EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Night Brings the Herd

African Elephant (Loxodonta africana), Family Elephantidae
Kenya, Africa

Explanation:  These rather grainy photos were shot in extremely low light conditions looking down upon an artificial waterhole, after dark, on the slopes of Mount Kenya, east Africa.  

As darkness fell, the blue monkeys slid back into the forest to find their arboreal beds ... the tree hyraxes began their bizarre territorial calls from the dense and darkened tree canopies ... and ever so cautiously, wary of large predators on night prowl, the elephants emerged.

This was an amazing family group of 27 elephants.  This seems to have been the occasional meeting of at least two different herds.

For half the night, I watched this procession.  Let me share with you what I heard and saw ... 

 

Elephants trumpeting and announcing their appearance.
(Recording © Bruce G. Marcot.)
  

The herd arrived in single-file, with the patriarch at the head.
At lower left, two elephants, perhaps from different groups,
greet one another by gentle touches with their trunks.
  

The herd continues to file along the waterhole.  
Can you spot the two immature elephants walking behind their mom?
Hint:  in many, but not all, elephant herds, females also bear tusks.
  

Pausing for a quick drink from the round water pool.
  

Notice how the two babies tightly -- and safely -- are sandwiched between
the two adults on the left, as the larger bull leads the way.
Young are typically shielded this way from potential danger
including predators of the night ... lions, leopards, and hyenas.
  

After exploring the confines of the shoreline, and securing a drink,
the herd ambles back into a group formation.
  

Perhaps alert to an alarm call given in the jungle by a bushbuck
signaling the presence of a predator, the herd suddenly bunches up,
with the dominant male in front as protector, and all others
facing inward with the babies in the center for safety.
  

The danger passes, and the herd has time for more exploration ...
and other activities.  Notice the mating going on in the background!
  

Eventually the night wore on, and like the flick of a
switch, the elephants vanished back into the
darkness of the jungle.  Truly a wonderful night to behold!