From Trunks to Toes: Seven Fascinating Elephant Facts

World Elephant Day is 12 August, and every day here at Motswari, we get to see the joy that our guests experience when spending time with these gentle giants.

Elephants are extraordinary, and these seven fascinating facts certainly illustrate this. 

1.  Elephants can “hear” with their feet
Elephants detect seismic vibrations through the ground using sensitive cells in their feet. They can pick up distant rumbles—like thunder or other elephants’ calls—from kilometres away.

2. They grieve their dead
Elephants exhibit mourning behaviours: they’ll gently touch the bones or bodies of deceased elephants, remain silent, and sometimes revisit the spot years later.

3. Their trunks have over 40,000 muscle fibres 
That’s more muscles than the entire human body! This gives the trunk incredible dexterity, whether it's lifting a tree or plucking a single blade of grass.

4. Elephants can recognise themselves in mirrors
Alongside great apes, dolphins, and magpies, elephants pass the “mirror test,” a sign of high intelligence and self-awareness. 

5. Elephants can self-medicate
Elephants are known to self-medicate by consuming specific plants when they are sick or experiencing certain physiological conditions. This behaviour involves selecting plants with medicinal properties to alleviate ailments or aid digestion.

6. They use tools
Like chimpanzees, elephants have been seen using branches to swat flies, dig holes for water, or scratch themselves.

7. They can “speak” with infrasound
Elephants communicate using infrasound—frequencies below human hearing—that can travel several kilometres. It helps coordinate group movements and warn others of danger.