According to popular myth, older elephants instinctively leave their group when they reach a certain age, and direct themselves toward a special area, known as the elephants' graveyard. They then die there alone, far from the group. In the academic fields of mythology, mythography, and folkloristics a myth is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to have their present form. ... Genera and Species Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Elephas recki † Stegodon † Mammuthus † Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of animals, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea. ...

According to a hypothesis devised by Rupert Sheldrake, this myth is actually half true. The legend arose from the fact that elephant skeletons are, in fact, frequently found in groups near permanent sources of water. Elephants suffering from malnutrition instinctively, says Sheldrake, seek out sources of water in the hopes of improving their condition. The elephants that do not improve develop increasingly low blood sugar and eventually become comatose and die, still in close proximity to the water (and to the remains of other malnourished elephants). Dr Rupert Sheldrake (born 1942) is a controversial British biologist and author. ...

Today it is used as a metaphor for any place, position, or station in life where one has basically reached the end, i.e., "out to pasture", "end of the line", "last roundup", etc.

Popular culture

The Disney animated film The Lion King featured a prominent scene in an elephant graveyard. The Walt Disney Company (most commonly known as Disney) (NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ... For the theatrical musical, see The Lion King (musical). ...

See also

• cemetery

Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. ...

External links

• The Elephant Debate - Contains information about the elephant graveyard myth.