A Universal Culture

"To date, the Sheldrick Trust has successfully rehabilitated more than 60 elephants and reintroduced them into wild herds. A number of them have periodically returned to the sanctuary with their own wild-born calves in order to reunite with their human allomothers and to introduce their offspring to what — out on this uncharted frontier of the new ‘‘trans-species psyche’’ — is now being recognized, at least by the elephants, it seems, as a whole new subspecies: the human allograndmother. ‘‘Traditionally, nature has served as a source of healing for humans,’’ Bradshaw told me. ‘‘Now humans can participate actively in the healing of both themselves and nonhuman animals. The trust and the sanctuary are the beginnings of a mutually benefiting interspecies culture.’’

Siebert claims here that the only solution to the elephant’s problem is a fundamental shift in the way we view ourselves as humans. Humans must consider themselves part of a “mutually benefiting interspecies culture”, and not as a superior being. Siebert yearns for the day when a “new trans-species psyche” will exist and unite all living things. This psyche will exist when all beings on earth view themselves as having one, united culture and soul. He includes an example of this new psyche at work when he tells the story of “human allomothers”. These humans raise infant elephants until they are ready to go out on their own. This forms a bond so strong, however, that elephants have been reported bringing their offspring to meet their old human allomothers. A colleague of Bradshaw writes that, when viewing the world through Siebert’s new psyche, “humans can participate actively in healing both themselves and non-human animals”.