Elephant

The elephant is the largest land animal on Earth.http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/elephants/ The two species, African and Asian, are found on their respective continents and range in color from light to dark gray, with the most distinct features being huge ears, a trunk and ivory tusks.http://www.elephant-world.com/index.html Elephants are intelligent, social, have excellent hearing and memory, and are sure-footed with good balance.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx They have a complex communication repertoire including touching, body posturing and vocalising, with many sounds below the range of human hearing.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx Elephants are hunted for their tusks and under threat of extinction due to poaching, habitat loss and human encroachment.http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/elephants/ Asian and African elephants are listed as endangered on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Red list of Threatened Animals. If left to a peaceful life without clearance of natural habitat and other threats, elephants can live up to 70 years old.http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/elephants/

Female elephants usually give birth to a single calf after a 22-month pregnancy.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx Diet and environment can determine the age of sexual maturity, which is usually between eight and 10.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx Female and young elephants live in herds, made up of many related adult females and led by a matriarch who is usually the oldest and most experienced in the group. The matriarch directs the pace and location of the herd's activities, usually according to food and water availability.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx Male young either leave or are driven from these family herds as they begin to sexually mature and become increasingly disruptive. Young males spend years sparring for dominance in bachelor groups and once mature will usually only socialise with herds when females are in a reproductive cycle.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx

Elephants can spend up to 16 hours a day eating between 4% and 8% of their body weight through a large variety of plants, grasses, trees and fruits.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx By using their trunks they can obtain food almost anywhere. Elephants take about 24 hours to digest a meal, but about 60% of their food intake passes through the body undigested.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx

Baby elephants are hairy when born, but this coverage becomes sparse as they age.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx Male and female African elephants, and male Asian elephants, have tusks. An elephant's trunk has no bones or cartilage and recent research work suggests that there are over 100,000 muscle units within it.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx Elephants use their trunks as straws to drink, as snorkels for swimming and to eat. They are used to assist in communication, smelling, lifting, defence and offence, and can be used to pick up something as small as a peanut or as big as a tree trunk.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx Young elephants need to learn how to use their trunks, just as children learn to use their arms and hands.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx

Sub-species of the African elephant are the Savanna (or Bush) and Forest elephant.http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/elephants/elephants.htmlAfrican elephants are found in drier woodlands and savannas and most common in countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Kenya and Tanzania.http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/elephants/elephants.html They are generally larger than their Asian counterparts and have larger, rounder ears.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx

Sub-species of the Asian elephant are the Indian, Sumatran, Sri Lankan and Borneo Pygmy elephant.http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/elephants/elephants.html Asian elephants live in the forests and grasslands of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh and southern China.http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/our-animals/elephants/elephant-facts.aspx