A few days ago, I had the supreme pleasure of visiting Reid Park Zoo (Tucson), home to Baby Nandi, the cutest baby elephant ever! As you click through this week’s Get Jiggy JigSaw Puzzle, “Baby Nandi,” chew on these 20 amazing Elephant facts!  My favorite fact is #16, although I’m fairly smitten with fact #19.

And you?  What’s your favorite elephant fact?

Did you know that:

1. The Elephant is the only mammal that can not jump.
2. Elephants are the largest land animals in the world.
3. The heaviest elephant on record was an adult male African elephant who weighed in at 24,000 pounds!  He was 13 feet tall (to the shoulder)!
4. The heart of an elephant weighs somewhere between 27 to 46 pounds.
5. Wild elephants eat 200-400 pounds of food daily and they need about 30 gallons of water per day, as well.
6. Their brain is 3 or 4 times larger than that of humans, yet proportionally smaller.
7. Their pulse rate is 27.
8. They can live to be over 70 years old.
9. Their skin is an inch thick.
10. At the age of 16, an elephant can reproduce.  They rarely have more than four children throughout their lifetime.
11. They have the longest pregnancy of all animals: 22 months from conception to birth.
12. At birth, an elephant calf weighs in at approximately 230 lbs!
13. They have four molars. Each one weighs in at 5 pounds and is the size of a brick.
14. Elephants cry, play, have incredible memories, and laugh.
15. Elephant feet are covered in a soft padding that help uphold their weight, prevent them from slipping, and dull any sound. Therefore elephants can walk almost silently!
16. Elephants are highly sensitive and caring animals. If a baby elephant complains, the entire family will rumble and go over to touch and caress it. Elephants express grief, compassion, self-awareness, altruism and play.
17. Elephants have greeting ceremonies when a friend that has been away for some time returns to the group.
18. They are social creatures and are known to “hug” by wrapping their trunks together in displays of greeting and affection.
19. Elephants pay homage to the bones of their dead by gently touching the skulls and tusks with their trunks and feet. When an elephant walks past a place that a loved one has died, he/she will stop dead still; a silent and empty pause that can last several minutes.
20. And finally, should you want to talk to an Elephant, try purring.  They purr like cats do, as a means of communication.Click through “Baby Nandi.”Send the postcard version of “Baby Nandi, e-card” to a friend!

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