http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/baby-elephant-cries-hours-mother-rejects-him-194824961.htmlI find my heart is broken for this baby elephant, that his mother would reject him, refuse to feed him and trample on him. I find my heart is broken for his mama, who must be going through somewhat similar emotions to mine. And, I find I am grateful I have never hurt my baby this much. I don't know that I've thought a lot about animals' emotions, but it is somehow comforting that they struggle the same way we do. To me, it speaks to the fact that this is an imbalance in brain chemistry, not a choice, not an inherent weakness. If animals are tied more strongly to their instincts than humans, it would seem that this type of incident should not occur in the animal kingdom. And yet it does, more frequently than we might think. It gives me hope that I will recover. I do also hope this elephant mama recovers and maybe might be reunited with her babe. Another interesting note: Apparently elephants in the wild commit infanticide far less frequently than elephants in captivity. Clearly, there is some kind of stressor that increases the likelihood of these events. Lack of community, I wonder? I did a little research, or my own curiosity, on the National Geographics website and found that female elephants and their young travel in herds led by a matriarchal elephant leader. What if we were to do the same: raise our children in the presence of friends and sisters, with older women to teach, nurture, train and support young moms. This sounds like a wonderful idea to me!
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