I had the pleasure of visiting the Chitwan elephant breeding center a couple of months ago and was reminded of how much elephants can produce feelings of love and warmth in me.
A couple of interesting facts about elephants are:
Elephants have the longest pregnancy of all animals at 22 months. Elephants cry, play,and laugh. Apparently they also communicate by purring. Elephants mourn their losses by touching the skulls and tusks with their trunks and feet and will pause and stay silent for several minutes when they pas the place their loved one has died. Elephants hug with their trunks. Elephants are sensitive and caring animals and when their young cry or express pain, other elephants will touch and caress it. They express grief, compassion, self-awareness as well.
It is true that this center also made me a little sad because I don’t feel that elephants are meant to be chained up. Even though the care-givers swore that these elephants were only chained up for a couple of hours a day, I still felt sad for them.
Others warm posts:
rfljenksy - Practicing Simplicity 