How does an elephant defend itself? Social behavior. Description of the African elephant
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Gigantism occurs among animals as a natural process of evolution. Currently, elephants are the largest mammals on the planet. And they are remarkable not only for this. The main amazing trump card of elephants is their trunk, which serves as a hand, a mouth, a nose, and a means of defense.
The elephant's trunk is such a universal and unique organ that the animal can use it to lift a heavy log or grab a small match.
The largest of the African elephants, its weight reaches 7.5 tons and its height is 4 meters. Its Indian relative is a third smaller.
To maintain its existence, an adult must eat 200 kg of green mass per day and drink up to 200 liters of water.
Interestingly, like people, elephants can be right-handed or left-handed. Right-handed people use the right tusk more often, which causes it to wear out more and become shorter over time. Probably the most known fact
about the pregnancy of elephants, which lasts almost 2 years, or rather 22 months. Elephants have strong and friendly families, often consisting of several generations, mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers. Female elephants take care of their cub for 10 - 15 years, and also take part in raising sisters, brothers, and nephews.
Elephants are among the ten most intelligent animals on earth. They have a rich “speech”, excellent memory and a stormy emotional sphere.
African elephants actually sleep standing up, while Indian elephants lie down on the ground at night.
The lifespan of elephants is similar to that of humans - 80 years. However, this species of fauna is under threat of extinction. Providing an ecologically clean habitat for elephants is the task of prudent humanity.
Background Information on Elephants Elephants are a family of mammals of the once numerous proboscis order; the grasping trunk was formed as a result of the fusion of the nose and upper lip
The animal lives throughout Africa, except deserts. Lives about 70 years. It feeds on grass, tree bark, shoots and leaves, roots and fruits. Eating takes up to 16 hours a day. During this time, adults eat up to 400 kg of food. If there is not enough salt in the elephants' food, they look for licks - places where salt appears on the surface of the earth. Animals drink a lot of water: approximately 230 liters per day - almost two baths.
Adult males weigh more than five tons. The maximum height to the shoulder in males is 4 m, and the length without trunk and tail is 7 m. Females are slightly smaller.
The natural color of an elephant's skin is grayish-black, but changes color after mud baths. Its layers can exceed three centimeters. The beast has thick bones and strong muscular legs. The pads on the soles allow the elephant to walk as if on tiptoe. Maximum speed animal - 24 km/h. The trunk has about 40,000 muscles and is used by the elephant for various purposes. Long tusks are teeth that continue to grow throughout life. The longest tusks measure almost 3.5 m. The elephant needs them to dig up roots. The animal uses one of the tusks more than the other. Elephants have good eyesight, but the animal relies more on smell, touch and hearing. Long eyelashes– not for beauty, they are a protective barrier against dust for the eyes. African elephants have excellent hearing. But they also use their large ears as fans. Elephants have the most big brain among animals.
Elephants are good swimmers: they can stay in the water without touching the bottom for up to six hours.
Animals make noises loud sounds, which can be heard at a distance of 10 km.
Elephants live in herds and take care of each other. The herd spends a lot of time grazing. During a lion attack, all members of the group come to the victim's defense. Elephants carry their babies for 22 months. During childbirth, all the females of the herd are near the woman in labor. They help her, and then joyfully trumpet and shout, announcing the birth of a new member of the family. The newborn is quite large: its height is 90 cm, and its weight varies from 77 to 113 kg. In the first month, the baby elephant learns to drink and walk with the herd. He needs more than 10 liters of milk per day. The baby elephant tries to stay close to his mother, who teaches and protects him. Babies are in danger from hyenas and lions. Soon the baby elephant begins to learn to use its trunk. To do this, you need to train a lot: he lifts objects, greets his relatives, learns to get food and water. Until the age of 2 years, baby elephants drink their mother’s milk, but little by little they try plants. To make it easier to digest the bark and twigs, they eat the feces of adults. At two years old, babies develop small tusks. Elephants gain full independence at six years of age. At the age of ten, young males leave their native herd and join other males. Females live with their family all their lives. By the age of 18 they become mothers. Males mature to reproduce two years later. After mating, they protect their mate from rivals.
Number of African elephants in wildlife is rapidly decreasing. As of 2005, there were only 500,000 of them left.
Photos of elephants
In ancient times, there were many different elephants, but gradually they became extinct. Now there are only two species living on our planet: African and Indian.
Where do elephants live?
Elephants are named after their habitat: some of them live in Africa, while others are home to India. Regardless of the species, all elephants are listed in the Red Book. This means that there are very few of these beautiful large animals left in the wild, and they need human protection.
- African elephants , as the name suggests, live in Africa. Both females and males have large tusks - large front teeth that can grow up to two meters in length. Adults often reach 4 meters in height and weigh more than 700 kg. African elephants are very aggressive animals and are almost impossible to train.
Rice. 1. African elephant.
- Indian elephants differ from their African counterparts in their more modest size. They reach a height of no more than 3 meters, and their weight does not exceed 500 kg. They live in many Asian countries: India, Thailand, Laos, Ceylon. Indian elephants are very peaceful and friendly animals that are easy to train. It is this type of elephant that can be found in the circus and zoo. In their homeland, they are used as strong four-legged helpers: elephants drag trees in sawmills, carry heavy loads, and in ancient times they even took part in military battles.
Rice. 2. Indian elephant.
In India, elephants are especially revered and respected. Moreover, in this country the elephant is a deity. For example, the Hindu god of wisdom Ganesha looks like a man with the head of an elephant. Not a single local holiday or major celebration is complete without these mighty animals, lavishly decorated with flowers and bright capes.
Elephant habits
Elephants are herd animals that in the wild live in large herds of up to thirty animals. Lone elephants are very rare.
As a rule, the herd is led by an experienced old female. Once every few years, female elephants give birth to calves, who live with their mother for up to five years. Average age life seems to be about 70 years.
Rice. 3. Baby elephant.
Elephants are herbivores that eat berries, leaves, fruits, grass, and tree bark.
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Despite their peaceful disposition, when a threat arises they become very aggressive and dangerous. A frightened or angry elephant makes a loud, sharp sound and spreads its ears. He begins to trample everything in his path, and with his trunk, he uproots trees and throws them to the sides. various items. At such moments, all the animals try to get out of the way of the angry elephant as quickly as possible.
Elephants are incredibly smart and capable animals with excellent memory. An elephant is capable of remembering for the rest of its life a person who caused him harm many years ago, and when he meets him he will definitely take revenge on him.
What have we learned?
When studying the topic “Where do elephants live” according to the 1st grade program of the world around us, we found out what continent elephants live on and what species live on our planet. We learned what the difference is between African and Indian elephants, what their habits and characteristics are.
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The elephant is the largest animal on Earth, if we talk about land animals. The African elephant has been known to mankind since ancient times. Despite its enormous size, this African giant is easily tamed and has high intelligence. African elephants have been used since ancient times to carry heavy loads and even as fighting animals during wars. They remember commands easily and are highly trainable. In the wild, they have practically no enemies, and even lions and large crocodiles do not dare to attack adult individuals.
Description of the African elephant
largest land mammal on our planet. He's much more asian elephant and in size can reach 4.5-5 meters in height, and its weight is approximately 7-7.5 tons. But there are also real giants: the largest African elephant that was discovered weighed 12 tons, and the length of its body was about 7 meters.Range, habitats
African elephants used to be distributed throughout Africa. Now, with the advent of civilization and poaching, their habitat has decreased significantly. Most of the elephants live in the territory national parks Kenya, Tanzania and Congo. During the dry season, they travel hundreds of kilometers in search of fresh water and nutrition. In addition to national parks, they are found in the wild in Namibia, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Congo.
Currently, the habitat of African elephants is rapidly decreasing due to the fact that more and more land is being given over to construction and agricultural needs. In some of their usual habitats, the African elephant can no longer be found. Because of the value Ivory, elephants have a hard life; they often become victims of poachers. The main and only enemy of elephants is man.
The most common myth about elephants is that they allegedly bury their dead relatives in certain places. Scientists spent a lot of effort and time, but never found any special places where the bodies or remains of animals were concentrated. Such places don't really exist.
Nutrition. African elephant diet
African elephants are truly insatiable creatures, adult males can eat up to 150 kilograms of plant food per day, females about 100. It takes them 16-18 hours a day to absorb food, the rest of the time they spend searching for it, and they spend 2-3 hours sleeping hours. This is one of the least sleeping animals in the world.
There is a prejudice It is believed that African elephants are very fond of peanuts and spend a lot of time searching for them, but this is not true. Of course, elephants have nothing against such a delicacy, and in captivity they willingly eat it. But still, it is not eaten in nature.
Grass and shoots of young trees are their main food; they eat fruit as a delicacy. With their gluttony, they damage agricultural lands; farmers scare them away, since killing elephants is prohibited and they are protected by law. In search of food, these giants of Africa spend most day. The cubs completely switch to plant foods when they reach three years, and before that they feed on their mother’s milk. After about 1.5-2 years, they gradually begin to receive adult food in addition to mother's milk. They consume a lot of water, approximately 180-230 liters per day.
Second myth says that old males who have left the herd become killers of people. Of course, cases of elephant attacks on humans are possible, but this is not associated with a specific behavior pattern of these animals.
The myth that elephants are afraid of rats and mice because they chew their legs also remains a myth. Of course, elephants are not afraid of such rodents, but they still do not have much love for them.
The African elephant is indigenous to the African continent. Belongs to the elephant family. There are 2 types of elephants in Africa: forest and savannah.
Savannah elephants are precisely called African elephants. They are the largest land mammals on Earth. From the name it is clear that this animal lives in the savannah - an endless steppe with tall grass. Main feature Savannas are sparsely growing groups of low trees and bushes. The climate is subequatorial, divided into dry and rainy seasons. Located south of the Sahara Desert.
Today, the habitat of these animals has been greatly reduced due to the rapid growth of the population of Africa. In some areas, the African elephant is no longer found. This species is saved from complete destruction only by living in national parks. Outside their borders, the African elephant can no longer exist normally; this is hampered by the transformation of pasture lands into arable lands and poaching.
The African elephant is the largest land animal. Elephant tusks are a very expensive and popular commodity, for which more than 70 thousand of these mammals were exterminated in the last century. In 1990, a law was passed prohibiting trading ivory However, poachers still shoot elephants to this day. As of 2010, the African elephant population was approximately 600,000, with a significant proportion living in the national parks of Tanzania, Kenya and Congo.
Appearance
The African elephant has a massive body, big head and a very short neck. Elephants move easily on both sand and swampy terrain due to the peculiarities of the soles of their feet, which can narrow and widen. During walking, when the elephant stands on the ground, the soles expand and the area of contact with the surface increases. The front limbs have 4 fingers, the hind limbs - 3. The elephant has huge ears up to 1.5 meters long. The tail can reach a length of 1-1.2 meters. The skin color is gray, the body is covered with sparse hair. The skin is wrinkled, rough, and the tusks are curved.
The height of a male African elephant ranges from 3.2 to 4 meters, but elephants with a height of 4 meters are extremely rare, usually reaching a height of 3.5 meters. The height of the female is 2.2-2.6 meters. The weight of males varies from 4.7 to 6 tons, females - from 2.2 to 3.2 tons. The body length of these mammals is 6-7.5 meters. Sometimes there are elephants with a weight of 10 tons and a height of 4 meters. The largest recorded weight is 12 tons.
Tusks
Huge curved fangs are called tusks. They are present in both females and males. The tusks of males are longer and larger. Their length varies from 1.5 to 2.4 meters, and their weight is 25-45 kg. Elephants' tusks grow throughout their lives. In older individuals they can weigh 60 kg. Elephants use their tusks to extract various roots, tearing up the ground with them. Also, with these fangs, these animals tear off the bark of trees and defend themselves from attacks by predators. IN mating season males use their tusks to fight each other.
In addition to tusks, elephants have 4 molars, each weighing about 5 kg and about 30 cm long. The replacement of milk teeth with first molars occurs at 15 years of age. The emerging molars change again at the age of 30. The last change occurs at age 45. By the age of 65-70, the last molars are completely worn out, the animal can no longer chew food and dies of hunger.
Elephants are highly intelligent animals. Trunk
The elephant's trunk is represented as a fused upper lip and nose. This is a muscular, long, very flexible and mobile appendage ranging from 1.5 to 1.8 meters in length. The trunk weighs from 130 to 150 kg. The elephant's trunk is very strong, with its help it lifts loads of up to 300 kg. An elephant can hold a whole bucket of water in its trunk. At the end of the trunk there are two finger-like processes.
Reproduction and lifespan
African elephants mate during the rainy seasons, with the male and female moving away from the others. The duration of pregnancy is 22 months. One baby elephant is born. In height from about 1 meter, weight – 100-120 kg. Newborn elephants do not have tusks. Begins to walk immediately after birth, following its mother everywhere. Females feed their young with milk for 1.5 years. These animals become independent when they reach 4 years of age; until this moment, they are cared for by their mother or other females of the herd. They become sexually mature at 10-12 years of age. Peak reproductive age for females is 25-45 years. Typically, each female gives birth to 8-10 elephant calves in her lifetime. Elephants live for about 70 years; in captivity, with good care, they can live up to 80 years.
Despite their bulkiness and massiveness, elephants are excellent swimmers. Moreover, they simply love water! Behavior and nutrition
They live in herds consisting of females and elephant calves. The size of the herd is 10-15 animals. The head is adult female, which then changes eldest daughter. Males leave the herd at 10 years of age. Juveniles form small groups. Adult elephants live alone or in pairs. They come to females only during the mating season and leave again after mating. Each herd has its own habitat. When the herd grows and its representatives are no longer 10-15, but 2 times larger, the herd is divided into 2 parts, which extremely rarely unite. If the herds have united, then the leading females begin to quarrel, the winner becomes the head of the educated herd.
Listen to the voice of the African elephant
Elephants are in constant migration. When a herd travels a long distance, it can unite with other small herds into one large one. Elephants move due to droughts and lack of food.
A rare event— The mother elephant gave birth to twins. The atmosphere in the herd is friendly. When in danger, elephants help each other out. They are very kind to their offspring. Skirmishes arise between females for leadership and between males for females.
The basis of the diet - plant food. Every day an adult eats 450 kg of food, this process takes most of the day. These animals sleep standing up, the herd forms a circle, with their heads facing the center. Elephants have very poor vision and navigate by sounds and smells. They love to swim and are excellent swimmers. These animals are very clean.
forest elephant
Forest elephants are also inhabitants of the African continent and its western regions. Habitat - rainforests next to the Congo River. Its size is smaller than that of a savannah elephant. Height - up to 2.5 meters, individuals higher are extremely rare. The shape of the ears is more rounded. The tusks are shorter, practically not curved, and directed downwards. There are 5 toes on the forelimbs and 4 on the hind limbs. The skin of a forest elephant is darker and their hair is thicker. The main food is leaves, tree bark, fruits. The population is very small, the exact number is not known, forest elephants are being exterminated en masse.
Elephants are large mammals, of which there are two species: African and Indian. Mammoths used to live on Earth (they became extinct in glacial period) and mastodons (extinct during the period of the first appearance of man on the North American continent). In this article we will answer the question: “Where do elephants live?” and consider their habitat and habits.
Differences between Indian and African elephants
Despite the apparent 100% similarity in appearance, Indian and African elephants have many differences. Let's take a closer look at them.
- African elephants are superior to their Indian relatives in size and weight. The height of an adult animal living in Africa reaches 3.7 meters and weighs 6.5 tons. For comparison, for Indian relatives these figures are 3.5 meters and 5 tons.
- African elephants have larger ears, with veins clearly visible through their thin skin. It is noteworthy that each individual has a different pattern of veins on its ears, just like people’s fingerprints.
- Distinctive feature African elephants are considered to have long, strong tusks in every animal, regardless of gender. Among Indian elephants, only males have this decoration. Tusks grow throughout life and act as an indicator of age.
- The Indian elephant is calmer. Thanks to simple training, he becomes a reliable assistant to a person. He is trained to transport trees, lay planks, or retrieve objects from rivers.
That's not all Interesting Facts about these animals. The following information will be useful to schoolchildren who want to get the maximum score for the Unified State Exam. Among the elephants there are “left-handed” and “right-handed”. Belonging to a certain category is determined by which tusk is shorter. These animals work with one tusk, as a result of which it wears out faster.
Elephant bone is expensive as an ornamental base, so they often die at the hands of poachers. Now the ivory trade has been banned, but still hundreds of these amazing animals die every year due to human fault.
Elephants have 4 molars. The weight of each tooth the size of a brick reaches 2-3 kilograms. Animals replace their molars 6 times during their life. With age, tooth sensitivity increases, which forces animals to stay closer to swampy areas with soft vegetation.
The elephant differs from other animals in its impressive body weight, design, behavior and the presence of a long nose. The trunk is the connection between the upper lip and nose, with which it showers, breathes, smells, drinks and makes sounds. With this organ, containing 100 thousand muscles, the animal takes objects weighing up to a ton and carries tens of kilometers.
Habitat and habits of elephants
The African giant lives in the steppes of Africa and Egypt. Indian individuals live in India, Ceylon, Indochina, and Burma.
- Elephants live in a herd of up to 50 individuals, which are bound by behavioral norms. Some live separately because they are more likely to show aggression and are dangerous.
- There is a friendly atmosphere in the herd, relatives take care of the offspring and support each other.
- These are socially developed animals. They can show emotions and remember objects, places and people.
Elephants eat 130 kg of food per day (leaves, bark, fruits) and spend most of their time searching for it. Sleep no more than 4 hours a day. Animals are often located near rivers or lakes and drink 200 liters of water per day. The elephant is a good swimmer and easily swims long distances regardless of body weight.
The giant has a massive skeleton, making up 15% of its body weight. Skin covering reaches a thickness of 25 mm and is shrouded in sparse hairs. On average, an elephant lives 70 years. He cannot jump, but his running speed reaches 30 km per hour.
The female carries the baby for 88 weeks. This is a record among animals. A baby elephant is born every four years, weighing about 90 kg and measuring about a meter in height. The birth of a baby is important for members of the herd.
These mammals have a clear language of communication. When an elephant is depressed or aggressive, the ears become spread apart. For protection, tusks, trunk and massive legs are used. In a moment of danger or fright, the animal squeals and, running away, literally demolishes everything in its path.
Where do elephants live in captivity?
Almost every zoo has elephants. It is not surprising, because they arouse special interest among the public. But sometimes even well-known zoos, due to the lack of a suitable place to keep them, refuse these animals.
IN limited space elephants suffer from boredom. IN natural environment they spend a lot of time searching for and absorbing food. In a small enclosure it is not possible to wander around enough, and a small number of individuals leads to disruption of social contacts.
European zoos They try to provide the elephants with spacious paddocks for walking. Less docile males, who are dangerous in a state of turmoil, are given additional space. Some zoos provide pens for females with their offspring. This allows members of the small herd to get to know the new addition.
Diversity of range is of great importance in elephant breeding. Large elephant herds set up enclosures so that animals can move freely. Such conditions are more suitable for successful breeding in captivity.
Elephants are social advanced mammals. For many reasons, this species is on the verge of extinction. Animals need protection and protection. This fact found many positive reviews among scientists and officials. Nature reserves are being actively created where animals live under protection. The territory of such complexes must correspond normal environment a habitat. On this moment Several reserves meet these requirements, including:
- National Park Bandipur, India.
- Amboseli National Park, Kenya.
- Elephant Sanctuary in Knysna, South Africa.
- Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, Malaysia.
- Elephant Safari Park, Bali.
Each of the listed places is ideal for entertaining summer holiday.
People harm environment, therefore, many species of animals are dying out, but there remains hope that one of the largest mammals, elephants, will continue to live not only in captivity, but also in their native environment. The task of man is to help ensure that children can enjoy the greatness of these animals in the vastness of the savannah and forests.