NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

They babysit

Elephant families have a matriarchal head, meaning that an older, experienced lady elephant leads the herd.

A family usually consists of a mother, her sisters, their daughters, and babies (calves).  Occasionally, non-related elephants join to form families. Female family units range from three to twenty-five elephants.

Female elephants (cows) help each other looking after calves. Babysitting other female’s calves is important for elephant development; young females learn how to look after the young, and the calves are shown how it’s done.

The survival rate of a calf greatly increases when more females are present and willing to take care of it.

 

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