Africa Wild

Very unique indeed, even if not necessarily pretty.

Rebecca Morelle further quoted Mike Chase; “Already the two-to-three-month-old calf seems to be walking in the shade of its mother. This behaviour suggests it is aware of its susceptibility to the harsh African sun, and adapted a unique behaviour to improve its chances of survival”. He added, “I have learned that elephants are highly adaptable, intelligent and masters of survival.” I fully agree with this!

Clever calf!

not the best to wear... an albinos costume

maybe will have some problems later... with eyes

for posting

Adorable baby elephant can’t control his trunk.

This baby elephant has just become aware of a very important feature – his trunk.
However, getting to grips with his appendage appears to be trickier than it looks.

As the little one follows its elders, it can barely walk as its unruly trunk swings from side to side and spins around.

The adorable clip even shows the frustrated animal trying to step on its trunk in an attempt to control it.

The funny video was filmed by Mario Paul in the Pretoriuskop region of South Africa’s famous Kruger National Park.

Usually, visitors are treated to more dramatic displays of animal prowess while on safari. Yet it’s the little glimpses of the funnier sides to life in the park that are often the most memorable.

https://youtu.be/1EXrLyuDkl8

cute little thing

but it seems they are a bit too near from the herd

Yes, Nan they are

Brilliant!

A change in attitude toward elephant riding

After years of advocacy and investigation, the National Council of SPCAs' efforts to reveal the truth behind elephant rides or elephant-back safaris is paying off through public awareness, pressure, and impact.

kolibri5 via pixabay

Manager of the NSPCA’s Wildlife Protection Unit, Inspector Isabel Wentzel, believes that factors influencing tourists (especially from overseas), tour operators and public opinion generally include the NSPCA exposé of cruel, inhumane and totally unacceptable training methods in South Africa. “Until we published photographs and irrefutable evidence that this was happening in our own country, there was a misunderstanding. It was generally thought that such methods were only used in Asia. Not so. From then on there was a ripple effect and a general reaction against elephant riding which continues and the consequences are now being felt by the industries who operate them.”

Many tour operators will no longer bring tourists to reserves where elephant-back safaris take place. This appears to be a general movement against elephant riding as it is now commonplace that tour operators determine whether such activities take place before making bookings.

“Money talks. When bookings are lost on ethical grounds because of people’s recognition that an activity is simply not acceptable, change does occur. We know that other facilities offering elephant riding are being adversely affected.”

The NSPCA policy is that wild animals belong in the wild. Travel publications and airline magazines were approached to explain that there is no quick, easy or humane way to “train” elephants to accept humans riding them, nor to “tame” wild elephants often forcibly removed from their herds, in itself inhumane and unacceptable. The NSPCA shall remain steadfast on this issue and will continue to motivate ethical tourism and humane practices.

I rode them a few years back, a Zimbabwean outfit moved down to here. They went to great pains to indicate that they used a different method of training, rewards based or something.

Must check that!

They probably told a lot of lies, like they did in India