Maxine and I took advantage of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s free “Senior Safari” last week to see the marvelous new “African Elephant Crossing” Exhibit. I imagined I was in Africa as I stood quietly watching one of the three female elephants (Moshi or Martika or Jo) break, strip, crunch, chew and swallow small branches of some delectable tree. I was amazed at the range of fine to large motor skills evident in her trunk, and by the ease with which she coordinated its movements with her tusks to get the job done. She was in no hurry, as if sharing a leisurely lunch in the company of her lady friends.
A couple of days later I picked up a copy of the September issue of the Metroparks’ program guide, the Emerald Necklace. I wasn’t too surprised to learn that an elephant’s trunk contains 100,000 muscles and ligaments, and can pick up something as small as a TicTac and also flip over a Volkswagen.
Then I was shocked by an additional statistic: “the [wild elephant] population has declined from 1.5 million to just 300,000 in only 20 years…about 100 elephants lost every day.” I don’t know how I’d feel about that stat if I were an African farmer whose crops were being destroyed by elephants, but I know how I feel about it as an affluent American worried about the future of our planet’s biodiversity. It’s depressing.
Zoos help us see amazing creatures such as elephants up close and personal, so that we might gain a sense of their unique and irreplaceable value, and perhaps take actions to help preserve their natural habitats so they can survive. Another stat from the same article: “There are 223 accredited zoos in North America, only 42 of which have African elephants.” I am proud of our Cleveland Zoo, and glad my taxes help support it.
I am also glad that Cleveland has a fourth elephant, 11-foot-tall, 13,000 pound Willie. Maybe in a couple of years we’ll be able to watch a baby elephant crossing our north coast slice of African savanna. It would be a blessed event, indeed!
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