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| Facts About the African Elephant |
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| Did You Know... The African elephant is the largest and most powerful of all living mammals. It is also among the most gentle. This type of elephant lives in peaceful family units. The African elephant is adaptable enough to live happily in a variety of habitats within its Sub-Saharan African homeland. It never stays far from a pool of water from which to drink and bathe. An elephant can drink up to 40 gallons of water at one time, and eat up to 500 pounds of vegetation each day. They bathe every evening and will make do with a shower from their trunks if water is scarce. After bathing the African elephant coats its body with dirt for protection from insects. When water is scarce during the dry season, elephants will dig for water in the sandy beds of rivers that have stopped flowing. They can walk faster than man, maintaining a speed of five and a half miles per hour. This means that a marching herd can easily cover 50 miles a day. The largest tusk ever recorded was ten feet long and weighed 230 pounds. The African elephant will bury its dead relatives with twigs and leaves, and stay over the "grave" for hours grieving over the loss. A female elephant is a cow, a male is a bull, and a baby is a calf. Cows and calves live in family units under the leadership of a mature female. This female is related to every other group member. Bulls are driven from the family to separate bachelor herds once they reach puberty. They will join a family unit briefly only for mating. When the elephant is in the wilderness it will communicate by making a rumbling noise similar to gargling. If the noise stops, the others will know that there is a possibility of danger. A conflict between two elephants is communicated by a display of trunk twirling and dust throwing. An elephant may also use its famous trumpeting noise in a fight. Elephants are strictly vegetarian and eat a wide variety of grasses foliage, fruit and branches. Food is gathered with their trunks. When an elephant loses all its teeth, usually around age 70, it will die of strvation becuse of the incapability to feed itself. There are only 4 functioning teeth that are 12 inches long. These teeth can be replaced 6 times. The ears can be used as fans to create a cool stream of air over the elephant's body. An elephant's feet are cusioned so they carry weight almost noiselessly. The African elephant is now endangered. Although hunting is banned ivory poaching is still widespread. Gamekeepers are basically powerless against the machine guns used by poachers. |
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