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CM . . . .
Volume VI Number 16 . . . . April 14, 2000
Elephants have been on earth for 55 million years. Today, only two species remain - the Asian and
the African. This video affords viewers a close-up look at the largest, most powerful land mammal
in the world. Filmed in Kenya's Amboseli National Park, the video introduces viewers to Dr.
Joyce Poole who came to Amboseli as a 19-year-old in 1975 to study the 1000 pachyderms who
make their home in the park. Poole's research indicates that elephants are extremely bright, live in
extended families and have the same life expectancy as humans. What is particularly fascinating is
that elephants exhibit emotions - they have a sense of humour, self-awareness, and grieve for
deceased members of their family unit. Totaling 15 members, the family unit consists of several
mature females and their offspring. They are led by a matriarch, usually the oldest female, who
makes important decisions for the group and teaches its members the skills necessary for their
survival. Young females stay with their mothers all their lives, but males leave the group at 14 or
15 years of age. Showing compassion, elephant mothers will often take on orphaned calves. In
fact, females are greatly concerned with the group, sometimes caring for babies at age four,
whereas males are very egocentric and are usually engaged in play.
Besides everyday life in the family unit, the video shows mating rituals, play fighting (to hone
skills for fighting predators and to declare supremacy over other elephants), and the elephants
enjoying a mud bath. In play fighting, elephants use their tusks and their agile trunks. With
150,000 muscle units, the versatile trunk is used to caress, smell, dust, mud splash, drink and eat.
In her lifelong study of elephants, Poole has discovered that humans can only pick up one-third of
elephant vocalization. With sophisticated recording equipment, Poole found that elephants are
capable of making 20 low frequency sounds, each of which has its own meaning.
One of Poole's greatest concerns has been the decimation of elephant herds by poachers. The
numbers are staggering. From a population of 165,000 in the early 1970s to only 20,000 by 1989,
the elephant was on the verge of extinction. For four years, Poole worked with the Kenya Wildlife
Service to declare an all-out war against poaching. As a result of the service's efforts, there was
an international ban on ivory products, and the elephant population began to increase. As the
elephants return to their former habitats, conflicts with farmers, now using the land for cattle
grazing, are occurring with greater frequency. Poole, who has left the wildlife service to resume
her research, remains devoted to the cause of elephant conservation and creating public awareness
about the ivory trade. She maintains that the more people learn about elephants and how similar
they are to humans, the greater the chance that humans will become involved in the preservation
of the elephant species.
Excellent footage, depicting some rarely seen action, will make this video a hit with students. The
vocabulary is fairly easy to understand, though teachers might want to preview the video before
showing it to determine its suitability for their students. One scene, in particular, talks about
Poole's observation of a fluid leaking from the male elephants' genitalia, which Poole thought
might have indicated a disease in the herd. In fact, it corresponded with the females' oestrus
cycle. Close-up shots of the elephants' genitalia might elicit a few giggles from a young audience.
Inside the video case is a brief summary of the video as well as a few pre-viewing and
post-viewing questions and two suggested websites on elephant facts and conservation. The video
is close-captioned (requires a decoder).
Highly Recommended.
Gail Hamilton is a teacher-librarian at Bird's Hill School in East St. Paul, MB.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - April 14, 2000.
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