Chimp & See Talk

Gabela: Injuries to elephant

  • Snorticus by Snorticus

    @NuriaM sorry to start your day with this 😦 This elephant has a deeply cut trunk and ragged damaged left ear. Do these look like they are old injuries? What usually causes injuries to elephants? And finally, can this elephant function well enough to survive this injury?

    ACP000cr3d ACP000cr3e ACP000cr3g ACP000cr3j

    Posted

  • Snorticus by Snorticus

    ACP000cr3l ACP000cr3m ACP000cr3n ACP000cr3o

    And a front view, which looks even worse 😦

    ACP000cr5l

    enter image description here

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  • Snorticus by Snorticus

    ACP000cr2x Front view in motion.

    enter image description here

    Posted

  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    This is certainly a snare injury 😦

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  • Snorticus by Snorticus in response to MimiA's comment.

    @MimiA - Do you know of any way we can help by supporting an agency who is dealing with snares? These injuries are disturbing.

    Posted

  • lauraklynn by lauraklynn moderator

    I know with the Mountain Gorillas in Virunga NP, the rangers and trackers always take down snares when they find them. They also work with local people to try and give them alternative means of supporting themselves, so they don't have to hunt for food in protected forest areas. Surely, there must be people doing similar work in elephant range countries?

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Snorticus's comment.

    Oh my! poor little thing 😦

    the trunk cut was no doubt caused by a snare trap. It looks old, and it´s not infected. She ( 😃 ) moves the tip of her trunk with no problem, so she has learned to manage her new situation. She has been very lucky.

    Elephants learn new methods to use their trunks to adapt to new situations. I have seen some elephants whose trunk was partly paralized, and managed to grab food from their high food net by swinging it up to the net and down to their mouth. So I think this lady is doing quite well despite the impressive injury.

    As for her ear, this is going to be very speculative, but the holes might be due to a fight or another animal´s attack ( a leopard ? ).

    Maybe we could give her a name, Mimi?

    Posted

  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    Hi everyone, 😃

    There is a lot of anti snaring work done in this forest, and there are also big livelihood projects underway as well, but the problem is so intense that snaring is still pretty pervasive 😕 The same issue is happening in the Virungas unfortunately. The pressure is immense and snares are so cheap and require so little effort it is hard to deter them.

    We had a good snaring discussion here: https://talk.chimpandsee.org/#/boards/BCP000000k/discussions/DCP00009bq

    and some really great organizations to donate to are: The Ngogo Chimpanzee project http://ngogochimpanzeeproject.org/conservation/ and the Kibale Chimpanzee Project: https://kibalechimpanzees.wordpress.com/snare-removal-program/

    You can also support the Ngogo snare removal patrols whenever you buy anything from amazon without any extra cost to you - check out the links on the right of the page at the link above 😃

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to MimiA's comment.

    Sorry to be so tiresome about this, but I would LOVE to give this lady a name, she deserves it....

    PLEEZE!!!

    enter image description here

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  • Boleyn by Boleyn moderator

    LOL @NuriaM, I'm sure Mimi can't resist this little dumbo 😃

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  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Boleyn's comment.

    I know!!! It´s not the first time that I use this GIF to persuade her 😄

    Posted

  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    LOL - yes, go ahead 😃

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  • Snorticus by Snorticus in response to NuriaM's comment.

    What is this lovely old gal's name then Nuria? 😄

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Snorticus's comment.

    Hi @Snorticus, I think you should give her a name; you were the one who found her 😃

    would you????

    Posted

  • Snorticus by Snorticus

    Okay Nuria - I would like to name her Gabela - a Zulu name for girls meaning confident and determined.

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Snorticus's comment.

    Gorgeous!!! I love Gabela 😃

    Thanks!!

    Posted

  • Snorticus by Snorticus

    More of Gabela:

    ACP000crah ACP000crai ACP000craj ACP000crak

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Snorticus's comment.

    tagged 😃

    Posted

  • luca-chimp by luca-chimp

    Is that often seen? The elephant has a hole in his right tusk.
    And his trunk looks like somewhat "strangulated" in the first part.

    Posted

  • luca-chimp by luca-chimp

    Oh my god ... I just got sick. The trunk of the poor fellow is cut off? ACP000cr4e , ACP000cr4i

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  • lauraklynn by lauraklynn moderator

    ACP000cuxi

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but this looks like a different female with a similar injury 😦

    enter image description here
    enter image description here

    Posted

  • luca-chimp by luca-chimp

    I found the discussion about the snares. But I do not think, that this is Gabela. (Gabela has not the hole in the tusk). Itbis disturbing, that there are more of theese bad injuries 😦

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to luca-chimp's comment.

    Hey @luca-chimp ,

    Gabela has this same hole in the tusks. Look: (from ACP000cr5l)

    enter image description here

    you have found Gabela again 😃

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to lauraklynn's comment.

    oh no....this is not Gabela 😦

    Gabela (from ACP000cr5l) and the new injured lady in ACP000cuxi

    enter image description here

    The new female´s tusks are thinner and no holes on the tusk tips. Her head and upper part of her trunk are smaller too.

    Posted

  • Boleyn by Boleyn moderator

    Poor gals!

    I'm so angry, I wish the guys laying out the snares would be caught by the very same, preferably with their most private parts! 😦

    Posted

  • lauraklynn by lauraklynn moderator in response to NuriaM's comment.

    I also notice this new lady doesn't have the chunk missing out of her ear.

    Posted

  • luca-chimp by luca-chimp

    Ah okay. Thanks. This injuries are quite awful, I was shocked. Normaly I'm not so squeamish, but this gave me really some bad time. It is so cruel 😦 Poor girls. What pain this means, I will not imagine ...

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to luca-chimp's comment.

    it is indeed awful 😦

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Boleyn's comment.

    @Boleyn, contain yourself! ... but I agree with you 😄

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to lauraklynn's comment.

    hey guys, I must admit that I´m a bit confused here. I assumed that Gabela was a female, but @jwidness doesn´t support it and now I´m not that sure.

    Gabela´s wide upper part of her trunk, along with her thick and long tusks made me think at first that it was a male. But here, she pees. Usually when males pee get erected, or at least a slight erection is visible, but not in this case. So I thought that it was an old female.
    However, if she was a female, I would expect to see her belly a bit rounder. Additionally, I see no female breasts, which could mean that eitther she gave birth a long time ago...or Gabela is a male (I like the name for a male anyway)

    What do you guys think? does anyone have an opinion about it?

    Posted

  • Boleyn by Boleyn moderator in response to NuriaM's comment.

    I'll contain myself - for the next two weeks at least 😃 cu soon around!

    As for Gabela - I have no idea but would ask @Pugli 😄

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Boleyn's comment.

    I have already considered that possibility 😉 . He also went for male at the begining, but the pee confused him too. Anyway, his very first reaction was MALE.
    I'm now waiting for some expert's reply :-9

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator

    Hi again!

    I am very happy to tell you guys that I already got a solution for Gabela´s gender!!

    Gabela IS a male: the pee issue that was confusing me is actually a "urine dribbling". @jwidness suggested it and an elephant expert and a good friend of us ( Marion Garai, Chair of the " Elephant Specialist Advisory Group ". confirmed it.
    Also, a very special friend of us, Olaf Töffels from the European Elephant Group ( EEG ) helped me see things clearer.

    So thanks Jane, Marion and Olaf!! (and of course @Pugli 😒 )

    MUSTH is a period of time when males change a lot physiologically and bahaviourally. At this time, the testosterone levels in the blood increase amazingly (up to 50 times their non-musth levels) and as a result, the male becomes more aggressive. Here, a constant pee dribbling can be seen and the wet inside of their hind legs is a good indicator (check Gabela in ACP000cr3d , ACP000cr3e , ACP000cr3g and ACP000cr3j . Marion and her colleagues recently wrote a very interesting booklet about elephants called: " Understanding Elephants, Guidelines for safe and enjoyable elephant viewing "; worth reading!

    So my mistake was that I mixed up elephant ordinary pee with musth pee dribbling (the trunk injury kept my attention 😃 ). Lesson learned!!

    The more experience about elephants I gain, the more I still have to learn...isn´t it great?

    I LOVE THESE ANIMALS!!

    PS: I still LOVE the name Gabela for a big and special male 😃

    Posted

  • midnightsun by midnightsun

    Hi! I wanted to know whether the elephant in ACP000cuwo is also injured? There is a white line at the trunk that might be an injury. Thank you!

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  • Snorticus by Snorticus in response to NuriaM's comment.

    Well that was quite interesting new elephant info! Such an impressive guy, and I agree that Gabela still seems fitting.

    FYI Link to the booklet for U.S. shipping from Amazon:

    https://tinyurl.com/ya3wgs5h

    Posted

  • Snorticus by Snorticus in response to midnightsun's comment.

    Good eye, @midnightsun it does look like something there. This elephant's tail is distinctive with that bump of fat at the base. The date here is 23 Oct 2012.

    *See @NuriaM correction later in this thread for my comment below!

    Comparing to ACP000cq9c 6 months earlier on 10 April 2012 I don't see anything on his trunk. Hopefully we will get a better look when we find more clips of this guy.

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to midnightsun's comment.

    hi @midnightsun , I think you have found the lady with the cut trunk in ACP000cuxi again. Both videos were taken in the same place, same day, only one minute apart:

    ACP000cuxi 23 Oct 2012 / 11:11 (see ACP000cuxg )...if we could only see her butt!!

    enter image description here

    ACP000cuwo 23 Oct 2012 / 11:12

    enter image description here

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Snorticus's comment.

    @Sonrticus, I am not sure if this ele. in ACP000cq9c is the same one as the the one with the cut trunk. If your assumption in based on their tail base, I have difficulties to see it that way:

    ACP000cuwp (the lady with the cut trunk):

    enter image description here

    ACP000cq9c :

    enter image description here

    What do you think?

    Posted

  • Snorticus by Snorticus in response to NuriaM's comment.

    Upps, my assumptions got ahead of the facts, Nuria! Thanks for the redirect 😃 Those fatty tails do indeed look different. Hope we see more of these unusual elephant rears & tails to track them.

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Snorticus's comment.

    😃

    Actually, these fatty bumps at the tail base are not that unusual. For example, there was a question about ele. longevity here. Look at this old lady´s rear:

    enter image description here

    But anyway, you are right, the tail base bump of the injured lady in ACP000cuwo is distinctively folded, and I think we could recognize her if we saw her again.

    Posted

  • AnLand by AnLand moderator

    ACP000d7n5 (and better seen in unclassified ACP000d7n4) - a male elephant with an injured trunk. I am not sure whether this is Gabela, but I wanted to post. There is a piece of the left ear missing, so maybe it is Gabela. But his tusks and the injury looks different, or? Or is it just the perspective?

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator

    no way! another injured trunk!!

    no, this is not Gabela...Gabela´s ear injury is round and this guy´s is long. Also, Gabela´s tusks are thicker and longer, and he is more robust and older.

    look, this is Gabela in ACP000cr3j

    enter image description here

    and this is the new male in ACP000d7n5 :

    enter image description here

    Posted

  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator

    Gabela´s trunk injury is also different:

    Gabela in ACP000cr4i :

    enter image description here

    and ACP000d7n4 (unclassified):

    enter image description here

    Posted