Caption: Baby elephant (Loxodonta africana) under close protection by a pair of adults, Mashatu Game Reserve, Botsana.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM; Focal length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/2000; aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400

While out on a morning game drive during a visit to Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, we had the privilege of watching a large herd of elephants — probably around 150 in all — moving slowly past in groups of varying sizes (below).

Within the groups there were many youngsters, varying in age from vulnerable infants to precocious sub-adults.

It was the “close protection” afforded the babies by the surrounding adults that was particularly fascinating to watch. Very seldom was a young elephant isolated for long enough to grab a photo; the majority of the time the youngsters were obscured by a protective forest of adults’ legs and trunks.

Caption: Close-up of male elephant’s tusk, Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/320; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400.

Dale Peterson, in the excellent book Elephant Reflections that he co-authored with photographer Karl Ammann, says this of elephant tusks:

“Tusks are teeth, incisors that have grown over time and under evolutionary pressure taken on a projective profile. Like an ordinay tooth, a tusk’s hard outer husk protects an inner cavity of soft pulp and nerves, making it sensitive to pressure and, in case of injury, to pain. Instead of having roots, these specialized incisors are embedded for about a third of their length within a cranial socket.

“African savanna males will have tusks seven times heavier, on average, than those of the average female of the species: 49 kg (108 lbs) for the former, around 7 kg (15 lbs) for the latter.

“Not merely vital weapons, tusks are also highly functional tools: good for digging up underground water, minerals, and edible tubers. They serve as chisels to pry bark away from a tree, and as crowbars or levers to snap off branches or otherwise manipulate bulky or big objects.

“They are good things to rest a heavy trunk on (below), and, being electrical nonconductors, they’re useful as well for breaking down or through electric fences.

“Just as humans commonly prefer one hand over the other, so most elephants favor one tusk over the other, and typically these appendages will develop a consequental symmetry.”

Caption: Elephant bull resting his trunk on a tusk, Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia

See our previous post, In the Wake of Elephant Poachers, to see the sickening aftermath of a poaching sortie in the Lower Zambezi National Park, where the above photos were also taken.

Caption: Elephant’s trunk, hacked off by poachers, lying on the ground near the body of a dead elephant, Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia.

In mid-July, during a brief visit to Mwambashi River Lodge in the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia, I went for a morning drive with safari guide Roddy Smith. This was not a game drive as such, but rather a recce to check roads in the park.

We hadn’t gone far when Roddy spotted vulture activity, which drew us to a sickening sight — two dead elephants, shot by poachers. The massive bodies lay close together, the tusks hacked out and the hides already streaked with vulture droppings.

Near one of the elephants lay its trunk, presumably chopped off during removal of the tusks. I’ve written an account of this incident and included photographs of the bodies. This is not pleasant viewing, but I’ve published the images to make people more aware of how most of the world’s ivory is sourced and to discourage people, who might not know better, NOT to buy ivory products. See Elephant Poaching – the Shocking Aftermath.

Below are more cheerful pictures, illustrating elephant trunks in action, together with an extract from the article, African Elephant ~ Loxodonta Africana.

“The trunk of an elephant is the most extraordinary and dexterous nose in creation. At once both gentle and strong, a trunk is capable of killing a lion — or caressing a frightened elephant calf. It can pick leaves, pull bark off trees, and pick up objects as small as a coin. It can suck up a gallon of water to squirt into a mouth or on a hot back (Elephants do not drink through their trunk, but use it to draw the liquid).

With their trunks elephants throw dust in the air, rub their eyes, greet one another, sound calls, test uncertain ground, smell danger — or a potential mate — and snorkel.”

Caption: Giraffe male (Giraffa camelopardalis) stretches upwards while using its tough but flexible upper lip to strip succulent green leaves from a twig, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Camera: Canon EOS 400D (Digital Rebel XTi); Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal Length: 225mm; Shutter speed: 1/500; Aperture: f/7.1; ISO: 400.

The giraffe is rightly regarded as the true icon of the African bush, as these statuesque animals are found only on the African continent. In addition to the title of the earth’s tallest animal, giraffe have a number of remarkable attributes that make them quite different from other animals.

To find out more, please see The Giraffe is Truly Unique, a fascinating account by safari guide Roddy Smith that we’ve recently added to our series of wildlife articles.

(Please Note: If you’re not reading this post on Wildlife Photography Blog from Wildlife Pictures Online, then you’re not seeing the original version. Please go to The Real Rubber Lips to read the original.)

Caption: Mud-covered elephant standing thigh-deep in water provides an eye-catching contrast in color and texture to the elephant in the background walking against a forest backdrop, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.

Camera: Canon EOS 400D (Digital Rebel XTi); Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal Length: 300mm; Shutter speed: 1/400; Aperture: f/8; ISO: 200.

I selected this picture mainly because I like the colors and also because of the contrast between the wet and dry elephants.

While you don’t need a particularly long lens to photograph elephants because of their size, they’re also notoriously difficult to portray in an original way.

Their coats are dull compared to the vibrant colors of the giraffe or stripes of the zebra, while their faces are generally expressionless — you don’t see an elephant snarling or baring its teeth as do predators, and the small eyes buried in the huge head are hardly visible unless you’re very close.

Elephants do provide exciting photo opportunities when spraying dust or squirting water, but they tend to bathe and drink in the heat of the day, when the sun is high and the light unforgivingly harsh and contrasty.

The above picture was taken around 4.30pm on a winter’s day, when the sun was lower in the sky. The red earth, russet hues of the bush and blue water work well together, providing much needed color to an otherwise ordinary scene.

(Please Note: If you’re not reading this post on Wildlife Photography Blog from Wildlife Pictures Online, then you’re not seeing the original version. Please go to Wet and Dry Elephant Contrast to read the original.)

Caption: Hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) surfaces through a blanket of water hyacinth covering a section of the Letaba River, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Camera: Canon EOS 450D (Canon Rebel XSi 12.2MP); Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/100; Aperture: f/8; ISO: 400.

Left: Another hippo emerges from the water draped in water hyacinth, showing the extent of the weed in this section of river, where it extends from bank to bank.

Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), while looking quite pretty with its green leaves and mauve flowers is a rampant invasive alien, widely recognized as one of the world’s worst weeds.

The plant is a native of the Amazon, but tolerates a wide range of climatic and aquatic conditions, allowing infestation across a range of latitudes and climates.

When uncontrolled, water hyacinth will quickly blanket entire dams, lakes and stretches of river, dramatically impeding water flow, blocking sunlight from reaching native aquatic plants, starving the water of oxygen and leading to death of fish and turtles.

(Please Note: If you’re not reading this post on Wildlife Photography Blog from Wildlife Pictures Online, then you’re not seeing the original version. Please go to Hippo Draped in Water Hyacinth to read the original.)