Conclusion

Over the last few weeks I have talked in detail about elephants, from life in captivity to my own experience in Thailand. There is still so much more that I could discuss but I will end the discussion here for now.

I started off my blog talking about what life is like for elephants in the wild. The two main places elephants live are in Africa and in Asia. In both continents the number of elephants is diminishing at a frightening rate. Elephants like to live in herds with the biggest female leading the herd. Elephants are herbivores, eating mostly what they have access to.

The two types of elephants, Asian and African, have a few distinct characteristics that set them apart from one another. The easiest way to tell them apart is by size and in particular ear size. A larger population of African elephants has tusks, which makes them a bigger target for ivory poachers. Below is a picture of a huge number of tusks which demonstrates the sheer magnitude of this problem.

China has a huge market for ivory and elephants are paying the price. In more recent years China has made progress by making it more difficult for people to sell products made of ivory. However, there is still a large demand for ivory from tourists as well as the Chinese middle class. Merchants that sell ivory would actually like to see the elephant population extinct because for them that would mean demand would skyrocket along with prices.

For more on the topic of illegal ivory, I would recommend watching “The Ivory Game”. It is a documentary currently on Netflix showing the problem of elephant poaching as it is today and the urgency in which government officials need to respond to this problem. Below is a brief preview of “The Ivory Game”.

It wasn’t until recently that this issue was brought to my attention. Growing up in Seattle in the middle of an urban city, I did not think about elephants that live on the other side of the globe from me. My main interaction with these animals was in zoos or from what I saw on TV. When I decided to study abroad in Thailand, I became excited at the opportunity for me to experience these massive animals up close. After spending the day with elephants and riding one bareback, I became interested in protecting their future.

In conclusion, the main point I would like someone to take away from this blog is the importance of protecting the few elephants we have left in the world. The number of elephants is dwindling fast and will continue to do so unless we put an end to it soon.

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you were able to learn something about elephants and will think twice while visiting elephants in the zoo or purchasing ivory products.

Elephants in Thailand

A year ago I was fortunate enough to study abroad in Thailand. I learned many things about the people of Thailand, the culture and the importance of elephants in Thailand. This week I will discuss my time abroad and the elephants I met.

On September 26th 2015 I traveled to the northern province of Thailand, Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is the most culturally significant city in Thailand. Right outside of the city is home to multiple elephant sanctuaries. The sanctuary we chose to visit was Baang Chang Elephant Park.

Around 8 in the morning we were picked up from our hotel from a van that took us an hour outside of the city. Immediately upon arrival we were greeted by multiple elephants and given buckets of bananas and sugar cane to feed them.

The elephants get excited when they have visitors because for them it means more bananas and walks around the compound. After feeding the elephants we were put into pairs and given an elephant that we would ride for the day. My friend Tess and I rode Mina. She is 34 years old and has been rescued from Myanmar where she used to work illegally for the logging industry. Evidence of this was shown by the holes in her ears. After walking her around the compound we gave her a bath. Below is a picture of myself and Tess in the water with Mina.

These elephants are not allowed outside of the compound because it is dangerous for them as well as for the people living in the surrounding villages. My love for elephants grew stronger after that first interaction so when my sister visited me we went back to Chiang Mai to ride the elephants.

This time we went to a different sanctuary, . Here we met Kamoon. He is a 19 year old elephant with a personality typical of a teenage boy. While my sister and I walked him around the compound he would constantly stop to eat leaves, grass, or any type of bush. Kamoon had to be constantly reminded to keep walking forward. Below is a picture of myself, my sister, our mahout, and Kamoon.

Kamoon is one of the younger elephants they let people ride because at a young age elephants can be unpredictable, especially the ones who are rescued. After a considerable amount of time at the sanctuary the elephants are trusted to carry riders.

These elephants are beautiful creatures and I feel fortunate enough to have spent time with them. Any tourist in Thailand has the opportunity to ride an elephant but it is important for tourists to take into consideration the ethics of the sanctuaries.

Many places put chairs on top of elephants to make it easier for the rider. These chairs are extremely bad for the elephants backs and end up doing significant damage to the elephants that are being used for money. There are ethical places and it is important as tourists to seek out these places and support their efforts rather than the ones that only care about money.

Before traveling to Thailand my only interaction with elephants was at the zoo. Being able to stand next to these massive creatures and interact with them has changed my life.

Elephants in captivity in the United States

For my first topic I discussed what life is like for elephants in the wild. This week I will talk about the different types of habitats and way of life for elephants in captivity. The two main types of captivity I will cover are zoos and sanctuaries.

For elephants in zoos, life is difficult. Keep in mind that these are the largest land mammals on the planet and as a result, they need tons of room to walk around. In the wild it is estimated that elephants travel around 30 miles a day and are active for 18 hours a day. This lifestyle is near impossible to have in a confined space.

There are standards in place for elephant care in zoos but they are not sufficient enough to ensure the well-being of an elephant. As an example, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) does not prohibit keeping animals in cold northern climates. You may remember from last week elephants are from areas in Asia and Africa, both of which have very hot climates. Keeping an elephant in a cold climate means the elephant will have to stay indoors for a majority of the year. This restricts roaming and movement even more.

Additionally the AZA allows zoos to keep elephants in near isolation. As you may recall, elephants thrive while living in herds. The only requirement for zoos is that they have to hold two to three female elephants, two males, or three of mixed gender.  Zoos have tried their hand at elephant breeding but it has also been a failure. “For every elephant born in a zoo, another two die – yet zoos continue to breed elephants in an effort to churn out more ‘cash cows’” (Peta). Many visitors want to see a baby elephants and when a zoo has a baby elephant, business is better.

There exists the idea that zoos are helping the conservation effort to help prevent the extinction of elephants but this isn’t true. Instead of helping elephants in the wild, zoos displace these animals and bring them to a much worse situation. Bringing an elephant to a zoo simply allows for individuals to look at them, instead of educating people or putting that money towards the efforts being made in Asia and Africa.

The other type of captivity for elephants is sanctuaries. There are two exceptional sanctuaries in the United States: the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and the Elephant Sanctuary. At these places an elephant’s natural habitat is recreated as closely as possible. There are huge fields for the elephants to roam in and there is limited contact with humans. Elephants are able to bond with one another and thus live in herds, something they are unable to do in a zoo.

There are much higher standards for these sanctuaries than there are for zoos. Here chaining or any type of punishment is all prohibited. This gives elephants the freedom to do whatever they want, something they don’t have in a zoo.

Elephant Sanctuary: https://www.elephants.com/elecam

PAWS: http://www.pawsweb.org/web_cams.html

At both the elephant sanctuary and the PAWS anyone can watch the elephants live! The links for both are posted above.

Next week I will talk about my time in Thailand and my adventures with Kamoon!

 

 

 

 

 

Ivory, Habitat Loss and Other Dangers Elephants Face

Habitat loss and the demand for ivory are the two main threats elephants face. Being such large animals they need a lot of land to live on. As the population increases, homes for elephants are harder and harder to come by. Regardless of the international ban on the ivory trade, there is still a demand for ivory. This leads to many elephants being killed for their tusks.

The protected areas for elephants unfortunately are just not large enough to sustain the largest land mammal in the world. As the human population continues to climb, the demand for land also increases. A majority of this land is being used for agricultural purposes, meaning there is in growth in the number of interactions between humans and elephants. Elephants sometimes venture onto farms and damage farmer’s crops or in extreme cases even kill people. Farmers, as you can imagine, are not very happy about this and sometimes kill the elephants in revenge.

More threatening than habitat loss is the ivory trade. “Tens of thousands of elephants are being killed every year for their ivory tusks.” (Elephants, WWF Conserves our Planet). Jewelry and ornaments are the most common uses of ivory and China has the biggest market for these products. In Asia, only male elephants have tusks so the poaching in this area is focused on males only.

The ban on the international trade of ivory was first introduced in 1989 by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Before this there was no regulation so there was an estimated 100,000 elephants being poached every year. Around 80% of herds were lost in some regions due to the high demand of ivory.

The ban has helped some herds recover but there still is more work that needs to be done. Recently, there has been an expansion in poaching and illegal ivory trade. The anti-poaching efforts are not sufficient enough to end the illegal trade. Weak law enforcement and corruption are also reversing the efforts that have been done to stop poaching in some countries.

Here is a video that talks a little more in depth about the ivory trade:

Other threats that face elephants include the huge industry of tourism. In Thailand, you may have heard about elephants being a form of transportation in the city. This is very bad for the elephants to be taken out of their homes into a city full of cars and trains. People travel to Thailand to ride elephants, and while some of these places are ethical in the way they treat their elephants, many are not. This is a subject I will speak more about in a later blog post.

In Myanmar, more commonly known as Burma, elephants are caught and traded each year for the timber industry. Some of the tactics people use to catch elephants can also lead to death for the elephants. There are efforts being made however to encourage captive breeding rather than just taking elephants from the wild.

So what are some solutions to all these threats? Organizations such as Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) are working hard to reduce ivory trafficking and protect elephant habitats. Spreading awareness of this issue will also help consumers be smarter about the way they purchase ivory products and hopefully reduce the number of illegal killings.

Next week I will talk about elephants in captivity.

The Difference Between Asian and African Elephants

There are two major types of elephants left in the world, African elephants and Asian elephants. There are distinguishing features between the two and once you know what to look for, it is easy to tell the difference.

Asian elephants overall are smaller than African elephants. Despite this fact they are still the largest terrestrial animal in Asia. They can grow to be 6.4m in length and weigh as much as 5 tons. One easy way to tell apart Asian and African elephants is that Asian elephants have smaller ears. In order to stay cool they flap their ears constantly but since the temperature in Asia is cooler than in Africa, their ears do not have to be as large. Another fun fact about Asian elephants is they are almost completely hairless.

Only male Asian elephants grow tusks and some may not grow any at all or will lose theirs to ivory hunters. A large number of Asian male elephants do not have tusks especially in Sri Lanka. “The percentage of males with ivory varies from just 5% in Sri Lanka to around 90% in southern India – possibly reflecting the intensity of past ivory hunting” (Elephants, WWF Conserves our Planet).

Asian and African elephants are categorized into subspecies. In Asia there are three major subspecies: the Indian, Sumatran and Sri Lankan. India is home to the majority of the remaining Asian elephants. Sri Lankan elephants are the physically largest and Sumatran elephants are the smallest.

There has been a suggested fourth subspecies of Asian elephants, the Borneo pygmy elephants. These elephants have babyish faces, larger ears and longer tails that almost reach the ground. These elephants tend to be less aggressive than other Asian subspecies. If they are considered a species they would be the smallest of the Asian subspecies.

African elephants are bigger growing to be 7.5m in length and can weigh up to 6 tons. While Asian elephants are the largest terrestrial animal in Asia, African elephants are the largest land animal in the world. Their ears are larger than Asian elephants and they have a fuller, single dome head compared to the Asian elephant twin dome head with an indent in the middle. Both male and female African elephants have tusks which they use for fighting, feeding and digging.

African elephants have two subspecies: the larger savannah elephant and the smaller forest elephant. The savannah elephant lives in the grassy plains and woodlands while the forest elephant lives in the forests of central and western Africa. One way to tell these two species apart is by their tusks. Savannah elephant tusks curve outwards whereas forest elephant tusks are straighter and point downward. Forest elephants also have a darker skin than savannah elephants.

To the untrained eye it is impossible to tell the difference between Asian and African elephants. However, after reading this post, it should be easy for you to tell which type of elephant you are looking at.

Next I will cover all of the dangers elephants face in today’s world.

A day in the life of an elephant

Most Americans (including myself until recently) only encounter elephants in a zoo. So what is life like for an elephant not in a zoo? Out in the wild it is estimated that elephants can live up to 70 years old. Adult elephants grow to be around 11 feet tall and weigh between 7,000 and 13,000 pounds.  Outside of captivity, there are two continents in which elephants reside, Asia and Africa.

Seeing as elephants are the world’s largest land animals, they need a lot of room to roam free. They sometimes travel many miles to find enough food and water. Unfortunately the habitats that elephants live in are shrinking every day. “African elephant habitat has declined by over 50% since 1979, while Asian elephants are now restricted to just 15% of their original range”.

As you can see from the map, elephants occupy south of the Sahara Desert in Africa as well as in dense rain forests in West and Central Africa. In Asia, elephants occupy a majority of Southeast Asia as well as India, China and Sri Lanka.

In both Africa and Asia, elephants prefer to travel in herds. Female elephants in particular are social animals and live in harmony with their relatives. The matriarch of the herd and leader tends to be the largest female of the bunch. Herd sizes can range anywhere from 8 to 100 different elephants.

Male elephants are different in that they usually like to live alone. At about the age of 12-15 male elephants will leave the herd and live on their own. This is also the same age when they become sexually mature. The mating season for elephants is typically during the rainy season. While it only takes 9 months for humans to have a baby, it takes elephants 22 months! At birth a calf weighs between 200 and 250 pounds. Try carrying around that baby for almost two years. When a baby elephant is born, he or she is protected and raised by the entire herd. Baby elephants take several months to have control over its trunk. Below is a video of a baby elephant learning to control its trunk.

These elephants are extremely intelligent creatures. They have extremely good memory that spans over many years. This comes in handy for the matriarch of the group because she can use that memory to guide the herd to watering holes during the dry season. These watering holes are sometimes tens of miles away that the leader must find. This is where the saying “an elephant never forgets” comes from.

Similar to all other animals in the wild, elephants eat what they have access to. They are herbivorous creatures sticking mostly to plants, grass, leaves, roots and bark. They also eat crops such as bananas and sugarcane when they can.  As they are such huge animals, in addition to a large amount of space, elephants need a lot of food. It is estimated they eat between 300 to 400 pounds of food every single day.

I hope you have learned something new about elephants! Next week I will discuss the difference between African and Asian elephants.

Everything you need to know about elephants

An elephant never forgets. Most people have heard this common saying before but is it actually true? Over the next few weeks I will be writing about the beautiful creatures we call elephants. The lack of education around this subject has led to the sad decline of elephants but hopefully through these blog posts, readers will become more educated. This will help the problems elephants face today and give them a fighting chance. Through pictures and written word, you too will never forget the importance of helping the endangered elephants.

Until a year ago my only contact with elephants had been at the zoo. A majority of Americans would probably say the same thing. So what are they like outside of captivity? My first topic will explore a day in the life of an elephant in the wild. How do they live? What do they eat? Do they travel in packs or like to stick together? These are all questions I hope to answer.

There are two types of elephants, Asian elephants and African elephants. You guessed it Asian elephants originate from Asia and African elephants originate from Africa. What else sets these two types of elephants apart? After reading my second topic you will be able to differentiate between the two.

My third and possibly most important topic is going to be all about the dangers elephants face. Unfortunately there is a finite number of elephants left in the world. And even more unfortunate is that humans are the primary cause for the decline of elephants. Without change this endangered species will not last much longer. According to Defenders of Wildlife, “at the turn of the 20th century, there were a few million African elephants and about 100,000 Asian elephants” (“Basic Facts about Elephants”). This number has drastically declined and today the number of African elephants is down to about 415,000 and there are less than 50,000 Asian elephants (“Elephants”). Efforts to save the elephants are more important now than ever.

Earlier I mentioned that I will explore what an elephant’s life in the wild consists of. For my fourth topic I will do the opposite and discuss an elephants life in captivity. Whether it be a zoo or a sanctuary, these elephants rely on humans for their food, exercise, and shelter. Some of these sanctuaries are less ethical than others because they are driven by tourism and how much money they can make.

I was fortunate enough to study abroad in Thailand last year for four months. While being abroad, I learned many things about the people of Thailand, the culture, and myself. In the northern province of Chiang Mai there are multiple sanctuaries for elephants.  During my time abroad I visited one of those sanctuaries and fell in love with Kamoon, a 19 year old male who loves to eat. For my final topic I will relive my time in Thailand and with Kamoon.

Above is a picture of my sister giving Kamoon a much deserved bath. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy learning about elephants!

Citations:

“Basic Facts About Elephants.” Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 19 Sept. 2016. Web. 01 Oct. 2016. <http://www.defenders.org/elephant/basic-facts&gt;.

“Elephants.” WWF Conserves Our Planet, Habitats, & Species like the Panda & Tiger. Web. 01 Oct. 2016. <http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/elephants/&gt;.