Sweet Revenge

An Augustus Gloop-like guttersnipe gets justice served in the form of an elephant smack decades after the original sin. Next time you think about taunting an innocent baby, remember, an elephant never forgets. A rolo commercial to make you smile.

Little Orphan Pachy

The BBC series, "Elephant Diaries," shows orphaned baby elephants playing football, cuddling with their keepers, and chasing warthogs at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, Kenya. Elephants abandoned by their mothers through human intervention or poaching, learn to live in the wild so they can eventually transfer to a reserve in Tsavo. Co-hosts Michaela Strachan and Jonathan Scott played a major part in caring for the babies. In between hosting they feed the elephants, played with them, and tried to stay professional while roving trunks attempted to interrupt their line deliveries.
"Elephant Diaries" will air Thursday, November 22. at 8pm on ABC.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/outsize-orphans-offered-second-chance/2007/11/14/1194766747027.html

Bend it Like Beckham

An athletic specimen displays punting skills and power kicks with impeccable trunk eye coordination. The elephant even flips the ball over his head and kicks with his hind legs. To top it all off, he gingerly walks on his back legs and drops the ball in the basketball hoop. This pachys got game.

The Art of War

More than 300 elephants reenacted centuries old wartime tactics to the blasts of cannon fire during Thailand's 47th Annual Elephant Roundup in the small city of Surin. According to the International Herald Tribune, the week-long festival celebrates the elephant as a patriotic symbol and a friend of local tribal communities. Daily parades line up thousands of visitors on the sidelines offering treats to the processing pachyderms and one 19-year-old elephant, Ben Sen, enjoyed his first annual roundup. Ben Sen appreciated the sweet bananas from German tourists and "sang a song" to earn more fruit from admiring fans.
Full story: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/20/asia/AS-GEN-Thailand-Elephant-Roundup.php

Beach Bum

The worst part about a trip to the shore are those stubborn sand grits that resist leaving bathing suit bottoms and beach bags no matter how hard you rinse or shake them. This baby elephant embraces the sand with dogged determination and gleefully rubs his body all over the surf at a beach in Krabi, Thailand.

Pachy Prose

Sara Gruen's, Water for Elephants, tells the fictional memoir of life in a traveling circus during the Depression-era. The story of lemonade-loving Rosie - an elephant who has trouble following commands- drives the narrative of the novel. Gruen writes in her author's note that she studied elephants' behavior and body language at the Kansas City Zoo.
New York Times book reviewer Elizabeth Judd writes how the research paid off by referencing an excerpt from the novel: "I look up just as he flicks the cigarette. It arcs through the air and lands in Rosie's open mouth, sizzling as it hits her tongue. She roars, panicked, throwing her head and fishing inside her mouth with her trunk. August marches off. I turn back to Rosie. She stares at me, a look of unspeakable sadness on her face. Her amber eyes are filled with tears."
Check out Judd's full review at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/books/review/04judd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

A Tree Grows in Thailand

Locals in Sattahip, Thailand claim to see elephant ghosts haunting the ground near a very unusual tree. The base of the tree trunk reveals an elephant face and protruding trunk. Avoided at night by superstitious locals, the tree receives offerings of banana bunches during the day and many claim series of numbers appear by scratching the bark. One person won the lottery three times after picking these numbers.
-Picture and story from http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_14_11_50_2.htm-