Welcome
Welcome to the Elephant Facts website – a site created and maintained by a real elephant lover for other admirers of this wonderful animal to enjoy. You can find out about me here. There are plenty of facts on offer from the menu bar above. I try to add regularly to this site and you can see my latest posts below.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the organisation that I work for, as they are kind enough to allow me time to indulge in my passion for elephants. Sandstone are providers of brilliant team building activities in the UK and indeed worldwide. If you are looking for real team development or just a fun day spent with your work colleagues, the Sandstone site is well worth checking out.
For now, though, share my passion and enjoy this site…
Elephant Census
There is to be an elephant census taking place over 3 days at the beginning of June in India. In order to carry out the census as accurately as possible, the elephants over a number of regions will be counted at the same time. Elephants frequently travel and cross borders in search of food and water, therefore making it hard to get an accurate count as the same ones could be counted twice in different areas. The land area and forests will be divided into blocks, with each block being manned by staff and volunteers. Elephant counts will occur in the day and through the night. However, the authorities realise that some elephants will be seen a number of times, as such only 50% of those seen at watering holes during the day will be included in their count. Read the rest of this entry »
Warring Bull Elephants
I saw an article about two African bull elephants who were fighting in front of tourists in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. The pictures of it are amazing, but there’s nothing like experiencing it first hand. Immediately it made me think back to the safari that I went on. We were lucky enough to come across two bulls fighting and we sat watching them lock tusks for a long time. Read the rest of this entry »
Musical Elephants
Just as we like to do things to keep ourselves amused, it seems that elephants do too. Shanthi, an Asian elephant at the US national zoo in Washington, is musically inclined. She taps things, flaps her ears against different objects and rubs her leg up and down shrubs and other low objects all for the noises that they make! Read the rest of this entry »
Elephants Down Under
One of the major contributors to the wildfires experienced in Australia is down to gamba grass. This giant grass is native to Africa and has migrated to the savannas of Australia. It’s too big for animals indigenous to Australia, such as Kangaroos and cattle, to eat and digest; however, it is a great meal for larger animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses. Read the rest of this entry »
Easter Egg Hunt
It’s coming round to Easter soon and as usual people are starting to think about Easter egg hunts! I was pleased to see that London has done an egg hunt where the proceeds will go towards two charities, including The Elephant Family. These eggs have been designed by over 200 artists and have been hidden all around the city. Read the rest of this entry »
CompOOst Fertiliser
Being a regular visitor to my local zoo, Chester Zoo, I have seen the sale of elephant poo throughout my life. It is a great fertiliser! I was pleased to read that other zoo’s also offer the waste produced by these animals. The Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia has made their fertiliser “compOOst” available for pre-order for large amounts, or you can pick up smaller quantities from the park’s entrance. At Riverbanks Zoo about 1,500 pounds of manure is added to their compOOst pile each day, its great to see that nothing is going to waste, so to speak!
Elephant Protective Instincts
I was amazed and delighted to read a story on an elephant birth in Amboseli National Park in Kenya. It is notoriously difficult to know if an elephant is pregnant or not, so the chances of actually catching and witnessing a wild birth are near on zero. Luckily for wildlife photographer Paolo Torchio, he happened to be passing on a morning drive through the park at exactly the right moment. Read the rest of this entry »
Fossilised Elephant Tracks
In the Arabian desert a site of around five hectares has been studied for a number of years. This particular area has been of much interest due to the many fossilised footprints from seven million years ago that are there. Scientists believe that these footprints were left by a herd of elephants. While it is not uncommon to find evidence of elephants from years gone by, fossilised bones can only really shed light on the animal itself, not its behaviour. These footprints show the movement of the elephants and show that they were not too dissimilar from modern elephants. Read the rest of this entry »
Pink Elephants
I’m sure you won’t find it hard to imagine that when I was younger, and to this day, one of my all time favourite Disney films was, and still is, Dumbo. One of my favourite scenes was the pink elephants. I use to colour in any elephants I drew pink and so I loved that they were pink in the film! As I got older, I realised that pink elephants are a rare phenomenon and they are actually albino. Albino elephants are rare in the first place, and even rarer as adults. The albinism makes it difficult to survive into adulthood. Read the rest of this entry »
Zoo Elephant Breeding Hopes
Oklahoma City Zoo has recently acquired an Asian elephant bull. The zoo is hoping that in time Rex will breed with the two current female elephants, Asha and Chandra. The zoo already has an 8 month old female, hopefully Malee will have a little brother or sister in the near future! Read the rest of this entry »
