A trio of baby elephants learnt that it’s not always easy being the smallest as they tried desperately to keep up with the rest of the herd in South Africa.
The young elephants were caught on camera by a worker at the Etali Safari Lodge in the Madikwe Game Reserve struggling to wade through mud and climb out of a watering hole.
Kristoff Potgieter, 28, filmed the herd running towards the watering hole in a bid to cool off in the warm conditions and said that the footage was too cute not to share.
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The filmmaker said: ‘For our guests it was one of the best sightings amongst the many memorable things they saw during their trip’
Filmmaker Kristoff Potgieter focusses on the trio of young elephants from the start of the video
The three baby elephants stick together at the start of the clip and run ahead of the herd
The troublesome trio! The three elephants appear together at the start of the clip before the mud splits them up
Unsurprisingly, Mr Potgieter focused on a trio of baby elephants, causing mischief among the group.
After dashing to the side of a muddy bank, then sensibly waiting for an adult to begin crossing, the three little mammals made their own way through the assault course.
Not long into their short journey however, they become stuck and cause a bit of a roadblock as other elephants attempt to go around them.
Eventually one breaks free from the mud and makes its way over to the watering hole, leaving its friends behind still struggling.
The three elephants wait for the adults to begin crossing the mud before making their own way across
The three baby elephants become stuck at exactly the same place in the thick mud
The young mammals can be seen struggling to pull themselves free from the heavy mud
After some more wriggling, the other two elephants manage to escape the mud and one runs off towards the rest of the herd.
The last baby elephant however chooses to dive straight into the watering hole – ignoring the others that stand around and use their trunks to drink from a distance.
Deciding that it’s time to exit, the youngster – who appears to be impressed by its own ingenuity – then attempts to climb the bank.
But after successfully getting its footing with its front feet, finds that it is unable to pull itself free.
It is forced to struggle once more and can be seen trying in vain to lift itself up and over the edge of the bank.
The young elephants were captured on video at the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa
The three youngsters create a bit of a roadblock as other elephants attempt to get around them
One elephant decides to head straight into the watering hole while the others stand around it and drink
Eventually however – after much scrabbling with its front feet – the young elephant is able to pull itself onto the bank where it runs off back to the herd.
Video maker Kristoff stated that the fiercely-contested race was witnessed by many guests.
‘Watching cute baby elephants is one thing I never get tired of,’ he said.
‘For our guests it was one of the best sightings amongst the many memorable things they saw during their trip.’