Boys will be boys…… but these guys weigh a ton or few!
Elephant bulls! My favourite animal to explore Africa with.
They are just a ton of fun. The young bulls are separated from the breeding
herd when they reach sexual maturity at about 13-15 years and the cows of
course stay with mom! So the youngsters and all their hormones are slung out on
their ears to figure it out for themselves. This is where the big bulls come
in.
A big bull, full grown adult male will be the don of a small
group usually 2-3 sometimes 7 youngsters who still are on their way to become
like him. So the older bull takes care of their education and their manners.
The young ones are sometimes called askaris.
Just like a scout master with a bunch of
unruly teenagers who have too much energy for their own good. Ha!
He does a good job how ever and the youngsters horse around
as all youngsters do under his watchful eye. Sometimes two older bulls with a
bond could also be running the show. The whole pushing around thing is to test
their strength and determine a dominance hierarchy that will come to a head
when it is time to mate. Each will know the others strength and all that.
The poor 13 year old has to wait till he is 35 or so to be
able to mate so 20 years of frustration is a lot to carry around and a little
horseplay to relieve the tension is just what is needed.
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