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We all know that Guillermina is a fast elephant. She can cover a large amount of ground in a short amount of time. She took over the title of quickest elephant immediately after her arrival, as she can outpace all of the older ladies with no problem whatsoever. This week’s EleFact will focus on elephant movement, whether it be quick or slow. 

By watching your pets, you may have noticed that those four-legged animals (and, in fact, most four-legged vertebrates) change their entire posture and stride while running or moving fast. When this happens, all four feet leave the ground at once. Elephants are different in that they take longer and faster steps, but all four feet never leave the ground at the same time. The benefit of this is that the elephant’s weight spreads out across their body as much as possible. But this also means that, although elephants can move at speeds up to 15 miles (24 km) per hour, they’re not technically running as much as they’re walking rather quickly. 

Even though they’re large animals, elephants actually have a light and graceful step. You’ve probably watched videos of them and noted that, at times, they seem to glide across the ground. Studies from the Journal of Experimental Biology reported that a human runner exerts forces of 3 times their body weight while running. Elephants exert 1.4 times their body weight at most, and don’t shift their center of gravity much. The study found that when an elephant is charging at 11 miles (18 km) per hour, their center of mass may only move up and down by about a centimeter. So, even though Guille may bound across the habitat at a semi-fast clip, she’s still an incredibly elegant being.