Everyone Knows That Elephants Drink Water With Their Trunks, But The Way Baby Elephants “Faceplant” While Doing This Will Make You Burst Out Laughing

When you see babies babbling as they start to speak or taking their first steps, you can’t help but say, “Oh, how cute!” Similarly, watching baby elephants practice drinking water in this way will make it hard for you to stop laughing.

Elephants are considered gentle giants and some of the most intelligent animals in the world. Their brains have such a good memory that they don’t forget anything they’ve seen or heard. Like humans, they need time to learn important skills during their early years.

Although baby elephants can learn to stand, lie down, and walk within a few hours after birth, it takes nearly a year for them to master essential skills, such as drinking water with their trunks.

The trunk, which hangs in front of them, is highly useful and important, but baby elephants can’t use it proficiently right away and need practice. So, in their early years, before they know how to use their trunks to drink, baby elephants have to dip their whole mouths into rivers or lakes. This behavior is as clumsy, cute, and endearing as babies taking their first steps

An elephant’s trunk is a unique combination of the nose and upper lip, forming a highly flexible and important appendage for the species. The trunk is dexterous enough to pick up a blade of grass yet strong enough to break a branch.

Elephants commonly use their trunks to drink water. They suck water into their trunks (about 14 liters at a time) and then spray it into their mouths to drink. The trunk also functions like a shower when elephants bathe.

On hot days, elephants use their trunks to cover their bodies with dust and dry mud, creating a protective layer similar to sunscreen. When swimming, the trunk acts as an extremely effective snorkel.