The 17th of October 2014 will be a day that I will remember forever. Being out in the field as often as we are, the opportunities and possibilities are endless, anything can happen at anytime.
Before each drive, myself and tracker Richard will discuss a plan and more often than not our plan will change with the unpredictability of the African bush. It is one of the many reasons I love what I do.
As a guide I have a wish list as I’m sure many guides do, things I would love to see, rare sightings I’d love to witness during my guiding career and I have been fortunate enough to tick off a few over the last few years. Having said that, every now and then we have sightings that no words or pictures can describe.
This afternoon’s events were just one of those moments. Myself and guest Irene Nathanson headed out on game drive. Irene has been visiting Londolozi for the past couple of years and is always a joy to have on drive. She loves her photography and takes some fantastic pictures.
As we were leaving for game drive we were discussing our plan for the afternoon, the Sparta pride had been found in the morning and so we decided to try our luck and see if we could find them.
About 45 minutes into drive we were heading down a road called Circuit South when we stumbled upon a breeding herd of elephants and from a distance myself and Richard could see that something was not quite right. The herd seemed unsettled but there were no obvious clues as to why. They scattered running in all directions so we stopped the vehicle, switched off and observed from a distance. After a while the elephants seemed to relax and started feeding. We started the vehicle and began approaching.
There were about 40 elephants all together, spread out over about 200 meters. We were watching one of the larger females feeding when we noticed something clearly was going on. There was plenty of rumbling noises between the herd and we noticed that even though they were feeding they were not completely relaxed… Richard and I were confused as to why.
I picked up my binoculars and started scanning the herd when I noticed that one of the females looked uncomfortable and awkward. This female was not eating and was walking from side to side and back and forth. A closer look with the binoculars revealed that there was a massive bulge below her tail. I showed Irene and Richard and the thought occurred to me that perhaps she was going to give birth, a big call to make. This behaviour of the herd and the large female is something I have never witnessed before.
This particular female was more vocal than the others to the extent that she let out what sounded like a squeal, a roar and a rumble all at the same time. Within seconds the rest of the herd came running from all over the clearing. Once they approached her, they continued to rub their bodies against hers and kept on touching her with their trunks. Even though we cannot understand what they were saying, you could definitely feel it.
The female was constantly moving from side to side and the other members of the herd stayed right by her side. The adults surrounded her and constantly made sure she stayed right in the middle of the group at all times.
The elephant then reversed out of the herd and we noticed what looked like orange jelly dangling from her back legs. This is the amniotic sac which protects the baby during pregnancy. We had all been discussing what we thought was happening and when we saw this sac it was the moment we realised that we might in fact see something that is seldom witnessed in the wild…
The elephant birth was going to happen sooner rather than later.
I immediately reached for my camera but after a couple of minutes chose to put it back in my camera case and observe this sight instead. I knew that if I was to see an elephant give birth, the memory in my head would be more vivid than any picture could ever capture.
After about 20 minutes of the female moving around and pushing, we saw the calf’s feet appear and we all knew it was not long until the baby would drop. The female moved around in circles for a couple of minutes before she gave one last push and the baby dropped to the ground…
It was incredible to see the reaction from the rest of the herd. All the adults surrounded the calf and began touching it with their trunks – almost as if to welcome the new born into herd and to make sure it was fit and healthy. The adult started kicking sand and dust onto the calf which I am sure was to absorb the afterbirth…
You could see how each adult tried to help the calf to its feet using their trunks and feet. It took about 13 minutes for the calf to stand although very wobbly the calf’s first instinct was to suckle from mom.
We managed to find the herd the very next day again and were all delighted to see the new family member.
The most amazing part of this whole experience was not only watching the elephant being born but to see how caring and compassionate the herd is towards one another. It was a beautiful sighting and I am thankful to the herd for allowing us to view this special moment.
Written by: Trevor Ryan McCall-Peat
Photographed by: Irene Nathanson
What has been your most special wildlife moment? Share in the comments below.
Incredible sighting. Getting goosebumps just reading about it.
What an AMAZING experience to watch Mother Nature and even more so that the herd allowed you to!! I’m sure it will be imprinted in your mind FOREVER!!!! A most breathtaking experience – thanks so much for sharing and thanks Irene for the pics in the midst of what must have been the sighting of a lifetime!!!
I had to have something to share from that moment. They aren’t the best but Trevor’s words fill in the gaps
Amazing sighting Trevor, thanks for sharing.
Wow! That was an experience your guests (and you) will never forget! Terrific post and pics.
So fantastic. I watched a documentary about Ellies and they said the kicking of the sand and dirt on the newborn is to mask it’s scent from predators. I thought that made perfect sense!
Just incredible! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing moment with us Trevor and Irene. Elephants are so caring to each other…really beautiful. Definitely a memory for a lifetime.
Trevor did a wonderful job capturing what we experienced. I was torn between watching and photographing. I did a little of both. It truly will a moment that will be remembered forever.
I have a video (shot by Freddy Ngobeni from the tracker’s seat with my small Olympus camera;.) Talley, Freddy, myself. Last morning drive on the 12th day of my visit to Londolozi. Watching a breeding herd of elephants. They slowly gathered, turned, and surrounded the vehicle. Gogo Mo said they were saying aloha to me. The video doesn’t ‘want to upload to this site’ so I don’t know how to let you see it. But is certainly an emotional highlight for me from all my visits to Londolozi.
Thank you! to Trevor, for writing this post, to Irene for the pics, and to the ellies- for being the beautiful majestic creatures (and teachers) that they are.
Truly a beautiful sighting and experience to have witnessed..
Thank you Trevor and Irene, I wish I could have been on the vehicle with you, what an amazing sighting to have been a part of.
Simply love this. How lucky you were to witness such emotion.
Trevor….I definitely asked to see an elephant birth last month! Delivery a little late but very cool!
Oh that was just so special. Your write up says it all Trevor. You will NEVER forget that moment and I hope that you get to see another one as these beautiful ellies are so caring of each other & the little ones <3 Thank you Irene for the pictures
I heard a presentation last night about young girls giving birth in the Sadan.They are not allowed to cry out and have no one with them.
We can learn a lot from Mother Nature!This must have been amazing.
So cool, only hope to see that one day!