An Elephant a Day

International Elephant Foundation Elephant's World (Thailand)

Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary (Thailand)
Wildlife SOS (India)
The Elephant Sanctuary (Tennessee, U.S.A.)

Fauna & Flora International

Thursday, 13 September 2012

Elephant No. 347: Jellies

Some of my friends and family view gelatin desserts with fear and loathing, but I kind of like them. I don't really care for things like lime gelatin with shredded cabbage in it, and tomato aspic will never knowingly pass these lips again, but regular fruit flavours—even with fruit in them—are something I don't mind in the least.

Gelatin is made, rather revoltingly, from collagen that is extracted from the bones, connective tissues and intestines of animals. These are boiled down and clarified, and in modern times, the final result is dried and powdered.

Gelatin for desserts was popularized in Georgian and Victorian England, when confectioners produced dazzling jelly desserts, usually in large moulds. At the time, gelatin was sold in sheets and, before it could be used, had to be purified. This time-consuming process meant that gelatin desserts were usually only served in wealthy households.

Victorian jelly mould featuring a lion.
Source: http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/34626098/JELLY_MOULD_Depicting_a_
Lion_Victorian_Iron_and_tin_plated_copper.html

In 1845, American industrialist Peter Cooper was granted a patent for gelatin powder. Some forty years later, the formula was sold to Pearle Wait, an American carpenter and cough-syrup manufacturer. Wait and his wife May added lemon, orange, raspberry and strawberry flavourings to the powdered gelatin, and in 1897 gave it the name "Jell-O".

The Waits were unable to successfully market their invention, so in 1897 they sold the business to their neighbour Orator Francis Woodward for $450. Woodward and his Genesee Pure Food Company also struggled in the early years to sell the product. In 1902, he decided to take out ads in the Ladies Home Journal magazine, claiming that Jell-O was "America's Most Famous Dessert". He was stretching the truth, to say the least, and Jell-O remained a minor success for a few more years.

In 1904, however, the Genesee Pure Food Company sent out a massive salesforce, whose representatives distributed free Jell-O cookbooks. At the time, it was an unusual technique, but it worked. Within ten years, new flavours had been added, and Jell-O had been launched in Canada. The brand also acquired celebrity testimonials and recipes, including one featuring Ethel Barrymore. Some ads were even illustrated by artist Maxfield Parrish.

Jell-O advertisement, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish, 1921.
Source: http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2012/03/
coke-modifies-caramel-color-to.html

In 1923, the company launched a version with artificial sweetener, known as "D-zerta", and by 1927, the Genesee company had merged with the Postum cereal company and Birdseye frozen foods to form the General Foods Corporation. By the early 1930s, American cuisine had come to embrace the idea of jellied salads, prompting the company to introduce lime Jell-O, which was thought to complement the types of things that were added to aspics and salads. They even introduced savoury flavours such as seasoned tomato, celery and Italian. These have since been discontinued.

In 1934, comedian Jack Benny became the spokesman for Jell-O, and the J-E-L-L-O five-note jingle—still in use today—was created by the advertising agency Young & Rubicam. Over the next several decades, gelatin desserts grew in popularity, largely because they were quick to prepare, and were actually a reasonable source of protein.

Advertisement for Jell-O Freezing Mix, featuring Jack Benny, ca. 1935–1940.
Source: http://metalmisfit.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/jack-benny-for-
jell-o-freezing-mix-ice-cream/

Between the late 1960s and the mid-1980s, sales of gelatin desserts declined. Taking a proactive approach to this downturn, Jell-O's parent company—now Kraft Foods, following another merger—revisited earlier recipes, and came up with new ways to use gelatin dessert mixes, from firm snacks like "Jell-O Jigglers" (which is what I made today), to "sparkling" Jell-O made with carbonated drinks, to elaborate desserts and cakes. Others have added to the repertoire with the alcohol-laced "jello shot".

Today, the Jell-O brand alone sells about 300 million boxes in the United States each year. Many other companies around the world also produce flavoured gelatin, often in exotic flavours. In my own neighbourhood, there are Chinese groceries that sell gelatin powder in mango, lychee, green tea, rose, and hold-your-nose durian.

Typical savoury gelatin salad, staple of many family reunions and social gatherings.
Source: http://www.southernbellesimple.com/2010/03/speak-southern-
and-carry-jell-o-salad.html

Gelatin desserts are very simple to prepare. All you need is boiling water to dissolve the powder, an equal amount of cold water, and a container or mould of some sort. You also need time: it takes about eight hours to set the gelatin in a mould or bowl to reasonable firmness. To keep gelatin firm, it should be kept refrigerated, as heat will generally cause it to "melt".

Gelatin dessert mixes can accommodate a wide range of additives, from cabbage and fruit, to bizarre objects such as staplers and nuts and bolts. It can be layered, moulded, whipped, frozen, carved and cut. There are really only two things to worry about when playing with gelatin. The first is making sure that you don't inadvertently add extra liquid. The second is that, because gelatin is protein-based, you can't add foods containing enzymes that break down protein. These include fresh pineapple, papaya, kiwi and ginger root.

By the way, "Jell-O" is a brand name, although it's also become something of a generic term. Out of respect for trademarks, however, I've used "gelatin dessert" in this blog. Even though I mostly used actual Jell-O for today's blog activity.

For today's elephant, I made an extra-firm version of gelatin dessert, using about one-quarter the water. Although I've never tried this, it supposedly makes the resulting gelatin firm enough to pick up with your hands.

I didn't really use a recipe for this, except to note that you use only one-third to one-quarter of the water the box calls for. You also use only boiling water to dissolve the powder, and no cold water at all.

Because I wanted a rainbow of colours in my final jellies, I bought six "colours" of gelatin powder: red, orange, warm yellow, green, blue and purple.

I boiled some water, and dissolved each powder.

I had decided to make two types of jellies: the kind that are cut from a sheet of gelatin with a cookie cutter, and little moulded animals. For the moulded version, I used the candy moulds I'd used to make elephant chocolates months ago. These also feature Bactrian camels and hippos, so I'd end up with ten moulds of each animal when I was done, since I planned to fill them all.

This used up far less of the gelatin than I thought it would, so I pulled out several cookie sheets. Unfortunately, one four-serving package isn't enough to fill a cookie sheet, so I blended a couple of colours/flavours on some of the sheets.

I then left everything to set for several hours.

When I went to unmould things, it was so chaotic and awful that it ended up being hysterically funny. Some of the powders didn't really jell very well, so they couldn't be cut with a cookie cutter. As for the little bits in the mould, while they looked pretty, they wouldn't come out of the mould intact. In some sources it suggests spraying the mould with cooking spray first, but unmoulding should work just with hot water, so that's what I tried.

For the moulds, I tested the camels first, but I couldn't make them come out intact, no matter what I tried. I put the moulds in hot water for about 15 seconds, which is the recommended time, but that only made them too soft to slide out. I tried chilling them again, thinking that this would make them more solid and easier to peel out. That didn't work either.

Next, I actually put one set of moulds in the freezer for 15 minutes. I didn't want it to form ice crystals, because I've found in the past that freezing breaks down the gelatin. But I thought that, if they were extra cold, they might slide out well when placed briefly in hot water.

I discoverd that freezing, even briefly, turns gelatin desserts into a kind of paste that is even less firm than the refrigerated version. I put them back into the freezer, thinking that I might be able to turn them into ice cubes that I could unmould. The answer is no, I couldn't. I finally gave up on the idea of pretty little moulded jellies.

I turned my attention now to the cookie sheets. I dipped each cookie sheet in warm water, then used a smallish cookie cutter. To lift the individual elephants, I used a cake lifter, which worked fairly well to separate the elephants from the larger mass. They were all, however, a little raggedy at the edges. I don't know if it was the plastic cookie cutter in lieu of metal, or if I needed to do something differently. Oh well.

I honestly had visions of lovely jewel-like jellies from today's activity, but I ended up with a plate of strangely-coloured elephants that were also not as firm as I'd expected and somewhat misshapen from the removal process. And I was deeply disappointed by the little moulded ones. I've seen pictures of beautiful little moulded beans and Easter eggs, so I have no idea what went wrong. I can't imagine you would add even less water, as the amount of water I used barely dissolved the powder.

In the end, it didn't really matter. This was a bit like a science experiment for me, and now I know that it's not something I need to try again. And, despite a sticky rainbow-hued kitchen, I still don't hate gelatin dessert. But I don't think I'll make a bowl of the stuff again anytime soon.

Elephant Lore of the Day

This rather endearing story comes from southern India and the Arignar Anna Zoological Park.

Starting in late 2009, the zoo began rescuing orphaned elephant calves from nearby forests. Because orphaned elephants need a great deal of care and affection, mahouts and their children began caring for the elephants around the clock.

The bond between the children and the orphaned calves has been particularly strong. The elephants shower with the children, play soccer with them, and even take them to school. The youngest elephants will also only go to sleep when the children snuggle up to them and rub their backs.

The day starts with the elephant's morning bath, during which the children scrub down their charges. The elephants actually come to the pool on the dot of 7:00 a.m. for their baths, where they wait for the children. The children generally get a soaking as well, particularly from 14-month-old Urigam, who likes to grab a bucket of water and pour it over his favourite child, Lavindya.

Breakfast comes next, with the children helping to feed the orphans a blend of milk, coconut water, and glucose. During the day, the adult mahouts feed the elephants watermelon, bananas and sugarcane as well, to help build up their strength.

There is no schoolbus for these young children, so when it is time to go to school, they hop onto the backs of the elephants. The elephants even carry the children's schoolbags and lunch containers in their trunks.

Nandini and Lavindya ride home from school on Sharon, 2010.
Photo: © Barcroft
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1271132/Orphaned-
elephant-calves-children.html

After school, the elephants play soccer with the children. Sometimes the elephants even run through the village with the children, either chasing them or playing tag.

Zoo staff firmly believe that, without this friendship and love, the orphaned elephants would likely have died soon after their rescue.

Although the zoo is funded by Government of India, the zoo is currently raising funds to build a rehabilitation centre for a growing number of orphaned calves. More and more calves have become separated from their parents in recent years, often due to the killing of their parents by trains, vehicles or poachers. Others simply get lost and divided from the herd. The first of the zoo's orphaned elephants was found simply wandering on her own in the forest, with no adults anywhere in the area.

Nangopal and Lavindya napping with the elephant calf Giri, 2010.
Photo: © Barcroft
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1271132/Orphaned-
elephant-calves-children.html

To Support Elephant Welfare

International Elephant Foundation Elephant's World (Thailand)

Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary (Thailand)
Wildlife SOS (India)
The Elephant Sanctuary (Tennessee, U.S.A.)

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Elephant No. 345: Peanuts

A few weeks ago, when I made an elephant from jellybeans, my friend Tom suggested I try peanuts. So today I thought I would.

Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea)—also known as groundnuts, earthnuts, pig nuts and goober peas—are legumes, belonging to the bean family. They are native to South America, and were probably first cultivated in Paraguay. Peanuts feature in the art of many pre-Columbian cultures and, even today, non-domesticated strains of peanuts grow wild in the valleys of Paraguay and Bolivia.


Peanut necklace made of gold and silver, Moche Culture, Peru, ca. A.D. 100–300. From the book Art of the Andes, by Rebecca Stone-Miller, 2002 Source: http://theslideprojector.com/art9/art9lecturepresentations/art9lecture15.html

The oldest known specimens of domesticated peanuts were discovered in Peru, and date back about 7,600 years. Cultivation of peanuts later spread as far north as Mexico, where Spanish conquistadors found peanuts for sale in local markets. European traders later spread the growing of the plant worldwide.

Peanuts were grown as a garden crop in the United States and Canada for over two centuries, but were used primarily as animal feed until the 1930s. Following a disastrous failure of the cotton crop in the American South during the early years of the twentieth century, agricultural scientists—most famously, George Washington Carver—encouraged farmers to plant nitrogen-bearing crops to replenish depleted soils. This included peanuts. Carver also came up with hundreds of recipes for peanut-based foods, and is today seen as almost singlehandedly creating a peanut-growing market in the United States.

As one of their names—groundnut—suggests, the peanuts themselves actually grow underground. The height of the plant above ground is only about 30 or 50 cm (1 to 1.6 feet). When I lived in Africa as a child, we always called them groundnuts, and they usually still had fine red sand clinging to the shell after roasting.

More amusing to a child were the sacks of groundnuts frequently spilled across one particular stretch of Nigerian road: the result of overloaded trucks that had tipped over on the highway. They made a most satisfying sound when people drove over them, and lured many a monkey from the nearby bush. But never any elephants.

Freshly dug peanut stalks with pods, Stuckey, South Carolina, U.S.A., 2004.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Peanut_9417.jpg

The plant grows small yellow flowers that look a bit like sweetpeas. Following pollination, the flower stalk lengthens until it bends and touches the ground. As the stalk continues to grow, the flower is pushed under the soil, and the fruit develops there as a legume pod. The pods measure about 3 to 7 cm (1.2 to 2.8 inches) in length, and contain anywhere from one to four seeds, or peanuts. It takes about four or five months from the time seeds are planted for the pods to be ripe.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) flower.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arachis_hypogaea_Flower.jpg

Peanuts are harvested from the soil by a machine that cuts off the plant just below the levels of the pods. The machine then lifts the plant from the ground, shakes it, then turns the bush upside-down to keep the pods off the ground. The pods are then left to air-dry for three or four days, and will shrink to about a third of their original size. Traditionally, the plants were pulled up and inverted by hand.

Once harvested and dried, the peanuts are either roasted in their shells, or shelled then roasted or otherwise processed. The most popular types of peanut are Spanish, Virginia, Valencia, Runner and Tennessee Red or White. Most peanuts in the shell are Virginia; Spanish peanuts are used in peanut candy, salted nuts and peanut butter. Runner nuts are used to make peanut butter.

In addition to such traditional uses, peanuts are pressed to make peanut oil, and are ground into flour. They are also used for unexpected purposes such as solvents, makeup, medicines, textiles, plastics, dyes, paints, and even nitroglycerin and fuel. In addition, the plant tops are used as animal feed, and the shells are used in manufacturing plastic, wallboard, abrasives, fuel, cellulose and mucilage-style glue.

Peanuts are high in important nutrients such as niacin and protein, and abound in antioxidants. They also contain resveratrol, which is thought to reduce the incidence of heart disease and cancer. Peanuts can be a significant allergen for some people as well, causing reactions ranging from watery eyes and hives to anaphylactic shock.

Today, peanuts are grown in many countries around the world. They require sandy, loamy soil and about five months of warm weather, so can be grown in many climates. China leads world production of peanuts, with 41.5% of the market, followed by India (18.2%) and the United States (6.8%).

For today's elephant, I bought a few different types of peanuts at a bulk food store. I was originally going to buy only peanuts in the shell (because I like those best), but I thought I would need some more colours, so I bought Virginia peanuts with the dark skin intact, and some blanched roasted peanuts.

I started by laying out a rough elephant shape with the nuts in the shell, as I thought these were the ones elephants would be most likely to eat, and figured they should make up the bulk of the elephant. Despite their size, peanuts in the shell actually work well, because they have a shape that allows them to nestle together nicely. They also come in various sizes, which allowed me to use single-nut pods to fill in a few of the odd-shaped spaces.

For the next stage, I added a few Virginia peanuts as an eye. I used four or five, placing a couple of them more or less upright, with two or three others laid over top.

To finish up, I removed some of the peanuts in the shell from the trunk and mouth area, and placed some of the blanched peanuts as a tusk. Because they were small, I added about three layers at the widest part of the tusk, to give the tusk some dimension, and to ensure that it didn't sink into the face.

It took me about half an hour to make this, and it certainly wasn't hard. Now if only I had a pet elephant to help eat all these peanuts.

Elephant Lore of the Day
Although peanuts are not an elephant's favourite treat—they much prefer fruit and sugar cane—they will will definitely eat them. And if no other treats are in sight, an elephant will do everything it can to get at the tasty snack.

Elephant keeper Henry Sheak wrote in 1923 of a particularly clever elephant named Dunk, who was determined to unearth a peanut that had gotten wedged in a narrow gap between the door and the floor of his enclosure at the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.

Because the floor of the enclosure was several inches higher than the entrance, Dunk couldn't reach in with his trunk and grasp the peanut. According to Sheak, Dunk eventually paused, as if to size up the situation. Then, putting his trunk down near the peanut, he blew gently on it with his trunk until it became accessible.

Sheak also reports, rather endearingly, that Dunk was the only elephant he'd ever known who reformed his ways. It was once believed that when an elephant "went bad", there was no way to redeem it. Luckily, Dunk, who had turned rogue in a travelling menagerie, regained his gentle disposition when transferred to the zoo.

In fact, Dunk became so popular with visiting children that, when he was injured and had to be euthanized in 1917, the children raised money for a plaque in his memory. The plaque remains in the Elephant House at the National Zoological Park to this day, nearly 100 years later.

Dunk, the first elephant at the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.
The photograph is from a 1930 book, but was probably taken closer to 1900.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dunk_elephant.jpg

To Support Elephant Welfare

International Elephant Foundation Elephant's World (Thailand)

Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary (Thailand)
Wildlife SOS (India)
The Elephant Sanctuary (Tennessee, U.S.A.)

Thursday, 6 September 2012

Elephant No. 340: Place Cards

I came across a pack of interesting papers for a mere dollar a few days ago, and thought it would be fun to try making small cards of some sort. I thought maybe place cards, given the relatively small size of the paper.

This is the pack of "leather-look" papers I bought. There were other colourways—browns, greys, and autumn colours, for example—but I liked this selection best.

I've never actually made place cards before, so I didn't even know what size they should be. Luckily, there are many, many online sites offering designs, templates and sizes. To make the most of the paper I had, I decided to produce a set of eight cards, each measuring about 7.5 by 5.7 cm (3 by 2.25 inches) when finished.

I started by cutting eight flat pieces—each 7.5 x 11.4 cm (3 x 4.5 inches)—which would give me my desired size when folded. I cut two from each of the four colours of paper, then folded them in half, creasing them with a bone folder. You could also use the side of a spoon or even your fingernail.

This was obviously a bit plain, so I cut random oblong shapes from contrasting colours and glued them onto one of the folded sides. I cut two oblongs of each colour as well.

Next, I made two small elephant templates. I figured out the size by tracing first around one of the folded cards, then drawing inside the shape. I didn't care if they fit perfectly on the oblongs—in the back of my mind, I was thinking the cards should be slightly off-kilter.

I traced each elephant shape onto the back of each of the four colours of paper, giving me one elephant shape in each colour. I then glued them somewhat randomly to the fronts of the cards.

This left me with a bit of a problem: where should I write the names of my guests? I didn't really want to scrawl across the elephant or the background, so I decided to cut random strips from scraps of each colour—except the navy blue—and glued them along the sides. I put four strips on the left side of the cards, and four on the right.

Although it took me about two hours to cut and assemble everything, it was certainly not at all difficult. And at only fifty cents for paper—since I only used half the package—it cost next to nothing.

Although I rarely use place cards, I have to say that I'm very happy with the way these turned out, and wouldn't be ashamed to see them on my dining table.

Elephant Lore of the Day
Although it's a bit too easy to anthropomorphize intelligent creatures such as elephants, sometimes they really don't seem to behave much differently than humans.

In the early part of the twentieth century, elephant keeper Henry Sheak reported watching circus elephants going through their routines on their own, without any prompting from human trainers. Starting at the beginning, they would perform the entire routine.

If one of them faltered, that elephant would either take itself off to the side and practice the problematic section, or the whole group would start the routine from the beginning and run through it again. Sheak thought it might be boredom that made the elephants run through their routines, but the fact that they were so orderly about it perhaps argues some higher level of thought.

In the late first century A.D., Roman historian Plutarch reported on something similar. Although most of the emperor's performing elephants managed to learn their routines relatively easily, there was one elephant among them who was a bit slow to catch on. One night, this particular elephant was spied in its enclosure, running through the entire routine on its own by moonlight, without a human in sight.

Elephants practising at the Canadian National Exhibition, 1913.
Photo: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244
Source: http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/08/5_long-gone_acts_from_the_cne_of_old/

To Support Elephant Welfare

International Elephant Foundation Elephant's World (Thailand)

Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary (Thailand)
Wildlife SOS (India)
The Elephant Sanctuary (Tennessee, U.S.A.)

Sunday, 2 September 2012

Elephant No. 336: Coffee Mug

I found a little do-it-yourself paint-a-mug kit in a dollar store a few days ago, and decided to buy one for this blog.

The first known mugs date from around 10,000 B.C. Discovered in China and Japan, these are the earliest drinking vessels to include a handle. They were made of pottery, and were shaped by hand, with the handle added afterwards.

Following the invention of the potter's wheel sometime between 6500 and 3000 B.C., mugs became more common. The biggest disadvantage of these early mugs was that they had very thick walls, making them difficult to drink from. Metalworking allowed for thinner walls in drinking vessels made of silver, gold and lead, but metal mugs couldn't be used for hot beverages. It wasn't until the invention of porcelain around A.D. 600 in China that thin-walled mugs suitable for hot and cold drinks became possible.

Mugs are made with thicker walls than teacups, primarily to insulate the drink from cooling or warming too quickly. Similarly, most mugs have a slightly concave bottom, or an extra ring, also intended to prevent heat or cold from leaching out through contact with the surface on which the mug is placed.

Materials used for mugs are also chosen with thermal insulation in mind. Earthenware, glass, porcelain and bone china all have low thermal conductivity, as do the travel mugs and double-walled thermal mugs introduced in the 1980s.

This is the little kit I bought for two dollars. It includes a stoneware mug, and five markers that are supposed to be permanent on the glazed surface, as long as the final piece doesn't go into a dishwasher or microwave oven.

It's always a bit tricky for me to draw on a surface that's not flat, so I thought I'd work from a photograph. This is the photograph I chose. Because I wanted two elephants on my mug, I also flipped the photograph around to help me in my sketching.


African elephant. Source: http://www.itsnature.org/news/hunter- sues-travel-company/

I was actually a bit nervous about this. I'm never great at working in the round, and these markers are apparently not very forgiving of mistakes. It says in the instructions on the box that you can "erase" mistakes by washing them off immediately with soap and hot water. I'm assuming that this means the whole design washes away at the same time. Also interesting: the decorated mug is not supposed to be used for hot foods. I guess I'll be using it to hold pencils, then.

I started by making a rough elephant outline. This part actually took me over an hour. The sketch itself wasn't all that difficult, but the placement was really tough. I either put the design too close to the handle or too close to the middle. The ideal position for any design on a mug is one side or the other of the handle, so that you can see it when you hold the mug.

In washing off my sketches at least four times, I discovered that the markers do indeed bond quite well to the surface almost immediately. I managed to scrub the design off, but it was a bit of a pain.

Eventually I managed to draw two somewhat similar elephants on either side of the handle, each facing towards the middle.

These outlines looked pretty dull, so I added some red bits for highlighting. I hated the red so much that I forgot to photograph it in my haste to fix the ugliness.

This is where I discovered a surprisingly nice feature of the markers. I had chosen yellow to add some more lines as highlighting, but suddenly found the yellow marker reactivating both the blue and the red to make some very nice colour combinations. Lavish use of the yellow marker produced an effect almost like watercolour paint, and I started to like the process very much.

I played with this until I felt I was in danger of overworking the whole thing. I also stopped myself before I began trying to add additional designs throughout the background.

Although I was underwhelmed by my first sketches and the bits of red, once I added the yellow marker and saw what this process could really do, I was actually quite thrilled. I like the final mug very much, and think I might have to go back to the dollar store and buy up a few more of these kits—or at least some white mugs—to try this again.

Elephant Lore of the Day
Although they have adapted to some of the hottest climates in the world, elephants often suffer from severe dehydration. Sometimes it is due to a lack of available water. Sometimes it is due to an overdose of mineral salts. And sometimes it is due to elephants being overworked and not watered consistently.

A few weeks ago, a bull elephant wandered onto a farm in southern India and collapsed of dehydration. Farm workers and local villages sprang into action, quickly erecting a shelter over the elephant to protect it from the heat. The elephant was then rehydrated over a period of several hours.

A shelter being erected over the fallen elephant, August 2102.
Photo: M. Periasamy
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/article3764808.ece

When it was determined that the elephant was well enough to stand, another elephant was brought in. This elephant was tied with a rope to the fallen elephant, and urged backwards as a means of encouraging the weaker elephant to stand. The fallen elephant angrily refused, perhaps preferring the shade and constant infusion of water and treats.

A small backhoe was brought in next. The shovel was placed against the elephant's side, and began to nudge the animal gently. Eventually, the elephant rose reluctantly to its feet. This imposition had clearly displeased the elephant, however, because he turned around and attacked the shovel, pushing at it repeatedly before he decided to turn around and head back into the forest.

The revived elephant turns around and attacks the backhoe, August 2012.
Photo: M. Periasamy
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/article3764808.ece

To Support Elephant Welfare

International Elephant Foundation Elephant's World (Thailand)