Funny Elephant Pictures

Funny Elephant Pictures, and Interesting Stories

Elephants remind me of my safari in Africa.  Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water. WC Fields

• Funny Elephant Pictures
• Elephant keeping dry?
• Elephant's Nest
• Naughty elephant
• The story of elephant painting
• Elephants Check into Hotel
• Differences between African and Indian Elephants
• Interesting Elephant Facts

Elephants Keeping Fit

The Old Tricks are the Best

Even though we have fabulous special effects in the cinema and on DVD, we don't have the old big top circus with a dozen elephants all able to tricks like the above.  All we have of the old 'Three ring circus' is the saying, and for those of us fortunate to have seen Billy Smart's circus in the 1950s, wonderful memories.  My American cousins say that Barnum and Bailey had bigger and better elephants, however, they blew their cred with the claim that America invented the Elephant.

Elephant's Nest

Logic says that elephants just don't nest in trees.  Close inspection reveals that the 'Elephant's nest' is some way off the ground, thus the elephant could not have just sat on bundle of sticks just off the ground.

When we magnified the picture it looks as though the tree is in sharp focus, but the elephant is slightly blurred.  Could it be that someone transposed a clear jpeg file of an elephant over another image of a very large nest?

However, when all is said and done, it would make a great picture to go with a pub called: 'The Elephant's Nest'

Elephant Keeping Dry?

The Story of Elephant Painting

Firstly, Five is an unusual name, especially for an African Elephant.  Secondly Five has come up with an unusual use for her trunk - she uses it to paint!

With help from her keeper, Five has painted more than 50 works of art.  Painting experts even think that her unique contemporary style is worthy of an exhibition exhibition.  Even better, her masterpieces are in demand and you could buy one at the West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley, Worcestershire.

Back to that strange name, Five was one of three African Elephants that were brought to England from an elephant orphanage in South Africa - when she was five years old.  That was back in 1998, thus she is 14 going on 15 in 2007.  Elephant ages and maturity are not unlike humans, thus Five would now be considered a teenager in the elephant world.

Polo elephant forgets what he's meant to be doing - From Thailand

It's easy to forget how strong elephants are.  Here a polo elephant pushes over a 4x4 vehicle with a playful nudge.

Another Naughty Elephant Picks Up a Bike

Maybe these drivers should have obeyed the sign:  Danger elephants crossing:

Naughty Elephants have a Snack

Meanwhile:  Keepers have re-captured one of the elephants!

Is this an amusing picture of an elephant statue?  Or a worrying picture of an elephant in transit?

Elephants Check into Hotel

It is not every day that guests in a hotel would expect to share the foyer with an elephant, or even a herd of elephants. However, Will and Guy have learned that in the Mfuwe Lodge in the 9,500 sq km South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, it is a common occurrence. The herd, numbering ten, is led to the lodge each day by the matriarch, Wonky Tusk.

The hotel was unwittingly built on the route to the herd's favourite mango trees and the elephants have seen no reason to change the path trodden by generations before them.

Andy Hogg, 44, director at Mfuwe Lodge, said the herd appears every November as the mangoes ripen, 'This is a totally natural phenomenon, the elephants come here of their own accord and it is certainly a rare but magnificent sight.'

Elephants Story - Prevent Democracy in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Daily News has informed Will and Guy that a herd of wild elephants blocked the access road for voters heading to vote in polling booths in Wellaveli, eastern Sri Lanka. Security forces had to use loud hailers to drive away the wild elephants after the villagers, in Wellaveli, complained that they were unable to vote. The police and army were able to draw away the herd after a few hours and said the roads have now apparently been cleared.

Elephants Get Their Boots

Two Asian elephants been fitted with breathable waterproof boots to relieve chronic foot lesions.  Keepers a the at Singapore zoo tried acupuncture and compresses, but the were not as effective as the boots.  Vets fitted the female elephants Jamilah and Tun with the special boots.  Tun, 20, has one front leg longer than the other.  Her problems started when a male elephant mounted her and caused her to buckle.

More Elephant Care

Mocha, a female Indian elephant, lost her right front leg when she stood on a landmine on the Thai-Myanmar border.  Mocha was severely injured and might have had to be put down.

Experts at the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital in northern Thailand's Lampang province have come to her aid and manufactured and fitted a false leg.

The artificial limb is made from canvas the vets are  hoping she can soon be set safely free on her own four feet again.  Will and Guy hope that when she is released Mocha will have a full and happy life, safe from poachers.

Differences between African and Indian Elephants

The African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are the ones with the bigger ears.  In fact, African elephants are also taller and heavier than their Indian cousins (Elephas maximus).  A large African elephant could be 12ft at the shoulder and weigh 8 tons.  Mostly elephants amble serenely at human walking speed, but in a stampede they could reach 25 mph, which is faster than an Olympic sprinter.

They say an elephant never forgets.  This is also good news for other elephants and they care for members of their family if they become ill or injured by poachers.

In African elephants, both male and females have enlarged incisors which develop into the famous tusks.  Whereas, in Indian elephants, tusks development is much greater in males than females.  Confusingly, some Indian male elephants don't develop tusks, thus you cannot rely on the presence of tusks to determine the gender of an Indian elephant.

Another difference is in the shape of the back, the African elephants dips, and you could imaging a gigantic saddle fitting on their back.  The Indian elephant on the other hand has a level or slightly convex back, saddling would be more difficult.

If you get a close look at the trunk, the Indian elephant has only one 'finger' at the end of its trunk, whereas the African elephant has two lips or fingers.  The picture to the right also illustrates how the trunk is really an extension of the nose.  While you cannot see the tips of the trunks in our pictures, you should be able to see from the ears that 'Polo elephant' is Indian, while 'Five' the painting elephant has to be African.

It's also worth checking the toes on the hind feet.  Both African and Indian elephants have five toes on the forelegs, so that does not help discriminate.  However, the hind legs may reveal a difference.  Only three toes is a strong indicator of an African elephant, while five toes would almost certainly mean an Indian elephant. 

That leaves the situation where you see four toes on the hind legs, most likely this is an Asian elephant.

Interesting Facts About Elephants

• A group of elephants can be called a 'memory of elephants', although a herd is a more common collective noun.  On a related theme, elephants follow cattle in that the females, males and offspring are called, cows, bulls and calves respectively.
• The elephant's memory is legendary, what is not so well known is they have a special ceremony for greeting a long lost member of the herd.  In this greeting ceremony both elephants flap their ears, trumpet and generally express joy. 
• It would be easy to be fooled into thinking that elephants drank through their trunks; in fact they use the trunk as a funnel to collect water, but then pour it into their mouth.  Sometimes elephants choose to spray themselves with the water rather than drinking it.  Incidentally, there are no bones in an elephant's trunk.
• An elephant detective could track an elephant by following their individual footprints.  What would help such stalking is the elephant's habit of using the same paths as their ancestors.
• Elephants display 'right-handedness', not in their limbs, but in the tusks.  Close examination of an elephant's tusks will reveal that one tusk has a blunter tip and is thicker than its less favoured counterpart.  The reason for this difference is that in their natural habitat elephants use their tusk(s) for gathering food, and digging for water.  Consequently the tusk on their favourite becomes more developed, but blunter.
• Elephant's ivory poses a terrible dilemma, it's a wonderful and versatile material, but the fact that tusks are so valuable encourages poaching.  It seems particularly obscene to think of such a noble, sensitive, joyous animal suffering at the hands of barbaric poachers.  All that Will and Guy can do about it is not to buy anything made of ivory.
• The gestation period of mammals is in proportion to their size.  Thus, pregnancy in mice lasts about 21 days, whereas in elephants it takes over 21 months.
• March 13th is National Thai Elephant Day.  While September 22nd is Elephant Appreciation Day.

Footnote:
Please send us your elephant jokes, and funny elephant pictures.  Meanwhile, check out our funny baby elephant pictures

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