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Zoos rethink role as matchmaker for endangered species

Like an online dating site for endangered species, many zoos use computerized matchmaking to mate animals in captivity in hopes of saving some of the world's most vulnerable creatures.

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Crop-raiding elephants flee tiger growls

Wild Asian elephants slink quietly away at the sound of a growling tiger, but trumpet and growl before retreating from leopard growls, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found....

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War elephant myths debunked by DNA

Through DNA analysis, Illinois researchers have disproved years of rumors and hearsay surrounding the ancient Battle of Raphia, the only known battle between Asian and African elephants.

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Asian elephants reassure others in distress

Asian elephants console others who are in distress, using physical touches and vocalizations, finds a study to be published in the open access journal PeerJ. The findings are the first empirical...

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Asian elephants that reproduce at a younger age are more likely to die younger

Researchers wanted to understand what causes differences in the reproductive success of the endangered elephants.

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Team studies immune response of Asian elephants infected with a human disease

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism that causes tuberculosis in humans, also afflicts Asian (and occasionally other) elephants. Diagnosing and treating elephants with TB is a challenge, however,...

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Rare Sri Lankan leopards born in French zoo

Two rare Sri Lankan leopard cubs have been born in a zoo in northern France, a boost for a sub-species that numbers only about 700 in the wild, the head of the facility said Tuesday.

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Zoos exonerated in baby elephant deaths; Data support new branch of...

Elephants are among the most intelligent non-humans, arguably on par with chimps, but both African and Asian elephants—separate species—are endangered. In 1995, 16-month old Kumari, the first Asian...

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Genetic engineering may undercut human diseases, but also could help restore...

Mammoth DNA in recovered cells frozen for thousands of years is likely too fragmented to clone an animal, according to Harvard geneticist George Church. So he's working instead to engineer one...

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Myanmar captures rare white elephant in western jungles

(AP)—Myanmar's forestry department has captured a rare white elephant in the jungles of the country's western Ayeyarwaddy region, an official said Sunday.

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Research discovers new 'type specimen' for the Asian elephant

Findings from a scientific historian at the University of Lincoln have helped experts at the Natural History Museum to designate an animal painted by Rembrandt as the new 'type specimen' for the Asian...

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Improving sperm quality in elephants

(Phys.org) —Crushed by habitat loss and poaching, Asian elephants are at risk, and their future rests heavily on captive breeding programs. A collaborative study between Cornell and Smithsonian...

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Major upsurge in Tanzania elephant poaching, says official

Tanzania has been hit by a sharp upsurge in poaching, with at least 60 elephants killed in the two months since the government was forced to halt a controversial crackdown, a senior official said.

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Teen elephant mothers die younger but have bigger families, study finds

Asian elephants that give birth as teenagers die younger than older mothers but raise bigger families during their lifetime, according to new research from the University of Sheffield.

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Endangered elephants' outlook bleak without more room to roam, study finds

(Phys.org) —Intelligent and beautiful, the Asian elephant is running out of time unless humans step aside and give it some room.

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Botswana hosts wildlife summits as elephants fight for survival

Wildlife experts and officials from around 30 governments will gather next week in Botswana to confront the threat that wild elephants could be heading for extinction, due in part to Chinese demand for...

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Researchers take another step in bringing back a wooly mammoth

(Phys.org)—A team of researchers working at Harvard University has taken yet another step towards bringing to life a reasonable facsimile of a woolly mammoth—a large, hairy elephant-like beast that...

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Keeping hungry jumbos at bay

Until now electric fences and trenches have proved to be the most effective way of protecting farms and villages from night time raids by hungry elephants. But researchers think they may have come up...

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GIS study reveals preferred habitat of Asian elephant

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Asian elephant is now an endangered species. Today, there are only 40,000 elephants left in Asia's mainland and about 1,200-1,700 in...

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New petition seeks to save elephants, end ivory importation in US

Recent genomic research has prompted a petition that calls for the reclassification of African elephants from one threatened species to two endangered species to protect both from imminent extinction.

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Brazil to open Latin America's first elephant sanctuary

Brazil will soon open Latin America's first elephant sanctuary, and its three initial residents will be retired circus animals in need of a safe haven, a report said Sunday.

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Elephants born when mothers are stressed age faster, produce fewer offspring

Elephants born into stressful situations have fewer offspring and age faster, researchers at the University of Sheffield have found.

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Elephants may use trunks like 'leaf blowers' to obtain inaccessible food

Two captive elephants blast air through their trunks to grasp hard-to-reach food, suggests an initial study published today in Springer's journal Animal Cognition. This behaviour, studied in a zoo...

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Scientists and zoos team up on landmark elephant welfare project

Given that elephants are the largest land mammals on the planet, one might expect that when it comes to enclosures for zoo elephants, size matters.

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Research to keep elephants in captivity on their feet

New research from The University of Queensland could help elephants in captivity enjoy longer, more comfortable lives by detecting foot disease earlier.

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Equality, more than dominance, defines Asian elephant society

Elephants are commonly thought to live in female-led, or matriarchal, societies that rely on the strong leadership and wisdom of elders. But a new study on Asian elephants led by researchers at...

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Packy, Oregon's beloved elephant, dies at 54

Packy, the Asian elephant who drew international attention when he was born, including an 11-page spread in Life magazine, died Thursday at the Oregon Zoo. He was 54.

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Rescue of 11 Asian elephants in Cambodia

The rescue of 11 Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) from a mud hole inside the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia, on 24th March 2017 avoided a tragedy for wildlife conservation...

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Elephants' 'body awareness' adds to increasing evidence of their intelligence

Asian elephants are able to recognise their bodies as obstacles to success in problem-solving, further strengthening evidence of their intelligence and self-awareness, according to a new study from the...

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Genetic study shakes up the elephant family tree

New research reveals that a species of giant elephant that lived 1.5 million to 100,000 years ago - ranging across Eurasia before it went extinct - is more closely related to today's African forest...

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