Large national parks across the globe rely on tourist revenue from safaris and luxury housing rentals to protect and care for their animals and the land they live on.
However, it may be difficult to witness people standing by, gawking for their own enjoyment, while animals are at their most vulnerable.
Though not everyone was pleased with the visitors in this video from Botswana’s Chobe National Park, they were nonetheless awestruck by the moment an elephant gave birth to her calf in the midst of her herd.
As the procession passed, the elephants appeared to be watching and grazing. And based on the way one elephant appeared at the time, a park ranger must have known she was ready to give birth.
And, given that elephants may be pregnant for up to 22 months, it’s possible that someone knew she was expecting.
It’s unsurprising that rangers permitted visitors to pause and observe, but several have commented that a little more distance would have been preferable.
Guests in the caravans witness the amniotic sac being released while cameras are turned on. It’s unusual for elephants to give birth during the day, which makes this an even more unusual sight.
“Wild elephants normally give birth at night. It is believed this is to provide them with an undisturbed environment. A female in labor has been known to make attempts to interrupt the birth if it is occurring during the day or early dawn.”
But mom was definitely ready!
There’s a bit of tumbling for the baby since mom was standing on a small hill, but since a calf can weigh 200 to 320lbs at birth, they’re heartier than your average newborn. Still, what a way to come into the world!
Mom immediately rushes over to her newborn to cradle it close to her. Mothers will sniff and blow on a calf as they bond with it.
As the rest of the herd gathers around her, we see just how important the birth of a calf is to the entire community. And there’s always at least one adult elephant keeping an eye on the onlookers at any given time.
While the poster’s caption stated that they witnessed a “Post birth celebration and protection from potential prey by the elephant herd…” it’s possible that the protection the elephants thought they needed was from the humans nearby.
Despite this, no one interfered with the situation other than to record it, which is a good thing because this elephant does not look to be fooling about! The herd naturally allowed the mother a wide birth while she delivered her calf, but as soon as she trumpeted the good news, the others raced over to create a protective circle around the baby!
What appeared to be a herd of about 4-5 elephants turns out to be considerably larger, with ten elephants forming a circle around the mother, allowing her to focus exclusively on her newborn baby.
𝙴𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 “𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜” 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚢𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢.
It’s typically for a newborn calf to be able to stand within an hour of its birth and start walking the same day. Once it can stand, it can nurse, which it will do for about 4 years before weaning!
Incredible, right?
That in and of itself was spectacular, but perhaps even more captivating was how her herd reacted to the birth. The independent mom walked herself through the seemingly easy childbirth, but within moments of her little one tumbling out of her tummy, the herd did the most beautiful thing.
