This baby elephant chased a giraffe to impress its mother.
Deon’s video clip captures on of those wonderfully comical bushveld moments which displays both the innocence and the growing confidence of young animals.
Baby elephant sees giraffe in the distance
The incredible moment of viewing began when the small elephant spotted a giraffe moving through the bushveld in the distance, and decided to show off a little!
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Young elephants are filled with bravado, and like to explore and test their strength. They even sometimes overestimate their own abilities.
They first begin experimenting with mock charges at a few months of age. These are small, playful displays meant to imitate the serious defensive behaviours of adults.
Having spied the giraffe, the little elephant was determined to take some action. It might have been smaller than most elephants, but then dynamite comes in small packages.
Giraffe starts to run from elephant
With its gaze fixed on the giraffe, it started to charge, ears open and tail in the air. It made a huge commotion as it stormed across the grass.
It was clearly successful in its attempts, as they giraffe started to run to get out of the way.
When a giraffe becomes the target of a mock charge, the result is usually a harmless and humorous encounter. This is because giraffes, although towering and powerful, often prefer to avoid confrontation with an overexcited calf.
At a few months old, a baby elephant might reach around 1.2 to 1.5m at the shoulder and weigh between 200 and 300kg.
As the giraffe sped away, and before the baby elephant could get too worked up, mother elephant started to approach. She was a little more serious than her playful calf. She walked with steady steps and appeared to mean business.
Mother elephant brings calm to the situation
As every elephant calf knows, when Mom enters, it’s time to behave!
The elephant calf settled down, but continued to eye the giraffe, which now stood calm and serene, a statuesque silhouette against the backdrop of the bushveld.
Peace returns to the bushveld
For now, all was peaceful. The mother elephant stayed close by her little one, which had possibly learned an important lesson… that while being small, it had the ability to impact the animals around it, and even get them to run!
However pointless mock charging appears, it hones the behaviour of the elephant for future success.
What was evident from this sighting, was the close bond shared between the mother elephant and her calf. Elephant mothers are known for their protective instincts, guiding calves gently but firmly as they learn how to interpret the world. A mother may allow her calf to explore and test its courage, as long as the situation remains safe.
While elephants are generally calm, a mother is always ready to intervene if she senses danger. In this instance, seeing a giraffe nearby did not alarm the elephant mother. However, she stayed close to her calf… just in case.