EleFact Friday: Dichromatic Vision

In light of Bambi’s ongoing vision issues, we thought we would revisit a prior EleFact about vision. An elephant’s retina has some cones that specifically perceive red hues and others for green. This is referred to as dichromatic vision. For comparison, human eyes have separate cones for red, blue, and green, which makes us trichromatic. It’s been said that colorblind humans share identical sets of visual pigments as elephants, meaning they can see blue and yellow, but reds and greens are not distinguishable.

Elephants are also an arrhythmic species, which means they can see as well in dim light as they can in the light of day. This, along with the lack of need for the pupil to constrict, may be one of the reasons that Bambi navigates well at night, while she faces greater challenges during the day. The retina of an elephant eye can adapt and change based on the amount of daylight available. At night, their eyes are most sensitive to blue and violet light, meaning their eyes are fairly well equipped for travel or activity during the darkest hours of the night. Their range of vision is clear for about 10 meters, and they can see in general for short distances up to 25 meters. As Bambi’s eyesight continues to change, we will be able to better understand her difficulties and perhaps, if possible, help her on this new journey.

Comments(6)

Bonnie says
August 16, 2024 at 9:38 pm

Can’t even imagine how scared she may be but she has a good friend who’s helping her
Terry says
August 17, 2024 at 12:27 am

This post is super interesting! I can totally picture Kate on a ladder putting eye drops in Bambi’s eye, or Bambi wearing an eye patch to help him see better during the day. She’s got some great friends who always look out for her.
Jane Michlinski says
August 17, 2024 at 9:52 am

I may have missed this previously, and understand surgery is risky at Bambi’s age, but wouldn’t cataract surgery be worth it for quality of life? I assume the percentage of risk is too high for you to consider it. Has it not been successful for older elephants? Is this about anesthesia? Also, I feel like she used to be the life of the party and now her personality has changed, it seems , ever since she could not get up that one night from being on the ground. I wonder how/if that event is related to her eyesight. Or is it this friendship rift that has affected her deeply.
- REPLY
  Sara says
  August 17, 2024 at 10:45 pm
  
  Due to Bambi’s age, it could be dangerous to put her under anesthesia.
Bonnie says
August 17, 2024 at 10:04 pm

Sara how come there’s no Sanctuary News for Saturday Aug 17 2024 just wondering
- REPLY
  Sara says
  August 17, 2024 at 10:43 pm
  
  We post a Facebook fundraiser thank you one Saturday a month. On that day, we don’t publish anything new.

How To Help

Adopt an Elephant

Donate Today

GSE Merchandise

Elephant Wishlists

Blog