Elephants are incredible animals. Absolutely massive, intelligent, caring, and a million other things—they’re one of my favorite creatures on the planet. That might be why I was absolutely taken with the fact that Anjan, an elephant at the Chester Zoo, left a perfect print of his face in the sand after he’d laid down to take a nap. How amazing is this?!
- Anjan is a beloved member of the family at Chester Zoo. He joined them about two years ago and has been one of the zoo’s most popular residents ever since. And even though you can’t actually visit the zoo at the moment, the staff has been keeping followers up-to-date with what the animals are up to under lockdown, and Anjan did something particularly miraculous earlier this week.
- A perfect elephant face print is a pretty rare thing. While elephants always sleep on their sides for around four hours a night, their face prints are usually wiped away or disturbed in some way by the time anyone else might see them. That’s why this untouched imprint is even cooler!
- Seriously, this is basically a miracle. “Our zookeepers quite often come across imprints in the sand but rarely do they see them quite so intact and quite as perfect as this one of Anjan!” a Chester zoo rep told Unilad. “It’s quite remarkable really that none of the other elephants in the herd, or indeed Anjan himself, stepped on it and disturbed it before the zookeepers got to it the following morning.” What a gift!
- It looks like a work of art. The face print is so detailed that it almost looks like it could be a painting or drawing or some other work by a professional artist. The fact that this just naturally happened when the elephant got some sleep is incredible and one more reason I’m so in awe of nature.
