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Elephants

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19:45 / 15.11.06

For example:

This baby elephant needs fostering. He's called Zurura and the finding of him is documented here:

Yet another call for help, this time to rescue a tiny calf that had fallen down a open faced mine dug for rubies on ‘Mukuki Ranch’ between Tsavo West and East during the moonless night of the 28th October. This area forms a migratory corridor long used by elephants to move between the two Tsavos, but which is now densely populated by an expanding human population making passage extremely dangerous for elephants. Therefore they have taken to streaking through at speed under cover of darkness, in trouble should daylight find them betwixt and between their two safe havens. Disturbed earth all around the pit was evidence that the herd had struggled long and hard to retrieve the precious calf that had fallen in during this process, but eventually the Matriarch had to make the terrible decision to abandon the trapped tiny baby in order to ensure the safety of the rest of her family before daybreak. By morning, what seemed to be a ghost herd had vanished entirely. There was no sign of an elephant anywhere.

19:56 / 15.11.06

that's fucking horrendously heart wrenching.
(beautifully writen though)

19:58 / 15.11.06

from Lula's link:

By the year 2004 the Trust had successfully saved and hand-reared over 55 infant African Elephant calves, two from the day of birth. Currently, over a dozen of the Trust’s hand-reared elephants are fully established and living free amongst their wild peers in Tsavo, some returning with wild born young to show their erstwhile human family.

yeah that's worth a big chunk of my income right there.

ONLY NICE THINGS

20:49 / 15.11.06

They are rubbish compared to elephants.

Eat balls, says this hyrax.

There's a reason why they're called rock hyraxes. Because they goddamn rock.

21:02 / 15.11.06

He's not doing much rocking though is he? He's really just sitting chilling out.

21:09 / 15.11.06

Apparently we used to live really near Hyraces(? Hyraxi?) - I don't remember the gerbil-like cousins of the tusker much, but the dog brought an old corpse back once, as if it were a gift for the whole family. Mmm, week old hyrax corpse!

21:09 / 15.11.06

Spain means "Land of the Hyrax", or so Wikipedia tells me. Apparently early Phoenician navigators mistook the rabbits of the Iberian Peninsula for hyraxes and named it I-Shapan-im, meaning "land of the hyraxes" (Shapan is Hebrew for Hyrax). This was Latinised to Hispania.

I think Land-of-the-Tiny-Elephants-Pretending-to-be-Rabbits would have had more of a ring to it.

21:33 / 15.11.06

I so want to live there.

21:50 / 15.11.06

He's not doing much rocking though is he? He's really just sitting chilling out.

Aye, more a relax hydrax. He'd not be saying 'Eat balls', he'd be like 'Yeah, my cousin the elephant...' and all the other animals'd be looking at him like 'Fuck off, are you shit related to the elephant' and he'd just be like a crap stoner in the shadow of his famous & successful cousin, basically.

Sorry, we really should have more ele-facts. This thread is great.

22:00 / 15.11.06

Nurse, tranquilliser for Mr Haus, please, quickly...

22:26 / 15.11.06

do you guys know that elephants use the ground to communicate?

i've heard folks say that aircraft mess with the migrations and communications of elephants in africa.
they can apparently 'hear' each other moving over incredible distances, using their feet(see link) to feel what is going on.
something like a stampede can give herds all around vital clues about what is going on and how close by, informing the movements of herds miles away.
they can, i hear, use this to predict things like availability of water and other resources.

it's the elephanternet.
the world wide floor.

22:30 / 15.11.06

...and we're spamming it!

22:41 / 15.11.06

Don´t fret, we´ll get caught in the world´s spam filter pretty soon...

02:07 / 16.11.06

1. Hyraxes aren't kosher. They're mentioned by name in Leviticus. DO NOT EAT.

ESPECIALLY WITH LOBSTER.

2. Lula: Grant, I really don't think human-elephant wrestling would work.

You *so* didn't follow that second link to my uncle's story, did you.

07:10 / 16.11.06

Grant, your uncs is either very brave or very foolish. Or both.

I don't think it would go down that well on American telly.

Hmmm.. American TV did run that "40 dwarves vs. an elephant, pulling a plane" thing though. So on that basis, it might be a storming success. Sometimes I'm just so proud, being human.

Oh, and talking of heart-rending elephant moments, did anyone see Planet Earth on Sunday?

07:14 / 16.11.06

Grant, I didn't. Oh deary me, your poor uncle.

10:09 / 16.11.06

I really don't think human-elephant wrestling would work...it seems to me to be unbalanced and therefore over very quickly

Well of course, I mean, the Rock and Steve Austin are professional athletes, the pachyderms wouldn't stand a chance. Flying elbow to the trunk, bounce Nelly off the post and hit her with a chair and she'll go down like anyone else.

My Mom Thinks I'm Cool

12:59 / 16.11.06

elephants0001

hey - not the best photo but I did take it myself in a game reserve in Botswana. we were in a little golf cart thing about 10 feet away from these guys. they were pretty used to people though.

this may not be a surprise, but I would totally (try to) wrestle an elephant. and at the end, when the foot was coming down and turning me into jelly, I'd have a great big smile on my face.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:15 / 16.11.06

grant, brave or foolish, it matters not. What is clearly the case is that your uncle has BALLS OF STEEL. I'm glad we didn't end up seeing that on some cobbled-together Herzog-edited post-mortem footage.

13:15 / 16.11.06

I skimmed through the thread, but I don't think there is a link to the...
National Geographic's Animals in the womb series.
There are previews on that link of the series.

Here is a peak inside the womb of a pregnant mommy elephant...

13:53 / 16.11.06

well the spouse approved the idea to foster a baby elephant so now we're just waiting to hear from the Trust.

SQUEEE!!!!!

14:08 / 16.11.06

The Trust worte back:

Thank you so much indeed for your kind words about the work we do and for your desire to support our efforts. It is amazing what cruelty man inflicts on these magnificent creatures, the latest being in Zimbabwe where they have stolen 12 wild babies from their families in order to train them for Elephant back safaris in South Africa, something that has become very popular - so yet again, for mans' insatiable greed and commercial drive and morbid curiosity these little wild babies are not only ripped from their loving families, but have to suffer years of cruelty while their spirit is broken and they are trained to carry tourists around on their backs. Unbelievable that in this day and age this is allowed.

Our fostering program makes a wonderful Christmas present too, in this crazy material world, something that is educational and gives joy and wonderment throughout the year is a very novel gift.

I think I'm giving elephants this year!

14:17 / 16.11.06

Here's a picture I took, in the Masai Mara in Africa:

Immediately after this picture was taken, this cute little guy bugled and charged a landrover that drove across in front of the herd while we watched. The adults got a little concerned, and so came with backup.

Had I been in that vehicle, I would have wet myself.

14:34 / 16.11.06

Our new foster elephant child LESANJU!

I picked her 'cause of her shredded ears, that she was orphaned by human earthworks, and rescued by human efforts.

14:40 / 16.11.06

Gosh, she is beautiful. Good stuff, xk, Illmatic and others. What a great gift. I will take a closer look at the adoptions myself, and talk to my partner about it. I think it is a great educational gift for kids, too.

15:42 / 16.11.06

Loving this thread. LOVE. ING. It's reminded me...

A bunch of years ago, I had a most lovely elephant encounter at a smallish zoo in southern Indiana. The elephant area was pretty small and of a fairly standard design: roaming area outside, air-conditioned room inside. The back wall of the room was barred, and there was a viewing platform across from it. The bars and platform were separated by a sunken walkway which was off-limits to visitors. At the edge of the platform was a bright yellow line, and just outside the elephant cage was a sign warning visitors not to reach across the line.

The elephant was standing facing away from me as I stepped on the platform. I said, "Hello", and it turned around slowly and came up to the bars. I just stared. It was huge. A full-grown adult from what I could tell. It's eyes studied me. I wanted to reach out to it, but was hesitant. This thing could kill me easily if it wanted to. One quick grab and a good shake and I'd be done for. Still, to reach out and touch an elephant... The temptation was too much. So I leaned in a little and extended my arm, hand open and palm up.

Slowly, the elephant unfurled it's trunk and moved it toward me. I was scared but held my ground, hoping the elephant would sense that I didn't mean any harm. Then the trunk-end was on my hand, snurfling and examining. No sudden movements from either of us. I must have passed muster, as the elephant eventually moved it's trunk from on top of my hand to underneath it. Like it wanted to be petted. So I did.

And there I was. Petting this magnificent creature. Looking it in the eye. Making friends. I started to talk to it. "Aren't you beautiful?" "You look so strong." "Are you lonely?" "Are they taking good care of you?" "Beautiful boy." And so on. People were staring. I couldn't have cared less. It sounds silly to say, but I felt like I was making a connection. It was euphoric. A zookeeper finally came up to me and asked me to "Please stop doing that." I almost told her to fuck off. Instead, I thanked the elephant and left the exhibit. I never did get back there for another visit, and I regret that now.

17:21 / 16.11.06

grant, brave or foolish, it matters not. What is clearly the case is that your uncle has BALLS OF STEEL. I'm glad we didn't end up seeing that on some cobbled-together Herzog-edited post-mortem footage.

Actually, my aunt's the hero with that one. She also makes kick-ass pickles.

The doctors were mystified -- they'd never treated a trampling victim before. None had ever survived. He says that if it had been a smaller elephant, he'd have been toast -- Tshokwane's so big, his tusks plowed on either side of my uncle's body when he tried to gore him. They were too long to let him do a good head butt, too.

The book after the elephant one was on safari-inspired interior design. Heheheh.

17:33 / 16.11.06

I think I'm giving elephants this year!

You'll get a mammoth postage bill.

18:08 / 16.11.06

not doubt I'll be taken to tusk for the packaging!

10:31 / 17.11.06

xk, although you have just made an appalling pun, I heart you with you all my, um, heart. The moment my income goes up (not too long) I am fostering one as well. The photos of little Lesanju are aweome, particularly the ones of her getting out of the helicopter. You have so set the template for my Xmas gifts this year. Thanks!

12:38 / 17.11.06

aw shucks....

yeah well Quants sort of called me out, you know? Have to uphold the family tradition of bad puns. When the Dad and clan arrive in London next spring for the UnCon anyone who doubts the power of our bad bad puns skillz is welcome to come drinking with us.
(...are bad puns some sort of fatherhood mojo bonus?)

The spouse has informed me that he is fostering his *own* elephant, and we're getting a rhino fosterling for my nephews' Xmas prez! My sister approved the idea as part of what you get with the foster package is a very nice online map of where the orphan was found. She figures the gift will also double as a learning tool to get the kids interested in geography as well as environmental/animal conservation.

I feel much better about a foster gift than some crap ass fad item the kids want due to TV-land that has product-of-slave-labour stamp on the plastic underside. i usually give them books anyway.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

16:00 / 19.11.06

Rah rah it's Shida! I have opted for Black Rhino adoption but, like xk, will be giving elephants for Christmas this year.

Thanks for the thread and the idea! I loves me some Shida. He's a little hellraiser, just like his pop.

13:53 / 27.11.06

Dude! Eggs! Go to your video shop and rent Warrior King right now! Tony Jaa muay thai action adventure where he has to kick his way through millions of villains in order to rescue his BABY ELEPHANT!

Tony: Where are my elephants?! *crunch*
Goon #347: Aaargh my arms!

14:16 / 27.11.06

Mate, I've seen it.

As somone said to me the next day: Did we really go and see a film where Tony Jaa fights 4 giants and a Thai ladyboy dominatrix armed only with the shinbones of his giant elephant pal?

I could only answer: Yes. Yes, we did.

14:46 / 27.11.06

...and we saw that it was good.

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