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Wrinkle Wednesday

๐•Ž๐•ฃ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•œ๐•๐•– ๐•Ž๐•–๐••๐•Ÿ๐•–๐•ค๐••๐•’๐•ช

๐•‹๐•™๐•– ๐•ž๐•’๐•ฃ๐•ง๐•–๐• ๐• ๐•— ๐•ฅ๐•™๐•– ๐”พ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ช ๐”พ๐•™๐• ๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•ค ๐• ๐•— ๐”ธ๐•—๐•ฃ๐•š๐•”๐•’

The African Elephant has depths and intricacies to their way of life; their ties and family bonds and an inherent compass and guidance within their genes that we absolutely ๐œ๐š๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ก๐ž๐ง๐.

I believe there is still so much to be learned about this magnificent creature that roams our African continent. What do they do when we arenโ€™t around to see, I often wonder? Is what has been witnessed, tantamount to who they ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ when no one is around to see? The few who have born witness to a baby elephant entering this world, for example, is a spectacle that has been described much alike to the birth of our own babies โ€“ ๐™– ๐™ซ๐™ž๐™—๐™ง๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฉ, ๐™Ÿ๐™ค๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™š๐™ข๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ก ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ.
Matriarchs are not merely selected โ€“ they are ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ into this honor. A long line of genetics is passed down through the generations. She is groomed from a young age, much like how a young princess is schooled from a noticeably young age about the duties she will one day perform as Queen.

Something that has fascinated me since a child about elephants, is their memories. There are ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ง๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ and pathways across our vast continent, that elephants have been using for myriads of decades. These routes are based around access to food, water, and inherent knowledge of areas to steer clear of danger.
How?
A map of these lands they have traversed seems to be imprinted on their brains! This ๐’”๐’‰๐’†๐’†๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’–๐’…๐’† is hard for humans to comprehend, and researchers are still trying to figure ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐œ๐ก ability their brains really have.
Just as they have a memory that never forgets, we too will forever feel their presence and impact, on our soils, in our minds, and across our vast continent.
๐˜–๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ซ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด.
๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ.
๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ˆ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข.
Melissa.
Editors Note: We would like to take this opportunity to wish Melissa well on her new adventures! A huge thank you for all your contributions to Ulovane on social media and campus over the last two years!! You will be missed! xxx