DVD | Echo Of The Elephants

In January 1990, Cynthia Moss and Martyn Colbeck embarked on the first of what would become four remarkable films, following the life of Echo and her ever-growing family.

Based in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, Cynthia Moss has lived with and studied the elephants for a number of decades, and has known Echo since she was a little calf.

In this collection of four documentaries, co-narrated by David Attenborough, we see some of the most intimate and moving moments of elephant behaviours ever caught on film. It’s astounding just how family focussed elephants are.

When Ely, a male calf is born, he’s crippled and can’t stand up on his front legs. You immediately think about survival of the fittest and feel a pang of despair when you think that Ely will be left behind to die. But then something amazing happens. Echo’s maternal instincts set in and she tries to help Ely stand. He can’t, but they manage to figure out how to shuffle on his knees.

Torn by the need to go and get water and the fact that little Ely can’t keep up, Echo goes without and stays by her sons side, and miraculously, Ely finally manages to stand up – he’s a little shaky, and not as fast as the others, but he can now walk to the water, and his survival is almost guaranteed.

The documentaries are filled with moments like this, where the family unit is protected at all costs – there is no real selfishness in this family, everyone looks out for each other, under the constant leadership of the matriarch, Echo.

Of course no animal documentary is complete without some heartache, and the pain comes in various forms, from stillbirths to hunters, Echo’s family cannot protect everyone from everything, but through it all they stick together.

They also have enormous respect for their dead – the careful exploration of elephant bones gives you a sense that they can tell who the fallen comrade is, just from the skeletal remains. And they treat the skull in particular with careful reverence.

It’s not all about the Kenyan elephants as Cynthia takes a journey around Africa to see elephants as varied as beach dwelling ones to desert elephants.

This is a truly amazing and inspiring DVD.