Happy World Elephant Day
August 12 is World Elephant Day, set apart to celebrate, learn about and help elephants. There are two species of elephants, African and Asian.
Meet the Asian Elephants of the Cincinnati Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo is home to four Asian elephants. Females Jati, Schottzie and Mai Thai live together in Elephant Reserve. Bull elephant Sabu lives in his own yard. Blogger Shasta Bray wrote a great article on telling all four apart.
4 Elephant Fun Facts from the Cincinnati Zoo
The Cincinnati Zoo’s elephant page has interesting and useful information. Here are 4 fun facts.
- An elephant drinks up to 40 gallons of water (enough to fill a bathtub) and eats several hundred pounds of food each day.
- Since they don’t sweat, elephants flap their large, thin ears to cool down the blood vessels across the ear, which then circulates throughout the body.
- An elephant essentially walks on tiptoe since the foot bones rest on a cushiony pad of fatty tissue, a built-in shock absorber.
- Elephants communicate through sound from the loud, well-known trumpeting to infrasonic calls that humans cannot hear.
How Can You Help Elephants?
Visit World Elephant Day’s Take Action page to learn more about raising awareness and helping elephants.