Are fast-moving elephants really running?

Despite their unseemly bulk, elephants can hit high speeds — but use an unusual style.

Abstract

It is generally thought that elephants do not run1,2,3,4,5, but there is confusion about how fast they can move across open terrain and what gait they use at top speed. Here we use video analysis to show that Asian elephants (Elephas maximus L.) can move at surprisingly high speeds of up to 6.8 m s−1 (25 km h−1) and that, although their gait might seem to be a walk even at this speed, some features of their locomotion conform to definitions of running.

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Hutchinson, J., Famini, D., Lair, R. et al. Are fast-moving elephants really running?. Nature 422, 493–494 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/422493a

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• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/422493a

This article is cited by

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• Research highlights

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