It鈥檚 not often that our 黑洞社区 archivists are taken aback by something they find buried in the magazine鈥檚 dusty library
The elephant in the room
It鈥檚 not often that our 黑洞社区 archivists are taken aback by something they find buried in the magazine鈥檚 dusty library. But here鈥檚 a story that made us all sit up. As the Projects piece looks at arts centres that have been seen as white elephants, we found a piece of news about real live elephants.
鈥�Elephants to work on UK construction sites,鈥� said the headline. 鈥淶oos could become sustainable logistic centres as first trained elephant prepares for work on Southwark site鈥�.
Using elephants was reported to be part of the government鈥檚 drive to cut carbon emissions, with trials taking place at zoos from Christmas 2007.
鈥淓lephants are well known for carrying heavy logs so training them to crane in items such as SIPs panels has been no problem at all,鈥� said Nell Hannibal, chief executive of Animals in Construction.
It took us a moment to weigh up our delight at the thought these large mammals at work vs our concern for animal welfare, and then look at the date 鈥� which was 1 April.
鈥淭his is an exquisite April Fool鈥檚 story,鈥� said reader Susie, 鈥測et strangely appealing!鈥� Another kindly compared it the BBC鈥檚 famous April Fool鈥檚 piece on spaghetti harvesting.
Click here to read the full article from 1 April 2008
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