viernes, 23 de diciembre de 2016

What are some wild animals that have been known to "ask" humans for help?

The most shocking (sadly, so far) report I have ever read about was posted on Chengeta Wildlife blog last week.
To those who don't know it, David Sheldrick (DSWT) is a Kenya based trust dedicated to rescue and care injured wild elephants, and they also take care of many orphaned elephant.
Last month three elephant bulls resulted injured with poiisoned arows in North Kenya. None of them had never been in the trust before and all teh connection with it was that one of them had mated and fathered two calves in 20011  with two females who were raised in the Ithumba reintegration center of the DSWT, those females were now in charge of their own wild herd. The babies were named Mwende and Yetu.

Back to our story, the three injured elephant bulls struggled his way to the Ithumba instalations.

"We are sure that Mwende's father knew that if they returned to the  stockades they would get the help and treatment they needed because this  continuously happens with the injured bulls in the north; they all come  to Ithumba when in need, understanding that there they can be helped,"  DWST wrote.
And while it might be surprising to imagine an elephant seeking out  humans for help — especially when he had just been injured by people —  it's not unbelievable.

In the trust they received they were treated of their wounds and are doing very well right now. And these wild adult bulls seem to be thankful, the trust has informed.

Now, sceptics will find a thousand of reasons for doubting those males were conscious of what they did, that they made the intentioanl decission of going to the trust looking for help. Because with living beings it is always impossible to give a whole explanation that convices everyone.

But for those that are moved by this story, there are two important questions:
- How did those bulls were to go?. The answer given by the trust is that
Elephants have remarkable spatial reasoning abilities and are able to craft detailed mental maps that help them navigate  their territory. Considering their intelligence and high sociability,  it's possible that former orphans or elephants who have been treated by  DSWT could have communicated that it was a place of safety.
- Why did they decided to look for hel in men, when they have been injured by men?
And again, the only explanation relies in the high intelligence of those animals.


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