Making Holiday Memories to Remember
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Volunteering With Elephants on Holiday
Volunteering with elephants might seem like something of a dream, but you need to be so careful. Many so-called elephant sanctuaries aren’t sanctuaries at all, and actually, keep elephants in terrible conditions purely for the pleasure of tourists. There certainly are places where you can volunteer with elephants, but you need to be careful. Here are some tips: Do as much research as you can. Look into the sanctuary and its history and the people who run it. Find out where the elephants have come from and if they have actually been rescued. Always avoid riding elephants. This is very bad for them and they have been through a lot of inhumane treatment to get them to the point where they will accept a human on their back. Riding elephants... Read More »
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3 Different Species of Elephant
If you didn’t know already, when the word ‘elephant’ is said, we are actually referring to several different species. Until 2010, only 2 species of elephant were scientifically recognised. However, genetic testing has revealed that there are at least 3 species. These are the Asian elephant alphas maximus, the African bush elephant loxodonta Africana (also called the savannah elephant), and the African forest elephant loxodonta cyclones. The Asian elephant is the smallest, and has small ears and tusks. They have two prominent bumps on their foreheads. They hold their heads more erect than both African elephants, have no protruding upper lip, and have a single short finger-like lip at the end of their trunk which they use for fine manipulation of objects. Both African elephants have larger ears, although the... Read More »
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The Value and Popularity of Ivory
For those who don’t know, Ivory is a hard white material that is found in the tusks of elephants and other tusked animals like hippos and walruses. Although rhinos have similar looking horns, these aren’t actually made from ivory. However, rhinos are also illegally hunted for their horns because they are used in lots of medicines in China and the Far East in general. In China and Hong Kong, ivory is seen as precious material and is used in ornaments and jewellery. It’s also sometimes used in traditional Chinese medicine. Many affluent Chinese people think that owning ivory makes them look more successful. Others think that ivory will bring them good luck. China has the biggest ivory trade in the world and wildlife experts believe that approximately 70 per cent... Read More »
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Three Interesting Elephant Facts You May Not Know!
Size African elephants are the larger of the two species. They grow 8.2 to 13 feet (2.5 to 4 meters) from shoulder to toe and weigh 5,000 to 14,000 lbs. (2,268 to 6,350 kilograms), according to the National Geographic. Asian elephants can grow up to 6.6 to 9.8 feet (2 to 3 m) from shoulder to toe and weigh up to 2.25 to 5.5 tons (2,041 to 4,990 kg). Habitat African elephants live in sub-Saharan Africa, the rain forests of Central and West Africa and the Sahel desert in Mali. Asian elephants live in Nepal, India and Southeast Asia in scrub forests and rain forests. Diet Elephants eat grasses, roots, fruit and bark. They use their tusks to pull the bark from trees and dig roots out of the ground. An elephant has an... Read More »
Posted in Elephants