Delenquent Elephants

Imagine being a farmer in Kenya where you have very little you own and your whole lively-hood is based on the crops coming in. One night an elephant moves through your area wiping out your young crop. For centuries in Africa, elephants and people have been fighting for space to live. Many ideas have been tried, from shooting to translocation. This difficult issue still remains but an interesting sidebar was created in the process as noted in the book Wrestling With Rhinos by Jerry Haigh.

It’s seems that baby elephants need their daddies. Because small elephants are much easier and less expensive relocate, quite often what would happen is people would select the strong, healthy, smaller and younger elephants. I will leave it up to your imagination and logic as to what happened to the rest of the unwanted pack. Young elephants from four to eight years old would be moved to their new location where they tried to make a new life for themselves.  And being relocated and alone they decided to hang out with the only other large grey animals they could find, the rhinos.  But problems arose as the male elephants hit puberty.

Left without parental discipline (keep in mind elephants are strongly family-oriented animals) or mature bulls to keep them in line, they turned into juvenile delinquents. They would often destroy tourist vehicles which eventually led to the death of one unfortunate soul. And it seems they would also frequently attack the white rhinos.

The answer was to bring in male, adult elephants. Bulls between the ages of thirty-five to forty-five were reintroduced to the group. In a very short time, these ‘super bulls’ had given the juveniles an attitude adjustment. Now when translocation of elephants takes place, scientists move the whole family.

There is wisdom here if we look for it. The Bible tells us to look for wisdom in the ant, in this case I think we can look for wisdom in the elephant. Is it too great a jump to consider that these family-oriented creatures give us a glimpse into the reality of our own lives? People tried to redefine what family meant for the elephant and it didn’t work. Mother, father, children may be boundaries that some people balk at, but there are consequences when one plays with those boundaries. It should cause those with husbands and teenagers or potential teenagers to be grateful for the presence of males in their children’s lives. So often we can easily forget the impact one person can have on another. The effects are almost invisible, but they are there for the discerning eye. It should also cause us to think about the widow and the divorced mother. Men can have great influence even through areas of Children’s and Youth ministry and can doubly bless the family of the child they influence. We are very blessed as a church to have many godly and faithful men who serve in these areas.

We are called as Christians to think through what it means to be men and women of God. Consider the elephant and be wise.

Penny Laird