial.
2001-01-31 - Portland, Oregon, United States. PR Oregon Zoo
Oregon Zoo’s Assistant Director, Mike Keele, will attend the International Workshop on the Domesticated Asian Elephant, February 5-10, in Bangkok, Thailand. Keele serves as the coordinator of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s (AZA) elephant species survival plan and holds the studbook for all North American Asian elephants. He hopes to identify ways that North American zoos can contribute to the effort to reverse the decline of domesticated elephants in Asia.
