Got this from a contact in the local press.

Photos taken by Conservation Geneticist Dr. Benoit Goossens, Director of Danau Girang Field Centre, a Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) facility located within the Kinabatangan.

It was released during a press conference on 14th September, which amongst others said:

These series of photographs show us a lot about the caring behaviour of the elephants as the mother and another female which we assume is related to the baby [believed to be a month old] work very hard to protect and safely bring the baby over to the other side of the bank.

As elephants have lost much of their habitat due to conversion of land to primarily agriculture, they need to zig-zag across the broken landscape as they travel to find food.

And of course this includes the need to cross rivers to get to feeding grounds, however river crossing are quite stressful for elephants that have to contend with strong currents and dangers of crocodiles especially for their young. We have seen elephants struggling with crocodiles as they make a grab for the smaller elephants, but so far we have not seen fatalities as the group always works very hard together to protect their young.

The mother and another female elephant slowly guiding the one month old baby along the banks of the Kinabatangan River before crossing over:

The baby is in between its mother and another female as they cross the river. The baby elephant’s little trunk can be seen:

The mother and another female swim in tandem to keep the baby safe from the strong currents and other dangers as they make their way across:

The baby elephant being gently pushed up the slopes on the other side:

The baby making its way up the banks:

The mother and other adults protect the baby:

The month old baby elephant, mission accomplished:

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