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An elephant was a very large Earth animal with a long trunk and could weigh up to 7,000 kg.
- You may be looking for the public inn.
Their tusks were made of ivory. (COMIC: Witch Hunt)
Encounters with elephants
The Doctor and his companions occasionally encountered elephants.
Among the prizes the First Doctor won in a game of backgammon against Kublai Khan in 1289 were thirty-five elephants with ceremonial bridles. (TV: "Assassin at Peking")
Elephants were one of the animal species brought on board the Ark in circa 10,000,000 to escape the destruction of Earth. Dodo Chaplet pointed an Indian elephant out to the First Doctor and Steven Taylor and they proceeded to pet it. (TV: The Ark)
The Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon once used a herd of animals – which included elephants – to stampede a group of Quarks. (COMIC: Jungle of Doom)
The Seventh Doctor and Ace saw elephants living in the Ngorogoro Crater in March 1926. (PROSE: Prelude Birthright)
In about 120 AD, the Tenth Doctor learned that Roman authorities kept elephants as a part of a menagerie that included leopards, giraffes and a wide range of other, chiefly African animals. Some of the beasts were kept for hunting, and others were used to face off against prisoners in local arenas. The Doctor was incensed by the practise, because he knew it would lead to the extinction of several of the species. (PROSE: The Stone Rose)
In April 1861, Leela and Abasi encountered an illusory elephant in the Congo. Leela determined that it was not real as it had no smell. (AUDIO: The Ghosts of Gralstead)
Whilst in India in 1947, the Doctor and Donna Noble travelled with Mohandas Gandhi and his party by elephant. Donna was amused by the rolling motion caused by the elephant's gait. Consequently, both she and the Doctor had a hard time controlling their laughter. As was customary in India, these "transport elephants" were highly decorated with flowers, bells, and a howdah. (PROSE: Ghosts of India)
There were elephants in the zoo that Martha Jones went to when she was young. (PROSE: The Last Dodo) They were also used as performers, with several working at the International Circus. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
Cultural references to elephants
In Voyager's dream world, a waterfall existed that was bordered by two elephant statues. (COMIC: Voyager)
When talking to Davros about logic, the Fourth Doctor says "All elephants are pink, Nellie is an elephant, therefore, Nellie is pink!". When he asks if it logical and Davros agrees, the Doctor and Tyssan correct him that elephants aren't pink. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks)
Human folklore stated that elephants never forget anything. It was a running joke between the Sixth Doctor and his companion Melanie Bush that she had the memory of an elephant. (TV: The Ultimate Foe, AUDIO: The One Doctor, TV: Time and the Rani, AUDIO: Unregenerate!, The Warehouse, A Life of Crime)
A life-sized model of an elephant's head was in Spellman's Magical Museum of the Circus in 2009. (TV: Day of the Clown)
Salvador Dalí once painted a picture of elephants with long, thin legs. (AUDIO: The Forbidden Time)