coordination:
Julien Marchais

rédaction:
Anne-Christine Procope
Pascal Bourgoen

design:
WildlifePixel

" " " Sur cette page sont list?es par ordre chronologique les derni?res actualit?s portant sur les ?l?phants et leur conservation.

""" Tous les lecteurs sont invit?s ? contribuer ? cette rubrique en envoyant par e-mail des informations r?centes. Les lecteurs motiv?s pour devenir r?dacteurs sont les bienvenus et sont invit?s ? prendre contact avec nous.

Titre : Lode sanctuary gets elephant

R?sumé: Tinkerbelle, the lone Asian elephant at the San Francisco Zoo, moved into her new home Sunday at a sanctuary for abandoned and abused performing animals in Calaveras County. For months, animal rights groups have pressured the zoo to relocate the 38-year-old pachyderm to the 2,300-acre San Andreas preserve — one of the country's largest retirement homes for animals. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in June urging zoo keepers to send Tinkerbelle to the Calaveras County refuge. Although animal activists hailed the move of the Asian elephant, it upset the influential American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which prefers that animals get sent to AZAA-accredited facilities. If it loses accreditation, the San Francisco Zoo could be barred from sending animals to or receiving them from other accredited zoos across the country. The zoo expects to hear whether its accreditation is renewed in March.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.uniondemocrat.com/

Source: http://www.uniondemocrat.com/

Titre : Zoo demand fuels illegal elephant trade, Australian conference told

R?sumé: International wildlife experts called Tuesday for bans on the trafficking of endangered Asian elephants, warning that demand from zoos and theme parks is driving the illegal trade from countries such as Thailand. Experts from Thailand and India flew to Australia to air their concerns because a request by zoos is currently before Environment Minister Ian Campbell to import nine new Asian elephants for a captive breeding program. International Fund for Animal Welfare Asia-Pacific director, Mick McIntyre, said the concerns raised by the experts were further highlighted by footage filmed at Taronga, Melbourne and Auckland zoos, showing their current elephant population was suffering. The IFAW urged Campbell to refuse the import of nine new Asian elephants for zoos in Australian and New Zealand.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.terradaily.com/

Source: http://www.terradaily.com/

Titre : Scientists create elephant drug

R?sumé: A helicopter hovers low over the African savannah. Richard Fayrer-Hosken loads his gun and takes careful aim at his prey. A dart -- filled with a specially-developed contraceptive -- slams into the grey hide of a six-ton African elephant. Fayrer-Hosken, a professor and researcher of large animal medicine in the University's College of Veterinary Medicine, developed a contraceptive to control the elephant population in South Africa's Kruger National Park. He received a 1998 Creative Research Medal for his findings, which culminated in several trips to Africa to vaccinate elephants. The vaccine, which is administered to 10 percent to 30 percent of the population, is non-hormonal and has no serious side effects.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.redandblack.com/

Source: http://www.redandblack.com/

Titre : Friendly Elephant 'Calls on' Aliu - Ghana

R?sumé: The elephant, said to be the most friendly at the Mole National Park and nick-named 'Onipa Nua' made an exciting appearance, in what observers described as a courtesy call, at the lodge of Vice President Aliu Mahama at the Park on Tuesday morning. The Vice President, who was invited by a member of his security team to receive his 'guest,' took photographs with the elephant after admiring it for a while. The elephant is the symbol of the ruling New Patriotic Party of which the Vice President is the running mate.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.ghanaweb.com/

Source: http://www.ghanaweb.com/

Titre : Royal Oak Girl Wants To Save Aging Elephants

R?sumé: A 10-year-old Royal Oak girl is leading the fight to free Winky and Wanda, the aging elephants at the Detroit Zoo. She's created a page on a Web site and a clever message, to save the elephants. On a Web site page, Emma Stevens tells people how to help: "Buy some small bags of peanuts and mail them to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association and The San Antonio Zoo. Include a note with the bags that says 'You've gotta be nuts not to free Winky and Wanda!' Be sure to include your name and address or they won't take you seriously," she says. She also urges viewers to the site to sign an online petition.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.clickondetroit.com/family/3959523/detail.html

Source: http://www.clickondetroit.com/family/3959523/detail.html

Titre : Ancient Angola Elephant Route to be de-mined

R?sumé: An ancient but now lethal migration route for elephants is to be de-mined in Angola, paving the way for swelling herds in neighbouring Botswana and Zambia to expand their range. Angola, which suffered almost three decades of civil war, is one of the world's most heavily mined countries, a situation that is taking a heavy toll on both humans and wildlife. And sparsely populated northern Botswana has a pachyderm bottleneck, with a fast growing elephant population that is eating itself out of house and home and coming into conflict with poor rural folk. An estimated 120,000 elephants, whose numbers are growing at 5 percent annually, would be able to move north into Angola and Zambia if the mines were cleared.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.enn.com/

Source: http://www.enn.com/

Titre : Buckshot retrieved from elephant's skull - Malaysia

R?sumé: The Wildlife Department recovered a homemade buckshot believed to have been used in the gruesome killing of a pygmy elephant at Sungai Dewata, about Km 36 of the Lahad Datu-Kunak road here, mid November. District officer-in-charge, Stephen Sira Gibin, said the bullet was retrieved from the skull of the dead elephant early this week. The pygmy elephant killing was the second, with the first at the Tabin Wildlife Sanctuary barely more than a month ago. In both cases, the tusks of the dead elephants were sawn off. The department is also carrying out a separate investigation to trace the whereabouts of the missing tusks. Meanwhile, members of the public are advised against buying elephant tusks or risk an offence under the State Wildlife Enactment.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/

Source: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/

Titre : Foreigners eager for the jumbo ride of their lives! - India

R?sumé: This tourist season has brought good news for elephant owners in Jaipur as the number of foreign tourists arriving in Amer fort is almost double compared to the last season. Presently as many as 800 to 900 foreign nationals are enjoying elephant rides while climbing the Amer fort. Mahouts on the other hand allege that while the elephant owner mint money, they themselves are an impoverished lot. They get paid as little as 1000 rupees as salary in spite of almost double or triple business they provide to the owners during the season. Elephant owners also claim that their business has witnessed a boom this year and broken all the previous records of the last fifteen years.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.newkerala.com/

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/

Titre : Periyar's (Kerala) eco-system changing India

R?sumé: There was a time when Kerala's Peryiar Forest Reserve was full of wild animals. But with the changing ecosystem, watching wild animals in the forest has become a thing of the past. The reason for this is the drastically ever-changing environment. The region has not witnessed rain for the past five years. One of the world's most fascinating natural wildlife sanctuaries, is nowadays going through a drastically ever-changing environment. Periyar lake is 26 square kilometres and forest covers 360 square kilometres. Thirty-five thousand people directly depend upon the forest for their livelihood. But with increasing species of animals becoming virtually extinct, tourists are also visiting in less numbers. The sanctuary, declared as a Tiger reserve in 1978 under the project Tiger scheme, attracts travellers from all over the world because this is the only sanctuary in India where the wild elephant can be observed and photographed at close quarters.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.newkerala.com/

Source: http://news.newkerala.com/

Titre : Woolly mammoths leave deep freeze to be part of pipe dream

R?sumé: Scotland’s bagpipe makers, deprived of the use of increasingly rare elephant ivory, are turning to a much older resource. They are using the tusks of 20,000-year-old woolly mammoths, whose remains are regularly found deep-frozen in the permafrost of Siberia. Ivory on bagpipes is purely decorative, and the use of such an ancient material is said to have no effect on the sound. Tim Gellaitry, a bagpipe-maker based in Stirling who has been producing the instrument for 20 years, is preparing to export sets of pipes made with mammoth tusks at a starting price of £3,500. According to Mr Gellaitry, part of the appeal of mammoth over elephant is that the ivory is legal.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Titre : Baby elephant on the mend; zoo starts trust fund

R?sumé: Trish Exton-Parder, a spokeswoman for the zoo, says it costs about $500 a day to care for the baby pachyderm, including antibiotics, special formula, lab tests and medical supplies. The around-the-clock care by the zookeepers isn't included in that number. Exton-Parder says they've received calls from around the world offering help. The baby, who hasn't been named yet, was born Nov. 16, but her mother didn't want anything to do with her. That left her care to zookeepers, who have been hand feeding her a special formula.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://edmonton.cbc.ca/

Source: http://edmonton.cbc.ca/

Titre : Zoo Demand Fuels Illegal Elephant Trade

R?sumé: International wildlife experts called this week for bans on the trafficking of endangered Asian elephants, warning that demand from zoos and theme parks is driving the illegal trade from countries such as Thailand. Experts from Thailand and India flew to Australia to air their concerns before Environment Minister Ian Campbell, who is considering a request from several Australian and New Zealand zoos to import nine new Asian elephants for a captive breeding program.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://animal.discovery.com/

Source: http://animal.discovery.com/

Titre : Calgary Zoo's baby elephant putting on weight

R?sumé: The baby elephant at the Calgary Zoo that was rejected by its mother is doing better, thanks to the hard work and perseverance of zoo workers. Keeping the as-yet unnamed pachyderm alive has been a 24-hour a day job since it was born on Nov. 16. Like most kids, the elephant has a seemingly insatiable appetite, drinking 16 litres of milk every day. One of the zoo's biggest challenges was finding, by trial and error, the proper formula to nurse the elephant. What's worked for them is goat's milk with a dietary supplement consisting of Pedialyte, coconut oil and rice. The baby is now fattening back up to her birth weight of 110 kilograms. The elephant's care has cost the Calgary zoo tens of thousands of dollars already, but calls have come in from around the world offering help. A trust fund has been set up to collect donations for the baby pachyderm's care. .

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/

Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/

Titre : American Zoo and Aquarium Association Announces Elephant Resolution

R?sumé: Today the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) and three accredited member zoos - the San Antonio Zoo, the Columbus Zoo and the Detroit Zoo - announced a resolution regarding Wanda and Winky, two aging elephants currently living at the Detroit Zoo. The AZA had recommended that the elephants go to the Columbus Zoo, and the Detroit Zoo had expressed disappointment with this recommendation. Today, the Elephant Species Survival Plan (SSP) declared both elephants non-essential to the population. This decision enables the Detroit Zoo to place both animals in a facility of its choosing, as long as the facility meets the Detroit Zoo's Acquisition/Disposition Policy. Detroit Zoo officials hope to move the elephants as soon as the weather permits.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://releases.usnewswire.com/

Source: http://releases.usnewswire.com/

Titre : Police uncover largest quantity ever of smuggled elephant tusk

R?sumé: Policemen found around 730 kg of smuggled elephant tusk, which is banned for trading in Viet Nam, in Ha Noi's Long Bien district early on Saturday. Policemen said that this is the largest elephant tusk smuggling case in Viet Nam thus far. The smuggler in the case is Nguyen Van Thinh, director of the Duc Minh Import Export Joint Stock Company, who had fled. These elephant tusk are supposed to come to Viet Nam from another country before being transported to other destinations.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.vnagency.com.vn/

Source: http://www.vnagency.com.vn/

Titre : Baby elephant costs run into thousands

R?sumé: It hasn't been an easy start for the Calgary Zoo's newest arrival. In the first two weeks of her life, the cute one-hundred kilogram baby elephant was shunned by her mother and then developed a life-threatening infection. The animal was very sick but has been gradually improving. Her treatment is very expensive but people from around the world are contacting the zoo to offer help. The zoo has set up a trust fund to collect donations to help cover the costs. Her care has cost the zoo tens of thousands of dollars already. If she continues to improve, the public will be able to see her in early January.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.cfcn.ca/

Source: http://www.cfcn.ca/

Titre : Winky and Wanda winging way West

R?sumé: Winky and Wanda, two aging, arthritic elephants, will spend their retirement in California's Sierra Nevada foothills, away from the cramped, cold Detroit Zoo. After months of wrangling, Detroit Zoo director Ron Kagan reached an agreement with two other zoos and an accreditation group to send the pachyderms to California's Winky and Wanda will be moved to the PAWS sanctuary about 110 miles east of San Francisco as soon as the weather permits. Of its 2,300 acres, about 100 are set aside for elephants. The sanctuary currently has six. Five U.S. zoos have closed elephant exhibits in recent years amid public pressure after animal deaths or purported mistreatment.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://washingtontimes.com/

Source: http://washingtontimes.com/

Titre : Winky & Wanda: The top priority is to assure elephants stay together

R?sumé: Winky and Wanda should stay together. That means the Detroit Zoo needs to buy Wanda from the San Antonio Zoo. The zoo director wants to send Winky and Wanda to an animal sanctuary, but the American Zoo and Aquarium Association turned down his request and rejected his appeal. The AZA decided Detroit's elephants should go to the zoo in Columbus, Ohio, if Detroit no longer feels right about keeping them. That is in line with its policy of assigning animals only among its members, which ensures they get proper veterinary care, among other standards. But Columbus seems only marginally better than Detroit. Winky and Wanda would still be indoors for months during the winter.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.freep.com/

Source: http://www.freep.com/

Titre : Elephants stubborness lands mahouts in trouble - India

R?sumé: Stubborness of two elephants against attending a rejuvenation camp at the Mudumalai Wildlife and Sanctuary and National park for two successive years has led to suspension of two mahouts by the management of the famous hill shrine of Sri Dhandayudhapandi swamy. The suspension orders were served to the mahouts after the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department organising the camp sought an explanation from the temple administration. The charges levelled against the mahouts were that they had not trained their elephants properly.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.teamindia.net/

Source: http://www.teamindia.net/

Titre : DNA test fights elephant poaching

R?sumé: A conservation biologist, Wasser set out to find a way to help combat the illegal ivory trade that led poachers to slaughter elephants for their tusks. He's succeeded. After collecting hundreds of DNA samples of elephant skin and dung in 16 African countries, the University of Washington scientist and his colleagues have developed a tool that pinpoints areas where law enforcement efforts should be increased. They found small genetic variations in the elephants depending on where they lived. With that information, they built a database that determines the geographic origin of ivory seized in illegal trading. Analyzing the DNA of poached tusks can reveal the ivory's source within a few hundred miles. His team is analyzing 61/2 tons of ivory, including more than 500 tusks, seized in Singapore two years ago. Wasser said the technique could be used in developing a similar tool for Asian elephants and other wildlife species. Wasser and his colleagues reported their findings in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.oregonlive.com/

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/

Titre : Baby elephant at risk after mother's rejection

R?sumé: The life of a nine-day-old female Asian elephant at the Calgary Zoo hangs in the balance after she was rejected by her mother. Born to first-time mother Maharani, the calf is being kept inside and out of sight for the next few days until zookeepers determine whether her mother might change her mind. Head elephant keeper Bob Kam says it's uncommon, but not unheard of, for first-time mothers to avoid their babies. Maharani won't allow her unnamed offspring to suckle, preventing it from getting important enzymes and antibodies that can't be provided with artificial milk. Zoo officials say the mother needs to accept her 110-kilogram baby within the next few days in order for it to survive. However, breeding programs are crucial to the survival of the endangered Asian elephant.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.cbc.ca/

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/

Titre : Trunk calls, end man-elephant conflict - India

R?sumé: A Task Force will be constituted in Assam to suggest ways to preserve the elephant habitat with a view to reducing the ever-increasing man-elephant conflict, protection of endangered species and other wildlife issues. This was decided at the first meeting of the Advisory Board on Wildlife held under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi here today. Gogoi said the task force would also survey the number of elephants in the wild and suggest measures on how to translocate them to areas which are less populated. The government has constituted the Joint Forest Management Committee to involve the people in preserving the rich flora and fauna as well as providing means of sustenance, he said. State Forest Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said under the Animal Fodder Programme wild elephants will be provided fodder to prevent them from destroying paddy fields.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Titre : Four elephants rescued in Assam

R?sumé: The callous manner in which four elephants were being transported out of Assam comes as a shocking instance of negligence. Especially for a state that has an Elephant Festival listed on its official calendar of events. For the last four days, the elephants were crammed in a parcel van parked at the railyard in New Guwahati. They were finally rescued by the railway police. All the animals were found chained in a miniscule space—in complete violation of guidelines for transporting animals under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Shockingly they were also seen feeding on fodder mixed with their own droppings. But the mahouts claim their transporting papers are in order and have been passed by the forest authorities. Wildlife experts say the ban on timber felling has made over 1500 domestic elephants redundant. The only option left for their owners is to sell them outside the state, at places like the Sonepur Mela.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.ndtv.com/

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/

Titre : From Africa to UK high streets, via China: inside lucrative world of ivory smuggling

R?sumé: The seizure, which followed months of painstaking intelligence gathering by police and conservationists, represented the largest discovery of suspected illegal ivory bound for the domestic British market. Campaigners say the haul represents the tip of the iceberg in an increasingly lucrative criminal industry worth at least £5m a year, one which stretches from antique dealers in central London to Chinese traders in poached ivory targeting Britain through internet auction sites. While a law now exists to tackle the problem, conservationists criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) yesterday for failing to produce secondary legislation granting police powers to enforce it. Under current rules, police cannot arrest suspected ivory traffickers unless they obstruct a search and officers can only "invite" suspects to make a statement prior to pressing charges.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.independent.co.uk/

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/

Titre : Baby elephant blood transfusion

R?sumé: Experts are hoping a blood transfusion will save the life of a very rare baby elephant born a few days ago at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada. The baby elephant’s first-time mother, Maharani, has never seen a baby before and doesn't know what it is. Maharani won't allow her unnamed offspring to suckle, preventing it from getting important enzymes and antibodies that can't be provided with artificial milk. With the help of Canadian Blood Services, vets took blood from two female elephants at the zoo and, it was sent to a Vancouver laboratory where the blood was processed and the plasma component extracted.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://p2pnet.net/

Source: http://p2pnet.net/

Titre : Zoo gives elephant 50% chance of surviving

R?sumé: The baby elephant rejected by its mother and grandmother after it was born last week at the Calgary Zoo was in critical condition Friday. Officials give the calf, which is fighting an infection, a 50 per cent chance of surviving. On Friday, veterinarians gave the unnamed elephant a transfusion of blood taken from two female elephants in hopes of fighting the infection. Zookeepers are taking vigilant care of the elephant but the formula it's being fed doesn't have the required nutrients and antibodies that would be available in the mother's milk. Baby elephant at risk after mother's rejection Brian Keating, a zoo spokesman, says the 110-kg elephant's condition has worsened over the past few days. The calf has been separated from her mother, but is close enough to see and smell her.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.cbc.ca/

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/

Titre : Asia's biggest cattle fair gets underway in Bihar

R?sumé: A large number of farmers and cattle sellers today arrived in Sonepur town in Bihar for the month-long animal fair. Dubbed as Asia's biggest animal fair, the event is held annually after Kartik Poornima. For centuries, the fair has catered to the agricultural needs of thousands of people. The place had become a centre for animal trade in the 4th century B.C. Chandragupta Maurya, the Indian emperor who ruled the country from Patna, erstwhile Pataliputra, bought elephants and horses for his army from Sonepur. Besides the elephants and horses, all sorts of cattle are an integral part of the fair. With trade in elephants banned at Sonepur they are only brought by their owners for the holy bath and worship. An estimated 40,000 animals have been put for sale at the fair. Traders say this is the best platform for their animals where they get a good price.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.newkerala.com/

Source: http://news.newkerala.com/

Titre : Baby elephant, shunned by mother, gets blood plasma transfusion

R?sumé: A baby elephant has been given a rare blood plasma transfusion after being shunned by her mother and is getting healthier by the day. The 242-pound calf pulled out her feeding tube late Saturday night or early Sunday and is now drinking a specially made formula that includes oats and milk from a very large bottle. The elephant, born Nov. 16, continues to receive 24-hour attention from the zoo's medical staff and will stay indoors and out of public view until she is free and clear from illness. Canada Blood Services, a charitable organization, agreed to help the zoo give the calf the unusual elephant blood plasma transfusion. Blood was taken from female elephants at the zoo and sent to a research and development laboratory in Vancouver, British Columbia, for processing and extraction of plasma containing vital antibodies for fighting disease.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/

Source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/

Titre : Zoo braces for major 2005

R?sumé: Nashville Zoo officials will unveil in 2005 the most significant new exhibits and collection of species — bolstered by giraffes and African elephants — ever introduced within the exotic wildlife park during a single calendar year. The new exhibits will carry a price tag of approximately $7 million. In addition to the giraffes and elephants, the zoo will add ocelot, lorikeet and American alligator exhibits.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/

Source: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/

Titre : San Francisco Zoo risks accreditation with elephant's transfer to sanctuary

R?sumé: The San Francisco Zoo has sent its lone Asian elephant to a sanctuary for abandoned and abused performing animals, a move that could jeopardize the zoo's accreditation. For months, animal rights groups have pressured the zoo to relocate the 38-year-old Tinkerbelle to a 2,300-acre preserve in San Andreas. In June, San Francisco's board of supervisors passed a resolution, urging zookeepers to send Tinkerbelle to the Calaveras County refuge in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Though animal activists hailed Sunday's transfer, it upset the influential American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which prefers that animals are sent to accredited facilities. The zoo's remaining African elephant, 38-year-old Lulu, will join Tinkerbelle in late December. The zoo eventually plans to permanently close its elephant exhibit. If it loses accreditation, the San Francisco Zoo could be barred from sending animals to or receiving them from other accredited zoos across the nation. Officials expect to hear whether accreditation is renewed in March.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.freep.com/

Source: http://www.freep.com/

Titre : Elephant Keeper's Death: Zoo Fined for Safety Breaches

R?sumé: The mother of a zoo worker who died after he was struck by an elephant said today she was “very pleased” after his employers were fined £25,000. Professor Gordon Reid, director of Chester Zoo, admitted at Chester Crown Court to breaching health and safety regulations in connection with the death of elephant keeper Richard Hughes. The 34-year-old, from Stoke-on-Trent, died in February 2001 after he was struck several times by female elephant Kumara, who had a history of violence. The court heard that Kumara, who was put down in October 2001 because of health problems, had attacked the other keeper, Mr Plant, twice before this incident and was known as “the most dangerous” elephant in the zoo. He said zoo chiefs had failed to ensure their safety by allowing them to work with Kumara as well as not carrying out sufficient risk assessment protocols..

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.scotsman.com/

Source: http://news.scotsman.com/

Titre : Pygmy elephant killed for tusks in Malaysia's Borneo

R?sumé: Poachers have killed a rare pygmy elephant on Malaysian Borneo and removed its tusks, according to a report citing a wildlife official. It is the second time in less than two months that a pygmy elephant in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island has been slaughtered by poachers. The New Sunday Times newspaper said the carcass of an adult male pygmy elephant was discovered near Lahad Datu on the east coast of the state some 10 days ago. It had been shot dead and its tusks were sawn off. Police have detained a 19-year-old local and seized a homemade shotgun and a spent shell not far from where the carcass was found.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.terradaily.com/

Source: http://www.terradaily.com/

Titre : 73-year-old lifts elephants, airplanes and a yacht

R?sumé: The secret is in the heart, not the body, says Sri Chinmoy, the 73-year-old native of India. Chinmoy has spent three days demonstrating his fitness by lifting three planes, a helicopter, three elephants and a group of Olympic gold medal winners at locations in and outside of New York City. The 1.7-metre, 84-kilogramme man told the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey that it’s a matter of mind over matter.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/

Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/

Titre : Tasmania police seeking to lock horns with thieves

R?sumé: Two elephant tusks and antelope horns were stolen from a Dilston home during the past month along with a large amount of jewellery and power tools. The property owner had owned the tusks and horns for some time.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.abc.net.au/

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/

Titre : Star makes appeal for Lincoln Park elephants

R?sumé: Mayor Daley -- plus all 50 members of the City Council -- received a letter sent Nov. 8 from actress and Chicago native Gillian Anderson. Inspired by information supplied by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the former ''X-Files'' star pleaded with the city officials to pass a resolution to send Lincoln Park Zoo elephants Peaches and Wankie to an elephant sanctuary in a warm climate.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.suntimes.com/

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/

Titre : Elephants in Space

R?sumé: Scientists with the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have recently been counting their zoo animals from a lofty perch: namely, outer space. Using high-tech cameras fixed to an orbiting satellite 280 miles overhead, a WCS scientific team tallied some of the zoo’s own animal collection to see if satellites can help count wildlife populations in remote locations throughout the world. The WCS team is currently analyzing high-tech maps produced by the satellite, which orbited the zoo last Wednesday, Nov. 10th. If the technology proves accurate, WCS is hopeful that it can be used to monitor endangered wildlife populations that live in hard-to-reach locations. The satellite, called Quickbird, is owned by DigitalGlobe, a private company. WCS plans to use similar imagery to count wildlife in exotic locations, including elephants and giraffes in Tanzania. The project was funded in part by a grant from NASA.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.newswise.com/

Source: http://www.newswise.com/

Titre : Jharkhand police to tackle wild elephants

R?sumé: Jharkhand's forest department has sought assistance from the state police to tackle rampaging elephants, which regularly menace human lives and property. Wildlife experts said the increasing danger from these beasts is a consequence of shrinking forest cover and human encroachment. Police have been told to take appropriate measures to save human lives and habitation, should elephants go beyond control. Earlier attempts to tackle the problem by using trained elephants from Assam to capture the wild ones had little impact. Villagers were also advised to use cow dung to disguise the smell of their grain stores.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.teamindia.net/

Source: http://www.teamindia.net/

Titre : Zoo animals enjoy pumpkin treats

R?sumé: It's pumpkin stomping season for the animals at the National Zoo, Washington. Elephants Shanthi and Kandula got the first taste of the fall treat this morning at the annual event. The gourds were supplied by farms in Virginia and Maryland. Three-year-old Kandula may have had the most fun stomping on the pumpkins and then scooping out the seeds with his trunk. Elephant keeper Marie Galloway says the pumpkin feed is a great way to add some variety to the pachyderms' day.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.wavy.com/

Source: http://www.wavy.com/

Titre : From Chains to Sanctuary; Lota the Elephant is Finally Rescued after Years of Suffering

R?sumé: Lota, a circus elephant that has been the focus of three lawsuits, the inspiration for an international petition for her release and responsible for raising awareness of the plight of captive elephants worldwide, will finally be released to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Earlier this year, a lawsuit was brought by the United States Department of Agriculture against the Illinois-based Hawthorn Corporation, the company that owns Lota. In the suit, the Hawthorn Corporation, a company which trains and rents elephants for circuses, was charged with numerous counts of cruelty and neglect of its 16 circus elephants.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://home.businesswire.com/

Source: http://home.businesswire.com/

Titre : Wild elephants cause havoc in Goa region - India

R?sumé: Herds of wild elephants, straying into areas bordering Goa lured by the sugarcane crops and water reserves, are causing havoc to villages and residents have urged that the pachyderms be relocated to sanctuaries. Villagers living along the Maharashtra-Goa border areas have started using torches and sticks to frighten the elephants that trample crops, the only source of livelihood for most people. The lack of legal provisions for giving compensation to the victims of elephant attack has aggravated the problem of villagers.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.newkerala.com/

Source: http://news.newkerala.com/

Titre : San Francisco Mulls Ban of Beloved Zoo Elephants

R?sumé: San Francisco officials pondered on Thursday whether to stop keeping elephants in the city's zoo as activists pushed for a ban amid concerns about their conditions in captivity. Considered one of the best in the nation, San Francisco's zoo plans to send its two elephants, Tinkerbelle and Lulu, to a California sanctuary by next month before improving its facilities for pachyderms in the future. That plan is not enough for Elliot Katz, president of In Defense of Animals, which is lobbying San Francisco's Board of Supervisors for what would be the first ban on zoo elephants in the country.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://wireservice.wired.com/

Source: http://wireservice.wired.com/

Titre : Rejuvenation camp for elephants begins

R?sumé: The 48-day-long rejuvenation camp for elephants began today at Theppakadu in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. It may be noted that Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa conceived the idea of organising rejuvenation camp for elephants belonging to temples, mutts, Forest Department and private parties in 2003. This camp was well-received as many as hundred elephants were treated. Following the overwhelming response, the Chief Minister ordered for conducting the camp this year also. As many has 112 elephants from various places were brought to the camp site by lorries.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://newstodaynet.com/

Source: http://newstodaynet.com/

Titre : Bulgaria Welcomes Elephant Madame

R?sumé: The zoo in Bulgaria's capital Sofia has welcomed a new female elephant. The huge animal is 42-year-old and descends from Italy. The truck carrying the elephant was high priority for officers at the Kalotina border checkpoint. Checks into the vehicle had to be carried out swiftly, otherwise the special container could cool down, or the animal could feel discomforted. Officials said that this was the first time in 15 years for an elephant to pass into Bulgarian territory. During the check, the giant female shoved out her trunk and received a cake from customs officers.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.novinite.com/

Source: http://www.novinite.com/

Titre : Elephant appeal fails; they must go to Ohio

R?sumé: The Detroit Zoo's two elderly, arthritic pachyderms will not spend their golden years together in an elephant sanctuary. A final appeal to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association was rejected Thursday -- upholding a prior directive that the elephants be moved to the Columbus, Ohio, zoo. The decision effectively blocks Detroit Zoo Director Ron Kagan from sending Winky, 51, and Wanda, 45, to one of two U.S. sanctuaries where they would be able to roam hundreds of acres. Kagan had announced the sanctuary plan in May, declaring that a mounting body of evidence suggests zoo enclosures of any size are inadequate to meet elephants' extraordinary physical, social and intellect needs. It was a groundbreaking announcement, the first time a major U.S. zoo voluntarily decided to give up elephants primarily on ethical grounds. But the committee charged with managing elephants in AZA-accredited institutions disagreed in September, directing Detroit to send Winky and Wanda to Columbus.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.freep.com/

Source: http://www.freep.com/

Titre : SC asks Project Elephant to take note of death of 77 tuskers - India

R?sumé: The Supreme Court today directed the Project Elephant Director to take note of the death of 77 pachyderms in the Nagerhole area of Karnataka between April and October this year and take remedial measures to prevent its recurrence. It has been reported that large number of deaths of elephants have taken place and suggested that it would be appropriate to issue notice to the Director of Project Elephant, an initiative of the Central Government to protect the depleting population of pachyderms. The area in question has large number of tea plantations and coffee estates which come in the travel path of the herds of elephants. To prevent the elephants from damaging their cash crops, the inhabitants and estate owners have erected illegal electric fencing resulting in serious injuries to the animals.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.hinduonnet.com/

Source: http://www.hinduonnet.com/

Titre : Elephant flap looms - Zoo fights proposed ban on pachyderms.

R?sumé: Animal lovers packed City Hall on Thursday to voice their opinions on a proposal to ban the San Francisco Zoo from ever keeping elephants. Two elephants died at the zoo earlier this year, and the remaining two are scheduled for a move to a sanctuary in San Andreas. A companion bill would give The City's animal welfare agency jurisdiction over the zoo. That bill has the strong backing of animal rights groups that oppose the caging of large wild animals. The zoo, though, is adamantly opposing both measures.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.sfexaminer.com/

Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/

Titre : Elephant wakes up to filter coffee at camp

R?sumé: Strange, nevertheless true as a 25-year-old elephant in Tamil Nadu begins her day with a "sip" of filter coffee just like majority of the South Indians. Andal, an elephant from Srirangam Ranganathar Temple, wakes up to a litre of filter coffee and also she does not miss out on playing her mouth organ everyday. These are just a few scenes for the visitors to the second annual elephants camp for pachyderms from the state to rejuvenate themselves after entertaining people or participating in temple activities for most part of the year. These two are out of the 64 pachyderms belonging to various temples and private owners which were taking part in the 48-day camp organised by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endownments Department (HR and CE) here.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.hinduonnet.com/

Source: http://www.hinduonnet.com/

Titre : Over 10,000 flock to world's largest elephant banquet

R?sumé: Over 10,000 Thai and foreign tourists yesterday flocked to Thailand's northeastern province of Surin for a world record-breaking banquet involving over 300 elephants. The banquet, which won a place in the Guinness Book of Records, took place in the centre of Surin town, and was presided over by former defence minister and prime ministerial advisor Gen. Chetta Thanajaro. Throngs of tourists packed the streets of the town to watch the procession of over 300 elephants wind its way throughout Surin to the banqueting table, where the hungry pachyderms were greeted with five tonnes of pineapples, five tonnes of bananas, 25 tonnes of sugarcane, five tonnes of watermelons, five tonnes of cucumbers, five tonnes of sweet potatoes and 10 tonnes of maize arranged on 400 tables stretching for one kilometre along the road.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.mcot.org/

Source: http://www.mcot.org/

Titre : Coimbatore plays host to 48-day elephant health camp - India

R?sumé: A 48-day health camp has been organised for elephants by the Tamilnadu state government at the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. Over 64 elephants are taking part in this rejuvenation camp. This is the second time that the state government is organising such a camp specifically for elephants. Both ayurvedic and allopathic forms of treatment are being given to these animals. Most of these animals are suffering from a host of diseases, including blindness caused due to vitamin deficiencies, abcess, foot rot and severe dehydration. Tamilnadu employs these elephants in temples or for ferrying tourists across its various water bodies. The focus at the camp is also to educate mahouts and owners about the elephants' physigonomy and psychology to ensure long-care and attention. More than eight doctors are engaged in the camp.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.newkerala.com/

Source: http://news.newkerala.com/

Titre : Elephant cleared after crushing zoo keeper

R?sumé: An elephant that crushed his keeper at a Chinese zoo to death has been declared innocent because of mitigating circumstance. Hu Tianmin was cleaning the elephant house at the zoo in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, in August when five-tonne male Asian elephant Zhongbo lifted him up, threw him to the ground and stamped on him. Zoo officials said it was the mating season and the elephant was possibly suffering from sunstroke at the time, which made it irritable.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/

Titre : Temple elephants pay obeisance to legendary predecessor - India

R?sumé: In a solemn display of respect to their legendary predecessor, 35 elephants of the Sree Krishna temple here today lined up to pay floral tribute to the memory of 'Guruvayur Kesavan' on the eve of Guruvauyr Ekadasi day today. A large crowd had gathered to witness the procession and the memorial service, held annually on the eve of the Ekadasi festival. Known for its majestic appearance, physical prowess and dedication and devotion to Lord Guruvayurappan, Kesavan had for decades been the cynosure of elephant fans.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.123bharath.com/

Source: http://www.123bharath.com/

Titre : Detroit zoo considers options for two elderly elephants

R?sumé: The Detroit Zoo is considering what to do with two elderly elephants after its efforts to move the elephants to a sanctuary were rebuffed. Zoo director Ron Kagan wants to send 51-year-old Winky and 45-year-old Wanda to a sanctuary in a warmer climate, where they can more comfortably live out their final years together. But a national zoo accreditation group last week reaffirmed its decision to send the elephants to a zoo in Columbus, Ohio, instead. Kagan says the Columbus zoo is a fine zoo, but the conditions there aren't much different than in Detroit. The elephants could also stay in Detroit. But that would mean keeping them in the same environment that zoo officials say is too small and cold for them.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.wstm.com/

Source: http://www.wstm.com/

Titre : Concentration of elephant herds dangerous to eco-system - Botswana

R?sumé: Large concentration of elephant herds in the Ngamiland area has become dangerous to the eco-system hence the need to develop strategies to address the situation. MP for Maun West, Ronald Ridge told Parliament on November 18 that elephants in the area destroy trees that protect the Okavango Delta. Debating the President's state- of-nation address, Ridge advised that the number of boats in the delta needed to be reduced as failure to take measures could pollute the area.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.gov.bw/

Source: http://www.gov.bw/

Titre : Drought pushes wild elephants into pineapple fields

R?sumé: National park officials in Thailand's southern province of Prachuab Khiri Khan Province are seeking urgent measures to ensure that wild elephants living in the Kuiburi National Park are not harmed by local pineapple farmers during the coming dry season. Mr. Boonlue Phoonnil, the park's head, warned today that the current drought conditions were likely to push the 150-plus elephants out of the jungle and into local pineapple fields in a desperate search for food. He warned that elephants were becoming increasingly fearless of traditional methods of control, including low voltage electric fences, and were intelligent enough to have thought up ways to get round barriers.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.mcot.org/

Source: http://www.mcot.org/

Titre : Wildlife Chief Alarmed By Elephant Poaching Menace

R?sumé: African countries have been urged to harmonise penalties for wildlife crimes to deter poachers from moving to countries where the law is softer. Kenya law stipulates a Sh20,000 fine or six months' jail for dealing in ivory. This follow a media report that 10 people - nine men and a woman were held in Kitale after being found with 17 elephant tusks. The 10 suspects were netted by intelligence officers from the Lusaka Agreement Taskforce and rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service. The practice is attributed to availability of illegal firearms in the area which poachers use to kill the elephants. The trophies are then smuggled from Kitale to Nairobi and Mombasa. Poachers also smuggle tusks through Moyale, Ethiopia to the Far East.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Titre : Holiday trunk-ated by finger-eating elephant

R?sumé: A Sunshine Coast man's holiday of a lifetime ended in agony when an elephant bit off his finger outside a bar in Thailand. Although still in pain, Greg Black, of Sunrise Beach, said yesterday he could still manage to see the funny side of the freak pachyderm mauling which happened in the resort town of Pattaya last month. He now carries a Bangkok surgeon's letter confirming the incident for the many sceptics who think he's having them on when he tells them what happened to his finger.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.news.com.au/

Source: http://www.news.com.au/

Titre : In search of the albino elephant

R?sumé: It's late afternoon in Yala national park, and Priviraj Fernando, a scientist from Sri Lanka's Centre for Conservation and Research, is carefully attaching movement-sensitive cameras to posts on the park boundary. The 11-year-old female - nicknamed Sue - was recently spotted for the first time in 6 years. It is thought to be the only wild albino elephant in Asia. The dry season is making life difficult for the local farmers, as the animals cross the park boundary and venture into the village areas looking for food and water. Dr Fernando wants to find out the cause of the elephant's albinism. In the rare instance an animal receives two recessive albino genes - one from each parent - it will be an albino. On the other hand, it could be a case of a genetic mutation resulting in a characteristic like albinism always being expressed. If the elephant becomes pregnant its offspring will also be albino. The reappearance of the animal has not just been of interest to scientists. Sue could become a symbol of the need to protect elephants. Albino elephants have played a part in Buddhist mythology.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Titre : Elephants in rehab - Zoo aims to turn surly beasts into sweethearts

R?sumé: Indu is part of an experiment that could benefit her breed for decades to come. With the help of an internationally recognized elephant expert, the Phoenix Zoo is turning around the lives of three Asian elephants with troubled pasts. In the process, the zoo is creating a sanctuary for elephants with behavioral and social issues. Once Ruby died giving birth in 1998, the zoo closed the book on its elephant breeding ambitions. The new mission is to turn irascible animals into the gentle giants they were born to be and share those techniques with other zoos. In the past six months, the Phoenix Zoo has changed how its elephants are fed, the look of their pens and, perhaps most important, the interaction between elephant and keeper. Those efforts are paying off. Phoenix Zoo's elephants, once labeled troublemakers, are showing less stress and gentler temperaments. Incidents of aggression - such as charging fences - have decreased 90 percent.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.azcentral.com/

Source: http://www.azcentral.com/

Titre : Be wary of elephants, Mbalambi residents told - Botswana

R?sumé: Residents of Mbalambi village in the North East District have been told to be wary of elephants in the vicinity and to avoid doing anything that could "anger the animals as they can be pretty dangerous". Francistown senior wildlife warden Albert Mathumo told BOPA that his office was aware of the presence of elephants at Mbalambi and had on a number of occasions sent wildlife officers to the area to try to chase away the animals but in vain. The senior wildlife warden said that most elephants came from neighbouring Zimbabwe in search of water. He said the erection of a fence that divides Botswana from Zimbabwe meant to control the foot and mouth disease (FMD) could help keep them out, saying that was a long term process as the erection of the fence was not yet complete. However, Mbalambi headman Bernard Mbalambi said the arrival of elephants in the village was a cause for great concern as they had exhausted the water used by villagers' livestock and were also ruining the environment as they had started destroying trees.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.gov.bw/

Source: http://www.gov.bw/

Titre : Carnival stampedes to finish - Vietnam

R?sumé: An important traditional carnival in the Central Highlands ended on Sunday with mounted elephants racing side by side on the banks of the biggest river in Dac Lac Province, the Serepoc. The 30 elephants that took part in the two-day event are domesticated pachyderms were 30 to 50 years old, and are usually put to work in forestry and tourism. A tribal worship ceremony honouring the elephants and their mahouts took place before the events. Organisers bestowed racing numbers and draped the backs of the kneeling elephants with colourful flags, as spectators performed dances, banged traditional gongs and beat drums. The elephants also participated in ball games, timber throwing competitions, and a tug of war. Traditional folk artists also performed at the carnival that drew more than 10,000 tourists from across Viet Nam.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/

Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/

Titre : Ancient pachyderm bone found in China

R?sumé: Workers involved in a major expansion programme at Beijing Capital International Airport have unearthed a bone from an elephant that roamed the area 30 000 years ago. Archeologists from the Beijing Natural History Museum identified the find as the left thighbone of a lozenge-toothed elephant, or Palaeoloxdon, a beast that stood at least three meters tall. Museum expert said Palaeoloxdon once roamed large parts of what is now China in the late Pleistocene Epoch,(1,64 million to 10 000 years ago). A complete fossilized skeleton of Palaeoloxdon was once unearthed in north China's Hebei province. China is building a third terminal at the airport costing about $2,4-billion in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, which Beijing is hosting.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iol.co.za/

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/

Titre : Elephants Rampage Through Villages in India

R?sumé: Wild elephant herds have been terrorizing India's remote northeast, killing people, flattening houses and even guzzling local rice beer supplies, prompting villagers to retaliate against the pachyderms with firecrackers and bonfires. With an estimated 5,000 elephants, Assam state has the largest concentration of wild Asiatic elephants in India. The big herds, faced with shrinking forest cover and human encroachment of their corridors, venture into human settlements looking for food and attack those who try to stop them. A government ban on capturing elephants and restrictions on sending them to other states has aggravated Assam's problem. The state has created buffer zones to tackle the menace. An area on the periphery of villages is cultivated with plants found palatable by the elephants, and the second layer has plants like mustard that elephants shun. Authorities are encouraging the farmers to buy crop insurance and are raising compensation to the families of those killed by elephants.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.foxnews.com/

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/

Titre : Trunk trustee - Missouri man creates home for unwanted pachyderms.

R?sumé: Murray Hill loves elephants - so much so that he once left his family and hid out for five years with two elephants that he believed were being abused. Hill still watches over elephants, but these days he does it on his southwest Missouri farm, which serves as a sanctuary for elephants that have outlived their usefulness to circuses and zoos because of age or behavioral problems.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.columbiatribune.com/

Source: http://www.columbiatribune.com/

Titre : Ranchi police seize 50 kg of elephant tusks

R?sumé: The Ranchi police today seized four elephant tusks weighing 50 kg from poachers. They also arrested two persons with police officers posing as international buyers. The men are believed to be from a local criminal gang, which has been attacking pachyderms in forests near the capital city. Police say, the elephants lured by fresh crops, often flock villages during this season and the locals used to tip the gang about their whereabouts.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.newkerala.com/

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/

Titre : Homesick pachyderm due in L.A.

R?sumé: Ruby the elephant was due to arrive back in Los Angeles late Saturday after a 40-hour road trip from Tennessee. Ruby, a 43-year-old African elephant, was transferred to the Knoxville Zoo in May 2003 but never adjusted to her new surroundings. Animal-rights activists maintained that Ruby's health was compromised because she missed Gita, her longtime Asian elephant companion at the Los Angeles Zoo, and had confined quarters in Knoxville.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.dailynews.com/

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/

Titre : Elephant saves his companions - India

R?sumé: Four wild elephants had accidentally fallen into a well while they were straying in Tendugudi village near Pathalgaon yesterday. One else of their group who was standing nearby realised the seriousness of the situation and started pushing the wall of the well with his feet. This created an alert and some villagers gathered around. A team of forest officials also reached the site but stood as mute spectators. The elephant, which was getting restless, started pushing the wall with all his strength and finally a big portion of the wall caved in. The elephants came out by climbing on each other's back. The villagers had tried to drag out the wild elephants and in an attempt to escape the elephants fell into the well.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.centralchronicle.com/

Source: http://www.centralchronicle.com/

Titre : Five-year-old elephant found dead in field

R?sumé: A five-year-old male elephant was found dead in a paddy field at Mata near the Badaga-Banangala area in Virajpet taluk in Kodagu district on Tuesday morning. The cause of death was not known. The villagers said that it might have been electrocuted. The carcass was found in the paddy fields of Damu, adjoining the BBTC plantations. According to some people, residents who keep watch on straying elephants had chased away two adult elephants and a calf in the night. While the adults escaped, the calf might have been electrocuted, sources said. The mother of dead calf returned in the morning and is said to have chased away people who had gathered around the carcass. Forest Department officials and staff rushed to the spot and fired shots in the air to scare the pachyderm. The cause of death is being ascertained.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.hindu.com/

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

Titre : SANParks Brews Plan to Cull Elephant Herds

R?sumé: SANParks will have an elephant management plan in place by the end of October next year, designed to reduce the number of elephants in SA. A task team would be established soon to take the process forward and by the beginning of March a draft of the plan would be put before the SANParks board for approval. Following board approval, the plan will be submitted to Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk and then to the cabinet for its approval, by May next year. SANParks will be able to implement the new management plan, which will fulfil the requirements of the new Protected Areas Act and Biodiversity Act, by October next year.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Titre : $4.7m upgrade of Perth Zoo elephant exhibit - Australia

R?sumé: Perth Zoo's elephants will soon have more room to stretch their legs – and trunks – after a $4.7 million expansion project for the zoo's elephant exhibit announced today. A major upgrade of the 18-year-old enclosure, which houses three female elephants and one male, was identified as a priority in the Perth Zoo's blueprint for the next 20 years. The zoo's master plan recommended other capital works, such as a new entrance to the African Savannah exhibit and a continuation of the research and conservation programs run in conjunction with WA's Department of Conservation.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.news.com.au/

Source: http://www.news.com.au/

Titre : 'The train has hit an elephant!'

R?sumé: That's what Singapore passenger screams after train hits two elephants near Segamat. The Singapore-bound train from KL was full on Monday night as it ambled through jungle near Segamat. Suddenly, the driver began sounding the horn urgently. Then, he applied the brakes, hard. But it was too late. There was a bang, and everyone was pitched forward. It turns out they were part of a herd of five elephants that had been crossing the railway track at about 6.40pm on Monday when the train came along. Despite the train driver's efforts, two elephants had been struck. One died immediately. The other staggered off into the jungle before collapsing in a creek a short distance away. Rangers from the Labis Forest Reserve rushed to the scene and tried frantically to save the injured beast, but its injuries were too severe. At about 3 pm yesterday, they decided to put the animal down. Both the elephants killed were female. The three unscathed elephants ran off into the nearby jungle.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/

Source: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/

Titre : 133rd edition of circus rolls into town

R?sumé: The Animal Walk kicked off the 133rd edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' "The Greatest Show on Earth," which starts tonight at Mellon Arena, Uptown. People watched in amazement as trainers guided the big creatures to the arena. The animal processional is a Ringling Bros. tradition that dates back to the first circus 133 years ago. Ninety minutes before showtime, ticketholders can visit the Animal Open House and get up close with some of the animal performers to see how they live, work and play. Ticketholders also can try on circus costumes, learn how to juggle, take part in clown gags and view elephant paintings by Asia the Elephant, the "Picasso of Pachyderms."

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/

Source: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/

Titre : Two elephants hit by train die

R?sumé: Two female elephants crossing a railway track were hit and killed by a passenger train travelling to Johor Baru from Kuala Lumpur, here on Monday evening. They were with four other elephants, which escaped unhurt, and all six are believed to have come out from the Endau-Rompin part of Taman Negara in Sungai Karas, Labis. The train did not derail and the passengers unhurt. The train stopped at Bekok checkpoint near the scene. The latest deaths come just two weeks after a 15-year-old elephant fell into Sungai Sekayu in Hulu Terengganu and drowned after it was shot with tranquilliser darts during a relocation attempt that went wrong. In the latest incident, when the train reached North Labis plantation about 7pm, the elephants suddenly emerged from the bushes and crossed the railway track. He said the cows, aged between 25 and 28, were buried, near the place where they died.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : Betty back home after freedom break

R?sumé: Betty's break is over. The five-ton Asian elephant is back in her pen, on her owner's farm in southwestern Missouri. The former circus elephant turned up missing on Monday. Owner Murray Hill says she pushed through a fence to make her escape. Hill says he found her late Tuesday in a neighbor's hayfield. The pachyderm had several cuts, likely from making her way through the fence. Betty was retired from the circus because of bad behavior. Hill says he spent several years working with her to overcome those problem -- and she had been behaving pretty well. Now, he'll have to start again.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.lex18.com/

Source: http://www.lex18.com/

Titre : Poser over jumbo deaths

R?sumé: Mystery surrounds the death of two elephants supposedly hit by a train along the railway track near Labis – only one of them was grazed by the train and it was still alive after that. One of the dead elephants was found with its trunk missing and an ear partially cut off. The incident occurred at 7pm on Tuesday when the Singapore-bound Ekspres Rakyat was travelling between Labis and Bekok in Johor. Johor Department of Wildlife and National Parks also believed that it was unlikely that any elephant was directly hit by the train. Of the two elephants killed, one was found with its trunk severed.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : High score for conservation at CITES meeting, says WWF

R?sumé: The Thirteenth Conference of Parties to the CITES CoP13 has achieved real results for conservation, said WWF at the end of the meeting. The adoption of better trade controls will help African elephants, and key marine and rainforest species. The agreement on an unprecedented continent-wide action plan to crack down on unregulated domestic ivory markets across Africa is a major victory, according to WWF. The plan – which commits every African country with a domestic ivory market to either strictly control the trade or shut it down altogether with no exception – will prevent the poaching of thousands of elephants that are killed each year to feed these markets.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.panda.org/

Source: http://www.panda.org/

Titre : Namibia's elephant call rings alarm bells

R?sumé: The Cites Conference of Parties (CoP) meet in Bangkok, that ended on October 14, has made the MoEF mandarins worry over India's 26000 plus elephants. The 166-member Cites CoP's verbiage, while okaying Namibia to trade in African elephant tusks, hides and hair, has drawn flak here. Though a bit far-fetched, the situation is fit enough for poachers to flout the Indian ban on elephant killing enforced in 1991 and the Environment Protection Act, 1972. Namibian proposals were zealously supported by the African countries and USA, Japan and EU nations. Unlike most animals, the traffickers know no borders. There is absolutely no check in India if Asian elephants are poached and trafficked through conduit countries along the porous borders. About hundreds of such cases have already been tried in Indian courts.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Titre : South Africa Weighs Killing "Excess" Elephants in Parks

R?sumé: South Africa's Kruger National Park elephant population has nearly doubled in recent years, causing heavy habitat destruction and invasion of adjacent farms. Now conservation authorities are considering a plan to kill perhaps thousands of elephants to restore the balance of nature in the park. A conference of specialists and stakeholders recently met to discuss the problem. They concluded that the only effective way out of southern Africa's elephant-overpopulation dilemma is to lift the nine-year moratorium on killing elephants. The difficulty of the culling option was reflected in the generally somber mood of the meeting, which sporadically erupted into angry exchanges between the parks managers, game rangers, academics, community leaders, and the representatives of animal rights groups. The conference considered several other options for relieving the growing pressure the elephants are putting on the habitat. These included: extending existing parks through more land acquisitions; moving more elephants from overpopulated to underpopulated parks; speeding up the region's ambitious transfrontier-park program; and opening corridors between parks to allow elephants to resume some of their old migration routes.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Titre : Don’t buy endangered animals’ body parts

R?sumé: The public has been urged to refrain from buying animal parts of endangered species as this will only encourage poaching. Malaysia Nature Society said there needed to be heightened awareness on the matter as poaching only happened when there was a demand for the animal parts. A National Parks and Wildlife Department official said the department needed public help in the fight against poaching. According to a wildlife officer, elephants take time to adjust to their new surroundings and tend to wander about. This made them vulnerable when being relocated and they were regarded as easy prey by poachers, he said. WWF-Malaysia said there should be stricter enforcement of the law as it was illegal to capture, hurt, kill or trade any part of an elephant, be it dead or alive.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : 2004 Dac Lac elephant festival kicks off - Vietnam

R?sumé: The Elephant Festival, one of the most important yearly festivals of the ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands, kicked off at Krong Ana commune in the Buon Don district of Dac Lac province on Saturday. Thirty elephants and 60 mahouts are participating in the festival, which has attracted a large number of spectators. The festival started with a rite of prayer for the health of the elephants and their mahouts, and a procession of the participating elephants during which they danced to gong music and acted out a wild elephant hunt with their mahouts. On Sunday, participating elephants took part in competitions, including crossing the river, kicking balls into nets, throwing tree trunks, pulling heavy objects, tug-of-war, and racing.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.vnagency.com.vn/

Source: http://www.vnagency.com.vn/

Titre : Pennsylvania museum packs in the pachyderms

R?sumé: At last count, more than 6,000 elephant items were on parade at Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum, arranged pretty much in the order they were collected, or wherever the newest acquisition will fit. Few are labelled, but the gregarious Gotwalt happily will explain the origin of any pachyderm in his collection that arouses a visitor's curiosity. He said he once started to label each one, but realizing so many had come from people now deceased, he got too emotional and could not finish the task. The museum opened in 1975, but the collection started when Mr. Ed was given an elephant as a good luck charm just before leaving on his honeymoon in 1967. By the time he returned he had purchased two more elephants. Many elephants arrive from visitors who, after viewing the collection, send in collectible elephants they encounter. That is one reason the museum is now and forever free.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://theedge.bostonherald.com/

Source: http://theedge.bostonherald.com/

Titre : Zoo cries foul after elephant deaths

R?sumé: Komala was found in agony last Friday. Komala was a darling of one of India's oldest zoos. But the seven-year-old elephant calf died in agony after what officials at Msyore zoo in southern India are calling a conspiracy by insiders. They suspect she could be the latest victim of poisoning by disgruntled employees, and, perhaps, a persistent campaign to discredit the zoo for reasons unknown. Two elephants and an endangered lion-tailed macaque died in similar circumstances in August. All the deaths could be due to poisoning. Closed circuit television is among the measures planned by the zoo authorities to monitor the movement of its feeding staff.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Titre : Chester Zoo under attack after birth of elephant

R?sumé: Chester Zoo defended itself against criticism from an animal welfare organisation last night which says it has breached RSPCA guidelines over the birth of an elephant. The 180kg male calf, who has not yet been named, was born at the zoo two weeks ago and is the second this year. However, the Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS) has hit out at the zoo for continuing to breed the animals two years after the RSPCA called for the practice to end. In October 2002, the RSPCA released the most comprehensive study into the welfare of elephants in European zoos. It was conducted by two Oxford University scientists and found that elephants in zoos live on average for about 15 years, compared to the 30 years those in Asian timber camps survive.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/

Source: http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/

Titre : Goldie Hawn's elephant trip to India!

R?sumé: Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn is reportedly on a trip to India to make a film on elephants. The Oscar-winning actress, who has already made a documentary titled "In the Wild", about saving elephants in 1966, is now being accompanied by Kurt Russell's son, Boston Russell, on the trip to India. According to Hello magazine, the actress who was last seen in the 2002 flick 'The Banger Sisters' with Susan Sarandon, has already made several visits to the country since she first visited it in the 1980's.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.newkerala.com/

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/

Titre : Dac Lac Elephant Festival - Vietnam

R?sumé: Thirty tamed elephants and 60 mahouts will participate in the 2004 Elephant Festival scheduled in Buon Don district of central highlands Dac Lac province on Nov. 6-7. The elephants will go in a procession to kick off the festival. They will also welcome spectators, dance to gong music, and together with mahouts demonstrate the hunting of wild elephants. They will also take part in competitions, including crossing the river, kicking the ball into the net, throwing tree trunks, pulling heavy objects, tug-of-war, and racing. The elephant festival is held to demonstrates the martial spirit, bravery and skills of the ethnic people in the Central Highlands province in hunting wild elephants. The festival will also have rituals for elephants and other festive activities.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.vnagency.com.vn/

Source: http://www.vnagency.com.vn/

Titre : Zoo staff poisoned elephants

R?sumé: Disgruntled workers at a zoo in southern India are suspected of poisoning elephants to death after a prize calf became the third victim. Police have been called in to investigate the death last week of seven-year-old Komala at Mysore, in southern Karnataka state. Two elephants and a lion-tailed macaque, an endangered species, were poisoned in August. Komala had been picked out to be sent to Armenia as a gift from Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://iafrica.com/

Source: http://iafrica.com/

Titre : Drunk elephants kill three in India

R?sumé: A herd of drunk elephants trampled three people to death after guzzling local rice beer in a village in northeast India. A dozen elephants entered the village of Marongi in Assam state Tuesday and helped themselves to long swigs of rice beer brewing in casks outside the homes of local residents. They then went on a rampage, killing three people, including a woman, and seriously injuring two others. Other Assam villages have faced similar attacks after elephants sampled the rice beer commonly brewed at this time of year. The animals have plundered granaries, torn apart huts and fatally attacked people.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://washingtontimes.com/

Source: http://washingtontimes.com/

Titre : Judge Keeps Ruby the Elephant Under Court Jurisdiction

R?sumé: States (HSUS) Hollywood Office applauds yesterday's decision by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George H. Wu to retain continuing court jurisdiction over Ruby the elephant until a new status hearing on January 5, 2005. In response to a recent status report from the City Attorney indicating that Ruby might still be moved to another zoo -- in violation of Mayor Hahn's recent directive that she be returned to the Los Angeles Zoo -- the judge has chosen to keep the controversial lawsuit alive and the City accountable for Ruby's uncertain future. Ruby, the 43 year-old female African elephant, has been at the center of a contentious legal and public relations battle since she was transferred to Knoxville Zoo amid intense public protest on May 25, 2003. Now, the Los Angeles Zoo and the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), the publicly owned zoo's accrediting organization, are considering sending the aging elephant to yet another facility.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.prnewswire.com/

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/

Titre : Bull elephant killed for tusks

R?sumé: A Borneo Pygmy elephant was shot dead and butchered for its ivory tusks a month ago near the Tabin Wildlife Forest reserve. The endangered bull elephant, weighing 2.5 tonnes and 2.6m tall, was shot thrice in the head and had its tusks, each weighing about 14kg, removed. The hind legs were also butchered for meat sometime between Sept 25 and 26. Tabin Wildlife Resort staff and Lahad Datu Wildlife officials went to investigate after villagers informed them that a carcass of the elephant was found at an oil palm plantation bordering the Tabin Wildlife Forest Reserve in Tungku. He said poachers were armed with homemade shotguns and had used modified shotgun bullets to kill the elephant at close range. The Borneo Pygmy elephants were only last year identified as a new subspecies after DNA tests confirmed that they were different from their cousins found in mainland Asia and Sumatra. Borneo Pygmy elephants are believed to have isolated from their mainland cousins some 300,000 years ago during which time they seemed to have shrunk in size with relatively larger ears, longer tails and straight tusks.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : Sri Lanka : Un elephant blanc, animal rare, apercu dans la jungle srilankaise

R?sumé: Un elephant blanc, specimen rare, a ete apercu errant dans l'un des parcs nationaux du Sri Lanka, plus d'une decennie apres avoir ete vu pour la premiere fois par des experts en faune sauvage. La jeune femelle, apercue a la fin du mois d'aout dernier, vit au milieu d'un troupeau de 17 elephants dans le Yala National Park situe dans le sud est du pays. Elle reconnaissable à sa robe beige tres claire. Baptisee Sue, mot cinghalais qui signifie blanc, l'elephante a ete decouverte en 1993 alors qu'elle n'etait qu'un elephanteau. L'elephante blanche est a ce jour le seul animal connu dans le monde a vivre en liberte. L'elephant blanc a une symbolique particuliere dans la culture bouddhiste. C'est le plus sacre des animaux, car il est considere comme une incarnation de l'ame de Bouddha et represente le savoir et la fertilite.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.srilanka.fr

Source: http://www.srilanka.fr

Titre : Two wild elephants caught in electric traps, die

R?sumé: Angry villagers killed two wild elephants with electric traps on Monday and Tuesday as some 150 giant animals from across the Meghalaya State border of India ravaged several thousand acres of Aman crops and a number of households in the remote villages here. Police and officials said villagers in the Nalitabari area of the district set electric traps to save their cropland in a desperate attempt to protect their Aman crop and vegetables, already damaged by this year's devastating floods. International Nature Conservation Union (IUCN) country representative in Bangladesh Prof Ainun Nishat said the elephants were virtually trapped in Bangladesh due to unplanned interventions by the Indian authorities in the frontier areas erasing their movement tracks. The Wildlife Society of Bangladesh demanded arrangement of corridors in the frontier for safe return of the "unwanted" elephants to their original habitat.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.thedailystar.net/

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/

Titre : Sabah CM orders full report on killing of jumbo

R?sumé: The Sabah Wildlife Department has been ordered to give a full report on last month’s killing of an endangered Borneo Pygmy elephant to Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman. He said he wanted the report as the killing of the bull elephant near the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu was a very serious matter that involved protected animals. The Chief Minister also directed the department to increase its enforcement by placing more park rangers in areas where the Borneo Pygmy elephants were roaming. WWF Malaysia expressed deep concern over the killing, saying that there was “no reason to kill the bull elephant as it was not a problem animal and was even welcomed by tourists at a (nearby) resort.”

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : Caution over wild elephants - Malaysia

R?sumé: Villagers, especially those who tap rubber in and around Kampung Luat here, should be extra careful in view of the presence of a herd of wild elephants in the vicinity. Yesterday, a team of National Park and Wildlife Department rangers, cornered the 12-member herd, including four of their calves in a hilly area at the fringe of Kg Luat. One of the elephants, a bull which Jasni estimated to be about six or seven years old and weighing over a tonne, was sedated with tranquilliser. From records, it was found that the sedated elephant was part of a herd detected in nearby Lasah, Sungai Siput a few years ago. The presence of the elephants could not be blamed because most of their grazing ground had been taken over by logging activities.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : Electric Fence Kills Elephant and Its Pal

R?sumé: An elephant was killed in Bangladesh by an electrified fence built to protect crops as he mourned the death of a herd member electrocuted by the same barrier. One elephant was killed Monday by the fence erected by locals to keep the elephants from destroying rice crops. The second was electrocuted Tuesday as it returned with a herd of over 30 to the spot and dug up the body of the first elephant buried by forest staff. The two elephants were killed in Sherpur district near the border with India's Meghalaya state.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://animal.discovery.com/

Source: http://animal.discovery.com/

Titre : Jumbo blunder over relocation- Malaysia

R?sumé: An elephant drowned after it was shot with tranquilliser darts and fell into a river in Hulu Terengganu last week. State Wildlife Department rangers were trying to relocate the 15-year-old six-tonne pachyderm following reports that it was becoming a menace to villagers at Kampung Durian Bador. The elephant was foraging for food behind the home of a villager when rangers cornered it and opened fire about 11am. Villagers said despite the shots, the elephant managed to break free. However, it slipped and fell into the 2m deep Sungai Sekayu.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : Solve elephant problem, Wildlife Department urged - Malaysia

R?sumé: The Terengganu Wildlife Department should look for ways to solve the elephant encroachment problem that is becoming serious in the east coast. He said the department should learn from mistakes and seek solutions to the problem as it was happening from time to time. He was commenting on the 15-year-old six-tonne pachyderm that drowned when it fell into a river in Hulu Terengganu last week after it was shot with tranquilliser darts. World Wide Fund for Nature National Programme Director Dr Dino Sharma said the incident was rather unfortunate and that there was nothing much the department could do.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : Alaska's Lone Elephant Getting Treadmill

R?sumé: Animal handlers agonized over the issue for more than a year: the wisdom of moving Alaska's only elephant away from the only home she has ever known. Nine elephant experts were consulted from zoos and animal parks in the United States and Canada, and a decision was made: Maggie stays. The 22-year-old African elephant will continue to reside at the Alaska Zoo — instead of going to a warmer climate — with the understanding that her accommodations will be improved and she'll have to maintain a busy schedule, including aerobic workouts on an elephant treadmill. In other words, keepers say, Maggie's life will be all the richer for it. While the feedback has been mostly positive from Alaskans and other zoos in Canada and the United States, the decision to keep Maggie has been criticized by animal rights groups.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://story.news.yahoo.com/

Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/

Titre : Elephant herpes virus cited in Kimba's death

R?sumé: Kimba, the beloved 13-year-old Houston Zoo elephant who died Labor Day, succumbed, as suspected, of elephant herpes virus, laboratory tests confirmed. Despite valiant attempts to save her, the Asian elephant died 25 hours after exhibiting signs of a diminished appetite, swelling around the temple area and depression -- all symptoms of the disease which quickly attacks blood vessels after invading the body. Since the elephant's death, zoo officials have been regularly testing the blood of its four remaining elephants, including two-month-old Bella. So far, all the tests have been negative. Kimba's death highlights continuing questions about the virus, why elephants contract the disease in captivity and whether this is reason to stop captive breeding programs. Elephant experts have found the virus in wild African elephants, but no one is certain how Asian elephants contract the disease. The mixing of both in captivity, some speculate, may transmit the virus.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.chron.com/

Source: http://www.chron.com/

Titre : Elephants At Risk, Activist Warns KWS

R?sumé: An activist yesterday asked the Kenya Wildlife Service to control the killings of elephants. Saying the animals could soon become extinct, the Samburu Wildlife Forum chairman, Mr James Lenges, said last month, more than 100 elephants were killed by poachers in different areas of the district. Speaking to journalists at Maralal Town, Mr Lenges said more youths should be hired as game rangers to reign in poachers as the existing officers were not enough. The small number of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) personnel in the district has resulted to few area patrols hence no control of illegal hunting.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Titre : Elephants: Vets offer help

R?sumé: The Veterinary Association of SA offered its assistance in controlling elephant populations in South Africa's national parks. Unabated growth of the elephant population in the parks posed a serious threat to the habitat, wildlife and tourist potential of the country's parks. The association believed a programme to slow the increase in elephant numbers was long overdue, and should be carried out as soon as possible. At present there were more than 11 000 elephants in the park. Scientists say this is well above what the environment can withstand, and have developed a detailed management plan which allocates areas of high and low elephant impact, and identifies "thresholds of potential concern" - that indicate when intervention is necessary. Ultimately it will be up to the Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister to decide whether to lift the moratorium on elephant culling.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.news24.com/

Source: http://www.news24.com/

Titre : Accused Killer of Indian Police Killed

R?sumé: India's most wanted bandit, accused of murdering police officers, slaughtering elephants and smuggling millions of dollars of illegal sandalwood and ivory, was killed Monday night in a jungle shootout with police. Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, who had eluded police for three decades, and three other suspects were shot to death in a 20-minute gun battle with a special police task force just before midnight, in a jungle forest. He said police had received specific information about where Veerappan was hiding, near the village of Paparapatti, some 200 miles southwest of Madras, the Tamil Nadu state capital.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://abcnews.go.com/

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/

Titre : Future's bright for geckos and sharks

R?sumé: There were plenty of diplomatic rifts at the CITES meeting in Bangkok, where emotions often ran high and divisions did not follow the standard United Nations fault lines. Kenya led the charge against the Namibian proposal because it fears any reopening of the ivory trade would be exploited by poachers who would target its elephants in a bid to launder "dirty" ivory with fresh legal tusks. But conservation group WWF International said it was confident Namibia's tightly controlled, small-scale trade in ivory trinkets would not lead to poaching of elephants. The decision allows two ethnic minority communities - the Owambo and Ovi-himba - to resume traditional ivory carving of the amulets coveted by African art collectors. But trade in wild animals is widely seen as a threat that is second only to habitat destruction and so CITES is an important conservation tool. The big question is who will pay for it.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.planetark.com/

Source: http://www.planetark.com/

Titre : Ivory trade on hold

R?sumé: Botswana's sale of about 20 tonnes of ivory sanctioned by the CITES has been suspended because some countries have failed to meet one of the preconditions. Botswana, Namibia and South Africa were granted permission for a one-off sale of 60 tonnes of ivory in 2002. But delays in the implementation of a system to monitor illegal killings of elephants, particularly in Asia, have made it difficult for the trade to go ahead. Botswana is believed to be home to about 123 000 elephants. Independent auditors from Zimbabwe have been invited to audit the country's ivory stockpile. A decision for regions to hold workshops on the matter was therefore made. The workshop for the SADC region will be held in Botswana in July next year.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.gov.bw/

Source: http://www.gov.bw/

Titre : Department opts to relocate elephant - Malaysia

R?sumé: The state Wildlife Department has opted for the relocation : it would rather spend the money to relocate a 15-year-old bull elephant to Tasik Kenyir. The bull has been identified as the biggest culprit among the 20-odd elephants which have been destroying fruit trees and oil palm trees in several villages in Hulu Telemong and Hulu Berang for the last week. At the dialogue, some of the villagers urged the department to shoot the elephants, as they were causing much damage. The RM100,000 Elephant Trust Fund set up by the state government recently would be tapped into to cover the cost of relocating the elephants.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://thestar.com.my/

Source: http://thestar.com.my/

Titre : Tuberculosis suspected in elephant's death

R?sumé: Officials at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo are testing elephants and keepers for tuberculosis after the death of a 35-year-old female African elephant. Tatima the elephant came to live in the zoo's African Journey exhibit in spring 2003 from the San Diego Zoo with two other elephants, Peaches, 54, and Wankie, 35. Zoo officials gave her a clean bill of health but an animal necropsy strongly suggests the elephant died of tuberculosis. Definitive laboratory tests on bone and tissue will take six to 12 weeks, the Chicago Tribune said. Animal rights activists say elephants should not be kept in Chicago's cold-weather climate, but zoo officials say TB is not related to climate. Veterinarians say the elephant could have been exposed to the disease as long as 30 years ago. Health officials will interview handlers in close contact with the animals but said there is no danger of infection to the public. There are about 293 elephants in 78 zoos in the United States.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://washingtontimes.com/

Source: http://washingtontimes.com/

Titre : Elephant Debate Heats Up

R?sumé: The great elephant debate here today took an emotive turn, when animal rights groups passionately pleaded for the elimination of culling as a possible option to manage the country's oversized elephant population. During the second plenary session, there were inputs by conservatives from neighbouring states on the current status of their elephant population. The need for more research on how the viability of this control could limit elephant numbers also came under the spotlight. SANParks placed a moratorium on elephant culling in 1995, resulting in a burgeoning elephant population that is placing enormous stress on the biodiversity of game reserves. There are roughly 12 000 elephants in the Kruger Park alone, that reproduce at about 1 000 a year. Each elephant eats up to 150kg of vegetation in a day.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/stories/

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/

Titre : SANParks Mandate Reaffirmed At Indaba

R?sumé: A senior South African National Parks (SANParks) official has said decisions to control increasing elephant populations in the country, will have to be based on realistic assessments. He reaffirmed the organisation's mission and mandate, saying SANParks was committed to the management and maintenance of biodiversity in all national parks in terms of the principles laid down in the National Environmental Management Act. In response to an area presentation at the summit on recent elephant contraception research, he said the organisation would have to evaluate the facts carefully before expressing an opinion. Options such as culling, through hunting and other methods, and the creation of migration corridors to encourage the natural movement of elephants, remained reasonable options to address the elephant situation.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Titre : South Africa weighs killing off excess elephants

R?sumé: South Africa is weighing the option of killing off its excess elephants, 10 years after the practice known as culling was banned amid pressure from animal rights activists. South Africa imposed a moratorium on culling in 1994. Soaring elephant populations are seen as a threat to ecosystems which can only support so many of the pachyderms. Regarded by many in the West as highly endangered, South Africa and its neighbours in fact have healthy and growing elephant populations. And this is proving a headache as South Africa's roughly 16,000 elephants are all in enclosed areas. South African authorities maintain problems are inevitable when the world's largest land mammal reproduces at will within enclosed areas of bush. Scientists say Kruger's population growth is unsustainable as the huge beasts are literally eating themselves out of house and home -- to the detriment of other wild creatures. Kruger has been transferring live elephants to other locations but there is only so much space in a developing country with a growing and land hungry rural population.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.alertnet.org/

Source: http://www.alertnet.org/

Titre : Tanzania seeks to sell ivory in state stores

R?sumé: Tanzania plans to sell 99 tons of confiscated elephant tusks in government stores to raise funds for conservation efforts and development projects. The ivory was seized from poachers or extracted from carcasses of elephants that died of natural causes. Tanzania has initiated a complex procedure to licence the sale through an international treaty governing trade in endangered or threatened plants and animals. Trade in most new ivory is banned under the voluntary treaty, known as Cites. The sale of most new ivory was banned in 1989 to reduce the slaughter of elephants in Africa, where the population had plummeted. The ban has helped in the species' recovery in several nations, including Tanzania. Online sales of illegal ivory continue, however, including in the United States.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iol.co.za/

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/

Titre : A 'just war' no one wants

R?sumé: Hennie Lotter, of the Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg, recently published a study on the ethics of culling. The last time elephants were killed in South Africa was in 1995, when more than 500 were slaughtered. Now authorities want to resume culling and this time the dead may number thousands. Wildlife officials discussing the issue this week said they would try to find alternatives to killing elephants - but few doubted that whatever alternatives were presented, culling was almost unavoidable. Contraception and relocation of surplus animals have been considered. Neither has been effective. Moving herds is expensive and, like cats, elephants will walk home if they can. Contraception has had limited success in small game parks but, in places such as Kruger, large and numerous herds make it almost impossible to administer. Culling appears to be the only workable solution.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Titre : SA Considers Culling to Deal With Elephant Surplus

R?sumé: The huge mammals have bred themselves into a headache for national parks in the 10 years since a culling moratorium was introduced SA IS weighing up the option of whether or not to kill off its excess elephants, 10 years after culling was banned amid pressure from animal rights activists. SA imposed a moratorium on culling in 1994. Soaring elephant populations are seen as a threat to ecosystems which can only support so many of the pachyderms. South African authorities say that problems are inevitable when the world's largest land mammal reproduces at will within enclosed areas of bush. This is even the case in the Kruger National Park, which is the size of Israel. In the decade since culling stopped, Kruger's elephant population has almost doubled to close to 12000. Kruger has been transferring elephants to other locations but there is only so much space in a developing country with a growing and land-hungry rural population.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/stories/

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/

Titre : Asian elephant sex pheromone transporter revealed

R?sumé: In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, Lazar and colleagues report an unexpected finding about pheromone transport in the Asian elephant. Female elephants communicate their readiness to mate by excreting a sex pheromone in their urine. Male elephants exhibit a range of responses to this pheromone, beginning with sniffing and "check and place" responses, where the male touches his trunk tip to the pheromone-loaded urine. Next, the male places the pheromone urine in his mouth, in a behavior known as flehmen, after which mating behavior typically ensues. The sex pheromone therefore has to travel through and survive a number of different environments, from serum to urine to mucus, for successful mating to occur.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.onlypunjab.com/

Source: http://www.onlypunjab.com/

Titre : Royal procession for Dussehra festival in Mysore - India

R?sumé: Dussehra was celebrated on Friday in most parts of the country according to the Hindu calendar. However, the royal Mysore Dussehra, unique for its procession of folk dancers and caparisoned elephants, is keenly awaited. Hundreds and thousands of people gathered in the city to watch the world famous Jumbo Savari (Elephant Procession) as part of Vijaya-dashmi, grand finale to the nine-day Navratri festival. The jumbo Savari along with march of tableaux depicting the state's tradition and culture goes all along the five kilometer route. The king continues to be the customary chief guest at the celebrations though the royal privileges were withdrawn in 1970.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.newkerala.com/

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/

Titre : Why 5000 elephants must die

R?sumé: Under pressure from conservation purists such as the IFAW and the Washington-based Humane Society, a moratorium was called on annual elephant culls. As a result the Kruger elephant population has grown to 13,000 and the great park is suffering such huge damage that culling is about to be reintroduced. Anticipating the inevitable international outcry, the South African National Parks (SANP) board last week held a conference in the Kruger Park to discuss the pros and cons of elephant culling. The conference tossed around various options for managing wild elephants, including translocation, contraception and culling, in preparation for a national and international debate before a decision is made next April on what should be done to control the Kruger population. A management plan had already been drawn up for the cull because large trees over 15 feet in height were being rapidly destroyed, along with other dense vegetation habitats favoured by animals that are more threatened than elephants.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.sundayherald.com/

Source: http://www.sundayherald.com/

Titre : The great indaba in the Kruger National Park : the reasons to reintroduce culling

R?sumé: Underlying this week's Great Elephant Indaba in the Kruger National Park was a well-thought-out strategy for dealing with one of the biggest headaches suffered by nature reserves throughout southern Africa. The region has about 300 000 elephants. Botswana, with its longstanding policy of letting nature go its way, is worst off. It alone has about 120 000 elephants, and the Great Elephant Indaba was told that the once riverine-forested areas of its Chobe Reserve were now like a desert. Other arguments were proffered in favour of reducing elephant numbers. One was that of elephants breaking reserve fences, not only did they bother neighbouring communities, but predators like lions and buffaloes, which spread foot-and-mouth disease, were escaping through the broken fences and posing a danger. It has also been said that there was an alarming increase in elephant attacks on other animals, particularly on rhinos. However, the destruction of the biodiversity of the reserves was the main justification for those in favour of reducing elephant numbers.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iol.co.za/

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/

Titre : The great indaba in the Kruger National Park : solutions other than culling

R?sumé: Other solutions were canvassed, such as opening corridors between the parks of southern Africa, speeding up the creation of transfrontier parks and extending existing parks to allow elephants bigger areas to move around. Even contraception and sterilisation were extensively discussed as means of controlling population growth. But it was agreed that these were either too costly or too cumbersome to deal with the immediate problem. It was pointed out that consultation on park management matters like these was now a legal requirement. The elephant consultation was a long process that will see the indaba's proposals submitted to the minister of environmental affairs and tourism, who will in turn compile a strategy, which will then be submitted for public scrutiny before it can be implemented. Thus culling is unlikely to start until late next year. The big challenge is to make the ultimate decision seem as well considered and responsible as possible. The authorities will want to avoid tarnishing the respect South Africa has gained as a conservation-minded country.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iol.co.za/

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/

Titre : Plan to end illicit ivory sales

R?sumé: The African elephant was given a new line of defence against poachers on Monday after a global wildlife conference approved sweeping measures to wipe out the continent's illegal ivory trade and rejected a Namibian bid for an ivory export quota. Many representatives of the 166 signatory countries of the Cites endorsed the plan to tighten restrictions on illicit ivory sales for African countries with elephant populations. The initiative calls for new law enforcement links between African countries and the global police agency Interpol, as well as customs officials and airlines that might handle shipments of smuggled ivory.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.news24.com/

Source: http://www.news24.com/

Titre : CITES COP-13 HIGHLIGHTS (1)

R?sumé: Delegates met in Committees throughout the day. Committee I considered elephant and ivory issues. ETIS and MIKE: TRAFFIC reported on monitoring of illegal trade in ivory and other elephant specimens (Doc.29.2), and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS). He said only China has significantly improved its efforts to address law enforcement in ivory seizure. ILLEGAL IVORY TRADE: KENYA presented its proposed resolution and decisions on illegal ivory trade and control of internal markets (Doc.29.4), requesting that Parties refrain for six years from submitting downlisting proposals and engaging in trade of raw and worked ivory. Regarding revisions to Res. Conf. 10.10 (Trade in elephant specimens), the EU proposed amendments to Kenya’s original proposal asking that Parties refrain for “refrain of time” to allow a ruling by the SC on detrimental impact or otherwise of a one-off sale. Following a vote on the EU-proposed paragraphs and a new paragraph instructing the SC to make necessary changes resulting from the adoption of the amendments, the proposed amendments were defeated, by a vote of 53 in favour, 41 against and 32 abstentions. The three Kenyan draft decisions regarding implementing the resolution as contained in Doc.29.4 Annex 3 were put to a vote and defeated, with 17 in favour, 32 against and 76 abstentions.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iisd.ca/

Source: http://www.iisd.ca/

Titre : CITES COP-13 HIGHLIGHTS - PROPOSALS TO AMEND APPENDICES I AND II (2)

R?sumé: African Elephant: NAMIBIA introduced a proposal to amend annotation 604 for its Appendix II elephant population to include: an annual export quota of 2,000 kg of raw ivory accumulated from natural and management related mortalities; trade in worked ivory products; and trade in elephant leather and hair goods (Prop.7). QATAR, JAPAN, BOLIVIA, ZIMBABWE, BOTSWANA and IWMC supported the proposal, noting Namibia’s success in their sustainable development management practices, while SENEGAL, MALI, ISRAEL, INDIA, KENYA, TOGO, GHANA and IFAW opposed. The EU also opposed, but said they supported the amendment on trade in hair parts. Delegates decided to address each of the three annotations separately. The annotation to include trade in leather and hair goods for commercial purposes was adopted by consensus. Delegates voted on the original Namibian proposal, which was rejected by a vote of 54 against, 35 in favour, and 23 abstentions. Delegates also rejected establishing an annual export quota by a vote of 59 against, 31 in favour, and 20 abstentions. Delegates adopted South Africa’s proposal regarding its population of Loxodonta africana to allow commercial trade in leather goods (Prop.8).

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iisd.ca/

Source: http://www.iisd.ca/

Titre : CITES COP-13 HIGHLIGHTS - IN THE CORRIDORS (3)

R?sumé: The long-awaited elephant discussion managed to stall the relatively rapid progress made in Committee I, forcing an evening session. Elephant proposals proved divisive, especially among some African range States who have mixed opinions on how to address sustainable management and whether or not ivory trade is an option. Delegates in support of the Namibian proposal felt that CITES is not sending a good signal to governments and local communities who have invested significant time and money to set up efficient sustainable management programmes and feel they are being penalized for others’ mistakes in managing their own elephant populations. Delegates who rejected the proposal said they were more concerned about the bigger picture and believe that any ivory put on the market will generate more illegal activity. Many delegates agreed that the elephant ivory issue will be open-ended for years to come, despite attempts to “put it to rest.”

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iisd.ca/

Source: http://www.iisd.ca/

Titre : Whales, Elephants Saved From Commercial Killers

R?sumé: The world's 'flagship species' on land and sea, whales and elephants, won a reprieve on Tuesday from commercial exploitation at a major conservation conference in Thailand's capital. As the 13th Conference of Parties to the CITES entered its 10th day, Japan was thwarted once again in its persistent efforts to convince member states that the time was right to lift the protection of minke whales with parties voting overwhelmingly to defeat the move. The ivory trade has always been a hot topic at CITES. In Bangkok, Namibia proposed to trade a series of elephant products derived from its population, including an annual export quota of 2,000 kilogrammes of raw ivory, worked ivory products and elephant leather and hair for commercial purposes. African elephants were placed on the Appendix I protection list of CITES between 1989 to 1997. But between 1997 and 2000, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe were allowed by CITES to carry out limited sales of ivory to Japan, one of the biggest ivory consumer nations. In Japan today, the main volume of ivory trade is no longer in intricate works of art but in signature seals known as 'hankos' in Japanese - which are used to transact everyday business.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Titre : A clarion call to conserve nature - India

R?sumé: It was curtains down for the weeklong wildlife celebrations. The Coimbatore territorial forest division chose to celebrate the event in an unusual manner mobilising the school students to make them realise the importance of flora and fauna. The celebrations had a special focus by observing the day as "Elephants Day" and appealing the generations of tomorrow to contribute their mite for conserving nature and to protect the wildlife. The carnival started with the Perur temple elephant Kalyani leading a procession in which the officials and school children took part in large numbers.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.hindu.com/

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

Titre : The nuts and bolts of elephant dentistry - India

R?sumé: He is a vet, a dentist, a mahout and a sculptor all rolled into one - and Sankaranarayanan needs every one of those skills when he carves out tusks from softwood and fits them on elephants with nuts and bolts. A mahout by profession, who has been working for the past 35 years with the famous Guruvayoor temple trust in southern India that owns 69 captive elephants, started on this particular job only eight years ago. Since then he has made artificial tusks for 10 elephants that he proudly says are better than the original. While the natural tusk of an elephant weighs close to 50 kg, the artificial one weighs less than a kilo.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.newkerala.com/

Source: http://news.newkerala.com/

Titre : Elephant Debate Not a Ploy to Reintroduce Culling

R?sumé: The upcoming Great Elephant Debate scheduled for 19 to 21 October, aims to open debate and identify ways in which to manage elephant populations. The Great Elephant Debate would include scientists, academics, NGOs, communities adjacent to parks, private nature reserves, provincial conservation authorities, and transfrontier neighbours Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Lesotho. SANParks placed a moratorium on elephant culling in 1995, resulting in a burgeoning elephant population that is placing enormous stress on the biodiversity of game reserves. The debate, which will be held at Berg-en-Dal rest camp in the Kruger National Park, will discuss the effect of elephants on biodiversity, the conservation status and future of elephants in protected areas in southern Africa, ethical issues and the social impact of protected areas on neighbours. The main topic will be the options for managing elephants, which include translocation, contraception and the most controversial, culling.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Titre : Online, an elephant-size problem

R?sumé: While the world continues to make strides in slowing the supply of ivory from illegally slaughtered elephants - including a major agreement this week - demand for illegal ivory is mushrooming on the Internet. The high number of seizures in the United States is a big factor according to a recent report. Masquerading as Internet buyers, TRAFFIC investigators found that sellers of ivory on Internet "stores" regularly ship elephant ivory to the US via express-delivery services - often falsely labeling the shipment with such euphemisms as "bone carving." Not all trade in ivory is illegal. After the 1989 ban, the US decided that ivory already circulating prior to the ban could continue to be imported. From 1995 to 2002, the nation legally imported more than 32,500 items - from tusks to jewelry to piano keys - mostly from Britain. It's also legal to buy and sell ivory domestically - within countries. But this provision, combined with the recent surge in Internet sales, is providing a new channel for illegal ivory, activists say.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.csmonitor.com/

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/

Titre : Zoo elephants trumpet a welcome for latest addition to family

R?sumé: CHESTER Zoo has welcomed its latest attraction - a 180kg baby elephant born just a few days ago. The calf, who has yet to be named, brings the number of Asian elephants at the zoo to nine and is the third born to Jangoli. The newborn, a male, is also the second baby elephant born at Chester Zoo this year, after a female calf, Sundara, was born to Sithami in March. In the last seven years, Chester Zoo has had five elephant births there, plus two conceived by its breeding bull Chang and born at Twycross Zoo in Warwickshire. The zoo's Asian Elephant Survival public appeal topped the £1m mark this summer and will be used to revitalise Chester's elephant centre.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/

Source: http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/

Titre : All for love Couple trumpet plight of Thailand's domestic elephants

R?sumé: After a vacation in Thailand, Santa Rosa couple work to save domestic elephants they could never forget. Blind at 38, Jokia had spent much of her life in Thailand's illegal logging operations. Today, thanks to the work of a Santa Rosa non profit called All for Elephants, Jokia lives near the town of Janghai in northern Thailand on land owned by elephant rescuer Lek Chailart of Thailand. The couple returned to Thailand this month to continue their search for land that the organization can develop as a sanctuary for the elephants they rescue. The pair first encountered Asian elephants while on vacation in Thailand in the early 1990s. At the time they had no idea they would devote their spare time and funds to rescuing these animals. Twice a year, the All for Elephants founders spend several months in Thailand, finding out more about how elephants there are treated and meeting with officials in an effort to secure acreage that can be used as a sanctuary. All for Elephants operates with a small group of volunteers and about 15 foster parents in the United States. It would like to be able to support 20 to 40 elephants in a sanctuary in Thailand and is seeking 2,000 acres

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.sfgate.com/

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/

Titre : Elephant Pumpkin Smash At Cincinnati Zoo

R?sumé: Pumpkins were today's special at the Cincinnati Zoo Thursday. And the elephants seemed to relish the chance to roll them, kick them, smash them and slam dunk the orange squash. It wasn't a stunt either. Their caretakers say the pachyderms often kick their food with their enormous feet to reduce it down to a more manageable morsel to delight in. The Elephant Pumpkin Smash is part of the zoo's annual Hall-Zoo-Ween Celebration kicks off this Friday.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.wcpo.com/news/

Source: http://www.wcpo.com/news/

Titre : Can fossil ivory save elephants?

R?sumé: A frozen head of a 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth was excavated from the Siberian tundra near the Russian town of Yakutsk in October 2003. Fossil ivory from woolly mammoths' tusks is the only raw ivory legally available since a ban on elephant ivory sales 15 years ago. Fossil ivory, from woolly mammoths that died between 20,000 and 5,000 years ago, is the only raw ivory legally available since uncontrolled killing of African elephants led to an international ban on modern ivory sales 15 years ago. And at the CITES that ended yesterday in Bangkok, at least one prominent delegate suggested that mammoth ivory might permanently supply the ivory market, making it unnecessary to kill elephants. But this may not be as Solomonic a solution as it seems. The substitution of mammoth ivory for elephant ivory presents an unusual example of how conservation of one limited resource might potentially lead to the uncontrolled, and perhaps catastrophic, exploitation of another. Still, for the foreseeable future, it appears that mammoth ivory will continue to be the only game in town.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/

Titre : Cites Rejects Ivory Bid

R?sumé: Namibia has lost its controversial bid to export a yearly quota of 2000 kilograms of ivory. The country's proposal was rejected last night at the Cites. It was considered amidst fierce opposition by trade and wildlife activists. While Namibia's request to sell goods made of ivory, such as jewellery, was thrown out along with that of South Africa's, it will be permitted to start up trade in goods made from elephant leather and hair. Namibia has an elephant population of about 14 000. It based its proposal on the argument that money raised from ivory trade would generate much-needed support for elephant conservation projects.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/stories/200410120009.html

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200410120009.html

Titre : SA Votes to Lift Global Ivory Ban

R?sumé: SA, along with the rest of the southern African countries at a global wildlife conference in Thailand, voted against Kenya's proposal to place a 20 year moratorium on ivory trading yesterday. Kenya, which has a high elephant population, has for years been opposed to relaxation of trade on ivory. The move has been described by some conservationists as "death sentence" for elephants. Kenya, which was backed by the European Union, failed to get two-thirds of the votes needed at a meeting of the body charged with regulating the international multibillion-dollar wildlife trade. A watered-down proposal for a six year moratorium also failed. But the case for a moratorium appeared to weaken with the release of a report yesterday that showed no clear link between allowing regulated trade in tusks and a rise in black market activity. Some conservationists also said a 20-year ban was too long-term and impractical.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/stories/

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/

Titre : Bushmeat trade thriving in Kenya

R?sumé: Bushmeat is an available source of protein in the absence of domesticated meat production. According to the Born Free Foundation, Nairobi is one of the many bushmeat trade "hot spots", which pose a serious threat to several wild animal species. The Eating The Unknown report says many customers of Nairobi butchers are unaware that they are buying bushmeat. The findings were presented at the CITES summit in Bangkok. The report randomly surveyed 202 butchers in Nairobi and analysed the meat obtained from them at the Kenyan Wildlife Service's veterinary laboratory. It found that 25% of the products surveyed were bushmeat and 19% a mixture of game and meat from domestic animals. This is of concern for people as well as wildlife because the spread of diseases such as anthrax and Ebola have been linked to human consumption of wild animals. The trade in bushmeat is seen as one of the many threats facing African wildlife, including elephants, various monkey and antelope species as well as great apes.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Titre : Long-term ivory trade ban defeat

R?sumé: Africa is currently home to an estimated 400,000 to 660,000 elephants Kenya's proposal to introduce a 20-year moratorium on the ivory trade has been rejected at a meeting in Bangkok. The idea did not get the votes needed for approval at the biennial summit of the Cites. The Thai gathering also turned down a request from Namibia for an annual export quota of two tonnes of ivory. But delegates did back a continent-wide plan by African nations to crack down on domestic, unregulated ivory markets. Countries with these home markets will now either strictly control their trade or prevent it completely. The nations will create and implement legislation to improve law enforcement and border controls. They will also update Cites on their progress early next year. But the call for an extended moratorium had highlighted the sharp divisions that exist between some nations on the best way to conserve elephants - between those, like Botswana, who believe the animals' value can be used to fund better protection; and those, like Kenya, who feel a freer trade would be exploited by poaching.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Titre : China mulls Asian elephant protection corridor

R?sumé: The Asian elephant is the largest terrestrial mammal in Asia. Although many thousands of domesticated Asian elephants are found in Southeast Asia, this magnificent animal is facing extinction in the wild. China is trying to alleviate the situation by establishing an Asian elephant protection corridor in the south of the country, along its border with Laos. Wild elephant population is mostly small, isolated and unable to mix, as ancient migratory routes are increasingly cut off by human settlements. The new protection belt would link the present five protection zones in the Xi-shuang-ban-na Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province. Once completed, the corridor will cover 80,000 hectares.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.xinhuanet.com/

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/

Titre : 'To avoid confrontation, don't worship elephants'

R?sumé: Don't store liquor. Don't go out into the forests drunk. Don't worship elephants. And move only in groups at night. These are among a list of do's and don'ts brought out by the forest department of Jharkhand, India in a bid to check the growing cases of man-elephant conflict that have resulted in the deaths of over 300 villagers here in the last four years. Huge posters carrying these do's and don'ts have been put up in areas where elephants often stray and damage crops and property and sometimes even kill people. Villagers have also been asked not to move out of their homes in an inebriated condition. Worshipping of elephants, an animal considered by many as a divine incarnation, has also been put on the don'ts list. Forest officials claim that these posters have helped minimise human casualties.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.newkerala.com/

Source: http://news.newkerala.com/

Titre : Ivory from extinct mammoths in big demand

R?sumé: Ivory from the tusks of extinct mammoths is being used as a legal substitute for the stuff provided by its living elephant kin, but poor quality and a finite supply means it will never replace it, experts say. Ivory is a jumbo issue at CITES, it has allowed only a few, limited ivory auctions since a global ban on the trade was imposed 15 years ago. But the long-extinct mammoth obviously cannot be listed as endangered under CITES and so trade in its products are legal. Ivory is used in a variety of ways for decorative carvings and jewellery. Mammoth and elephant ivory are fairly easy to distinguish as the latter's grain has distinctive cross-hatched lines. Mammoth ivory also tends to smell. Mammoth ivory is abundant in Russia, the biggest source of it. But its quality does not match that of elephant. And, of course, the supply will eventually run out since mammoths stopped reproducing long ago.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.reuters.co.uk/

Source: http://www.reuters.co.uk/

Titre : Forum wants ban on study by foreign experts on elephants

R?sumé: An elephant lovers' forum has sought Centre's intervention to stop immediately the alleged smuggling of embryo and vital organs of captive and wild elephants to foreign countries as part of unauthorised research by foreign experts to study the genetic structure of Indian elephants. ELS in a statement alleged that there were instances of foreign nationals taking away organs of elephants from India's bio-diversity zones including Kerala with the help of "local agents". Another group of foreign researchers, specialised in artificial insemination, had come here in 2003 and conducted experiments on a captive female elephant, which was reported to have disappeared after that.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Titre : Elephants won't join circus at Coral Springs, USA shows

R?sumé: Despite protests from animal rights activists, the circus will come to town next month for four days. Just don't expect to see any elephants. The DeLand-based Cole Bros. Circus, which this year dropped the name "Clyde Beatty" from its title, will perform Nov. 11-14 at the Sportsplex near the Sawgrass Expressway. Circus officials pulled the elephants because of complaints. The event is an annual fund-raiser for the Coral Springs Jaycees, who use their take of the proceeds to buy food baskets and holiday gifts for needy children. The circus has come to Coral Springs four times in the past five years.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/

Titre : Indian Elephants Fight Losing Battle with Man

R?sumé: It is an unexpected headache for the Indian army, an unlikely embarrassment for the government and an unwelcome challenge for the railways department. Elephants in India are on the rampage, coming into conflict with man ever more frequently and ever more dangerously. It is a battle the normally gentle animals seem destined to lose. In the northeastern Indian state of Assam, elephants have been raiding army depots, eating the military's rations, drinking its liquor and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Across northern India, train drivers have had to cope with elephant herds, whose traditional migration routes have been bisected by railway tracks. As their habitats shrink, ivory trade is also on the rise again.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.reuters.com/

Source: http://www.reuters.com/

Titre : Police hunt for elephant tusk

R?sumé: VICTORIAN police are on the hunt for brazen thieves with a penchant for jumbo-sized African relics following the theft of a rare $250,000 elephant's tusk in Melbourne, Australia last month. The 1.8 metre, 100-year-old tusk was stolen from the Villa Renaissance health resort in Ferntree Gully sometime between September 21 and September 28. Police desperately sought clues to the theft.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Titre : Pachyderms to figure prominently in conservation

R?sumé: Elephants of North Bengal and all animals of the Sunderbans mangroves, generally neglected over the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger in conservation drives, will soon get their pride of place with the West Bengal government deciding to initiate special drive for them. The government was taking expert opinion on conservation of elephants without disturbing their natural corridors in North Bengal forests.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.123bharath.com/

Source: http://www.123bharath.com/

Titre : Elephant pair can't hide arrival

R?sumé: Two African elephants arrived at the Montgomery Zoo Thursday, but Becky Lamontagne and her three daughters did not know the public was not supposed to see the giant animals until this winter. Lamontagne and her daughters were able to get a sneak peek of the giant, flop-eared mammals, Tina and Mary, who were eating hay when the family visited. The elephants arrived safely on Thursday from The Zoo in Gulf Breeze, Florida., in specialized tractor-trailers. The elephant exhibit is expected to open in December or January. The public holding area for the elephants is not complete and the elephants need to become acclimated to the area. Until then, the animals will remain out of the public eye and out of zoo exhibits. Zoo officials are hoping the elephants will increase zoo attendance.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/

Source: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/

Titre : Trained elephants go on the rampage in northeast India

R?sumé: A rogue elephant was on the loose in the jungles of northeastern India, and four people were already dead. One of India’s last elephant “hunters” was being called into action. Like the animals he faces, Choudhury is a member of a dying breed. But he is no ordinary hunter. Choudhury’s family has raised elephants for at least four generations, and he fondly remembers growing up with baby elephants as playmates and friends. These days he works not for money but to preserve the delicate balance between elephant and man. The balance is not tipping in the elephant’s favour. Forestry officials were under pressure from a local politician to kill the animal quickly. A tranquilliser team had spent several days in the jungle without getting close enough for a clear shot. Golap had been officially declared a “rogue” and everyone seemed to want him dead. But that was not Choudhury’s style. He knew the musth madness would soon subside, and the animal would cease to be a danger. So, after praying to jungle god Bagla Baba, Choudhury set off into the forest himself, anxious villagers milling around, to confront Golap face to face. Choudhury tracked the elephant for a week, preventing any further attacks, until the animal meekly presented himself back at his owner’s house.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/

Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/

Titre : Plan for African Ivory Markets A Victory for Elephants, Says World Wildlife Fund

R?sumé: World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC applaud African countries who today announced a continent-wide action plan to crack down on their domestic ivory markets, calling it a major victory for elephant conservation. The plan, endorsed by every African country that has elephants, will be formally presented to the 166 members of the CITES next Monday and is expected to be adopted. For the first time, the plan commits every African country with a domestic ivory market to either strictly control the trade or shut it down altogether. Until now, Africa's domestic ivory markets have remained unaddressed by the ban on international ivory sales imposed by CITES in 1989. The action plan was recommended for approval by the meeting of the African Elephant Range States Dialogue that took place before the main CITES conference began. The plan was prompted by the elephant ivory trade analysis done by TRAFFIC that names the countries with the worst illegal markets, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Ethiopia. WWF and TRAFFIC will work with the African countries as they implement the action plan. The countries must report on their progress to the CITES Secretariat by March 31, 2005.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://releases.usnewswire.com/

Source: http://releases.usnewswire.com/

Titre : Cruel trainer ran away from circus

R?sumé: A trainer caught on tape in August smacking an elephant on its trunk with a pole in California no longer works for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, a circus official said. The trainer quit before the tape became public. The tape was shown by animal-rights activists as Ringling Bros. hit the Fleet Center as part of a campaign to stop the use of elephants at the Big Top.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.bostonherald.com/

Source: http://news.bostonherald.com/

Titre : Kenya fails to secure ivory moratorium

R?sumé: A campaign for a 20-year moratorium on ivory trading failed at a global wildlife conference on Monday amid dismay among some conservationists who said it represented a "death sentence" for elephants. However, delegates gave resounding support to a plan by African nations, home to an estimated 400 000 to 660 000 elephants, to crack down on domestic ivory markets. Botswana was one of the nations that supported the Africa-wide domestic market crackdown, while voting against Kenyas bid for a moratorium on all trade. The failed moratorium clears a major obstacle to a move by Namibia to allow it to export two tons of ivory every year gathered mainly from elephants who have died of natural causes. Namibia also wants to push ahead with a one-off auction of accumulated ivory piles, only the second since the international ivory trade ban began. The sale of 60 tons of ivory from three countries, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, was agreed in 2002 but is yet to go ahead while research continues into the effects of poaching on the elephant population.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iol.co.za/

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/

Titre : Le Kenya echoue a obtenir un moratoire de 20 ans sur l'ivoire

R?sumé: Une initiative du Kenya visant a obtenir un moratoire de 20 ans pour le commerce de l'ivoire a echoue lundi lors de la reunion de la CITES. Cet echec a ete interprete comme signant "l'arret de mort" des elephants par les defenseurs des pachydermes presents a la conference internationale ouverte le 2 octobre a Bangkok, et lors de laquelle les 166 signataires doivent reguler le commerce international de ces especes. L'initiative du Kenya, qui avait reçu le soutien de l'Union europeenne, n'a pas pu rassembler les deux tiers des votes necessaires, ont indique des delegues. Un projet edulcore d'un moratoire de six ans a egalement echoue. Les delegues ont toutefois apporte sans reserve leur soutien a un projet de pays africains de lutte contre le trafic d'ivoire qui entraîne chaque annee la mort de plus de 12.000 elephants. Cette initiative prevoit notamment de soumettre chaque pays d'Afrique ayant un marche interieur d'ivoire a un controle strict de ce marche, voire a sa disparition complete.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.lefigaro.fr/

Source: http://www.lefigaro.fr/

Titre : Cologne welcomes Singapore Zoo's most famous elephant

R?sumé: The Singapore Zoo's most famous elephant headed to Germany to be part of a conservation programme at the Cologne Zoo. The five-year-old Sang Raja, which means Royal King in Malay, walked this week into a wooden crate and departed for the 20-hour flight by cargo plane. Sang Raja was the first male elephant born in captivity in Singapore. He shot to fame when the zoo appealed for cash to help pay for his daily 25-litre milk diet. Donations from the public amounted to USD 53,000. The zoo already had a breeding male and no facilities to accommodate another. Sang Raja now eats about 80 kilograms of fruits and vegetables a day and weighs 1.3 tonnes. The elephant's new home is a 2 hectare facility officially opened 10 days ago.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.expatica.com

Source: http://www.expatica.com

Titre : CITES Meeting Will Determine Future for Many Species

R?sumé: The future of some of the world's most exotic animals, such as the elephant, is coming under focus as delegates gather in Thailand for the CITES. During the meeting, environmentalists will push for tighter restrictions on the trade of many species but that they will face powerful opposition. Hundreds of trade lobbyists are also participating, adding to the debate. The 15-year-old ban on the ivory trade also is expected to come under fire. East and West African nations, where elephant populations remain dangerously low, want to maintain the complete ban. They argue that allowing even limited ivory sales will provide a market that will encourage poaching everywhere. Education campaigns in Western countries virtually eliminated demand for ivory 10 years ago. Efforts are under way in China to find substitutes for products used in traditional medicines, such as powdered horns from the rhinoceros, another threatened species. Restricting trade in exotic species also encourages the people living with the animals and plants to use them for something else, such as ecotourism. And it eliminates the profits of smugglers and middlemen, who make the bulk of the money from the trade.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.voanews.com/

Source: http://www.voanews.com/

Titre : Asian elephants threatened by poachers

R?sumé: Illegal poaching and demand from Western zoos are fuelling the extinction of the Asian elephant. They lashed out at zoos in Australia and New Zealand which have requested 37 of the endangered elephants from Thailand. The species is, by some estimates, about one tenth of the population of its bigger cousin, the African elephant. Poaching continues to be a major threat with illegal ivory from Asian elephants especially prized in Japan where it can fetch up to $400 (221 pounds) a kg on the black market. With only the tusk-bearing male elephants targeted by hunters, the species is desperately short of breeding elephants. Animal welfare groups said they expected Thailand to agree to the sale of 37 Asian elephants to Australian and New Zealand zoos, but they questioned the legality of the trade. Asian elephants have been protected from trade since 1976 under CITES, but a loophole allows for second generation elephants bred in captivity to be exempt from the ban for non-commercial purposes. However, animal activists believe some of the animals sold most likely come from the wild.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.reuters.co.uk/

Source: http://www.reuters.co.uk/

Titre : African Ivory Trade Decimates Asian Elephants

R?sumé: Asian wildlife groups are concerned that the lifting of the ban on ivory trade in Africa, to be discussed at the CITES this week, will seriously threaten the survival of Asian elephants whose numbers are fast dwindling in the region. Asian elephants have been protected by a global ban on ivory trade since 1976. According to conservationists, special sales to the Japanese from Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe have triggered more elephant killings. Poachers know that any legal trade can disguise the laundering of illegal Asian ivory. While Japan has one of the most advanced domestic ivory trade control systems in the region, conservationists, however, indicate that the system is particularly weak at the retail level for finished products. In 1997, the one-off authorisation given by CITES to Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe for limited ivory sale to Japan, left many CITES member countries, including African nations concerned. They were worried that even a limited opening of the ivory sale would unleash a massive resurgence of poaching. But the 1997 repercussions were also felt in India.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Titre : To Kill Elephants Or Not: That is the Big Question

R?sumé: It is not the first time leaders have threatened to mobilise their people to kill elephants interfering with their crop. Lari constituency residents recently made such a threat and in Baringo Central the MP asked the residents of Muchongoi to arm themselves and kill marauding elephants. The residents claim that elephants have destroyed the little they have in their farms. The dilemma in the human-wildlife conflict has been; what does one do with animals that threaten one's livelihood? To what extent can people be expected to preserve animals as a national heritage when they are the cause of their problems? In almost all cases where elephants have destroyed crops; Amboseli, Laikipia, Lari, Aberdares, the people have repeatedly accused the wildlife body of placing the interests of animals above those of the people. Which is what KWS' primary objective is anyway.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com/

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Titre : Elephant Conservation and Breeding Centre: More space for Pinnawela elephants

R?sumé: The Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawela will be upgraded as the Elephant Conservation and Breeding Centre and the entire complex including the large extent of land will be redesigned to afford more protection and movement facilities for elephants. The complex will be redesigned to include large open buildings to house elephants and a new corridor for elephants to reach the Ma Oya for their baths. No trade stalls will be allowed by the side of the new corridor and it will be out of bounds for the public. Other developments include an elevated viewing platform for the public so that elephants on a lower elevation in landscaped natural habitats will be undisturbed.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.dailynews.lk/

Source: http://www.dailynews.lk/

Titre : Rangers foster baby elephant

R?sumé: Rangers at a private game reserve in Zululand have become nurse-maids and foster mums to a baby elephant, taking turns to wake up and bottle-feed the calf every three hours. The six-day-old elephant was born at Thula Thula reserve last weekend, but was unable to lift itself from the ground. Rangers noticed the resident elephant herd behaving strangely during an early morning game drive. The animals were clustered around a young mother which had just given birth. Three hours later, the new-born was not standing and when rangers returned six hours later, all 11 elephants from the Thula Thula herd were gathered around the baby to shield it from the sun. Anthony managed to lure the mother away by filling up his bakkie with fresh fodder, and when the animal followed him to eat, reserve staff and a vet bolted in to remove the calf. Anthony said he hoped to return the calf to the herd as soon as it was strong enough, although there was a danger that the mother would stop lactating soon.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.dailynews.co.za

Source: http://www.dailynews.co.za

Titre : Bangkok talks focus on endangered species

R?sumé: At the CITES, debate is often shaped by the country or region in which the meeting takes place, but Thailand's ambiguous posture, straddling both sides of the debate, underlines the uncertain outcome of the conference. The Asian enforcement network idea is strongly promoted by the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization WildAid and other pro-conservation groups. But no proposal on enforcement has been advanced at the conference, and environmental organizations see little evidence that governments are yet willing to commit the resources needed to make enforcement more effective. More attention in this conference will focus on issues like the long-running battle over ivory. Namibia, as it did at the last conference in 2002, is calling for an end to the ban on trade in ivory and authority to export a limited amount of raw ivory, but has run into opposition from conservation groups and from Kenya, which favors a 20-year moratorium on ivory trading.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iht.com/

Source: http://www.iht.com/

Titre : Photographer Fights African Poaching With Grisly Pictures

R?sumé: The problem of wildlife survival in Central Africa has been exacerbated by logging of their habitat—and a huge increase in poaching as hunters gain access to forests along logging roads. Karl Ammann is a Swiss-born veteran wildlife photographer, author, and conservation activist. He has become increasingly outspoken about the "bush-meat crisis"—bush meat being the meat of wild animals, including elephants and apes. The latest book to feature his images, Consuming Nature, draws attention to the slaughter in Africa's remaining forests.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Titre : EGYPT: New safari park brings Africa to Egyptians

R?sumé: The free-roaming zebras, gazelles, springbok and other wild animals have no fears at the Africa Safari Park, just off a busy highway linking Cairo and Alexandria, where guests watch them from their cars or from the terrace of the Zambezi, a restaurant overlooking a manmade lake. The 160-feddan park, landscaped to mimic the African veldt, for now aims to lure curious commuters who have an hour or two to spare on their journey between Egypt's two major cities. Egyptians are cautious about animals; pets are an almost alien concept and the Cairo Zoo - which regularly hears criticism over the poor conditions and unhealthy animals - is more of a public park to stroll through on holidays than an animal attraction. Makarem plans to bring in rhinos, giraffes and elephants before opening the park as a hotel resort next year. He will also incorporate a shopping mall and a park for children.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.concordmonitor.com/

Source: http://www.concordmonitor.com/

Titre : Zoo's elephant fest puts visitors at trunk's length

R?sumé: Mercedez and her family learned more about elephants and other animals at the El Paso Zoo's third-annual Elephant Festival on Saturday afternoon. The event started in part to continue the zoo's traditional birthday party for Mona the elephant, who died in 2001. The festival features children's games, performances and self-guided tours, and it aims to educate visitors about endangered Asian elephants. At the festival, visitors can get closer to the animals by taking behind-the-scenes tours, led by the zoo's docents, and by talking to volunteers holding hedgehogs, reptiles and other small creatures. The festival also gave the zoo an opportunity to showcase its many conservation efforts. More than a year ago, the zoo collected more than 6,000 signatures to petition the Sumatran government to protect the Tesso Nilo forest, a haven for the country's tigers and elephants.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.borderlandnews.com/

Source: http://www.borderlandnews.com/

Titre : Thailand's legal ivory trade a smokescreen for smuggled African tusks

R?sumé: In the heart of Bangkok's bustling Chinatown, shops filled with tourist trinkets and antiques hide an illegal multi-million dollar ivory trade that environmentalists warn is destroying global elephant populations. Wildlife enforcers in Thailand are hampered by a loophole in the law that allows buying and selling of tusks from domesticated local elephants. Environmentalists say smugglers take advantage of the law by mixing illegal African and Asian tusks with the legitimate ivory. The two types are virtually indistinguishable. None of it, legal or illegal, can be exported. In Asia, only Myanmar allows some domestic trade in ivory but it is more regulated than in Thailand. Conservationists want to close the loophole. Thailand has made efforts to halt the illegal trade and in 2002 customs agents raided the northern Thai town of Phayuha Kiri virtually shutting down one of the world's oldest and best known ivory carving centres.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.terradaily.com/

Source: http://www.terradaily.com/

Titre : Sick Baby Elephant Saved by British Digger

R?sumé: Veterinary experts in Sri Lanka saved the life of a sick baby elephant – by getting it back on its feet with the help of a British-built industrial digger. The unusual rescue operation was made possible using the front bucket of a JCB donated by the Staffordshire-based firm to the Born Free Foundation. The digger, which is normally used for ground clearing and construction work at the foundation’s centre for orphaned elephants at Udawalawe, was given to the charity last year. The 3CX backhoe loader, made in Rocester, near Uttoxeter, Staffs, swung into action after the young wild elephant was found trapped in a mud pool. It had been there for three days and was lying down and in distress, increasing the risk of skin disease and a potentially fatal muscular condition.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.scotsman.com/

Source: http://news.scotsman.com/

Date : 24/08/2004
Titre : Louisville Zoo's elephants take a stance for health

R?sum? : Two elephants at the Louis-ville Zoo were weighed yesterday and it took four scales usually used to weigh tractor-trailers. As officers watched, Asian elephant Punch and African elephant Mikki stepped onto the portable scales normally used by Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement, as part of the animals' annual health exam. Punch, 36, weighed in at 10,660 pounds, while Mikki, 20, checked in at 7,750. The elephants' handlers had them practice stepping on mock scales for the past two weeks. Vehicle Enforcement provides the scales so the zoo doesn't have to buy its own for such infrequent use.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.kentucky.com

Source: http://www.kentucky.com

Date : 25/08/2004
Titre : Expert condemns abuse of elephant

R?sum? : A videotape showing a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey elephant being struck by a handler has drawn criticism from an Oakland Zoo elephant expert who called the treatment cruel. The incident between an elephant trainer and his young elephant charge was videotaped by Citizens for Cruelty-Free Circuses during the circus's run in Oakland. The tape, released Tuesday, shows an elephant trainer hitting and slapping the elephant with a bull hook, an instrument abandoned by most conservation-minded zoos. It also shows the elephant swaying in chains, a behavior not normal to the animal. Citizens for Cruelty-Free Circuses held a news conference in San Jose on Tuesday afternoon to highlight the alleged abuse.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.timesstar.com

Source: http://www.timesstar.com/

Date : 08/2004
Titre : Two elephants possibly marching to Tennessee

R?sum? : Two elephants at the Detroit Zoo could be on their way to the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald due to their advanced age and illnesses. Forty-six year old Wanda and her fifty-one year old friend Winky both have arthritis. Several months ago officials at the Detroit Zoo determined to take Wanda and Winky from public viewing. Officials are preparing to transport the elephants to either the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, or to the Performing Animal Welfare Society Preserve in California.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.kentuckylaketimes.com

Source: http://www.kentuckylaketimes.com/

Date : 23/08/2004
Titre : Wanda the elephant tries physical therapy for her arthritis

R?sum? : Like any patient, Wanda needs positive reinforcement to wrestle through her physical therapy. At 46, time and a few extra pounds have taken their toll on this Royal Oak resident's bones, and her eyes roam to the treats -- the needed incentive to overcome the pain during her workout. When Wanda's arthritis was first diagnosed, zoo officials put her on medication -- a daily regiment of Ibuprofen and Cosequin, a joint supplement, to help manage her pain. When that stopped working, she was switched to other medication. Wanda's daily 20-minute sessions involve various stretching routines directed by her keepers. The incentive is in a bucket of chopped vegetables, fruits and bagels at the keeper's side. Arthritis is just one of the problems that can develop for elephants in captivity.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.freep.com

Source: http://www.freep.com

Date : 23/08/2004
Titre : Jumbos Killing Elicit Sharp Rebuke From Wardens

R?sum? : Like with the rest of the country, Limuru residents may be under the grip of biting hunger and starvation but that hardly mitigates their savagery and plain greed subjected to three rogue elephants last Sunday. The human hounds decided not to wait for the carcass. By the time the elephants breathed their last, little of their bodies had any flesh on them. Besides the villagers' act, the treatment of the elephants that had strayed from the Aberdares is being blamed on police officers who killed them.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Date : 23/08/2004
Titre : Elephant survey by DWLC

R?sum? : The Department of Wildlife Conservation will conduct a two day Elephant Survey programme next month to gather information about the elephant population in the country. The DWLC will seek assistance for the survey from Prof. Richard Barnes, a specialist who has developed several new methodologies for elephant head counts and also has wide experience in this field. The department has planned to establish 150 elephant-observation stations in the areas to be covered by the survey as compared to the 40 stations in the elephant survey conducted in 1993. Elephant movements will be monitored from 6 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on both days. The survey will gather data on the number of wild elephants who inhabit these regions, how they are spread in the wilds, their lifestyles, sexes, the number of tuskers and the general health conditions of the elephants. The survey will also focus on the threats posed to the elephants and measures to avoid man-elephant confrontations.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.dailynews.lk

Source: http://www.dailynews.lk/

Date : 23/08/2004
Titre : Anyone for Elephant polo in Thailand?

R?sum? : A World Elephant Polo Association was established in Nepal in 1982 and the rules were agreed on then. There are regular tournaments, of which the best-known is the Kings Cup Elephant Polo Tournament held every September (6-12 /9/2004) in Somdet Phra Suriyothai Military Camp, Hua Hin, about 200km south of Bangkok. This year the 14 teams competing will include one from New Zealand, with former All Blacks as drivers. These men are elephant trainers and have been caring for their charges since birth. Unfortunately, despite their size and cleverness, the future for elephants is not secure. Bored elephants get into trouble and damage gardens. Hence the tournament to raise money for the National Elephant Institute of Thailand, which looks after elephants and their habitat.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.nzherald.co.nz

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz

Date : 20/08/2004
Titre : Asian elephant sex pheromone transporter revealed

R?sum? : In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, Lazar and colleagues report an unexpected finding about pheromone transport in the Asian elephant, an endangered species of which only a few thousand individuals remain. Female elephants communicate their readiness to mate by excreting a sex pheromone in their urine. Male elephants exhibit a range of responses to this pheromone, beginning with sniffing and "check and place" responses, where the male touches his trunk tip to the pheromone-loaded urine. Next, the male places the pheromone urine in his mouth, in a behavior known as flehmen, after which mating behavior typically ensues. The sex pheromone therefore has to travel through and survive a number of different environments, from serum to urine to mucus, for successful mating to occur. Josef Lazar, L.E.L. Rasmussen, David R. Greenwood, In-Seok Bang, and Glenn D. Prestwich: "Elephant Albumin: A Multipurpose Pheromone Shuttle" Publishing in Chemistry & Biology, August 2004, Volume 11, Issue 8, pages 1093-1100.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.eurekalert.org

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/

Date : 20/08/2004
Titre : Animals in the spotlight amid hunting row

R?sum? : Conflicting reports are emerging from Zimbabwe about poaching and illegal trophy hunting. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force has heard of illegal hunting in the Metetsi area near Victoria Falls.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iol.co.za

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/

Date : 21/08/2004
Titre : Found: a holy white elephant

R?sum? : To scientists and Buddhists, it's a miracle. White elephants are seen once in a blue moon. So it seems apt that such a fabled creature was sighted in southern Sri Lanka last month during precisely such a rare lunar event. Government scientists confirmed that the fair-skinned elephant with a herd in the forests near Yala national park could be classified as a true albino. The scientists claimed this was the world's first, scientifically certified sighting of a white elephant in the wild, and the news was flashed around the globe. Sri Lankan wildlife researchers are busy gathering clumps of her dung to determine which genetic mutation caused her albinism.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.independent.co.uk

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/

Date : 08/2004
Titre : Elephant ordered from roadside

R?sum? : A County Armagh company has been taken to task for a giant elephant that has been distracting motorists. Billy the Elephant has stood watch over the main Armagh to Portadown road for the past six months. However, the Roads Service has instructed the garden centre to remove the sign as it is causing confusion for passing motorists. The owners of the specialist garden centre were ordered to remove Billy so they brought him back to rejoin his host of friends.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Date : 15/08/2004
Titre : Long-neglected Abidjan zoo goes wild with help from South African vets

R?sum? : Abidjan's zoo and its forlorn animals, suffering from benign neglect over the two years of crisis in Ivory Coast, is getting badly-needed assistance from an African organization aiming to restore the glory of what was one of the nicest zoos and aquaria on the continent. The conflict that has divided the country and sent many of its human inhabitants into squalor has left the sanctuary that once boasted a Noah's Ark of feral cats, birds of prey, reptiles and elephants -- the national symbol -- filthy and in horrible disrepair. Walls for the spacious enclosures designated for rare pygmy hippos are crumbling, bars on the cages holding lions and the zoo's lone python are battered and missing and there are few lights in the exhibits that contain nocturnal animals. They treated elephants and birds of prey laced with scars from the metal fences that surrounded their enclosures. The care came too late for more than 100 animals, who died from neglect or malnutrition. PAAZAB aims to send a team back to Abidjan to supervise a planned move of the elephants to a new enclosure, which has been refitted thanks to the efforts of the South African vets.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.terradaily.com/

Source: www.terradaily.com/

Date : 08/2004
Titre : The cool side of wildlife

R?sum? : Welcome to life at the Phoenix Zoo. Animals, unlike humans, cannot step indoors to a burst of air-conditioning. Ever wonder what they do? An interactive exhibit, "Beat the Heat," in its first year at the zoo, answers that question. Three to six times a day, zoo guides offer these chilly demonstrations with the goal of entertaining guests while educating them about how animals survive the summer. The demonstrations vary depending on the animals in question, often focusing on a few of them at a time, depending on audience requests. All the animals make for an interesting exhibit, trail-experience guide Michelle Triplett said, but the elephants are the crowd pleasers. "The elephants are always fun to watch," Triplett said. "They toss mud, hay, dirt on their backs. That's a very energetic exhibit at times, if you catch them when they're putting on their sunscreen, as they say."

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.azcentral.com

Source: http://www.azcentral.com/

Date : 18/08/2004
Titre : A very big event at Houston Zoo: Elephant gives birth at last

R?sum? : Shanti, the 13-year-old Asian elephant at the Houston Zoo, is finally a new mother. After a 22-month gestation period and nearly 18 hours of labor, the elephant gave birth to a healthy three-foot tall calf at 7:41 p.m. Tuesday night. Birth-watch volunteers were monitoring Shanti by closed-circuit cameras when they saw the elephant's water break shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday. It was a long-awaited magical moment originally expected in April. Now the delicate process of reintroducing the baby and mother begins. It's not unusual for first-time mothers to hurt their calves, and Shanti has never seen a calf or another elephant give birth. Zoo officials are being very careful, opting not to allow outsiders to see the baby elephant, which is an endangered species. The baby hasn't been named yet. Zoo officials will allow citizens to vote for their favorite name choice from several via their web site at www.houstonzoo.org.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.chron.com

Source: www.houstonzoo.org

Date : 08/2004
Titre : Elephant which gored keeper gets retraining

R?sum? : CHAWANG, the bull elephant that almost gored his keeper to death three years ago, may go on public display again. To train Chawang, the zoo has brought in an American animal behaviour consultant, who is using a new system that requires Chawang to be placed in an enclosure more than double the size of his original home, but bordered by steel bars topped with electrically-charged wires. The place has a pool and a sand pile, as well as a specially-constructed restraining chute that the elephant is being trained to enter. Here, it can be examined easily and treated for ailments. The system, which is used in America for managing bull elephants when they hit their teens, allows keepers to work alongside, on the other side of the bars. They use a 2m-long stick with a ball at the end to touch the parts of Chawang's body that they want him to move and to indicate the spot he should move to. He is rewarded for his compliance with food treats. Training sessions are held three times a day at different locations in the 540 sqm enclosure.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg

Source: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg

Date : 08/2004
Titre : India makes elephants appeal

R?sum? : Elephants are terrorising villagers, Bangladesh says. Indian officials have asked Bangladesh not to kill around 100 elephants which have strayed into that country. The elephants have killed 13 people in Bangladesh and injured many more, leading to demands that they should be killed if they cannot be returned. The two countries have many differences, but it is only in recent weeks that elephants have become a problem between them. Indian officials have called for a joint initiative to bring them back. Thirteen people have died and many more have been injured by the elephants in recent weeks in Bangladesh. But Bangladesh's Chief Conservator of Forests, Munshi Anwarul Islam, said they will not take any immediate initiative to kill them. He said the elephants were not able to find a corridor to go back to India, so they were turning violent. North-east India lies on the corridor used by the great Siamese elephant to move from Thailand to the foothills of Bhutan. But in recent years the population has increased heavily, and they have encroached on forest land, say officials. The elephants have tended to lose their tracks and move into populated spaces, causing mayhem.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ .

Date : 13/08/2004
Titre : Zimbabwe to Lead SADC Jumbo Team

R?sum? : ZIMBABWE has been nominated to head the Southern Africa Elephant Management Task force, a Sadc initiative, to formulate a common position on jumbo management strategy. The decision was taken after a Southern Africa Wildlife Consultative meeting that was held in Johannesburg last month. According to recommendations of the meeting, the region has a total known elephant population of 380 000, which is shared by member countries but which is twice the desired carrying capacity. The recommendations also said that there was a need for a "regional elephant management strategy to be formulated and be adopted by Sadc member states". The meeting recommended the setting up of a task team comprising conservation agencies from all Sadc member states to "be constituted and mandated to formulate a regional elephant management stra-tegy and to invite other conservation agencies to assist in the process, through both technical and material provisions”. The appointment of Zimbabwe comes at time when the country has finished its position paper pertaining to the forthcoming Cites due to be held in Thailand next month. At the Thailand meeting, Zimbabwe will be seeking to resume ivory trading and maintain the elephant population on Appendix II.. Currently Zimbabwe is listed on Appendix I, which bars any form of trade in the elephants and elephant products.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Date : 13/08/2004
Titre : State Does Not Intend to Have Ban in Ivory Trade Lifted

R?sum? : GOVERNMENT does not intend to have the ban on trade in ivory lifted because it protects the number of elephants in the country, the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Cde Francis Nhema, told Parliament on Wednesday. He was responding to a question from Murewa North MP Cde Victor Chitongo (Zanu-PF) who wanted to know how the Government intended to dispose of ivory stocks in the country. Cde Nhema said ivory stocks were being auctioned occasionally, mostly to those in the curio industry. He said the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) helped to make sure that the country protected its endangered animal species. Cites in 1999 allowed Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana to hold one-off auctions of their existing stockpiles of ivory. At least $54 million was raised at the one-off international auction of raw ivory tusks to Japan during the same year. The country's elephant population is 89 000, which is almost double the country's carrying capacity of 45 000.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Date : 14/08/2004
Titre : National Parks Sells $180 Million Ivory

R?sum? : ZIMBABAWEAN ivory dealers last week paid $180 million for 554 kg of ivory they bought from the the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. Ivory sold to the local industry was meant for commercial purposes only. Only 12 tonnes would be sold while the remaining eight tonnes was collected from elephants that had died of natural causes, confiscated from illegal dealers and from the problem animal control programme. The authority will wait for approval from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which is scheduled to meet in Bangkok, Thailand, in October before selling this block. The eight tonnes of elephant tusks were left after the country was allowed to export only 20 tonnes during the last 10 years owing to international restrictions on ivory trade and has been failing to dispose of the stockpile.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com

Date : 12/08/2004
Titre : Alaska's only elephant to stay in Alaska

R?sum? : Alaska's only elephant will be staying at the Alaska Zoo _ instead of going to a warmer climate _ with the understanding that her life will be enriched with better accommodations and activities, such as aerobic workouts on the first elephant treadmill. Maggie, a 22-year-old African elephant, arrived at the zoo in 1983 as an infant when her herd in Kruger National Park in South Africa was culled. She joined Annabelle, a more easygoing Asian elephant. The big question arose on Dec. 14, 1997, when Annabelle, born in India in 1964, died at age 33 of a chronic foot infection. People, including zoo staff, asked if Maggie would be lonely and if she should be moved to another zoo with more elephants. A five-person zoo committee looked at the Maggie issue for more than a year. Edwards said nine elephant experts were consulted from zoos and animal parks in the United States and Canada. The consensus was that Maggie was healthy and content, he said. Zoo board members on Wednesday voted 8-1, with two abstentions, in favor of keeping Maggie, as long as certain things were done. Alaska Zoo: http://www.alaskazoo.org

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.journalnow.com

Source: www.journalnow.com/

Date : 11/08/2004
Titre : Sudanese Arab Militia Poaching for Ivory in Congo

R?sum? : Wildlife conservationists say Sudanese Arab militiamen with ethnic ties to the Janjaweed in Darfur are killing elephants and white rhinos in Congo. There is increasing fear that the militiamen are poaching animals to fund an on-going civil war in the Upper Nile region of southern Sudan. The Nairobi-based spokeswoman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Elizabeth Wamba, says a recent survey of Garamba National Park in eastern Congo shows that 25 elephants and more than a dozen rare northern white rhinos have been slaughtered there in the past year. Experts believe the Murahaleen and other pro-government militias have been looking for ways to buy more arms and supplies to supplement what they have. They say selling ivory and horn from poached animals may now be one of the ways they are raising money to fund their activities.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.voanews.com

Source: www.voanews.com/

Date : 08/2004
Titre : Wildlife group concerned by elephant exports

R?sum? : The Wildlife Support Group raised concerns on Thursday about the export of three elephants to the Warsaw Zoo in Poland by the Limpopo government earlier this month. Seven elephants were originally destined for the zoo but eventually only three left. The Democratic Alliance had asked Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk to investigate why a permit was granted for the export of live elephants to the zoo. The DA was concerned the export was a contravention of South Africa's policy and commitments to the Conference on the Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). However, Van Schalkwyk responded that the exports were not illegal.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.bday.co.za

Source: www.bday.co.za/

Date : 13/08/2004
Titre : Sri Lankan helps dispel African elephant myth

R?sum? : When Uttum Corea arrived in Africa from Sri Lanka he was puzzled by the widely-held notion that African elephants could not be tamed. Three decades later the 57-year-old accountant -- a senior partner for a U.S. firm in the southern African country of Botswana -- feels he has helped prove that the idea is a "complete fallacy". Nearly every weekend for the past nine years Corea has swapped his business suit for safari fatigues and headed for the Mokolodi game reserve just outside Gaborone, where he keeps his family's four pet elephants -- Shaka, Thandi, Seeni and Sukiri. Still teenagers in human terms, the four animals entertain tourists like their docile Asian counterparts -- lifting and carrying logs, kneeling on command, and allowing their owner to ride them bareback through the African bush. Under the watchful eye of Corea and his professional elephant handlers, tourists stroke the elephants and walk alongside them during a morning stroll through the bush.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.reuters.co.uk

Source: www.reuters.co.uk/

Date : 12/08/2004
Titre : Elephants On the Rampage in East of Sierra Leone

R?sum? : Over 300 people have been displaced in ten villages and several others wounded in Gorama Mende chiefdom in Kenema District over the past few weeks. Wild elephants from the Gola Forest in the east of the country, have destroyed crops, houses and killed two people in Kpedema and Godama in the Kenema District, the eastern administrative headquarter of the country. It has caused people to move from their own ward to another in the same chiefdom. Councillor Sefoi said she had gone to Kenema town in the Kenema District, to inform the authorities concerned to take immediate action, adding that the animals had been in the forest for years without disturbing anybody. She could not however tell The Independent what exactly caused the elephants to terrorize the area. Wild animals terrorized farmers in the previous year destroying over hundred acres of crops .

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/

Date : 08/2004
Titre : Bangladesh in India elephant plea

R?sum? : Elephants are terrorising villagers, Bangladesh says. Bangladesh has sought help from India to prevent wild elephants from entering into its territory. Officials at the Forest and Environment Ministry say up to 200 Indian elephants have been roaming freely for months in a northern Bangladeshi district. They say that the elephants have damaged crops and killed villagers. Bangladeshi officials say that the situation will worsen unless measures are urgently introduced in talks due to begin soon. Officials say the elephants came into the country from the Indian state of Meghalaya and have attacked people and destroyed crops, roads and houses in Bangladeshi villages. The Wildlife Society of Bangladesh last month urged the Indian authorities immediately to take back the elephants living in Bangladeshi territory. Unless the animals return to India, it warned, Bangladesh has the right to destroy them with co-operation from the international community. The BBC's Waliur Rahman in Dhaka says that co-operation between the two countries on the issue is already close, and has produced good results.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Date : 13/08/2004
Titre : How to Deal With 130 000 Elephants?

R?sum? : There are probably 130 000 elephants mainly in the north. There's one of them for every 4.5 square kilometres, overall, against about 3 people for every square km. In the north, at 123 000 odd, their density is much higher than nationally. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) is now developing a new elephant management policy and has been looking at issues, options and recommendations related thereto. In fact, what it is busy with is what it calls the third report of the project to review the Elephant Management Plan of 1991, following the "Inception Report and the Stakeholders' Workshop Report". In this third report, it is noted that, "No control measures have actually been taken". This seems to reflect a reality that elephant management is a highly contested issue, more especially because - as the One of the major factors related to contestation of culling, for example, is that "the international public do not understand the issues that result from large elephant populations". There could be threats of economic sanctions if large scale culling was undertaken. In its latest report, the DWNP acknowledges that any earlier beneficial effects of elephant presence have now been overtaken by the near disappearance along the Chobe River of woodland including riparian forest. However, elephant populations have not been kept at their 1990 level. Woodlands within the elephant range were not maintained in an acceptable state (defined as the 1990 state). Conflict between elephants and humans continue at an unacceptable rate.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Date : 10/08/2004
Titre : Elephant stomps keeper to death

R?sum? : A FIVE-ton male elephant stomped a zookeeper to death in south-west China's Kunming city, prompting calls for extra caution with animals' mating season in full swing. Hu Tianmin was cleaning the elephant house on Sunday when a 20-year-old Asian elephant named Zhongbo attacked him, lifting him up with its tusk, then throwing him to the ground and stamping him hard with one of its front feet. The zookeeper was rushed to hospital where his liver was found to be ripped into four pieces. Officials at the zoo in Yunnan province said the elephant was in mating season and would not be punished as "it is just an animal". Zoologists said animals have a tendency to attack when they are preparing to mate or suffering from sunstroke.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.news.com.au

Source: www.news.com.au

Date : 10/08/2004
Titre : Elephant's heart failed

R?sum? : Tests show the Tina, the elephant who was moved from B.C. to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee last summer, died of heart failure. The Asian elephant died two weeks ago. Now, a veterinarian's necropsy results confirm Tina had a genetic heart condition. The sanctuary will hold an hour of silence in the elephant's memory on Wednesday.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://vancouver.cbc.ca

Source: http://vancouver.cbc.ca

Date : 11/08/2004
Titre : Ancient elephant skeleton discovered

R?sum? : An old elephant skeleton has been discovered and handed over to the provincial museum of northern Son La province. It was found by a local farmer at a depth of between 0.6m-3m in a peat mine in Tan Lap commune, Moc Chau district Experts said the bones belong to a cow elephant, dating back hundreds of years ago.The skeleton includes a skull, which weighs 47kg and stands 98cm high, a lower jaw, 27 vertebrae, a hip-bone, and 37 ribs. Some bones were decayed but the remainder of the skeleton still weighs 205 kg.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.vnagency.com.vn

Source: www.vnagency.com.vn/

Date : 08/2004
Titre : Elephant takes first step into public view in Oakland

R?sum? : Osh, the young male elephant who arrived at the Oakland Zoo in March, is getting his feet wet on public display in the African elephant habitat. On Sunday, one of the first days he has been seen in public, Osh spent most of his time in the exhibit mud wallowing. Luckily for 10-year-old Osh, he had a friend to keep him from being a permanent stick in the mud. That's Lisa, the 27-year-old female African elephant that Osh has been buddies with for a while. So far, elephant keepers are allowing just the two of them access to the exhibit while the remaining female elephants, Donna and M'Dundamella, stay in the holding yard. Osh is at an age where in the wild his herd would be ostracizing him and forcing him to leave. His play with Donna is friendly but rough and the elephant keepers do not want to take any chances. At the Oakland Zoo, Osh represents the next generation of captive breeding elephants in the United States, and the future of the zoo's African elephant breeding program.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.trivalleyherald.com

Source: www.trivalleyherald.com/ .

Date : 08/2004
Titre : Where do elephants go to die? Legend says pachyderm's grave in Lenox

R?sum? : The story of how Columbus died began in Adams. The 33-year-old male Indian elephant had been displayed in North Adams the day before he was injured. The elephant came to America in 1818. The North Adams show had apparently gone well. Columbus and the rest of the menagerie were to travel to Stockbridge the next day. That October day, the troupe walked through the center of Adams. Meandering down Park Street, the elephant came to a bridge. Columbus, who weighed about 10,000 pounds, got about a third of the way across and the bridge collapsed. Accounts differ as to the nature of the elephant's injuries. But Raymond had a schedule to keep. He "cajoled" Columbus out of the riverbed and got him walking south again. About two miles from the center of town, Columbus stumbled off to the side of the road. There was a shed a few yards off the road. The elephant headed for the tiny structure and once inside, he collapsed. Columbus lay in the shed for about a week before finally expiring. He was dragged a short ways away from the shed and buried.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.berkshireeagle.com

Source: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/

Date : 08/2004
Titre : Workshop on elephants and zoos

R?sum? : Dr. Harald Schwammer, Director of the Schoenbrunner Zoo in Vienna and his wife Gaby Schwammer are on a visit to Sri Lanka. On August 6 they held a Workshop at the Dehiwela Zoo at the invitation of Jayantha Jayewardene, the Managing Trustee of Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust. Dr Schwammer spoke on Recent Research Results in African Elephants and Mrs. Schwammer spoke on Educational Messages from Modern Zoos. The workshop was attended by veterinarians, veterinary students. Dr. Schwammer after dealing with new research findings discussed concerns of elephants in both wild and captive situations. He dealt with captive breeding, both natural and artificially inseminated. He also discussed the behaviour of domestic elephants compared to wild elephants. Mrs. Schwammer, who is a zoo education officer, describing the various programmes conducted by the Vienna Zoo also mentioned the importance of zoo education. She emphasised the importance of awareness creation and the education of the public, which programmes should be directed at children as well as adults. An advertisement in the long-defunct Weekly Transcript on Oct. 16, 1851, touted the appearance of Columbus the 'monster elephant' in North Adams. Photo Jpg 152

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.dailynews.lk

Source: http://www.dailynews.lk

Date : 08/08/2004
Titre : Elephants get a taste of freedom

R?sum? : After years of being objects of entertainment to crowds against their will, two circus elephants are now enjoying their freedom. Rajan and Gayatri were impounded by the forest department after they were abandoned by a circus. While National Circus donated Gayatri to mahant in Surat, Rajan was abandoned. When the mahout informed forest officials, they took the animals into their possession and filed cases against the circus authorities in a lower court in Ankleshwar as it is against the law to transport, donate or sell elephants without permission. Awaiting court orders, the department has given the pachyderms to the Jagannath Temple which has sent them to Suresh farm for care.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=94844

Source: http://cities.expressindia.com

Date : 05/08/2004
Titre : Government Worried Over Niassa Ivory Stocks

R?sum? : The government of the northern Mozambican province of Niassa is concerned over what it should do about the five tonnes of ivory it has in stock. The issue was presented to President Joaquim Chissano on Wednesday during an extraordinary session of the Niassa provincial government, as part of Chissano's agenda on his tour of the province. Chissano handed the matter to Environment Minister John Kachamila, who explained that a decision on the fate of the Niassa ivory will be taken during a meeting of representatives of countries holding ivory stocks, that is to take place in Bangkok in October.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Date : 09/08/2004
Titre : Poaching in Limpopo Park 'Under Control'

R?sum? : Poaching in Mozambique's Limpopo National Park (PNL) is now "under control", according to the park administrator, Gilberto Vicente. The PNL is Mozambique's contribution to the Greater Limpopo Trans-Frontier Park, alongside the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the Gonarezhou Park in Zimbabwe. Vicente said it was coordinated work between the PNL's own game wardens, wardens in the Kruger Park, and South African and Mozambican border police that had cut down the number of poachers operating in the PNL. He thought that security for wildlife in the park would be further consolidated once eco-tourism operators start bringing tourists into the PNL. Vicente said that some tourism companies have expressed an interest in the PNL, and all that remains for them to do is firm up their business plans. These operators are expected to build the lodges and other infrastructures that tourists will need.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Date : 10/08/2004
Titre : EC Opposes Resumption of Commercial Ivory Trade

R?sum? : The European Commission (EC) has objected to a proposal to resume commercial ivory trade without ensuring that such trade does not lead to increased poaching in Southern Africa. According to the latest EU Weekly Digest, this is part of the commission's position on tightening international rules for trading in rare species such as the African elephant and timber trees in rain forests. The publication states that while there is a ban on international ivory trade, poaching and illegal ivory trade were still widespread in several African countries.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Date : 10/08/2004
Titre : Poaching Ruled Out in Ugab Elephant Tragedy

R?sum? : The suspected poaching of a desert elephant in the Ugab River was ruled out on Friday after the injured elephant cow was darted and treated by a vet. It was found that the cow was suffering from stab wounds inflicted by elephant tusks. She was too weak to get up after the treatment and died soon afterwards. The circumstances surrounding the injuries caused to the cow are baffling elephant experts. At present, they can only work on theories as it does not appear as if there are many records of this kind of behaviour by elephants. The only explanation those involved with the Ugab rescue have come up with so far is that the cow was attacked by other elephants because she was no longer a productive member of the herd.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com e

Source: http://allafrica.com/

Date : 12/08/2004
Titre : Elephants On the Rampage in East of Sierra Leone

R?sum? : Over 300 people have been displaced in ten villages and several others wounded in Gorama Mende chiefdom in Kenema District over the past few weeks. According to Alice Sefoi, a newly elected district councilor in the chiefdom, wild elephants from the Gola Forest in the east of the country, have destroyed crops, houses and killed two people in Kpedema and Godama in the Kenema District, the eastern administrative headquarter of the country. She said it has caused people to move from her own ward to another in the same chiefdom. Councillor Sefoi said she had gone to Kenema town in the Kenema District, to inform the authorities concerned to take immediate action, adding that the animals had been in the forest for years without disturbing anybody.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://allafrica.com

Source: http://allafrica.com

Date : 11/08/2004
Titre : IFAW Moves to Curb Elephant and Rhino Poaching in Garamba Park

R?sum? : IFAW announced today that it will work with ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) to reduce poaching in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In recent years the park has faced significant challenges, including poaching from armed Sudanese elements and lack of resources, resulting in a significant loss of wildlife. The elephant population has been decimated from 11,000 in 1995 to 1,453 in 2003. Covering 4,900 square kilometers, Garamba is located in the northeast corner of the DRC and supports a major population of elephants. Garamba National Park was declared a World Heritage Site in 1980, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in Danger in 1996. Conflict in the DRC and neighboring countries has seriously impacted the biodiversity and infrastructure of the park and placed intense pressure on the ICCN personnel. ICCN manages seven national parks covering almost 82,000 square kilometers, and has about 1,329 personnel.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.ifaw.org

Source: http://www.ifaw.org

Date : 08/2004
Titre : TRAFFIC Recommendations on the Proposals to Amend the Appendices at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES

R?sum? : FAUNA Mammalia CoP13 Prop.7 [Namibia] Amendment of the annotation regarding the Namibian population of the African Elephant Loxodonta africana (Appendix II) CoP13 Prop.8 [South Africa] Amendment of the annotation regarding the South African population of the African Elephant Loxodonta africana (Appendix II) to allow trade in leather goods for commercial purposes

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.traffic.org/cop13/traf_recom.html

Source: www.traffic.org/

Date : 08/08/2004
Titre : Tuskers on rampage in Cumbum valley

R?sum? : Close on the heels of incidents of mahouts being trampled to death by rogue elephants in nearby Kerala, the elephant menace has grown to alarming proportions in Tamilnadu if the recent reports are any indication. According to official sources, at least four people were trampled to death in the last three months in Cumbum valley in Theni district. As many as 12 such elephants were seen near the foothills of Cumbum Mettu that moved to a stretch of 10 km up to Kombai scaring the people around. Forest officials said that the tuskers are mostly attracted to fields where sugarcane and maize were raised and at coconut and plantain groves as these serve as main source for their appetite. Though effective steps were taken by the Forest Department to put an end to this menace by bringing trainers from Pollachi, still it is rampant here as witnessed a few days back when a woman was trampled to death in

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://newstodaynet.com

Source: http://newstodaynet.com

Date : 05/08/2004
Titre : Ivory confiscated during border inspection

R?sum? : Two Kenyan women allegedly attempting to smuggle ivory into South Africa were arrested at the Beit Bridge border post by the South African Revenue Service's customs anti-smuggling team. They were on their way to Johannesburg by bus. During a search of the bus around 7am, numerous undeclared goods were found, including 11.8kg of ivory. Trade in ivory is forbidden under the Conference on the Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) convention. The value of the ivory goods confiscated is estimated at R110 000. Nature conservation authorities were also informed about the arrests and would probably press further charges against the suspects since it is clear that the ivory products were made of elephant tusks.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iol.co.za

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/

Date : 06/08/2004
Titre : Elephant attack probed

R?sum? : The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched an investigation of the Davenport, Fla.-based Liebel Family Circus for possible violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act after being contacted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about a circus employee who was apparently attacked by an African elephant while performing in Clinton. PETA informed the USDA of the incident in a letter sent last month after speaking with former circus worker Hristo Entchev, who reported being rammed by the elephant while performing during the Clinton Riverboat Days celebration July 4. Entchev said the elephant rammed him as he stooped near her water bowl, lifting him into the air and sending him tumbling down an incline. Entchev was rushed for hospital treatment, where he received stitches to his head and suffered severe pain for several days. Entchev, who said that the incident was not reported to the USDA, quit the circus that night.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.zwire.com

Source: www.zwire.com

Date : 05/08/2004
Titre : The circus is coming, elephants intact

R?sum? : Elephants are a big part of the 134th edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which opens Wednesday at the San Diego Sports Arena. This year's circus features 12 Asian elephants, including five juveniles born and raised at the Center for Elephant Conservation, a facility in Florida built and funded by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey that is dedicated to helping save the endangered species. The 200-acre conservation center, completed in 1995, is home to around 30 pachyderms that represent one of the largest Asian elephant gene pools outside Asia. The facility is not open to the public, but often hosts scientists studying the animals. Some of the animals bred there will go on to perform with the circus, but others will live their lives eating, sleeping, socializing and being cared for. Those that are trained to be a part of the show get a long walk every morning for exercise, practice their routines, and get baths with soap, brushes and oil to keep their skin healthy. Then everyone gets fed – well over a ton of elephant chow a week, plus fruits, vegetables, loaves of bread and hay. The elephants spend the rest of the day playing, rolling in dirt, napping and doing whatever elephants do until show time.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.signonsandiego.com

Source: www.signonsandiego.com/

Date : 07/08/2004
Titre : Orissa Zoo rescues baby elephant

R?sum? : Authorities at Orissa's Nandankanan Zoo have rescued a two-month-old elephant after it fell into a pit and was separated from its herd. The calf was found in Chandaka village, which borders a wildlife sanctuary and is often visited by elephants migrating to safer grounds during the monsoons. The injured calf lay in the pit for over three days before it was rescued in a nearly 12-hour operation. Named "Ramu", the playful pachyderm joins an eight-member elephant family in the zoo. Ramu is the 13th elephant to have been rescued by the zoo.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.webindia123.com

Source: www.webindia123.com/

Date : 07/08/2004
Titre : Miserable zoo life for SA elephants

R?sum? : They're part of South Africa's Big Five, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists to the country, but instead of protecting them the government has sold seven elephants to a Chinese zoo where they will be forced to perform humiliating tricks and be destined for a life of misery. According to the National SPCA the "exports" are part of the government's "sustainable utilisation" policy. In other words the price was right. The Democratic Alliance has called on environment minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk to investigate why a permit was granted but their concerns were dismissed by his spokesman Riaan Aucamp who said the "exports" were not against the law. He said there was nothing in contravention of South Africa's policy and commitments to the Conference on the Trade in Endangered Species. The elephants, who are six years old, were captured in the Ndzalama private game reserve in Limpopo province. Rick Allen, spokesman for the NSPCA, said the export was obviously for financial gain and not conservation benefit.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.iol.co.za

Source: www.iol.co.za/

Date : 06/08/2004
Titre : Tusker saved from well using excavator

R?sum? : A tusker that slipped into a swollen well was taken out by Fire Service personnel and local people using an excavator in a village in the district. The elephant lost its grip when the slushy ground around the well caved in while it halted to slake thirst at Mele Dhoni on Thursday, local people said. The rescuers first tried to pull out the animal on their own, using tugs. With their efforts proving futile, an excavator was brought and ropes tied to it and moved to help the pachyderm emerge out of the muddy waters. It took nearly six hours to rescue the elephant, whose hind legs had got stuck deep in the mud at the bottom of the well. The spectacle also drew sizeable crowd, who kept on cheering the rescuers.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Date : 05/08/2004
Titre : Seven SA elephants to be on cargo flight

R?sum? : Seven South African elephants that were removed from a game reserve in Limpopo are scheduled to leave on a British Airways cargo flight on Friday. Globally, airlines had taken an ethical stand in terms of policy when it came to transporting animals. Allen said the NSPCA had tried in vain to obtain official comment from British Airways on its policy on transporting wild-caught animals and on this particular shipment. On Wednesday the NSPCA opposed and expressed concern over the future welfare of the seven juvenile elephants. It was alleged that the elephants may be destined for "zoos" in China where conditions were bad.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.bday.co.za

Source: www.bday.co.za/

Date : 04/08/2004
Titre : Exportation of SA elephants raises concern

R?sum? : The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) expressed concern on Wednesday over the future welfare of seven elephants to be exported to Poland and China. NSPCA spokesman Rick Allen said the elephants were captured from the Ndzalama private game reserve in Limpopo and were taken to a facility in North West. The elephants will apparently be taken to zoos in Poland and China. Allen said everything was being done legally and all the documents were in order. He said, however, that the zoos especially in China did not have a "very good track record when it comes to animal welfare". The elephants were scheduled to leave South Africa on a British Airways cargo plane within a week. He said apart from monitoring the elephants' physical well-being until they leave the country, the NSPCA could do nothing to prevent the export from happening.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za

Source: www.sundaytimes.co.za

Date : 06/08/2004
Titre : Three elephant herds discovered in southern province

R?sum? : Three elephants herds are living in forests to the northwest of southern Dong Nai province, next to the Cat Tien National Park, said the park director. The three herds have between 15-18 elephants in total, including young. This is considered a good sign for Viet Nam's elephant population, as for years the animals have not been recorded as reproducing in the country's forest.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://www.vnagency.com.vn

Source: www.vnagency.com.vn/

Date : 01/2004
Titre : Elephant radio-collaring operation in west africa

R?sum? : The IGF Foundation has just completed an elephant radio-collaring operation in the W Regional (transfrontier) National Park. Four adult female elephants from different herds have been successfully darted from the ground, collared and released in good condition. The first female was collared in the Djona Hunting Zone, next to the Benin side of W Regional Park, the tree others in the Tapoa area of the Niger side of W Regional Park. 4 Argos/VHF collars are already operational and are transmitting geographical location data. This important study will bring the first ever available information on ecology and movement of the most important elephant population of West Africa. This project is being conducted in the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, in cooperation with the regional ECOPAS program, and financed by the European Union.

Plus d'information disponible sur: www.wildlife-conservation.org/index.php

Source: www.wildlife-conservation.org

Date : 03/08/2004
Titre : Pachyderms can boost tourism in Kerala

R?sum? : Kerala, which has close to 800 captive elephants, is yet to tap the potential of the pachyderms for boosting tourism, an expert on the animals says. Forest Minister K. Sudhakaran said corrective measures would be taken. Proper training has to be given to mahouts and an awareness campaign would also have to be drawn up. Another aspect that should be looked into is to convert elephant dung into products like manure, biogas and even paper.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.newkerala.com/kerala-news/index.php?action=fullnews&id=5746

Source: http://news.newkerala.com

Date : 30/06/2004
Titre : Elephants' footprints found at prehistoric site

R?sum? : Archaeologists working on the Nihewan historical site in north China's Hebei Province have uncovered 35 pre-historic sites and some elephants' footprints dating back 2 million years. It is the first time such footprints have been discovered at this historical site. 3,800 stone implements and animal fossils have so far been unearthed at Nihewan. Experts say the excavations will provide valuable information for the further study of the environment and animal behaviour in the area 2 million years ago.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://news.xinhuanet.com/

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/

Date : 03/08/2004
Titre : Jumbos wreak havoc at Dobe

R?sum? : A number of wild animals especially elephants are causing damage to the Namibian side of the fence along the Botswana border at Dobe, which is about 50 km from Tsumkwe. A 35-metre stretch of the fence was completely damaged by elephants a few months ago and has not yet been fixed. The situation, could result in Namibia losing some of its wild animals to Botswana or vice versa.

Plus d'information disponible sur: www.allafrica.com

Source: www.allafrica.com

Date : 07/2004
Titre : White elephant spotted in Sri Lanka

R?sum? : A rare albino elephant has been spotted roaming Sri Lanka's Ruhunu National Park, the first recorded sighting in the country. The pale-skinned pachyderm, thought to be around 11 years old, lives with a 17-strong herd of adult females and youngsters. Tracking the herd's movements could help researchers devise new strategies for the protection and management of Sri Lanka's elephants. The elephant, named Sue after the Sinhalese word for 'white', has been seen several times in the past few weeks. Albinism is extremely rare in the wild. The condition arises when the body fails to produce melanin. Researchers are hoping to test dung from the albino elephant to determine which mutation she has. In most cases, the genes for albinism are recessive, meaning that an animal must inherit two copies of the gene (one from each parent) to become albino. So unless the Sri Lankan white elephant finds a male with a similar gene, she is unlikely to give birth to an albino offspring. But this is becoming more likely as elephant numbers shrink and inbreeding becomes more common, genetic anomalies are more likely to arise. Although Sue appears healthy, lack of pigment can make some animals susceptible to eye and skin problems.

Plus d'information disponible sur: www.nature.com/news

Source: www.nature.com/news

Date : 07/2004
Titre : Brew, bane of elephants

R?sum? : Devastation of their natural habitat is pushing elephants out of forests and closer to human settlements, where the combination of their strong sense of smell and a penchant for liquor are turning them into marauders. Elephants in search of local brew have claimed the lives of 219 persons since March while passing through villages in West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura districts, triggering a culling spree in which 52 elephants have been felled. The losses are high on both sides in the human-animal conflict. The vegetation and topography of Orissa and Jharkhand, prime elephant habitats previously, were altered after the governments encouraged mining projects. This radically changed the nature of elephant movements, forcing them towards the natural forests in southern Bengal which resemble conditions in the Dalma hills. The elephants from Dalma make an annual 50-km trek through the western border of Bengal to ensure that their original home is replenished. Of the 192 sq. ft area of the reserve, the core area consists of only 50 sq. ft, which is home to about 70 elephants.

Plus d'information disponible sur: www.telegraphindia.com

Source: www.telegraphindia.com

Date : 02/08/2004
Titre : The fate of the elephants lies in our hands

R?sum? : To cull or not to cull. That is one of the central questions which will be argued during "the great elephant debate" near Nelspruit on Friday. University of KwaZulu-Natal ecologist Bruce Page will be among several panellists giving their views during the public debate organised by the Wildlife and Environment Society. However, a central actor in the debate - South African National Parks - has declined to participate because it is planning a separate public workshop in about two months' time. Nearly 10 years ago a moratorium was declared on the annual culling of several hundred elephants in Kruger National Park - but speculation is mounting that the controversial killings may be resumed again in a bid to control the rapid growth of elephant numbers since 1995. Prior to that, park managers destroyed several individual herds every year as a way to maintain the total elephant population at approximately 7 500 animals. A census last year showed there were more than 11 500 elephants in the park and the present figure is believed to exceed 12 000 animals.

Plus d'information disponible sur: www.iol.co.za/

Source: www.iol.co.za/

Date : 07/2004
Titre : Plans to establish two new elephant corridors

R?sum? : The Department of Wildlife Conservation is investigating the possibility of establishing two new important elephant corridors to save the elephant population, The first is the Ritigala Southward Extension towards Minneriya which is now called the Yan Oya Sanctuary. Field inspection work has been completed and the survey work is on-going. This 4500 hectare corridor will allow safe passage for the large number of elephants in the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa areas. The second planned out corridor is the North Eastern extension of Yala combining Yala National Park to the Lahugala National Park. In this corridor certain difficulties have emerged with a large number of seasonal farmers who establish plantain cultivations and also chenas on a large scale.

Plus d'information disponible sur: www.dailynews.lk

Source: www.dailynews.lk

Date : 21/07/2004
Titre : Residents threaten to kill elephants

R?sum? : Residents of Tambach Division have threatened to kill marauding elephants that have invaded their farms and destroyed crops. The elephants, from the nearby Rimoi Game Reserve, have wandered into their cotton, maize, beans and groundnut farms. They vowed to arm themselves with bows and arrows and shoot on sight, any elephant found on private property. They censured the Kenya Wild Life Service for failing to tame the animals. Councillor of Keu ward noted that several acres of crops had been destroyed and pleaded that action be taken to protect their property. Hundreds of families now rely on relief food because all their crops had been destroyed. However, a senior KWS official based in Iten warned the residents against taking the law into their hands and instead advised them to follow the laid down procedures. The official blamed the local residents for not co-operating with the game rangers in the affected region.

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Source: www.allafrica.com

Date : 07/2004
Titre : Pregnant elephant at Jerusalem zoo gets ok after ultrasound

R?sum? : A pregnant elephant at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem got a good report Saturday after undergoing an ultrasound to check on her five-month-old foetus. Tamar, an Asian elephant, underwent an ultrasound examination by a team of German specialists, who found her in good shape in her fifth month of a 22-month gestation period. Tamar was artificially inseminated from an elephant named Emett in Whipsnade Wild Animal Park in England. The Jerusalem zoo uses a method of handling the pachyderms called the "free contact method," which involves direct contact between the keepers and the animals. The staff at the elephant house includes two professional mahouts (elephant keepers) from Thailand, and an Israeli-trained keeper.

Plus d'information disponible sur: www.haaretzdaily.com/

Source: www.haaretzdaily.com/

Date : 16/07/2004
Titre : Mass-feeding of elephants draws crowds

R?sum? : In a majestic spectacle, 70 elephants were treated to a grand feast at the famed Vadakkumnathan temple premises here as part of the annual 'Gajapoja' and 'Anayoottu' on Friday. The jumbos, drawn from different parts of Kerala, were lined-up and fed with huge balls of rice mixed with jaggery and spices, followed by sweet meats, fruits and other delicate titbits. Cutting across religious divide, elephant fans from far and wide thronged the temple town to witness the annual event. The calf Vishu from Chirakkal Devaswom was the first to receive the prasadam and rice ball from the chief priest Narayan Namboodiri. The full-course feast per elephant consisted of 10 kg cooked rice and ground jaggery, 10 kg of banana, five pineapples, sugar cane, cucumber and sheaves of palmleaf. Earlier in the morning, a grand gajapooja to propitiate Lord Ganesh was performed, using 1,008 coconuts and other ingredients. Gajapooja and Anayyoottu were held annually for world peace and prosperity. Friday's event was estimated to have cost Rs 2.5 lakh. Part of provisional like coconut and ghee needed for the feast were offered by devotees.

Plus d'information disponible sur: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com