September 18, 2013 – Elephilia
Salama (elephant) with his caregiver
Over the past few months I’ve become interested in elephants. It started at the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. http://reidparkzoo.org/animals/elephant/ Having elephants at this zoo or any zoo is controversial. The preferred choice is the animal’s natural habitat, or at least a spacious sanctuary. The elephants at the Reid Park Zoo, while well cared for, would no doubt like more roaming room, and would likely prefer to be in Africa. But Africa ain’t no picnic for elephants these days.
According to the www.iworry.org campaign, last year up to 36,000 elephants in African were killed for their ivory. One life lost every 15 minutes. At the current rate of poaching African elephants could face extinction in the wild by 2025. Gah!
Part of me doesn’t like that I am troubled about this. I have problems when “privileged Westerners” get interested in exotic animals in poverty stricken countries. It usually doesn’t go well for the humans. Says one critic, “Westerners see elephants as ‘charismatic mega-fauna,’ majestic creatures to be preserved irrespective of cost. African farmers see giant rats and worse.”
Is there a difference between elephants and rats? There are certainly similarities – they are both mammals (nurse their young) and are intelligent. Mind you this is also true of humans and rats. But back to the differences. There is size, of course. But here is the big concern. Rats are not about to face extinction – they breed “like rats “after all - but elephants are. A female elephant will normally only have about four babies over her lifetime – assuming she gets to live.
I do understand that at certain times in the life of the human species we have needed to kill other animals to stay alive – we have needed a concentrated source of calories because plant food wasn’t available year round. But this is absolutely not the story for elephants. They are being killed for their tusks – full stop.
What makes elephants special? (I’m loathe to be a “speciesist” about this – pigs and cows and horses and deer have their own intelligence, and nurse their young when they are allowed to – in fact will fight to their own death for their young. And yet…)
I think it’s that we read human traits into elephants. It warms our hearts that they nurse their young for three years, and they have a natural life span similar to ours – 70 years. They have strong family connections and are very social creatures. An elephant in distress will call for help, and his or her family and friends will respond. They express joy when they are reunited – they “hug” by wrapping their trunks together; and when a loved one dies, the herd mourns. Baby elephants can die of grief when their mommies are killed, even though they are given the necessities of life and a new family.
*****
There is one small thing we can do to help with the survival of elephants – we can “sponsor” a baby elephant for only $50 a year (fourteen cents a day.) Truthfully, when we sign up for a fostering program, we are simply making a donation to the larger organization so that a community of elephants can survive and possibly thrive. I have no problems with that.
I do like the work of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust – http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/html/elephant_conservation.html - because they’ve been around for decades and are also concerned for the fragile other-than-elephant population – the subsistence farmers. One elephant can destroy a poverty-stricken family’s garden that was intended to feed them for a year, as well as possibly generate some income so that their kids can go to school. I realize that killing what would be seen as a large dangerous rat is understandable – especially when its tusks can bring more income than a farmer could normally dream of.
*****
You can learn more – more than you likely want to know – at http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/07/11000-elephants-slaughtered-in-african-forest/
But you don’t have to watch this. Why not just sponsor an orphaned elephant? :) http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/fostering.asp
“Our” elephant is Salama (“peace”) and he is definitely a trouble-maker. https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_gallery_zoom_keepers.asp?S=Keepers&ID=7734&N=11 Thankfully he won’t be showing up in my backyard anytime soon.
*****
I have a fundraising idea – pocket change really – to sponsor a few more elephants. Watch for tomorrow’s story, “Elephantine mommas can dance!”
According to the www.iworry.org campaign, last year up to 36,000 elephants in African were killed for their ivory. One life lost every 15 minutes. At the current rate of poaching African elephants could face extinction in the wild by 2025. Gah!
Part of me doesn’t like that I am troubled about this. I have problems when “privileged Westerners” get interested in exotic animals in poverty stricken countries. It usually doesn’t go well for the humans. Says one critic, “Westerners see elephants as ‘charismatic mega-fauna,’ majestic creatures to be preserved irrespective of cost. African farmers see giant rats and worse.”
Is there a difference between elephants and rats? There are certainly similarities – they are both mammals (nurse their young) and are intelligent. Mind you this is also true of humans and rats. But back to the differences. There is size, of course. But here is the big concern. Rats are not about to face extinction – they breed “like rats “after all - but elephants are. A female elephant will normally only have about four babies over her lifetime – assuming she gets to live.
I do understand that at certain times in the life of the human species we have needed to kill other animals to stay alive – we have needed a concentrated source of calories because plant food wasn’t available year round. But this is absolutely not the story for elephants. They are being killed for their tusks – full stop.
What makes elephants special? (I’m loathe to be a “speciesist” about this – pigs and cows and horses and deer have their own intelligence, and nurse their young when they are allowed to – in fact will fight to their own death for their young. And yet…)
I think it’s that we read human traits into elephants. It warms our hearts that they nurse their young for three years, and they have a natural life span similar to ours – 70 years. They have strong family connections and are very social creatures. An elephant in distress will call for help, and his or her family and friends will respond. They express joy when they are reunited – they “hug” by wrapping their trunks together; and when a loved one dies, the herd mourns. Baby elephants can die of grief when their mommies are killed, even though they are given the necessities of life and a new family.
*****
There is one small thing we can do to help with the survival of elephants – we can “sponsor” a baby elephant for only $50 a year (fourteen cents a day.) Truthfully, when we sign up for a fostering program, we are simply making a donation to the larger organization so that a community of elephants can survive and possibly thrive. I have no problems with that.
I do like the work of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust – http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/html/elephant_conservation.html - because they’ve been around for decades and are also concerned for the fragile other-than-elephant population – the subsistence farmers. One elephant can destroy a poverty-stricken family’s garden that was intended to feed them for a year, as well as possibly generate some income so that their kids can go to school. I realize that killing what would be seen as a large dangerous rat is understandable – especially when its tusks can bring more income than a farmer could normally dream of.
*****
You can learn more – more than you likely want to know – at http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/07/11000-elephants-slaughtered-in-african-forest/
But you don’t have to watch this. Why not just sponsor an orphaned elephant? :) http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/fostering.asp
“Our” elephant is Salama (“peace”) and he is definitely a trouble-maker. https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_gallery_zoom_keepers.asp?S=Keepers&ID=7734&N=11 Thankfully he won’t be showing up in my backyard anytime soon.
*****
I have a fundraising idea – pocket change really – to sponsor a few more elephants. Watch for tomorrow’s story, “Elephantine mommas can dance!”