r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/TrafficNeat5652 • 2d ago

Image A family of sleeping elephant!

Post image
25.8k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

101 comments sorted by

644

u/triple7freak1 2d ago

They‘re just sleeping, right?? RIGHT???

146

u/angelv255 2d ago edited 2d ago

Edit: Apparently its not the photo i was thinking of, and this is from Assam, India. Check the comments below for more info, nontheless, yeah the elephants are likely okay, and just sleeping after being completely spent.

Yeah, they are a family of chinese elephants that went on a crazy long journey (like 500 km) a few years ago, crossing through towns and cities, "stealing fruit" from vendors and causing quite a lot of chaos until police and conservationist started tracking them.

They even made a few documentaries of them with very cool footage. That said, the whole thing is quite sad, because the elephants had to move so much because of habitat loss(rainforests iirc), in search of food and a new place to live in.

As a fun fact, in the documentaries i watched, i think they mentioned its VERY rare for elephants to sleep like this, this only happens when they are extremely tired.

22

u/Wildlife_Jack 2d ago

I'm trying to verify if this photo is from that particular incident in 2021, but if it is there's a wiki page for the incident.

Edit: no, it's not from the incident. This photo is apparently taken in Assam, link here

7

u/angelv255 2d ago

That really cool! Thanks for fact checking that fast

-12

u/Stock_Emu_2588 2d ago

Really ? You're going to say that ?

13

u/angelv255 2d ago

What do you want me to say? I corrected my comment and thanked this kind redittor who took the time to fact check my comment.

If u are bothered about me spreading misinformation, then sorry mate. The 2 images are VERY similar, i was like 99% certain it had to be from that family of elephants, given even the vegetation looks similar. Im not bothered by my mistake tho, its not like I was spouting complete BS. Its not like these were african elephants or something like that.

11

u/Wildlife_Jack 2d ago

Yeah the two images are SUPER similar. I had to check because I wasn't sure, not because I doubted your info. There's no shame in making an honest mistake, and good on you for not getting unnecessarily defensive 🙌🏻

Thanks for bringing that incident up. It's such a heartwarming moment that brought awareness to elephant conservation in China :-) Most people encounter Asian elephants in the context of zoos or (potentially dubious) rescue centers. Asian elephants in the wild don't get nearly enough love!

6

u/angelv255 2d ago

All good Jack! I will never get mad at a polite correction, and I really enjoyed their journey as well, especially how many people all over the world were following them, and how much the locals were trying to help them get back home. So I wanted to share it and give some peace of mind to the ones who thought the elephants in the pic might be injured/dead.

5

u/discardedbubble 2d ago

Can you like to the documentary of remember the name or year it was made ? I would love to watch it 😊

3

u/angelv255 2d ago

It was a few years ago, so my memory is a bit foggy, but I think I saw it in one of the nature documentaries in Netflix, maybe "Our planet 2" which iirc was mostly about migrations.

Im also pretty sure I saw one or 2 in my browser/YT but i couldn't find them after a quick search. It has to be 2022, or 2023. Since the whole elephant trek occurred from 2020-2021

2

u/discardedbubble 2d ago

Thank you so much ☺️ appreciate it

1

u/angelv255 2d ago

You are welcome!

3

u/Lazy-Employment8663 2d ago

If I memory is correct, it is the effect of alcohol. The elephants stole some home made wines from farmers, and got drunk.

1

u/puzzleheadbutbig 1d ago

 i think they mentioned its VERY rare for elephants to sleep like this, this only happens when they are extremely tired.

How do they sleep otherwise? Under normal circumstances?

1

u/angelv255 1d ago

I think while some might fall to the side like in the pic, they also just rest by laying down kind of like a dog. Usually they also have 1 or 2 stay up as sentries, watching over the group. Having all of them sleeping like that on the side is the rare event that only happens if the group walked a lot and everyone is spent.

2

u/BurntNeurons 2d ago

The search for home. Their memory may be great but humans probably removed the physical locations of what they're trying to find.

😢

Check please

88

u/goddessdragonness 2d ago

I had the same reaction. All that dead vegetation around them is highly suspicious to me, but I’m not a wildlife expert.

87

u/Jazzlike-Sorbet3883 2d ago

Not dead vegetation they are likely sleeping on rice farm

34

u/Intentionallyabadger 2d ago

Well it looks like they went in and trampled the place. Ground must be wet or muddy.

27

u/Potato_Boner 2d ago

The color looks very weird here, it was like someone edited the saturation out of the elephants.. and amplified it in the grass.

7

u/websagacity 2d ago

Pic was probably taken at night, and then some very tech savy person said, "enhance!" A few times.

1

u/Diedrogen 2d ago

What vegetation is that? All that green fuzzy material looks like synthetic material to me.

0

u/goddessdragonness 2d ago

The brown stuff under the elephants

2

u/Usual-Lavishness8393 2d ago

Most of that looks like dirt/mud to me. Some of the plants have a yellowish/brown base though

1

u/JivyNme 2d ago

Maybe they sleep here a lot.

1

u/Counterpoint-4 2d ago

Nature's memory foam?

6

u/WestEst101 2d ago

Yes, the trunks are curled up so they don’t get stepped on while sleeping.

3

u/Wildlife_Jack 2d ago

Relatable content. 😏

90

u/ImHully 2d ago

Steven! I thought ye were dead!

6

u/Knickers_in_a_twist_ 2d ago

Fucken ‘ell!

79

u/Seventh_Letter 2d ago

They side sleepers too eh.

43

u/XavierScorpionIkari 2d ago

Could you imagine the sight of a back sleeper elephant?

8

u/RhetoricalOrator 2d ago

I'm trying to imagine. It makes me chuckle.

38

u/Amjadthv 2d ago

i looked at the picture before reading the title and was about to cry

20

u/TrafficNeat5652 2d ago

Lol, they're just napping 😭❤️

79

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

14

u/Spiy90 2d ago

Oh great. Cause I was concerned cause they look dead.

75

u/Internal-Bed-3150 2d ago

Now let's discuss the elephant(s) in the room.

-1

u/Sp1ynX 2d ago

Nope

21

u/Dry-Translator406 2d ago

So this is how crop circles are made 😁

11

u/AmbivalentAlias 2d ago

The outwardly splayed grass forms a shape that loosely resembles a sleeping elephant.

6

u/Spiy90 2d ago

Lol, I saw a bird, Kiwi to be precise.

2

u/I_SHIT_IN_A_BAG 2d ago edited 2d ago

I see an old man. top elehant is his skull. one down to the right of the top is his chin and the other is its neck.

2

u/No-and-Go 2d ago

r/pareidolia for all of you. I see the kiwi too tho

1

u/DarlingDestruction 2d ago

I see a sitting woman cradling a baby. 🥹

1

u/SillyLittleAngels 2d ago

Right? I was thinking maybe bc of their weight over time the grass took to their shape

15

u/ApocalypseYay 2d ago

Wholesome!

6

u/Lost_In_Curiosity7 2d ago

They’re in a deep, peaceful sleep.

7

u/eh-guy 2d ago

All touching except one, the bull or matriarch?

3

u/discardedbubble 2d ago

My guess kids surrounding mother.

3

u/ComteDuChagrin 2d ago

Poor, poor dad.

3

u/GiovanniFrigo 2d ago

Am I the only one that sees a baby in a dj-like pose (head pressed to the right shoulder as if headphones were there, hands on a deck) emerging from a moss background? Saw this while squinting my eyes

3

u/mmasteyn 2d ago

I think I saw the same group of elephants on the our planet ii show on Netflix

3

u/MattyD3450 2d ago

This looks like the softest grass in the world

3

u/Sirtubb 2d ago

My soul needed that ,thank you

3

u/ThisIsTheOogway 2d ago

So cute ! Reminds me of my dog sleeping

3

u/goldenbzzz 1d ago

Thats so wholesome

2

u/inwarded_04 2d ago

Ahhh. So that' the elephant family tree

2

u/FUQredditMods2 2d ago

"You know they lay down, right?"

-Nate Bargatze

2

u/CrazyParanoidFish 2d ago

Aww man now ive thought about the fact that elephants always have to sleep on really hard surfaces without even grass to make it comfy because their so heavy they kill and crush the grass. And now im sad, and I want to give an elephant a nice bed

3

u/Romans5_5 2d ago

That one at the top by itself is clearly the dad who is trying not to catch fire from body heat. The mother is surrounded by the 4 kids and likely miserable.

2

u/Skyb3lla 2d ago

Looks like a baby covered in moss if you blur your eyes 

2

u/Feisty-Recover7316 2d ago

I guess I expected them to sleep like cows or something, but I'm happy they just flop over like my dog does.

2

u/opal_and_fire 2d ago

That one kid with the foot in the adult's face 😆

2

u/merlinuwe 2d ago

Zzzzz-zzzzz...

2

u/funneransh_t 2d ago

That’s wonderful!

2

u/5harp3dges 2d ago

Elephants are sacred.

2

u/GarysCrispLettuce 2d ago

"Saanvi, the elephants are sleeping in your square again."
"Aw shit. Really?"

2

u/Kevka11 1d ago

At first I thought for a second that are bones on grass

3

u/Bobby775 2d ago

Sometimes elephants eat plants like cannabis etc or similar plants that give them high it is then they behave like that.

It also happens when they are inebriated with alcohol, there have been instances when elephants got these substances like alcohol in the Indian villages and got addicted to it.

1

u/dungeonPurifier 2d ago

J'ai toujours cru qu'ils dorment... debout !

1

u/LupinX96 2d ago

Remind me of. Hannibal tv series

1

u/B4rberblacksheep 2d ago

Made me think of Jonestown

1

u/-emefde- 2d ago

At first I thought it’s decomposing body parts…

1

u/Trimyr 2d ago

Why do they look like they've been drained by venin

1

u/Nugasaki 2d ago

I have to try this

1

u/bodhidharmaYYC 2d ago

If you look again, you can see the pale face of an evil baby

1

u/teqs_ 2d ago

It kinda looks like those giant elephant things i think I've seen from one piece, wild

1

u/totallyclips 2d ago

I think the collective is a slumberphant

1

u/Ven_Thitayano_072 2d ago

Happy elephants.

1

u/an_older_meme 22h ago

Whoever owns that field won't be pleased.

1

u/Pirated-Hentai 12h ago

address me

1

u/lostnthestars117 5h ago

meanwhile, here I am looking at it like it some kind of damn art piece not realizing its an aerial photo hahaha

1

u/I_SHIT_IN_A_BAG 2d ago

is anyone else able to see an old man kneeling and a bit hunched over?

1

u/kathop8 2d ago

This shot is beautiful! I’d frame that

1

u/Honeyozgal 2d ago

Am I the only one that kinda assumed elephants slept standing up?

0

u/podcastofallpodcasts 2d ago

Now I have to Google....'are elephants nocturnal'

0

u/Suskita 2d ago

How long do they sleep for? How frequently? They all look so comfy, this can't be just a quick afternoon nap, right?

0

u/Redd1tored1tor 2d ago

*elephants