Orphaned Baby Elephant Grows Up With The Best Human Friends | Real Wild

but first we're heading to Kenya where the future of an orphaned baby elephant hangs in the balance for nearly 40 years the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage outside Nairobi has been rearing orphaned elephants in herds so they can be released back into the wild but can a group of these older orphans show the empathy needed to save a very special baby this is n dot o he's just a year old and is one of the latest arrivals at the orphanage [Music] conservationist Giles Clarke is joining head-keeper edge winless uchi at breakfast i knows she wants to get some feed I can try thank you it's such a good boy that is a serious bottle of milk how much milk do they get he gets four pounds every three hours I think you finished three iris Tony that trunk and below that trunk and that's how you get to make friends with them how do you make friends with them when you blow down the trunk they get to identify your scent really if they give it to you okay I can't just take it no sometimes if it's itchy we assist them Oh scratch incident they feel comfortable sometimes does that feel good is that like having a scratch yes like having a scratch inside and Otto's been looked after at the orphanage for 12 months his blanket is designed to recreate the warmth he would get if he still had his mum at his side just moments after his birth and daughter was found alone confused and barely alive by local villagers who called in the team from the orphanage [Music] and daughter was the smallest baby they had ever taken in and they didn't think he'd survive but he was a fighter and with their specialist care he pulled through a year later and dato is fighting fit but if he's ever going to make it back into the wild it's crucial he starts spending quality time with the other office [Music] scientists now know that elephants live in sophisticated social groups it's thanks to their emotional intelligence that they have such a strong sense of community a strict hierarchy and intricate ways of communicating in the herd it's the adult elephants that teach the babies this code of conduct but there's a problem and Otto thinks he's already in a hurt but that hurt is made up of the humans that saved his life this means he now prefers the company of people rather than his own kind what is he doing anyway just playing and enjoying being with us just having the contact yeah baby elephants when you screw it down you are a toy to them so they want to play want to play pushing around yeah him coming to push is just sort of fun or play okay he's not like charging you he's not pushing now I'm trying not to push back thank you you're too strong for us yeah we give up for you play is an important part of growing up but and Otto has no idea that if he doesn't learn the rules of how to behave as an elephant he risks being shunned by the herd which could be disastrous if an elephant is left alone that elephant can easily be stressed to death by loneliness you really think an elephant can die of loneliness yes I have sinned it happened like almost like give up the world to love the world to live because they think they're all by themselves they don't have anyone with them and they just die from a heart broken when the truth cannot survive by himself he needs the company of all the others Edwin and the team are hoping that a group of older orphans will come to and datos rescue and that thanks to their extraordinary emotional intelligence they'll be able to understand what he's been through and teach him what he needs to good boy tomorrow and daughter will have to find the courage to bond with the herd he'll face that challenge alone but tonight keeper Julia she Vega will sleep here - well I'm gonna say good night yeah where is sweet baby hi you can blow you can blow his trunk he says goodbye ok nice keeper nice friend of ours ok thank you so much thank you again Charles he loves you because you have got a feeling for him that's good man see you thank you we'll be back later in the program to see if the other elephants will show and Otto the emotional intelligence empathy and the encouragement he needs to become part of their herd for the past year baby and Otto has been cared for by his keepers at the elephant orphanage but if he's going to survive back in a wild herd he's going to have to learn how to live with other elephants today we'll see whether the herd of 29 older orphans show a form of emotional intelligence empathy when they meet up with him will they give him the confidence he needs to leave his human carers and start his journey to become a wild elephant baby and Otto is on his way to meet his new family [Music] everywhere you look there's just elephants walking through the bush Giles Clark is back with them [Music] and Otto's always preferred to spend his time with people but keeper Edwin's convinced all that can change do we think that the other elephants are really going to be able to teach in da Tay what's needed yeah the the are out they would be able to teach him what is needed because they know he's an orphan as well like them the time has come the orphans have arrived for the plan to work and daughter will have to be brave enough to move away from his keepers and towards the herd this is his big chance the enthusiastic orphan seemed keen to take on their new pupil [Music] unfortunately and Otto doesn't want to join in he keeps running off things aren't going to plan he's always so determined to follow the keywords yeah Edwin and the team are desperate to see and Otto have the physical contact that the other orphans have with each other that interaction touching and playing is very important because they get to learn from one another and socialize with one another okay but despite everyone's efforts and daughter still wants to spend his time with people half-time time and play together very well see you later don't come with me okay after nearly an hour it looks like there might be a breakthrough in begu is a young female who like and Otto has suffered she was rescued from angry villagers who had killed her mother in front of her in a wild herd female elephants will look out for any youngsters and begu has met in dot over for in bed was gone directly to him doctor yeah straight ran straight to him maybe she knows he needs reassurance amazingly this time and dato stays right where he is [Music] begu traicee sees the trunk the rest of the body touching undertow just to reassure just to reconfirm that all is ok since saying dot I really leaning his head up against her back leg you know like sometimes when a human child is with the mother that the baby or the human child will want to touch on some way on the mother's body so like that's what daughter is doing experts are only beginning to understand how ambiguous tuned in to what and ATO is feeling do you think the name bag a somehow knows the trauma than in dot o has gone through in the past and that's part of the reason that she feels the need to embrace and and take care of him yes you intend to remember everything that happens in the lives and thus when big was still knows or remembers what happened to her and her mother and that's why she extends the love to the other orphans who come in because she knows what they've gone through boom ba goo is showing a level of empathy scientists used to believe only humans were capable of within bego at his side by the end of the day then dato is bonding with the other orphans [Music] and he's learning to copy the way she pulls up the tastiest grass roots [Music] although he does have a little way to go [Music] button dotto certainly hasn't lost his love of people he's making good progress with him begu watching his every move okay it's time to say goodbye to this determined little orphan it seems that him begu can also sense that human emotions are running high okay she gives Giles that all-important sign that she trusts him [Music] with an beggars extraordinary ability to understand and Oto's needs his journey back to the wild has begun [Music]

Channel: Real Wild

Views: 2,469,104

Rating: 4.9615688 out of 5

Keywords: nature documentary, full documentary, documentary movie, big cats, wildlife documentary, discovery channel, national geographic, natgeo wild, Nature documentaries - topic, Animals - topic, planet earth, david attenborough, Full Animal Documentary, wild animals, wild animal, cute baby elephant, animal rescue, baby elephant, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, elephant rescue

Id: LyYjokvbuzY

Length: 13min 39sec (819 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 10 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Can I be this human?