Elephants in Atlanta — Then and Now

Jamie Gumbrecht has a thoughtful and concise post up at the AJC’s Inside Access page about the controversy surrounding the elephants in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Show.  It opened Friday night in Atlanta.

Two animal rights groups have appealed to Mayor Reed to keep the elephants out of the show, and PETA made an unusually tasteful protest last week with a sad pachyderm statue in Woodruff Park.

Now, I’m not here to use this space to argue either way — though it should be noted that, all PETA disparaging aside (and believe me, I had to curb it), I LOVE elephants.  I went through a pachyderm phase circa 1991 that was unparalleled, featuring an evolutionary pictograph (thank you, Kids Discover magazine) and a barf-green sweatshirt with an African elephant standing in purple grass.  Note: I hate purple and should never, ever wear olive green, but the elephant on the front triumphed over good sense.

Nope, I’m here to talk about the elephant tooth we have here at the Wren’s Nest.

Once upon a time Clio the Elephant was the biggest attraction at Atlanta’s Grant Park zoo.  When Clio died, parts of her body were gifted to noteworthy people, including our very own Joel Chandler Harris.  He kept her molar on his desk at the Atlanta Constitution.  We like to have kids guess what it is as part of the tour.

Kind of a horrifying practice, right?  But also a product of the times.  We use this example a lot when people deride Harris for being insensitive or un-PC — also known as “a person who lived 100 years ago.”  As usual, our argument remains: present judgement should be reserved for present situations.

That said, you may believe that circus elephants are a relic of an ignorant time gone by, and I don’t think I disagree.