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Some of the most amazing animals on the planet are elephants. These massive beasts are incredibly smart and have a wide variety of interesting and bizarre behaviors.
For instance, scientists have discovered that elephants can distinguish between human voices. When they played a recording of Maasai men, the elephants reacted more defensively, retreating and bunching together than when they heard Maasai women or young boys.
1. Elephants Can Swim Up to 30 Miles
Elephants are able to swim quite long distances, even though they are massive animals. They are able to do this because of the muscles that are in their legs and feet. They can also keep their heads above the water using their trunks like snorkels during a swim, which helps them to breathe while swimming.
Elephant babies are not born with swimming skills, and they have to learn how to swim when they are a few months old. But once they do, it is an instinctive skill that they retain for the rest of their lives.
These creatures are also known for being very social and emotionally complex. They can express a wide range of emotions including sadness, compassion, and empathy. They also have a deep love for their family members, and if one of them becomes sick, the entire herd will help to care for it. They can even be seen grieving over the bones of their dead loved ones by touching their skulls and tusks with their feet.
2. Elephants Rarely Get Cancer
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As they grew into their enormous bodies, elephants acquired extra copies of the tumor-suppressing gene p53. This gene makes a protein that recognizes unrepaired DNA damage, which is a precursor to cancer, and causes the cells to die. While all animals get cancer when damaged cells reproduce, the p53 protein seems to keep the rate of mutations low in large-bodied animals with longer life spans.
Then three years ago, researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Utah began to unravel why elephants never get cancer. One of the team members, Dr. Joshua Schiffman, is a pediatric cancer specialist whose patients include children who have a deficient p53 gene. He and co-author Michael Lynch figured out that the elephants' resistance to cancer is due to their having 20 copies of the p53 gene, compared to just one copy in other mammals.
These copies give p53 more ability to sift through the cell's DNA, seeking out miscopied genetic information that is the precursor to a cancerous mutation. They also discovered that a defunct gene called LIF6 has been revived to help p53 do its job, making cells more sensitive to DNA damage and quicker to commit suicide when they're stressed.
3. Elephants Will Sometimes Bury Dead or Sleeping Humans
When elephants come across a dead or sleeping human, they will sometimes dig it up and bury it in a tree. This is believed to be a form of protection for the deceased or their remains. It is also a way of showing respect.
A female elephant is known to carry her calf for 20 to 22 months, and it takes a team of family members to raise the young. The matriarch will work with her herd to find food, water and safe places for the animals to sleep. Elephants are also able to grieve and have been seen mourning over the deaths of family members or other elephants.
When a male elephant reaches sexual maturity, he will separate from the herd and often live alone or with other males in bachelor groups. These large mammals will travel in search of mates and will fight to assert their dominance over other males. They will even spend days or weeks lingering near the bodies of their relatives, in what is considered a ritualistic display of respect.
4. Elephants Need a Father Figure or Else
There's a reason the saying goes "an elephant never forgets." These behemoths have an amazing memory that allows them to remember family members, locations of watering holes they've visited, and even the specific scents of different trees. This is why elephants are able to communicate across incredibly vast distances using only their feet!
Elephants are also very emotional creatures and can feel pain. They often grieve and bury the bones of their dead, and are known to shed tears when they're sad. Young elephants, in particular, need a father figure or else they might be at risk of becoming aggressive and violent.
This is why rangers at Kruger National Park in South Africa worked with Pilanesberg National Park to relocate some of the young bull elephants that had been born in their herd. Pilanesberg couldn't accommodate the adult male elephants that would have been needed to mentor the younger ones, so the herd was left without a leader and it soon began attacking rhinos. The herd eventually was reunited with the older bulls and their behavior has improved dramatically.
5. Elephants Can Hear Clouds
There’s a reason that elephants are known as the world’s wisest animals. They can tell time, communicate long distances, and even hear the sound of clouds – thanks to their sensitive feet!
They can use their foot stomping to create a low-frequency rumble that will resonate up to 20 miles away. This can also warn them of danger or other herds nearby. They can hear this rumble with their feet and trunks, as well as their long ears.
Another of the amazing elephant facts is that they can also stomp to create water holes for themselves or their herds. These can help with the drought and provide a safe place for elephants to drink.
It’s no secret that elephants are very emotional creatures. They’re known to mourn the deaths of their loved ones and even shed tears. They will also pay homage to the bones of their dead by touching them with their trunks and feet. They will often pause and remain silent when they walk past a graveyard, too.
6. Elephants Can Recognize Different Human Languages
There’s a reason the old saying goes, “an elephant never forgets.” It turns out that elephants have incredibly large brains and can store all sorts of information. They can recall where food or water sources are, and they even know which places to avoid because of poachers or other threats.
Researchers used to think that the large ears of elephants were designed to help them stay cool, but now they believe that they’re actually able to communicate through seismic signals. The ear pads contain a layer of skin that’s thinner, and when the elephant’s body heats up, it causes this layer to expand. This allows the elephant to communicate with the herd over long distances through this method of telepathic communication.
Aside from trumpeting calls and normal body language, elephants also communicate through their feet, which are full of nerve endings. They use these to sense each other and send signals of danger or other information over vast distances, such as the sounds of cows in heat or herd members communicating with one another through touch or scent.
7. Elephants Can Hear Each Other Across Miles with Their Feet
An elephant's feet are covered in a soft padding that supports their weight and dulls the sound of their footsteps. They're also known to be able to hear each other across the landscape with their sub-sonic rumblings, which they can use like a type of radio.
Despite their enormous size, elephants play an essential role in delicate African and Asian ecosystems. They create clearings in wooded areas, allowing sunlight to enter and help small plants grow and smaller animals survive, and they disperse seeds with their dung.
They can also swim, and they've been spotted using their trunks as a snorkel when crossing rivers. They're also able to fine-tune their body temperature thanks to "hot spots" that are scattered around their ears.
Another fun fact about elephants is that they're not afraid of mice (unlike what a lot of fairy tales tell us). They can, however, be turned off by bees and ants, which is why some farmers in Africa line their fields with beehives to protect them from the elephants.
8. Elephants Know How to Induce Labor
In the wild, elephants have a gestation period of about two years. This long pregnancy allows time for the baby’s brain to develop so it can survive after birth. However, it’s a myth that these animals need human help to get through the birthing process. There have been several cases where the oxytocin drug was used to induce labor but it’s not recommended as a method of induction for pregnant elephants because insufficient cervix dilation may lead to uterine rupture and even death.
The docile giants have an incredible sense of empathy for their peers and will sometimes console their grieving brethren by lightly touching them or making soft vocal noises. Their memory is also a key survival mechanism and they can remember routes to watering holes from years ago which helps them navigate arid landscapes.
Nevitt: If an elephant is having trouble with their calf, it is best to introduce the calf to another herd with a lactating female member. This is a good investment for the future breeding success of both the mother and the calf.
