Sinya!
The gallery and I myself donate money to the amazing David Sheldrick Wildlike Trust. They have an elephant sanctuary near Nairobi in Kenya, including an orphaned elephant nursery. A a result of donating a certain amount of money I was given a certificate that stated I was a foster parent to this little darling, Sinya, who's had a pretty rough time of it, but is now in caring hands.
I occasionally get a little shit for being so nerdly "into" elephants, but I can't help myself. I adore all creatures, but elephants are seriously wondrous creatures, majestic, powerful, very intelligent, and kind (unless you cross them). I first became involved with elephants starting with the fantastic Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee as well as trying to get a local zoo elephant named Bamboo transferred to that sameSanctuary a few years ago. That was sparked off when I watched a documentary about them on TV. In the show, a baby elephant had just seen its entire family killed by poachers, and it was running in terror through the brush alone, tears (yes, I said tears) streaming down its face. The wild desperation and fear emanating from this little creature was so palatable I could almost taste it through the TV. That terrible moment etched itself into my heart and that was it. I started to do a little research on them and have found nothing but wonder and amazement and terrible sorrow for the state they are in, both from being poached like CRAZY, to being confined in teeny zoos that have no clue or care as to take care of them best, not to mention the disgusting spectacle of circuses.
The funny thing is, as devoted as I am to them, I have never seen a wild elephant, nor ever touched one. I hope I can change that soon. (And goes to show that not all TV is a bad thing!)
The other thing I'll say about my involvement in this cause is that while I've gotten to do some pretty amazing things in my life, to me, being able to give money to these people for the elephants was one of the things that gives me the most joy. It's highly rewarding to give the finger in whatever way you can to people who plunder the earth.
And no, I don't collect elephant figurines.
