If you know of a news article, update, story, or have a recommendation
for a book or link to add to our site, please contact anna@animalspirit.org Thank
you.
Elephant Communication
Elephants can communicate with one another miles apart by making subsonic calls that vibrate the ground, researchers established a few years ago. But now a leading investigator in the field of elephant communications has discovered that elephants receiving the calls monitor the vibrating ground through both their feet and trunks.
To read the article, go to http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2009/02/elephants-make-the-earth-move.html
Elephant Wisdom
Interview with Animal Communicator, Anna Breytenbach, on African Elephants by Dominique Koubovec
Tuesday 22nd September 2009 was International Elephant Appreciation Day. It is also the equinox in the Northern Hemisphere representing the first day of autumn and in the Southern Hemisphere depicting the first day of spring. As a tribute to elephants we decided to interview Anna Breytenbach, a professional interspecies communicator, about her experience with African elephants. Her goal, like ours, is to raise awareness and advance the relationship between humans and animals.
Dominique:
Some regard elephants as violent and dangerous, whilst others as beautiful and serene...What has your experience been?
Anna:
Elephants are connected to each other in an expanded family sense and are also very connected to the collective consciousness and to the earth energy. They also appear to have chosen a deliberate interface with humankind. They are an “indicator species” and are thought to be gauges of human consciousness. The way we handle elephant conservation can be interpreted as how far we have advanced as a species. Through conflict situations with humans they show us what we humans need to see. When they trample through villages they are showing us a very clear distress signal. They deliberately knock down fences that try to contain them in unnaturally small areas. This is not intended as a violent act. They simply want to be allowed to walk the ancient paths of their knowing. They want to follow instinctive migratory routes. They are also trying to teach us humans lessons about the appropriateness of moving with the seasons and in accordance with natural cycles so that we don’t overly deplete an area. In other words, they are trying to teach us how to live within our physical means. The times that there are altercations between humans and elephants that turn violent are an attempt on their behalf to signal their distress at what we are doing to our planet. It is almost inevitable that when we humans push around the largest animal on earth, it needs to be reflected to us that we can’t do that and get away with it. We need to learn to know our place in the natural order of things. Humans of course don’t like the push back...the reflection. Without exception, I find elephants very wise, even when they are acting out some of the shadow.
Another important aspect to their wisdom is that they hold on land what the whales hold in the sea. They are working “trunk in fin” with the whales as keepers of ancient wisdom and knowledge. As the elephants walk the gridlines and leylines rumbling their songs, so the whales weave the earth energy lines together under the sea with their calling and their songs. The stability of the earth’s grid depends on these two species being allowed to do their very important, selfless work.
Dominique:
It is said that elephants and humans are remarkably similar in many ways... for example: they live relatively long lives, calves require focussed attention from their mothers, they go through puberty, adolescence and old age, show hormonal tendencies, suffer from coronary disease, and have life-long family or friendship bonds. They also have a sense of humour, mourn their dead by weeping, adopt orphans, show mean streaks when under threat and react to a staggering array of emotions. Can you comment further in light of your experience with them?
Anna:
In rehabilitation and sanctuary scenarios I have seen elephants nurture each other and often take care of their human keepers as well. I’ve also seen them display immense compassion towards other beings in need. They show immense concern for human individuals especially when an emotional issue needs healing. Elephants also perform sacred rituals. The Knysna forest located along the South African east coast is a place where indigenous wild elephants still remain. They are the world’s southern most free-ranging wild elephants. Energetically they hold a very important point on the southernmost grid. An elephant tracker mentioned that trackers had come across a bush pig that had died and the following day upon returning to the carcass had discovered that it had been buried under a mound of earth. Branches from trees overhead had been pulled over it, creating a grave. The area was covered with elephant footprints lasting several hours and it was concluded that the elephants had gone to the effort of giving the bush pig a proper burial.
Dominique:
Elephants are known to live in social harmony with themselves and with other species around them. Can you elaborate on this from your experience?
Anna:
I can give an example that illustrates this tendency. At the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa a pregnant female elephant was sighted a few days ago whilst giving birth alone to her calf. As the calf literally dropped out a number of female elephants came rushing over from quite a distance off in a visible display of joy and exuberance. There was much trumpeting and excitement at the occasion.
Elephants have no natural predator but man. Elephants are easily tolerated by other wild animals. It has been proven in Tanzania that certain areas deforested by elephants have opened up new patches of sunlight in the vegetation that has allowed the return of a very rare and previously disappeared butterfly species. I like to refer to elephants as “habitat architects” because their movements and “landscaping” (which many would rather term “deforestation”) reintroduces new cycles of life. Elephants bring cycles to pass in a specific ecosystem – cycles of regeneration rather than destruction – and if we had the patience to wait years or decades we would see how everything returns in a natural cyclical order.
Dominique:
The South African elephants are currently under culling threat due to alleged overpopulation – can you comment on this?
Anna:
Elephant populations in the Kruger National Park have almost returned to levels prior to the mid 90’s ban on culling. The culling ban in South Africa has now been lifted. Culling will allow the authorities to reopen the meat abattoirs in the national park, win political favour by supplying elephant meat and temporary employment to surrounding communities, as well as reinstitute a revenue stream for profit. Elephant calves never get culled; instead they are sold to the elephant safari and wildlife trade industries at enormous profit. And it is a question about what really happens to the ivory.
Contraception has proven to be very effective with elephants but the authorities state that it is too costly to implement. However it is very costly to implement manpower to track down a herd and cull all the family members. I’ve been told that scientists have come to notice that the elephants at the Kruger Park have naturally slowed their reproduction due to lack of space within the fenced confines. This is because elephant consciousness has the ability to adapt to availability of resources. If only we could allow the elephants a few more years to naturally self-regulate their numbers, there wouldn’t be the need for this drastic measure of culling.
Additionally, the well- known phenomenon of the Species Survival Syndrome has proven that when there’s a sudden drop in the population number of a particular species (due to drought or culling, for example), the species markedly increases its reproductive rate to fill the void that was created. If the elephants are culled, this Species Survival Syndrome will kick in. Culling therefore is not a sustainable solution for the question of elephant numbers. This leaves one with the question of what is the real intention behind the drive to cull. I can’t help but feel it’s for monetary gain plus a patriarchal-based human need for dominance of over the animal kingdom.
I have also heard from trusted sources that the South African game rangers who 15 years ago culled elephants in South African are refusing to cull again. In the aftermath the effects on these people were dire energetically speaking. They believe that they’d been passed severe energetic repercussions for having culled the elephants. Even the lure of financial rewards at a current time of extreme unemployment in South Africa has not convinced these folks to pick up their guns again. Authorities are having to pull in marksmen from Europe to do the cull. Additionally, animal welfare organisations’ opinion is that the cull may be delayed until after the 2010 World Cup to be hosted by South Africa for PR expedience purposes.
Dominique:
Culling is a very brutal way to manage populations. Have you had firsthand experience of the extreme stress and trauma that these methods of population control have on the emotional well being of elephants?
Anna:
I have worked directly with a couple of elephant calves orphaned by culls – and they had witnessed their mothers being murdered. For months afterwards these calves were still in a state of extreme shock, and the PTSD very seldom leaves them. One calf I’d encountered was about six months after the cull, and even though he’d been in a sanctuary and well cared for with a keeper and friends, I had a sense that his soul had somewhat popped out of the body, like a disconnect. He was going through the motions of everyday life in an automatic and numbed out kind of way. It was very sad to witness.
One of the greatest negative effects on the survivors of culls is the break in the chain of learning how to be balanced and successful adult elephants. Because matriarchal lineage is broken, the surviving calves don’t know how to access the knowledge of the ways of being elephants. They are unable to learn through direct experience about the natural and balanced ways of being with each other and with the environment. This leads to dysfunctional inter-elephant relationships, very errant herd dynamics and essentially ends up with a bunch of ignorant and inexperienced adolescents trying to run and hold together an elephant society.
Dominique:
At the Natal Society for the Arts Gallery there is currently a big, life size elephant sculpture standing outside the building made out of tires and steel created by Andries Botha and Ian Player. The elephant is called Nomkhubulwane after the earth goddess who can shape shift into any animal. The elephant was chosen as the symbol of the yearning of forgotten conversations between humans, the earth and all living things. Considering we once lived in complete harmony with all sentient beings, if you could offer one piece of advice, what in your opinion can we humans do to remember and reinstitute peaceful co-existence with animals and each other.
Anna:
We can pray for the elephants and hold a field of support for them. Here is a prayer I like to refer people to:
'Blessed Oneness, that which I am and which we all are in our deepest Essence, please communicate to those gentle giants of the Earth, the elephants, that I stand in strength and solidarity with them. I offer this prayer from my heart for their healing and well-being. I pray that they may find support where they need it and compassion instead of abuse.
May the humans they come in contact with respect and honor who they are as sentient beings. May they be blessed with peace and a fear-free life and held in loving kindness. I offer great gratitude knowing this will be so. Thank you, Amen.' ♥♥♥
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Elephant-back Safaris
Riding on an elephant’s back does not represent the nature and mysteries of a majestic elephant spirit as marketers would have you believe, rather it is the result of human intervention. Young elephants are usually removed by force from their families, and subjected rigorous training. Do not be fooled into the romanticised sales pitch that the elephants enjoy being put in this position.
Elephant back safaris/rides, walks with elephants and general interaction with these animals is heavily promoted as a tourism attraction in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. This rapidly growing ‘elephant’ industry in South Africa has increasing numbers of elephants being captured, tamed and trained. These elephant are then supplied to local and international zoos, circuses and elephant back safari operators. At present there at least 112 elephant kept in captivity for commercial use in South Africa. Of the 112 animals in captivity, 92 are used for elephant back safaris/rides, walks or other interactions with humans, 14 (including four Asian elephants) are used for circuses, filming or other entertainment purposes and six are in zoos.
For a full understanding of the issues, read the article at http://www.animalrightsafrica.org/Archive/ElephantBack/ARA002_ELE_BACK_BROCHURE_2.pdf
Elephant Birth Control
Pachyderm population control has long been a sensitive and emotional issue, with conservation authorities, scientists and environmentalists wracking their collective brains in an effort to find methods which are both financially viable and environmentally sound. Recent laparoscopic vasectomy procedures, performed on 7 elephant bulls in Swaziland’s Big Game Parks, may prove the answer to managing fast-growing elephant populations in smaller parks.
Read the full article at http://www.africageographic.com/newsroom/index.php/2009/08/12/elephant-vasectomy/
Elephants Evolve Smaller Tusks Due to Poaching
It appears that in at least one case, evolution is occurring at what seems like jet speed. In the last 150 years, the world's elephant population has evolved much smaller tusks.
See the full story at http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/ecology/elephants-evolve-smaller-tusks-due-to-poaching/711
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Wildlife Corridors in India
The World Land Trust (WLT) is working with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to safe-guard traditional elephant routes as corridors where the elephants can move safely between National Parks and other protected areas.
Learn more at http://www.worldlandtrust.org/projects/india-corridors.htm
Elephants in India
India is home to between 50 and 60% of all of Asia's wild elephants and about 20% of the domesticated elephants as such it is of paramount importance for the survival of the species.
Historically and currently the elephant plays a central role in Indian life. Elephants are closely associated with elephants religious and cultural heritage, they have played an important role in the country's history and remain revered today.
For a full overview, visit http://www.eleaid.com/index.php?page=elephantsinindia
Elephants Moved Out of Harm’s Way in Malawi
Read about this successful elephant translocation at http://allafrica.com/stories/200906250004.html
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Is Your Ice Cream Bad for Elephants?
The shrinking forest area threatens thousands of animal and plant species, many of them endemic and already endangered. Sumatra's Tesso Nilo forest, for example, has the highest level of lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science, with over 4,000 plant species recorded so far. It is also home to three per cent of the world's mammal species, including elephants, rhinos, tigers, and orang-utangs. Forest loss and oil palm plantations are proving a particularly deadly mix for Sumatra's elephants.
Read about how your consumer choices affect elephants at http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2002/december/icecream.htm
The Knysna Elephants: a population study conducted using faecal DNA
The world's southernmost free-ranging wild elephants live in the indigenous Knysna forest along South Africa’s southeast coast. For many years it has been assumed that only one, lone female elephant remained. New evidence points to a more positive picture, however.
See the article at http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:vbllcXgrMOEJ:nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ScientificPublications/pdfs/6F812D23-A589-4C0E-8BD6-F466E62D2EAA.pdf+knsyna+elephant+dna+gareth+patterson&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=za
Understanding who animals really are and hearing their
truth is the gift of interspecies communication. Intentionally connecting
with an animal with true empathy means that we have a willingness to
know and understand their experience – their thoughts, emotions,
motivations, roles and deeper truths. We gain access to truly understanding
their reality through their eyes and seeing what gifts they bring to
the world.
Unfortunately we are so automatically conditioned to perceive the world through
the human way of seeing that we seldom shift into the perspective of a different
species. The good news is that doing this is an innate ability and birthright
of ours. We are intrinsically blueprinted to be connected with and understand
other life forms. We can all communicate in this language beyond words.
So-called intuitive communication may happen spontaneously at times
that we recognize as a “gut feeling”, hunch or a sensing
that we can’t explain. With intention and deliberate connection
however, we can at any time tune into any other being in a non-verbal
way and telepathically hear what they have to share – as well as
convey information to them. This happens regardless of the distance between
the ones communicating as it is non-physical and independent of
the usual five-sensory constraints.
By quieting the mind and consciously stepping outside of our human programming
and perception filters, gateways are opened into dimensions of experience
and knowingness that are beyond the confines of our own life experience.
For us to truly understand another, we need to be able to see and hear
animals’ truths from their perspective – without interpretation
or analysis, without intervention from the human mind, without adding
our own meaning to the animal’s truth. Communicating with animals
in this way allows us to perceive things that couldn’t have come
into our awareness in any other way. It also brings the gifts of fully
appreciating the animals for who they are, as well as viscerally experiencing
oneness with them. Furthermore, once we have heard the animals' truths,
as stewards of their wellbeing we can take appropriate actions that are
in keeping with their wishes. Individual animals, as well as groups and
whole species can express their truths in this manner and be given a
voice through people who care to relay their messages. This may apply
to very practical situations as well as to the deeper wisdom and inherent
connectedness that our animal brothers and sisters seem to carry in their
hearts. They willingly and openly gift us with these messages if we simply
quiet our hearts and minds enough to listen.
In connecting with animals consciously, we experience
their state of being -- which is pure love. They are open, fully in the
present moment and joyful. They are willing to teach us, and show us
what we need to see without judgment. They simply
express who they are and their way of showing up in the world. Working
with them in this way is a real sense of partnership. Aside from hearing
their truths, from them we can learn how to support them in deep ways
as they face challenges in these times – often at the hands of
human influence. They
can show us how to support them. Through this form of communication,
we can convey to them compassion, empathy and even practical information
that can help them navigate tough situations. Interspecies healing happens
through witnessing, acknowledging and supporting the animals in their
journeys.
In this way we can be all be a voice for the animals
in the purest sense. ♥♥♥
Anna Breytenbach is a professional animal communicator
who has received advanced training through the Assisi International Animal
Institute in California and who practices in North America and South
Africa with domestic and wild animals. Her goal is to raise awareness
and advance the relationships among human and non-human animals, on both
the personal and spiritual levels. www.animalspirit.org
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- 18 February 2006
- From New Scientist Print Edition.
- Caroline Williams
TWO years ago the people of Bunyaruguru in western Uganda would think
nothing of cycling to the nearby township of Katwe to meet friends and
do business. Then one day a herd of elephants paid them a visit. They
came from the bush, knocked down huts and garden plots, then left with
nothing to show but a trail of destruction. Now elephants regularly block
the road to Katwe, and villagers are too afraid to cycle past.
Across Africa, elephants seem to be turning on their human neighbours
in ever increasing numbers. Although such attacks are nothing new, they
have always been seen as a side effect of elephants competing for food
and land, either as a result of population explosions or because people
have encroached on elephant territory. But that may not be the whole
story.
"Elephant numbers have never been lower in Uganda. Food has never been
so abundant," says Eve Abe, who studied elephant aggression in Uganda
at the time of the Bunyaruguru attack in 2003 and now works as a wildlife and
tourism consultant based in London. "There is no reason for this to be
happening. In the 1960s elephant densities were very high and there were few
reports of aggression. Now the elephants are just so wild."
What has happened to everyone's favourite gentle giant? It may sound
far-fetched, but a growing number of scientists are lending their support
to the theory that elephants are taking revenge on humans for years of
abuse. Last year a group of eminent elephant researchers described an "elephant
breakdown" occurring all over Africa, with elephants suffering
serious psychological problems after witnessing the death of family members
or being orphaned by poaching or culls (Nature, vol 433, p 807).
Elephants are well known for being intelligent, sociable and affectionate.
Females and their young live in tight matriarchal groups, forging strong
social bonds that last a lifetime. Calves learn the ways of the world
from their mothers, aunts and cousins and, most importantly, the matriarch
- the most experienced female in the herd. Sadly, the days when elephants
were left to live in peace are long gone. Since the 1970s and 1980s,
when the ivory trade decimated wild elephant populations in Africa, poaching,
culls and translocation programmes have made their mark on generation
after generation.
Juvenile delinquents
In Uganda, poaching has slashed elephant numbers in the Queen
Elizabeth National Park, which borders Bunyaruguru, by 90 per cent over
the past 30 years. Now only 400 animals remain, a third of them under
5 years old and many of them orphans. Across the continent, many herds
have lost their matriarch and have had to make do with a succession of
inexperienced "teenage mothers" who
have raised a generation of juvenile delinquents. Meanwhile a lack of older
bulls has led to gangs of hyperaggressive young males with a penchant for violence
towards each other and other species (Nature, vol 408, p 425). In
Pilanesburg National Park, South Africa, for example, young bulls have been
attacking rhinos since 1992, and in Addo National Park, also in South Africa,
90 per cent of male elephants are killed by another male - 15 times the "normal" figure.
Could it be that traumatised elephants have also grown up harbouring
a grudge against humans? Joyce Poole, research director at the Amboseli
Elephant Research Project in Kenya, was one of the authors of the elephant
breakdown paper. "They are certainly intelligent enough and have
good enough memories to take revenge," she says. Poole suspects
the way the authorities are dealing with the situation may be making
it worse. "Wildlife managers may feel that it is easier to just
shoot so-called 'problem' elephants than face people's wrath. So an elephant
is shot without realising the possible consequences on the remaining
family members, and the very real possibility of stimulating a cycle
of violence."
Poole and her colleagues claim that many African elephants are suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) brought on by experiencing
stress at an early age. Experiments and observations of captive animals
suggest that stress experienced during their youth can lead to neurological
and behavioural changes that resemble PTSD in humans. "[This] could
explain a suite of behaviours that have been common in captivity but
sadly now are becoming part of wild elephant behaviour," says the
paper's lead author Gay Bradshaw from Oregon State University. This may
well be the first diagnosis of PTSD in a wild animal.
It is a challenging idea, but worth considering, according to Felicity
de Zulueta, a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London
who specialises in trauma therapy and grew up in Uganda with an orphaned
elephant as a pet. She points out that one cause of PTSD in humans is
the failure of a child to bond or "attach" properly with its
primary carer. Even if bonding does occur but is weak, or is later severed,
children may grow up with severe psychological problems including delinquency. "Prematurely
separating an elephant from the family tribe will have very powerful
effects in terms of the attachment system. One of these effects would
be aggression," she says. The damage is thought to occur because
bonding is vital for the healthy development of the corticolimbic region
of the brain's right hemisphere. If neurons there are not stimulated
at an early age they are lost, leaving infants unable to regulate their
emotions, vulnerable to the effects of stress and more likely to become
violent. "Elephants have a long childhood like us, so the effect
may well be similar," says de Zulueta.
Could this explain the seemingly unprovoked attack on the people of Bunyaruguru?
Abe believes it might. She compares the behaviour of Uganda's delinquent
elephants to that of young men from her own tribe, the Acholi of northern
Uganda, whom she studied for her PhD. Having witnessed genocide in the
1970s during the Ugandan civil war, which selectively removed the male
elders from society, the children of the Acholi were left to wander alone,
traumatised and with no adult guidance. Many of these children have grown
into violent men. "This is a perfect example of family destruction," says
Abe. "Trauma persists over generations." She believes that
elephants are responding to stress in a similar way. "Either through
social learning or through neurobiology, elephants are changing over
decades of intensive and extensive stress and disturbance."
Still, it is a leap from traumatised elephants to elephants bent on revenge
- for many experts, a leap too far. "I'm sure disturbance of elephant
herds can lead to more aggressive behaviour, but as far as the root causes
of human/elephant conflicts in Africa today, I wouldn't rank it as a
top issue," says Leo Niskanen, programme manager of the World Conservation
Union (IUCN) African Elephant Specialist Group. "Generally the
main issues are things like elephant range being fragmented, corridors
being destroyed, more people settling near protected areas." Put
simply, elephants and humans just keep bumping into each other. And bumping
into 5 tonnes of elephant - hyperaggressive or not - is always going
to cause problems.
Richard Lair, an Asian-elephant researcher at the National Elephant Institute
based in Thailand, agrees. The same story is being told in India, where
villagers, particularly in West Bengal, live in constant fear of male
elephants that the villagers claim attack the village for one reason
only - to kill humans. In Asia, at least, Lair puts the problems down
to too many humans and too little land, leading to competition for resources
and more encounters between elephants and humans. "I think it comes
down to encroachment," he says. "In wilderness areas where
wild elephants have no contact with human beings they are, by and large,
fairly tolerant. The more human beings they see, the less tolerant they
become."
In Thailand, where papers carry regular reports of rogue animals, the
explanation is probably even more straightforward, according to Lair.
When the Thai government banned logging in the 1980s, large numbers of
elephants were made redundant. Some were sold across the border to Burma
and Laos where logging still takes place, but most now carry tourists
into the forest on treks, or work in cities where they are dressed up
to entice people to buy bananas and sugar cane to feed them. It's a lucrative
business and the lure of the tourist dollar has attracted less experienced
mahouts to sign up and have a go, often with disastrous consequences
for those who do not know how to deal with unpredictable animals. "It's
now a real issue," says Lair, "not just for the safety of the
mahouts, and thereby the public, but also for the welfare of the elephants."
The idea that elephants are suffering from PTSD and taking it out on
humans is undoubtedly controversial. Nevertheless, there is a growing
awareness that elephant psychology and their social structure must be
taken into account in future attempts to manage the animals in the wild.
With elephant numbers reaching carrying capacity in many of Africa's
national parks, Niskanen and his colleagues at the IUCN have been prompted
to come up with guidelines for translocations. They recommend that herds
be monitored long before they are moved, to ensure that the entire family
is taken. That won't be easy or cheap to implement, admits Niskanen,
especially since the measure is voluntary. "In many cases governments
just don't have the resources," he says. "In vast parts of
Africa we have no idea how many elephants there are, let alone understanding
of the intricacies of their family structures."
Even where governments do follow IUCN recommendations, elephants may
still be left traumatised, according to Bradshaw. She is particularly
concerned about the fate of elephants in the Kruger National Park, where
the population is more than double the park's carrying capacity. Passions
are running high over the South African government's plans to cull some
of the animals. No decision has yet been made, and the park's research
manager Ian Whyte is keen to point out that any cull would remove entire
families, and that leaving behind one or two family members would be
unthinkable. Bradshaw is not convinced. "It would be like taking
out a district of London and thinking the rest of the city will be fine," she
says. "Do you think they're not going to know and be affected by
what has happened to the herd next door?"
Talk of keeping elephant families united and happy may sound like a cruel
joke to anyone who has lost a loved one, had their home destroyed or
crops trampled. Like the people of Bunyaruguru, they probably just want
the elephants to go away. But as both human and elephant populations
increase, the two will have to learn to live together, and anything that
can reduce conflict must surely be embraced. Keeping elephant social
groups intact may be the best way to avoid making a bad situation worse,
and to be sure we don't end up with a monster of our own making.♥♥♥
From issue 2539 of New Scientist magazine, 18 February 2006, page 39
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Elephant Breakdown
http://www.cbd.ucla.edu/downloads/Schore%20Nature%20Article.pdf
“Social trauma: early disruption of attachment can affect the
physiology, behaviour and culture of animals and humans over generations”.
An essay by G. A. Bradshaw, Allan N. Schore, Janine L. Brown, Joyce H.
Poole and Cynthia J. Moss.
Meet the Elephants of Pongola Game Reserve
by Mandy Young
To date we have 35 elephants, but let me tell you who they
are and how they arrived at Pongola Game Reserve. In 1992, Heinz and
Debbie Kohrs began to pursue their dream to see elephants return to Pongola
Game Reserve.
This land was the first in Africa to be proclaimed a protected Nature
Reserve by President Paul Kruger in 1894, the second in the world to
Yellowstone National Park....♥♥♥
Link to complete article:
http://www.peace-of-eden.co.za/elephants_article_pongola.htm
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Elephant Communication
Elephant Wisdom
Interview with Anna
Breytenbach by
Dominique Koubovec
Elephant-back Safaris
Elephant Birth Control
Elephants Evolve Smaller
Tusks Due to Poaching
Wildlife Corridors in India
Elephants in India
Elephants Moved Out Of Harms
Way in Malawi
Is Your Ice Cream Bad
for Elephants?
The Knysna Elephants:
a population
study conducted
using faecal DNA
Communicating With Animals
by Anna Breytenbach
Elephants On the Edge
Fight Back
by Caroline Williams
Elephant Breakdown
by G.A. Bradshaw, et.al
Meet
the Elephants of
Pongola Game Reserve
by Mandy Young
|
