Elephant Families
Elephant Families
The majority of the elephants we encountered in both Tanzania and Kenya—and we saw many—were in “Matriarch Herds”—a group of females and calves. We saw very few mature males.
Elephant moms fiercely protect their babies. On more than one occasion, one of the calves would trumpet for some reason, and the whole group of mature females would thunder over and surround the calf.
Note the photo of the mature female greeting a pair of calves with a
“Trunk Bump.” Not unlike the fist bump used in our human society these days! An adult female from another group was returning from the river in the Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. The two young elephants from a different family stick out their trunks in greeting and she “bumps” their trunk with hers.
Read MoreThe majority of the elephants we encountered in both Tanzania and Kenya—and we saw many—were in “Matriarch Herds”—a group of females and calves. We saw very few mature males.
Elephant moms fiercely protect their babies. On more than one occasion, one of the calves would trumpet for some reason, and the whole group of mature females would thunder over and surround the calf.
Note the photo of the mature female greeting a pair of calves with a
“Trunk Bump.” Not unlike the fist bump used in our human society these days! An adult female from another group was returning from the river in the Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. The two young elephants from a different family stick out their trunks in greeting and she “bumps” their trunk with hers.