Pachyderms would have lost substantial amounts of weight traversing the mountains, as would horses and soldiers.

Der karthagische Feldherr Hannibal überquerte mit einem mächtigen Heer die Alpen. Jetzt haben zwei Forscher die alte Frage, welche Route er dabei nahm, zeitgemäß beantwortet:…

How Hannibal’s War Elephants Helped to Determine His Route Through the Alps: When you go into battle with nearly 40 gigantic pachyderms, you need to take the shortest path possible