Murky waters are an essential gamble that every wild animal has to risk. Dangerous animals could be lurking there, but having a drink on a hot day is essential to survival.
Michael Schreiner caught this elephant family on video off the S100 road in the Kruger National Park. The herd was going for a drink at the Nwantsi River, which meant they’d have to take extra care of their young.
Down To The River
The whole elephant herd was making their way down to the water’s edge as a group so that they could make sure their young were protected. They had a tiny baby elephant tucked away behind the adults.
There were some older children with them as well, but these were already big enough to support the adults with their defense of the baby rather than needing protection themselves.
It wasn’t clear if the elephants knew the crocodile was there until they got closer to it, but it seems safe to assume that they’d have kept more distance between them if they’d spotted it earlier.
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Protecting The Vulnerable
The crocodile might have been just as surprised to see a herd of elephants as they were to see it. It was probably even more surprised when they started throwing water at it as well.
A group of adult elephants might not have been completely comfortable with a crocodile so close, but they wouldn’t have needed to take action to scare it away. Having the young calf with them changed all of that.
A crocodile of this size wouldn’t have been able to bring down an adult elephant, but the calf was small enough to be vulnerable to predation. Its only hope of surviving an attack would be through the protection of the adults.
Choosing The Right Battles
The wise crocodile didn’t fancy its chances against an entire herd of elephants, and decided to move on. An inquisitive young elephant watched the croc slink away back into the water.
Unfortunately for the elephants, crocodiles are just as dangerous in the water as they are out of it, and just because the croc was leaving didn’t mean they could let their guard down.
The escape route the crocodile had chosen took it right past the bulk of the herd, and the elephants spread themselves out carefully to maintain a protective aegis around their calf.
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Effective Tactics
Being one of the largest land animals on the planet gives elephants an intimidation factor just by existing. On top of that these elephants were using every trick they had to try and get the crocodile to hurry on its way.
Flapping their ears out wide to make themselves look even larger, raising their trunks in the air to the same effect, and then splashing the croc repeatedly to annoy it into leaving.
Even if the crocodile had been eyeing up the calf as a potential meal before, it certainly wasn’t thinking about it for long. Sometimes food just isn’t worth the hassle, and the crocodile swam away in search of easier snacks.
