This old elephant wasn't acting like herself, then her caretakers learned she's pregnant

[post_page_title]Protecting the mother[/post_page_title]
Charles’ observation about how the elephants began being very protective of Eloise is typical of the animals. While elephant herds may be rather large – containing up to 60 or 70 elephants – they don’t just get together because there’s strength in numbers – they behave as a cohesive, full-fledged family.

So much so, in fact, that when a cow is giving birth – like Eloise was – the other members of the herd literally surround her in a protective ring until she delivers the baby elephants – or babies, in her case.