African Elephants

Find out what an African elephant has in common with a wildebeest. Learn what sets an African elephant apart from a snow leopard. Listeners will compare and contrast key traits of African elephants - their appearance, behavior, habitat, and life cycle - to traits of other mammals. Through gathering information about similarities and differences, listeners will make connections and draw conclusions about what makes this animal a mammal and how mammals are alike and different from each other.

Daphne Sheldrick, whose family arrived in Africa from Scotland in the 1820s, is the first person ever to have successfully hand-reared newborn elephants. Her deep empathy and understanding, her years of observing Kenya’s rich variety of wildlife, and her pioneering work in perfecting the right husbandry and milk formula have saved countless elephants, rhinos, and other baby animals from certain death.

In a central African animal sanctuary, young Akimbo sees the carcass of a mother elephant rotting in the sun. Hearing that his ranger father rarely catches these killers, Akimbo hatches a secret plan to apprehend these villains himself. But are the dangers too daunting for this aspiring hero?