Elephants are amazing creatures. They are one of my favorite animals, and I can't wait until they make lap versions of them, like they've done with Giraffes (http://www.petitelapgiraffe.com/). Honestly, it's one thing to jokingly say that elephants never forget, but it's another to really understand the intricacies of their society and their cognitive capabilities.

Elephants live in a structured society headed by a matriarch and made up of tight-knit family groups. Of course, the family unit isn't everything - elephants interact with other families and sub-populations. Elephant brains are extremely large and are highly developed emotionally, able to feel grief, altruism, joy, compassion, and self-awareness. In addition, they are one of the few animals to exhibit mothering and allomothering (in which males also care for children). Elephants can also communicate with something similar to a language. Their infamous trumpeting is more akin to a cry of excitement (or rage, or fear), but the sub-sonic rumblings they emit can communicate various messages for distances of over 6 miles! They can discuss directions to a nearby watering hole, inform others of the weather, or to find potential mates.

They sound pretty much like humans, don't they? That's why they really get angry when those pink fleshy things murder their relatives. And, just like we can't tell elephants apart, we fleshy things all look the same.

So, if elephants, who grieve deeply and can recognize the bones and bodies of their dead brethren, decide to exact revenge, they do so seemingly indiscriminately. While the loss of potentially innocent human life and valuable crop land is a tragedy in these rampages, we could do well to learn from them.

It's simple cause and effect.

A: We are killing elephants
B: Elephants get upset and angry
C: Elephants attack us and destroy the food supply of many African farmers
D: Solution?

According to CEO of GoDaddy.com, Bob Parsons, the solution is kill more elephants.

Somehow, that doesn't sound like an effective end to the problem...

Instead of building more effective defenses against elephants, or perhaps (getting crazy here, I know) stopping the murder of an endangered species much stronger than ourselves, Bob Parsons has argued that his solution is exactly what Africa needs. I'm not sure how you all feel about this, but I would like to hear your comments! How do you think we can keep crops that Africans desperately need safe without needlessly killing magnificent, highly intelligent people elephants?


Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/04/01/godaddy.peta.protest/index.html?hpt=T2
Also, years and years of the Discovery Channel as a child :)