African elephant
These are two of the four elephants that live at Colchester Zoo’s, who's charity, Action for the Wild, supports the Elephant Orphanage Project in Zambia, with its mission to rescue, rehabilitate and release orphaned elephants into protected reserves. The elephants they look after have become orphans due to the illegal ivory trade.
African elephants are the largest animals walking the earth. The word 'elephant' is Latin for 'huge arch'.
The average African elephant will stand between 8 ft. 2 in. to 13 ft. (2.5 to 4 m) at the shoulder and weigh between 2.25 to 6.25 tons (5,000 to 14,000 lb. - 2,270 to 6,350 kg), Male elephants can grow to be significantly larger than female which grow to between 9 and 13 ft. ( and weigh from 2.68 to 3.57 tons (6,000 to 8,000 lb. - 2,720 to 3,630 kg). The trunk alone can weigh as much as 310 lb. (140 kg) and can be a used as a deadly weapon. It can hold 2.65 gal. (12 litres) of water. There are about 50,000 muscles in the trunk, made up of 6 muscle groups and no bones.
Both male and female African elephants have tusks, which are elongated incisor teeth that first appear at two around years of age. The male's tusks are longer and heavier, weighing between 110 and 175 lb. (50 and 79 kg) each, with females' tusks weigh approximately 40 lb. (18 kg) each.
Elephants have large ears which are designed to help keep them cool by circulating air around the large blood vessels of the inner ears. The more the ears flap, the hotter the elephant is.
The elephant is an extremely intelligent creatures and they have brains that can weigh as much as 8.8 to 13.25 lb. (4 to 6 kg).
The skin of an elephant can be up to 1 in. (2.5 cm) thick in places. The folds and wrinkles in their skin can retain up to 10 times more water than flat skin does, which helps to cool them down. They keep their skin clean and protect themselves from sunburn by taking regular dust and mud baths.
Elephant have six sets of teeth that grow one set after another, throughout their lives. By the time they reach their 50's, most elephant have started to use their final set. After the elephant runs out of teeth, they cannot chew food and their condition deteriorates and they either fall prey to disease or predators or stave to death.
To feed an animal of such proportions takes a lot of food. Their average sleep time was found to be only 2 hours in 24 hour and most of their day is spent eating. Their daily food intake is as much as 4 to 7% of their body weight, which means they can eat as much as 330 Ib. (150 kg) of food per day. Elephants are herbivores and only eat grasses, herbs, fruit, plants and trees. They cause quite a lot of damage to their surroundings while feeding, especially when they use their tusks to tear off branches from trees. They also need 35 gal.(160 litres) of water a day.
Despite their size, they are actually pretty nimble and on average walk 15.5 miles (25 km) a day. They can also run faster than you would expect, easily reaching speeds of 40 mph (64 km/h).
African elephant live in matriarchal family units led by an older cow and made up of adult cows with their daughters and sub-adult sons. As soon as a young male becomes a bull he leaves the family group and may form an alliance with other bachelors. An elephant pregnancy lasts around 22 months. A baby elephant, called a calf, can weigh between 200 and 300 lbs (90 and 135 Kg) and stand about 3 ft. (1 m) tall. Calves are able to stand within 20 minutes of being born and can walk within 1 hour. After two days, they can keep up with the herd. This incredible survival technique means that herds of elephants can keep migrating to find food and water to thrive. Typically, elephants only give birth to one calf at a time, although twins do sometimes occur. In her lifetime a female elephant can give birth to as many as 12 calves. African elephants practice what is known as allomothering, whereby the calves are cared for not only by their mothers but also by other young cows in the family. A calf can expect to have an average life span of around 70 years.
Once elephants roamed across the whole of Africa, they are now limited to conservation areas and the Savannah. African elephants can currently be found in 37 African countries. In the 1970's there were 1.3 million African elephants. Less than a third of that number, an estimated 400,000, are left in the wild now. On average 96 elephants are poached a day for their valuable tusks. Moreover, humans are responsible for huge areas of habit loss of African elephants. As the human population in Africa increases, more and more land is converted to agriculture. A smaller habit has meant that elephants and humans are coming into contact with one another more than they did historically, and this is causing conflict. Elephants are very intelligent creature and sometimes raid farmers’ crop for food. This can lead to both humans and elephants being killed in the conflict.
African elephant
These are two of the four elephants that live at Colchester Zoo’s, who's charity, Action for the Wild, supports the Elephant Orphanage Project in Zambia, with its mission to rescue, rehabilitate and release orphaned elephants into protected reserves. The elephants they look after have become orphans due to the illegal ivory trade.
African elephants are the largest animals walking the earth. The word 'elephant' is Latin for 'huge arch'.
The average African elephant will stand between 8 ft. 2 in. to 13 ft. (2.5 to 4 m) at the shoulder and weigh between 2.25 to 6.25 tons (5,000 to 14,000 lb. - 2,270 to 6,350 kg), Male elephants can grow to be significantly larger than female which grow to between 9 and 13 ft. ( and weigh from 2.68 to 3.57 tons (6,000 to 8,000 lb. - 2,720 to 3,630 kg). The trunk alone can weigh as much as 310 lb. (140 kg) and can be a used as a deadly weapon. It can hold 2.65 gal. (12 litres) of water. There are about 50,000 muscles in the trunk, made up of 6 muscle groups and no bones.
Both male and female African elephants have tusks, which are elongated incisor teeth that first appear at two around years of age. The male's tusks are longer and heavier, weighing between 110 and 175 lb. (50 and 79 kg) each, with females' tusks weigh approximately 40 lb. (18 kg) each.
Elephants have large ears which are designed to help keep them cool by circulating air around the large blood vessels of the inner ears. The more the ears flap, the hotter the elephant is.
The elephant is an extremely intelligent creatures and they have brains that can weigh as much as 8.8 to 13.25 lb. (4 to 6 kg).
The skin of an elephant can be up to 1 in. (2.5 cm) thick in places. The folds and wrinkles in their skin can retain up to 10 times more water than flat skin does, which helps to cool them down. They keep their skin clean and protect themselves from sunburn by taking regular dust and mud baths.
Elephant have six sets of teeth that grow one set after another, throughout their lives. By the time they reach their 50's, most elephant have started to use their final set. After the elephant runs out of teeth, they cannot chew food and their condition deteriorates and they either fall prey to disease or predators or stave to death.
To feed an animal of such proportions takes a lot of food. Their average sleep time was found to be only 2 hours in 24 hour and most of their day is spent eating. Their daily food intake is as much as 4 to 7% of their body weight, which means they can eat as much as 330 Ib. (150 kg) of food per day. Elephants are herbivores and only eat grasses, herbs, fruit, plants and trees. They cause quite a lot of damage to their surroundings while feeding, especially when they use their tusks to tear off branches from trees. They also need 35 gal.(160 litres) of water a day.
Despite their size, they are actually pretty nimble and on average walk 15.5 miles (25 km) a day. They can also run faster than you would expect, easily reaching speeds of 40 mph (64 km/h).
African elephant live in matriarchal family units led by an older cow and made up of adult cows with their daughters and sub-adult sons. As soon as a young male becomes a bull he leaves the family group and may form an alliance with other bachelors. An elephant pregnancy lasts around 22 months. A baby elephant, called a calf, can weigh between 200 and 300 lbs (90 and 135 Kg) and stand about 3 ft. (1 m) tall. Calves are able to stand within 20 minutes of being born and can walk within 1 hour. After two days, they can keep up with the herd. This incredible survival technique means that herds of elephants can keep migrating to find food and water to thrive. Typically, elephants only give birth to one calf at a time, although twins do sometimes occur. In her lifetime a female elephant can give birth to as many as 12 calves. African elephants practice what is known as allomothering, whereby the calves are cared for not only by their mothers but also by other young cows in the family. A calf can expect to have an average life span of around 70 years.
Once elephants roamed across the whole of Africa, they are now limited to conservation areas and the Savannah. African elephants can currently be found in 37 African countries. In the 1970's there were 1.3 million African elephants. Less than a third of that number, an estimated 400,000, are left in the wild now. On average 96 elephants are poached a day for their valuable tusks. Moreover, humans are responsible for huge areas of habit loss of African elephants. As the human population in Africa increases, more and more land is converted to agriculture. A smaller habit has meant that elephants and humans are coming into contact with one another more than they did historically, and this is causing conflict. Elephants are very intelligent creature and sometimes raid farmers’ crop for food. This can lead to both humans and elephants being killed in the conflict.