- After being taken away from his mother, who tried to end his life, an elephant baby cries for 5 hours. The beauty of the animal kingdom can make us gasp, but it also has a dark side that is sometimes hard to understand. We have seen so many mom elephants risk their lives to protect their young.
Elephants have the longest gestation period, growing inside their mother´s wombs for 22 months before they are ready to come out. Elephants are also monogamous, so the bond between mother and child is very strong but necessary for the baby’s survival.
When Zhuang Zhuang was a baby at the Shendiashaп Wild Aпimal Natural Reserve in China, his mother tried to end his life, so staff had to split them up. Even though it was dangerous for him to stay with her, their separation made him very sad. The baby elephant cried for five hours.
When the baby elephant was born in 2013, his mother didn’t want him right away. The staff at the reserve thought it was an accident, so they took the baby away to treat his wounds. When they brought Zhuang Zhupg back, his mother tried to kill him again, so staff took him away from her. Even though the staff tried to comfort baby Zhuang Zhuang for hours, the baby’s heart was broken.
“The calf was very upset, and it took five hours for someone to calm him down. His mother was trying to end his life because he couldn’t stand to be away from her.” an AP worker told Shared.com. Elephants live in groups called “herds” where they help each other protect their young and each other. It’s very important that they are part of a family group.
The females of the group always take care of the babies. Sometimes it’s just the mother, but sometimes other female elephants will help. It looks like this is how young female elephants learn how to care for their young. Iap Redmond, a wildlife officer with the Born Free Foundation and an elephant expert, says that giving birth can be scary for some elephants because they “don’t work as expected.”
