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Have You Seen This? How elephants say welcome to the family
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Elephants are fascinating creatures in many ways. - photo by Martha Ostergar
THE PRESERVE Elephants are fascinating creatures in many ways.

Just their appearance is increible with their size, nose, ears, tusks, and skin. But then you learn that they live in strong, matriarchal family units that work together to raise their young and protect each other.

There are unbelievable stories of elephants ramming trains in defense of their herd and working together to save a calf in danger. On top of that, they cry.

Knowing all that, its easy to start thinking of elephants as human-like. But then you see a video like the one featured today, and you might start thinking that elephants might just be better creatures than us humans.

In the video, a herd of elephants at the Save Elephant Foundation are rushing toward in enclosure. They do this in a tight formation, almost moving as one body. And the reason why they are rushing is to welcome an orphaned calf to their territory.

The noise is incredible, and its easy to hear it as a joyous keening as well as a sound of comfort for a lost baby. The calf is safely in the enclosure for the first greeting, but that doesnt stop curious elephant noses from reaching in to greet the new herd member.

I certainly got a little misty watching the encounter, and Ive definitely watched it at least four times so far.

The video was tweeted by @yashar on Feb. 7.