February 23th 2005, in the afternoon, during safari in the southern peak of Serengeti in Tansania - we have not seen yet many animals. It is hot and probably most of them have settled down in the shade for a siesta.
But suddenly we meet a cow elephant and an apparently recently new born elephant. By looking closely we can see the umbilical cord. On shaking legs the little elephant is standing under the mother’s body, actually disposed dumping again. It shambles back and forth, searches the mother’s dugs, but at last it does not know the right place, yet. The mother fondly and gently touches the baby with the proboscis, tries to boost its firmness and orientation.
We are pretty impressed of the scene’s beauty and only stand on the sidelines.
After a while the mother lays the proboscis on the tusk, and starts walking carefully, by trying to animate the cub by tones or touches to follow them.
The cub careens back and forth, dumps sometimes, but at last it walks under the mother’s body between the front legs. They leave a region full of shrubs and reach an area not that abundantly covered with vegetation.
Again and again the cow elephant makes little breaks, contacts the new born with its proboscis, different sounds whirr around. The cub has not found out yet how to reach the treasured essential breast milk.
We suppose, that both animals are walking back to the herd (an elephant’s birth takes place apart). So we drive up a little bit and soon we can observe the familiy browsing on a small glade. Mother and baby follow slowly and then they appear within the range of vision and smell. Suddenly a deafening trumpeting bursts the silence. The group-leader has wind the cow elephant and the new born. It starts rushing to them, in its tow also a cub, the other family members follow with a thunderous roar.
Mother and baby are surrounded gladly, acclaimed with all kinds of sound, smothered in dust and pushed closely in the middle of the herd. After a long while the herd walks back to the glade- the way of an new born elephant has started.
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