Elephants are the national symbol of Thailand, revered in Buddhism, highly intelligent, and attract many tourists. When I first came to Thailand, my thinking was that these huge creatures love to hang around humans just like a big cuddly dog. They love to be ridden and can’t wait to serve mankind. The proof was that elephants are so gentle, so obedient, and so darn cute. How wrong I was. Wrong in most aspects of my thinking. I came to learn that elephants in the wild can be ferocious. Elephants are not only one of the largest and most intelligent animals, they are also one of the toughest. No other creature in the animal kingdom will take on an elephant as their first choice. Elephants are also social creatures and the females with their young stay together in family or extended family groups. They speak to each other and can communicate over large distances. When a member of the family is in danger, if possible, the elephants will form a circle with the young in the middle and all will fight to protect each other and the young. When separated from the group a mother will fight to the death to protect her young. If a young elephant is in danger not only will the mother fight to the death to protect the youngster, so will the young elephant’s aunts, and others in the extended family.