On top of an abiding love of wildlife and a beautiful but deeply troubled country, it is poaching, greed, corruption, revenge and apathy that unmistakeably permeate the pages of Sharon Pincott’s unforgettable new book, Elephant Dawn, which documents her 13 years working alone with the Presidential Elephants in Hwange. This book is testament to the way numerous Zimbabwean officials and their connections chose to deal with someone on the ground who, as far back as 2001, could not turn a blind eye to illegal and unethical wildlife-related practices. In both her book and in this interview we are privy to a closer look at the intensely bonded, intelligent elephants that Pincott worked with, which Zimbabwe chooses to rip from their families at a very young age, and then commit to a life behind bars in a foreign land. This interview was conducted by Inga Yandell.
Yandell: Elephants have much in common with humans—family unity, intelligence, emotional quotients, and memory, being just some of the qualities we share. And like humans, communicating and bonding with elephants requires patience and a willingness to learn from one another. In 2001 corporate executive, Sharon Pincott, embarked on a new adventure—seeking meaning and contribution in Africa. The life changing move lead to a thirteen-year association with the Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe. Her exceptional story is chronicled in the autobiographical ‘Elephant Dawn’ (Allen & Unwin, 2016/Jacana Media, 2016). What you learn when you live and work with wildlife is to recognize the qualities which unite us and the diversity which sustains us. Distinct yet connected, elephants share our ultimate goal for survival.
You abandoned a secure and successful life for an unknown path, what empowered and sustained you through this incredible journey?
PINCOTT: I endured endless problems and harassment over the years, but in a country like Zimbabwe people everywhere were fighting their own battles and that reality helped me keep my own struggles in perspective. More than anything, it was simply being in the company of such magnificent animals that restored my spirit every day and kept me pushing forward for so long.
You dedicate the book to ‘Lady’, can you tell us about her?
PINCOTT: Lady was the first wild, free-roaming elephant who truly accepted me into her world. She was the leader—the matriarch—of a small family of elephants who suffered death, disappearances and snares. In time, Lady came to me when I called to her, just as a domestic dog might. She would bring her new-borns to the door of my 4×4, and suckle them only centimeters away from me. She dozed right beside me, and took refuge there from amorous bulls when she was in oestrus. I would talk and sing to her which she clearly found reassuring. Lady became my friend; someone who I loved to hang out with. I learnt so much from her.
What were the pivotal moments of trust that enabled your closeness with these powerful giants?
PINCOTT: I always let the elephants approach me, rather than the other way around. It was their choice to interact with me— or not. In time, as someone they came to trust implicitly, I was accepted as one of their family. My hand on the tusk or trunk of a wild, free-roaming elephant became similar to a human handshake. When they sleep and suckle right beside you, sometimes for hours on end, there can be no doubt that they’ve accepted you into their world.
What is one key thing that your relationship with these elephants taught you about their species?
PINCOTT: How deeply death and disappearances tear their families apart.
There are several vital messages in your book, what are the ones you value the most and hope to impart?
PINCOTT: 1. Elephants are very human-like beings, whose close bonds, intelligence and ability to grieve must be respected.
- We all have powers of resilience and courage that we don’t realize, until they’re put to the test.
- We can’t always change the world, but we can still make a difference by doing as much as we can.
- Human greed really is the root of all evil; there’s so much going on behind the scenes in this world that we can’t even imagine is happening.
- Our world’s wildlife is in trouble, and we need to make time to notice this, and to care.
What direction and outlook will we need to surmount the challenges that lie ahead for wildlife conservation?
PINCOTT: Africa’s human population is set to double by 2050. Already today there is human-wildlife conflict. This situation will only worsen as human populations grow. Human development, that encroaches on wildlife land—like mining for example—needs resolution too. Corruption, human greed, poverty, pollution, lack of water, lack of funds, are all problems that somehow need to be overcome.
How are the needs of elephants different from other wildlife in the protection and promotion of their welfare?
PINCOTT: As the world’s largest land mammal, their needs for space and water are greater than other species. Awareness of their human-like qualities and re-education of those who view ivory as a symbol of status and wealth are also paramount to their survival.
Do you encourage engaging with elephants and tourism or does this make them more susceptible to poachers?
PINCOTT: Those who don’t intimately know an elephant, or elephant family, should never attempt to engage with them. You must be able to properly read their moods, understand their body language, and know all about their family relationships and individual egocentricities before initiating any close contact.
Tourism is key, so long as it is properly controlled. As long as the safari outfit you choose is a reputable one, tourists bring more eyes and ears to the field, and responsible tourism assists the long-term survival prospects of all wildlife. Choose a lodge that puts a percentage of their profits back into supporting the wildlife and also the impoverished communities who live among these wild animals.
As for poachers, no elephant, whether habituated to the presence of people in vehicles or not, can escape their guns and poison.
How does your approach differ from past measures to protect and understand elephants?
PINCOTT: I don’t think my approach is all that different to elsewhere. As a non-scientist, though, I’ve perhaps been more willing to be completely open about my close relationship with the elephants. I’m also now in a position to write about the corruption and unethical practices that surrounded me for 13 years. I think we all work to try to ensure that local people are more aware of how special their elephants are; learning to value them as living beings. But when someone is hungry, desperate and living in abject poverty, this is never easy.
The clan of over 520 wild elephants I worked with carry the identity and supposed protection of the President. This Presidential Decree, which I had reaffirmed in 2011, is supposed to keep them safe. But it does little for these elephants if it provides just a fancy name, instead of in- depth monitoring and real protection measures on the ground. In reality right now, the Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe—who roam on unfenced land—continue to suffer exactly the same problems as all elephants do, all around Africa.
Best bonding moment…
PINCOTT: An unplanned kiss with the wild free-roaming elephant I named Willa when she was pregnant, having a bad day, and looking for some comfort.
Funniest encounter…
PINCOTT: Sitting with a trunk-load of gooey reddish mud on top of my head, dripping down onto my face and shoulders, after a trunkful of mud—that was supposed to all go over the elephant’s back—came flying in the open roof of my 4×4, and landed all over me instead.
Exceptional lesson an elephant taught you…
PINCOTT: You can do anything you set your mind to—after watching one remove her own wire snare from around her leg.
What you love most about elephants…
PINCOTT: Their sense of self.
Never do this around one…
PINCOTT: Pay more attention to a lesser-ranking elephant, when a more dominant one is around. Elephants experience jealousy too!
Teach your children…
PINCOTT: Humanity is caring about more than just our own species.
The original of this interview can be found at http://bareessentialsmagazine.uberflip.com/i/754062-issue-42/32
Post published in: Business
According to a new study, elephants in
Africa are slowly going extinct. Researchers estimate that in Central
Africa, there has been a 62 percent decline in the number of African
forest elephants over the past 10 years.
“The analysis confirms what
conservationists have feared: the rapid trend towards extinction –
potentially within the next decade – of the forest elephant,” said Dr.
Samantha Strindberg of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), one of
the lead authors of the study. Similar tales abound about the Asian
elephant.
Research at the Queen Elizabeth National
Park, Uganda, showed that 15% of female and 9% of males in the park were
born without tusks. In 1930 the figure for both male and female
elephants was only 1%. Similar results are found elsewhere, in 1997 Mark
and Deli Owens found that in Zambia’s North Luangwa National Park 38%
of all elephants were tusk-less. In the last 150 years tusks have shrunk
by half in those elephants that do have tusks.
Experts say that tusk-less elephants are
due to a chance mutation. Elephant’s are loosing their tusks in a rapid
evolutionary response to escape slaughter by poachers. This allows them
to live, breed more freely, and have more offspring without tusks.
Some conservationists are saying that
tusk-less elephants are crippled elephants, as the tusks are used for
food and water, knocking down and moving trees and branches,
self-defence, and sexual display. The female Asian elephant, which have
very small six inch tusks, would tend to disprove this hypothesis. The
females go round in groups without males, and yet manage to dig wallows
with their forefeet and trunks when no surface water is available. An
elephant uses its trunk for breathing, drinking, eating, communicating,
smelling, digging, social interaction, and self defence or defence of
its young. The trunk is a combination of the nose and upper lip and can
suck between 1 and 2 gallons of water into its trunk and then squirt it
into its mouth for a drink or onto its body for a shower. The complex
muscular structure of the trunk provides both strength and great
dexterity. The elephant’s trunk is made up of thousands of muscles and
does not have any bones. The trunk functions as a tool for picking up
small objects using a “finger” projection on the end of the trunk, as
well as grasping, and social interaction which includes caressing and
disciplining their young.
In 1999 Dr. Dennis Schmitt, associate
professor of veterinary medicine at Southwest Missouri State University,
made history by being the first researcher to produce an elephant from
artificial insemination. We now have the technology to artificially
breed elephants without tusks, we could either artificially inseminate
them in the wild, or breed them in captivity, for later release into the
wild. Costs could be kept down by concentrating on areas of the world
with the biggest elephant population drops due to poaching first.