There’s a wrinkle — or many — in the story behind an elephant’s trunk
A bump in the elephant brain stem pointed scientists to the wrinkles on their trunks and the role those folds play in the animal’s life.
Elephants
Wild elephants may have names that other elephants use to call them
Forget names like "Dumbo"—wild elephants appear to have their own unique names that other elephants use while talking to them in low rumbles.
Watch: A circus elephant runs loose in a Montana town before being recaptured
The animal was having a routine bath when she was startled by a truck backfiring and ran away before being recaptured by handlers. Videos of the unexpected sight were shared widely on social media.
From glacier babies to a Barbie debate: 7 great global stories you might have missed
Here are our editors' picks for stories from 2023 that we wish more people would see: from an elephant safari for teens to mating glaciers in Pakistan to a debate about Barbie's skin tone in India.
Elephants are a menace for these 6th graders. Then they went on a safari ...
Botswana has one of the last thriving elephant herds – and a history of human-elephant conflict that threatens both sides. A nonprofit has a program to shift that dynamic. Will it work?
'The Elephant Whisperers' — An Oscar-nominated love story about people and pachyderms
Nominated in the documentary short film category and now streaming on Netflix, the film depicts the loving relationship of a tribe in India and the pachyderms who share the forest with them.
How do you move 250 elephants to their new home? Very carefully
One by one, the elephants are being sedated and moved from Malawi's overcrowded Liwonde National Park to the much larger Kasungu park 236 miles away in the country's north.
Happy the elephant is not a person, a court rules
The 5-2 decision by the court comes in a closely watched case that tested the boundaries of applying human rights to animals.
Happy is an Asian elephant. But can she also be considered a person?
Through an attorney, the Bronx Zoo argues Happy is neither illegally imprisoned nor a person, but a well-cared-for elephant "respected as the magnificent creature she is."
Scientists vacuum zoo animals' DNA out of the air
Researchers who detected that detecting environmental DNA, or eDNA, in two zoos say the technique could one day be used to look for endangered species in remote locations in the wild.