African Elephant Two Finger's Trunk

The great Nile crocodiles and the African elephant at war

African elephant trunk love greeting 

The elephant and mainly the African elephant, African bush elephant, or the African forest elephant is one of the most feared, loved, adorable dangerous animals  and the most spectacular animal while on an African safari or just at the zoo any where in the wild or in captivity. Nowhere in the world are there many elephants other than the beautiful African Savannah lands of southern and eastern Africa. 

Water hole elephant party family time

These great animals of the plains and jungle of Africa you find that the elephants of the genus Loxodonta, known collectively as African elephants, are mainly  found in 37 countries in Africa notably  Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa which together account for the highest number of elephants. 

The most flexible/slippery elephant trunk

These African elephants are found in their natural habitat where elephants are protected in the national parks, game reserves and private ranches where elephants are raised as well.  Many people wonder as to why the African elephants are different from the Asian elephants. 

Elephant habitat across water plains

With a great deal of comparison and different elephant physical features, the majestic members of the Big five African elephants are distinguished from Asian elephants in several ways.  


The African elephants have bigger ears which look like the map of Africa while the Asian elephants have smaller ears. The African elephants are equipped with two finger like projections at the tip of their trunk which gives them an edge over the Asian elephants which have only one

Elephant sniffing life with their trunks out of the dead bones

As the biggest animal on land, the African elephant is larger than the Asian elephant and has a concave back.  While poaching of elephants is very rampant in both Asia and Africa, these beautiful elephants are poached because e of their lovely trunks. The Asian elephants have trunks but only for the male elephants while in Africa both male and female elephants have trunks and are less hairy than the Asian elephants.

Mom and baby elephant in African
Savannah walking n the dry grass

With many animal safari tourist or  travelers going on  safaris to Africa to see the African elephant which is one of the Big Five and the most respectable animal in the African Savannah, these giant elephants of the Africa jungle have seen their good days and bad days as well.  African safari travelers have captured very good elephant pictures while in their best behavior and breath taking moments which only take a nano second to get an elephant image of a life time.

African elephants greetings and
drinking at the water hole

These elephant great pictures were just some of the greatest moment on one of the elephant animal safari. Living up to their names, the dangerous Nile crocodiles undeterred by the sheer African elephant pounds of muscles the Nile crocodile wanted to make a meal out of the unsuspecting other elephant  and hope to come for more as the days go by as was the case with this one lucky African elephant and one lucky Nile crocodile as well.

The power of the elephant trunk

Photographer Martin Nyfeler was traveling through South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. The    park is blessed with a very big number of animal species such as the African elephant, leopards, the cape buffalo, the king of the African jungle: the African savannah lion the spotted hyenas, Cookson’s wildebeest, bushbuck, zebra, warthog, apes such as baboon, vervet monkey, puku and impala, hartebeest, reedbuck and the eland. And different types of bird species as well. 

Beautiful Red African elephants play 

It was at this juncture when the wits, guts and the strengths of the African elephant were put to the test. As the elephant moment presented itself,   the female elephant and her baby were drinking from the Luangwa River. Leaping out of the murky waters a vicious crocodile set upon the pair, biting into the female's trunk within some split of a few seconds, the mother elephant was free to roam the African savannah plains and to join his heard in the African elephant train. 

Angry baby elephant

In the African savannah land, the African lion is the main predator to elephants. Young African elephants are always attacked by pride of lions day in and day out. With no tusks to protect themselves with, many lonely elephants which are separated from the elephant heard are always vulnerable to such attacks. But when the Nile crocs are also gearing up to put elephants and not wildebeest in their food chain, there is always more action to see while one is out there on an elephant animal safari where every moment and turn is just a great animal moment to capture on picture.

African forest elephant in the bush

What happened to the elephant is a thing of the past. Could the elephant attack by the Nile crocodile been avoided that is also one of natures greatest mysteries which only the elephant and the Nile crocodile could tell. Are there such incidences where crocodiles hide and attack elephants in many other parts of the world? Yes, there are may other instances too. 

Elephants swimming underwater

Not just small elephants are vulnerable to the Nile crocodile attacks, big African elephants have to struggle hard to get away from the sharp strong jaws of the mighty African Nile crocodiles. It sounds strange as to why the Nile crocodile likes to tease the African elephant with its trunk. If there had been any chance for the Nile crocodile to perform its death spin. I doubt whether the African elephant trunk would still be part of the elephant’s trunk.

African Baby elephant learning how to use its trunk 

Have you ever thought of an elephant without its trunk? How would an elephant look like without it. The wise guess would be the elephant would just bleed to death if it had an open would or not have  its trunk and how about food, the elephant would not be able to crown down to grab and cut the grass and put it in its mouth because of its long tusks. Would that have meant the end of life to our beautiful African elephant? It’s hard to tell with all these mysteries of the different animal adaptation and survival for the fittest predator and prey animal habitat. 

African elephants taking a  mud bath

The elegant African elephants always use their beautiful trunks to tear up their diet which is mostly comprised of grass, leaves and fruits found in the African Savannah and any other elephant habitat. The  elephant usually manipulates the trunk and what ever food is caught by the trunk is placed in the mouth.

 it in their mouths. 

African red elephants Tsavo safaris

Poaching leaves baby elephants
vulnerable to other predators

Just like the tallest animal in the world also a friend of the African elephant when it comes to height notably the giraffe, the African elephant also uses its trunk grasp leaves, fruit, or entire branches unlike the giraffe which uses its long tongue to grab and eat what is to be eaten. As it has been in many other cases when there is drought, many elephants are forced to find food on higher grounds and the acacia trees provide all the nutrients and solutions when there is a shortage of green grass or the temperatures are just inevitable to support any undergrowth.

Beautiful African Elephant bi

I many a times scores of trees both big and small are uprooted using the trunk. Young shoots or plants fall victim of the elephant trunk while the old trees when swayed bu the giant African elephants sometimes do not stand a chance and in the end they fall down and give rise to another usage within the ecosystem.

Many people out there that the elephant trunk is used by the elephant to drink water. This is not the case. When swimming, elephant uses its trunk to breath while it us above water just like a snorkel. On the other hand, the elephant uses its trunk to scoop gallons of water and then splash it into its mouth. What a wonderful feeling this is unlike any other animal which needs to stoop down on its needs just to have that water down the throat in the summer heat across the African great plains with every eyes of the predator eyeing the water hole or nearby river and lakes. 

Baby elephant milk time feeding time

While the elephants are having a nice time in the water, these beautiful animals will suck up water and  spray as rain on their bodies during bathing. Such a spectacular image of an elephant splashing water is just the pleasure a safari lover would wish to do while in the wilderness as well. 

Trained Elephants paying games

When the change of weather calls for drastic medication, the African elephant uses its trunk to just after taking the water bath  then scoops dirt or sand with its trunk as well and then sprays it on its body. People always wonder how come its only in African where you have red elephants. Where did all these red elephants come from? These cleaver elephants have mastered the laws of nature and the only way to stay healthy and beautiful  and to look unique in the elephant country is just by throwing that red mud on top of their skin. Ask any body who has been to Tsavo. 

he biggest elephant in the world

These red elephants look amazing just because of the rich red volcanic soil which is home to these beautiful African elephants. When the elephant's menu cure and pedicure has ended, the dirt and the mud which covers the elephant dries up with the harmful insects as and also acts as a protective sunscreen thanks to the long powerful elephant trunk which many other animals wish they also had the same. 

Baby elephant trunk up sniffing air

With so many elephant herds roaming miles and miles along the African savannah and crossing borders of Kenya and Tanzania where many of the greatest elephant’s population are located, it’s amazing to know that elephants do recognize their enemies and their elephant cousins as well. Elephants belonging to the same linage will greet each other just like any social animals by entwining their trunks.

The elephant trunk at its best.
Picture:Jagdeep Rajput
Corbett National Park in India 

When the elephant close bond is established these beautiful elephants will use their trunks while play which is always an amazing site. Elephants do wrestle sometimes with their trunks to show the dominant elephant in the heard as well and for the sake of showing off mainly for the young elephants which are almost reaching maturity mainly by caressing during courtship. There are many other instances out in the wild where mother elephants have managed to rescue their babies when they have gotten stuck in the water bath in many of the great African safari elephants caught of video or just amazing elephant photos of elephants being rescued by their mothers.

White elephant Indian elephant

The plight of the African elephant will always be at the two finger tip trunk smelling the air as it raises its trunk to show dominance, a warning or threat and viciously defending themselves very well by flailing their trunks at unwanted intruders who poach and raid them of their beautiful trunks and deny them their elephant rights to walk the African jungles from the Mediterranean see to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

Nile crocodiles elephant dangerous attacks.
Picture: MARTIN NYFELER / BARCROFT MEDI 

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Baby lions or lion cubs are just some of the most beautiful amazing baby animals which will feel your heart with admiration.  These little cute lion cubs just like any other animal baby will always be as adventurous and playful for as long as there is energy and room to play. Like any other mammal, these beautiful lion cubs playing have produced some of the most amazing baby lion pictures which have been breath taking and have touched the hearts of many animal photographers and animal lovers as well.

The lioness and feeding lions take care of the baby lions

Many people who have managed to go to an Africa safari might have had the privilege of getting a closer look of these beautiful lion cubs in their natural habitat. Despite the fact that by the time when these lion cubs are out there in the open, cubs are already grown and ready to face the world but little do we still know about these lion cubs while they are still in the den.

lion babies try to bond  socialize.
Lions in the wild adopt quickly

lion cubs start fighting when  small
and can be seen in an animal safari

When tie time comes for the lioness to give birth, it takes almost around three and a half months after conception. The lioness most of the time gives birth to four tinny beautiful lion cubs. These tinny cubs are the ones which will come to roam many of the world’s national parks of Africa Asia, Australia Europe while some of them are always born in captivity. 

The lion paws are what makes a lion

Baby lion playing with the lion 

Both in the lion’s natural habitat and in captivity, giving birth to two or three healthy lion cubs is just normal.  Since lions and specially lioness are sometimes very secretive when it comes to their young ones, the mother lion will only come once in a while to share with the pride what has been killed for the day otherwise the only signs to know if a lion has given birth are the large stains on the surrounding areas of the nipples. 

lion cubs like little babies will scratch bite and eat anything

Nursing of these baby lions is done sonly by the lioness. The lion cubs are taken care of by their mother day in day out come rain come sunshine while they are out there in the wilderness.  These are just some of the rare moments when you will spot a mother lion carry her cubs by holding them from the back of their necks which is a typical natural phenomenon among all cat families. Most lf the female feeding lions and their young cubs spend most of their time in the den far away from the lion’s pride. 

When the lionesses are thirsty and feel there is danger lingering around where the lion cubs are will always come out to protect her young ones. These little lion cubs will always stay protected under the cover of the thick dense vegetation and will be initiated in the pride after a period of almost six weeks. This is always the crucial time for the lion cubs, the lioness and the father of the pride. 

baby lions like fun all the time cute
baby lion cub habitat

Baby lions play in the wild and will
wake up the lion king

When the weaning of the lion cubs progresses and the lion cubs are mature enough, the little lion cubs are introduces and get accustomed to eating beef when they are almost and will always keep on feeding on their mother’s milk for about 6-7 months. These beautiful playful young lion cubs will start making efforts to imitate what the other lions are doing and their mother is always the best teacher as these cute lion cubs will always be at a learning stage and what is all there about lions they need to learn. 

While the mother lion is away, the other feeding lions will always find the nearest lion nipple and quench its thirst. These beautiful baby lions will always depend on their mother for food and for protection for a span of around to two years. This is allows one of the moment when lion fights takes place among the little lions, running and jumping is just the order of the day, scratching one another and jumping on their mothers back is as fun as pulling the male lions mane and trying to get a bite out of his big fluffy ears. 

lion cubs like seeking & tagging
beautiful African safari picture 

lions in the rain is fun & whats next
the little lions in the wild survive

Playing tag and trying to starch tree trunks and catching little insects is just as fun. The little cubs will always watch at a safe distance while in the savannah habitat learning all the necessary hunting steps which will became useful while they take over the pride or make their own. With the ongoing habitat loss and lion poaching going on around the national parks and protected animal reserves, when these beautiful lions are killed, these little lions are always left at the mercy of the rest of the pride. When things get worse which could be as a result of dangerous weather and harsh climatic conditions, the mother lion sometimes abandons his cubs if she is not able to meet the daily rations for the little cubs.

Lion babies hunting practices
hunting and preying small animals

These mischievous little lion cubs sometimes wonder away from home while they are out playing or fall behind with the rest of the pride during their hunting spree. During the commotion, this is the time when the lion cubs have no protection and other predators such as hyenas, African wild hunting dogs cheetahs and even leopards will eat lion cabs if there is no threat to them while out there in the wilderness. The little lion playing is always not aware of what the lion jungle is about until he masters and learns from his lion family

Lions like sleeping when they are well fed beautiful
African lion family in the wild

The African buffalos have been known to terrorize and kill lion cubs whenever they stumble upon their den n many of the African national parks and game reserves.  At the same time, when a new king of the jungle has taken over the pride, the little tinny cute lion cubs are just at the mercy of the male lion who is to be the father of the pride. With little protection mechanisms and too slow to hide from the male lions, these lion cubs are the ones which get attacked first as they are not able to run away or defend themselves. It’s amazing to note that and a fact that lions do kill and sometimes eat the cubs which do not belong to him. 

There are great videos about lions killing and eating small lion cubs just before taking over the pride. This is one are about lions which is not yet fully understood by humans but when the lions natural instincts kicks in for the continuation of generation, his bloodline and  linage is as important as putting his life to defending the pride.

Lion cubs take a close look hunting

baby lions like exploring their natural
habitat and the new world

If the lions survive the socialization and initiation process the cubs just like any other big cats are evicted from the pride and are left to hunt on their own. This is always a crucial moment to make it in the wild depending on the availability of other land animals and competition within the habitat. Sometimes not may young lions make it as they also become vulnerable and since their hunting techniques have not yet been perfected.

Baby lion hunting skills are perfected
during the lions fighting practices

The  pride when taken away can
leave the little cubs lost and wounded

Despite the fact that the feeding mother lions are also vulnerable,  they have their copping skills and one of the primary reasons why female lions live in groups, as there is strength in numbers and only groups of females can often defeat they will always fight back to protect any lion intruding their pride and hence many of the female lions will always stick together while the young lions patrol their feeding and breeding grounds marking their territories and looking for intruders and warding them off keeping it safe for the lion cubs to grow and follow what their fore fathers have been practicing for as long as they have been on the pride land.

The lion roar can reach as far as five kilometers in the
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