I went to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and was
resting on a bench behind the stuffed elephant in the main entry area.
 From that vantage point I noticed that the elephant appeared to have
no anus.  Is this appearance normal for elephants or did the
Smithsonian sanitize the view?  I tried to do some research and read
something about an "anal flap", which I figured might just make the
elephant appear as it did at the Smithsonian.  Could somebody tell me
if the elephant at the Smithsonian has been tampered with or not?

The guy with this blog noticed the same thing and provides a picture
of the view in question:
http://www.kennyliu.com/brainfart/index.php?m=200502

Yikes. I'd think that a live elephant with no exit port would soon
fill up with Dumbo dung. Wouldn't want to be nearby when the big fella
exploded.

It might have been tampered with

"In the interests of delicacy, Carmichael reportedly ordered the
elephant's anus sewn up"
http://www.150.si.edu/chap9/nine.htm

Owain

Works for me.  Thanks so much for your help.