Lions and elephants and elk, oh my!, Corn socks are coming, Recycling unmentionables

• Lions and elephants and elk, oh my!
• Corn socks are coming
• Recycling unmentionables

Lions and elephants and elk, oh my!

CANOE Network reported on Dec. 7, 2005, that a lion at the Rome Zoo recently received a golden ticket in his senior years. Bellamy, a 13-year-old male Asian lion, suffered from arthritis and had difficulty walking. Veterinarians inserted 50 gold pellets into spinal muscles near the lion's joints. The zoo's chief veterinarian, Klaus Friedrich, told the Associated Press that 24-karat-gold pellets help relieve muscle contractions and that the technique has previously been used on dogs, domestic cats, and a tiger, but not a lion. The operation took three-and-a-half hours, and Bellamy appears to be improving just fine.

In other large-mammal news, researchers from the University of Bristol have dispelled the myth of plastered pachyderms in the March/April issue of Physiological & Biochemical Zoology. The long-standing myth held that African elephants became drunk after gorging on the fruit of the marula tree.

Steve Morris, David Humphreys, and Dan Reynolds point out in their forthcoming paper that elephants seem to have a penchant for alcohol and marula fruit, which can ferment naturally after falling off the tree. The fermented fruit, however, seems to contain an ethanol content of only 3%—hardly enough to turn a 3-ton mammal tipsy. Any drunkard behavior exhibited by elephants, the researchers posit, may be caused by the toxins of a beetle pupae traditionally used to poison arrow tips. The pupae reside in the bark of marula trees, another favorite snack of the elephants.

On the ungulate front, wildlife biologists have finally solved the mystery of hundreds of elk deaths in southern Wyoming nearly two years ago. The culprit: usnic acid.

Biologists were baffled by the sudden deaths of elk in the winter of 2003-04. Tests for poisons, toxins, viruses, and bacteria yielded few clues. Then one biologist found a study from 1964 indicating lichen as the culprit for illness and death in sheep and cattle. With a new lead in their investigation, biologists analyzed lichen from the mystery area and found that it contained usnic acid, which is fatal to elk. A drought that winter probably forced the elk herd to move out of their normal winter range and into an area filled with the lethal lichen. The elk herd eventually wandered back into their normal range and has since rebounded to its normal size.

Corn socks are coming

Replacing worn-out socks could get interesting later this year. Gone are the days of purely polyester-based footies. Make room for corn socks.

Several U.S.-based hosiery makers announced in November that they will be launching corn-based socks in Japan this spring. The new socks will be produced using NatureWorks LLC's corn-based Ingeo fibers. NatureWorks claims that the fibers are soft and breathable, as well as pill and stain resistant.

Reuters reported on Nov. 8, 2005, that the socks will cost roughly 20% more than socks made from cotton, wool, or petroleum-based fibers. If the socks are successful overseas, they will likely get lost in dryers in the U.S. as well.

Recycling unmentionables

Not sure what to do with your falling apart underwear? Send it to Patagonia. The outdoor gear and apparel company has partnered with Japanese fabric manufacturer Teijin to create the Common Threads Recycling Program (www.patagonia.com/recycle).

The program asks that customers return their clean but worn-out Capilene baselayers—either by mail or to a store, no matter how old—instead of tossing them in the trash. Old garments are used to make new polyester fiber. Patagonia claims that the recycling program reduces CO₂ emissions and saves energy. Teijin, which has established chemical recycling technologies for fibers, films, and bottles, will break down the used fabric to a purified polyester raw material, which is then turned into polyester chips. The chips are melted and spun into new filament fiber. Patagonia will begin offering Capilene baselayers made with more than 50% recycled content early next year.

Patagonia is currently only accepting undergarments from their Capilene line that contain at least 95% polyester. If your underwear doesn't qualify, there's always the dust rag option.