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Elephants mine cave walls for minerals at Mount Elgon

Original: 🐘 WATCH: In the pitch-black chambers of # MountElgon 's # Kitum Cave, African # savannah # elephants use their tusks to

African savannah elephants in Kitum Cave on Mount Elgon, Kenya, have been filmed using their tusks to scrape volcanic rock for sodium, calcium and magnesium. Generations of herds have hollowed out the cave's chambers in search of minerals unavailable in their normal diet, making the site one of the few places on Earth where elephants regularly venture deep underground.

Why now: Remarkable footage of a rare and unusual elephant behaviour, shared within a science-focused online community

African savannah elephantsKitum CaveMount ElgonKenya

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Evidence

• 🐘 WATCH: In the pitch-black chambers of # MountElgon 's # Kitum Cave, African # savannah # elephants use their tusks to scrape volcanic rock for # sodium , # calcium , and # magnesium . Generations of herds have hollowed out these deep mineral chambers, passing down an unusual… · tksst@fediscience.org · 18

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