The Secret World of Elephants

[HAPPY PLAYFUL MUSIC]

[A group of visitors walk past the exhibit entrance. Text says “The Secret World of Elephants”.]

ROSS MACPHEE (Curator Emeritus, Department of Mammalogy): In The Secret World of Elephants, we've got the perfect animal for getting people involved with a whole range of stories-

[A group of adults sit together to watch a film about elephants.]

MACPHEE: about not only natural behavior-

[Elephants bathing in a pond.]

MACPHEE: — anatomy, relationships, all the usual — but also how-

[A small group of elephants walk alongside park rangers.]

MACPHEE: -these particular species interact with humans for good or ill over many thousands of years-

[Two elephants playing in the bushes.]

[Ross Macphee stands in front of a Savannah elephant model.]

MACPHEE: This is a full-sized Savannah elephant from Africa and we're using it as a projection base in order to show you things about how the elephant is put together internally.

[Pan over animated projection playing on the side of a Savannah elephant model.]

MACPHEE: There's a projection of the muscles of the bones, the nerves. And on that basis, you can understand how it does what it does.

LAURI HALDERMAN (Sr. Vice President for Exhibition): I think people come to the exhibition because they're drawn to elephants-

[Lauri Halderman stands in a hallway at the Museum. A school group is passing by in the background.]

HALDERMAN: -they know what they are and elephants are very charismatic.

[A senior woman and a young boy read the label about elephant diet.]

HALDERMAN: But there's so much more to learn about elephants.

[A walking pair of visitors approach a large elephant model. A girl points to it in excitement.]

HALDERMAN: They’ll learn about how amazing their bodies are-

[MUSIC mellows out]

[Two women read off information panels about elephant migration and the ivory trade.]

[Wide shot of various visitors walking around the exhibition.]

HALDERMAN: -the important things they're doing in their ecosystems.

[A visitor flips open a model of elephant dung. Text reads “How does elephant poop help animals?”.]

HALDERMAN: At the American Museum of Natural History, I feel like the exhibitions that touch on-

[A large model of a “grass ball” on a scale to show how much elepahnts eat. Text reads “Big Eaters”.]

HALDERMAN: the natural science-

[A woman looks at a display case with elephant-themed figurines.]

HALDERMAN: -and the cultural stories together-

[Closeup on a figurine of a man riding an elephant.]

HALDERMAN: -are really a sweet spot for us.

[Closeup on a figurine of an elephant riding a scooter as it balances a ball on its trunk.]

HALDERMAN: I think when you come as a visitor, there's something for everyone.

[A child sticks an elephant magnet to a magnet wall.]

[Sean Decatur stands in front of a Savannah elephant model.]

SEAN DECATUR (President, American Museum of Natural History): The exhibition begins with what for biology is the central idea, which is evolution and evolutionary relationships.

[A man and young boy read from an info panel titled “A Long Story”.]

DECATUR: And so, where do elephants come from?

[Two flip panels, one of an African elephant, the other of a woolly mammoth. A hand flips up the woolly mammoth panel.]

DECATUR: How have elephants changed over time?

[A young woman looks at a panel with highlighting a skull model and a picture of a manatee. Text above reads “Unlikely relatives”.]

DECATUR: What are the relationships between other different types of species and elephants?

[A man points out a woolly mammoth model to a child.]

HALDERMAN: I think people have no idea how many-

[A man and woman read panels in a section of the exhibition titled “Evolution”.]

HALDERMAN: -extinct elephant relatives there are. They know mastodons-

[A man looks at a case with elephant bones inside. Text on the panel behind says “Mastodon vs. Mammoth".]

HALDERMAN: and mammoths, but boy-

[A group of visitors gather around a glass display with bones.]

HALDERMAN: is there a huge amount of diversity.

[Ross Macphee stands in front of a Savannah elephant model.]

MACPHEE: Can you imagine in your mind's eye a fully adult elephant that only weighs say, 400 or 500 pounds?

[A model of a dwarf elephant and its calf. A cast skull is behind it.]

MACPHEE: Can you imagine that same very small elephant having babies that would be the size of a very large cat? That's what we're looking at here-

[A family of four looks in amazement at a cast skull of a dwarf elephant.]

MACPHEE: -a dwarf elephant from the island of Sicily that used to live there-

[Closeup on the head of a model of a dwarf elephant.]

MACPHEE: -several hundred thousand years ago.

[An animation of bones and inner organs is projected onto the side of an African savannah elephant model.]

DECATUR: As a newcomer to AMNH, something that has been-

[A man and a woman watch as a child plays with an interactive infographic projected on a wall about elephant and human relationships.]

DECATUR: -very exciting for me to see is how-

[A model of a woolly mammoth shedding its winter coat.]

DECATUR: -collaborations between-

[A touchable model of an elephant tusk.]

DECATUR: -artists and engineers and designers and scientists-

[An animation of an elephant’s gestation period is projected onto the side of an African savannah elephant model.]

DECATUR: -and conservation experts-

[A woman walks past a wall panel titled “Protecting Elephants”.]

DECATUR: -can result in a comprehensive-

[A child turns a wheel that’s part of a light-up interactive. A label nearby reads “How the ears cool the body”.]

DECATUR: -dynamic exhibit.

[Brett Peterson stands in front of a screen with a mini-game.]

BRETT PETERSON (Director of Media and Interactives): I think a lot of people know that elephants are smart but we really wanted to highlight these complex social behaviors between elephants-

[A woman and a group of young girls stand playing at two game stations.]

PETERSON: -and how they interact with each other.

[A group plays a pop quiz. They all smile after guessing the answer.]

MACPHEE: Communication is everything. They spend a lot of time interacting with each other by sound, by touch, by gesture with their trunks.

[A trio of kids stand at another game station.]

PETERSON: This piece in particular, “Can You Speak Elephant?”, is an opportunity to explore that.

[A man and a young boy start a mini-game. A collage of elephant photos are on a screen that says “Can You Speak Elephant?”.]

PETERSON: You can see different elephant behaviors and learn about them and try to guess what they're doing in their own environments.

[A few visitors sit while watching a film.]

HALDERMAN: The exhibition has a film called Shaba that's about an organization in Kenya in which local communities-

[Caretakers feed a bottle to a baby elephant.]

HALDERMAN: -adopt orphaned elephants-

[A caretaker examines the bottom of a baby elephant’s foot.]

HALDERMAN: -raise them, and rewild them. It's not only amazing work-

[Baby elephants run playfully across a field.]

HALDERMAN: -but it's so heartwarming and it's good for both the elephants and-

[A woman presses her forehead against that of a baby elephant after feeding it.]

[PLAYFUL MUSIC BUILDS UP]

HALDERMAN: -the local Samburu women who do the work.

[A group of teens gather to look over a fence.]

[A caretaker calls to a baby elephant that comes running to her and latches onto the feeding bottle being held out.]

DECATUR: This exhibit addresses ways in which elephants are being threatened in their natural habitats and how-

[Sean Decatur stands in front of a Savannah elephant model.]

DECATUR: -human interactions with elephants are negatively impinging on the survival of elephants. And so, we hope visitors take away new insights into the science but also take away a deeper understanding to the importance of conservation, to the survival of elephants.

[MUSIC DRIFTS OFF]

[Credits roll.

The Secret World of Elephants is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org).]