The elephant

The elephant

The elephant is the largest and heaviest mammal on land and is very intelligent as well as strong. Elephants have the largest teeth, tusks, and ears. They have small eyes which are protected by very long eyelashes.Elephant skin is thick, grey and very wrinkled. Having deep wrinkles helps elephants stay cool because water gets trapped inside the wrinkles and evaporates slowly, thus cooling the elephant.

Their hearing is keen and they can detect rumblings from miles away. Every elephant's ears are different, just like human fingerprints.

The elephant's trunk is really it's nose, but the elephant can use it like an extra hand. The trunk is used for breathing, eating, drinking, touching, picking up things, throwing things, feeling, digging, squirting, fighting, playing and greeting. Smell is the most important sense for the elephant, and the trunk can often be seen held up high trying to determine smells in the air.

Elephants live together in family groups with a matriarch (wise, experienced female) as the head. Daughters and sisters stay together, and young males up to age 13 are included. However, males are encouraged to leave and can be found in small bachelor groupings or on their own. The mother elephants look after their young longer than any other animal except humans. All members of the family assist and protect the youngsters. Babies will follow their mothers, sisters, or aunties, and are guided by trunk touches. Babies drink milk from their mothers up to 4 years.

The elephant's tusks are really its front teeth. Just like humans are right handed or left handed, so, too, are elephants right tusked or left tusked. The one they favor has been ground down and is shorter from the constant use. Both male and female African elephants have tusks, but only male Asian elephants do. Tusks are used for digging, fighting, feeding, fighting and lifting. Another name for tusks is ivory.