Reaching as high as 13 feet tall and weighing in at a scale-torturing 15,000 pounds, the African Elephant makes basically every other animal look tiny by comparison.
Despite its enormous size, even the largest land animal on Earth can be humbled by conditions in Africa’s Namib Desert. This harsh environment is inarguably one of the most-unforgivingly arid environments on the planet, with annual rainfall of less than 3.5 inches. (That’s just 6% of the 55 inches of rain Chattanooga receives annually.)
The Tennessee Aquarium IMAX 3D Theater will begin daily screenings of a new release that explores the enormous residents of this most unlikely place – “Elephants: Giants of the Desert 3D” – Friday, May 9. The film focuses on the journey of a baby elephant named Little Foot and her herd as they employ time-tested strategies to survive in a landscape that seems set against them.
“The second we saw the location, we knew it was destined for the giant screen,” the filmmakers explain. “The landscape is so epic, wide, vast. It’s something a television can’t capture; you need to be in an arena that matches that world.”
Voiced by Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts, “Elephants 3D” showcases the intelligence and resilience of these towering mammals, whose instinctual behavior offers tremendous benefit to many species with which they share their desert home.
“Elephants are a keystone species in Africa – a species so important that if you take it out, the entire ecosystem could struggle to survive,” says Laura Roddy, the education manager at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee (TEST).
A 3,000-acre property in Hohenwald, the sanctuary serves as a “retirement community” for older elephants previously in human care. Currently, a dozen African and Asian Elephants live at TEST, where they exhibit the same natural behaviors seen in the giant-screen film, Roddy says.
“One of the roles of an elephant is pushing down large trees,” she says. “The elephants eat the greenery and things like that off of the pushed-down trees, but then the trees break down and become nutrient-rich soil.
“That gives space for grasses to grow that other animals on the savanna depend on, such as gazelles, zebras and antelopes, as well as predators that use them for cover.”
Elephants benefit their entire ecosystem, but “Elephants 3D” homes in on the most crucial resource relied upon by every elephant, from infants like Little Foot to the most-seasoned matriarchs: their family.
“People who have been interacting with elephants for thousands of years realize they’re not like other animals,” the filmmakers say. “They’re emotionally intelligent, more so probably than humans. They take good care of their elders and spend a lot of time nurturing and protecting each other.”
Audiences will follow Little Foot as she learns the ways of life in the desert from her family on a journey to a distant watering hole. Along the way, they will encounter a host of other animals living out their own unlikely lives in the Namib, from lions and giraffes to baboons and gazelles.
On Saturday, May 31, the IMAX 3D Theater will host a special screening of “Elephants 3D” for guests with sensory processing needs or sensitivity. This one-time, 2D presentation will offer an inclusive viewing environment through dimmed lighting and reduced volume.
Tickets for all screenings: tnaqua.org/imax/elephants