I absolutely love african elephants. Hands down, one of my favorite animals. Why? First, seeing them in their territory feels magical. I suddenly forget anything going on in the world, and am genuinely mesmerized with how majestic they are. Since I love them so much, I'm going to break this post up so 1. I can show you more of my pictures (this is one of the few posts I actually have pictures for!), 2. I can organize all the things I think are fascinating about them. Today's topic:
Death.
Why? It gives me perspective. The lifespan of an elephant is ~70 years, and outside of poaching, they aren't attacked by most animals, and the few that do only do out of desperation. So it's safe to say most elephants that are born are going to make it outside of human threats. Now think about the fact that for the 70 years that an elephant roams plains and forests, going from food to water to shade. In that same 70 years, somehow people have had WWII, internet, bad pop music, Vietnam, Kim Jong Il, civil rights, you name it. It's a nice reminder to know that while we are getting worked up about, no doubt important issues, there are things going on outside of the realm of human politics, culture and injustices. That's why it gives me perspective.
On to the story. Elephants deal with death on a level beyond most animals. In the 2nd picture, you see a matriarch tending to her 2 week old baby who just collapsed and died within minutes. She is trying to get the baby back on his feet, but he keeps falling over. Then some sort of realization; she trumpets, calling over other elephants. The others walk toward her, bringing up dust moreso than usual, seen in picture 3. They then cover the deceased with dust, twigs, leaves -- anything around. While doing this, several elephants trumpet and then start showing signs of stress: a liquid trickles down their face behind their eyes (though it is not fully understood and they are not quite the same as tears, they do this in stressful situations and in situations where one would imagine extreme relief, like finding a waterhole after days of searching). This is seen in picture 4. Here's where it gets crazy. Every day, this herd will come to the same site, and cover the baby until one day, it's just bones. When that happens, the elephants will pass around the bones with their trunks in a ritual, then eventually go back to its daily needs. After sometimes years and years (some have been recorded to come to the death site for as many as 6 years), the bones will be so scattered from passing them around that they no longer pinpoint the death to a specific spot -- this is when they stop coming.
Even crazier: studies have been done that suggest that elephants actually recognize individuals even if just bones are left. If one strayed, died, and they later came across it, they would perform the ritual. If they are traveling, they will rest there overnight, then continue their journey in the morning. If they handn't interacted with that elephant, they likely won't stop for long. It's fascinating that they can recognize bones as specific to elephants and even more fascinating that they can recognize. Crazy.
Final fact. As I said, most elephants die at around 70 years old, if living in a healthy environment. This isn't due to a lack of brain function or old age in sorts, it's because of hunger. Elephants have 6 sets of teeth, replacing themselves about every 10 years. When they're 70, they no longer have teeth coming in, so their teeth wear out an they can no longer chew twigs and hence, can't swallow much food. At this point, they pretty much seclude themselves to river banks, where trees might be moist, making it easier for them to eat food. And this is where they die -- hence, and elephant graveyard. Picture 5 is of an elephant's worn out set 6 teeth, found by a graveyard.
That's all for today.
Next time I'll tell you more about elephants, like how herds function, protect young, what the males do, warning signs before attacks, interactions with humans and how to become instant friends with an elephant in the wild.
I hope it's becoming clear to you why I think elephants are fantastic.
Shameless plug: If you liked the pictures, visit my website!
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