[ 09.2009 | Heidelberg ]

I have fantas­tic friends and happen to meet extra­ordi­nary peo­ple. one is a keeper of the Afri­can com­pounds in Heidel­berg zoo. thanks to her we were able to hang with zebras and ante­lopes, chat with flamin­gos, and have lunch with the lady ele­phants.

the Asian or Asiatic elephant has its origins in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. the only living species of the ‘genus Elephas’ is the largest living land animal. the vege­tarian mammal eats grass, fruits, and trees– up to 136kg a day. to grind the plants, their oval-shaped and lamella-profiled teeth work by moving in a forward-back­ward motion. the elephant’s denti­tion is unique: their teeth are devel­oped from the back and push forward. they have six sets of molars; and when a tooth is worn out another one replaces it.

being worn out and replaced might also happen to dancing shoes. tango is a Latin-American social dance form that developed at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. the dance, in which couples make sudden pauses in difficult positions between long mostly gliding steps, has quickly become popular and spread internationally.

sources: animals.nationalgeographic.com | eleaid.com | history-of-tango.com