These Nellies Know How To Have Fun

Elephants are such majestic and serious looking animals that one can never imagine them just frolicking and have a good old time. However, these pictures taken in Northern Kenya, shows that nellies like to have fun just like the rest of us.

The pictures were taken by National Geographic photographer, Michael Nicholas who spent six months following the elephants in the Samburu National Reserve, an area unfrequented by humans.

It shows how relaxed elephant herds can be, when they are not on guard against human predators. The baby elephants are having fund splashing around in the mud baths, with the adults reluctantly joining in the fun.

For elephants, mud baths are not just fun; they are also a way to protect themselves against the sun and insects. Additionally, the mud also helps keep them cool in the hot blazing African sun.

Female elephants are social animals that move around in groups of eight or ten. The herd is led by the oldest and largest elephant - also known as the matriarch and includes offsprings both male and female. The males usually spend the first twelve years with the herd, after which they go off on their own.

African Elephants are the World's largest living mammals. It is estimated that there are currently between 472,000 to 685,000, left worldwide, considerably down from the 1.3 million in 1979.

The Elephants are still being killed for their tusks, which are used as jewelry and for medicinal purposes in some areas of the world. There has been some success with the strong anti-poaching campaigns in some of the African countries and we sure hope it continues so that we don't lose these majestic animals completely. To read the full article and watch the video check out the National Geographic website at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/samburu-elephants/quammen-text

sources: National Geographic, DailyMail.co.uk