What Are African Elephants?

The official title of the world’s largest land dwelling animal belongs to the elephant, more specifically, the African elephant. Elephants also are some of the most deadly animals, which therefore increase the danger of human and elephant interactions. The more human interactions occur, the more deaths result, whether it is the elephant or the human who dies. These animals, surprisingly, are socially apt; their trunk is used for more than just eating and drinking- it is used for socializing. They are complex animals who live in large familial herds-females stay with their family throughout their entire lives while males only stay for approximately fifteen years (Elephant Protection, 1). Elephants possess a great memory and only forget what they learn occasionally and rarely, giving way to the “an elephant never forgets” saying (Maloiy, 178c). Despite how many people use the beloved saying, elephants may not be around much longer due to the shortened life span and increased mortality rates. Due to their incisor teeth, tusks, being extremely expensive and profitable, they are being murdered for the wealth they carry. This, coupled with the life span shortening because of malicious treatments and brutal practices reduces the life span of the African elephant from 56 to 16 years and the Asian elephant from 42 to 19 years (Elephant Protection, 1). According to what the statistics show, elephants may be following their ancestors to their death. Of the group of mammals called

I chose to put on my totem pole a elephant, a panther, a turkey, and a paint brush, because I believe they represent me, and they symbolise who I am. The elephant represents Strength, power, affection, loyalty, royalty, and wisdom. I am strong and I try to help people like when I carry things that my parents can’t and when my brother broke his leg I carried everything for him. I also represent wisdom when I say things about the world that not many people my age know, and when I can think deeply about things that other people can't understand. Like when I talked about the show “Cosmos” with my friend Jack in Fifth grade. Another animal I chose to represent me was the panther. The panther represents protection, hidden emotions, Introspection,

I think elephants do belong in zoos. Here are my reasons why they do belong in zoos. One is lifespan/disease, Second is People can see elephants, Third is Work out.

[5]Because the African elephant is so big it lives in grassy plains and woodlands or equatorial forests of central and western Africa.

With an estimated 600 elephants, Addo has one of the highest population numbers of African elephants in the world. Each Addo elephant is, surprisingly, individually named and identified by the wrinkles on the face, unique notches, tears or vein patterns in the ears. There are seven distinct family groups in the park with smaller subgroups. Due to isolation, and a small original population size, genetic diversity is low amongst the Addo elephants; the majority of elephants are related. Many of the original 11 did not have tusks, and most likely survived because there was no attraction of ivory.

At 6,500 to 11,000 pounds, the Sumatran elephant is a truly massive creature. Even young elephants can weigh up to 1 ton (2,000 pounds). The females, called cows, are smaller than the males. Sumatran elephants stand 5-9 feet at the shoulder, and can be up to 20 feet in length. The average lifespan is 55-70 years. In contrast to the African elephant, the Sumatran elephant has smaller ears and a more curved spine. However, its ears are still large and provide it with excellent hearing (better than a human’s). The Sumatran elephant’s skin is leathery and grey-brown; it has lighter coloring than the Indian or Sri Lankan elephants and also has fewer areas of depigmentation. All Sumatran Elephants have large trunks, which they use to drink, smell, and collect food, as well as many other things. Their trunk has over 40,000 muscles and is their most flexible body part. Male Sumatran elephants also have tusks, which are

period is twenty-two months and fertile females can give birth every three to six years. Female elephants are a scarce and mobile resource for the males so there is an intense competition to gain access to the estrous females. After growing up, male elephants begin to experience musth, a physical and behavioral condition that is distinguished by elevated testosterone, aggression and more sexual activity. Musth also serves a purpose of calling the attention to females, and it can not be mimicked as certain calls or noises. During the middle of estrus, the female elephants look for males in musth to guard them; females will yell, in a loud, low way to attract the attention of males far away. Male elephants can also smell the hormones of

Trunks, like human hands, are important for exploring the world. Elephants rarely keep them still — unless sleeping. The researchers assumed that a trunk monitor that didn’t move for at least five minutes likely meant its host was asleep. Neck collars helped researchers figure out whether animals were standing up or lying down.

My interest in the white rhino started about three years ago when I was doing a research paper about the African elephant. I came across the white rhino as I was searching for the fellow species that were being threatened by hunters in Africa. I never really paid much attention to large wild animals before because of the fact that they are large and I figured that they wouldn’t be threatened like most smaller animals. One threat this wild rhino is facing is habitat loss due to agriculture and settlements. Another threat is poachers who are interested in their horns to sell mainly across the East. Although these threats are putting white rhinos at risk, through the efforts of groups such as the Wild Foundation and World Wild Life, the prognosis for the continued survival of the white rhino is good.

Elephants were used to scare other people away. Recent studies have found that elephants had a helpful part when it comes to the army because of their size and speed. In this article Lockie discuss their research. Researchers found this, “War elephants were usually deployed in the center of the line, where the imposing beasts would charge at up to 20 mph toward the enemy. They were also used to carry heavy materials across difficult terrain before tanks and helicopters were an option,” (Lockie, 2015). Researchers also found,

Did you know that elephants can use different tools and understand the human body language? These skills can help elephants go through experiments in order to get a treat. The elephants needs cooperation skills in order to pull a rope at the same time with another elephant, and that allows them to get the treat. Each piece of writing and the video presents the idea of the experiment differently. In addition, all of the tones in each piece is very different, and that affects the way each piece explains the experiment. Within the article, passage, and video, each explains the test the elephants went through in different ways and tones.

An elephant has a strong sense of smell and hearing. The trunks of elephants are extremely sensitive to the touch. They have many nerve endings that send information to the brain. These same nerve endings are located in the bottom of the elephants’ feet. When they sense danger, they prepare to protect themselves. While they do not like to fight, they have stable tusks to help them protect themselves and thick outer skin

While elephants look healthy on the outside, their mental state is vastly diminishing, thus causing anxiety.

Asian elephants have been integral to the history of Asia and India, proving to be useful in many things such as warfare and construction. Asian Elephants are huge mammals that can weigh up to 6 tons, shoulder height of 10 feet, and 21 feet from head to tail. Their size and strength are very useful in hauling things such as logs and are a military might unrivaled for thousands of years. They can live up to 60 years but the

An African elephant has unique features unknown to any other animal. The elephant is considered to have the best memory in the animal kingdom. Just like humans, elephants are known to remember everything and are capable of holding grudges. Studies have shown that elephants remember the trainers that have abused them in the past. As a matter of fact scientists and observers are under the impression that the elephant’s brainpower challenges and overrules a human’s intelligence.