Channel: Wild Africa Adventure Films

Category: Travel & Events

Tags: kruger national parkmud bathitchy elephantscratching elephantelephant

Description: Our elephant just had a mud bath. Elephants need the mud to help with cooling their body temperature and will often submerge themselves completely in water before their mud or dust bath. Elephants lack sweat glands, and combined with digestive systems generating large amounts of metabolic heat, mud bathing is imperative to keep cool. A wallow in mud is normally followed by a good scratch against a scratching / rubbing post of some sorts. The rubbing post can be a tree, a termite mound or a rock. The aim of this is to remove ticks and parasites embedded and trapped in the drying mud. These scratching posts are easily identified as they are usually smooth and shiny and bare of any surrounding vegetation, closer inspection will reveal the ticks that were rubbed off in the process now stuck to the post. Mud therefore acts not only as a means of sun protection and cooling but also as a means of parasite control. So if you’re ever in the bush and in need of some sunblock or a good cool down, mud will do the trick! Filmed in Kruger National Park. Read more: hluhluwegamereserve.com/mud-bathing-wallowing