Playful baby elephant excited to dunk its own head under the water

Baby elephants are just adorable and make for entertaining viewing. Watch this excited baby elephant’s hilarious behaviour while playing in the water.Show more

During a recent safari in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, we came across a large herd of elephants. We decided to switch off the vehicle and spend some time with these amazing creatures. The African elephant makes part of Africa’s big five list, the top five most dangerous and wanted to see animals, together with rhino, buffalo, leopard and lion. Not only are elephants the largest land mammals on earth but they also rate amongst the most intelligent. With all of these facts in mind, it makes sense to spend time with these fascinating animals. What made this sighting even better was the fact that the elephant herd was around a watering hole. Whenever elephants are near water, they always look at their happiest and can become very playful. Elephants are partial to bathing, swimming and mud-wallowing. An interesting fact about elephants is that they have sweat gland-free skins. Elephants have various forms of thermoregulatory exercises and the use of water is a very important way to cool themselves down during the extreme summers in the African bush. Applying a layer of moisture to the sweat gland-free skin traps a layer of cooler air close to the skin and also prevents excessive exposure of the skin to the harsh African sun.

While we enjoyed watching the herd of elephants, drinking and cooling down in the water, my attention was drawn to one particular baby elephant the entered the water. Next to the baby elephant was its mother, busy spraying the underparts of her body with muddy water. It was an absolute scorcher of a day and the baby elephant looked very excited to be in the water. The baby elephant was slapping the water with its trunk in an attempt to imitate its mother’s way of getting a cool down. The baby elephant suddenly decided that there is a much better way to get the job done and dropped on its side into the muddy water. With most of its body covered by the muddy water, the baby elephant took it one step further and proceeded to dunk its whole head and face into the muddy water. This was so funny to watch. The baby elephant slowly returned to its feet, totally covered in mud. Once on its feet, the adorable baby elephant rapidly shook its head and trunk around in circles a few times, looking very playful and excited at the same time. The head shaking of this baby elephant was just hilarious to watch. Knowing how far these elephants had to travel in the severe heat to get a drink and cool down, we could only imagine the satisfaction and relief the baby elephant felt after being in the water. Looking at the baby elephant’s behaviour, it surely looked like it enjoyed every minute in the water. It was not long before the herd headed off, walking back into the very hot and dry bush. Even though elephants love spending time in and around the water, they cannot waste too much time playing around. Due to their size, elephants need to eat a lot of food and constantly need to be on the move in their search for food.