Here's proof that elephants are smarter—and more clever—than most run-of-the-mill humans. Watch this funny elephant named Mak, who lives at the Imire Rhino and Wildlife Conservancy in Wedza, Zimbabwe, playing around with a tourist who was posing for a photo with him. He gently takes her hat from her head with his trunk, pretends to eat it, and then hides it in his mouth. When the woman asks for her hat back, he makes it magically appear again and hands it back to her, much to her delight.
While this video is a few years old, Mak still lives at the Conservancy and is still delighting tourists and staff alike. In fact, one of his caretakers posted a video of Mak today, with the comment: "Not a moment goes by when I am not in awe of our Mak— what a privilege to have spent my life around such a majestic animal—we can learn a lot from creatures like this!"
The Conservancy describes its work and mission on its website:
Imire is dedicated to protecting wildlife and strongly believe that rural communities and conservation programmes can successfully thrive side by side, working together to ensure the protection of our natural heritage. Our vision at Imire is to enhance the relationships between tourism, conservation programmes and community areas through long-term, sustainable environmental management and positive community projects.
Imire creates awareness internationally of the wildlife and poaching crisis which threatens Zimbabwe and Africa, and the obstacles faced by local communities and conservation organisations. The biggest threats to the animals protected at Imire, and regionally are poaching and human overpopulation. Poaching is driven by demand for ivory and rhino horn in foreign countries, and fueled by poverty and lack of education on the ground. To protect the rhino and all wildlife, we believe we need to empower local communities.
We help local and international guests and volunteers see what they can achieve with contributions of their time, ideas, financial assistance and enthusiasm. Imire's ultimate goal is to prove that our endangered species can be protected through a unified, holistic approach to conservation. We believe this is the key to the survival of all wildlife and ecosystems.
I've watched this short video of Mak and his hat trick so many times–I just can't get enough of this brilliant and playful pachyderm! I hope you enjoy it, too!
To learn more about the Conservancy, check out their website, and for more photos and videos of Mak and the other wildlife living at the Conservancy, check out their Facebook page.
