Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 8, 2021

Adorable dwarf giraffes spotted for the first time

Adorable dwarf giraffes have been spotted for the first time, and with their graceful long necks tacked onto a set of chunky legs, they look like a mashup of mythical creatures. Researchers identified two wild giraffes that were around 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall — about half the height of...

Apr 13, 2021

Mom & baby giraffe trapped on a sinking island rescued in months-long operation

How do you save a herd of giraffes that are trapped on a rapidly sinking island? Float them to the mainland on a custom-built barge — a GiRaft. That's how a months-long giraffe rescue operation in Kenya recently concluded on April 12, delivering the last of nine stranded giraffes to...

Jun 2, 2022

Short-necked giraffe relative discovered in China. It used its helmet head to bash rivals.

Nearly 17 million years ago, a relative of modern giraffes that roamed northern China sported a thick, stumpy neck and a thick skull — perfect for sparring with rival males in headbutting battles. The newly-discovered giraffe relative, a now-extinct species named Discokeryx xiezhi, also had a bony, disk-like shield on...

Feb 13, 2023

Giraffe sex is even weirder than we thought, and it involves pee

Finding love can be difficult. But when you're bemoaning your own love difficulties, spare a thought for the giraffe. Giraffes don't go into heat like cats or dogs, don't have a breeding season, don't make mating calls and don't give visual clues that they're ready to mate. So how do...

Jun 14, 2023

Endangered Masai giraffes may be inbreeding themselves to extinction

Masai giraffes are endangered, and their numbers have almost halved in the last 30 years due to hunting and habitat loss. But these towering animals may be facing a new threat to their future, a recent study reveals — inbreeding. Researchers found that Masai giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) — a...

Aug 23, 2023

'World's rarest' giraffe born without spots at Tennessee zoo

A reticulated giraffe at a zoo in Limestone, Tennessee is going viral after being born without spots. Zookeepers at Brights Zoo have dubbed the brown female giraffe, which was born on July 31, the world's rarest of the species and believe that she's the only solid-colored reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata)...

May 29, 2013

UN Seeks to Stop Illegal Elephant Poaching

The United Nations Security Council will hold a special meeting today (May 29) to discuss how elephant poaching in Central Africa may be contributing to escalating political instability in the region. The Security Council session will be convened at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, where members will be briefed...

Jun 26, 2013

Ancient Elephants Grazed Before They Had Teeth for It

Ancient elephants switched from eating primarily leaves and shrubs to feeding on grass several million years before their teeth were fully adapted for grazing, according to a new study. The findings indicate that as the ancestors to modern elephants evolved, anatomical changes significantly lagged behind habitat and behavioral adaptations, said...

Aug 13, 2013

Sweet Disguise: Chocolate-Covered Elephant Ivory Seized in Macau

Ivory poachers go to sometimes-absurd lengths to smuggle prized pieces of elephant tusks across borders. When officials in Chinese-ruled Macau inspected the luggage of two South Africans last month, they found 15 suspiciously heavy boxes of chocolate. Further investigation and a little warm water revealed what was actually inside the...

Sep 27, 2013

Do Elephants Weep as an Emotional Response? (Op-Ed)

Marc Bekoff, emeritus professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is one of the world's pioneering cognitive ethologists, a Guggenheim Fellow, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. This essay is adapted from one that appeared in Bekoff's column Animal Emotions in Psychology Today....

Oct 10, 2013

Elephants Understand Human Gesture, No Training Needed

Elephants understand the human gesture of pointing, new research suggests. The ability is even more impressive given that the animals received no training to understand the gesture and have never been domesticated. By showing that African elephants spontaneously understand human pointing, without any training to do so, we have shown...

Nov 4, 2013

Orphaned Elephants Face Lifetime of Negative Social Effects

Poaching and habitat loss may be putting elephants at risk of losing their culture — the learned behaviors that seem to be passed down from generation to generation, researchers say. What's more, the trauma of separation and displacement may have lasting psychological impacts on the creatures resembling post-traumatic stress disorder...

Nov 14, 2013

In Photos: US Destroys Its Elephant Ivory

Historic Ivory Crush (Image credit: USFWS Mountain Prairie)On Nov. 14, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) destroyed its stockpile of seized ivory. Strong Message (Image credit: USFWS Mountain Prairie)Destroying the ivory goods rather than selling them is meant to send a message that ivory is no longer a...

Nov 14, 2013

US Crushes Its Stockpile of Elephant Ivory

Six tons of carvings, jewelry, trinkets and tusks were being reduced to powder Thursday afternoon (Nov. 14) as the United States, for the first time, destroyed its ivory stockpile. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) had collected the items over the past 25 years through smuggling busts and border...

Dec 19, 2013

Aerial Survey Will Be First to Count Most of Africa's Elephants

NEW YORK — How many elephants are there in Africa? Nobody knows, and nobody has really attempted to count them all at the same time. Until now. Mike Chase, an elephant biologist based in Botswana, will lead the first pan-African aerial survey to count elephants in 22 countries. The project...