All About Elephants

Today our focus will be turned to a very well known animal: the elephant. It is true that elephants are an iconic animal as they are often a part of our favorite cartoons and stories, and although a few devoted people have researched this beautiful species, only a scattered amount are aware of the astounding facts that surround them.

Probably the most well known of these “facts'' is that the elephant is the largest land animal in the world. An average adult African elephant is 10 feet tall and weighs about 18,000 pounds; although, the largest elephant ever recorded weighed 27,000 pounds! Elephants are mammals which means they have fur (tiny hairs speckling their skin), they are warm blooded, and they feed their young milk. Elephants are also herbivores and they eat a variety of leaves, fruit, twigs, bark, grass and roots. Since elephants are so big they need to spend a lot of time eating, an adult elephant can eat about 500 pounds of food per day! An elephant's tusks (which are actually enlarged incisor teeth) are used for spearing and ripping apart bark and leaves so that they are easier to eat, tusks are also used for fighting. Elephants have skin about 2.5 centimeters thick, their wrinkles are used to retain moisture in the cracks and crevices. Skincare is very important to elephants; in order to avoid sunburns, elephants will take mud baths or spray dust on themselves.

One of the most unique features that elephants possess are their trunks. An elephant's trunk is actually a long, flexible nose that contains 150,000 muscle units and which can grow up to 2 meters in size and can lift up to 550 pounds. Elephants use their trunks to drink water as well; the trunk sucks up the water and then is raised to the elephant's mouth; adult elephants can drink 50 gallons of water per day! Even though trunks are very strong, they can also do delicate tasks; elephants are able to pick up a nut with their trunk, shell it, spit the shell out, and transport the nut to the mouth. Trunks are even used as snorkels for swimming! Trunks are also used for communications such as greeting other elephants, reassuring each other, or even as signs of affection!

There are two main types of elephants, African elephants and Asian elephants. Even though the two species are similar in many ways, they are both so different too! African elephants are listed as vulnerable. According to experts there are around 415,000 left in the world; this means that they are still at risk. Asian elephants are listed as endangered and it is estimated that only around 50,000 remain. This is because they are less well known, or because their habitat is being destroyed at a high rate.

Elephants are vulnerable and endangered because of a few factors, the first is focused on elephant tusks. Tusks contain an expensive mineral called ivory which can be sold all over the world for high prices. Because of this, poachers have been targeting elephants mainly for their tusks. Laws have been placed against this, but illegal hunting still continues and even raises the price of ivory because it is now even harder to get. Sadly, it is estimated that about 55 African elephants are killed for their tusks every day.

Elephants are also hunted for their meat and skin, which contains valuable profit as well. Sometimes elephants are even killed if they come too close to human settlements, this is because elephant habitats are now limited pushing them closer and closer to cities and farmlands which can lead to them destroying property as they pass through these places. People are desperately trying to create a way for people and elephants to live peacefully, but this is hard since elephants suffer from habitat loss. Habitat loss is a big issue for both elephant species and is one of the main reasons that elephants come close to human establishments in the first place.

One of the main reasons elephants are so important is because of their scat. When an elephant eats a berry or a nut the seed sometimes survives through the animal's digestive tract which means it is pooped out. Elephant feces contains a number of nutrients which can help the seed thrive into a healthier plant, this is how elephants can help grow plants and even forests. Another cool thing about elephants is that they can communicate in several different ways. Elephants can “talk” to each other by making trumpet-like sounds, using body language, touch and even through vibrations, which they can detect in their bones. Elephant calves are strong and durable, within 20 minutes of birth they can stand, and after only an hour they can walk! This helps the elephant herd keep moving to find water and food without much delay.

Elephants are extremely intelligent creatures, they are able to problem solve and can remember specific locations like the whereabouts of a watering hole or a particularly delicious forest, they can also recognize themselves in a mirror! The only other animals who can do this are humans, great apes, dolphins, and magpies! Elephants also have amazing memories, their temporal lobe (the part of the brain related to memory) is much larger and denser than a persons.

Sadly these beautiful animals are at risk, especially the Asian elephant whose habitat is constantly being destroyed. In order to help these animals we need to take action. There are many ways we can help these creatures! First we can learn more about elephants and help others learn about them too. If more people realize the threat to both species we are more likely to act. Secondly we can help protect both African and Asian elephant habitat by helping pass laws and writing our ideas to conservationists so that we can expand the environment in which elephants can roam free. We can also help people understand the importance of elephant-friendly policies by promoting this cause. Another way to help is by donating to organizations that help elephants!

The IEF or International Elephant Foundation is a great way to give your donation straight to the help of elephants, the IEF focuses on both elephant species including ways to help restore and protect elephant's habitat, support elephant friendliness in communities, and stop crime poaching. Want to donate? Visit the IEF.

WWF, or the World Wildlife Fund, is also a great way to support elephants! By adopting an African or Asian elephant plush toy your donation would go straight to saving the elephants! This can also be a gift to someone!

Do you want to adopt a real elephant? If so, visit Fahlo. Fahlo partners with conservation groups so that your donation would go straight to the elephants! Your adoption would also come with a beautiful bracelet that would represent your donation and an online tracker that would pair with your phone, that way you could see exactly where your elephant is each day! The tracker does not harm your elephant and is used for elephant research as well, almost all elephants with trackers were rescued and rehabilitated then sent back into the wild! Fahlo also has other animals you can adopt, including sea turtles, penguins, sharks, lions, elephants, and polar bears.