Being an extreme fan of African Elephants, when I made my first visit to Manyeleti Nature Reserve I was wondering how many elephants we would see there. Thankfully I can now confirm that the reserve has a thriving population of the pachyderms and they were very much in evidence as we went driving around the reserve.
This was the biggest herd we saw during our stay in the Manyeleti. In elephant society the breeding herds usually consists only of adults females and their offspring, with adult males only visiting the herd when there’s a cow in oestrus present.
This young bull we found a bit later at a dam was definitely interested in some or other smell exuded by another elephant or elephants, using his trunk to test both the air and urine spots left on the ground.
One of our final sightings as we drove towards the gate on our way back home was of a small group of bachelor Elephant bulls hanging around at – and in – the large dam in the centre of the reserve.
Don’t miss the chance to visit Manyeleti along with DeWetsWild and Hannes Rossouw Photography!
DeWetsWild 
Og, die mooie olifant! Jy’t weereens soveel mooi foto’s en dis lekker om op die video’s te sien hoe rustig die olifante verkeer met julle in die rondte. Ek hou ook van die olifant en sebra in een foto – dit lyk amper onnatuurlik hoe klein die sebra is.
Ek kan regtig ure saam met olifante spandeer. Ek wens ons kon met hulle praat en hulle regtig verstaan.
I love the picture with the zebra…really lets you see the size difference!
Those were some really big elephant bulls, Kathy!
One cannot go wrong spending quality time watching the interactions between elephants. They are sentient creatures who can teach humans a thing or two about caring!
Absolutely, Anne. What a privilege it is that we live in a country where the elephants still thrive in so many wild places.
Wonderlik om so baie kleintjies in die trop te kan sien. Pragtige foto’s en videos.
Baie dankie, Aletta. Hulle bly darem alte kostelik, nie waar nie?
Hulle is beslis 😀
Loved the photo of the trunk testing the urine patch! Brilliant.
That was really intriguing behaviour, Petru!
The calves are so cute and I like the two bulls playing on the water. I can’t watch the videos right now unfortunately, but loved the photos.
Tough game today. Kicking killed us! I imagine they’ll meet again at/near the end. Poor Dupont!!
As you can imagine we’re rather deflated waking up this morning after last night’s loss to Ireland. Sometimes an early loss can be a blessing in disguise though. And I also feel terrible for Dupont to be out of the French team playing the WC on home soil. I see the newspapers say he’ll rejoin the team after surgery so hopefully that gives them something to rally around.
Great photos and video, Dries. The matriarch in protective mode…they are wonderful.
Thank you very much, Lois. Watching elephants interact with each other – the matriarch, her sisters and daughters, the youngsters and the calves – really is one of the greatest pleasures of any time spent in our wild places.