Leaving Time(133)

Yet poaching is not the only threat to elephants. They are captured for sale to elephant-back safaris, zoos, and circuses. Back in the 1990s in South Africa, when the elephant population grew too high, there was systematic culling. Entire families were darted from helicopters with scoline, which paralyzed them but did not render them unconscious. So they were fully aware as humans landed on the ground and moved systematically through the herd, shooting each elephant behind the ear. Eventually the hunters realized that the calves would not leave their mothers’ bodies, so they were staked to the corpses while the hunters got them ready for translocation. Some were sold abroad to circuses and zoos.

It is those elephants that are sometimes lucky enough to end their lives of captivity at places like The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Although Thomas Metcalf’s New England Elephant Sanctuary is a fictional one, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is, fortunately, real. Moreover, the fictional elephants I created were all based on the true, heartbreaking stories of elephants from the Tennessee sanctuary. Like Syrah in this book, Tarra the elephant had a constant canine companion. Wanda’s real-life counterpart—Sissy—survived a flood. Lilly was based on Shirley, who endured a ship fire and an attack that left her with a badly broken hind leg, due to which she still moves awkwardly. Olive and Dionne, seen together throughout the book, are pseudonyms for the inseparable Misty and Dulary. Hester, the African elephant with an attitude, is based on Flora, who was orphaned in Zimbabwe as a result of mass culling. These ladies are the lucky ones—residents of only a handful of sanctuaries in the world dedicated to allowing elephants who have lived and worked in captivity to retire in peace. Their stories are only a tiny sample of those of countless elephants who are still being mistreated by circuses or kept in adverse conditions at zoos.

I’d urge any animal lover to consider visiting www.elephants.com—the website for The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. In addition to watching live elecams (be careful, you will lose hours of valuable work time), you can “adopt” an elephant, or make a donation in memory of an animal lover, or feed all the elephants for one day—no amount is too small, and all are so greatly appreciated. Please also visit the Global Sanctuary for Elephants (www.globalelephants.org), which is helping establish holistic, natural elephant sanctuaries worldwide.

For those who would like to learn more about poaching and/or elephants in the wild, or to contribute to those fighting to get international restrictions in place to prevent poaching, please visit: www.elephantvoices.org, www.tusk.org, www.savetheelephants.org.

Finally, I’d like to list the materials that were instrumental to me during the writing of this novel. Much of Alice’s research was borrowed from the remarkable real-life studies and insights of these men and women.


Anthony, Lawrence. The Elephant Whisperer. Thomas Dunne Books, 2009.

Bradshaw, G. A. Elephants on the Edge. Yale University Press, 2009.

Coffey, Chip. Growing Up Psychic. Three Rivers Press, 2012.

Douglas-Hamilton, Iain, and Oria Douglas-Hamilton. Among the Elephants. Viking Press, 1975.

King, Barbara J. How Animals Grieve. University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Moss, Cynthia. Elephant Memories. William Morrow, 1988.

Moss, Cynthia J., Harvey Croze, and Phyllis C. Lee, eds. The Amboseli Elephants. University of Chicago Press, 2011.

Masson, Jeffrey Moussaieff, and Susan McCarthy. When Elephants Weep. Delacorte Press, 1995.

O’Connell, Caitlin. The Elephant’s Secret Sense. Free Press, 2007.

Poole, Joyce. Coming of Age with Elephants. Hyperion, 1996.

Sheldrick, Daphne. Love, Life, and Elephants. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2012.



And dozens of academic papers written by researchers who continue to study elephants and elephant society.


There were many moments during the writing of this book when I thought that elephants may be even more evolved than humans—when I studied their grieving habits, and their mothering skills, and their memories. If you take away anything from this novel, I hope it is an awareness of the cognitive and emotional intelligence of these beautiful animals—and the understanding that it is up to all of us to protect them.


JODI PICOULT, September 2013





FOR JOAN COLLISON

A true friend will walk hundreds of miles with you, in rain, snow, sleet, and hail.





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


It takes an entire herd to raise an elephant calf. Likewise, it takes many people to bring a book to fruition. I am indebted to all these “allomothers” who helped shepherd my book toward publication.

Thanks to Milli Knudsen and to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Martha Bashford for information on cold cases; to Detective Sergeant John Grassel of the Rhode Island State Police for his extensive tutorial in detective work and for always answering my frantic questions. Thanks to Ellen Wilber for the sports trivia and to Betty Martin for knowing about (among other things) mushrooms. Jason Hawes of Ghost Hunters, who was my friend long before he was a TV star, introduced me to Chip Coffey—a remarkable, talented psychic who wowed me with his insight, who shared his own experiences, and who made me understand how Serenity’s mind would work. Any of you nonbelievers out there—an hour in Chip’s presence will change your mind.

The Elephant Sanctuary is a real place in Hohenwald, Tennessee—twenty-seven hundred acres of refuge for African and Asian elephants who have spent their lives either performing or in captivity. I am so grateful to them for allowing me into their facility to see the astounding work they do to heal these animals physically and psychologically. I spoke with people who either are still working at or were associated with the sanctuary: Jill Moore, Angela Spivey, Scott Blais, and a dozen current caregivers. Thank you for grounding my fiction in reality, but, more important, thank you for the work you do every day.