The Importance of Elephant Role-Models

In 1999, the television program 60 Minutes aired an episode that was striking for its comments about the need for role models and mentors, particularly in the lives of young men.

The story was focused on a South African wildlife preserve that found 39 rare White Rhinos slaughtered, their carcasses left scattered around the park.  Despite the fact that the Rhinos were left whole, though killed gruesomely, poachers were blamed for the Rhinos' deaths.  The preserve's staff spent weeks setting up cameras and gathering information in order to pursue prosecution.  What they found was simply astonishing.

After researching and gathering evidence, coupled with direct video footage, the preserve discovered that juvenile delinquents had killed the Rhinos.  What was so disturbing about it though was that the delinquents to blame were elephants, teenage elephants.  Teenage delinquent elephants had killed the Rhinos, seemingly for no other reason than because they wanted to.

Years before, the preserve could not financially sustain the growing elephant population, so they made the decision to euthanize the adults whose young were old enough to care for themselves.  The effect was an entire herd that lacked adult males and a growing population of young male elephants to make their own way with little guidance.

Without dominant males, the young males became increasingly aggressive and violent.  And as the males became sexually active and their testosterone rose, they grew in aggression and a gang formed that began to "bully" the other species of the preserve, particularly the Rhinos, eventually killing 39 on them.  One elephant, Mafuto, had asserted himself as the leader and had to be killed.

The preserve brought in a large adult male from another preserve to solve the problem.  The new male asserted his dominance and the young males fell into place behind his leadership.  The young males began learning under the dominant bull and the killing stopped.

This is a remarkable story that highlights the necessity of active adult leadership both to guide the younglings in how to do things but also to lead and protect them from making irresponsible "mob" decisions.  Especially to younger men, who are physiologically predisposed towards testosterone-fueled agression and shows of dominance, an older men are a necessity.

The point here is succinct for both young people and older people (especially if that age is coupled with growing wisdom in Christ).  If you are young, seek out older and wiser people to mentor you.  To be sure, this is not a passive endeavor.  Often you need to seek them out and pursue them.  The other side of this coin is for the older person who has spent years accruing wisdom in faith to Christ.  For you, seek out young people to invest in and to share your wisdom and learning.

This is much of what Christianity is made of: receiving love from others and turning around and pouring into someone else.  Let us then take this call to mentoring and discipleship seriously and in faith!