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Leading Tomorrows Leaders Today (54)
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![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5726 W: 605 N: 3416]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (9137) | Savanna elephant - Loxodonta africana africana
This one is dedicated to the little Emperor, his royal highness JinYao Zhang DeSandies, ManYee's little pride and joy. Please see the workshop for confirmation of the royal standing of this little prince. At least we know that grandma is occupied with the visit of the little apple of her eye and have not disappeared all together, but I just wanted her to know that we are missing her here on TrekNature.
Continuing with my series of parent and baby animals I present you with this elephant cow leading a group of youngsters. It was captured at the little circle at the end of the S64 Nyala road at Pafuri in the far north of the Kruger Park. The background is a part of the Matshitshindzudzi Mountain range that runs alongside the Luvuvhu River and parallel to the Nyala road.
Leading tomorrow's leaders is a great responsibility. Ask any responsible parent or dedicated teacher and you will get the same answer. Setting a sustainable and value driven example is all important for human babies. There are so many moral standards, ethical principals, social values, skills and abilities that have to be transferred, shaped and sharpened and so much knowledge acquired for the youth of today to be adequately prepared or formed for the demanding life of tomorrow.
Ok, baby elephant don't need to be equipped to one day step into the hustle-and-bustle of today's modern business world, but they are very similar to human babies as far as their education are concerned. They have to learn every bit of skills and knowledge needed for them to survive in a hostile, unfriendly, and difficult environment.
Did you know?
There are many eyewitness accounts of the females in the herd gathering around to welcome the new-born. Within minutes of the birth, the mother and other females trumpet, rumble and scream, oozing temporal secretions down the side of their faces. During these initial minutes the mother also attempts to help the new-born rise to its feet. This is a matter of survival since the new-born must stand to drink its mother's milk. Without this necessary food, the calf is sure to perish.
This kinship and social contact allows the young elephants to successfully reach other stages in life cycles. Infancy is not only an important time for the young calves, but also for the young mothers-to-be. It is through the close interaction and kinship between the two that allows the young females to develop necessary skills required for motherhood. However, first time mothers can be very awkward with their babies and depending on their experience can even play a role in hindering the calf from feeding.
The infancy life-cycle of an elephant is not a brief period. Young elephants are started on the process of weaning in their 1st year of life and may continue to be weaned until their 10th year or until another sibling is born. This prolonged dependency period is vital to the elephant. As a minimum, the African elephant calf is entirely dependent (emotionally and physically) on his/her mother for three to five years.
The calf's fairly underdeveloped brain is very much like a blank slate which must be shaped over the growing years. The elephant is very similar to the human and many of the other great apes in this one particular way; a great deal of brain development go on outside of the womb. Specifically, the brain of a new-born elephant is about 30-40% of the size of that of an adult. Amazingly, this opens worlds of possibility for complex learning, social development, and the formation of culture. In this situation a species tends to rely less upon instinctual behaviours and more upon socially learned behaviours within each individual's genetic boundary.
Also, this stage of development lays the foundation for the caregiver(s) to play a strong role in shaping the particular being growing up. The new-born elephant is born with a minimal amount of "innate" knowledge. For example, despite a calf's "precocious" nature, he/she lack the ability to use its trunk with any real skill. Hence as the calf grows and through experience, it will understand what it can do with its trunk (paralleling a human baby learning how to walk). The young calf will within time comprehend that it is to be used as an extra hand to pick up items, to scratch with, to drink with, and much, much more...
Interestingly, mothers have been found to care and to interact differently depending on whether it is a male or a female calve. Males sucked more frequently than females and moved away from their mother earlier. They were found to leave the local family unit to interact and play with non family members. On the other hand, females stayed close to their mothers and engaged in more friendly and aggressive interactions. They also interacted more within the family unit.
These patterns lay the social foundation for the future lives of the two distinct sex groups. This difference of lifestyle between male and female elephants is more prevalent in their adolescent and their adult lives. The distance between an elephant calf and his/her mother increases with age. Overall, females tended to remain quite close to the mother and as expected the males were much more independent.
Each and every observation of another species really must take into account the world they live in to gain real insight into their lives. What we tend to forget is our world of value is seen completely differently based solely on the sensory experience other beings receives. Source
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JinYao Zhang DeSandies
Born: 05/06/2007
3.7kg & 51cm
How did he get his name?
The Chinese wouldn't dream of naming a baby before he is born. Babies are given false names to confuse the evil spirits. Once the child is older, he is named.
According to Chinese customs, the time of birth is important and influences the baby's life. Each person is made up of some of the five elements - metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. It is desirable to have a balance of those elements. If the child lacks an element, the missing element is incorporated into his name.
Apparently JinYao has a lot of air, water, and fire, but not as much metal and earth. So those two elements had to be incorporated into his name. After much deliberation his parents and maternal grandmother chose the name Jin (metal or gold radical) and Yao (earth radical).
What does his name mean?
A loose translation of JinYao alludes to the "Brilliance of Ancient Kings".
Jin means splendour, beauty, or brilliance.
Yao, in Chinese mythology, was a legendary emperor (24th century BC), exalted by Confucius as an inspiration and perennial model of virtue, righteousness, and unselfish devotion. Often extolled as the morally perfect sage-king, Yao's benevolence and diligence served as a model to future Chinese monarchs and emperors.
Information provided by ManYee.
PS. I hope you don't have any objections that I used this material. Due to limited space I had to summarise it a bit. |
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