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Elephant behaviors

Do Elephants Really Never Forget? The Truth About Elephant Memory

A herd of elephants crossing grassland
(Photo by Harshil Gudka on Unsplash)

“An elephant never forgets.” It’s one of the most famous sayings about any animal — and unlike the myth that elephants are afraid of mice, this one is largely true. Elephants have some of the best long-term memories in the animal kingdom, and that memory is no party trick: it can mean the difference between life and death for the whole herd.

The short answer: yes — elephants have exceptional long-term memory. Matriarchs remember water sources, migration routes and individual elephants for decades, and that recall has been shown to help herds survive droughts.

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Anatomy

Mammoth vs Elephant: Size, Differences & Key Facts

Steppe Mammoth at the Australian Museum. Photo by April Pethybridge.
Steppe Mammoth at the Australian Museum. Photo by April Pethybridge.

The Proboscidea is the superorder that includes elephants and mammoths, the Elephantidae. There are three families in this order: African Elephants, Asian Elephants, and Mammoths.

Only the elephant family is still around today. So, how big were mammoths compared to elephants?

The woolly mammoth was not as large as people originally thought. In fact, they were only the size of modern African elephants. A male’s shoulder height would range from 9 to 11 feet, weighing approximately 6 tons.

Though many people incorrectly believe otherwise, elephants and mammoths are not closely related–they are distant cousins. Both animals coexisted peacefully with humans for a very long time.

Although male elephants will have the occasional violent outburst over things such as territory and mating rights, they are usually gentle animals.

In this article, we’ll compare and contrast elephants with mammoths – looking at why the former have persisted while the latter have perished.

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Elephant behaviors

How Long Are Elephants Pregnant? The Gestation Period Explained

Elephant family with a calf on grassland
(Photo by David Heiling on Unsplash)

Elephants don’t just have big babies — they have the longest pregnancy of any land animal on Earth. A mother elephant carries her calf for roughly 22 months, almost two full years, before giving birth to a 200-pound newborn that can stand and walk within an hour. Here is exactly how long elephants are pregnant, why the gestation period is so extraordinarily long, and what happens when the calf finally arrives.

The short answer: an elephant’s gestation period is about 22 months (640–660 days) — the longest of any mammal on land. African elephants average ~640–673 days; Asian elephants are similar, up to around 22 months.

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Elephant behaviors

What are Elephants afraid of?

Lion in Kgalagadi, South Africa
Lion in Kgalagadi, South Africa. One of few predators known to take down Elephants. Photo by Ansie Potgieter.

In the wild, elephants are cautious creatures that are easily spooked. Despite being the largest land animals on Earth, they are not without their fears — and many of those fears are deeply rooted in ecology, evolution, and lived experience.

What exactly are elephants afraid of? Do they have any natural predators? And what about that famous myth involving mice? The answers are more fascinating — and more scientifically grounded — than most people expect.

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Conservation efforts

Reasons Why Elephants Are Endangered

The African Elephant is since long endangered.
The African Elephant is since long endangered. Photo by elCarito.

The elephant is the largest known mammal to live on land. This creature’s large tusks, enormous ears, and muscular but sensitive legs make it stand out among other animals.

Even though all elephants share some similarities, every species has distinct features. But there are still some main reasons why elephants are endangered in the world today.

There are three living species of elephant: African bush elephant (also known as savannah elephant), African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. Asian elephants have smaller ears and a level back, while African elephants have larger ears and a more concave back. Meanwhile, the Asian elephant is listed as endangered by the IUCN.

In this article we’ll discusses why elephants are endangered, their natural habitats, what makes them significant to the wildlife world, the dangers they face as a species, and ways we can prevent their extinction. Read on!

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Elephant behaviors

Elephant herd and social behavior

Elephant herd in natural park

Both African elephants and their Asian dito, the Asian elephant are extremely bound by history and social norms of belonging to a herd. When a baby is born, it will after a few hours take its first steps in the elephant herd.

In the herd, elephants are constantly aware of where each individual is at all times and they know which one has just had a baby and who is sick. Their an extremely loyal animal.

The elephant herd can consist of up to 100 individuals with several females and baby calves and only one older bull. The elephant herd can split into several smaller herds (or “elephant units”) if the group is too big.

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Anatomy

Why do Elephants have big ears? (hint: it goes beyond hearing)

For an elephant, their huge ears are crucial to their survival beyond only hearing.

The large size of the elephant ears allows them to regulate their body temperature, mainly to drop their body temperature during hot days.

Blood vessels in the ear are close to the surface, so when they need to cool down, they flap their ears to create airflow and release heat.

Read on to find out more reasons why the Elephants have such big ears as well as differences in ear size between the different species of Elephants.

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Saving elephants

Everything You Need To Know About Elephants And Water

Black & White image of Elephants drinking water from a watering hole.
Black & white image of Elephants drinking water from a watering hole. Photo by Richard Jacobs.

Elephants are perhaps mainly known for their large size and their long trunk. But did you know that they are also incredibly good swimmers?

In this article, we will explore everything you need to know about elephants and water. We will discuss why elephants are such good swimmers, where they typically swim, elephants drinking water, and other interesting facts about these creatures!

Keep reading to find out more!

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Elephant safari Visit elephants

Best Places to See Elephants in Kenya

Elephants eating at Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya
Elephants eating at Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya by Alex Mercado.

Kenya is, without question, one of the world’s greatest destinations for seeing elephants in the wild. From the iconic plains of Amboseli — where giant bulls roam with Kilimanjaro as their backdrop — to remote northern conservancies run by the Samburu people themselves, the country offers an unmatched range of elephant encounters at every budget and style of travel.

Kenya holds an estimated 36,000 African savanna elephants, making it home to one of the continent’s most significant and well-studied populations. Thanks to decades of dedicated conservation — from national parks to privately managed conservancies — elephant numbers here are slowly recovering after the ivory crisis of the 1980s and 90s. That recovery story is part of what makes a Kenya elephant safari so compelling: you’re witnessing conservation work in action.

We’ve hand-picked eight exceptional locations spread across the country — covering wild game drives, intimate orphan visits, and community-run sanctuaries that barely existed a decade ago. Whether you have a week-long safari or a single afternoon in Nairobi, there’s an elephant experience in Kenya that fits.

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Elephant safari Visit elephants

Best Places to See Elephants in Vietnam

Coffee on top of mountain in Nui Chua, Vietnam
Having a coffee up top in Nui Chua after visiting Elephants in the national park. Photo by Chang Duong.

Vietnam is home to one of the most precarious elephant populations in Asia. Once numbering in the thousands, the country’s wild Asian elephants have declined to fewer than 130 individuals — scattered across nine provinces in small, fragmented herds struggling to survive amid rapid agricultural expansion. Seeing elephants in Vietnam is not a guarantee; it is a privilege, and increasingly a responsibility.

The good news is that Vietnam’s approach to elephant tourism has undergone a quiet revolution. The days of elephant riding — once central to tourism in the Central Highlands — are coming to an end. Yok Don National Park made history in 2018 as the site of Vietnam’s first ethical elephant tourism experience, run in partnership with Animals Asia, and the wider province of Dak Lak has been systematically shifting its model away from contact-based tourism since 2021. Visiting elephants in Vietnam today means supporting that transformation.

Here are the four best places to see elephants in Vietnam — ranging from the country’s only dedicated ethical elephant tour to remote national parks where wild herds still move through ancient highland forests.

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