Saturday, September 26, 2009

Elephant's can'tJump!


Most experts think it is physiologically impossible for a mature elephant to jump, although baby elephants have been known to do so, if provoked.

Not only do mature elephants weigh too much to support landing on all fours, but their legs are designed for strength rather than leaping ability. Mark Grunwald, who has worked with elephants for more than a decade at the Philadelphia Zoo, notes that elephant’s bone structure makes it difficult for them to bend their legs sufficiently to derive enough force to propel the big lugs up.

Yet there are a few sightings of elephants jumping in the wild. Veterinarian Judy Provo found two books in her college library that illustrate the discrepancy. S. K. Ettingham’s Elephant lays out the conventional thinking: “… because of its great weight, an elephant cannot jump or even run in the accepted sense since it must keep one foot on the ground at all times.”

The elephant is one of the few mammals that can't jump