Elephants seem easy to figure out with their big bodies, long trunks, and always walking in slow groups. But they’re not simple animals. Behind the usual facts are habits, abilities, and instincts ...

The elephant's trunk is truly amazing, packed with around 150,000 muscle units. It can do everything from picking up a tiny grain of rice to performing heavy-duty tasks like uprooting trees.

• At birth, an elephant calf typically weighs 230 pounds and stands over 2 ½ feet tall. Baby elephants are nearly blind at birth and rely upon their trunks and their mothers to help them. • A newborn ...