Interesting Historic Facts About Elephants

Elephantsare pretty amazing animals. These giant creatures could not but be recognized as the most peaceful and intelligent beings despite the body sizes. Both African and Asian people express their proud and respect to elephants as they have contributed a lot into their lifestyle and culture. Especially, it is referred to white elephants in Thailand, where they are considered almost holy animals. It is not the only interesting fact about elephants people are likely to have observed.Elephants are the only species that conduct a burial ritual. In order to venerate memory of their relative, these giants usually try to lift it with the help of trunks and then blare strongly. Afterwards, they cover corpse with ground or leaves and remain in silence for couple days alongside the so-called grave place. There are also some records of how elephants took dead people for their relatives and paid the last tribute this way.People got used to elephants being used as pack mean of transport. However, during history they also took part in wars and military actions. Battle elephants were often contradicted with battle pigs. Sometimes the last ones were coated with flammable liquid and set on fire. Pig squeals brought elephants in horror, and then they could take flight, trampling soldiers from own troops.Many zoologists consider that elephants are close relatives of damans, herbivorous mammals in Africa and the Middle East. The key thing about this is that damans are pretty similar to rodents being 30-65 cm long. The other versions point out that elephants are related to dugongs and manatees, which are rather to be aquatic counterparts of terrestrial giants. If in Asia elephants are common, in other parts of the world they might be seen only in Zoos and circuses. It is clear as a day that human attitude to animals should be pleasing and comforting, but history records quite appealing facts. For instance, during siege of Paris in 1870 elephants from Zoos were eaten because of lack of other meat in the city. In the 20th century there were two penalties of death performed towards animals. In 1903 the elephant Topsy was executed by discharges of alternating current for squelch three people. In 1910 the elephant Big Mary was sentenced for the same crime. Full penalty featured hanging on hoisting crane.For a long time there was a legend that elephants go to die in mysterious and unapproachable elephant graveyards. No one saw tusks of dead elephants in African savannahs and jungles. Only in the 20th century, it was found that the tusks were eaten by African porcupines, which attempted to satisfy a mineral starvation.