It is very difficult to imagine what meeting up-close with the world’s largest, tallest and heaviest animals is like … and no photo does it justice. A 4.5m tall elephant, weighing over 10 tons (that’s truck weight!) is so shockingly awe-inspiring that it leaves quasi all our guests’ jaws dropping when we get close to these gentle giants.
And it is one thing to see them grazing and drinking from far, at a lake …
… but seeing them caring for a little baby is quite another …
And then there is this! Very up-close encounters with these truy enormeous animals. You can hear their voices, their breathing, the flapping of their ears … it doesn’t get any more intense than this.
Elephants lead, next to primates, immensely complex and socially rich life structures. It takes an elephant many years to learn the thousands of complex mechanics of social cohesion, survival tricks, and even down to moral values. That is why elephants only raise a relatively small amount of babies over a lifetime. It is a lot of work! And this is something they share with us humans, by the way.
And that’s why elephant mothers are also fiercely protective of their little ones. They are very precious to them. They invest a lot of time, energy and love in raising their little ones, so they try to protect them at almost any cost.
So, when we run into a mother with a baby with her. EXTRA caution! Once they feel threatened … good luck to you!
