Think Elephants International
Monday, February 24, 2014
Lights, Camera, Conservation: How the Media Influences Our Perception of Endangered Species
By: Elise Gilchrist
The media
has an almost constant influence on our lives. Each day we are berated by
countless ads, news headlines, and social media updates. Even living in a
somewhat remote part of Thailand, I encounter more media that I can consciously
handle. With the media playing an ever-increasing
role in our decision-making, what sort of effect does it have on the
conservation of wildlife and our perspectives on endangered species?
A study by Ross,
Vreeman, and Lonsdorf (2011) investigated whether misrepresentations of
chimpanzees in the media could result in detrimental attitudes about their
conservation status. To test this hypothesis the authors conducted a survey of
people’s responses to photographs of a chimpanzee in different conditions. The
chimpanzee was featured on different backgrounds, including an artificial
office setting as well as a more natural habitat. The chimps were also shown
either wearing human clothing (eg. a t-shirt) or not, and standing next to a
human or alone. The results were striking: the researchers found that the public was less likely to think chimpanzees
are as endangered as other great apes when the chimpanzee was standing next to
a human. This study was the first empirical investigation into how
inaccurate media representations of endangered species may affect public
perceptions. Researchers proposed that this effect might be caused by viewing
images of animals next to humans. In other words, seeing a chimp next to a
human might lead the viewer to believe that such direct associations are both
common and safe, which is inconsistent with how the viewer thinks an
interaction with a rare species would be.
Sample images provided to survey respondents.
(Ross, SR, VM Vreeman and EV Lonsdorf (2011). Specific Image Characteristics Influence Attitudes about Chimpanzee Conservation and Use as Pets. PLoS ONE, 6(7)
The study
has implications across many media outlets. From animals portrayed in
advertisements to images of scientists photographed with their study species,
including famous conservationists like Jane Goodall, all of these images may be
impacting the attitude of the general public toward conservation. A recent wildlife
related Instagram scandal, involving famous musical artist Rihanna, got quite a
bit of attention. Last September, Rihanna visited Thailand and posted a photo
to Instagram of her holding an endangered primate called a slow loris. At
numerous tourist destinations in Thailand, visitors can pay to take photos with
endangered species like the slow loris, gibbons, and Asian elephants. Even
though this photo led to the arrest of two men who were illegally selling
endangered primates in the area, in the long-term this photo may do more harm
than good. When fans see an influential pop star cuddling an endangered species
it is reasonable to believe that it will have the same effect as portraying a
chimpanzee alongside a human. A photo like Rihanna’s could easily convince someone
that the slow loris cannot possibly be endangered.
Rihanna's Instagram photo of her holding a slow loris.
From these
stories, the media appears to be very bad for endangered species and threatened
environments, but this may not be true in every case. In fact, I grew up
watching Discovery channel and Animal Planet, which acted as portals to
transport me into worlds beyond my backyard. I might never have considered
moving to Thailand to try and protect Asian elephants had I not grown up
watching nature documentaries that brought elephants into my living room. There
are many people in this world that may never have opportunities to see
endangered species in the wild, but they may have the means to watch scenes of
pristine environments from the comforts of their own homes.
The social
influence of the media has never been greater due to how accessible technology makes
it today. There are huge errors that can be made in the portrayal of endangered
species on these outlets, but there is also great opportunity for garnering
support for conservation. With strategic use of media, conservation groups can
access support from people half way around the world from their project sites.
As technology makes the world smaller and more accessible, it is important to
be cognizant of the influence a single photo can make on the planet’s wildlife.
Ross, SR, VM Vreeman and EV Lonsdorf (2011). Specific Image Characteristics Influence Attitudes about Chimpanzee Conservation and Use as Pets. PLoS ONE, 6(7)
Posted by
Anonymous
at
11:34 PM
2
comments
Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest
Monday, February 17, 2014
What's the Fuss About Tusks?
by Rebecca Shoer
Tusks are one of the most dignified and awe-inspiring
natural ornaments in the animal kingdom.
No matter how cute or cuddly an elephant can look when goofing around,
there is nothing as entrancing as an individual calmly sporting a full grown
pair of bone-white tusks. (An individual
with tusks is called a "tusker" by the elephant community). Of course, in Asian elephants, only the males
bear tusks; in African elephants, both males and females have tusks. Male elephants use their tusks for a wide
range of activities, from combat and defense against other males to scraping
nutritious bark off of trees. Females
are able to use their small tushes, which are essentially miniature tusks, to
perform some of these tasks as well.
Since the females get along fine without toting around such unwieldy ,
albeit impressive, burdens, why bother evolving tusks at all? Most likely, males developed longer and
longer tusks over many generations due to a process called sexual selection. This means
that, for some reason or another, female Asian elephants prefer to mate with
males that have long tusks. Possessing
long tusks may signal how healthy an elephant is or how good his genes are, as
they take a lot of extra energy to grow and maintain. Tusks are oversized, living teeth, and grow
at a rate of about 15 centimeters per year.
If a male can survive in the wild while also carrying an impressive set
of tusks, he is most likely very healthy as well as socially dominant.
Picture by Lisa Barrett
This sort of sexual selection is happening constantly in the
natural world, as mating preference subtly changed over millennia. However, outside forces can affect the
evolution of species. Sudden
environmental changes can make a once-advantageous physical trait burdensome,
or a flashy physical trait that indicates health may become attractive to
predators. For elephants, such an
outside force has appeared: the ivory trade.
Ivory has long been prized for its decorative and aesthetic
value. It is easily carved, and has been
used for statues, jewelry, and decoration for centuries. However, the demand for ivory has recently
been increasing at a dramatic and unsustainable level, and modern technology
has made it far too easy to kill and extract ivory from elephants. Automatic weapons and abject poverty make for
a dangerous combination, and anti-poaching efforts have made barely a dent in
the poaching rate. If nothing is done to
reduce the demand for ivory trinkets, elephants will swiftly become extinct in
the wild.
Picture by Rebecca Shoer
However, in addition to human-led efforts to combat the
poaching trade, evolution has begun playing a role in this battle. The process through which animals with
advantageous adaptations survive is called natural
selection. Those individuals that
survive better and for longer are most likely to pass their genetic material
down to their offspring. The poaching
trade, however, is an example of artificial
selection. It is not the elephants'
natural environment, but the unnatural ivory trade, that is deciding which
elephants pass down their genetic material to the next generations. Put simply, if an elephant with spectacular
tusks is killed before he has a chance to mate and have offspring, the genes
for his tusks are lost. Even if elephant
females would prefer to mate with such a male, he is no longer available, and
females must mate with the males that are still present.
Thus, humans have created an artificial advantage for males
to not possess tusks. As the number of tuskers decreases, poachers
are "forced" to kill elephants that have relatively small tusks. Thus, those males that simply never develop
tusks, and do not possess the genes necessary to grow tusks, are suddenly at a
mating advantage. The number of their
tusk-ed brethren is swiftly disappearing, and tuskless males are being provided
with mating opportunities they would never get in a natural, non-poaching
environment.
Just how prevalent are these tuskless males? Professor Zhang Li of Beijing Normal
University reports that, of the few hundred elephants left in China, the
incidence of tuskless males has increased from 2 - 5 percent of the population
to 5 - 10 percent. A study done by Oxford
University also reports that the size of tusks has reduced significantly since
the advent of the modern ivory trade in the 19th century. Although these numbers may not appear
particularly large, such a percent change (perhaps from 5 to 10%) is unnaturally
rapid when compared to an evolutionary timescale. Elephants are adapting to the new
environmental threats that humans have created.
Photo via Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Indian Institute of Science
However, evolution is a notoriously slow process, and when
combined with the long generations of elephants, such an adaptation is most
likely too little, too late to save elephants from the threat of poaching. Elephants can live up to their mid sixties in
the wild, and at the current rate of population decrease, elephants could be
extinct in a single generation. Though
the rise of tuskless males is an interesting example of a species adapting to a
new threat, it will not be enough to save wild elephants alone. It is human behavior that must change, if
this species is to exist for generations to come.
Posted by
Rebecca
at
6:52 PM
0
comments
Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Spot the Difference: Elephant Edition
By Sophie Wasserman
As Rebecca discussed in a previous blog post ( link), Asian and African elephants have been separate species for over 7.8 million years. To put that into perspective, scientists currently estimate humans and chimps shared their last common ancestor even more recently than that, about 5-7 million years ago. Though it’s easy to lump Asian and African elephants together under the umbrella of big, gray, and wrinkly, there are actually quite a few ways to tell the species apart.
As Rebecca discussed in a previous blog post ( link), Asian and African elephants have been separate species for over 7.8 million years. To put that into perspective, scientists currently estimate humans and chimps shared their last common ancestor even more recently than that, about 5-7 million years ago. Though it’s easy to lump Asian and African elephants together under the umbrella of big, gray, and wrinkly, there are actually quite a few ways to tell the species apart.
[Side note: For
simplicity’s sake, the comparisons here are between the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and the African
savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana).
There is a third species of elephant, the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) who is smaller than
their savannah cousins, with rounder ears and thinner tusks, but not as much is
documented about this elusive species.]
Location: When
encountering wild elephants, the easiest way to tell the species apart is to remember where you are. The largest
concentration of wild Asian elephants is India, but they can be found
throughout the continental Southeast Asia, as well as Sri Lanka, Sumatra, and
Borneo. African elephants are found throughout central Africa as well as
smaller pockets of southern and eastern Africa.
Size: African
elephants are bigger! Generally, Asian elephants range in height from about
2-3.5 m tall (6.5-11 ft) and weigh anywhere from 2,000 to 5,500 kg
(4,500-12,000 lbs). African elephants, on the other hand, are the largest living
land animal reaching 3-4 m (9-13 ft) at the shoulder and 4,000-6,300 kg
(8,818-13,889 lbs) in weight.
Body shape: African elephants have a dip in their back while Asian elephants have a straight, or sometimes humped, spine. The highest point on an African elephant’s body is their shoulders, while the highest point on an Asian elephant’s body is their head. As a result, caretakers typically ride in the sway of the back of an African elephant, as opposed to the traditional mahout style of riding the neck of Asian elephants.
Asian elephants have a straight or arched back |
African elephants have a dip in their spine via Wikimedia Commons |
Head: While
African elephants have a broad, flat forehead, Asian elephants have a two-dome
structure, with more prominent temporal ridges. Technically African elephants
tend to have larger brains, due to their larger size, but it has yet to be
shown that one species is smarter than the other.
Lips: Asian
elephants have elongated bottom lips that taper to a point and droop in an
almost comical fashion. The bottom lips of African elephants are shorter and
rounder, almost completely hidden by their trunks.
Asian elephants have two domes and long lips |
Ears: A general rule of thumb in the family Elephantidae: the closer to the equator, the bigger the ears. African elephants have much larger ears than Asian elephants, allowing them to dissipate more heat through the thinner skin on the surface of their ears. The now extinct wooly mammoth, who lived way up near the North Pole, had even smaller ears than modern Asian elephants. Another trick some people use to remember the difference? The ears of some African elephants loosely resembles the shape of the African continent.
African elephants have flat foreheads and larger ears via Wikimedia Commons |
Skin: African elephants also typically have more wrinkles in their skin, for the same reason their ears are larger: regulating body temperature. The grooves and folds trap moisture on their body, allowing the elephant to keep cooler for longer throughout the day. The skin of Asian, but not African elephants, will also change color. As Asian elephants age, they naturally lose some of the pigmentation in the skin around their ears, head and trunk, developing their very characteristic pink speckled appearance.
Asian elephants have smaller ears and show depigmentation |
Tusks: Both male
and female African elephants grow long tusks (the record is 10 ft 8 in!) but in
Asian elephants, only the males do. Females either have short “fangs” called tushes, or nothing at all. This is part
of the reason that poaching is much more of a problem in Africa than Asia,
since twice the individuals produce ivory (there are many factors influencing
poaching and the ivory trade; for more info see our previous blog post)
Asian elephant female with tushes |
Trunk: African
elephants have two finger-like extensions on the end of their trunk, similar to
a thumb and forefinger. An African elephant can use these two fingers to pick
up and manipulate an object as small as a single sunflower seed! Asian
elephants on the other hand have only one finger on the top of their trunk.
They have similar dexterity to that of African elephants, but typically grasp
things like food by scooping them up and curling them into the crook of their
trunk.
African elephants have two fingers on the end of their trunks via Wikimedia Commons |
Asian elephants only have one finger on their trunks Photo credit: Rebecca Shoer |
Toes: If you
happen to find a footprint, check the toes! Asian elephants have 5 toenails on
their front feet and 4 on their back feet, while African elephants only have 4
on the front and 3 on the back.
IUCN Status: Finally,
according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Asian
elephants are considered “endangered,” meaning over the past 50 years or 3
generations, over 50% of the wild population has been lost, leaving them
uncomfortably close to extinction. African elephants are still technically
“vulnerable,” but if current poaching rates continue, this may not stay a
difference between the species for much longer.
This list is not comprehensive (there are even subtle
differences in the number of ribs each species has or the shape of their teeth)
but it should give you head start on impressing your friends the next time you’re
at the zoo or watching the latest nature documentary. And if you’re interested in
ensuring that captivity and old film reels won’t be the only place you can see all
species of elephants in the future, learn how you can get involved here: http://bit.ly/1bv0EYh.
References:
http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/asian_elephant/asian_elephant.htm
http://www.livescience.com/3996-humans-chimps-split.html
http://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/elephants/physical-characteristics/
http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/african_elephant/african_elephant.htm
Media:
African elephant in Pittsburgh Zoo by Jason Pratt via Wikimedia Commons
African elephant in South Africa by Trevor Ohlssen via Wikimedia Commons
Elephant - Colchester Zoo by Keven Law via Wikimedia Commons
Posted by
Sophie
at
1:17 AM
6
comments
Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest
Monday, February 3, 2014
Dominance in Elephants: Who is in Charge Here?
by Lisa Barrett
Imagine your great grandmother always picking which restaurants
your sisters, aunts, and mother will go to while your teenage brother leaves
the family and joins a group of other men…
How do elephants pick a leader? Who is next in the chain of
command? This blog will answer your questions about dominance in elephants.
Like many animals, elephants form a hierarchy within their social
structure, thereby reducing conflict over resources (such as food, water, and
space). In elephants, a matriarch (the
oldest and wisest female) leads her bond group of related females to find food
and water and to avoid predators. If the herd becomes too large for the
available food or water supply, some of the females might split off from the herd
and form their own groups, each headed by an older relative. In this way, we
know that elephants live in fission-fusion societies. However, scientists are
still investigating the complexities of elephant social structure.
Matriarchs have great memories for where
water is located.
Dominance in males is a little different than that in
females, or cows. Males, or bulls, form bachelor herds when they reach sexual
maturity. For example, while the dominant cow is the herd leader, the dominant
bull is usually the individual that mates with the most females and beats out
other males in contests of strength. Interestingly, dominant bulls who are in
musth tend to remain in musth (and maintain a higher production of
testosterone) longer than younger, less dominant bulls. Read more about musth
here: http://bit.ly/1eJSCyj.
Male elephants may become aggressive
when they go into musth.
Photo by: Lisa Barrett
In male elephants, there is a possibility of a takeover. Bulls
who enter musth but are lower-ranking may challenge the dominant individual to
gain a temporary access to females who are in estrus. In fact, being in musth
gives males an advantage over non-musth males, because a chemical secretion
signals to females that they are ready to mate. This process, in which
different bulls enter musth and get access to females, allows for a fair system
of which males get to mate and also makes the population genetically diverse. Interestingly,
an alternative reproductive strategy has evolved in which males enter musth
when dominant males are not in musth.
Fighting over access to females is risky. It usually
involves two males clashing together their long, ivory tusks, rearing on top of
one another, and perhaps sustaining injury (including breakage of tusks) or
even death. The winner usually gains priority access to females—talk about
making sacrifices in the name of love!
Two male African elephants fight with
their tusks.
Photo by:
Caitlin O'Connell and Timothy Rodwell
It is important for conservationists to remember that poaching wild elephants not only causes a traumatic instant for the families of the elephants being killed, but it also has devastating, long-term consequences. After all, if the eldest female (or male) elephant is no longer part of the herd, she cannot impart her knowledge to her family members, and so younger elephants have no leader from which to learn. This has already proven to be catastrophic for young male African elephants who, without an older male to guide them, became highly aggressive and attacked many humans and rhinoceroses. Therefore, the wisdom of dominant individuals is critical for the rest of the herd to learn how to behave and survive.
If you’d like to read more about our research, education,
and how you can help conserve the Asian elephant, sign up for our monthly
newsletter: http://bit.ly/1f6hYHi.
References:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-male-elephants-bond-64316480/?page=3
http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/Family_Structure/family_structure.html
http://www.elephantsforever.co.za/matriarch-elephant.html#.UtS-NJ7a6m4
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/september/african-elephant-hierarchy-091411.html
http://biology.duke.edu/albertslab/pdfs/linear.pdf
http://www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-sense-a-sociality/elephants-are-socially-complex.html
Posted by
Unknown
at
1:30 AM
0
comments
Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest
Newer Posts
Older Posts
Home
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)