Close Reading #1

In the given quote, the author points to the fact that, even though the human – elephant relationship has reduced over time, there is still hope to save it. Recent efforts by humans have shown encouraging results, as given in the quote. Researchers have studied the concept of anthropomorphism and based on it, they have used trauma therapy on elephants. People such as Gay Bradshaw have shown that elephant society and family life is in fact very similar to the human society. Thus, humans themselves have served as “allomothers” to young elephants, and it has proved successful as some elephants returned to their human allomothers. This little but positive effort shows how both humans and elephants can make a joint effort in improving their relationship. It is as simple as educating people worldwide about how to live peacefully with elephants. Thus, the human – elephant bond can hopefully grow gradually with time.