Safari Notes

Elephants are incredible creatures. The largest land mammals on earth, they show a wide range of behavioral and emotional patterns in their up-to-60-year lifespans. They grieve over the bodies of dead herd members, and can even recognize their own reflections  in a mirror. And, of course, there's that old saying: "Elephants never forget." While it may be an exaggeration, there's more truth to the adage than you might realize.

Kenya’s elephants could be wiped out by poaching in 10 years, unless urgent measures are taken to end the crisis, International wildlife conservationists warned here this week. A demand for ivory and rhino horns in the lucrative Asian black market has attracted cartels to Africa that are presently carrying-out cold blood killings of the animals, the conservationists say. In Kenya, the situation is at its worst now, according to Richard Leakey, an internationally famed paleontologist and founder of WildlifeDirect, a conservation charity. “There has never been such a level of killing as we are experiencing today. Unless we do something now elephants will be gone from the wild within the next decade,” says Dr. Leakey, speaking at a presentation in the Kenyan capital.

Save Elephants and Tigers! I have just read a heart wrenching, painful report on how more cruel and merciless poaching for wildlife and 'trade' in them and their parts has become. The report by the award winning photojournalist and filmmaker, James Morgan, is one of many that's coming out of Africa and Asia. Every day in the savannas and forests of Africa, elephants are being gunned down for their ivory tusks. Across Africa, tens of thousands of these majestic animals are being slaughtered each year. In many places the species has already been poached to extinction . As for tigers, it is one of the most endangered mammals on Earth. Numerous tiger species are on the brink of extinction; the numbers of all existing species are declining rapidly. If nothing is done, now, both these two very majestic animals will soon be wiped out from the wild. The main market for both elephant and tiger parts, is Asia. And the main, central hub for this very cruel and merciless 't

Elephants in South Sudan could soon be extinct due to unchecked and uncontrolled, increased poaching and trafficking, conservationists warn. For a country that has just gained independence and which has had about fifty years of civil war and much instability during that time, its wildlife is supposed to be better protected than before. And yet, paradoxically, during those many years of war and instability - its wildlife, although also poached and eaten, were safer than now. All its wildlife: plants, flora and small and large animals were safer. South Sudan's savanna was the largest in Eastern Africa. Today, South Sudan's awesome wildlife is in danger of being destroyed: its wild animals, elephants in particular, are relentlessly being cruelly hunted down by well armed, well organized poachers. Poachers and trafickers from within the country, and many from outside are attracted by abundant, poorly protected wild animals.

There is some thing about these massive creatures that has, from the instant I set eyes on them , captured my imagination and won my complete admiration. I have always felt without any doubt, that Elephants are supreme . They are huge, but whenever I get close to them and look at them attentively, I have always felt that Elephants are unique. Not because of their size or the way they are shaped, but there is some thing about them that simply awes and makes you love them. They are massive, but neither threatening nor menacing; compared to their size, they have these very small eyes that whenever they look at you, they seem to say: 'I know and understand '. The way they move, feed, breed, take care of their young and each other and sleep - is simply amazing: so organized and disciplined. They are more intelligent and superior than most animals. That superiority has now been confirmed: An experiment reveals that elephants not only cooperate, but that they understand the logi

I can not think of any other living creature that is as awesome to look at and yet so gentle, majestic and noble as elephants . I have seen African elephants at close range many times, and yet, I am awed and have to stare and gawk at these incredible creatures whenever I see them. I quote from the movie White Hunter Black Heart : I've never seen one before, outside the circus or the zoo. They're so majestic. So indestructible. They're part of the earth. They make us feel like perverse little creatures from another planet. Without any dignity. Makes one believe in God. In the miracle of creation. Fantastic. They're part of a world that no longer exists, Hod. Feeling of unconquerable time. How true. Facts about elephants , are amazing. Elephants are incredibly social creatures who have lasting memories, and can communicate over long distances through low range sound waves ; they can cry, play, have incredible memories, and can even laugh ; and they grieve at a loss of a s

" The elephant is a friend to man More than the dog, it's constant. And now indeed our turn has come to be the Friend of the elephant. " From the song, Friends of the Elephant, composed by Paul Hippeau, for the Society of the Friends of the Elephant at their 1906 banquet. " The elephant's a gentleman ." Rudyard Kipling in Oonts " The elephant, not only the largest but the most intelligent of animals, provides us with an excellent example. It is faithful and tenderly loving to the female of its choice, mating only every third year and then for no more than five days, and so secretly as never to be seen, until, on the sixth day, it appears and goes at once to wash its whole body in the river, unwilling to return to the herd until thus purified. Such good and modest habits are an example to husband and wife. " St. Francis De Sales, 1567–1622, French churchman, devotional writer. Introduction to the Devout Life, pt. 3, ch. 39, 1609 "There is

I Love Elephants. From the first moment I set eyes on these huge creatures, I have loved and adored them. For me, no creature on land compares to them. No creature, including Man, has won my highest regards as Elephants. My Jumbo friends. Photos and pictures just don't do justice to these enormous, very intelligent, very gentle and very organized creatures; one has to see them live in their natural habitats. I first saw wild elephants, when I was about nine; I have loved and adored them, ever since. To me: the Lion is the King of the wild, but The Emperor of the wild is the Elephant. The African Elephant .