Talk:Elephant/Archive 3

Chat about elephants on this page.

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The diet section includes a single sentence paragraph that is in the wrong place: "Walking at a normal pace an elephant covers about 2 to 4 miles an hour but they can reach 24 miles an hour at full speed." This sentence has nothing to do with diet.

"a classification of these as separate species, Loxodonta cyclotis". If they are separate species, why is only one species name (L. cyclotis) given - is this the forest or savannah version? Verloren

And what about pygmy elephants? I know there's a lot of doubt as to their existence, but people looking in an encyclopedia will want to know. Ortolan88

There are pygmy mammoths, which is a better name anyway.Nereocystis 23:04, 6 May 2005 (UTC)

No, there were regular, non-furry pigmy elephants. They (these?) lived on the island of Crete until 5000BC or maybe even 3000BC. Tiny ones, the size of a calf or a big pig! Their scattered skulls were the basis of belief in one-eyed giants mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. Me thinks someone cloning them would be mega-rich in a year, who wouldn't want a pet elephant instead of a dalmatian? Just imagine, a pet elephant, must be so much fun!

Dwarf elephants are discussed on: Dwarf elephant. A link is provided in the "See also" section. Pmaas 21:31, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

This article makes no mention of wild asian elephants, which still roam in Laos, Myanmar and Yunnan province, China (see Jinghong). -- prat

The information about Natalie Portman dressing up as an elephant is completely irrelevant.--XmarkX 10:02, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)

never forgetting and mice

I think it might be worthwhile mentioning, perhaps in the pop culture section, about two commonly used portrayals of elephants:

They never forget
They are scared of mice

violet/riga (t) 13:23, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

OKay, this might be random...

I was reading this Nature article (which could have some info to be put in here) and was struck by the niggling question:

Is a person who studies modern elephants called a Loxodontist?

If not, what then.--ZayZayEM 03:16, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Rouge Elephant?

I do hope that this individual meant "Rogue Elephant" not "Rouge Elephant".

Eagerly awaiting the Wikipedia article on the "Mascara Rhinoceros".

Stay tuned for "Pancake Pachyderm" -Nunh-huh 00:08, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

There is no such thing as a "rouge elephant". And a "rogue elephant" is a general term for an elephant that has gone rogue; it is not a different species. I am removing the text added by the anon on April 6 [1]. —Lowellian (talk) 21:48, Apr 16, 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps the Khmer Rouge had something to do with it. I imagine the Khmer Rouge respected elephants, being classless rural beasts of burden that they were. On a tangent, where does the word "heffalump" come from? Peter Pan? -Ashley Pomeroy 14:55, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Pacinian corpuscle / finger-like projections at tip of trunk

Regarding the following text: "The tip of an elephant's trunk contains pacinian corpuscles and finger-like projections used to manipulate small objects and to pluck grasses." Does anybody know whether the pacinian corpuscles are actually the finger-like projections on the tip of the trunk. If so, this phrase needs slight editing. Zingi 05:22, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

Defending yourself from Elephants

In my section in the article on Elephant Rage, you can see why elephants are killing about 400 humans per year (an average of 3 humans per week according to The National Geographic Channel). I have a question. How do you protect yourself from and elephant without killing it?

First don't panic, second if it chases you don't EVER run straight as these beasts can reach 40 km easily and overtake even an olympic athlete given 15 seconds of time. So try to zig zag and get away from any open terrain and into uneven terrain as elephants can't run easily there. also they are poor sighted and so hiding behind trees is also a temporary stop gap arrangement that'll give u some time.--Idleguy 05:37, July 23, 2005 (UTC)

memory and brain

Can anyone write a section about elephants and their brain? They supposedly have a very big temporal lobe allowing them to remember alot. Maybe mention matriarchs remembering routes guiding the group. I'm not the expert, but I'm thinking somebody is... -- WB 11:28, July 22, 2005 (UTC)

Size

"African elephants tend to be larger than the Asian species (up to 4 m high and 7500 kg)" says the article. Which are 4m high & 7.5 t: the Asian or the African? And how about the other variety? And why is this not in the Body characteristics section? Jimp 5Oct05

The largest elephant on record was a male African elephant that was 4 m high (at the shoulder). On average, African elephants are 3-4 m tall, and Asian elephants 2-3 m tall (at the shoulder). - Nunh-huh 07:44, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

Gallon

Please don't use gallons and the like (i.e. English units of volume) without specifying which gallon &c. you mean (U.S. or Imperial). Jimp 5Oct05

Elephant rage

I don't want to anger any elephants out there since they can stomp me to death, but I think the elephant rage section needs work. Various stories are descriped (all from Nat. Geo.?) but the implications are not properly backed-up. Elephants suffer Post-Traumatic stress disorder? Really? This absolutely needs a source (and yes, a step above a National Geographic as respectable as it is).

I have heard of elephant rage and had Indian friends describe it, but always in the context of a sexually-frustrated and/or sexually-aggressive male. This is relagated to the bottom and we have dubious "elephant-psychologizing" in its stead. Marskell 01:27, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

I second this; the whole section reads as if the some chap was watching this on television, and decided on a whim to summarise the programme in Wikipedia. A short sentence or two - "Some zoologists believe that Elephants can attack human beings whilst under the influence of stress, or in some cases alcohol. They cite examples such as (1, 2, 3), although these findings are disputed by (X), who argue that (Y)." - would be enough. As it stands the section harms Wikipedia, because this is the kind of article - as opposed to the offbeat topics which Wikipedia often covers - that traditional encyclopaedias excel at. -Ashley Pomeroy 15:11, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Agreed. How much beer would you need to get an elephant drunk? The section is more than a little surreal. -Philip Ross

Elephant graveyards?

There are these "elephant graveyards", places full of elephant bones where elephants go to die. I have heard that these do not really exist and are merely a myth. Can someone please add info about this to the article? 83.88.132.80 21:23, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

The above is really me. SpectrumDT 17:43, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Image of elephants mating?

Do we really need the image of elephants mating in the article? Does it add much useful info that wouldn't be found there otherwise? The image could be disgusting, but I can't see it so I don't know. from the comments on this site, maybe it's not too bad, but this article *could* be read by children or concerned caregivers. Graham/pianoman87 talk 06:20, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

May I refer to WP:NOT - Wikipedia is NOT censored for the protection of children--Ewok Slayer 06:38, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
- - In the Image the bull elephant mounts the female from behind. Two other elephants stand by the female. This mating occurs on a wild plain in Africa. You can't actually see the Elephant penis or it is very obscured.

OK, thanks for the description. It should be kept in the article. Graham/pianoman87 talk 07:24, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

What is this sentence supposed to mean?

This was recently added to the article (I've applied a few typo corrections): "As a function of dwindling numbers, it is hard to understand why so much attention is focused on the African elephant's plight when the Asian population is much more threatened than its more popular relative."

This is meant to be an intro sentence, I know, but is there something less POV that can be used? The new expansions are mostly good ones, but sources need to be cited for some of the claims. Graham/pianoman87 talk 13:33, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Asian Elephant numbers are inconsistent

The numbers given for Asian elephants are inconsistent. First we are told there is a total of 40000, then we hear of 35000 on Sri Lanka, 36000 on the mainland and 33000 to 53000 on Sumatra. Can someone knowledgable fix this? I'm only knowledgable about some integers, but not about elephants.... --Stephan Schulz 16:20, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Largest land animals

This article says, "Elephants are the largest land animals and largest land mammals alive today."

This is true, but it should be more specific. According to National Geographic, African elephants are the largest land animals. This article should be revised to reflect this more accurate statement.

Hughes, Catherine D. (nd). Elephants: Animal Information, Pictures, Map. Retrieved December 15, 2005 from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0103/elephants2.html.

Hollow legs?

In the pop culture section: "There is a factual basis for the legend, however: unique among land mammals, elephants' legs are hollow, affording the opportunity for small creatures such as mice to hide inside without detection."

I read this, and couldn't believe it. So I tried googling a few things, came up with nothing. I would think something as odd as this would be mentioned elsewhere on the Internet, if it's true. Can someone supply a reference, a picture, or both? Hollow legs? What does that mean? Hollow legbones, or do they actually have holes in their feet or something? This just doesn't sound right.--Rablari Dash 05:10, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Don't worry, it's just a childish joke from someone. I have deleted that whole silly paragraph - Adrian Pingstone 19:36, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Article not compliant with NPOV?

A lot of the article, particularly Habitat Loss and Elephant Rage, sounds like a WWF pamphlet. Whether or not the information stated in these sections is true, it should probably be reworded or at least considered for revision with regards to the NPOV policy. I've tagged the article with a POV check. erhudy

Let me clarify - as some people have expressed above, a lot of it seems directly transcribed from a National Geographic narration. Since the programs do tend to have a pro-environmentalist theme to them, it would probably be beneficial to adjust the wording of the contentious sections.