Shot of the Month – April 2017

Another shot for the “Awwwl” Collection.  For those of you not keeping score at home, this collection includes huddling hyraxes, a burrowing owl, loon chicks with mom, and a pika.  This image is a favorite among moms everywhere and is one of my most popular cards.  I photographed this adorable baby elephant in Botswana.

Female elephants live their entire lives as part of a tightly-knit family group.  Life in the herd revolves around breeding and the raising of calves.  A new calf is typically the center of attention for all herd members.  The little one photographed above must be pretty new — it is so small that it could easily walk under the elephant behind it.

Females are ready to breed at the age of thirteen and will give birth after a 22-month pregnancy.  At birth, all of the other elephants will gather around the newborn to touch and caress it with their trunks.  In the video below you can see a herd’s reaction to a newborn.

Soon after birth, the mother will select several full-time baby sitters or “allomothers” from her group.  These allomothers will help in all aspects of raising the calf.  The more allomothers a baby has the more free time the mother has to feed herself and produce nutritious milk, increasing the chances of survival for the calf.  The allomothers also benefit by gaining experience on how to raise a calf which makes them better mothers when they are finally ready to breed.

Here you can see a whole herd come together to help a baby elephant that is stuck in a water hole:

Given all that love and protection, baby elephants seem free to enjoy life.  I have watched them play in rivers and they are just like human children at the beach.  They run and chase each other.  They splash one another and the teenagers knock the smaller ones over – all in good fun.  Check out this little guy (the fun starts around 0:35 seconds):

There is an African proverb that says “It takes a village to raise a child.”  Gee, I wonder where the inspiration for that may have come from?

Until next month…