As you enter the Textron Elephant & Giraffe Pavilion at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence RI, you are immediately greeted by the 2 maitre'd as they lean in to know who you are. They are the living look out towers of the Savannah from which they came and take seriously their responsibility of watching for those who may wish them and their charges harm. 

We share 98% of our DNA with these living skyscrapers.

They are endangered. Their population has declined by more than 50% in the past three decades due to habitat loss, illegal hunting, and human-wildlife conflict.