Elephant

Characteristics of elephants

Elephants are the largest mammals in the world alive today. The heaviest male elephant weighed 12 tons but was shot down in 1974 in Angola. There are also the smallest elephant species with normal size like calves or large pigs.

Elephants have a large head with a trunk and two tusks. An elephant is an animal with 4 big legs to be able to bear the weight of the body.

The foot bones of elephants are protected by a cushion. The flat soles are quite thick, the soles of the feet contain elastic fibers that help elephants walk without making noise.

Ivory is considered as the 2 upper front teeth turned into. When the ivory begins to grow, there will be a layer of enamel covering the ivory layer. Over time, the larger the dentin, the thinner the protective enamel layer will be. The tusks will develop in stages, the older the elephant, the bigger the tusks.

Elephants have grinding teeth at the back of the mouth, when the old grinding teeth are worn away, a new set of grinding teeth will grow. The whole life of the elephant has up to 6 sets of grinding teeth, by the age of 55 the grinding teeth will eventually wear down and disappear.

Male elephants have larger tusks than female elephants, and African elephant tusks are larger than Asian tusks. A pair of tusks can weigh more than 200kg.

The elephant's ear is very large, but it is rarely used for hearing. It uses its ears to adapt to body temperature because the elephant's ears have many blood vessels. Elephants often flutter their ears to cool and regulate body temperature.

The trunk is the nose of the elephant, boneless and replaced by muscle tissue. There is a duty as the fingers feel. The trunk is used to drink water, used to breathe, when drinking water, elephants will suck water with the trunk and then blow it into the mouth.

The elephant trunk has up to 4 muscular valves, so the trunk is very ingenious. Elephants use their trunks to break branches or to pick fruits from trees. Their trunks are quite sensitive, male elephants use their trunks to flirt with females, and female elephants use their trunks to caress baby elephants.

A normal elephant sleeps only 2 to 3 hours a day. Adult elephants need up to 300kg of food and 160 liters of water per day. Elephants can detect rain up to 150 miles away, can smell water 20 miles away.

The brain of an elephant can weigh up to 5kg, but the sperm of an elephant is less than that of a mouse.

Elephants are pregnant for 2 years, the longest of any species. A newborn baby elephant can weigh up to 130kg. Elephants have a lifespan of about 50 to 70 years, but some live 82 years the longest.

Characteristics that prove elephants are intelligent animals

Able to recognize languages

Researchers at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK found that African elephants can distinguish gender, age, and ethnic differences by the sounds of human voices. If the voice is possessed by someone likely to pose a threat to them, these elephants will go into defensive mode.

Know how to use tools

In 2010, a 7-year-old Asian elephant named Kandula impressed researchers by using tools from its surroundings to pick fruit while lying higher than its reach. After observing the fruit on the tree, for a few days, these fruits swayed and teased Kandula, so Kandula had an "aha moment" - a moment of self-discovery.

Understand body language

Researchers recently observed evidence that elephants can understand human manual instructions. They tested this by pointing to food hidden inside one of two identical boxes, and after observing the two boxes, a group of captive African elephants approached one. box. Without any prior training, these elephants correctly identified a food container 68% of the time 5% less than how a one-year-old performed the same tests. When the researchers stood between the two boxes and did not point the guide, the elephants approached the boxes at random.

Show empathy

A recent study observed that Asian elephants often comfort each other when distressed. The elephants in the study used both physical contact and sound as well as comfortable gestures, touching each other's bodies and chirping.

Interesting facts about elephants

Currently, in the world, there are only 3 species of elephants that still exist: bush elephants and African forest elephants, and Asian elephants (also known as Indian elephants), and all other elephant species are extinct.

Elephants are the largest living land animals in the world. The largest elephants were recorded in Angola in 1956 with the male weighing about 11,000 kg and nearly 4 m tall, 1m more than the common African elephant.

The gestation period of elephants is 22 months, the longest of any species. A newborn baby elephant also weighed nearly 120 kg. The life expectancy of the common elephant is between 50 and 70 years, and the oldest elephant is 82 years.

With a mass of nearly 5 kg, the elephant's brain is also larger than any other species. Therefore, they are very intelligent animals such as express sadness, compassion, can play musical instruments, have a gift for painting, and skillful use different tools.

Elephants are a species with a well-defined social order. The social lives of males and females are very different. Children will spend their whole lives entwined in a large community with many generations. The oldest will do the task of the leader, leading the rest. In contrast, adult male elephants often lead a separate life, separate from the herd.

The ivory is the second incisor tooth of the elephant. Ivory grows continuously and can grow up to 18 cm each year. Their uses are varied from digging the soil to find water sources, stripping tree bark to eat, clearing trees or objects in the way. Not only that, but elephants also use ivory to mark on trees to distinguish territory from other herds and of course, it is also an effective weapon against enemies.

The trunk is a unique combination of the nose and upper lip, forming the most important and versatile accessory of the elephant. The trunk is dexterous enough to pick up a blade of grass and strong enough to break a branch.

The trunk is often used by elephants to drink water. Elephants will suck water into the faucet (about 14 liters of water/time) and then spray water into their mouths to drink. It also serves as a shower when the elephants bathe. On hot days, elephants use their trunks to cover their bodies with dust and dried mud to form a protective layer that works like the sunscreen we often use. When swimming, the hose acts as a wonderful and very effective snorkel.

African elephants can be distinguished from Asian elephants on several grounds, most notably their much larger ears. In addition, Asian elephants only have tusks in males, while African elephants have both males and females, and their fur is also "sparse" than their relatives.

Elephants are herbivores and they spend 16 hours a day eating. Their food preferences change depending on the season, habits, or habitat. Usually, they choose to eat the bark, leaves, or fruit on trees or bushes, but there are some grasses and herbs that are also quite popular.

Why are elephants hunted by humans?

Over 100,000 elephants have been killed in recent years. They are poached by humans for ivory because ivory is a very rare and valuable object.

They are used to make products from bracelets, necklaces, and intricate carvings. Because people have a hobby of collecting and trading ivory-related items, elephants are gradually becoming extinct.

Elephants are lovely and gentle but they are threatened by humans. It would be great if you all joined hands to protect this giant but very cute animal. Instead of buying products made from ivory, please participate in community activities and nature conservation.

Elephant related products are available on Printerval.com

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