The Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) is the world's longest running study of a wild elephant population. It was founded in 1975 by Cynthia Moss who has compiled three decades' worth of births, deaths and kinship within a community of 50 elephant families totalling more than 1,000 individuals. Today much of what is known about wild elephants is due to the fascinating documentaries put out by AERP.
This is a nursing mother (notice the full breasts). The baby cannot eat the grasses and bark that the mother is eating but is modeling her behavior. By the time he is grown, he will know how to get food for himself. You may be able to see one of the favorite foods of the elephant...very thorny acadia trees. Apparently the GI system is tough enough to be able to chew and digest thorns and bark. However their feet are so tender that they will not walk over rocky areas. We asked a naturalist how to escape an angry elephant and were told to find a very rocky area and the elephant would not follow.
Sorry...picture of elephants herd crossing the road in between cars was eliminated by the program. Apparently the pictures were too big to place 4 on this blog.
Due to the international recognition, the local elephant population was spared the attention of poachers who were so active in East Africa in the 1980s. As a result, elephants in this park have little fear of vehicles, as you can see in the picture. The elephant family crossed the road between vehicles that were pulled over to watch them. 
We watched this elephant family for about an hour, fascinated by the interactions. We watched the elephants eating, parenting, playing, even saw an attempted sexual encounter. They could have done some serious damage to our truck, but paid no attention to us.
We watched this elephant family for about an hour, fascinated by the interactions. We watched the elephants eating, parenting, playing, even saw an attempted sexual encounter. They could have done some serious damage to our truck, but paid no attention to us.
The elephant families are multi-generational. The oldest female is the leader. The males are part of the herd only until they are about 3 years of age, shortly after nursing stops and they leave the family; in this way incest is avoided. Notice the very young elephant nursing from it's mother. Tusks do not form until after nursing is finished. The trunks must be contended with, however.
As 
we watched, a large, sexually-aroused male elephant was trumpeting as he chased this mother and her baby elephant. The chase went on for quite a while, but the women escaped the unwanted attention of the male. Obviously the young mother was in oestrus, but was not receptive to this male. Perhaps she was being selective and waiting for a more appealing father for her next baby.
we watched, a large, sexually-aroused male elephant was trumpeting as he chased this mother and her baby elephant. The chase went on for quite a while, but the women escaped the unwanted attention of the male. Obviously the young mother was in oestrus, but was not receptive to this male. Perhaps she was being selective and waiting for a more appealing father for her next baby. 
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