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A matchup between an elephant and a rhinoceros would be quite the spectacle! Both are massive animals with unique features and strengths.
In terms of sheer size, African elephants are the largest land animals, weighing several tons and standing up to 13 feet tall at the shoulder. Rhinoceroses, on the other hand, are smaller but still formidable, with the largest species, the white rhinoceros, weighing around 2.2 to 3.6 tons.
In a confrontation, the outcome would likely depend on various factors such as the species of elephant (African vs. Asian), the species of rhinoceros (white, black, Indian, etc.), the individuals involved, and the circumstances of the encounter.
Elephants are known for their intelligence, social structure, and formidable strength. Their tusks can be used as weapons, and they have powerful trunks that can push over trees and fend off predators.
Rhinoceroses, while not as agile or intelligent as elephants, possess thick, armor-like skin and formidable horns. Their charge can be incredibly powerful, and they have been known to flip vehicles in confrontations.
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The Crow: Conservation with Edgar Allan Poe
A released ʻAlalā (Hawaiian crow) looks up in the forest. Photo credit: San Diego Zoo Global
Bloggers note: The endangered ʻAlalā (Hawaiian crow) and Åga (Mariana crow) are corvids native to Hawai’i and Guam that were extirpated from the wild. Thanks to dedicated partnership efforts and captive rearing programs, these birds are once more taking their place in the forests and ecosystems that need them. Learn more about these birds in this updated version of Edgar Allan Poe’s narrative poem, The Raven, by Elena Fischer, Kupu Americorps Intern with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while they waited, coiled and hungry,
Over many a silent and dying volume of forgotten forest—
While scientists nodded, at the ready, suddenly there came a slither,
As of some thing gently climbing, climbing up the deliberate trap door.
“’Tis some brown tree snake,” one personnel muttered, “climbing up the trap door—
Only this and so many more.”
Ah, so long ago it was in the bleak decades now forgotten;
And each separate dying crow wrought the victory of its enemy over the Guamanian forest.
Eagerly we wished the days of old;--hurriedly we had sought to borrow
From the crows’ nests of nearby Rota—Rota as the last defense—
For the rare and radiant corvid whom the Chamorro name Åga
Nameless on Guam, not for evermore.
Two Åga (Mariana crow) perched on a single branch in the forest. Photo Courtesy: Phil Hannon
And the silken, sleek, uncertain rustling of each blue-black body
Is thrilling—filling the fantastic limestone forests with numbers never felt before;
So that now, to still the decreasing numbers of Åga , they fly against the test of time
“’If this crow can withstand the knock of extinction at their door—
So can other crows withstand the knock of extinction at their door;--
Here on Rota and forevermore.”
Presently the forest soul grows stronger; the mind’s eye travels farther,
“Perhaps,” hopeful ones say, “across the deep blue, we implore;
That the native corvids are a flapping, and a rapping,
And so sure is the possibility, possibly because no brown tree snakes have invaded,
That there will be surcease of crowing”—here on the islands of Hawai’i they should have pervaded—
But darkness there and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long one waits to hear, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams that this could never be;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only hope there spoken was the whispered word, “ʻAlalā?”
This the only species, and an echo of a reminder that once there were six
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into the dejection, all the crows no longer singing,
Soon again there sounds a cawing a bit quiet in the distance.
“Surely,” one hopes, “surely that is something in the forest;”
Come see, then, what therat is, and this mystery explore--
Let the forest be filled again and this mystery explore;--
‘Tis the aviary upon the forest floor!
One ʻAlalā perches on a branch looking down. Photo Credit: Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources
Open aviary doors on the forest floor, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
Out there stepped a stately ʻAlalā of the saintly crows of yore;
Not the least bit timid flight made he; not an hour passed or stayed he;
But, out of the aviary he perched in the open forest of Hawai’i--
Perched upon a branch just waiting for his fellow cohort to follow--
Perched, and sat, and cawing once more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling the onlookers, negating the critics,
By the grave and stern occasion of its extinction in the wild,
“Though thy presence is first in these trees, thou art sure no craven,
Ghastly feral mammals and disease have ravaged the land you once wandered,
But now with training, with skills to combat the hawk and starvation,
Extinct the crow is nevermore.”
Much to be marveled by, to hear discourse so plainly,
Though it warrants little answering--most calls being alarming;
For we cannot help agreeing that few living human beings
Ever yet has been blessed with seeing such fowl above before--
Bird or beast to come upon the released crow, the latter been prepared before,
Within the cohort they have rapport.
An ʻAlalā carries a twig in its beak. Photo Courtesy: SDZG
But the ‘Io, sitting lonely on the rising canopy, swooped only
For one taste, as if her soul in that one plunge she did outpour.
Nothing farther then she tried--not a feather then she fluttered--
For that crow more than muttered distress, for other defenses had he flown--
On the morrow the alarm may sound again, but for now, Hope has flown.
The drill to cease nevermore.
Startled at the stillness broken by predator so aptly graceful,
“Doubtless,” one ponders, “such a scene is stock and store to only here
Caught from some fragmenting forests whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till its songs of some fateful years--
Till the dirges of its flying Hopes that melancholy bore those years
Of crows nevermore.”
A captive raised Åga chick is fed by researchers on Rota. Image by San Diego Zoo Global.
But the ʻAlalā and Åga still beguiling the world into smiling,
Straight into the depths of forests known we release the bird, from brood and for broods;
Then, upon the black specks disappearing, science betakes to linking
Native unto native, thinking what these ominous birds of yore--
What these grim, beady, knowing, original, and ominous species of yore
Need to exist forevermore.
This is engaged in guessing, in researching, but no syllable expressing
To the dangers whose invasive species had burned the crows from forest core;
This and more threatens the native life, with great strife it is to restore
Homes now altered and unbalanced, that the invaders gloated o’er,
But whose destruction on islands-about may dwindle with the crow gloating o’er,
Native seeds shall disperse, ah, once more!
Two ʻAlalā are flying close together in a tree. Photo Credit: Hawai’i DLNR
A closeup of the head of an Åga . Photo Courtesy: Phil Hannon
To read more about the Åga and ʻAlalā, click these links below:
Species Spotlight: Åga
The ‘Alalā Project
Self-Defense: It’s For the Birds
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[Pt] Há dois dias voltei para Portugal, depois de uma experiência que me marcou profundamente. Foi uma decisão um pouco precipitada, senti que queria muito aprender a trabalhar com tartarugas marinhas e fui. Estive um mês numa ilha deserta, sem electricidada, água corrente, etc. Mas nunca me senti tão em casa. Aprendi muito e adorei o trabalho: sinto que contribui activamente para a conservação de uma espécie que adoro. Ter gostado tanto do trabalho, juntamente com as pessoas incríveis com quem pude partilhar esta experiência tornou-a muito mais do que eu esperava. Agora não tenho dúvidas que o meu lugar é no campo. Mal posso esperar pela minha próxima aventura. Obrigada @biosfera1cv e até um dia, Santa Lúzia. [Eng] Two days ago I returned to Portugal after an experience that touched me deeply.It was a rushed decision, I felt that I really wanted to learn and work with sea turtles, so I went. I spent a month in a desert island with no electricity, running water, etc. And I never felt so at home. I learned a lot and loved the work itself: I feel that I actively played a role in the conservation of a species that I love. Loving the work, along with sharing this experience with amazing people made it so much more than I could have ever expected. Now there's no doubt in my mind that I belong in the field. Let's see what new adventure's await me. Thank you @biosfera1cv and until one day, Santa Lúzia. #volunteer #volunterring #capeverde #santaluzia #carettacaretta #conservationbiology #fieldwork #seaturtles #home (at Santa Luzia, Cape Verde) https://www.instagram.com/p/BokUvoUhnuq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=btytky6v3j3p
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