Protective Mama Elephant Is World's No.1 Crossing Guard

Apr 21, 2020 by apost team

Elephants are known for being both social and intelligent. They are also protective of the more vulnerable members of their herd. A video making the rounds shows one acting as a crossing guard to protect a baby elephant.

The video was shot in a forest in India and showed an adult elephant chasing a cyclist. Stopped cars can be seen in the background, as the police wisely keep drivers from approaching or molesting the elephant.

After the cyclist has fled, the elephant slowly walks down the road toward the cars. It turns toward some bushes and appears to be signaling with its trunk and then turns to cross the road. A small group of elephants, including a baby, soon follow it into the forest.

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The elephants in question are Asian elephants, which have smaller ears than their African relatives. Around 27,000 Asian elephants live in India. While they are somewhat smaller than African elephants, they are nonetheless the largest land animal in Asia. Asian elephants have been listed as an endangered species since 1986, reports Wildlife Alliance.

An engineer named Jasoprakas Debdas, who lives and works in West Bengal, had posted the video on YouTube. To judge by his Twitter account, he likes posting videos of native wildlife. A video posted on April 16 included several shots of a larger elephant herd crossing roads.

Debdas called the crossings “disciplined” in his title, and there is definitely a method to the crossings. The elephants typically cross a road and enter the other side of the forest one or two at a time. The largest and strongest adults will be at the front and very back of the line, while the smallest babies will be safe in the middle.

The discipline isn’t total; somebody will occasionally stop to grab a snack. The video also shows humans watching the elephants, and they have enough respect and wisdom to keep their distance.

Debdas posted another video called “Gaur of Jaldapara,” and the titular gaur is a type of wild cow that is also sometimes called the “Indian bison.” Jaldapara is short for Jaldapara National Park, which is located in West Bengal.

It was originally a wildlife sanctuary that had been established in 1941, and it later became a national park. It is also presumably the setting of his elephant videos.

Have you heard of elephants acting like this? Let us know in the comments – and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!