The Secret World of Elephants reveals new science about both ancient and modern elephants, including elephants’ extraordinary minds and senses, why they’re essential to the health of their ecosystems, and inspiring efforts to overcome threats to their survival.

The Film “Shaba” Ami Vitale’s short film about Reteti’s first matriarch and the special bonds she formed with her keeper will be on display.

What You’ll See in The Secret World of Elephants

Elephant Evolution

Once, animals with tusks and trunks lived on almost every continent and many islands. Today only three elephant species survive.

Explore the group to which elephants belong—the proboscideans, from the world “proboscis,” meaning trunk—and encounter a life-size model of one of the giants of the Ice Age: a woolly mammoth, depicted in the process of shedding its winter coat.

Bodies and Minds

Discover the latest science about modern elephants’ anatomy and behavior—from trunks strong enough to pull down a tree yet nimble enough to pluck a blade of grass to their amazing vocalization behaviors, problem-solving, and more.

See a full-scale model of an African elephant, enhanced with a projection offering an inside look at how this massive mammal processes between 300 and 500 pounds of food a day, and experience interactive exhibits that illustrate how elephants use very low sound waves to send messages through the ground—to other elephants’ feet.

Elephants and Us

For thousands of years, elephants and humans have lived together—often uneasily, sometimes competing for the same resources. Elephants remain powerful religious and political symbols across cultures.

Explore humans’ life with elephants, including conflict and conservation, through exhibits that examine the impact of killing elephants for ivory, how climate change is affecting elephants, and ways that humans and elephants can share the planet.