Awwww very touching story

[Mia]

An elephant never forgets - very touching story

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from

Northwestern University On a hike through the bush, he came across a

young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant

seemed distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on

one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large piece of wood

deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe

worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant

gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a

rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.

Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.

Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.

Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Mbemb was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his

teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the

creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son were

standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its front foot

off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then

trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.



Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this

was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the

railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the

elephant and stared back in wonder.

The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe's legs

and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

:wah: