The Incredible Story of an Elephant Who Derailed a Train to Defend His Herd

[Hiraeth]

In this time of continued urban expansion into land that once stood wild, there is no shortage of examples to highlight the struggle between the natural world and the one humans strive to craft -- but some of the most harrowing of these have likely been lost to the ages. Thankfully, not this one.

For the last several years, 68-year-old Ky Cheah has maintained a blog on which to record memories from his childhood growing up in Teluk Anson, Malaysia. And while all these personal accounts will no doubt be cherished by his family for generations to come, we are all lucky that one oral history in particular survived under his stewardship.

Cheah writes that, one day as boy searching for nuts near some old railroad tracks on the edge of town, he ran across a mysterious sign in the overgrowth which read: THERE IS BURIED HERE A WILD ELEPHANT WHO IN DEFENSE OF HIS HERD CHARGED AND DERAILED A TRAIN ON THE 17th DAY OF OF SEPT. 1894.

His curiosity undoubtably piqued, young Cheah came to learn of the details surrounding that briefly summarized incident, likely gathered from people who were alive at the time to witness it:

A lot of stories abound about what prompted the sad suicidal episode of the elephant and the train.

Some say it had a score to settle with the 'Iron Beast'. Rumour has it that it was seeking vengeance for a calf killed earlier by the same train. While others claimed that it was merely defending its herd from the ' new enemy' that has encroached into their domain.

more at link:
http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/story-elephant-who-stood-train.html

[niyad]

1. k and r

[Hiraeth]

2. thanks, niyad

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Hiraeth.

[BrotherIvan]

4. How unutterably sad