Elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. They have characteristic long noses, or trunks; large, floppy ears; and wide, thick legs. There are two species of elephant. There are two types of elephant, the Asian elephant and the African elephant (although sometimes the African Elephant is split into two species, the African Forest Elephant and the African Bush Elephant). Elephants are herbivorous. They eat Grasses, leaves, bamboo, bark, roots. Elephants are also known to eat crops like banana and sugarcane which are grown by farmers.
Fast Facts about Elephant
1. Elephants are the largest land-living mammal in the world.
2. Elephants have a highly developed brain and the largest of all the land mammals. The brain is 3 or 4 times larger than that of humans although smaller as a proportion of body weight.
3. Both female and male African elephants have tusks but only the male Asian elephants have tusks. They use their tusks for digging and finding food.
4. Female elephants are called cows. They start to have calves when they are about 12 years old and they are pregnant for 22 months, almost two years!
5. When an elephant drinks, it sucks as much as 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water into its trunk at a time. Then it curls its trunk under, sticks the tip of its trunk into its mouth, and blows. Out comes the water, right down the elephant’s throat. An elephant can use its tusks to dig for ground water. An adult elephant needs to drink around 210 litres of water a day.
6. The foot of an elephant has five toes that are buried in the flesh of their feet, with not all the toes of an elephant having toenails. It is formed in such a way that when elephants walk, they are effectively walking on tip toe.
7. Their brains have more complex folds than all animals except whales, which is thought to be a major factor in making them some of the most intelligent animals on Earth.
8. Elephants grieve for their dead. They can recognize themselves in a mirror. Asian elephants don’t run. Elephants can swim – they use their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.
9. Elephants cry, play, have incredible memories, and laugh. Elephants also purr like cats do, as a means of communication. Elephants prefer one tusk over the other, just as people are either left or right-handed.
10. Lifespan of an Elephant is 30-33 years.
