The Secret World of Elephants

An African elephant with a herd behind it stands facing forward in savanna habitat with a cloudless sky above African elephant herd
© 2630ben/Shutterstock
Now open at AMNH. Tour begins in Fall 2025.

Elephants use tools, mourn their dead, and communicate across long distances through ground vibrations. They have incredible spatial memories and sensing abilities. They have been essential to humans in work and war, and revered in culture and religion. Their populations are in danger.

The Secret World of Elephants brings visitors into a previously unseen, fascinating world of elephants through life-size models, compelling stories, and enlightening interactives, revealing just how much we are still learning about these intriguing animals.

Six Museum visitors sit on benches next to the life-size African elephant model and view a projection of the elephant's skeleton on the model.
The exhibition features a life-size model of an African elephant—the largest living land animal. A video projection on one side of the African elephant model shows the skeleton of this massive mammal and provides an inside look at how it processes the huge amount of food it eats—about 300–500 pounds per day—and elephant gestation, which can last for nearly two years, longer than any other living mammal.
Alvaro Keding/© AMNH
A visitor holds a child who is pointing at the life-size models of an adult and calf pair of dwarf elephants.
In The Secret World of Elephants, visitors will encounter life-size models of an adult and calf pair of dwarf elephants (Palaeoloxodon falconeri). These extinct animals, which lived in what is now Sicily, only grew to about 4 feet tall at their shoulders.
Alvaro Keding/© AMNH
Three children crowd around the elephant poop interactive, as one of them slides a life-size poop model to reveal an image inside.
In The Secret World of Elephants, visitors can investigate the science of elephant poop through life-size replicas to find out how it provides key nutrients for plants and other animals and helps expand plant ranges by transporting seeds.
Alvaro Keding/© AMNH
Two visitors stand in front of a Ganesh figure, a Hindu god with an elephant head and human-like body, in a dancing pose.
Elephants are powerful religious and political symbols across cultures. For example, the Hindu god Ganesh, known as the remover of obstacles, has an elephant’s head and a human-like body.
Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Key Questions

  • How did elephants evolve, and who are their closest relatives?
  • What unique adaptations help elephants survive?
  • How are elephant and human behaviors similar?
  • What role do elephants play in human cultures, and how can we help in their conservation?

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