The Elephants' Graveyard
Legend says that when an elephant knows it's dying, it walks alone to a secret valley, where the bones and ivory of generations lie in great heaps.
What was reported
Stories of an elephants' graveyard, a hidden place where old elephants go to die, were told by European explorers and ivory hunters in Africa in the 1800s and 1900s, and appeared in adventure novels and films. Whoever found it would be rich from the ivory lying there.
Hunters searched for such places. Large collections of elephant bones have sometimes been found together, which seemed to support the legend.
Explanations offered
Zoologists say there's no secret graveyard. Old elephants, whose last set of teeth have worn down, often stay near water and soft plants that are easier to eat, and many die in the same areas, especially in droughts. Hunting or poaching can also leave many bodies in one place. Elephants do show unusual interest in the bones of their own kind.
- When
- Told since the 1800s
- Where
- Tsavo, Kenya
- Witnesses
- Explorers, hunters and storytellers
- Status
- Myth
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from Kenya