These Baby Elephants Playfully Welcomed the Newest Arrival With a Muddy Play Session
(vadim19 / Getty Images)
With the arrival of a new baby, older siblings can experience a brief period of regression, and that’s exactly what baby African elephants Lenny and Zigi are experiencing right now. These two are used to being high on the priority list among the nanny pachyderms, and now that there’s a newcomer, they’re struggling with what they perceive as less attention.
Of course, there hasn’t actually been a decrease in the attention these two troublemakers are getting. In fact, it’s the opposite: the nannies now have to watch them even more closely because they’re obsessed with causing trouble for the newest member of the herd, Mwezi, a newborn elephant who arrived just weeks ago.
Related: Young Elephant Turns a Bench Into a Balance Beam to Reach the Good Stuff
Zigi and Lenny have been caught trying to sit on her in a mud puddle. It’s like some sort of muddy initiation game they’ve invented, and it’s keeping everyone at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on their toes. Well, mostly just Murera and Mwani, the Umani Springs resident mommies who keep these two out of trouble.
During a recent mud bath session, the two boys tried so hard to give the little one her first dunk in the mucky brown stuff. They briefly succeeded before the older female elephants intervened. Of course, they were only prevented from trapping Mwezi in the mud, not each other, and it’s safe to say they were perfectly happy with their mud-wrestling session even in her absence!
Followers Had Plenty to Say About These Two Troublemakers
These two baby elephants have been causing trouble since arriving at the nursery, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll change their behavior anytime soon. Their latest antics have many fans comparing them to human siblings and joking that “boys will be boys.”
One follower wrote, “What little impish troublemakers! I love these little ‘sibling’ rivalry stories! They always eventually work it out and become best friends.”
Another fan joked, “Sounds like everyone has their hands and trunks full with those two.” Instagram user @kristinmarie72 admitted, “My heart felt bad for them for just a minute, then I couldn’t stop laughing. They are just like human children. We all know this too shall pass.”
In my opinion, the best suggestion in the comments came from @frankokeefe, who said, “A 24-hour webcam, with this content, and I may never do anything else besides watch.”
Honestly, I can’t think of a better way to spend the day than watching these little pachyderms grow up. Somebody get that webcam going because I’m ready to clear my schedule!
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This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Nov 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: Nature
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