An adult female elephant with a juvenile calf in a grassy field under an overcast sky, late spring or early autumn. 12:55
HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa channel icon HERD Elephant Orphanage South AfricaOriginal creator 1.9M views Save

The day an orphaned elephant met his new mom

Next to the grown elephants at the HERD Elephant Orphanage in South Africa, Phabeni looks very small. He has no mother, and he's about to meet Lundi. more

Lundi is the grown female who will be his surrogate mother. Another adult, Jabulani, comes along too. Two keepers, Herman and Joshua, guide the calf out to meet them.

Lundi reaches out with her trunk and explores him. Phabeni holds still and lets her, which is brave for someone his size. To keep him from getting scared, Adine offers him a few treats, and Lundi moves closer, munching grass as she comes.

An elephant stands on grass under a cloudy sky, holding green leaves in the trunk. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The grown elephants keep right on eating as the first meeting goes on.

Jabulani hangs back and eats, in no hurry at all. People who follow these elephants count on that calm, and one of them called him the gentle guardian of the herd.

Then Lundi turns her body so the calf can nurse. At first Phabeni cares more about the treats. With some gentle coaxing he finally starts to suckle, and Lundi just keeps eating while he drinks.

An adult female elephant with a juvenile calf in a grassy field under an overcast sky, late spring or early autumn. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Next to the grown elephants at the HERD Elephant Orphanage in South Africa, Phabeni looks very small.

That easy yes is what fans keep talking about. Lundi took to him almost at once and acted like a protective mother from the start, and she has mothered other orphans before. There's a kind of comfort only an elephant can give another elephant, one person wrote.

When Phabeni has had enough, Joshua comes over to check on him. Another keeper starts tickling the calf, and soon he is playing. Lundi goes back to grazing, still close, still watching him. For a calf who started the day with no mother, that's a lot to have.

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