A notable feature of all elephants is their large ears, which radiates excess heat. Other distinguished elements are its face and familial structure. These features of the elephant make up the beautiful side of it. The ugly aspect of the beautiful giants comes out with the intervention of humans. In southeast Kenya, elephants and people enter into contact often, and conflicts occur. The main culprits of the conflict is population growth and climate change. A whole team of experts and field workers is working hard to eradicate the ugliness and restore the elephants to their former beauties that they are.

In the wild, most elephants live in herds or clans that can only be separated by capture or death. Separation from one another, including transfer between different zoos, is a traumatizing event for them. During such trying moments, just like humans, elephants have proven to show great ability to empathize with the misfortune of others. The intelligence and insight of the animal are particularly note-worthy when they console each other in times of trouble. Some even consider that elephants do possess consciousness. Such thinking is not hard to believe. With further analyses, it may be able to ascertain its veracity.

All male and female African elephants grow tusks. The female ones are thin, small, and often of the same thickness. However, in Asia, only some male elephants have tusks. And the female Asian elephants do not have tusks but have tiny horns known as tushes. Perhaps the elephants in Africa have a greater need for digging for sustenance. In elephants, tusks are elongated, enlarged, and modified incisor teeth and are no different from other teeth. Tusks can grow up to eight inches a year. One of the largest ones found weighed about 200 pounds and was about 10 feet long.

The elephant’s memory power is extraordinary. There is an age-old adage: elephants never forget. To say that an elephant never forgets may be an exaggeration. It is equally impossible to claim that an elephant always remembers. It seems more likely that they forget. Although the theory is a myth, it doesn’t stray too far from the truth. Research has shown that elephants do possess the incredible and the exceptionally long memory power for certain things with the ability to keep information for many decades. The face and smell of family members are the two things that it remembers the most.

The elephants in Kenya have lost over half of their range since 1979. There has also been massive poaching for trophies and ivory over the decades. A combination of loss of range and poaching has led to a significant drop in their population. A substantial elephant population in Kenya occurs in well-protected areas. But less than 20% of the habitat is under formal protection. Half of the area comprises the Tsavo conservation area. The Tsavo trust officers in collaboration with Kenya wildlife services monitor and patrol the area daily through ground and aerial reconnaissance and collect information about the elephants.

People have been aware of the fact the elephants are the largest mammal on earth but perhaps did not know that they also have a long life. They live up to the age of 80. Science and field research has proven that elephants are also one among the very few intelligent creatures on earth such as particular dolphins, apes, chimpanzees and even humans. The long-lived and highly smart animal is naturally the perfect focus and target for cognition reasoning experiments, considering its complex cranium structure, highly sophisticated neural circuitry, and large temporal lobe, of course, everything to do with brains.

The elephant’s trunk has evolved among mammals. It is unique to members of the Proboscidea, which includes the mammoths and mastodons. The trunk weighs 130 kg and is capable of lifting about 250 kg. It is also extremely dexterous, sensitive, and mobile, which makes it appear independent of the rest of the body. It is put to use for various purposes. Anatomically, an elephant’s trunk is a combination of the nose and upper lip. The nostrils are at the tip. The proboscis comprises of 16 muscles. The most significant muscle, which covers the top and the sides, raises the trunk.

The families of elephants contain up to 10 members moving together as one unit. This family structure is called herd with the oldest female elephant called matriarch, in charge. She leads the pack and controls the daily activities of its members. The matriarch elephant in the herd is also the most experienced family member. In critical moments, the entire group relies on the experience of the oldest female. The wealth of experience of the matriarch is due to her photographic memory and the ability to retain superior memories for several decades. Those sharp memories sometimes even last a whole lifetime.

The recalling power of elephants in the wild and captivity has been fodder for many stories, both fiction and non-fiction. Ancient legends and tales have it that elephants never forget a face that they have seen even just once. Moreover, they also remember people with whom they have come into contact. The ability of elephants to recall their peers and human beings from the past serves them well as they can live up to 70 to 80 years. Not only are they able to recognize peers and people, but also express emotions in ways that perhaps only human beings can.

Major David Sheldrick was the founder of Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Kenya. Before he founded it, he was the senior warden and one of the pioneers of Tsavo east national park during the sixties. His passion for the wilderness led him to undertake in-depth research delving into all early records of the habitat to comprehend the changes taking place in the Tsavo area under his control during his wardenship. By studying the root systems of trees and grasses, David understood the effect they had on a changing water table. Hence, David knew about Tsavo and its rhythms more than anyone.