By Don Pinnock - Daily Maverick From bees to whales, it’s increasingly acknowledged that creatures have cultures within which they live their daily lives. This is particularly true for elephants, and the loss of matriarchs is leading to severe social disruption. It’s...
By Adam Cruise - The Bateleurs Many years ago, while camping in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, I discovered a relatively unknown African philosophical concept that epitomises how we should look at the natural environment. Ukama. I had arrived at a remote camp deep...
By Annette Uy - Discover Wild Science The African savannah once echoed with the mighty trumpets of thousands of elephants, but today, the silence is deafening in many regions. Imagine hearing that silence, knowing it is the result of ruthless poaching, driven by a...
By Jim Tan - Discover Wildlife Translocating elephants is no mean feat – but it’s helping this iconic mammal to reclaim its historic lands. Jim Tan joined to find out how it's being done. The air tingles with nervous excitement as Alex Oelofse, owner of Okonjati Game...
By Caitlin O'Connell edited by Kate Wong - Scientific American I woke up in the research tower to a soft exhale and then a trickle of water at the waterhole below. The full moon hung low and dim in the west. I squinted at my watch. It was 4 A.M. I wondered which of my...
By Don Pinnock - Daily Maverick From the smallest microbes to the largest mammals, a sweeping new study has painted the clearest picture yet of how human activity is reshaping life on Earth. Our footprint is everywhere and it’s leaving complex, far-reaching marks on...
By Peter Borchert, iFaw Elephants need water—lots of it. Depending on their size, they must drink 100 to 200 litres at least every two to three days to avoid potentially severe dehydration. In hot weather, an elephant can lose as much as 7.5% of its body mass daily...
By Adam Cruise - Daily Maverick The draft strategy is skewed in favour of anthropocentric benefits – economic, spiritual and cultural – and cannot function in practical terms. South Africa’s Draft National Elephant Heritage Strategy, which closed to public comment at...
By Adam Cruise - The Bateleurs One of the central pillars of wildlife conservation, particularly in southern Africa, is the notion that if wild species are to be conserved, they must have economic value. The basic thinking behind this concept is that if animals such...
By Don Pinnock - Daily Maverick Imagine a world where elephants roam freely across vast, interconnected landscapes, their ancient wisdom anchoring the health of the African savanna. This is the future envisioned in Rudi van Aarde’s Let Elephants Roam, a powerful call...