You never know what you
are going to see in the
Kruger!
This series of photos was taken in Nov 2009 although a little more recently only shared via social media. It shows the birth of a baby elephant in the Olifants River in the Kruger National Park.
The lucky Kruger Park visitor to witness this special moment was driving north from Satara to Letaba and stopping on the high water bridge - one of the few on which you are able to get out of the car on, noticed the ellie giving birth down below. Apparently, the mother seemed confused at first - possibly indicating that she was a new mother, but was soon assisted by an elder "aunt". The water was not very deep (approx 1/2 m) but as the baby could not stand initially, the new mother and aunt worked continuously, using their feet and trunks, to keep the babies head above the water. During this time, the other ellies formed a protective circle around the new baby.
About 25-30 minutes later, the baby was able to gain its legs and about 40 mins later was able to walk gingerly out of the water with the ellie herd. Mom can be seen in one of the pics below smoothing out the river bank to make it easier for baby to exit.
There are very few recorded and witnessed elephant births and no previous record can be found of them giving birth in water specifically.
It is not known whether this is an unusual occurrence or just an unusually lucky and rare sighting of something not witnessed by many previously
The lucky Kruger Park visitor to witness this special moment was driving north from Satara to Letaba and stopping on the high water bridge - one of the few on which you are able to get out of the car on, noticed the ellie giving birth down below. Apparently, the mother seemed confused at first - possibly indicating that she was a new mother, but was soon assisted by an elder "aunt". The water was not very deep (approx 1/2 m) but as the baby could not stand initially, the new mother and aunt worked continuously, using their feet and trunks, to keep the babies head above the water. During this time, the other ellies formed a protective circle around the new baby.
About 25-30 minutes later, the baby was able to gain its legs and about 40 mins later was able to walk gingerly out of the water with the ellie herd. Mom can be seen in one of the pics below smoothing out the river bank to make it easier for baby to exit.
There are very few recorded and witnessed elephant births and no previous record can be found of them giving birth in water specifically.
It is not known whether this is an unusual occurrence or just an unusually lucky and rare sighting of something not witnessed by many previously
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