This is a photo of the Matriarch – the big female centre left – who leads the herd. She has just indicated by turning away from the waterhole and issuing a long low rumble that it is time to move on. Dutifully her daughters with their young have begun to line up behind her and she is patiently waiting for a group of ‘teenagers’ who are still have a great time in the water climbing on top of each other and having little sparring matches that always end up in a mountain of splashes and trumpet’s of delight. She is, however, only prepared to wait so long and a second low rumble has an immediate affect on the youngsters who begin to emerge from the water. Herd assembled the Matriarch sets off up the bankside.
You know that elephants have a long gestation but did you know that a calf stays with its Mother for 3 years? This is partly for protection and to suckle but mainly so that the youngsters can learn how to manipulate their trunks. This highly flexible limb has over 60,000 muscles and elephants are not born with an innate ability to use the trunk but must learn by watching and copying their mothers.
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