“Is there really such a thing as an ‘Elephant’s Graveyard?’

-Moses, Jackson, MS, U.S.A.

After doing research and consulting with AWF’s own ‘elephant gurus,’ I found that the ‘Elephant’s Graveyard’ is one of the best African ‘bush legends’ (the same as ‘urban legends’ but, set in the African bush) of all time. That being said, it’s a pretty good  ‘legend’ as far as legends go.

So, if the ‘elephant’s graveyard’ isn’t real, then how did this legend even get started? Well, like all legends, there’s a bit of fact mixed with fiction.

First, elephants require giant amounts of land to roam—foraging for food and water. Over the years, elephant researchers have found that the term ‘memory like an elephant’ is actually pretty accurate (*fun fact: ‘memory’ is another term for a group of elephants), as elephants do remember and rely on the same routes to food and watering holes over and over again, year after year.  As an elephant ages, it’s teeth will wear down (they go through six pairs in a lifetime) and although they remember where food and water are, inevitably they are unable to eat rigid grasses and leaves, forcing them to go to marshy areas where the grasses are softer. Eventually, an elephant’s teeth become so worn down that they are unable to eat any grasses, and they starve to death. Here, in these marshy lands, many older elephants die leading to higher concentrations of elephant skeletons than are found elsewhere.



Down by the ol’ waterin’ hole: a herd of elephants (Photo Credit: Gregg Mitchell)

Now, what does all of this have to do with the ‘elephant’s graveyard?’ Combine the precision of an elephant’s memory/instinct going to and fro to find food and water with the carcasses of some older elephants in marshy areas and bingo!— there’s your ‘elephant graveyard.’  So, in short, this ‘bush legend’ combines fact (an elephant’s memory regarding migratory routes, including more marshy areas with softer grasses) with fiction (an instinct of knowing a single place to die) and there’s your legend.

Wait! Before You Go…

Guess what? July is the official Wild About Wildlife Month! You can help AWF help the animals of Africa by making a donation to our programs here, giving an AWF gift membership to someone you love here, remembering someone you love here, or even giving an automatic monthly donation to AWF here.

Author: Erin

Heading up AWF’s membership desk for the past eight years, Erin Keyes has amassed quite a bit of knowledge about Africa’s wildlife and unique wild lands. She’s also an expert on AWF’s membership benefits and programs. She started this blog to share what’s she’s learned and to give AWF supporters another forum for asking questions