Elephants, the largest land animals, are found in tropical and subtropical parts of Asia and Africa. They are characterized by their large size, long trunks, wide ears, and high intelligence. An adult African elephant stands three to four meters high and weighs up to 8,000 kg. Their trunks can weigh up to 135 kg (almost 300 pounds), and they are highly dexterous. Their trunks are the most agile part of their body, as the elephants’ mass and columned legs make it impossible for them to jump.
Trunks
Elephant trunks are a combination of their nose and upper lip, and it has many functions. They use their trunk as a pump, an arm, and an extendable nose. Elephants can pump eight litres of water in their trunk to spray in their mouth, or to spray on their bodies to cool down. The trunk is also incredibly strong. They can use their trunks to carry trees, fight, and dig. Their trunk is sensitive to touch, so they are protected by two tusks (like long teeth) on either side of it. The trunk is flexible as well, and the trunk’s 40,000 muscles make that happen. There are about 150,00 fascicle muscles in the trunk which give it impressive control. Two flap-like projections at the end of the trunk allow the elephant to do delicate procedures such as picking an individual berry from a tree. The elephant has the most genes dedicated to smell than any other animal. This means they are the best smellers around. They use their smell to recognize herd members, find old watering holes, and detect other herds. They can use their trunks like smell telescopes.
Life Cycle and Social Behavior
Elephant females live in the same herd their whole life, and males, after reaching sexual maturity, travel by themselves or in a small group with other males. When a herd smells another herd’s presence, they will release a low rumble. If there is a herd approaching, there will be a rumble back. These sounds can be heard by other elephants 4 km away. Rumbles also travel underground where they can be felt by others up to 10 km away. Elephants, year round, release a hormone called temporin, but males enter a “musth period”. In the musth period, the fluid they release changes viscosity. Males in this period have reproductive priority over males not in this stage. The gestation period for elephants is 18 to 22 months, the longest of any mammal. When the newborn elephant is born, it is around three meters tall, weighing about 100 kg. The babies suck milk from their mothers using their mouth and eat for many hours a day. Elephants can live for 80 years or more in captivity but only for around 60 years in the wild.
Intelligence
Elephants have big brains, even when you compare their brain size to their body size. With these brains, they can remember elephants they’ve met decades prior to meeting again. They also pass the reflection test, which means they recognize themselves in a mirror, a feat only few nonhuman species can do. Other intelligent behaviors include making tools, outsmarting human tests, understanding basic counting, and they even mourning their dead. The elephant hippocampus allows them to turn important events into long term memories.This usually helps them survive, but it also makes them one of the few animals to suffer from PTSD.
Humans
Elephants have been seen being caring to humans. When encountering an injured human, elephants have stood guard and comforted them. Elephants, in general, seem to be gentle creatures to many animals. Elephants, however, have also attacked human towns, but usually after humans poached one (or more) of their own. Elephant habitats are being destroyed in Asia, and elephants are being poached for their tusks (which are ivory) in Africa. In Asia, the animals are endangered, and they become more at risk for extinction everyday.
