What do artistic Asian elephants and late metal musician Ronnie James Dio have in common? Guitars

Metal singer Ronnie James Dio, who died last year at age 67 after a battle with stomach cancer, is helping animals posthumously through a partnership between the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout cancer fund set up in his memory and the Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project.

Dio's wife and manager, Wendy Dio, arranged to have elephants decorate several guitars as a fundraiser for both organizations. The Times' music blog Pop & Hiss reports:

Plans call for three elephant-painted guitars to be auctioned this fall, according to a spokeswoman for Dio. Details on the time and manner of the auction are to be announced. SUAS also plans to auction off a total of 100 other instruments being donated and/or signed by celebrity players to raise money for its prevention, research and education efforts.

The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project sells elephants' art (you might have seen an amazing video in which one of the animals paints what appears to be a self-portrait), using the money to provide food, shelter and veterinary care for captive elephants and provide education on humane elephant treatment for their mahouts, or handlers.

You can see examples of the elephants' paintings at the charity's website. Our favorite elephant artist is a 7-year-old female named Khamtool, a resident of the Maetaman elephant camp in Chiang Mai, Thailand, whose favorite painting subject is colorful flowers.

RELATED ELEPHANT NEWS:
• Tennessee's Elephant Sanctuary looks to make a fresh start after co-founder's firing
• Indian official orders probe into wild elephant deaths near wildlife refuge

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: An elephant named Jaab painting an electric guitar. Credit: Mark Weiss

Retired circus elephant spread tuberculosis to workers at Tennessee's Elephant Sanctuary

A tuberculosis outbreak among workers at a Tennessee elephant sanctuary in 2009 is being blamed on one of the pachyderms, even though some of the employees didn't have close contact with the animal.

Elephants can carry TB, and there have been reports of them spreading it to people who touch them. In this instance, TB spread to eight employees, though three of them didn't work directly with the elephant, according to a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The three worked in an administrative building next to an elephant barn at the refuge in Hohenwald, about 85 miles southwest of Nashville. The 2,700-acre Elephant Sanctuary was founded in 1995 as a place for old, sick and rescued elephants.

One elephant in the barn -- a female Asian elephant named Liz -- had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Investigators believe the TB bacteria spread through the air when the elephant sneezed, or through pressure washing or dust from sweeping the barn of the elephant's waste.

Tennessee's Elephant Sanctuary looks to make a fresh start after co-founder's firing

HOHENWALD, Tenn. — Nestled on a secluded tract in the wooded hills of rural Tennessee is a sight that would likely startle an outsider, if outsiders were permitted to see it: the nation's largest sanctuary for old, sick and rescued elephants.

For 15 years, elephants who had spent lifetimes in zoos and circuses have found a place to retire, rest and roam, far from noisy audiences and free from cramped quarters.

Now, after an unexpected management change and a lawsuit filed by one of the original founders last year, their place of refuge is undergoing changes that may allow the world a better glimpse of their lives.

The Elephant Sanctuary, which has never been open to the public, now wants to be a worldwide educational center for elephant care, while remaining true to its mission to be a refuge for needy elephants.

"The sanctuary is and has always been about far more than just the people who work in it," said Rob Atkinson, the new CEO who arrived in Tennessee late last year. "It's about the elephants."

Photos: Elephants love playing in snow. Who knew?

We're beginning to sense a trend here. Elephants seem to be enjoying winter, and specifically having a blast playing with -- and, in some cases, eating -- snow.

The fact that elephants can paint masterful portraits has already been established. Can a pachyderm-constructed snowman be far behind?

Above, a resident of the Berlin Zoo is shown picking up snow and sticking it right into its own mouth in a series of photos taken last week. Clearly, this creative elephant has just discovered the concept of Sno Cones -- all that's missing is fruit flavoring.

After the jump, check out more photos of snow-loving elephants!

In Sri Lanka, former Tamil Tigers stronghold to become wildlife sanctuary

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's wildlife department is to declare the former Tamil Tigers' jungle stronghold a wildlife sanctuary, the government said Wednesday, a year and a half after the country's civil war ended.

Over 100,000 acres of the jungles of northern Mullaitivu district will be used for wildlife conservation, including elephants, the government statement said.

The thick Mullaitivu jungle was home to key rebel bases, and heavy fighting took place there last year during the final stages of the war before government forces crushed the Tamil Tigers.

The rebels buried hundreds of thousands of mines to protect their camps from the advancing government troops, and it is estimated that 1.5 million land mines remain in the country's northern region.

A wildlife department official said the area would be declared a wildlife sanctuary "shortly," adding that the wildlife park will be open to the public only after the mines are removed -- most likely next year. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as she was not authorized to speak to the media.

Kenya Wildlife Service reports deaths of three suspected poachers, five elephants, over the past week

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Kenya Wildlife Service says three suspected poachers have been killed after the poaching deaths of five elephants in two national parks over the last week.

The wildlife service said Monday that rangers gunned down a suspected bandit in a "fierce" exchange of fire on the outskirts of Meru National Park late Sunday. Officials are searching for other suspects.

The suspects had shot and killed an elephant and were removing its ivory tusks when rangers ambushed them. One ranger was wounded in the shootout.

That exchange follows the killings of two suspected poachers last week in Tsavo National Park. Four elephants were killed in Tsavo.

Poachers target elephants for their ivory tusks, which are commonly smuggled to Asia.

RELATED ELEPHANT NEWS:
Elephant-smuggling ring busted by Indian police
Kenyan officials seize 2 tons of ivory, rhinoceros horns destined for Malaysia at Nairobi airport

-- Associated Press

Photo: Elephant tusks, firearms and other items seized after a poacher was killed during the shootout at Meru National Park in a photo provided by the Kenya Wildlife Service. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Australia's Taronga Zoo welcomes its first female Asian elephant calf

SYDNEY — Sydney's premier zoo is celebrating the birth of its first female Asian elephant -- a 270-pound (120-kilogram) calf who is doing well.

Taronga Zoo director Cameron Kerr said in a statement that the birth Tuesday means that Australia now has a dozen of the endangered animals in zoos in Sydney and Melbourne, after initially receiving eight from Thailand in 2006.

The newborn, which has yet to be named, is the third born in the Sydney zoo and the first female.

The zoo says the calf was suckling within two hours of birth and walking unassisted within three hours.

RELATED ELEPHANT NEWS:
Asian elephants Jewel and Tina to move from San Diego to the L.A. Zoo's new Asian elephant exhibit
Your morning adorable: Asian elephant calf makes her debut at Australia's Melbourne Zoo

-- Associated Press

Photo: The newborn calf stands beneath her mother, Pak Boon, at the Taronga Zoo on Nov. 2. Credit: Taronga Zoo / Getty Images

Elephant-smuggling ring busted by Indian police

GAUHATI, India -- Indian police busted an elephant-smuggling ring in the northeastern state of Assam, arresting five people and seizing three wild elephants, two of them calves, authorities said Monday.

Documents seized during the operation Sunday night showed the gang had been engaged in the illegal elephant trade for years, smuggling at least 92 elephants from the state to other parts of India over the last five years, said P.K. Dutta, superintendent of police in Kokrajhar, a district in the west of Assam.

Selling elephants is barred under Indian law, and even getting permission to move domesticated elephants between states is a lengthy and complicated procedure.

Regardless, authorities say there remains a thriving trade in elephants, with many wealthy landowners in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh buying the elephants as status symbols.

Authorities say the elephants are usually transported by truck. The smugglers are suspected of colluding with forestry officials, who have checkpoints along the major roads to prevent this type of smuggling.

The police investigated the ring after a local conservation group, the Green Heart Nature Club, filed a written complaint last week, Dutta said.

Asian elephants Jewel and Tina to move from San Diego to the L.A. Zoo's new Asian elephant exhibit

Jewel and Tina, a bonded pair of Asian elephants removed from the care of their Texas owner by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last summer, will soon move to the Los Angeles Zoo to live in its new Elephants of Asia exhibit, it was announced Friday.

The elephants, both females believed to be in their 40s, will make the move from the San Diego Zoo, where they were taken after their removal from Willie Davenport's facility in the east Texas town of Leggett. The animal-rights group In Defense of Animals had long campaigned to have the elephants, along with a third elephant belonging to Davenport, removed from his care for alleged mistreatment and substandard veterinary care.

Davenport agreed to give up Jewel and Tina and pay a $3,000 fine in exchange for the government dropping complaints against him over his failure to procure the proper permits when he bought the elephants in 2006. He kept the third elephant, which had been owned by his family for decades.

Since their arrival at the San Diego Zoo, Jewel and Tina have gained weight -- in Jewel's case, a whopping 1,100 pounds -- and Jewel has received treatment for her abscessed feet and two dental surgeries. San Diego Zoo and L.A. Zoo staff will work together to facilitate the elephants' big move, considered an open-ended loan, and "the San Diego Zoo will provide support staff to help facilitate the transition period for the elephants," according to a statement released by the L.A. Zoo.

Jewel and Tina will join Billy, the only elephant currently in residence at the L.A. Zoo, in the $42-million new exhibit, which is scheduled to open in December.

Indian official orders probe into wild elephant deaths near wildlife refuge

GAUHATI, India — India's environment minister has ordered a probe into a recent spate of wild elephant deaths, apparently as a result of accidental poisonings, near a remote northeastern wildlife refuge, officials said Thursday.

Four elephants, including two calves, have died over the last two weeks just outside Kaziranga National Park, leading to widespread condemnation by animal rights activists.

The elephants are believed to have strayed out of the 300-square-mile park in search of food, and died after eating grass in a tea plantation that had been treated with pesticides to drive away ants, officials said.

More than half the park is flooded because of heavy rains, forcing elephants to roam into the surrounding area.

Pesticide use is heavily restricted in areas near the park.

"We have collected samples and have sent them for forensic tests," Assam Forest Minister Rokybul Hussain told The Associated Press. "We shall take stringent action under the Wildlife Protection Act against the tea plantation authorities if the tests confirm poisoning."