humans never forget

wutra

In 1986, Dan Harrison 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 Dan approached it
very carefully.
He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's
foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in
it.
As carefully and as gently as he could, Dan worked the
wood out with his hunting 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.
Dan stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being
trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly,
turned, and walked away.
Dan never forgot that elephant or the events of that
day.
Twenty years later, Dan 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 Dan and
his son Dan Jr. were standing.
The large bull elephant stared at Dan, lifted its front
foot off the ground, and 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, Dan couldn't help
wondering if this was the same elephant.
Dan 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 its trunk around
one of Dan's legs and slammed him against the railing,
killing him instantly.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.