Still in the News: Elephant Poaching Continues

Friends and colleagues know that among Mr. Guy's favorite things in life (aside from his family, it goes without saying), elephants rank high up there, probably the result of his thrilling experiences living in Kenya and spending as much time as he could going off with his driver Charles to look for elephants. [More about that in the posts noted to the left, dating from late 2009 to early 2011, with one dating from January, 2014.]

No need to go into a lot of description here except to note that in Africa, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the splendid African elephant comes in two sub-species, the Savannah (or bush) elephant and the Forest elephant. I love them all, and I've decided that — for a gentle re-entry back into the world of "Sharing Guy's Journey" — I'll share a few elephant-related thoughts for those who join with me in thinking about this magnificent animal (which the WWF refers to as "the largest animal walking the Earth).

And a little later I'll get to telling some sweet stories to top up part of what I've told earlier (and encouraging anyone reading this to look back at my favorite elephant story about the old-lady elephant who came to mean so much to me).

But first I want to tackle a problem that seems to keep coming back. Despite a certain tendency toward some level of optimism over the last couple of decades or so, the news about elephant poaching continues to be bad. I'm not sure what's going on, but there is surely some lack of motivation, probably having to do with the times we're living in. We have the international situation with Syria and terrorism news from all over the world. Then there's the attention given to attempting to deal with some version of post-Brexit governance and in the United States we have distractions of what purports to be a political campaign.


So is it any wonder that this particular subject — which worries so many of us — is "out-of-bounds" for most media? Certainly we were all pleased to read about President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya repeating a poached-ivory burning ceremony originally performed in 1989, with an impressive monument later built to commemorate Kenya's President (at the time) Daniel arap Moi's burning of some 12 tons of elephant tusks. The monument (shown here) is a popular tourist site within Nairobi National Park, attracting visitors at all times of the year. And the poached-ivory burning ceremony was an action that seemed to have given new attention to changing global policy on exporting ivory. So this past April 30 President Kenyatta oversaw a similar ceremony, which National Geographic described as the destruction of 105 tons of elephant ivory and 1.35 tons of rhino horn, "the final remains," the National Geographic news service reported, "of some 6,500 elephants and 450 rhinos killed for their tusks and horns."

That's a very noble response to what is an amazing — in the literal sense of the word — endangered species destruction. But it is also troubling to think that an additional 105 tons of illegal ivory was confiscated between 1989 and 2016. To my way of thinking, it is almost inconceivable that as our society becomes more and more civilized (as we hope is happening) such damage occurs. I recently heard from a good friend who follows these things with more scholarly (and personal) background than I, that Avaaz — an apparently well-known global civic campaigning community — reports that "Every 15 minutes an elephant is brutally slaughtered for its tusks, and at this rate they will be gone forever in just a few years." The report from Avaaz goes on to state that "momentum is growing for a complete global ban on ivory" but notes sadly that the European Commission in a position paper released last month (according to The Guardian) has indicated that "rather than an all-encompassing ban it would be better to encourage countries with growing elephant numbers to 'sustainably manage' their populations."

Doesn't this seem like an odd response to a problem that is clearly recognized throughout many countries? Over the past couple of years, The New York Times has been running a very informative series of articles about elephant poaching and the dangers of extinction for this remarkable species (just search "elephant poaching" in The New York Times). I think all civilized peoples recognize that the elephant-poaching crisis is heartbreaking. Some 29 African governments have predicted mass extinction within 25 years unless a full-scale ban on any future domestic ivory trade is enacted. What possible reasons could there be — other than greed — to oppose a ban on the sale of ivory?

These are questions I'm not qualified to answer but that does not mean I don't think about them. And as I spend a little more time thinking about elephants in future blog posts (happier stories I promise) this sad situation has to be kept in mind. It was aviatrix Beryl Markham, in West with the Night, who provides us with a closing thought for today for this subject:

"It is absurd for a man to kill an elephant. It is not brutal, it is not heroic, and certainly it is not easy; it is just one of those preposterous things that men do...."

A Terrific Book for Elephant Lovers

And you know who you are.

Yes, we're the folks whose ears perk up when someone says, "Have you heard about this elephant...?"

Since I had my time in Kenya - and got to know the elephants there pretty well - I've enjoyed writing about my experiences and sharing photos and commentary from time to time.

Recently, on the recommendation of another member of the "thinking-about-elephants-a-lot" gang, I had the delicious opportunity to explore The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild by Lawrence Anthony.

It's a beautiful story, about a man whose life was built around animal conservation and who, when asked to take care of a herd of rogue wild elephants that had been causing problems at another private game reserve, he couldn't say "no." His Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand didn't have any elephants - they had left that part of Africa about a century ago - and even though he knew it would be a challenge to work with these troublesome wide animals, he took them on.

He worked very carefully to get to know the animals, and - more important - to have them get to know him. And trust him. He was eventually able to create a very special relationship with the animals - not all of them, as some of them (one in particular) had been badly damaged in previous interactions with humans. Nevertheless, the story Anthony tells - with co-author Graham Spence - is a story worth telling. There's humor, sensitivity, and, yes, a couple of "bonding" situations that remind me of my experience in the Kenya in Summer 2013, which you probably read about (if you didn't it's here).

Much is made in the book of the sensitivity of the elephants and their ability to understand things that we human beings don't usually expect animals to understand.

And one example of the elephants' sensitivity is the fact that they are known to mourn, so one of the interesting stories about Anthony's work and his death has to do with the animals coming to mourn him when he died. There are a number of versions of the story, and I happen to like the one told at a site called "The Delight Makers" (no, I had not heard of it either).

The story - Wild Elephants Gather Inexplicably, Mourn Death of "Elephant Whisperer - is sweetly told and gives a good picture of how animals deal with some of the same situations we humans are confronted with. I loved reading this description (just as I loved reading the book - in reading it and not knowing that Anthony had died just a couple of years ago, I felt a wonderful closeness to this fine man). I didn't so much love the advocacy message of the text of the film - but why would I, as I know nothing about the organization? - but the photography is splendid and made me anxious to head back to Kenya to visit my elephants.

So I recommend the book. It moves fast, and you get the feeling you're getting to know Lawrence Anthony well as you read the book. As well as the many interesting people with whom he is called upon to deal with (both positively and - ahem - some with some difficulty) during the course of the story. If you like reading about elephants. you're going to love this one.

Masai Mara (12): Elephants

So perhaps it's time to 'fess up. If any readers of these posts have noticed a kind of lead-up, you're right. There has been so much to write about, and so much to see and share, and since we're all agreed that this is the experience of a lifetime for Mr. Guy (who ordinarily doesn't think of travel and adventure as something he would do, if he didn't have to, say, for work), I've tried to put some theme in these posts. Particularly this last one, to the Masai Mara Game Reserve, was just so full of adventure and splendid things to see, I just couldn't do it without some structure.

And typically for Mr. Guy, the structure has a shape leading up to something. So before we say good-by to Masai Mara, I will share what is probably going to be my one true love (well, in the animal kingdom).

Ever since last autumn, when I first arrived and Charles took me to the elephant orphanage (where I'm going again - with friends - this Sunday, as my own special treat to myself before I leave Kenya for a while), I've been fascinated by the elephants. I've always loved them, of course, but had no idea that seeing them in their natural habitat would be such a gripping experience. And since I didn't have a camera when I went to the elephant orphanage in November, we can expect some photographs of that treat next week.

In the meantime, though, I want to share the Masai Mara elephant experiences. I've felt a little slighted on these several Kenya safaris - the ones that have come before now - because so many of the places we go are too small for the elephants to roam freely, and you just don't see very many of them. To really enjoy the elephants, you have to go to a really big place, such as Masai Mara.

The African bush elephant is a pretty remarkable creature, and no matter how much I read about him, I continue to be amazed. First of all, he can weigh as much as 13,000 pounds (I find that really hard to believe but why not - he is huge!). And he communicates not only with that trumpeting blast you hear from time to time, but through very sensitive vibrations through the skin of the trunk and the feet. We human beings cannot hear these "subsonic rumblings" (one author called them) but for the elephants they can be sensed miles away.
Just amazing.

I love the fact that the elephants are so prone to stay together, although as the photographs at Mr. Guy's Masai Mara (12) Album demonstrates, we came across several situation where a single elephant was out in the area all alone. No matter. Charles and I had a good time watching them, and on the first occasion, it was Tomas - our Maasai guide - who found this guy all by himself. So we approached as close as we could, I tried to be very careful with the camera, and we sat silently for a long time, just watching and absorbing all he had to share with us.

And then, after he had had enough to eat, we watched him wander away and sure enough, there were some of his pals (family?) all in a bunch, and it was equally lovely to watch him join them and wander on into the forest. What a nice first game drive! And our first elephant.