Some
Interesting And Amazing Facts About Elephants
1. THEY'RE THE WORLD'S LARGEST LAND ANIMAL
The African elephant is the world's biggest
land well evolved creature – with guys on normal matching 3m high and weighing
as much as 6 tons. Guys just arrive at their full size at 35-40 years - that is
well over a large portion of their life expectancy as wild elephants can live
for up to 60-70 years. Furthermore, it's not simply the grown-ups – even calves
are colossal! During childbirth elephants can weigh 120kg - that is just about
19 stone.
2. YOU CAN TELL THE TWO SPECIES APART BY THEIR
EARS
There are two types of elephant: African and
Asian. The ears of African elephants are a lot bigger than their cousins and
are portrayed as being formed like the African landmass, while the ears of
Asian elephants are molded like the Indian subcontinent. There's likewise a
trunk distinction - Asian elephants and have two 'fingers' at the tip of their
trunks, though Asian elephants have one.
3. THEIR TRUNKS HAVE MAD SKILLS
Elephants have around 150,000 muscle units in
their trunk. Their trunks are maybe the most delicate organ found in any warm
blooded creature - Asian elephants have been believed to get a nut, shell it,
blow the shell out and eat the nut. Elephants go through their trunks to suck
water to drink – it can contain up to 8 liters of water. They likewise utilize
their trunks as a snorkel when swimming.
4. THEIR TUSKS ARE ACTUALLY TEETH
Elephant tusks are really expanded incisor
teeth which initially show up when elephants are around 2 years of age. Tusks
keep developing for the duration of their lives. Tusks are utilized to help
with taking care of - prising bark off trees or uncovering roots - or as a
protection when battling. Be that as it may, these lovely tusks frequently
cause elephants peril. They're produced using ivory; a much wanted item. Peruse
on to discover why elephants are under danger.
5. THEY'VE GOT THICK SKIN
An elephant's skin is 2.5cm thick in many
spots. The folds and wrinkles in their skin can hold up to multiple times more
water than level skin does, which assists with chilling them off. They keep
their skin clean and shield themselves from burn from the sun by taking normal
residue and mud showers.
6. ELEPHANTS ARE CONSTANTLY EATING
Elephants need up to 150kg of food every day –
that is around 375 tins of heated beans albeit half of this may leave the body
undigested. They eat so much that they can spend up to 75% of their day eating.
7. THEY COMMUNICATE THROUGH VIBRATIONS
Elephants convey in an assortment of ways -
including seems as though trumpet calls (a few sounds are excessively low for
individuals to hear), non-verbal communication, contact and aroma. They can
likewise impart through seismic signs - sounds that make vibrations in the
ground - which they may identify through their bones.
8. CALVES CAN STAND WITHIN 20 MINUTES OF BIRTH
Incredibly, elephant calves can remain inside
20 minutes of being conceived and can stroll inside 60 minutes. Following two
days, they can stay aware of the group. This mind boggling endurance strategy
implies that groups of elephants can continue relocating to discover food and
water to flourish.
9. AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS
The elephant's fleeting projection (the
territory of the mind related with memory) is bigger and denser than that of
individuals - consequently the maxim 'elephants always remember'
10. MORE AFRICAN ELEPHANTS ARE BEING POACHED
THAN ARE BEING BORN
Around 55 African elephants daily are being
slaughtered for their ivory tusks. This implies more African elephants are
presently being poached than are being conceived. Around 90% of African
elephants have been cleared out in the previous century - to a great extent
because of the ivory exchange - leaving an expected 415,000 wild elephants
alive today. Asian elephants are additionally under danger, having declined by
in any event half in the last three ages. There are just around 45,000
remaining in nature. As their territory changes, sections and is lost to human
settlements and horticulture, populaces of Asian elephants are thinking that
its harder to follow their conventional movement courses to arrive at water,
taking care of and favorable places, and they're coming into regularly risky
contact with individuals.
11. There are three different species of
elephant – the African Savannah elephant, the African Forest elephant and the
Asian elephant. Elephants are known for their large ears, tusks made of ivory
and their trunks – which are actually a fusion of their nose and upper lip.
12. Elephants are the world’s largest land
animal! Male African elephants can reach 3m tall and weigh between 4,000
-7,500kg. Asian elephants are slightly smaller, reaching 2.7m tall and weighing
3,000– 6,000kg.
13. There’s an easy way to tell the African
elephants apart from their Asian cousins – their ears! African elephants have
large ears shaped like the continent of Africa! Asian elephants’ ears are
smaller and shaped like India. Cool, huh?
14. You can tell a lot about an elephant by looking
at their tusks! Elephant tusks never stop growing, so enormous tusks can be a
sign of an old elephant. Both male and female African elephants grow tusks, but
only male Asian elephants grow them. A tusk-less adult elephant is likely to be
a female Asian elephant.
15. Until recently, African Forest elephants
were thought to be a subspecies of the African elephant, but new research
discovered that they are actually a separate species entirely. These elephants
live in the tropical forests of Africa’s Congo Basin. They have straighter
tusks and more rounded ears than Savannah elephants.
16. These magnificent mammals spend between 12
to 18 hours eating grass, plants and fruit every single day! They use their
long trunks to smell their food and lift it up into their mouth – yum!
17. All that eating means one thing, gang, an
awful lot of poo! Each elephant creates about one tonne of poo per week, which
keeps the soil fertile and disperses tree seeds. Elephants also dig waterholes
and create footpaths, literally changing the landscape around them!
18. In Mount Elgon National Park in Kenya, a
group of elephants use their tusks to mine for salt in underground caves! They
feel their way around with their trunks and eat the salts by breaking them off
with their tusks.
19. Elephants have created their very own
sunscreen! After a river or swamp bath, they’ll throw mud and sand up and over
themselves to protect their skin from the hot, burning sun. Clever!
20. Sadly, elephants are in trouble. Many are
killed by humans for their ivory tusks, because they’ve come into conflict with
communities or simply for sport. There are far fewer Asian elephants (which are
categorised as Endangered) than there are African elephants (listed as
Vulnerable – at risk of becoming Endangered). Asian elephants also face threats
from tourist attractions where people pay to ride on their backs or watch them
paint pictures using their trunks.
