"we must do all we can to open lines of communication between man and, uh, Dumbo"

A letter to the editor in today's San Francisco Chronicle:

Robber pachyderms

The world has seen enough and it is time to take action.

Your Jan. 20 Earthweek article involving the "brazen hijacking" in Thailand of as many as 10 trucks loaded with sugar cane and tapioca by a herd of elephants raises the specter of a potential conspiracy by 20 pachyderms. I ask: How did we miss signs of this felonious act, and will they do it again?

According to the chief of the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, this was the "first highway robbery by elephants we recorded." Maybe so, but what's to say this wasn't a serial crime spree in the making? Wildlife science says elephants don't easily forget. One can only imagine their next larceny might include a weapon.

As we recover from this deplorable event, we should investigate what could have allowed these large friends to meander down this path of crime. Has society completely neglected the criminal behavior of these four-legged vandals with trunks?

These elephants may have been "encouraged to hijack the tasty cargo by the many passers-by," but now we must do all we can to open lines of communication between man and, uh, Dumbo. In so doing, we can work to prevent future "white-collar" crimes of the pachyderm.

JIM SCHNEIDER
Mill Valley


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