Do elephants remember

Here’s an interesting story! I don’t usually like these heartwarming stories,

 but this one is truly interesting … In 1987, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday

 in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through

 the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

 The elephant seemed distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully.

 He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot and found a large

 piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could,

 Mbembe worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant

 gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with

 a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.

 Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually

 the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Mbembe never forgot

that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later, Mbembe was walking

through the Chicago Zoo with his teenage son. As they approached the elephant

 enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe

 and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe,

 lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did

that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

 Remembering the encounter in 1987, Mbembe couldn’t help wondering

 if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed

over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to

 the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again,

 wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe’s legs and slammed him

 against the railing, killing him instantly. Probably wasn’t the same elephant …