Muddy baby elephant ends up with his feet in the air

Few things on a safari are as entertaining as watching baby elephants play in the mud, especially when they end up in the most awkward positions.

It was during a late morning safari in the Kruger National Park when we came across a small herd of elephants standing around a mud wallow. The heat of the day was already rising and these elephants were taking the opportunity to cool themselves down by splashing their bodies with the mud. We decided to stop and watch the elephants enjoy their mud bath. In the herd there were a few younger elephants and baby elephants. Watching these youngsters being active near mud usually delivers really entertaining viewing.

It was not long before I spotted one elephant that went to lie down flat on its side in the mud. It was the quickest way for the elephant to get most of its body covered with mud. While watching the elephant enjoying his lie down in the mud, things became even more entertaining when a male baby elephant arrived on the scene. The elephant lying in the mud was too much of a temptation for the baby elephant to ignore and signalled playtime to the youngster. The baby elephant then proceeded to climb on top of the bigger elephant. The bigger elephant bull lying in the mud did not seem too amused by the fact that there was young male elephant jumping onto him. The baby elephant was looking adorable while attempting to slide his body over that of his big brother. The elephant lying down finally decided to ignore the baby elephant and laid down his head, causing the baby elephant to lose his position, tumbling down onto his back with all four feet up in the air.

This was one of the funniest moments with baby elephants I have seen in a long time. The baby elephant was lying down on his back with all four feet kicking up in the air for quite some time in the attempt to get back onto his feet. Eventually the baby elephant managed to fall over onto his side. At the same time the older elephant quickly got back onto his feet and decided to rather move on after his mud bath was interrupted. The baby elephant slowly managed to get back onto his own four feet, after his playful ‘falling around’ adventures came to an end and left with the rest of the herd. We left the area feeling really happy and heart warmed by the funny and adorable moments these elephants created for us.