#elefactfriday Archives - Global Sanctuary for Elephants

EleFact Friday: The Importance of a Keystone Species

Sara — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 18:00:31 +0000

We’ve long known that elephants are a “keystone species,” which means that they play an important role in the survival of other plants and animals in their ecosystem. For many years, scientists have theorized that the loss of one important species–like the elephant–could set off a chain reaction down the line, impacting the entire world around them. A recent 15-year experiment backs up what has been found through simulations: the loss of elephants could have a profound effect on other species, to the extent that dependent species could, in fact, also face extinction. The research focused on the survival of dung beetles, which rely on elephants for survival and play a major part in the ecological world around them. When studying a region where elephants were selectively excluded, scientists found that dung beetle populations collapsed upon the loss. Essentially, elephants create an infrastructure that the rest of their environment use to build their own worlds and systems. Dung beetles are important in their ecosystem because they feed on and bury animal dung, recycle nutrients, disperse seeds, improve soil quality, and suppress parasites. Elephant feces is the overwhelming source of dung and attracts more beetles than that of any other species. In the wild, elephants expel large amounts of feces per day, often across large swaths of land, and that is a rich and plentiful source of material for the beetles to draw upon. The studied plots of land without elephants contained 67% fewer dung beetles than the areas where elephants roamed. This loss of beetles caused slower decomposition and declining seed dispersal. So, even though we’ve always known that elephants play major roles in the lives around them, now we can see the potential loss through a more nuanced conservation lens. If you’d like to read more, visit the article here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aeb7062 Photo of Baby snacking in the habitat

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EleFact Friday: Understanding Musth in Males

Sara — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 18:00:55 +0000

We’re back this Friday with more EleFacts–this time about male elephants. Have you heard of musth? This annual hormonal cycle naturally occurs in adult bull elephants and can last anywhere from a few days to as long as several months. Physical and behavioral changes are characterized by secretion of a hormone-rich substance, temporin, from facial glands, possible aggressive behavior, and a steady trickle of urine down the bull’s back legs. Scientists believe that bull elephants in musth may also suffer from migraine-like symptoms, with visual and audio sensitivities that can intensify with prolonged sensory pollution. Two separate studies by M.R. Jainudeen and Dr. Joyce Poole, studying Asian and African elephants, respectively, suggest that testosterone levels increase up to 50 times higher than normal, leading to the potential for heightened levels of aggression. For elephants in captivity, this period in their lives can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. Asian male elephants can weigh up to 15,000 pounds (6,810 kg), and any behavioral changes during this time could potentially make them unintentionally harm themselves, other bulls, or female elephants. (Sandro will have his own habitat and won’t share space with the female Asian elephants.) It takes an extreme level of care and knowledge to properly care for elephants in musth. Even bulls who are normally docile can exhibit behaviors that are abnormally aggressive, made even more dangerous by unsafe or improper confinements. These totally normal behaviors often make males a target of abuse, mistreatment, and neglect in captivity. Providing sanctuary to male elephants offers them the benefit of having the space and freedom to release pent-up levels of energy or frustration that may develop during musth. The open space allows them to roam on their own and release their feelings by knocking over a tree, fighting with a boulder, or splashing in a pond rather than taking them out on other elephants or even human keepers. Or perhaps they simply need some quiet time, finally in a place where they aren’t bombarded by noise from all directions. At sanctuary, we can furnish an appropriate environment for bull elephants to naturally express their feelings and reactions to the biological changes in their bodies, rather than suppress them and cause further damage to themselves or others. Photo of Sandro coming out of the trees

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EleFact Friday: Who is Vibrating?

Sara — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 18:00:09 +0000

We all know that elephants can communicate with each other and gain environmental information from vibrations. Everything from a simple footstep to a low rumble generates seismic waves that travel through the ground to other elephants. But as time goes by and elephant interactions with people become more fraught, African elephants seem to be listening to man-made vibrations to give them information about humans. Researchers at the University of Oxford published a study finding that African elephants are starting to move away from human-generated seismic waves, meaning that they are likely associating them with high risk scenarios. We’ve talked in the past about elephants learning the difference between groups of people who might be threats and those who are more likely to be less dangerous. We’ve also mentioned that wild elephants seem averse to bees. But until now, there’s been no solid evidence that vibrations of non-elephant origin can travel through the ground in the same way that elephant noises can. Conservationists are concerned that this human-made noise could potentially interfere with the natural signals that elephants look to for survival. Scientists played wild African elephants seismic recordings of elephant sounds, human-generated white noise, and a combination of both. When the elephants detected the human noises, whether alone or in tandem with other natural sounds, the elephants would move away from those noises. This suggests that the animals likely associate human vibrations with danger. Even in protected areas that should be quiet and remote, the ground can carry these vibrations from electronic equipment, vehicles, and other sources. Even when semi-masked by other elephant noises, the more human noises present and the louder and closer the sounds were, the more it impacted the elephants’ behavior. Their sensitivity to these ground-based vibrations shows that they use them for more than just inter-species communication, increasingly employing them for other purposes. Chris Thouless, Head of Research at Save the Elephants, said: “We still know very little about how elephants use infrasound to communicate with each other and to appreciate their environment. They operate in a sensory world that is very different from our own, ‘hearing’ low-frequency noises through their feet. They may detect other elephants, distant thunderstorms, and noises of human activities at great distances. This skill helps them to survive in a complex environment, but man-made noises may overwhelm the more subtle signals from the natural world.” As elephants continue to lose their native habitats to human encroachment, this research is likely to expand as we try to make sense of how we can all live in harmony. For more information: https://www.futura-sciences.com/en/elephants-avoiding-humans-out-of-fear-what-wildlife-experts-now-refuse-to-ignore_33596/ Photo of Bambi, who listens to the world around her carefully

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EleFact Friday: Lungs and Allergies

Sara — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 18:00:17 +0000

As the seasons change all around the world, some of us humans may be experiencing stuffy noses and itchy eyes–a telltale sign of allergies. For today’s EleFact Friday, we want to look at the respiratory systems of elephants and specifically at allergies in animals, both wild and domestic. It’s no surprise that, like many other anatomical systems of elephants, their lungs are quite impressive. Elephants are actually the only mammal on Earth without a pleural cavity, or the fluid-filled space between the lungs. Their lungs are directly attached to the chest wall and the diaphragm by connective tissue, which is unique. This results in their breathing depending entirely on movement of the chest muscles as opposed to the expanding ribcage, like in humans. Research has shown that this aspect of their physiology allows for more direct muscle control, which contributes to their ability to better handle pressure differences when elephants take a dip underwater. This adaptation not only helps them immerse themselves and still breathe, but it also protects their lungs from spontaneous pneumothorax, where air accumulates between the lung and chest wall. So your curiosity may have kicked in: with such an impressive respiratory system, unique to any other in the animal (or human) kingdom, do elephants get allergies? It has been shown in the past that animals of every species do demonstrate some health changes when exposed to certain allergens like spores, grass, and pollen. Research has determined that domesticated animals are far more prone to allergies than wild animals based on the “use-it-or-lose-it” aspect of evolution: centuries of living indoors with humans (assuming that the human homes have fewer allergens) may contribute to weaker immune systems. According to Andy Flies, a wild immunologist from the University of Tasmania, the evolution of wild animals may have removed allergies from populations as a whole. He used the example of a leopard stalking their prey and then sneezing when it gets close: natural selection would not allow for such sneezy behaviors in predator or prey populations in the wild. Although captive elephants can show signs of food sensitivities and sometimes even itchy skin that may be considered to be allergy related, it seems that most elephants are lucky and manage to evade allergy symptoms as a whole. P.S.: The Trunks & Treasures auction is winding up and will end tomorrow at 3 PM eastern time–but there’s still time for you to place your bids. Check out the beautiful artwork, home decor, jewelry, and experiences, including the once-in-a-lifetime trip to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil. Time is limited, so don’t delay! Click here to view the auction items and bid now. Photo of Maia in the shade

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EleFact Friday: Captivity and Breeding

Sara — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 18:00:58 +0000

With the arrival of Baby, the sanctuary’s second youngest elephant resident, we have received a few questions about whether or not she would be able to have a calf of her own, and if the girls here are physically able to have their own children. While we understand the curiosity and know that the idea of our sanctuary elephants being mothers sounds wonderful and cute, we want to make sure to educate about why the elephants here at the sanctuary will never be bred. The gestation period of a baby elephant is around 22 months–the longest of any mammal. Most mammals have only one corpus luteum, which is a temporary gland that controls hormone levels during pregnancy; elephants have as many as 11. Without getting into the exact details of pregnancy in elephants (you can read more about that here), it can be simply stated that the physical toll that carrying a child has on the body of any female elephant is extreme, even in the healthiest of elephants. Female elephants can give birth at approximately four to five-year intervals and have been documented as having up to 12 offspring per lifetime. Most females give birth for the first time between 14 and 15 years old in African elephants, and slightly later for Asian elephants. The ability to become pregnant remains fairly consistent between the ages of 16 and 40, and then declines slightly, though some females over 60 have shown through hormone testing that they are still having menstrual cycles. Most of the elephants at sanctuary are considered geriatric and over the age of 49 so, aside from Baby and Guillermina, none of them are an appropriate age to carry a full-term pregnancy. The physical and psychological toll that the elephants at sanctuary have been through is far beyond what we can understand. Their years in captivity are something that only they will ever know and the greatest thing that we can provide for them is the ability to heal–physically, emotionally, and mentally. To put them in a situation to be bred or to carry a pregnancy for 22 months is not appropriate for their age, their physical condition, or something that the sanctuary supports in general. Additionally, our accrediting body, the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries believes that true sanctuary does not engage in intentional breeding. Although we are lucky enough to witness the healing of these animals every day and have the privilege to share it with all of our supporters, sanctuary is still captivity. It is the best that captivity has to offer, but the species truly cannot be saved here; that needs to happen in their home range. Bringing babies into the circumstances of sanctuary would not give them the lives that they deserve. While we understand the charm of a baby elephant and what it could do to the herd dynamic, our greatest mission is to provide a healthy home to elephants who are already stuck in the circle of captivity as a result of human desires. We do not believe it’s ethical or appropriate to continue that cycle by introducing breeding. Our goal […]

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EleFact Friday: What is Stereotyping?

Sara — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:00:26 +0000

When we first met Baby at the amusement park, we noted that she exhibited some common captive elephant behavior: stereotyping, specifically repetitive swaying. She would slip into moving back and forth whenever she wasn’t having any direct contact with humans or some other notable stimulus. So, for this week’s EleFact, we’re going to focus on stereotyping, what it means, and how it can change over time. Researcher Michael Fox described stereotypy as “unvarying, repetitive behaviors that have no obvious goal or function.” They’re thought to develop due to the inability of captive animals to control their environment or choose a desired behavior, according to Kathy Carlstead. In the wild, elephants would be foraging, wandering, and engaging in social interactions, but those things are often limited in captive environments. Now that Baby’s at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, we’ve witnessed a marked decrease in the amount of time she spends repetitively swaying. At this point, it is a decades-long habit and a way of coping, and that often doesn’t go away overnight. But, as we’d hoped, things started to slow down once she had access to the natural world around her; it gives her the chance to explore in any direction, build muscle, and it challenges her to drop emotional walls she may have built up, as she gradually becomes more comfortable. Slowly, her desires should become more elephant-like, and she can choose to expend her energies on something more stimulating. It is normal for these behaviors to persist even after elephants are removed from their sterile or stressful captive environments, although stereotyping has been known to resolve fully or partially at sanctuary. It is a coping mechanism that she has used for years and will take time to work itself out. This also serves as another reminder of how brave she has become over the last month – which is so much to take in. We are continually amazed by the steps she has taken physically and emotionally in the face of so many different stimuli and experiences. Photo of Baby striding more confidently

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