Elephants are fascinating animals. They have privileged intelligence and have different behaviors that prove it. Throwing dirt on their backs is just one of them. They do this intending to use the mud and dust as sunscreen to protect their skin.

Elephant skin is up to 1 inch thick but incredibly delicate and susceptible to UV rays and heat generated by the sun. In addition, elephants do not have sweat glands, so they cannot sweat as a way to regulate their skin temperature and cope with the impending sun.

In that sense, elephants have the habit of picking up dust and dirt from the ground with their trunks and throwing it on their backs, thus creating a large cloud of dust. Without a doubt, watching this behavior up close is fascinating.

They usually throw the dust on their backs after rain or bathing in the water. This way they get the powder to mix with the water to form a layer of mud, which dries and ends up creating a crust that acts as a sunscreen.

The dried mud forms different layers that efficiently protect the elephants’ skin. The shield keeps them away from UV rays and helps them withstand the high temperatures of the areas they inhabit.

• Other reasons why they shed dust
  • Dust helps them to keep clean
  • Dusting is a social activity
  • Elephants dust bathe in fights
• Why do elephants flap their ears?
  • The size of elephants’ ears

Other reasons why they shed dust

Elephants have many reasons why they collect dust and throw it on themselves. It is not only a matter of protection from the sun’s rays. It is also a sociable act and helps them stay clean and even an attitude toward fights.

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Dust helps them to keep clean

Temperature and UV rays are not the only reasons elephants bathe in the dirt. They also use it to, ironically, keep themselves clean. Elephants’ skin has different creases and wrinkles. This makes accumulating parasites and insects common, as well as the dirt they pick up during the day.

Well then, the dirt they throw helps them cleanse themselves of any insects or parasites accumulated during the day. In this way, the sand and gravel have been the best exfoliator the elephants have ever gotten, helping them get rid of dead skin.

As we described, as ironic as it sounds, elephants use dirt and dust to cleanse themselves, stay healthy and renew their skin.

Dusting is a social activity

Elephants are highly social animals, living together in families connected by the female line. In that sense, they have different group activities that they enjoy very much and make them create stronger bonds between them.

Dusting themselves has protection and skin care purposes, as we have already seen, and at the same time, they use it as social behavior.

It is common for several elephant families to gather together to protect more territory, especially during the dry season. Precisely one of the expected behaviors in this situation is to dust together.

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Also, elephant calves participate in this activity and dust bathe when their mother does.

Elephants dust bathe in fights

The health of their skin, high temperatures and social encounters are not the only reasons elephants dust bathe. They have also been seen to engage in this behavior during fights, conflicts or what are understood to be arguments.

The reasons behind this behavior are not entirely clear, but it is presumed to be a way to divert attention away from the fight and prevent the argument from escalating or getting worse.

On the other hand, dirt and dust are not the only things elephants use for bathing. Evidence suggests they may also bathe in grass, hay and branches, but this behavior has only been seen in Asian elephants.

Why do elephants flap their ears?

Elephants have different behaviors that help them fight the heat and the impact of the sun’s rays in the places they inhabit. Besides that, being such large animals, the heat they generate is considerable. In this sense, one of the mechanisms of body thermoregulation is to move their ears so that they fulfill the same function as a fan.

In addition, the flapping of their ears not only generates wind over their body but also helps them cool the blood that circulates through the veins in the ears that will return to the other parts of the body. Of course, the more it cools the blood, the more efficient the reduction of body temperature will be.

Beyond this, elephants often take advantage of windy days by facing the air currents. To improve air utilization, they hold their ears outward to redirect the wind and use it to their advantage for thermoregulation.

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Elephants also use their ears for defense purposes. They open their ears to increase their size and look more imposing during a threatening situation. Of course, the 10 feet (3m) of their ears plus the width of their body makes them intimidating to many wildlife species.

The size of elephants’ ears

The ears of African elephants are genuinely prominent in size. Each can grow to be about six feet tall (1,82m) and five feet wide (1,52m), weighing up to one hundred free (45kg).

However, the size of elephants’ ears will depend on the area where they live.

As an evolutionary matter, African elephants have wider ears as they need more help with thermoregulation, while Asian elephants have smaller ears as they live in less demanding climates. In any case, elephants are dazzling animals that have developed efficient behaviors for survival.

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