Today animals all around the world are learning to do what they do best, adapt.

Climate
change is the threat of our generation. Generations before were threatened by the spreading of an
illness, or conditions of war, however, our war is going to the final fight, humans vs. nature.
Today's conservation issue was talked about, and is a recurring theme, within National
Geographic’s television show, “Secrets of the Elephants''. As Elephants were watched from all
around the world learn to adapt to their ever changing environment. Through anthropology, we
are able to identify the variations of elephants and their relatives through time. What purpose
certain features served, how they were able to survive their environment, and maybe most
importantly, why they went extinct. Most material from class discusses conservation from a
societal and cultural perspective. But both topics from Contribution of anthropology to the study
of climate change by Barnes, etc. and the documentary produced by BBC, “Unnatural Histories -
Amazon”, both reflect how climate change and the evolution of culture has shaped our world
today.
There are four episodes within the National Geographic show, the first talking on Desert
Elephants. These Elephants were able to learn to adapt to their environment and grew special
features unique to their species. When sand storms were coming from miles away, these
elephants were able to sense vibrations that were understood as the instinct to start moving the
other way. Even though Savanna Elephants are of the same species, they were able to understand
the plant life and water locations within their landscapes. The matriarch of one of the herds
studied, had to make an urgent decision as to whether or not leading her herd down a 600-foot
cliff edge in order to get the water they so desperately needed, was going to lead her family to its
downfall. She was able to rely on her memory of past generations passing down, in essence, a
culture which led to the safest passage down. Another episode talked on one of the world's least
understood land mammals, Rainforest Elephants. They are a different species and show different
characteristics adjusted for their environment. They have rounded ears, the same color of
savanna elephants, but they are much smaller, their tusks are darker and straighter. All are
adaptations in order to live within their environment.
The climate has made these hard conditions even harder, especially for Desert and
Savanna elephants. Desert elephants struggle to survive as places that used to hold water have
started to run dry, even during the wet season. Their populations have started to dwindle,
however, we see the first calf who has lived past 6 months of age for the first time in 8 years!
When studying the society of elephants, it is complex yet quite simple, reproduction being the
easiest and least understood. Desert mothers will decline mates, even though their herds decline
in numbers, due to the lack of water in the season. But when stepping back and looking at why
and when they reproduce, it is quite magnificent. In BBC’s film, we learn about the societies
within the Amazon, they learned to survive and adapt to their conditions, “In Meggers’ view the
only kind of agriculture the Amazon could support was the kind of small scale cultivation,
practiced by many of today's Indigenous population” (00:23:25-00:23:40). Now comparing both
societies, both were only able to survive in small scale lifestyles. Too many elephants would end
up dying due to lack of water and food if the females didn’t have instincts to decline, and these
Indigenous populations wouldn’t have been able to continue harvesting if they stayed in one
place and kept using the soil in large quantities, the land wouldn’t be able to recover fast enough.
Anthropology has allowed us a way into the climate change argument. Studying the
importance of social, political, cultural, and economic processes within all types of life is what is
going to help us understand who, what, and how climate change is taking effect. Barnes, etc. talk
on the importance of a historical perspective, learning about deforestation and degradation can
lead to answers from “...previous efforts to combat deforestation in the name of maintaining
biodiversity, or to control forest use under colonial governments”. Anthropology can play such
an important role in maintaining diversity just like those within The Republic of Congo,
poaching has decreased the Rainforest Elephant population by 85% within the past three decades
(“Rainforest” 00:07:50-00:07:55). Insights on this keystone species, learning its behavior, its
communication, its skills, can lead to a better understanding of their conservation, and possible
further conservation of more animals, and even the rainforest itself.
When looking at large, human actions also affect behavior on animals throughout. We see
this with these Rainforest elephants. They used to be much more common to see, they felt safer
within their environment, able to come out of the brush and absorb sun rays. Now, due to human
greed caused by poaching for their ivory, it has now become so incredibly rare to see these
Elephants, they run into brush the second they hear something moving. This was hypothesized to
be due to a learned behavior from older generations and their fear of poachers. When trying to
think of ways to conserve these animals, many people think of sanctuaries, parks, or enclosures.
These lead us to the same result, a loss of wildlife within the wild. We need to take the hard path
and push for the conservation of their environments AND the species. When placing an animal in
an enclosure, they lose the ability to restore the environment, they aren’t able to support other
animals. Elephants are very important within their communities as they are classified as a
keystone species, within a zoo, they are placed in artificial habitats that don’t allow them to grow
as a species, and it goes against their DNA and learned behavior.
These elephants have learned to adapt to their environment and grow from it. Just as the
civilizations from “Unnatural Histories - Amazon” were able to build mounds of Earth in order
to escape the floods, Elephants were able to develop correlation behaviors to survive. As climate
change starts to shape the way Elephants are now growing up, it is important to learn to conserve
them and their very unique culture.
 Bibliography

BBC. (2011). Unnatural Histories - Amazon. USA. Retrieved October 25, 2023, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihvySe6yROE.

Disney+. (2023). Secrets of the Elephants. Disney+. Retrieved October 25, 2023, from
https://ondisneyplus.disney.com/show/secrets-of-the-elephants#:~:text=The%20series%20t
ravels%20the%20world,Explorer%20and%20elephant%20expert%20Dr.

perspective. (2019, May 29). Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change.
nature clime change.
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