We had a wonderful elephant sighting a couple of days ago: two elephants taking a break and drinking at a water hole. It was such luck for the guests to witness such a “postcard” event, and that so close-up.

The 2 elephants (one a mother, the other a relatively young offspring) were very kind to each other, and clearly enjoyed the refreshment.

The elephant herd is not always together, they sometimes split into 2 groups, and join each other again some days later on. This is a behavior that is being studied in Africa, as the social fabric of elephant herds is very complex. So much is still to be learnt about them.

While elephants are in general not acutely under threat anymore, several sub-species (if they are, there is controversy there) are now under very imminent danger of extinction, mainly in Western Africa. That’s a criminal shame!

Our elephant herd is doing very well, and has been growing in size over the years. We are quite close to introducing a further 10 elephants to the reserve, as we need more grazers. Elephants are paramount in “clearing” the bush, making space for more bio-diversity, and more hunting opportunities for rare carnivores. Nature is one circle, if you take on element out, it has knock-on effects throughout the entire ecosystem.

Soooo … here the photos! Enjoy! 🙂

I will hand Uyai a new camera in a few days, so the quality of the shots will improve in the near future.