Tusker’s Learning Corner

In my book A Giant Step for Andy, Tusker, a friendly mountainous African elephant, helped Andy overcome his struggle with making new friends by teaching him some useful social skills steps. Elephants, also known as tuskers, naturally teach the younger elephants everyday social and life skills needed to get along with others in their herd. Daily playtime is an important part of social development for calves. Many social skills are taught in that one activity. Observations on elephants show they are caring and highly intelligent animals with impressive communication skills. These gentle giants experience emotions of joy, sadness, grief, and deep bonds of friendship.

An elephant’s journey is awe-inspiring. Each day elephants trek for miles across the land to eat, play, and raise their families. They find many obstacles during their trek and demonstrate an ability to be great problem solvers. However, there are a few problems elephants face in the wild that even with their awesome social skills, they cannot solve on their own. Elephants need our help. One such threat they encounter is from poachers. Sadly, we know elephants are still losing their lives every day in the wild to poachers who are destroying them in order to take their tusks to make and sell novelty items, like jewelry and table art. Elephants were not created to be someone’s decoration.

For this, Andy and I trumpet loudly, “Keep the Tusks on Tusker!”

As a friend to all tuskers, Andy and I want to join other honorary ambassadors of awareness who care about the welfare of elephants and want to see them thrive in their natural habitat for many generations to come.
Consider what an adventure it would be to roam over the bumpy trails and through the tall brush to find a herd of elephants! To see a mother elephant help her “kiddo” cross a ditch and reach the other side safely or play together in a water hole after a big rain shower would be incredible to witness on the plains of the savannah. But if this problem continues, their numbers will continue to decrease and we will no longer have wild elephants roaming the land to admire, observe, and learn from. They will become extinct.

Through education and creating public awareness, devoted people are taking a giant step to change this problem and create successful solutions for these intelligent, loving, beautiful elephants.

 

 

Stacy James is a friend of mine who is out there making a difference for the children and wildlife in Zambia and has a passion and purpose to protect elephants. She is an advocate of “taking action” and inspires all of us to find our niche and do our part to make this world a better place. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Dazzle Africa, a 501c3 Charity. Follow her journey at…www.dazzleafrica.org