‘The Secret World of Elephants’ Opens at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science on Oct. 24
DENVER – The Denver Museum of Nature & Science has announced its newest exhibition, The Secret World of Elephants. The temporary exhibit opens to the public on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. Visitors will discover the remarkable science behind nature’s most lovable giants, from how they “hear” through their feet to ways they contribute to daily life around the planet. Denver marks the first stop on the exhibition's national tour after its debut at New York’s American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), where it was created.
Through hands-on interactive stations, guests can feel the low-frequency rumbles elephants use to communicate, explore how they reshape their environments and come face-to-face with models of extinct relatives, such as dwarf elephants. The exhibit will run through Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026.
“Elephants are more than just the largest land animals alive today—they are the final living representatives of a diverse group of mammals that once roamed across the globe including here in our own backyard,” said Dr. Holly Lutz, associate curator of mammals at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. “The new exhibition ‘The Secret World of Elephants’ tells the story of elephants’ resilience and remarkable adaptation to changing ecosystems and how they evolved into the highly intelligent and social animals we know and love today.”
Presented in the Phipps Gallery on the Museum’s third floor, this fun, hands-on exhibition gives families a unique look at the amazing world of elephants. Guests will discover how these incredible animals evolved, learn about their fascinating behaviors, and see why they're so important to the environments where they live.
Details and Highlights:
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Mammoth tusk interactive: Explore how scientists use isotope “fingerprints” to trace mammoth migration across Alaska 17,000 years ago.
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African elephant model: Discover how an African elephant processes 300–500 pounds of food daily and experiences a nearly two-year gestation period through a video projection on a life-size model.
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Infrasound station: Feel the low-frequency sound waves that elephants use to communicate through the ground and watch projections illustrating how these vibrations travel to their brains.
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Elephant poop interactive: Investigate the science behind elephant poop and how it helps spread seeds and provides nutrients for plants and animals.
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Elephant herd magnets: Create your own elephant herd with large magnets representing the matriarch and other members of the group.
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Elephant behavior interactive: Test how well you can “speak elephant” and correctly guess the meaning behind various behaviors.
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Shaba: Screen a moving documentary video about how one elephant sanctuary in Kenya is working to rehabilitate orphaned elephants
The Secret Life of Elephants is open to members and general admission ticketholders alike. No additional ticket purchase is required.
Media Previews
The Museum is offering early access to the exhibition between Oct. 20-23.
Please contact Maura O’Neal at [email protected] to schedule walkthrough tours or interviews with the exhibition’s curators and experts. For more information about the exhibition, visit our website.
Online Press Kit
For images, exhibition expert bios and additional information about the exhibition experience, please visit our online press kit: https://brandfolder.com/dmns/the-secret-world-of-elephants
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About the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is the Rocky Mountain region’s leading resource for formal and informal science education. Many of the Museum’s educational programs and exhibits are made possible in part by the citizens of the seven-county metro area through the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District. The Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Connect with the Museum on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Catalyst.
About the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869 with a dual mission of scientific research and science education, is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses more than 40 permanent exhibition halls, galleries for temporary exhibitions, the Rose Center for Earth and Space including the Hayden Planetarium, and the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. The Museum’s scientists draw on a world-class permanent collection of more than 30 million specimens and artifacts, some of which are billions of years old, and on one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Through its Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Museum offers two of the only free-standing, degree-granting programs of their kind at any museum in the U.S.: the Ph.D. program in Comparative Biology and the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Earth Science residency program. Visit amnh.org for more information.