Elephants have 257 billion neurons in their brains, more than triple the number in the human brain. While they are great problem solvers, have extremely good memories, can do basic arithmetic, and can keep track of relative quantities, it is believed that the majority of their brain power is used to employ their incredible trunk. Elephant trunks have up to 40,000 muscles (humans have only 639 muscles in their entire body) and can reach food well over 20 feet high. Their trunks can lift up to 770 pounds, while serving as an upper lip, a nose, and a hand that can be so precise as to snatch a single blade of grass.

African elephants vie with bears for the distinction of having what is believed to be the best sense of smell of any mammal. This is based largely on the fact that elephants have more genes that produce olfactory receptors than any other mammal. Elephants can smell surface water up to 12 miles away and can sense rain in the air 150 miles away.

On average, adult elephants need over 650 pounds of food and 40 gallons of water each day. They head for permanent water, like rivers, when other water dries up. In doing so, they must deal with heavily trafficked highways, fences, cattle ranches, and farming operations that block many of their traditional migration routes. As the elephants try to reach protected areas for water, food, and mates, they are often killed by trophy hunters.