Kindness to Elephants

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from
North-western University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young
bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed
distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee, inspected the elephant`s foot, and found a large
piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could,
Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly
put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather
curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter
stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the
elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that
elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his
teenage son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the
creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron
were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front
foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times
then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this
was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the
railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the
elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped
its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing,
killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.