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. So years ago when I was about 12yo me and a friend were on a school trip to London zoo. We were allowed to be in pairs without a teacher or being in a big group so just the two of us at the elephant enclosure and the place was deserted.

a keeper was in with the elephants and shouted over did we want to come in. Of course we said yes, so we were taken inside and fed them dog biscuits and guided them onto the weighing platform so they could be weighed. Lots of pats and stroking. They were so gentle and lovely. We both got given certificates which said “I helped weigh the elephants at London Zoo”.

I can’t imagine health and safety would allow this now. 😂. I did look in their eyes and got a feeling of real intelligence and understanding.

Yes, twice in the wild. Once we got close to a watering hole where loads were having a drink. Didn’t particularly make eye contact though, didn’t want to startle or scare them.
The second time was being charged by a very angry bull elephant. The guide got his rifle out and I was too busy shouting that he’d couldn’t bloody shoot it to look in its eyes!

Elephants are very high in emotional intelligence. They cry when sad, mourn when bereaved, play little jokes on each other. The saying “an elephant never forgets” is based not on them literally remembering everything but on their ability to associate traits with people for long periods of time. Even years after, elephants will avoid or punish cruelty and remember people who have done them a kindness.

I’ve only been close enough to make eye contact with elephants at a zoo. I have seen wild elephants on safari but the guide would (quite rightly) not get close enough that we could see into their eyes. They had young and the guide said the adults body language was telling us to stay where we were. So we did. Have to admit though I’ve never had any kind of weird experience looking at an elephant. I find I have had a better “connection” (for want of a better word) with great apes.

I have this feeling with my dog.

See I’m a dog lover and I have a very strong bond with my youngest dog especially

when I look in her eyes I feel love, trust, curiosity … but it’s not the same as what I got from the elephant - that was just on another level

Yes in Thailand. We were staying by a tribe in a forest by the river kwai. We rode on it as well

We took one to a river for a bath, it was an amazing experience watching her roll around and play

Was this in Sri Lanka by any chance?

Thailand

I know when I was in Thailand there was elephant trekking excursions. This was 30 years ago and like a previous poster i don’t think it was as known as it is now that it’s not very ethical. As a backpacker I was too skint to do it but I passed the elephants in the jungle with people riding them.

my parents went to Sri Lanka and went to the elephant orphanage where you could go and help wash them in the river but I read bad things about that particular orphanage now. Not sure how true it is. Elephants being chained, etc.

Yeah to be honest I kind of regret what we did, I read bad things about the one we visited too after I got home. I think genuine reputable ones are very rare unfortunately

@ThatsABitExcessive If you can afford to go to Kenya, visit these folk: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

Yes but not in a so called 'sanctuary' or rescue as they are really rare.
We were on a water safari in Thailand and a few where eating on the bank, our guide got as close as was safe to do so... tbh they looked a bit pissed off that we'd disturbed them!

When I was a teenager, I was at a college of further education. I made friends with a girl who had family in Kenya. I was invited to go to visit with them for a six-week holiday in the summer. I did so, and whilst travelling to visit her relatives in Uganda, we met elephants crossing the mud-baked roads. We always stopped, but left the engines running in case we needed to evade their curiosity about who or what we were. They never bothered us, and I was very privileged to have met them in their natural environment.

This is an old picture of Ajok and friend:

He was around three months old when orphaned by poachers.
Raised by the Sheldrick trust, taught how to fend for himself and returned to the wild. He's 35 now.🙂

Edited to say sorry, have to wait for the picture to be approved.

On the way to primary school, there was one in the park. Absolutely blew my mind why an elephant would be hanging around in the park next to the swings and slide at 8am, told everyone at school and was laughed at until someone pointed out the circus was coming, and it had elephants.

Didn't get too close. I presume it was tethered in some way but I wasn't loitering.

In a safari park in Spanish mountains about 37 years ago.
All just wandering around.
one of the baby elephants had what I now recognise as a proper toddler tantrum. It was quite a spectacle! Also a bit scary but hilarious.

I've just seen one on a rightmove listing
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158458070

Yes, in India. They are used in nature reserves to keep an eye on what the tigers are doing. Her keeper let me feed her by hand, great discs of dough, bunches of bananas and bundles of sugar cane. If I was a bit slow the elephant took the next thing from my hands. With the dough she lodged one disc on her tusks and ate one. I also saw wild elephants in the forest.

Loads. I’m from Southern Africa and currently visiting my family and we’ve all just got back from a safari. Just yesterday I stood about 4m away from a mother and her child in the wild.

I have been up close several
Times in asia and
In Africa , I don't think it really makes eye contact though as hard to see both eyes at once

Yes, dh and I were on safari we had a rondavel right at the end of the camp. Everyone else had gone and we were the only ones staying an extra day. We ambled back to our room after breakfast and found ourselves amongst a herd. Bull, babies the lot. I shit myself because the time of year we went the bulls were in musth. In my head I dramatically began planning my survival run, dh not arsed at all. But, it was amazing after the initial oh crap! We were so close they were right infront of us blocking the path to our room. We had to stand very quietly avert our eyes and wait. The staff cleaning next door buggered off and left us!

The only way I can describe it is we were ‘seen’ there was so much more than a glance. I got photos after they’d left and they had decimated our walkway to our rondavel, the trees, the rope and the wood.

One of the most frightening and exhilarating experiences of my life.

I’ve looked into an elephant’s eyes several times in India and Africa. I didn’t feel any particular connection, however I did think they were calm and somehow weighed me up.

Looking into a lion’s eyes is completely different, alien and no mercy.

My daughter and I volunteered at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand a few years ago.
All the elephants were rescued from trekking camps. Their backs aren’t designed to carry a lot of weight and in fact a few had broken backs which was heartbreaking. I would certainly never go to such a place but I understand why people might not realise how cruel it is.
They are the most amazing animals, walking so quietly that you had to keep an eye out for them although we weren’t allowed near them unless the mahoots were with them.
I did get a real sense of their intelligence and found the whole experience to be very moving. Such magnificent animals.