Danger: Elephants

[selenite0]

archangelbeth had a link to a New York Times Magazine story on elephants have become more violent. How violent? Killing hundreds of humans. Which doesn't shock me, I knew elephants were big and smart enough to be very dangerous. This part was a shock: "young male elephants . . . have been raping and killing rhinoceroses."

Rhinos? Damn.

The article concentrates on the psychological damage to elephants from having their family networks destroyed, especially when children see their parents killed. The effects parallel what's been seen happening to human kids in the same region. Makes sense--social animals don't function well when violently isolated. Made me think of some of the things that've happened in this country. There's people working on repairing the damage, but there's no easy fixes. And the central problem for the elephants is the need for lots of land to roam in, which humans want too.

Comments

[wombattery.livejournal.com]

Wilding, only it's going on in the wild. Eep. I had a pleasant visit to Pilanesberg some years ago, but it sounds like things have really gone downhill since then.

[noumignon.livejournal.com]

The effects parallel what's been seen happening to human kids in the same region.

Oh, have they been raping rhinoceroses too? What the fuck is that? I had no idea animals went in for bestiality and especially not big ponderous grey things. Are they even biologically related species?

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Might want to read the article. The human problem in the region is boys who had their parents murdered in front of them and were then conscripted as rebel soldiers. Once they've committed lots of atrocities, how can you reintegrate them into society?

[noumignon.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I thought this was a post from socratic and I responded with a different tone than I would normally use with you. Basically I just meant to say, "Elephants? Rhinos? That is messed up."

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Ah, sorry. That we're in complete agreement on.

As for your original question . . . I think it's just that they can't find any available elephants, hippos are too slippery, and everything else other than rhinos goes squish under them.

[tmc4242.livejournal.com]

That's a great article. Thanks for the link.

Wonder how the progress on deciphering elephant language is coming along.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Probably has the same problems as creating the first English-Klingonese dictionary. Get the pronounciation wrong and splat! Gotta hire a new linguist.

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

That part I found most striking was at the end. Where elephants treat human dead with the same rituals as they do elephant dead (but not, apparently, the dead of any other species).

Seems they've figured out that we and they are all just "people", even if we look a lot different...and they figured it out LONG before we did.

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

And the central problem for the elephants is the need for lots of land to roam in, which humans want too.

I'm right with you on the an-socialization process, but I think what hte humans want isn't so much land (pace the Georgeists :-) as connection. Preferably to a mom and dad who look out after them.

The greatest predictor of youth violence is criminal parent(s). The greatest predictor of youth success is a committed, competent parent.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Whoops. By "central problem" I meant humans taking over land for farming and ranching, plus wanting roads everywhere. That doesn't leave much room for elephants to hide from poachers and leads to other conflicts. Orphan elephants follow from that. The violently orphaned humans aren't needing land that much, no.

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

Okay, that makes much more sense.

I'd wondered what you were getting at--! (But because you're so generally sensible, assumed of course, that you were heading in that direction... and I'd missed the track!)