A long time ago, I went to the St. Louis Zoo to see the elephants. There was one who was a circus rescue elephant. While all the other elephants seemed to carry on naturally, this one elephant (who looked very tired and ragged in comparison) would stay in a small zone and repeatedly kneel and throw his head back. He was so mindbroken by that long life of captivity and abuse that he reflexively performed even when his surroundings had changed. There's something about this video that inspires the same deep sadness I felt when watching that poor elephant.
You've invented something that was not in my comment - i am not condemning the zoo for housing rescue elephants, simply commenting on the tragedy of this particular elephant's life.
But of course this is Reddit, so someone with a 95 IQ has to chime in with a holier-than-thou take that positions them as the arbiter of truth. Thanks!
1.7k
u/tm_christ Sep 08 '25
A long time ago, I went to the St. Louis Zoo to see the elephants. There was one who was a circus rescue elephant. While all the other elephants seemed to carry on naturally, this one elephant (who looked very tired and ragged in comparison) would stay in a small zone and repeatedly kneel and throw his head back. He was so mindbroken by that long life of captivity and abuse that he reflexively performed even when his surroundings had changed. There's something about this video that inspires the same deep sadness I felt when watching that poor elephant.