Elephant Talk

The Elephant, the planet’s largest terrestrial mammal, is a fascinating creature and unknown to its own kind, remains an unfortunate target of the poaching underworld.  Our various conservancies across Kenya, are constantly monitored to help keep poaching at a minimum level; however, it seems the lack of understanding and education, continues to enlist ignorant individuals to fold into the realm of wildlife’s biggest misdeed. Action can only be taken if the world knows, so here is a different kind of story that will hopefully enthral readers and help in creating the kind of awareness these mammals need to save them from becoming extinct – the children of the future will only remember them as the dinosaurs of the 21st century if the world continues to move on as is. There are only three species of elephant left in the world: The African bush elephant, the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant.

The word ‘Elephant’ comes from the Greek word ‘Elephants’ which means ‘Ivory’. The elephant’s gestation period is 22 months – longer than any other land animal in the world. A new born human baby is an average of seven pounds – a new born elephant baby can weigh up to 260 pounds!  The baby can stand up shortly after being born. The oldest known elephant in the world lived for 86 

years (1917-2003). The average lifespan of an elephant is from 50 to 70 years. The largest elephant was shot in Angola in 1956 and weighed about 24,000 pounds!  It had a shoulder height of 3.96 metres!

The tusks of an elephant are modified incisors that grow throughout an elephant’s lifetime (an adult male’s tusks grow about seven inches a year). Tusks are used to dig for salt, water and roots, to debark trees, to clear a path and occasionally in fights. Additionally, they are used for marking trees to establish an elephant’s territory. The elephant’s trunk is a fusion of its nose and upper lip. It gets specialised to become the elephant’s most important limb. The trunk is sensitive enough to pick a blade of grass and strong enough to rip the branches of a tree.

The trunk is also used for drinking – the elephant can suck up to 14 litres of water at a time and then blow it straight into its mouth!  When bathing, the elephant sucks water to spray on its body. It will then spray dirt and mud on its wet coat, which will dry and act as a sunscreen. Elephants have two gaits – a walk and a faster gait that is similar to running.  They cannot jump, trot or gallop; however they can swim well and use their trunk as a snorkel. The elephant’s very large ears are used to radiate excess heat. Elephant's behaviour is associated with a unique animal intelligence that 

displays grief, altruism, compassion, self-awareness, play, art and music!

There is a structured social order in the elephant’s lifestyle. The females spend their entire lives in tight family groups made up of mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and daughters. The eldest female normally leads the group.  Adult males prefer to live a solitary bachelor lifestyle. Watching elephants go about their business is an incredible moment. Our director captured this incredible footage of a herd of elephants (a really really big herd) in the Ol Kinyei conservancy.

The Amboseli ecosystem is famous for its elephants. After the conservancy of Selenkay was set up 

in 1997, elephants returned to that area after an absence of 20 years. The Selenkay conservancy, where only two camps share a space of approximately 13,000 acres – Porini Amboseli Camp and Gamewatchers Adventure Camp maintain a minimum number of guests at any one time. The natural habitat of the Selenkay conservancy is almost untouched leaving the entire area a wildlife haven.

All the elephant photographs above have been taken in our various conservancies – Ol Kinyei, Olare Motorogi, Ol Pejeta and Selenkay Conservancies.

The author is a marketing executive.