In a Kenyan national park, Elephants can travel long distances during droughts to look for a water source.
After a long search, the animals located a leaking water pipe to quench their thirst as they walked through the scorched Tsavo National Park.
Elephants can be seen in a line before finding a pipe with a tiny fracture, taking turns to suck the water from the crack.
An elephant consumes around 40 to 60 gallons of water each day and can make long journeys searching for a supply – usually a river, lake, or watering hole.
Elephants, like humans, require water to survive. If necessary, they may dig for it and consume fruits and leaves of trees to re-hydrate.
“During this lengthy drought in Kenya, a little family of elephants travels across the parched Savanna in search of grass and water,” said Photojournalist Shazaad Kasmani.
A mother and her calf encounter a water pipe with a minor leak.
They cleverly utilize their trunks to draw in water and take turns sharing it, sipping the little water they can get.
‘I’ve never seen something like this in the wild before, but it’s not surprising. Elephants are clever and inventive animals.
It’s fascinating to observe, but it’s also heartbreaking to see what the animals must do to survive during this drought.
This year, the much-anticipated monsoon rains did not come in many of Kenya’s National Parks, leaving little grass around.
‘While there is still water in the springs, they aren’t as useful since most of the natural waterholes and river beds have been dried up for almost a year.’
