#Kaeng Krachan

[rabbitcruiser]

World Elephant Day

These magnificent creatures are among the largest animals on earth, with incredible memories and emotional intelligence that astound researchers and animal lovers alike.

They’re intelligent. They’re family-oriented. They have great memories. They are capable of feeling a wide range of deep emotions, from intense grief to joy bordering on elation, as well as empathy and stunning self-awareness. They create complex, supportive societies much like our own.

Taking into consideration all of that and much, much more, what’s not to love about elephants? Still, countless elephants are brutally killed every year for their ivory by greedy poachers who then leave their carcasses to rot in the sun. As Graydon Carter, Editor of Vanity Fair put it:

We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits, but the way we treat them puts on display the very worst of human behavior.

World Elephant Day is the perfect time to find out more about these amazing animals and what we can do to preserve and protect them so they do not go the way of the mammoth.

History of World Elephant Day

World Elephant Day was created in 2011 by two Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims and Thailand’s Elephant Reintroduction Foundation and first celebrated on August 12, 2012. The initiative was greatly supported by film star and Star Trek legend William Shatner who narrated the documentary Return to the Forest, a fascinating 30-minute film about the reintroduction of captive Asian elephants to the wild.

The motivation for the first World Elephant Day was to draw attention to the plight of these majestic creatures to populations and cultures all over the world. Due to their pleasant and intelligent nature, the world’s largest land animals are loved worldwide. But, unfortunately, these magnificent creatures face multiple threats to their survival.

One major issue is the ivory trade. Currently, the demand for ivory is the biggest in China, with the price of ivory often exceeding the price of gold, something that makes elephants bigger targets than ever. The economics here work firmly against the humble elephant. Extreme levels of poverty in Africa mean that people can often make a month’s wages or more from the ivory of a single animal, selling it on the international market.

Furthermore, the parts of the world that demand ivory, such as China, are becoming increasingly wealthy, meaning that they can pay more for tusks. These dual factors are combining to make elephant poaching one of the most lucrative activities on the plant.

Habitation loss is also a danger to the world’s elephant population as it deprives elephants of the hundreds of pounds of food they need every day, making it more difficult for them to breed and making it easier for poachers to track them down. Unfortunately, researchers believe that loss of habitat is the primary driver for the loss of elephants in the wild. A century ago, they numbered more than 12 million in the wild. Today, that figure may be as low as 400,000, with as many as 20,000 per year killed by poachers.

Data suggest that the geographic range of elephants fell by around 30 percent between 2002 and 2011, with a similar loss of savannah for them to roam. The introduction of large parks throughout Africa has allowed habitat destruction to stabilize, but illegal poaching remains a dire threat. Circuses and tourism are also serious problems for the animals’ well-being.

World Elephant Day is an opportunity for everyone to get together to find ways to reduce conflict between humans and elephants. The solution probably lies in a combination of strategies. These could include land development that minimizes habitat destruction, electric fences to keep elephants away from farms, and changes in local attitudes.

Luckily, an increasing number of both celebrities and politicians have become interested in the cause, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashley Judd, and President Barack Obama.

World Elephant Day Timeline

50 million BC Elephants roam Africa

The elephant species is believed to have originated in Africa and then eventually spread across land bridges to Asia and Europe.

2012 World Elephant Day is founded

Canadian Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand, which is a royal initiative in Thailand. The day continues to be led by Patricia Sims.

19th-20th Centuries Elephant populations are reduced

The number of elephants decreases, even with international efforts to protect them.

1976 African Elephants are placed on the Endangered Species list

The growing popularity of ivory leads to a severe decrease in populations and elephants are considered endangered as poachers continue to kill them for their tusks.

2015 World Elephant Society is started

Founded as a charitable organization, World Elephant Society was created to help support the World Elephant Day campaign.

How to Celebrate World Elephant Day

The best way to celebrate this day is to take the opportunity to educate yourself about these magnificent mammals and share your knowledge with others. As ever, simply spreading the word about the dangers these magnificent mammals face via social media can actually make a real change.

Thanks to your sharing a few of World Elephant Day’s Facebook posts, that old high school acquaintance of yours who is traveling to Thailand on her honeymoon this year may just decide to skip the elephant ride when she realizes that “training” elephants often involves tying and beating them daily for months on end.

Watching the aforementioned documentary will only take half an hour of your time but is sure to be a real eye-opener, not to mention the absolutely stunning landscapes shown in it. If you want to get a bit more involved, you could choose to make a donation to a foundation dedicated to protecting elephants from poachers or relocating them to locations better suited to their needs.

The organizers of World Elephant Day also provide plenty of ideas they encourage for helping these incredible creatures in the wild.

The first thing you can do is sign the World Elephant Day pledge. This document allows you to join with countless other people around the world to put pressure on governments to change their policies.

Organizers also want people to promote ethical elephant hashtags on their social media accounts, raising awareness of the abuse of animals worldwide, including in the tourism industry.

Clearly, buying any products containing ivory is a big no-no and should be avoided wherever possible. When buying pianos, antiques, or other products, always check to ensure that the manufacturer has not used elephant tusks in the production process.

You can also support organizations working hard to protect natural elephant habitats. Many of these areas are under threat right now because of population pressures in sub-Saharan African countries as well as India, where cities are sprawling and booming.

Finally, you can invest in projects that seek to provide sustainable and lucrative livelihoods to people who live alongside elephants. These programs improve economic circumstances so that locals don’t feel that they need to poach to make ends meet.

Whichever way suits you best, make sure that you spend this day in a way that helps elephants the world over so we, in turn, can continue to marvel at them and their uniquely fascinating way of life. By playing your part, you can make a big difference.

World Elephant Day FAQs

When is World Elephant Day?

World Elephant Day takes place on August 12 of each year. Other celebration days for elephants include Save the Elephant Day on April 16 and National Elephant Appreciation Day on September 22.

How is World Elephant Day celebrated?

One of the best ways to celebrate World Elephant Day is to help elephants by raising awareness, learning more about elephants, or signing the World Elephant Day Pledge.

Are elephants endangered?

The elephant species is classified as endangered, with only 40,000-50,000 left in the wild.

Why is World Elephant Day celebrated?

World Elephant Day is observed to bring attention to the plight of Asian and African elephants, conserving and protecting them from the numerous threats they face.

How much does an elephant weigh?

As the largest land animals on earth, a large male elephant can weigh up to 15,000 pounds.

Source

[herpsandbirds]

Racket-tailed Treepie (Crypsirina temia), family Corvidae, order Passeriformes, Kaeng Krachan NP, Thailand

photograph by Loel Lamela

[maturiin]

thick-billed green pigeon! a beauty i saw in kaeng krachan national park (thailand). he was too far away for my camera so i painted him instead

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Is that a deer or a mouse? It's a lesser mouse-deer! This species is one of the smallest hoofed animals, second only to its cousin, the Java mouse-deer. Lesser mouse deer stand only 45 cm (18 inches) at the shoulder and weigh less than 2 kg (4.4 lb). This makes it easy prey for animals like clouded leopards, large snakes, and birds of prey.

(Image: A lesser mousedeer (Tragulus kanchil) by Kaeng Krachan National Park)

If you like what I do, consider buying me a ko-fi!

[mammalianmammals]

Yellow-throated Marten (Martes flavigula), family Mustelidae,  Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

photograph by Rushenb

[mutant-distraction]

Paul PH Tan

Red Bearded Bee Eater

Kaeng Krachan National Park Thailand

[typhlonectes]

Black-and-red Broadbill (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos), Kaeng Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi, Thailand

photograph by Jason Thompson | Wikipedia CC

[exotic-venom]

Pope's pit viper (Trimeresurus cf. popeiorum) Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

[snototter]

A dusky leaf monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus) sits in a tree in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

by Eric Zhou

[sitting-on-me-bum]

"The Secret Lives Of Geckos"

Kaeng Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi, Thailand

"A pair of bejeweled Tokay Geckos peer out from between the rafters of a gazebo. These geckos are named after the sound they produce–the word “gecko” itself comes from the Javanese name for this species. One of the largest species of geckos on the planet, they are quite shy and can camouflage their otherwise bright colors when they need to blend in."

By Jomtup Charoenlapnumchai

2023 Nature “inFocus” Photography Contest

[tropic-havens]

Streaked Spiderhunter (Arachnothera magna) in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi, Thailand

[rabbitcruiser]

National Elephant Appreciation Day

Take a trip to the zoo or a wildlife conservatory or fire up Disney’s Dumbo and appreciate one of Earth’s largest, most interesting creatures: the elephant.

Many annual celebration days have a long, storied history and carry huge global significance. Is National Elephant Appreciation Day one of them? Perhaps not, but that doesn’t mean that it is any less important for the ones who the day is about – and in this case, it’s all about the elephants! 

History of National Elephant Appreciation Day

Established in 1996 by Mission Media, a graphics and publishing company, the origins of National Elephant Appreciation Day are largely based on owner Wayne Hepburn’s personal fascination with elephants. His interest, in turn, began when he received an elephant paperweight as a gift from his daughter. Despite its somewhat ridiculous back story, the day has received some official recognition over the years.

That said, while native to Asia and Africa, elephants are certainly worthy of some appreciation from everyone around the world. They are, after all, the largest land mammals on the planet and sadly, many species of elephants face the threat of extinction, due to environmental factors as well as the ivory trade.

Those who love elephants and want other opportunities throughout the year to celebrate these incredible creatures can also observe World Elephant Day in August or Save the Elephant Day in April.   

How to Celebrate National Elephant Appreciation Day

So what should you do to celebrate National Elephant Appreciation Day? Well, just about anything elephant-themed. Get on board with observing by implementing ideas such as some of these:

Visit Some Elephants at the Zoo

An amazing way to show appreciation for this largest of land mammals might be to head over to a local zoo and pay them a visit on National Elephant Appreciation Day. Check the zoo’s website ahead of time to see if they publish a list of feeding times, as that is a particularly fun hour to view the elephants during their meals. Many zoos throughout the United States, and in countries all over the world, offer access for children and adults to experience elephants in a safe and calm environment.

Learn Fun Facts About Elephants

Finding out more about elephants can be a superb opportunity to celebrate National Elephant Appreciation Day. Try out some of these fun facts to learn, share and raise awareness for the day:

Elephants are able to distinguish languages Researchers believe that they can tell the difference between the languages of people groups who prey on them and those who do not.

Elephants are amazing hearers Even though their ears are enormous, another way that elephants can “hear” is using their feet, by picking up low frequency sounds through the ground.

Elephants can experience trauma Just like humans, elephants are highly emotional and intelligent creatures, and they can also show signs of PTSD when they have experienced a tragedy.

Elephants need their trunks to survive The trunk of an elephant is extremely versatile, allowing them to not only smell but also breathe underwater, pick up items, clean themselves, make sounds and even provide a defense for themselves.

Make a Donation to Help Elephants

Those who are concerned about the dwindling populations and the way this could affect the plight of these amazing animals might want to make a donation to a favorite wildlife charity that is dedicated to helping elephants. From protecting their habitat to legislating better laws to prevent poaching, many charities do all sorts of work to take care of elephants.

Take a look at some of these nonprofit organizations that help elephants:

World Wildlife Fund. This well-known organization offers the opportunity for patrons to “adopt” an elephant.

International Elephant Foundation. This charity provides protection, medical care, conservation partnerships and more.

Save the Elephants. This UK registered charity is based in Kenya where many of the world’s elephants live.

Elephants Alive. Specifically targeted toward helping the elephants who live in Africa, this nonprofit organization allows patrons to participate in a program where they become an “elephant guardian”.

Source

[herpsandbirds]

please please please please frogs that look really dumb

ONLY THE DUMBESTEST OF FROOGS FOR YOU MY LIEGE!!!

Budgett’s Frog (Lepidobatrachus laevis), family Ceratophrynidae, El Chaco, Paraguay

photograph via: FAUNA PARAGUAY

Budgett’s Frog (Lepidobatrachus laevis), family Ceratophrynidae, found in the Chaco Regions of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay

photograph by Dick Bartlett

Blunt-headed Burrowing Frog (Glyphoglossus molossus), family Microhylidae, Kaeng Krachan, Thailand

photograph by Tom Charlton

Purple Frogs (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), mating, family Nasikabatrachidae, endemic to the Wesxtern Ghats of India

photographs by Dr Ashish Thomas

[chinquix]

Racquet-Tailed Treepie, Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

[gepetordi1]

White-lipped Pit Viper (Trimeresurus albolabris), female, family Viperidae, Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

Venomous.

photograph by Rushen

[hexenmeisterer]

Not Me politics+art links from Nuchy

here are some cool political/artistic Not Me things I’ve learned from scrolling through Nuchy’s twitter, and then watching this 2+ hour long english subbed interview with Nuchy and the two other writers of the show, Noolek and M:

The van liberation scene in episode 14 was heavily based on a real-life thing that happened (video of the real-life event is included in this tweet) (I haven’t found any info beyond this video, so if you know when/where it happened or have a news article about it or something please share, I’m so curious!) - Nuchy tweeted “The scene in the series seem to be like a miracle but actually it's  inspired by the true event. We cant film an extravaganza people chasing the van scene, so I changed to the pov of the gang in the van instead with a new perspective and artistic approach.” - Noolek tweeted (this one’s just run through google translate though) “You guys are our inspiration in this scene. The scene is gone and I cry every time I watch it. It triggers us a lot. We pecked ourselves with a million swearing in our heads. but when the fire has been ignited The candle flame will never be extinguished again. because sovereignty truly belongs to the people” - Nuchy held a Twitter Spaces event with Amnesty Thailand talking with families of victims of forced disappearance.

the speaker on the megaphone at the protest in ep 13 is Thatchapong Kaedum AKA Boy, a Thai activist who does a lot of work - against the Chana industrial project (”which includes the construction of industrial facilities, deep-sea ports, and biomass power plants. However, the approval was made without any local participation and many questioned the government for its lack of inclusion and transparency.") -in support of Karen people’s right to return to their homeland in Bong Kloi in the Kaeng Krachan forests in Thailand, after being violently displaced to create a national park there

... you may recognize the details of this story from a combination of Not Me plot points: a) the native people who were forced off the same land Tawi built his house on because they couldn’t “prove” residency on that land b) the diplomat interview question White gets about UNESCO refusing to grant world heritage site status because of Thailand’s human rights abuses-- this notably did NOT happen here-- UNESCO granted Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex a spot on the World Heritage List despite human rights advocates saying they shouldn’t.

Nuchy invited real activists to be part of the crowd in multiple protest scenes as well-- the crowd from that scene in ep 13 were from Talu Fah, a pro-democracy protest group, and the pride rally crowd were real LGBT activists.

The rainbow flag scene was not originally going to be a whole pride thing, it was going to be a mostly Tawi-centric protest. But then, like 3 days before they shot that scene, the Constitutional Court upheld section 1448, which defines marriage as only between a woman and a man, so Nuchy decided to gather up her LGBT activist contacts real quick to add in that element.

this June Nuchy shared a video from Thailand’s first official Pride parade in 16 years: people jumping and dancing under the flag just like the scene from Not Me 

Nuchy highlighted some artists featured in the series!: - Rap Against Dictatorship, from the scene where Eugene dances, are here on twitter and here’s an English-language article about their song “16 years” (I can’t find the lyrics translated into english sadly, but I do really like this song! and the article gives you a vague outline of what they’re talking about.) - Oat Montien, who did Yok’s art! He is a friend of Nuchy’s, and she mentioned she chose him because his art explored homoeroticism. He actually came on set and worked with First on how to pay attention like an artist would for his drawing scenes. - KNN.5 who did Namo’s art! - Baphoboyz, who did the UNAR art! 

Also: upcoming Nuchy projects!!

Forbidden, the first Thai-language HBO series, will be coming out sometime this year! it’s a supernatural thriller show directed by Nuchy and Josh Kim.

Nuchy will be directing a Hollywood film with producer Dean Altit and the writer JittiRain. The article says there will be one lead actor from America and one lead actor from Thailand!