In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from
Northwestern University.On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull
elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed
distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee,
inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in
it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his
knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.The elephant turned
to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for
several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being
trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.
Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.Twenty years later,
Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they
approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over
to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant
stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The
elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at
the man.Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if
this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the
railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant
and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped d its trunk
around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him
instantly.Probably wasn't the same elephant.