Do Elephants Go To Heaven?

One of the most fascinating stories of our safaris goes back to Chobe National Park, in Botswana.

Chobe National Park is one of the most well-known National Parks of Africa. Chobe is home to the largest population of African Elephants on the planet, its home to a staggering 90,000 of these gentle giants.

On this safari, our guide and guests made their way to the Chobe River on an early morning. The excitement and expectations were set high. The group were looking forward to an explosion of animals.

When they arrived at the perfect spot, our guide switched off the vehicle and listened for any clues of the animas. Maybe a trumpet snort or a howl?

There was an eerie of quietness. There was a hippo lying in the mud on the other side of the river. Was she dead? Was she stuck? She remained motionless. There was no sign of any elephants that morning. Suddenly, behind the hippo was a tiny glimpse of movement. The guide had a look through his binoculars and saw the movement of a tiny baby. Hippos usually mate in the water, they give birth in the water, and suckle their calves underwater.

Today, was different, it was in the dry season and she was a young and inexperienced mother. She had no choice, and after carrying her calf for 8 months, she had to give birth on land. The birth was difficult and painful for the mother. As the calf came out, we heard the spine chilling howl of a hyena. The hyena was focused on the helpless, little calf, who had just given its first breath. The calf had only opened its eyes and took its first breath of air. In a flash, the hyena snatched the helpless calf by its right ear! The guests on the vehicle cried "No!!!!!"

The mother hippo looked back with tears in her eyes. She is about to lose her first baby. The helpless mother knew there was nothing she could do. The hyena, with the baby hippo tight in its jaws, made its way back through the river. When the hyena was about halfway through, the guide heard the trumpet of an irritated elephant. Finally!!! The gentle giants had arrived. On the hill, a large breeding herd of elephants was standing. In the front was the matriarch, and hiding behind her was a tiny newborn calf. The matriarch assessed the situation, using her acute smell, and years of guiding the herd.

She left the herd and approached the group with her tiny calf in tow. When she reached our vehicle, the calf put its hind against the vehicle. The mother let out a ferocious trumpet, and with her trunk down and ears flat, she charged straight into the hyena. She chased the hyena into the hooked thorns of a Wooly Caper Bush. The hyena had dropped the hippo calf in the shallow waters of the river. The elephant mother relaxed and came back to the aid of the hippo calf. She helped the hippo calf back to its mother, and for a long time, these massive beasts stood eye to eye. What were they thinking? What secret message was shared? Why did the elephant rescue the baby hippo?

The mother elephant then went back to the vehicle. She was completely relaxed. The whole herd went around the vehicle and then went to have a drink. Our guide asked: Why did the elephant leave the herd? Why did the elephant leave the baby with the vehicle? Do elephants go to heaven?

A few months later, our guide, on his last stretch in Botswana, was at the same spot with a new group. While sitting, an observing many animals, our guide shared this story with the group. The next moment a mother hippo surfaced, and a baby that was missing a right ear.