As of: February 29, 2024, 2:49 p.m
By: Juliane Gutmann
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Elephant cubs have a close bond with their mother.
(Symbolic image) © Imago
There is probably nothing more heartwarming than baby animals who are overjoyed.
The photos taken in a reserve in India show an overjoyed elephant calf.
Elephants are very social animals.
Their solidarity is essential for survival, they protect each other and react with sadness when a member of the herd dies.
The bond between the young and the mother is also so strong because elephant cubs are nursed for up to five years.
The young animals are not only protected by their mothers: aunts and other female relatives also look after the little ones.
Reserve staff lead baby elephant back to mother
Almost the entire herd – which is usually led by an experienced female elephant – takes care of the young pachyderms.
If one of them suddenly goes missing, there is great shock in the herd.
This is how this situation happened at the end of December in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
As the free Swiss tabloid and commuter newspaper
20 Minutes
further informs, a four to five month old baby elephant got lost there.
It could no longer find its way back to its flock on its own.
But thanks to the team working in the reserve, the elephant cub was reunited with its mother.
The employees found the calf wandering alone, caught it and led it back to its mother:
Supriya Sahu, an Indian politician in Tamil Nadu responsible for environment, climate change and forests, put it this way in a post on was reunited with his mother by Tamil Nadu Forest Department officials at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve.
A big thank you to the foresters, forest guards and officials who made this reunification possible.”
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Why do elephants get so old?
Elephants can live up to 70 years.
This makes them one of the mammals that live particularly long.
This is partly because the large pachyderms have genetic protection against cancer.
As part of a study, researchers found that elephants have a particularly large number of copies of so-called tumor suppressor genes.
These genes can suppress the uncontrolled division of damaged cells and thus prevent the development of tumors.
As can be seen from an
ARDalpha
report, the researchers found additional gene copies in the pachyderms' genome that have a positive influence on cell health, DNA repair and the aging process.
Elephants are your favorite animals and would you like to read more about these impressive animals?
With articles like “Injured elephant returns to its homeland after 22 years” and ““Awwww, how cute”: Baby elephant bathes for the first time – and enchants the internet” Elephant lovers get their money’s worth.