48 images Created 15 Jan 2020
Elephants
The first elephant I saw in Africa walked within a few feet of our safari vehicle. I can’t think of another encounter with a wild animal where I felt so apprehensive and so thrilled – all at once. It was love at first sight, and my affection for elephants has only grown stronger. I could sit for hours just observing elephants as they gather at water holes, browse on shrubs and trees, amble through the environment, and play and swim in rivers and lakes. But elephants are in peril due to poaching for their ivory and habitat modification for agriculture. In the 1970s, there were about 1.3 million elephants in Africa. Today that number is down to about 400,000. And the carnage continues. I am posting photos of, and information about elephants in hopes that the viewer will gain an appreciation for how special elephants really are. "Only elephants should own ivory." – Yao Ming
