Elephants are afraid of bees. Let that sink in for a second. The largest animal on land is so terrified of a tiny insect that it will flap its ears, stir up dust and make noises when it hears the buzz of a beehive. Of course a bee's stinger can't penetrate the thick hide of an elephant.
According to elephant behavior experts, they would be scared of anything moving around their feet regardless of it's size.. Elephants are not alone in their fear of mice and other rodent like creatures.
An elephant's weakness is its desire to be in water. This is exploited to the full.
Lions are the number one natural enemy of elephants. Lions are elephants' number one natural enemy and another member of the Big Five. While they move and hunt in packs, it is the lionesses that do most of the hunting for everyone, while the male lions protect the pride.
They hate ants.
Despite being the biggest land animals, elephants are frightened of one of the smallest! Although they could easily stomp them, elephants avoid ants because they can easily get into their trunks and wreak havoc on the sensitive nerve endings within.
Elephants may be the biggest of all creatures found on land, but believe it or not, even they can react defensively around large predators. For example, a herd of elephants walking through the African savanna will trumpet and chase away a pride of lions that they encounter.
Elephants can get mad for a variety of reasons, just like humans get mad on bad days. For instance, they may have encountered poachers in their last human interaction- and that could influence their behavior. They could also be hungry, hurt or scared. You definitely don't want to spook an elephant!
An elephant would win in a tiger vs elephant fight. The tiger is undoubtedly a fierce beast, and it might stand the best chance out of all other land-dwelling animals of successfully hunting an adult elephant. Yet, the elephant's size and power are simply indomitable.
An elephant will either flip a lion over and then stomp it to death or use a tusk (if available) to impale the large cat. A lion is large, but it can't deal with 20 times its own weigh being pushed into its body by a rampaging beast. Multiple lions can kill an elephant, or a large lion can kill a young elephant.
The elephant is the largest land mammal, a characteristic that ensures a pride will need all lions on deck to have a chance of bringing one down with claws and teeth. It's no surprise that these animals can kill a lion.
An unarmed human could not win a fight against an elephant.
Simply put, the elephant is too large and powerful for a human to harm without a weapon. If the elephant regards the person as a threat, it will charge, gore, and stomp on the person until they're dead.
Because male lions are more likely to attack. (See: "Older Elephants Know the Best Anti-Lion Moves.") Not many predators can take down an elephant, so it's useful for the massive mammals to know when it's worth their effort to run away.
According to some, elephants are afraid of mice, because they fear that mice will crawl up their trunks. This could cause irritation and blockage, making it hard for elephants to breathe. However, elephant experts say there's no support for this belief.
Aside from humans, lions are the only predators powerful enough to kill an elephant. The males, being 50% heavier than the females, are especially suited to the task. It typically takes seven lionesses to kill an elephant, but just two males could do the same.
“We noticed that the elephants were more scared of tigers than of leopards,” says Vivek Thuppil, who carried out the work with Richard Coss, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, as part of his PhD in animal behavior.
Given their tremendous size and strength, and because they gather in groups, elephants have few predators to worry about. Lions, hyenas, and crocodiles may attempt to prey on young or sick elephants.
In an elephant vs hippo fight, the elephant is going to win. Assuming both creatures are fully grown adults, the elephant is just too big for the hippo to handle. Hippos are too smart to pick a fight with an elephant, so they have no idea what it takes to bring one down.
But lions are often called 'the king of beasts. ' People have made the association of lions with royalty for at least a couple of thousand years.
Elephants, especially bears, are among the large animals that tigers are terrified of. To escape from them, tigers frequently climb trees. A crocodile's razor-sharp jaw might even kill a tiger.
Because of their size and strength, adult tigers don't have many predators. Humans are predators of this animal. Elephants and bears can also pose a threat to them. Tiger cubs have a lot more predators than adults – including hyenas, crocodiles, and snakes.
The main reason elephants look like they're"crying" is simply because they lack the drainage canals that most mammals have to wick the moisture away. With nowhere to go, the tear fluid accumulates at the medial canthus (the inner corner of the eye) and then spills out from there down the face.
Even though they fearlessly stand up to lions, the mere buzzing of bees is enough to send a herd of elephants running off. Armed with this knowledge, African farmers may soon be able to use strategically placed hives or recordings to minimise conflicts with elephants.
They know envy and jealousy, can throw tantrums and harbour grudges about a perceived injustice, just like human children. And just like human children, they can be competitive for rank and status amongst their peers.