Although elephants are the largest animals to walk the surface of the planet, they start off tiny and adorable, as this newly born calf showed. Spotted in the Kruger National Park, this tiny elephant was just learning to take its very first steps.
JP Meiring caught the calf on camera at Afsaal, on the H3 road, roughly four kilometers north of the Biyamiti bridge, and sent the footage to Latest Sightings. There was a big wide world to explore, and this elephant was just starting to see it.
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Brand New
This little calf was taking great pleasure in its own mobility, as it was still so young that the world around it was a strange and wonderful place. Its tiny trunk was moving enthusiastically as it mastered the art of putting one foot in front of another.
In fact, Meiring reported that the calf’s mother was still visibly exhausted, and blood could still be seen, signifying this calf had been born only moments before.
Amazingly, these animals can start walking within one hour of their birth, and this calf was so shaky that Meiring was clearly capturing its very first steps on camera.
Keeping Up With The Herd
Its movements were ungainly and awkward, but it wouldn’t be long until this calf could keep with the adults in the herd, and until then all the other elephants would assist the mother with raising her calf.
From the bushes where Meiring first spotted them, the mother led her calf out onto the road, crossing to the other side, and giving the calf the opportunity to test its mobility on a nice and flat surface.
The baby elephant balked a little, but with the reassuring presence of its mother, who used her trunk to support the calf when its little legs appeared to be unsteady, it eventually made it across the road safely.
All The New Experiences
In the long grass at the side of the road, the calf looked even smaller. Shorter than most of the bushes, everything around the calf seemed to dwarf it, with the grass being longer than its legs.
It wisely stayed close to its mother for the most part, with its legs still getting used to carrying its weight, there was the chance it might trip and fall at any moment, and in a whole new world there was no doubt much to be afraid of.
The calf knew that its mother meant safety, and so it didn’t leave her side, and was small enough to comfortably walk underneath her, passing between her legs without much difficulty.
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A Strong Start In Life
The calf appeared to be happy and healthy, and with the care of its mother it would grow and thrive. Due to the social structure of elephant herds, this calf would also benefit from the added wisdom of the rest of the herd.
Matriarchal in nature, elephants raise their young collaboratively, with all of the adults pitching in to make sure the calves remain safe, and learn how to interact with other members of the herd.
For Meiring, it was an especially adorable sighting as the calf learned the use of its legs and stumbled about in the bushes, beginning what would hopefully be a long and fulfilling elephant life.