Baby Elephant Running Bronze Sculpture by Dean KendrickBaby Elephant Running Bronze Sculpture by Dean Kendrick from Richard Cooper and Company Bronze Surprisingly, elephant calves can run at 25 mph, although technically, because they always have one foot on the ground they are not running! They are also good swimmers. For the first four years of life they need their Mother for milk, and re assurance. In fact, for added re assurance, they suck their trunks in the same way human babies suck their thumbs.