Mighty Like an Elephant
Strength, Symbolism, and the Enduring Bond Between Elephants and Humanity
From the moment an elephant enters our imagination, it carries a sense of awe. Massive yet gentle, ancient yet playful, elephants have walked beside humanity not just as animals, but as symbols of power, patience, wisdom, and endurance. Mighty Like an Elephant explores this extraordinary relationship in remarkable depth, weaving together natural history, mythology, art, and lived experience to reveal why elephants continue to hold such a profound place in human culture.
A Creature Built for Wonder
Physically, the elephant is nothing short of extraordinary. Its trunk alone is a masterpiece of natural engineering, containing an estimated 150,000 individual muscle units and capable of feats ranging from lifting tree branches to delicately picking up a single peanut. The trunk functions as a hand, a snorkel, a shower, a sensory radar, and even a social tool, used to comfort, greet, or warn. Elephants can detect water from kilometres away, communicate in low-frequency sounds inaudible to humans, and display emotional intelligence that rivals many primates.
Despite their immense bulk, elephants are surprisingly sensitive creatures. Their thick, wrinkled skin hides a highly responsive nervous system, and their small eyes are capable of conveying a wide range of emotions, curiosity, grief, joy, and caution. Baby elephants, awkwardly learning to control their trunks, reveal a playful vulnerability that endears them instantly to anyone who observes them.
Family, Memory, and Emotion
Elephants live within deeply bonded family structures. Calves remain close to their mothers for years, often walking tucked beneath the protection of her legs. These family units are led by matriarchs whose memory and experience guide the herd to water, safety, and survival. When an elephant dies, others may return to the body, gently touching the bones with their trunks in what appears to be a ritual of remembrance, one of the most poignant examples of animal mourning known.
This emotional depth extends beyond their own kind. Throughout history, elephants have formed strong bonds with human keepers, mahouts, and trainers. These relationships, sometimes affectionate, sometimes tragic, underscore both the intelligence of the animal and the responsibility borne by those who work with such powerful beings.
Sacred, Mythic, and Divine
Across cultures, elephants transcend biology and enter the realm of myth and belief. In Hindu tradition, the elephant-headed god Ganesha represents wisdom, protection, and the removal of obstacles. White elephants, especially in Southeast Asia, are revered as sacred beings whose presence is believed to ensure prosperity and divine favour. In Buddhist lore, the Buddha himself is said to have appeared as a white elephant in a previous incarnation.
These beliefs are not abstract, they have shaped royal ceremonies, temple art, and national identity for centuries. Elephants appear in ancient carvings, rock art, religious processions, and palace murals, symbolising strength aligned with spiritual authority rather than brute force.
Elephants in Work, War, and Entertainment
Beyond symbolism, elephants have long been enlisted in human endeavours. They hauled timber through dense forests, carried kings and soldiers into battle, and powered early industry long before modern machinery. In circuses and zoos, elephants became both stars and labourers, celebrated for their intelligence and spectacle, yet often placed in environments that struggled to meet their physical and emotional needs.
Mighty Like an Elephant does not shy away from these complexities. It recounts stories of circus elephants whose loyalty and strength saved lives, alongside incidents where fear, mistreatment, or musth led to tragedy. These narratives reveal an uncomfortable truth: elephants never forget, and how they are treated matters deeply.
A History Marked by Exploitation and Hope
The book also traces the darker chapters of elephant history, ivory hunting, poaching, and mass slaughter driven by greed and misunderstanding. Ivory was once prized across cultures for art, ornamentation, and status, leading to the decimation of entire herds. Ingenious but brutal hunting methods were developed, many of which are almost unimaginable today.
Yet there is hope woven through these pages. Conservation efforts, national parks, research programs, and changing attitudes have helped protect remaining populations. Modern science now recognises elephants not as commodities, but as keystone species essential to healthy ecosystems and as sentient beings deserving respect.
Why Elephants Still Matter
Perhaps the greatest strength of Mighty Like an Elephant lies in its reminder that elephants are more than curiosities or cultural symbols. They are mirrors. In their patience, we see endurance. In their memory, we see history. In their suffering, we see the cost of human arrogance, and in their survival, the possibility of redemption.
To understand the elephant is to confront our own contradictions: our capacity for wonder and cruelty, reverence and exploitation. Mighty like an elephant, humanity too must learn to carry its strength with wisdom.