An incredible moment as the wild albino elephant’s calf suckles from her 🐘

Adine recently spent some special time with the albino female in our reserve along with the mother’s calf. The female albino elephant is now around 14 years old and the calf around 3, with little tusks showing. There are wild albino elephants in the herd, the other one is 11 years old.

Adine filmed the albino mother from her vehicle with the zoom allowing us a close view!

In spite of the challenges facing albino elephants, such as skin and eye sensitivity to the sun, there have been sightings of older albino elephants surviving perfectly well in the wild, with other elephants in their herd — such as this female in our own wilderness in the Kapama Reserve.

The albino adult appears darker than when she was a calf due to the layering of dust, sand and mud on her body. Her albinism is visible in her eyes and lashes as well as her tail hair and patches of skin that have likely been washed or less coated in the colour of the earth. This covering provides the elephants with greater resistance to the sun.

The adult albino’s calf shows no signs of albinism and is doing extremely well, like her mother. As you can see, she is still suckling from her mother. It’s amazing to see this precious interaction between mother and calf as the two elephants move quietly through the bush with their herd close by.

The albino elephant’s eyes remain forever sensitive to the light of the sun, as there is no pigment and with nothing to reflect the sunlight, it all gets absorbed. These animals learn from young to stand under their mother, in the shade of the shadow that her big body casts. They also close their eyes slightly in harsh light.

It’s phenomenal to be able to watch this female growing and developing as a reference for what Khanyisa will go through as a growing elephant.

Видео An incredible moment as the wild albino elephant’s calf suckles from her 🐘 канала HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa