African Elephant
Loxodonta Africana

When the time came to choose an animal as my totem/symbol/mascot/friend, I immediately thought of the elephant. As I was born and grew up in South Africa, this means the African elephant. It was an intuitive impulse at the time but has stayed with me ever since. My closest experience of elephants was touching a free, but human-accustomed, young elephant at a game park near Harare, Zimbabwe and being visited very closely by some elephants during an overnight on a game platform in Hwange game park, also in Zimbabwe.

Help the Zimbabwean People

In my view, the finest writing on elephants is an epic poem by Heathcote Williams.
Here is an abridged version:

SACRED ELEPHANT (Abridged) The shape of an African elephant's ear Is the shape of Africa; The shape of an Indian elephant's ear Is the shape of India... On the night of the birth of the Buddha An elephant entered the dreams of Queen Mahayama his mother... And Gautama Buddha was consequently patient, strong, meek And unforgetful. They're not a little clumsy? Elephants walk on the tips of their toes. Elephant paths in the Congo Basin mountains are near vertical. They can move in total silence without leaving a trace. The elephant seems unembarrased by its bulk. Slow? They move slowly to protect their vast brain, With which they can hear subsonic sound... They can sprint faster than any human, at 30 to 40 mph, And for longer... ...but you wouldn't call them civilised...? Though their foreplay can last eight days, And that's very heavy petting, They can show affection without being instantly possessed By a desire to get their rocks off on the spot... And their rocks are no Milk Duds. (One aberrant jet of elephant sperm Will feed a forty-foot high ant hill For a year). Pregnancy lasts two years - Which suggests they've given it a thought... An elephant's birth is attended by two or three midwives In the center of a protective circle. The baby's first site is of its placental membrane Being tweaked into the air And flipped away in triumphant relief Like a giant, flailing frisbee. The herd is a mobile creche and old people's home, And elephants can detect fellow members of their tribe From a distance of five miles; Human beings from only two miles; Which, incidentally, Makes the human aura three miles weaker. ...they will place their trunks Into the mouth of an injured companion. They will altruistically remove stricken fellows Out of the line of fire. They will nudge and nurse the wounded to their feet. They have been known to practise mercy killing. They will examine corpses extensively: Scanning the whole body, Using the dilated tips of their trunks as organic stethoscopes Almost as if conducting an autopsy to discover how they died... ...they bury their dead, By covering them with mud earth, leaves and branches; Then return later to draw the tusks Removing them several miles away, Or seizing them and shattering them against a nearby tree, As if to cheat traders, And have done so since Herodotus first recorded the ruse. The Aryans of the 1st millennium called the elephant Mrigi hastin - The beast with a head-finger, And with it, elephants can pick up a pin, Uncork a bottle, Pull up a tree by the roots, Detect trip wires and traps, Doodle in the sand, Dowse for water underground, Walk along river beds. And sense alien presences from miles away... Anyone in the second coming racket Could do worse than choose an elephant... And maybe even come back as a whole herd, But who are we to know? - Heathcote Williams

AFRICAN ELEPHANT READING & LISTENING Caitlin O'Connell:  The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa - Biography of an Endangered Species in Africa. Heathcote Williams:  Sacred Elephant - The poem in print and audio. Jason Godesky:  Elephant Men - Elephants respond to human destruction. Martin Meredith:  Elephant Destiny - Biography of an Endangered Species in Africa. Dalene Matthee: Circles in A Forest. In the forest home of the world's most southerly elephants. Feb.22, 2005 (The Witness, S Africa). Afrikaans author Dalene Matthee (66) has died in her sleep after being admitted to hospital with a heart problem. She was especially well known for her forest trilogy, of which the first, Kringe in 'n Bos (Circles in a Forest), appeared in 1984 and was reprinted 22 times. She is being described as a huge loss for the Afrikaans reading public. Matthee's books were translated into 14 languages, including French, German, Spanish, Italian and Hebrew. More on Elephants: Living with Elephants Foundation. Non-profit organization in Botswana which explores the relationship between the African Elephant and people, with an emphasis on research and educational programs aimed at reducing conflict between the two species. Elephant Books. A broad selection There's a cave on the side of Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano in western Kenya, which has been mined by generations of elephants. It's estimated they have taken 5m litres of rock in the last 2m years. Access to it is tricky, but the animals are willing to risk death to get there. The bones of those who didn't make it line the trail. Once inside they dig out the soft rock with their tusks, grind it with their teeth and then swallow it. The rocks contain 100 times more sodium than they can get from the plants they normally eat, as well as being rich in potassium and calcium. Sodium is vital for all metabolic processes, especially for handling the toxins which are an inevitable part of a plant diet - an estimated 40% of plants contain some sort of defensive chemicals. Wild Health: How Animals Keep Themselves Well and What We Can Learn From Them by Cindy Engel

NGM Wildcam Africa: Elephants at a water-hole in Botswana, with mother caring for newborn

NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF AFRICAN ELEPHANTS

Leakey backing for elephant cull. BBC News, March 17, 2008
The eminent conservationist Richard Leakey has given qualified backing for South Africa's plan to cull elephants.

Trade bans are a blunt tool for saving endangered species. The Economist, March 6, 2008
A better policy is to make wildlife more valuable to man, not less..

U.S. Gives $1.2 Million to Protect Elephants. Robert's US Government Info Blog, January 28, 2008
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has announced it will award $1,277,921 in grants to 15 African countries to assist in the protection of African elephants..

Elephants pee to keep in touch with family. The Telegraph, December 5, 2007
Elephants keep tabs on their family members with the help of urine, according to a study led by Prof Richard Byrne of the University of St Andrews that is a testament to how the creatures not only have good memories but update them too to keep abreast of what their relatives are up to.

Elephants sense 'danger' clothes. BBC News, October 18, 2007
The study found African elephants reacted with fear when they detected the scent of garments previously worn by men of the Maasai tribe.

Scientists map elephant evolution. BBC News, July 24, 2007
Scientists say they have calculated the date at which the African and the Asian elephant went their separate ways.

African deal cut on ivory trade. BBC News, June 5, 2007
Southern African nations will be permitted a further one-off sale of legally acquired ivory from stockpiles, with funds going for conservation.

US 'major illegal ivory importer'. BBC News, June 5, 2007
While applauding the efforts of customs forces to seize consignments of ivory, it says monitoring and enforcement at the retail level is virtually non-existent.

Elephants get trunk line to crucial habitats. The Telegraph (UK), June 3, 2007
Conservationists are to build a five-mile "elephant highway" in a dramatic new initiative to protect the African elephant.

Virgin begins Kenya flights, elephant aid. The Australian, June 1, 2007
Richard Branson landed in Kenya today on Virgin Airlines' maiden flight to the east African country and vowed to help protect 2000 elephants threatened by encroachment.

African nations clash over elephant ivory trade. Reuters, May 30, 2007
Debate over a proposed 20-year ivory trade ban has split African countries between those who want to protect the beloved elephant and others who say elephant populations have grown at an unsustainable rate.

Organized crime fuels illegal ivory surge in Africa. World Wildlife Fund, May 10, 2007
Asian-run organized crime syndicates based in Africa are being implicated in the increase in illegal trade in elephant ivory

Zambian wins 'Nobel green prize'. BBC, April 23, 2007
A Zambian man has won a prestigious Goldman Prize for helping to curb widespread elephant poaching by setting up economic projects for villagers.

Elephant Highways of Death. CC News, April 2, 2007
Central Africa's increasing network of roads are becoming highways of death for the little-known forest elephant.

Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

Etosha Elephant            Photograph © Stanton Newman

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