Like the giant sea monsters
that once stalked the ocean floors,
an unlikely creature still roams the earth.
So much like the treasured whales of the seas,
elephants are the precious last remnants of the
largest land animals in the world.
Even a gigantic bull will play away the day,
wallowing in the coolness of a
life that ambles along at its won pace...
A life as long as our own,
but with so much more time
to be simply what they are.
But this sense of calm and meditation can be deceptive.
For a whole year one small herd races against time
and the drying water holes.
Often the battle over the precious water enrages them.
Two tiny calves are caught up in this struggle,
coaxed through their early
years that are fraught with dangers.
As large as they are,
elephants are sensitive and gentle creatures.
Haunting discoveries of burial rituals, language,
and understanding suggest
intelligence and even emotions.
These are the last of a dying race.
Watching them, we can reflect,
not only on their complex behavior,
but on our own as well.
Join us for a few moments
and Reflections on Elephants.
Africa seldom relaxes.
It always seems to be waiting
for the gentler moments to pass.
Around rainwater pools strewn
across the dry country of Botswana,
doves and sandgrouse stir up the air in a frenzy to drink
before the soft edges of the day burn off.
Elephants are is symbol of the African wilderness,
woven into its fabric like the
blazing skies and the endless savannas.
In the midst of a swirling dance of smaller creatures,
huge males live separate lives
usually ignoring any passing herds of females and calves.
Around these scattered water
holes they live out their isolation,
slowly drawing life from the earth's open wounds.
With a life-span of 60 years or longer
elephants pursue the rhythms
of lifeat a leisurely but determined pace.
Each movement is a calculated conservation of energy,
each day a tiny investment in legend.
In the crisp morning a herd of females and calves
pads in silently from the forest.
It is unusual for females like
these to wander into the bull area,
But they are anxious.
It's been an eventful night.
A calf was born to the matriarch,
the leader of this herd.
From the first day danger is every where.
The youngster is a female
and she will be guided carefully
through life by her mother
and the other family members.
Because elephant societies are led by females
and her mother is a matriarch,
It is likely that one day
she too will have to carry on
that tradition of leadership.
But for now she seems
blissfully unaware of the dangers of life,
more concerned with keeping close to her mother
and balancing on her one-day-old legs.
For this young calf,
lions will be a recurring threat to her life.
Towering giants block the way.
The determined opportunist is reluctant to go.
When the calf flounders
in theunfamiliar muddy water, she panics.
But at this age, help is seldom far away.
They bunch together,
protecting her within a wall of legs and trunks.
Even the females have tusks that lions must avoid.
Safe against the bank,
the little female has to contend
with another new challenge
The first bowel movement,
an unbalancing and alarming experience
With the lions still menacing,
the matriarch must soon move her calf
out of the water hole
With her front toenails she breaks away the edges,
making a ramp for the short strides of the baby.
As she leads her family through the gauntlet of lions,
The matriarch's bloodstained
legs are a testament to a stressful night
and a new beginning
The start of a long journey.
This journey takes place in southern Africa.
Once elephants roamed over most of this continent.
They still wander freely over all of their ancestral range in Botswana,
one of the last havens for wild elephants.
These seasonal movements of following the water
cover over forty thousand square miles
The matriarch is guiding her
herd along a network of ancient paths.
She has decided to visit an
old site to supplement the diet of the herd.
They dig open the holes and
turn the soil into fine, white powder.
Locked inside the dust are
sodium and other valuable minerals
that have leached into these soils.
These mineral digs are investigated, remembered,
and used...
A rudimentary form of self-medication.
It's not long before she gives the command to move on.
As they glide along
they communicate gently
in rumbles of very low frequencies.
These sounds, almost silent to us, drift over the herd...
just vibrations floating in the dust.
Ahead, at the next water hole, a tragic drama is unfolding.
Another calf has been
abandoned in the first few days of its life.
Sometimes sick or old females struggling to survive
do leave infant calves to fend for themselves.
Innocent to the virtues of silence in the dark,
the young elephant calls out to the shadows.
The cry in answered.
But the hyena is nervous, wary of the approaching elephants.
When the matriarch leads her herd intothe water,
they are drawn to the disturbance.
But with a long journey ahead,
this abandoned calf could be a grave burden to the whole herd.
And he is rejected.
Perhaps the calls are too chilling, and the herd returns.
The calf is caught up in the swirl of running legs,
and swept off into the dark.
Adoption is rare in most species,
but by daybreak the rescued
calf is part of the herd.
Now, however, he has even greater challenges to deal with.
It's an adoption,
but by some strange twist of fate, his new mother is the matriarch,
Who already has her own newborn daughter.
He is immediately seen as a competitor
for the rich-flavored milk.
Elephants rarely have two calves at a time,
so usually there is no competition for milk.
Whether the matriarch adopted the calf
or the calf found the only lactating female in the herd,
is hard to tell.
But his rescue is no less than remarkable.
Now he faces a new threat...
starvation by sibling rivalry.
Probing and testing like
serpents coaxed out by a charmer's flute,
Sensitive trunks dance for a hidden delicacy.
Each shake is followed by a moment's silence,
not in reverence, But to listen for the seed pods falling.
These pods are harvested annually.
The trees are seldom damaged...
unlike the robust mopane trees that they smash down to get
to the nutritious upper leaves
A little bark from certain
acacias yields fatty acids and minerals.
It is thought that the fiber
in the bark has medicinal sues for elephants
as it does for humans.
Herds all over northern Botswana are on the move now
traversing the corridors of their memories...
Ancient trails that run like long veins of life,
spreading out,
then converging on the scattered water holes.
The most vulnerable are the very young
By the age of three, fewer than half the calves survive.
Some lions specialize in outmaneuvering the herds,
Waging a constant way of nerves.
Sometimes older calves become isolated
separated because their mothers have new young to lookafter.
These newborn can be snatched up easily
and must be well guarded.
Often the older calves must fend for themselves.
As harsh as it may seem, it is necessary.
With animals that live so long
some deaths are important to regulate the population.
Only in paradise is death banned from claiming the weak.
At the water hole a lone male suddenly feels the awakenings in his body.
It is the time of his musth.
Like the new dawn, this feeling is fresh and vital.
He can take on anything.
Musth comes to males once a year,
But only begins halfway through their lives.
This is their breeding phase,
when high levels of testosterone turn their thoughts to conquests.
Another bull has the same feelings of elation today
and is also ready to confront the world.
When a breeding herd of females glides towards the combatants,
the silence is deceptive.
This victorious bull has already heard the low rumbles
from an eager female across the plain.
As he draws nearer, she coyly breaks away.
And the chase is on.
He hunts her down.
She knows she is being hunted,
and with a smaller body weight
She could easily outrun him as she has lesser suitors this week.
But this time she is willing and stops
Elephant mating takes a lot of cooperation.
This coordinates sexual readiness of both male and female
is quite unique in animals and for several days
they will stay together.
By soliciting this musth bull,
she has purposely chosen her mate,
and wins as a prize his dominant genes for her offspring.
Her calf will be born nearly two years from now.
Waves of thirsty giants stampede the water holes.
Anything in the way is chased off.
But before rushing in, they stop and test the air.
Each family, under the leadership of their matriarch,
Maintains long-distance contact with other groups.
As the groups meet at the water holes,
they melt together to become one clan again.
Here they congregate and reinforce bonds.
Even after short separations,
Greetings are very active and affectionate.
Screams of tension drive out non-clan members;
Elephants tend to avoid strangers.
But the large water holes attract herds from all around,
Both wanderers and regulars on this route.
All mass together,
but maintain their discrete groups around the water hole,
hundreds or sometimes even thousands at a time.
These gentle animals appear to want to avoid stressful encounters.
With language skills of at least twenty-five different concepts,
A complex "stacking" system is at work at these water holes
When incoming herds signal,
the herd that was drinking vacates the water.
In all this activity, the matriarch has arrived.
Over the last two months the adopted,
Smaller calf seems to have worked out a way to survive.
The water is still an unfamiliar experience for both calves.
The adopted calf,
possibly with less pleasant associations,
is even more reluctant to venture in,
despite the gentle coaxing.
Others are here for the water as well.
As hundreds of buffalo crowd in,
stress rumbles through the elephant herds like an electric storm.
Boxed in by the huge herd of buffalo,
the matriarch and her family
are forced to use the steep side of the bank.
An older calf is jostled into the water.
With the buffalo still threatening, a quick rescue is mounted.
Displaying an intelligence of communication and astounding logic,
Theelephants divide their efforts.
Some fend off the buffalo while others tend to the frantic calf.
Just a gentle stabilizer is needed and a well-placed trunk does the job.
And still the matriarch doesn't lead them away.
They need water before attempting the long journey ahead.
In their eagerness to drink, the smaller,
adopted calf is shoved over the edge and into the mud.
Now the danger of a buffalo stampede is even greater than before.
The thick mud sucks at the calf's back legs.
Following the matriarch's lead they all climb into the mud to help.
Desperate attempts to break down the bank only make the problem worse.
The two females combine efforts,
using tusks and trunks like shovels to keep the calf from drowning,
while another digs a ramp.
Together the two females squeeze and push at the calf.
The suction underneath is suddenly released
and the calf is free at last.
They tenderly reassure and smell the youngster,
rescued for the second time in his life.
The concerned herd now bunches against the converging buffalo
Outrage runs like wildfire among the herds,
sparking explosions of aggression.
But the buffalo keep pouring out of the forest,
and dust hangs like smoke on a battlefield.
The contest is finally resolved.
As the dust settles, the buffalo disperse.
Somewhere in the confusion,
a young buffalo was struck heavily in the head and side.
The calf is doomed, injured beyond hope.
The two calves move off with the herd.
Having avoided a muddy death themselves.
The young buffalo's broken body is left behind.
It causes some concern to the departing elephants,
Suggesting an awareness of in jury and death,
even of other species.
Like huge cathedrals or ancient monoliths,
The solid shapes block out the sun.
A long way from the congregating female herds,
the bulls gently sway to a rhythmic dance of the giants
A shuffle of constant adjustment
in a display of dominance and submission.
Each one of these bulls has a rank
each responds to the next one.
Every newcomer to the gathering provokes a reaction
that flashes through the memories of all the contestants.
Anyone unsure of his status
soon learns the rules of this tournament of giants.
Status is determined by body size, rage;
tusks have little to do with it.
The contest is for water, as usual.
In a classic bull area like Savuti,
up to 200 elephants compete for this one resource.
In this melee they must constantly be aware of who is around
A sensitive tail is an advantage.
With their head used like huge medieval maces,
bodies jostle and tusks joust for precious liquid.
This struggle may seem like a chaotic free-for-all.
But with each changing combination,
the field plan of the hierarchy is reset in a surprisingly orderly fashion
One ghostly form is excluded from the commotion.
His gaunt features and sagging skin
are sure signs of his age and fading energy for life.
With his last set of grinding teeth nearly worn away,
his days are numbered.
Too weak to join in,
he can only watch the competing bulls, and wait.
By dusk his body cries out for the moisture leached from it by the heat.
He can no longer resist,
and with fewer bulls around the water, he makes his move.
Drawing himself up to his full height,
he forces himself into the circle.
At last the drinks.
When a mud-covered, dominant bull returns,
the ghostly elephant should retreat.
But the water still beckons him.
It is a mistake.
A jagged tusk slices through the old skin into his neck.
The old bull goes down with barely a struggle,
losing blood fast.
Even before the old bull dies,
a young male carries out a bizarre mock-mating display.
This behavior can only be explained
as an attempt to upgrade
his own status with this show of domination.
The old bull dies quickly and silently in the night,
though his fate was long since determined.
Companions defend the carcass against the hyenas,
a useless endeavor.
His body must continue its usefulness to Africa,
even after his death.
Like an ancient burial ritual,
attention is paid to every detail.
We don't yet understand this behavior.
Is it a macabre fascination with the dead
or perhaps a tribute to a fallen companion?
And why is the ivory so often
the focus of these haunting examinations?
As a week passes,
the carcass gradually relinquishes its form.
There is no mythological elephant graveyard,
no common place where bones and tusks are taken...
just the eventual scatterings in the dust.
As the last scavengers squabble over the scraps of the body,
A few bulls remain,
perhaps still nurturing a special bond with the old elephant.
Before we could really understand his ways and the ways of his species,
The bull's spirit floats away.
Eight days and what was once a giant of the world
is no more thanjust a memory, just a reflection of a time
when elephants roamed Africa
from sea to sea and ruled the continent.
Once again the clans are gathering, marching for the rivers.
Paths interlace,
leaving behind a swath of flattened vegetation.
This constant ebb and flow of bodies
affects some areas while resting others,
A balance that is forever changing.
The females head for the best feeding and good water,
not only for the living, But for their unborn as well.
The final miles are covered on the run toward the rivers.
Here the matriarch and her calves will see out
the next three months of the dry season.
Even in this chaotic clamor for water,
The elephants show a sensitivity and awareness of who is around them
and where their other clan families are
After a grueling six months, the calves,
possibly sensing that their constant march is over
take on a new playfulness and relax.
But now when the oppressive heat stings their dark bodies,
They can hide from its burning fingers
Gradually the elephants drop down like weary puppets at the end of a show.
Both young and old drifting into a rare sleepiness.
For them there are easy ways to shut out the world.
They seldom allow themselves to sleep for long.
Just a few minutes at a time are needed by animals with such long, slow lives.
Only when they are all up and ready will the matriarch
lead them out of the shade,
always keeping the herd together.
But sometimes things go wrong.
Occasionally calves are left behind and wander around lost,
Testing each herd they approach.
When he sees the matriarch and goes to greet the herd,
this young male is turned away
His best chance of being found is to keep searching.
Despite their good communication,
These separations are inevitable.
Newborn calves have begun to displace the older ones.
Unbeknown to him,
his real family is across the plain heading into the forest.
Suddenly he finds himself among lions.
Before he can turn away,
the juvenile is locked in a deadly game.
But this time innocence is matched by inexperience.
The lions are young and seem more intent on experimenting thank killing.
Lions often prey on the weak, but this calf is lost,
Not ailing... a determined opponent with a thick hide,
not easy to penetrate.
But soon he tires and the lions close in for the kill.
Quite suddenly the experiment is over.
The lions are exhausted, and lose interest.
The calf responds,
surprising the lions with his new zest for life.
As they watch, he slips away.
What emotions elephants feel during these struggles we do not know
That they do feel something is quite apparent.
Back in the bull area,
when old bones have all but turned to dust,
The mud relinquishes a precious last reminder
of the old bull at the water hole.
Like a trophy,
it is carried into the open, displayed, and fondled.
Like a memory, it is tasted and nurtured.
This haunting behavior is difficult to understand.
How can we ever know what elephants feel
and what form these emotions take
A mystery, forever.
When they attempt to destroy ivory by smashing it against rocks
or try to crush tusks by standing on them,
are they displaying a new behavior...
a solemn response to the atrocities of our time?
Or is this an ancient ritual and if so what does it mean?
At the river the matriarch
leads her herd on a final push for better feeding on the north bank.
Swimming is little problem for elephants.
They share an ancestry with seagoing mammals like dugongs and manatees.
Large, vacant, nasal and sinus cavities keep their heavy heads afloat,
and their fat makes them buoyant.
On the south bank a timid young bull refuses to swim
and watches the herd disappear
By now the young bull has given up all attempts at swimming.
The herd's ancient knowledge has betrayed them this time.
For when they finally emerge on the north bank,
They have crossed into another country, Namibia.
The stranded young bull still calls to them in alarm.
The herd is now fair game for hunters poachers and traders
A wave of communication flashes back and forth across the river.
Then, reacting as one,
they plunge into the water so swim back to the young bull
Although by now the exhausted young calves
are at risk of drowning in the strong current,
A fatal conflict with man has been avoided.
On the south bank greetings and urgent reassurances flood from the herd,
But he will not be persuaded.
The herd gives up and remains
on the familiar and safer soils of Botswana...
The end of the restless journey for the matriarch
and her calves, for this year.
This may be the last generation of elephants
to traverse these ancestral ranges,
the last truly free elephants.
As we succeed more and more as a species,
They seem to trickle further and further from our reach.
It has been said that we could do worse
than mold our own lives on those of elephants...
Lives filled with dignity and gentle bearing, and time.
Perhaps we need more time to understand those gentle
celebrations of life and death
that are like silent whispers in the moonlight...
more time for reflectionson elephants