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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Jackson County district election turnout under 17 percent Makeover brings new look to old clinic Coffee with the editor Police Reports 10 things to know for Monday, May18 Education John Muir students need help producing eighth-grade yearbook Ashland High School seeks volunteers for 2015-16 Heading to Harvard Rising from the ashes Ashland High School again earns national honors Environment Demonstrators hope to save tree Documentary 'When Giants Fall' tells tragic story of elephant poaching Mt. Ashland Ski Area proposes summer adventure center Long drought, big storm make for a dirty Bear Creek Jackson County declares drought disaster Business Makeover brings new look to old clinic Cars We Remember: 1955 and 1956 Plymouth memories Ashland's CD Or Not CD will carry on Sawyer Paddles sues manufacturer, alleging breach of contract Ashland seminars focus on employment law Politics and elections Jackson County district election turnout under 17 percent Arthur I. Cyr: Camp David summit will not help Mideast stability City of Ashland to consider making recorder position appointive, not elective Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection BREAKING: Baltimore prosecutor charges officers in Gray's death State News Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average Lack of snow nixes ski portion of popular Central Oregon race Bill under debate in Oregon would limit livestock antibiotics Nation - World There's a $10 million precious stone hidden in plain sight at Grand Central Obituaries Death Notices Patricia Carole-Mae Perrin Alpha W. Crews Brian Erskine Fletcher Nita Day Shareable Check out top import and export for every U.S. state Patriots fan sets up GoFundMe page to help pay for team's Deflategate fine Sports Latest Stories AHS decathlete Thompson-Siporen overcomes knee surgery to shine at districts George Barnes: We need to help free Tom Brady O'Brien, Kim claim MWL doubles title Kelly McElroy: I hate this ‘game’ App Finder: Best cycling apps High school AHS decathlete Thompson-Siporen overcomes knee surgery to shine at districts O'Brien, Kim claim MWL doubles title Thompson-Siporen earns three MWL titles in first day of district meet Ashland heads to Eugene for MWL district meet Ayers pitches Eagles past Grizzlies Southern Oregon University O'Brien, Kim claim MWL doubles title Ashland heads to Eugene for MWL district meet Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team See you in August Voices Latest Stories Granlund cartoon: Memorial Day and Uncle Sam George Barnes: We need to help free Tom Brady Lloyd Garver: The Apple Watch - good birth control? Chris Honoré: The journey of the African elephant Other Views: Vaccine rate improves Editorial Other Views: Vaccine rate improves Our View: Focus on the basics Our View: Elected or appointed? Our View: Change is brewing Our View: Forest work is a bargain Letters Letters to the Editor, May 14 (No heading) Letters to the editor: Tuesday, May 12 Letters to the Editor, May 8 Letters to the Editor, May 6 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy Guest Opinion: Restoring the Plaza's sense of place Guest Opinion: Making conservation a game Guest Opinion: A good day to act Columns George Barnes: We need to help free Tom Brady Chris Honoré: The journey of the African elephant Herb Rothschild Jr.: An appalling budget Jeffrey Gillespie: Shame on the high seas Arthur I. Cyr: Camp David summit will not help Mideast stability Chris Honore Council Corner Editor's Notes Jeffrey Gillespie Herb Rothschild Revels Latest Stories Ashland Calendar, Thursday, May 14 4 Things To Do This Weekend Movie listings: May 15-21 Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum at The Mountain House Steve Poltz, Grant-Lee Phillips at Old Ashland Armory Theater Ticket Availability Ticket availability Ticket Availability Departing Ashland Independent Film Festival programmer talks about what makes a good movie Ticket availability Music The Farr Side: Contest open for singer-songwriters The Farr Side: Mumford & Sons’ latest is full-on rock Interview: Country singer Suzy Bogguss enjoying life on the road The Farr Side: CMAs do it right, in many ways Interview: Offspring plays hits new and old on tour Visual Art Movies Documentary 'When Giants Fall' tells tragic story of elephant poaching Movie review: ‘Mad Max’ is a fresh, fantastic approach to a classic idea Your A-to-Z guide to the ‘Mad Max’ franchise Movie listings: May 15-21 'Wild Tales' is twisted, dark and lovely Food and Drink Taqueria Picaro takes over Tabu space Owner of Mix and Amuse to bring Flip burger joint to Ashland Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Community Blog: God's sigh: the breath of peace Sid McKeen: A bumper crop of idle observations Cars We Remember: 1955 and 1956 Plymouth memories Home Help: Keep a man cave top of mind when choosing a new home Haiku Corner: Week of May 4 - 9 Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Mocha Musings Rogues: Tales from the Valley Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business Business Services NEWS NOW Jackson County district election turnout under 17 percent ... Coffee with the editor ... Ticket Availability ... Jackson County district election turnout under 17 percent ... Coffee with the editor ... Ticket Availability ... COMMENTARY Chris Honoré: The journey of the African elephant Comment By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted May. 18, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré Posted May. 18, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Writing about the environment can often feel quixotic, the equivalent of charging at windmills or walking a downtown street with a sandwich board declaring “The End is Near!” as people rush by, taking little notice. It’s the “taking little notice” that fascinates and disturbs. To attempt to understand our passive reaction to an irrefutable reality — our planet and its countless species are reaching the point of exhaustion — can seem ever elusive. Perhaps it has something to do with denial. Daily life with all its exigencies is enough. Or perhaps confronting our rapaciousness regarding our planet and its finite resources is more than we want to deal with. As well, reading about what is taking place regarding our environment, irrespective of the real-time evidence, can still seem hypothetical, abstract. There is also an “end times” apocalyptic dimension that in the hands of Hollywood and sci-fi writers can entertain but never really penetrate, seeming more surreal than real. Besides, most narratives that grip our imaginations take place in a post-apocalyptic world where the catastrophe has already occurred and the challenge now is survival in a ruined, Darwinian landscape ruled by anarchy. We denizens of the early 21st century find ourselves in that long pre-apocalyptic moment where we are told that there is still time. We can still act. And yet we don’t. Steve Almond, writing in the New York Times Magazine, proffered the idea that we “lack the moral imagination.” Reaching for a metaphor, consider the plight of the African elephant. Its current journey is an eloquent and tragic and heart-wrenching representation of what may lie ahead for mankind. In a recent New Yorker article, Peter Canby explains that the African elephant is not just in harm’s way, but in crisis. He describes what poachers are prepared to do to harvest their tusks, describing a caravan of heavily armed men, riding horseback, their destination Bouba-Nijida National Park in Cameroon where they will shoot elephants, methodically sawing off their faces and tusks, sometimes when the animals are still alive. In the three months this gang of poachers is in the park they kill 650 elephants. For them it’s an economic process. They know, Canby writes, that demand for ivory is increasing, especially in Asia. “Once prized by Chinese aristocrats, it is now sought by members of China’s growing middle class, who buy ivory cigarette holders, chopsticks, and even miniature elephants. In Hong Kong, a hub of illegal trade, ivory can sell for three thousand dollars a pound… A pair of carved tusks can be worth two hundred thousand dollars.” We know that elephants are under siege by criminal organizations as well as terror groups. We know that they are integral to the ecology of Africa. Forest elephants are referred to as “megagardeners” — they disperse in their dung the seeds of tropical fruit trees that replenish the trees and flora. Between 2002 and 2011, their numbers have declined by 62 percent. Their habitat has been eroded by a third and, writes Canby, scientists are using the word “extinction” to describe their bleak future. We know the elephants of the plains and the forests are worth saving. There will be nothing like them again should they disappear from the wild (only to be seen in zoos or, deplorably, circuses). And yet it is regrettably clear that we will fail to act. The world community will not save this spectacular species. We will, instead, one day fashion a weak eulogy that will vanish like so much mist in the wind. We know what will happen to the African elephant. And in truth, we know what lies ahead for our environment. Our planet continues to warm, sea levels rise, extreme weather is the new normal, our over-fished oceans grow increasingly acidic, coral reefs are dying, species are vanishing and the world we are leaving for our children and their children will be increasingly barren of animals and resources. It does sound apocalyptic, even hyperbolic. A kind of end times cant. But in an unexpected way the African elephant is the precursor to a future where those who inherit the earth will pause and ask why we failed to find the will. Chris Honoré lives in Ashland. By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted May. 18, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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