Home Others Amazing facts about Elephants you should know

Amazing facts about Elephants you should know

by Sangam Adhikari

Elephants are the strongest and heaviest land mammals, they are classified under the Proboscidae order which includes extinct Gomphotheres, Woolly Mammoth and MastodonsProboscideans have been evolved from MoeritheriumsDugongs and Hyraxes are the closest living relatives of elephants. Elephants are also among the most photographed wildlife animals.

  • The three species of elephants include African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant, and Asian Elephant. African Bush Elephants are the largest while, Borneo Pygmy Elephants are the smallest.
The Largest Elephant Ever Recorded
  • Elephants are the heaviest animal in the land area. African Elephants normally weigh 4,000–7,000 kg (8,800–15,400 lb) and Asian weigh 3,000–5,000 kg (6,600–11,000 lb). The heaviest Elephant ever recorded weighed about 10,886 kg (24,000 lb).
  • Elephant trunk is a protean and flexible organ, it contains 40,000 muscles. An Elephant use its trunk to smell, for breathing, as a snorkel, for grabbing things, communicating, and to lift up 770 pounds! It can uproot trees as well as, can hold a feather with the tips or fingers (African elephants have two, though, Asian elephants have one), on its trunk. The trunk can be up to 7 feet and weigh around 140kg and can hold 14 litres (approximately) of water.
  • They do not drink water directly through their trunk, however, they use their to suck up water and spray it into their mouth, although, at an early age, elephant calf finds it difficult to use its trunk for drinking, therefore, it directly puts its mouth in the water.
  • Elephants do communicate with each other, produce a variety of sounds such as low-frequency rumbles, trumpets, and roars. They exhibit emotional characteristics, they get depressed, they feel anxious, they become frigid, on losing their family members.
  • Elephants never forget‘, it must be true, as elephants are very smart and dexterous mammals, they can self medicate, they can mimic and can recognize themselves in mirror.
  • Elephants might have poor eyesight, however, they have a great sense of smell as, they can detect water source from 12 miles away and they can hear sounds as low as 14 to 16 Hz, which is comparatively better than humans. The gestation period of Elephants is about 18 to 22 months, it may vary substantially among species and a newborn calf would weigh around 91 kg – 125 kg.
  • Elephant dung can be used to make paper. They produce enough dung to make more than 100 sheets of paper. Elephants poop is used in many ways, such as, mosquito repellent, pain killer and remedy for nose bleeding, biogas, coffee brew, etc.
  • The giant mammal can run at 25mph, they consume 300 lb of food or more and around 14 litres of water per day.
  • Elephant tusks are elongated incisors, made of hard and bony tissues. Tusks usually grow out when elephants reach age of 2, moreover, tusks grow continuously throughout their life and can be 6 feet long.
  • It is believed that, at a certain age, elephants would go in a place called ‘Elephants Grave Yard‘, to die away from others, though, science has never proved this theory. As per experts, elephant skeletons have been found near water sources, referring to the fact that, elephants suffering from malnutrition would try to find the source of water and die out.

You may also like

Leave a Comment