Interesting Facts:

It seems that different elephants have different favorite foods. Furthermore, different age groups and sexes have different food preferences. In some parts of Tanzania, the bulls enjoy the "plum-like wild fruit of the mgongo tree," which sometimes ferments in their stomachs and causes them to become intoxicated!! Interestingly, this seems to be a preference of the older bulls (Sikes, 1971). I guess after a hard day of being an elephant nothing beats using your own stomach to make yourself a fruit cocktail.

Elephants have been observed to cry. In one anecdote it is said that upon being punished by her trainers, a female elephant laid down and sobbed as tears streamed down her face. Needless to say, her trainers were astounded (quoted in Alexander 2000).

Elephants are capable of communicating with one another from several miles apart using low frequency infrasounds which are undetectable to the human ear. Unless your really close to the elephant, and can feel the vibrations, the only way to tell that an elephant is making these low frequency vocalizations is to look for vibrations on the elephants forehead (Sikes, 1971). These guys even put Barry White to shame.

Alleged 'elephant graveyards,' where many elephants go to die among the already deceased, do not exist (Douglas-Hamilton, 1975).

Elephants take a special interest in the dead. They often stay near the carcass of one of their fallen brethren and touch it with their trunks. They have also been observed to try to help the dead elephant to its feet by lifting it. Even more interesting is the claim that passing elephants will sniff the bones of dead elephants and, if the deceased was a relative, they will touch the bones, especially the skull and tusks, with their trunk (Sikes, 1971).

Elephant milk tastes like coconut milk (Sikes, 1971). - I still think I'll pass.

Young elephants show a great interest in the world around them. They often use their mothers to learn about that world. In one anecdote, a young elephant made its way over to a scientist and rubbed the scientist's face with its trunk. It then returned to its mother and stuck its trunk in her mouth as if to say 'hey mom, look what I found' or better yet, 'hey mom, taste what I found' (Sikes, 1971). This is sort of reminiscent of a human child who returns home with an animal and says 'look what I found mom, can I keep it?'

Last Stop, References