Elephants are the largest terrestrial animal species, growing up to 3m in height and weighing an average of 6000kg, which is why it is quite clear why we often call them giants. However, regardless of their size and sometimes frightening appearance, elephants are by nature very calm and benevolent animals, known for their intelligence, matriarchal arrangement of herds and mystical ways of communication. There are three separate species of elephants in the world, which differ mainly according to their habitat and the shape of their ears, and are divided into two African species (savanna and forest) and an Asian species of elephant. All species can live up to 70 years in nature.

Their trunk is a special and multi-purpose organ that elephants use in their daily life to identify smells, drink water, take food, move obstacles and communicate with each other. Scientists have confirmed that elephants have several different ways of communicating, including communication through vibrations through the ground. What also makes them interesting are their tusks that are actually incisor teeth, which help them feed but also serve as defense in case of danger. Unfortunately, for hundreds of years elephants have been killed precisely for their tusks in extremely brutal ways, considering the value that ivory has as a product, especially on the black market.

Elephants are extremely intelligent animals with a very good memory. There is a well-known saying that an elephant never forgets, based on the fact that the elephant has the largest brain of all other land animals, and their temporal horn - the part of the brain responsible for memory, is significantly more developed and larger than that of humans. Elephants pass their wealth of knowledge from generation to generation through matriarchy, which is why they are able to remember the easiest way to food and water sources over long distances, as well as how to get to alternative areas if the need arises. Even more impressively, research conducted on this subject has shown that elephants can even adjust their schedules to arrive at their desired destination just in time for the fruit to be ripe. Considering that elephants live in herds, it can easily be concluded that these are very social animals, and that they depend to a great extent on other members of their herd, especially parents and other elders. In the wild and in captivity, elephants often show signs of compassion and love, and many cases of them rescuing or comforting other elephants who have been injured have been recorded.

In the last hundred years, a very large number of elephants have been exploited in the daily life of man. These animals are still used in a large number of cruel practices that include performing tricks, participating in various shows and circuses, tourist attractions related to tourists riding and socializing with elephants or taking pictures with them, but are also used for manual labour and other people benefits. It has been estimated that the population of African elephants has decreased by almost 90% in the last hundred years due to human intervention, and that today there are only about 415,000 of them in their natural habitat. The situation on the Asian continent is not much better, as data collected over the last three decades indicate that the population of elephants in the wild has been reduced by at least 50%. Although the cause of their extinction can mainly be linked to poachers and the collection and resale of ivory, the culprit can also be found in the change in the structure, appearance and purpose of their natural habitat, due to which elephants are unable to follow the centuries-old migration routes towards the water and food they need for survival.

All elephants living in captivity go through an incredibly cruel and traumatic training process in their youth, called the crush. Isolated from their herd and chained in small and inappropriate spaces, they are exposed to constant abuse, physical pain, starvation and other forms tortures, all with the aim of their submission and obedience for the future life in captivity. Every elephant that performs tricks in a show, carries tourists on its back or spends days taking pictures with them has gone through this process and suffered unimaginable pain and trauma. By paying for such activities, you support the continuation of this practice in the future, and you seriously threaten the survival of the elephant population in the wild.

It has been scientifically proven and confirmed by a large number of studies that elephants are intelligent and benevolent animals that have empathy and share their knowledge and emotions with their family. Therefore, it should not be surprising that elephants who experience a tragedy or go through a traumatic event have symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Even elephants that are released from captivity show signs of PTSD even decades after finding safety in animal sanctuaries. These traumatic experiences also negatively affect learning, because in this way young elephants lose vital social information that would be passed on to them in nature by adult elephants, which is why even if rescued, they can never return to life in the wild.

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