Elephants on Parade

Look out! Look out!
Pink elephants on parade
Here they come!
Hippety hoppety
They're here and there
Pink elephants ev'rywhere
From "Dumbo the Flying Elephant" by Walt Disney

OK so they weren't pink but there were lots of elephants...
This elephant in the Pilansberg National Park was just in the mood, although the female wasn't:Just after I took these pictures the male charged at our safari vehicle and we beat a hasty retreat. As we drove off he raised his trunk and trumpeted something about "bloody paparazzi" and "who do you think we are, Brad and Angelina?"
Kidding aside, elephants can be quite dangerous. A relative of mine was gored to death by an elephant who didn't like the fact that she was too close to a calf.
Most male elephants live on their own, when they are fully grown they are chased away by the other grown elephants to prevent elephant inbreeding.So they go around on their own living the swinging bachelor life (or maybe with another young male or two) and if they come across a herd with a female in heat then they try their luck.

In the right place at the right time

While driving through the Chobe National Park we stopped to admire some hippos. And we would have totally missed this herd of elephants about 100 metres back who came down to the river to drink and have a mudbathThey even had a young calf with them who joined in the fun. I love the way he flattened his ears against his head so he won't get water in his ears.The adults were very protective of him, always keeping him surrounded. I guess even a baby elephant is vulnerable to predators. I couldn't help but remember all those stories about Babar the Elephant that my mother used to read to me when I was small...
After they came out of the water they disappeared into the bush, and about half a minute after that another safari full of tourists came along. By then there was no sign that the elephants had even been there, except for the....

Wanna see more pictures? Check out my other elephant pictures

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