<jats:p><jats:disp-quote><jats:p>Are we no longer capable of respecting nature, or of defending a living beauty that has no earning power, no utility, no object except to let itself be seen from time to time?</jats:p><jats:attrib>Romain Gary</jats:attrib></jats:disp-quote></jats:p><jats:p>If, as Lao-tse said, nature is not anthropomorphic, some fellow creatures nonetheless seem to share the better angels of our character; among these animals, none is grander than the African elephant. Elephants live in close-knit “families” of about ten members that seem to do just about everything synchronously—feeding, walking, resting, drinking or mud wallowing. Each unit has a matriarchal structure: it is headed by the oldest female and consists of younger females and their calves, as male calves tend to leave the family and strike out on their own when they reach sexual maturity between the ages of 10 and 15. Fighting is rare.</jats:p>