Animal Stories
By Anita Coolidge - 19 Feb 2013
In Reference to: Elephants Journey to Pay Respect...But How Did they Know?
Aloha,
Well, in the first paragraph of the Care2 article, tears came to my eyes,
and a couple of stories came to mind. One was from someone I interviewed on
a TV show I was hosting in the '80s about an "animal whisperer" who had been
called to look into the problems the zoo keepers at the San Diego Zoo were
having with elephants being aggressive, this after one of their group had
died. What she got from them was that they were upset because they had been
immediately separated from the one that had died -- they had not been given
the time to say their goodbyes to her. In view of that, the zoo decided to
allow the elephants to spend time with the skull of the deceased one, which
they would hold between their heads. After they were able to grieve and be
with the remains of the one that passed, the aggression stopped.
Then, if you've seen "Out of Africa," you probably remember Isak Dinesen's
(played by Meryl Streep) letter received from a friend in Africa after
Dinesen had returned to Denmark. In the letter, she read that lions often
returned to the hillside and spent time lying around where Dinesen's lover
(played by Robert Redford) had been buried after dying in the plane crash.
And one of my favorite similar stories was featured in Vanity Fair at least
20 years ago about a bon vivant photographer from Europe who loved penguins
and spent considerable time in Antarctica photographing them. During one of
his stays at the Russian center there, he was out in a storm and on his way
back the snowfall was so intense he could not find his way back. He died 500
feet from the center. And when they had the memorial for him there, several
penguins showed up, even though they did not actually live close by.
Thank goodness for these stories getting out for all to see. They -- like
babies, I think -- know a lot more than we think. Animal communication and
awareness could be teaching us how to create peace on the planet, eh?
Blessings and miracles to all.
amc
>'-'<
wingsofbreath.org
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