An Elephant Called Slowly
When I was in my daily walk to the post office this morning there were circus posters attached to every lamp post. The circus seems to come round about once a year to our village, and the poor looking animals are tethered to feed in the park or on the grass opposite the schools (I can’t think why). Imagine coming out of school and finding a yak or a camel chomping away on the grass. I don’t like circuses so we’ve never been. I was taken once when I was five as someone else’s birthday treat and the highlight was when one of the ponies got bored with cantering in ever decreasing circles and escaped.

Anyway, the circus got me thinking about a film I saw when I was a child ‘An Elephant Called Slowly’, it was made by the same actors as ‘Born Free, Virginia Mckenna and Bill Travers (which I’ve never seen). I loved the film, all about a baby elephant (Pole Pole) causing havoc. The theme tune was written by Henry Mancini and I have it on the computer, I listen to it a lot; Not long before I came to France, in 1984, that baby elephant was in the news again, now older and stuck in a zoo in London, she’d lain down and couldn’t get up again, which is dangerous for large mammals as they can crush their internal organs. I seem to remember that Bill Travers had managed to get into her compound to try to comfort her. It was a heartbreaking story. The story is here with pictures.

The first time I saw a real elephant I was about 12 years old, it was at a zoo and the elephant was being led by a keeper. I remember how upset I felt as the elephant passed. A few years ago I spoke to a friend about this and she told me that she burst into tears when she saw her first elephant. I believe that we somehow felt their misery. I remember hearing a documentary on the BBC about a medium who worked with animals and she said that elephants are very sensitive. I can’t find out anything about this, has anyone anymore information?

How did you feel when you saw your first live elephant? What do you think about zoos?