Elephant bird birds and human beings and their eventual extinction, as they apparently coexisted for a massive period of time. However, the absence so far for any evidence of human habitation in the succeeding 6000 years raises difficult questions concerning whether the early human presence might have been temporary, and/or restricted to just a portion of the island. Elephant bird Elephant birds are members of the extinct ratite family Aepyornithidae, made up of large to enormous flightless birds that once lived on the island of Madagascar. They became extinct, perhaps around 1000–1200 CE, for reasons that are unclear, although human activity is
Elephant Island (Wiltgen), which was dismantled in the summer of 1997/98. The island is oriented approximately east-west, with a maximum elevation of at Pardo Ridge. Significant named features are Cape Yelcho, Cape Valentine and Cape Lookout at the northeastern and southern extremes, and Point Wild, a spit on the north coast. The Endurance Glacier is the main discharge glacier. Due to slow recoveries and illegal whaling by Soviet Union with support from Japan, numbers of southern right whales visiting Elephant island are still on low level. The island supports no significant flora or native fauna although migratory gentoo penguins and seals may