ELEPHANTS: They just could be Us!
by Rohan Wijesinha ✍️ Why are there such strong feelings generated by us on seeing an elephant? Is it their immense size and power? Or is it something deeper, more fundamental that elicits these emotions of either love or dread? To be honest, not many have the privilege of seeing an elephant in the wild. […]
Elephants evoke strong emotions in humans, whether love or dread, due to their immense size, power, and unique behavior. Despite limited opportunities for people to observe elephants in the wild, they remain a fascinating subject in media, zoos, and captivity. In Sri Lanka, a country with the highest human-elephant conflict, 455 elephants and 160 people died in 2025 alone.
Elephants fear humans far more than humans fear them, as demonstrated by their rare charges, which are usually attempts to move away from perceived threats. However, when given space and left undisturbed, elephants display extreme tolerance and gentleness. Elephants live in female-dominated family structures, with mothers and daughters, sisters and aunts, cousins, and nieces.
Males leave the herd when they reach adolescence and form small groups, learning survival skills from their mothers. Elephants exhibit strong family bonds, caring deeply for one another and even rescuing other animals in distress. They grieve the death of their own, sometimes carrying the body in their trunks for several days before scattering the bones.
This profound emotion of grief is reminiscent of human emotions, further emphasizing the similarities between human and elephant families.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
