African Elephant (one of The Big 5)
Video: Baby eles frolicking in the mud at Hwange game park, Zimbabwe.
|
Unique Features
Elephants are the largest land mammals. Both males and females have tusks. There are two types of African elephant: the forest and the bush elephant. The forest elephant is smaller. Elephants never stop growing. The elephant's enormous ears (up to two meters long) act as huge cooling fans when flapped. Elephants love bathing and spraying trunkfuls of water over themselves. They also enjoy wallowing in mud. The mud coating keeps away insects and also keeps them cool. An elephant's tusks grow continually throughout its life. The elephant uses its tusks as weapons in combat, and as tools for prising the bark from trees. Elephants tend to favour either their left or right tusk in the same way as humans are either left or right-handed. Elephants seem fascinated by the remains of their dead. They sometimes bury their dead by covering them with earth and foliage. Description Elephants may weigh up to 6000 kilograms. An elephant's tusks may grow up to five meters long in its lifetime, but are worn away through continual use. The elephant's lifespan is comparable to that of humans. Elephants are herbivores. Browsing and grazing, they eat grass, foliage, fruit, seed pods, tree bark and twigs. Trunk An elephant's trunk is extremely sensitive and used for gripping and feeling, for smelling, breathing, eating, trumpeting, or for holding a twig to scratch its back. It can also rub its eye with its trunk, or use it as a powerful weapon in combat. Elephants also use their trunks for drinking - 9 liters of water is sucked up through the trunk at a time. They also use their trunks to pull grass out by the roots and place them in their mouth. Walking Elephants are strangely silent when they walk. The soles of their feet have a soft, elastic horny layer and when they walk they place one foot almost exactly over the previous footprint. They can walk with ease over smooth as well as rough terrain. They walk at a pace of between 9-12 kilometers per hour. Only one foot is off the ground at any time. Predators A healthy adult elephant has no natural predators. Elephant calves are usually safe in the protective family unit but are sometimes killed by lions. Family Ties Elephants are highly sociable and live in tightly-knit family groups headed by a matriarchal leader - usually the oldest and largest cow. The family members all look to the matriarch for guidance. Elephants have long memories and the matriarch has a wealth of experience and wisdom. Female elephants stay with the family group for life but males are driven away between the ages of 12-15 years. These young males live on the fringes of the family unit until they reach puberty and then join up with other males in temporary bachelor groups. Mating When the female elephant is in estrous she will generally mate with the strongest bull in the family hierarchy. When her calf is due, she will wander a short distance away from the main herd, accompanied by one or two other cows. The gestation period is 22 months and an elephant calf weighs 120 kilograms at birth. It is able to walk within a few hours after birth and can walk under its mother's belly for safety until a year old. The elephant cow's two teats are situated between her two front legs. Young elephants are protected by the family for 10 years. They receive special attention from the young females, who act as nannys to the young calves until they give birth themselves. Elephant cows start to breed at around the age of 12 until they are between 50 - 60 years old. Feeding Elephants spend 16-18 hours a day feeding and consume prodigious amounts of food. A large bull elephant may eat 300 kilograms of fodder a day and his stomach is capable of holding 110 kilograms of food. The average intake of water per day is 180 liters. The elephant produces more than 100 kilograms of dung in 24 hours. Intelligence Elephants are intelligent animals. If an elephant is sick or injured and falls to the ground, members of the family will gather round and try and lift it to its feet by using their trunks and tusks. |