the incredible elephant

Last year I came across a beautiful and true story about two former circus elephants who were reunited at a Tennessee sanctuary after being separated for 23 years.  "Loving Memory", by Andy Simmons (full article online; originally published in Reader's Digest, Nov. 2007) tells of Jenny and Shirley's beyond-exuberant reunion and their continued companionship during illness and subsequent parting once again. 

I'm still tremendously moved and impressed by the elephants' capacity to experience joy and suffer, as well as empathize with each other.  The story concludes by reminding: "Watch an elephant walk on its hind legs or perform a hula dance at a circus and it's easy to forget that these are sensitive, intelligent creatures for whom the family unit is everything."

I was reminded of this story by two recent documentaries, both of which are deeply moving in their own right.  The first, by 60 Minutes, visits a sanctuary in Kenya for elephant calfs, orphaned by poachers looking for ivory (you can read more about this issue in the video's transcript).  The reason for the calfs' situation seems tragically gratuitous, but the care they receive is unbelievably thorough and heartfelt:

The other video, also by CBS and circulated quite a bit, tells another tear-inducing true story of an inseparable friendship between Tarra the elephant and Bella the dog, at the same Tennessee sanctuary mentioned earlier.  It's just a couple of minutes long and well worth your time.  And don't worry, it has a happy ending too!

Update on December 6, 2009 by Ben DeVries

Please see our followup post and video on Tarra and Bella in "The Odd Couple Reprised."