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As our understanding of the minds of our fellow species improves, will we increasingly look back at the way we have treated them in horror and repulsion?

• Photographs by Karine Aigner

Water streams off the edges of her giant ears, runs in rivulets down the wrinkles of her slate-grey skin. She presses her whole head into the hose’s force, the spray welling into her mouth. As she drinks, she rubs her skin against the steel fence, her eyelids drooping luxuriously, her trunk relaxing. If ever I’ve seen a captive elephant happy, it’s Flora this morning.

There are no people laughing or pointing here at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. There are no infants crying, no children arguing. The public are not allowed into the sanctuary, whose unofficial motto is, “Allow elephants to be elephants”: give them the freedom of choice, the freedom of large areas to explore, the freedom from human gawkers (apart from via the online elecams) while still providing the kind of care that comes with a zoo.

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River Ouse, North Yorkshire Once so prolific it was turned into sequins, the endangered tansy beetle is clinging on at its Yorkshire hang-out

Sequins are a popular way to bring ethereal pizzazz to an outfit. But back before synthetic bling was mass produced in every shade of fabulous, the source of such dazzle could be ethically dubious but more iridescent still. For Victorian fashionistas a statement collar or cape might have been adorned with the wingcases of thousands of tansy beetles.

Related: York's flood meadows get site of special scientific interest status

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Paula Kahumbu: Ending ivory trafficking should be at the heart of a new vision for Africa’s development

Today a life-sized ice sculpture of an African elephant will be placed in Union Square in Downtown Manhattan. Over the course of the day, this massive ice sculpture will gradually melt, symbolizing the alarming rate in which African elephants are continuing to disappear at the hands of poachers.

The event is one of many being organised across the world on 12 August to celebrate World Elephant Day. It is part of the campaign #DontLetThemDisappear launched by Amarula Trust in partnership with the Kenyan NGO WildlifeDirect to raise global awareness of the plight of Africa’s elephants.

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Stargazers will get the opportunity to spot shooting stars during the annual Perseid meteor shower.

They might be 'slow-moving' and 'very plump' but these giant Australian frogs are next to impossible to find. Stay tuned for the return of Off Track, when the new season starts in six weeks.

Researchers uncover the evolved ability of goldfish to generate alcohol when deprived of oxygen.

Mayor is letting down Londoners by leaving out a manifesto pledge to create a not-for-profit energy company from his new environment strategy, say green groups

Campaigners have condemned the mayor of London’s new environment strategy for falling short by failing to announce the establishment of a publicly owned energy company for Londoners, one of his manifesto promises.

Sadiq Khan published his environment policy on Friday, which aims to turn the capital into a zero waste and zero emissions city by 2050 and ensure that more than half of the city is covered in parks and green spaces in the same time frame.

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The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox

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As estates gear up for Glorious Twelfth, wildlife crime expert talks of direct link between grouse moors and persecution of birds of prey

Grouse moors are to blame for persecuting endangered birds of prey in the Scottish Highlands and Uplands, according to a wildlife crime expert.

Ian Thomson, the head of investigations at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, said data from 77 birds of prey that had been satellite-tagged showed a direct correlation between dead and disappeared birds and grouse moors.

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Only an experienced beekeeper could have pulled off raid in Anglesey ‘without getting stung to smithereens’, police say

An experienced beekeeper is suspected of stealing 40,000 bees from Anglesey in one of Britain’s biggest bee rustling cases in years.

Only someone with a bee suit and veil could have pulled off the heist on Paul Williams’s hive in Rhydwyn “without getting stung to smithereens”, police said.

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Playful gelada and inquisitive sea lions are among our pick of images from the natural world this week

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Former US vice president says the US will meet its climate commitments in spite of Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the global agreement

Donald Trump has failed to knock the Paris climate agreement off course despite his efforts to derail it, according to the former US vice president Al Gore.

“The US will meet its commitments [on emissions] in spite of Donald Trump,” he said in London, where his new film An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power was released on Friday. “Every other country has pledged [to combat climate change]. I think the psychological message is that the train has left the station. The signal sent to investors, businesses, individuals and civil society is extraordinarily powerful.”

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A section of pipe almost half a kilometre long has washed up on the north Norfolk coast after breaking free from Norwegian tugs bound for Algeria. Another length of pipe beached earlier this week, and 10 more have been located and secured at sea

Pipe sections up to half a kilometre long wash up on Norfolk beach

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BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin reviews Al Gore's climate movie sequel.

For 10 years, Nasa has been flying over the ice caps to chart their retreat. This data is an invaluable record of climate change. But does anyone care?

• Read the text version here

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Scientists respond furiously to claims about climate change made in a BBC radio interview.

The odds of 2014, 2015, and 2016 naturally being as hot as they were are about the same as the odds you’ll be struck by lightning this year

2014, 2015, and 2016 each broke the global temperature record. A new study led by climate scientist Michael Mann just published in Geophysical Research Letters used climate model simulations to examine the odds that these records would have been set in a world with and without human-caused global warming. In model simulations without a human climate influence, the authors concluded:

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Hundreds of riders race from Belgium to Greece, with no set route, facing extreme heat and often on only a few hours sleep a night

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Cameras are part of a series of measures to improve animal welfare and enforce laws against cruelty

All slaughterhouses in England will be fitted with compulsory CCTV under plans to be unveiled on Friday by environment secretary Michael Gove, as part of a series of measures to bolster welfare standards and enforce laws against animal cruelty.

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Nearly half of £6.1bn energy spending in developing countries from 2010-14 went on oil, coal and gas-fired schemes, data shows

The UK has spent more than twice as much overseas support on fossil fuels projects as on renewable ones so far this decade, according to research commissioned by the Catholic aid agency Cafod.

The Overseas Development Institute, which analysed the figures, found that 46% of Britain’s £6.1bn energy spending in developing countries between 2010 and 2014 went on oil, coal and gas-fired schemes, compared with 22% for renewable energy projects.

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