Yesterday I was sitting on the couch, looking at some of my elephant pictures from my recent trip. As I was looking at one particular photo of an RPTE (Raddest Photo Trip Ever) friend washing an elephant I said to my roommate, “Don’t elephants kill people?” Her response, “Oh, yeah, have you heard of the Christian elephants in India?” My response, “Ummm, no.” So I googled it and it has to be the craziest thing I’ve heard in a long time. Like, crazy in a good, spiritual type of way. Does that even make sense? No matter who you are or what you believe this has to get you thinking that there is some kind of God that is up to something… doesn’t it?
I found the article at www.archdioceseofcolombo.com (among other sources). If you want to read the entire article feel free to click on the link. Here are a few quotes:
“In recent months, herds of wild elephants have begun to storm villages that are home to some of the worst persecutors of Christians during the troubles. In one village, where in August a year ago the Christians had to run for their lives while their homes were being destroyed by rioters, a herd of elephants emerged from the surrounding jungle exactly one year later, in July 2009, at the same time of the day of the attack.
These elephants first attacked a rock crusher machine owned by a key leader of the persecution movement. They then went on to destroy his house and farms.
Hundreds of villagers have been forced to take shelter in camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by a herd of elephants.”
So after reading this I wanted to know if elephants randomly attack and I found that normally elephants only attack if they are provoked or feel threatened (like most wild animals).
Another quote from the article:
“It is, however, unclear why this herd of elephants migrated from the Lakheri sanctuary in a neighbouring district. He said the herd had travelled some 300km into Kandhamal, and even entered a town in the district. Wildlife officials were camping at the site of the attacks and trying to find out why the elephants had come out of their sanctuary. The villagers say elephants attack their areas in herds, causing heavy destruction.
Gaining momentum, they rampaged through other non-Christian homes, demolishing gardens and singling out the home of persecutors, leaving Christian homes untouched.
These strange attacks have spread, and according to a report, the elephants have already destroyed more than 700 houses in 30 villages, and killed five people. Nobody in this area has seen or even imagined the unique appearance of a herd of wild elephants such as this. The elephants are not ordinary elephants; they appear to be on a mission.”
The source of the article is faith based so I wanted to see if I could find a non faith based article about the same story. I was unsuccessful. I did find on www.ehow.com that the number of elephant attacks on humans has increased in recent years, especially in Africa and India. Elephants are extremely intelligent and emotional creatures, even grieving the deaths of loved ones. They have an exceptional memory and do not forget easily. One theory is that they are finally fed up with humans and assume we are going to hurt them, therefore, they attack.
This all may be true but it still doesn’t explain why a particular herd of elephants attack a particular village, even singling out homes. It just reminds me that there are so many things in this world we can’t explain it’s kind of crazy! So yeah, Christian elephants… what do you think??
A blog without photos is boring so here are a few of my RPTE friends on elephants in Thailand.
Erin and her elephant
Josh with his
Hannah, Dane and an awkward moment?
Such an amazing animal!
Cherish on her elephant/ They love being in the water to cool down and clean up!
Not sure if you have noticed but I have been trying to blog more regularly. If you are enjoying it please leave a comment to encourage me to keep posting. thanks! =)
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