The Elephant Guide
Elephants are perhaps mainly known for their large size and their long trunk. But did you know that they are also incredibly good swimmers?
In this article, we will explore everything you need to know about elephants and water. We will discuss why elephants are such good swimmers, where they typically swim, elephants drinking water, and other interesting facts about these creatures!
Keep reading to find out more!
It’s no secret that elephants are one of the most loyal animals on the planet. They are known for their strong family ties and steadfast loyalty to friends, allies, and to their herd.
But what does this mean for elephant behavior? Are they always loyal? How do they show their loyalty?
Let’s take a closer look at elephant loyalty and what it means for these animals in the wild!
The Proboscidea is the superorder that includes elephants and mammoths, the Elephantidae. There are three families in this order: African Elephants, Asian Elephants, and Mammoths.
Only the elephant family is still around today. So, how big were mammoths compared to elephants?
The woolly mammoth was not as large as people originally thought. In fact, they were only the size of modern African elephants. A male’s shoulder height would range from 9 to 11 feet, weighing approximately 6 tons.
Though many people incorrectly believe otherwise, elephants and mammoths are not closely related–they are distant cousins. Both animals coexisted peacefully with humans for a very long time.
Although male elephants will have the occasional violent outburst over things such as territory and mating rights, they are usually gentle animals.
In this article, we’ll compare and contrast elephants with mammoths – looking at why the former have persisted while the latter have perished.
Often in cartoons when we were kids, we saw elephants jumping when they were startled or scared. More than often, it also included mice or spiders scaring them (remember Badou from Babar?).
Since it involved a mice, it’s quite hard to say that this happened in their natural habitat, a clue to the myth!
Sorry to break it to you – it’s a myth. Elephants can’t jump. And there really isn’t any difference between adult elephants or baby elephants. Neither can jump.
The reason why elephants can’t jump has a lot to do with their anatomy. For starters, elephants are really, really heavy. African elephants weigh in at around an average of 13,000 pounds (5,800 kilograms). That’s about the same as 10 mid-size cars.
But it’s not just their weight that makes jumping difficult – it’s also their legs and their history.
Let us walk you through the key reasons why an elephant can’t jump.
Only two species of elephants have been recognized until quite recently: the African and Asian elephants. However, conclusions from several research studies revealed that there are actually three species of elephants roaming the earth:
In the wild, elephants are cautious creatures that are easily spooked. Even in zoos, elephants have a reputation for acting unpredictably and breaking out of their enclosures.
What exactly are elephants afraid of? Do they have any natural predators? Are there any animals that enjoy preying on them?
Because of their size, there aren’t many animals that pose a threat to elephants. Adult elephants can be targeted by large predators such as lions, tigers, and crocodiles.
However, these attacks are extremely rare since adult elephants tend to live alone or in small groups which makes it difficult for hunters to find them.
When an elephant is young, it is much more vulnerable to attacks from other species.
While some African elephant populations are growing primarily in southern Africa, other areas are seeing decreasing populations. A lot of work has been done trying to determine the elephant population in the world, but it’s incredibly difficult to get accurate numbers. Experts can only guess at the total number of African elephants remaining.
One commonly accepted estimate is that there are about 400,000 African Elephants remaining, and between 50,000 and 100,000 Asian elephants left living in the wild.
The African Elephant population has dropped by 62% in the last decade and is expected to drop another 30% by 2025 making them an endangered species.
In fact, the elephant is labelled as “critically endangered” with WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and other organisations trying various conservation efforts to help stop the killing of these threatened species.
Elephants eat a variety of different foods, depending on the region and season. In the dry seasons they will often resort to eating bark from trees, which is not as nutritious but can still provide some sustenance.
In wetter regions there are more options for food and elephants will consume an assortment of vegetables, roots and fruit. They also enjoy grasses in their diet when available.
Elephants require about 70 to 100 litres of water daily, but may consume up to 150 litres. A male elephant can drink up to 100 liters of water in a few minutes!
Elephants are one of the most fascinating animals on earth. They are big, strong, and have a very unique appearance. But what do you know about an Elephant’s diet?
In this article, we will explore the different fruits that elephants enjoy eating. We will also look at some of the benefits that these fruits provide for elephants.
So if you want to learn more about what fruits elephants like to eat, keep reading!
If you’re a parent of a young kid who has expressed an interest in elephants or for a school project, this article will come in handy.
We’ve put together a list of 10 interesting and fun elephant facts for kids, as well as sources of further information, more reading, and references!