Green Group discussion

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ele...

Female African elephants are now being born tuskless, in some areas up to 98% of the population. Poachers have selected out the best ivory over the years so the gene for no tusks has been selected to reproduce.
This has previously occurred on islands in Indonesia where the surviving population has no tusks, but now we can see it happening within a couple of decades.

Wow, that is truly amazing. How we are changing this planet.

High time someone thought of this: reclassifying species according to how slowly they reproduce even under optimal conditions. This makes some more endangered than those which breed frequently.

" team analyzed endangered Asian elephants as a case study, whose populations are thought to have been halved in less than a century. Today there are fewer than 50,000 wild Asian elephants, in part because they breed extremely slowly — oftentimes just one calf every six years or more. Mathematical modeling of near-optimal reproduction and high survival rates for calves determined that Asian elephant populations cannot tolerate losing more than 7.5 percent of females annually.

It leads to something de Silva calls a "demographic tipping point," the combination of vital rates that helps us understand how populations are impacted by a variety of environmental and human influences. "

https://www.ecowatch.com/endangered-s...

More data on how vital the megafauna are to the ecology of their environment.

https://www.nathab.com/blog/the-foots...

" when elephant footprints fill up with water, they also play an important ecological role: they become small, foot-shaped microhabitats for at least 61 different microinvertebrates from nine different scientific orders. Those species include beetles, gastropods, mayflies, midges, mites and tadpoles. For these creatures, such pools are vital, especially in the dry season.

"They may even serve as corridors for distributing those pool-dwelling animals across vast and otherwise parched distances. In other words, they are frog stepping-stones, connecting populations. "

Those were African elephants in the study, and Asian elephants are similar:

" researchers found that tracks of Asian elephants were brimming with frog egg masses and tadpoles. The tracks can persist for a year or more and provide temporary habitat and—until now—underappreciated sanctuaries for laying eggs during the dry season when alternate sites are unavailable. Importantly, the tracks aren’t big enough to host fish, which prey on frog eggs and tadpoles. "

Those elephant pools are like vernal ponds here in New England. Amphibians lay their eggs in the small pools formed by melting snow.

Europe: A Natural History

This book makes it clear that this kind of vanishing pond is ideal for amphibians as fish can't survive. Many amphibians arose in Europe.

The early ancestor of elephants was the gomphothere. An archaeological dig found that the Clovis people of the central North American continent killed and ate one of these.

https://phys.org/news/2014-07-gomphot...

"The discovery suggests that the Clovis – the earliest widespread group of hunter-gatherers to inhabit North America – likely hunted and ate gomphotheres. The members of the Clovis culture were already well-known as hunters of the gomphotheres' cousins, mammoths and mastodons.

Although humans were known to have hunted gomphotheres in Central America and South America, this is the first time a human-gomphothere connection has been made in North America, says archaeologist Vance Holliday, who co-authored a new paper on the findings, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"This is the first archaeological gomphothere found in North America, and it's the only one known," said Holliday, a professor of anthropology and geology at the UA."

Going by the models it looks to be the size of a hippo. This beast was well on its way out, being outdone by the mastodon which evolved further and was less of a target for predators... and now we know humans were also its predators. So we can probably blame that extinction on early people killing megafauna too.

A mammoth collection of mammoth bones in Mexico!
These predecessors of today's elephants inhabited the area contemporaneously with Clovis humans, and a nearby area included traps dug to kill mammoths. But in this case, the marshy ground was sufficient.

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mammoth...

"There are so many mammoths at the site of the new Santa Lucia airport that observers have to accompany each bulldozer that digs into the soil to make sure work is halted when mammoth bones are uncovered.

"We have about 200 mammoths, about 25 camels, five horses," said archaeologist Rubén Manzanilla López of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, referring to animals that went extinct in the Americas. The site is only about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from artificial pits, essentially shallow mammoth traps, that were dug by early inhabitants to trap and kill dozens of mammoths.

Manzanilla López said evidence is beginning to emerge that suggests even if the mammoths at the airport possibly died natural deaths after becoming stuck in the mud of the ancient lake bed, their remains may have been carved up by humans, somewhat like those found at the mammoth-trap site in the hamlet of San Antonio Xahuento, in the nearby township of Tultepec."

Great photos of work in progress.

The only Asian elephant in Pakistan is finally being moved to a sanctuary in Cambodia. Thanks to Cher and Four Paws, and to a judge who ordered the woeful zoo conditions meant the zoo had to close.

"Following years of public outcry and campaigning by American pop star Cher, the "world's loneliest elephant" has embarked on a mammoth move from Pakistan to retirement in a Cambodian sanctuary.

The famed singer and Oscar-winning actress has spent recent days at the Islamabad zoo to provide moral support to Kaavan - an overweight, 36-year-old bull elephant - whose pitiful treatment at the dilapidated facility sparked an uproar from animal rights groups and a spirited social media campaign by Cher.

"My wishes have finally come true", Cher said in a statement thanking her charity Free The Wild.

"We have been counting down to this moment and dreaming of it for so long and to finally see Kaavan transported out of (the Islamabad) zoo will remain with us forever."

Kaavan's case and the woeful conditions at the zoo resulted in a judge this year ordering all the animals to be moved.

"Thanks to Cher and also to local Pakistani activists, Kaavan's fate made headlines around the globe and this contributed to the facilitation of his transfer," said Martin Bauer, a spokesman for Four Paws International -- an animal welfare group that has spearheaded the relocation effort.

Experts spent hours coaxing a slightly sedated Kaavan into a specially constructed metal crate - at one point using ropes to help pull him in - that was to be hoisted onto a lorry and taken to Islamabad airport."

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/11...

More photos of the above:
"But before flying out, the capital's animal lovers said goodbye, with performances from local bands who serenaded Kaavan ahead of the mammoth move.

"We want to wish him a happy retirement," said Marion Lombard, the deputy mission leader for Four Paws International - an animal welfare group that has spearheaded the relocation effort.

The Islamabad Zoo, where Kaavan has lived for decades since arriving from Sri Lanka, was decorated with balloons for the occasion and banners wishing the animal well.

"We will miss you Kaavan," read one of the signs."

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/11...

My mother's generation used to sing, "Nellie the elephant packed her trunk and said goodbye to the circus."

Kaavan arrives in Cambodia, lovely.

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/11...

A new study of a Portuguese shipwreck from the 1500s, and where the ivory tusks came from.

"The team extracted DNA from 44 tusks.

By analyzing genetic sequences known to differ between African forest and savanna elephants, the scientists determined that all of the tusks they analyzed belonged to forest elephants. A further examination of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed only from mothers to their offspring, offered a more precise geographic origin of the elephant tusks than is otherwise available.

"Elephants live in matriarchal family groups, and they tend to stay in the same geographic area throughout their lives," de Flamingh said. "By comparing the shipwrecked ivory mitochondrial DNA with that from elephants with known origins across Africa, we were able to pinpoint specific regions and species of elephants whose tusks were found in the shipwreck."

All 44 tusks were from elephants residing in West Africa. None originated in Central Africa."

The article explains why the tusks were well preserved and how science can tell what the elephants had eaten, as well as whether any of their family groups are still alive.

https://phys.org/news/2020-12-tracks-...
More information: "Sourcing elephant ivory from a 16th century Portuguese shipwreck" Current Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.086 , www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(20)31663-8
Journal information: Current Biology
Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Virunga started protecting elephants better with aid from UNESCO. Then:

"Because the invasive plant species were allowed to run wild, many indigenous flora was overrun. This caused the local food chain to be thrown completely off kilter, forcing some animals to migrate to other areas to find a proper source of sustenance.

Thanks to the return of the elephants, many of the invasive plants are now getting brought back under control. Because of this, numerous other species are starting to wander into Virunga again too, including buffalo, warthogs, and topi. More encouraging still, rangers say that they have spotted lions in the park as well. The big cats have not made an appearance there in decades."

https://adventureblog.net/2020/12/ret...

Author Victoria Tait tells me:


"Kenyan News

Unfortunately a regiment of the British army, which is training in Kenya, has set fire to Lolldaiga Ranch, just outside Nanyuki, and there are reports that elephants have been killed.

This is a difficult issue as ammunition and equipment can so easily spark a fire in the dry season, but without the income from the British army the ranch might not be able to continue as a sanctuary for wildlife.

Kenya and Bosnia are both experiencing huge increases in Covid-19 cases, which has led to restrictions, particularly in their capital cities. I pray that both countries can bring the number of cases under control."

Victoria Tait

Another tusk from a shipwreck.

"An elephant tusk recovered at sea by a Kerry fishing vessel may have originated onboard a slave ship bound for England or America.

The Ivory tusk was discovered by the Dingle based Cú na Mara in the Porcupine Basin.

The trawler had been fishing for prawns about 120 miles off the Kerry coast when they discovered that the elephant tusk had become entangled in their nets.

They brought the tusk to Dr Kevin Flannery in Dingle Oceanworld who consulted with a number of other experts.

...
"It was first thought the tusk was that of a prehistoric mammoth, however further scrutiny has now led experts to believe that it may have originated on a slave ship.

"I contacted Dr Connie Kelliher of the Parks and Wildlife Underwater Archaeology Unit, she's an expert in this, and she came and looked at it, and said to me that she thinks it’s from a slave ship that would have gone down off the Porcupine in extreme bad weather," Dr Flannery explained.

In 1701 an account exists of a slave ship which sank enroute from Guinea to England during an Atlantic storm.

Remnants of the ship have since washed up near Courtmacsherry in Co Cork.

"Slave ships at the time, travelling from the west coast of Africa to America and England, often carried ivory from the slaughter of elephants, spices such as nutmeg and unfortunately humans for sale in the slave trade."

The National Museum of Ireland will now conduct DNA testing to precisely determine the tusk’s geographical origin."

https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2021...

Have you been following the wandering elephant herd?
Here is a nice photo of them enjoying a tea plantation.

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2021...

"A herd of fourteen wild elephants have returned to their protected habitat in southwest China's Yunnan province following a 1,300km trek that captured the public's imagination, provincial officials have said.

In April the herd, which had 15 elephants at the time, left Puer and meandered more than 1,300 km through the cities of Yuxi and Honghe before reaching the outskirts of the provincial capital of Kunming in June.

The elephants were under constant surveillance from authorities since leaving home, who even deployed heat-seeking drones to keep track of the animals.

While it is unclear why the elephants are moving north, a report by the Xinhua news agency said a decline in edible plants in forest habitats has put pressure on the animals, whose numbers have grown in Yunnan in recent decades."

Nicely, officials everywhere just made people get out of their way and let the elephants wander. They encouraged the herd along approved routes, but nobody seems to have scared them.

As was stated in 2017, poaching selected out the ivory gene - now studies are focusing on the DNA and chromosome match required for tuskless elephants. More are born female.

https://phys.org/news/2021-10-tusks-p...

"Now researchers have pinpointed how years of civil war and poaching in Mozambique have led to a greater proportion of elephants that will never develop tusks.

During the conflict from 1977 to 1992, fighters on both sides slaughtered elephants for ivory to finance war efforts. In the region that's now Gorongosa National Park, around 90% of the elephants were killed.

The survivors were likely to share a key characteristic: half the females were naturally tuskless—they simply never developed tusks—while before the war, less than a fifth lacked tusks.

Like eye color in humans, genes are responsible for whether elephants inherit tusks from their parents. Although tusklessness was once rare in African savannah elephants, it's become more common—like a rare eye color becoming widespread.

After the war, those tuskless surviving females passed on their genes with expected, as well as surprising, results. About half their daughters were tuskless. More perplexing, two-thirds of their offspring were female.

The years of unrest "changed the trajectory of evolution in that population," said evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton, based at Princeton University.
...

"Poole had previously seen other cases of elephant populations with a disproportionately large number of tuskless females after intense poaching, including in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. "I've been puzzling over why it's the females who are tuskless for a very long time," said Poole, who is a co-author of the study.
...

"Their genetic analysis revealed two key parts of the elephants' DNA that they think play a role in passing on the trait of tusklessness. The same genes are associated with the development of teeth in other mammals."

More information: Shane C. Campbell-Staton, Ivory poaching and the rapid evolution of tusklessness in African elephants, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abe7389. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.a...
Chris T. Darimont et al, Of war, tusks, and genes, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abm2980

Journal information: Science

Word from a petition and aid site SumOfUs.

"In the Serengeti, a small, specially trained team of rescue dogs sniff out poachers and sound the alarm. Just 4 dogs have helped arrest hundreds of poachers, saving countless elephants being murdered for their ivory.

Almost a quarter of the elephants in the park now live in the tiny area they protect -- but poaching is on the rise everywhere else and there are thousands more elephants that still need protection.

If 4 dogs protect all those elephants, imagine what 8 or 10 or even 20 could do!

And it’s not just the Serengeti -- poaching everywhere has skyrocketed in the past year, pushing endangered elephants and other animals even closer to the brink. An influx of support from people around the world could help get this anti-poaching game-changer the recognition it deserves, finally helping solve our poaching crisis.

It could also help governments justify funding programs just like this in parks all across Africa. And our community can be right there, advocating for it at every turn.

Together we could help spark the beginning of the end of an elephant poaching scourge that slaughters 30,000 beautiful ancient elephants every year."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/an...

https://wd4c.org/about-us

Wondering how tusks evolved? A group of palaeontologists looked into the matter.

https://phys.org/news/2021-10-fossil-...

"The dicynodonts mostly lived before the time of the dinosaurs, from about 270 to 201 million years ago, and they ranged from rat-sized to elephant-sized. Modern mammals are their closest living relatives, but they looked more reptilian, with turtle-like beaks. And since their discovery 176 years ago, one of their defining features has been the pair of protruding tusks in their upper jaws. The name dicynodont even means "two canine teeth."
...

"The different kinds of teeth animals have evolved can tell scientists about the pressures those animals faced that could have produced those teeth. Animals with tusks might use them for fighting or for rooting in the ground, exposing them to little injuries that would be risky for enamel teeth that don't grow continuously.

To study whether dicynodonts tusks really were tusks, the researchers cut paper-thin slices out of the fossilized teeth of 19 dicynodont specimens, representing ten different species, and examined their structure with a microscope. They also used micro-CT scans to examine how the teeth were attached to the skull, and whether their roots showed evidence of continuous growth. The scientists found that some dicynodont teeth are indeed tusks, while others, particularly those of some of the earlier species, were just large teeth. It wasn't a strict progression from non-tusks to tusks, though— different members of the dicynodont family evolved tusks independently."

More information: The evolution of the synapsid tusk: insights from dicynodont therapsid tusk histology, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1670. rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or … .1098/rspb.2021.1670
Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Provided by Field Museum

Elephant twins and some gorgeous photos.

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2022...

"Conservation group Save the Elephants said the twins - one male and one female - were born to a mother named Bora.

They were first spotted by lucky tourist guides from the Elephant Watch Camp on a safari drive at the weekend in Samburu reserve in northern Kenya.

Videos show the days-old newborns getting accustomed to their savannah surroundings with their doting mother and an older sibling, Bora's first calf, born in 2017.

African elephants have the largest gestation period of any living mammal, carrying their young for nearly 22 months, and gives birth roughly every four years.

"Twins are rarely encountered in elephant populations and form about only one percent of births," Save the Elephants' founder Iain Douglas-Hamilton said in a statement."

Testing the DNA of elephant tusks from illegal shipments seized in transit, has been able to relate tusks to family members and areas, meaning poachers' rings can be traced.

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2022...

"Researchers said they conducted DNA tests on 4,320 elephant tusks from 49 ivory seizures, totaling 111 tons in 12 African nations from 2002 to 2019.

The results could help crack the transnational criminal organisations behind the trafficking and strengthen prosecutions.
...

"The new research expanded the testing's scope to also identify tusks of elephants that were closely related, including parents, offspring, full siblings and half siblings.

The researchers used DNA from elephant faeces collected across Africa to compile a genetic reference map of various populations.

The new testing allowed them to identify the geographic location where the elephants were poached and also connect seized shipments to the same transnational criminal organizations.

Trafficking continues despite a worldwide ivory trade ban approved in 1989, with demand strongest in Asia."

Thailand has suffered greatly from the lack of tourism. Sum of Us tells me:

"When the pandemic shut down Thailand's tourism, 3500 captive elephants were shackled in chains and left to starve. Their keepers no longer able to afford to feed them.

But our friends at Save Elephant Foundation stepped in with an idea to save them -- help their owners transition from cruel circus camps to ethical elephant sanctuaries, supported by people around the world who want to foster an elephant.

There are more captive, working Asian elephants in Thailand than anywhere else on the planet. For decades, they've been ridden and forced to perform for tourists, their legs cruelly chained to poles and trees to keep them imprisoned.

The misery these social animals are enduring is hard to imagine. What’s more, the tethering makes them vulnerable. Several elephants died when a storm caused trees to fall on them.

But from this crisis came an opportunity. Save Elephant Foundation is going from one cruel elephant camp to the next, getting the owners to commit to becoming ethical elephant sanctuaries in return for financial assistance from people across the globe willing to foster an elephant. The owners must adhere to strict rules to improve elephant welfare standards.

Already they’re seeing new elephant babies born, free of chains and abuse. The foundation wants to continue to expand, but can’t do it until they raise more funds.

Asian elephants are endangered -- we can't afford to lose hundreds or even thousands to cruel captivity. We can save them, but only if we act now."

They are asking for contributions from people who might or might not have contributed through tourism in the past. We should also be asking ourselves if tourism can ever be sustainable if it contributes to captive abuse of elephants. What alternative the state might have in place to protect the species as a wild population, is not clear.

As Tourism Plummets in Thailand, Elephants Are Out of Work, Too
New York Times. 24 March 2020.
https://act.sumofus.org/go/615311?t=1...

A year without tourism: crisis for Thailand’s captive elephants
National Geographic. 8 June 2021.
https://act.sumofus.org/go/615312?t=1...

The Nat Geo story

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/an...

"PUBLISHED JUNE 8, 2021
• 15 MIN READ

“For sale: 11 clever elephants. 3 million baht each,” Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chon Buri, Thailand, announced in an ad on Facebook on May 29. That’s about $96,000 apiece.

The zoo makes money from tourists through admission tickets, elephant rides, and animal shows, but with Thailand closed to most foreign visitors (or requiring mandatory quarantine) since March 2020 because of the coronavirus, it’s facing a financial crisis. In a Facebook post on May 28 about its elephant problem, the zoo also said that “at this point, to close the wounds from COVID, we need to sell [them] out.”

It’s a similar story across the country. Some 3,800 elephants live in captivity in Thailand, many in camps, zoos, and sanctuaries. Some camps rent their elephants from individual owners and now, unable to afford the costs of keeping them on, have had to send the animals and their caretakers, or mahouts, away. Other camps still have their elephants but are struggling to feed and care for them, leaving many isolated and hungry. Across the industry, people are doing everything they can to hang on."

SumOfUs tells me:

"In the legendary Serengeti, almost a quarter of the elephants live in a tiny area protected by a team of just 10 specially-trained rescue dogs and their handlers.

They sniff out poachers and sound the alarm -- the dogs have helped arrest hundreds of poachers already, saving countless elephants being murdered for ivory. But outside the Serengeti, poaching is on the rise and there are thousands more elephants that still need protection."

More information:

Dogs put their noses to work saving wildlife. National Geographic. 6 January 2021.

Working Dogs for Conservation is the world’s leading conservation detection dog organization. Working Dogs for Conservation. 1 January 2021.

https://act.sumofus.org/go/577048?t=1...

https://act.sumofus.org/go/577049?t=1...

The more densely populated Asia becomes by humans, the less space there is left for elephants.

https://phys.org/news/2023-04-elephan...

"Developing new insights from a unique data set that models land-use change over 13 centuries, a research team led by new UC San Diego faculty member Shermin de Silva found that habitats suitable for Asian elephants have been cut by nearly two-thirds within the past 300 years.

The largest living land animal in Asia, endangered Asian elephants inhabited grasslands and rainforest ecosystems that once spanned the breadth of the continent. Analyzing land-use data from the years 850 to 2015, the researchers describe in the journal Scientific Reports a troubling situation in which they estimate that more than 64% of historic suitable elephant habitat across Asia has been lost. While elephant habitats remained relatively stable prior to the 1700s, colonial-era land-use practices in Asia, including timber extraction, farming and agriculture, cut the average habitat patch size more than 80%, from 99,000 to 16,000 square kilometers."

More information: Land‑use change is associated with multi‑century loss of elephant ecosystems in Asia, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30650-8

Journal information: Scientific Reports

Provided by University of California - San Diego

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-areas-e...

"Connecting protected areas means elephants can freely move in and out. This allows a natural equilibrium to occur without human intervention, sparing conservationists from using their limited resources to maintain balance.

"Calling for connecting parks isn't something new. Many have done so," Huang said. "But surprisingly, there has not been a lot of published evidence of its effectiveness so far. This study helps quantify why this works."

"Connecting protected areas is essential for the survival of African savanna elephants and many other animal and plant species," said Celesté Maré, co-author and doctoral student at Aarhus University in Denmark. "Populations with more options for moving around are healthier and more stable, which is important given an uncertain future from climate change.""

More information: Ryan Huang et al, Protecting and connecting landscapes stabilises populations of the Endangered savannah elephant, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk2896. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ad...

Journal information: Science Advances

Provided by Duke University

"A new study found that African savanna elephants, an endangered species, have name-like calls for each other that resemble human names — a finding that potentially "radically expands the express power of language evolution."

It also means that the elephants know what they are talking about.

https://www.aol.com/first-nonhuman-sp...

"We have witnessed time and again how injured — and, remarkably, entirely wild — elephants come to us in their hour of need." Kaluku Field Headquarters in Tsavo

"On the morning of 26th June 2025, as they headed to the hangars, they were surprised to find an adult elephant in her mid-20s lingering nearby. Her front right leg was swollen, hindering her mobility and causing visible discomfort."

"Elephants really are incredible. This mother recognised her predicament — and knew where to come for help. She couldn’t have made herself more visible, choosing to position herself in the most heavily trafficked [airfield] part of our Kaluku Headquarters."

The wound was easily fixed and the elephant returned to the wild.

https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.or...

Two very nice stories!

Thanks to Victoria Tait for telling me in her newsletter about some Thai elephants she met on her travels.


"A group of us also visited Following Giants, an elephant sanctuary in a national park in the south of Koh Lanta.

The owner explained that he was a sixth generation elephant keeper, but after a visit from World Animal Protection he decided that instead of using elephants for logging, which is still common in Thailand, he should create an environment where the elephants take the lead.

Since then, he and his team have used donations and the entrance fees from visitors to rescue elephants and provide them with a forest home.

There are currently nine elephants at the sanctuary. Some have injuries from being ridden, as their bony backbones can be damaged when equipment is strapped to them, while others have lifelong injuries from logging. One female had been used only for breeding. The youngest elephant, Peanut, had been part of a circus side show for visitors in Phuket."