Louise at the zoo, version 2

This confrontation between the powerful animal from prehistoric times and the small, fragile but fearless human remains a favourite theme for me.

It's an image that works in many people's imaginations. How can we understand this? Is it the fascination that the animal world holds for us, both close and mysterious in our 'civilised' eyes?

Our ancestors, hunters and gatherers, necessarily needed their protein ration to survive, but they saw it as a natural exchange that was necessary for their survival. There was no such thing as a concentration camp for animals. As the Indian in the film Dead Man says, "My elk family took pity on me. A young moose gave me his life. With my knife I took his life".

We're a long way from that! Let's just imagine what these two, a little girl and an elephant, are saying to each other.