African Elephant

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Flutterby
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African Elephant

Post by Flutterby »

Elephant rescues calf from hyenas

By Jo Sayer
08/05/2012

THIS is the moment a protective mother elephant fought off a pack of savage hyenas attacking her calf.

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During the bloody encounter with up to 18 hyenas the vulnerable baby - who had been momentarily separated from the herd - had its tail BITTEN OFF.

The distressed youngster was photographed cowering under its mother as the snarling beasts continued to circle.

A startled safari group – alerted to the sound of shrieking elephants - witnessed the furious mum stampede the snarling pack, repeatedly kicking out her feet and swinging her trunk to disperse them.

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Several trees were left uprooted in her wake.

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The brutal confrontation took place in the Linyanti bush, Botswana and began when 18 hyenas surrounded two female elephants and their babies, before a smaller group managed to separate one of the calves.

While the mother charged them, the larger pack pounced on the lone baby and proceeded to bite and claw at it whilst jumping on its back.

Guide James Weis, of the tour company Eyes of Africa, witnessed the angry elephant's mothering instinct kick in as it leapt to the defence of its child.

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James, 50, recalls “It wasn’t alone for more than 10 seconds when the mother returned and was even more angry.

They were playing a dangerous game because had one hyena got in the way of her it would have been flung through the air like a beanbag.

She charged after the pack and was knocking over trees like they were matchsticks and the hyenas fled and scattered in a cloud of dust kicked up by the mother.”

Despite losing its tail, the baby elephant lived to fight another day.


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Flutterby
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Re: Amazing animal interaction (get your tissues, girls)

Post by Flutterby »

An ellie cooling off in the ocean off Mozambique!! :shock:

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Tuskers of Africa

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Look here for all the latest news on Africa's Big Tuskers.

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Richprins
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Elephant

Post by Richprins »

This Bushcraft pic has been raising eyebrows for a year now!

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Experts seem stumped!

Last reply:

it may be a young bull experiencing his very first "musth" ever...sort of like a teenager discovering his...


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Re: Elephant

Post by Richprins »

Last expert reply also suggests hormonal behaviour, and the Dr said he actually saw an elephant clearly masturbating against the wall of a reservoir at a windmill near Talamati!

(The above pic was near Biyamiti Camp, by the way!)

Have passed on to an even bigger expert!
:lol:


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Re: Elephant

Post by Flutterby »

Here's Dr Ian Whyte's reply:

It is always very difficult to interpret behaviour from photographs. Unless you are there to see it all happen, the interpretation is usually then speculation and conjecture. The obvious one is constipation, but I have never seen this in elephants – it does not seem to be one of the problems they face. My guess is that it is some form of “displacement” behaviour. Displacement behaviours usually occur when an animal is faced with a situation where it may be a bit nervous and is resultantly not sure as to how to behave appropriately. It then does something completely inappropriate, and sometimes these can be rather comical! The elephant in your pics is a young bull. These guys are not noted for their courage, and I suspect that the presence of the car is bothering him. He would like to “see it off” but is not sure how to proceed, so is doing something which in fact is completely irrelevant. I once had an elephant bull approach me down a road. He threatened me in the usual way by flapping his ears and trumpeting, but when I did not back off, he plucked a grass tuft out of the ground and placed it on his head. He then stalked off with grass tuft still perched on his head!



It is impossible to be sure. I have never seen an elephant do the behaviour shown in the photo, so my answer can only be just conjecture.


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Richprins
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Re: Elephant

Post by Richprins »

Beeld article about BC's pic today:

Sorry, Afrikaans only! 8-)


http://www.beeld.com/Streekkoerante/Nuu ... r-20120412


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Mel
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Re: Elephant

Post by Mel »

Richprins wrote:Last expert reply also suggests hormonal behaviour, and the Dr said he actually saw an elephant clearly masturbating against the wall of a reservoir at a windmill near Talamati!
Well, this is one of the different experiences we had in Addo.
We watched this ellie for quite some time and at some point I got the feeling that he was about to masturbate. :oops:
Only got this one photo - I was too stunned while watching what was going on to remember taking more photos...
He did all sorts of weird stuff with his second trunk.

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Richprins
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Re: Elephant

Post by Richprins »

Ja, PRWIN!

That first ellie has caught a snare around its trunk at the bottom...amazing how such sensitive animals can fall into that trap.

Normally it is thin wire designed for much smaller game, but the result is the same.

On the other hand, the damage seems slightly different to the normal, maybe the wire has come off?


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Amoli
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Re: Elephant

Post by Amoli »

While looking at the damaged trunk of the ellie, I do have a question : :oops: :oops:
Does the hole close from the inside with time, Is there no leakage when the Ellie drinks water.


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