Have you seen an elephant up close?

[ThatsABitExcessive]

Did you look into its eyes? If so - what did you feel? I need to know eye contact with elephant

Yes, quite close. They were below us by the river we were higher up. I did look at their eyes. I just felt that they were incredible animals. I was quite in awe of them as we were in their environment

Yes on my honeymoon many many years ago we went to an elephant sanctuary in SE Asia. They were phenomenal creatures, and it was a really profound experience.

We did quite a lot of research into a ‘good’ elephant experience - these had previously been working elephants so had a high degree of socialization to humans. I now have mixed feelings about it, and wish overall the elephants could just be left alone (within protected habitats).

I should think anyone who has ever been to a zoo has seen an elephant up close! (Though this thread is going to be full of posters who claim they've seen elephants in the wild.)

Why do you need to know about the eye contact?

I had a strange experience with an elephant few years ago, nobody understands and I thought if I could talk to someone else who has had close eye contact they may have experienced the same thing 🥰

I will report back in September… I am going to Africa … but I am not sure that I want to eyeball one too closely !

Did you feel anything when you connected eyes?

Yes.

i did a walking with elephants experience in south east Asia.

they are incredible animals.
(they were ex-working elephants)

At an elephant sanctuary and on safari. Both wonderful experiences, though I’m not sure I “felt” anything in particular tbh, beyond a sense of being happy: they are smart creatures, very definitely have a sense of humour and an understanding of self, and you can tell that there are cogs whirring away there inside their heads; but I’d say the same of quite a few animals I’ve been up close with.

I think it would help if you said what the 'strange experience' was @ThatsABitExcessive

With quite a few animals you do have a profound & intense feeling when you look in their eyes . It almost can't be explained.

Yes, in the Kruger National park in South Africa. The first time we saw real wild elephants we were amazed, obviously, but we soon realised that they were relatively common animals in the Kruger (certainly compared to leopard & rhino) & we saw loads of them. Mostly family groups comprised of a matriarch with other females & playful juveniles. They are such fascinating animals to watch. Their obvious intelligence & strong social bonds are wonderful to observe.

At one point, we also saw a huge bull emerging from the bush to the side of us. He was alone. This was a completely different experience. He was magnificent but also very intimidating.

I can’t really explain it, I almost felt like she was “talking to me” - you know when a person wants to talk but they can’t but they somehow say it through their eyes?

Yes. I felt privileged to be up close but when looking into their eyes I got a sense that they have a very deep understanding of their situation. I don’t know if that’s romanticising their intelligence or anthropormorphising them, but they definitely appear to exhibit curiosity, care, understanding etc. In particular they change their behaviour for young/old etc.

I was put on one as a dc, was nervous tbh & didn't make eye contact. Remember being surprised by the sparse coarse hairs.

No, but I once looked a whale in the eye and felt similar!

I agree, in Borneo i was really emotionally affected while looking at an orangutang in a tree looking down at us.

Seeing as the same spots in their brains light up when they see humans as ours do when we see puppies and kittens, she was probably saying

'Aww, aren't you a little cutie - who's a good girl, then, who's a good girl?'

Yes. I’m old gen so sorry to say that in my youth riding elephants in Asia was ‘normal’. Obviously now, I would not condone them being kept for such things. Magnificent animals. Can say that I had a very hairy experiences though as treks often included steep terrain and I thought I’d go arse over head on a fair few occasions and it was not an easy task to stay on when they are going vertically down slopes. Hard to understand as they come across as larger lumbering animals but they were incredibly sure footed on such terrain. Very little eyes but very hairy eyelashes.

You're not the child from the Rolo advert, are you?

Over 30 years ago when I was a child I saw elephants at a circus that came through our town. We could get surprisingly close to where they were chained and I am still haunted by the immense sadness in their eyes. To see such dignified beauty and power imprisoned like that was heartbreaking.

Thankfully wild animals are no longer used in circuses here in Australia.

I'm looking forward to seeing happy, well cared for elephants soon to hopefully add some good memories to the sad 💜

Yes, in East Africa on many occasions (I’ve worked out there a lot). I’ve seen them in the wild on safari but also wandering around nearby to some of the places I’ve worked. The Daphne Sheldrake elephant orphanage in Nairobi is definitely worth a visit, and also the giraffe place.

I know what you mean about the look / connection - it’s a look of contemplation and wisdom. They are eying us up as much as we are weighing them up as we are kind of equal on the what do we want from each other / what harm can we do to each other type footings! I think some of it is because they are able to be relatively slow and less on guard due to their size and herd protection / instincts. If you think about most non-domesticated prey animals they are always on edge and fearful and checking their environment for potential threats. Predators make us fearful and on edge (if encountered in the wild). Elephants are big so although they are prey animals they don’t behave like the smaller ones. And they don’t want to eat us so we don’t fear them… though maybe we should because if a mother gets parted from her calf or a bull goes rogue they are very intimidating!

I am not an animal behaviourist so this might be bollocks!

Thats adorable 😂 I’d be ok with being an elephant’s pet human

A deep understanding of their situation! That’s it!!

In Thailand, she stole me hat.

They're very intelligent, compassionate creatures. Love elephants.

That makes so much sense - when she looked at me it almost felt like she knew we were equal, she didn’t fear me, she knew she could kill me in seconds and she knew that I was aware of that too … but she also knew that she shouldn’t. It was a strange experience and one I’ve never experienced with another animal.