Day 5: Elephant Blues
Saving elephants is about protecting the whole world. As inhabitants, we are responsible for the next generation and all the species earth is home to.
All our days are devoted to the environment’s well-being. Day 5, “Elephant Blues” of our ecological movement, is dedicated to these gentle giants who play a vital role in maintaining the much-needed equilibrium in the ecosystem.
Elephants are so crucial to biodiversity that the entire ecosystem can collapse anytime without them.
What are these gentle giants capable of?
Like bees and birds, elephants are also ecosystem engineers known to play a critical role in seed dispersal.
- ➤ Can effectively disperse a variety of seeds
- ➤ Help improve plant diversity
- ➤ Elephants produce close to 150kg of nutrient-enriched wet dung every day
As mentioned, elephants transport seeds, making them indispensable seed dispersers.
A study conducted on 96 forest elephants revealed that these gentle giants, on average, disperse seeds within a distance of 5.3 km, with 89% transporting them farther than 1 km.
Apparently, the study also revealed that the longest simulated seed dispersal distance documented was 101 km, with an average maximum dispersal distance of 40.1 km.
Elephants are ecosystem warriors, capable of so much more. And with Elephant Blues, we at ARDEA Foundation dive into the world of elephants and urge everyone to help spread the word about these gentle giants.
Let’s stand up and show our commitment towards these Titans.
