The male African elephant weighs up to 6,000 kilograms and stands about 10 feet tall at the shoulder. As you’d imagine, such a large frame requires a lot of food to fuel its massive body.
As such, much of an elephant’s waking hours are spent thinking about how and where it is going to find its next meal.
In this video, we see a young elephant bull going to disproportionate lengths for a mere morsel.
Elephant emerges
As the video begins, we see a young male elephant coming into view behind his herd mate.
We can tell that it is a male by its rounded forehead. The forehead of a female elephant is much more angular, by comparison.
Judging by the size of its tusks, we can tell that it is still relatively young. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild.
Sniffing for food
As he comes fully into view, we note that the tip of his trunk is close to the ground. As you’d expect, with such a large nose, elephants have a very acute sense of smell.
Subsequently, it seems that his sharp sense of smell has detected something of interest. This, when the elephant suddenly turns towards the tree that he has just passed.
Standing at the base of the tree, the elephant sweeps its trunk back and forth, trying to find the source of the scent.
Sniff higher
However, when he can’t find any further clues, he decides to widen his search… upwards.
Then, as he puts his trunk and tusks to the trunk of the tree, it seems that he has found the source of the tantalising scent.
It is well known that elephants are prepared to go to great lengths to get to food that is out of reach. On occasion, they will push down an entire tree just to get to the tender leaves on top.
Meagre reward
But, in this case, he doesn’t go to such extremes. Instead, he uses his massive bulk and strength to shake the tree.
Consequently, leaves and pods flutter down from above, showering the bull. One has to wonder whether the effort was truly worth the meager reward.
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Another try
It seems that the elephant has the same thought, as he prepares to give the tree another good shake.
As it happens, the fruits of this effort are even more scant than his first attempt. On this occasion, only a handful of pods and leaves fall.
Mere morsel
Realising that he is not going to get much more joy out of this particular tree, the bull lowers his trunk to the ground, sniffing out a tasty treat.
A few moments later, he curls his trunk up towards his mouth. Although we can’t see what he managed to scrounge, we can be sure it is not going to make much of an impression on his huge appetite.
However, it will have to do. After all, every bit counts. We are sure he will continue to find ingenious ways to sate his hunger, even if he has to do it one leaf at a time.