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A-Z-Animals
Can Elephants Jump?
By Krishna Maxwell,
4 days ago
Can elephants jump? Perhaps you’ve heard the rumor that elephants are the only animals that can’t jump. Is it true? In cartoons, we often see elephants “jumping” in fear when startled by a mouse . Let’s learn the facts on whether such scenes are truth or fiction.
Can Elephants Jump?
No, elephants cannot jump. Elephants have never been observed jumping, and their anatomy makes the ability to jump unlikely. Elephants can cover a lot of ground in a day, level buildings, and push trees over. They do not need to jump.
There are no scientific studies to date that examine the exact reasons why elephants can’t jump. According to John Hutchinson, professor of evolutionary biomechanics at London’s Royal Veterinary College, the reasons can be assumed to fall into the following categories:
Some doctors estimate that when you take a step, your knees absorb the force of 3 lbs of pressure for every 1 lb you weigh. If the same holds true for elephants, that means that a large African elephant could put 39,000 lbs of pressure on his knee joint if he were to jump!
In addition to the damage that jumping would cause to the joints, it takes a lot of strength to set 10,000 or more pounds of body weight into motion. While elephants are immensely strong, their muscles are designed to propel themselves forward not up.
Next, we’ll see if elephants’ leg muscles have what it takes.
A big beautiful African elephant in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.
When you jump, you employ many muscle groups – the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calf muscles.
What about elephants? Do their muscles have what it takes? In an interview with Live Science, Hutchinson, quoted earlier, said, “Animals that jump need really flexible ankles and really strong Achilles tendons and calf muscles, and elephants have really wimpy lower-leg muscles and not very flexible ankles.”
Since elephants don’t use their muscles for jumping, those muscles don’t develop the strength to be used in that way. But elephants are strong – they can push down trees and walk up to 50 miles in a day. They can run at speeds of 25 mph for short distances. That’s faster than most human athletes!
You’ll remember that the ankles were also mentioned. We’ll check them out next.
Inflexible Ankles
When you jump, your body bends at the hip, knee, and ankle. When you land, the flexion of these joints helps absorb the impact.
But elephant bodies aren’t built that way. Sure, they bend at the hip or shoulder and the knee to allow the animal to move around. But the ankles are designed for supporting the elephant’s weight. Compared to many mammals, the ankles don’t bend very much.
Additionally, the Smithsonian Magazine reported, “If you were to look at an elephant’s skeleton, you’ll see that they’re standing on their tippy-toes… all the bones are pointed straight down.” This design supports the animal’s weight while standing or walking, but cannot provide the “upwards spring from the feet” required for jumping.
Lack of Need
Another reason elephants don’t jump is that they don’t really need to jump. A primary reason that smaller animals jump is to escape danger. They employ flexibility and speed, such as jumping, to get away from predators. But elephants’ huge size, as well as their tusks and trunks, keep them safe from hungry carnivores.
An Asian elephant in the beautiful forest at Kanchanaburi province in Thailand.
If an elephant were to jump, the pressure on the knees and ankles could cause injuries. Elephants live a long time, often 50 to 70 years. Stress injuries from jumping would increase arthritis pain and affect mobility. This could shorten the elephant’s life by making it more difficult to migrate to find adequate food and water. If the animal tripped and fell to the ground while jumping, the injuries could be crippling.
Rather than risking injuries that could cut their lives short, elephants employ walking and sometimes running to get around.
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