Watch an Elephant Mother Make a Lion Rethink Attacking Her Baby!

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Baby elephants live under the watchful eye of their mothers until they are fully grown. Mother elephants are incredibly protective, especially when their young are still small and vulnerable. Watch the video above, posted by YouTube user Rabia Nimah, when a brave mother elephant protects her calf from a fearsome lion attack.

Do Lions Hunt Elephants?

African elephants are massive creatures, growing anywhere from 7 to 12 feet tall and weighing from 6,000 to 12,000 pounds. Even the fiercest lion would think twice before taking on an animal that size. However, lions don’t have a problem with going after smaller, juvenile elephants, as long as they can grab them when they are away from their group.

When lions attack elephants, they look for stragglers who have wandered away from the herd. They also tend to target females or young elephants that are smaller than the larger bulls. According to National Geographic, lions attack lone elephants from behind. This is exactly what we see in the video above. The lion strikes from behind as the mother and the baby are walking along. However, the mother elephant is vigilant and quickly turns to face the lion, driving it away.

Male lions are larger than females and pose a greater threat to elephants than lionesses. Research conducted at Amboseli National Park found that older, more experienced elephant matriarchs had a stronger reaction when they heard a recording of a male lion roar than that of a female’s roar.

How Do Elephants Defend Themselves and Their Young From Lion Attacks?

The lion in the video may have thought it had a chance to catch the youngster because the calf was traveling alone with its mother. When herds of elephants are threatened, they form a protective circle around the youngest members, with the strongest elephants facing outwards. They will defend their herd with their long, sharp tusks and powerful trunks.

Baby Elephants Stay With Their Moms For a Long Time

Elephants form close family bonds. In some mammal species, the young stay with their mothers for years, sometimes even their entire lives. Elephants are one of these species where the males leave eventually to live in bachelor groups, but the females often stay with their mothers, sisters, and aunts their entire lives.

Even the males don’t leave their mothers for years. Male elephants move away from their families between the ages of 9 and 18 when they form bachelor groups. Interestingly, lions are much the same, and some female lions may live with their mothers for their entire lives.