Elephant Families That Walk The Line

A herd of elephants march along a straight line on safari in Kenya

A typical scenario when you come across a herd of elephants whilst on safari would look something like this:- a small family of about five to twenty individuals scattered apart on the grassland like dots on paper. In this any odd so arrangement they are quite relaxed and care free as they feed on grass, tree leaves or drink at a waterhole. In fact most of the time, elephants that approach a waterhole on a really hot day behave somewhat like school children at the water park! Thrilled, excited and are quite literally all over the place.

A remarkable transformation in their discipline however occurs when the elephants have a specific task to do. When the matriarch calls upon the herd to now move from point A to point B, she communicates her intentions and begins to take the first few steps. With her in the lead, the rest of the herd gradually gets into formation, joining up one behind the other in a single file line, the distance between each elephant being quite literally within tail to trunks length. What a spectacular level of family sophistication and discipline isn't it.