In a lighthearted moment caught on camera, a baby elephant was seen playfully attempting to push his older brother into a pool of water at a zoo in Germany. The little elephant calf put all his energy into the playful battle, repeatedly trying to knock his much larger sibling into the pool. Despite the younger one’s determined efforts, the older brother seemed unbothered, easily brushing off the attempts. Undeterred, the enthusiastic calf even ran up to his brother, hoping to gain enough force to succeed. At one point, it looked like the baby elephant might win as his older sibling’s feet slipped towards the pool’s edge, but the older elephant managed to regain his balance. The adorable scene was captured by a visitor who remarked, “The little one keeps running at his big brother, trying again and again to push him into the water.” Read more Elephant News
Elephants in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park Are Evolving Without Tusks After 16 Years of Civil War and Ivory Poaching
In Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park , African elephants that survived extensive ivory poaching during the country’s 16-year civil war are evolving remarkably — they are increasingly born without tusks. Nearly 90% of the park’s elephants were killed for their ivory during the conflict, which lasted from 1977 to 1992, as the profits were used to fund weapons. Since then, about one-third of female elephants born after the war have not developed tusks. Some in the herd show no tusks, while others have much smaller ones. Scientists believe this trait, passed down through generations, reduces the animals’ appeal to poachers. In a typical scenario, male and female African elephants grow ivory tusks up to 10 feet long. However, the elephants that survived the war are now influencing future generations with their tuskless genes, making it a possible evolutionary shift. Dominique D’Emi