The Elephants Knew

[rich_t]

I received this e-mail from a friend and at first I thought someone may be playing a joke, but after doing a bit of research myself, I was amazed to find five (5) plus articles confirming this article...  Truly enlightening...


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201203/elephants-mourn-loss-elephant-whisperer-lawrence-anthony
http://delightmakers.com/news/wild-elephants-gather-inexplicably-mourn-death-of-elephant-whisperer/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6egom_ADs9I
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/elephantwhisperer.asp
http://www.readersdigest.com.au/Lawrence-Anthony-elephant-whisperer-july-2012




      The Elephants Knew

      And some will say there is no God,
      try and tell that to the elephants.....

      THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY TO PAY RESPECT,
      BUT HOW DID THEY KNOW?

      Lawrence Anthony,
      a legend in South Africa and author of 3 books including the bestseller,
      The Elephant Whisperer.
      He bravely rescued wildlife and rehabilitated elephants all over the globe
      from human atrocities, including the courageous rescue of Baghdad Zoo
      animals during US invasion in 2003.

      On March 7, 2012 Lawrence Anthony died.
      He is remembered and missed by his wife, 2 sons, 2 grandsons, and
      numerous elephants.
      Two days after his passing, the wild elephants showed up at his home
      led by two large matriarchs. Separate wild herds arrived in droves
      to say goodbye to their beloved 'man-friend'.
      A total of 31 elephants had patiently walked over 12 miles
      to get to his South African House.


      Witnessing this spectacle, humans were obviously in awe not only
      because of the supreme intelligence and precise timing that these
      elephants sensed about Lawrence's passing, but also because of
      the profound memory and emotion the beloved animals evoked
      in such an organized way:Walking slowly, for days,
      making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their habitat
      to his house. Lawrence's wife, Francoise, was especially touched,
      knowing that the elephants had not been to his house prior to that day for well over 3 years!
      But yet they knew where they were going. The elephants obviously
      wanted to pay their deep respects, honoring their friend
      who'd saved their lives - so much respect that
      they stayed for 2 days 2 nights without eating anything.
      Then one morning, they left, making their long journey
      back home.

      SOMETHING IN THE UNIVERSE IS GREATER
      AND DEEPER THAN HUMAN INTELLIGENCE.




      IN GOD WE TRUST

[Eupher]

Amazing stuff, Rich.

[SaintLouieWoman]

Elephants are amazing animals. There were 2 elephants in the herd at the St Louis Zoo that were so bonded that the smaller, younger one, Carolyn, wouuld take care of her older, arthritic friend Clara. The trunk of Clara was crippled and it as difficult for her to pick up her food. Carolyn would stand patiently next to Clara and not only feed Clara, but chew the food first so it would be easier for Clara to eat.

When Clara died, Carolyn wouldn't join the rest of the herd, but stood for days in mourning. She wasn't sick, as far as the keepers knew, but died shortly thereafter. She knew her buddy was gone and missed her.

For over a year I did a research project, standing with the clipboad doing a behavioral checklist. We weren't supposed to talk to the elephants (my friend and I stood outside for an hour a day once a week for over a year--at times when no one else was around). Funny thing, for years the elies that had been in the herd at the time of the study would raise their trunks and point them at me and make a soft sound every time I vsited "elephant hill". Those were the days. I loved those elephants, but none here in Sarasota. Now my "buddy" is a dolphin named Moonshine. SR and I both work near the dolphin pool.

Elephants, dolphins and greyhounds are extrmely intelligent animals.

[vesta111]

Elephants are amazing animals. There were 2 elephants in the herd at the St Louis Zoo that were so bonded that the smaller, younger one, Carolyn, wouuld take care of her older, arthritic friend Clara. The trunk of Clara was crippled and it as difficult for her to pick up her food. Carolyn would stand patiently next to Clara and not only feed Clara, but chew the food first so it would be easier for Clara to eat.

When Clara died, Carolyn wouldn't join the rest of the herd, but stood for days in mourning. She wasn't sick, as far as the keepers knew, but died shortly thereafter. She knew her buddy was gone and missed her.

For over a year I did a research project, standing with the clipboad doing a behavioral checklist. We weren't supposed to talk to the elephants (my friend and I stood outside for an hour a day once a week for over a year--at times when no one else was around). Funny thing, for years the elies that had been in the herd at the time of the study would raise their trunks and point them at me and make a soft sound every time I vsited "elephant hill". Those were the days. I loved those elephants, but none here in Sarasota. Now my "buddy" is a dolphin named Moonshine. SR and I both work near the dolphin pool.

Elephants, dolphins and greyhounds are extrmely intelligent animals.

 Strange Animals.   Huge and glorious  yet dangerous, by size alone.    So many story's of their behavior in the wild.  Photos of a female that had a baby die on her carrying the baby in her tusks for 3 days to what we call the Elephant burial grounds.

Some where in Tenn. there is a preserve for Elephants no longer wanted by circuses or small zoos.       

Getting up close to an Elephant is odd, we had a side show come to town with the Circus and the major draw was the very old Elephant just inside the gates.   I did learn that her trunk was full of spiking hairs,  not something to pet.

Just my wandering mind here, I did know a Asian woman that told me that her family made some kind of sauerkraut , place in jars under the home and a wild Elephant smelled one that had cracked and pushed down the home to get to it.

And here I am in America scared shitless of a 400 pound bear-------

   

[SaintLouieWoman]

Strange Animals.   Huge and glorious  yet dangerous, by size alone.    So many story's of their behavior in the wild.  Photos of a female that had a baby die on her carrying the baby in her tusks for 3 days to what we call the Elephant burial grounds.

Some where in Tenn. there is a preserve for Elephants no longer wanted by circuses or small zoos.       

Getting up close to an Elephant is odd, we had a side show come to town with the Circus and the major draw was the very old Elephant just inside the gates.   I did learn that her trunk was full of spiking hairs,  not something to pet.

Just my wandering mind here, I did know a Asian woman that told me that her family made some kind of sauerkraut , place in jars under the home and a wild Elephant smelled one that had cracked and pushed down the home to get to it.

And here I am in America scared shitless of a 400 pound bear-------

   

Elephants are very bright. Some years ago the elies broke out of their night time quarters at the Zoo, before it was remodeled. They stayed in te building, but broke into the keepers area. Amazingly they left some ockers alone, but crshed those of keepers that I guess that they didn't like. They also tore out the phones and carried them back nto their area of the elie barn.

I used to bring treats for the elephants. They liked pasta cooked with peanut sauce or various spices. I also made little roll ups of tortillas and applesauce for the gorillas. They'd look at me funny if I was eating at a Mexican restaurant and asked to take home the extra tortillas. They didn't beieve my gorilla story. LOL.

[vesta111]

Elephants are very bright. Some years ago the elies broke out of their night time quarters at the Zoo, before it was remodeled. They stayed in te building, but broke into the keepers area. Amazingly they left some ockers alone, but crshed those of keepers that I guess that they didn't like. They also tore out the phones and carried them back nto their area of the elie barn.

I used to bring treats for the elephants. They liked pasta cooked with peanut sauce or various spices. I also made little roll ups of tortillas and applesauce for the gorillas. They'd look at me funny if I was eating at a Mexican restaurant and asked to take home the extra tortillas. They didn't beieve my gorilla story. LOL.

I read somewhere on the web about a preserve for your Elies that had some orange trees on it. For a few years the Elies ignored the trees until one day a female found an orange on the ground and ate it.

She called her friends and they stripped the trees of the oranges in a day or so.   Then the story's of the Elies traveling for miles once a year to eat fermented fruit and getting drunk as a Lord.

Weird buggers , in DC. at the zoo a docent came up to me and handed me a large bundle of Elie poop.  It did not weigh but less then a pound, mostly hay or what ever they eat.   

A friend from Kenya tells of the males that go into Eustace, I believe the term is and wander about dripping sperm or some other foul smelling stuff looking for a mate.  It is fun meeting people that have lived around strange to us animals and give them little thought.

Those Elies that tore out the phones, were they annoyed by the ringing or perhaps picking up the electrical buzz we humans do not hear ?

As a kid my ambition was to join the circus and wear a fantastic costume and ride one into the ring, as I got older I began to notice the torn ears from the handlers spikes and felt sorry for the poor brutes. 
   
Then years ago I watched a documentary about how Elephants are trained for to work when young in the Indian logging business.   Horrible, but counter balanced with the results of kids taking the beasts into the water and cleaning them with brooms each night that the Elephants seemed to really enjoy.

I would guess these huge beasts are not that much different from humans in that they have an interesting society and act much like humans and may even be born with a bad streak in them . Had one wild Elephant in Asia that went on a rampage, acted crazy, villagers were terrified Called in the local police that killed the pachyderm and it was found the poor thing had an abscessed tooth  causing it to go nuts.

[SaintLouieWoman]

I read somewhere on the web about a preserve for your Elies that had some orange trees on it. For a few years the Elies ignored the trees until one day a female found an orange on the ground and ate it.

She called her friends and they stripped the trees of the oranges in a day or so.   Then the story's of the Elies traveling for miles once a year to eat fermented fruit and getting drunk as a Lord.

Weird buggers , in DC. at the zoo a docent came up to me and handed me a large bundle of Elie poop.  It did not weigh but less then a pound, mostly hay or what ever they eat.   

A friend from Kenya tells of the males that go into Eustace, I believe the term is and wander about dripping sperm or some other foul smelling stuff looking for a mate.  It is fun meeting people that have lived around strange to us animals and give them little thought.

Those Elies that tore out the phones, were they annoyed by the ringing or perhaps picking up the electrical buzz we humans do not hear ?

As a kid my ambition was to join the circus and wear a fantastic costume and ride one into the ring, as I got older I began to notice the torn ears from the handlers spikes and felt sorry for the poor brutes. 
   
Then years ago I watched a documentary about how Elephants are trained for to work when young in the Indian logging business.   Horrible, but counter balanced with the results of kids taking the beasts into the water and cleaning them with brooms each night that the Elephants seemed to really enjoy.

I would guess these huge beasts are not that much different from humans in that they have an interesting society and act much like humans and may even be born with a bad streak in them . Had one wild Elephant in Asia that went on a rampage, acted crazy, villagers were terrified Called in the local police that killed the pachyderm and it was found the poor thing had an abscessed tooth  causing it to go nuts.

The males go into musth, sort of a version of heat in the females. The males usually hang out together in bachelor groups. The females stay with the young and only get together during "that time". They usually go for the biggest males.

In musth, the males are impossible to handle, only have one thing on their mind. They do secrete a really smelly sort of almost slime.

A friend and fellow docent with me at the St Louis Zoo used to travel to parts of Asia and would help at the elephant camps, got to help give them baths, etc. I always envied her the excitement and the money to do these things. She was a really interesting person. She also went to Africa and went on hikes to see the rhinos. That's more than a bit dangerous.

Life for the elies in the circus is pretty tough. Our realtor when we moved to Florida had been in the circus. She said she was "the pretty" in the act. At one time she rode elephants. She was pretty nasty in her statements about them, said they were nasty beasts. That wasn't nice saying that to someone who really admires them. I should have followed my instincts. She really screwed us over.

[SaintLouieWoman]

Weird buggers , in DC. at the zoo a docent came up to me and handed me a large bundle of Elie poop.  It did not weigh but less then a pound, mostly hay or what ever they eat.

Vesta, speaking of elie poop, I have to confess was also one of those weird docents. The head elephant trainer gave me and a few of the other elephant watchers a piece of preserved elie poop from the baby elephant. I kept it at home for years, but threw it out finally before moving here.

We also had ellie poop on our cart. The little boys all liked it and many of the little girls said "ewww".