Baby Elephant + Sand = Pure Joy
… ContinueThis YouTube video was produced by The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
A fun fact about our newest elephant calf: she loves to play in the sand!
But this isn’t just unique to her – all elephants love to coat themselves with sand. This behavior, called dusting, is a vital behavior where elephants use their trunks to spray dirt, dust, or mud all over their bodies to protect their skin from the sun, act as a natural sunscreen, and repel parasites and biting insects.
This is why you’ll often see Sunny spraying dust all over the calf and coating her
