These lovely snapshots capture the moment when two young elephants get entangled during a playful fight.
The adorable African elephants were photographed with their trunks entwined and gently pushing against each other in the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa.
Taken by professional photographer Anne Laing, 59, the youngsters are learning how to use and control their trunks.
“There are lots of different species in Addo, but I go there primarily to photograph elephants,” said Anne.
I spend the entire day in the park, from before 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The best way to locate elephants in Addo, where the vegetation is generally extremely thick, is to drive slowly and listen for them breaking branches. You know they’re close by if you hear them breaking twigs.
“Twisting trunks is something young elephants do while play-fighting, but it also teaches them how to control their trunks properly.
They are also imitating adult behavior, which is a sort of welcome.
“They don’t have to control of their trunks until they’re three months old, and they just flop around. However, as they get older, they must be able to use them like an arm, hand, and straw for drinking water.”
Anne, who has been taking pictures for around 35 years, also snapped the elephants drinking and spraying each other.
Water is essential to elephants since they must drink on a daily basis, with adult males drinking up to 150 liters each day.
“After drinking, they splash their bodies with water with their trunks to keep cool.”
“They frequently trek long distances in order to discover water and then walk many more kilometers away from the water. As a result, they must try to keep cool.”
A mother was photographed stroking her infant with her trunk in a tender moment.
“The mother is stroking her baby elephant with her trunk, which is quite sensitive to touch,” Anne said.
Anne captures animals as well as sports activities photographs including the rugby, cricket, and soccer World Cups in South Africa, France, and England, as well as the Brazilian Olympics in 2016.
Anne said, “I like traveling to see animals as much as possible and would love to visit Antarctica one day.”
“I also want to shoot the next Rugby World Cup and the Olympics in Japan,” she added.
