The Magical -- and Threatened -- Lives of Kenya's Elephants

May 14, 2010 — -- It's one of the most incredible scenes in nature: a mother elephant helping her new calf to its feet.

"When a baby elephant is born, it's probably one of the most exciting events that happens in an elephant's life," said Saba-Douglas Hamilton, a Kenyan conservationist.

"There is such tenderness in the way that elephants will touch their young. When they try to lift it up, the trunk comes underneath the baby and will raise it off the ground so it can actually start to find a way of balancing on its legs."

Hamilton is one of the human subjects in a new film that isn't much about humans at all. Produced by the BBC, "The Secret Life of Elephants" follows some 900 elephants that roam Kenya's National Samburu Reserve.

Watch the full story tonight on "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET

In one scene, a mother elephant gives her new calf, a beautiful, 250-pound baby known to researchers as "Breeze," a special hug with her trunk that lifts the baby to its feet.

"I think it's always so emotional to see new baby elephants, because you can see the emotions in the adult females," said Hamilton.

Hamilton grew up on the Samburu Reserve. With her father, she helps run Save the Elephants, a foundation to study and preserve these majestic creatures.

"We study them on a day-to-day basis," said Hamilton. "We know every single one of them. ... They are the biggest, boldest, most beautiful land mammal to walk the earth. How can you not be completely bowled over in awe when you are close to them? I have a semi-religious experience when I'm with elephants, I think."