After walking beneath the bright and hot sun, the chance to cool off in a large body of water is one which many animals would leap at. Even better if the area is clear of any predators, and the animals can completely relax.
For this large herd of elephants, coming across such a large amount of water was the perfect opportunity for them to refresh themselves, but also enjoy the fun of playing.
They had some very young calves with them that would ordinarily be vulnerable, but with the entire herd together, even these baby elephants were able to enjoy the fun of the water.
Everybody Loves A Pool Day
Several elephants hadn’t wasted any time at all climbing into the water where they could enjoy a nice refreshing swim, while the rest of the herd instead chose to rest in the long grass in the background.
The ones in the water had almost fully submerged themselves, but they looked small enough to be mostly calves and adolescent elephants. These youngsters were unable to resist the allure of the pool while the more sedate adults grazed.
A Vital Swim
Eventually the adults and even younger elephants got involved as well. In the warmth of the daytime sun, the opportunity to cool off in the water was an essential part of every elephant’s routine and they were all prepared to take full advantage of it.
One tiny baby elephant was wading through water which reached up to its stomach, while its adult supervision was so tall that the water barely flowed over its ankles.
Clearly not one to let its small size stop it, the little elephant ran through the water, not able to go quite as deep as the others in the herd, but more than capable of frolicking in the shallows.
Fun In The Sun
Frolicking did indeed seem to be the main task of the day, with all of the elephants in the water throwing themselves gleefully around completely regardless of their age.
Many of them were waving their trunks playfully in the air before literally throwing themselves backwards and fully submerging themselves in the water. It must have been wonderfully refreshing for these elephants to shield their skin from the heat of the sun, and have fun at the same time.
As very social animals, events like these help the herd forge those close bonds that will last for their entire lives. Female elephants stay with the herd they’re born in until they die, so for many of these adults, this is a day with their sisters, nieces and nephews.
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Family Bonds
When they get old enough, any male calves will strike out on their own for new herds, but until then all the young elephants are raised collectively by their mothers and aunts. This makes elephant herds very close knit together, but that just makes days like this even more fun.
This herd is a close family enjoying the fun and games that they can have in the water, and as long as they can stay clear from predators, they’ll all go on to have long and fulfilling elephant lives.