Interesting facts about Elephants.

At Elephants in Main Street, we are fascinated by Elephants. We love the strength, peace, power and overall symbolism of these wonderful creatures and the way in which they connect as a herd, and as herds.

We have assembled a range of stories and interesting facts for visitors to the site who share our love and admiration for these giants.

INTERESTING STORY 1: MATRIARCHY

The matriach controls the life in the herd, in the family and in the clan. All authority is placed in the command of the mothers of the herd. They are respected and recognised as leaders of the herd. They lead and care for growing calves; ensure harmony and order within the group; they confront danger and enemies with courage and commitment when threatened. It is also interesting to see that the large bulls also play a role in the security and safety of the herd, although not well suited to family engagement.

Elephants communicate over long distances by producing and receiving low-frequency sound (infrasound), a sub-sonic rumbling, which can travel through the ground farther than sound travels through the air. This can be felt by the sensitive skin of an elephant's feet and trunk, which pick up the resonant vibrations much as the flat skin on the head of a drum. To listen attentively, every member of the herd will lift one foreleg from the ground, and face the source of the sound, or often lay its trunk on the ground. The lifting presumably increases the ground contact and sensitivity of the remaining legs. This ability is thought also to aid their navigation by use of external sources of infrasound.

An elephants' graveyard is a mythical place where older elephants instinctively direct themselves when they reach a certain age. They then die there alone, far from the group.
According to a hypothesis devised by Rupert Sheldrake, this myth is actually half true. The legend arose from the fact that elephant skeletons are, in fact, frequently found in groups near permanent sources of water. Elephants suffering from malnutrition instinctively, says Sheldrake, seek out sources of water in the hopes of improving their condition. The elephants that do not improve develop increasingly low blood sugar and eventually become comatose and die, near the water (and near the remains of other malnourished elephants). This is also the fate of old elephants, whose teeth become worn out, seeking out soft water plants. This typically happens after their sixth set of teeth.

Q: How can you tell that an elephant is in the bathtub with you?
A: By the smell of peanuts on its breath.

Q: How can you tell that an elephant has been in your refrigerator?
A: By the footprints in the butter.

Q: How do you shoot a blue elephant?
A: With a blue elephant gun.

Q: How do you shoot a red elephant?
A: Hold his trunk shut until he turns blue, and then shoot him with the blue elephant gun.

Q: How do you shoot a yellow elephant?
A: Have you ever seen a yellow elephant?

Similarly:

Q: How many elephants will fit into a Mini?
A: Four: Two in the front, two in the back.

Q: How many giraffes will fit into a Mini?
A: None. It's full of elephants.

Q: How do you know there are two elephants in your refrigerator?
A: You can hear giggling when the light goes out.

Q: How do you know there are three elephants in your refrigerator?
A: You can't close the door.

Q: How do you know there are four elephants in your refrigerator?
A: The Mini is parked outside.

Q: What do elephants have that nothing else has?
A: Baby elephants.

Q: What is grey, has four legs, and a trunk?
A: A mouse going on holiday.

Q: What is brown, has four legs, and a trunk?
A: A mouse coming back from holiday.

Q: What has eight legs, two trunks, four eyes, and two tails?
A: Two elephants.

"Whether sad, angry, distressed, eager, or playful, elephants are this in a big way"Joyce Poole

Did you know?

Elephant in latin (as ele and phant) means the Huge Arch!
The word "elephant" has both Greek and Latin origins. This applies specifically to the elephant´s scientific genus name "Elephas". In Greek linguistics, elephos represents an antlered beast or stag. The roots of the word "elephant" in latin is divided into two words; ele means arch and phant means huge. Also, the genus name Loxodonta, for the African elephant means losenge-shaped teeth for the chewing surfaces.

An Elephants Memory - Karma

"In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from college.
 
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.
 
The elephant seemed distressed so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large thorn deeply embedded in it. 
 
As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the thorn out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For several tense moments Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.
 
Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.
 
Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later he was walking through the San Diego Zoo with his teenaged son.
 
As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing. The large old bull elephant stared at Mbembe and lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. He summoned up all his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant which stared at him in wonder.
 
Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe's legs and swung him violently back and forth along the railing, killing him instantly.
 
Probably wasn't the same elephant." - source unknown.