Albino Baby Elephant, Khanyisa Goes Swimming & the Females Surround Her Protectively

Around 1 pm in the day, Adine joins the herd at the waterhole for their swim in the cool water. Magnificent clouds streak the blue sky and the bush is a shock of nutritious green!

Female elephants, Klaserie, Kumbura, Lundi and Tokwe stand around Khanyisa as she swims and splashes about, submerging her little body from time to time. The calf tries to suckle from Matriarch, Tokwe in the water and goes back to swimming, as adoptive mother, Lundi keeps a watch from the rear.

On the banks, the oldest female, Setombe playfully pushes about with bull, Zindoga (Bubi's son), as a form of discipline most likely, Setombe asserting some allomotherly power over him.

The elephants stand around Khanyisa for some time, to give her the opportunity to swim safely by their feet. You can hear the birds and water splashing as well as some wind here and there — apologies for the wind! (Feel free to put the volume down) 💨

You can see Lundi and Tokwe around Khanyisa, both lifting their trunks up to smell something. Elephants' trunk tips are constantly moving, testing the air for smells, the way that we look around.

It is believed that they can pick up smells from several kilometres away and they use this ability to ‘keep an eye’ on their surroundings so that no undesirables can creep up on them. This sense of smell is also used by elephants to find water in the dry season.

With their big "noses", it isn’t surprising that elephants are thought to have the best sense of smell of all animals. They live in a world of odours due to 20 million scent receptors in their trunks. This allows them to detect and identify particular individuals from some distance, and to interpret emotional states such as excitement, fear, stress and sexual receptivity.

A perfect tool to have when protecting a baby swimming in the big dam!

Видео Albino Baby Elephant, Khanyisa Goes Swimming & the Females Surround Her Protectively канала HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa