Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art

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1 Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art Exhibition Education Guide Tusks to Treasures Ivory from the Milligan-Kirkpatrick Collection NOTE TO PARENTS & TEACHERS: This is a difficult subject. It is recommended that you review this information prior to your child/student reading it and be prepared to discuss the topic. If you feel moved to help save the elephants, suggestions follow at the end of this guide. ABOUT IVORY POACHING AND THE IMPACT ON ELEPHANTS: Ivory has been used for hundreds of years to create art. In this exhibit, you see many beautiful statues and other carvings created from ivory. While ivory can come from several different animals, most often it is the tusks of elephants that are used for carvings. Ivory can be collected in ways that won t hurt elephants--when elephant tusks are trimmed or when an elephant dies naturally. Because it is difficult to determine if ivory carvings were made from legal or illegal ivory, conservationists recommend that all ivory carving stop. Sadly, elephants most often are killed when their tusks are collected. Poachers (illegal hunters), find it quicker and easier to dispose of the elephants. They are also able to get more ivory if the elephant is dead. There are laws in place to protect elephants, but the poachers ignore the laws. Poachers often kill elephants on reserves (protected land). The Wildlife Conservation Society reports that 96 African elephants are killed each day by poachers this number doesn t include the amount of Asian elephants who suffer the same fate. It is estimated that if poaching doesn t stop, elephants will be extinct, gone from the earth, within 10 years. The ivory carvings in the exhibition at the Museum are legal. These objects are antique (well over 100 years old). The Museum does not collect new ivory pieces and does not support elephants being killed for ivory. The Museum keeps these ivory pieces to share the beauty of an ancient art form and to educate our visitors about the importance of preserving the real treasures the world s elephants. Elephant preservation, and animal wellbeing as a whole, is a primary objective of the Kirkpatrick Foundation, which generously gifted this collection to the Museum.

2 Fun Elephant Facts: The African elephant weighs 22,000 pounds and is the planet s largest land animal. The Asian elephant is the second largest, weighing around 10,000 pounds. An elephant s trunk has more than 40,000 muscles, more than all the muscles in the human body. They can tear down trees or pick up a blade of grass with their trunks. Elephants have the longest gestation period of any animal at almost 22 months. A newborn elephant can weigh up to 260 pounds. At 11 pounds, the elephant has a brain that is larger than any other land animal in the world. An elephant s skin is so sensitive that it can feel a fly landing on it. The low, resounding calls elephants make can be heard by another elephant up to 5 miles (8 kilometers) away. Elephants have been relentlessly hunted for their tusks, even though the tusks are made of dentine the same as our teeth. In India s Andaman Islands, elephants swim across the sea between the islands. An elephant s skull weighs about 115 pounds (52 kilograms); it would be even heavier without honeycomb-like spaces that reduce the skull's weight. Elephants favor either their left or right tusk. One tusk usually shows more wear than the other. The modern-day elephant is the only mammal that can remain submerged far below the surface of the water while using its trunk like a snorkel. Frequent bathing and showering, as well as powdering with dirt, is an important part of elephant skin care. Unlike other mammals, elephants grow throughout their lifetime. Elephants eat up to 125 pounds of food each day and they each deposit about 300 pounds of poop daily. How is this possible? It s due to all the water they drink. Elephants do sleep for a couple of hours while lying down. A 14,000-pound (6,300 kilograms) African elephant is able to carry up to almost 20,000 pounds (9,000 kilograms). What do you call a group of elephants? A memory.

3 Elephants are Inspirational! Enjoy this elephant-inspired poetry and try to write your own. The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went to see the Elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Might satisfy his mind. The First approached the Elephant, And happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl: "God bless me! but the Elephant Is very like a WALL!" The Second, feeling of the tusk, Cried, "Ho, what have we here, So very round and smooth and sharp? To me 'tis mighty clear This wonder of an Elephant Is very like a SPEAR!" The Third approached the animal, And happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands, Thus boldly up and spake: "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a SNAKE!" The Fourth reached out an eager hand, And felt about the knee "What most this wondrous beast is like Is mighty plain," quoth he: "'Tis clear enough the Elephant Is very like a TREE!" The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said: "E'en the blindest man Can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can, This marvel of an Elephant Is very like a FAN!" The Sixth no sooner had begun About the beast to grope, Than seizing on the swinging tail That fell within his scope, "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a ROPE!" And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong!

4 Eletelephony by Laura Richards Once there was an elephant, Who tried to use the telephant- No! No! I mean an elephone Who tried to use the telephone- (Dear me! I am not certain quite That even now I ve got it right.) Howe er it was, he got his trunk Entangled in the telephunk; The more he tried to get it free, The louder buzzed the telephee- (I fear I d better drop the song Of elephop and telephong!) Write an Elephant Acrostic Poem Write a poem about an elephant. If you want, keep it simple, using words to describe an elephant. Start each line of the poem with the letter at the beginning of the line. E L E P H A N T

5 How to Draw an Elephant Courtesy of Disney at spoonful.com Give it a try! This elephant was drawn by

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8 Help Save the Elephants CREATE AN ELPHIE 1. Create an Elephant Artwork, make your own or use one in this booklet 2. Take a picture of your elephant art (kids, get a grownup s help). 3. Post your picture on Instragram with #MGMoA #Elphie OR your picture to elphie@96elephants.org 96 ELEPHANTS ARE KILLED EVERY DAY IN AFRICA. YOU CAN STOP IT. Increasing demand for ivory is driving African forest elephants to extinction. People across the world are uniting with the Wildlife Conservation Society to protect them. The Wildlife Conservation Society has created the 96 Elephants campaign to protect Africa s elephants. For more information, please visit 96elephants.org

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10 Another Way YOU can Help Save the Elephants: Visit the Elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo! The Zoo is dedicated to elephant preservation and conservation at the zoo and in the wild. The Oklahoma City Zoo provides funding to help the Lekirruki Conservation Trust. Due to its diverse landscape, Lekurruki Conservation Trust is home to many different species of wildlife and plants. Large herds of buffalo and elephant are common within the conservation area with one herd of elephant estimated at 450 individuals. The Oklahoma City Zoo has provided a total of $34,000 in grants for the construction of the Lekurruki manager's house and office, security head office and radio room. The buildings have been constructed to comply with regulations requiring little environmental impact. The construction of the manager's house and security office will give the Lekurruki Trust a major advantage when it comes to fighting illegal poaching and keeping the animals safe. The Trust staff will now be able to be much more efficient, safe and diligent in their attempts to stop poaching of the elephants for their tusks and horns and bushmeat trade. To learn more, visit the zoo s website: Visit these sites to learn more about elephants: