Amazing Elephant Facts

There are three distinct species of elephant left in the world: The Asian elephant (of which there are a number of sub-species), Africa has the forest elephant and Bush elephant (a.k.a. African Savanna Elephant) species. Although these two Elephant species are very similar, the African Bush Elephant is considered to be generally larger than the African Forest Elephant, which has rounder ears and straighter tusks.

African bush elephant
Asian elephant

 

 

 

 

 

The Elephant is thought to have been named after the Greek word “elephas”, meaning “ivory”.  The tusks of an African Bush Elephant can be nearly 2.5 meters in length and generally weigh between 50 and 100 pounds. An adult male’s tusks grow about 7 inches a year.  Unless you’re ambidextrous, you probably prefer to use one hand over the other. Elephants are the same way about their tusks: Some are “lefties,” others are “righties.” They’ll favor that tusk when fighting other Elephants, picking things up, or stripping leaves and bark off trees. Because of constant usage, their preferred tusk gets shorter over time. Both male and female African elephants can have tusks, but only male Asian elephants can grow them.

 

The elephant’s trunk “proboscis” is a fusion of its nose and upper lip. It is the elephant’s most important limb and weighs around 400 pounds and contains 16 muscles with a large muscle on the top and sides of the trunk allowing elephants to raise it. There are also thousands of smaller muscle fascicles, or bundles of muscle fibers, that allow for finer movements of the trunk. The trunk is sensitive enough to pick up a blade of grass and strong enough to rip the branches off a tree. It is also used for drinking; the elephant can suck up to 14 liters of water at a time and then blow it straight into its mouth!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

African Bush Elephants replace their teeth six times during their lives but when the African Bush Elephant is between 40 to 60 years old, it no longer has teeth and will likely die of starvation, which is sadly a common cause of death of Elephants in the African wilderness.

The brain of an elephant is larger than that of any other land mammal, weighing between 8 and 12 pounds, whereas a human’s brain weighs 3 pounds on average. The growth and development of an elephant’s brain is similar to that of a human’s. Both are born with small brain masses. Similar to a human being, there is considerable growth and development in the brain as a young elephant grows up.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

  1. Elephants are the ONLY mammals that cannot jump!

2. An elephant’s heart constitutes about 0.5% of the animal’s total body weight. Elephants have an extremely slow pulse rate, around 27 beats per minute. Compare that to the average human (80 bpm), or Canary (1000 bpm).

3. The oldest known elephant in the world lived for 86 years (1917 – 2003). The average lifespan of an elephant is from 50 to 70 years. The largest known elephant was shot in Angola in 1956 and weighed about 24 000 pounds! It had a shoulder height of 3.96 metres!

The skin of an elephant may look more wrinkled than your 80-year-old granny. But it actually helps to keep their skin healthy by holding in moisture. When bathing, the elephant sucks water to spray on its body. It will then spray dirt and mud on its wet coat, the moisture of the mud remains in the wrinkles to continue softening the elephant’s skin and act as sunscreen. Also the elephant’s very large ears are used to radiate excess heat away from the body. The hotter it is the faster the elephants will flap its ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. At 5 inches, or 12.7 centimeters long, elephants have the longest eyelashes in the world.

5. They are well-known for living in matriarchal (female-led) social groups, a structured social order in the elephant’s lifestyle. The females spend their entire lives in tight family groups made up of mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and daughters. Adult males prefer to live a bachelor lifestyle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The elephant’s gestation period is 22 months – longer than any other land animal in the world. A new born human baby weighs an average of 7 pounds while a new born elephant baby can weigh up to 260 pounds! The baby can stand up shortly after being born.1

Although elephants are respected and revered by people throughout their ranges in Africa and South Asia, they are also feared because they can be aggressive and dangerous. Musth, is when males experience increases in testosterone levels of a factor of 60 or more. Elephants in musth carry their heads and ears higher than normal and make a characteristic rumbling sound. A bull elephant in musth can be extremely dangerous to anything that gets in his way.

Elephants are non-ruminant herbivores and need to consume 300-400 pounds of food per day. They do not chew cud, ruminate or belch as ruminant animals. Instead, they release an incredible amount of gas (methane) and produce around 250 pounds of manure a day! Scientists estimate that the amount of methane they emit in one day would be enough to power a car for 32km.

Elephants digest their food with less than 50% efficiency. The massive amount eaten coupled with an inefficient digestive system means lots of manure, more than 40 tons, per adult elephant.

Elephant dung

Elephant behavior is associated with a unique animal intelligence that displays grief, altruism, compassion, self-awareness, play, art and music! Elephants often pay homage to the bones of their dead, gently touching their skulls and tusks with their trunks and feet. When an Elephant walks past a place where a loved one once died, it will stop in its tracks. This silent pause often lasts several minutes.

The oldest known elephant in the world lived for 86 years (1917 – 2003). The average lifespan of an elephant is from 50 to 70 years. The largest known elephant was shot in Angola in 1956 and weighed about 24 000 pounds! It had a shoulder height of 3.96 meters!

Notice

In the early 1900s African Elephant populations were estimated to be in the millions, while there were around 100,000 Asian Elephants. According to World Wildlife Fund, today there are around 700,000 African Elephants in the wild, and just 32,000 Asian Elephants. Even though measures have passed aimed at reducing the poaching of elephants for their ivory (which is worth up to $1500 per pound), these animals are still being poached at a faster rate than they can reproduce. Their slow rate of reproduction also contributes to their dwindling population numbers. Take actions to help Elephants, such as: Do not buy ivory or other wildlife-related products. You can also visit Elephants in countries where they live in the wild. Ecotourism benefits the economy, provides jobs, and deters poachers and abuse.

March 2019
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