Before giving birth, elephant moms carry their young for about two years. The mother gently leads the calf by grabbing its tail with her trunk while they are in ᴄʟᴏsᴇ proximity; the calf never wanders more than a trunk’s length from its mother.
The mother protects her calf from harm by carrying it over barriers, saving it from ᴀᴄᴄɪᴅᴇɴᴛs, and shielding it from the sun’s heat with her own body. She gives it a bath with her trunk, using it to both gently scrub it clean and spray water on it. The mother is the calf’s tutor in addition to its protector and nurturer. She will teach it how to find water, what to eat, and how to stay away from its lone predator – man.
A young elephant has a lot to learn since it will only experience solid food in its mother’s mouth for the first six years of its life and will only be fed on her milk. An elephant mother’s milk also undergoes four variations during the weaning process to guarantee that her calf receives the precise nutrients needed.
Other than humans, elephants have the longest childhoods of any animal on earth. Like us, they remain in family groupings until they reach adolescence (10-15 years). The young bulls must leave the matriarchal herd as soon as they reach maturity, but the females may remain there for life. They are able to reproduce from the age of ten, but they won’t be considered socially mature until they are thirty. By then, they will have gained enough size and experience to compete with other bulls for the attention of females while they are in heat.
Let’s take a look at the Hilarious Moment Baby Elephant ᴄᴏᴘies What Her Mom And Nanny Do in the video below:
