Elephants - General Information

The elephant is the largest and heaviest mammal on land and is very intelligent as well as strong. Elephants have the largest teeth, tusks, and ears. They have small eyes which are protected by very long eyelashes.

Elephant skin is thick, grey and very wrinkled. Having deep wrinkles helps elephants stay cool because water gets trapped inside the wrinkles and evaporates slowly, thus cooling the elephant.

Their hearing is keen and they can detect rumblings from miles away. Every elephant's ears are different, just like human fingerprints.

The elephant's trunk is really it's nose, but the elephant can use it like an extra hand. The trunk is used for breathing, eating, drinking, touching, picking up things, throwing things, feeling, digging, squirting, fighting, playing and greeting. Smell is the most important sense for the elephant, and the trunk can often be seen held up high trying to determine smells in the air.

Elephants live together in family groups with a matriarch (wise, experienced female) as the head. Daughters and sisters stay together, and young males up to age 13 are included. However, males are encouraged to leave and can be found in small bachelor groupings or on their own. The mother elephants look after their young longer than any other animal except humans. All members of the family assist and protect the youngsters. Babies will follow their mothers, sisters, or aunties, and are guided by trunk touches. Babies drink milk from their mothers up to 4 years.

The elephant's tusks are really its front teeth. Just like humans are right handed or left handed, so, too, are elephants right tusked or left tusked. The one they favor has been ground down and is shorter from the constant use. Both male and female African elephants have tusks, but only male Asian elephants do. Tusks are used for digging, fighting, feeding, fighting and lifting. Another name for tusks is ivory.

Elephants roll in the mud to keep flies from biting them and to cool themselves down.

Elephants need 18 - 24 gallons of water every day. They suck water up their trunk, then holding the end closed, bring their trunk to their mouth to squirt the water inside.

Elephants are herbivores and eat up to 100 different kinds of plants. All parts of the plant are eaten - leaves, twigs, bark, roots, flowers, fruit, seeds, and thorns. They spend most of their time eating (about 16 hours) because they need between 330 to 350 lbs. of food each day.. Babies often eat dung of the adults to get the microscopic organisms to live in their gut to help them digest their food. Only half of the adults food is digested, so the dung is rich as a food source for the youngsters.

Bulls live alone.

Mud coatings help to cool elephants.

Elephants can use their trunks to dig down in dried up water holes to find water below the surface.

The elephant has brown eyes and is color blind. Vision is limited in strong, direct sunlight and better in the woods and shadows.

Elephants do not have a permanent home.  They journey and migrate to food and water sources.

Elephants can live up to 70 years of age. By looking at how much the tusks of these elephants have worn, you can easily tell which elephant is older.

Males will occasionally fight to see who is the strongest.

Elephants usually walk, but can run short distances. They move quietly because of the soft pads in their feet.

Elephants can swim very well, and in deep water, they will swim underwater, raising their trunks to act as a snorkel.

Elephants communicate in several ways:

• trumpet when they are excited, surprised, angry or lost

• cry

• bellow

• scream

• snort

• by touch

Elephants greet each other by putting their trunk in the other's mouth. Their rumbling is so low-pitched that humans cannot hear it.

Listen to elephant sounds:

elephant greeting

elephant trumpet