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Elephants Move Like 4x4s
The researchers employed force platforms in conjunction with advanced 3D motion capture imaging to determine the elephants’ movements.
Research by the RVC has shown the legs of elephants work much like the wheels of a 4x4 vehicle.

The research has found that, like a 4x4 vehicle, all four of an elephant’s legs both brake and accelerate the animal. This finding has overturned the classic assumption that all four-legged animals divide the labour between their legs, using the forelegs more for braking and the hindlegs for acceleration. Like all-wheel drive vehicles, elephants have eliminated this separation, something no other four-legged animal is thought to do.

All four elephant legs were discovered to be slightly ‘bouncy’, especially when running at faster speeds, rather than the rigid limbs typical of walking. The ‘bouncier’ legs give the animal poor leverage, which is surprising because it was thought that big animals, especially elephants, would need “pillar-like” legs to efficiently support their weight. Their leverage is about 2-3 times less than previous theory predicted from their size, and is similar to that in humans. This poor leverage makes running about 50 per cent more costly than walking and accounts for why elephants are slower than many other animals.

Dr. John Hutchinson, senior researcher on the study and Reader in Evolutionary Biomechanics in the Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences at the RVC, predicts their work will have long-lasting implications for how researchers will henceforth measure and assess the movement of other animals.


Like all-wheel drive vehicles, elephants have eliminated this separation, something no other four-legged animal is thought to
do.
He says, “We have developed some new techniques for looking at animal movement that may change the way that we view the locomotion of other animals. Regardless, we have shown that elephant legs function in very strange and probably unique ways. We even overturned some of our own previous ideas about elephants, which is always initially disheartening but ultimately exhilarating for a scientist. Our measurements have also provided basic data that will be useful in clinical studies of elephants, such as common lameness problems.”

Dr. Hutchinson’s team, including first author Dr. Lei Ren, made these discoveries while measuring the forces on elephant legs from walking to running speeds. They also examined the compliance of the legs and how they support and move the body.

The team used fast and athletic elephants from the Thai Elephant Conversation Centre in Lampang, Thailand as subjects.

To measure the forces elephants exert on their environment, the researchers employed force platforms in conjunction with advanced 3D motion capture imaging to determine the elephants’ movements.

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
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RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."