Public Records & Notices View a complete day’s public records and notices at memphisdailynews.com. www.chandlerreports.com Tuesday, April 23, 2019 MemphisDailyNews.com Vol. 134 | No. 65 Rack–50¢/Delivery–39¢ Freedom Fund gathering reflects balancing act BILL DRIES of the race for Memphis mayor. Sawyer and Memphis Mayor Jim Science and Memphis Park were Turner is the president of Courtesy of The Daily Memphian At the Freedom Fund Lun- Strickland, who are both running removed in December 2017 af- Memphis Greenspace, the private The Memphis Branch NAACP cheon in Whitehaven, the largest for mayor this year, and Shelby ter several months of protests by nonprofit that bought both parks, honored three leaders of the ef- annual fundraiser for the city’s County Commission chairman the group “Take ‘Em Down 901,” including the monuments, from forts to remove Confederate mon- longest running civil rights orga- Van Turner, a prominent backer founded by Sawyer as well as sev- the city by action of the city coun- uments from two local parks and nization, president Deidre Malone of Strickland’s re-election bid but eral years of legal maneuvering cil and then had the monuments in the process Saturday reflected gave a president’s award to Shel- also a colleague of Sawyer’s. and court cases by Strickland’s the balancing act that is a feature by County Commissioner Tami The monuments in Health administration. FREEDOM FUND CONTINUED ON P2 animals are most active.” Some of the wildlife Mitchell might have run into? Leopards, hippos, scorpions and elephants. Memphis Zoo employee works Mitchell is a pachyderm keeper at the Memphis Zoo who works with elephants and rhinos. In Febru- ary, the zoo sent her to Botswana for two weeks to help Elephants for Africa, a nonprofit that works to with organization in Africa lower human-elephant conflict in the wild. The zoo awarded Mitchell the trip through its Conservation Action Network, which supports con- servation-focused research and initiatives, including EFA. The zoo has been partnered with the organiza- tion since 2011, and it’s the fourth time it has sent an employee to help out EFA. The Conservation Action Network (CAN) has helped a variety of other causes as well, said Steve Reichling, director of conservation and research at the Memphis Zoo. “We brought in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service re- searchers to help our researchers study endangered Wyoming toads” in Wyoming, Reichling said. Other projects that CAN grants have aided, while also benefiting zoo employees who participated, include pine snake trapping and population moni- toring in Louisiana and sending biologists to the Marianas Islands to do translocations of endangered birds from one island to another. As for Elephants for Africa, the zoo primarily supports the organization through financial aid. Mitchell’s job was to deliver infrared digital game cameras. Had they been shipped, the equipment could have been broken or stolen. Mitchell was excit- ed to contribute to the organization, as was the zoo. “A big part of modern zookeepers’ jobs is conser- vation education,” she said. “We want people to see animals in the zoo and realize there are still animals in the wild, and that people need to remember those animals may be struggling. We’ve had this relation- Jenny Mitchell, a pachyderm keeper at the Memphis Zoo, goes through her training routine with one of her favorite elephants, ship with EFA and we want to take care of any type Jenna. (Houston Cofi eld/Courtesy of The Daily Memphian) of organization that is on the front line, taking care of animals we’re displaying as ambassadors.” JOHN KLYCE and the sound was unsettling. restroom. But the 100-meter walk was Elephants for Africa brings a holistic approach to Courtesy of The Daily Memphian “It sounded like lions were right out- too dangerous to take at night, so she conservation. It works toward a peaceful cohabita- Jenny Mitchell woke to the roar of side my tent,” she said. “They weren’t. squatted outside her tent. tion between elephants and humans in Botswana, lions in the night. The Memphian was ly- They were much further away, but the “I was super nervous,” she said. home to Africa’s largest elephant population, and ing in a tent just outside Makgadikgadi sound carries a lot better in Africa.” “Nothing is fenced in, so there’s no tell- Pans National Park in Botswana, Africa, Mitchell also had to go to the ing what’s out there. It’s the time when ZOO CONTINUED ON P2 INSIDE Columns ............................ 3 memphisdailynews.com chandlerreports.com Public Records ................ 4 ©2019 The Daily News Publishing Company A division of The Daily News Publishing Company Memphis, Tennessee The standard for premium real estate Established 1886 • 134th year information since 1968 Public Notices ............... 11 Call 901.523.1561 to subscribe Call 901.458.6419 for more information Page 2 MemphisDailyNews.com Tuesday, April 23, 2019 research. Elephants travel through distinct yourself in danger,” Mitchell said. paths, and if the organization can establish Elephants are an integral part of Af- these routes, it can better alert farmers rica’s ecosystem, and this is something and other locals when an elephant might EFA makes clear. By knocking down trees be nearby. and opening bushy areas, they increase the The game cameras donated by the zoo amount of grass available to other herbi- and delivered by Mitchell have been set vores. The distinct pathways they use offer up in and around Makgadikgadi Pans Na- easy travel routes for other species, and el- tional Park. Over the next few years, they ephants act as seed dispersers, facilitating will take hundreds of thousands of photos the growth of woody species as they move to help EFA understand these movement through the region. patterns. Valuable information like this They’re also beloved symbols around can be relayed to farmers, which can save the world, and ones in decline. In 2007, an crops and lives. estimated 472,000 elephants lived in Africa, “It will give them a heads up,” Mitchell according to the EFA. By 2013, the number said. “Maybe they don’t walk alone that had decreased to 436,000. The Wildlife Con- night. Maybe they have an extra pair of servation Society asserts that 96 elephants eyes, maybe they take an extra flashlight.” are killed by humans in Africa each day, and Farmers can also burn chili to protect they’re classified as vulnerable by the Inter- Jenny Mitchell, a pachyderm keeper at the Memphis Zoo, trains one of her favorite elephants, their crops, as elephants don’t like the smell. national Union for Conservation of Nature. Jenna, to do some tricks. Mitchell recently returned to Memphis from Botswana with the If farmers are aware an elephant might be None of the Memphis Zoo’s five female organization Elephants for Africa. (Houston Cofield/Courtesy of The Daily Memphian) coming before it gets there, they have more African elephants were born in the wild. time to prepare. Four retired from circus life. One, Tyran- ZOO CONTINUED FROM P1 that’s had cattle killed by lions. The percep- Educating the community is another za, is the oldest African elephant in captiv- tion of animals is negative.” large part of EFA’s mission. It holds edu- ity in North America at 55 years old. mitigates conflict between the two. Elephants, meanwhile, can attack cational workshops for adults and teaches After she delivered the cameras, Mitch- “The biggest issue is that the world has humans because they feel startled or them how to react if they come across el- ell spent two weeks helping EFA by entering too many people and not enough space,” threatened. ephants in the wild. data, working educational workshops for Mitchell said. “Cohabitation is key.” “Unless it’s a young male, or may- “Part of it is knowing that if they see an kids and observing elephants. She learned Tensions between elephants and ru- be someone with a calf,” Mitchell said, elephant to obviously not run away super- a lot on the trip and was inspired by the ral communities in Botswana are fraught “they’re not really going to see humans fast, but to back up quietly,” Mitchell said. organization. Now back at the Memphis and long-standing, and both elephants as a threat unless you’re doing something EFA also partners with schools in the Zoo, she’s strengthened her resolve to help and humans have lost lives in a conflict for threatening.” area, as it wants students to develop an un- animals both here and abroad. resources. Elephants will raid fields and It’s also possible elephants attack hu- derstanding and respect for the creatures. “It’s amazing to see elephants in the break fences around national parks, which mans because of past mistreatment. They teach children about the benefits of wild,” she said. “And it’s an awesome thing. contaminates farmers’ livestock. Coming “Elephants are incredibly smart,” elephants and take them on game drives, But on the flip side, we need to remind peo- across elephants in day-to-day life can be Mitchell said. “We talk about villagers hav- which allows kids to observe wildlife up ple coming to the zoo and seeing these ani- dangerous, and the fear of run-ins with the ing bad experiences. It could be the same. close and ask conservationists questions. mals that elephants in the wild aren’t doing animals can keep people away from work. An elephant could have been attacked by “They talk them through it – how it so well. The world has a lot of people, and “I can’t speak for every family,” Mitchell humans, so it has that memory as well.” is OK to be in somewhat of a proximity if we need to be more aware of our impact, said.