Elephants have long captured the imagination of animal lovers. Their whimsical trunks, powerful tusks, and unique size seem to remind us of prehistoric times. Elephants have been on this continent for over four million years, and they remain a significant part of the environment. There’s also a graceful element to elephants, a particular beauty and wisdom that inspires awe in anyone who has had a chance to see one in real life. But what “fun facts” about these giant creatures are true, and which are inspired by legendary folklore?
Big Brained
True: elephant brains are the largest of any land mammal! Elephants are known for their huge brains, which contain more neurons than a human brain. They also have a highly developed hippocampus (the part of the brain that stores memories). This allows them to remember things from the past, plan for the future, and communicate with each other using over 40 different vocalizations.
Because of their intelligence, elephants can form deep emotional bonds with one another.
Family Ties
Elephants live in herds made up of related females and their young, led by an older female called a matriarch. The matriarch leads the pack, and is responsible for its survival. Female power! Herds consist of anywhere from 5 to 30 elephants, but each family group typically has about 10 members.
Elephant families are very close-knit, with strong social bonds between mothers and their offspring. They use touch and smell to communicate with each other—males in particular will reach out with their trunks to touch another elephant's trunk as a greeting gesture or when they're trying to figure out who someone is!
Elephants mourn their dead, forming an enormous circle around them as they pass away. They show affection by caressing each other’s trunks or by kissing one another on the lips (yes, elephants kiss!).
Marvelous Memory
You may have heard that elephants have the best memories in the animal kingdom. Well, you heard that right! Elephants have excellent memories that allow them to remember locations where they've found food or water over long periods of time so they can return when they need it later on down the road.
Matriarch elephants, in particular, store the social knowledge their families need to survive. Two elephants reuniting in a conservatory recognized each other in a moment of jubilee after they had been separated for 23 years!
Elephants have been observed grieving passed family members and friends (including humans), showing compassion toward injured animals, and helping human rescuers by indicating where people are buried in the rubble after an earthquake or tsunami. Elephants even recognize themselves in mirrors! Their memories are truly magnificent, and a great source of intrigue to scientists and researchers that work with the animals.
A Threatened Species
It’s no secret that elephants are an endangered species. At the start of the 20th century, it’s estimated that there were between 3 to 5 million elephants in the African continent. Today, there are just 400,000 remaining. This is largely due to poaching and human-elephant conflict. These days, their survival has become far from assured—and if we don't take action to protect them, their future could be up in the air.
As African nations continue to develop economically, they need resources to fuel growth. This has resulted in increased demand for ivory products—especially trinkets, jewelry, and religious figures—from both local and international buyers. Elephants are hunted for their ivory tusks because of this!
The sad truth is that even though the sale of ivory has been banned since 1989, it is still being harvested in large enough quantities to make up a significant portion of Africa's exports—especially since there's no way to tell which items come from recently killed elephants versus those taken from elephants who died before the ban went into effect.
The animals are also poached for venturing into villages in search of food and water. In some countries, like Namibia, elephants can threaten the food and water supply by damaging tanks and gardens. Because of this, they are popular targets for hunters looking to make a big profit from their ivory.
These creatures are also keystone species, upon which entire ecosystems rely. Their foraging habits influence the landscape, while their dung influences the soil nutrients! Threatening the population of elephants can threaten the survival of other plants and animals, too, reducing biodiversity.
In order to protect elephants, governing bodies need to restrict poaching and enforce laws already on the books to protect them. Community-led conservation movements have seen success in several countries, like Namibia. If the current rate of decline continues, elephants will be extinct within ten years.
Elephants are a great example of how we can learn from nature. The image of the elephant has been used as a symbol for wildlife conservation for decades! They have so much to teach us about the importance of family and caring for each other. They’re also a great source of inspiration, wonder, intrigue, and fascination.
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