They have not had the time to observe the emergence of a new generation of trees, shrubs and legumes planted by the Elephants in their dung seeds of which have been dispersed far and wide in the long range wanderings of these great creatures. They overlook in ignorance the part Elephants play in creating waterholes that serve many other life forms, sealing them by the puddling action of their great feet, and carrying away copious quantities of earth on their huge bodies every time they bathe. It is the elephant trails that are the conduits that lead runoff rain water into these depressions and fill them, thereby benefiting all life forms. By tunnelling into dry sandy water-courses with their trunks, Elephants have the ability to expose subsurface water that would otherwise be unavailable to others whilst their sheer weight compresses the sands and brings the underground water closer to the surface. In fact, most of the road systems in Tsavo follow elephant trails.
Elephants are essential to the survival of many other less well equipped animals.
The branches they break become accessible to smaller creatures and the enormous quantity of dung they produce in a day fertilises the soil. Evolution is in progress all the time through natural selection and adaptation to changing situations. Natural selection, Nature's most powerful tool, distils and hones the genetic base of all living things. We in Tsavo were humble lay folk, conscious of our limitations, and people who accepted that man, no matter how sophisticated, cannot better Nature. The natural world was our classroom every day for three decades and we attended class avidly and with an open mind.