It seems that a number of factors are heightening the effects of normal draught conditions in certain parts of Africa, as of now, at least and maybe especially in the nation of Kenya. There, a number of deaths have been blamed on rampaging elephants, desperate to find water sufficient for their needs,which are considerable. At four and a half tons, the elephant is the largest land mammal on the face of the earth, eats in food roughly one third of his body weight per day, and his normal water intake, unless I'm mistaken, is to be measured not in the ounces or gallons, but in the hundreds of gallons, per day.
Unfortunately, in Africa, drought conditions are being heightened evidently by global warming, in combination with damage to the natural encironment. This could be due in part to the shrinking of the rain forrests, in all parts of Africa,and if I had to wager a guess, I would imagine the increasing diversion of water from rivers to provide water necessary for farming is a factor as well.
Elephants, in addition to being huge, are also among the more intelligent mammals on the face of the earth, and evidently their increasing desperation to find the water as well as the food they need, has lead to their rampaging, and so they are responsible now, at last count,for the deaths of at least two farmers.
It's hard to fault them. Elephants have an emotional attachment to their kind, especially their mates and offspring, which I witnessed once on a visit to the Cincinnati Zoo. There, while in the process of giving birth, a female elephant was locked up, out of view, while her mate, the male, was obviously worried, and swayed back and forth in utter anxiety. Imagine the desperation then of these animals in Africa, who due to poachers have more than enough reason to be wary of man to begin with. Elephants are very intelligent indeed, and as the old saying goes-they never forget.
Hopefully, this issue will be resolved to the beneit of both species. The elephant is now half in numbers to what it was when censuses first began to be kept concerning them. It would be a shame if this magnificent creature were to be further endangered due to lack of availaible sustenance, and this due to the recklnessness of man.
