Meet the Asian elephant 🐘 A key species across Asia’s forests, they help maintain the balance of the ecosystems around them. Protecting them means protecting the landscapes they and many others depend on.

Colossal Biosciences' mammoth has slipped from 2028 to the early 2030s. Their CEO's phrasing: "not 2036, but not 2030 either." The reason is the interesting part. The original plan targeted around 65 genes to convert an Asian elephant genome into something mammoth-like. As they analysed more ancient DNA from better-preserved Siberian specimens, that number went up to about 85 & Lamm says it could move again. 🧬 Traits like dense fur & cold adaptation turned out to depend on more genetic machinery than the initial analysis suggested. That's a normal result in genomics. Complex traits are rarely one gene doing one job & the more closely you look, the more contributors you find. The rest of the timeline is biology you can't compress. Elephant gestation runs about 22 months. Asian elephants are endangered, so using them as surrogates carries regulatory hurdles Colossal hasn't cleared. Even with a viable embryo tomorrow, the calf is nearly two years out. Worth keeping the honest framing that outside scientists keep raising: this produces a gene-edited Asian elephant with mammoth traits, not a mammoth. 🦣 As one put it, you might alter the hair pattern & cold tolerance, but you're changing an elephant. The spin-off technologies may end up mattering more than the animal — artificial womb research, multiplex editing, ancient DNA assembly. Colossal has spun out healthcare companies off the back of it. A slipping deadline isn't the scandal here. Discovering the problem is harder than you thought is what the work actually looks like.

Search for China’s wild elephants, and you’ll find headlines like these: “Elephants are running out of habitat” and “Human-elephant conflict.” Reuters once noted that while China’s wild elephant population was recovering, their available habitat had come under increasing pressure, potentially increasing the risk of human-elephant conflict. The report also raised a broader question: How Xishuangbanna protects its elephants and ecosystems may help shape China’s broader relationship with nature. So, what do the facts show? August 12 is World Elephant Day, while August 15 marks China’s National Ecology Day and the day China’s Ecological and Environmental Code officially takes effect. In 2021, a herd of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan traveled more than 1,400 kilometers over 124 days, drawing worldwide attention. Today, China’s wild Asian elephant population has grown to nearly 400. From nature reserves and dedicated feeding grounds to early-warning systems and a strengthening legal framework, China is exploring a new balance between people and elephants. Masood Khalid, former Pakistani ambassador to China, said China has achieved “all-round development” through people-centric policies. He noted that China could share its expertise, knowledge and technology with developing countries, particularly under the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, “so that they are better equipped to preserve wildlife.” K.D. Parakum Shantha, mayor of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka, also highlighted Xishuangbanna’s approach to development. He said Xishuangbanna protects the elephants in the rainforest while the city has developed within the rainforest without destroying the local ecology, calling it “a very great thing.” The Asian elephant story offers a window into China’s broader system of environmental governance. As China’s new energy vehicle, photovoltaic and wind power industries continue to grow, its ecological practices are contributing more experience and momentum to the global green transition.