you might already know that elephants
are large and majestic but the extent of
their size and intelligence may surprise
you
elephants are the largest living land
animal on average African elephants are
about ten feet tall at the shoulder and
weigh up to 18,000 pounds the largest
elephant in recorded history however was
13 feet tall and weighed about 24,000
pounds to sustain this massive size an
adult elephant has to consume an
enormous amount up to 50 gallons of
water and about 220 pounds of food or
approximately 70,000 calories every day
elephant size however ends up
restricting their movement while they
can walk and swim elephants are one of
the few mammals that can’t jump their
legs are too slender to propel their
enormous weight upward Plus elephants
don’t have any spring in their legs
since they stand on their toes
elephants are intelligent creatures one
sign of their intellect is their ability
to recognize themselves in a mirror the
only other animals capable of doing this
are humans great apes dolphins and
Magpies intelligence is also found in
elephants ability to problem-solve with
tools but probably the most well known
form of elephant intelligence is their
superb memory as they migrate from place
to place throughout their lives
elephants can remember locations of
water sources along their migration
routes
elephants are the only living animals
with long trunks trunks which are a
combination of a nose and upper lip can
be heavy and powerful they contain about
150,000 muscle units and can weigh
nearly 300 pounds while an elephant’s
trunk can lift objects nearly twice its
size it’s also adept at picking up small
objects flap like projections on the end
of a trunk are precise enough to pick up
individual berries or leaves outside of
grasping elephants also use their trunks
to greet and reassure one another they
may intertwine their trunks or touch the
face of other elephants to show
affection elephant tusks are essentially
giant teeth much like human teeth
elephant tusks are made of a material
called dentine the major difference is
that elephant dentine has a diamond
pattern that makes it super strong and
gives it luster young elephants even go
through a set of baby teeth but their’s
include baby tusks they fall out after
about a year and are replaced with a
permanent set that can grow 6 feet long
and weigh 50 pounds each
unfortunately elephants have been
illegally hunted for their tusks demand
for ivory products which are made from
tusks has caused elephant populations to
decline
[Music]
African elephants are not endangered but
their Asian cousins are African
elephants are listed as vulnerable in
some countries in southern Africa are
even experiencing an overpopulation of
African elephants Asian elephant
populations have decreased immensely the
species habitat once stretched across
Asia from Syria to northern China but
today they only exist in isolated
pockets between India and Indonesia
habitat fragmentation poaching for ivory
and conflict with local farmers are all
factors that put elephant populations at
risk but by studying the complicated
nature of conservation we can come
closer to finding a way that both people
and elephants with their exceptional
intelligence and larger than life
presence can peacefully coexist
[Music]
[Music]
