Man Dies And Elephants Travel To His Funeral

Have you ever thought about what happens to zoo animals during times of war? Most of us don’t think about innocent animal casualties. But thankfully, one South African man – Lawrence Anthony – did. When the US military invaded Baghdad in 2003, Anthony did what most people would never be brave enough to do. He ran into a war zone instead of out of it, all because of his love for animals.

When the war started, he couldn’t stand the idea of the animals dying in their cages. So just eight days later, he flew from South Africa and arrived at the border. With relentless begging, he convinced border guards to let him enter Iraq. His next challenge came when he saw that of 600 zoo animals, only 36 were alive.

He found himself in the middle of a horror story. Animal carcasses were swarming with flies. The zoo’s deputy director was in tears. Monkeys and baboons ran wild, while escaped birds circled overhead. A bear had even killed some looters. The animals that survived were mostly big predators like tigers, lions and bears. Now they too were starving and traumatized. There was no food or water.

There are few things more dangerous than working with huge starving predators.

At first, Anthony wanted to give up. But with the help of soldiers from both sides of the war, American and Iraqi, he stuck it out. Soldiers began working together who just two weeks before had been fighting against each other.

Within six months, the zoo was finally restored. The surviving animals were healthy, their cages were clean, and they had plenty of food and water.

Even though many people have never heard of Anthony Lawrence, he was truly a hero. In his native country of South Africa, he became known as the elephant whisperer because of the amazing way he connected with elephants. With only words and gestures, he persuaded herds of elephants to stay on reserves for their own good. He warned them that those who left the reserve could be shot. And incredibly, after months of previously escaping, the elephants finally decided to stay.

When Anthony passed away in 2012 of a heart attack, the elephants showed just how special and heroic he was. Two herds walked half a day to his home in a funeral-like procession to mourn his passing even though there was no apparent way they could have known he died.

They stayed for two days.

One man’s heart stops and hundreds of elephants’ hearts grieved. How could this be possible?

And how different might the world be if more humans opened their hearts to animals like Lawrence Anthony did?

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from Deep English » Blog http://deepenglish.com/2015/09/man-dies-and-elephants-travel-to-his-funeral/