In the year 1975, over 26 elephants were moved into Akagera National Park from Bugesera , these 7 year old elephants also included 14 males and 12 females. And of these 3 were habituated and included Mutware the chief, Mwiza as well as Helico. Though the rest remained wild. With time, Mwiza and Helico followed the wild elephants thus leaving Muware to remain lonely. Nowadays, the number of elephants in Akagera National Park is increasing in good number and visitors have chance to see them while on game drive. We have compiled you 15 interesting facts on elephants and we would love to hear your story about them.

Did you know?

1. Previously classified as pachyderms and lumped with the rhino and hippopotamus, elephants are now placed in their own order, the proboscidea, along with the extinct mammoths.
2. There are three types of elephant, the Asian elephant and the African elephant split into two species, the African Forest Elephant and the African Bush Elephant. Until 2010, only 2 species of elephant were scientifically recognized. However, genetic testing has revealed 3 species.
3. Even though elephants weigh on average 5, 5 tons, they can run up to 45 km per hour.
4. Recent discoveries have shown that elephants can communicate over long distances by producing a sub-sonic rumble that can travel over the ground faster than sound through air, some estimate this distance of 50 plus kilometers.
5. Elephants can recognize different tribes from their human languages and scents and know which ones belong to people with a history of confrontation with elephants. This incredible ability is being explored by researchers at the Rory Hensman Elephant Research Unit to see how the elephants compare to dogs and if one day we could use them to help wildlife and humanity by detecting diseases such as ‘foot and mouth’, checking areas suspected to have landmines and possibly even early cancer detection.
6. Female elephants are called cows. They start to have calves when they are about 12 years old and they are pregnant for 22 months – longer than any other animal!
7. An adult elephant needs to drink around 210 litres of water a day.
8. Elephants have no natural predators. However, lions will sometimes prey on young or weak elephants in the wild. The main risk to elephants is from humans through poaching and changes to their habitat.
9. The elephant’s trunk is able to sense the size, shape and temperature of an object.
10. An elephant’s trunk can grow to be about 2 metres long and can weigh up to 140 kg. Some scientists believe that an elephant’s trunk is made up of 100,000 muscles. There are no bones in the trunk.
11. Elephants can swim – they use their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.
12. Elephants are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. Their brains weigh 5kg, much more than the brain of any other land animal. Their brains have more complex folds than all animals except whales, which is thought to be a major factor in their intellect. Elephants have a more developed hippocampus, a brain region responsible for emotion and spatial awareness, than any other animal, and studies indicate that they are superior to humans in keeping track of multiple objects in 3D space.
13. Elephants commonly show grief, humor, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, tool-use, playfulness, and excellent learning abilities.
14. Their normal lifespan is 60-80 years.
15. Elephants, humans, and Neanderthals are the only animals known to have death rituals. If an elephant becomes sick, herd members will bring it food and help support it as it stands. If it dies, they will try to revive it with food and water for a while. Once it is clear that an elephant is dead, the herd will become very quiet. They often dig a shallow grave and cover the deceased elephant with dirt and branches, and will stay at the grave for days afterwards. If the elephant had a particularly close relationship with its deceased peer, it can show signs of depression. Even herds that come across an unknown lone elephant who has died will show it similar respects. There are also reported cases of elephants burying dead humans they have found in this way