From Elephant’s fears and depression to amazingly trained elephant photographers for the BBC, here are the most interesting things about African and Asian elephants I bet you didn’t know.
#14 Elephant myths busted
You may have a fear that may be perceived as irrational to others. I am sure you have seen movies and tv shows were someone starts screaming and jumping on top of the table after seeing a small, nimble and furry creature. It’s no different with elephants. Its believed that elephants are deadly afraid of mice. There are many cartoons and shows that depict an elephant running full force away from the little demons. But it’s not the mice elephants are afraid of, it’s their small size and the fast movements that scare them into action. Being fair to elephants though, many other animals as well as humans could fall into the same fear based category.
#11 elephants mourning ritual
In most cultures around the world, people go to great lengths to make time to honor their past loved ones. There are cultures who celebrate the lives of their deceased ones with vigils, candle and fire rituals or even more celebratory good-bye parties designed to rejoice in the life of the honored one. Elephants may just be as elaborate in their goodbye rituals as humans are. When a member of an elephant family passes away, they will not only shed tears but also circle the dead for hours or even days before or after burying them.
#10 Elephants gone wild!!
There have been several incidents between humans and Elephants. Not only are elephants facing a reduction of their food and free roaming lands, but predators and poachers are ever more attentive to any weakness in the herd. As the saying goes, “fences make good neighbors,” park rangers have come up with a clever way to protect the elephants from migrating to unwanted and dangerous parts. It’s not a wall between the US and Mexico. Instead of tall concrete or electric fences, the solution is bee hives. Yes, Beehive fences have been used to deter elephants from crossing towards danger. Elephants are naturally, differently than with mice, afraid of bees so it makes sense to use it to their advantage. Elephants fear bee hives so much that they have a sound only used when finding a place infested with bees, it’s called a “bee Rumble.”
#7 Elephant driving and State Laws in the US
#4 Priced accordingly
#2 Rising heroes during dark times
#1 Practical Conservationism
