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As the largest land animals on the planet, elephants are fascinating creatures. Due to their impressive size, they tend to move with a habitual slowness, but they are capable of shifting quickly when the need arises.
Safari goer Charlene filmed this herd at the Biyamiti Camp in Kruger National Park, as they migrated with a tiny calf in tow. The baby was more than capable of keeping up with the herd, but it lacked their experience when it came to navigating uneven terrain.
Keeping Up With The Herd
The herd of elephants emerged from behind the tall trees after Charlene had started filming. They were moving in a single file when they encountered the steep slope that would contribute to the calf’s embarrassment.
Due to their size and weight, elephants tend to stick to flatter paths, and their careful, ponderous gait helps ensure they’re navigating their route safely and as risk-free as possible.
Seeing the lead elephant start speeding up as it goes down the sharp decline puts one in mind of a runaway car that won’t stop until it hits something, but this big elephant knows what it’s about, and it manages to stop in time.
Whoops-A-Daisy
When compared to the adults around it, the young calf that followed next in line, presumably alongside its mother, might have been more like a toy car speeding its way down the hill composed of sand or loose dirt.
Luckily, the soft sand may have cushioned the calf’s fall, as it apparently did not have the wherewithal to slow itself down before it crashed face-first into the ground.
Impromptu Parkour
This was no simple flip, either, as the little elephant managed to slip and slide its way into a sideways barrel roll that almost took out the adult elephant that was coming behind it.
Elephant herds raise their young cooperatively, so although it’s likely that this adult was the calf’s parent, that’s not always the case. It’s also not clear whether this elephant threw out its front feet to stop the calf rolling, or if it just got tripped up.
Either way, it did manage to stop the calf before its fall turned into something potentially harmful, rather than simply embarrassing. The little elephant was up and running again as if it had never fallen.
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Just Pretend It Never Happened
Thankfully, the calf appeared to be entirely unharmed and, if anything, had more of a spring in its step after the little tumble. It raced alongside the adults and even sped ahead of them to the front of the column.
Elephants are hardy animals, and their calves uphold that reputation. They’re capable of standing up and walking only hours after birth, and after only a few short days, they’re migrating with the rest of the herd.
This one wasn’t going to let itself lose face over something so trivial as a little somersault, and to prove it, the calf surged ahead, leading the herd like nothing ever happened.