A trio of baby elephants has learned that it’s not always easy to be the youngest as they desperately try to keep up with the rest of the herd in South Africa.
The baby elephants were captured by a worker at Etali Safari Lodge in the Madikwe Game Reserve, struggling to wade through the mud and climb out of a watering hole.
Kristoff Potgieter, 28, filmed the cattle running towards the watering hole to cool off in warm conditions and said the footage was too cute to share.
Unsurprisingly, Mr. Potgieter focused on a trio of baby elephants, causing mischief in the group.
After rushing to the side of a muddy bank and then waiting for an adult to reasonably begin crossing, the three small beasts made their own way through the assault course.
However, after their brief journey, they got stuck and caused a bit of a hindrance when other elephants tried to go around them.
One of them eventually got out of the mud and made its way over to the watering hole, leaving its friends still struggling.
After a few wriggles, two other elephants managed to get out of the mud, and one ran towards the rest of the herd.
However, the last baby elephant chose to dive straight into the watering hole – ignoring the others standing around and using their trunks for drinking from a distance.
Deciding that it was time to get out, the youngster seemed impressed by his own ingenuity and then attempted to climb the bank.
But after successfully placing its foot on its front feet, it discovered that it could not pull itself free.
It is forced to struggle again and can be seen trying in vain to lift itself up and over the edge.
However, eventually – after much stumbling on his forelegs – the baby elephant was able to pull itself ashore, where it ran back to the herd.
Video producer Kristoff said the fierce competition was witnessed by many guests.
He said: “Watching cute baby elephants is something I never get tired of.
‘For our guests, it was one of the most beautiful of the many memorable things they saw on their trip.’
