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The Desert Elephants of Mali

Satellite tracking of elephants living near Timbuktu has revealed the secret of their survival in the savage conditions of Mali’s desert. Through the tracking data from collared elephants, STE have found that the elephants of Africa’s northernmost population use over 32,000 square kilometres of the Gourma region in their epic quest for food and water, the largest range ever recorded for the species. It is the longest known elephant migration circuit in the world. Their circular migration route is also thought to be unique to this population. The findings, published online this week ahead of January’s issue of the journal Biological Conservation, have profound implications for efforts to ensure the continued existence of these elephants. “It’s incredible these elephants have survived. They have a truly stressful life with the lack of water and food, and their giant range reflects that,” said Save the Elephants’ GIS Analyst Jake Wall, who led the study. The Gourma elephants are
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BLM protesters topple statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston

Black Lives Matters protesters in Bristol have pulled down a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston. Demonstrators attached a rope to the Grade II-listed statue on Colston Avenue on Sunday before pulling it to the ground as crowds cheered. They then jumped on it and rolled it down the street before pushing it into Bristol Harbour. The historian David Olusoga compared the action to the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. However, the home secretary, Priti Patel, urged the police to respond. She told Sky News: “I think that is utterly disgraceful and that speaks to the acts of public disorder that have actually now become a distraction from the cause in which people are protesting about.” Supt Andy Bennett, of Somerset and Avon police, said his force was carrying out an investigation into criminal damage. However, Bennett told the BBC he understood that Colston was “a historical figure that’s caused the black community quite a lot of angst over the last couple of
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