Just some notes. Moms go off to have the baby in private. They return to their herds with new babies that have poor vision and not strong legs. The herd may be passive and ignore the calf, or rejoice. Depends on the mother's rank and if the calf carries the smell of the mom. Baby elephants instinctively follow large moving things because of their poor eye sight when young. They also don't have any good control of their trunks yet. Why it is drinking with It's mouth rather than trunk. This is a young mother who brought her calf too early to the herd. Just inexperienced. The scent of the calf was still new and not tightly connected to the mother yet. The hippos came in, killers of young elephants and made the herd panic. At one point you see the calf follow the wrong elephant, look at the tusks. This elephant shoves it and walks over it. While the mom was chasing hippos. After the mom gets her calf from the hippos, she leaves to be alone to better solidify the bond and their scent so the herd will see it as their kin.

Why is everyone so negative about this video? It’s a momma elephant and her baby doing elephant things. I found them quite charming.

Be safe and healthy out there sweeties!!!❤️🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘💖💖🦒🦒🦒🦓🦓🦓🐃🐃🐃🦌🦌🦌🦌❤❤❤❤

After reading some other comments and re-watching, some things seem clear. There was more than one herd at the lake. The mother and calf pair were not part of either herd, and were being rejected in the efforts to join one herd. Interesting to note her distress at 9:00, when she wanted to follow the herd as they migrated around the lake, but couldn't leave the calf alone. He wasn't following. She gave up the effort to join, and stayed to protect her vulnerable calf. The herd left them, and they left the lake alone again.

Did I miss something? It appears to me that the mother was doing her best to help her baby! The elephant trunk is like a fifth leg that does a remarkable job keep the baby close to her and out of danger!

The baby did not get "stepped on", just kind of got kicked away. It seemed briefly confused about which was it's mother. The mom came over after that happened to check on her baby, and the baby again tried to go to the other one thinking it was it's mom. Newborn elephants drink with their mouth until they learn to drink with their trunk, that's why it put it's whole face in the water. I love elephants and how they take care of each other and stay together in packs for life. Humans could learn to be better by watching them.

The baby was fine, no worries. The mom was trying to teach it to pay attention and listen to her. Something we seldom do as humans. After she risked her life to threaten two humongous hippos just because they got too close to her baby.

Beautiful, raw footage of a real life drama. It is disturbing to watch. That is such a tiny baby and so cute, it hurts to know Momma kicked it for no reason. But she did protect the calf from Hippos who were being very territorial. They learned their lesson in the end. Great job of shooting this segment, very well done!

hope the baby survived. looks like a newborn.

That is so adorable, when he/she is swimming. The mother attacks the hippo and the baby is swimming, having the time of his life, not a care in the world.

Look at that little bugger ... He's having a gala time playing in the water😃😃

one of the most patient mothers i’ve ever seen. 🐘🐘 :)🌷🌱 i think i’ve seen this before, where a mother and new baby stay alone for a while. i’ll have to look it up. . .

This baby had the power to endure fatigue, privation. He was quite a runner, keeping up with this herd and although I missed some in the middle of the video, (I can't stand seeing them mistreated) I saw him get very little of the life giving sustenance he truly needed. I hope he grew up to be a GREAT BULL and founded a herd of his own. GOD BLESS YOU BABY ELEPHANT.

that baby is so cute I love elephants

My heart is jumping for happiness to see he find a mommy and be by the family! Lord bless all this Elephant

It looks like the mother and baby are not part of that herd, hence the defensive reaction when they encounter the baby. The mother is definitely taking care of her baby. Bless the little cutie. 🥰

God Bless this sweet, precious baby. Lord look over & protect this Angel & it's Mom.

What an adorable baby elephant, they're all beautiful.

I am a huge fan of elephants I think they're the most beautiful animals on Earth

I pray that the little sweetheart will be okay and save 🙏I love them so much .

Look closely. It’s still got its umbilical. It’s a brand new baby, very unsteady on its feet. Unlikely blind or ‘mentally defective’ as some are spouting off. Imagine being born and being expected to run with the herd five minutes later?! Also, baby elephants can take a few months to learn to use their trunks. They tend to put their faces right into the water to drink.

You can see the umbilical cord is still attached to the baby...very new baby elephant!

What a GORGEOUS , PRECIOUS little soul ! GOD BLESS

No the herd did not reject the baby. Sometimes too many at once cause confusion. But that doesn't mean they won't intervene to help. Those adults were only warning the baby to be careful as mommy thrust to drink. When the hippos came by distracted the herd, there goes baby in the deep. It's a learning experience. Baby hovers between the legs of the momma assures that baby is protected. 🍃I❤Elephants🍃

he is one very determined baby elephant

For the most part, elephants are really just gentle giants.

I love all animals and i love Elephant so much.. ❤🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘❤❤❤🙏🙏

To cute for words! Love this!!!!

Poor baby!!! Thank You for posting the video. I love elephants! You are so fortunate to have seen them in their natural habitat. However, the students who are cackling out in laughter are very annoying,

I think mumma was trying to teach her baby to follow close, but not that close. The baby was getting entangled in her legs. She's a lovely mumma. :)

Poor Baby. I hope it survived the abuse by the herd and the ignorance of the mother. Poor baby looked exhausted and hungry. Prob one of the reasons it kept drinking that muddy water to fill up ❤❤🐘 ❤❤

The baby elephant swims very well. Mum really loves her baby!!

What a stunning video! Thank you for uploading this.Elephants are truely beautiful animals and my heart went out to the little one,who looked a little under nourished. I hope both of them are well and the little one thriving alongside his mum. Thank you again for sharing this.

Poor baby.. May God bless these beautiful innocent animals 🐘💔❤️🙏🙏🙏

I like how mama elephant got rid of the hippos. She pushed the hippos back with gracefullness!!!!!

This was so stressful to watch! I was afraid the baby was going to drown and then I was afraid the hippos were going to get it. Mom was not very helpful through the whole thing. I'm stressed out now. Whew.

well I for one would like to say thank you for posting this video and it did look like at one point the the baby was being picked on / rejected by some of the herd but mum stayed with her baby in the water and on land , your so lucky to be able to see them in the flesh it must be truly awesome 👍☺

I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ELEPHANTS REJECTING AN INFANT. THEY USUALLY ARE SO PROTECTIVE OF THEM.

Looks to me like she recently gave birth and is very thirty. Baby is still wobbly in legs but learning fast... thank you for sharing your wonderful experience.

First off, the baby was never stepped on. The elephant went to step off to the side and pushed the baby away so it wouldn’t be stepped on. You can project human emotions or actions onto wild animals. When the baby was in the water multiple elephants came by to help him if he wanted to get out. Then the mother came by and they played in the water, rinsing off, and the mother even protected the baby by chasing the hippos. You could see the baby is still trying to get milk from the mother and it is at the age where it’s transitioning to water as well. No one is neglecting the baby, and it’s not being abused. People get so sensitive over nothing because they treat animals as if they were humans. I’m 38 and while I keep my own kids close to me, likely too close, I remember my mother giving me way more space… they are wild animals

A very protective mom over that cute dumbo

So cute little one baby elephan god bless you all family daling be save with mom darling ❤

This mother is disturbed I just pray for the baby. Only the strong survive. Philadelphia USA

This is a brand new baby elephant. Likely a new/inexperienced mom as well. I don't believe she meant to step on him. Notice how she stays near him in the water trying to help him out and pushing him away from the hippo. I believe the one causing the problems is a young bull male whom get kicked out of the heard when they start to sexually mature. They're kicked out because of behavior like this towards babies, asserting their dominance.

January 24, 2019: Without animals, the earth would be completely intolerable.

Mom is always there by the baby taking good care of her, mom is protecting and nursing baby so I don't see any rejection, baby seems kind of weak but it's probably because is a newborn.

The mother elephant is a very adorable mother elephant raking care of her baby elephant..always by the baby's side...the video shows how beautiful elephants are❤❤❤ but the title of the video must be changed.

the water pump sound is still better than some added music

When it looked like the herd was chasing him, they were herding him away from the hippos, which are very territorial and a serious threat to that curious young fellow. Other than the hippo, that’s the safest place for them to be while he gains balance and strength. If the lions show up, there’s plenty of carnage lying around they won’t even have to hunt for!

There's still a bit of umbilical cord dangling off its belly. I think it's a newborn still unsteady on its legs, never been to a waterhole before and hasn't got a clue about anything.

Best video ever. It was so nice to enjoy them as if we were there. Not cut off and a lot of overtalk. Thank you

Very nice video thank you 👌

Notice when the herd walks, the babies are usually in the middle surrounded by the large ones to protect them, but the tiny runt was left outside the herd often and running trying hard to keep up. They seemed to ignore this baby, but not the larger baby who would likely be less of a liability/ burden. It's sad to see when there's no compassion even for one's own young b/c everyone's selfishly thinking of themselves and what's easier for them (humans do the same).

There was no rejection, the mother just must be new and inexperienced.

That little snorkel is cute as he's making his way across the pond.

We could learn so much from these..she looks a very proud mother

I think she is a first time Mother. She doesn't seem to know what to do with her tiny baby. She doesn't stand still long enough for her tiny baby to nurse. Tiny babies like this need to nurse lots to be strong enough to follow the herding hope she stays with the herd for protection from rhinos and lions. Hope this sweet baby gets big and strong.

I think the students made so much noise they scared the herd off. But the mother couldn't leave her calf. But the most pathetic part are the inept people who could have reported this but didn't. They should be fired.

She did get her baby out of the water. Hurts my heart to see this precious little guy trying to keep up, he's so little compared to the adults.

Mom & her 🍼 baby are a wonderful love & life story .

Mom is so thin! No extra nutrition~ No wonder baby feet have no strength~ God bless ♡🤗🤗🤗

4:20 aww the little baby was blowing bubbles in the water 😭😭😭 it's so sweet

What a cute baby! Very small and young!

There's a strong possibility that it belonged to a different herd, got lost and tried attaching to this herd. Elephants are often reluctant to adopt a lost newborn calf, despite having a reputation to do so, especially if they're already nursing calves of their own or if they're having trouble producing milk, due to a lack of food. I don't believe that the so called "mother" is actually the elephant calf's real mother because it doesn't even look like she's producing milk. You can clearly tell when a mother elephant is producing milk. I think this calf just attached itself to this elephant.

this video reveals so much! the one thing that i did take away from this was even though the herd rejected the baby, that one elephant that was in the water with it saved its life from the herd of hippos!

Oh only hope that the baby is going to be ok and cared for.😯❤👌

Thank you very much for this beautiful video! I’ve enjoyed it immensely. I’d like to see this little thing bigger and stronger! 🐘🥰

The "mother" appears to have a hernia (the bulge in her abdomen), so she's easy to identify. This baby elephant still has a bit of the umbilicus attached, so it is very very young, basically a newborn. The baby does not nurse at all during this video, which is very atypical especially for a newborn. As others in the thread suggest, this baby may have lost its mother (which may be the dead elephant we can see in the foreground). The baby may have latched onto the herd in desperate need of a mother and food. But if there are no lactating females that are willing to take the baby, it can't survive. It looks like at least one elephant (the one with the hernia) is willing to be an allomother but isn't lactating and cannot feed the baby. At 4:23, "mom" is chased away by another female elephant, and it is this new elephant who kicks the baby away when the baby tries to attach to her. If the baby is not part of this herd, it is fairly normal for the elephants to refuse the baby, because any females who are lactating need to give that milk to their own babies, and won't be able to feed two. It's very, very rare for elephants to have more than one baby at a time. The hippos are not an actual threat. Elephants are just very aggressive about chasing away anything that might possible be a danger, whether it actually is or not.

Love how Mama goes into uber defense mode and defends the calf from the hippos at 15:00. After watching this video again, I draw the conclusion that this cow and calf were not part of the herd at the water hole. That cow is looking for her herd which consists of her own mother, sisters, aunts, nieces and nephews. I don't know the reason, but sometimes pregnant cows will go through birth, having the calf alone and then have to find their herd after the calf gets "up to speed." This calf was relatively new born. I noticed as well that the mother had some sort of fluid filled pouch at her abdomen - that shouldn't be there. Hope all was well and they both found the herd/survived.

The mum DID NOT reject her baby; she seems to really love her baby a lot especially when she pushes the hippos awayWITH her tusk.9

Thank goodness for such a loving caring mama, and a very protective mama at that towards the hippos. It breaks my heart that none of the other elephants came to the mama and babys rescue. And I'm glad mama and her precious beautiful tiny baby went their separate way. 🐘🐘♥️

baby having fun in the water with mum

Not sure what happened, but I was so happy to see the mother looking after and staying with the baby the whole time. Hopefully they are both okay.

코끼리에 관한 유튜브를 보기 시작햇는데. 너무나 감동 적이 엿어요. 새끼를 다루는 어미 코끼리의 섬세한 코~오. 사람이나 동물 이나 엄마의 마음은 다 가트은듯 합니다. 좋은일에 힘써주시는 모든 분들께 경의를 표합니다. 엄마코끼리를 따라 가려구 통통한 새끼 코끼리가 보여주는 걸음걸이 귀의 펄럭 걸임. 모든것이 사랑스럽고 감동 자체입니다. 저는 반려견을 키우고 잇습니다. 그로인해 알게된 생명체의 존중과. 사랑의 깊이가 말로다 할수 없을 만큼. 아주 큼니다. 좋은 영상 감사 드리고. 항상 건강 하세요~~~

The baby is tiny & cute.

Mom is a bit clueless, but is allowing the calf to nurse. Their bond will grow stronger over time.

I just watched another video about a little elephant who was taken in at sanctuary. Angry villagers killed his mama right in front of him. He really became attached to his human caretakers. After one year he had taken a liking to other elephants around his age- but it took a few tries before he was willing to part from his humans.

Thanks for sharing this remarkable footage! What I saw was a mother with good instincts - patient, helpful and protective, giving the baby time to gain some strength before following the herd. She even helped push him across the water and let him learn how to get back on the bank with just enough help from her. Too bad not all human mothers are as caring.

Thank you for sharing this.

thats so sweet and so precious. the elephant is majestic, powerful, strong and meek. awesome animal

That is not the mother and calf's herd. You can tell they came from a different direction not to mention their less than friendly interactions. They just happened to meet at the waterhole. Sadly it seems the mother and calf are all alone. Hopefully her herd is still around somewhere. The calf looks very young, can't be more than a day or two old

What a loving mother she dint’ give up on herchild and I think the baby wanted to have a milk.

Exhausted infant barely survived drowning in the slippery mud hole, getting killed by hit from other elephant herd and then hippo wanting to kill it. Newborn (I see a "pooch" still on momma from recent birth) with inexperienced mom. Thirsty new momma but infant very hungry too. Hope they made it. Sad too, all the elephants very dehydrated so thank you for who put in water source.

Personally, I believe this is a BRAND NEW-born baby.. seeing water (getting in it at least) for the first time, ALONG with mum..who must be feeling so good after a 2 yr pregnancy, and quite possibly a young mum's *1st baby?? Therefore, I think they were just enjoying the moment & a 'lesson' on slippery edges was being learned too. I believe the mum knew exactly where her herd was headed, and caught up with them. I don't think either mum or baby was 'left behind', etc. Soooo beautiful!! THANK YOU for sharing this video! 😊✌💫🐨

That's motherly love. Good mama

Infant elephant 🐘 still learning how to walk. Awwwe

Thank you for sharing this video. And special thanks for not adding music!

What amazes me in all these videos I see, they might be huge but they are very quiet when they walk. You don't hear loud "thump, thump, thump" and I think that makes it just a little scary for us because we assume that because it is big that they should be making a sound.

Your damn water pump was probably a communication interruption and stressor for the elephants.

This newborn calf was so precious. I was literally holding my breath the whole time. I did chuckle a bit that he hadn’t learned to use his trunk and was (what looked like) sticking his whole head in the water... lol... He was also still nursing I saw. Just glad the mother chased away those rhino’s... my heart was beating so fast ❤️ thanks for sharing!

cute small elephant-he explores so nicely with his long.....just above water

I saw what looked like multiple herds gathering for water (herds will migrate on their own to various feeding grounds but are known to meet up at reliable watering holes). The baby appears to be very new, as well as what seemed to be a first-time mother and they apparently didn't seem to be a true part of the group they walked in with. They all did seem a bit nervous/excited... 1) because water is something they celebrate finding for obvious reasons, and 2) waterholes equal vulnerability since predators need water too and know their prey will gather there. The baby was just exploring as young will do. There were also hippos in the area. Hippos are dangerous and can be extremely aggressive. The new mom was protecting her new baby from one of them getting too close even. It wasn't being stepped on, it was being directed with moms feet (albeit a bit rushed). She did the same thing in the water when the hippos got too close again, and even charged the hippo who got uncomfortably close to her calf. After getting their fill, they wander off probably to meet up with their own herd (sadly... there's a chance new mother and child are the only remaining survivors of their own herd due to poaching, hence their solo arrival/departure without their own group - the ugly reality btw of what is happening to their species). Elephants are with their families their whole lives, like Orcas or many other intelligent/sentient beings. You can't just look at them and think that all the elephants you see are hanging out with all the other elephants in the region. They have very complex social structures. Anyway, she seems to be a very protective and concerned mother from what I can tell. Aside from all that however, I saw no "rejection" of the baby whatsoever.

Completely misleading title of the video! If the calf was rejected it would not be allowed to walk with the herd or to suckle and it would be treated in a violent way, meaning stomped or attacked with tusks until it leaves the herd. Here the herd even helped the calf repeatedly to go back on its feet. There is a documentary "Fight for survival - Africa wildlife documentary" in which a calf is REALLY rejected. It got lost from its original herd and was attacked by other elephants whenever it was looking for company. At the end of the day it was eaten alive by hyenas while a lot of adult elephants were just watching. Not one of them tried to help the calf!

God bless them all thank you Jesus and praying for the babies

Elephants are highly intelligent and protect their young at all costs. I love ‘em. Thanks for the video.

Poor baby,,very inteligente and abandoned,God bless you baby orfan

I would say that the mother and her calf had become separated from their family. Notice at the beginning of the film that they were separate to the arriving elephant family and that they did not leave with any family. Without the support structure of her immediate family the mother would have been stressed which would have greatly reduced her milk production. As a result the calf looks somewhat malnourished and is attempting to fill its belly with its attempts to drink water. The mother has an obvious abdominal hernia. That and her obvious affection for the calf, indicates to me that she is definitely the mother of this calf.

Такая маленькая малышка прелесть😘🙏🙏🙏

Thanks for the long version I highly doubt I could have figured out what was going on in your video without your long version commentary

OMG that is the smallest baby elephant I've ever seen. He or she is soooooooo cute!!!! 🥰❤❤❤❤❤❤