Elephant Crackup Analysis

The article ‘An Elephant Crack-Up?” by Charles Siebert focuses on the rather disturbing trend among elephants in modern time to be aggressive and domineering. Elephants are social animals, in much the same as humans are, and the article suggests that one of the reasons for the change in behaviour is that the elephants are coming into danger through the actions of humans. One way in which this happens is the separation – whether purposefully or accidentally (not that one is better than the other) – of elephants calves from their parents, and adults from other adults they have bonded with. This paper will look at the various ways in which Siebert considered elephants and their wellbeing to be directly correlated to the ways in which humans interact with and handle contact with elephants, not only in terms of how the elephants will react, but also by showing how this works with human beings as well, since we both share the same need for socialisation.
The article written by Siebert is focused mainly on the more recent behavioural changes which have been seen throughout elephant populations – rather than simply being peaceable and mostly avoiding contact with the outside world, elephants have become more aggressive and threatening.
Okello started inching the jeep forward, revving the engine, trying to make us sound as beastly as possible. The matriarch, however, was having none of it, holding her ground, the fierce white of her eyes as bright as that of her tusks. (Siebert)
Elephants have always skilled people; it is true, and Siebert acknowledges this. However, there is a difference between killing to protect oneself and one’s young, and simply killing for seemingly no reason, as has happened on several occasions recently. Siebert mentions that elephants have killed many times recently, seemingly for no reason. The “perversity” (Siebert) to use Siebert’s phrase, is what has driven people to see these elephant attacks as something out of the ordinary – they are not simply protecting young, they are attacking with no provocation. This is something which has people concerned.
We know that, in many respects, animals are like humans. They need care and affection, they do best in environments which are suited for them, and they are quite often highly social. Unfortunately, as we are now finding, the more negative parts of humanity are also present in these animals too. Violence is not uniquely human, we know, but it is not something which has been seen in elephants beyond their inherent need to protect themselves. Siebert makes the point that this violence is something which we as humans have visited on elephants ourselves – we have created the world they now live in, which can have and is having deleterious effects on them.
Violence is something which can change someone irrevocably, both in themselves and in how they relate to the world. Through the changes to the world and habitat which elephants live in, and through violence which has been visited upon elephants personally in the form of poaching and hunting.
In Addo Elepha...