“The Unforgettable Elephant Story 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. we’re 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.”
