Research Updates

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Newsletter #7: October 2008

Where has the time gone? It has been a busy four months since our last newsletter! The floods are now drying up as temperatures soar and we eagerly await the arrival of the rains. We have been busy monitoring the released elephants including our newest release, a young male named Pula. The wild elephants always keep us on our toes as we try to keep a tab on who they are with. Graham Bowles's PhD is now in full spring and is already bringin in some amazing results. You can read more about all of our latest updates in this issue including:

Pula's Release

PhD Underway

Kitimetsi Is Now A Mother

Scholarship has lift off

Triathlon Fundraiser

2009 Calendars that available now

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Newsletter #6: May 2008

Quite a few changes in these last two months and many more updates to bring you. In the latest Newsletter we are taking a look at a few special points of interest including:

Flood Season Has Arrived

Mufanyane Meets His Match

Kitimetsi Is Now A Mother

Recycle For The Elephants

Keep Up To Date Via Our Blog

The Auction

&

Our Latest WordSearch

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Newsletter #5: February 2008

The Big News is that we start 2008 as a Registered Charity; this is really good news as it opens up more avenues for funding. Things are certainly busy and I have to thank those of you who have supported us through this process. Your support really helps us all get on with the tasks in hand and get on with the understanding elephants that little bit more. The weather, however, has other plans at the moment. We have had 350mm of rain since mid-December and it is still coming.

Please click below to hear more updates from the field...

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Newsletter #4: October 2007

As always funding is an issue when working on a conservation project and whilst I believe I am a good elephant reseracher, fundraising is proving a harder skill to master. My passion for the elephants and for good science to enable us to ensure a future for elephants, is as fiery as ever. I simply look up, as I write this at my desk in the Okavango Delta, and see photos of the elephants I study and I know that what I do is worthwhile. But in recent times my heart has been demoralised as I spend more time sending off applications then out with the elephants.

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Newsletter #3: July 2007

The big news is that we have had our permits renewed for a further two years. This is a real reason to celebrate and has taken a huge weight off my shoulders. The renewal process was delayed during June as the Department of Wildlife and National Parks staff who review the research proposals were all in the Hague at the CITES meeting...

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Limited Edition Print

This year saw the release of another elephant from Elephant Back Safaris, Benny, the inspiration for a limited edition print now available to buy.

Benny is a mature bull elephant who from sad beginnings grew in confidence. He started his life In the Kruger National Park of South Africa in 1959. At a very young age his family was killed as part of the Kruger's first culling exercise to decrease their population. He was sold to a zoo and shipped to America. In 1987, Randall Moore was looking for some elephants to use in a film being made in South Africa. Benny was not exactly the elephant he was looking for as he was after a large tusker to play the lead. After 21 years of solitary confinement in appalling conditions he had broken both his tusks after repeatedly rubbing them against the steel and concrete enclosure. One was broken whilst the other had been rubbed to a small fragment near which a small ugly hole had appeared to drain off the fluid that marked the presence of the infection behind. Along with this, Benny had a floppy right ear - bending over his eye, which was caused by broken cartilage. Randall immediately decided that the forlorn elephant would be returned to Africa and joined the elephants Cathy, Abu and Sammy on a trip back to their home of Africa. The zoo where Benny was, decided that Randall could have him for free if he promised to release him back into the wild. In 2005 Randall was able to keep that promise and Benny was released. On 27th November 2006, Benny passed away after a fight with a musth male elephant.