At the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, one of the elephant calves charges at the much larger eland antelope.
They continued to sprint towards an eland antelope, attempting to scare it away.
The eland, on the other hand, looked unimpressed by the much smaller creatures’ attempts. It remained there, waiting for the herd to disperse so it could drink.
‘A herd of elephants was drinking from a waterhole when an eland approached the water,’ Janet, , said.
‘Two of the baby elephants tried to scare him away, but he seemed unfazed and simply waited for the herd to disperse before entering for a drink.’
‘The herd remained there for around 10 minutes, and the baby elephants’ charge lasted about two minutes.’
‘Watching newborn elephants attempt to see how efficient their charge was is adorable.
“They went back to drinking when they saw the eland wasn’t terrified of them.”
The herd’s younger members are primarily responsible for protecting, raising, and teaching survival skills.
For the first two years of their lives, baby elephants are intensively cared for by a network of moms and aunts in the herd, and they are expected to learn to be self-sufficient in the future.
The eland seems unperturbed by the calves’ attempts to move it away from the watering hole at the game reserve in eastern Botswana.
Between the ages of 12 and 14, male elephants (bulls) will quit the herd and live alone or in tiny celibacy groups.
An elder bull will generally be accompanied by a group of younger bulls and will teach the younger bulls survival and social skills.
A calf will weigh between 170 and 250 pounds at birth and stand 36 inches tall at the shoulder.
The calf is helped to stand immediately after delivery and is able to stand for a few minutes without assistance, which is critical for its survival.
The young will be robust enough to join the herd within a few days of birth.
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