For centuries, people have admired the magnificent elephants.  Elephants can be found in many different parts of the world including Africa and Asia.  They once roamed the Americas but not anymore.

In Thailand, elephants are considered royalty and are respected.  As the symbol of Thailand, elephants are found living side by side with humans in the countryside.  Much famous folklore describe the relationship between men and elephants and how elephants are men's best friends.  Long ago, when Thailand and Burma were at war, soldiers used elephants and horses to fight.  King Narasuan rode an elephant when he killed the King of Burma.  The elephants played an important role in the victory.  The popular cartoon, Changkarnkleuy, is about how elephants look after baby elephants and also help fight the wars.

In Africa, elephants are considered one of the big fives -- elephant, lion, buffalo, rhinoceros and giraffe.  Carved elephant tusks have been regarded as precious works of art.  Poachers have been killing these majestic animals to saw off the tusks for profit.  Today, despite the warning of animal protection organizations, elephants remain at great risk .

An average elephant stands 12 feet tall and weighs as much as 14,000 pounds.  Though mammoth in size, elephants are gentle and vulnerable.  The trunk of an elephant has over 5000 muscles.  It takes experience, patience and practice to learn to use the trunk to pick up food.

Elephants travel in groups with the matriarch taking the lead with their offspring in tow. Male elephants are called bulls and do not travel with the herd.  Female elephants and their children travel together often for months in search of water and food.  The bulls travel separately and only join the females when in heat.  Elephants communicate with each other using very low frequency sounds not detectable by human ears.  On December 26, 2004 a tsunami hit Southeast Asia and caused mass casualties.  Some tourists traveling on the backs of elephants survived the disaster because the elephants could feel the tremor of the tsunami and ran toward the hills, thus sparing the lives of these lucky tourists. 

On the African savannas, herds of elephants would travel for hundreds of miles seeking water during the dry season and they communicate with each other from great distances.  Michael Garstang, a researcher, grew up in South Africa among the Zulus and learned the Zulu language.  As a child, he began to study the elephants and followed them around. The Zulus called him jabajaba, meaning the one who loves to talk.  For him, elephants are part of his life and he wanted his children and grandchildren to know about his past through the two children's books written by him about elephants.  These fascinating books described the way of life of the elephants in South Africa.  The most important thing that I learned from reading his books is that our senses of hearing and vision are limited while animals possess senses that allow them to detect signals beyond our perception.

In order to learn more about the elephants and to protect them, the Kenyan government set up a special task force near Nairobi. These experts placed tracking devices around the elephants' necks to follow their movement.  Each elephant is given a name so that the locals can identify them more easily.  Over the centuries, as people moved or expanded their villages, they encroached upon and threatened the living environment of the elephants.   Today, people are trying to protect them through research and education. 

I recently traveled to Thailand and spent time observing the elephants.  Interestingly, many elephants are natural artists, using paint brushes held by their trunks.  Information on these paintings is available on the internet.  What is amazing is the relationship between the trainer and the elephant.  In Chiang Mai, there is an elephant museum, which has a wealth of information on elephants.

When people and elephants interact, they learned to co-exist peacefully in nature.  Our observation of elephants and insects will lead us to understand more of our natural environment and the languages and signals of its inhabitants.  The same is true about human languages.  So much of our human history is passed down orally.  These tales are told from generation to generation.  There are currently about 6,000 languages in the world.  It is projected that 50% of these languages will be extinct by the end of this century.  These disappearing languages have so much information about animals, plants and the entire mother earth.  When we lose these languages, we lose a part of our humanity and heritage.  It is our responsibility to protect the animals as well as our languages.