Mother Elephants and Their Calves, Serengeti National Park

Mother elephants keep their calves protected inside the herd.

Mother elephants keep their calves close to them.

Elephant mothers are extremely protective of their calves.  They keep their calves close to them.  They are often helped by their other daughters or sisters.

On my recent safari we saw how upset a mother can get when she is separated from her calf.  I don’t know how it happened, but we were watching a small herd cross in front of us when one of the elephants started trumpeting bloody murder.  She ran back toward where she and the rest of the herd had been just moments before.  Then we saw this little one running toward her.  She let that little calf know in no uncertain terms that it better never fail to follow her again when she and the herd moves on.  It was a very clear tongue-lashing.

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