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African vs Asian Elephants
African and Asian elephants are quite different from one another and they look similar only from a distance. The first difference that you note is that of the ears. The ears of the African elephant are much larger reaching up and over the neck looking quite a bit like the map of Africa. The Asian elephants' ears are on the other hand are smaller and are shaped like the map of India.

The African elephant is much larger than the Asian one with the bull attaining a full height of 4 meters to the Asian counterpart's 3.5 meters. Whereas the African elephant weighs between 4000 to 7500 kilograms, the Asian one weighs between 3000 to 6000 kilograms. While African elephants have fuller more rounded heads with a single dome, the Asian elephant has twin domes with an indent in the middle. The lower lips happen to be round and tapered in Asian elephants and short and round in the African ones.

That apart the skin of the African elephant has more wrinkles than the Asian one. Moreover the African elephant also has 21 ribs as compared to the Asian elephant's twenty. While all African elephants have tusks, only the male Asian elephants have tusks.

When it comes to trunks there are some major differences over there as well. An African elephant's trunk is more ringed than and not as hard as the Asian elephants. The African elephant's trunk consists of two fingers as opposed to the Asian elephant's one. In so far as the diets of the two beasts are concerned it comprises mainly of leaves in the case of African elephants and grass in the case of Asian elephants.

The highest point of an African elephant is on the shoulder, while that of the Asian one is on the back. An African elephant's back is concave while that of the Asian one is convex or straight. The belly of an African elephant is positioned diagonally downward towards the belly whereas in the case of an Asian elephant it is almost straight or sagging in the middle.

The African elephants have tusks among both the males and females of the species, whereas it is only the male of the Asian species that sports tusks.

Summary:
1.The ears of the African elephant are much larger than the Asian one.
2.An African elephant is larger at 4 meters for the male bull against the Asian male bull elephant's 3.5 meters.
3.An African elephant is heavier as it can weigh up to 7500 kilograms to an Asian elephant's 6000 kilograms.
4.An African elephant has 21 ribs as against an Asian elephant's 20.
5.Another distinguishing feature is the highest point which shoulder in African elephants and on the back for Asian elephants.

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Difference Between African and Asian Elephants

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African vs Asian Elephants African and Asian elephants are quite different from one another and they look similar only from a distance. The first difference that you note is that of the ears. The ears of the African elephant are much larger reaching up and over the neck looking quite a bit like the map of Africa.

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Elephant vs Mammoth

Magnificent, enormous, intelligent, anatomically unusual, long-lived, endangered, and fascinating are adjectives those could be used to describe elephants or mammoths. Because of the many similarities shared between elephants and mammoths they sound alike, but they can be differentiated easily. The upper lip and nose are merged and elongated to form their muscular trunk, which is the unique feature of both elephants and mammoths. Elephants and their evolutionary relatives, known as proboscideans, originated on the Earth 60 million years ago. Henry Fairfield Osborn's extensive work on the fossil evidence of proboscideans revealed about 350 species. Before 5 million years, there had been the ancestor of both elephant and mammoth called Primelephas. Mammoth became extinct before 10,000 years and that serves the most obvious difference to elephant as they being extant today.
Elephant
Elephant is possibly the most well-known animal in the world with two distinct species, Asian and African. Naturally they have been distributed in Asia, Africa and Europe, but not in any of the American continents. By the look at an elephant, it is evident that the hair cover over the body is very little because, they mostly live in tropical conditions without being exposed to low temperatures. They are tall and wide, and the height is presented by measuring the shoulder height of the front leg. Also, the height of an elephant can be calculated by multiplying the circumference of the base of the front foot by two. An elephant can be as tall as 2 - 3 metres and weighs between 3 and 6 tons making them the largest among all the land animals. Because of the enormous body size, one elephant needs about 150 kilograms of food per day. They walk about 10 - 20 kilometres daily in the wild, making sizeable spaces among bushes. Those spaces are very useful for the other animals to move across the wilderness; hence the elephants play an extremely important ecological role. The two tusks originating from the upper jaw incisors are important in fighting for dominance among them and they are iconic features. Both sexes of the African elephants have tusks while only a small percentage of Asian male elephants possess these eye catching features. Therefore, the tusks are not shared equally among all the elephants present day.
Mammoth
The last mammoth on the Earth died before about 10,000 years. The number of mammoth species existed is in debate as different studies present varying numbers; 16 species according to Osborn, (1942); 7 species as in Madden, (1981); more recent reports describe 4 species (Todd & Roth, 1996; Hill, 2006; Gillette, 2008). Fossil records of mammoths were found from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Since all the mammoths existed in the last ice age, they had to be protected from extreme low temperatures hence, there was a thick coat of hair. Also they were much larger, weighing between 5 and 10 tons, and 3 - 5 m tall. Mammoths had two tusks as in elephants, but they were more or less curved than straight. According to fossil records, the tusks were present in all the mammoths.
Elephant vs Mammoth
Both elephant and mammoth are similar having beautiful tusks, muscular trunk, gigantic body, and unusual anatomy. But mammoths were larger in body size, longer and more curved tusks were present among all of them, with a thick coat of hair. The mammoth fossils from North America provide strong evidence for their wider distribution than the elephants'. However, the elephants' intelligence, the strong family bonds and the irresistible appeal of their young will continue to fascinate people with never ending desire to watch them.

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Difference Between Elephant and Mammoth - DifferenceBetween.com

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Elephant vs Mammoth Magnificent, enormous, intelligent, anatomically unusual, long-lived, endangered, and fascinating are adjectives those could be used to describe elephants or mammoths. Because of the many similarities shared between elephants and mammoths they sound alike, but they can be differentiated easily. The upper lip and nose are merged and elongated to form their muscular ...

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As the world’s largest land mammal, elephants have quite the commanding presence. But did you know elephants can’t jump? Or that baby elephants lose their first set of teeth and tusks, just like humans? Learn about both Asian and African elephants and the threats facing these highly intelligent anim…

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Explore the wild world of animals. Discover opportunities to care and conserve. Connect through our camps, courses, and careers at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.

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The elephants ( Elephantidae) are the largest living land mammals on earth and we have gathered interesting elephants facts for kids. They are powerful enough to knock down whole trees. Elephants are recognized by their large trunks (proboscis) and are believed to have appeared some 3 - 4 million years ago. Elephants are exclusively herbivorous and they feel home in savanna, forests, and semi-deserts. They are found in Africa south of the Sahara, as well as southern and southeastern Asia.

Elephant Facts for Kids

Physical Characteristics of Elephant

At birth elephants weigh around 200-265 lb (90-120 kg). They have a consistent growth until reach adulthood which is unique in mammals.

Females stop growing at 25 - 30 years while males cease at 35 - 45 years.

The adult elephants weigh 3.3 - 7.7 tons ranging from female Asian elephant to as large as large African savanna bull.

The shoulder height averages 7.2-11.8 ft (2.2-3.6 m).

It has an unusually large head on a short neck. They have powerful short legs that lift the entire body weight like a pillar in a house.

Elephant has a long tail that extends below the knee.

They have large and thin ears along with an extremely sensitive trunk. The elephant's trunk does not have any bone. It is composed of muscles. There around 150,000 muscle units in its trunk.

These tusks can be as large as 79 in (200 cm) of a large bull elephant. It grows 6 in (15 cm) a year. The tusk weighs at 110 lb (50 kg). These are the figures of a large bull elephant.

Read More: Are Elephants Endangered?
Elephant Distribution

Previously African elephant used to live in the North Africa up to the Mediterranean coast but they are limited to the south of Sahara.

Similarly Asian elephants are known to occupy much of the Near East and Pacific coast of China but are not restricted to the forests of Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

Elephant Habitat
Read More: What Do Elephants Eat?

Elephants make home in a variety of habitats including tropical and subtropical zones. Their habitat ranges from dry deciduous forests, savannas (such as mixed woodland and grassland mosaics), semi-deserts, and evergreen rainforests.

Elephants are normally mixed feeders as they feed on many different plants.

Elephants are dominant in regions where they live. They have an important ecological role.

They have got the habit of destroying trees. In Africa, elephants seem to transfer wooded areas into open grasslands.

Elephant Behavior

Elephants live in family unit consisting of 3 - 25 individuals. Each unit is composed of related females and their young. Within the family, each female is closely related to each other they remain bonded for lives. Adult males, however fancy living a solitary life and they rarely make bonds with other males.

The adult males remain in the family unit until 12 - 15 years of age. Although they do come back in groups for mating but they may never last long within a unit.

Among adult females, older ones are normally responsible for looking after the group and guarding it against any potential threat.

The calves stay with their mother almost all the time. All the group members contribute (and not just its mother) to upbringing these calves.

If a predator shows up the adult females wheel round to face the threat while keeping the young close behind.

During migration, extremely large herds comprising of 500 - 1,000 elephants are seen. However, the individuality of each group is maintained.

They are highly intelligent animals with complex social interactions.

Elephants wrestle each other with their trunks.

Male elephants often find themselves in a state known as 'musth'.

They have poor eyesight but they are extremely sensitive to taste and smell.

Elephants have sharp hearing and they communicate through many different vocalizations. African elephants produce 25 unique calls that are unique to human ear. These calls are audible to other elephants over a range of up to 3 mi (5 km).

Elephants have a lifespan of 60 years and they may die out of starvation, disease, predation, and injury.

Elephants have a unique behavior in that they circle around any wounded animal to prevent further attack. Sometimes they lift the wounded animal to its feet and take it away to the safe place.

Contrary to popular belief that elephants visit their graveyard (when they are about to die) i.e. a place where they go and last their breath, is nothing but a myth.

Elephants are not territorial animals. Although the groups do mark their territories but they seldom defend it against their counterparts. Their territories often overlap with each other.

Elephants lie down when they are asleep. They remain asleep for 2 - 4 hours early in the morning. During summer, elephants are likely to stand under shades with their eyes closed but they do not actually sleep while standing. It's a sort of dozing.

Elephants do move around and they often leave their trails on the ground which are 3-6 ft (1-2 m) wide, and can extend for tens of miles (kilometers).

They cannot jump or even gallop but they do walk or amble. They walk at a speed of 1.6-8.2 ft (0.5-2.5 m) per second, or 1.2-6.2 mph (2-10 kph). Elephants are able to charge at a speed of 16 ft (5 m) per second, or 12.4 mph (20 kph).

Elephants are highly attentive while walking in that they place each foot with care to avoid any soft patch.

They are expert swimmers too as they paddle with all four feet and a trunk.

Elephant Diet

Elephants typically feed on a wide range of plants such as herbs (forbs), broadleaved trees, grasses, vines, and palms.

They will consume almost each part of the plant including twigs, bark, leaves, shoots, flowers, tubers, branches, fruit, bulbs, and roots.

They are known to consume 100 - 500 different plant species but they focus on a few species in a given time.

Elephants change their dietary requirements with the change in season. During rainy season, they fancy eating new growth grasses which makes up 50 - 60% of the diet. In the dry season, elephants mostly browse as grass becomes tough. During this time, fruits and shrubs make up 70% of the elephant's diet.

Elephants living in Asia are more apt to feed on bamboo year-round whereas those living in central Africa and Malaysia primarily feeds on fruits and succulent leaves.

Elephants consume 220-660 lb (100-300 kg) food each day.

They remain busy in eating 12 - 18 hours a day mostly in the early hours of morning or late afternoon.

In forest where food is abundant the elephants move gradually while browsing on several plants.

They drink 53 gal (200 l) of water every day in summer. When the water becomes inadequate elephants dig holes with their trunk or even tusks until the water seeps in.

Elephants are more likely to feed on plants or fruits when these are readily available. They use smell and memory from the past to identify plants species.

They travel great distances in search of food and water. Elephants have a home range of 23 mi2 (60 km2) in a rich rainforest habitat in Malaysia, while in the Namib Desert the range is 1,158 mi2 (3,000 km2).

Elephants pluck small plants with the terminal 'fingers' of the trunk whereas the larger items are usually twisted by curling the trunk around it.

Elephants can also stand on their rear legs (only) especially when they have to reach high branches of young leaves of acacia trees. They can reach up to 26 ft (8 m). Elephants push over trees as well.

Elephant Reproductive Biology

Elephant's reproduction is slow in that the female gives birth for 4 - 5 years only. Twins are unlikely as 1 out of every 100 births end up in twins.

It also takes quite a long time for a young elephant to reach adulthood.

Females become mature at 12 - 14 years of age. They are called 'cows' while males are known as 'bulls'.

The gestation period lasts for 22 months.

References
Elephant Conservation Status

Elephants have long been the subject of hunting and habitat destruction. Their ivory is primarily used for several commercial purposes and it is a precious commodity.

Gone are the days when elephants used to roam around freely in a wide range. Now they are limited within human settlement and agriculture.

Human population is growing from time to time as a result of which elephants are no longer found in their natural habitats.

At present, one can only come across elephants in national parks, nature reserves, and the like. Although they are captive in large numbers yet their future prospects associated with the survival remains bleak.

The practice of elephant's hunting has been carried out in prehistoric times and still it continues. Elephants found in southern and West Africa had already died out in 1800.

The 1970s and 1980s turned out to be even more critical in that the total population in Africa had reduced from 1.3 million in 1979 to just over 400,000 in 1987.

Some elephants have often been in conflict with humans as they damage buildings and kill villagers.

There are around 34,000 - 54,000 Asian elephants left in the wild while in captivity the figures are 13,000 - 16,000. Current estimates of total population size of African elephants are 300,000 - 500,000 animals.

Buss, Irven O. Elephant Life: Fifteen Years of High Population Density. Ames IA: Iowa State University Press, 1990.

Eltringham, S.K., ed. The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Elephants. New York: Crescent Books, 1991.

Maglio, Vincent J. "Origin and Evolution of the Elephantidae." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 63, no. 2 (1973): 1-149.

Shoshani, Jeheskel, and Pascal Tassy, eds. The Proboscidea: Evolution and Palaeoecology of Elephants and their Relatives. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Elephant Facts For Kids | Videos

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Elephant Facts For Kids | Elephant Habitat & Diet

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The elephants ( Elephantidae) are the largest living land mammals on earth and we have gathered interesting elephants facts for kids. They are powerful enough to knock down whole trees. Elephants are recognized by their large trunks (proboscis) and are believed to have appeared some 3 - 4 million years ago.

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Individual and Social Behavior

Social Relationships and Friendships

Elephants are amongst the few wild animals to form strong social bonds of companionship, friendship and family. They are capable of recognising not only their own mothers, calves and siblings but also their grandmothers, aunts, cousins and nieces - and sometimes even fathers. They know elephants they've mated and interacted with in the past, and have been observed to form particular friendships with unrelated elephants.

These traits arise at least in part from the way that elephants live. 'Herds' are, at their cores, very small units - a group of three or four closely related female elephants plus their calves, who live and travel together for all their lives. Sometimes, though, these herds join up with other herds, meaning that occasionally people have stumbled across groups of a hundred or more cows and calves living, feeding, playing and travelling together. These groups almost always split back up into their constituent family units in the end, but should they come across each other again they will express recognition and affection.

Male elephants usually live alone, meeting up with herds when it is time to mate and then wandering off again shortly afterwards. They do sometimes form 'bachelor herds', however, and it's common for a group of male calves to all leave their herd and mothers simultaneously and live together for a while before dispersing once they're fully grown. It's rare for a bull to travel with a matriarchal herd and it never lasts long, but it does occur occasionally.

It is suspected that elephants can recognise and show fondness toward their past mates, although it is uncommon for a father and his cubs to be able to recognise each other unless the father displayed atypical herding behavior after mating.

Elephant Communication

Because they live in such a complex society with ever-changing groups, short-distance and long-distance methods of communication are necessary both to maintain inter- and intra-group relationships and to attract mates when it is time to breed. Experts believe that elephants make use of a wide variety of methods of communication, allowing them to express their emotional mood and psychological state, portray their attitude and intent toward other nearby elephants, and generally engage in all the behaviors necessary to facilitate group living.

Long-distance communication is facilitated mostly by the infrasonic emitter present in every elephant's forehead, just at the join of trunk to skull. These signals can transmit for many miles, and are used primarily by female elephants to signal to males that they are ready to mate. It's possible too that elephants communicate over long distances seismically, by thundering the ground with their feet. Herds may use these methods to determine meeting places and find each other over large stretches of landscape.

Verbal communication between elephants is surprisingly common, compared to many other mammals. They make a wide variety of gurgling noises in the backs of their throats, and of course can also produce a loud 'trumpeting' sound via their trunks. These are usually warnings, either that danger is approaching or that the trumpeting elephant is getting ready to charge its perceived assailant. It is not true, however, that a charging elephant trumpets as he moves - when this happens they generally have their trunks wound up tightly, preventing noise from being made.

Softer noises are used soothingly or affectionately between elephants, most often from a mother to her calves when they are exhibiting signs of distress.

Like all mammals, elephants communicate a great deal through body language. Affection is often expressed by intertwining or 'hugging' trunks, usually between close relatives and friends who have travelled in the same herd for a long time. A female elephant will signal her acceptance of a potential mate by rubbing her body full against his, and much tactile communication takes place with the prehensile ends of an elephant's trunk - they use these to comfort and reassure each other, to greet friends, and to acknowledge the feat of a labouring mother or the presence of new calves.

Death Rituals and Mourning

Perhaps sadly, it seems that the much fabled secret 'elephant graveyards' are a myth. That doesn't mean that they don't recognise the passing of their fellows, however - they are nearly unique among non-human animals in so doing, but they do appear to have certain mourning practices and death rituals.

When a member of the herd is close to death, the whole herd will stop moving and stay resting in one small area for a time. Once the elderly or sick elephant passes, they will stay on for a few more days - gathering semi-frequently around the corpse, and seeming to keen and grieve for their deceased companion.

If a travelling herd comes upon a dead elephant while making their journey, they will all gather around him or her - even if she was clearly a complete stranger to them - and take a few moments of silence before moving on, generally touching the body with their trunks as though they are making a show of reverence.

Elephant Behavior Related Articles

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Elephants are amongst the few wild animals to form strong social bonds of companionship, friendship and family. They are capable of recognising not only their own mothers, calves and siblings but also their grandmothers, aunts, cousins and nieces - and sometimes even fathers.

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The Complete Elephant Anatomy

The elephants body is well adapted for the survival of rugged conditions of their habitats in Africa and Asia.

Elephants have strong, long trunks that perform multiple tasks, sharp tusks used for carrying heavy objects and for fighting with, large ears which they flap to keep themselves cool as well as having other functions. Elephants also have a tail that with one swish can whisk away flies and other insects making it the perfect fly swatter.

On the left is an anatomy diagram of the internal organs of a female elephant. Click on the image for a larger look at it.

The larger image will open in a new window, use the close button when finished.

Below you can see some distinct differences between the African elephant and the Asian elephants body structures. The African is larger, with much larger ears and larger all round in height and length. For more detailed information on either the African Elephant or the Asian Elephant, click on the individual images in the picture below.

Elephant Trunks

One of the most interesting features of an elephant is its trunk. An elephants trunk is both an upper lip and an extension of the nose with two nostrils running through the whole length.

The trunk has more than 40,000 muscles in it which is more than a human has in their whole body. A human being only has 639 muscles in total. An elephants trunk is both strong and very agile. It can perform multiple tasks from pushing over heavy trees to picking up the smallest twig. An elephant uses its trunk to pick up and throw objects, rub an itchy eye or ear, fills it with water and then pours it into its mouth to drink and also as a snorkel when swimming under water. Elephants also use it for feeding and for friendly wrestling matches with other elephants.

The trunk plays an important role in an elephants life by being used as an exploratory organ. The trunk is extremely flexible and can be used with the finest touch. At the first sign of danger, an elephant raises its trunk to smell the air and detect the smell of what is threatening. An elephant uses a whole range of smelling tasks as it is one of the elephants primary sensory organs, along with the ears. An elephants trunk is so important and vital to its life that it would be almost impossible for the elephant to survive should it ever get damaged.

Most animals use their nose solely for breathing, however, the elephant also uses its trunk for water storage and for drawing in mud and dust to spray over themselves to clean or cool down. An average elephant can hold and store 4 litres of water inside its trunk. The trunk has a sparse covering of fine sensory hairs and the skin covering the front of the trunk has rings of deep crevasses and resembles a slinky.

The African elephant has two prehensile fingers at the tip of its trunk which are used to grab hold of objects and smaller items. The Asian elephant has only one finger at the end of its trunk and usually only uses its trunk to scoop things up. Elephants can lift very heavy weights with its trunk, but it is important to remember that each elephant is individual and unique and the amount of weight each can lift varies. The trunk is not usually used in combat or for fighting with, but it can be used to make threatening gestures. However, elephants do use their trunks to play fight which can be quite interesting to observe.

Another interesting observation is when an elephant is charging. If its trunk is stretched out in front, then the elephant is just bluffing. However, it the trunk is curled or tucked downwards then it means business and is serious about its intentions. Like all vertebrates, elephants possess the Jacobson's organ in its mouth (a smelling organ).

The elephant tests and experiments with different odours by touching a particular object with its trunk and then placing the trunk in its mouth. Elephants are very inquisitive creatures.

Elephant Tusks

Elephant tusks are very elongated incisor teeth. Elephants do not have any canine teeth at all. Both male and female African elephants have tusks, however, only the male species of the Asian elephant has them. Tusks continue growing for most of the elephants life. They are an age indicator - much like the elephants feet, the age of the elephant can be estimated by observing their tusks. The size of an elephants tusks is an inherited characteristic, however, because of ivory hunters, it would be quite rare today to find and elephant whose tusks weigh more than 100 pounds.

The total length of the tusks is not apparent on the outside of the elephant, about a third of the length of the tusk lies hidden inside the elephants skull. This is the unfortunate reason ivory hunters destroy the elephant for their tusks instead of just cutting them off. Ivory is really only dentine and is no different from ordinary teeth. It is the diamond shaped pattern of the elephants tusk which can be distinguished when viewed from a cross-section which gives elephant ivory its distinctive lustre.

Elephants are either 'left-tusked' or 'right-tusked', just like a human being might be 'left-handed' or 'right-handed'. The favoured tusk is usually shorter than the other due to constant use. Tusks on an individual elephant can differ in shape, length, thickness and growth direction. Male elephants tend to have heavier, longer and more stouter tusks than females do.

An elephant uses its tusks to many many tasks just like its trunk. They use their tusks for digging, ripping bark of trees, foraging, carrying heavy objects and for resting a wary, heavy trunk on. They will also use them as weapons should they ever encounter conflict.

Tusks in a baby elephant (Calf) are present at birth and are really only like milk teeth. They measure only about 5 centimetres long. These 'milk tusks' will fall out around their first birthday. Their permanent tusks will then start to protrude beyond their lips at around 2 - 3 years old and will continue to grow throughout their lives.

Tusks grow at about 15 - 18 centimetres per year, however, they are continually worn down with constant use. Should they be allowed to continually grow without use, they would grow into a spiral shape (similar to those of the extinct woolly mammoth) as they typically grow following a curved growth pattern.

Interestingly, some elephants are born without tusks. This hereditary condition causes huge differences in the musculature and shape of the neck and the head of the elephant. Also, the carriage of the head is different and the bones at the back of the skull are less developed.

Not all male Asian elephants have tusks, there is approximately 40 - 50% of male Asian elephants that are tuskless. These particular males are known as 'Makhnas ' in India.

Elephant Teeth

An elephants teeth are very unique in the manner in which they proceed from the back of each half jaw towards the front. The teeth follow a linear progression. As the front teeth continuously become more worn down they are slowly replaced with new teeth that give the elephant an ability to chew the coarse foods it eats particularly tree bark. The elephant has a total of 24 teeth, but only 2 are usually in use at any one time.

When an elephant is born, a calf has four developing teeth in each side of its jaws. These consist of their smallish first and second teeth which are present after birth and the end of a third and a forth which is still below the gum. As each tooth wears out, it is pushed forward to the front of the mouth and it slowly wears into a shelf as the roots are absorbed. The shelf eventually will break off and the remaining piece will be pushed out of the mouth.

After the first two teeth are gone, parts of the two adjacent teeth are being worn down in each half of the jaw. This process continues until the 6th and sometimes 7th molar appears. The 6th molar weighs on average an incredible 4 kilograms and has a maximum grinding length of 21 centimetres (and a width of 7 centimetres). This 6th molar will be present for around half the elephants life. When the last molar tooth is worn down and the elephant can no longer chew properly, unfortunately it will usually starve or develop malnutrition and eventually die. This does not happen until the elephant is at least 60 - 70 years old. Below is a table showing the onset and loss of each tooth and age the above process usually occurs:

Molar Molar Appearance Molar Loss 1 At birth 2 years old 2 At birth 6 years old 3 1 year old 13 - 15 years old 4 6 years old 28 years old 5 18 years old 43 years old 6 30 years old 65 years old +

The molars of an elephant differ between the African and Asian species. Both have a series of ridges (laminae) which run across the tooth. However, in the Asian elephant the ridges are parallel as opposed to the diamond shaped ridges in the African elephant. Although the Asian elephant has grazing teeth, it is usually spends most of its time in forests as opposed to plains like the African elephant.

In both species of elephant, the movement of the jaw during chewing is forwards and backwards, unlike cows who use sideways movements to chew their cud. Therefore, the ridges act as two rasps grating upon one another and is made more effective by the teeth being slightly curved along the lengths.

Elephants Brain

The brain of the elephant is larger than any other land mammal and is located in the back of the skull well away from the forehead. An elephants brain is about four times the size of a humans brain. (See diagram on the left). Out of all the animals that have ever lived on earth, the brain of the elephant is the largest known.

Elephants are born with 35% of the mass of the adult brain. The elephant is among the more intelligent animals. The brain weight of the male African elephant is 4.2-5.4 kilograms. The brain weight of the female African elephant is 3.6 - 4.3 kilograms. Both are quite heavy in comparison to the adult human brain although brain development in elephants is quite similar to that of human beings.

Humans are born with small brain mass, so are elephants. As a human brain grows and develops, so does an elephant calfs brain. Likewise, the learning ability of a human increases with growth, so does that of an elephant calf. It is not surprising that elephants are such intelligent creatures. Although the female elephant brain is smaller than the male elephant brain, this does not suggest that the male is more intelligent than the female. Studies have revealed that the female elephant is equal to or even more intelligent than the male. Given the fact that female elephants are generally smaller to male elephants, the brain mass in proportion to the body size indicates the larger female brain.

Also, the brain and consciousness of the female elephant is much different than that of a male as they are reared and interact with their mothers in very different ways right from birth and while the females form a very close knit bond with each other which is constantly maintained, the males are more solitary and independent.

Although the brain of the elephant is the largest in size among all of the land mammals, it actually only occupies a small area at the back of the skull. However, in proportion to the size of the elephants body, the elephant brain is smaller than the human brain. Despite this, the elephant is one of the only animals along with all apes (including ourselves), sperm whales and a few other creatures who has a large brain relative to body size.

Elephant Hair

Although elephants are generally considered hairless animals, both African and Asian elephants are born with thick hair. The elephant fetus is covered with 'Lanugo', a mass of long, downy hair, however, most of this is shed before the elephant is actually born. The hair on an elephant calf sheds more as the elephant calf grows. The hair is not designed to provide warmth for the elephant, however, it does allow the elephant to sense the closeness of objects the hair touches.

The hair on an elephant is thickest on the tail and more visible on the head and back. The hair on the tail can reach a length of up to 100 centimetres.

The hair that appears around the eyes and nose have a protection purpose. It helps to keep out particles and germs from invading the body through the ears and nose. An elephant also has small sensory hairs along its trunk.

Baby elephants (calves) have lots of small fine hairs that cover most of their body. In the photo on the left, you can see the fine hair on the calfs forehead and lower back. These hairs will last in the same density long after the elephants first birthday and then as the elephant grows the hair will gradually become thinner and become less visible.

Elephant Ears

The African elephant has ears that are at least 3 times the size of the Asian elephants ears. The African elephant uses its ears as signaling organs. Ears are also used to regulate body temperature and are used as a protective feature in the African elephant to ward off potential threats. Each elephants ear is unique and different to any other elephants ear. They are used just like fingerprints on a human as a type of identification. The ears serve several important functions in the elephant. When a threat is perceived by the elephant, the ears are spread wide on each side of the head, which produces a huge frontal area.

Because the elephant is such a large bulbous shape and contains large organs, their insides generate a lot of heat, particularly the digestive system. The surface area of an elephant is a lower ratio compared to the elephants volume. Therefore, there is not enough skin area to cope with the heat that needs expelling. So elephants use their ears to perform this function. When an elephant flaps its ears, it can lower their blood temperature by 10 degrees Fahrenheit . Both the African and Asian elephants use their ears for this purpose although it is more effective in the African elephant due to the larger ears.

The wider surface area of outer ear tissue on the African elephants ears consists of a vast network of capillaries and veins. Hot blood in the arteries are filtered through these and cooler blood is returned to the elephants body.

It is not uncommon to see an elephant facing down on a windy day with its ears extended to allow the cool wind to blow across the hot arteries. The physical structure of the elephant ear is simply a sheet of cartilage covered by thin skin. Another amazing function of the elephant ear is its 'infra sound capabilities'. This is used for long range communication between the elephants. Elephant ears are extremely sensitive and studies have proved that elephants can communicate over great distances with each other. Elephants can use this communication which is unhearing to human ears to warn of impending dangers in the far distance. So do not forget, if you have the opportunity to ever touch the ears of an elephant, be very careful as they are very soft and sensitive.

Elephant Feet

Elephants feet are unique and very interesting. They are quite different from other animal feet. An elephants foot is designed in such a way that elephants actually walk on the tips of their toes. Because of the way it walks, elephants are also known as 'Digitigrades' and belong to a group of animals that also includes horses, cattle, sheep, camels and rhinos. All elephants do not have the same number of toes on each foot. The African elephants have 4 toes on their front feet and 3 toes on their back feet. Asian elephants on the other hand, have 5 on the front and 4 at the back.

Elephants toes are buried inside of the flesh of the foot and not all toes have toenails. An elephants foot generally measures 40 - 50 centimetres in length and width and has a circumference of about 1.34 metres. The sole of an elephants foot is made of a tough, fatty connective tissue which acts like a spongy shock absorber and allows the elephant to move about silently.

The sole of the foot is also ridged and pitted which gives the elephant stability when walking over a variety of terrains. Its design prevents the elephant from slipping on smooth surfaces such as ice and snow. The reason that elephants can walk so quietly is in part due to the 'elastic spongy cushion' on the bottom of the foot smothering any objects beneath itself. This causes most noises (including the cracking of sticks and twigs) to be muffled.

The fore feet of an elephant have a circular shape whereas the back feet are a more oval shape. The footprint of an elephant can tell you a few things about that particular elephant. For example, elongated oval footprints usually indicates that they belong to a male elephant, whereas a more rounded footprint indicates a female elephant. Male elephants tend to leave double footprints as their rear leg falls slightly to the side of their front leg. Females tend to walk more precisely in the same spot with both legs.

The footprint can also tell you what age the elephant might be. Younger elephants leave a more crisp and defined footprint. Older elephants leave a more undefined footprint because of smoother ridges and worn heels. The height of the elephant can also be determined by its footprint. Twice the circumference of the footprint suggests how tall the elephant is to the height of its shoulder. Elephants footprints can play a beneficial role for other animals. Their large, deep prints create holes in which water can be collected in providing water holes for small animals, roots can be dug up from the ground and navigation on difficult terrain can be made easier.

The structure of the foot allows an elephant to walk in deep mud without difficulty, because when it is being withdrawn the circumference becomes smaller which in turn reduces the suction preventing the elephant from being drawn deeper into the mud.

Elephant Skin

Although elephants belong to the Pachyderm species which means 'thick-skinned' animals, they actually have very thin skin except in certain places such as the back and the sides where it is about 2 - 3 centimetres thick. The thinnest parts of skin are behind their ears, around their eyes, on the chest, abdomen and shoulders. On these parts, their skin is as thin as paper. Skin provides a protective function for all animals, however, there are some unique characteristics about the elephants skin. Elephants skin is very sensitive to the sun. Elephant calves are constantly shadowed by their mothers to avoid sunburn.

Elephants naturally love water, however, one of the reasons they enjoy wallowing in mud, lakes and rivers is to keep cool when it is very hot. Elephants also use their trunks to draw up cool water and squirt it over their backs and heads to wet the skin most exposed to the sunlight. The absence of sweat glands is also another important reason for elephants to spend a lot of time in water and mud.

An elephants skin is so sensitive and rich in nerves that it can detect even the smallest fly landing upon it. As we all know, elephants skin is very wrinkly. These wrinkles have their purpose too. They help the elephant in controlling its body temperature and keeping itself cool.

Wrinkles increase the surface area of the skin so when the elephant bathes in water, there is more skin to wet. When the elephant comes out of the water, the cracks and crevices of the wrinkles trap the water and because it takes longer to evaporate in the heat it keeps the elephants skin moist longer than it would if it had smooth skin.

Skin structure on an elephant can also distinguish whether they are Asian or African. Asian elephants have finer skin than African elephants and it is sometimes colourless except for some 'white spots' around the ears and forehead.

The natural skin colour of the African elephant is greyish black, but all elephant skin colour changes and is determined by the colour of the soil of the land where their habitat is. Elephants have a habit of throwing mud over their backs and this gives them their apparent colouring.

Elephant Senses and Communication

By better understanding an elephants view of the world we can become more aware of how amazing these animals really are. As human beings, the impact our senses have on the nature of our experiences such as what we see, hear, smell and touch, play a huge part in determining our world. Likewise, it is important that we recognize the world of an elephant is much different from our world. For instance, the eyesight of an elephant is not as far reaching as a humans eyesight, however, an elephants sense of smell is unparalleled. The elephants acute sense of smell is also used in communication along with its other senses of vision, touch, hearing and the amazing ability to detect vibrations.

An elephant is capable of hearing sound waves well below the human hearing limitation. They communicate using both high and low frequency sounds. Low frequency rumbles are made to warn other elephants at long distance of a current situation whereas high frequency sounds such as trumpeting, barking, snorting and other loud calls are used to communicate to those nearer.

Using their heads, bodies, trunks, ears and tail for communicating is the elephants natural language. Visual communication includes movements of the head, mouth, tusks and trunk. For example, when a female elephant feels threatened, she will make herself appear larger by holding her head as high as she can and spreading her ears wide. Chemical communication is the use of the trunk. The elephant will lift its trunk to smell the air or root around the floor usually searching for urine spots and urine trails.

Tactile communication usually involves the whole body, feet, tail, ears, trunk and tusks and is mostly to do with touch. An elephant will use its tusks to provoke aggression or to lift a baby elephant out of a mud wallow. The rubbing together of ears shows affection. Depending on how the elephant moves and uses its body parts depicts the mood of the animal. Such moods and body movements show if the elephant is angry, happy, anti-predator, parental, excited or sad. Every observation of the elephant senses shows an insight to the world the elephant lives in. It is important to remember that the elephants world is a completely different world from ours based on its sensory experiences.

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Elephant Anatomy Facts - Complete Diagram Of Anatomy

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The Complete Elephant Anatomy Trunks | Tusks | Teeth | Brain | Hair | Ears | Feet | Skin | Senses and Communication The elephants body is well adapted for the survival of rugged conditions of their habitats in Africa and Asia. Elephants have strong, long trunks that perform multiple tasks, sharp tusks used for ...

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Elephants are exceptionally smart creatures. They have the largest brain of any land animal, and three times as many neurons as humans. While many of these neurons exist to control the elephant's large and dexterous body, these creatures have demonstrated their impressive mental capabilities time and time again. Here, a few interesting findings about the intelligence of elephants.

1. THEY CAN IDENTIFY LANGUAGES.

Researchers at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK have discovered that African elephants can distinguish differences in human gender, age, and ethnicity purely by the sound of someone's voice. If the voice belongs to a person who is more likely to pose a threat, the elephants switch into defensive mode.

To test this, researchers found two Kenyan men from different ethnic groups, the Maasai and the Kamba. The Maasai have a history of killing wild elephants, while the Kamba do not. The researchers recorded the two men saying, "Look, look over there, a group of elephants is coming," in their different languages, and played these recordings to elephant family groups at Amboseli National Park in Kenya. When the elephants heard the Maasai, they showed signs of fear, huddling together and moving away from the voice. But the same phrase spoken by a Kamba man evoked no reaction from the elephants. "The ability to distinguish between Maasai and Kamba men delivering the same phrase in their own language suggests that elephants can discriminate between different languages," said the study's co-author Graeme Shannon, a visiting fellow in psychology at the University of Sussex.

What's more, the same recordings made by women and children of either tribe left the elephants unfazed, suggesting they can not only distinguish between ethnic groups, but between age and gender as well, knowing that men are the most likely to pose a threat, especially Maasai men.

2. THEY CAN USE TOOLS.

In 2010, a 7-year-old Asian elephant named Kandula impressed researchers by utilizing tools from his surroundings to reach fruit that had been strategically placed just beyond his reach. After watching the fruit, tantalizingly, for a few days, Kandula had an " aha moment." He found a large plastic block, rolled it over, and stepped on it, propping himself up just far enough to reach the fruit with his trunk. While Kandula's "aha moment" didn't happen immediately, it stuck with him. He repeated the trick with other tools, and even figured out how to stack blocks to reach even higher.

Similarly, elephants have been known to use sticks to scratch themselves in areas they couldn't otherwise reach, and fashion fly swatters out of branches or grass. Others have been observed digging a hole to reach drinking water, and then plugging the hole with a ball formed from chewed bark to prevent the water from evaporating, thus saving it for later use.

3. THEY UNDERSTAND HUMAN BODY LANGUAGE.

Researchers recently observed evidence that elephants might understand human pointing. They tested this by pointing at food hidden in one of two identical containers, and observing which container a group of captive African elephants approached. Without any previous training, the elephants picked the correct container almost 68 percent of the time. That's only about 5 percent lower than how one-year-old human babies perform on similar tests. When researchers stood between the containers and did not point, the elephants approached them randomly.

4. THEY SHOW EMPATHY.

A recent study [ PDF] observed Asian elephants comforting one another when distressed. The elephants in the study used both physical contact and vocal sounds as forms of comfort, stroking one another with their trunks and emitting small chirps. The study concluded this behavior is "best classified with similar consolation responses by apes, possibly based on convergent evolution of empathic capacities."

5. THEY MOURN THEIR DEAD.

It would be a stretch to say elephants, or any other animals, understand death in the same way humans do. But elephants have demonstrated fascinating reactions to the deaths of their kind, often displaying what appear to humans as symptoms of grief and mourning. They caress the bones of the dead with their trunks and will stand near the body of the deceased for hours. Sometimes they even try to bury the remains. They don't behave this way toward the remains of other animals. In this powerful photo, taken by John Chaney for National Geographic, a female elephant "very slowly and with much empathy wrapped her trunk around the deceased elephant's tusk. She stayed in this position for several hours..."

6. THEY MIMIC HUMAN VOICES.

An Asian elephant named Koshik baffled researchers in 2012 when they realized he could say five words in Korean. "If you consider the huge size of the elephant and the long vocal tract and other anatomic differences-for example he has a trunk instead of lips... and a huge larynx-and he is really matching the voice pitch of his trainers, this is really remarkable," said Dr. Angela Stoeger, a lead author of a study about Koshik that appeared in Current Biology. While it is almost certain Koshik doesn't comprehend the meaning of the words, the researchers believe he began mimicking sound as a way to bond with humans, which were his only form of social contact during his formative years.

7. THEY HAVE EXTRAORDINARY MEMORIES.

You knew this one, but let's point to some specific examples. Elephants can remember routes to watering holes over incredibly long stretches of time and space. This is necessary for elephants that live in the desert where water is scarce. Research also shows that elephants often form close bonds with companions, and can recognize them even after long periods of separation. Dr. Shermin de Silva, now director of the Uda Walawe Elephant Research Project in Sri Lanka, said in 2011 that "Elephants are able to track one another over large distances by calling to each other and using their sense of smell ... Our work shows that they are able to recognize their friends and renew these bonds even after being apart for a long time." In 1999, two elephants named Shirley and Jenny, once companions in a circus, reunited at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee after more than 20 years apart. Their immediate bonding can be seen in the video above, shot during their reunion.

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7 Behaviors That Prove Elephants Are Incredibly Smart

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Elephants are exceptionally smart creatures. They have the largest brain of any land animal, and three times as many neurons as humans. While many of these neurons exist to control the elephant's large and dexterous body, these creatures have demonstrated their impressive mental capabilities time and time again.

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Elephants are interesting animals. Their size is awesome, and their strength is incredible. They are intelligent and affectionate beings. Amazingly, even with their large size, they can walk silently. You might not even notice them passing by!

Facts About Baby Elephants

A baby elephant is called a calf. It weighs about 250 pounds at birth and stands about three feet tall. Calves can't see very well at first, but they can recognize their mothers by touch, scent, and sound.

Baby elephants stay very close to their mothers for the first couple of months. The calves drink their mother's milk for about two years, sometimes longer. They drink up to 3 gallons of milk a day! At about four months old, they also begin eating some plants, like adult elephants, but they continue to need as much milk from their mother. They keep drinking milk for up to ten years!

At first, baby elephants don't really know what to do with their trunks. They swing them to and fro and sometimes even step on them. They will suck their trunk just as a human baby might suck its thumb.

By about 6 to 8 months, calves begin learning to use their trunks to eat and drink. By they time they are a year old, they can control their trunks pretty well and, like adult elephants, use their trunks for grasping, eating, drinking, bathing.

Female elephants stay with the herd for life, while males leave to begin a solitary life at about 12 to 14 years of age.

Fast Facts About Baby Elephants

Gestation period: 18 - 22 months

Birth weight: about 250 pounds

Height: about 3 feet tall

About 99% of calves are born at night

Calves are born with curly black or red hair on their foreheads

Calves drink about 3 gallons of milk a day

Print the elephant babies coloring page and color the picture while you review the facts you've learned.

Species of Elephants

For many years scientists thought that there were two different species of elephants, Asian elephants and African elephants. However, in 2000, they began classifying African elephants into two distinct species, the African savanna elephant and the African forest elephant.

Discover more about elephants by printing this elephant vocabulary worksheet. Look up each word in a dictionary or online. Then, write the correct word on the blank line beside each definition.

Print this elephant word search and see how well you remember what you learned about elephants. Circle each word as you find it hidden among the letters in the word search. Refer to the worksheet for any terms whose meaning you don't remember.

African savanna elephants live in the area of Africa below the Sahara desert. African forest elephants live in the rain forests of Central and West Africa. The elephants that live in the African forest have smaller bodies and tusks than those that live on the savannas.

Asian elephants live in the scrub and rain forests of Southwest Asia, India, and Nepal.

Print the elephant habitat coloring page and review what you've learned.

There are many similarities between Asian and African elephants, but there are simple ways to distinguish one from the other.

African elephants have much larger ears that seem to be shaped like the continent of Africa. They need large ears to cool off their bodies on the hot continent of Africa.

Asian elephant's ears are smaller and more rounded.

Print the African elephant coloring page.

There is also a distinct difference in the shape of Asian and African elephants' heads. Asian elephants' heads are smaller than an African elephant's head and have a "double-dome" shape.

Both male and female African elephants can grow tusks, though not all do. Only male Asian elephants grow tusks.

Print the Asian Elephant Coloring Page.

The Asian elephant is smaller than the African elephant. Asian elephants live in jungle habitats. It's entirely different than the deserts of Africa. Water and vegetation are more plentiful in the jungle.

So Asian elephants do not need wrinkled skin to trap moisture or large ears to fan their bodies.

Even the trunks of Asian and African elephants are different. African elephants have two finger-like growths on the tip of their trunks; Asian elephants only have one.

Do you think you can tell African and Asian elephants apart? Print the elephant family coloring page. Are these African elephants or Asian elephants? What are the identifying features?

All elephants are plant eaters (herbivores). Adult elephants eat about 300 pounds of food a day. It takes a long time to find and eat 300 pounds of food. They spend 16 to 20 hours a day eating!

Print the elephant diet coloring page.

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Fun Facts and Printables About Elephants and Elephant Babies

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Elephants are interesting animals. Their size is awesome, and their strength is incredible. They are intelligent and affectionate beings. Amazingly, even with their large size, they can walk silently. You might not even notice them passing by! A baby elephant is called a calf.

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Elephant babies typically get to their feet within a half hour after birth and are able to follow along with the herd not long after that. Like the one splashing and chasing egrets in the picture below, they spend much of their time playing and exploring their world.

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Elephant Natural Habitat

Elephants are able to survive in a variety of different locations because of the huge variety of food sources that they consume. Many people assume that elephants that are in the wild only live in the grasslands. While that is one of their main habitats, they can also be found in the desert of the Savannah, forest areas, where there are swamps, and everything in between.

They form emigrational paths that they continue to follow year after year. This allows them to take advantage of the foods that grow in various areas. The paths that they walk are clearly there just like a road and they are fascinating to see when you are looking at areas that don't have any clear pathways other than these from the elephants as they roam around.

Today most of the elephants remaining in Africa live in National Parks. These areas have been put in place to help give them plenty of room to survive. They are also well protected in these locations to help the population count rise. However, this can be stressful for the elephants as they love the ability to freely roam. They also love to play and to bathe in water so they don't mind traveling long distances to find it.

One of the reasons why elephants have been able to survive for so long in the wild has to do with their high level of intelligence. While they do have their natural habitat where they want to be, they also have the mentality to know when they have to move on and they have to adjust to new habitats in order to continue to survive.

They don't have predators other than humans so when they do move to new habitats being able to find adequate supplies of food is the one thing that they have to worry about. If they can find it, then they will likely be able to thrive there.

One of the biggest threats to elephants in the wild is the continually destruction of their natural habitat. This gives them less room to roam in order to find adequate supplies of food. They can consume more than 50 tons of food per day so they need quite a selection of it to choose from. When they are limited to certain locations though they can completely wipe out the vegetation there. As a result it will be difficult for it to grow back.

When elephants can freely roam though in their natural habitat they actually do lots of good for the environment. They clear away trees and plants so that new forms of vegetation can grow there. It is due to humans clearing away their natural habitat though that they are struggling out there in the wild. Even with some great conservation efforts in place they remain in serious jeopardy of losing their natural habitat.

The habitat for elephants in captivity is a far cry from what they experience in the wild. Most zoos offer them a generous amount of room to roam but it is nothing like what they would have in the wild. Still, they have plenty of water and food so they don't need to travel for those reasons. They are also offered plenty of toys so that they don't become bored.

When they are in a circus setting they are living in even worse conditions. They are often chained up and forced to stand still in small cages. This can lead to a great deal of stress for elephants. They are instinctively driven to be able to move at their own leisure.
References
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/12392/0

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/7140/0

https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/elephants/habitat-and-distribution

Raman Sukumar. The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behaviour, and Conservation. Oxford University Press, 2003.

R. Sukumar. The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management. Cambridge University Press, 1992.

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Elephants are able to survive in a variety of different locations because of the huge variety of food sources that they consume. Many people assume that elephants that are in the wild only live in the grasslands.

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While the increased amount of exposure in the media is heightening the public's awareness about the poaching crisis, there are also other imminent issues facing elephants in the wild. Outside of poaching, habitat loss and human elephant conflict (HEC) are the other leading causes of elephant suffering in the wild.

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Chady is an outspoken naturalist and educator who cares about his country and believes the next generation is key to curbing elephant poaching and saving this iconic species.
For the past year or so I've been drawn to Kenya. Although but a small African country it is home to many wildlife conservationists, Santosian Noor and Chady Lolosoli being but two I look forward to meeting later this year.

During our Spotlight on Species campaign Chady wanted to get involved. Here is why he wants us all to get involved to stop the elephant poaching in Africa.

Why I want to save Elephants

It is estimated that between 35,000 and 50,000 African elephants are poached each year to satisfy the global demand - in China and throughout Southeast Asia, but also in the United States - for their ivory. Surely we've learned from conservation history and still remember the 1970s and 1980s when the African elephant population was fundamentally cut in half from 1.3 million animals to roughly 600,000. What's clear is that as long as the illegal international ivory trade and domestic, sometimes legal markets continue, more and more elephants will be poached. And some particularly fragile populations may be lost forever in our lifetime.

Many people don't understand the vital role that elephants play in the delicate dance performed throughout the African ecosystems. Elephants are considered a keystone species in the African landscape. That means elephants play a key role in maintaining the balance of all other species in the community.

What Elephants actually do

They create trails that act as firebreaks and water run offs.

The nutrient-rich manure replenishes depleted soils so that humans can have a nutrient rich soil to plant crops in.

They pull down trees and break up thorny bushes, which help to create grasslands for other animals to survive.

They create salt licks that are rich in nutrients for other animals.

They dig waterholes in dry riverbeds that other animals can use as a water source.

Elephant dung is important to the environment as well. Baboons and birds pick through dung for undigested seeds and nuts, and dung beetles reproduce in these deposits.

Their footprints create deep holes that water can collect in.

Other animals, including humans, depend on the openings elephants create in the forest and brush and on the waterholes they dig.

Elephant droppings are also a vehicle for seed dispersal. Some seeds will not germinate unless they have passed through an elephant's digestive system

But there is more

Elephants are an iconic species, gentle giant creatures about which we know only a fraction of what there is to learn:

The African savannah elephant is the largest land mammal in the world. A mature bull elephant may stand up to 13 feet tall at the shoulder and weigh 14,000 pounds. The most noticeable distinction between African savannah and forest elephants is size: The savannah is larger and has bigger and more curved tusks. Asian elephants have much smaller ears than both African species and usually, only the male Asian elephant sports tusks.

In folklore, elephants are known for not forgetting. For the African savannah elephant, memory is a tool for surviving challenges that may come intermittently over decades. Long-term memory tends to be vested in the older females, called matriarchs, without which the herd could die of starvation or dehydration. Unfortunately, these large females are the most attractive targets for ivory poachers, because they tend to have larger tusk and they may be easier to find than male.

What you might not know about Elephants

Elephants have complex social behavior. When a member of the herd dies, they cover the body with grass and dirt and stay near the site for several hours.

African savannah elephants communicate across great distances at low frequencies that cannot be heard by humans.

An elephant herd consists of related females and their young and is managed by the eldest female. Adult male elephants rarely join a herd and lead a solitary life, only approaching herds during mating season.

African savannah elephants may live up to 70 years in the wild, longer than any other mammals except humans.

An elephant's trunk has more than 40,000 muscles and tendons. The trunk can lift large objects, yet its sensitive tip can manipulate very small things.

What will happen to the ecosystems?

No one knows what will happen to the ecosystems that elephants support if they vanish from the wild. There are many reasons why many of us humans like and even love elephants... there is some kind of kinship that is hard to pin down.

The value of Elephants

Elephants are a big draw for safari clients and as such are important if not critical income generators for people with few other sources. They have economic value, but perhaps more importantly, there is a powerful moral value.

To stop the poaching and create the issue of sustainability, we should consider the economic, social, and environmental impacts of elephant poaching and what can be done to stop it. But I believe that the economic portion is largely in effect here, so I'll predominantly address that.

One of the main problems is that poachers are offered such huge sums of money to kill elephants for their tusks. To a poor man struggling to feed his family, the life of a single elephant is certainly worth being able to support his family. Thus, people have an economic incentive to poach elephants. This overcomes any idea of protecting the environment or cultural connection with the elephant.

How to turn the tide

To fight such strong incentive of money; I suggest we can turn this system around and use money as an incentive for saving the elephants. Tourism is a huge source of revenue for countries with big game populations. Tens of thousands of tourists per year visit countries to go on safaris and see the lion, the giraffe, the antelopes and especially the majestic elephant in its natural habitat. But what happens when the elephant is extinct? Will people still pay thousands of dollars to see the empty plains? They will not. So in the long run, poaching is actually hurting the economies of these countries.

I believe that spreading awareness of this idea is a key in changing the mindset that poaching is a legitimate way of life. The governments should offer stakes in tourist businesses so locals can profit from them and not feel the need to poach. Local watchdog groups can be formed to identify potential poachers and stop it before it happens.
We know that education is the key to every developing countries and communities. When people become educated they are more apt to understand the connectedness of all life. They begin to understand how everything they do has a ripple effect.
In the case of rising wealth in Asian countries and the hunger to show wealth, one needs to ask; do the people who buy ivory even care about the elephants? Would they stop if they knew? Would the poacher stop if he had access to work that he could do to feed his family and gradually acquire the material things he is willing to risk his life for, now; Perhaps eco-tourism?

But with solutions, like here in Kenya where lots of poachers have been rehabilitated and offered jobs, creation of community owned conservancies and a growing trend of eco-tourism and some project and governments are cashing in on it. These established developments have seen local people benefit greatly from it, and they have become very possessive about "their" animals, thwarting poachers of animals and plants. Work must be put in at the local level to spread awareness of the importance of the elephant, and show the people that is profitable to save the elephants.

The Human and Animal Impact of Poaching

The outrageous impacts of elephant poaching are well-known; it is brutal, shameful, and unnecessary; entire elephant families are gunned down and animals' faces are literally hacked away to extract the valuable tusks.

Allowing this trade to flourish has expressed a lot of danger and grave risk to the people not elephants alone. Park rangers who literally lay their lives on the line each day to save their national treasures, their resident wildlife, are gunned down in the line of duty leaving families behind. These conservation heroes are underfunded and ill-equipped to face the organized, well-armed gangs that seek to deprive them of their natural wealth and riches. This remind me of several guys-community conservation scouts who lost lives to poachers... I worked with them.

The Challenges

Habitat loss and poaching are the biggest concerns for the survival of elephants. As the human footprint has grown in Africa, elephant habitats have been converted to farmland, deforested by industrial logging and mining, and otherwise developed by roads and settlements.

Poachers kill elephants for their ivory and meat, and farmers sometimes kill them to protect their crops, which elephants often raid as well competition for scarce resources with livestock. But we also know that the elephant poaching machine has become increasing militarized and professional, with political players and corrupt officials complicit in the trade.
Contributed by Chady C. Lolosoli
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The Impact of Elephant Poaching is Greater Than We think

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Chady is an outspoken naturalist and educator who cares about his country and believes the next generation is key to curbing elephant poaching and saving this iconic species. For the past year or so I've been drawn to Kenya.

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There are three types: marsupials, placentals, and monotremes. So what kind of mammal is Tim? And what three things do all mammals have in common?

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The gigantic Woolly Mammoth was an Ice Age ancestor of the modern elephant. Discover more fascinating details about this amazing creature.

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Woolly mammoths are extinct relatives of today's elephants. They lived during the last ice age, and they may have died off when the weather became warmer and their food supply changed. Humans may also be partly responsible for their disappearance due to hunting.

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Elephants for Children: Learn All About Elephants - FreeSchool

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Jukin Media Verified (Original) * For licensing / permission to use: Contact - licensing(at)jukinmediadotcom Submit your videos here: http://bit.ly/2iFnUya

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Meet the elephant, an endangered animal found throughout Africa and Asia that’s big on brainpower, big on appetite, and just plain BIG!