How to Raise an Elephant (1)

The Jumbo Foundation aims to help large orphaned animals

Think about caring for a baby. Mothers can tell you all about the considerable amount of time it takes to feed, change, comfort and care for a helpless infant. Now what if that infant is an elephant calf? Instead of weighing 3 to 4 kilograms at birth, he weighs 100! And he needs to be fed every two hours, 24 hours a day for four years! Would you want to take on that kind of responsibility? Jenny Webb did. She lives in the African country of Malawi.

She took in Moses when he was a week old after his mother was killed, probably by poachers. No one else would take him in as elephants are very expensive and time-consuming to care for. But Jenny was willing and said, "Humans caused this problem, so humans must fix the problem." She spent as much time as she could caring for Moses. She also hired two employees to be with him during the day so he wouldn't be lonesome. She works as the Director of the Malawi Division of Food Products.


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White elephants are very rare animals. In many cultures in southeast Asia, they're a sign of justice, power, wealth and peace.

Years ago, kings from this part of the world would sometimes give white elephants as gifts to government officials.

Not to officials they like, but officials they didn't like.

Right! The elephants were extremaly expensive to keep, any unlucky official who received one couldn't refuse it nor could he get rid of it later. That would be insulting to the King.

And, because the elephant was sacred, he couldn't put it to work to make money. So, the official was stuck unless he was super wealthy. That white elephant would quickly cause him financial ruin.

Today, we use white elephant as an idiom to describe a costly project, plan, or business venture that is without any use or value.

And since we are on the topic, let's mention the popular holiday party game called the white elephant gift exchange.

It's more for entertainment than anything else. This game is based around giving gifts whose maintenance and cost exceed their usefulness. Check the internet for rules on how to play. It can be a lot of fun.

Language Lab
infant n.
a baby or very young child:
- Parents need to learn how to interpret the signals their infants send.
infant adj.
intended for babies or very young children
- The expecting couple went shopping for infant clothes.

poach v.
to illegally catch or shoot animals, birds, or fish, especially on private land without permission:
- Many endangered animals have been poached because they can be sold for good prices.
poacher n.
someone who illegally catches or shoots animals, birds, or fish, especially on private land without permission
- The poachers were arrested and prosecuted.

time-consuming adj.
taking a long time to do:
- Sorting all the files in the computer is a time-consuming task.
- Rehearsing a play is time-consuming, and it requires a lot of patience.

lonesome adj.
very unhappy because you are alone or have no friends [= lonely]:
- Jake felt really lonesome when he first transferred to the new school.
lonesome adj.
a lonesome place is a long way from where people live and very few people go there [= lonely, remote]:
- We drove on a lonesome road.

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