Book Review - Elephant - Princeton University Press

One president said to me: I've never had a voter ask me for more elephants.  

They want hospitals, education.

Kaddu Sebunya

     When I see the name of Errol Fuller as the author of a book, I immediately look forward to reading it and I know that at the end of the book I will be left with a sense of satisfaction.
     Fuller normally deals with avian topics, especially extinctions, so I was particularly curious as to how he would tackle an iconic mammal.
     

      The coverage is exhaustive, from the prehistory of the modern pachyderm, through its evolution to the form we see today, its association with man (always to the animal's disadvantage), to the precarious state of its current existence in a world dominated by serious human overpopulation and a degraded landscape.  
      Hannibal used elephants as beasts of war; throughout history they have been used in circuses and fairs for human entertainment, often in the most demeaning ways, and have even been publicly executed by attempted hanging and finished off with electrocution for an obviously cultured and appreciative  public who came out to witness the event. In Asia elephants are used as beasts of burden. Seldom have these magnificent and enigmatic creatures been permitted just to be elephants.
      It is a cause for great dismay that humans, who have always had a fascination with elephants, and acknowledge that they share traits such as loyalty and affection with us, have posed and continue to pose the greatest threat to the elephant's survival as a species.
      Contemplate for a moment the images below and try to dismiss the notion that they do not represent emotions akin to our own.

     Who can question the intensity of this large matriarch's loyalty to her family and her willingness to protect it?

     The key to elephant existence is the extended family unit, and the devotion displayed to the young by all, regardless of parentage, is a key character of elephant survival. Indiscriminate killing of adults not only removes many years of experience from the herd, it disrupts the entire social structure of it.
     Aside from the conflicts engendered when elephants come into contact with humans, by raiding crops, for example, or that noble sport of trophy hunting by rich westerners who come only to kill, one of the most magnificent adornments of an elephant has been in large measure the principal agent of its downfall. An elephant has the misfortune to have tusks.
     There has been a fascination with ivory since time immemorial and it has been used to carve items of every description.

        If the ivory was taken only from animals that died from natural causes there would be no problem, but the principal cause of elephant poaching is to supply the relentless demand for ivory, and elephants are killed daily to satisfy this insane trade. Using modern technology poachers are more than ever before able to outwit the authorities and this highly profitable barbarism continues unabated. Mothers are shot before the eyes of their young and their tusks hacked out. Young elephants are left bewildered, traumatized and orphaned.
       And all this for trinkets.

     Many countries now have bans against the trade in ivory, but the laws are often poorly enforced and the illegal trade finds ways to smuggle ivory in any event.
     Add to this the reduction in land for elephants prone to long distance wandering, conflict with farmers when their crops are trampled or eaten, a landscape blighted by drought and over-exploitation, and the future for elephants looks grim.

     Who among us would wish their demise? Surely the time has come, it is long past in fact, for humans to mount a concerted effort to save our elephants, whose numbers have already plummeted. They represent a patrimony for the entire world, not just for the countries they inhabit. Are we really unable to curb our own greed, modify our selfishness, reduce our own numbers? 
     One hopes not, but hope is a faint glimmer on an ever darkening horizon for the elephant. Its extinction may not be too far off. 

Elephant
Errol Fuller
Hardcover - $29.95 - 9780691191324 - 288 pages - 202 colour illustrations - 8" (20 cm) x 10" (25 cm)
Publication date: 3 September 2019