Dumbo and dumber! Hilarious moment baby elephants charge at huge antelope but it stands its ground

This is the hilarious moment two baby elephants gave charging a try for the first time – but their target was less than impressed. 

Footage filmed at the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana earlier this month by visitor to the site Janet Kleyn, 53, shows the two elephant calves practising charging while the rest of the herd drink by the waterhole.  

The two calves repeatedly run at an eland antelope, trying to drive it away. 

But the antelope seems unimpressed by the two calves and watches on while waiting for the herd to leave to have a drink of its own. 

Visitors to the reserve have been treated to sweet scenes of mother’s and babies together in recent weeks. 

Much of the herd’s work revolves around guarding, rearing and teaching survival skills to its youngest members. Baby elephants are mothered intensely for the first two years of their life by a network of mothers and aunts within the herd, and are expected to continue to learn independently going forward. 

The calves run playfully by the water, charging at an Eland while the rest of the herd watches

But the antelope seems unperturbed by the calves and waits patiently for them to move on 

The footage was filmed by a delighted visitor to the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana

The young elephants kept charging at the visitor to the watering hole 

Male elephants (bulls) will leave their herd around aged 12 to 14, and may live alone or in small bachelor groups. 

An older bull will often by accompanied by a group of younger males, and will pass on survival tips and social skills to the younger brood. 

At birth, a calf will weight between 170 and 250 pounds and will measure on average 36 inches high to the shoulder. Immediately after birth, the calf is helped to its feet, and can stand without assistance within minutes, which is vital for its survival.

Within days of its birth, the calf will be strong enough to join the herd. 

The sweet clip isn’t the first time the elephants at the Mashatu Game Reserve have been captured on film. 

Earlier this month, visitors were delighted with scenes of the herd playing in the mud. 

And in September, photographer Janet Kleyn captured a baby elephant struggling to wriggle out of a pool before it was helped out by other herd members.

Mashatu Game Reserve is privately owned land in the wilderness area known as the Northern Tuli Game Reserve.

One of the largest privately owned game reserves in southern Africa, it lies in the eastern part of Botswana where Limpopo and Shashe River converges. 

The landscape has wide open plains, grassland, riverine forests, rocky hills, marshland and sandstone ridges. 

Mashatu means ‘Land of the Giants’ and takes its name from the Mashatu or Nyala berry tree and the giants roaming its terrain.     

The reserve is also home to giraffes, antelopes, birds and ostriches among others which means the reserve houses Africa’s big seven land based giants.