#ELEPHANT TRUNK REACHING OUT OUTLINE SKIN#

Females are 195 to 240 cm in height with a body mass of 2,000 to 3,500 kg. Males have a height of 240 to 300 cm with a body mass of 3,500 to 6,000 kg. The males are much larger than the females. There is a large degree of sexual dimorphism in elephants. The trunk is a distinctive feature of the elephant family ( Elephantidae). The body length ranges from 550 to 640 cm. In adults, this hair is sparse, while calves have thicker brown hair.

#ELEPHANT TRUNK REACHING OUT OUTLINE SKIN#

Asian elephants have gray skin that is covered with hair.

Range elevation 0 to 3000 m 0.00 to 9842.52 ftĮlephas maximus is one of the largest terrestrial organisms and is considered a megafauna species.

They typically live in elevations from sea level to 3,000 meters, but elephants that live near the Himalaya Mountains sometimes move up higher than this range in hot weather. ( Choudhary, et al., 2008 Daniel, 1998 Sukumar, 2003 Sukumar, 2006)Īsian elephants live in a variety of habitats in the tropical region, including grasslands, tropical evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests, and scrub forests. This range consists of small discontinuous areas in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The current geographic range is 500,000 square kilometers, which is only about 5% of the historical range. This range extended as far west as current day Iraq, as far north as the Yangtze River in China, and across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, including the islands of Sri Lanka and Sumatra (Indonesia). The number of elephants being poached for their ivory is unacceptable and we must end this before it’s too late.Historically, Elephas maximus had a geographic range of 9 million square kilometers across a large part of Asia. Despite a ban on international sales ivory in 1989, the illegal trade has expanded, particularly over the last 10 years and is now bigger than ever. Right now, elephants are fighting for their survival. And these amazing animals can recognise over 100 different friends from their calls alone.īonus fact… it’s not something to celebrate, but here’s why we so desperately need to save elephants.Īdult elephants have no real predators in the wild… except us. Some of their calls are so low, they are below the range of human hearing.

Elephants make sounds that we can’t even hear.

It’s said they can reach speeds of 40km/h!

You definitely don’t want to get in the way of a charging elephant.

Did you know elephants can get sunburned? Ouch! These giants bathe in mud to help protect their skin from the sun.They even learn to eat by putting their trunks inside their mothers’ mouths to take food. Baby elephants stay with mum for up to 10 years.It’s a lengthy 22 months before baby elephants are ready to be born! Female elephants have the longest pregnancy of any mammal.They also know when a family member is no longer in the herd and it’s a truly heart-breaking sight to see an elephant grieve over the bones of lost family and friends. If a member of their family group is injured, the rest of the group may come and help it. Elephants are super smart! They can both learn and feel emotions.While they can’t exactly hug each other, elephants do wrap their trunks around younger relatives to reassure them and to greet each other they twine their trunks together. Elephant family groups are very close.Have you ever seen an elephant swim? It’s pretty special! But not only can they swim, did you know they’ve also been spotted using their trunks as a snorkel when crossing rivers?! Now that’s handy….Need help remembering which is an African elephant and which is an Asian elephant? Check out their ears! African elephant ears are, rather helpfully, the shape of Africa.Their brains can weigh up to a whopping 5.4kg and are, without doubt, the largest brain of all animals living on land. The African elephant is not just the largest living land animal but it has an enormous brain size to match.10 amazing elephant facts you need to know!

Elephant trunk reaching out outline