Nduvo

When does a global community make a mistake that misinterprets cruelty as care, or rather looks on apathetically, an indifferent observer of planet earth, as another race or another species is exterminated or succumbs to genocide in the name of righteousness or greed?

Answer: in this planet’s history often, but now it seems to be happening with more frequency of the unique inhabiting species, and with more rapidity. Only the brave and courageous dedicate their lives to fight injustice or cruelty, and paradoxically sometimes fight on the wrong side, for the wrong reasons. The path to hell is paved with good intentions, as they say. I don’t know who said that; but certainly, it is a world of rough justice.

Animal cruelty: the silent crisis we can no longer ignore. In a world where progress and compassion are often celebrated, there remains a dark undercurrent that many choose to overlook animal cruelty. Despite the numerous advancements in animal rights, countless animals continue to suffer in silence, victims of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. This silent crisis is one that we can no longer afford to ignore.

‍The answer to the leading question above is the hidden epidemic of widespread animal cruelty. Animal cruelty takes many forms, from physical abuse and neglect to exploitation in entertainment and industries. Every year, millions of animals endure unimaginable suffering at the hands of humans. The statistics are alarming and paint a grim picture of a widespread problem.

Despite the widespread nature of animal cruelty, it remains a largely ignored issue for several reasons:

‍Lack of Awareness: Many people are simply unaware of the extent of animal cruelty. The suffering of animals often happens behind closed doors, out of public view.

‍Cultural Norms: In some cultures, and industries, certain forms of animal cruelty are normalized and accepted as part of tradition or business practices.

‍Weak Legislation: While there are laws against animal cruelty, they are often weakly enforced. Perpetrators frequently escape with minimal consequences, perpetuating the cycle of abuse.

‍Economic Interests: Industries that profit from animal exploitation, such as factory farming and animal testing, have significant economic power and influence. This makes it difficult to enact and enforce stricter regulations.

Ndovu is just one story: one example from many.

The giant mammal was so easily camouflaged in his tropical rain forest paradise, his home for thousands of years. The lush dark greens of vast foliage helped; leaves bigger than the giant’s ears. It was a spectacle from an artist’s palate with erratic splashes of every shade of green, added with splashes and speckles of dark browns, layer upon layer of dark green undergrowth weaving around the sturdy tall mahogany and walnut trees, the precious wild palm oil trees. The dense rain forest environment was perfect for this giant. Plenty of food, plenty of water, and he was big enough to bash, and crash his way around. These were the advantages of being a giant, king of his environment, and top of the food chain. All the sustenance of forest was a smorgasbord to sustain his kind for generations. His ancestors had prospered and maintained their existence for years in the early civilization of Nok, the Kingdom of Nri, the Benin Kingdom, and the Oyo Empire. The giants lived and existed side by side, with the humans of these old kingdoms and empires, they co-existed for centuries.

Then the forest environment started to reduce, became too small to support the giant species. Unique and precious items could only be found there, and new and modern civilizations in faraway lands conspired to disrupt the previous balance, the harmonious coexistence of the lands of Nok culture, and subsequently the giants named Ndovu with their ivory treasures were slaughtered in their millions. Never to recover, ever again. Poaching: the cruel, greedy indiscriminate stealing of ivory from the giants of the forest and other precious jewels contained in the tropical forest for the wealthy, the privileged, or just carving out, and reducing the forest habitat under the guise of land reform to create more land for the needs of efficient farming and housing.

The forest-dwelling giant in our story is named Loxodonta cyclotis. He has lived in the tropical rain forest from the time the forest evolved. No one can be certain which came first the forest or the giant. Both have been in harmony for such a long time. Compared to the size of his cousins roaming elsewhere on the open plains and savannahs, the forest giant is diminutive. But that’s typical with evolution, nothing is ever the same, or remains the same, it only desires change and diversity. The giant and his family are easily distinguishable with their short downward pointing tusks. Smaller again compared to his taller cousins. The theorists consider the diffused light of the forest compared to the open plains explaining the differences in size. Notwithstanding, he is a giant, and king amongst all the fellow creatures of the dense forest. In comparison to the tiny men hunting him over the millennium, with their perspiring polished black bodies glistening in the shade of undergrowth, tracking the giant, and the family members of the giant, with their tiny arrows and spears. These little men hunt, and try to locate the giant’s pathways, the daily or nighttime routines of the giants, and set traps, and set plans to kill them.

The ivory tusks are not the only trophy for the tiny hunters. Elephant meat is edible flesh. Elephants have been hunted for their meat since prehistoric times. Elephant meat just like ivory is also widely illegally sold as bushmeat in parts of Africa. Hunting giants in the tropical forests and on the open plains have been taking place since history began.

Nowadays the arrows and spears have been replaced by .375 or .414 calibre rifles, with organized hunting groups with guided professional hunters. These weapons and ordinance have a more success rate and allows hunters to fire from safe distances. Freely available on social media and portrayed as an enlightening experience. Nowadays hunting is a real-life sporting activity, a game and no longer hunting for survival.

The stark truth: in about 30 years, in the lands of the old Nok culture the elephant population has crashed from an estimated 1,200-1,500 to an estimated 300-400 today. About 200-300 are forest elephants and 100 savanna elephants. In 1979, at the beginning of the ivory crisis, the total estimated elephant population was 1.3 million elephants, and now it is between 300-400. The cruel fact is the forest giant is almost extinct within the tiny man’s life expectancy, which is the same as the giant. Three score years and ten.

There is old proverb that says when "when two elephants fight, the grass suffers". Somehow illustrates how conflicts between powerful entities often lead to suffering for the weaker or innocent parties involved. Nowadays the old proverb has become a paradox. The struggle between land giants doesn’t bode well for the grass, the less powerful, the innocent watching bystander. But the true giants are not the Ndovu, the diminutive Loxodonta cyclotis suffering through reduced habitat of the tropical forests of the ancient Nok culture. These giants of the forest needed camouflage and protection, from the destruction giants – humankind. By the time you finish this story, the Loxodonta cyclotis will have disappeared – extinct. Cruelly allowed to disappear as a species, in a world that feels care with the mind, not with a demonstrative heart. In a safe manicured world of delusion, with no respect for the sanctuary of wild nature.

The cultural significance of elephants will only be found by reading books or looking at films, but alas no longer with us in real life. The narrator will retell the audience over the ages about the land giants, the Ndovu, who symbolize spirituality, strength, and wisdom deeply embedded in many worldly traditions and rituals. The giants were historically revered as symbols of status and power and played pivotal roles in royal courts and military contexts, enhancing their legacy, can now only be found as a version of themselves in controlled zoos. Never in their wild environments, as those have been obliterated.

The Nduvo are more likely facing a Jurassic Park legacy, where their natural wild environments have vanished, and the diminutive giants can only to be found on cellulose films, or digital archives.