Save The Trunks and Save The Dung!

By Sebastian Clayton - August 13, 2008 (TNN) I remember being told elephants never forget and always wanting to be that elephant as I have a mind like a sieve and usually can't remember one moment from the next. Makes for interesting taxi rides home and the fact that my contributions may not be as regular as they could/should be. And now for the great news I came across today -- what was it again?  Now I remember - that older female elephants can remember back a long, long time to help them rediscover food and supplies other animals will forget in times of drought, famine and other problems that can be thrown at you if your an elephant. This may give elephants a crucial edge over other species during climate-change-induced events. The Wildlife Conservation Society and Zoological Society of London’s, Dr Nathalie Pettorelli, ZSL Researcher and co-author, said, "Climate change is expected to lead to a higher occurrence of severe drought in Africa and our study suggests that such extreme climatic events may act as a selection force on animal populations." Now for me, this can only lead to one question – if elephants can remember where to find food and water they need to survive, and through this we will be left with more elephants, and the fact that their dung can be a great energy source, can Elephant Power not be the fuel of the future? ! Nelly the elephant could become Nelly the power source!