One matron curled her knees under and awkwardly sat down in the water. A second stepped beside her and carefully looked upriver as if guarding her sister's bath. Reaching into its mother's mouth, the baby played joyfully. The matriarch, however, was always watchful. She kept her eye on the baby even as she gathered water with her trunk and slid it down her own throat to drink.
Elephants are especially protective of their young.
This is true despite the fact that only newborn elephants are at much risk from predators, and then only for a few weeks. In fact, if there is a real king of the jungle, it's the elephant. No sane animal, no matter how ferocious, will mess with an adult elephant, which can weigh as much as 14,000 pounds and run as fast as 25 miles per hour. They've got all the numbers on their side. All rights reserved.