"Elephants remember remarkably well, recognizing distant acquaintances after years."
emotional beings, experience joy, love, grief, stress, anger. Show altruism, empathy, grieve for dead herd members.
largest-brained land animals, highly intelligent. Like dolphins and chimps, they recognize themselves in mirrors, showing self-awareness (humans, apes, dolphins, orcas).
Three recognized elephant species: African savanna (bush) elephant, African forest elephant, and Asian elephant.
Female elephants live in herds with calves and relatives. Males live alone or in bachelor herds.
matriarchs, oldest and wisest, make decisions. (Girl power!)
Elephants develop trunk-handedness within 3 months of birth, being equally likely to be left- or right-trunked, unlike humans who are mostly right-handed.
they stand and walk shortly after birth. However, they gain independence around 6 months when they no longer rely on their mothers for nursing.