The kids mother shook her head and flapped her ears, scolding me for annoying her family. Watching these elephants, I came to appreciate why many people see them as almost human. Elephant s use their trunks like hands. A trunk can be used to savagely tear down a tree or give a gentle caress. Unlike many humans, the lives of female and male elephants are very different.
Females stay with their family group their whole life.
Boys only stick around until they become teenagers. Then, they re kicked out of their family group to spend the rest of their lives alone. They sometimes make friends with other lone males, but more often they fight with them- especially during mating season. Elephants are mysteriously attracted to bones of other elephants. They pick them up, fondle them, and carry them around for hours.