r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/willis7747 • 11h ago
🔥 A massive family herd of elephants found in Sri Lankan forest
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u/I-stay-eating 11h ago
Honestly expecting more noise from the elephants, you can barely hear them.
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u/yuudachikonno08 11h ago
Elephant anatomy is crazy because they’re essentially always tiptoeing. Which makes their footsteps WAY quieter than something of that size should be
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u/I-stay-eating 11h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/QDvFTOwKBK6Mg9A7pv
Truly amazing animals•
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u/CariniFluff 6h ago
They can feel and locate each other from miles away based on vibrations traveling through the earth that their toes can pick up. Both vibrations from walking and ultra low frequency sounds they make that are imperceptible to most other animals.
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u/pichael289 4h ago
There are a ton of animals that have a sense of touch (kinda borders on hearing as well) way more sensitive than we do, from elephants communicating through the ground enormous distances to spiders possibly being able to feel Brownian motion, the jiggle of atoms. Spiders can't "hear" but they can feel such minute disturbances in the air it works as sonar and they can detect things out of sight. If you had a spider big enough to reach up and touch space (100km/63m), about the same in diameter, it could feel you walk up and tickle it with an ostrich feather. They have two separate types of sensing hairs and special hollow cavities in their skeleton that detect the slightest deflection, possibly evolved to the very limit of what's physically achievable.
Better hope once crispr becomes more accessible someone doesn't give them fucking lungs or somekind of active breathing. Then they can possibly get like human head sized.
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u/abe5765 10h ago
Ninja elephants confirmed
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u/yuudachikonno08 10h ago
Essentially. When I used to work with my father at a sanctuary these elephants could literally come up right behind you without you realizing. And they can be intentionally sneaky too, doing things like laying their ears flat or pressing their tails close to their butts so they didn’t make any sounds as they moved
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u/teastea1 7h ago
doing things like laying their ears flat or pressing their tails close to their butts so they didn’t make any sounds as they moved
This is the cutest thing I've ever heard. Stinkers!
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u/TheRiteGuy 10h ago
That's amazing! When I worked in a sanctuary, Ninjas would come right behind you without realizing. And they were intentionally sneaky because they were ninjas, doing things like stabbing you in the dark, or laying there and waiting to ambush you. They'd tuck their clothes in really tight so they didn't make any noise as they moved.
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u/specialpatrolwombat 8h ago
Are there many Ninjas left in the wild?
I know they were nearly hunted to extinction because of the demand for their facial hair in traditional Chinese medicine.
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u/TheRiteGuy 6h ago
No, we only know of the ones in santuaties. They're nocturnal and elusive, so really difficult to get a proper population count in the wild.
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u/DeneHero 10h ago
But at the same time, they can stomp and walk certain ways to communicate with others farther than their ears can register.
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u/REDACTED3560 8h ago
It’s one of the reasons that elephants are so dangerous. You can just be out and about in the bush only to stumble into a herd that suddenly appeared 30 feet away from you.
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u/PresentRaspberry6814 2h ago
No way they wouldn't know you were there though yeah? Like this man smoking would be smelt for a kilometre away by a human.
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u/PhantomOfTheNopera 5h ago
Elephants are eerily quiet. Many of the people killed by elephants had no idea they were within 10 ft of them.
They aren't just quiet, they can stand as still as boulders and are hard to spot in a forest
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u/OkEngineer4662 2h ago
Dude, I was in Botswana and saw an elephant disappear from sight in some bush about 15 metres from me. Couldn't see or hear it. Was astonished. Bush was thick but not 'hide an elephant thick'. Amazing creatures.
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u/SharpKaleidoscope182 4h ago
infrasound. They're talking but the camera can barely hear their highest sounds, and only when they're close.
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u/-1_points 11h ago
Hah looks like the lead elephant is pointing out the smoker to the heard.
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u/Rattlecruiser 10h ago
it's greeting the smoker... "can't today, got a family thing here, see ya around!"
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u/hilarymeggin 5h ago
Right? I was thinking, what’s the point of hiding up in a tree and whispering, if you’re going to smoke a cigarette?!
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u/Nanas_700k 4h ago
Whispering lol, each one of them has like 1,200 square feet of ear and he thinks they don’t know he is there. Even the very first one was like: look guy there… points… right there.
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u/CaterpillarJungleGym 5h ago
How good are their sense of smell? Like would they know a human was nearby even if a person wasn't smoking?
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u/lowlightliving 3h ago edited 3h ago
Yes. Humans have a scent even after washing with plain water. The oils in/on skin/hair, bodily secretions, sweat, breath, and we exude the scent of foods we’ve eaten. But most humans use soap, shampoo, deodorant, cleaning products in our clothes, the leather in our shoes, etc., too, which adds onto natural smells.
All those scents stand out as different in the wild, and yes, elephants have a very keen sense of smell, far exceeding that of dogs and humans - and dogs’ sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times that of humans.
Elephants have the keenest sense of smell of any land mammal, being able to smell water from an underground spring from 12 miles/19 kilometers away.
Edit: sp/grammar
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u/spankmydingo 11h ago
Herd of elephants? Of course I have.
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u/Rich_Tyler 11h ago
Smokers be like "i know a place"
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u/Black_Hole_Bagel 11h ago edited 11h ago
Of all places to have a smoke, he really found himself a spot
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u/Familiar_Raise234 11h ago
Good to see so many babies.
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u/jadethebard 3h ago
I love seeing those babies surrounded in all directions. Such a relatable protective instinct. Elephants are more like us than than many of us would like to admit.
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u/born_in_the_90s 11h ago
Scary but beautiful to witness.
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u/LisaMiaSisu 10h ago
No, it was beautiful but scary. 😉
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u/Asking_For_A_Brain 10h ago
Beautiful doesn't even begin to cover it, but definitely from a distance
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u/Fit_Ad_6727 11h ago
seems like a well worn path they are using to cross that track.
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u/CoRe534 10h ago
If not animal made, lots of wildlife uses human made roads and paths quite regulary in peripheral and rural places
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u/Korps_de_Krieg 10h ago
Can confirm, grew up in the sticks, you’d always see deer and stuff on the back backroads and along power line clearings. Turns out animals value path of lease resistance too
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u/Gr33nL34v35 11h ago
Hup! 2, 3, 4, keep it up! 2, 3, 4...
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u/YoDmyD 10h ago
In the military styyyyle!!!!
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u/Standard_Big_9000 11h ago
Looks like they found YOU
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u/LisaMiaSisu 10h ago
The first one said, “Look! He’s up there!” And it seemed like she even pointed at him. 😅
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u/nearly_enough_wine 10h ago
Hey monkey, don't forget to take your cigarette butt with you when you're done!
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u/GettingOnMinervas 10h ago
Unbelievable sight to witness! Look at all those babies too. This makes me so very happy to see. 😍🥰🐘🐘🐘
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u/Antique_Program4754 10h ago
Did anyone else feel the desire to like.... be an elephant in this herd?
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u/r1Rqc1vPeF 10h ago
I was in Sri Lanka earlier this year and went on an ‘elephant safari’. They are truly impressive animals but the awe and wonder of seeing them was significantly diminished by the hoards of 4x4s chasing them around the place.
Can confirm that they are basically silent, fucking impressive and silent.
Getting very close to them was, at the time, incredible but looking back it was too intrusive.
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u/litlebopeep 5h ago
I was on one back in 2018 and we watched one with only two girls who kept losing more and more clothing trying to get pictures real close to the herd. Their truck was rammed a few times and all the elephants kept charging the vehicle until they had to leave because the whole herd was all fuck this one truck.
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u/sumdude51 11h ago
Dude climbing 75 feet up a tree with a Dart in his mouth might be the most Sri Lanka thing ever
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u/zacman713 11h ago
You light up when you get to the top of the tree, it hits better after the quick cardio
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u/metalfabman 11h ago edited 9h ago
75 feet? its not a redwood lol. dude is like 12-15 feet up of them. We all know he didn't pocket that cig when it ran out
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u/SilentBob890 10h ago
He’s at least 30’ up.
Sri Lankan elephants have a shoulder height of 7-11’ with males being closer to 11’. The biggest bull in the herd still looked to be at least 15’ below the guy
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u/metalfabman 10h ago edited 10h ago
....today you learned 75' is not equal to 30'.
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u/SilentBob890 10h ago
You said 12-15’ mate, and you are wrong. Also I never said 75’…. I said at least 30’ in response to your silly and erroneous height estimate
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u/lovely_trequartista 10h ago
Do you actually know what a foot is? Like the unit of measurement?
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u/metalfabman 10h ago
why yes I do. do you think being twice the height, hell 3x the height of an elephant is equal to 75'? Do you also know that trees in that area are not commonly growing to the height of 75'? do you also know it is not common for the majority of trees to grow to a height, especially human weight boughs, to grow to a height of 75'? 12 inches equal 1'. Do you know....
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u/lovely_trequartista 10h ago
Don't give a fuck what the other guy said man. 😂
We have literal adult elephants for scale yet you estimate the video is filmed 12-15 feet off the ground lol.
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u/metalfabman 10h ago
uhh i guess lies about 75' and estimates of 15' are equal. thank you for saying nothing
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u/lovely_trequartista 10h ago
So other dude is a liar now? I can't even. Get a grip son. 😂
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u/metalfabman 10h ago
lmao, you ever jumped from 40-50'? Its ok to admit you didn't. 75' is an incredible height difference on its own, the image would depict that. This is not one of the tallest trees in sri lanka cmon now
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u/lovely_trequartista 9h ago
I seem to have touched a nerve. Let it go son, stating that the person filming is 12-15 feet up a tree was the dumbest thing that’s been said in this thread, after the person asking if the elephants were wild or not.
Let it go, ya already lost it bud, there’s no coming back.
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u/metalfabman 9h ago
12-15' above the elephants is exactly what i meant, thank you.
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u/IsaacNewtongue 9h ago
I like that the lead elephant looked at him, pointed right at him and chuffed, as though, "yeah, we see you. Stay there and there won't be any trouble."
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u/Plucky_Monkies 10h ago
That was a beautiful sight to behold! But there were so many babies of different sizes. Oh my goodness! ❤️💙🩷
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u/javexbleachin 10h ago
Imagine the branch snapped as you think almost clear, then they look back at you
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u/patapouet9 9h ago
So at least 70+ insane herd no? What is the normal number for a herd?
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u/de_pizan23 6h ago
Around 12-20 is standard. But the various protected parks for them can have anywhere from 50-400 total in each park, so depending on the size of the forests, it's possible they might intermingle in the search for food or watering holes.
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u/whatdafaq 6h ago
News Alert: Man's cigarette sets forest on fire killing massive herd of elephants.
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u/the_tygram 4h ago
Kinda pissed off that this guy is smoking a cigarette, and probably throwing in on the ground when finished, where elephants live.
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u/Liqvid_R1 9h ago
That's a lot of trust on those dead-looking branches. I kept imaging one snapping and a dude falling off and scaring the heard.
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u/bitchcoin5000 8h ago
Well I know so little about elephants. I figured as they move through in a pack together there would be chatter amongst the group
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u/Wise_Resolution8021 8h ago
59?
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u/Elevener 8h ago
Why are all the people up in trees?
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u/Kingofthewho5 6h ago
My best guess is they were waiting for the elephants along their known route.
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u/Tikta_Alik 7h ago
Elephant herd usually contains only females and babies. Males "allowed" in mating seasons
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u/TreyUsher32 6h ago
Im surprised how no one has even questioned why all the people are in the top of trees in this
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u/VictorTheCutie 6h ago
It still boggles my mind that there are places on earth where you can just go, wander around and boom, there's elephants.
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u/Fugued_n_texass 6h ago
Be vewy vewy quiet!
Else they'll knock down your twees & stomp out your lights. ~elmer fudd
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u/sesameseed88 5h ago
Are these wild herds okay with humans around or is there a reason why they're up in the trees filming lol
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u/twitter_haikucurator 4h ago
easily one of my favourite videos of the year
imagine experiencing being in that tree quietly looking over animal civilization traveling beneath you…
how the world would maybe feel so precious to you… how you would do anything to protect it
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u/f23n09fnu0w 3h ago
If there's anything better than looking at baby elephants being looked after by the adults, I don't want to know about it. Damn they are weird and cool
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u/MyKonaGirl27 2h ago
This is so awesome! I’ve definitely never seen that many elephants before, truly amazing animals! Anyone know the reason that one particular elephant sprayed itself with dirt all over its back?
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u/motorboatmanatee33 2h ago
Oh my gosh look at those babies! May the universe protect their herd always.
Elephants are so amazing, so smart, and possess the ability to remember, bond, and mourn their loved ones. I can't recall specifics but there is a herd that showed up year after year on I think it was the anniversary of the death of a man that had been someone special to them. They would just show back up and stand watch silently during that time like they were there to pay respects, and would then leave again. How they knew when it had been exactly a year each time, I'm not sure. But they are awesome.
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u/Xanthelasmapalpebara 1h ago
This makes me hopeful for these beautiful animals. Let’s all do what we can to keep them safe and let them flourish.
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u/QuietNene 9m ago
“Hey, you can’t smoke here, there are tourists around.”
“Oh, sorry. Is there a break room?”
“Not really, but you can climb 20 meters up and sit on that tree branch. I left an ashtray up there.”
“Cool, be back in five.”
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u/qualityvote2 11h ago edited 10h ago
u/willis7747, your post does fit the subreddit!