We treasure these guys, a sighting always gets our hearts racing, especially when they are in camp.
Enormous mammals, actually the largest terrestrial mammal with adult males maxing out at around 13 ft and weighing in at over 6 tons. For their size they are surprisingly nimble, I have seen one step over a 5 ft fence one leg at a time without breaking a piece of wood – ballerina came to mind when I saw it. The next day the same elephant just crashed through another fence…. Like us they have distinct personalities and can be quite moody. For the most part they are gentle giants, good natured and respectful, but beware they know they can squash you. Notice in one of the pictures that one of the tusks is shorter, quite usual, like us elephants are left or right handed/tusked - using one for fighting, digging etc. more than the other. We also love their padded feet that allow them to sneak around around the bush and also feel their vocalisations - yes feeling the seismic vibrations in the ground produced by the low grumbling voclaisaitons they use to communicate.
The Lamai elephants are all good natured, no grumpy old males around and the matriarchs keep the boisterous teenagers in line. They come into camp to drink from our pool and eat our juicy trees, usually leaving behind a trail of destruction – fallen trees, broken fences, smashed pathways and a load of poo - all to the delight of guests and staff alike.
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