10 Things Elephants Can Only Do In The Wild

They cuddle, they play, they swim, they love their moms, and they even squeak! Protect elephants by taking action against how they’re treated! Elephants are wildlife — not entertainers. Keep them in the wild where they belong!

Across the world, elephants are being taken from the wild and bred in captivity to be used in the tourist entertainment industry. They will suffer at every stage of this inherently cruel business and endure lifelong misery in barren, captive conditions that cannot meet their needs. Protect elephants by taking action against how they're treated! Elephants are wildlife — not entertainers. Keep them in the wild where they belong!

1. Be a part of a natural herd.

Young, elderly, and female elephants exist in a group known as a herd. Male elephants, who can get rowdy, are still members of herds, but exist further from the group.

2. Greet each other.

Elephants are extremely social and it's customary that they greet each other by intertwining their trunks!

3. Cool themselves off.

Elephants are sensitive to extreme temperatures, and it's important that they're able to cool off. How they keep their temperatures regulated when it's too hot is by taking water into their trunks and squirting it onto their backs. Elephants should do this as they please, without the help or interference of tourists and onlookers.

4. Eat enough fresh vegetation.

Elephants spend about 16 hours a day eating, digesting only 40% of what they consume, making it very important that they have access to fresh and diversified vegetation, which cannot be fully replicated in show and ride operations.

5. Choosing their own mate.

Like any animal, it is important for elephants to find mates. Female and male elephants will pursue one another before the female makes the male chase her. It's important that elephants are able to have this dynamic without human interference to carry on the species with mates they choose for themselves.

6. Care for their babies

Baby elephants and their mothers are incredibly close; female babies will even stay with their mother until adulthood. This bond is immensely tight, and it causes a mother elephant extreme distress to be separated from her offspring. They are also incredibly cute.

7. Communicate with one another.

Elephants have several methods of communication. From a sound like a purr to a squeak (yes, squeak!) to a chirp to rubbing their bodies against each other, these forms of communication are meant to express very direct messages about an elephant's feelings.

8. Play together.

Elephants are extremely smart and affectionate creatures. Playing together is critical to their happiness and development. Without it they become under-stimulated and highly stressed. They also become friends for life!

9. Swim!

Elephants don't just run around in the wild! They are very big (pun intended) fans of swimming! Their large bodies float easily, and they use their trunks like a snorkel.

10. Mourn their deceased loved ones.

Considering an elephant's capacity for love and attachment, it comes as no surprise that elephants go through long periods of mourning and grief after a member of their herd dies. Female elephants will cover the deceased with sticks and leaves, and mothers and aunts will grieve a stillborn baby. Elephants will also pay respects to an elephant skeleton they may come across by gently touching it with their trunks and feet.

Elephants are wildlife – not entertainers. Find out how you can help protect elephants and other wild animals through World Animal Protection.

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All images via Thinkstock.