nPostednon March 13, 2015
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nTodaynthe people of Thailand celebrate their national animal and raisenawareness of the endangered status of Asian elephants.
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| Above is the current flag of Thailand. Below are some other (and older) versions. |
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nWhynMarch 13? This is the anniversary of the day that the white elephantnwas chosen to be the national animal, and that a white elephant wasnadded to an older version of the Thai flag.
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nInnsome places in Thailand, Elephant Day will be celebrated with special buffet luncheons for elephants,ntraditional blessing ceremonies, and even elephant shows.
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nThenpeople of Thailand have been utilizing elephants as transport, innwork, and in battle—and they have been doing so for thousands ofnyears. Despite the fact that the Thai people, to some extent, dependnon elephants as well as celebrate them, the elephant population hasnplummeted in the past century. Apparently the main two factors arenloss of habitat because of human activities and climate changes.
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nSo…whatndoes “plummeted” mean, exactly? According to Wikipedia,nthere used to be around 100,000 elephants in Thailand, but now therenare only 2,000 to 3,000 wild elephants as well as about 2,700ndomesticated elephants.
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Atnthe elephant feasts, there are special treats such as watermelonsnand pineapples as well as daily staples such as sugar cane andnbananas. Normally, a Thai elephant eats around six tons of grass,nbananas, and sugar cane every day.
Atnthe elephant feasts, there are special treats such as watermelonsnand pineapples as well as daily staples such as sugar cane andnbananas. Normally, a Thai elephant eats around six tons of grass,nbananas, and sugar cane every day.n
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nAlsonon this date:
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Ken Day
Ken Day n
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nDecorationnDay in Liberia
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nDonaldnDuck’s birthday
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nLooknUp at the Night Sky Day
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nScientistnJoseph Priestly’s birthday (he “discovered” oxygen!)
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Plannahead:
Plannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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n Marchn holidays
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n Historicaln anniversaries in March
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nApriln holidays
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nApriln birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in April
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