EmotionsofAfrica

Besides being the largest mammals on the planet, elephants are most likely the most intelligent and caring mammals roaming the African bush. Their strong family bonds are incredible and related females stay together for life in what is called a breeding herd. The gestation period for an elephant cow is twenty two months. For that reason baby elephants are a huge investment not only for the mother but the whole breeding herd all together. This video was recorded during a safari trip in the Kruger National Park. These people came across a big breeding herd of elephants enjoying a mud bath in a wallow. Once all the elephants got out of the mud wallow all their attention was suddenly moved to a tiny baby elephant that remained behind in the wallow. Getting in was rather easy but getting out became a huge struggle for this little female. The video shows how the baby elephant attempts to get out but she is just too short and weak to pull herself up the embankment. As usual the mother was right there but even she herself found it difficult to rescue her baby from the deep wallow. The baby elephant looked in real distress and very clumsy at the same time when she slipped in the mud trying to keep on her feet. At first the mother elephant attempts every possible way to get her little one out. She goes down on her knees while attempting to use her trunk. When that failed she turned around while stretching out one of her back legs, hoping for the baby to use her trunk and grab onto one of her mother’s legs. That tactic also did not work. Then suddenly the baby elephant decides to move down the wallow a little to a place where the embankment was not that steep. Her attempts to get out by herself failed again. Suddenly to everyone’s amazement we see other herd members running towards the struggling mother and her calf. One big female then joined the mother and in a joint effort managed to rescue the baby using their trunks to lift her out. These people were very relieved to finally see the baby elephant get out of the wallow and reunite with her mother. For the poor baby elephant it didn’t end there as she took a knock from her mother’s knee in the face by accident during the rush to move on. She pulled herself together and ran after her mother where she then suddenly tripped and fell. She quickly got up again with great determination and continued running hard to keep up with the herd that was very much in a hurry to leave. This video is a great example of the care and intelligence that exist among elephants and that life as a new baby elephant can be really tough at times.

This footage was captured in a wilderness area of the Kruger Park, South Africa. The love and affection for this cute tiny leopard cub is unbelievable. The mother shows great care for her youngster and she even gives him a few hugs during the video. This little one definitely melted the hearts of many on the safari vehicle lucky enough to witness this, in the wild, right in front of them!

The life of a baby elephant can be tough and a great challenge at times. This video show two baby elephants, one after each other, crossing through a river with the rest of the adults. One can see the effort, courage and determination it took for these youngsters to cross through this river and then up the embankment. A little assistance from the adults were also welcome. Once the struggle and challenge was over, they met up for a quick drink!

Watching any form of life being born into this world is a miracle experience. During a recent safari in the Kruger National Park, I had the rare and special opportunity to witness the very first heartwarming moments of life for a newborn impala lamb in the wild. The adorable attempts of the newborn lamb to take its first steps while learning to walk was just remarkable to watch. Impalas are by far the most prevalent antelope species in the Kruger national Park and that is partly due to their breeding strategy. Even though the impala antelope is the most common prey for most large predators, the birthing strategy of the impala antelope species ensures a relatively large proportion of them go on to survive to adulthood. Impalas combat the pressure from predators by essentially flooding the ecosystem with young that are simply too many for predators to catch them all. At end of November and the beginning December, which is the start of the summer rains, almost ninety percent of all impalas will be born at the same time during a three-to-four-week period. More than half the new population will have enough time to grow strong enough and streetwise enough to evade predators. Even though thousands of impala lambs are born during this period, it is incredibly difficult to witness the birth of or the first moments of life for an impala lamb in the wild. It was during a cool morning while on safari that we came across the remarkable experience shown in the video. While watching a herd of female impala, I suddenly noticed a female that was standing separate from the herd in the distance. The female constantly had her head down and looked intensely occupied by something. I changed the position of the vehicle to get a better look of what was going on. We were absolutely stunned when we saw a newborn baby impala lying on the ground. It was still wet and must have been born literally a few seconds before our arrival. I decided to capture this rarely seen moment. The newborn impala was lying on the ground, looking helpless at first. Being preyed upon by almost every big predator, impalas evolved into being born with their eyes open and are miraculously able to stand, then walk and later on run on their new wobbly legs, all in a matter of twenty minutes. Watching this newborn lamb learning to get up and walk on its new legs was one of the most heart-warming experiences I have seen in the African bush in a long time. During this time the mother can be seen eating the remains of the placenta. Consuming the afterbirth immediately after giving birth is another example of anti predator behaviour shown by the impala, eradicating the scent of their newborn, protecting them against predators. The baby impala struggled for a good ten minutes to get standing on its feet, looking clumsy while falling over a number of times. After one last attempt, the baby impala just managed to hold its balance, standing still while swaying from side to side. After fifteen minutes the transformation was unbelievable. The lamb went from being totally helpless and vulnerable to standing, then walking and eventually running. The running still remained wobbly but at least the lamb was up and going. The impala mother continued licking her newborn, cleaning its skin from the last remains of the afterbirth. The baby impala’s condition improved by the minute and in as little as twenty minutes, the youngster was bouncing around, staying close to mommy while exploring its direct new environment and the art of running. The time spend with this mother and her newborn was incredible and we left them in peace, knowing that the lamb already has a great advantage of survival by being able to run around with its mother. Mother Nature just never cease to amuse.

Baby animals will always have a soft spot in most people’s hearts. Seeing baby animals in the African wild is always a special occasion. It was during a safari in the Kruger National Park that this adorable moment between a lion cub and his father was captured. It was like watching a possible real-life scene from the Lion King movie with Simba jumping on top of Mufasa, looking for attention. We recently had incredible luck on our side during a safari when we came across a large pride of lions resting in the shade. Lions are big sleepers and they can easily spend twenty hours of the day just sleeping, resting and doing absolutely nothing. Part of the pride were three adorable cubs, clearly not looking to go to rest any time soon. While the adults were sleeping, the cute lion cubs had other plans of their own. I remembered as a child the trouble I got into for making a noise while my parents were trying to take their afternoon nap. One male lion cub, who clearly had all the courage in the world or couldn’t care less, decided it was time to go and seek some attention from his father, a big male lion sleeping a short distance away from the rest of the pride. The lion cub carefully approached the King of the Jungle, making us wonder how this whole ordeal was going to turn out. What happened next totally amazed us. The lion cub unexpectedly decided to climb on top of his father, curiously investigating his impressive mane. Still there was not a single response coming from the big male lion. The lion cub sat on top his father, looking very comfortable, thinking of what else he can do to get his father’s attention. The cub decided to get down from his father and thought that cuddling with his father would do the trick. Even after placing his paw on his father’s face, licking him a few times again after, the lion cub realized that he was not going to receive any sort of attention. The cub turned around and started planning his next move while checking to see what was happening with the rest of the pride members. At that very moment the big lazy male lion slowly turned onto his back and continued snoozing with his feet up in the air, acting as if nothing happened. The cub was already so fixated on his new mission that he totally ignored his father and went back to play with the other two cubs. Even though the male lion did not show any sort of response while his son looked for attention, we were amazed by the unconditional patience and acceptance the male lion showed towards his son. With a paw the size of the cub’s head, the father could easily have sent his son flying in annoyance which has happened before. In our opinion this was a sign of true fatherly love as we all knew the big male lion wasn’t really fast asleep all that time and he was well aware of what was going on the whole time.

It is not everyday that you see wildlife casually strolling through the streets of any town or city. When a family of warthogs appeared in the middle of a main road in town, traffic came to a standstill. It was during a recent trip to a remote area of the Kruger National Park that we decided to visit the nearest town that was an hour and a half drive from where we were. Going to town is usually a full day exercise. It was during the holiday season and the town was fairly busy. I am not keen on entering grocery stores so I decided to go and run a few errands of my own. When I approached my vehicle in the parking lot, I suddenly noticed a group of warthogs appearing and disappearing between the vehicles in the parking lot. I could see they were heading straight for the main road that was situated in front of the shopping centre. I was little stunned by what I saw and quickly grabbed my camera from the vehicle. Once out in the open road, I could clearly see that the group of warthogs was made up of a mother and father with their six incredibly adorable piglets. The warthog adults were leading the way across the main road in a very casual manner, either believing they own the place or they have done it many times. All the vehicles coming down the road from both sides stopped to give the warthog family some space to cross the road. Just like me, many people stopped and started filming this rarely seen occasion. It put a smile on everybody’s faces and it was surely a unique and hilarious experience at the same time. The warthog family casually continued feeding into the piece of bush located across the road.

Watching baby elephants in the wild during a safari is majority of the time a very entertaining and rewarding experience. Baby elephants are facing tough challenges on a daily basis which is part of their process in learning all the necessary skills they will need to survive in the African bush. During their first few years of life in the bush, these inexperienced little mammals are adorably clumsy in almost everything they do, much to our amusement. During a recent safari in the Kruger National Park these people stopped to watch a small herd of elephant drinking water. Among all the elephants was a single adorable male baby elephant that suddenly grabbed their attention. This little fellow was attempting to get a drink of water, but reaching it seemed to be an enormous challenge. The embankment of the watering hole was just too high above the water for the <a href="https://rumble.com/v42bkl-cute-video-of-baby-elephant-sitting-on-lap-at-chai-lai-orchid.html" target="_blank">baby elephant</a> to reach and have a drink. The clumsy little elephant then decides to go a little closer to the water down the embankment and manages to slide his front legs down the slope and get his trunk in the water. In this attempt the baby elephant still does not manage to get any water in his mouth to drink. As he moves down into the water a little further, the baby elephant suddenly loses his footing and falls into the watering hole with a big splash. Immediately his concerned and watchful mother is right there for support and she even lifts her front leg so her baby can get back underneath her. <a href="https://rumble.com/v5ao1v-caring-mother-elephant-helps-her-struggling-baby-out-of-river.html" target="_blank">Maternal instinct</a> in its finest! This incident just showed how concerned and caring elephant mothers are and never too far away to assist, no matter how <a href="https://rumble.com/v4m5mz-bear-on-the-swing-falls-adorably.html" target="_blank">clumsy</a> their young might be. After this incident the baby elephant gave up on his attempt to get to the water and moved on with the rest of the herd. One baby elephant can weigh around 200 pounds, which is already too much for an adult human male! Can you imagine what a burden that is to tackle with? It is no surprise that the little calf lost control over its body and fell into the watering hole. Don’t worry little guy, you will get used to it, practice makes perfect! Elephants are incredibly intelligent and emotional creatures, and baby elephants need love and care to thrive just as readily as a human child does. Luckily, it looks like neither of these things are in short supply at Kruger National Park, and we hope that this baby grows up to be happy and strong. When you think of cuddly baby animals that you can hug and squeeze to your heart’s content, a baby elephant might not even be on that list. However, it would seem that not only do these <a href="https://rumble.com/v5bkrd-baby-elephant-wont-let-american-tourist-go.html" target="_blank">tiny giants like to be pet</a>, they would also like very much to lounge in your lap like a puppy! In another video, during a <a href="https://rumble.com/v400sv-cuddling-w-a-baby-elephant-in-chiang-mai.html" target="_blank">visit to a humane elephant sanctuary</a> in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a woman by the name of Carly Nogawski has the fortune of meeting this little ball of love! Meet Nampuu, meaning ‘fountain’ in Thai, a tiny calf and resident of the Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai. Nampuu was born just 148 pounds, which is more than 70 pounds under the average birth weight for an Indian elephant calf, making him widely recognized as a runt. However, what Nampuu lacks in size, he more than makes up for in love. What did you think about this video? Make sure you tell us more in the comments down below. If you like what you see, don’t forget to share it with others who might like it as well. It just might be the highlight of their day! Enjoy!

While enjoying a drink in a local bar, we were totally surprised by the sight of a donkey walking into the bar as if it owned the place. Immediately one of the many ‘donkey in the bar’ jokes came to mind. The only difference here was that there were no jokes to be told, only smiles and laughter, amazed by the real deal playing off in front of us. It was hilarious to see how casual this donkey went about his business in the bar. It was during our last road trip, just before the national lockdown was enforced in South Africa, that we decided to stop at a sports bar located next to a main road, on our way to the Kruger National Park. The sports bar was located on a farm, making for a relaxing environment in nature. We settled down and ordered a drink and lunch. It was not long before we were stunned by the appearance of a donkey. The donkey casually walked in as if it owned the place. It was hilarious to see the donkey stopping next to a counter in the bar and starting to scratch its neck and head against it. None of the people that worked there seemed to be bothered by the donkey just strolling into the pub. Outside the bar were another three donkeys standing. One donkey was braying loudly from the outside, adding to the bizarre atmosphere we experienced in this sports pub. After a good scratch against the counter, the donkey rested his head on the counter for some time, looking very relaxed with its actions in the middle of the public space. After resting his head on the counter, the donkey slowly strolled out again to meet up with the other donkeys. This was definitely one of our most bizarre and funny experiences in a long time. The quick lunch-stop definitely turned out to be a memorable experience for obvious reasons.

Baby elephants are just plain adorable and always a huge favourite among safari goers. This video is a great example of just exactly why, showing how a male baby elephant finds it difficult to get back onto his feet without any real interference. It was early morning in the Kruger National Park and we headed out on our morning safari. At first there were not many animals to see but as the morning progressed, wildlife sightings became more active. Halfway through our morning safari we were surprised by a large herd of elephants standing next to the road busy feeding. It was breeding herd made up of many female relatives and their young. There were a good number of baby elephants also in the herd and we decided to spend some time watching the herd with all the focus mostly on the baby elephants. Everybody was amazed by just how cute the largest land mammal on earth in baby form can be. During the first part of their lives, baby elephants have an incredible number of abilities and skills to learn in order to survive in the African wild. While it can take a baby elephant up to three years to use its trunk to its full potential, walking and standing on their own two feet can also be a challenge as shown in this video. All our attention moved to one specific baby elephant that was lying on its own in front of us in the road. For no particular reason, this baby elephant decided to go lie down on its side right on the edge of the road. We couldn’t really understand the reason for this behaviour but it looked hilarious and so adorable. It looked like the baby elephant was just enjoying lying in the dirt. Once it had enough of playing in the dirt, the baby elephant decided it was time to get back onto its legs. This effort turned out to be more complicated than anticipated by us and the baby elephant. In the attempt to stand up, the baby elephant stepped backwards, stumbling on the edge of the road before falling down onto its knees. We felt sorry for the baby elephant but at the same time we could not help but to laugh at the comical and clumsy display. While sitting on its knees on the ground, the baby elephant made another awkward looking attempt and finally got back onto his feet. The baby elephant looked a little confused, first smelling the soil before giving a few funny looking steps backwards. With a flick of the trunk, the baby elephant turned around and finally started walking properly back to the rest of the herd. It was so amazing to see how a baby elephant on its own, without any other interference, can be so entertaining to watch. We left with big smiles on our faces.

The leopard is one of the most difficult wild animals to find in the African bush. Finding this elusive, solitary big cat in the wild is a truly remarkable experience on its own. Getting to see two leopards together, a mother and cub, was just a priceless experience. I managed to capture a few quick and adorable moments of love, care and playfulness between the female leopard and her cute cub. It was early morning on a safari in the Kruger National Park when we got word of a female leopard that was spotted in a nearby area. Just knowing that a leopard has been spotted in the area you traverse already gets people excited. Tracking down a leopard in the dense and vast bush can be a challenging task. After checking through the whole area thoroughly, we were finally lucky enough to spot the tracks of a female leopard that was walking down the gravel road. The search for the leopardess became even more exciting when we spotted another pair of much smaller tracks. It was clear that this female had a cub with her. With master tracking skills from our professional tracking team, they managed to locate the leopardess and her cub in a dry riverbed after another hour of searching. We were notified of the location and made our way there immediately. On our arrival we were absolutely stunned by the sight of the leopardess and her tiny cub, playing and cuddling around with each other in the sand. We kept our distance and enjoyed the brief visual of these two leopards. The leopard cub seemed extremely playful while running and jumping on his mother, nibbling her ears and lying down next to its mother to be cuddled and carefully licked clean. The mother leopard showed so much love and compassion for her little cub which was really heart-warming to watch. The mother leopard eventually got up and it was time to go. The cub remained playful by running after its mother while attempting to catch her tail. The two leopards slowly moved out of the riverbed and disappeared into the thick bush. We left the two leopards in peace and carried on with our safari. It was just incredible to see such a bond of love between a mother and her cub and we left feeling totally overwhelmed by the whole experience.

It was during a recent safari in the Kruger National Park that I managed to film a big elephant bull letting his inner child out for a moment, hilariously sitting down before adamantly scratching his back side, looking rather awkward. Having lived and worked among the wildlife of Africa for many years, elephants are still by far my favourite animals in the African wild. Being in the presence of the world’s largest land mammal is already an incredible experience on its own. Elephants are almost always active and busy doing something. Watching these giants going about their many activities is just fascinating, with many encounters turning out to be a very entertaining. While baby elephants are adorable and by far the most playful and entertaining members of an elephant herd to watch, there are a few unexpected occasions when the adult members of the herd can surprise you with their child like behaviour. When I came across a herd of elephants standing around a mud wallow, I decided to switch off my vehicle and spend some time watching these giants going about their business. It was an extremely hot morning in the bush and the elephants were splashing themselves with mud in order to cool themselves down. Baby elephants and sub adult elephants would many a time go lie down or even role around in the mud, as getting back onto their feet is also a lot easier. I suddenly noticed a large elephant bull kneeling down onto his back knee before sitting down flat on his back side. To me this looked awkward and hilarious at the same time as you just don’t see big elephants sitting down like a dog. This bull elephant had only one mission in mind and that was to adamantly scratch a serious itch that was just too hard to reach in any other way. The bull elephant was adamant to get rid of his itch and he was moving back and forth on the slippery mud, looking really funny. After enjoying a good scratch in the mud, the bull elephant got back onto his feet without any real difficulty. Seeing such a large elephant sitting down made me think of the trained circus elephants from an era gone by. This elephant bull clearly does not need any trainer or circus to behave in such an entertaining manner. We left the herd to continue with their muddy business while we continued with our safari.

It was straight after the travel restrictions were lifted in South Africa that we decided to go on a two-week break to a remote wilderness reserve, located on the Zambezi River in Zambia. It was a five-day journey to our destination. We were looking forward to a week of wild camping among the wildlife of Zambia which was always going to be a thrilling experience. And so, it turned out to be. Camping in an unfenced area anywhere in the African wild is a thrilling experience but at the same time, while on holiday, you can never let your guard down a hundred percent. While relaxing, one has to stay vigilant at the same time. It was a soon as day two of our camping expedition that we got reminded how dangerous wild animals can be, large elephant bulls in specific. While enjoying a late morning brunch at our campsite, I suddenly heard loud metal banging noises coming from the one side of the camp terrain. The noises continued and I decided to go and investigate. In the distance I saw a few local staff members gathered near the entrance of the camp terrain. I couldn’t believe what I saw and pulled out my phone to start filming. The metal noises I’ve heard was made by a massive elephant bull that was busy on a rampage, destroying another holidaymaker’s vehicle trailer. The elephant looked like it had serious issues with the white trailer. When I arrived, the trailer was already badly beaten up but the destruction continued. The big bull elephant would trample on the trailer, throw it over, trample it again and throw it over again like it was a piece of lightweight plastic. The local staff made an attempt at clapping their hands at the irate elephant bull, but to no avail. The elephant couldn’t care less and continued bashing up the trailer. Only until the very end, the reason for the elephant bull’s behaviour became all too apparent when he opened the front compartment of the trailer and shoved something into his mouth. This elephant bull was not so much angry with the trailer itself, but was adamantly after a bag of maize meal that was stashed in the front compartment of the trailer. The elephant clearly smelled the maize meal inside the trailer and made every effort to get to it. The owner of the trailer was out on safari for the day and we couldn’t do much more either but to watch the elephant bull gobble up the bags of maze meal. The trailer was also a total write off of course.

The giraffe is not only the tallest land mammal on earth but also one of the most beloved iconic symbols of Africa. These majestic creatures are known to be peaceful in manner with an elegant and graceful appearance. With such a great reputation, I have never met anyone that do not love giraffes and seeing them during a safari is always a great highlight. While these facts are true majority of the time, there are still those rare instances and moments when Mother Nature suddenly reveals a whole different side to these creatures that most people have not seen before. I was leading a safari in the Kruger National Park when we came across a large herd of giraffes that gathered on an open plains area. Seeing many giraffes together always attracts a lot of attention. I decided to switch of the vehicle and spend some time watching these fascinating creatures going about their day. I scanned the area and to my one side I saw two males standing closely together in a side on position. While they were just standing there, I realized that these two male giraffes were locked into what is called a necking battle. Giraffes are not territorial and a local status hierarchy develops according to age and size. This is established through the ritual necking encounters among bachelors from an early age. Majority of the time these duels are not violent and seem like a well synchronized elegant dance and the ultimate intention is for one bull to thrust his neck sideways, making well-placed blows with his horns and knobby head on the opponent’s body while the two animals stand head-to-rump. These fights usually end with the youngest or smallest of the two contenders walking away in order to prevent any serious injuries. When two equally matched bulls are contending for an oestrus cow, it becomes a totally different story and things can become seriously violent. When one of the male giraffes started shoving the other male giraffe into a very thorny tree, I realized that this fight was serious and there was nothing elegant or graceful about it. I grabbed my camera and started filming the event. The one bull managed to realize himself from being shoved into the thorns with a neck swing, hitting his opponent on the body with a serious blow. The two giraffes then stood firmly against each other, sizing each other up with a few mocking attempts. I noticed that the fight was intensifying with the dominant bull starting to use a much more dangerous approach than the usual neck sweeping. The dominant bull used short and very quick backward bursts of the head, hitting his opponent between the junction of his skull and spine with his powerful horns. The dominant bull managed to repeatedly hit his opponent on the same spot, causing a serious open wound. The sound of the blows falling was just unbelievable. A few more blows were exchanged when suddenly, one giraffe fell straight to the ground like a bag of potatoes. I was totally stunned by what I saw and realized the fallen giraffe was knocked out clean. What amazed me even more was the behaviour of the dominant bull afterwards. With his opponent lying ‘lights out ‘on the ground, the winning male surprisingly went and stood on his opponents’ body with one foot. It looked like the dominant giraffe took some sort of a victorious stance, celebrating the victory over his opponent. I was totally speechless by what I saw. With all my years living in the African bush, this was the very first time I have ever saw something like this and will remember it forever.

Few animals in the African wild can be more entertaining than baby elephants. During an African safari it is always a great pleasure to spend time with elephants when you do find them. If there are baby elephants in the herd, it is a real bonus and definitely worth spending a little longer watching and admiring these fascinating creatures. To see the largest land mammal on earth in baby form, out in the wild, is one of the great highlights of many safaris. Baby elephants are just plain adorable looking, while their clumsy behavior always provide for entertaining viewing. If baby elephants are found during safari, you can be sure there will be many smiles and heart-warming moments for safari goers. It was a hot summer afternoon when we headed out on safari in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. The best places to find animals during the heat of the afternoon are near and around the watering holes. Animals gather around a few remaining watering holes to quench their thirst during the heat of the day. One species most likely to dominate these watering holes are elephants. It did not take long for us to arrive at the first watering hole. There was a small herd of elephants standing around the water while drinking. We immediately noticed two young elephants in the herd, one which was still a baby. The elephant herd was about to leave the watering hole. The mother elephant took the lead and started walking. The baby elephant was right behind its mother and quickly started following her. After a few steps the mother elephant suddenly just stopped, with her left front foot in the air, looking like she wanted to turn around. In the process, the baby elephant walked slap bang face first into its mother’s big front foot. The baby elephant looked a little bewildered afterwards while the mother elephant looked like she was rather annoyed with both young elephants right behind her. She turned around while making it clear to both little elephants that they now need to start behaving and to get out from under her feet. Once the mother elephant gave each young elephant a push with her trunk, she turned around and led the herd onto their next destination. The whole incident happened so fast and after slowing down the video, we could get a better look and feel for the whole situation. Even though it was pretty funny to see, we still wonder who was really in the wrong here? The mother elephant suddenly just stopping without any warning? Or the baby elephant being clumsy and not watching where it was going? Either way, we all had a big smile on our faces after watching elephant family life unfolding right in front of us.

We like to think that nature is merciless and that may be the case, but it's not always that all the animals are on their toes. It's not always that everything is serious and everyone is constantly looking out for their life. Some times, when zebras aren't running away from predators and not seeking for food nor sleeping, they also like to have fun. As this might come as a surprise to all of you, it actually happens. So, as you will see in this video, there is a baby <a href="https://rumble.com/v33d2w-the-singing-zebra.html" target="_blank">zebra</a> and a stork in close distance from one another. At a point it seems like they are both trying to find some food and eating while at the next it seems like someone is too excited and ready to play. This little zebra has had too much of all the chores of staying alive, staying close to mom and all other things one animal has to do in order to stay alive out there. For once it need to play by its own terms, and those terms currently are to have fun. Take a look at its enthusiasm and the way it provokes this stork to join in the fun. This video was recorded in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Check out the funny interaction between a young zebra and several large storks. This is definitely not your everyday sighting in the wild!

It’s fascinating to watch how elephants use their trunks to drink water. The baby elephant seen in this video took a different approach after deciding that shoving its face into the water for a drink was much easier than using its trunk. Besides being the largest land mammal on earth, elephants are one of the most amusing and interesting wild animals to find while on a safari in Africa. Probably the most striking feature of an elephant is its trunk. An elephant’s trunk is a unique apparatus not shared by any other mammal on earth. During a recent safari in Kruger National Park, we came across a herd of elephants standing around a watering hole busy drinking. We were fascinated by how meticulous and precise the elephants were in using their trunks to slowly slurp up just enough water before spraying it into their mouths. For baby elephants, mastering the task of drinking water with their trunks takes a lot of practice during the first two years of life. We managed to see this first hand when the most adorable male baby elephant decided to also have a drink in the manner the adults do. This task seemed more like a bit of a struggle for the youngster. We could see how the water just streamed back out of his trunk and mouth every time he attempted to get a drink of water. At first the baby elephant looked a little hopeless in his attempts but he was not bothered at all as he had a much easier and quicker way of drinking than any of the other elephants. To our amazement the baby elephant shoved his face in the water and took a few big gulps of water. It looked awkward and hilarious at the same but it was clearly effective. The baby elephant then continued to practice the use of his trunk before he decided one more time that drinking straight with his mouth is just so much quicker and easier than practicing to so the proper thing. It was such an amazing experience watching the little fellow going about his own way of doing something like drinking water.

Every year, the African wilderness of North Eastern South Africa goes through a harsh dry period that roughly lasts for 6 months and sometimes even a year. While the drought holds this wilderness area firmly in its grip, conditions for wildlife becomes really tough and challenging. The grass and leaf eaters take the biggest strain as food becomes extremely scarce and vast. Then the one and only thing that can bring all wildlife to their knees – The Lack of Water. Only certain areas and places might hold water right through the dry season and these waterholes become more and more limited towards the end of the season. Animals have to travel huge distances, just for their daily water requirements. All of this in turn, creates some of the most incredible Safari game viewing opportunities. This video is a great example of a remote waterhole at the peak of the dry season. Spend 8 hours at this waterhole and the masses of wildlife that visited during that time was astounding. Wildlife that came to drink during that 8 hours included Giraffe, Kudu antelope, Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, African Elephant, Cape Buffalo, troop of Baboons, pack of Banded Mongoose and masses of Impala antelope. No chance of seeing this amount of African Wildlife in such a short period of time at any other time of the year. Once the heavy rains arrive back in summer again, the area slowly returns back to a lush, green and extremely thick wilderness paradise. Water is plenty and animals just have to look left or right to find some drinking water. During this time, game viewing then becomes a lot more challenging as animals now are scattered all over and not concentrated around waterholes anymore.

One of the great thrills of going on a safari in the African wild is the searching and finding of wild animals in their natural environment. This is a great opportunity for anyone to come face to face with some of the continent’s most unique wildlife species. There are also many great photographic opportunities to create those lifetime memories. Once photos are taken, most people would rush off in search of the next sighting. The experience of a safari can be enhanced even more when people are prepared to spend a little more time with the animals they find. When spending extra time watching the animals, you will start to notice the <a href="https://rumble.com/v8fcxy-baby-elephant-adorably-attempts-to-sit-on-womans-lap.html" target="_blank">different types of behaviors</a> of the animals roaming their natural habitats. It is usually during this time that one might see some animals behaving in the most fascinating, funny or bizarre ways. One species of wildlife that almost never fail to entertain safari goers with their behavior is the African <a href="https://rumble.com/v681lh-baby-elephant-play-with-his-father.html" target="_blank">elephant</a>. Not only are they the largest land mammals on this planet, elephants are also among the most intelligent. This is evident in the great variety of intriguing behaviors displayed by these large creatures. On a recent safari in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, we decided to spend time with a small herd of elephants. Among the adult elephants was one baby elephant that quickly got everyone’s attention. Suddenly we were confused for a few seconds by the baby elephant’s awkward looking behavior and body movements. Soon we realized what was going on. This baby elephant had an itchy body that needed a decent scratch. The little elephant cleverly found a rock at just the right height and started off with his stomach. Standing with its front legs stretched out over the rock, the baby elephant moved back and forth, scratching its itchy belly on the rock. This was really funny to watch. We then noticed that the baby elephant had more than just an itchy belly. There were other body parts that also needed a good scratch. The baby elephant looked determined to get the job done and pushed its mother out the way before sitting down on the rock. The next moment the baby elephant adamantly started moving its backside from side to side, vigorously scratching its itchy bum. This was even more hilarious to watch and we could see this baby elephant was determined to get rid of its great itch. Finally, there was relief and the little elephant continued the journey with the rest of the herd. In the end it paid off to spend a little more time with the elephants, getting to see this baby elephant finding an amusing but effective manner to get rid of the itch on his body parts.

Hyenas can be bizarre looking animals in general but finding one in the wild walking around on its front two legs just took the bizarreness to a next level. It was during a recent safari in the Kruger National Park that we came across one of the weirdest looking animals I have ever seen. We were driving through the bush for some time without seeing much until our guide suddenly stopped. He spotted something in the distance sitting in the grass. At first, we could not see what it was but when it got up, we quickly identified it as a hyena. Hyenas are found in the Kruger Park in great numbers and seeing these animals randomly in the bush often happens. It was only when the hyena moved from the long grass into the road that we realized that something about the hyena looked very odd. We were totally confused by the strange manner the hyena was walking until we could clearly see that this hyena was strangely walking on its front two legs while the back two legs were dangling in the air. It looked like something that escaped from a horror movie and incredibly weird. I couldn’t believe how this hyena miraculously managed to survive by only walking on its front two legs. The hyena was rather shy and quickly disappeared down the road. Hyenas are incredibly tough animals and can adapt to almost any situation. To see how this hyena adapted and managed to carry on walking on two legs was just beyond our believe. After some investigation, we learned from other safari guides in the area that this hyena has been spotted before and that this hyena was attacked by lions a few years back and luckily survived. The lion attack left the hyena with serious injuries in its hips and back feet that it had to adapt to walk on its front two legs in order to survive. The hyena’s willingness to live and survive in such a hostile environment is an incredible story from Mother Nature.

Seeing baby animals in the wild while on safari is always an exciting and heart-warming experience. Watching how this adorable baby rhino attempts to let his mother know that he also wants a little space to cool off in a mud wallow was incredibly entertaining to watch. During a very hot afternoon safari in the Kruger National Park, we decided to visit the watering holes in search of animals. During the heat of the day, various animals gather around the water for a drink while certain animals turn to the mud for a cool-down session afterward. It was not long before we came across the first watering hole. There was a small herd of buffalo at the water on our arrival. We decided to spend some time at the watering hole to see what other animals could potentially arrive. A large female white rhino and her most adorable male calf arrived at the water to our amazement. The rhinos looked thirsty and enjoyed a drink of water. After the two rhinos had their fill of water, the real entertainment was to follow. On the edge of the watering hole was a small mud wallow. The mother rhino decided it was time to cool down in the mud and comfortably went to lie down in the cool mud for a rest. The baby rhino clearly felt left out and wanted to do the same as his mother. The only problem was that pretty much the whole mud wallow was occupied by his mother. The male baby rhino did not let this problem stand in his way, and the behavior that followed was hilarious to watch. The baby rhino was adamant about joining his mother and hilariously turned around to push his mother in the face with his backside, leaving a patch of mud on the one side of her face. The baby rhino sent his mother a clear message that he demanded some space in the mud wallow. The sleepy mother rhino quickly got the message and went to lie on her side to make space for her busy youngster. The restless baby rhino prepared his comfortable spot before finally coming to rest next to his mother. In the end, the mother rhino and her calf both looked comfortable and happy in the mud for quite some time thereafter, while a few nearby buffalo just stared at them, looking rather confused.

Sitting in the comfort of your own plunge pool while admiring the African wildlife in front of you is a holiday experience never to be forgotten. Having the African wildlife come to your pool for a drink, like these elephants did, is a whole different and unforgettable experience on its own. During a recent break away weekend, my wife and I decided to treat ourselves to a safari lodge in the Greater Kruger area of South Africa. With the current pandemic there are unfortunately no international tourists currently coming on safari in South Africa and all safari lodges have dropped their prices to make it more attractive for the domestic travel market. We decided to take advantage of this and even got ourselves into a room that had a plunge pool in front of it. It was sheer luxury in our minds and nothing beats sitting in your own private plunge pool on a hot summer day while viewing the wild animals in the distance. It was one of those hot afternoons and we decided not to go on safari but rather relax at the comfort of our room and swimming pool. I just got comfortable in the pool when I noticed a large herd of elephants in the distance. I got out to get my camera. On my return I got back into the pool and realised that the elephant herd was slowly making their way towards my direction. At first, they looked a little nervous and I just remained quiet sitting in the back corner of the pool. Before I knew it, the front part of the large elephant herd walked right up to the swimming pool, reached with their trunks over the edge of the pool and started drinking water from the swimming pool. I could not believe what I was seeing in front of me. It was like I did not even exist and the elephants continued drinking from the pool. There was even a little baby elephant among the herd but the little elephant unfortunately could not reach the pool water with its trunk. The elephants rotated and majority of the herd had their fair share of water which also left the pool with more than a third of its water consumed. The herd eventually moved on with their journey leaving me totally stunned with my close experience with these incredible giants.

Do you consider that elephants are animals capable of possessing a dominant attitude? Watch this video and see how this elephant scares all the animals around it! In some African countries water is very scarce, so many elephants often fight for water, since in many cases water is not enough for everyone. In this case, this elephant tries to get all the animals out of the water, since he considers that he needs more water than they do, so the elephant begins to chase the animals and shouts at them with great force to scare them. This elephant is very brave! Elephants can adapt to a wide variety of habitats and conditions. They can almost always be seen in African grasslands, although it is not uncommon to see them also in savannas, forests and areas with a nearby water source. At the same time, elephants also like to wallow in the mud or apply a much needed "rain of dust" to mitigate the effect of sunrays and insect bites. The vast majority of African specimens that exist today are in protected parks, although many of them prefer to migrate throughout the year, especially when the destruction of their habitat at the hands of man becomes imminent. As for the Asian elephant, these animals have populations in some Asian tropical forests of China and India. Elephants are animals of a herbivorous nature, so their diet consists mainly of herbs, tree bark, small shrubs, plants and fruits. In most cases, an adult can eat up to 250 kilograms of food per day. When they are born, young people only receive breast milk, but after two years they supplement their diet with fruits, branches and fallen leaves, small tree barks, etc. Obviously, the large size of these animals and the capacity of their beautiful trunk allows them to reach food in the highest and most inaccessible areas of the trees. In general, an adult specimen envelops the branch or trunk of the tree with its trunk, and violently shakes it so that the fruits fall to the ground and their young feed. As part of the ecosystem, <a href="https://rumble.com/v73gz6-grumpy-elephant-chases-thirsty-warthogs-away-from-watering-hole.html" target="_blank">elephants</a> play an essential role in the balance and maintenance of the environment. For example, when they consume fruits with seeds and travel great distances, they can disperse the seeds in other areas, even up to 60 kilometers from the origin. This is of great importance to enrich the habitat and contribute to the maintenance of other animal species. At the same time, elephant dung acts as a highly effective natural fertilizer for vegetation, providing minerals and nutrients that contribute to soil health and crop development. All animals are important to conserve the environment and the ecosystem!For some species, the dung of these animals is an important source of food, and even for some insects and frogs it represents a small ecosystem to develop. Elephants are also excellent water trackers, since they can travel great distances in search of this liquid and, with it, help other species, including humans. Elephants are fantastic <a href="https://rumble.com/v834a1-helpless-bird-caught-on-fish-bait-gets-saved-by-heroic-bystander.html" target="_blank">animals</a>!

Living and working in the African wild has given me many opportunities to film and document the behaviour of a vast number of wildlife species. One of my favourite species of wildlife to observe and film is the African elephant. On the rare occasion, as shown in this video, these African giants will let you know when they are not impressed by the presence of your filming equipment. This can lead to very interesting footage in the end. It was late afternoon when I decided to head out into the wild on my own, kitted with all my filming equipment. I was specifically out searching for a herd of elephants to film. African elephants are my favourite animals to film in the wild as they are almost always busy doing something. Spending lots of time with any herd of elephants can deliver many memorable behaviours and experiences. The Kruger National Park hosts one of the largest populations of African elephant on the continent and finding these giants normally does not take too long. I came across a small herd of male adult elephants close to the road. I switched off and started observing. As a keen wildlife videographer, one always attempts to capture your subject from as many angles and distances as possible. Getting close up footage of the world’s largest terrestrial mammal in its natural environment takes some creative planning and a bit of luck. This was where my GoPro came in pretty handy. Together with the right equipment, planning the rest of the shot involves a lot of anticipation while closely monitoring the elephant herd’s behaviour. Of course, you cannot just throw the camera at the elephant and hope for the best. Anticipating where the elephants will go next is the main priority to get it right. This can take a lot of time and patience. It can vary from getting it right the first time to a whole day or even a week’s worth of attempts. The small herd of bull elephants was slowly grazing towards the direction of the road. I anticipated where they would cross the road, placed my GoPro among some elephant dung for camouflage and moved away some distance. That is where the waiting starts. The elephants can at any moment change direction and move off and the plan can fail. I became excited when I saw two bull elephants crossing the road near the camera but it was yet still too far a shot for anything worthwhile. My excitement levels increased when one large bull elephant slowly walked past the camera before he stopped and took a step back. The bull elephant clearly spotted the small black foreign object lying among the elephant dung and started sniffing it with his trunk. After investigating the camera with his trunk, the bull elephant gave it one more look and kicked it over with his front right foot. Luckily the camera fell in the right position and the GoPro managed to snap a great shot of the elephant straight from below upwards. After showing that he was not really impressed by the camera, the bull elephant casually crossed the road and continued feeding into the bush with the rest of the herd.

The males of most animal species have the task of finding a female. It’s one thing finding a female but impressing a female is a different story. The aim of the game is to impress and be accepted but as this video shows, sometimes the attempts to impress can be a little too much. Birds are most likely some of the most fascinating animals in the animal kingdom to watch when it comes to males attempting to impress the females. Males are mostly more brightly coloured and have all sorts of moves to show off to the females. Some are more charming than others. It was during a late afternoon safari that we came across a bird called a Swainson’s francolin. It was a male bird standing on top of a termite mound. These birds usually become vocal just before sunset and they usually call from an elevated spot such as mounds, fallen logs or a big rock. My first thought was that this male francolin bird was going to perform his vocal call from the top of the mound. I quickly realised that this male bird had other plans. While focusing with my camera on the male bird, waiting for him to start performing his call, the bird suddenly changed behaviour. The male francolin puffed out his feathers and with his head held low, looking very awkward, the male bird made his way down the mound in a hurry. I followed the bird with my camera till he suddenly came to halt stop right in front of a female francolin bird. I quickly realised that the female francolin must have arrived in the time I was focused on the male bird and that she caught his attention in the process. The male bird went and stopped right in front of the female and shoved his face right into the female’s face. It was a matter of seconds before the female ducked and with a lightning side step got out from under the rather scary looking male bird. I have no idea how the male bird thought that his moves were charming but it looked a little scary and intimidating to me. The female quickly headed up and over the hill. The male, still looking weird, chased after the female until they disappeared into the long grass. It was amazing how entertaining such a short little moment in the wild could be.

Watching baby elephants are one of the most rewarding things you can do while on an African safari. The video shows just how adorable baby elephants can be while dealing with their daily real-life struggles such as attempting to get back onto your feet while lying down in slippery mud. While on safari in the Kruger National Park, it didn’t take long for us to find our first sighting which was a small herd of elephants. The herd of elephants were on the banks of a small river busy drinking water and playing in the mud. Whenever elephants are near any water or mud, you can be assured that it will be a great experience to watch. Just observing the unique manner in which elephants drink water is a magical experience on its own. Some elephants, especially the youngsters, usually decides to cool down in the mud after their drink of water. This is usually where the real fun and entertaining watching starts. It didn’t take long to spot one of those funny and entertaining moments amongst the herd members. On the opposite side of the river bank was two baby elephants, one was kicking around in the mud in front of him while the smaller baby elephant was lying on its side in the mud. The baby elephant lying down in the mud was making sure that he got that one side of his body covered in mud, helping the elephants to cool down during the heat of the day. The most amusing part of the bay elephant’s behaviour was when it looked like it was making an attempt to get back on to its feet. The baby elephant managed to roll from its side onto its belly. From the belly down position the baby elephant looked very lazy and not very committed to really get back up onto its feet. With what looked like a real big effort, the baby elephant finally managed to get onto it is feet only to suddenly find itself in another wobbly moment. The mud under its feet was clearly slippery and the baby elephant nearly lost his footing before finally gathering himself to stand up straight next to mommy. We wholeheartedly enjoyed our experience and time with the herd of elephants. We left the herd alone and drove off, each person on the vehicle with a smile on their face and the fresh memories of the adorable baby elephant in the mud