Many parents remember the simple joy of piggyback rides. Children love them and many parents love giving them. But did you know that even animals love having piggyback rides as well? If you didn’t, then you’re going to want to check out this cute video from Zoo-Berlin.
Is it playtime?
The video opens as we see two elephants around in a pen. The mother elephant is using her trunk to toss dirt onto her back, while the calf is meandering around. Without knowing anything about the elephants personalities, you can just tell that the calf is feeling energetic and doesn’t want to just relax like the mother is doing.
Then the calf walks to their mother’s back and rests their trunk on her back and hip. You might think that the baby is knocking some dirt off their mother’s back, but as you’ll see, the baby was asking for playtime.
After a light shove to get the baby out of the way, the mother then lays down on her side. The mother sits up briefly and looks at the baby as if encouraging it to hurry along. It’s a very human moment that makes some of the off-screen viewers chuckle.
The mother lays down once more and the baby throws her front feet over her mother’s shoulders. He then slides and scoots along her mother’s side looking for the best angle for what comes next.
UP UP
Soon, the baby finds the perfect angle and tries to throw its leg over onto their mother’s back. With one mighty effort, the baby throws their leg over to the delight of the crowd.
You can hear the elephant trunk trumpet as the baby flails and kicks its legs. We can imagine its having the time of its life for the moments that it spends piggyback riding its mother.
The baby wiggles, kicks, and flails about while the crowd laughs and films the entire moment. What makes this moment really fun is knowing how much weight the mother is carrying on her powerful back. Did you know that baby calfs can weigh around 100kg, which is about 220lbs. That’s like giving a piggyback ride to the average football linebacker!
The video shows the baby having fun atop their mother’s back. Their mother moves and wiggles and eventually, the baby slides off and gets back up to their feet. You can see it poke its head up from behind their mother as if to say “I’m ok!”
The baby quickly finds its feet and makes a bee line to its mother’s front. It kicks up some dirt, perhaps getting ready for another piggyback ride. But this time, its mother shoves it away with a butt of its trunk.
It looks like play time is over.
Family in the animal kingdom
Elephants are considered some of the smartest animals in the world. Not only could they memorize complex commands making them popular for labor and circus tricks, but that also means they can form complext family bonds. Many elephant families form groups that resemble our own with aunts, mothers, and children.
Elephants also enjoy a good piggyback ride from time to time.
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