Editing Elephant (section)

===Cultural significance===
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{{Main|Cultural depictions of elephants}}
{{See also|Elephants in Kerala culture|List of elephants in mythology and religion|List of fictional pachyderms}}
Elephants have a universal presence in global culture. They have been represented in art since [[Paleolithic]] times. Africa, in particular, contains many examples of elephant [[rock art]], especially in the [[Sahara]] and southern Africa.<ref>Wylie, pp. 62–65.</ref> In Asia, the animals are depicted as [[Motif (visual arts)|motifs]] in [[Hinduism|Hindu]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] shrines and temples.<ref name=Shoshani158 /> Elephants were often difficult to portray by people with no first-hand experience of them.<ref>Kingdon, p. 31.</ref> The [[Ancient Rome|ancient Romans]], who kept the animals in captivity, depicted elephants more accurately than [[medieval]] Europeans who portrayed them more like fantasy creatures, with horse, bovine, and boar-like traits, and trumpet-like trunks. As Europeans gained more access to captive elephants during the 15th century, depictions of them became more accurate, including one made by [[Leonardo da Vinci]].<ref>Wylie, pp. 83–84.</ref>
[[File:Ganesha_asianartmuseumsf.jpg|thumb|[[Hinduism|Hindu]] god [[Ganesha]]]]
Elephants have been the subject of religious beliefs. The [[Mbuti people]] of central Africa believe that the souls of their dead ancestors resided in elephants.<ref name=Shoshani158>McNeely, pp. 158–65.</ref> Similar ideas existed among other African societies, who believed that their chiefs would be [[reincarnation|reincarnated]] as elephants. During the 10th century AD, the people of [[Igbo-Ukwu]], in modern-day Nigeria, placed elephant tusks underneath their dead leader's feet in the grave.<ref>Wylie, p. 79.</ref> The animals' importance is only [[Totemism|totemic]] in Africa but is much more significant in Asia.<ref>Sukumar, p. 87.</ref> In Sumatra, elephants have been associated with lightning. Likewise, in Hinduism, they are linked with thunderstorms as [[Airavata]], the father of all elephants, represents both lightning and rainbows.<ref name=Shoshani158 /> One of the most important Hindu deities, the elephant-headed [[Ganesha]], is ranked equal with the supreme gods [[Shiva]], [[Vishnu]], and [[Brahma]] in some traditions.<ref>Sukumar, p. 64.</ref> Ganesha is associated with writers and merchants, and it is believed that he can give people success as well as grant them their desires, but could also take these things away.<ref name="Shoshani158" /> In Buddhism, [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] is said to have taken the form of a [[White elephant (animal)|white elephant]] when he entered his [[Maya (mother of Buddha)|mother's]] womb to be reincarnated as a human.<ref>Sukumar, p. 62.</ref> 

In Western popular culture, elephants symbolise the exotic, especially since – as with the [[giraffe]], [[hippopotamus]], and [[rhinoceros]] – there are no similar animals familiar to Western audiences. As characters, elephants are most common in [[Children's literature|children's stories]], where they are portrayed positively. They are typically surrogates for humans with ideal human values. Many stories tell of isolated young elephants returning to or finding a family, such as "The Elephant's Child" from [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''[[Just So Stories]]'', [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]]'s ''[[Dumbo]],'' and Kathryn and Byron Jackson's ''The Saggy Baggy Elephant''. Other elephant heroes [[Anthropomorphism|given human qualities]] include [[Jean de Brunhoff]]'s [[Babar the Elephant|Babar]], [[David McKee]]'s [[Elmer the Patchwork Elephant|Elmer]], and [[Dr. Seuss]]'s [[Horton the Elephant|Horton]].<ref name="Van Riper 73">{{cite book|author1=Van Riper |author2=A. B. |title=Science in Popular Culture: A Reference Guide|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2002|pages=73–75|isbn=978-0-313-31822-1}}</ref>

Several cultural references emphasise the elephant's size and strangeness. For instance, a "[[white elephant]]" is a byword for something that is weird, unwanted, and has no value.<ref name="Van Riper 73" /> The expression "[[elephant in the room]]" refers to something that is being ignored but ultimately must be addressed.<ref>Wylie, p. 90.</ref> The story of the [[blind men and an elephant]] involves blind men touching different parts of an elephant and trying to figure out what it is.<ref>Wylie, pp. 27–28.</ref>