Elephants Teach socialization
by Deborah Kloeppel
[Reprinted with permission]
I was watching PBS the other night... at about 3 or 4am,
and there was a program on about some elephants in Africa. I thought it
was interesting and I wanted to tell you about it.
About 20 years ago there was a large population increase
in the elephants in one particular preserve and they were beginning to
outgrow their food supply... that is a big problem... anything
concerning
elephants is big, but they do eat an enormous amount!
The rangers and others, like the government officials and
even the preserve veterinarian decided that the most humane thing to do
was to kill off the older elephants to preserve the younger
generation... and that is what they did!! (I'm horrified here...) They
did this because at that time they did not have the means to transport
numerous giant elephants and the babies were more "portable." So they
went in with helicopters and began killing the adult elephants.
When they were done, they rounded up all of the orphan
baby elephants and arranged them into groups of so many males and
females per group and sent them off to various other preserves...
Everything seemed to have worked just fine. The baby
elephants adapted to life without their parents and other family
members, and there was no more problem with the food supply. Also,
since the elephants were all babies and youngsters, they would not
begin to reproduce for some time yet and the food supply could
replenish itself by the time it would be needed for a new crop of baby
elephants. They thought everything had worked according to plan....
Suddenly, however, one preserve began to have a problem!
At first they thought it was poachers or disease, but the evidence
showed otherwise! The preserves were not strictly for elephants but all
native animals. Many of the preserves were trying to boost the numbers
of the white rhino population. They were seeing encouraging results but
all of the sudden, rhinos were turning up dead all over the park! They
lost 10% of their white rhinos before discovering the culprit. Upon
examination the authorities realized that it wasn't poachers. All of
the dead rhinos still had their horns! The evidence was almost
unbelievable, but it was there. The rhinos had been killed by the
elephants!
The first preserve to have this problem was the one that
had accepted the group of older baby elephants. Peer groups of 3 were
the same, not peer groups of 30 kids the same age that elephants are
known to be, these had become mean and nasty!! They had attacked and
killed the rhinos and they attacked tourist vehicles that took visitors
through the park! They even destroyed park property and attacked
workers!
No one could figure out what was wrong with these
elephants, but it was clear to the rangers that something had to be
done or the white rhino population would again be depleted to
dangerously low numbers!
They observed and analyzed the behavior of the group of
elephants and compared them to a street gang! Having been cut off from
their family and other adult role models they had formed gangs and
produced bad behavior! They didn't have their parents or their elders
there to keep them in line or teach them how to behave as they should.
And don't forget, these elephants had been traumatized as babies. They
had witnessed the violent and defensive actions of their parents and
other adults of the herd trying to protect the younger ones and being
killed by humans! The trauma and anguish that they experienced then had
carried over into their adolescence. Left on their own with no adult
supervision or family attention, they, in a sense, became embittered
and frustrated and took those feelings out on others. Like real gangs,
they took their aggressions out on smaller, weaker animals, destroyed
things, and caused trouble.
Sadly, a number of these elephants, especially those that
served as the "gang leaders," had to be killed because of their
dangerous and threatening behavior! Upon examination of the elephants,
it was found that they were not only acting this way because of the
lack of role models and adult supervision, but many of the males had
increased levels of testosterone. They had become sexually active long
before elephants that grew up with their family groups, and this
increased hormone level increased their aggressive behavior and
violence!
The idea of killing all of these "misguided adolescent
elephants" was not pleasant, but the rangers didn't know what else to
do for them. They had endangered animals in the park being attacked by
these out of control elephants, and even human lives in danger! Then
someone suggested that if the behavior of these "juvenile delinquent
pachyderms" was in part due to the lack of a good role model, them
maybe providing them with a good role model would help to reverse the
trend.
By now, a means to transport adult elephants had been
invented and larger, older bull elephants that had grown up in their
family groups were transported to the preserves where the orphaned
babies had been sent.
There was an instant change in behavior when the adults
arrived! There were no more rhino killings, no more attacks on people,
tour groups, or property! Instant "well-behaved elephant teenagers!"
The reason I found this to be so interesting is that it
only took these park wardens 20 years to figure out that the baby
elephants needed their families and other adults to grow up to be
happy, healthy, and well adjusted members of the elephant society. If
public schools would apply what was learned in Africa about elephant
families to the families in their school districts, just think of the
changes there would be!
What if, instead of grouping all of those of the same age
together with too few and too poor of quality of role models, all of
these youngsters were allowed to remain with and interact with their
their families and others in their society, both older and younger? The
baby elephants were grouped together by age and then left under the
supervision of the park authority... people that were supposed to know
what they were doing and what was best for these youngsters... and look
what happened! They banded together into rebellious, angry, dangerous
gangs that killed other animals, attacked others, destroyed property,
and terrorized the parks! Isn't that what is happening in the schools
today? All of the children are separated from those of different ages
and they don't learn how to interact with society as a whole, yet it is
called "socialization."
If the schools hired the African park rangers, there
might be some big improvements in the school systems around today!!
by Deborah Kloeppel
[Reprinted with permission]
I was watching PBS the other night... at about 3 or 4am,
and there was a program on about some elephants in Africa. I thought it
was interesting and I wanted to tell you about it.
About 20 years ago there was a large population increase
in the elephants in one particular preserve and they were beginning to
outgrow their food supply... that is a big problem... anything
concerning
elephants is big, but they do eat an enormous amount!
The rangers and others, like the government officials and
even the preserve veterinarian decided that the most humane thing to do
was to kill off the older elephants to preserve the younger
generation... and that is what they did!! (I'm horrified here...) They
did this because at that time they did not have the means to transport
numerous giant elephants and the babies were more "portable." So they
went in with helicopters and began killing the adult elephants.
When they were done, they rounded up all of the orphan
baby elephants and arranged them into groups of so many males and
females per group and sent them off to various other preserves...
Everything seemed to have worked just fine. The baby
elephants adapted to life without their parents and other family
members, and there was no more problem with the food supply. Also,
since the elephants were all babies and youngsters, they would not
begin to reproduce for some time yet and the food supply could
replenish itself by the time it would be needed for a new crop of baby
elephants. They thought everything had worked according to plan....
Suddenly, however, one preserve began to have a problem!
At first they thought it was poachers or disease, but the evidence
showed otherwise! The preserves were not strictly for elephants but all
native animals. Many of the preserves were trying to boost the numbers
of the white rhino population. They were seeing encouraging results but
all of the sudden, rhinos were turning up dead all over the park! They
lost 10% of their white rhinos before discovering the culprit. Upon
examination the authorities realized that it wasn't poachers. All of
the dead rhinos still had their horns! The evidence was almost
unbelievable, but it was there. The rhinos had been killed by the
elephants!
The first preserve to have this problem was the one that
had accepted the group of older baby elephants. Peer groups of 3 were
the same, not peer groups of 30 kids the same age that elephants are
known to be, these had become mean and nasty!! They had attacked and
killed the rhinos and they attacked tourist vehicles that took visitors
through the park! They even destroyed park property and attacked
workers!
No one could figure out what was wrong with these
elephants, but it was clear to the rangers that something had to be
done or the white rhino population would again be depleted to
dangerously low numbers!
They observed and analyzed the behavior of the group of
elephants and compared them to a street gang! Having been cut off from
their family and other adult role models they had formed gangs and
produced bad behavior! They didn't have their parents or their elders
there to keep them in line or teach them how to behave as they should.
And don't forget, these elephants had been traumatized as babies. They
had witnessed the violent and defensive actions of their parents and
other adults of the herd trying to protect the younger ones and being
killed by humans! The trauma and anguish that they experienced then had
carried over into their adolescence. Left on their own with no adult
supervision or family attention, they, in a sense, became embittered
and frustrated and took those feelings out on others. Like real gangs,
they took their aggressions out on smaller, weaker animals, destroyed
things, and caused trouble.
Sadly, a number of these elephants, especially those that
served as the "gang leaders," had to be killed because of their
dangerous and threatening behavior! Upon examination of the elephants,
it was found that they were not only acting this way because of the
lack of role models and adult supervision, but many of the males had
increased levels of testosterone. They had become sexually active long
before elephants that grew up with their family groups, and this
increased hormone level increased their aggressive behavior and
violence!
The idea of killing all of these "misguided adolescent
elephants" was not pleasant, but the rangers didn't know what else to
do for them. They had endangered animals in the park being attacked by
these out of control elephants, and even human lives in danger! Then
someone suggested that if the behavior of these "juvenile delinquent
pachyderms" was in part due to the lack of a good role model, them
maybe providing them with a good role model would help to reverse the
trend.
By now, a means to transport adult elephants had been
invented and larger, older bull elephants that had grown up in their
family groups were transported to the preserves where the orphaned
babies had been sent.
There was an instant change in behavior when the adults
arrived! There were no more rhino killings, no more attacks on people,
tour groups, or property! Instant "well-behaved elephant teenagers!"
The reason I found this to be so interesting is that it
only took these park wardens 20 years to figure out that the baby
elephants needed their families and other adults to grow up to be
happy, healthy, and well adjusted members of the elephant society. If
public schools would apply what was learned in Africa about elephant
families to the families in their school districts, just think of the
changes there would be!
What if, instead of grouping all of those of the same age
together with too few and too poor of quality of role models, all of
these youngsters were allowed to remain with and interact with their
their families and others in their society, both older and younger? The
baby elephants were grouped together by age and then left under the
supervision of the park authority... people that were supposed to know
what they were doing and what was best for these youngsters... and look
what happened! They banded together into rebellious, angry, dangerous
gangs that killed other animals, attacked others, destroyed property,
and terrorized the parks! Isn't that what is happening in the schools
today? All of the children are separated from those of different ages
and they don't learn how to interact with society as a whole, yet it is
called "socialization."
If the schools hired the African park rangers, there
might be some big improvements in the school systems around today!!