BY LIN HEATON
Where do we as humanity - fit in?
Do we really fit in!
Did you know that an elephant is in his or her mother's stomach for a gestation period of twenty two months?
When one looks at what these incredible huge beings, that our earth is blessed with, truly one can only be inspired.
The new born comes into a complex social environment, in which they become the very centre of attention.
Mom is the baby's first love and mom is baby's first contact with another life form. In the elephant family the new born's entire family plays an enormous role in bringing the youngster up.
What a pity humans cannot learn from this example. So much of a human baby's life is spent almost in isolation from other life forms. In saying this I mean that many human mothers, once they are done with the breast feeding issue, leave the babe in the care of a worker, while they continue life in the office...
Could this be resulting in a stilting of learning for children these days? What do you think? Can we improve this really bad attitude to life?
There is really nothing else on our planet, quite like the Elephant community.
It's almost as if they actually have feelings of love, or something very close to that...feelings of an emotion, and have an urgent need to be together, and an innate fear of losing anyone of the family members.
Tribes of this animal type, are known to have stayed at (death-bedside) of a loved one for many days, mourning, understanding- it would appear -that one of them has gone from the fold- forever. They will stand for hours with a tusk of the dead animal and turn it gently, as if, by so doing, this will bring the lost one back to life. Or maybe they do understand and are saying a sad farewell.
In the Elephant kingdom, the female is born into the family and will remain part of that family, as its member, for its entire 55 years or so. The group would be led by a senior cow known as the matriarch, whose female relatives make up the rest of the group. Male elephants only stay with this family until puberty, when they leave on a mission - of meeting with other bachelor bulls, in male home ranges. Families can have as few as two to six members, if a young cow is in the process of setting up a group. It is the cow that sets up a new family group. The death of a matriarch is normally the reason that a very large family breaks up, and some families can consist of 20 to 30 members. Imagine what we would be like if our families were this size! Indeed, it is true... there are some very large families in the human sector, but can you imagine what life would be like, if there were indeed 20 to a family household and they all lived under one roof...together! Bedlam! Chaos!
A newborn calf weighs in at...wait for it....120 kilos ...Generally a calf is about 85 centimetres in height at the shoulder. The birth of an elephant calf is an event rarely witnessed. The cow remains on her feet while birthing, but is surrounded by all the other cows in the family, who are on hand to comfort the labouring mother, and help clean the newborn calf. This meshing of animals during these intense moments, also serves to protect the mother from intrusions, and attack. The eventual birth, after many hours of labour, is greeted by a great deal of noise, communication and the rubbing of giant bodies, against each other. Most of the cows will touch the new born with there gently extended trunks....thus reassuring it and calming it. Mom is quite at ease with all this attention and it is after all a pattern she is accustomed to and it will be a pattern that will prevail for many years.
From about the age of two, as it is with humanity, the female elephants will all take turns at being nanny to the calf. The youngster will learn to play. Every cow will assist most ably if the youngster is stuck at a water hole! When the calf is just the right age he is taught how to master that trunk of his. This is a task in fact that is seldom mastered until the age of three months, due its complex movement mechanisms. Before getting the hang of what this bit of some times annoying equipment is there for, he swings it around very much as though it were a sloppy garden hose, The trunk is a very precise organ which, when mastery comes, helps the animal with its balance. Sure... you knew that!
Youngsters suckle at their mothers for at least two years. They take the nipple just like humans and other animals, but the little trunk is neatly folded away, to one side, and he will suckle for about two years. The mother has been given more than a fair share of the precious milky liquid that just never seems to run out...no need to go to the dairy! Permanent supply at hand! When the little elephant fellow is about six months of age he starts to further his eating pallet and his larder becomes a bit more varied. His meals will include leaves and grasses and he learns what to eat from watching his aunties and mother. Much of the Elly youngster's youth is spent in play. What better way to educate him. Play is fun! (What was that mud like going through your fingers? Did it seep through your toes and was it slower when it filtered through the fabric of your dress and shirt?)
Everything that happens to any of us is a learning curve of some sort. In most instances though we can't see why we needed that experience, because events later in life do not seem to have any bearing on what we end up doing! Let us all, for the sake of humanity and for the sake of our planet, value each and every one and every thing as a special creature of Gods plan on earth.
Each animal and human is a true individual.. and is special.
Let's preserve these astounding creatures for the centuries that follow this one, so that for the future - there will always be something to look up to and admire, and to learn from, for its true beauty, wonder and depth!!