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Amboseli Park occupies an area of almost 150 square miles. Located very close to Kilimanjaro,
it has unusual weather patterns and a fantastic orphanage for young elephants.
The elephant herds come out into the open after the rains.
Almost 700 individual elephants have been counted here.
Staying cool is crucial to them, and since animal's bodies are designed to meet their needs
they have numerous blood vessels in their huge fan-like ears. Just by moving them once in a while they can cool a lot of blood.
Elephants have always been protected here. The Masai keep poachers away, and the Department of Wildlife keeps an eye on the herds.
Baby elephants can get sunburned during their
first six weeks of life, especially their ears. That's why they flock to the mud baths.
A healthy coating of mud and sand helps protect them.
It's not easy to feed these babies. For the first three months after they're born, the
orphans get baby bottles of coconut oil as often as they want, night and day.
Coconut oil happens to be very similar to elephant milk.
When they're a little bit older, they begin to be fed vegetable matter combined with milk.
This is at about nine months. However, they won't be entirely weaned
until they're four or five years old.
That's when the young elephants are ready to live in their natural habitat.