Lately, I got obsessed with everything elephant. Elephants mobile for the crib, elephants on sheets, elephants on rescue missions, elephants on shirts, on soaps.
A week ago I came across the story of Raju, the elephant that after 50 years of captivity and abuse was liberated and cried. You can read his story on the Huffington Post, but I originally read it on some animal news feed I receive from some not-for-profit organization. As I read the story tears came down my face. I started getting very emotional every time I read about animal cruelty especially in regards to elephants. I don't know why. I must have read 10 articles about his story, trying to find more details of his life. Literally I was obsessed with how humans abuse these very sensitive animals.
Last night, I was trying to find something to watch and came across a documentary about Daphne, this woman who lives/d in Kenya and rescued animals who were orphans beginning 1970. Her name is Daphne Sheldrick. The documentary tells the story of how she founded an elephant orphanage after she had rescued Aisha, a 3 months baby elephant. The first part of the film goes through the bound of Daphne and this little cute elephant, how emotional and in need this small creature was, and how sensitive and loyal elephants are. I won't spoil the movie, but I can tell you that I had to stop watching it because I got so emotional that I started crying uncontrollable as little baby Aisha died because she thought she had been abandoned by Daphne (you have to watch the movie to understand). Shawn, my hubby, thought I was crying because I was relating the experience of the elephant to my baby or fear of what could happen, but in reality I was crying because the elephant was so sensitive that she had rather let herself died than survive with the idea of having been abandoned twice. I cried because of all the pain this little creature had been through (due to human activities, since the haunt for elephants was and is still prominent in many countries). At that point I had to turn the TV off, but even as I am writing this post I have tears in my eyes. I just can't help it. I don't know why.
So here you have it, a pregnancy obsession with elephants - Are there any studies on pregnant women and emotional reactions when consuming media?
Read more about Daphne's amazing work and help for many elephants here:
1. Elephant Foster Mom:
2. Official Website
3. PBS documentary (the one that made me cried)
4. Cute elephants play soccer
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