NatGeo's "Secrets Of The Elephants" Podcast Premieres

 If any animal has undergone a reputational upgrade in the last few years, it is the elephant. Once viewed as a dumb circus animal doing tricks inside a three-ring circus and suffering horrible treatment, elephants have recently been the source of several TV documentaries. In fact, The Elephant Whisperers' won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. The Indian-American short film follows a couple caring for an orphaned baby elephant. 

A 2018 Apple TV Plus film, The Elephant Queen, is a journey of family, courage, and coming home; joining Athena, the majestic matriarch, as she leads her elephant herd across an unforgiving African landscape filled with vibrant wildlife.

More evidence of the resurgence of interest in elephants is the upcoming Overheard at National Geographic three-part podcast series, SECRETS OF THE ELEPHANTS, which focuses on elephant communities in Asia and Africa through the lens of women Nat Geo Explorers and the scientists who study them.

Dropping April 11, the first episode will see Elephant Researcher and Co-Founder of Elephant Voices Joyce Poole share her experience on decoding elephant sounds, smells, and body language in order to figure out what the world’s largest land animal, and one of the most beloved by people everywhere, is talking about. 

 

Like so many animals, the elephant is endangered. Nearly 35,000 African elephants are poached for their tusks each year for traditional Chinese medicine. While Asian elephants are still poached for their tusks, all species are at risk for poaching due to demand for their skin, which is fashioned into jewelry. Conservation organizations estimate nearly 100 elephants are poached each day. Most tuskers are male, with the largest tusks being targeted for the most ivory. However, most recently tuskers have been found with smaller tusks either as a protective evolutionary trait or because larger males have been poached out of the gene pool.

The memory of elephants is legendary, and for good reason. Of all land mammals, elephants possess the largest brains.2 They have the ability to recall distant watering holes, other elephants, and humans they have encountered, even after the passage of many years.

Elephants transmit their wealth of knowledge from generation to generation through the matriarchs, and this sharing of information has been beneficial to the creatures’ survival. They are also able to recall the path to sources of food and water across great distances, and how to reach alternative areas should the need arise. Even more impressive, they adjust their schedule to arrive just in time for the fruit they are seeking to be ripe.

The abundant sensitivity of elephants is well documented, but their sentient nature is particularly notable in the interest they express toward the dead. Even among unrelated animals, elephants show interest, examining, touching, and smelling the deceased animal. Researchers have observed elephants making repeated visits, attempting to assist expired animals, and calling out for help.

 The podcast is tied to the upcoming four-part Secrets of the Elephants series premiering April 21 on National Geographic (and April 22 on Disney+ and Hulu), as well as the May issue of National Geographic's flagship magazine, which will be published online and on the app at natgeo.com/elephants on April 13.