Watch as a Herd of Elephants Try to Outrun a Flash Flood in Namib Desert
Elephants are known for being very intelligent, but you may not know that they are fast, too. And it's a good thing that they are after watching this video that @National Geographic shared at the end of December 2023.
The video starts by saying that there's a wall of water coming towards a herd of elephants in the Namib Desert (the desert is located on the Atlantic coast that extends from Angola to South Africa). The matriarch of the herd somehow knows it's coming and focuses on getting them all to higher ground before the flash flood catches up with them. Watch until the end to see if they make it.
Isn't the footage that @National Geographic shot incredible? While a flash flood leaves a lot of damage in its midst, from above it actually was beautiful to see. Even though it was the largest flash flood the area has seen in decades, the herd of elephants was lucky enough to make it to safety in time. One commenter spoke for all of us, @Baking Squared said, "Instantly stressed as soon as this came on". I was glad that every one of them was safe and sound!
Related: Thailand Veterinary Team Rushes To Save Mother And Baby Elephant In Harrowing Video
Fun Elephant Facts
I honestly had no idea how fast elephants can run. Because of their size and normally chill demeanor, I just assumed that they'd be slow animals. But that is not the case! According to one article, elephants normally run at about 15 MPH (the average human runs at 7.25 MPH) and have been clocked running up to 25 MPH. Considering these animals weigh thousands of pounds, that's pretty impressive!
Another cool fact about elephants is how little that they sleep. Did you know that wild elephants only sleep about two hours a day, but elephants in captivity sleep more, about four to six hours a day. Why is there a difference? Elephants in zoos and captivity don't have to worry about food or prey, the top two reasons that elephants in the wild sleep so little. They also don't sleep for that long (or little depending on how you look at it!) all at once. They sleep for small periods of time (cat naps!) instead of all at once.
Another elephant fact that I found interesting is that female elephants will stay with their herd for life. This explains why there's a matriarch among the herd. On the other hand, males leave their herd sometime between 12 to 14 years of age. Moms have a gestation period of 18-22 months, and most elephant calves are born at night to avoid predators.
It's always fun to learn new things about animals, and elephants are one of the animals I always want to know more about - they are fascinating!
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