elephant anatomy

You may have noticed that Guillermina has the hairiest tail of all the elephants here at sanctuary. Rana also has some hair on hers which, interestingly enough, started to grow after her arrival here. But the other girls are hairless (which is common in captive elephants) and have tails of…...

This week’s EleFact talks about elephant brains and what they’re capable of. We know after years of work that elephants are incredibly intelligent on many levels. But what is it about their brains that contribute to this intelligence and their emotional awareness? ...

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…...

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…...

This EleFact Friday is all about elephant teeth, which are remarkably different from those of many other animals. In fact, elephants don’t have tooth sockets. As molars are formed and worn down over time, the tooth will pass through the jaw from back to front, sort of like a conveyor…...

It’s once again EleFact Friday and this week we’re revisiting gorgeous elephant eyelashes. Elephant lashes serve many of the same purposes as human eyelashes, but they are longer and therefore more protective of the eye. Not only do elephants hold the record for largest land mammal, but they also have…...