At Addo Elephant Park in South Africa, a lucky viewer captured the magical moment when baby and mother reunited with father and older sibling.
Joan Young, who posted the video, says there were hundreds of elephants in the park, and she couldn't understand how the family was able to recognize each other.
It turns out that elephants have a variety of ways to call and identify clan members. They can detect vibrations and use acoustic, visual, tactile and chemical signals to communicate.
They're also highly social animals with close family ties, according to elephant behaviorist Dr. Joyce Poole of the Wild For Life Foundation.
And unlike some reunions you may have attended, this one seemed to have no family drama at all. Enjoy.
Source
Note: The Addo Elephant National Park is located in the dense Eastern Cape Bush of South Africa. It offers visitors spectacular elephant viewing in a malaria free environment.
The park is currently home to more than 550 elephant as well as:
Cape Buffalo
Lion
Black Rhino
Various antelope species such as Eland, Kudu, Red Hartebeest etc
Warthogs
And of course the flightless Dung Beetle which is exclusively found at Addo.
Joan Young, who posted the video, says there were hundreds of elephants in the park, and she couldn't understand how the family was able to recognize each other.
It turns out that elephants have a variety of ways to call and identify clan members. They can detect vibrations and use acoustic, visual, tactile and chemical signals to communicate.
They're also highly social animals with close family ties, according to elephant behaviorist Dr. Joyce Poole of the Wild For Life Foundation.
And unlike some reunions you may have attended, this one seemed to have no family drama at all. Enjoy.
Source
Note: The Addo Elephant National Park is located in the dense Eastern Cape Bush of South Africa. It offers visitors spectacular elephant viewing in a malaria free environment.
The park is currently home to more than 550 elephant as well as:
Cape Buffalo
Lion
Black Rhino
Various antelope species such as Eland, Kudu, Red Hartebeest etc
Warthogs
And of course the flightless Dung Beetle which is exclusively found at Addo.
VIDEO
Amazing !
so cool!
Thanks for sharing..luv this *~*
Heart warming
It's not the father, the fathers have little to do with the family after mating. That could have been a mother, or a sister, of the ellie with the small baby, or the matriarch of the herd welcoming them back after they got left behind maybe.
Not even a Male .. sheesh!
To the 2 last comments that say that it is not the father, or not even a male. Watch the video again, as to whether it is the father I'm not sure, the greeting the 2 share makes me believe so. As to the sex of the elephant coming from the left of the screen it is a male. 1st of all the size, males are much larger than the females. In watching the video when the elephant after exchanging greetings faces the camera look between the back legs, you'll see his penis (to say it as not to offend anyone). even the baby investigates it.
Linda Smith the size difference doesn't mean the elephant on the left is a male. The smaller female on the right could just be a young mother. In herds (that are ofc all female) the females are often varying sizes due to age difference. There is no physical sign that the elephant on the left is a male at all, we can't know if that's the father or just another, larger female. Personally speaking, the simple fact that the baby ran over eagerly suggests to me that this must be a female relative (one the baby recognizes) as the baby would not know who his/her father is since the male's don't stick around after mating.
The third was more interested in taking a dump, lol!!
Ok, you people have got to watch more PBS or some thing. those are all females except for the smaller guy which had to relieve himself. there are huge folds of skin under the females private parts. when you see them deliver, you will know why. Males will not come to investigate any baby and no mother would let her baby near a male. I would say that is a older matriarch which could be the grandmother to the wee one. For those of you who think that is a male, I sure wouldn't want to see your confusion when you see spotted hyenas.
The two largest elephants are females - you can see their breasts which are located on their chest right inside of their front legs.