Some Elephants Are Climbers

Spoke to North Carolina Zoo veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis today about the study which finds that African (savannah) elephants avoid going up even rather small hills. (Link)

Mike, who has tracked African elephants over many months, through many years, is of the opinion that, while that may be true for the elephants studied, he has seen, and heard reliable reports of, African (forest and savannah) elephants climbing steep mountains - including Mount Cameroon (up to "2500 or 3000 meters") and Mount Kilimanjaro.

(Note: While some believe there are two elephant species (African and Asian), others believe there are two distinct species of African elephants (forest and savannah) and others still believe there are three distinct African species, although I'm unsure of the details on this theory.)

(Update: This article by Keith Somerville for BBC News Online reports on the UC San Diego researchers who say the elephants of West Africa are a separate, third species of African elephant.)