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How often can one use the phrase "I saw a pink elephant" without referring to the heavy night of partying that they had the night before?

Yesterday, at approximately 16:20 I was crossing the Olifants River Bridge heading towards Satara when that exact phrase came out of my mouth. There was a relatively large matriarchal herd that had come down to the river for a swim and after watching them for a while, I noticed a very lightly coloured elephant calf. After looking through my binoculars and checking and double checking that I wasn't seeing things, I realised that I was looking at a pink elephant, literally.

After doing some research on this phenomenon, I have realised just how uncommon it is to see such a thing and also realised how lucky I was to be in the right place at the right time.

One question that I have is about the chances of survival of this young calf? Have the pink elephant calves that have been spotted in the park before been monitored and did any of them ever reach sub-adult/adult status?
I realise that in the harsh South African sun, having an unpigmented skin can not at all be beneficial to survival but I hope in my heart of hearts that this little calf is a success story!

If anyone else has seen this calf or could provide regular updates as to its progress, that would be wonderful.

Have a great week!
* T *

A very warm welcome to you Tarryn and what a wonderful first post.

Now that is really cute. It would be interesting to hear from other mites, but I should imagine that Lions are not going to tackle an eliie calf in a hurry with big mama around.

Very interesting photo.

Hi Tarryn - welcom to the forums

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

Hi Tarryn and welcome

What a cute little "Pinky" .....and i'm sober

Hi Tarryn C that Pinky is indeed "cute" and I am also sober .

Thanks for telling us this story of the pink elephants

Hi Tarryn C and welcome to the forum!!!!

We also saw a pink calf back in 2007....... ..........would be great to know if these calves are monitored.

Welcome Tarryn C

What an unusual and very special sighting...too cute.

Thanks for sharing

Ver interesting and thanks for sharing. Lets hope this young one does well -

Welcome Tarryn C
What an amazing sighting,
BUT lets hope the little darling will survive the heat and sunshine
And that the herd will give extra protection where needed

Yesterday I was at the Matambeni bird hide when a small herd of 19 elephant came out of the bush on the opposite side of the river.
The herd contained several young and a couple of babies as well as the adults.
There was a baby pink elephant in the group.
At first I thought it was just coloration from rolling in the sand but on closer inspection through my 600 mm lens, I determined that it was indeed a natural pink pigmentation of the entire body of the little one and it was particularly bright behind the ears when it flapped them.
The baby was accompanied at all times by what I assume was its mother and an older sibling.
The pink one tended to stay in the shade of the mother and kept for the most part between the two when walking.
When they got to the river and crossed it, the adults gathered around the pink one to protect it from a large croc that shadowed the group.
The water is deep at that point and all you could see were trunks projecting out of the water and the little one almost riding on the backs of the adults.
3H4A1837 by mrfitzhugh, on Flickr
I will try to post pictures to share this sighting.
3H4A1845 by mrfitzhugh, on Flickr

Hi jekalo

Interesting sighting Would love to see some pics.

Wow - how interesting. Can't wait to see the photos...

I've seen one of those too, exactly as you describe it, except it was an adult, not a baby. This pink elephant was then found early one evening in the clutches of a yellow lion. This particular young male lion had a white belly, yet he was a yellow-bellied coward. He had become separated from the rest of the pride, so there he was, muching all by himself on the pink elephant. A really fresh pink elephant too, the blood was still oozing out of the trunk. Not sure how it died, but I somehow doubt the credit belonged to the yellow lion.

Johan

Saw this little guy in the Letaba river bed on the H1-5 on the 31st of March. Did not seem to be suffering and was full of life, running around, flapping ears, trying to teach his trunk to do what he wants it to do .. The rest of the heard treated him same as all the others ...

I do hope the little guy gets a chance in nature to live a great life ...

Hi jekalo,

think it's the same ellie you saw.

Saw it the following day in the Letaba River Bed