More on Echo and family - video
Wed, 2007-12-12 08:07 — hcroze
Echo glides past
Echo of the Elephants again... In this YouTube video we see Echo, matriarch of the EB family, shepherding half her family over one of the few green grass patches left near the end of this very poor rainfall year.
I was resisting the temptation to post more of Cynthia's and my 'home movie', thinking that folks might get a bit bored, but then I read Sara Cowgill's recent comment, "For me, elephants don't have to be drinking water to be exciting, they don't have to be giving birth, or dying, or copulating, or fighting. I want to see them lumbering along, the sounds they make talking to each other and the breath, the foot pad making contact with the earth, the sounds of the skin rubbing, the tail swishing ...". OK, so here's more 'lumbering along' (more like gliding, in fact) ...
We see Echo and her youngest calf, Esprit, who wanders off to kick some dry stems and test some leaves; we hear a bit of voice over with Cynthia telling me she's named Ella's '07 Eggnog in keeping with this year's beverage name theme for calves; we see a Cattle Egret catching a small snake spooked by Echo's feet; we see the family striking out over a grassless patch, passing a Landrover containing the Animal Planet film-makers with their amazing gyro-stabailized camera, and arriving at the swamp edge for a drink some greener vegetation.
In the shots of Echo (crossed tusks -- unmistakeable) you can see the bump on her upper right rump. I confess I'm responsible for that: when I darted her to give her a radio tracking collar in the 1980s. the dart wound got infected despite lots of antibiotic. She's carried the 'beauty mark' ever since. Sorry, Echo!
If you look carefully, just above the bump, you can see a long, horizontal scrape. That's probably a tusk mark (Cynthia said it looked a bit infected a few days ago), possibly inflicted by one of the large females from the VA family, who sometimes conflict with the EBs for prime grazing.
Keywords: wildlife
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This is lovely!
It's great to see the majestic Echo once again. She is such a great mom, wise leader, and very beautiful. I hope you all are safe in Amboseli and I wish you all well.
I second Sara Cowgill's comment. Often I watch the Tennesse Elephant Sanctuary elephants on the live cam and even when they appear to be just standing around, I find I can't tear my eyes away.
Esprit and Enid's Calf
I love seeing Echo and Enid's perfectly matched little daughters. They look exactly alike and I'm sure they're great playmates for each other.
Echo's radio collar
How time flies. You actually radio-collared Echo in 1974!
Senior moment?
Ah, yes; meant to say the 1970s! Good thing we have matriarchs to maintain a historical knowlegebase: just like elephants!
_________
HC
Echo
Thank you so much for sharing the videos of Echo and her family, I was lucky enough to see her in Amobseli in Nov-05 with her then tiny calf Esprit and to now see them it is almost like being back there. You are all doing such valuable work and the more we seem to learn about them the more they will uncover for us to keep the process to further understad them and their habitat. And I second Sara Cowgill's comment and I think we all would agree that we've be more then happy to see Echo and her family lumbering along for ever...
Anna Martinsson
London, UK
Echo
Harvey ... the members of the MSN Discussion Group - The Elephant Commentator never tire of hearing, seeing and reading about elephants. We would love to hear more about the wonderful Amboseli elephants.
Good to see...
I have indeed visited the Elephant Commentator website from time to time, and It's good to see that there's so much interest being generated in elephants. Over 100,000 visitors since early 2005! I'm wondering if http://elephanttrust.org shouldn't get a spot under the Elephant Commentator 'Resources' bar, along with our long-time friend Daphne Sheldrick? Just a pointer, if not the sponsorship. Or -- here's a thought -- how about an Elephant Commentator group effort to name an Amboseli elephant as part of our Naming Program? Whatever happens, your interest and concern is much appreciated by both the ATE trustees and the elephants.
_________
HC
Good to see...
Harvey, I was glad to read that you check out The Elephant Commentator from time to time. The members are well acquainted with the work being done by the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. You reminded me that I had to do some updates and editing on our LINKS page where you can find ATE as well as the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. I have at least, temporarily, removed the RESOURCES sideboard as it hasn't been used very much, so the LINKS sideboard is the one where the various organizations dedicated to preserving wildlife are located. Your idea of having us involved in the Naming Program is most interesting. One of the members, "Eleboy" was involved on his own, and had the honor of naming "Elena". Here is his report on his experience at Amboseli:
http://groups.msn.com/TheElephantCommentator/general.msnw?action=get_mes...
LINKS Sideboard:
http://groups.msn.com/TheElephantCommentator/links.msnw?action=view_list...
Best wishes,
Edward Berry, Moderator
http://groups.msn.com/TheElephantCommentator
Sidebar and Naming Contest
Thank you for taking the time to visit our site. As you can see, we love elephants and try to do our small part to help preserve their natural habitats.
I have forwarded your comments to our moderator and thanks for the suggestion about the naming contest. I will get more details and share them with the group.
Thanks for all you do for the elephants ...
clm
Echo's "bump"
Harvey:
Though you may feel guilty about Echo's "bump", there is a positive side to it. I've found there are quite a few elephants in Amboseli who look like Echo from a distance with the curved tusks. If we think an elephant with crossed tusks might be Echo, we always look for the bump on the right rear. If the tusks and bump match, then we know we are seeing the "grand dame".