Are elephants afraid of lions

World Elephant Day, an annual event that celebrates the planet's largest land animal, was held last week on August 12th. For example, did you know that adult elephants can eat up to KG of food a day? Read on for more fascinating facts. Elephants are susceptible to sunburns so they protect themselves by throwing sand onto their backs and heads—this helps their skin protected from the direct rays of the sun. Older elephants will apply this sand sunscreen to the their young by throwing sand onto their little ones when they are asleep.