Tag: elephant

Elephants and bridge construction, Nick Brandt

Photographing the human-animal conflict in Africa

Too many people still believe that the main cause of wildlife disappearance in Africa is poaching. But, in many countries (when they are sensitive to the issue, like in Eastern or Southern Africa), poaching has receeded significantly or even nearly dispapeared. And this is the continuous human expansion which become the engine driving wildlife extinction:…

Jaws, on firm ground

Feline teeth are their most prominent exterior feature. Since the prehistoric Smilodon (the smiling feline) and its gigantic canines, big cats use their impressive dental characteristics to hunt. On the Laelaps web site, you will find a detaileld article on feline teeth, from yesterday to nowadays: What big teeth you have. Please, also notice the…

Cheetahs and elephants roaming free in USA

Yesterday, we were speaking here about prehistoric big cats in places where they disappeared (e.g. Europe). Today, I want to point at a surprising proposal made by Josh Donlan. Recognizing that many big cats were roaming in North America tens of thousands of years ago, he want to re-introduce lions, cheetahs, elephants and other large…

Elephants protection in Africa

Elephants are -generally speaking- a species endangered in Africa. They have been vigorously hunted for the ivory of their tusks (sometimes for the mere pleasure of hunting big game) and poaching is still intense of many African countries (from de 1.5 million animals in 1970, we are now down to around 500,000 pachyderms). The largest…