Strange But True: 10 Elephant Facts You Probably Didn’t Know
If you’re looking for strange facts about African elephants, you’re in for a surprise. These gentle giants are full of behaviors that most safari-goers and even wildlife lovers have never heard of. From communicating through their feet to being afraid of bees, elephants turn out to be far more complex (and occasionally hilarious) than they first appear. Here’s a closer look at some of their most unusual traits.
In Kenya, researchers discovered that elephants have a unique warning call just for bees. When they hear the sound of swarming bees, they not only run away but also rumble a specific low-frequency sound to alert the rest of the herd. Farmers have even taken advantage of this by building beehive fences to protect crops. It works: elephants don’t want anything to do with buzzing bees!
2. They “Hear” Through Their Feet
Elephants can pick up seismic vibrations through the ground. These deep, low rumbles can travel long distances and are picked up by sensitive cells in their feet and trunks. It’s how herds stay in contact even when spread out over several kilometers, and possibly how they detect distant thunder, which could lead them to fresh water and greenery.
3. Their Trunks Work Like Snorkels
When swimming across rivers or large bodies of water, elephants have a built-in snorkel: their trunk. They can walk or swim completely submerged with just the tip of their trunk poking above the water. This handy breathing tube makes long-distance swims safer and easier.
4. Elephants Recognize Themselves in Mirrors
Not many animals can recognize their own reflection, but elephants can. In scientific mirror tests, elephants touched marks on their own faces that they could only see in a mirror, suggesting strong self-awareness. It’s something they share with great apes, dolphins, and magpies.
5. They Can Mimic Human Speech
In South Korea, an elephant named Kosik surprised everyone by mimicking Korean words like “hello,” “sit,” and “lie down.” He did this by placing his trunk inside his mouth and shaping the sound as he exhaled. It’s not true language, but it shows just how flexible elephant communication can be.
6. They Use Tools—and Occasionally Get Sneaky
Elephants have been seen using sticks to scratch themselves or waving branches to shoo away flies. In one zoo, an elephant named Anchali went even further—she kinked a hose with her trunk to stop another elephant from hogging the water. Some might call that sabotage. Others would call it smart thinking.
7. They’re Distantly Related to Whales and Dolphins
Believe it or not, elephants are part of an evolutionary group that links them—very distantly—to manatees, dugongs, and even whales and dolphins. Millions of years ago, they shared a common ancestor. That may seem odd now, but it helps explain some of their shared traits, like intelligence, long gestation, and complex social behaviors.
8. Their Wrinkled Skin Acts Like a Moisture Sponge
Elephants’ skin isn’t just thick—it’s deeply wrinkled. These folds help trap moisture and mud, retaining up to ten times more water than flat skin. It’s a natural cooling mechanism in the heat of the savanna and a clever way to protect against sunburn and insect bites.
9. Head-Shakes Aren’t Just Ear Flaps
When an elephant gives a dramatic head shake and flaps its ears hard against its body, it’s not just cooling down—it’s sending a message. This visual display, often combined with dust throwing, is used to warn others (including tourists) to back off. It’s a low-key but effective way of setting boundaries.
10. They Can Walk Nearly 200 Kilometers in a Day
Despite their size, elephants are incredible walkers. Some individuals have been recorded walking nearly 200 kilometers in a single day across African terrain. It’s a reminder that those slow, steady footsteps can cover vast distances, especially in search of food or water.
Final Thought
So, elephants are not just massive, majestic animals with trunks: they’re bee-fearing, vibration-sensing, tool-using, mirror-recognizing, long-distance-walking geniuses with underwater cousins and the occasional sneaky streak, not exactly what you’d expect when you first see one lumbering through the savanna.
What’s the quirkiest elephant behavior you’ve witnessed or heard about? Share your thoughts or fun elephant facts in the comments below. I’d love to hear what surprised you most!
Who am I? Well, the least you can say is that I am quite crazy about Africa, its nature, its climate, its culture, and more.
As a young woman in my twenties, I had already traveled to several African countries by traveling along in an overlander on my own and mostly camping ( or glamping ) and just fell in love with the diversity of it all.
So much, so that at the age of 26, I went back to university to study biology, which, unfortunately, I couldn’t finish because of health reasons (yes, I got sick from a tropical disease, oh cynicism). But this did not stop my dream of traveling back to Africa several times, and I still do.
My dream was back then to leave Europe and go study animal behavior, especially the elephants (sure, that’s every girl’s dream haha), but I am also very much intrigued by hyenas and other “ugly African animals“.
So, I “kind of” have a little bit of a scientific approach to my articles, when I write about African birds, for example. And most of all: the passion.
But life goes on, you move from one side of the country to the other, you get sick again and top it off with lower back problems, and before you know it, you are over 50 hahaha!
Now, I still travel to Africa, but take it a bit “easier” than the good old camping days, and stay in comfortable, yet affordable accommodations, together with my husband Wouter.
These are some of the countries I have traveled to: Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Tunisia, and a little bit of Lesotho LOL .
While clearly not being African territory, but Spanish, I also visited Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and location-wise, I consider them “African”, because of their climate and nature, sue me :-p
The last trip I took was to South Africa in the year 2023, and it sure got the fevers for Africa back! From the Barberton mountains to the Drakensberg and the Southcoast, one month wasn’t enough at all to see the whole country, so we’ll be back! At ease and with a little bit more luxury than in my younger days haha!
