Where elephants live

Elephants are found in Africa, on the Indian subcontinent, and in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Most of those in Africa are now in game preserves. Elephants live in thorny scrub jungles, evergreen forests, swampy areas, grasslands, and both dry and moist forests.

Physical features

Pygmy elephants, which are found in Africa, are sometimes considered to be a separate species. Most scientists, however, classify them as a kind of African elephant. Likewise, the white elephant, found in Asia, is usually considered to be a form of the Indian elephant.

Elephants are known for several distinctive characteristics. The most notable is no doubt the trunk, which is an elongation of the nose and upper lip. The trunk is flexible but muscular and is used as an aid in eating and drinking as well as for breathing. Elephants use the trunk to grab and hold food and to put it into the mouth. They also draw in grain and water halfway and then blow it into the mouth. Elephants can pick up small objects with the fingerlike projections on the tip of the trunk.

In both species the two upper adult teeth can grow into tusks. The tusk grows as long as the elephant lives. An average tusk for the African species can be almost 6 feet (1.8 meters) long; a pair weighs 79 to 121 pounds (79 to 121 pounds). The tusk of the Indian elephant is smaller, and some Indian males and most Indian females do not have tusks.

An elephant walks on its thickly padded feet with amazing silence. The animal sets its hind feet in the tracks made by the front feet. The animal's feet do not stick in swampy areas because they spread out as they go down and contract as they come up. Elephants generally move at less than 15 miles (24 kilometers) an hour. They stride and cannot trot, gallop, or jump. The knee joint is free, which makes them one of the few animals able to kneel.

The hide on an elephant's shoulder may be 1 ¹/₂ inches (4 centimeters) thick. Only the hippopotamus, the rhinoceros, and the tapir have hides as thick as that of the elephant. All of these animals are called pachyderms, which means “thick-skinned.” An elephant's skin is loose and wrinkled. Elephants are grayish to brown in color and have coarse but sparse body hair. They have long, coarse hair on their tails.

Behavior

Depending on the availability of food and water, elephants migrate seasonally. They eat only plants, including grasses. They rely on their sense of smell to locate food. An average adult can eat up to 400 pounds (180 kilograms) of food a day.

Perhaps because their size and thick hide offer protection from most other animals, elephants are normally peaceful. They can become aggressive, however, if their young are threatened. Elephants have poor eyesight, and they rely on their senses of smell and hearing to detect danger. Elephants often rest during the hottest hours of the day, sleeping as they stand in shade.

Elephants move in small family groups led by older females (cows). The family group can range from two to eight animals. Several such groups form a herd, which can have as many as 20 to 40 cows with all of their nursing males. The herd is organized by older and more experienced cows. A female spends her life as a member of a herd. Herds sometimes mingle with one another.

At the age of 4, males begin to move away from the herd to spend time with similar-aged or older bulls. Bulls sometimes fight one another. A male occasionally goes musth, or mad, and is forced to leave the group. When this happens, he becomes what is known as a rogue elephant. Such elephants are extraordinarily dangerous and sometimes attack people and destroy whole villages.

Life cycle

A male is sexually mature at age 14 or 15, and a female usually produces her first offspring at 15 or 16. A baby elephant is born 22 months after the female has mated. The baby is about 3 feet (1 meter) tall and weighs 200 pounds (90 kilograms). It is covered with a sparse coat of woolly hair that gradually disappears. The baby elephant takes its mother's milk with its mouth, and it is nursed for about two years. It then remains under her protection for a further two years. The mother as well as the herd are very protective of the young. An elephant can live for 60 to 70 years.

Humans and elephants

The relationship between elephants and humans dates to ancient times and is referred to in various mythologies and religions. In Hinduism, for example, Ganesha, the god who brings good fortune, has the head of an elephant. Humans have used elephants in war and as work animals for centuries. The Carthaginian general Hannibal, for example, used elephants in the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) against Rome. Elephants continue to be used in Asia for transportation and as beasts of burden. Trained elephants appear in circuses throughout the world. Even adult elephants can be domesticated and trained, but most trained animals are females.

The population of elephants has declined drastically because humans have destroyed many of their habitats and have killed them for the ivory of their tusks. Governments have attempted to put an end to the hunting of elephants. Both the African and the Indian elephant are considered endangered species, and some elephants are now protected in wildlife reserves.