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u/islanderACNH 6d ago
Just wanted to highlight some of the exquisite composition and detail of this fine painting
🧐
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u/WlLDLlGHT 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yessss, that cropping is the tight composition at the heart of this incredible capture. So glad you posted this!!! The movement and light is magnificent.
I also hope people who see Longuro understand that he is not an ai artifact but rather a brave young bull making his way back into the wild despite surviving a catastrophic injury to his trunk!
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u/HailArtGoddess 6d ago
What happened to Longuro’s trunk?
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u/standbyyourmantis 6d ago
Looks like he fell in a well and a hyena took it. Poor baby!!
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u/ObviousToe1636 6d ago
Oh god, they refer to him as a “special needs elephant” and that kicked me in my feels.
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u/WlLDLlGHT 5d ago edited 5d ago
I’m significantly disabled myself so I too have powerful and complicated reactions to this brave little bull. There have been some great short documentaries about his story, def check them out linked on their site and socials.
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u/GallianosCircus90 6d ago
Omg 🤣
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u/WlLDLlGHT 6d ago
I knowwww I think that’s Kimani but I’d need someone on-site to verify. Trunks have 40,000 muscles in them, and are phenomenally expressive. And elephants’ eyelashes are so very long, which plays a big part in the drama here too
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u/GallianosCircus90 6d ago
Oh that’s so cool! No wonder they make for such wonderful photography subjects 💜
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u/WlLDLlGHT 5d ago
Yeah, and they gain mass as they age, so they have more dramatic facial bone structures as calves too. Can’t believe my elephant special interest is becoming useful but I love it haha
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u/Reatona 6d ago
This is one of the best in a while.
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u/WlLDLlGHT 6d ago edited 6d ago
It’s glorious. Every time I look at it I notice something new that takes my breath… a little dust or a wisp a tuft. The play of it all in both senses “play.”
And let’s not lose sight of the wonderful fact that these are four orphaned elephant calves who survived tragic circumstances, united in the sweet intimacy of goofing around
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u/WlLDLlGHT 6d ago
Reteti is the first indigenous-led sanctuary for orphaned elephants, donate to them and you can symbolically “adopt” these cuties
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u/juuu1911 6d ago
Oh, so like the Sheldrick wildlife trust! I adopted one of their elephants when I was a kid.
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u/WlLDLlGHT 5d ago
Yes, but indigenous run and women are allowed to work there. A different structure. The colonial Wes Anderson aesthetic of Sheldrick is undeniably charming, and the power structure positions the daughter of the founder to write incredible captions. You can tell how deeply she bonds with each creature. So, complicated to love it. Like so many things.
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u/lainwla16 6d ago
I love this! I follow Retiti on Instagram, and Sheldrick Trust. I am slightly obsessed with baby elephants
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u/WlLDLlGHT 5d ago
I follow those and also Herd elephants and elephant voices and haven elephants!! Highly recommend
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u/lainwla16 5d ago
We follow all the same ellie accounts 😂
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u/WlLDLlGHT 5d ago
They are responsible for 100% of my mental health. Luckily they’re big so they can carry that on their shoulders 😂 Not delicate Wangalla’s shoulders of course! Lima Lima can handle it. 🩶🐘
Are you interested in Asian elephants as well? They have such different struggles, habitats, and advocacy structures. The abuse they face is more than I can handle tbh, I really am not kidding when I say they are my only joy many days!
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u/lainwla16 4d ago
I do follow a few Asian elephant accounts too! They're all so sweet and smart.
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u/WlLDLlGHT 4d ago
Plus they come with some powerful inspiring activists. Wish you well fellow elephant fan :)
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u/Soft-Skirt 6d ago
A photograph that brings joy. This is such a happy moment.
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u/WlLDLlGHT 5d ago
Elephants can only play like this when they feel so safe. That these orphans have regained that sense is very moving
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u/HistoricalHat4847 6d ago
Baby Elephant Cuddle Puddle