Hapoor The Elephant. 

Hapoor translates to mean Bitten Ear. He was an old and powerful bull totally in charge of his herd. Mr. and Mrs. Hapoor lived in the safe confines of Addo Elephant Park, 60 miles from my hometown. People came from far and near to look and his herd and everybody knew who he was. 

Over time, Mrs. Hapoor developed a growth on her side which became large and infected. The park rangers, in order to have her treated by a vet, darted her with a tranquilizer.

As the drug took effect she staggered and fell to the ground. Hapoor would not allow anyone near her. He then inserted his mighty tusks deep into her side and into her heart killing her. Had he assumed that she was dying? Maybe she was and he knew that the thing on her side was deadly, who knows for sure. 

He stood over her dead body and trumpeted a sound as primeval as time's beginning.  Hapoor's grief was enough to tear apart the hardest heart. It was the sound of the sorrow of the very soul of the earth. That trumpet was heard 60 miles away. He stood guard over her body for a long time.

Hapoor was never the same after that,  the dominant spirit which had made him a great leader of the herd had gone out of him.

It was all so long ago.

elephant love

This was  paralleled in my own life when I lost my only love through a series of fatal decisions. 

If I could have trumpeted like Hapoor I would have. The sound was in my head for a long time.

The carelessness of the human is beyond my comprehension. How could anyone want to hurt another so deliberately?

Another of my favorite sites is the local elephant sanctuary here in TN.

The Elephant Sanctuary