The WWF also believes there have been different levels of loss among the three groups of elephants.

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Among Asian elephants, only the males have tusks and are far more difficult to handle than females.

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They have created, for example, an educational puppet show, illustrating, among other horrors, the dangers of distilling alcohol when there are elephants about: they are boozers as well as gourmands.

ECONOMIST: The battle to conserve India's elephants

Elsewhere, Wigan's Steve Gohouri has sealed his place on the plane after missing out on Angola, while Hibernian's Sol Bamba, who scored in Les Elephants' 2-2 draw with Paraguay in France this week, is among the defenders travelling.

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