I remember reading an article years ago that made me sad. It was about the last  Great Auk and how it was clubbed to death on a small island by hunters. Much like the killing of the seal pups, I think, only much worse, given the  known scarcety of the Great Auk.  

I feel the same whenever I hear or read about, or see on television, about the plight of the elephant. I’m sure it’s the African elephant to which they refer.

The sight of a dead elephant with a bloody hole where its tusks should be, is sickening beyond words; and most certainly beyond words one would use in a family magazine.  There would surely be bleeps  were a BBC or RTE cameraman and crew to come upon these elephant-killers, caught in the act.  I wonder if there would be bleeps for the elephant’s screams.  Yes, elephants do scream when in extreme pain.

Read Dan Conway every week in Ireland’s Own