" The leader has his eyes fixed straight ahead, staring at you."



The leader would actually have her eyes fixed straight ahead. African Elephants are an extremely matriarchal species, and thus the herd leaders are always females. Males are solitary creatures, and are usually kicked out of the herd once they reach maturity. 95% of their lives is spent completely alone, though there have been occasional reports of them travelling in pairs, usually with a friend or relative.



If an adult male encounters another herd, he may join it for a temporary period of time in an attempt to mate with the matriarch, but will usually leave the group after about a month, assuming the attempt was even successful to begin with. It's kind of sad really, because often times, the child will grow up never getting to know their father.