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Loxodonta africana
We had been following signs of this herd for a while and they were obviously in a playful mood, pulling up saplings but not eating them. We found them in a creek having a bathe followed by a group hug. The last three pictures are of a youngster who found a particularly large pile of dried grasses to burrow in.
These were in an area of private game lodges which was a mixture of light woodland and savanna. This being early spring, a lot of the under brush was being burnt off.
8 Comments
Congratulations Mel on the nomination. Love the series!
Beautiful series, Mel. I've had three heart-stopping moments with elephants, and the first photo here reminds me of them. Two were mock charges, but the third was serious. Magnificent animals that are really big and fast when they want to be!
"Brave" people get tramples and mauled. You got some terrific pictures. Thanks again.
Many thanks for your comments. The herd was quite boisterous and not being a very brave person, was a bit wary when they all came back up from the river in a big group!. I will post a second sequence of the same sighting.
Hi Mel. Congratulations on the well-deserved nomination for SOTW. That had to be something to see this group up close and personal. Thanks again for sharing.
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated Mel!
The group hug! What a great picture!
I don't think I'd want to challenge "Dad" too much in regard to his family :-) Great series Mel. Glad you got to see these elephants. Nice shots of the "teen-ager" goofing around. Thanks for sharing Mel.