Tumaren

Anna M, on 16 Jul 2009

To easy to give them human characteristics, yes this is an interesting point that I think we are sometimes vary of how to handle, there is a risk of being accused of doing just this as was the case a few decades ago with the chimps study & Jane Goodall, the mountain Gorillas & Dian Fossey and to a degree Cynthia Moss and the elephants in Amboseli. There is still an arrogance on behalf of us humans to think we are so different for the rest of the animal kingdom, but as for this elephant mother, she will grieve with her family for sometime, as will the greater primates and so many other creatures (if not all of them) that are still clinging on to their habitats all around us.….

All in all this is part of the educational process that so many are doing in conjunction with grass root level of conservation, also unless poverty and the explosion in human populations are being eradicated and dealt with, this will be continue to be a massive challenge…. Thank you for posting these touching pictures.

Corina Bakker, on 08 Sep 2009

I have seen this kind of behaviour earlier; about a month ago we saw 3 former askari’s of the emerging tusker Alexander in the Kruger National Park handle his bones with such care and almost “love”, you cannot help to think they have some kind of emotion for them….for lack of animal words, we reflect it to our own emotions, so something like grieving, mourning etc. would sound very appropriate to me.