Many people believe that altruism is nonexistent in the animal world. Yet an interaction I observed in Kenya©ös Masai Mara National Reserve between an injured elephant and a healthy elephant has led me to reconsider the roots of altruism in animals, and to examine afresh the debate among evolutionary biologists over whether cases of altruism might indeed exist. The rare interaction occurred while I was working as a wildlife biologist with the Anne Kent Taylor Fund (AKTF). I was observing elephants injured as the result of poaching activities, as part of AKTF efforts to document life-threatening injuries and to monitor mortality rates. The injured elephant was missing the tip of his trunk, which had been severed by a snare. The wound seemed to be new, for the victim was 'sucking' repeatedly on the tip of his trunk, and behaving in an agitated manner. What happened next is perhaps the most interesting interaction I have yet witnessed in nine years of visiting the Mara.

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