Of all the impressive features of an elephant, its trunk is perhaps the most incredible. Basically an extremely long nose, the elephant’s trunk does far more than simply smell. The impressive nubs at the end of the elephant trunk allow the animal to pick up grass and many other kinds of vegetation. Incredibly, the trunk alone can also weigh up to 100 pounds. Additionally, elephants are able to use their trunks as a snorkel when submerging underwater.
Elephants also drink through their trunks, thus serving as an adaptive straw, which allows the elephant to drink water from ponds far below, or, as the young elephant in the above image adorably demonstrates, from a man-made fountain. To tell the difference between the African elephant and the Asian elephant, one can even use the trunk as a means of comparing the two elephant species. Indeed, while the tip of an African elephant’s trunk contains two fingers or ‘lips’, the trunk of the Asian elephant only possesses one.
Goliath the Elephant Seal
Taken back in 1936, in this photograph, we see a 4000-lb elephant seal receiving its snowy bath from his zookeeper handler at the Vincennes Zoo, Paris, France. At the time this photo was taken, this massive elephant seal—known famously as the two-ton elephant seal— was widely known as a local celebrity who charmed the French with his gigantic body and enormous appetite. It was reported that this carnivorous mammal can grow up to 20 feet and weigh up to 4.5 tons.
According to National Geographic, while once aggressively hunted for its oil, cruelty nearly led to the elephant seal’s extinction; fortunately, since becoming legally protected, this sea mammal’s populations have rebounded. In the year this image was shot, this mammal was the only one of his kind in the area.
A Young Martha Stewart Poses Alongside a Cow, 1964
While today, legendary cook Martha Stewart is known by many as television’s most famous home cooking icon, back in the early 1960s, a young Stewart was not a professional chef, but a professional model. This unlikely career began at age 15, during which time she modeled for distinguished modeling agency clients such as Chanel and Tareyton cigarettes.
In 2013, Stewart first shared the above photo, revealing that the image was not the result of a professional photo shoot, but in actuality a shot taken by former husband, Andrew Stewart. It is through this very picture that Stewart is able to glamorously depict Northeastern American farm living, an idea which inspired much of her homemaking astuteness.
The Elusive Ili Pika: the Ultimate Hide and Seek Champion
The below photograph captures perhaps the best hide-and-seeker of all time: the elusive Ili pika. An adorably small mammal with the appearance of a teddy-bear faced rabbit, this animal was first discovered in 1983, hidden among the Tian Shan mountains of northwestern China. Sadly, in the early ‘90s, this mysterious creature seemed to disappear completely off the face of the Earth.
Just when all hope was lost, in the summer of 2014, researchers finally rediscovered the pika (the very Ili pika in this picture, to be exact)! Found by none other than Weidong Li—the species' original discoverer - and his group of research volunteers, the very pika seen in the above photo was discovered after much pika searching in the Tianshan Mountains.
The Last Captured Moments of an Elderly Lion
In the below photo stands a weak elderly lion in his final hours. If anything, this sad photograph proves the ways of life in the jungle are often unkind, and absolute. Known as Skybed Scar, this lion made quite a name for himself in South Africa’s Kruger Park. Once the ruler over all — the ultimate king of the jungle — as this recent picture show, those days are now long gone.
Allegedly kicked out of his lion pride, unable to fend for himself in his weakened state, without the protection and food once provided to him by his family, Scar grew increasingly gaunt and thin.