Elephantine Facts

Elephantine Facts

1. Elephant in LATIN (as ele and phant) means HUGE ARCH. Both has Greek and Latin origins. This applies specifically to the elephant’s scientific genus name “Elephas”.In Greek Linguistics, elephos represent an antlered beast.In Latin, it is divided as ele meaning arch phant meaning huge.

2. The wooly mammoth is related to the elephant but is extinct.

3. The hippopotamus is also a cousin of the elephant.

3. There are two sub-species of African elephant: the savannah elephant and the forest elephant.

4. Unlike its Indian cousin, the African elephant is rarely used as a work animal by man.

5. African elephants are the largest mammals that live on land.  They grow all of their lives.  Male African elephants can get to be thirteen feet tall if measured from the ground to the top of their shoulder.  They can weigh up to 14,000 pounds.

6. African elephants have ears that can be five feet long and are shaped like the continent of Africa.  Elephants can flap their ears. The big ears help keep the elephants cool.

7. Elephants eat all day long.  They eat vegetables, such as grass, leaves, and other plants.  They also eat fruit, like bananas.  Elephants use their trunks to grab food and put it in their mouth. They can also suck water into their trunks and squirt the water into their mouths.

8. Elephants sometimes drink up to forty gallons of water a day! Elephants use their trunks to pick up things and to hold things.  They can pick up something as small as a marble, or as big as a tree. They also breathe through their trunks.

9. Elephants have two tusks, which are made of ivory.  The tusks grow to the right and the left sides of their trunks. Elephants can use their tusks to fight and to dig.  People used to hunt elephants so that they could get their tusks.  Ivory was used to make beautiful jewelry and statues.  It is against the law to hunt elephants now, because hunting them made them endangered animals.

10. Asian Elephants are smaller than African Elephants and have smoother , darker skin and smaller ears. They also have a single, finger-like projection on their trunks, whereas the African Elephant has two. Elephants have large, ridged teeth so they can eat coarse bark, leaves, branches and grass. They use their trunks to pull down branches and strip trees.

11. Elephants can use low frequency sound waves for communication between members of the herd and individuals outside the herd. These sounds may carry for distances of up to 15 km.

12. They have only 6 teeth through their lifetime. The teeth replace each other as they wear down. When the last one wears down, they may starve to death.

13. Elephants like spending time together. They are very caring and have been seen helping wounded or young elephants over obstacles while traveling.

14. Elephants have poor eyesight but very good hearing.

15. Long trunks that are so sensitive they can pick up delicate fruit and so strong they can uproot trees, and also smell, touch, grasp and drink by sucking up water and spraying it into its mouth.

16. They travel 30km for a drink and a bath.  A dust shower often follows the bath to prevent sunburn and discourage insects.

17. The only predator to the elephant is man, although young may be attacked by lions.

18. Elephants can spend up to 20 hours each day eating.

19. A full grown elephant needs to eat an incredible 140kgs of food and drink 200 litres of water each day.

20. To satisfy their massive diet, elephants keep on the move and have a territory up to 10,000sq km.

21. Elephants have close social relationships, living in family groups of up to 20 animals.

22. Females stay together for life with an older cow in charge called the matriarch. 

23. Bulls tend to live alone or in small bachelor groups.

24. Young bulls leave the close family unit at about 12 years old and reach maturity at around 20-30 years old.

25. Elephants show great love and affection, and physical contact is very important.

26. They communicate vocally over many kilometres with low rumbling noises.

27. Sensing danger ; elephants spread their ears, trumpet a warning and will often charge at the enemy.

28. These gentle giants help their sick and injured. Cows may watch over dead calves, sometimes covering them with leaves and branches before moving on.

29. The elephant has the longest gestation period of any mammal at 22 months.

30. Healthy adult elephants have no natural predators.

31. In addition to being smaller, forest elephants are darker and their tusks are straighter and point downward.

32. Elephant herds follow ancient seasonal migration routes. It is the task of the eldest elephant to lead the herd along these routes.

33. Tusks, which are large modified incisors that grow throughout an elephant’s lifetime, occur in both males and females and are used in fights and for marking, feeding, and digging.

34. Savanna (bush) elephants are larger than forest elephants and their tusks curve outwards. Forest elephants are darker and their tusks are straighter and downward pointing.

35. Elephants are a revevered and worshipped species in Asia.

36. Indian Elephants use loud trumpets when they are excited or afraid.They also use chirps, roars and rumbles to communicate.  They use body language such as flapping their ears or raising their tail. 

37. Elephants are good swimmers and use their trunks as snorkels in deep water.

38. New born elephants are born with an incredible mass of 77-113 kg. Young calves commence weaning from the first year of life until the tenth year of life.

39. The brain of a new born elephant is 30-40% of the size of an adult.

40. Mothers allocate care and interact differently depending on the baby’s sex.

41. When the matriarch dies, one of the oldest offspring takes her place.

42. Males as they grow older gradually become more independent from the family group.An elephant´s trunk, a union of the nose and upper lip, is a highly sensitive organ with over 100,000 muscle units. 

43. Elephant trunks can get very heavy. It is not uncommon to see elephants resting them over a tusk! 

44. Elephants cry, play, have incredible memories, and laugh! 

45. Elephants are sensitive fellow animals where if a baby complains, the entire family will rumble and go over to touch and caress it. 

46. Elephants have greeting ceremonies when a friend that has been away for some time returns to the group. 

47. Elephants grieve at a loss of a stillborn baby, a family member, and in many cases other elephants.

48. Elephants don't drink with their trunks, but use them as "tools" to drink with. This is accomplished by filling the trunk with water and then using it as a hose to pour it into the elephant's mouth. 

49. Interestingly, the Asian elephant is more closely related to the extinct mammoth than to the African elephant.

50. The elephant has one enemy the lion. One way the elephant protects its young is by putting the young inside a circle. The grown up elephants use there tusks to protect themselves.

51. The Indian Elephant can live 60 or 70 years – making them the oldest living land mammal.