Flora.

My friend Anouk Schmitt used to work with Flora is the circus.  Here are her words:

When I first met Flora, it was out in CA. She and her half-sister Valentine were brought over from Zimbawe . Both their mothers were killed by poachers ( very similar to the Babar stories). Baby elephants in the wild are quite gamey at first and it takes time for them to be tamed, especially the African elephants because they haven’t been semi-domesticated like the Asian elephants who have been in contact with humans for a very long time. I took a 3 months workshop on training Flora with an excellent elephant trainer, well known in the circus world as Smokey Jones. Elephants are very intelligent and understand very fast what is expected of them but they are always a wild animal, especially Africans who spook easily. When startled they will put their ears out & trumpet. In general elephants are very comical and display a great sense of humor. Flora was that way but she was very mischevious and sometimes stole my tools, like a broom, and would chew it up…or steal the hose with which I washed her.  She would wrap herself in it, it was quite silly to see!! As I performed with her in the circus all these years she knew me so well and as with all animals a bond is created, But because she was a wild animal , one always had to be on their guard, especially strangers. Elephants are so big, so powerful , and they can do a lot of damage, even killing, as they don’t quite understand their own  force. I would go on long walks with Flora daily and let her swim and fool around in the pond. At Red Oak Farm in SC she would take mud and dust baths. She would have a daily bath and often I would shampoo her with Dr. Bohnner’s peppermint soap. She really liked it and would steal it and eat some. As Flora got older she became hard to handle , I was not always around because I was mainly training horses but different handlers worked her in the show. Now she’s retired in TN at an elephant sanctuary.  You can go online it’s: www.elephant.com

You can read all about Flora there among other elephants, she loves to play with a big tractor tire and spend her tim socializing. Elephants are herd animals and need to socialize big time, just like all herd animals. At the Pittsburg zoo, we have our friend Willy who trains elephants using the Pat Parelli method which is used mainly on horses but he’s very successful with the elephants. Also I’m giving this site that saves orphan elephants in Africa that will interest you all. http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/ 

Flora is in a great place right now and seems very content among her ‘friends’. Even though I’ve worked with great elephant people who took great care of their animals, I still believe that wild animals should stay in the wild and that more people should concentrate on ways to maintain and keep animals in their own environment. Certain organizations that teach indigenous people how to live with the animals while at the same time protecting their crops or farm animals against them use an intelligent approach such as what the “World Wildlife Fund” does. 

Anouk

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~ by daoudabdullah on 2009/04/23.