Whales are the largest animals to ever exist on this Earth, outweighing even the dinosaurs. These titans roam the oceans in search of food, but that wasn't always the case. Millions of years ago they used to be land dwellers. Here is how whales ended up becoming the biggest of them all.  Following is a transcript of the video.

Whales are the biggest animals of all time. Heavier than elephants, wooly mammoths, and even dinosaurs!

But they weren’t always the titans of the sea. Let’s rewind the clock around 50 million years. No, you won’t find any whales here. You have to go ashore. Meet Pakicetus. The very first whale.

Life on Earth spent millions of years clawing its way out of the oceans. But whales took all that effort and threw it out the window. From 50 to 40 million years ago they traded in their four legs for flippers. In fact, some whales today still have leftover bones of hind legs!

Once submerged, their weight under gravity no longer mattered so they could theoretically grow to enormous proportions. And they did. Today, a blue whale is 10 THOUSAND times more massive than the Pakicetus was.

But this transformation wasn’t as gradual as you might think. In fact, over the next 37 million years or so whales grew increasingly diverse but their size remained small. And were only 18 feet long. Making them easy prey for predators, like giant sharks.

It wasn’t until around 3 million years ago that an ice age tipped the scales in the whales’ favor. Ocean temperatures and currents shifted sparking concentrated swarms of plankton and plankton-seeking krill. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet for the baleen whales, who grew larger as a result. And the larger they became, the farther they could travel in search of more food to grow even more. You can probably see where this is going.

3 million years later, humpbacks, for example, have one of the longest migrations of any mammal on Earth, traveling over 5,000 miles each year. As a result, modern whales are the largest they’ve ever been in history.

Take the biggest of the bunch the blue whale. It weighs more than a Boeing 757. Has a belly button the size of a plate. And its network of blood vessels, if you laid them out in a line, could stretch from Pluto to the sun and back over two and a half times!

In fact, the largest blue whales are so huge that scientists think they may have hit a physical limit. When they open their wide mouths to feed they engulf enough water to fill a large living room. So it can take as long as 10 seconds to close them again.

Scientists estimate once a whale is 110 feet long it can’t close its mouth fast enough before prey escapes. So it’s possible we’re living amongst the largest animal that will ever exist. Lucky for us, they mostly just eat krill.

This was made in large part thanks to Nick Pyenson and the information in his new book, “Spying on Whales.”

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While Elephant Appreciation Day is September 22, it doesn't mean that we can't celebrate these gentle giants every other day of the year.

Elephants are some of the smartest and most compassionate animals on the planet, and they're always a big draw at the zoo — but how much do you really know about them?

From their five-inch eyelashes to their 22-month pregnancies, here are 18 things you probably never knew about elephants.

An elephant's trunk weighs 400 pounds — but can pick up things as small as a single grain of rice.

Source: Balipara Foundation

Elephants can recognize themselves in the mirror. They join humans, apes, and dolphins as the only animals with self-awareness.

Source: LiveScience

They are afraid of bees. Farmers even use beehives to deter elephants from coming onto their land.

Source: The New York Times

On a recent trip to Sri Lanka, I had the opportunity to take in the country's stunning national parks.

While it doesn't boast Africa's famous Big Five, Sri Lanka's Big Four (leopards, elephants, sloth bears, and blue whales) are becoming an increasing draw for nature tourists from around the world.

In the last year alone, travel search engine Kayak told Business Insider it has seen a 30% increase in searches for Sri Lanka.

The country's capital, Colombo, has also been pipped for a $1.4 billion renovation, which would put it on the scale of Dubai or Hong Kong.

After going on a river safari in Gal Oya National Park and a jeep drive through Kumana National Park, I'm convinced that Sri Lanka is going to be Asia's next big leisure destination.

While the experience I had was better than I could have hoped, there were a number of things I wish I'd known before going on safari for the first time.

Scroll down to see the mistakes I made — so you don't have to.

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1. You'll need binoculars.

My girlfriend and I were lucky enough to see a leopard from a few feet away, but you're unlikely to see everything you want from this distance.

While your safari company will probably have binoculars you can borrow — ours, Jetwing Surf, luckily did — it's worth checking with your tour operator beforehand so you're not left squinting into the distance.

2. You have to watch out for elephants on the road.

You don't have to be on the safari trail to see elephants in Sri Lanka.

In fact, the closest you get to these grey giants might just be on the highways, where they're often seen interrupting traffic.

Our guide told us that smaller vehicles wait for the animals to pass as they're unpredictable and sometimes cause accidents on the country's roads.

3. It gets really, really hot.

Sri Lanka is a land of microclimates.

You might be chilling in 60-degree heat in the country's central highlands one day, then a three-hour drive to the east coast the next will take you into temperatures topping 100.

Make sure to pack plenty of sunscreen, especially if you're considering a river safari like we did with Gal Oya Lodge, where there's no escape from the oppressive sun.

• Over time, many animals have adapted to their environments to avoid danger and natural predators.
• It appears elephants have begun to adapt to being hunted by poachers for their tusks.
• Currently, almost a third of the female elephant population in Mozambique does not have tusks.

Many animals really are masters of disguise, polar bears and arctic foxes being great examples. Both have adapted to blend into their surroundings as a response to predators.

However many animals have even more to worry about than being hunted out by other natural predators, as they're also hunted by humans — and as the elephant is seriously threatened by poachers, it seems they're adapting too.

Some believe ivory to have mysterious healing powers

Elephants are hunted and slaughtered for their ivory, with poachers often shooting at elephants from helicopters or small planes, allowing the elephants very little chance of defending themselves or escaping.

Read more: Global warming is making oceans so acidic, they may reach the pH they were 14 million years ago

The elephants are targeted for their tusks, which are said by some to have "restorative" or healing powers.

Despite having imposed a ban in late 2017, China is one of the nations where ivory is still more sought-after — and sometimes worth more — than gold. Ground and ingested, it's touted not only as being a cure for numerous diseases, but also as a way of increasing virility, strength, and fertility.

Regardless of the fact that there's no scientific basis to back the use of powdered ivory in Western medicine, elephants' tusks are still traded for a considerable amount of money in many parts of Africa and Asia.

However, it seems "Mother Nature" is fighting back with a weapon of her own — evolution. As a recent piece published in National Geographic outlined, natural selection appears to be favoring elephants born without tusks.

Elephants are evolving new adaptations to poaching

According to National Geographic, scientists in Mozambique are now racing to get to grips with the genetics of elephants born without tusks, as well as the outcome of the trait.

Previously, between 2% and 4% of all the female elephants in Mozambique had no tusks but that figure has now soared to almost a third of the female elephant population.

Elephant behavior expert and National Geographic Explorer, Joyce Poole, explained that poaching has a clear influence on elephants — not only in terms of their population size but also in terms of evolution.

Hunting has given elephants that didn't grow tusks a biological advantage in Gorongosa, as Poole explained, because poachers focus on elephants with tusks and spare those without.

By the the early 2000s, 98% of the approximately two hundred female elephants had no tusks. As scientists write, this is clear evidence of the pressure from hunting and how it can now affect a population leading to incredible evolutionary adaptations.

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• Elephant tourism is widespread in Asia, from elephant tours and zoos to circuses and street performances.
• Often-unwitting tourists help perpetuate the industry, which campaigners say is still tainted by cruelty.
• Baby elephants are often separated from their mothers at a young age and subjected to a process referred to as "elephant crushing," or breaking the baby's spirit.
• This involves a series of barbaric measures carried out across several weeks, including keeping them in small cages, tying their feet with ropes, and repeatedly beating them with bullhooks.

Rows of elephants chained up in cramped stables, saddles resting heavy on their backs. Mahouts — trainers — standing close by, clutching sharp bull hooks. Nearby, groups of tourists wait to mount the beasts ahead of an exhausting trek through jungle.

This is a common sight across Asia. It is also one that organisations promoting the ethical treatment of elephants are trying to stamp out through a series of initiatives.

One such initiative — the inaugural Elephant Travel Mart, organised by the Save Elephant Foundation and Asian Elephant Projects — took place this month in Chiang Mai, Thailand's elephant capital, and brought together operators of ethical elephant tours and tour agencies.

"Elephant tourism in Asia has traditionally relied on elephants being used for riding, street begging and performing demeaning tricks for tourists," says Ry Emmerson, projects director at the Save Elephant Foundation. "Visitors to Asia should understand that behind the scenes, the elephants are suffering at many camps and circuses."

When we speak, Emmerson has just returned from a five-day mission in remote northern Thailand, where he helped a wild baby elephant who had lost his herd and needed urgent medical care.

He explains that elephant tourism is widespread in the region, from elephant tours and zoos to circuses and street performances in which the animals perform tricks and paint pictures.

Often-unwitting tourists help perpetuate the industry, which campaigners say is still tainted by cruelty, despite efforts to bring about change.

"Tourists need to know that elephant riding and performing tricks comes at a high price for the elephants in terms of their suffering," Emmerson says.

Baby elephants are often separated from their mothers at a young age and subjected to a process referred to as "elephant crushing," or breaking the baby's spirit.

This involves a series of barbaric measures carried out across several weeks, including keeping them in small cages, tying their feet with ropes, and repeatedly beating them with bullhooks.

Once the elephant is broken, its dedicated mahout releases it and offers it food and water, becoming its "saviour." Violence and the threat of it continues to be used throughout the elephant's life.

Elephants are often mistreated, Emmerson says, with bull hooks and other sharp objects used to coerce the animals into performing. They are also commonly kept on short chains in the sun, with little food or water.

Constantly carrying the weight of tourists takes its toll on their spines over time, and not allowing these intelligent animals to socialise, play in water, roll in mud, and amble through the jungle also causes mental stress.

"Most elephants suffer from both physical and psychological injuries as a result of this daily trauma," Emmerson says. "Traditional forms of elephant tourism such as riding and shows continue to be funded by tourists who do not know the dark truth behind these practices.

"We believe education is the key to changing the future of elephant tourism across Asia."

Tourists are being encouraged to play their part in the overhaul. Emmerson recommends doing research before visiting an elephant attraction by reading newspaper articles and checking independent reviews and photographs posted online by visitors and elephant tourism operators.

It is also advisable to check with tour operators what sort of elephant activities are planned, whether bull hooks or other objects are used, and group sizes — intimate tours are better for the elephants.

Emmerson also urges visitors who witness cruel practices while on a tour to post online reviews and social media comments to help others avoid them.

"Travellers have the power to influence positive change for elephants in captivity by withdrawing their support from elephant tour operators offering elephant riding and shows," Emmerson says. "This sends a strong message that these traditional forms of elephant tourism are no longer considered acceptable.

"When demand for elephant riding and performances is diminished, the widespread transition to a more compassionate form of elephant tourism is inevitable."

Elephant Travel Mart, which took place at the Khum Kan Toke cultural venue in Chiang Mai, is the brainchild of Sangduen Chailert, founder of the Save Elephant Foundation. Its aim is to raise awareness of the plight of the Asian elephant while supporting ecotourism initiatives to protect the species.

Award-winning conservationist Chailert, also known as Lek, has dedicated her life to saving Thailand's elephants. Her tireless work was the focus of the critically acclaimed documentary Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story, which was released in April 2018.

An eco start-up in Laos that is doing elephant tourism right

"The success of this event holds the potential to positively impact the welfare of elephants in Thailand, protect and improve the environment, and provide support to local communities," Chailert says.

For information on recommended ethical elephant programmes in Asia, visit Asian Elephant Projects

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• Berlin delivers unwanted Christmas trees to one of its zoso as a once-a-year treat for the animals. 
• The zoo takes only fresh, unsold trees from selected vendors. 
• The elephants eat the trees themselves. Monkeys and tigers get the trees decorated with food. 

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin's unwanted Christmas trees have ended their days as a festive snack for zoo elephants and stocking fillers for some of their fellow residents.

The once-a-year treats arrived Friday at the Tierpark, one of the German capital's two zoos.

The zoo takes only fresh, unsold trees from selected vendors. It doesn't accept trees from the public, which could contain chemicals or leftover decorations.

The elephants eat the trees themselves. Monkeys are presented with trees decorated with vegetables, and tigers get meat decorations.

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• Elephant trunks are some of the most impressive noses in the animal kingdom.
• Trunks are organs called muscular hydrostats and they contain around 40,000 muscles that contract and expand to create intricate movements.  
• Elephants have a stronger sense of smell than any other animal scientists have studied, and can even sniff out landmines in Africa.
• Watch the video above to find out what's inside an elephant's amazing trunk.

What if you could use your nose to snorkel, or uproot a small tree, or smell water from several miles away? Well, elephants wouldn't be that impressed. They do it on the daily, thanks to what's inside their trunk.

If you were to dissect an elephant trunk, it would actually look more like the inside of your tongue than your nose. Trunks, tongues, and even octopus arms are unique organs called muscular hydrostats. That means they're made almost entirely of muscle, and an elephant's trunk has a lot of them, about 40,000, compared to around 650 muscles in the entire human body. Normally, muscles depend on bones and joints to move and exert force.

When we pick up a dumbbell, for example, our bicep pulls on our forearm bones and that causes them to swing up around our elbow joint. But in an elephant trunk, there are no bones to pull and no joints to hinge on. The muscles take on that role instead. This makes trunks incredibly flexible so they can move in all directions. And all those muscles mean they're powerful enough to lift hundreds of pounds, yet delicate enough to pick up a tortilla chip without even cracking it.

But while trunks may be structured like a tongue and function like an arm, they are, in fact, a nose, and an exceptional one. An animal's sense of smell is linked to the number of olfactory receptor genes it has. And elephants, well, they have a lot of them, nearly 2,000 — more than any other animal we know of. Bloodhounds, for example, only have about 800 while humans have even fewer. In fact, an elephant's nose is so good it can actually sniff out bombs. People have reported that African elephants avoid land mines in Angola and in 2015, researchers put it to the test. Elephants were presented with a lineup of buckets filled with different smells, including TNT, the main ingredient in land mines. Out of 97 TNT samples, elephants detected all but one.

Of course, their trunks didn't evolve as bomb detectors. They use their nose like we use our eyes, to find food and water, to avoid predators, and to map out other elephants nearby. That's like walking into a family reunion with your eyes closed and knowing exactly where everyone is. But if you can believe it, there are even more tricks up their, trunks. When elephants traverse deep rivers, for example, they curve their trunk into a snorkel, and when bathing, they can use it as a hose, or more like a fire hose. With one suck, a trunk can pull in as much as 10 liters of water.

And the trunk's impressive abilities haven't gone unnoticed. In fact, if you stick a mirror in front of an elephant, one of their favorite activities is to open their mouth and check out their trunks. Let's admit it, if you had a nose like that, you would do the exact same thing.

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• The government in Botswana is considering lifting the ban on big game hunting to combat what officials believe is a growing conflict between humans and wildlife. 
• The chair of a committee appointed by President Mokgweetsi Masisi also suggested "regular but limited" elephant culling. 
• Conservationists estimate Botswana has around 130,000 elephants, but officials believe that number is much higher. 

GABORONE (Reuters) - Botswana, home to almost a third of Africa’s elephants, is considering lifting a ban on big game hunting, to combat what the government says is growing conflict between humans and wildlife.

Conservationists estimate the southern African country has around 130,000 elephants, but some lawmakers say it is much higher and causes problems for small-scale farmers.

A committee appointed by President Mokgweetsi Masisi to review the 2014 hunting ban handed a report on the matter to Masisi late on Thursday.

"We recommend ... a legal framework that will enable the growth of a safari hunting industry and manage the country’s elephant population within the historic range," said Frans Van Der Westhuizen who chaired the committee that also called for "regular but limited" elephant culling.

Read more: African elephants are evolving to not grow tusks because of poachers

Masisi set up the committee in June 2018 to consider the ban imposed by former president Ian Khama after surveys showed declining wildlife populations in the north.

Botswana, the size of France and mostly arid, has a population of around 2.3 million people and vast tracts of remote wilderness that make it a magnet for foreign tourists who want to view wildlife.

Masisi said he would present the report to his cabinet before making a decision.

(Reporting by Brian Benza; editing by Emma Rumney and Robin Pomeroy)

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• The last photos of one of Africa's great "tusker" elephants have just been released.
• The photos were taken by British photographer Will Burrard-Lucas, who last month photographed a rare African black leopard for the first time in more than 100 years.
• The elephant, named F_MU1 and whom Burrard-Lucas called the Elephant Queen, died of natural causes shortly after Burrard-Lucas photographed her.
• It's estimated that there are fewer than 20 tusker elephants, which are often hunted by poachers because of their long tusks, left.

In February, a rare African black leopard was photographed for the first time in more than 100 years.

Read more:A wild African black leopard has been photographed for the first time in more than 100 years

The photographer who captured the images, Will Burrard-Lucas, seems to have a knack for spotting creatures of this ilk. He's just released another series, this time of a majestic "tusker" elephant, of which there are thought to be fewer than 20 left on Earth.

The Elephant Queen, as Burrard-Lucas called her, died soon after he took the photos. She was known by the code F_MU1 and lived in the Tsavo region of Kenya.

African elephants are referred to as "tuskers" or "big tuskers" when they have tusks long enough to reach the ground. There are so few left because ivory poachers target them for their valuable tusks.

"Super tuskers are very rare these days, precisely because their big tusks makes them prime targets for trophy hunters," Mark Jones from the Born Free wildlife charity told the BBC.

"Because these animals are all too often taken out before they have reached their reproductive prime, super-tusker genes are being bred out of elephant populations, and we could very well be seeing the last of them."

Just two years ago, poachers killed a 50-year-old tusker elephant living in the same region.

It is remarkable then that this elephant lived to be over 60 and died of natural causes.

"She had survived through periods of terrible poaching and it was a victory that her life was not ended prematurely by a snare, bullet or poisoned arrow,"Burrard-Lucas wrote in a blog post.

"If there were a Queen of Elephants, it would surely have been her."

In collaboration with wildlife-conservation organization Tsavo Trust and Kenya Wildlife Service, Burrard-Lucas was able to track down the elephant after several days of searching with a car and spotter plane.

Burrard-Lucas used his self-developed, remote-controlled BeetleCam to get close-up pictures of the elephant.

"I looked down at the live view on my wireless monitor and had to pinch myself," he wrote.

"It was a feeling of privilege and euphoria that will stay with me forever."

Burrard-Lucas will publish images of F_MU1 and other tuskers in his book "Land of Giants," coming out on March 20.

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• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Instagram account posted a never-before-seen photo of their trip to Botswana in August 2017.
• The photo shows the couple equipping a sedated elephant with a satellite collar.
• According to the caption, the satellite collar helps conservationists protect the elephants from being poached for their ivory tusks.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry surprised everyone when they launched their own Instagram account on Tuesday. The account's latest post suggests that their page will feature some exclusive photos. 

The Sussex Royal account posted a photo set on Thursday after Harry attended the "Our Planet" premiere at London's Natural History Museum. The fourth photo included is a rare look at their time together before announcing their engagement.

The photo shows Markle and Harry during a trip to Botswana in August 2017, three months before they announced their engagement in November 2017. The couple made the trip to assist the non-profit charity Elephants Without Borders in equipping elephants with satellite collars to protect them from being poached for their ivory tusks.

"Approximately 100 elephants are poached/killed every day for their ivory tusks," the caption of the Instagram post reads. "Using satellite technology allows conservationists to track their critical migratory patterns and to protect them and the local communities from human wildlife conflict."

The caption goes on to explain that the elephant was sedated for 10 minutes during the process, but was quickly up and back with its herd afterwards.

"Tracking his movements has allowed conservationists to better protect him and other elephants and ensure heightened protection for these beautiful creatures moving forward," the caption reads.

The royal couple previously shared an unreleased photo of their trip to Fiji on Tuesday, so it looks like their Instagram could soon be full of exclusive and personal moments.

Read more:Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first Instagram post included a magical never-before-seen photo from their trip to Fiji

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• A suspected rhino poacher was trampled by an elephant while he was in a nature preserve in South Africa on Tuesday, officials told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• A search for his remains in Kruger National Park uncovered a human skull.
• It is believed that his remains were eaten by lions.
• Four others have been arrested in connection to the incident, as it is illegal to enter the park.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

A rhino poacher was trampled by an elephant while in a preserve in South Africa on Tuesday, officials told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday.

It is believed that a group of hunters entered Kruger National Park on Tuesday while rhino hunting. The other members of the hunting party notified the man's family of the incident on Tuesday night, per the statement.

On Thursday, rescuers recovered a human skull and pair of pants. It is believed that the hunter's remains were eaten by lions after being trampled, the AJC reported.

Four hunters were arrested in connection to the incident on Wednesday, as it is illegal to enter Kruger National Park.

"Entering Kruger National Park illegally and on foot is not wise, it holds many dangers and this incident is evidence of that," Glenn Phillips, the preserve's manager, told the Letaba Herald. "It is very sad to see the daughters of the deceased mourning the loss of their father, and worse still, only being able to recover very little of his remains."

In a press release, park officials extended condolences to the family of the man, who has not been identified.

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The rhino, which is critically endangered, is sought after for its horn. The black rhino is one of the world's most endangered species.

The park is home to hundreds of black rhinos, and to thousands of white rhinos, which also are at risk for poaching, CNN reported.

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• On Tuesday, Kim Kardashian West took to Instagram to share four throwback photos from a previous vacation in Bali.
• Each photo showed Kardashian, along with her husband Kanye West, posing alongside an elephant. In the caption, she described the Mason Elephant Park and Lodge as an "amazing elephant sanctuary."
• Instagram users are now urging the star to delete her photos, as many believe the sanctuary is not a safe space for the wild elephants.
• According to a 2018 report from World Animal Protection, Bali doesn't have any wild elephant populations; instead, they are commonly transported from elsewhere, and go through a "breaking-in" period when they arrive.
• During the "breaking-in" process, elephants are typically restrained so that they can only move when commanded by a caretaker and sanctuary workers are said to inflict pain on the animals.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Kim Kardashian West is facing backlash after posting photos to Instagram that show her posing with an elephant.

In her post from Tuesday, the reality television star shared images from a previous trip to Bali, where she and her husband Kanye West visited elephants at the Mason Elephant Park and Lodge. 

In the caption of her photos, Kardashian West wrote that she is "missing Bali," as well as the "the amazing elephant sanctuary."

People on social media were quick to criticize the star for sharing images of wild animals in captivity

On Instagram, some said the sanctuary is "fake" and "tortures" its animals.

"This is so fake and cruel," one person wrote on Instagram. 

"This is not an animal sanctuary!" another Instagram user said. "These beautiful, intelligent animals are forcefully removed from their homes and families not for their 'protection' or 'safety,' but so you and thousands of (aware and unaware) tourists can come and get a picture."

Someone else called the photos "horrible," adding: "This made my heart hurt. I am praying that one day all of this torture of helpless animals is stopped."

Others on Twitter pointed out that elephants who live in sanctuaries aren't typically ridden by staff members or visitors.

Read more: Miley Cyrus is being criticized for posing in a 'delicate' Joshua tree for a photo

Kardashian West has visited elephants in Bali multiple times

On April 18, Mason Adventures, the company that owns the Mason Elephant Park & Lodge, shared an image of the Wests on Instagram. In the caption of the photo, representatives for the company said Kardashian West visited the park in 2018 and returned with her husband in April.

Earlier in November 2018, Kardashian West faced backlash when photos emerged of her riding elephants in Bali while wearing a bikini. At the time, many on Twitter described her actions as "ignorant."

Kardashian West responded to the criticism in 2018, and said that if elephants had not been brought to the sanctuary from Sumatra, they "would have otherwise gone extinct."

The earliest images of Kardashian West's interactions with elephants appear to be from an early episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," which fans recently shared on Twitter.

Wild elephants do not naturally live in Bali

According to a 2018 report from World Animal Protection, wild elephants do not originate from Bali. Instead, they are commonly transported from Sumatra to sanctuaries in Bali in attempts to attract tourists.

As wild animals, elephants do not typically interact with humans on their own. In order to train the animals for rides and shows, captive elephants at sanctuaries in Bali first go through a "breaking-in" process, according to World Animal Protection.

During the "breaking-in" process, elephants are said to be restrained so that they can only move when commanded by a caretaker. Sanctuary workers are also said to inflict pain on the animals using bullhooks to prove their dominance and break the elephants' spirits, according to World Animal Protection. 

Representatives for Kim Kardashian West and Mason Adventures did not immediately reply to INSIDER's requests for comment.

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• In Myanmar, elephants have worked in the timber-logging industry since the 1800s, but thousands are retiring.
• Government elephant camps around the country are now working to figure out what to do with the aging animals, since releasing them into the wild comes with many challenges.
• I recently visited one of the country's private elephant nursing homes, and was amazed at what goes into the creatures' daily care.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In Myanmar, elephants are hardworking lumberjacks.

Burmese Asian elephants have been timber loggers in the country for hundreds of years. They help lug teak wood out of the dense forests that cloak roughly half of Myanmar in verdant canopies.

It's been an important job, since Myanmar is home to the world's largest natural teak forests, and was recently considered the number one teak producer in the world by the United Nations. But that's changing: Wrestling with one of the worst deforestation rates in the world, Myanmar banned all raw timber exports in 2014. Domestic logging was drastically reduced. Then in 2016, the government put a one-year ban on logging altogether, though that restriction has been eased in some parts the country.

Still, Myanmar's once ubiquitous logging elephants are largely off the job now, and the transition hasn't been easy. Government camps are struggling to find new things for the captive elephants to do, and many of the animals are putting on extra weight in retirement and desperate for sex, as The New York Times reported in 2016.

I recently visited one of Myanmar's only private elephant nursing homes, called Green Hill Valley. The elephant camp, which opened in 2011, is located in the hills of south-central Myanmar, just over 100 miles from the Thai border. It's home to eight elephants and their caregivers, and funded by visits from tourists.

The elephants that call the camp home range in age from 11 to 69. Some are there because they're orphans, others have injuries that make it difficult for them to do labor, and the eldest are retirees who've aged out of logging work.

Here's what it was like to spend a day up close and personal with the pachyderms.

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Elephants have been logging teak wood in Myanmar since at least the 1800s.

Source: British Library, Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE)

Today, roughly 5,000 captive elephants remain in Myanmar, the largest population of its kind in the world. Most live in government camps, where they either work as loggers or are transitioning to entertaining tourists. It's estimated that another 1,500 wild Asian elephants roam the country's forests.

Source: Nature Communications

The animals can be better lumberjacks than machines: Elephants are nimble when it comes to navigating dense forests, and they create less pollution than machinery.

Source: United Nations FAO

Logging elephants in Myanmar retire when they're between 55 and 60 years old — roughly the same age as people do, since elephants and humans have similar lifespans.

Once they're retired, the captive elephants still get cared for by veterinarians and handlers, but they don't do any more daily chores.

Since 2011, the Green Hill Valley camp has offered a sanctuary for retired and injured elephants.

Until I visited the camp recently, I'd never seen an elephant outside cages at the zoo. The staff told me to put on a sun hat and assigned me a guide.

The elephants who live at Green Valley each have their own dedicated handler, called a "mahout."

Many mahouts are from the Kayin tribe, an ethnic group of roughly 2 to 5 million people who traditionally hail from the southeast corner of Myanmar.

The relationship between a mahout and his or her elephant is like a marriage, camp workers told me. Mahouts know the personality quirks of their elephants, as well as their medical issues.

Mahouts have a dangerous and physically demanding job caring for these wild creatures. Mahout deaths are not uncommon in Myanmar and Thailand.

Mahouts feed, clean, and bathe the elephants, and also help younger elephants like this male learn to follow commands.

The mahouts warned me not to approach the elephants from behind: The animals have giant blind spots, though they can see 123 degrees on either side of their head.

Elephants make up for their bad eyesight with highly developed senses of smell and touch. Their trunks have more olfactory receptor genes than any other animal — which gives them more than double the scent-detection ability of a bloodhound. Elephants can sniff out bombs, and their trunks are amazing earthquake detectors, too. 

Ten mahouts and their families live on site with the elephants at Green Valley.

Every elephant needs about 10-20 acres of space to roam, the staff told me. But mostly, they spend their time eating. Elephants reserve 13 to 16 hours of their day for chow time — about 70-80% of their waking hours.

I was amazed at how well elephants can sniff out food. No sooner was chow in my hands, than the creatures were angling with their neighbors for first dibs.

The day I visited, the menu involved a three-part elephant sandwich. The "spread" inside was wheat bran.

The bran was placed atop these cut banana stems.

Then it was all finished off with pumpkin slices.

The elephants have to eat a lot of these sandwiches to fill up. The animals consume roughly 6-12% of their own body weight every day. They also drink 30-50 gallons of water.

The elephants still wind up hungry, even after eating these sandwiches. Their mouths are huge, and I found feeding them directly somewhat intimidating, even though their tongues are warm and soft to the touch. Sometimes I just put food in their trunk and let them feed themselves.

In the afternoon, the elephants are led out to graze in local fields outside of the camp, which can be a nuisance for the farmers if the animals step foot outside their designated areas.

There are no fences or holding pens at Green Valley, but if elephants from the camp raid local banana plantations, the camp pays farmers for the damages.

Overall, living in the camp gives elephants a more stable food source than they would otherwise find, and it also protects them from poaching. Elephant skins are increasingly being used in medicine and jewelry sold on the black market in China.

Source: PLOS One

Elephants at Green Valley also get daily supplements of multivitamins, minerals, and probiotics. Ba Kyaw Than, who worked as a veterinarian for government logging elephants from 1964 to 2000, works at the nursing home now and gives the elephants a checkup every four months.

The check-ups involve routine blood and stool samples and checks for parasites. Than also feeds the animals de-worming pills as needed. Those medicines are made for cows, so he just ups the dose to be elephant-sized.

The elephants also get a toenail trim every four months. (Elephant nails grow about half a centimeter per month.) The tools for that procedure are appropriately jumbo-sized.

Elephant toes are especially important because the animals don't sweat like people do: Their only sweat glands are around their toenails.

In the 100-degree Fahrenheit heat of Myanmar, elephants also rely on their floppy ears to cool themselves down.

Around lunchtime, when the sun was blazing, we took a 40-year-old elephant named Htun Ma Ma for a bath in the river to help her cool off further.

These baths, plus ample shade at the camp, ensure the elephants (and their handlers) don't overheat.

After their bath, the elephants rolled around in mud to coat their skin, which also helps keep them cool.

We were told to stay back in case they got excited during this playtime and charged.

The trainers reminded me that even though we'd spent hours close to the animals, they are still wild creatures that behave in unpredictable ways.

Though all the elephants at the camp are retired, they still create one product: a paper made from their fiber-rich poop.

The fiber in one day's worth of poop from one elephant can make up to 125 sheets of dung paper. The resulting product is clean, and it smells fine.

Source: BBC

Workers at the camp also teach local school kids about reforestation and get them to plant trees. The new teak trees they've planted are still pretty skinny at this point.

These 5-year-old trees will need another 20 years or so to mature fully. 

After a long day of bathing and eating at camp, it was time for the elephants to retire to the forest for the night. That's where they sleep and roam around wild on their own.

Most of the elephants' nighttime hours are devoted to their most vital chore: more eating. Around 3 p.m., their mahouts led them out to graze in the forest area around camp.

The elephants sometimes don't find much to eat outside the camp; when that happens, they show up eagerly the next morning, awaiting breakfast. 

Adult elephants only need about two or three hours of sleep every night. Sometimes they get it all in one big nap, or they might have two shorter snooze sessions, punctuated by more munching.

After the elephants went out to the forest, I also left the camp, still in awe of their trunks — the boneless appendages that help elephants sniff out food and approach new people like me.

I took a few pieces of elephant poop-fiber paper as a souvenir. 

• Botswana has reversed a ban on elephant killings, and says the population has gotten so big they're overwhelming farmers.
• Botswana has 130,000 elephants, more than any other country on the planet. The country's Environment Ministry says the levels need to be controlled to protect humans.
• Rising human-elephant conflict in Botswana has caused the death of livestock, and damaged the livelihoods of many Botswanan citizens, the government said.
• Elephants in conflict with people around the world are "raiding crops, killing livestock, destroying water supplies, demolishing grain stores and houses, injuring, and even killing people," the International Union for Conservation of Nature said.
• While Botswana's elephant population is booming, the Great Elephant Census found Africa's elephant population has dropped 30% over the last 15 years. 
• Poaching has been cited as the number one reason why the population has declined, and Botswana has promised to make sure the elephants are killed ethically. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories. 

Botswana, home to the world's largest elephant population, has lifted its ban on hunting elephants, claiming that their population growth was leading them into conflict with humans and affecting farmers.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi lifted the ban introduced by his environmentalist predecessor, according to a statement from the country's environment ministry on Wednesday.

It said that "the number and high levels of human-elephant conflict and the consequent impact on livelihoods was increasing" and that "predators appear to have increased and were causing a lot of damage as they kill livestock in large numbers."

Read more: African elephants are evolving to not grow tusks because of poachers

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said that the number of conflicts between human and elephants in Africa is increasing as their habitat shrinks and "elephants get confined into smaller pockets of suitable habitat."

It noted that elephants can harm local communities by "raiding crops, killing livestock, destroying water supplies, demolishing grain stores and houses, injuring and even killing people."

But it said that these costs "greatly outweigh the potential benefits" of maintaining the elephant population, and notes that elephants can be an asset to local communities. 

Here's a government video explaining the issue:

Botswana is home to around 130,000 elephants, which is around one third of Africa's elephant population, according to the Great Elephant Census. The IUCN includes the African elephant on its list of threatened species. 

Read more:I visited a nursing home for retired lumberjack elephants in Myanmar — here's what it's like to care for aging elephants every day

Botswana introduced the ban in 2014, but President Masisi formed a committee to review the ban in June 2018 after he was elected.

In February, the committee recommended lifting the hunting ban.

While Botswana is home to more elephants than any other country in Africa, Africa's elephant population fell by around 30%, around 144,000 elephants, between 2007 and 2014, the Great Elephant Census found.

Read more: Global warming is making oceans so acidic, they may reach the pH they were 14 million years ago

Poachers seeking ivory treasures to sell on the black market are the main cause of this decline, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) say.

The Environment Ministry added it will seek to discourage illegal elephant slaughter, and "work with all stakeholders to ensure that re-reinstatement of hunting is done in an orderly and ethical manner."

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• Many hotels have begun offering their guests ethical animal experiences where they can interact with animals in their natural states.
• Oftentimes these experiences can be very therapeutic and calming for guests.
• There are also opportunities for the hotels to connect guests to charities or adoption services.

• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Sometimes at the end of a long day, you just want to cuddle with a cow.

Of course, most of us lack any actual cows to cuddle with, so much like scuba diving and drinking on Tuesdays, it's the sort of thing you save for a vacation. As are playing with a lot of other animals we don't have at home, whether they're sea turtles, alpacas, racehorses, and spider monkeys. Granted, animal tourism can sometimes raise questions as to its ethics, but many hotels around the world have found ways to play with our furry friends while not disrupting their natural states, often benefiting them through charitable donations or adoption services. Here are 11 hotels around the world with just such programs that are cheaper than therapy.

1. Cuddle with cows in Upstate New York — Mountain Horse Farm

Don't plan on getting much work done if you visit this horse farm in Naples, New York. The 33-acre bed and breakfast and horse sanctuary doesn't have much in the way of WiFi or cell service, but it does have plenty in terms of playing with animals. Not only can you participate in Horse Clinics, where you learn from experts how to connect with these equine beauties, but you'll also have the option to snuggle up to some of the farm's rescue cows while they're sleeping. The practice of "cow cuddling" is supposedly highly therapeutic and calming, a perfect activity at this country estate that's a true digital detox.

2. Do yoga with puppies in Philly — The Logan Hotel

Not that frenetic, face-licking puppies are exactly the ideal models for downward-facing dog, but at least they'll give you something to focus on other than your aching hamstrings at The Logan's puppy yoga classes. For a mere $25, you can take part in a 60-minute class where the Morris Animal Refuge brings a cadre of adoptable puppies to do yoga along with you. The class is led by Amrita Yoga, and the 90 spots are open to both hotel guests and anyone else who wants to join.

3. Snorkel with manatees in Florida — Plantation on Crystal River

There's nothing quite as alarming — and then immediately adorable — as snorkeling above a river bottom, seeing that river bottom move, then realizing you're swimming on top of an 800-pound manatee. But that's par for the course in Crystal River, the best place in America to swim with manatees. At Plantation on Crystal River, a sprawling old estate on the west coast of Florida, you can meander out back to Crystal River Watersports and spend a morning communing with these gentle giants. Just resist the temptation to try and ride one: Not only is it highly illegal, but it's also a guaranteed way to end up the lead in a "Florida Man" story.

4. Play with elephants in Thailand — Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort

Elephant rides are one of the dicier animal encounters you can have abroad, as some have gained reputations for less-than-ideal treatment of their animals. Not the case at the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort, which has rescued 20 elephants from previously unethical environments and works with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation to ensure these elephants are well cared for. Guests of Anantara can stroll among the impressive giants, socializing with them while they play in the water and munch on tropical leaves. No riding is allowed, but it's an up-close experience with elephants that'll leave you feeling a lot better than if you'd mounted one.

5. Feed and hold chickens in Costa Rica — El Silencio Lodge and Spa

The folks at El Silencio Lodge and Spa believe you should get to know the animals providing you your dinner. Or maybe it'll turn you vegetarian, who knows? Either way, this luxe eco-lodge in Costa Rica's cloud forest highlands gives you an opportunity to help out on the farm every morning, feeding the fish in the on-site trout pond and playing with free-range chickens. You'll get to feed the chickens as well as cuddle them all you like, which may or may not affect what you order later in the day. No word if they let you cuddle the trout too.

6. Paddleboard and swim with sea turtles in Barbados — Colony Club

Snorkeling with sea turtles isn't a difficult activity to come by. But the Colony Club along Barbados's fabled Sunset Beach offers you something different: a full-day excursion to a secluded restaurant where you'll also get an insane core workout. Once a week the club offers a stand-up paddleboard and turtle swim excursion, where you'll paddle out to the Lone Star Restaurant, enjoy a lunch on the beach, then jump in the water and swim with once-endangered leatherback and hawksbill turtles. After you've gotten as close to the turtles as you can in nature, you'll paddleboard back, making for an enriching yet exhausting afternoon.

7. Adopt an animal in Palm Springs — Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa

Playing with an animal on vacation can be fun, but sometimes it leaves you wishing you could take that kissable little guy home. Well, the Westin Mission Hills in Palm Springs gives you animal encounters that'll last for years with adoptable animals available in the hotel's lobby. The program — done in conjunction with nearby Animal Samaritans — has found homes for over 100 dogs since its inception and will help you with the logistics of getting the animal home too.

8. Serve breakfast to spider monkeys in Guatemala — Las Lagunas Boutique Hotel

Anyone who's ever returned to their room service breakfast and found it completely obliterated by monkeys knows they don't wait for invitations to share in your food. You'll have a far less frustrating experience at the Las Lagunas Boutique Hotel, located on over 300 acres of nature reserve rich in native flora and fauna. The hotel offers daily boat rides to Monkey Island, where you can watch the monkeys play in the jungle and feed them food that's not from your breakfast tray. On the way, you'll likely meet Margarita, the island's most famous resident, who'll hop from a tree right onto your boat, pose for pictures, and grab some snacks to go.

9. Hang out with alpacas in Peru — JW Marriot El Convento Cusco

This convent turned hotel is already one of the coolest hotel experiences you can have in Cusco, but it's made even more memorable with a short drive to Awana Kancha. At this llama, alpaca, and vicuna farm, you'll spend an afternoon feeding, petting, and generally interacting with its residents. After giving the good grass to your new four-legged friends, you'll then get a live textile weaving demonstration from local women. Once back at the hotel, it's time to meet Panchita, a cuddly baby alpaca who makes daily visits to the courtyard for apple snacks.

10. Hobnob with Triple Crown winners in Kentucky — The Sire Hotel Lexington

It's not often hotels give you a chance to visit championship professional athletes in their retirement homes. But in the horse capital of the world, the Sire Hotel Lexington hosts excursions out to the Kentucky Horse Park, a 1,200-acre farm where championship racehorses spend their days grazing, galloping, and interacting with visitors. Among its most notable residents are American Pharaoh and Justify, the two most recent Triple Crown winners. If your kids insist on riding a horse after they've seen these stallions, the farm also offers a youth riding program so children can learn the basics.

11. Perfect the flamingo pose with actual flamingoes in the Bahamas — Grand Hyatt Baha Mar

Flamingos seem to be the decoration du jour, and if you want to not only see them in person but also do an exercise class with them, head to the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar near Nassau. Here, you can take yoga classes right next to the hotel's resident flock of flamingos: Baha, Indy, Luca, and Lenny. And maybe use them as inspiration for holding those one-legged poses.

• At the Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa in South Africa, the outdoor pools are near a busy watering hole where wildlife often gather.
• The pools are filled with saline as opposed to chlorine, since elephants come to drink out of them almost every day.
• The five-star lodge is on the Welgevonden Game Reserve in Limpopo, three hours outside Johannesburg.
• Visit INSIDER.com for more stories.

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• A small study of Asian elephants has found that the animals can pick out larger quantities of seeds using just their sense of smell.
• The elephants could smell the difference between piles of 150 versus 180 seeds.
• Fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild. A better understanding of how they smell quantity and how that influences their behavior could help conservation efforts.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories

Forget counting on your fingers. Elephants can gauge quantity using their sense of smell alone. 

A study of six Asian elephants found that they tended to pick out larger quantities of sunflower seeds by scent alone. Some sniffers were so sharp that they could smell the difference between piles of 150 and 180 seeds.

Elephants' noses are notoriously powerful, but their sense of smell has been relatively understudied compared to their vision and hearing abilities (which are humans' most utilized senses).

"If you want to really understand how smart an animal is, you have to put yourself in their shoes," Joshua Plotnik, the study's lead researcher, told NOVA. "What this study tells us is, if you want to do that with an elephant, you're going to need a trunk."

The video below shows how the study worked. Researchers presented a bull elephant (who's been trained to pick the larger amount of food) with two buckets holding different quantities of sunflower seeds. The buckets are sealed so that the elephant can't see inside them, but they're perforated so that he can smell the contents. After he investigates each bucket with his trunk, the researchers unlock the buckets and let him make a choice. 

The researchers repeated this process with 11 different ratios of sunflower seeds.

Overall, elephants usually chose the buckets with more seeds, though they performed better when the difference between the two quantities was large. The results were similar to the performance of animals that can see quantity — to humans, for example, it's easier to tell the difference between 10 and 100 jelly beans than the difference between 15 and 20.

The nose knows

In the study, which was published in the journal PNAS last month, the researchers tweaked the experiment conditions in various ways to make sure the elephants were using their sense of smell alone. They swapped the plastic buckets for metal containers that don't retain odors. They also did trials in which the humans didn't know how many seeds were in each bucket either. And in one version of the test, the researchers made the different seed piles top out at the same height, ruling out the possibility that elephants were just picking the portion that's closer to their trunk. The results held steady, NOVA reported.

The elephants didn't choose as wisely when the researchers gave the buckets solid lids that blocked scents, though. Together, this evidence suggests the animals really were using smell alone to detect quantity.

Elephants' olfactory prowess

The results of this recent study are yet another entry in the olfactory resume of elephants. The animals can also detect TNT and smell the difference between some groups of humans. 

African elephants have about 2,000 genes for olfactory receptors⁠— the most of any mammal tested thus far. That makes for a highly nuanced sense of smell. The olfactory genes of Asian elephants (the type involved in the new study) haven't been counted in the same way, but the animals have performed better than others in differentiating between molecularly similar odors.

"It's critical for elephants to understand their world through smell," Caitlin O'Connell, an elephant expert at Stanford University who was not involved in the study, told Nova. "For them to be able to distinguish quantity makes a whole lot of sense."

Scientists don't yet fully understand how elephants use their quantity-smelling ability in their daily lives, or how it influences their decisions. The elephants that participated in the study live in captivity, on the grounds of a hotel in Thailand. So wild elephants might behave differently or use their sense of smell in other ways.

But the researchers think that learning more about this sniffing process could boost efforts to protect elephants as an endangered species. Fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild. A better understanding of how the animals understand their environment and find food could help mitigate conflict in the regions where elephants and humans come into contact. 

"We're running out of time to save them," Plotnik said. "They're remarkably intelligent animals we still know very little about."

SEE ALSO: A newly discovered species of African fish with gleaming purple scales has been named after Wakanda, the fictional home of Marvel's Black Panther

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NOW WATCH: Elephant trunks are like the human tongue, arm, and nose combined into one incredible organ

• A summer season of shark attacks can leave many beaches around the world empty, but the likelihood that the average person will die from a shark attack is relatively low.
• In fact, sharks don't even place in the top 10 deadliest animals to humans.
• But the animal most commonly responsible for human deaths around the world may surprise you.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published on July 30, 2017. 

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• Newborn blue whales weigh 1360 kg — practically the weight of a small car. Thanks to mom's extremely fatty milk, they put on 90 kg every day.
• Meanwhile, bat pups may be tiny in comparison, but each one makes up a fourth of their mom's bodyweight.
• Human babies— at 1/22 of their mother's size — may seem pretty small in comparison. But we're actually pretty hefty, especially when you look at newborn kangaroos as small as a jellybean.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Following is a transcript of the video.

Imagine giving birth to a 1360 kg baby. 

That's practically the weight of a small car. But it's the typical size of a newborn blue whale. The biggest baby in the animal kingdom.

When they nurse, calves put on 90 kg. Every. Single. Day. Thanks to their mom's extremely rich milk, which contains over 10 times more fat than cow milk. So calves can grow to the size of a Boeing 757 by adulthood. 

Sounds like a pretty cushy start to life, especially when compared to other hefty newborns. 

On dry land, elephants win the biggest baby award, though "winning," is a relative term. They give birth to a 105 kg calf, which first has to gestate in the mom's womb for nearly two years!

More than twice as long as a human pregnancy!

Close behind elephants are giraffes. They drop a 75 kg calf on average. Literally. Mom gives birth standing up, so the baby falls almost 2 meters to the hard ground. 

But it turns out, that tumble is pretty important. The impact breaks open the amniotic sac, allowing them to take their first breath of air. Next in line is the white rhino. Although not quite as long a pregnancy as an elephant babies still gestate for 15-16 months. Once they're finally born, calves weigh 40-64 kg — roughly the size of an adult St Bernard. 

But here's the thing: If you're about to give birth, you're not actually worried about your kid's size.  You're worried about their size compared to you. And shingleback lizards have it bad. 

Really bad. Unlike most reptiles, they give birth to live young. Usually, twins that total a third of their body weight. That's like a human giving birth to a seven-year-old. 

Meanwhile, bats usually have just one baby at a time. But that one pup is huge! A fourth of their mother's body weight. That's equivalent to a human infant the size of a 16 kg cocker spaniel. 

Meanwhile, horse foals usually are a tenth of their mother's size. That's a bowling-ball sized baby in human-terms.  

Speaking of humans, our newborns weigh about 3.5kg on average, or 1/22 of mom's size. That might not sound like much, but we're actually pretty big. After all, tiger cubs weigh only 1/120th of their mother's size. And a red kangaroo baby is a minuscule 1/100,000 of mom's bodyweight!

That's right. A newborn joey can be as small as a single grain of rice and won't be ready to venture from the pouch for over a year. But the world's smallest babies are a story for another time. 

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• The Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort is bringing guests closer to nature and providing a once-in-a-lifetime experience with its luxury "Jungle Bubbles."
• Each transparent bubble includes air conditioning, a king-size bed, living space, a (nontransparent) bathroom, and dinner in a basket dropped off by staff.
• You can also watch the comings and goings of the 60 elephants living on the grounds that have been rescued from the city streets.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more details.

The Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort in Northern Thailand is giving the term "close to nature" a whole new meaning.

The stunning resort is gaining major buzz, thanks to its transparent luxury bubble suites, called Jungle Bubbles, which happen to be located in an area heavily trafficked by local elephants. That means guests are likely to wake up each morning with a curious pachyderm or two staring them down.

According to the property, the unique 236-square-foot bubbles were designed by Eye in the Sky and constructed with high-tech polyester fabric to ensure their integrity over time.

Inside, the bubbles are air-conditioned to maximize comfort and feature a large bedroom with a king bed and living space with a seating area. And don't worry about having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and accidentally running into an elephant, as there is a full en-suite (and nontransparent) bathroom as well. In fact, guests never have to leave the transparent dome, as staff will bring along a dinner basket, so visitors can watch the sun go down while animals cruise by.

Oh, and by the way, these aren't just any elephants. According to the property, the 60 elephants living on the grounds have been rescued from Thailand's city streets and now get to live out their days in peace.

Guests can get even more insight into their animal neighbors during one of the property's Walking With Giants tours. On the tour, guests will take part in a walk accompanied by either a vet or a biologist to learn about "how these intelligent creatures think and behave," Etienne De Villiers, Anantara's cluster director of public relations, told Apartment Therapy. De Villiers added: "Guests can observe the elephants' social interaction in their native habitat. The fun of either a river bath or mud playtime demonstrates just how cheeky these graceful animals can be."

Book a stay at the resort, adding a night in a bubble suite for $585 a night for two people.

• Read more:
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• You can stay at Jim Beam's bourbon distillery for $23 per night, and it comes with a full bar, dinner, and a tasting tour
• A cheese-themed hotel is opening in London, and each stay comes with a cheese delivery service

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