Family Connections

The reading on elephants was a very interesting one. It discussed to the social structure of a herd of elephants. It went as far to say that a herd is basically one elephant; as if one could not survive without the other. The entire herd revolves around the "mother matriarch" because she is the center of all knowledge. There are parallels between our society and that of elephants because we often use the term "Respect your elders." and "With age comes wisdom." and that is exactly how elephants function. The article also discussed the violence of elephants and how it was related to the detrimental effects that poaching has had on them. When the younger elephants lose the mother, or other significant figures of the herd, they have no guidance. They no longer have the close bonds to family and they become, for lack of a better way of saying it, cold and bitter. The younger males who don't have family ties end up causing the most damage. This article showed me that creatures can be complex beings as well, and the best way that we can understand them is to compare them to ourselves and find parralells.