Elephant families are led by the oldest female, called the matriarch. She is the one who remembers where to find water in dry years, which paths are safe, and which family groups are friendly. The whole family follows her wisdom. Some matriarchs are over 60 years old.
An elephant trunk has about 40,000 muscles in it. Your whole body has just 600. The trunk works like a hand to pick up a single blade of grass, like a hose to spray a shower of water, and like a snorkel when an elephant swims through a deep river. Baby elephants spend their first months learning how to control their trunks - they trip over them at first.
African elephants 'talk' to each other in very low rumbles. The sound is so deep that human ears cannot hear it, but it travels through the ground for many kilometres. A family on one side of a park can call to another family far away. They also greet each other with happy trumpets and gentle touches.
Uganda's elephants live in two main groups: the savannah elephants of the open plains, and the forest elephants of places like Kibale and the Semliki forest. Forest elephants are a little smaller, with straighter tusks, and they specialise in walking through dense trees. Both kinds love splashing in mud baths.