| African Elephant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Robert Fowler |
| Year | 1982 |
| Subject | African elephant |
| Location | Houston, Texas, United States |
| 29°42′44″N95°23′35″W / 29.7122°N 95.3930°W | |
African Elephant is an outdoor 1982 life-size Cor-ten steel sculpture depicting an African elephant by Robert Fowler (with assistance from John Long and Phil Schalekamp). The statue was originally installed at the Houston Zoo's main entrance, but was relocated in 2000, and underwent restoration work at the time. [1]
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. The order was formerly much more diverse during the Pleistocene, but most species became extinct during the Late Pleistocene epoch. Distinctive features of elephants include a long proboscis called a trunk, tusks, large ear flaps, pillar-like legs, and tough but sensitive grey skin. The trunk is prehensile, bringing food and water to the mouth, and grasping objects. Tusks, which are derived from the incisor teeth, serve both as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears, and convex or level backs.
The coat of arms of South Africa is the main heraldic insignia of South Africa. The present coat of arms was introduced on Freedom Day, 27 April 2000, and was designed by Iaan Bekker. It replaced the earlier national arms, which had been in use since 1910. The motto is written in the extinct |Xam, member of the Khoisan languages, and translates literally to "diverse people unite". The previous motto, in Latin, was Ex Unitate Vires, translated as "From unity, strength".
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture. Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and South America and consist of seven identified species, all belonging to the Cathartidae family. A particular characteristic of many vultures is a bald, unfeathered head. This bare skin is thought to keep the head clean when feeding, and also plays an important role in thermoregulation.
The Houston Zoo is a 55-acre (22 ha) zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 600 species. It receives 2.1 million visitors each year and is the second most visited zoo in the United States, surpassed only by the San Diego Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
African elephants (Loxodonta) are a genus comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant and the smaller African forest elephant. Both are social herbivores with grey skin, but differ in the size and colour of their tusks and in the shape and size of their ears and skulls.
The Pictish Beast is an artistic representation of an animal depicted on Pictish symbol stones.
The existence of elephants in ancient China is attested both by archaeological evidence and by depictions in Chinese artwork. Long thought to belong to an extinct subspecies of the Asian elephant named Elephas maximus rubridens, they lived in Central and Southern China before the 14th century BC. They once occurred as far north as Anyang, Henan in Northern China. The elephant is mentioned in the earliest received texts, including the Shijing, Liji, and Zuozhuan. The oracle bone script and bronzeware script glyphs for elephant are pictographic depictions of an animal with a long trunk. Their modern descendant is the regular script character 象.
In the Yoruba tradition, Erinlẹ was a great hunter who became an orisha.
Charles and George Hurst founded Kenya Breweries Limited in 1922 producing Tusker Lager. The name Tusker came about in memory of George who was trampled to death by a rogue male elephant in 1923.
Elephants have been depicted in mythology, symbolism and popular culture. They are both revered in religion and respected for their prowess in war. They also have negative connotations such as being a symbol for an unnecessary burden. Ever since the Stone Age, when elephants were represented by ancient petroglyphs and cave art, they have been portrayed in various forms of art, including pictures, sculptures, music, film, and even architecture.
Mahatma Gandhi is an outdoor sculpture of the Indian independence movement leader of the same name, installed at Hermann Park's McGovern Centennial Gardens in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The statue was dedicated in Hermann Park on October 2, 2004.
Lillian Schnitzer Fountain is an outdoor 1875 fountain and bronze sculpture by J. Warrington Wood, installed outside Hermann Park's Houston Garden Center in Houston, Texas, United States. The work was created in Rome and dedicated in Lillian Schnitzer's memory in 1964 by George Schnitzer.
Spirit of the Confederacy, also known as the Confederacy Monument, is an outdoor bronze sculpture depicting an angel holding a sword and palm branch by Louis Amateis, installed in Houston's Sam Houston Park, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was erected in 1908 by a local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The statue was removed from the park in 2020 and relocated to the Houston Museum of African American Culture.
Border Crossing/Cruzando el Rio Bravo, or Border Crossing (Cruzando el Rio Bravo), is a sculpture by Luis Jiménez. It depicts a Mexican man carrying his wife and their baby on his shoulders as they cross the Rio Grande.
Dawn at the Alamo is a 1905 painting by Henry Arthur McArdle, displayed in the Texas State Capitol's Senate Chamber, in Austin, Texas, United States. The artwork has received some negative criticism by scholars for depicting David Crockett and William B. Travis with "an angelic glow amid dark imagery".
An outdoor 1981 bronze sculpture depicting George H. Hermann by Lonnie Edwards is installed in Houston's Hermann Park, in the U.S. state of Texas. The statue, which stands on a pink granite pedestal, was donated by the Hermann Hospital Board of Trustees.
Dhaymoole is an archaeological site in the Sahil province of Somaliland. The site is a cave that contains a collection of ancient rock drawings showing a variety of animals as well as some unidentified symbols. These drawings were created during the third millennium BC.
The George H. W. Bush Monument, also known as the President Bush Monument, is an 8-foot (2.4 m) bronze statue of George H. W. Bush in Houston's Sesquicentennial Park, in the U.S. state of Texas.
The New World is a sculpture by Tom Otterness, installed outside Los Angeles' Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, in the U.S. state of California.
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