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New York’s American Museum of Natural History is fond of giants, from its colossal blue whale model to a towering stegosaurus skeleton. Its latest exhibition, , celebrates the power of modern and ancient pachyderms.

Turning up, I was greeted by a full-size model of a woolly mammoth shedding its winter coat (pictured above), and I poked at melon-sized replicas of elephant poo while learning how these animals process 100 kilograms of food a day.

Interactive panels let visitors probe the lives of elephants, from their key role in ecosystems to the deep social relationships they forge.…