Member Preview Days: The Secret World of Elephants

Friday, November 10 - Sunday, November 12, 2023

An African elephant, pictured from a low angle, is on the move in a dusty clearing with lush trees in the background and one tree to the left. Manoj Shah/Getty Images
Members enjoy early access to the Museum's newest special exhibition.

See The Secret World of Elephants before it opens to the public from Friday, November 10 to Sunday, November 12. 

Our newest special exhibition reveals new science about both ancient and modern elephants, including elephants’ extraordinary minds and senses, why they’re essential to the health of their ecosystems, and inspiring efforts to overcome threats to their survival.

What You’ll See in The Secret World of Elephants:

Elephant Evolution

Explore the group to which elephants belong—the proboscideans, from the world “proboscis,” meaning trunk—and encounter a life-size model of one of the giants of the Ice Age: a woolly mammoth, depicted in the process of shedding its winter coat.

Bodies and Minds

See a full-scale model of an African elephant, enhanced with a projection offering an inside look at how this massive mammal processes between 300 and 500 pounds of food a day, and experience interactive exhibits that illustrate how elephants use very low sound waves to send messages through the ground—to other elephants’ feet. 

Elephants and Us

Explore humans’ life with elephants, including conflict and conservation, through exhibits that examine the impact of killing elephants for ivory, how climate change is affecting elephants, and ways that humans and elephants can share the planet.