One of the largest elephant herds in Kaziranga

[Debasis Bose]

Elephant herds are usually made up of between 6 and 12 elephants. However, groups of between 12 and 20 elephants are also not uncommon. I was lucky to encounter one of the biggest herds in Kaziranga consisting of 11 elephants being led by matriarch in front and guarded by oldest daughter in the end.

It has been observed that when a herd becomes too large, some of the daughters will break away with their young to form new groups on instruction from the matriarch. Oldest and largest female cow known as the matriarch. She is usually the one who was the most closely related to the previous matriarch. The rest of the herd is made up of the matriarch’s other daughters and their calves. These ones gravitate naturally around the matriarch, making her quite simple to identify. She influences the herd more than any other group or individual. In a crisis, the herd will rely on her to make the major decisions as to their course of action.

As the first and oldest mother, the matriarch is instrumental in teaching her daughters how to care for their own young. Once they start to bear babies, their sisters will assist in childcare. This provides training for them, preparing them for their own first calves. Elephant mothers are attentive to the needs of their young. Babies are born with almost no instinctive patterns, nearly everything they do has been taught to them by their mothers and aunts. What they get taught will vary according to the matriarch and her herd – different groups face different dangers and bear different responsibilities. The matriarch will determine what it important for that specific herd and mothers teach the young ones accordingly.
When matriarch dies, she is normally succeeded by her closest relative from the herd (usually the oldest daughter)

Nikon D 700, Nikor 70-200 f 2.8, @ 70 mm f 3.2, 1/500s, ISO 200. This shot was taken at Kohora zone of Kaziranga-famous for most animal sightings

[Mrudul Godbole]

I liked the environmental composition. Nice to see this big herd. Some calves can be seen walking in between the mother and other grown ups. Even one tusker seems to be in the herd. Nicely captured. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely. A bit wider to include more of the trees on both sides would have been even better. A bit more contrast would good. Thanks for sharing.