![]() Large herbivores can actually compact this snow, reducing its ability to insulate the ground beneath, thus reducing the risk of soil thaw. " has 1,400 Gigatons of carbon that could be released in the form of methane, which is 80 times worse than carbon dioxide ," Church said. When the frozen soil begins to thaw, carbon that has been locked inside it for centuries can be released into the atmosphere. Mammoth-like animals could potentially restore the Arctic to its original, grassland state. This photo shows a snowy scene and trees in Lapland, Finland, within the Arctic Circle. And that's bad because it'll cause thawing," he said. "They also trap the snow, so you get a thick layer of snow that keeps the warm summer heat in like a downed blanket. But, in the Arctic, Church said that they actually exclude larger animals. In some environments, like the rainforest, trees form a major habitat for many different animal species. But, as Lamm said, "not all trees are created equal." That might sound counterintuitive as we are told to replant trees to save the planet. "What the elephants do, that no other species can do, is they knock down trees and they restore the grasslands," Church said. But elephant-mammoth hybrids can do something that most other animals cannot. Re-introducing any native populations in the Arctic would help restore the natural ecosystem. "Thousands of years ago.there was mostly grass. But, when mammoths lived there, the landscape was very different. Today, the Arctic is largely made up of moss, shrubs and sparse forest. Their herbivorous diet and massive size allowed them to play a central role in maintaining the health and biodiversity of the ecosystems in which they lived. These animals were enormous, growing up to 13 feet tall and weighing around 6 to 8 tons. ![]() Mammoth populations started to decline at the end of the last Ice Age. The number of elephants being poached for their ivory is unacceptable and we must end this before it’s too late.Photo of a family of mammoth skeletons found together in Siberia. Despite a ban on international sales ivory in 1989, the illegal trade has expanded, particularly over the last 10 years and is now bigger than ever. ![]() Right now, elephants are fighting for their survival. And these amazing animals can recognise over 100 different friends from their calls alone.īonus fact… it’s not something to celebrate, but here’s why we so desperately need to save elephants.Īdult elephants have no real predators in the wild… except us. Some of their calls are so low, they are below the range of human hearing.
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