Using the sole of the foot to carefully step on a branch with long, firm thorns, and then to scrub the foot back and forth over the branch to break and disarm the thorns. This is a technique that must be learned and perfected and is perhaps limited to individuals with more calloused foot pads. It is observed among adults, though less often in adolescent elephants.
An adult female uses a swinging kicking motion and the sole of her foot to break or 'scrub-off' the thorns from an Acacia drepanolobium branch. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)
