Reared in a matriarchal family,
A smart, social critter is he.
Though a book he rarely reads,
His decisions meet his needs,
Which are sex, sustenance and security.
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, September 2008
family ties
THE ELEPHANTS OF SAMBURU
"Happy families are all alike, wrote Leo Tolstoy; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. But the great Russian novelist wasn't thinking of elephants, whose familial relationships are complex, various, and fascinating, even amid the relatively happy circumstances of Kenya's samburu National Reserve."
"Finding food, finding water, and finding reproductive oportuinites aren't always simple tasks, but compared with finding security they are relatively straightforward. Real security, lasting security, is more unpredictable and elusive. The local people have a word for it: neebei. Every person wants neebei -- freedom from danger, menace, uncertainty, fear -- and it's not anthropomorphism to say that every elephat does too."
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