A touching story about an elephant and his bond with a man

[Chris OConnor]

We've all heard that elephants have incredible memories. Read this amazing story as evidence....

---

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after
graduating from Northwestern University ....

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull
elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very
carefully.

He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and
found a sharp piece of wood deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood
out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious
look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.

Peter stood frozen.

Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked
away.

Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.



Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo
with his teenage son.

As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures
turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were
standing.

The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot
off the ground, then put it down.

The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all
the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help
wondering if this was the same elephant.

Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and
made his way into the enclosure.

He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.

The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of
Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

[bleachededen]

Ouch! That story ended much differently than what I expected from your post title and intro line!

I guess that elephant never read any of Aesop's Fables.

Or it wasn't the same elephant...how would Peter even know? I also didn't realize elephants were that aggressive. But, then again, I don't really know much about elephants.

Nice shocker post, though. That would make an interesting, albeit dark, comedic short film (notice how although I'm shocked by the story, I still find it funny. Damn morbid sense of humor!).

[Chris OConnor]

LOL It's not a true story. It's one of those emails that gets circulated. I just found it hilariously shocking.

[bleachededen]

You know, I didn't even consider whether or not it was a true story. I just found it shocking and amusing. I think it would actually have been funnier if true, and I fear that makes me seem like some sort of monster.