I'm
not going soft, but sometimes I like these heartwarming stories,
and this
one truly is amazing.
In 1986, Dan Harrison (
see picture above ) 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 Dan
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, Dan 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.
Dan stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually
the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.
Dan never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later, Dan 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 Dan and his son Dan Jr. were standing.
The large bull elephant stared at Dan, lifted its front foot off the
ground, and 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, Dan couldn't help wondering if this was
the same elephant.
Dan 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
Dan's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.
