African Elephant, ‘Everlie’ (Softie Collection by Douglas Cuddle Toys)

Review and images by aLeahgator; edited by bmathison1972

Few animals are as iconic of Africa and Asia as the elephant. Elephants are considered as intelligent as primates and cetaceans, and they are easily recognizable because of their large ears and long trunk. African elephant ears have been said to be the shape of Africa, and Indian elephant ears the shape of India. Though they are the favorite animals of many people, elephants are endangered because of ivory poaching for raw material exported to greedy Asian companies, and habitat loss to farmland.

Finding Everlie at a gift shop near me about a year ago was a lovely surprise! Everlie is part of the Douglas Cuddle Toys “Softie” collection; being made of a special, flexible kind of fabric with very fine plush and ultra-soft stuffing. She is about 10″ long in size, and 8″ tall.

She is clearly an African elephant, from the shape of her body and large ears, but which one? African bush elephants are bigger, lighter in colour, have curved tusks that grow away from each other, larger ears with pointed lobes, and possess 4 toenails on the front feet and 3 on the back feet. Forest elephants, on the other hand, are smaller, have a darker skin colour, and have 5 nails on the front feet and four on the back feet. Their ears are smaller, rounder and the tusks grow downwards in a straighter line. Everlie’s skin is very light gray, almost silver, and she has four toes on each foot. Her tusks are also curved away from each other. (Their small size might also support a female gender) These features suggest an identification of a bush elephant. However, her smaller size, rounded ears and skinnier physique might suggest identification as a forest elephant.

Most of her body is made from a silver-gray plush material. Two short, but slightly curved tusks, made of an ivory-colored material, are attached to the sides of her trunk. She has large amber-colored eyes that remind me of the exact shade of tiger-eye stone, although they are largely obscured by the plush material. This gives her a wise, gentle, almost squinty look. The inside of her ears, her toenails, the soles of her feet, and her trunk tip are made from a darker gray, almost suede-like material. Her tail is capped with a fringe of black fur. She has plastic beans in her hindquarters and front feet. Her toenails are accented as well with the suede material and have a “scalloped” appearance. She is extremely soft and squishy and pleasant to touch.

For a plush toy marketed toward children, this is quite a realistic depiction of an African Bush Elephant or Forest Elephant, considering that most elephant toys are somewhat ambiguous as to whether they are African or Asian. I find her to be a great companion for on-the-go. Everlie is available on Amazon and from Stuffed Safari.