Elephant Facts
World Elephant Day 12th August 2016
• Elephants can live up to 70 years old.
• There are two species of elephant; African & Asian
• The African Elephant is the largest land mammal,
weighing up to 22,000 pounds and the Asian elephant is
the 2nd largest land mammal weighing up to 10,000 pounds.
• Elephants can swim long distances and they use their
trunk like a snorkel to breathe when swimming in deep water.
• Both male & female African elephants have tusks but only male
Asian elephants have them. They use their tusks to dig and find food.
• Elephants are pregnant for 22 months.
• Baby elephants are born at roughly 250 pounds.
• Elephants spend around 16 hours a day eating.
• They consume as much as 300-490 pounds of food a day.
• Elephants don’t have sweat glands.
• Their ears are large and thin and are made up of a complex network
of blood vessels which help to regulate their temperature. Blood is ciculated
through their ears to cool them down in hot climates.
• The Asian elephant is endangered with less than 40,000 remaining
worldwide and the African elephant is threatened with less than 40,000 worldwide.
References:
http://worldelephantday.org/how-to-help-elephants/elephant-facts/1,
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/animals/elephant.html
http://soselephants.org/fun_facts.html.