Feeling rejected by the one you expected to love you the most, your parents, especially if you love them unconditionally, is the most painful feeling. This incident happened to a newborn elephant who cried for several hours because he did not understand why his mother would aᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ and reject him.
When Zhuang Zhuang was born at Shendiashan Wild Animal Natural Reserve in China his mom tried to attack him so the staff was forced to separate them. The incident was rather unusual because the mother elephant usually accompanies its offspring until they can make it on their own.
At first, their handlers thought it was just a misunderstanding between the mother and newborn baby. They healed the calf’s wounds and returned him to his mother. However, the danger was imminent, and the elephant’s mother aᴛᴛᴀᴄk her little boy again.
Upon being convinced that the calf can no longer stay with his mother without being hurt, they decided to separate them. Although this decision was done to protect the calf from further physical injuries, emotional damage has already been done.
“The calf was very upset and he was crying for five hours before he could be consoled. He couldn’t bear to be parted from his mother and it was his mother who was trying to aᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ him,” an employee said, according to Shendiashan Wild Animal Natural Reserve.
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Elephants stay in a close-knit herd where they all work together to protect their young and each other.
“In a herd of elephants in the wild, all members of the herd grow up caring for all their younger calves. They effectively learn to be parents with the support of their family who are with them all the time.”
Lan Redmond, a wildlife consultant with the Born Free Foundation adds other interesting facts about the behavior of elephant mothers. Elephants give birth surrounded by their relatives and usually choose “nurses” among their family who then help them raise babies, but this usually happens only to elephants in the wild.
“Living in captivity outside of traditional family groups can interfere with the maternal protective instincts of animals towards their children,” they explained.
Thankfully Zhuang Zhuang survived his distressing ordeal and was adopted by the keeper who saved his life.
