This is a picture of the cutest baby elephant one could ever wish to see. He is totally clueless as to what to do with his trunk. All the trunk does is weigh down his head and swing uncontrollably. He has just stumbled down that 6 inch slope on the right. It takes baby elephants a number of years to become truly expert in the use of their trunk. It is amusing to see the antics of newly born as they try to get used to the limb dangling in front of them. Often they get in a real muddle and become extremely frustrated. Later as he matures, like all elephants, he will display great dexterity with his trunk.
The trunk is an essential tool for elephant's social behavior and virtually all close elephant interaction involves using the trunk. Elephants greet each other by twisting their trunks together, as if they were shaking hands. They use their trunks to touch, stroke, explore, caress and embrace. A mother will wrap her trunk protectively around her baby, close family members and friends will put the tips oftheir trunks in each other's mouths, juveniles will play by trying to wrap up their friends trunk in theirs.
This picture was taken in the Ngorongoro Crater. The largest intact caldera in the world, the Ngorongoro Crater shelters one of the most beautiful wildlife havens anywhere. Unmatched for its natural variety, there are few places on earth where such a tremendous diversity of wildlife and landscape exist inside a region this size. The Ngorongoro Crater is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated along the eastern arm of the Rift Valley, part of the Serengeti ecosystem, and adjoins the Serengeti National Park. The Ngorongoro Crater is a natural amphitheatre created about 2 million years ago when the cone of a volcano collapsed into itself, leaving a 100 square mile caldron-like cavity. This caldera, protected by a circular unbroken 2,000-foot high rim, contains everything necessary for Africa's wildlife to exist and thrive. Estimates of the height of that original volcano range from fifteen to nineteen thousand feet high.
The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and research there has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early human evolution. Based on fossil evidence found at the Olduvai Gorge, it is known that various hominid species have occupied the area for 3 million years.
The Maasai are the current human inhabitants and are at liberty to live within the sprawling 2,500 square mile conservation area around the crater. The Maasai never cultivate land as they consider it demeaning. Instead they graze cattle, which hold a god-like status in Maasai culture |
