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New Scientist recommends: The Secret World of Elephants in New York

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

Uniquely depicted in the process of shedding its winter coat, the full-scale model of a wooly mammoth???one of the most iconic extinct elephant relatives???was made onsite by the Museum???s Exhibition team with input from leading paleomammalogists. Alvaro Keding/?? AMNH

New York’s American Museum of Natural History is fond of giants, from its colossal blue whale model to a towering stegosaurus skeleton. Its latest exhibition, , celebrates the power of modern and ancient pachyderms.

Turning up, I was greeted by a full-size model of a woolly mammoth shedding its winter coat (pictured above), and I poked at melon-sized replicas of elephant poo while learning how these animals process 100 kilograms of food a day.

Interactive panels let visitors probe the lives of elephants, from their key role in ecosystems to the deep social relationships they forge. To my surprise, I discovered that they use low, rumbling sounds to talk to each other through vibrations in the ground.

Following sobering details on the dangers wild elephants face, the exhibition points to new ways we can share the planet with them, from protecting wild spaces to reducing poaching.

Corryn Wetzel

Reporter

New York

Topics: Culture / Exhibition