Released 2009-10-03

Female African Elephant, Loxodonta africana

Elephant herds are matriarchical societies, led by the oldest and most experienced female among them. Baby elephants are born without many natural survival instincts, and so rely heavily on their mothers and other females in the herd for protection and education. The entire herd will band together to protect any member's young, and those adult females without their own young will serve as babysitters of a sort for the young of other females. This allows the mother to spend more time feeding herself, which, in turn, enables her to produce a greater quantity of high-quality milk for her offspring, increasing its chances for survival.

This is a limited edition photograph with a total of 500 photos printed across all sizes, as noted