A myth that pops up from time to time is that elephants use their trunks to drink, like we would use a straw. This would be similar to people sticking their noses in a glass of water when they wanted a drink! Elephants, unlike people, do use their trunks to help them drink, but they only suck the water part of the way up and then use their trunks to squirt the water into their mouths.

The elephant’s trunk is a combination of their nose and upper lip and is able to touch, grasp and smell. In addition to sucking up water to squirt in their mouths and picking up food, elephants’ trunks are used for greeting, caressing, threatening and throwing dust over their bodies.

Guests visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom on September 26, Elephant Awareness Day, will learn lots of fun facts about elephants—and can even test their skills at eating like an elephant using a replica of an elephant trunk.

On Elephant Awareness Day, guests who stop by Rafiki’s Planet Watch can: