"World's smallest elephant" photo making the rounds on Facebook not the whole story

I saw this photo on Facebook today of a tiny little elephant baby being held in someone’s hands, the caption of which said, “Worlds smallest elephant but he is fighting for his life so pray for him buy liking & sharing this staus . Express your love to him. . .”

That’s one small elephant. But is it real?

Turns out that the photo is real, but it’s not the world’s smallest elephant. According to the website ThatsNonsense.com, the photo is of a dead elephant fetus. The elephant mother died, and as a result, so did the baby elephant. You can see the original photos in this Picassa album, including the photo of the mother elephant.

At birth, an elephant weighs around 200 pounds.