Nature Facts
Elephants
“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.”
Elephant Facts:
- They can live up to 70 years.
- They are intelligent and show emotions like empathy, compassion, self-awareness, and grief.
- There are two main kinds, African (Bush & Forest) and Asian. You can identify them by the shapes of thier ears. The ears of the African elephants look like the continent of Africa. And the Asian elephant looks like India.
- Only mammal that can’t jump or cross ditches that span 6 feet.
- Both female and male elephants can have tusks (which are elongated teeth) and they can weigh over 200lbs!
- The elephants are hairy, all over their bodies!
- Elephants are very intelligent creatures-they can show compassion, empathy, self-awareness, and grief.
- Elephants have really big trunks or nose that has thousands of muscles (See more info below)
Trunks
An elephant’s trunk-or nose is used for breathing, bringing food and water to the mouth, and grasping objects. It can lift objects up to 770lbs (350 kg). With 150,000 muscles in the trunk is very dexterous and can easily coil, twist and grasp small objects. It is able to crack a peanut without breaking the nut. Elephants can suck up food and water both to spray in the mouth or sprinkle on their bodies. Same thing with dust, they will also spray dust over their tough but sensitive skin to protect from sunburn. It can use it’s trunk like a snorkel too–wouldn’t that be handy?
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Babies
A baby elephant is called a calf. When born they can weigh 200lbs! That’s a big baby! Elephant moms are pregnant for almost two years-22 months!
Feet
An elephants feet are like giant cushions distributing the body weight of the elephant-it acts like a shock absorber. Elephants can move both forwards and backwards, but cannot trot, jump, or gallop. They have 5 toes, but not all toes have toenails like you see in the picture. Elephants walk a lot in the wild. Sometimes elephants in zoos can have problems with their feet because they can’t walk around as much.
Elephants are great swimmers and can swim for a long time without touching the bottom if they need to
An elephant’s skin tough but sensitive to sunburn. It will use mud as a type of sunscreen and deters bugs too. It’s skin is also 1 inch thick in most places on it’s body. They also have little hairs all over their skin which is thought to help to regulate heat. They also use evaporation of the wwater sprayed on their skin to keep them cool. And the crevices in the skin help keep them from drying out too.
