Elephants in Bolivia? Wildlife Page 1 Wildlife Page 2 Facts About Bolivia Bolivia for Kids
Now, this may seem exaggerated. But the only circuses that come here are usually small, family-owned and run circuses and their animals are usually kept and trained under horrendous conditions. They don't receive the food they need, or in the amounts they need, corporal punishment is frequent, their training often involves beatings or food deprivation, and they usually are such small traveling circuses that many of the animals NEVER leave their cages or get any exercise. Animals may be capable of learning really great tricks, but in addition, we aren't actually aware of just how much they can create on their own. If we knew how creative they really are, how much they reason out on their own and how much of what they do is by instinct or repetition, we might be surprised and humbled to find that animals are very intelligent beings. Take a look at the elephant artist below. She paints and she teaches us a HUGE LESSON: we human beings think too much of ourselves and don’t take animals into consideration, and they are just as necessary, important and intelligent as us. The problem is, we qualify animals according to OUR human definition of intelligent. When I saw this video I was amazed. Not only does she paint, she paints better than I do. And as I watched it made me think about all the animals we have here in Bolivia, many of which are endangered species, and they are AS INTELLIGENT as this elephant. I mean, we actually DO NOT KNOW what they are or could be capable of! That’s because most of the time we don’t pay the slightest attention to them, or worse, some people are extracting them from their natural habitats and putting them in danger of extinction! And although there are no elephants in Bolivia, there are countless species of equally intelligent, amazing and beautiful animals here. So I couldn’t resist including this small article because I consider this SO IMPORTANT!!!!! WATCH!
Of course this elephant is from Thailand, is domesticated, and someone taught her to use the paintbrush, but each painting is different – she THINKS up the paintings (she paints flowers and other things too) and transmits what she is thinking onto paper, converting her thoughts into something tangible and visible. That is communication. So what does this have to do with elephants in Bolivia? Nothing! We already know there are no elephants in Bolivia! But after the amazement you felt from this video sinks in, I challenge you to think a little less of yourself and a little more about our environment, the animals that live in it, and the incredible biodiversity that exists in this country – and about how we could take better care of it because frankly WE ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH! Bolivia has some regions that are among the richest in biodiversity on the planet and this has been scientifically proven and reported! These same regions are in peril! What’s the matter with us! Why aren’t we doing MORE about this during our daily lives? We can’t expect non-profit organizations and governmental agencies to do everything – WE have to change the way we think and stop believing that a single person can’t do anything about this. Of course we can! Just once in my life I would like to see Bolivia mentioned in the international news for something OTHER than the country’s political situation (anyone as sick of that as me, raise your hand)… I’d like to see Bolivia make the news because its citizens CARED SO MUCH ABOUT THEIR ENVIRONMENT that they drastically changed the way they think and live!! OK…OK…I’m not suggesting street demonstrations – put away the pots and pans please! I just hope the beauty of Bolivia’s biodiversity will matter enough to you to demand more attention be paid to the issue, first demanding this of yourselves, and then of others! Because this begins with EACH INDIVIDUAL. You can support the institutions that are working to conserve Bolivian fauna and flora – we have so many species of plants and animals we can’t even identify and record them all! In Santa Cruz you can contact Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (the Friends of Nature Foundation) or WWF – World Wildlife Fund, or in La Paz contact Conservation International – many organizations are working on conservation throughout the country. Contact one to see what you can do to participate in the conservation and protection of Bolivian flora and fauna during your daily living. And by the way, if I see one more toucan for sale on a street corner I am NOT going to keep quiet about it!
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