Elephant on the Run

Many of you know that I love my elephants and have supported the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee for some time now. You can actually watch the elephants on the EleCam in their undisturbed environment by visiting them here.

When I read recently that an elephant had escaped from the circus and wandered through Zurich's banking and commercial district, I wondered what prompted this escape. You can watch her running downtown in this amateur video posted here.

Understanding the complexity of animal behavior is nothing new. Elephants are very social, loyal and complex and are considered Herd animals because they live in community.

Not all elephants are created equal.

There are many differences between Asian and African elephants. African elephants have huge ears and one ear on a bull elephant can weigh as much as 100 pounds! Asians on the other hand, have much smaller ears and rounded backs; their skin is relatively smooth as opposed to the African sway back and wrinkled skin.

Only the male Asian elephants grow those long incisor teeth or tusks and not all males have them. Ivory poachers are the worst enemies of those lucky males who do grow tusks. Both sexes of African elephants can exhibit tusks.

The trunks vary between the two. Asian elephant's trunks have a small finger-like projection at the end of the trunk that is sensitive and makes it possible to pick up tiny objects. African elephants have two-fingers.

The trunk of an elephant is strong enough to lift an entire tree with the more than 100,000 muscles located in the trunk!

While both elephants are herbivores - Africans tend to prefer grasses, leaves and twigs while Asians eat bamboo. Most of the food that the elephants eat passes through their digestive systems undigested. They eat constantly to fill their bellies. At the animal sanctuary recently, one of the beloved elephants was eating her vegetarian diet and the caregiver tossed in some sliced zucchini, it was the first time that Billy the Elephant was offered zucchini. She picked it up, inspected it and tossed it aside opting instead for a leafy alternative. Apparently even the elephants can be picky eaters at times.

Finally, both Asian and African elephants are highly intelligent and peaceful animals whose continued existence is threatened. Perhaps running away from the circus was her way of saying,

"Enough is enough. Someone rescue me and send me to the Sanctuary!"

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/06/ap/world/main6554977.shtml

http://www.elephants.com/species.htm