How do elephant calves nurse after they are born?

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After an elephant calf is born, it nurses by using its mouth rather than its trunk. The calf accesses milk from mammary glands located in the chest region of the mother, known as a cow.1

Weaning is a gradual, long-term process that may continue until the mother can no longer tolerate the pokes of the calf’s emerging tusks. Throughout this period, the mother receives support in caring for the calf from other female members of the herd.12