A group of elephants near Timbuktu makes an epic journey each
year in their quest for food and water. Researchers found that
they travel across an area of 12,355 square miles (32,000 square
kilometers) in the deserts of Mali, marking the largest known
elephant range in the world. The animals' extreme journey is a
product of life in harsh conditions. "It's incredible these
elephants have survived. They have a truly stressful life with
the lack of water and food, and their giant range reflects
that," said lead researcher Jake Wall of the conservation
organization Save The Elephants, Kenya, and the University of
British Columbia. Wall and his colleagues attached GPS collars
to nine elephants in the Gourma region in Africa in March 2008
and tracked the beasts over the next two years, finding that the
elephants migrate south at the start of the rainy season in
April and May over a large arclike path that extends into
northern Burkina-Faso in West Africa. Science news from
NBCNews.com "We think the difference is pa