Category: Kenya

The male impala walks warily across the horizon. Unbeknown to him, he was leading his females directly into the path of a hungry lone lioness returning to her cubs after an unsuccessful night’s hunting.

We watched helplessly, but transfixed, from our camp in the dawn light. With every minute the light provided an additional glimpse – an additional insight into what lies ahead. Cameras at the ready we set off in the direction of the lion for a dawn walk to see what might become of the impala.

The more pairs of eyes and ears you have, the better the chance you have of seeing another day.

Zebras communicate with each other with high pitched barks and whinnying. A zebra’s ears signify its mood. When a zebra is in a calm, tense or friendly mood, its ears stand erect. When it is frightened, its ears are pushed forward. When angry, the ears are pulled backward. When surveying an area for predators, zebras will stand in an alert posture; with ears erect, head held high, and staring. When tense they will also snort. When a predator is spotted or sensed, a zebra will bark (or bray) loudly.

Zebras ‘top and tail’ each other as they sleep standing up during the day.  This allows 360 degree viewing of any potential predators. One zebra will quite literally scratch the back of the other to share the burden of the observation.

Elephant herds are capable of moving silently across the African plains. Travelling in a large family group comprised largely of females and young bull elephants, this herd sought water and opportunities to graze.

The youngsters in the group travelled close to their mothers and sisters, using this as an opportunity to learn to control their trunk by mimicking the action of their elders.

Once they’d found a spot to graze and relax we did likewise and spent a very pleasant morning breakfasting with the herd.

Elephants communicate with a spoken language that they need to learn from other elephants, and with body language that is instinctive at birth. Being so close to these gentle giants you can often hear their rumblings as they communicate to one another as they graze and travel.

As they move silently past you, your respect naturally turns to fear. Providing you remain totally silent and still, they’ll not harm you, or even glance at you, but on the rare occasion that you find yourself accidentally invading their space there’s no mistaking their trumpet calls – often used as a sign of distress or as a show of strength. The noise is unmistakable and terrifying. It’ll make every hair on your body stand on end as you brace yourself for the charge.

When observing elephants at length you can also begin to obtain insight about their behaviour. Here (below), the mother’s ears are spread to the side in a show of strength. Comparatively, the young calf’s ears are flush to its body, a sign that the calf is relaxed in our presence, despite its mother’s concerns. The smile on the young calf’s face needs no translation: it is enjoying and learning from its afternoon stroll, safe in the knowledge that the herd will protect it.

Becoming ever more startled by the presence of our vehicle, the lone baby started to whine and ran sporadically across the plains.

After an anxious few minutes the child was reunited with its mother. It was a stark lesson in life not to wander too far, especially within the wide open plains where predators prowl in the cool, late afternoon light.

Anxious to ensure the young gazelle had not come to any harm, the mother immediately checked and comforted the baby before they bounded off across the plains in search of a place to conceal themselves and collect their breath.

It’s often suggested that mankind cannot and should not use human emotions to interpret the actions of animals, but we watched herds of elephants as they displayed naturally maternal actions towards their young.

They nurtured and loved those younger and smaller than themselves, ensuring that the young were protected, observed and cared for at all times. From the gentle touch of trunk to trunk, to the youngest’s consistent grip on their tails, their emotions manifested themself in behaviour which can only be described as loving.

The most important thing in the world to a baby elephant is its mother and its extended family.

Elephants share with us humans many traits – the same span of life, and they develop at a parallel pace so that at any given age a baby elephant duplicates its human counterpart, reaching adulthood at the age of twenty. Elephants also display many of the attributes of humans as well as some of the failings. They share with us a strong sense of family and death and they feel many of the same emotions.

They also have many additional attributes we humans lack: incredible long range infrasound, communication in voices we never hear, such sophisticated hearing that even a footfall is heard far away, and of course they have a memory that far surpasses ours and spans a lifetime. They grieve deeply for lost loved ones, even shedding tears and suffering depression. They have a sense of compassion that projects beyond their own kind and sometimes extends to others in distress. They help one another in adversity, miss an absent loved one, and when you know them really well, you can see that they even smile when having fun and are happy*.

(* Elephant Emotion. Daphne Sheldrick D.B.E.: 1992 UNEP Global 500 Laureate)