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The African elephant is the largest of all of the living land mammals. It is also one of the most powerful, yet gentle creatures who live in peaceful family units. A family unit is made up of a mature females, also referred to as cows, and their calves (babies). Every member of the family unit is related.
When an elephant in the family dies, the other elephants in the herd will actually grieve over the loss. They will bury their dead with twigs and leaves, and will stay by the grave for hours mourning their loss.
Male elephants live in separate herds. When a male elephant reaches puberty, they are sent away to live in one of the "bachelor" herds. Adult male elephants are called bulls, and they like to live alone. They will only join a family to mate.
Elephants begin mating when they are 14 or 15 years old. It takes 22 months before the calf will be born, and usually the cow only gives birth to one baby. The baby typically weighs in at 250 pounds and is about 33 inches high at birth, just about knee-high to its mother. Although elephants are very gentle creatures, a mother will defend her young calves by charging at any intruders. A calf will take its mothers milk for about 2 years and it may take 5 years before they are fully weaned.
The African elephant will never stray to far from a water supply. They need water for drinking and bathing. They like to take a bath every day, and if the water is deep enough they will lay in it and cover their bodies completely in the water. If not, they will use their trunk to give themselves a shower! It may seem silly to you and me, but after they have their bath or shower, they coat their skin in dirt. They do this to protect their skin from insects.
An elephant can drink up to 40 gallons of water at one time, and they are also vegetarians. They like to eat grass, fruit, small branches and other foliage. They use their great trunks to help them gather food and put it in their mouth. They have huge appetites and can eat up to 500 pounds of food a day.
So just how big are elephants? Well, males can weigh up to 6 tons, and be from 10 to 11 feet tall (at the shoulder). Females are somewhat smaller, weighing in at 4 tons. They can be up to 23 feet long! They live to be about 70 years old.
The African elephant uses it ears as a fan to keep themselves cool. Their tusks are really just 2 very long teeth (incisors) that stick out. The males tusks can weigh from 60 to 150 pounds each, and they use them to dig roots out for eating, to dig for water in dry seasons, and sometimes to knock down wholes trees so they can eat the leaves and the pulpy wood in the middle. The tusks continue to grow throughout the elephants entire lifetime. They also have 4 other functional teeth, which can be replaced 6 six times. Once an elephant loses all of its teeth, it can no longer feed itself, and will die of starvation. This usually happens around age 70.
Did you know that elephants talk? They do, but not like you. They make rumbling noises that sound kind of like gargling when they are out of sight from each other looking for food. If one of the elephants senses any danger it will stop the rumbling, which alerts the other elephants. They also make the famous trumpeting sound, usually as a warning to enemies, or when it is angry.
Elephants can walk a steady 5 miles per hour, and a herd can easily walk 50 miles in a day. The undersides of their feet are soft and cushioned. This helps them carry their great weight, and walk without making very much noise.
African elephants live in Africa, south of the Sahara both in the savanna and in the tropical forest. They are an endangered animal, who has been hunted mainly for its ivory tusks. Hunting is banned, but poachers continue to kill this majestic animal. A ban on ivory trading began in 1990, but illegal ivory trading still continues.
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