African Elephant

African elephant facts and information:
Type: Mammal
Diet: Herbivore
Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 70 years
Size: Height at the shoulder, 8.2 to 13 ft (2.5 to 4 m)
Weight: 5,000 to 14,000 lbs (2,268 to 6,350 kg)
Group name: Herd
Protection status: Threatened

African elephants are the largest of Earth's land mammals. Their enormous ears help them to keep cool in the hot African climate.

Imagine a creature as big as a truck, with a hose-like nose that serves as a snorkel, a drinking straw, a squirt-gun, a trumpet, and a feeding tool powerful enough to rip branches from trees but delicate enough to pick up a pea. Throw in huge, sail-like ears, a pair of curved front teeth that grow throughout the animal's entire lifetime, and a ropy tail, and you've got the African Elephant! There are two types of elephants in Africa: Savanna Elephants and smaller Forest Elephants.

African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. Elephant ears radiate heat to help keep these large animals cool, but sometimes the African heat is too much. Elephants are fond of water and enjoy showering by sucking water into their trunks and spraying it all over themselves. Afterwards, they often spray their skin with a protective coating of dust.

African Elephant video

What does the elephant look like?

The Elephant is a large, gray and he has a long trunk that he/she uses to bathe himself.

What does an African elephant eat?

Elephants are browsing animals, feeding on fruits, leaves, shoots, and tall grasses; they consume hundreds of pounds of food a day and drink up to 50 gal (190 liters) of water. They have no fixed living place, but travel about in herds of up to 100 animals, led by a young, strong male and including young bulls (males), cows (females), and calves.

How does an African elephant sound?

The sound of an elephant is like a trumpet, although not as musical. A badly played trumpet, you might say.

Why do elephants have a trunk?

he elephant evolved its trunk — an extension of the lip and nose; so that it could reach the ground and high vegetation. Its heavy cranial jaw structure ruled out an elongated neck.

What are the enemies of the African Elephant?

Most dangerous to the African elephant are humans. Lions have been known to kill calves and old, sick or weak elephants, but the only creature that is a threat to a healthy adult elephant is a human.

What are the differences of the Asian elephant and the African elephant?

The differences of the Asian elephant and the African elephant are that an African elephant has bigger ears that are shaped like Africa. But the Asian elephant has much smaller ears. The ear size depends on how hot it is were the elephant lives because an elephant uses it's ears to cool itself off.

Why do elephants need salt?

All elephants need salt. Savanna elephants get it from the vegetation they eat, but in rain forests the salt is washed away, forcing forest elephants to seek salt in underground caves.

How far can elephants hear?

Elephants can receive and produce low frequency sounds, transmitting them over long distances to communicate with each other.

How long is an elephant pregnant?

Elephants have an extremely long gestation period; conception to birth takes 630 days to two years. After a successful birth, an elephant won't conceive again for another 4-5 years.

Why do elephants migrate?

Elephants migrate because of the amount of grasses and other foods they need to eat in a day. They keep travelling from one area to another to look for these foods and this allows plants to regrow in areas they have foraged.

Do female African elephants have tusks?

Both male and female African elephants are tusked. However, due to the hunting pressure on tusked animals brought about by poaching for ivory, tusklessness is an increasingly common condition in African elephants.