The Day the Crying Elephant Broke My Heart

Bandra’s Story

“There is no creature among all the Beasts of the world which hath so great and ample demonstration of the power and wisdom of Almighty God as the Elephant.” — Edward Topsell.

What an excellent statement about these gentle giants.

Elephants are the world’s largest living land animals. Adult African males can weigh up to 6,800 kilograms (15,000 pounds). The only living animals bigger than elephants are whales.

Elephants can also live as long as humans, with Asian elephants living into their 80s.

Bandra’s Sad Tale Begins

I was on a work assignment auditing a company in Brunei. As is often the case in these audits, there is a strong social element. Asian people like to make you feel welcome.

My host for the day was very proud of her country. She took me to visit sites, including a deserted theme park. Well, one of the wealthy Brunei royal family owned it, so it was not really deserted.

On days when he fancied, he would open the park. He'd pay vendors to run the rides and shows to entertain his friends.

We were walking through the park to get to lunch. Then, we saw an enclosure with one tree and a lonely-looking elephant.

I swear she was crying!

She told me her name was Bandra. I asked her why she was chained to the tree by herself.

Her reply sickened me.

She said she was a ‘pet’ of one of the royal children but had tried to get out of her enclosure, so they had chained her to the tree.

All she had was the tree and a tub of water.

Big Feet, Big Hearts

Elephants can hear through their feet, detecting vibrations in the earth. They use mechanoreceptors in their feet and toes to decipher secret underground messages. The receptors are very sensitive to vibrations.

They produce a range of vocalizations, from trumpets and barks to many types of rumbles. These rumbles are low-frequency sounds that vary greatly. They can travel through the ground and last from half a second to 12 seconds.

Researchers have found that elephants can address others with specific vocalizations or names. Certain key sounds (rumbles, trumpets, and other high noises) trigger a response in only one or several other elephants, depending on the tone.

Elephants’ social dynamics are very structured. The oldest female, the 'matriarch,' leads the herds. They consist of mothers, their young, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. They sometimes change herds during the day. They rejoin their original family at night.

Males usually hang out with other blokes in separate ‘bachelor groups.’

Among the most sensitive wildlife, they show compassion and self-awareness. They grieve and respond to other elephants' pain and sadness.

For instance, when a herd member injures itself, the rest will walk more slowly to ensure they can keep up. Elephants have been seen lifting injured, sick members with their trunks and tusks. They also make distress calls.

Most importantly, going back to Bandra, they need company. Much of an elephant’s brain stimulation in the wild comes from other elephants. Constantly moving — listening, sniffing, playing — captive, solitary elephants do not. They stand still.

Bandra was as depressed as an elephant could be. She stood there, robbed of social interaction and stimulation.

Compassion is their middle name.

Elephants are also among the most empathetic animals alive. Non-birth mothers will protect elephant calves from danger. They will chase away predators and stop aggressive play-fighting.

Known to grieve and mourn their dead, elephants often visit carcasses repeatedly. They spend varying amounts of time with the bodies. Their behavior goes beyond curiosity. They stand with inactive trunks, almost reverently, like humans at a funeral.

Upon finding a dead elephant, they stop and watch. They often smell and touch the bones with their trunks.

If an elephant calf loses its mother before it is two, it will likely not survive. People have seen six-month-old calves nuzzling their mother's corpse. They wander around confused, then return to the carcass. Tragically, they die within a few months.

They feel compassion for their kind and for other distressed species.

They help one another in adversity and miss absent loved ones. When you know them well, you can see they even smile when having fun and are happy.

Burials are rare in the animal kingdom. Both African and Asian elephants cover their dead with foliage. In 2022 and 2023, different herds were seen dragging their dead babies to irrigation ditches in northern Bengal, India, and burying them there.

Researchers found the calves' legs sticking up from the ground. Soil covered their heads, trunks, and backs.

Back to Bandra

We estimated that Bandra was still a young elephant, 5–10 years at most. She was clearly undernourished and lacked social contact. She needed some contact with other elephants and even humans, to complete her life.

Instead, they punished her for trying to ‘find a life.’

I wanted to jump the fence and chew off her chain. It was one of the most depressing sites I have seen.

We do so much harm.

I am sure there are many more places like Bandra worldwide.

Mankind continues to abuse these beautiful animals. We chain them up and subject them to unnatural acts in circuses and keep them as solitary animals in zoos.

If that is not enough, poachers persecute them for the illegal ivory trade. Poachers kill over 25,000 elephants each year. They are now among the most endangered animals on Earth.

Every day, poachers kill 100 elephants illegally in Africa. This is to feed an insatiable demand for ivory, mainly from Asia. The kill rate exceeds the birth rate. If this trend continues, it will lead to extinction.

Will we ever learn to respect the wonderful creatures of this world (and I don’t include humans in that pot)?

Till next time,

Calvin