Party Spirit

More at 10 Elephant Accessories At the Republican National Convention

Breakfast

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Baby tooth

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The great escape

Photo: Judit Szabó

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Let's go for a ride

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Days Gone By

The Governor-General of India George Curzon with his wife Mary Curzon on the elephant “Lakshman Prasad” in Delhi, 29 December 1902

Photo credit: Joachim K. Bautze

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Best buddies

The cutest thing you'll see today

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N. America's oldest Asian elephant dies

VALLEJO, Calif. -- North America's oldest Asian elephant has died at a Northern California theme park at the age of 71. The average life expectancy for Asian elephants is 44.8 years. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Tuesday announced the death of Taj, who had lived at the Vallejo park for 33 years. The elephant was one of Discovery Kingdom's most popular attractions. Her tricks included stacking logs and playing tug-of-war with guests. The park retired her three years ago. AP Photo Source

Smile!

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The cutest baby elephant

Take your insulin now, there are 12 more pictures (via My Modern Metropolis)

There really ARE pink elephants

A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta. Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants. They are unsure of its chances of long-term survival - the blazing African sunlight may cause blindness and skin problems for the calf. Mike Holding, who spotted the baby while filming for a BBC wildlife programme, said: "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river. Source

Hats off

Elephants on vacation

The elephant family packed up their trunks and headed off to Samburu National Reserve, in remote northern Kenya - a 65 square mile area of rough highlands and rivers. The kids played in the water and splashed ... Everyone rolled in the mud ... They played follow the leader ... And built sand castles. Source: Mail Online

Heroin addicted elephant clean after rehab

Referred to as 'Big Brother' or 'Xiguang' in Chinese media reports, the elephant was captured in 2005 in southwest China by illegal traders who fed him heroin-laced bananas. The traders used the spiked bananas for several months to control him before they were arrested by police. Xiguang was released back into the wild but was soon sent to animal protection center after his behavior appeared to suggest he was suffering withdrawal symptoms from heroin, Xinhua news agency reported. A year of methadone injections at five times the human dosage helped wean the elephant off heroin. Gradually, the dosage was reduced until he was completely weaned off the drug. Now clean, Xiguang is expected to move to a wildlife park in Kunming - the capital of the elephant's home province of Yunnan on the mainland. Source: Telegraph

Elephants: traumatized by humanity

According to researcher Gay Bradshaw, "There are things about elephants that seem so similar to us. Their family life, their emotional life, the fact that they grieve. They stand out from other animals." Elephants are able to recognize themselves in a mirror, a trait shared with humans, apes and dolphins. Field scientists have studied the special bonds of elephant herds for decades. Family members mourn their dead, even gently caressing the jawbones of their ancestors during grieving rituals. "I think the real shock right now, in terms of the mirror self-recognition tests and their intelligence and their emotions is, they're like us. It's not that they're way up there. It's that they're on level footing with us," said Bradshaw. But even as science holds a mirror to our similarities, in recent years researchers have observed a violent change in elephant-human relations after decades of peaceful coexistence. "Humans are regarded as the enemy. You must never, ever be cruel to an elephant because they have an amazing memory. They will remember that for life. And they bear grudges," said Daphne Sheldrick, a renowned wild elephant expert and director of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Creatures who seem to share the best of what makes us human are now revealing they are also capable of the worst. Source: ABC News

Video: Baby Elephant Learning To Walk

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Video: Elephants love Canadian snow

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A herd of elephants

A new baby African elephant, Uzuri, was born on February 17 at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent. Keepers at the Park are delighted because African elephants are very difficult to breed in captivity. At the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, keepers and veterinarians are posting a close and anxious watch over Felix, an African elephant, who is poised to deliver the first elephant ever born at the 132- year-old zoo. Their 7,490-pound patient, whom they describe as "kinda petite," is due any day now. Villagers in Wellaveli, Sri Lanka had a difficult time recently when trying cast votes in the first local elections in 14 years as a herd of wild elephants blocked the polling booths. (Might have been a Republican tactic.) Residents of Kwale, Kenya, have called for the Kenya Wildlife Service to act after elephants crushed farmlands and attacked villagers in recent days. Local children are staying home from school to protect them from elephant attacks. (A much better excuse than "The dog ate my homework.") An infuriated wild elephant trampled two persons to death, when a group of people, who gathered to watch the rescue of another pachyderm that fell into an irrigation well at Muthampatti near Rayakottai, pelted stones at it. Concerned over the damage caused by the elephants to crops farmers have blamed the Forest Department for failing to take any action in chasing the elephants back into the forests.

Kids' Play

What was this playground designer thinking? (via)