This intriguing piece in The Guardian proposes a new and interesting reason to save elephants: To protect and safeguard their collective consciousness. Elephants carry cultural information with them about their environment and each time an elephant is killed, we lose a vital carrier or editor of that information. As the article states, “With the extinction of elephants, we would also see the extinction of a network of elephant experiences—where the waterholes are; who to befriend and who to avoid; where the grasses come late or early; where the mud holes are plentiful and where the crocodiles are not; why it’s a good idea to avoid men in red garments; when the moon lights the night each month; where dead friends and ancestors let out their last tortured gasps. This is network chatter. It is network traffic. It has value.”
Link: The Guardian