Coverage dated October 20, 2021 to October 21, 2021
Some elephants are evolving to have no tusks as a response to brutal poaching
Headline from Local News 8, on the newest of 2 developments
By Katie Hunt, CNN An elephant’s tusks are among its defining features — they help the animal lift heavy branches, topple trees, strip bark, fight, and dig holes for water and minerals. But an increasing proportion of female elephants in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park have been born without th…
Local News 8's own description from its feed. We collect headlines and these descriptions, not full articles; read the original reporting below.
Developments in this update
2 dated developments, oldest first, newest marked. Each is named by one outlet's own headline; open its reports to see every outlet that covered it.
Tuskless Elephants Escape Poachers, but May Evolve New Problems
Headline from New York Times ·
Newest
Some elephants are evolving to have no tusks as a response to brutal poaching
WASHINGTON — A hefty set of tusks is usually an advantage for elephants, allowing them to dig for water, strip bark for food and joust with other elephants. But during episodes of intense ivory poaching, those big incisors become a liability. Now researchers have pinpointed how years of civil war
By Katie Hunt, CNN An elephant’s tusks are among its defining features — they help the animal lift heavy branches, topple trees, strip bark, fight, and dig holes for water and minerals. But an increasing proportion of female elephants in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park have been born without th…
New studies show that decades of civil war and poaching in Mozambique have led to worrying genetic changes among elephants: Many are now being born without tusks. The results highlight the dramatic effect humans can have on evolutionary processes.
As the country’s civil war decimated elephant populations, the proportion of tuskless females rose dramatically. A new study explains why the tuskless trend continued in peacetime.
Identical headlines usually mean shared wire copy. They are counted as separate articles but are not independent confirmation.
Some elephants are evolving to have no tusks as a response to brutal poaching | Since Then
