2009 got off to a surprising start for one young elephant, as he was filmed by the BBC on the sharp end of a rebuke from his mother, for coming between her and his newly-arrived baby sister. But a bizarre encounter at the end of January set the scene for a year in which conflicts continued to arise between elephants and humans, as the latter encroach on the natural ranges of the giant mammals.
The incident involved five-year-old Kalpana Das, who was apparently 'abducted' by a wild elephant that had ripped apart the walls of her father's hut. Although she escaped unharmed from her 30-minute ordeal, it remained unclear why the tusker had chosen to 'guard' the girl between its forelegs.
In February, the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic reported the grave threat to Asia's elephant population from booming prices in Vietnam. Amid accusations that the Vietnamese government was failing to enforce its own laws, Born Free's Ian Redmond OBE described as "dismal" the news that Vietnam may now be home to only around 150 wild elephants.
March brought more positive news for at least one of the continent's animals, as three-year-old Thai elephant Mosha was fitted with a prosthetic to replace a leg lost in a landmine explosion. In Botswana, meanwhile, conservationists were keeping an eye on a rare albino calf spotted in the Okavango Delta, which had taken to sheltering under its mother from the harsh African sun.
As spring approached, an April fool's message from the Born Free Foundation carried a serious warning about the plight of elephants in zoos across the world. The charity said that captive animals exhibit smaller ears, muscle wastage and cracked skin, and may live only for half as long as their wild relatives. There was more bad news from Vietnam, where port authorities intercepted a 6.2-tonne ivory shipment. The record haul's alleged origin in Tanzania appeared to give weight to earlier fears that African ivory was passing through Vietnamese markets.
While a ban on live elephants being exported from Thailand provided a promising end to the month, it came after gruesome news from Zimbabwe, which suggested that hunger was driving poachers to kill wild elephants for food.
May offered little in the way of good news for wild or captive elephants. The month began with another large ivory haul - this time in Kenya - and the news that a Chinese company had begun quarrying works within a wildlife corridor in the country. Twenty-nine tusks were recovered in a separate action in northern Kenya, while drought in Mali caused the deaths of at least nine wild elephants. A female elephant was apparently killed by an electric fence erected by Indian farmers. Meanwhile, the death at Whipsnade Zoo of Donaldson, a one year old male Asian elephant, prompted the Born Free Foundation to call for a change in the rules on the captivity and transport of elephants within the UK.
In June, suspicions that April's massive ivory shipment found in Vietnam had originated in east Africa appeared to be confirmed, as six customs officials were arrested in Tanzania on suspicion of having received bribes in exchange for approving export documents for the haul. In Thailand, a Traffic report found that "legal loopholes" and "insufficient law enforcement" contributed to the country's illegal ivory market - the largest in Asia.
Meanwhile, three species of frog were found to live in the dung of elephants in Sri Lanka, while in Kenya, a pilot project found that protecting crops with fences of regularly spaced beehives connected by wire could reduce successful elephant raids by 86%.
There was criticism in July of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), after it increased the number of elephants permitted to be hunted in Mozambique, from 40 to 60 each year. Although the month also brought news that the Kenyan elephant population had doubled since 1989, CITES came under further scrutiny for its 2007 decision to allow a one-off ivory sale - conservationists said that this had helped stimulate an upsurge in poaching within the country.
Another ivory haul made the headlines, as 16 elephant tusks and rare black rhino horns were discovered hidden in coffins at Nairobi Airport. In the same week, WWF announced that the forensic technique of carbon dating could now be used to establish whether seized ivory originated from an animal killed before or after 1947, when the trade was outlawed. Meanwhile, two long-running human/elephant conflicts came to a head, as a herd of 83 animals had to be moved in Malawi, and Nepali authorities were forced to intervene after more than 200 migrating elephants caused chaos for villagers, who resorted to shooting some of the animals.
August brought a stark warning from the Born Free Foundation, which estimated that the elephant population of sub-Saharan Africa could be wiped out within 15 years if current trends - including the loss of an estimated 38,000 animals to poachers each year - continued. The charity warned that organised crime had become heavily involved in the poaching trade, from which tens of billions of dollars are thought to be made each year. It added that a relaxing of the rules on ivory trading and the CITES-mandated one-off trade had contributed to a worsening situation.
Responding later in the month to the seizure in Vietnam of three tonnes of ivory thought to have originated from Africa, Born Free spokesperson Shelley Waterland said that governments which approved the sale must "take responsibility for what is now unfolding".
"The UK and other governments must now admit to their serious mistakes and pledge significant funds to those countries desperately trying to protect their elephants," she added.
The preservation of elephant corridors - through which the creatures migrate - was in the news again in September, as officials in eastern India finally took action to manage routes - seven years after the country's government had requested action. In a month of conflicts in the country, villagers were killed and injured by elephants entering villages in the Kandhamal district, while a farmer who fatally shot a female elephant near Bandipur nature reserve was arrested. Meanwhile, conservationists completed a study in the north-eastern state of Assam which suggested that deterrent plants such as citrus fruit should be used to protect crops and settlements from elephants.
The focus on deterrent crops continued in October, with Cambodian farmers being helped to plant chilli along the edge of crop fields, in return for assurances that they would not harm the animals. There was more encouragement elsewhere, as Sri Lanka launched a 'massive' elephant conservation drive, Thai authorities promised to crack down on beggars using elephants in Bangok, and Zimbabwean rangers arrested three poachers - after killing one in a gun battle. Early in the month, news had emerged of another big ivory haul at Nairobi Airport in Kenya.
Scrutiny turned to captive elephants in November, which started with a bizarre Oklahoma road accident that a runaway circus elephant was lucky to escape without major injury. Shortly afterwards, India's decision to relocate its 140 circus and zoo elephants to parks and nature reserves received a broad welcome. But even as Will Travers of the Born Free Foundation described the move as "unexpected yet enormously welcome", Reid Park Zoo in Arizona pressed ahead with fundraising for a new seven-acre elephant enclosure.
The month also saw concerns at a "remarkable surge" in the illicit trading of elephant ivory over the last two years, and at the development of a remote control tether designed to immobilise violent elephants. Commenting on the device, which he noted was only suited to captive elephants, Will Travers said: "Further restricting captive elephants using such devices may improve human safety, but it does nothing to address the real issue: elephants by their very nature do not belong in captivity and do not respond well to the compromises imposed on them by the captive environment."
Captivity remained very much in the news during December, as calls came for the closure of elephant exhibits at two north American attractions. Toronto Zoo defied pressure to close its elephant display after the death of a fourth animal there in three years - attributed by campaigners to a climate that is simply too cold. Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, who sits on the zoo's board, said that moving the three remaining animals "didn't make sense". Meanwhile, city-run Topeka Zoo in Kansas came under fire for foot disorders alleged to have been caused to its two elephants by hard flooring and a lack of space.
Welfare standards in the UK were subject to scrutiny, too, as the Government launched a consultation on the use of animals in travelling circuses. Pressure group Animal Defenders International hailed the consultation as a victory, following its expose in August alleging that elephants travelling with the Great British Circus had suffered abuse.
The year's close brought more positive news for international attempts to crack down on the illegal ivory trade, as a massive operation across eastern Africa ended with the arrest of more than 100 suspects. Coordinated by INTERPOL, the six-nation operation netted around two tonnes of illegal ivory. However, the discovery on Tuesday night of the tusk-less corpse of a male elephant has raised concerns that poachers may have "barged" into India's Rajaji National Park - and provides a grim reminder of the threats still facing wild animals in 2010.
As part of its commitment to the welfare of elephants in the wild, elephant.co.uk supports the work of TUSK and the Born Free Foundation.
