elephants

Our friends were just on a safari and Leah recounted something (and took a picture that) I wanted to post.

during our final game drive [in Tanzania], two elephants walked within arm's reach of us (we were in an open-topped land rover - i attached a photo of one approaching the vehicle). i was so tempted to touch their wrinkled, leathery skin as they strolled past, but either one (an adult and an adolescent) could have easily rolled our vehicle off the road and down a hill. so, i didn't take the risk.

to be so close, to see each eyelash, was an awe-inspiring moment. several other elephants came up behind the front two, but the third was a baby who didn't feel comfortable passing us. it was fascinating to watch him register anxiety and then face a decision - walk past the fearful obstacle to join the front of the herd, run back to his mother, or find an alternate route. he paced back and forth, turned a few times and even suspended his front leg in the air for a moment, unsure where to place it. finally, he veered off the road and into the woods. the rest of the group (perhaps 4 or 5 others) followed the baby's lead and rejoined their fearless leaders a safe distance behind our vehicle. it was amazing.

In other elephant news, I caught a very cool anim-docu-drama-crime-story awhile back. I was lucky enough to catch it after it had started, so I didn't know what had been mysteriously killing rhinoceroses in South Africa's Pilanesburg National Park (not killing like dying from a disease - killing like running over with a tank). The story unfolds as if it's a big mystery, and I was amazed by the realization of what was killing them; thankfully I hadn't known the title. Regardless, it's a watch worth penciling in at the end of January. This guy describes the episode with more expertise than I, and adds some other elephant stories to the mix.