Tara and Bella, what are the odds?

We all have heard the expression, a dog is man's best friend. It has been a common expression for who knows how long. Now, we can add the expression, a dog is an elephant's best friend to our list of english phrases. This is because I saw a story about a dog and an elephant being best friends on the news recently. I was shocked and moved at the same time. Tara is a retired circus elephant, that migrated to the elephant sanctuary outside of Nashville, TN. Normally, elephants join each other in pairs. However, Tara instantly befriended a stray dog named Bella. Stray dogs and elephants normally do not mix. This unusual pairing was an anomaly to say the least. A few years back, Bella got injured and could not walk. Tara stayed at the fence near the office where Bella was being nursed back to health. There are over two thousand acres of land on this elephant sanctuary. Tara stayed in one spot the entire time. How devoted is that? Bella was brought out to visit with Tara when she was healthier. Despite her weakness, she got very excited and so did Tara. The relationship between these two animals involved so much trust, that Tara would scratch Bella's stomach, just like a human would scratch a dog's stomach, give or take several tons. However, Tara was very gentle with Bella. Bella eventually was nursed back to health, and was reunited with her friend. Bella was a stray dog though, and there is a high risk factor for the dog being in two thousand acres of land as a stray. I am now referring to Bella in the past tense with great sadness. This morning, through a youtube video of the CBS evening news, I learned that Bella was killed by a pack of coyotes. Tara carried her body a mile. The proof is that Tara had blood on her. A heart breaking story for sure, but the time they had, which was over a decade seemed priceless. Losing a pet is very sad for humans. In this case it is sad for a gentle giant named Tara. She is depressed, but will recover. Believe it or not, other elephants are trying to cheer her up. This is according to the news report. Even the newscaster who covered the story was very upset about this, and could barely hold back tears. Newscasters are used to sad things, but this is a touching situation, so anyone would have feelings for it. I am sure Tara will be alright, despite the void. Death must occur, and there is no escape from it. It is a part of life for any living thing. The ones who experience the loss move on, as I am sure Tara, the gentle giant will.