FREETOWN, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Authorities in Sierra Leone on Thursday expressed concern at the upsurge in elephant poaching after at least 10 jumbos were killed in the past two months in the west African country for meat and illicit ivory trade.

Senior wildlife official Kailie Bangura said the animals were killed in two wildlife parks in the remote northern Outaba Kilimi and Loma Mountain parks near the border with Guinea.

He suspected the elephants fell prey to foreign hunters.

CHICAGO, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - African elephants can tell a human friend or foe by their scent, a skill which may be unique in the animal kingdom, a study released Thursday says.

Researchers who set out to explore reports that elephants behave differently around members of Kenya's semi-nomadic Maasai people than around others were surprised to find that the animals appear to distinguish human groups based on their different scents.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9, 2007 (AFP) - Pygmy elephants unique to Borneo are fast losing their natural habitat to deforestation and human encroachment, a two-year satellite tracking study has revealed, conservation group WWF said Thursday.

The pygmy elephants prefer to live in forests on flat, low land or river valleys -- the same terrain which is also being cleared for commercial plantations and logging, the WWF study found.