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Elephants for sale

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:29:00 +0000

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Over and over again, the baby elephant scrapes its skin against the metal bars of a zoo in northern China, appearing agitated and distressed.

Not long ago this elephant lived with its family herd in the wilds of Hwange National Park, the largest reserve in Zimbabwe. Then it was caught, and along with three other young elephants, flown halfway around the world.

At Taiyuan Zoo, where Chinese animal lovers filmed the plight of the little lone elephant behind bars, another that came from Zimbabwe died soon after its long and difficult journey. The elephants arrived in late November, during a winter of record cold temperatures.

Weird news: Elephant dung coffee fetches $50 a cup

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:57:00 +0000

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Thailand (AP) -- In the lush hills of northern Thailand, a herd of 20 elephants is excreting some of the world's most expensive coffee.

Trumpeted as earthy in flavor and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee's unique taste.

Stomach turning or oddly alluring, this is not just one of the world's most unusual specialty coffees. At $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound), it's also among the world's priciest.

For now, only the wealthy or well-traveled have access to the cuppa, which is called Black Ivory Coffee. It was launched last month at a few luxury hotels in remote corners of the world -- first in northern Thailand, then the Maldives and now Abu Dhabi - with the price tag of about $50 a serving.

The Associated Press traveled to the coffee's production site in the Golden Triangle, an area historically known for producing drugs more potent than coffee, to see the jumbo baristas at work. And to sip the finished product from a dainty demitasse.

Weird news: Four elephants OK after circus truck crash

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 22:57:00 +0000

JACKSON, Miss. — A circus official says a truck pulling a trailer full of elephants ran off an interstate in southern Mississippi over the weekend, but the four pachyderms and the driver weren't harmed.

Renee Storey, an executive with Cole Brothers Circus of the Stars, said the elephants were being transported from Alabama to Louisiana on Sunday night when the truck went off Interstate 10 and ran down an embankment.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Johnny Poulos said the truck driver reported another vehicle forced him off the interstate. The truck was disabled, but the trailer wasn't seriously damaged and later was towed it to its intended destination at circus grounds in Hammond, La.

Storey says the four elephants were calm and playful on Monday after their arrival in Louisiana.