Tree Elephant

As we walk to school I try and get the kids to count the number of animals we see.  This is partly to have them pay attention to the relatives around us, but also to stop them complaining about the cold the whole way.  However, we had to stop for a long debate about whether to count this elephant in a tree.  This elephant is large and was carefully placed.  How did it get up there?  Why did someone put it up there?  Should it count in our daily animal statistics?  It seems like there must be a very interesting story behind the resting home of this noble creature whom we would not even have noticed if we had not been looking for relations.