While most of the elephants in Samburu National Park in Northern Kenya have been happily and quietly eating the new green vegetation that’s sprouted after the recent rains, two baby elephants have been approaching their food in a somewhat less civilised manner.
No doubt a handful for their patient mother, these two siblings – aged about three years old – have decided they’d rather flatten their food than eat it and have launched into a game of ‘bash the bush’ wherever they go.
Together they run from bush to bush stamping, squashing and attacking as many plants as they can – ears forward, trunks flailing, both squeaking and snorting with pleasure. I was lucky to photograph one of these energetic games and even captured one falling fell flat on its face in a rush to reach the next bush.
It was such a comical display of baby elephant behaviour that all of us were desperately trying to suppress our laughter in the STE truck.
When the herd decided it was time to move on, the mischievous youngsters were rounded up by their mother who was feeding nearby, and away they all went to the next unsuspecting bush.