What is the best habitat for an elephant?
Elephants are able to survive in a variety of different locations because of the huge variety of food sources that they consume. Many people assume that elephants that are in the wild only live in the grasslands. While that is one of their main habitats, they can also be found in the desert of the Savannah, forest areas, where there are swamps, and everything in between.
What are habitats like in zoos?
2700-acre home to 11 elephants, Space is natural habitat – forests, fields, lakes, streams, hills, valleys – that is home to not only elephants but to a variety of other wildlife. he innovative space includes a large barn, an elephant exercise trek through a forested area, three unique outdoor habitats, four water features and a large indoor Elephant Community Center. The indoor communal space allows the elephants to interact and engage with stimulating features such as a
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giant sand pit, wading pool, and a shower they can operate themselves. Are elephants happy in zoos? Well…it is impossible to truly know, as we cannot read the elephants’ minds. We observe their behaviour and try to deduce their feelings from that. When we see the elephants socializing, grazing, playing, traveling, interacting with the habitat, we believe this means they are doing well. Zookeepers design an “enrichment plan” for each elephant in order to ensure that they are happy and active. That plan will involve designing physical challenges that get them moving around, finding its food, giving it toys and puzzles that it needs to solve to get a treat, and giving it everyday objects that it can play with in interesting ways. Keepers design challenging food container for them as well. They use feedbags too, hung up above the head of the elephants so they need to reach up with their trunk and get the food out. Also, some elephant’s paint, the keeper’s set up a canvas and the elephant holds the brush in its trunk and paints on the canvas. Are elephants healthier in the wild or in zoos?
We do see a prevalence of health issues in captivity with elephants that are not as common in the wild. Elephants in zoos face none of the threats that wild elephants do, such as poaching for their ivory and/or meat, malnutrition during times of drought, occasional natural disease outbreaks or predation. As well, according to the zoo industry, elephants receive superior housing, care and medical attention
Can elephants be returned to the wild after being in zoos?
No, sadly. Elephants have spent their lives in captivity, in traditional zoos and circuses before retiring to zoos. They don’t really “know” how to be wild elephants. Trying to put them back in the wild would be dangerous and stressful for them.. zoos are not returning elephants to the wild, nor have they any intention to do so. Zoo industry representatives are emphatic about that point. Elephants being bred in North American zoos will not be placed in the wild nor is there a belief that reintroduction will help save elephants from
extinction.
In Sara Gruen’s novel Water for Elephants, the theme of love being a driving force in the characters’ decision making is displayed through the use of characterization and conflict throughout the novel. Jacob’s love for Marlena causes him to make unexpected and often foolish decisions. When Jacob suddenly kissed Marlena, her reaction caused him to realize “‘[he] shouldn’t have done that,’” (Gruen, 2006, p. 153). Jacob was unable to conceal his love for Marlena, which, in turn, caused him to suddenly kiss her. Jacob’s character is extremely love driven, which is demonstrated by his romantic outbursts. Without thinking of the results, Jacob decided to keep Rosie because of his love for her. When Jacob told Marlena they were keeping Rosie, his reasoning was “‘I love that bull.
George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a short story that not only shows cultural divides and how they affect our actions, but also how that cultural prejudice may also affect other parties, even if, in this story, that other party may only be an elephant. Orwell shows the play for power between the Burmese and the narrator, a white British police-officer. It shows the severe prejudice between the British who had claimed Burma, and the Burmese who held a deep resentment of the British occupation. Three messages, or three themes, from Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” are prejudice, cultural divide, and power.
The common name is the African Elephant, the scientific name is Loxodonta Africana, the phylum is Vertebrata, the class is Mammalia, the order is Proboscidea, and the family is Elephantidae. The Closest Relatives to the African Elephant are: the Asian Elephant, mammoths, primitive proboscidean (mastodons), sea cows, and hyraxes. Scientists believe that the African Elephant evolved from one of its closest relatives, the Sea Cow. The geographical location and range of the African elephant covers all of central and southern Africa. In Ethiopia there are isolated populations that exist around Lake Chad in Mali and Mauritania. Also in Kenya, Rhodesia, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Zaire, and in National parks located in South Africa, as well as several other countries. African Elephants, originally, were found in all of the Sub-Saharan African habitats except desert steppes. Elephants still occupy diverse habitats such as: temperate grassland, tropical savanna and grass lands, temperate forest and rainforest, tropical rainforest, tropical scrub forest, and tropical deciduous forest despite their drastic decline in numbers. However, their migratory patterns and habitat use have changed, due to the fact that they are restricted to protected areas. The elephant can exist in many types of environments but it prefers places that have many trees and bushes, which the elephant needs both for food and shade. They also like warm areas that have plenty of rainfall.
Elephants should not be killed because they help the environment. Elephants actually help the environment by acting like a bulldozer and knocking down dead trees that would stand dormant otherwise. Africa does not have the time or money to bulldoze these dead trees that take up land that could be used for some well needed shelter. There are too many homeless people in Africa to have dead trees taking up in some cases large parts of land. Elephants work as construction equipment that Africa does not have the money for. Without these elephants dead trees would take up many miles of that that could be houses sheltering the poor population of Africa.
In the article, the passage, and the video it states that elephants can recognize when another elephant needs help. The sources also stated that the elephants can agnize what is necessary to thoroughly complete a task. Many elephants worked cooperatively to get bowls of corn, and one pair even found an alternative way to get the food.
Cohn, Jeffrey P. "Do Elephants Belong In Zoos?" Bioscience 56.9 (2006): 714-717. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
George Orwell the author of "Shooting an Elephant" wrote this story to show the real side of Imperialism. George wanted everyone who read this story of what he experienced and saw from Imperial rule. Now he said " Theoretically — and secretly, of course — I was all for the Burmese (1)", which states he isn't the bad guy the Burmese see him to be. Therefore proves his point that Imperialism makes it seem like every person that is not controlled by it that they must be the white men of the Earth. So that's why he talks about his experiences, because Imperialism takes your life away just like that elephants life was taken away. Because it broke free of its chains holing it in its place.
At present time Elephants have small ears to help them radiate the African heat. Elephants are in much need of water, they enjoy showering themselves by sucking water with their trunks and spraying it all over themselves because sometimes the heat can become really overwhelming, then they roll around dust to create a protective coat on their skin. Elephants today also use their trunks to eat their food. Another use their trunk for plucking leaves, but sometimes when they have to tear branches they hurt their trunk creating damage to the foliage. African Elephants eat around four hundred fifty kilograms (450) of vegetation per day. Their diet is grasses, fruit, and bark. The male African Elephant weighs around four thousand seven hundred kg to six thousand kilograms (4,700- 6,000). The female elephant weighs around two thousand a hundred sixty kg to three thousand two hundred thirty kg (2, 060- 3,030). Their scientific classification is Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Proboscidea, Elephantidae. The African elephant is one the largest mammals around this time, and it is an endangered species thanks to us humans for hunting
In today’s society many different forms of art constantly surround us. The music blaring through your headphones, the advertisements we come across, and even the buildings peering high above the New York skyline can all be considered art. One of the most popular mediums of art in present time is filmmaking. Film uses moving photographs to narrate a story, express emotions and convey ideas. The unique aspect of the art of film is that it allows the viewer to become its subject or characters and experience their situations as they are occurring. Gus Van Sant uses this characteristic to his advantage in the 2003 film “Elephant”. Elephant tries to capture the actual and unseen events of the tragic Columbine Massacre in attempts to make sense of a senseless act, while at the same time being true to its senselessness. (Edelstein)
In the story, “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the author appears to be in some internal conflicts. Orwell introduce the reader about how the people in his village hated him, underestimate by his job because of the British Empire and how he had to kill an Elephant. In the beginning of the story, Orwell writes “ I was hated by large numbers of people --- the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me” this show the acknowledgment that he have within himself and surrounding by his environment that he is not accepted. Because he wrestles with competing a difficult decision, he was in a psychological conflict whereas, he had to adjust his cognitive thinking whether he can risk his life to kill an Elephant. In paragraph 5, Orwell said that he had no intention of shooting the elephant and he had a rifle for self-defense.
“It is estimated to be 50 times more expensive to keep an elephant in a zoo than to protect sufficient natural habitat to sustain that elephant and many other animals.” (CAPS, Sad Eyes & Empty Lives- The reality of zoos) Indeed, only if the billions of dollars that spent on building a zoo are optimized to preserve habitats and animal welfare, can our grandchildren still have a chance to see more rare animals by their own eyes.
Zoos display fascinating animals from all over the world for human entertainment, research, conservation, and education. Many scientists conduct studies on animals in captivity that they may not have been able to in the wild. Zoos educate all the visitors that come; they let people know everything that they know about the animals on display. We do learn a lot from these animals, but not all of the animals in the zoo are behaving like they normally would in the wild. Larger animals, such as elephants and orcas (commonly known as killer whales), have trouble with being confined in such a small area. However, many smaller animals benefit from zoos because they provide protection from predators, natural disasters, and poachers. They also benefit from conservation efforts; the babies being born get all the care they could ever need. Some animal rights activists are concerned that the conservation efforts are limiting the gene pool of the species. They argue that the small number of animals able to breed in captivity limits biodiversity and leads to weaknesses in the species overall. Zoos are wonderful places to study and learn about animals, but we need to improve the living standards for animals that struggle with captivity.
As you pass the elephant exhibit at the zoo, cherish it since it might not be there for long. "More than 100,000 Asian elephants may have existed at the start of the 20th century, but numbers have fallen by at least 50% over the last three generations, and they are still in decline today" (Asian elephants np). Most Asian elephants that live in zoos don't offer the correct living conditions. There is an Asian elephant living at the San Antonio Zoo named "Lucky" and is 56 years old. However, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and three city residents claim the 56-year-old elephant suffers harm from the conditions of her captivity, without companionship of other Asian elephants, and with limited shelter from the heat (Garza 2016). All Asian elephants like Lucky should not live in zoos because they do not fully meet their living standards. Asian elephants should be able to stay in their home zoo since they have adapted to the zoos living conditions.
Zoo animals are usually kept in very cramped enclosures and do not behave like their wild counterparts. Polar bears, for example, are given about 10 metres of walking space whereas in their Arctic home they roam for many hundreds of kilometres. Similarly, primates, big cats and birds are often confined in cages where they lack exercise and stimulation. Many animals develop unnatural habits such as pacing back and forth or swaying from side to side.
Today, witnessing a herd of elephants is becoming increasingly uncommon, as more and more elephants die prematurely every year. Jessica Hatcher, writer for The Guardian News, reported that “There are between 410,...