I don't usually like these heartwarming stories, but this one is truly
interesting . . .

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from
Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young
bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed
distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee
and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply
embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the
wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down
its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious
look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Mbembe stood
frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant
trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Mbembe was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his
teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the
creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were
standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its front foot
off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then
trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was
the same elephant.

Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way
into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in
wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe's
legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.