The Elephant Who Believes She's a Buffalo | A Unique Wildlife Tale

[Music] in the heart of the African bush There lives an animal quite unlike any [Music] other although we know she's an elephant she herself may not be quite so sure this is the story of an orphan who was taken in by an improbable family and of how they've lived side by side for a quarter of a [Music] [Music] century she's called nzo the Shauna word for elephant but to the local Buffalo she's not just an elephant she's their Undisputed leader [Applause] [Music] this miscast family lives at the Amir Game Ranch in Zimbabwe 11,000 Acres of partially cleared African bush provide an ideal setting for wildlife to wander safely The Game Ranch was started over 30 years ago in creating Amir Norman Travis combined a love of wildlife with a head for business all wild animals are welcome here and in the 1970s we brought in many species of grazing mammals which also included a small herd of foot and mouth free Cape buffalo which we hope to breed commercially Buffalo that don't have foot mouth disease are exceedingly rare those bred at Amir are therefore extremely valuable and continue to be bred for sale to Farmers who can then breed their own disease-free herds the Buffalo at the ranch roam pretty much the way they would in the wild except that here they have human company one man muramba gwenzi is responsible for the care and protection of the precious herd and everywhere he goes en Zoo the elephant goes too she arrived 25 years ago as an orphan and was given to muramba to look after being a social animal she quickly bonded with him as well as the buffalo in his care and over the years a strange partnership has developed and Zoo protects muramba since Buffalo are known to attack people but muramba must also protect protect the Buffalo from the elephant whose size and behavior pose a danger to them strangest of all Zoo's instinct to be a leader of elephants has been transferred to the [Music] buffalo in the wild a female elephant could spend nearly 40 years in a social group before becoming leader at only 26 nzo is very young for this responsibility when it's time to eat the leader and Her Herd follow different instincts Buffalo tend to rest while they Rew undigested food but elephants like to eat on the move and a herd will often spread out to feed individuals can wander off and still not lose sight of their massive family members so when Enzo Strays too far far and loses sight of her buffalo herd she seems to panic in a Flash Instinct takes over and the search for the missing herd is on the Buffalo meanwhile don't seem to have noticed that Enzo has gone some are just too busy seeing to the needs of their young [Applause] but when nzo finally finds her family again their unique form of Harmony is restored after the animals have been separated even for a short time there seems to be an innate desire for an emotional reunion if you're an [Music] elephant for a buffalo the attention may just be annoying elephants need physical contact a greeting ceremony in which one puts her trunk in the mouth of another is a way for elephants to be friendly unfortunately not all Buffalo see it this [Music] way those most tolerant of Enzo's touch are the older females and though it's easy to imagine they're just more sensitive to the orphan's feelings no one's quite sure why they're more accepting of NZ zo's affection a mature bull might object to being led by a female elephant but in this case there aren't any amir's Ranch manager Ian Dupri explains the reason there aren't any big bulls in the herd is simple and zo doesn't like them especially when they're trying to mate with the females she's so much bigger so much stronger than the Bulls that you can kill them easily so far she's killed 15 of our prized bulls having their sexually mature Bulls killed by Enzo is a bit of a problem for the Game Ranch disease-free Buffalo are too valuable to lose their answer is not to get rid of her but to keep the aggressive balls safely out of the [Applause] way but keeping a 6,000lb elephant on the right side of the fence isn't easy zo zoo knows exactly where the Bull's kept and she will even abandon the herd to confront him in a display of strength twice before she's smashed through the fence and crushed an unsuspecting Buffalo to death if she lived among her own she'd more likely just cast the male elephants from the herd when zo is in this aggressive State it's extremely dangerous for anyone other than muramba to approach her [Music] unless of course they come during feeding time for years and Zoo's been hand-fed by strangers becoming a tourist attraction on the ranch and she's leared that good behavior here is rewarded with treats even Norman Travis who's known in Zoo for most of her life is intrigued by the two sides of her character it's quite fascinating ing to see how Enzo accepts people up here you must remember at hot she is a semi wild elephant and would be very aggressive to those same people elsewhere in the game Ro except of course Moran biwa who is with her always Moran biwa is sensible to want to stay close all Buffalo even the ones he knows can suddenly turn dead but mzo is protective of her companion and once saved him from a rampaging ball only elephant is my special friend she's protected me from Death when one day the buffal bull push me down then the cry come and the ciss buff boo round the neck till I awoke I run away zo zoo did more than save muram bwa's life she guaranteed herself a place within the herd as his protector and this of course keeps her close to her Buffalo family [Music] in the stifling heat of September zo zoo leads her family to a small river running through Amir both species rely heavily on the water during the dry [Music] season keeping cool is a bigger challenge for Elephants than for Buffalo while they need any moderate amounts of water Enzo demonstrates some of the advantages of having a trunk [Music] [Applause] [Music] once they've had their fill they wallow in the water to cool off even [Music] more [Music] they seem to know the benefits of a good quality mud bath it not only refreshes but a coat can also protect the skin from parasites and biting [Music] [Music] insects [Music] [Applause] [Music] though most of the Buffalo are finished with their break it takes Enzo longer to lower her temperature and the break isn't over until she's cooled down the entire herd takes its cue from their leader and that includes muramba he knows the Buffalo won't leave until she does It's a Wonderful aberration that this elephant Wheels such power over these Buffalo and that they follow her so willingly in some ways en Zoo takes the place of the dominant male Buffalo though Bulls are not always the leaders in the wild a dominant female will often do the job but none of the matriarchs in this herd has ever challenged n Zoo Buffalo lived for about 15 years while elephants can reach 65 these buffalo have never known life without Enzo it's likely that Enzo will continue to lead for several generations to come the old guide takes them to one of their favorite places a shady spot out of the afternoon sun at times like these she seems to blend naturally with her adoptive family she's accepted as one of them but of course she is not it's possible that Enzo doesn't know this is herself she hasn't seen another elephant for 25 years by now she should be pregnant with her second or third calf the mature buffalo have given birth at least once under this special shade tree the Buffalo settle down and allow themselves to be subjected yet again to Enzo's need for touch and smell despite this close bond that she has with the adult females Enzo does seem to have a problem with their carves and for the carves the problem can be lethal occasionally and without any warning and zo will turn violently against them clearly she could crush a small Buffalo without much effort if she really wanted to but for some reason this six-month-old calf is spared but that's not always the case and zo has crushed and killed four carves already it does seem bizarre behavior considering a wild female elephant would never kill a baby in her own herd but nzo does not live in a normal herd and she's had no one to teach her how to behave like a proper elephant elephants can communicate over long distances with lowf frequency sound but after so many years of hearing Buffalo noise Enzo may not realize that some of her own kind are just 2 miles away these males also live on Amir but they're always kept well away from Enzo sadly with her tendency to kill baby buffalo and her lack of maternal training it may now be too much for her to raise her own Young African elephants who can be ridden like this are rare but this isn't a joy ride these elephants are [Music] working together with armed guards they protect a small breeding herd of black rhinoceroses from poachers black rhino are one of Africa's most endangered species and Amir successfully breeds them to be introduced to other game reserves the four male elephants are lucky they have each other they can indulge their need for contact anytime they like and they're able to feed well within sight of each other zo zoo has none of this and ironically as a female her need to socializes much stronger than that of the males the males may even know of Enzo's existence and that she's sexually mature in an elephant's World smells and special sounds some of them imperceptible to human ears can carry Vital Information far across the bush for the time being there's little more to their lives than following the black rhino but what would happen if their instincts to reproduce took over while they were working suppose they detected chemical or sound signals from a sexually primed in zoo who could stop a 5,000lb male elephant from charging across the [Music] bush [Music] unlike the elephants nobody wants to stop the Buffalo from [Music] breeding to keep the valuable herd flourishing sexually mature balls must be given every opportunity to mate with the one or two receptive females it's a routine they're all used to including surprisingly in though she not only accepts the presence of the bll she allows herself to be chained up nearby she could easily break free and Smash down the fence to get at the ball but for some reason she doesn't [Applause] bother once Enzo is Chained it's the Bull's turn to be released the first thing he'll do is seek out the females who are ready to mate if he has a successful coupling it'll be one more step toward securing the future of disease-free cap [Music] [Music] Buffalo [Music] some 10 months later at the end of the wet season imir Game Ranch is flush with the green growth of summer rain in the dense reads of of the riverbed two female buffalo are hiding their newborn carves these females have a problem normally their buffalo Instinct would be to rejoin their herd within days of giving birth but they've learned that nzo doesn't like newly born carves and there's a good chance she'll kill [Applause] them each of these mothers has lost a cal to the other elephant before so this time they wait for over 2 weeks before taking them anywhere near her amazingly the lesson they've learned is more powerful than their Natural Instincts meanwhile Enzo is up River playing in a world of lies and black cakes making the most of the deep seasonal water [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] after 2 and 1 half weeks of hiding in the reads the females seem compelled to join the other Buffalo they're herd animals and the herd is where they belong even if it means bringing their carves much closer to nzo then may be safe yandu PRI watches with concern the Buffalo carves are valuable as well as vulnerable and he too hopes that nzo will respond to them gently the female buffalo under a lot of pressure here they would like to take their cares back into the herd but they're not sure whether en Zoo would accept them or not despite Enzo's reputation for killing carves she's too important as muram bwa's protector to be removed from the herd there's no doubt however that babies seriously bother her and that the life of every new Cal is threatened but the female buffalo have discovered a way to increase the chances of their calves surviving they seem to have learned that the bigger and stronger their carves the less likely they are to be attacked by Enzo the adult Buffalo are are accepted back into the herd by the other females but the question is will Enzo accept their carves by placing herself between Enzo and the cough the female buffalo has probably reduced the risk of an [Applause] attack even so muramba stands by ready to intervene if anyone could stop an attack from Manzo it's him but he would have to be very [Applause] quick suddenly Enzo makes a deliberate move towards one of the carves the mother may have made a fatal mistake bringing her CF out this soon the small Buffalo sticks close to its mother [Applause] recognizing this Behavior as a Potential Threat the female buffalo retreat with their carves to a safe distance but they can't stay away for long their instinctive need to be part of the herd is growing every day though their trusting carves still remain close by their sides the mothers no longer move away from Enzo for young Buffalo staying with the herd keeps them relatively safe but in this herd the danger lies within the females sense that it's time for their offspring to face their hazardous leader nzo is closer to the carves than she's ever been if she were to attack now neither the mother's nor murambi could do much to prevent it the first touch will be crucial to the CV's chance of survival for the time being she seems to have accepted the young calf into Her Herd zo could continue with this dangerous ritual and ambivalent relationship for another 40 years it's not how she'd live in the wild but here on air Game Ranch this is her life and the Buffalo are her family [Music]

Channel: Real Wild

Views: 1,130,830

Keywords: African wildlife tour, animal bond, animal caretaker, animal companionship, animal conservation, animal documentary, animal families, animal parenting, buffalo herd dynamics, elephant behavior studies, elephant protector, game reserve wildlife, herd protector, nature conservation, nature preservation, protecting wildlife habitats, unique animal behavior, wildlife harmony, wildlife unity, young animal leadership

Id: 5gsNjI99eFE

Length: 26min 23sec (1583 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 14 2017