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| Gabon landscape |
The sentence that snapped me into consciousness of the wild animal I feel most strongly about
was: “Can you imagine a world without elephants?”
That was years ago. Of
course, my answer to the question was a resounding “NO! I don’t want to imagine such a thing! The
world needs elephants! Elephants must
live!” And so on. Then, learning that elephant
extinction was a real possibility, as these giant, intelligent, family-oriented
animals were being slaughtered en masse, for their tusks -- to make ivory
trinkets for inhumane, greedy fools -- I was horrified by what was happening to
elephants, and why.
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| Save the Elephants image |
And
now, despite appeals to save the elephants from a wide diversity of people (a famous
Asian basketball player, an American movie star and other celebrities, world-renowned elephant-protectors and their organizations. . . and everyday people
who donate, write and march), elephants are still in great jeopardy.
Why? For me, the many
possible reasons for elephants’ continued slaughter come down to one: human greed.
Despite responsibility to protect
elephants or expressed good intentions or seeming moral strength, money wins
out and elephants (continue to) die.
This message is the central point of Mlima’s Tale, Lynn Nottage’s play running in NYC through June 3. For me, it was brilliant, and depressing,
theater. Mlima is a famous “big tusker”
in Kenya who, early in the play, is killed by poachers for his tusks. Then follow the attempts by all involved to
get away with the murder and make money on the tusks.
They do so. Sickeningly.
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| Satao |
Throughout the play, all the
characters’ interactions are accompanied by the ghost of Mlima, powerfully portrayed by one of the show’s four
actors. Not one person who encounters
the tusks and the drive to smuggle them out of Kenya and sell them sounds the
alarm. Not one. The tusks of the mighty
elephant become “an exquisite ivory set in the penthouse of a rich connoisseur,”
as the
reviewer puts it, adding this killer point: “unconditional virtue is nonexistent within the
international system of economic power that keeps the play’s world
spinning.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/15/theater/mlimas-tale-review-lynn-nottage.html
As long as that remains true
-- is human nature likely to change? -- elephants don’t stand a chance.
The story of what’s happening
to elephants can make misanthropes of those of us who believe reason and “humanity”
will prevail. Fools that we are. And media stories about new ways to help save elephants can’t quite generate
the optimism they may have fostered before. The realization that most humans would rather
make money than stop iconic, sentient beings from being slaughtered is overwhelming. .
. and seems to be reinforced every day.
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| Hamilton |
In spite of all that, I will continue to read, write
and donate as I can because I can’t stand the idea of doing nothing for elephants. The organization I
trust is "Save the Elephants" (www.savetheelephants.org), founded by Dr. Iain
Douglas Hamilton, a scientist considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on African
elephants. I’ve read about him for years and thought he was very impressive at a NYC demo a few years ago. (To donate to Save the Elephants, click “Donate” then scroll down for
the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN), a San Francisco-based US partner to
STE.)
The sentence that most recently hit me hard was: “One
elephant killed every 15 minutes.” Mlima’s Tale continues. Save the elephants.
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| Yao Ming with orphaned baby elephant |
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Thanks for that heartfelt cry for the elephants.
ReplyDeleteIf only such cries could work!
ReplyDelete