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Asian elephants acquire inaccessible food by blowing

10/11/2015

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Many animals acquire otherwise inaccessible food with the aid of sticks and occasionally water. As an exception, some reports suggest that elephants manipulate breathing through their trunks to acquire inaccessible food. Here, we report on two female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Kamine Zoo, Japan, who regularly blew to drive food within their reach. We experimentally investigated this behaviour by placing foods in inaccessible places. The elephants blew the food until it came within accessible range. Once the food was within range, the elephants were increasingly less likely to blow as the distance to the food became shorter. One subject manipulated her blowing duration based on food distance: longer when the food was distant. These results suggest that the elephants used their breath to achieve goals: that is, they used it not only to retrieve the food but also to fine-tune the food position for easy grasping. We also observed individual differences in the elephants’ aptitude for this technique, which altered the efficiency of food acquisition. Thus, we added a new example of spontaneous behaviour for achieving a goal in animals. The use of breath to drive food is probably unique to elephants, with their dexterous trunks and familiarity with manipulating the act of blowing, which is commonly employed for self-comfort and acoustic communication.

Paper reference:
Mizuno, K. et al. (2015), Asian elephants acquire inaccessible food by blowing, Animal Cognition, DOI 10.1007/s10071-015-0929-2

NM
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Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) reassure others in distress

18/2/2014

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Contact directed by uninvolved bystanders toward others in distress, often termed consolation, is uncommon in the animal kingdom, thus far only demonstrated in the great apes, canines, and corvids. Whereas the typical agonistic context of such contact is relatively rare within natural elephant families, other causes of distress may trigger similar, other-regarding responses. In a study carried out at an elephant camp in Thailand, we found that elephants affiliated significantly more with other individuals through directed, physical contact and vocal communication following a distress event than in control periods. In addition, bystanders affiliated with each other, and matched the behavior and emotional state of the first distressed individual, suggesting emotional contagion. The initial distress responses were overwhelmingly directed toward ambiguous stimuli, thus making it difficult to determine if bystanders reacted to the distressed individual or showed a delayed response to the same stimulus. Nonetheless, the directionality of the contacts and their nature strongly suggest attention toward the emotional states of conspecifics. The elephants’ behavior is therefore best classified with similar consolation responses by apes, possibly based on convergent evolution of empathic capacities.

Paper at the following link:
Plotnik JM, de Waal FB. (2014) Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) reassure others in distress. PeerJ 2:e278 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.278

NM
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Interview on Q-Music (a Belgian radio station)

20/9/2012

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Last week I had an interview on Q-Music (a Belgian radio station) about PACHYDERM and Elephant Haven (www.elephanthaven.com).

You can download and listen to the interview (Dutch spoken) here:
Interview Q-music 11-09-2012.mp3
File Size: 4698 kb
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Tony Verhulst, vice president of Elephant Haven, also had an interview (Dutch spoken) on Belgian radio:
Elephant Haven Radio 2 18-09-2012.mp3
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CITES meeting to tackle massive smuggling of elephant ivory and rhino horn

24/7/2012

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The conservation and management priorities for the effective regulation of trade in wild animals and plants during the triennium 2013 to 2016 is taking centre stage at the 62nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which is being held in Geneva from 23 to 27 July. Some 350 participants from all over the world are attending, including observers from Parties, intergovernmental bodies, the private sector and non-governmental organizations specialized in wildlife conservation and international trade.

The report on Elephant conservation, illegal killing and ivory trade is available at: http://www.cites.org/eng/com/SC/62/E62-46-01.pdf

The committee will also discuss a study on a Decision-making mechanisms and necessary conditions for a future trade in African Elephant Ivory available at: http://www.cites.org/eng/com/SC/62/E62-46-04-A.pdf

Full press release at: http://www.cites.org/eng/news/pr/2012/20120724_SC62.php

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Tony Nevin, an elephant osteopath

24/8/2011

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Di Evans from animalmechanics.tv has send me a document concerning Tony Nevin, the world’s only wildlife osteopath.

In a new TV series, Animal mechanics.tv follows Tony’s elephant osteopathy on the elephants of The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, (GTAEF).

For more information about Tony Nevin, animal mechanics.tv and the TV series, please read the document included and visit the link beneath:

http://www.animalmechanics.tv/www.animalmechanics.tv/Home.html
The world's only elephant osteopath
File Size: 6 kb
File Type: rtf
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Status of elephant populations: CITES report

19/8/2011

1 Comment

 
Please find beneath the CITES report concerning the status of elephant populations, levels of illegal killing and the trade in ivory:
Status of elephant populations, levels of illegal killing and the trade in ivory - CITES report.pdf
File Size: 833 kb
File Type: pdf
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