Just like most of the wild animals, elephants are also overprotective when comes to their babies. So naturally, when a calf is taking its first steps, its mom is always there to care for him.
In a heartwarming series of photos, a wildlife photographer captured a lovely scene that put together a mother elephant and her newborn baby, in the South African wildlife. Charl Stols was on a boat ride on Chobe River in Botswana, when spotted a mother elephant and her cubs heading to the water for a drink. So he decided to snap some photos of them and accidentally surprised the sweetest gesture a mother can do to her baby.
Due to the rough terrain that lead to the water, the newborn elephant tumbled a few times. Thankfully, its mom was always behind it to adorably lift it with her trunk, every time it needed. Because that’s what moms do – take care of their babies, every time they need!
“The smaller calf seemed to be only a few hours old, still in pink colour and wobbly on its feet,” the photographer told CAETRS. “At the water’s edge, the newborn plunged down several times and the mother gently helped it back up using her trunk and feet.”
The heart-melting scene impressed, even the photographer who wasn’t on his first encounter with an elephant family.
“It was a very special moment,” Stols said. “There are lots of elephants in Chobe but that must have been the youngest elephant I’d ever seen.Surprisingly they even crossed the river to one of the islands and the little one did manage to swim all the way.”
