Waking kids sometimes requires the gentlest persuasion, whether with loving hands or – in the case of momma elephants – a long, soft trunk.
The accompanying footage, captured in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, shows that humans and elephants have a lot in common when it comes to convincing young ones to rise and shine.
The baby wants to continue napping in the cool shade, while momma gently nudges and lifts its head as if to say it’s time to get up and roam the countryside.
Momma ultimately prevails, and in the footage an older elephant calf is nudged by the baby and also rises, along with other herd members, to follow the matriarch’s lead.
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The heartwarming footage was captured by Conrad Cramer, a tourist, and shared in a blog post Tuesday by Latest Sightings.
“This momma elephant is such a caring mother with the way she wakes the baby, who you can clearly see is not a morning elephant,” reads part of the post. “You can see the small clouds of dust rising as the older calf behind the little one breathes in and out and how much the baby would like to carry on snoozing as mom nudges the little one, but with such gentle persuasion mom does eventually get the little one up.
“What is fun to see is how the calf then walks over and gently wakes the older sibling as if to say it’s time to go!”
Reads a comment beneath the Latest Sightings Facebook post: “Typical teenager taking the longest to wake up! [And] what a cute baby!”
–Image is courtesy of Latest Sightings
