Elephantidae Elephants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were standing head to head, or walking to and fro across the ground in couples, or rocking and swaying all by themselves – scores and scores of elephants.”

 

 

 

 

Formerly, the savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) was distributed all over the African continent, with the exception of deserts and rainforest areas. Today, it is restricted to savannas and semi-deserts in eastern and southern Africa. The closely related, but smaller forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) lives in rainforests of central and western Africa. Some scientists still consider the savanna elephant and the forest elephant as belonging to the same species.

These elephants and their sad fate are described in depth on the page Animals – Mammals: Rise and fall of the mighty elephants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ganesh, the youngest son of the supreme god Shiva and his female consort, Parvati, has a human body, but the head of an elephant. He is often depicted with his four arms raised in a friendly gesture, standing on his mount – which is a rat!

Ganesh loves sweets and fruit. He is a very popular god, and before making important decisions it is wise to pray before an image of Ganesh, placing a flower garland (malla) around its neck.

There are various legends as to how Ganesh got his elephant-head. According to one legend, it happened in this way:

One day, when Shiva was away on a longer journey, Parvati wanted to take a bath. She created a young man from clay to guard outside the house, while she was having her bath, ordering him not to let anybody enter the house.

Shortly after, Shiva returned from his journey, and the young man told him not to enter the house, as he was ordered. This made the fierce-tempered god so furious that he chopped off the young man’s head. This deed, however, made Parvati so angry that she threatened to destroy the universe, unless Shiva restored the young man’s head to his body. Sadly, his head had been destroyed, so Shiva ordered a servant to go outside the house and take the head of the first one he would meet.

This happened to be an elephant, and the servant, who took his master’s order literally, ordered the elephant to hand over his head.

Other Hindu gods are described on the page Religion: Hinduism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Buddha and Buddhism are described on the page Religion: Buddhism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a forest, four animals were close friends: a partridge, a hare, a monkey, and an elephant. They lived beneath a large banyan tree.

Out of curiosity, they wanted to figure out who was the oldest among them, and they discussed the age of the old banyan tree.

The elephant remarked, “When I first saw this tree, it was as big as my body.”

“When I arrived, the tree was as big as my body,” the monkey said.

The hare then remarked, “I licked the dew from this tree’s leaves when it was still just a sprout when I first saw it.”

The partridge concluded, “I carried a seed here, fertilized it, and planted this tree.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Zulu, Tsonga, and Venda words for elephants (Ndlovu, Njovu, Ndou) all mean ‘The Forceful One’, referring to their power.

The South African coat of arms includes elephant tusks, symbolizing wisdom and strength.

The nomadic Watha Tribe revered elephants as spiritual kin, who would teach moral lessons, resolve disputes, and induce memory. The hunters of the tribe showed respect for the elephants by performing rituals, even when hunting them for food.

 

The poor man went home and convinced his wife to participate, because it would make them rich. Soon after, her canine teeth began to grow into ivory tusks the length of a man’s arm. The poor man removed the tusks and sold them, and then rubbed the ointment on her teeth again.

However, when his wife’s teeth had again grown into tusks, she refused to let her husband touch them. Eventually, her entire body changed, growing and becoming grey, until she had changed into an elephant. She then left her husband to roam forests and savannas.

 

 

In the herd, there was one young elephant who was very curious, constantly asking “Why?”. One day he asked what the crocodile ate, and an older elephant told him to go to the shore of the “grey-green, greasy” Limpopo River, where he might learn what the crocodile ate.

At the river, he didn’t see any crocodiles. He got thirsty and knelt down to drink, but suddenly a crocodile grabbed his nose, and a long, hard struggle followed, the elephant pulling one way, the crocodile the other, stretching the nose longer and longer, until it became a long trunk. At last, the crocodile gave up.

At first, the young elephant was embarrassed about his long nose, but he soon discovered its usefulness for reaching food, drinking water, and swatting flies.

This story was popularized by English author Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) in his Just So Stories.