Of People and Elephants

Posted by Sheri Amsel Dec 8, 2006

As a woman I have to admire elephants. They run a matriarchal society, where the oldest female reigns. Just think how rare it is in human society for the oldest, heaviest, most wrinkled female to run the show. You have to admire these old dames for their success.

It’s hard not to draw parallels between elephant and human society. For one thing, elephants live in family groups led by the oldest female and often consisting of daughters, sisters, nieces and their young. Other family groups with related members live nearby and the groups will meet at watering holes and greet each other with affection and much entwining of trunks. It’s hard not to compare this to a family dinner at say, Aunt Bessie’s house, complete with young ones running around and several large females keeping track of them.

On the other hand, adult male elephants don’t stay with the family groups but only visit them occasionally to look for fertile females. This seems to make family life more harmonious. (No need to comment there.)

Elephants can communicate over five miles with loud calls of such low frequency that humans cannot hear them. But no one can mistake the loud trumpeting shriek of elephants when they’re alarmed. Kind of like the sound your mother made when you ran toward traffic.

Finally elephants protect their young at all costs, care for the sick and elderly and grieve for lost relatives. Young orphans will cry and families that are broken up will suffer from depression, infertility and even go on hunger strikes.

I think it would be hard not to see the similarities between humans and elephants. And when it comes to elephant conservation it's something we should never forget.

For more about elephants: http://mammals.suite101.com/articles.cfm