Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Elephants: Nature’s Largest Land Animals

Starting point is 00:00:00 Elephants are the largest land animals on earth, capable of extraordinary intelligence, complex communication, and deep social bonds. For thousands of years, they've shaped ecosystems, carried armies, inspired cultures, and become symbols of both power and vulnerability. And they also have the most unique

Starting point is 00:00:17 and versatile appendage in the animal kingdom. Learn more about elephants. On this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Visit BetMDM casino and check out the newest exclusive. The price is right for. chin pick. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetMGM

Starting point is 00:01:01 operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Spotify, it's Jay Shetty. Are you one of those media strategy people? Scrolling through spreadsheets searching for an audience that pays twice as much attention to your ads than they do on social, let me introduce you to fans, and they're here with me on Spotify. Trust me, I know fans. They don't skip, they stay for hours. They don't move on, they manifest. They're not a demographic group, they're fans. Spotify advertising. You're among fans. I think something that most of us can agree upon is that elephants are awesome. Elephants are massive land animals native to Africa and Asia.

Starting point is 00:01:50 They are the largest land animals on earth, weighing on average from 4 to 6 tons and reaching a length of 10 to 16 feet, or about 3 to 5 meters. Elephants are a unique species because of their trunks, large ears, and massive bodies. There are three different types of elephants. The African savannah or bush elephant is the largest elephant species, while the African forest elephant and the Asian forest elephant are roughly about the same size.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Asian elephants differ from African elephants in several ways. For example, Asian elephants have much smaller ears than African elephants. Their tusks are also different. All African elephants, regardless of sex, grow tuss. In Asian elephants, only males grow tuss. Tussesks are a very important and versatile tool for elephants, like humans who can be right, or left-handed, elephants can be left or right tusks. You can tell which side is dominant for an elephant based on the wear and tear of its tusks. Biologically, tusks are just elongated incisors. These extended teeth protect the elephant's trunk when it forges for food or scrapes bark off trees. The tusks can also be used to lift and move objects or dig holes during a drought.

Starting point is 00:03:06 And of course, they're also a defense mechanism. The most notable characteristic of both African and Asian elephants is their trunk. Elephants use their trunks for a host of tasks, including communication, making trumpeting sounds for warnings and greeting other elephants. They also use their trunks to drink, bathe, and pick up objects. Elephant Society is a matriarchy, social systems primarily led by females. Social units are primarily composed of calves and females, while males tend to live in small bachelor groups or live alone. Female elephants are pregnant for 22 months, the longest gestation period of any land mammal. They give birth only once every four to five years. Once an elephant

Starting point is 00:03:54 calf is born, the herd basically takes care of it. If the calf is female, she is likely to live in that herd for the rest of her life. Male calves stay with the herd until they reach puberty. Forest elephants, herds tend to be smaller than their bush or savanna counterparts, being primarily composed of a mother elephant and her children. This is not a hard and fast rule, however, as forest elephants often form larger groups in clearings where food is more abundant. Elephants require enormous amounts of land to survive. As the seasons change, elephants migrate to areas with more food and water. This migration pattern is part of why elephants have such strong memories, remembering complex Shroutes is essential for their survival. And because they have strong memories, elephants also

Starting point is 00:04:42 have high intelligence. They are among the few creatures to use tools and recognize their own reflections. Elephants have been observed stripping bark from trees and chewing it into a ball. They use those balls to block watering holes and then cover them in sand. When they want to drink, they can uncover and unplug the hole to drink safely. Elephants are considered a keystone species, meaning that they play a disparate proportionately important role in maintaining their ecosystem compared to other species. If elephants were to disappear from their ecosystem, their habitats could potentially collapse. They do this in several ways. The first is by shaping their environment. Elephants knock down

Starting point is 00:05:22 trees, eat saplings, and strip bark-off trees. This prevents dense brush from taking over their environment, keeping grasslands open and allowing other animals to graze. Elephants also provide access to water for other creatures. During the the dry season, they use their trunks to dig in dry riverbeds, and it's common for elephants to find water underneath the surface this way. This applies watering holes that other species depend on to survive. Elephants, of course, also disperse seeds. They consume large amounts of fruit and vegetation, and when they relieve themselves, they deposit seeds across the landscape. Walking for long periods allows them to spread seeds and provides new fertilizer, which helps

Starting point is 00:06:05 plant growth. Elephants can also create micro-ecosystems. Because they're so large, their footsteps leave divvets into the soil. These divvets can then fill with rainwater, which insects and frogs can use to help reproduce and feed. Humans and elephants have coexisted for thousands of years. While still wild creatures, elephants can be tamed and trained to work with people. This process is different from domestication, in which animals are bred over-divers. generations to live closely with humans, such as dogs and horses. Tamed animals have not been selectively bred over time to develop specific traits like domestic animals have. This means that elephants remain wild, maintaining their natural behaviors and instincts even after they're

Starting point is 00:06:52 tamed. Despite being wild animals, elephants can be friendly and compliant towards humans, allowing for a work-in relationship to form between the two species. Early human-element relations can be traced back about 4,000 years to the Indus Valley civilization. While we don't know for sure whether elephants were tamed at this period, we do know that they were important ideological and spiritual symbols, as evidenced by artifacts found at archaeological sites. One of the earliest recorded uses of elephants by humans was for war. Due to their enormous size, elephants essentially served as the tanks of the ancient world. The earliest known record of war elephants dates back, to 1500 BC in South Asia.

Starting point is 00:07:39 Evidence is found in ancient Sanskrit texts such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Within both poems, there are elaborate descriptions of using elephants in battle. Ancient Indian armies were typically divided into four parts, infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots. Elephants were the preferred mode of transport for warriors. Elephants became a crucial part of ancient Indian warfare as armies without. them were at a massive disadvantage. Elephants are naturally feared by horses, making their presence on the battlefield a counter to any cavalry. They also have the ability to charge at 20

Starting point is 00:08:16 miles per hour, allowing them to smash through barriers that traditional cavalry could not. Despite their massive benefits, war elephants could also be a liability. If the elephant was startled or hurt in battle, there was a chance that the creature could go berserk and trample their own army. Additionally, over time, tactical countermeasures were developed, such as opening an army's line so the elephants could just charge right through. This tactic was used to counter elephants at the Battle of Zama between Rome and Carthage in 202 BC. As time progressed, more and more ancient societies began to employ elephants, spreading the practice across the Mediterranean and Northern Africa. Of course, the most famous use of war elephants was by the Carthaginian

Starting point is 00:09:02 General Hannibal, who marched elephants over the Alps in 218 BC. The elephants played a vital role at the Battle of Trebia, but almost all of them died during their first winter in northern Italy. The practice of using elephants as weapons began to die off in the 18th and 19th centuries, because as warfare progressed, namely due to improvements in artillery, elephants became obsolete. Ancient societies also had several other uses for elephants beyond war. One of these was as a food source. They were hunted for their meat, which could sustain a small group of people for many weeks. It was also common for elephants to be hunted for their ivory.

Starting point is 00:09:44 Ivory taken from elephant tusks was highly prized in many ancient cultures. It was often used by wealthy people to make jewelry, statues, and weapons. Its value spurred a widespread ivory trade, making it important in ancient maritime commerce. Elephants have also been used to perform labor. In Asia, elephants, elephants have also been used to perform labor. In Asia, elephants have been used for centuries as a beast of burden. Their strength and agility have been vital tools for helping farm owners plow fields. Additionally, elephants were valuable aids in transportation. Again, their size and intelligence have aided people in carrying supplies, tools, and people across difficult terrains. Finally, elephants have been used in the forest industry.

Starting point is 00:10:25 Their strength allows them to carry and transport heavy logs. Chains are often strapped to elephants so they can move logs through dense trails and then drop them in cleared areas. Elephants are still employed in Asia today. There are an estimated 13,000 to 16,500 working elephants. Most of these creatures were brought in from the wild between the ages of 10 and 20. This range is preferred because it's when elephants are the most trainable and are capable of working for extended periods of time. In modern Asia, elephants are typically used to pull and carry objects as well as people. They are selected over mechanical tools because they can complete the same tasks while more easily navigating rough terrain. Elephants have also been a spiritual symbol for centuries

Starting point is 00:11:11 in Southeast Asia, particularly in Buddhism and Hinduism. In Hinduism, the elephant is considered one of the most sacred creatures. They're viewed as symbolizing divinity, royalty, strength, and wisdom. The most notable embodiment of the elephant in Hinduism is the deity, Lord Ganesha. The deity has an elephant-shaped head that is meant to represent wisdom, listening, patience, efficiency, and adaptability. He is highly celebrated as a god of new beginnings and a patron of art and science. Elephants are also prominent in Buddhism as symbols of mental fortitude, patience, and enlightenment. One of the most notable symbols in Buddhism is the white elephant, which is representative of training and being fully in control of your own mind.

Starting point is 00:11:54 I previously did a full episode on white elephants and how receiving one was considered both a blessing and a massive curse. Elephants are also seen as figures in African spirituality. In Ashanti folklore, elephants were considered the physical embodiment of the spirits of their former chiefs. Symbolically, many cultures viewed the elephant as symbols of justice, wisdom, and leadership. However, despite their size and strength, elephants are at risk today.

Starting point is 00:12:24 The species is considered endangered due to a variety of human-caused factors. The first risk to elephants is habitat loss. Because the creature is so large, it consumes large amounts of food and water. Humans have begun invading their spaces in savannas and forests to build settlements, farms and roads, limiting their access to food and their ability to survive. Because the elephant's range is restricted, populations become isolated and are forced to adopt different strategies to obtain food. It's common for elephants to break into human settlements and forage in farmlands,

Starting point is 00:12:58 causing significant crop damage. This often leads to retaliation with humans injuring or killing elephants to protect their farms. The biggest threat to elephants, however, is poaching. The illegal ivory trade incentivizes poachers to kill thousands of elephants every year just for their tuss. Though African elephants are more at risk, Asian elephants are also poached for their meat, skin, and tail hair. Internationally, the biggest tool in the fight against the illegal ivory trade is the invention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora, or CITES, which banned most international commercial trade in elephant ivory in 1989.

Starting point is 00:13:40 Many countries have also closed or restricted all domestic ivory markets because legal markets can provide cover for illegal ivory. There have also been public campaigns in major consumer countries, especially in Asia, to reduce the status of ivory. China's closure of its illegal ivory market was especially important because it had been one of the largest consumer markets. Elephants are among the most remarkable animals on earth, not only because of their size, but because of their intelligence, memory, family bonds, and long involvement in human history. They've carried armies, shaped landscapes, and inspired religions.

Starting point is 00:14:22 The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research and writing for this episode was provided. by the Olivia Ash. I want to remind everyone that the sixth anniversary episode of Everything Everywhere Daily is coming up on July 1st, and I'm going to turn the show over to all of you. You can record a brief audio message at speakpipe.com slash everything everywhere. Tell me who you are, where you're from, and what your favorite episode is.

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Starting point is 00:15:22 learning about things you didn't even know that you didn't know. Remember if you leave a review of the podcast on any of the major podcast apps, you too can have it read on the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Elephants: Nature’s Largest Land Animals

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