Elephants
What do you already know about Elephants?
Elephants are the largest land living mammals in the world. They can be found living in Asia and Africa. There are three species of elephants, the African Forest Elephant, the African Savanna (or Bush) Elephant and the Asian Elephant.
Elephants have large bodies and walk on four solid legs. They have thick wrinkled leathery skin that is grey or brown in colour. They have a long trunk which is their nose but they can also use to suck up water to then put in their mouth to drink or to squirt water over their bodies. They also pick up their food and other things with it too.
The main way you can tell the difference between an Asian Elephant and an African Elephant is their ears. Asian Elephants have much smaller ears than the African ones.
Asian Elephant and African Forest Elephants are also a bit smaller than African Savanna Elephants and are about 2 and a half metres tall. African Savanna Elephants can be as tall as 4 metres.
Both male and female African elephants have tusks, while only male Asian elephants do and female Asian elephants don’t have tusks at all. An elephants tusks are actually teeth and are made of ivory. They never stop growing, so if you see an elephant with large tusks it is sign it is probably quite old. One of the male’s tusks is always longer than the other because they use one more to do things and it gets worn down.
How many similarities and differences can you spot between African and Asian Elephants?
All species of elephants are now endangered and the African Forest Elephants are listed as critically endangered, which means they are in real danger of becoming extinct in the wild.
Elephants are endangered because humans kill them for their tusks. Some people sadly want to make jewellery, ornaments and other things out of the ivory. The ivory trade is now almost completely banned in most countries. Elephants are also endangered because people are destroying their habitat so they have less places to live or find food.
Elephants like to live in grassland or savanna habitats as well as in forests. They like to live near water and surprisingly are good swimmers, even using their trunk as a snorkel!
They live in family groups with other elephants, called herds. The oldest female is in charge and is called the matriarch.
Female elephants, called cows, take good care of their baby elephants called calves. Elephants have the longest pregnancy of all mammals. They are pregnant for 22 months, that is almost 2 whole years! The herd work together to protect the calves once born, keeping them safe from predators and teaching them life skills. Female elephants always stay with their herd. Male elephants leave their herd when they grow up. They live alone or in a small group with other male elephants, which are called bulls.
Elephants have many different ways of communicating with each other. They can make sounds a bit like trumpet, some of which humans can’t actually hear. They can also communicate through vibrations through the ground which they can feel in their bones, body language, touch and scent.
Adult elephants are pretty safe from predators because of their size and strength. However, young or sick elephants can be preyed upon by creatures such as lions, hyenas and crocodiles.
Elephants are gentle peaceful creatures unless they feel really threatened. If scared they might charge at what is frightening them to try and warn them off. They might also make loud trumpeting noises, flap their ears and stamp their feet.
They are herbivores and like to eat plants, grass, fruit, leaves and the bark off trees. They spend a lot of time eating simply because they are so big and plants aren’t very filling so they need lots of food. Elephants migrate, which means they move around a lot so they can find enough food to eat.
Can you believe it...
What we've learnt...
All elephants are endangered. The main reasons for this is because they have been killed in huge numbers for their tusks and because of the loss of their habitat.
Elephants are the largest land mammal in the world.
There are three species of elephant, the African Forest Elephant, the African Savanna (or Bush) Elephant and the Asian Elephant.
The main way to tell the difference between African and Asian Elephants is to look at their ears. African Elephants have much bigger ears.
Elephants live in social groups called herds, led by an older female elephant.
Elephants are herbivores and like to eat leaves and twigs.
Test your knowledge...
Elephants Quiz
If you click the correct answer the box will turn green. If its the wrong answer it will turn red and then show you what the correct answer was. Make sure you read or listen to the questions carefully!
#1. What are elephants tusks made out of?
#2. What two places in the world do elephants live in the wild?
Select all that apply:
#3. What is a group of elephants called?
#4. Are elephants…
#5. How many different species of elephant are there?
Results
I really hope you have enjoyed learning all about elephants, with me Flash!
Question Time...
Can elephants jump?
by Blue
No, elephants can’t jump. They are in fact the only land mammals that can’t jump. Elephants cannot jump because they are far too heavy. Even when moving fast, they always keep at least one foot touching the ground.
Can elephants recognise themselves in a mirror?
by Violet
Yes! Elephants are incredibly intelligent and can recognise their reflection. This has been tested with Asian Elephants, but it is believed African Elephants would very likely be able to do the same. Very few creatures can do this, those that can include dolphins, gorillas, chimpanzees and magpies!
Any other questions?
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