“Young royalty is protected behind pillars and trunks. Its world is guarded and small, but its future is huge”- Heinrich van den Berg
A newborn elephant finds its strength before lifting its small body and attempting to take its very first steps. Photograph by Amy Attenborough
For me there are no better words than Heinrich van den Berg’s to describe the scene we witnessed recently of a newborn elephant attempting to take its first steps amidst the melee of its herd. We watched the elephants perform the dance of birth where they pirouetted in tight circles around themselves and waltzed around each other to the music of their rumbling.
As is typical of elephants, there was great ceremony to the occasion and the herd were there to support the mother after her 22 month long pregnancy. As they jostled around the baby I kept stressing that it was about to be trampled, but their movements were gentle and controlled, and the baby bounced amongst them on new-found feet. They helped the mother to bury the afterbirth and spent a large amount of time dust bathing themselves and the baby, possibly to rid it of scent and thus prevent predators from smelling this vulnerable new creature. They also touched their trunks to it tenderly, taking turns to greet the new member of the family, all the while rumbling in the deeply comforting way that speaks to elephants and humans alike.
A newborn elephant seeks the comfort and safety of its mothers presence. It will often sprint beneath its mother as she moves so that her giant legs protect it from the dangerous new world it finds itself in. Photograph by Amy Attenborough
The video below shows how the elephants help to lift the baby to its feet, whilst barricading it from the dangers of the outside world. It is amazing to think that this tiny, defenceless creature will one day be one of Africa’s giants- roaming this beautiful wilderness. It was an incredibly touching scene to witness and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Due to the relaxed nature of the elephants we see here on Londolozi, this is not the first time something like this has been seen. A few years ago, one of our rangers managed to get video footage of a female elephant actually giving birth, whilst others have even been privileged enough to watch a birth from the comfort of their room in camp.
We have also seen strange herd make ups that suggests the female could have given birth to twins. This is incredibly rare and only been recorded a few times in the wild. Have you ever seen an elephant birth or known of an elephant that gave birth to twins? We’d love to hear about your thoughts or experiences.
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Amazing video. A very special experience
Amazing Amy ! Thank you for sharing, can’t wait fir our next experience
Wonderful moment captured. I definitely wouldn’t mind coming back to this earth as an elephant!
Thanks for a great start to our day Amy
Gee Amy I see what you mean about being concerned that the adults might step on the newborn. They do seem overly fidgety around and over the calf.
What a wonderful sight to see, so envious.
Amazing…only wish I could have been there. Thank u. Ann
Fantastic video and sighting. Seems like it would be difficult for the little one to keep up with the herd.
Hi Brian. You’re a hundred percent right. It does take the calf a while to build the strength to stay with the herd. Although they did slow down their movements, this calf and mother was seen lagging a bit behind the herd a few days after its birth. It definitely needs more time to sleep and rest but no need to worry as its mom was close by at all times!
Can’t wait to share it with the grandkids – they look forward to your posts, just as we do. How far back were you to take this in? The elephants are very comfortable with your presence even at such an intense time in their lives. Best, Bev
Hi Bev. I did have my 100-400mm on my camera, which meant that we could get this footage whilst maintaining a respectful distance. I was also very careful approaching the herd as I also thought they may be edgy but they payed us no attention whatsoever and ended up moving closer towards the vehicle. Really fantastic to be allowed into the family celebrations.
Thank you Amy that was an amazing story & video! Yes I see what you mean they looked like they would step on it any minute, but touch it so gently – wow! We humans could learn from that moment <3
The unspoken caring and love is so touching. The rumbled give me goose bumps!
Agreed Mary. It’s my favourite sound in the bush!
It’s so touching how they all look after and protect the calf. What a wonderful sighting Amy, thank you so much for sharing!
Fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing.
Amy, thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing! The world is so blessed to have these magnificent creatures.
Fabulous.
Amazing story Amy, what an incredible sighting to witness. I have never seen such a sighting but have witness a new born elephant only days old stumbling along behind its mother.
This is such a rare sighting to see, absolutely beautiful Amy…