Why Elephant Needs Water For More Than Just Drinking | 4K | Zimbabwe | Wild Travel | Robert E Fuller

Elephants need to drink around 200 litres of water a day, so waterholes draw huge herds. But, when I travelled to Somalisa Camp in Zimbabwe, I found that waterholes aren't just for drinking.

I travelled as a guest of Wildfoot Travel: https://www.wildfoottravel.com/ who offer bespoke wildlife holidays.

Date filmed: October 2023

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If you'd like to follow in my footsteps and see herds of elephants like this for yourself, take a look at my travel page - where you can find my itinerary and book a trip to Zimbabwe too: https://www.robertefuller.com/travel/
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*ABOUT THIS FILM*
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I travelled to Somalisa camp in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Hwange is the largest protected areas in Zimbabwe and home to 45,000 elephants.

There were lots of elephants all around camp, but my guide More knew a very special place called Kennedy 2 Pan to watch them coming to a waterhole at sunset.

African Elephants are the largest land mammals on earth, standing up to 13 feet tall, weighing over 5 tonnes, and living in huge herds of up to 100 individuals.

The herd that I saw coming into the waterhole was one of the biggest I've ever seen. It was a breeding herd, comprised of closely related females and their young which was led by the largest, oldest and most experienced female, known as the matriarch.

Elephants need to drink up to 200 litres of water a day so water holes draws these herds to the area. But don't just use the waterholes for drinking. They use it to cool off too in the blistering 40C/104F temperatures.

Regulating their own body temperature is a big problem for elephants as they can’t sweat and so they use water to cool themselves down. And, the wrinkles on the elephant’s skin have a fascinating ability - the power to hold water!

And the water hole provides them with another opportunity to cool down - mud baths! They cake their skin with a thick layer of mud to help lower their body temperature and the wrinkles help the mud stay put. The mud has other benefits too – acting as a sunscreen and as a parasite deterrent!

As the sun goes down, the scene at the waterhole becomes even more magical. The dust is lit up in the fiery red sunlight and everything turns a rich, golden orange.

It has been amazing to spend this time with these elephants, to see them come together, to drink, bathe and have fun. And see the methods they use to keep themselves cool under the power of the African sun.

*ABOUT ME*
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I am a British wildlife artist and filmmaker on a mission to share my love for wildlife with the world. As well as creating detailed animal film and art portraits, I promote wildlife tours around the world and do all I can to help conserve and protect wildlife here at my home in Yorkshire. I hope that by putting nature in the frame I can foster a deep love for wildlife amongst my followers.

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*CHAPTERS*
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00:00 Introduction
00:43 Somalisa Camp
01:25 Heading off in search of elephants
01:39 Arriving at Kennedy 2 Pan
02:07 Big herd of elephant arrives
02:51 Elephants drinking at the waterhole
04:10 Elephants enjoy mud baths
06:18 Elephants at sunset
07:33 Conclusion
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© Robert E Fuller

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