African
Elephant
http://phillipdonovancolorado.blogspot.com/2011/03/images-of-african-elephants.html
By: Ms. Enright
African Elephant
The African Elephant is one of the largest and most powerful animals on
earth but it is almost one of the kindest, most gentle animals too.
http://nataliepeart.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/africas-lost-elephants/
DID YOU KNOW?
The African Elephant is the largest
land mammal on Earth.
But it is still a mammal, it gives birth
to babies and breastfeeds just like
your mommy did to you!
AFRICAN ELEPHANT
Class: Proboscidea
Order: Elephantidae
Family: Loxodonata Africana
Appearance
SIZE: Male elephants can be up to 3.3 meters or 10 feet tall at the shoulder.
Females are slightly smaller.
WEIGHT: Male elephants weigh up to 6 tons. Females weigh up to 4 tons.
AGE: African elephants will live on average 70 years.
COLOR: African Elephants are grey.
Elephants have all sorts of special features that help them to survive.
EARS: An elephant has large ears that it can use as fans to wave air over
his or her body to help cool him or her off.
TRUNK: An elephant has an extremely long trunk that it uses to breath
and smell. The greatest thing about having a huge trunk though is that
elephants can use it like an extra arm and pick up food, or wash
themselves.
FEET: An elephant has soft cushions on the bottom of their feet so they can
walk quietly.
TEETH: An elephant only has 4 functioning teeth in its mouth! If they fall
out or are broken, a new tooth will grow in to replace the old one. This
process can happen 6 times.
TUSKS: Long incisor teeth that grow throughout an elephant`s entire life.
See ENEMIES for more information.
Happy Home
African Elephants can be found in most parts of Africa, south of the Sahara
desert. (See map below). Although they are best suited to the open
grasslands, they will live in a variety of habitats.
http://www.animalfactguide.com/animalfacts/african-elephant/
African Elephants can cover a lot of ground in one day as they wander in
search of food so their habitats are very large and diverse. However,
elephants never move very far from their water source as they enjoy taking
a bath every day. They also need access to a wide variety of grass, fruit,
small branches and twigs to eat. They are well adapted to the heat and use
mud to protect themselves from bugs.
DID YOU KNOW?
An elephant can walk 5-5
½ miles (or 6 to 6 ½
kilometers) per hour.
As a herd, they can
march 50 miles (or 60
kilometers) a day!
http://www.sciencecontrol.com/genes-separate-africa%E2%80%99s-elephantherds.html
Food
Elephants like to eat and drink as much as they can. Their favorite times of
day are early morning, evening and night but they will also eat during the
day as they move.
Elephants do not eat any meat. They are herbivores that survive on a diet
of grass, foliage, fruit, small branches and twigs. Elephants use their trunk
as a fork and then put their food in their mouths. They use their teeth to
grind up food to digest.
An elephant will normally eat up to 500 pounds of vegetation in a day. An
elephant can drink 11.5 liters each time he moves his trunk.
Elephants will talk to one another while they are foraging for food. They
make rumbling noises to let one another know they are close by and
everything is alright.
DID YOU KNOW?
Once an elephant loses all its
teeth, then it can no longer
eat and will slowly starve to
death.
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-african-elephant-eating-leafybranches-image7267540
Babies
Elephants will start to reproduce when they are approximately 14 or 15
years old. Bulls (males) and cows (females) will perform a courtship ritual
where they hug each other with their trunks. Elephants do not have a
special time of year to give birth, their timing fluctuates.
The mother elephant will be pregnant for 22 months before giving birth to
a new baby. Most of the time elephants give birth to a single calf.
At birth, the baby calf will be 33 inches high, and weigh approximately 250
pounds. The calf will suckle for 2 years from its mother before it learns to
eat on its own.
Babies are very well protected. The entire herd will keep an eye on the calf.
If threatened, the mother will charge to defend her baby.
DID YOU KNOW?
Elephants give birth only
once every 4 years! That
means the average
elephant has 13 babies in
her lifetime.
http://www.travelwithachallenge.com/African-Elephant-Safaris.htm
Behaviors
African Elephants are very sociable creatures. They usually live in small
families. Each family has a leader, usually the Grandma of the family. Then
within the family there are several daughters (called “cows”) and
grandchildren. When the males get old enough and hit puberty they are
kicked out of the herd. The males will then live together in bachelor
groups.
http://www.planetware.com/picture/zimbabwe-herd-of-african-elephants-at-a-waterhole-in-hwange-national-park-zim-zim153.htm
DID YOU KNOW?
Elephants love water and
will totally immerse
themselves in water for a
bath every day. If there is
not enough water for a
bath then elephants will
give themselves a shower
using their trunk as a
shower.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34597357@N00/171835133
Enemies
Elephants are so big that they have very few enemies.
Large African animals like lions will try and isolate a
young elephant or feed on a carcass but it is too difficult
to take down an elephant.
http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/wildkingdom/lions-elephant-hunters/photos/lion-eatingelephant.html
An elephant’s biggest predator is humans. Humans have
hunted and poached elephants for their valuable ivory
tusks. Hunting is now banned but poacher’s still hunt the
mighty beast. This has caused the elephant population to
be threatened.
DID YOU KNOW?
The biggest ivory tusk on record
was 10 feet long and weighed
almost 230 pounds!
If an elephant
feels threatened
then it will alert
the rest of the
herd to danger
by trumpeting.
The leader of
the herd might
also warn the
elephants of
danger by
swirling her
trunk and
throwing dust
in the air.
Tusks are worth $1800 per kilogram
which makes for a very lucrative
black market.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37167109/ns/world_newsworld_environment/