Elephants in Bolivia?Elephants in Bolivia!? OK, I know! In Bolivia there are no elephants! Of course not, unless they’re here with a circus. But I wanted you to see this elephant artist because with her paints and brushes (yes, really, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT!) 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 them according to OUR definition of intelligent… not God’s. When I saw this video I was amazed. Not only does she paint, she paints better than I do. And as I watched I began to think and think and this touched me deeply! 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 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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