Just outside the N.C. Zoo entrance is this startling, life size sculpture of things to come.
The first impression is so real, you can't help reaching for the brake to watch them pass.
Inside the park, a much smaller sculpture teased us farther. Very nice, but where were the real elephants; the live ones? I could hardly wait.
Finally, we reached the Africa Exhibit. And there they were, remarkably like the ones at the entrance, only much, much better.
And look at this magnificent fellow, covered head to toe in Carolina red clay dust.
Reading the exhibit information, I was sad to learn how little territory elephants have to roam free in the world. Ivory poachers still take a heavy toll, as do simple farmers just trying to keep them out of their fields. It was a sobering reminder how delicate is the balance of man and the animals of the earth.
Unfortunately, this may be the only thing our future children may ever see, to understand the word elephant.
The first impression is so real, you can't help reaching for the brake to watch them pass.
Inside the park, a much smaller sculpture teased us farther. Very nice, but where were the real elephants; the live ones? I could hardly wait.
Finally, we reached the Africa Exhibit. And there they were, remarkably like the ones at the entrance, only much, much better.
And look at this magnificent fellow, covered head to toe in Carolina red clay dust.
Reading the exhibit information, I was sad to learn how little territory elephants have to roam free in the world. Ivory poachers still take a heavy toll, as do simple farmers just trying to keep them out of their fields. It was a sobering reminder how delicate is the balance of man and the animals of the earth.
Unfortunately, this may be the only thing our future children may ever see, to understand the word elephant.
No comments:
Post a Comment