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The elephant calf

On one occasion in Ruaha, we found a mother Elephant and her young calf, early in the morning close to one of our Authentic Tanzania Camps. Her young calf had sadly already passed away, but the amazing thing on this sighting was that Mum did not give up on her little one! She stayed there until the end of the third day.

Elephant tries to revive her dead calf in Ruaha

Even when Lions arrived, she stood her ground. It got so tense that the Lions even started fighting each other.

Lions fighting in Ruaha
Lions fighting over dead elephant calf in ruaha

We visited her each day to check up on how she was doing, and whether she had decided to leave her calf behind. Each day new stories unfolded in front of our eyes, and we were able to sit with her while our guests absorbed the drama first hand. She chased away the Lions again and again, and overnight she stood firm.

The elephants have to leave the dead calf behind

One of the most heart-warming moments in this sad story was when another herd of Elephants passed by and they helped chase away the Lions so they could each say their own farewells to the little calf. Eventually nature took its course and the elephants had to leave...

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