THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT 



The calf is suckled by the mother for about two 

 years. It sucks with its mouth, and not with the 

 trunk. The latter, at first, is short and not very 

 flexible. The milk tusks are shed at from five to 

 six months. A hunter related to me how in Northern 

 Rhodesia he encountered some Elephants. Among 

 them was a tusked cow with a newly-born calf. 

 She pushed her tusks under the calf, lapped her 

 trunk over its body and carried it off. 



Should one of its legs be broken, or the bone badly 

 damaged, an Elephant is helpless. The Boer hunters 

 of the early days took advantage of this, and riding 

 alongside an elephant, the hunter would shoot at 

 the knee, and if successful he at once made off in 

 pursuit of the herd, crippling as many animals as 

 he could before the herd escaped to cover. Return- 

 ing at his leisure, he killed the helpless Elephants. 

 In those days the guns were of the flint-lock and 

 percussion-cap type, and it often required a number 

 of shots, fired at close range, to kill an Elephant. A 

 single well-directed shot with a modern rifle will 

 kill one of these great animals. 



The sense of smell is exceedingly keen in the 

 Elephant, but sight and hearing are dull. 



Although under exceptional conditions Elephants 

 attack men without provocation, as is the case with 

 some of those in the Addo Bush, yet by nature they 

 are shy and timid, and when persecuted will rush 

 away for miles in wild alarm on getting the faintest 

 whiff of the scent of a man. When pursued and in 



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