Natural Genius

Hi.

As I have been pondering the last few days, I realize that I have never set myself a schedule for posting on Eclipsed. At first I posted so often that any sort of structure in my posting was not required. But I feel like I've gotten over that initial exhilaration. Essentially the honeymoon period is over, and any attempts to proceed otherwise have led to a lack of posting or just a lack of any productive work in my current life.

I've realized also that at home, I don't have the same sort of stimuli I had in college. With the lack of responsibilities aside from taking care of my own agenda, I had the freedom to do most anything. This of course led to the plethora of subjects that fed my posting. I'm not saying that I've been completely stripped of any potential for discourse. But I do realize that with a different life style comes different logistics. And since my time is limited, I must place rules for my own posting, thereby forming my own kind of stability which may in turn motivate additional productivity in the rest of my life. But, until I figure out what kind of laws I will command myself with, onto the actual post.

Today, there was an interesting episode of 60 minutes on television. Now normally, I'm not one to watch 60 minutes. In fact, I rarely even notice its appearance on the channel guide. But this evening, what especially caught my attention was its focus. Well, not just its focus, but really one specific subject area within the main topic and a particular point within the subject: Elephants! And their babies ^_^. [Note: the episode was on the animals of Africa]

Why elephants, or baby elephants? Well, frankly, because they are the cutest things ever. Now, I realize that it is very easy to mock girls and their obsessions with baby animals. But I'll have you know, that it's not just girls that are affected - I know several guys who have fallen to their charm ^_^. My weakness to baby animals excludes certain species (for example, I don't find infant sapiens cute), but is severe when it comes to a few select animals: felines and elephants. Between the two, baby elephants take the lead by a huge margin.

I'd like to take a little tangent, to just mention that nature is quite amazing. Infants of any species are made irresistible to all "parents" with their disproportionate sizes. And when I say "parents", I mean any grown adult of any species. This is easily seen in not only behavioral studies, but also in the amazing stories of children being raised by packs of wolves and the like. With their disproportional limbs, nature is providing these infants a sort of security, to ensure that they are raised, to ensure that the genetic line is passed on, to ensure that they are taken care of till independence by parents, by making them appealing to the parental senses. Now sure, this might not apply to all species (I'm no expert), but one thing that is consistent across the board is the repulsion of disfigured offspring. Nature's visual defense mechanism to prevent the promotion of weak genes. Regardless, this mechanism is quite ingenious.

And back to the elephants. So why are elephants at the top of my list? There are a lot of reasons behind it, in addition to the actual babies themselves. Frankly, these things are cute. Just the way that they run around, their legs too short to sustain an even gait, bouncing up and down, ears flapping, trunk bobbing around, leaves me all giddy with "awww"s left and right. When it comes to shower time, just watching them frolic around makes you want to head in and join them. And their behaviors? Don't even get me started. Well, actually I probably won't even be able to describe just how adorable they are because I'll get lost thinking about them ^_^.

Last year, during one of the movie previews before Harry Potter 7.1, I saw one preview for a movie on orphaned elephants, and how scientists worked to save them, and re-assimilate them into the wild. I sadly never remembered the name of the movie, but I won't stop searching! But really I mentioned this because during the preview, you saw the silly actions of the infants. I call it adorable, but really I think there's also a bit of intrigue and astonishment wrapped in there too.

Their actions display a high level of intelligence, if not ingenuity, and their behavior seems quite similar to human children even. One example that comes to mind was from the 60 minutes episode. The scientists were recording the sounds elephants made (did you know that most of their vocalizations are too far below the range of the human ear, and can allow them to communicate across 2-3 kilometers?). Some of the sounds were pointed out by the interviewer. The scientist explained that it was simply the protesting sounds of a baby elephant in the midst of a temper tantrum. She likened it to the same vocalizations a human child might make.

It's understandings like this that make you realize that animals', especially mammals, behaviors are very similar to humans. We are ultimately just one of several creatures that roam the earth, and so there are many behavioral traits shared among us.

And it's probably these commons traits that place elephants at the top of my list of favorite animals (alongside penguins). Tigers used to hold that top position, as I had a fascination with the solitary large cats. (This excludes lions of course. I think the whole pride structure rubbed me wrong even as a girl). It's probably because I used to feel very alone when I was younger, and these large animals managed to survive on their own and it something I was trying to achieve. But when you look at it, it is probably due to this solitude that unfortunately aids in the slow destruction of their species. However, I'm here to talk about elephants, not others so back to the point.

The most striking feature of elephants, aside from their bodies, is their intelligence. These animals celebrate, complain, play, and mourn. After the birth of a baby, the herd will croon and fawn over the child, as any humans would also do. They even recognize death in an astonishingly vocal and ritual manner. There was pointed out on 60 minutes on this very process. At the death of a baby elephant, the scientists recorded several sounds from these animals, sounds they labeled as cries from the old and young elephants alike. Many of them stood around the child nudging it as if cajoling it to stand back up, as if the child had simply laid down, others simply waiting for the baby to stand back up and rejoin the others in romping around. When they realized the child was not alive, the elephants formed a procession before the body. Watching as each elephant paid their respects before my eyes was like watching a funeral ceremony as each guest walks by the deceased. That they understood death at that level is quite astounding.

Elephants are also clever animals. The examples are far too many to count. But what I consider truly inspired is their hierarchy. Elephants are a matriarchal society. Frankly, that they organize themselves as such shows they are clearly intelligent beings ^_^. Even the largest, enraged bull does not dare to overstep the bounds of the matriarch. They understand companionship, they grieve at the loss of on of their own, they have clever senses of humor. Elephants are wonderful creatures to me. Is it any wonder that they are at the top of my favorites?

Unfortunately, the habitats which these animals live in are slowly being destroyed. Their communities are broken from poachers and hunters looking for the next payout, or even impoverished people looking food. The forests and lands they live keep shrinking due to companies looking for more land. And it's not just elephants who are at stake. It's entire ecosystems.

The south eastern regions of Africa is host to several species of wildlife. The mechanisms with which nature has managed to sustain the flora and fauna of the region is ingenious. Migrating animals are a natural crop rotation for much of the flora in the area. The trees and larger flora retain and release water, controlling and maintaining the rivers and waterways the fauna depend on. You see herds of animals following along migratory paths set for thousands of years, and the sight is one to behold. Regardless of species, they all join together to travel towards their seasonal habitats. But year by year, the numbers of these animals drop. The water they so depend on dwindles as the forestation is cut down.

It makes you wonder, how can you be able to not only preserve their habitats, but also ensure that it will be maintained in the future? As we have taken over the planet, spreading almost like a virus, using the earth's resources, attempting to mimic naturally found mechanisms and vegetation, when will we learn to protect what we depend on?

The fact is that nature has evolved spectacularly. In engineering, we strive to ascertain the high complexities nature has created for our own purposes, whether it is for our well-being or for our ease and comfort. The wonders found on earth are both big and small, and it is sad that we treat the planet we live on so harshly. Due to our carelessness, we have managed to force species into extinction if not endangerment. We have transplanted flora and fauna to various locations destroying naturally found ecosystems. And yet, even with regulations we still haven't managed to really protect what is out there.

Now I have no delusions that we could return the earth to its original form. There is no way to accomplish that. But what we can do is to prevent further destruction of what currently exists. Removing harmful waste from these ecosystems or protecting land from external influences is the very first step that needs to be taken. Unluckily, our world is governed by capitalism - which inherently is motivated by greed. And unless that greed is reigned in by each and every person, it makes it hard for any steps to take hold. But what we can do is individually, or even through community, help to keep our planet green.

It is only through communal efforts that we may preserve nature's wonders, small and large, for the future generations. I hope that my love of elephants can be shared with my future children, and the only way for that to happen is to ensure that these habitats are maintained.


For this post, there really is no music I have for you. I hope that you are able to experience the sounds of the natural environment. I hope that you can appreciate every single voice in that symphony played by nature's orchestra.

But as always I have a song that aids me through the composition of a post, which I shall share with you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU5o6M7S5nQ&ob=av3e