Standing over a bush in apparent Contemplation. The elephant may gather the branches of a bush into a clump with the trunk before swinging the forelegs out to the side to clamber over the bush. The elephant then stands still but attentive, as if in Contemplation. This is an idiosyncratic behavior observed among a few adolescents and calves in the Maasai Mara population. Most, though not all, of these individuals were female. In one instance we observed one individual to copy another. We do not know whether this behavior is more widespread.
An adolescent female is standing resting or contemplating over a clump of Croton bushes in the idiosyncratic behavior observed among a few Mara elephants that we call Stand-Over-Bush. She seems to act as if her style is being cramped by the presence of a tree and so knocks it down and then proceeds to climb back on top of her bush. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)
