Tangled up in love: The two elephants met each other in the middle of the Chobe River, which runs between Namibia and Botswana

Can anyone recall the old playground trick to sneakily get out of agreeing if a lover said the fateful words, 'I love you'?

The best thing to do would be to silently say 'elephant juice', as it looked identical to you mouthing: 'I love you, too.'

Try it in the mirror. Anyway, that's seamlessly introduced this wonderful set of photographs of two African elephants who really DO look as though they love each other.


Here a Savannah elephant from Namibia met another from Botswana at the Chobe River, which runs between the two countries.

And photographer Eric Webber sat in a boat just 20 feet away as the Namibian elephant swam to the middle of the river using his trunk as a snorkel.

The Botswanan elephant waded in to join his neighbour for a play fight, which ended in the two animals getting their trunks in a tangle.

Mr Webber said: 'We took a late afternoon boat ride on the Chobe River, which separates Namibia and Botswana, mostly looking at hippos and crocodiles, plus a lot of birds.

'We stopped at a bend in the river when we saw a group of eight to ten elephants on the Botswana shore.

'We watched them for a while until all but one wandered off.

'At the same time, we noticed a lone elephant on the Namibian side of the river.

'He walked to the riverbank, casual but deliberate, it seemed, waded in and eventually began swimming across, using his trunk like a snorkel.'



The Texas-based photographer continued: 'The other elephant, a slightly larger juvenile male, seemed to be waiting on the Botswana shore, every so often lifting his trunk and sniffing the air.

'They were both ignoring us and we drifted to within about 20 feet of them.

'They sniffed each other briefly and then entwined trunks.

'Our guide explained that this was a way for elephants, especially younger elephants, to greet each other - kind of like a handshake.

'It's also a playful game and they both seemed to enjoy it, wrapping and unwrapping their trunks, tugging a little but not much.

'They did that a few times and then headed up the bank together and disappeared into the bush.

'You also know that however gentle they seem, that could change very quickly, which certainly adds to the excitement of being around them.'

Tags: Animal, Wonderful Things, African Elephants, Love, River, Neighbour