The entire herd helps defend the calves. When disturbed, the herd clusters around the matriarch, with the calves in the middle. She matriarch decides whether to flee or charge. If the matriarch is wounded, the others mill about in a panic. They usually refuse to abandon their leader, which makes elephants an easy target for poachers.
Elephants appear to be truly devoted to their comrades.
They may attempt to raise and support another elephant that has fallen. Elephants have even been observed carrying dead elephants and burying them under branches. They have been seen standing by elephant bones for hours, sometimes carrying the bones around. Perhaps it was such habits that led to legends about vast elephant graveyards, which supposedly harbored fortunes in ivory. . Page 8 Page 10 . . . . . . .