Gentle Giants: World Elephant Day Photoblog
“We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self-awareness, and social intelligence.” – Graydon Carter
In honour of World Elephant Day – 12 August – we’ve put together a collection of our favourite elephant photos, captured by guides, guests and professional photographers who we’ve worked with.
Image Credit: andrewlphotography
Adult elephants spend up to 18 hours a day eating and drinking. They can drink up to 200 litres of water a day!
Image Credit: Lyne Davel
Image Credit: Lyne Davel
The closest relative to an elephant is the rock hyrax (or dassie) – a small mammal found in sub-Saharan Africa.
Image Credit: aineshsooriya_photography
Newborn elephants can weigh up to 90kg. Some take to sucking their trunk for comfort in much the same way that humans suck their thumbs.
Image Credit: Monique De Caro
Elephant trunks can have over 40,000 individual muscles. Compare that to the entire human body, which has only 639 muscles in total!
Image Credit: upplevsydafrika
Image Credit: upplevsydafrika
Female elephants live in large matriarchal groups. They are typically all related and are led by the oldest in the group.
Image Credit: syncexcursions
Elephant tusks are actually just huge incisor teeth which make an appearance when elephants are around 2 years old. Tusks continue growing throughout their lives.
Image Credit: aineshsooriya_photography
If you’re interested in visiting Madikwe Game Reserve to see our elephants and much more wildlife (including the Big 5) get in touch with our reservations team or view our room rates here.
We look forward to helping you plan your stay at Madikwe Hills Private Game Lodge.
Image Credits (In Order):
- Lyne Davel
- andrewlphotography
- Lyne Davel
- Lyne Davel
- aineshsooriya_photography
- Monique De Caro
- jmalanphoto
- upplevsydafrika
- syncexcursions
- aineshsooriya_photography