...Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Traditionally, two species are recognised, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), although some evidence suggests that African bush elephants and African forest elephants are separate species (L. africana and L. cyclotis respectively). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. They are the only surviving proboscideans; extinct species include mammoths and mastodons. The largest living terrestrial animals, male African elephants can reach a height of 4 m (13 ft) and weigh 7,000 kg (15,000 lb). These animals have several distinctive features, including a long proboscis or trunk used for many purposes, particularly for grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which serve as tools for moving objects and digging and as weapons for fighting. The elephant's large ear flaps help to control the temperature of its body. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs. Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance, and predators such as lions, tigers, hyenas and wild dogs usually target only the young elephants (or...
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...2013 Elephants belong in the wild and not in captivity in Deborah Nelson’s “Cruelest Show on Earth” and Sara Gruen’s Water For Elephants In the “Cruelest Show on Earth” the author Deborah Nelson states that elephants are extremely intelligent creatures. She also claims that elephants are supposed to be in the wild, and not treated poorly in captivity, which, unfortunately, frequently seems to be the case. In Sara Gruen’s Water For Elephants, the historical fiction characters think that Rosie the show elephant for the Benzini Brothers Most spectacular Show on Earth is stupid, but soon learn that she is actually very intelligent. Jacob Jankowski a main character in the book is a veterinarian and is the first to realize that Rosie is extremely intelligent. Rosie spent most of her time on a train traveling from show to show, or being hit with a bull hook. This is no life for an elephant, and Jacob realized this so he helped save Rosie. Nelson describes elephants as highly intelligent creatures that develop at a similar rate as humans: “Kenny, a three-year-old Asian elephant, was supposed to perform his usual adorable tricks in The Greatest Show on Earth: identifying the first letter of the alphabet by kicking a beach ball marked with an "A," twirling in a tight circle, perching daintily atop a tub, and, at the end of his act, waving farewell to the audience with a handkerchief grasped in his trunk.” This performance by Kenny shows how extremely intelligent elephants are. This...
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...In all of Africa, there are only approximately 600,000 African elephants remaining, and around 38,000 elephants are illegally killed each year for their tusks. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora estimates that at least 25,000 elephants were poached in 2011. Scientists at National Geographic predict that if this trend continues, in about five years, the already endangered African elephants will become extinct in the wild. Security on illegal exportation of ivory needs to increase and stopping unregulated domestic ivory markets found in a number of African and Asian countries would decrease the amount of ivory sold. Elephants are on the endangered species list, and with people killing these beautiful creatures just for their tusks, the elephant population is becoming dangerously low and at risk for extinction. After poachers killed more than half of Africa’s elephants, an international ban on the commercial ivory trade was put in to place in 1989, but that did not stop poachers. The amount of killings is at an all time high, and 2011 broke the record for the amount of illegal ivory seized worldwide, at 38.8 tons, equaling tusks from more than 4,000 dead elephants. In an interview National Geographic had about smuggling ivory with a Philippine church official, he had said, “Wrap it in old, stinky underwear and pour ketchup on it.” Another way to traffic ivory told by an Egyptian merchant who was taught by Chinese customers...
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...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. This ensures...
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...------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- “Green economy and My responsibility” ------------------------------------------------- Elephant dung paper Class: Advanced Program 51 Name: Le Dieu Linh Chi Le Minh Phuong Nguyen Thu Thao Tran Huong Tra Tran Hai Yen Hanoi, October 21, 2012 ------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY A PROJECT OF ELEPHANT DUNG PAPER Presented to: The English Competition “Experience and Enjoy” – “Green economy and My responsibility” Prepared by: Lê Diệu Linh Chi Chiledieulinh@gmail.com Nguyễn Thu Thảo ngthuthao91@gmail.com Trần Hải Yến tranhaiyen152@yahoo.com Lê Minh Phương lephuong1230@yahoo.com Trần Hương Trà thtra279@gmail.com October 21th, 2012 Contents I. Introduction 1 II. Content 2 1. Current situation in Vietnam 2 2. Business project 4 a. Background 4 b. Challenges and Opportunities 4 c. Process 5 d. Product 6 3. Impact evaluation 6 a. Impact on environment and ecology: 6 b. Impact on the local economy: 7 III. Conclusion 7 Abstract Green economy is the economic model that aims at sustainable development of the economy while improving social equity and...
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...varieties of African elephant – African Steppe (also known as Savanna) elephant, which belongs to Sudan region and is characterized by its big ears, four toes on the front, and three toe on the hind legs, and also Bush or Forest elephant, which has round years, five toes on front, and four toes on hind legs (p. 500). The measurements of the size and weight of this majestic animal, which is the largest to walk the earth, are impressive, “L [including trunk] 6-7.5 m, TL 1-3.3 m, shoulder height 3-4 m, weight 5000-7500 kg [making the African elephant the heaviest land mammals alive today]” (Grzimek, p. 500). And as for the...
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...At one point in time the African elephant roamed a majority of the African Continent. In the early twentieth century it was estimated that approximately seven to ten million African elephants roamed the plains of Africa. In the most recent estimates this number had plummeted to a sparse three hundred thousand individuals and continues to decline at a rapid pace. Due to the incorrigible demand for ivory, along with habitat loss as a consequence of human settlement, has led to a sudden and steep decline decline in the populations of the elephants of Africa. Why does it matter that elephants are coming to extinction? The fact that many people fail to recognize is that elephants are a keystone species of the African ecosystem. For this reason the...
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...In the story of Shooting an Elephant the author George Orwell uses many themes that can be related to yourself in life. In the story, the protagonist is himself and he explains the empire of the British that controls Burma and the Burmese natives. He is a police man in lower Burma, and is forced to shoot a ravaging elephant that is tearing up the town otherwise the town people would joke and laugh at him. The overall theme of this story is peer pressure from the people and also the power of imperialism that can affect you and others. The story is told in a first person point of view. Orwell describes himself through the narrator’s voice. He described the Burmese people as mean and disrespectful. The village police were often teased and made fun of because of their ethnicity and look. “As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so” (Orwell, G. (1950). Shooting An Elephant.). The police of the town were obviously noticeable to heckle. The readers of the story have to recognize the power of peer pressure. It can cause a big amount of anxiety which can make you think different in different situations....
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...Shooting an elephant ”Shooting an elephant” is an essay written by George Orwell and published in 1936. The text is told by a first person narrator, who tells us about being a policeman in Burma and about his doubt, whether to kill an animal or not. The man who tells us the story is an unhappy young policeman who lives in mental isolation. He hates British imperialism, he hates Burmese natives, and he hates his job. He feels like a target for the Burmese people. The natives are treating him very badly; they are making fun of the white man. They laugh at the protagonist and sneer at him when he passes them. “In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met me everywhere, the insults hooted after me when I was at a safe distance, got badly on my nerves.” We still don’t get the impression that the narrator hates the natives, we get the feeling that he understand them. He puts himself into the same positions as they are; he is in the same position- also oppressed and hated, but cause by his own nation’s occupation. The Indians are also oppressed by the British and the white man. The story is written in a period where England had colonies all over the world. The British are trying to make an empire far away from home; they conquer other countries and try to assimilate the population to their own rules and traditions. The white man has an thought, that they are the chosen people to civilize primitive races. They are clever, educated, and rich and therefore...
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...Aramide Have you ever wondered if humans are smarter than elephants? What if they could work together as a team like us? In an article called “Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk,” a passage called, “Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task,” and in the video “Elephants Show Cooperation,” information is given about an experiment where two elephants need to work together to pull two separate ropes to bring a table towards them that holds bowls of corn. If they do not work together, they will not be able to retrieve their reward. It won’t work if only one elephant pulls because the food will fall over. This test is mandatory to find the cooperative skills of elephants....
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...Asian Elephants stand at about 8.9 ft tall. They weigh about 200 lbs at birth, and about 6,000 lbs as grown adults. Their environment consists of forested areas, moist, evergreen lowlands, and farm areas. Their grey skin helps them keep cool in the heat. They’re warm blooded animals. They are herbivores. They also flap their butterfly like ears against the wind to cool their bodies, as well. They use their long trunks to eat and drink food and water. They don’t have sweat glands so they use their ears to cool them off in their tropical habitats. Elephants can drink up to 200 liters of water when they’re dehydrated. The elephant's tusks are used for defense against other elephants, digging, stripping bark from trees, getting food, and much more. Since they’re so big, that reduces their amount of predators. Elephants trunks are used as a tool for sucking up water and pulling bark off trees. They also help transform savannahs to a grassland, by knocking down big trees. As they walk they stir up small animals making it easier for birds to get a meal. Each foot consist of five toes, although not every toe has a nail. A large pad of gristle acts as a shock absorber when they walk. It helps them walk quietly. Their legs are very straight to help...
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...Shooting an Elephant is a short story by George Orwell that details an English police officer’s experience with a disturbance in his town. Commotion is caused by an elephant rampaging through the town. As expected, this event causes great conflict for both the citizens of the town, as well as the police officer. Besides the obvious conflict of physical danger, internal conflicts arise as well. The main external conflict is the fact that a giant elephant is on the loose. Although it is supposed that the elephant is domesticated, it is still large and afraid. Describing the chaos caused by the elephant, the narrator states, “It had already destroyed somebody's bamboo hut, killed a cow and raided some fruit-stalls and devoured the stock; also it had met the municipal rubbish van and, when the driver jumped out and took to his heels, had turned the van over and inflicted violences upon it” (Orwell). Shortly after this explanation is made, it is discovered by the police officer that the giant animal has also killed an Indian by crushing him into the ground. The elephant’s presence threatens the lives of...
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...The Elephant Man Name English 225 Introduction To Film Instructor: Name Date The film “The Elephant Man” is an iconic and powerful humanistic filmmaking endeavor. Director David Lynch forces the horrors and sadness of deformity onto the audience in a way that leaves the viewer tear choked with sadness and sympathy. Most people who watch the film are touched in a way that alters their view of the crippled, weak, and deformed persons of the world. The creation of the film begins with Joseph Merrick’s incredible story being written into a play by Bernard Pomerance in 1979. This play is still performed from time to time. Lynch’s film version was released the following year, but was not derived from the play but did give Lynch his inspiration. Lynch based his film version of Merrick’s life on various biographical sources most of which were Merrick’s own words in his memoirs. The script, written by Lynch, contains information based upon Merrick’s memoirs and biography, as well as from Frederick Treves’ personal accounts. As far as historical accuracy is concerned, certain details have been altered to make the story suitable for film. For example, Merrick is referred to incorrectly as “John“. This inaccuracy is however, a perpetuation of the error that was made in history according to Frederick Treves’ account of the story. Lynch in an effort to maintain realism botches the name purposely but fails to make this understandable to the viewer. This is however not an error...
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...George Orwell's essay 'Shooting an Elephant' gives remarkable insight into the human psyche. The essay presents a powerful theme of inner conflict. Orwell feels strong inner conflict between what he believes as a human being, and what he believes and should do as an imperial police officer. The author is amazingly effective in illustrating this conflict by providing specific examples of contradictory feelings, by providing an anecdote that exemplified his feelings about his situation, and by using vivid imagery to describe his circumstances. A police officer in the British Raj, the supposedly 'unbreakable'; ruling force, was afraid. With his gun aimed at an elephant's head, he was faced with the decision to pull the trigger. That officer was George Orwell, and he writes about his experience in his short essay “Shooting an Elephant” to save face, he shrugged it off as his desire to “avoid looking the fool” (George Orwell, 77). In truth, the atmosphere of fear and pressure overwhelmed him. His inner struggle over the guilt of being involved in the subjugation of a people added to this strain, and he made a decision he would later regret enough to write this story. In his essay, Orwell describes how the abuses and treatment he witnessed oppressed him with an intolerable sense of guilt, (Orwell, 72). This is not some minor pang, or nagging worry. The shame pressed down on his shoulders with an unbearable weight. He also describes the injustices in detail...
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...out this metaphor. The huge and mad elephant that went on rampaging across the town represents the mighty Britain that had gone on controlling different nations across the world. The several bullets that Orwell shot to kill the elephant symbolises the several uprisings caused by the nations in order to gain their freedom and independence. And lastly, the slow death of the elephant that’d eventually loses its life indicates the slow destruction of Britain rule that’ll eventually lead to its complete loss of power and control. George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”, narrated the story of him shooting a “must” elephant when he...
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