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World Elephant Day
Aug 12
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"On a rolling hot savannah, elephants dance with massive grace,
They nail the Scottish dance steps, trunks twirling in your face,
They'll flawlessly recall the reel, but miss a simple bow,
And the curtsey can be tricky with four legs you will allow."
~ Elephants at the Ceilidh
Ah, to have an elephant's memory! Imagine how much easier it would be to memorize all those dances for the next party or ball. The elephant's reputation for a long memory is truly amazing. Elephants can recognize and keep track of the locations of as many as 30 companions at a time! Challenge your own memory by learning the figures for only 3 couples in this leisurely elephantine strathspey containing a modified snake (or pachyderm) pass. Devised as a happy reminder of a visit to the Elephant Sanctuary at the Hartebeespoort Dam in the North West Province of South Africa, followed by a Country Dance Ball at which the devisor's friend remarked on "elephants' excellent memories." … 😉 🐘 🐘 🐘
Elephants Don't Forget
World Elephant Day is dedicated to finding ways for individuals and organizations to help stop the illegal poaching and trade of elephant ivory and other wildlife products, to protect wild elephant habitats, and to provide sanctuaries and alternative habitats for domesticated elephants to live freely.
Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea which included the now extinct deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty, and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success.
Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years.
Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Elephants are popularly thought of as having an excellent memory. In 2007, researchers from the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland performed an experiment at Amboseli National Park in Kenya showing that elephants can recognize and track as many as 30 of their companions.
For more on the remarkable memory of the elephant, click the baby elephants at play.
And while you're at it, consider remembering the elephants and toasting their future with a Pink Elephant cocktail, a concoction of Amarula Cream Liqueur, Chocolate Liqueur, raspberry puree, Merlot, heavy cream, and a spring of mint.
The marula fruit from the marula tree (also known as the elephant tree) a flavoring in Amarula Cream is particularly favored by elephants. For the cocktail, click the albino baby (pink) elephant with her family herd.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
