Elephant Poo is a World Class Fertilizer... Sometimes

Two elephants stand in the reeds by a stream in Kruger National Park. Image Credit: Jin-Gyu Chang

In the coastal forests of Southern Kenya there lives a species of tree called the Torchwood, Balanites maughamii (not to be confused with the semi-successful Doctor Who spin-off series), that produces a small, dull looking fruit. Bitter-sweet, strong smelling and containing a seed that accounts for more than half of its mass, the fruits of the Torchwood are of no interest to the canopy dwelling animals of the Kenyan forests. They instead drop to the forest floor, often before they are even ripe, to attract a much larger friend to help them disperse: Elephants.

Read the rest of this post on the Linnean Society blog