Elephant Bull Sighting From a Tamboti Tree

During our last Wilderness Trails course we had some exceptional sightings and encounters. In the first week on Zululand Rhino Reserve the spring rains came down and we walked in some very wet conditions. This is a sighting we had of an elephant bull at the waterhole while we were up in a tamboti tree. It gave us an opportunity to view him safely and in his natural environment for almost an hour. We had a sighting of the same bull braking a fever tree in the dry river bed the previous day, with his characteristic long tail that almost sweeps the ground as he walks.

We viewed as the ellie went about giving himself a good mud bath as the rains poured down. He then left the water and went to scratch against an Acacia Fever tree, walking right underneath us, into the dense bush to go feed. It was amazing to watch and be part of this beautiful elephants life for just a few minutes and wouldnt have wanted to be anywhere else; rain, mud or tough terrain!

You'll notice in the supplied video how the elephant uses his feet to loosen the mud and then kicks the mud onto himself. This is a way of keeping cool on hot days but also a means to protect the skin from biting insects. This is obviously at a waterhole, but elephants are also know to start new waterholes with this same behaviour. What will start off in one season as a depression in the earth with rain gathered in it, will over the next few seasons become larger and larger as elephants come and dig down and loosen the mud to wallow in. Eventually the wallow will be deep enough for them to lie in and become larger and larger and in doing so, creates new waterholes.

Was a really enjoyable sighting and just loved watching him go about his mud bath! This is what wilderness trails is all about!!!

Got similar videos or stories of experiences out in the wilderness? Email us and we can post it on the blog!  hanroe@bhejanenaturetraining.com

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