National Geographic: Reflections on Elephants Page #5

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sagging skin

are sure signs of his age

and fading energy for life.

With his last set of grinding

teeth nearly worn away,

his days are numbered.

Too weak to join in,

he can only watch the

competing bulls, and wait.

By dusk his body cries out for the

moisture leached from it by the heat.

He can no longer resist,

and with fewer bulls around the water,

he makes his move.

Drawing himself up

to his full height,

he forces himself into the circle.

At last the drinks.

When a mud-covered,

dominant bull returns,

the ghostly elephant

should retreat.

But the water still

beckons him.

It is a mistake.

A jagged tusk slices through

the old skin into his neck.

The old bull goes down

with barely a struggle,

losing blood fast.

Even before the old bull dies,

a young male carries out a

bizarre mock-mating display.

This behavior can only

be explained

as an attempt to upgrade

his own status with this

show of domination.

The old bull dies quickly

and silently in the night,

though his fate was

long since determined.

Companions defend the

carcass against the hyenas,

a useless endeavor.

His body must continue

its usefulness to Africa,

even after his death.

Like an ancient burial ritual,

attention is paid

to every detail.

We don't yet understand

this behavior.

Is it a macabre fascination

with the dead

or perhaps a tribute to

a fallen companion?

And why is the ivory so often

the focus of these haunting

examinations?

As a week passes,

the carcass gradually

relinquishes its form.

There is no mythological

elephant graveyard,

no common place where bones

and tusks are taken...

just the eventual scatterings

in the dust.

As the last scavengers squabble

over the scraps of the body,

A few bulls remain,

perhaps still nurturing a special bond

with the old elephant.

Before we could really understand

his ways and the ways of his species,

The bull's spirit floats away.

Eight days and what was once

a giant of the world

is no more than just a memory,

just a reflection of a time

when elephants roamed Africa

from sea to sea and

ruled the continent.

Once again the clans are gathering,

marching for the rivers.

Paths interlace,

leaving behind a swath

of flattened vegetation.

This constant ebb and

flow of bodies

affects some areas

while resting others,

A balance that is

forever changing.

The females head for the best

feeding and good water,

not only for the living,

But for their unborn as well.

The final miles are covered

on the run toward the rivers.

Here the matriarch and

her calves will see out

the next three months

of the dry season.

Even in this chaotic clamor

for water,

The elephants show a sensitivity

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